You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Look, we all need to calm down a little bit about the renumbering of comics a little bit.

Yes, it can be annoying. We're about to get the 3rd Superman #1 of the past 7 years. This month saw the fifth variation of Thor #1 that Jason Aaron has scripted in the past few years (which is not nearly as annoying as the fact hat the same goddamn storyline is still going on, and the "Malekith takes on the Ten Worlds war" plot will seemingly last through the next 5 Thor #1's...).

But what's hard to take is the "oh, think of the children" laments we get from some quarters, bemoaning that it's impossible to direct people to the correct comics now.

Please. That's why we have volume numbers and dates. It's not as if librarians are put out because each issue of Time or The Economist or Sports Illustrated doesn't have a specific issue number, or  that each Spenser novel doesn't have the correct reading order printed on the spine, and the world goes sailing on happily.

It's also the case that many of us grew up in an impressive golden age of stability, of little if any renumbering, that was really an anomaly of comics history. Whether to play fast and loose with postal regulations or to trick newsstand owners into keeping their books displayed, comic book numbering has been more of an art than a science for as long as they've existed.

Let's take a look at a Fox title, for example, in the height of the Golden Age. 1945 saw the debut of Krazy Life #1:

Well, apparently, Krazy wasn't hilarious enough, so it was followed, not by Krazy Life #2, but by Nuttylife #2 (yes, just one word):

And yes, Nuttylife #2 was the issue was where Cosmo Cat got the Big Bad Wolf to commit suicide, as he shrugged and walked away.

Apparently neither Krazy nor Nutty satisfied Fox, as issue #3 was suddenly:

Wotalife indeed!!

Wotalife lasted from #3-#12, until with #13, the title suddenly transmogrified into:

Oh, Phantom Lady!!

Well, we had stability for 11 whole issues, until suddenly, with #24, as Phantom Lady was gone, and...

...romance was in!!

My Secret Love lasted from #24 through #30, until...

...issue #31 was one last attempt at funny animals!! And that was all she wrote.

31 issues over 6 years with 6 different titles and three different genres. And that history is not particularly convoluted compared to other books of the day.

So, yeah, Marvel should stop it with the damn renumberings/relaunches. It is annoying as all get-out. But it's not as if it's anything new or transgressive. It's the way the industry has always been! And somehow we'll muddle through.

Manic Monday Bonus--Wither The Witches Of The Wild West?!?

We have discussed before how, in ye olden days, publishers really hated to launch new titles with new #1 issues.

Postal regulations at the time required them to pay a registration fee for every new magazine, and who wants to cut their margins when they don't have to.

Comic companies were also afraid that new #1s wouldn't make it onto crowded newsstands, believing that retailers preferred to give space to established titles (as proven by higher issue #s). This is the reason that Justice League Of America #1 and Jimmy Olsen #1, among others, didn't have an issue number on the first covers!! (See, you've already learned something new today!!)

So, between fooling postal inspectors and retailers, comic publishers played fast and loose with their numbering. Harvey Comics was a master of this, as we have seen previously.

Here's another example:

In 1951, they launched Witches Tales, a fairly standard horror comic of the day...

It ran through #28, in late 1954:

Then, suddenly, the very next issue...

Hey, wait a minute!! That's clearly a brand new comic!!

Oh, but read the cover logo more carefully:

See, it's Witches' Western Tales, so really, it's just a continuation of the same title!!

Of course, it really wasn't. There wasn't a single witch to be found, and the 2 issues of Witches Western Tales were entirely reprints of earlier Western comics from 1950 & 1951.

On the cover of the second issue (#30...ha!), you can see the real reason for the change:

Ah, the hastily thrown on Comics Code stamp!!No wonder Harvey dumped the witches in all but tiny title font!!

Well, as far as I can tell, postal inspectors of the era weren't too bright (or didn't really care), so Harvey got away with it. So the next three issues were merely Western Tales, with the "Witches" no longer required to "beard" the numbering:

These were all new stories, mostly from Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. And if you don't want to read Jack Kirby-drawn Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie stories, well, I guess you're like everyone else in 1955...because those three issues were it.

So that was a lot of sturm und drang to preserve numbering on a title they just ended up cancelling 5 issues later anyway...

Anyway, this is why I don't get to upset at renumbering/relaunching, or changing The Incredible Hulk into The Incredible Hercules mid-run. None of it is really "All-New" or "All-Different." Comics have been screwing with titles/numbering for decades. We just grew up during an era of unusual stability in that regard. But I'm pretty sure we can deal with the "chaos."

Judge Dredd: Rebirth?!?

Readers in ye olde England are concerned that the American mania for rebooting/relaunching/renumbering might result in an All-New, All-Different 2000 AD #1:

 No worries, Tharg reassures us:

Geez, being proud of your large issue numbers...who woulda thought? That's totally zarjaz.

And no, Dan Jurgens and others, Action Comics will not be the first comic to reach issue #1000. By the time you hit that number, 2000 AD will already have been past 2000 issues--for several years!!

From this week's 2000 AD #1976...yes, 2000 AD has more issues than Action Comics and Detective Comics COMBINED.

Arithmophobia

Back in April of 1987, there was a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced:

What, the last issue of Betty And Veronica?? Ohs, nos, how can the Republic survive?

Unless, of course, by the "...Or Is It?" they mean...

Yup, the very next month, Betty And Veronica was reborn, with a brand new #1 issue. And the Republic survived.

I bring this up because lately I've seen much gnashing of teeth and angst over the fact that Marvel is "re-launching" a number of titles under the Marvel NOW! initiative, with lots and lots of "new" #1 issues.

Now, don't get me wrong--I think re-numbering most of your titles is silly, and annoying. But we also tend to forget--it's nothing new.

Most of our comic book issues numbers are just arbitrary, made up constructs, anyway. Remember, for example, that modern Captain America never started with a #1:

Yup, Cap started with #100, taking over the numbering from Tales Of Suspense. The Incredible Hulk? Started with number 1, cancelled after 6 issues, eventually started appearing in Tales To Astonish (#60), and took over the title with #102. Thor? Started in Journey Into Mystery #83, and just changed the title with issue #126.

So when all of those magazines celebrated huge "anniversary" numbers, it was kind of a lie, a ridiculous creative accounting trick. These guys never had originals #1s, but Marvel wanted round number anniversaries, and they were going to get them! Cap had never had 600 issues--they counted all the issues of Tales Of Suspense that came before Cap started appearing there? Ditto for Hulk #600 and Thor #600.

So the numbers folks are worried about resetting? They were never real to begin with.

There never really was a "golden age" of numbering. The fact that people were upset about the nu52 resetting Action and Detective to #1 shows that...because those were the only two titles in the industry that had never been reset. Everyone else? Long since past the point of no return.

How many volumes has Aquaman had? Green Lantern? Marvel's Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return/Heroes Warn Marvel Not To Do That Again?

Now, I'm on record that comic book issue numbers are not all that important, and in fact should be dropped. Let's face it, whatever problems the nu52 has (or Marvel NOW! will have), issue numbers as a factor are so low on the list, it's not funny.

Besides, we all need some perspective, because as I mentioned, numbering (and titles) in the industry have always been ridiculously arbitrary.

Example: in 1941, Ace Comics started Four Favorites as a super-hero title...

...before switching over to an all-humor format in 1947...

...but then for #33 they changed the name and title and format...

...but that was only for one issue, and then they sort of returned, with as new title, in #34...

...whilst Crime Must Pay The Penalty was reborn, and it's "first" issue was #2:

Trust me...that is one of the least complicated examples from the Golden Age. So the crying of Herc/Hulk or Thor/Journey Into Mystery? Brother, your great-grandparents wish they had it so good.

So a bunch of renumbering? Nothing new for the comics industry. Relax, and focus on the insides, not the numbers.