This installment of The Issue features my favorite science fiction character in American history: Frank Reade. The character debuted in the 1876 story paper (think newspaper format, but containing fiction instead of news) Boys of New York #28, and went onto feature stories in that title, Wide Awake Library, then getting his own series with Frank Reade Library (the first science fiction series in America), and finally the color-covered title Frank Reade Weekly. The character was featured in no fewer than three series published in the UK as well.

The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in it, and discuss the publishers and creators behind it.  Essentially, I'm just going to end up stepping through American history one periodical issue at a time. There is just one rule in The Issue: No recent stuff. Everything will be from before 1940, and most of it will be from before 1920.  In this issue: Frank Reade Weekly #94: The Demon of the Clouds; or Frank Reade Jr and the Ghosts of Phantom Island. Published August 12, 1904 by Frank Tousey, Publisher.

Most Frank Reade and many other stories were  written by Luis Senarens. under the Frank Tousey, Publisher house pen name, "No-Name". Working in anonymity for decades, Senarens became one of the most prolific science fiction authors in American history. The cover artist here is still unknown.

Frank Reade, Buffalo Bill and Churchill's Mom

Whenever I see people say from here on out that Frank Reade stories were racist and crudely written, this is the one I'm going to mention as counterpoint. This is flat out one of the most fascinating dime novels I've read. The cover gives one an obvious impression: hooded Klan-like figures have captured and harmed Frank's assistant Pomp — and Frank and Barney are preparing to rain hell down on them from the Demon to get him back.  Barney and Pomp are Frank's trusted assistants throughout the Frank Reade saga — capable of operating complex scientific equipment and advanced weapons.

The story has that, and much more — and it's nothing less than a history lesson of the development of the Jersey shore. Ned Buntline also appears in the story, by name. Winston Churchill's mother Jennie Jerome is alluded to by name, although the story is more a reference to her father Leonard Jerome. In real life, Leonard Jerome — a wealthy and powerful man whose influence nearly rivaled the Vanderbilts for a time — was an associate of both Buntline and Buffalo Bill himself.

This is a tale of a group of "Ghosts" who defended their island at all costs and used various tactics to keep both natives and business rivals away. Enter Frank Reade, who comes to the rescue of an associate of the Ghosts — Ned Buntline — who has ultimately found himself on the outs with them. It's all a cleverly-coded reference to political and financial machinations surrounding the transformation of Wildwoods island from a virtually undeveloped and indeed wild place of nature to a resort for the wealthy and powerful of the era.

By the time this story had been published, there was a well-known yacht club based on Wildwood, and the exploits of these "Commodores" and their expensive yachts often made the local papers. The leader of the Ghosts is named "Commodore Wild", which gave me my first clue into the real history this story references. In the end, Commodore Wild tells Frank that his aim in part was to scare off both business rivals and native fishermen so that his group could keep the island for himself for financial gain, which is essentially what happened with Wildwood Island.

Wildwood and other environs of NJ were originally occupied by the Lenni-Lenape native tribes. It is key to this story that long after they had been displaced, the Lenni-Lenape retained by law hunting and fishing rights in this area into the mid/late-1880s if not beyond. A scan of newspapers of the period shows the Lenni-Lenape to be people of not insignificant political acumen, and they made a point of using such hunting/fishing rights regularly where they had been granted, in order to maintain them by law.

Enter a trio of mercantile businessmen named the Baker Brothers, who purchased Wildwood at about this time, with an eye towards developing it into a resort and playground for the wealthy. The three Baker Brothers embarked upon a slow, steady, and comprehensive plan to transform this purchase into a bonanza of real estate wealth. They ultimately succeeded. They covered all the bases: they entered state-level politics, they built infrastructure, they were charitable. Most of all, they were very patient.

The First (and Last) of the Know Nothings

As far as I can tell, there is no direct connection between the Bakers and either Ned Buntline or Leonard Jerome. I take their involvement in the story as sort of a short-hand summary of the political and financial machinations of the area that led up to this point. For example, even though this is very late in his life, Buntline was still a political raconteur whom we would certainly think of as being on the wrong side of history for the Know-Nothing views that he still seemed to have held onto at this late date. He was still very much anti-immigrant during this era, and one key political battle that the wealthy and powerful of New Jersey took on as Buntline headed into his final year was to remove immigration intake from Bedloe Island (where the Statue of Liberty had been erected) and to place it on Ellis Island. The unspoken but very clear subtext of the discussions in the newspapers of the time was… ironically enough, of course… that this would enhance Bedloe's value as an area tourist attraction.

The Leonard Jerome connection in the story is clever and interesting. The Ghosts' main ship is named the Jennie Jerome, which makes the Ghosts a legacy of Leonard Jerome's wealth and power. Like the Baker Brothers, Jerome was clever, methodical, and patient and had built his wealth and power over time. He was also crafty and quietly ruthless, and I ultimately believe that's why the Bakers have been positioned as his legacy in this story. They are wannabes who aspire towards the same things in the same ways.

[Incidentally, there is an often-repeated tale of Leonard Jerome manning a Gatling Gun that had been mounted on the roof of the NY Times building (where he was a part owner) to defend it during the Draft Riots. I think this must be apocryphal, as there are no accounts of this rather astonishing matter on the record until the mid-20th century.  In any case, it's perhaps an example of why his grandson Winston Churchill somewhat charitably characterized him as "very fierce".]

In the end, when Frank has bested the Ghosts and confronts them, their hooded costumes come off and they admit to their plan. They intended to scare off nearby rivals and natives with their outfits, and their motive was pure economic profit. They told Frank there was some valuable but unspecified treasure on the island that was the source of enormous wealth. Frank expresses disappointment and amazement at such a motive. He'd rather be using his resources for adventure and inventing, unlike simple economic profit as they are. I think this last is a clue as to the inspiration of the Ghost concept — and as we'll soon see, that inspiration is a real-life inventor who is little-remembered today.

The Daredevil Diver and the Surfmen

At the time the Baker Brothers bought in, one of the only structures on Wildwood was a US Life-Saving Service Station outpost — essentially an early version of the Coast Guard. There exists a personal account of a member of this service and his recollections of his memories of this specific area's history. For example, he notes the area was TRULY wild at this time, including "vicious animals" that would attack them on patrol. These included wild "calves, sheep, and hogs", and when the Bakers took over they had to hire "gunners" to kill these dangerous animals.

Sheep and Calves so dangerous they need to be gunned down rather than simply captured…? As someone who grew up in the rural heartland, I'm not seeing it. Hogs… it's possible. But the account of needing to hire a gang of gunmen to kill them off seems like an overreaction that could be indicative of other tactics. This same writer, a "Surfman" of the Life-Saving Service himself, recounts one anecdote in which he doesn't want to specifically name one particular of his colleagues, and simply calls him "Mr X".

It's a good bet that this "Mr X" is none other than infamous daredevil diver Paul Boyton. Boyton is known to have operated in this specific area at this time. One good description of him is as sort of an aquatic Buffalo Bill, with far less morals. By his own account, he'd work for any person for any reason, and his autobio of the era gives one the sense of someone who was far more racist than the average person of his time. On-the-record incidents in this exact area include him starting a fire which saw him accused and questioned for arson (but not arrested) and shooting a pistol at a woman for unknown reasons.

More interestingly, there's also a vague account of Boyton approaching the crew of a Life-Saving Service Station of this area, and offering them suits and training for reasons unknown. It seems to have fallen apart from internal squabbling eventually, though at least one of the men did gain enough skill to also become a diver of some local note. One of Boyton's suit models of this era was white, with a pointy hood. I can very easily imagine Boyton and his crew rising up out of the water to scare local fishermen, or… anybody, really.

As for the Baker Brothers, seven years after Frank Reade Weekly #94 was published — and about 25 years after they embarked on their plans for Wildwood — they finally executed the flip, and cashed out. They'd held onto the majority of the real estate themselves all that time, and sold it all off in one highly-publicized auction in late 1911. Attracting an astonishing 1,000+ live bidders on the primary auction day, by all accounts the sale was a stunning success.

In the end, once he'd stopped their shenanigans, Frank Reade reluctantly walked away from the situation. Just like the Baker Brothers themselves did, the Ghosts had the local law on their side, it seems. The bad guys won this one, and if this all tracks as closely to real life as I think, the Baker Brothers won, too. History remembers them as men of solid reputation who were simply driven businessmen.

You can read Frank Reade Weekly #94 on the Internet Archive. Overall, it's some well-crafted and clever writing which embeds a forgotten arc from history into an entertaining story. Wildwood, New Jersey is a popular vacation spot to this day.

The post THE ISSUE: Frank Reade and The Ghost of Churchill's Mom appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Things to watch out for at C2E2 2020, kicking off today at McCormick Place, Chicago, heading towards a total attendance of around 100,000.

1. DC Comics has the anniversary Flash #750 on sale from today at the show with a $10 variant cover from Graphitti Designs' booth adjacent to the DC Comics booth, a week ahead of its official comic store release.

2. C2E2 have partnered with AEW – All Elite Wrestling, the American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2019. They are running their pay per view event on Saturday night at the arena next door and doing a bunch of content during C2E2 – look for them to start using C2E2 in a similar fashion to what they did with NYCC, including C2E2 displayed pretty prominently on broadcast.

3. Scott Snyder is an unannounced swing-through of C2E2 for a couple of hours on Saturday. Look for him at Table O-11 in Artist Alley from 4 – 6pm.

4. Star voiceover RPGers Critical Role are about to do to C2E2 what they did to MCM, and Reed considers them to be the biggest driver of fan excitement in the US.

5. DC Publisher Jim Lee may not be doing Meet The Publishers panel – but he will be on the showfloor and doing art-focussed panels, 12.15 pm Saturday. Expect him to be a lot busier than usual.

6. Marvel is likely to have something big to announce at its X-Men panel on Friday. 2.30 pm – but they never let the Women Of Marvel panel on Sunday, 12.15 pm go empty either.

7. Run to the ComicBook For Kids booth for two things – first the CB4K C2E2 Coloring book, with only 75 copies at the show.

The Emmy, Eisner and other award winner artists in this volume include in no particular order, Frank Frazetta, Will Eisner, Hal Foster, Kevin Eastman, Jeff Smith, Mike Kaluta, Mike Grell, Dave Stevens, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Tim Seeley, Stan Sakai, Art Baltazar, Bill Reinhold, Shawn McManus, Aaron LoPresti, Michael Ploog, Topper Helmers and many others for a total of 38 different artists. Some art in this volume was created simply for this coloring book and has never before been seen. Get your copy at booth # 1489. Limited to 100 copies All proceeds to charity.

And they also have Kevin Eastman's unpublished art cover for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #102 ComicBooks For Kids! variant. limited to 75 copies. All proceeds to the charity that gets comic into the hands of kids in hospital. Booth # 1489 – run, don't walk.

8. Count how many cosplay costumes will integrate facemasks…  the Cosplay Championships is on Saturday night.

9. Our friend Victor Zuzulo of The Impossible Collection, Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect will be at Booth 1419, buying and selling vintage comics, but will also have a public display of vintage comic books, original comic art and video games, and taking consignments for their next event auction. If you ever wanted to see an Action Comics #1 (or two), that will be the place to pop by.

10. Stephen Amell Wine. Try shooting arrows after downing a bottle or two. Say, where's Mark Ruffalo's wine? He'll be green with envy,

11. C2E2 After Dark programming has expanded all weekend including karaoke and D&D sessions, so people don't have to go offsite to party…

Bleeding Cool will have reporters at the show. Do shout out if there's anything you need.

The post Eleven Things About C2E2 2020, Starting Today appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

The new Candyman reboot trailer finally showcases what the brand new take on this horror classic looks like. The recently released trailer from producer Jordan Peel showcases the first look we’ve gotten at this new horror remake. And it looks amazingly scary, with enough homages to truly make it a new take on a classic film.

What Was Candyman And How Did It Became Such An Influential Horror Movie

Candyman was a supernatural horror movie from 1992 that became a massive success. The film is one of the greatest classics in the horror genre. Before films like Scream that made horror movie stories meta and self-referential, there was Candyman. The story of the film saw its lead protagonist researching an urban legend known as Candyman. So the premise of the horror movie was a horror story that turned out to be real. The late Clive Barker, mastermind of horror in his own right, wrote a short story called “The Forbidden.” Set in his native Liverpool, the story dealt with class and segregation. When Barker met director Bernard Rose, he agreed to sell the rights of the story to him. That’s how the original Candyman came to be. 

Image via Tristar Pictures.

The film takes the tropes of horror movies and depicts them in a new light. In a genre where stereotypical portrayals show Black characters often being victimized, Candyman was different. Not to mention that the character’s backstory also touched upon America’s sordid racial history. The origins of Candyman was that he was the ghost of an artist, the son of a slave, who fell in love with a Caucasian woman in the 1800’s. He was brutally lynched by his lover’s father, with his ashes spread over what would later become a housing project in 90’s Chicago. Since then Candyman appears anytime someone says ‘Candyman’ 5 times in front of a mirror, brutally murdering them. 

The Candyman Reboot Makes Sense Knowing The Original’s Origins

Jordan Peele has had a penchant for telling stories that are very much in the horror genre, while also being an underlying allegory for the Back experience in America. His debut film Get Out was most notable for this. The themes similarly continued with Us. And more recently, his Amazon Prime Video series Hunters, deals even more directly with the persecution of minorities, with a Nazi-hunting premise. A horror movie where the titular antagonist was the son of a slave and was the victim to a lynch mob after falling in love with a white woman, seems completely tailor-made for a subject for Peele. And the newly released Candyman reboot trailer does not disappoint in any of those aspects. 

Reboot Or Sequel?

Image via Tristar Pictures.

While it’s technically a reboot, the new Candyman is meant to be a spiritual sequel. The original story featured Chicago as its setting. And the new movie returns us to the same neighbourhood. The casting of the original Candyman, Tony Todd, also confirms the new movie as something of a sequel. The trailer even seemingly, features Todd’s voice in one sequence. It’s part of a growing trend of new instalments of an existing franchise that harkens back to the original, but more as a legacy. Similar to the upcoming Ghosbusters: Afterlife. The story may recall events and characters from the original, enhancing the experience for existing fans, but the new movie is accessible to new audiences.

The Story Behind The New Candyman Reboot Trailer

The trailer for Candyman recaps the urban legend. The myth of Candyman will be part of the story, as in the original film. And while Virginia Madsen was the protagonist of the original Candyman, it’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen) who is the hero here. Although, ‘hero’ might not be the right word for the character. The new Candyman reboot trailer sees Abdul-Mateen II as an artist who discovers the myth of Candyman in his new neighborhood. Inspired by the legend, he uses it to influence his art, putting Candyman on display as part of an art exhibition. And that’s when Candyman surfaces full force to cause chaos and carnage. 

Image via Universal Pictures.

Does The New Candyman Reboot Trailer Reveal Too Much?

The reason I said ‘hero’ may be pushing it earlier, is because the new Candyman reboot trailer seems to reveal a lot about the new movie that could be a spoiler. It seems that Candyman in the new movie is Abdul-Mateen II’s character himself. Scenes showing that he is the titular character, and the one committing all the terror is very clear in the new trailer. Although it’s ambiguous if Candyman possesses him later, or if he’s always been the supernatural killer. But knowing both producer Jordan Peele’s style, as well as director Nia Long’s sensibilities, it would be too simple to think the trailer spoiled such a big twist. There is of course more in play that we may not have seen yet in the trailer. 

What Does The Twist In New Candyman Trailer Mean? 

This new twist in the Candyman reboot trailer is interesting, to say the least. While the original Candyman was an artist, so is Abdul-Mateen’s character. Does that mean he becomes full fledged takes over the Candyman persona at the end of this film? The beginnings of another planned franchise? Which would make this new Candyman almost like a modern-day origin story from the original. It’s too early to say, but the conjecture alone shows how it’s one of the most anticipated Horror movies of 2020. Not just for genre fans, but casual audiences as well.

Candyman releases on June 12. 

Did the Candyman reboot trailer scare you? Let us know in the comments below. 

New Candyman Reboot Trailer Makes An Urban Legend Relevant For A New Generation
Shah Shahid

Welcome to the pretty-much-mostly-daily Lying In The Gutters. A run around the day before and the day ahead. You can sign up to receive it as an e-mail here. And so C2E2 begins… if ou are going to the show, do let us know what you discover.

The 10 most-read stories yesterday

1. Brian Hibbs on Hell Arisen #3 – "None Of You Bought Copies Of #1 Or #2 From The Shelf"
2. New Ancient Star Wars Lightsabers are Coming Soon from Hasbro
3. "What Is DC Comics' 5G?" The Story So Far…
4. "Heels": Stephen Amell Workout Update – "Arrow" Salmon Ladder Thief?
5. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" Season 7: "Debbie" Looks a Little Nervous [Preview]
6. REVIEW: X-Men #7 — "An Ambitious Issue That Will Be Discussed"
7. "The Masked Singer" Season 3: Group B Memorable Un-Masking [Review]
8. Gossip On The Eve of C2E2 – What Now For DC Comics, Jim Lee… and Joe Quesada
9. Connor Kent Meets Superman – and Superboy Prime (Spoilers)
10. Today's Hell Arisen #3, Selling Multiple Copies for $40 to $50, Thanks to Punchline (Spoilers)

One year ago…

1. Konami Reveals What's Coming to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in March
2. 'The Greatest Trick The Batman Pulled Was Making People Think He Always Has A Plan' – Flash #65 and Heroes In Crisis #6 Spoilers
3. What Batman's Plan Actually Is, Revealed in Detective Comics #999 (Spoilers)
4. The State of CW's DCU [Part 3]: The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl Post-"Crisis"
5. Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short – Heroes In Crisis #6 Spoilers

Happening today…

• C2E2 begins in McCormick Place Convention Complex, Chicago.
• Huntsville Comic Convention, Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment, Huntsville, AL
• Pensacon, Pensacola Bay Center, Pensacola, FL
• Cartooning Workshop with Kristen Gudsnuk, Queens Library – Douglaston-Little Neck Branch, Little Neck, NY 3pm.
• Noah Van Sciver's The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski, Desert Island, Brooklyn, New York 7-9pm.

Happy birthday to…

• Joseph Brozowski, J.J. Birch, artist on Xombi, Hardware, Star Trek, Hulk 2099 and Firestorm.
• Comic book festival organiser Árni Beck Gunnarsson
• Silas Dixon, artist on Fem Force
• Steven Mangold, creator on Hallowtweens and Same Old Story
• Gordon Robertson of Comics Versus Cancer

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The post The Daily LITG, 28th February 2020 – And So C2E2 Begins appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

New Jason Isbell. Yay!

Gimme Hot Chicken

The new album by Whiskey Treaty Roadshow is a “supergroup” of local Massachusetts singer/songwriters. Really tight new album. Here’s the single, “Hey Lady.”

Bat for Lashes cover Kate Bush…

…And Cyndi Lauper.

New Che’Noir

The post WEEKENDS ARE FOR SINGLES appeared first on Berkeley Place.

With the Green Screen finally repaired, I review The Symbiote Spider-Man #3 and The Amazing Mary Jane #5 for Spider-Man Crawl Space. I enjoyed both issues, but they have their flaws, but great characterization and stellar artwork are the key to both books.

That poor locker never stood a chance.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #67

Published: c. March, 1982?
Cover Date: June, 1982

“Boomerang, the Killer Who Keeps Coming Back!”
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Ed Hannigan
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen