Val Kilmer
aka Batman
(1959 - 2025)

Strip Tease...

A couple strips from the "latest" season of Dexter Comics.
Unsure when the rest will see the light of day...

The soccer girls are always fun to watch.
The locker room backdrop allows us to learn the names of these two starting players.

Not sure if I've ever posted the team roster anywhere...
Something else that just began as a creative exercise.

The Early Episodes...

First Degree Burns

Dexter Comics #1
20th Anniversary Special Limited Edition Cover

The drawings are crude, but all the characters are there....
(Except for Candi, she moved to Hellford mid-semester. But not having her on the cover would be, well - Just plain dumb.)

Even dug out Candi Starr's outfit from Season 1.
She soon evolved from a typical cheerleader to a sporty athletic girl. It just seemed to make her a lot more fun, offering more possibilities for her character.

As for Dexter, Marley and Pete... Arson, petty vandalism, grand theft auto, destruction of property (and that's just the stuff they've been busted for).

Really tempted to go back and add stuff like Boba Fett wandering incompetently around, totally unable to locate Han Solo (who's also nearby). But turning the first episode into an animated GIF (with a Tie-Dye Fighter flying by) is tops on the list.

Cringe-worthy and sketchy, this is where the series began.
Available here for reference sake, Episode 51 is where I'm actually OK with some of the artwork.
Gets much better around Episode 108. It's a long way to go...

Episodes 1 - 8

Episodes 9 - 16

Episodes 17 - 24

Episodes 25 - 29

Episodes 30 - 37

Episodes 38 - 42

Episodes 43 - 50

Episodes 51 - 56

Cover Art...

Dexter, Pete and Marley do some serious experimenting in the name of science.

Shadows of the Empire

Honoring the day with some more great art, this time from the Dark Horse Star Wars Comics:

Art by Hugh Fleming
From Shadows of the Empire #4
(1996)

The Mighty Chewbacca

Peter Mayhew
aka Chewbacca
(1944 - 2019)

"A moment that rocked Star Wars fandom: Chewie dies"
-Star Wars Panel to Panel

Art by Rafael Kayanan, colored by Heroic Age
from Chewbacca #4 (2000)

The Hockey Gods Smile...

Mario Lemieux
(90-91 Upper Deck #144)

I usually keep a sharp eye at random junk sales, but it's good to keep your ears open too. Just happened to overhear some vendors discussing some hockey cards they had obtained.

Scored a small stack of early 1990s NHL Upper Deck for less than a buck a card, mostly rookie card/rookie year.

Upper Deck made its' NHL debut in 1990-91, instantly establishing itself as the manufacturer of premium cards. When I was young, a pack of Upper Deck was so expensive that it made a kid consider spending his allowance on a pack of cigarettes instead...

Hockey cards aren't worth what they used to be. But since I never intend to sell my collection, it's fun to acquire some novelty items that were impossible to get when I was younger.

Owen Nolan
(1991-92 Upper Deck  #362)

Just yesterday, I was remembering Owen Nolan's hat trick at the 1997 All-Star game...
The next day, I'm in possession of one of his Rookie Cards.

Eric Lindros
(1991 Score #329,  91-92 Upper Deck #9, 92-93 Upper Deck #88)

Mats Sundin
(92-93 Upper Deck #374)

Along with Nolan, I also found Eric Lindros and Mats Sundin... Coincidentally, these three guys were drafted first overall in consecutive years by the Quebec Nordiques (1989-1991)

Peter Forsberg
(91-92 Upper Deck #64)

Since Eric Lindros refused to play for Quebec, they had to trade him to Philidelphia for Ricci and Forsberg.

Steve Duchesne
with Mike Ricci cameo
(93-94 Upper Deck #217)

The Nordiques also got defenseman Steve Duchesne...
(Couldn't help but throw in this card from my existing collection of Duchesne with Mike Ricci.)

Chris Simon
(93-94 Upper Deck #243)

Quebec also received draft picks that turned into guys like Chris Simon, who joined the Nordiques, left God-awful Quebec, became the Colorado Avalanche, and won the Stanley Cup. Go figure.

Owen Nolan
(1991-92 Pro Set  #196)

Sweater number 88 is synonymous with Eric Lindros... Oddly enough, I'd always noticed how Owen Nolan is actually wearing 88 in his early Pro-Set cards with Quebec. No idea why... I had never seen Owen Nolan wear anything other than 11.  (Useless fact: The only teams to not have someone wearing number 11 that year were Buffalo, Quebec, St. Louis and Vancouver)

Joe Sakic
(94-95 Upper Deck McDonald's #McD-01)

Completely and totally randomly thrown into the box of cards for sale was a single card from the 94-95 Upper Deck McDonald's set. I already had a few packs from this set, but was missing mighty Joe Sakic.

Ed Belfour
(1990-91 Pro Set #598)

While nowhere near as cool as the Upper Deck cards, there was something about the 1990-91 Pro-Set. It's baffling how many cards there are... Can't believe I was missing Eddie Belfour from his "1990-91 Rookie Season".

Note that he's wearing number 30, and a mask with his trademark eagle... (his Upper Deck card below features a plain white helmet, wearing number 31. I presume because Alain Chevrier was wearing 30 with Chicago at the time)









1990-91 Upper Deck is still an awesome set, and the cards are now affordable.

So many Rookies, including Bure, Fedorov, Jagr, Modano, and Primeau.

 Still dig the nostalgic value of second/third year players...
Belfour, Joseph, Mogilny, Recchi, Richter, Roenick  and Sakic.

One of my favorite finds was what I assumed to be  Keith Tkachuk's Rookie Card (91-92 Upper Deck #698), representing Team USA at the World Junior Tournament.

Keith Tkachuk
(91-92 Upper Deck World Czech Juniors #85)

But what's with the foreign text on the back? Turns out that it's card #85 from a 100 card set called "Upper Deck Czech World Juniors". It uses the exact same photo as the English version, but I'm assuming it was only sold in Czechoslovakia, because the packaging I found online is definitely not English.

Not a true Rookie Card, nor as valuable as the English one... But still neat to have a piece of Czechoslovakian cardboard in my collection.

1997: One of the Coolest NHL All-Star Games Ever...

The 2019 NHL All-Star Game is being hosted by the San José Sharks.
Because when you think hockey, you think sunny California...

San José also held the event back in 1997, and Owen Nolan of the hosting San José Sharks demonstrated how to score three goals with style...

He points.... He shoots... He SCORES!

His third goal was on a breakaway, after pointing and firing into to the top right corner. This type of "called shot" is the kind of thing you see in baseball - not hockey!

Despite beating Dominik Hasek to complete a hat trick, Nolan and the Western Conference ended up losing 11-7. But the All-Star game isn't about winning or losing... It's about watching these guys have some fun with cool tricks and stunts like this.

San Jose Sharks Classics: Owen Nolan 'Called Shot' 1997 NHL All-Star Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaUc3KVWZ94

Make Some Noise...

Two serial episodes of classic Garfield, still in his prime...