Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #60 - May 1985

sgI don't know whose idea it was to do a Plop! collection, but bless their little hearts for doing so! Plop! was a great book that died all too quickly, so it was so cool for DC to dig some of the best material up and put it between two covers, all for a measly $1.50!

Front cover by Wally Wood, inside front by Basil Wolverton(!), and opening page by Sergio Aragones! And that's just the first three pages! There's also:
"The Poster Plague!" by Steve Skeates and Aragones
"The Gourmet" by Skeates and Berni Wrightson
"Depressed Elephant" by Skeates and Aragones
"Wednesday's Child" by Marv Wolfman and Wally Wood
"The Showdown Sonata" by Lee Marrs
"The Last Laugh" by Skeates and Frank Robbins
"The Lawn That Devoured Cleveland" by David Michelinie and Aragones
"Super Plops!" by Murphy Anderson and starring various members of the DCU
"The Killer Kind!" by Jack Oleck and David Manak
"The Uninvited Guest" by Skeates, John Jacobson, and Bill Draut
"The Secret Origin of Grooble Man" by Skeates, Jacobson, and Aragones
"Old Butterfly Story" by Skeates and Robbins
a one-page Cain pin-up by Michael Kaluta
"Trick or Treat" by ? and Sid Greene
"A Fate Worse Than Death" by Aragones
"The Ultimate Weapon" by Skeates and Frank Thorne
"The Ultimate Freedom" by Coram Nobis(surely someone's pseudonym) and Aragones
"Switch Ending" by Oleck and Manak
"Moment of Decision" by Arnold Drake and Draut
"What Are Little Ghouls Made Of?" by E.Nelson Bridwell and Aragones
"The King of the Ring" by Wood

...what a line-up of talent they had for Plop!, it's a crime it didn't last longer. Good to know it wasn't forgotten by the folks at DC, and this is a really funny(and beautifully drawn) collection. One of DC's best digest collections.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Seem to recall that the folks at "sister" pub MAD made it clear that they didn't want TOO direct a competitor - and so the DC comic was constrained into the tight "plop" device straight-jacket...

I think all the other stuff you cover, Rob, proves that the fight between b & w mags & color comics wasn't really that severe; if DC HAD been allowed to do more what the early comic MAD did, I wonder if it might have lasted longer...?

-Craig