Lots of Qs, Lots of As

What happened to Cary Bates, Bill Mantlo, and Herb Trimpe? I loved all their work before would like to know what they are doing now.
-- JJ Ferro (jj_ferro@yahoo.com)

Whatever happened to Larry Stroman (artist of ALIEN LEGION & X-FACTOR), Mike Baron (PUNISHER) and Luke McDonnel (artist of IRON MAN & SUICIDE SQUAD)? What are they doing these days?
-- Stephen Fernando (gunnoklvz@hotmail.com)

Where is Dell Barras working right now?
-- Teresa Clark (javlin47@yahoo.com)

What are Ed McGuinness's and Scott McDaniel's next projects now that both are leaving the DC flagships of SUPERMAN and BATMAN, respectively?
-- Brent Perry (catpackdog@cs.com)

I used to work at Supersnipe in the early 70s, I was wondering if Ed has a website up perhaps or what happened to the store.
-- NM (Sententia@excite.com)

You can track down what Cary’s been doing by clicking over to www.saurheads.com.
There was a long article about Herb Trimpe in The New York Times awhile back, revealing how he'd gone on to a new career as a teacher after being abandoned by Marvel. Check it out at http://io.spaceports.com/~hulk/herbtrimpefired.html.
Mike Baron’s got a home page at www.hollywoodcomics.com/baron.html, Dell Barras’ homepage is www.dellbarras.net and Scott McDaniel’s latest news can be found at www.scottmcdaniel.net.
Info about the others will be appreciated and passed along in this column.

FEEDBACK FROM THE EMAILBOX:
This is an answer to a question of what happened to Arn Saba? An on-line search found this link http://www.rabunda.com/~outincomics/pdf/oic2000.pdf that says Mr. Saba is now living as a woman.
-- David Jacobson (daj@ehrenfeldinsurance.com)

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Regarding the question: ”In the mid-70s, DC reported that Dick Dillin was working on a "Full-Length-Novel" for a JLA Limited Collector's Edition tabloid-sized mag. To my knowledge, it never appeared! Do you know what became of the "lost" Dillin story?”

A number of people, including Mark Waid and my official unofficial researcher John Wells, wrote to point out that the story, drawn by Rich Buckler, appeared in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #s 210-212.

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From my pal Bob Greenberger, regarding a few prior Qs & As…
1) DC does now have the rights to the Fawcett heroes beyond the Marvel Family. The most recent usage, if I recall, were appearances by Bulletman and Spy Smasher in Jerry Ordway's POWER OF SHAZAM!
2) No plans for either CRUSADERS (now cancelled) or CODENAME: DANGER.
3) Marvel has a TPB of the “Kang Conquers the World” event scheduled for fall, last time I heard.

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In Wizard price guide, BIRDS OF PREY #8 has been rising for months and it’s almost $50 now. Does something special happen in that issue?
-- Nathan Kushnier (kushnier@beer.com)

Someone asked why BIRDS OF PREY #8 is worth $50. It's not due to the WB series; in that issue Nightwing and Oracle go on a date...yep...that’s it...
-- Heath (danabnormal69@aol.com)

MORE FROM THE EMAILBOX
Was Kid Eternity a Fawcett character? He appeared in the SHAZAM! stories prior to CRISIS, which led me to infer he was. If so, then the KID ETERNITY 3-issue Prestige format mini and the KID ETERNITY continuing series from Vertigo (one of their "launch" titles, I believe; lasted about 16 issues) would also be uses of Fawcett characters.
 (rdfozz@pobox.com)

Kid Eternity was a Quality Comics character. The late E. Nelson Bridwell connected him to Freddy Freeman when both came under DC control.

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What's the truth/rumor about Bruce Timm developing a Zatanna series for Vertigo?
-- Killy Mcgee (maori9@davidbowie.com)

Obviously, the rumor is that he’s doing it. Whether this is truth, I cannot say. Such information would find its way into SBC’s news section, though, so keep checking over there.

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How can I get in the comic book buisness using my own art and ideas?....e_mail me instead of posting this...Thanks!
 Name Withheld

Well, you would need lots of money to begin with. Learning spelling and grammar would help (though these days it doesn’t seem to be a requirement). And a word of advice, you won’t get pointers from people in the BUSINESS unless you intend to hire them. Nobody likes to work for free.

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Hey, Answer Man, it’s me again. I just wanna ask, would you prefer a good writer or a good artist?
-- Oliver (islandboy1982@yahoo.com)

I prefer a good writer any day of the week.

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Of all the foes in Bat history, why did you choose Killer Moth and the Cavalier as the recurring villains in your BATMAN FAMILY stories?
-- Tom Johnston (tomtjohnston@hotmail.com)

I think I was looking for a couple of baddies who were interesting-looking. I was pretty much barred from using any of the “main villains” because they were usually in the works for BATMAN or DETECTIVE COMICS. And since the tone of most of my stories was more light-hearted than the darker Batman tales, why not use goofy villains?

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Looking for reprints of DC (Golden Age) and "Secret Origins." Not a collector, just looking for my youth. Like to buy online.
-- Bob (graceland2@ec.rr.com)

Start with eBay, Bob. But if you don’t like to play the auction game, try a Google search for “Comic Book Sales” and pick and choose. Or you could pick up an issue of the COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE and peruse their ads.

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I am currently a high school senior. I am currently in a Public Speaking class and I intend to do a persuasion speech regarding the better American hero: Superman or Batman. I was wondering if you could direct me to some statistics on which hero sold more copies of comic books in the latest year available. This information would be of great contribution to my speech. Thank you for your time and consideration.
-- Renee B (que_pasa_con_tu@msn.com)

You can click on over to www.Diamondcomics.com and check out their sales reports. That’s as close as you can get to actual sales reports. By the way, the Dark Knight currently outsells the Man of Steel in the Direct Market.

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Who made the comic SPIDER-MAN?
-- John Evangelidta (Johnnyboy625@optimm.xism.net)

Is this a trick question just to get your name in my column, or do you really not know that it was Stan Lee and Steve Ditko?

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I've noticed there are no reviews of TMP publications (SPAWN, SAM AND TWITCH, HELLSPAWN). Why is that? Is there a vendetta against TMP? HELLSPAWN is a great read and, for people who buy based on reviews, this is one book that could and should get into more hands.
-- JR (irrupt@yahoo.com)

I only review books that are sent to me, JR. No one at TMP sends me books so I don’t read ‘em and don’t review ‘em.

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I'm a fan of DC comics and I have to wonder why Batman never chooses an African-American teen to be his protege. Why is his protege always Caucasian, be it male or female?
Dudley (dudlyl925@netscape.net)

In sixty-plus years, Batman’s had four sidekicks (if you count the Frank Miller Dark Knight saga). Give him some time.

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Since I'm a blood recipient and a blood donor (almost 2 gallons...and I'm only 22), one of my favorite Zatanna stpries will always be yours in SUPERMAN FAMILY #214. Would you be so kind as to tell everyone about it somewhere in your column?
What comics characters do you know of that have given or received blood? I can think of Superman (Donor), Lois and Supergirl (Recipients), Green Arrow (Donor), Black Canary (Recipient), Hulk (Donor), and She-Hulk (Recipient). Are there any others?
-- Orville Eastland (orville_third@yahoo.com)

I already did talked about the Zatanna story and the importance of donating blood, Orville, back on February 25th of this year. Check out http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/bobro/101469636144988.htm. As far as other characters who have given or received blood, add Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen to the list of people who got a pint from Superman.

QUESTIONS I CAN’T (OR WON’T) ANSWER DEPARTMENT:
What cartoon character got his name from a misspelling in a scientific journal?
-- (Sillybudd@yahoo.com)

The Nukular Man?

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Do you know where I could see the site of pictures and the size is as the size of what they use to the cellophane acetates, they put it in the background of the cell phone screen, I’m looking for it. It is a 50 pcs. on a short bond paper.
-- moc (skynaryph@yahoo.com)

Um… no.

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Do you have jin roh action figure?
James (mojo_jojo@madmanmail.com)

Also, no.

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I would like to request as much information as I can get on the Shi'ar Empire. I would also like to request the e-mail addresses of those people I would have to get to post fan-fiction on-line. Greatly appreciate any help you can give me (particularly the second bit), and I thank you for your undoubtedly very valuable time.
Andrew Montgomery (amontg0421@rogers.com)

Is this related to comic books?

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Who is the creator of Flash Lightning?
-- UnknownSender@UnknownDomain

Better yet, who IS Flash Lightning?

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What makes the Hulk a monster slayer and why?
-- Deaun Newton (bigdd972@aol.com)

He slays monsters?

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If Spider-Man was 5"11, how strong would he be!
-- Henry Avalos (sanhen@comancheonline.com)

Better to ask, “A butcher is 5’ 11” tall, is 42 years old, and his name is Michael. What does he weigh?” (Think about it; I’ll give you the answer below.)

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If the Hulk was real and "people" could change their genetic makeup to become bigger, wouldn't this cause some problems as far as bone structure? Wouldn't it take more calcium for the bones to grow at an accelerated rate? And would this actually cause some type of mental problems as well?
Sam Evans (Jadegene@aol.com)

Sam, I think you’ve got the makings of a doctoral thesis here. Or you could get yourself exposed to gamma radiation and provide first hand research.

HELP WANTED DEPARTMENT:
In the early 90s, Eclipse published a comic entitled WHODUNNIT. I recently picked up #1and thought it was pretty neat. The story presented a mystery with no answer and a challenge for the reader to figure it out, while the answer would be revealed in #2 six months later. Well, I cannot find #2, so whodunnit?
-- Rhys (matrhys@yahoo.com)

Anybody?

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In SUPERMAN FAMILY #s192-194, the DNA Project had been taken over by a guy named Adam. In JLA #s250-257, Zatanna was kidnapped and had her DNA scanned by a guy named Adam.
Are these two Adams the same? While no one mentioned that they may have been the same person in the comics themselves, both are tall and blond, worked with DNA, planned to solve the problems of the world (or so they said), and had various minions do their work for them.
-- Orville (orville_third@yahoo.com)

Chances are they were intended to be the same person.

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I would like to find someone who would even let me copy the art from the ATOMIC WAR comics series; there were 4 books. I want my daughter to do some charcoal reproductions of the art; this is from when I was a young boy.
Jack (jmclellan@comcast.com)

The Grand Comics Database (www.comics.org) does not have scans of any of the covers of this title. Maybe somebody out there has the books and can help out.

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I am trying to collect comic books of when major superheroes (like Superman, Thor, Iron Man, Batman, etc.) reveal their secret identity to other superheroes but am having a very difficult time trying to nail them down. I am looking for pre and post crisis books. Can you help in this quest? Many thanks!
-- Derrik Quenzer (dqnewsboy@hotmail.com)

I’ll bet my official unofficial researcher John Wells would have a field day with this one! And speaking of John, he’ll be filling in for me for the next few weeks while I’m away on my annual teaching stint for the Johns Hopkins University CTY program for gifted kids. I’ve sent along some of the questions that have piled up that would result in long answers – and John’s coming through with some really interesting reading.
Be sure to join him right here beginning next week. And don’t forget my daily Anything Goes Trivia at www.wfcomic.com.

By the way, Michael the 5’ 11” butcher weighs meat!