Oh, I'm glad to see someone else enjoyed those old B.C. strips. I have several of those old Fawcett paperbacks and that was my only exposure to the strip for the longest time. I really enjoyed them, and still do. I didn't understand the negativity towards the strip until I had a chance to read its more recent output. Then, it all made sense.

Johnny Hart probably should have retired sometime in the 1980s. Then he would remembered fondly.
C. Elam | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 2:06 pm | #

I like the new logo just fine. It has that "electric blue Superman" feel to it but that doesn't bother me for some reason.

You're right that it will need updating soon. Maybe that isn't a bad thing, though. They should update their look every decade or so.
Ian Brill | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 3:36 pm | #

All this angst over the change to the DC logo just has me thinking: wow, comic fans really don't like change, do they?
Dorian | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 3:45 pm | #

I'll miss the old DC bullet, but as there are a billion older comics out in the world with it emblazoned in he upper lefthand corner, it's not like it'll suddenly disappear forever or anything. I think I'd rather worry about something that matters.

And as for the Peanuts books, I think you and Dorian may be right about the Peanuts books hiting hard times once they start getting into the 80s. I don't know if a lot of people will be too psyched about shelling out $30 for series after series of Sunday strips featuring Spike playing soccer with his cactus.
Bill Doughty | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 4:01 pm | #

"All this angst over the change to the DC logo just has me thinking: wow, comic fans really don't like change, do they?"

It's really sad, isn't it?
Hovy | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 4:03 pm | #

many comic fans don't like change. What I don't like is that, as Mike implies, this is so obviously fixed at a time. Just as the "Superman/DC Comics" bullet just screams 50s/early 60s, this new one screams that it's a product of the here and now. It might as well incorporate the phrase "no carbs" somewhere. It looks like a bad sports team logo. The DC Stars or something like that.

the DC Bullet that we've had for 30 years worked because it was a pretty timeless design. it was so simple as to become easily iconic.

This change strikes me like change for the sake of change, and anybody who's ever worked for a large bureaucracy knows how that works. We can't fix anything else, so by god, we'll buy a new logo to convince people that things have changed!!
Jim Kosmicki | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 4:03 pm | #

"All this angst over the change to the DC logo just has me thinking: wow, comic fans really don't like change, do they?"

Or I just really like Milton Glaser's design work. I wouldn't have minded so much if they redesigned it and made something that felt more long lasting. I have a feeling we'll look at this one in about 5 years and want another redesign.
Shane | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 7:11 pm | #

plus, what everyone seems to forget in posting the "timeline" of DC cover slugs is that there was a design in between the "Superman/DC/National Comics" circle and the Glaser design. It's my personal nostalgia zone, as it was the logo design when I first started noticing comics -- it was just a circle with the block letters DC (usually if not always in red, I believe) with the name of the specific book in plain type either above or below the DC. it was utilitarian, but it was what was on a lot of great books, including most, if not all, of the great 100 page books.
Jim Kosmicki | Email | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 8:33 pm | #

Jim - I remember that logo, too. It's the one on a bunch of Swamp Thing covers, after all!
Mikester | Homepage | 05.09.05 - 10:06 pm | #

Complete Peanuts won't hit the 1980s until April of 2011. I can't even think about next week, let alone 6 years from now. I'm sure Fantagraphics isn't sweating it too hard. And they've surely accounted for reduced sales as the series ages.

What may help Fantagraphics is the likely boost when the strip hits the prime years (starting now all the way through the 1970s.) When we get to the relatively inferior material, I'm sure there will be enough a) completists and b) mainstream readers who *like* Spike in the desert and all those Snoopy-wants-a-cookie gags to keep the series in the black. I know I plan to buy the whole thing.
Cole Odell | Email | 05.10.05 - 7:26 am | #

There's also the "Line of DC Super Stars" variation of the early-to-mid 1970's DC logo, which dressed up its predecessor. It had two stars, placed on either side of the DC letters, which in turn gave way to the 4-star glaser logo.

The "Line of DC Super-Stars" logo is my favorite, as it was the logo on the books when I stared reading them in 1975. It lasted a while: for instance, Superman 271-307 carried this version. I liked how it promised a whole stable of good comics in addition to the one in your hands.

By the way, the 100-pagers had their own separate DC logo, with the letters and circle outlined, unlike the regular books.
Cole Odell | Email | 05.10.05 - 7:42 am | #

I was looking over some of my old LSHs and noticed something weird: the Glaser bullet logo pops up on Superboy and the Legion #212, in the center of that band DC used to run across its covers with head shots and promo blurbs. The next issue reverts to the "Line of Super-Stars" logo, which remains until #224, when the bullet arrives for good. If they had the new logo ready that far in advance, why wait so long to implement it?
Cole Odell | Email | 05.10.05 - 8:07 am | #

Cole - do you have a scan of SLSH #212 with the Glaser logo? I looked at our copy here at the shop and it has the "Line of DC Superstars" emblem. The one on Comics.org also has the "Line" logo. Maybe this is some kind of reprint or odd variant.
Mikester | Homepage | 05.10.05 - 11:54 am | #

Mike--check out the picture of SLSH #212 at Mile High:

http://www.milehighcomics.com/cg...644612238% 20212

Weird, huh?
Cole Odell | Email | 05.10.05 - 1:03 pm | #

Fantagraphics will work pretty closely with Norton and the Schulz estate to make sure they scale down on sales when as expected they get out of the older, archival material. There are enough Schulz completists out there the project will likely remain more than worthwhile, though.
Tom Spurgeon | Email | 05.11.05 - 9:48 am | #