We don’t know if any other details of the alterna-DC were given on the show, but apparently in this timeline, Jim Shooter had been the E-I-C throughout the ’90s and a writer had stayed on Teen Titans for more than ten issues.

Even more at The Source.

Now, a partnership between that studio’s founders, Joe Ruby and Ken
Spears, and Sid and Marty Krofft, the longtime children’s entertainment producers (“H. R. Pufnstuf,” “Land of the Lost”), is planning to revive these unseen Kirby characters in as many forms as possible. It’s a proposition that faces challenges as the studios scour the landscape for the next comic book or cartoon character they can transform into a franchise, but also one that has piqued the interest of some powerful Hollywood players.

While the ideas may be ones that no one has ever heard of, there’s got to be gold in them thar hills somewhere. For instance…

A female Indiana Jones accompanied by a midget magician on a unicycle and a cowboy with giant hands? It writes itself!

“Roxie! Look out! My unicycle has become stuck in this molten alloy and I can’t move!”

“Don’t worry, L’il Mojo, Big Hand Luke will fan out the fires with his massive mitts!”

Or…

This one should be rennamed…”The Turban Squad!” But our favorite…

“Nekrona, hurry!  You’ve got to contain that floating skull before it grabs the last Jelly Filled Munchkin!”

“I’m trying, Dr. Zadge! But its chattering teeth are disrupting my spell!”

…etc., etc., etc.

It’s infectious. Truly, The King looms overs us all; we’re blanching midgets in the light of his titanic imagination.

10. Gross was a pioneer of the graphic novel with the hilarious adventure-filled, groundbreaking publication of his wordless picture novel “He Done Her Wrong” in 1930. Fans of the book included Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

9. At the turn of the century, Gross was one of the first comic strippers in New York City, in the beginning of newspaper comics. He worked alongside George “Krazy Kat” Herriman, Bud “Mutt and Jeff” Fisher, Cliff “Polly and Her Pals” Sterrett, George “Bringing Up Father” McManus, Fred “Happy Hooligan” Opper. (It’s said that Gross later suggested to his best friend, Ernie Bushmiller, to focus on Aunt Fritzi’s niece, Nancy, but we won’t get into that!)

8. Gross was a pioneer of the autobiographical comics with the hilariously surreal “Why There’s No Comic in This Space Today” feature, starring the artist and his family. The comic ran in the New York Daily Mirror in the 1930s. Gross also did one-page, wordless comic strip reviews of John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath,” Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep,” and William Faulkner’s “The Wild Palms.”

7. Milt was one of the first cartoonist in the fledging animation industry. Starting around 1917, Gross worked for the famed (John) Bray Studios on adaptions of his own cartoons and on Mutt and Jeff. Years later, the artist worked for MGM as a director and then for Disney, personally recruited by Walt.

6. Gross wrote many best selling novels like “Nize Baby,” where he invented a particular type of comedic Yiddish. In his novels and comics, the artist coined popular phrases like “banana oil,” “dunt esk!,” “booby hatch,” “Iggy keep an eye on me!,” and “then the fun began!”

5. Gross was one of the first beloved Jewish “humorist.” In addition to drawing, Milt was a highly in demand public speaker, beloved by his Jewish brethren in addition to the public at large.

4. Milt Gross was the only cartoonist to have his own self-titled comic book, “Milt Gross Funnies” (unless I count Walt Disney, who didn’t draw a line in his “Walt Disney Comics and Stories,” and I don’t!)

3. Milt crossed over into Hollywood when Charlie Chaplin, a great admirer of Gross’ (and virtually a look-a-like twin) personally requested Milt to provide ideas for his films. A king of all media, Milt Gross also wrote songs, designed toys, had a radio show based on his characters, produced a kid’s TV show…

2. Milt crossed over into Fine Art. His acclaimed paintings were bought by Hollywood elite at his hit, one-man shows in Los Angeles.

1. Forget all the above BANANA OIL! The reason Milt Gross’ work is important is he wrote and drew FUNNY. His work has been called “hilarious,” “zany,” “wacky,” “wild,” and “frenetic.” R. Crumb says, “I love all his work-what a goofball!” Patrick McDonnell says, “He frees you up!” Jules Feiffer says, “Still great!” Sergio Aragones says, “I love his cartoons!” And Matt Groening puts it succinctly, “Dig!”

I myself love the nutty-crazy-incredibly-modern FUNNY comics of Milt Gross. That’s why I just edited and designed “The Complete Milt Gross Comic Books and Life Story” with a Fold-INtroduction by Al Jaffee and a foreword by Herb Gross, Milt’s son. Was it a laugh-riot, fun-filled labor of love putting this 354 page full color book together for IDW/Yoe Books? DUN’T ESK!

“Vice” magazine called Craig Yoe, “The Indiana Jones of Comics Historians!” “Publishers Weekly” calls Craig’s work “brilliant” and Yoe a “madman visionary,” saying he’s “ruining America’s youth!” Yoe’s book “Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster” was profiled on Fox News, NPR’s Fresh Air, The New York Times, and Hustler magazine. Yoe edits the group blog of The International Team of Comics Historians at http://theITCHblog.com.

§ Meanwhile, Colleen Doran posts a few pages from her shocking comic that was nabbed in a porn raid and links to Steve Bissette’s fascinating account of the Friendly Frank’s Raid, and other matters regarding comics censorship in the late ’80s, such as the below ad from CBG. It’s a great historical story, backed up with tons of materials from Bissette’s own archives.

While many writers use the -gate scandal suffix exclusively, we here at Stately Beat Manor like to occasionally dip further into the history books with a different allusion. Hence our Omnibus-dome sobriquet which, admittedly, fell a bit flat even though it sounded ominous as hell.

What do you think? Is -gate overused? Is there a different scandalized suffix that we should be using? Or is the Big Amazon Glitch a good enough name? Or should we just call it Omniboo-boo?

[Via Steve Thompson at Superitch]

While we’re out at Toy Fair, we’ll leave you with our annual Valentine’s Day image gallery! Let’s kick things off with the instant classic Cerebus Valentines for That Special Void in Your Life as whipped up by Chris Murphy, Laura Hudson and Caleb Goellner with some help from Douglas Wolk. But there’s lots more romance in the comics, oh yes. And maybe even a bit beyond…

A page from the weekly comics newspaper, the Comics Buyer’s Guide, March 11, 1988, via Larry Marder .

Andy Diggle’s correspondence from 1999 — an eye for talent!

And because we need three and Scott Edelman is our go-to-guy, here’s an ad below for the first issue of BOY COMMANDOS, which was originally printed on the back cover of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #8 (Winter 1942/1943).