Plop!,"The New Magazine of Weird Humor!", was acomic bookanthology seriespublished byDC Comicsin the mid-1970s. It falls into thehorror/humorgenre.[1]It lasted 24 issues and the series ran from Sept./Oct.1973to Nov./Dec.1976.
| Plop! | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofPlop!#1 (Sept.-Oct. 1973), art byBasil Wolverton. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Bi-monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | September/October1973 – November/December1976 |
| No.of issues | 24 |
| Creative team | |
| Artist(s) | Sergio Aragonés,Basil Wolverton,Wally Wood |
| Editor(s) | Joe Orlando |
Background and creation
editAccording toSteve Skeates,Plop!was based around a horror / humor story he wrote called "The Poster Plague", which was published inTheHouse of Mystery.[2]
The title initially was intended to be calledZany.A number of the one-panel cartoons published in the comic included the visible prefix ZA, in reference to the originally intended title.Sergio Aragonéscredits publisherCarmine Infantinowith coming up with the final title: "Joe Orlandoand I were sitting in a restaurant talking with Carmine Infantino. They wanted a magazine that was different, something about black humor. Carmine came up with the name. We were talking about it and he said, 'What will we call it?' And I said, 'We can call it anything, because if the magazine is good, then it will stay'. And he said, 'No, we can't call it, for instance...PLOP!' And I said, 'Yes, we can'. And so I started making sketches of things going PLOP! and they laughed and decided the name was good ".[2]
Contents
editEach issue was centered on aframe storystarring three ghoulish characters with Biblical names:Cain,Abel(previously introduced inTheHouse of MysteryandTheHouse of Secrets,respectively) andEve.An issue would typically contain a story told by each of the characters, each bidding to outdo the others in fiendishness.
Stories forPlop!were generally created in one of three ways. The most common was thatSteve Skeateswould write the stories himself, using thefull scriptmethod. Due to a brief feud with editorJoe Orlando,for a time Skeates' stories were written under thepseudonymChester P. Hazel. The second way was using plot ideas submitted by readers of the anthology. Orlando would select which plot ideas would be used and Skeates would then write the full story. The third way was that Aragonés would write the plot, and someone else would write the script once the story was fully drawn.[2]
An illustrative tale drawn byBerni Wrightsoninvolved a gourmet diner whose love forfrog legsleads to a predictable amphibian revenge: he is left without lower limbs and is doomed to negotiate the world on a trolley.[3]
Basil WolvertonandWallace Woodprovided covers for the first 19 issues, each depicting a freakish character of some kind. The cover borders hosting a plethora of creatures, however, were drawn bySergio Aragonés.All three artists worked onMAD,and the logo ofPlop!is reminiscent of the early logo of that magazine. Wolverton's covers were not drawn forPlop!;they were inventory pieces which he sent to DC Comics as a general submission. When all of the drawings he submitted were found suitable for use inPlop!,Wolverton briefly came out of retirement so that he could continue drawing covers for the magazine. After he had a stroke, the magazine turned to Wood as the new cover artist.[2]
Aragonés drew most of the frame stories. Later MAD contributor Dave Manak also did art.[4]
The magazine was first published without ads but, when sales proved insufficient, advertisements were brought in for later issues. The magazine sold so poorly that, even with the added advertising revenue, DC Comics lost money on each issue, leading to its cancellation.[2]
Awards
editThe series received a number of awards, including theShazam Awardfor Best Humor Story in 1973 for "The Gourmet" in issue #1,[2]and another nomination for the same award for "The Escape" in the same issue.Steve Skeatesalso won theShazam Awardfor Best Writer (Humor Division) in 1973 for his work on the series.[2]The comic was nominated for theEagle Awardfor Favourite Comic (Humour) in 1977.[5]
Collected editions
edit- The Steve Ditko Omnibus Volume 1includesPlop!#16: "Love is a Dandy!" by Steve Skeates and Steve Ditko, 480 pages, September 2011,ISBN1-4012-3111-X
Notes
edit- ^McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle.Dorling Kindersley.p. 156.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.
Edited by Joe Orlando with contributions from comics' finest creators,Plop!was truly 'The Magazine of Weird Humor!'
- ^abcdefgCassell, Dewey (April 2007). "The Hellish Humor ofPlop!".Back Issue!(#21).TwoMorrows Publishing:21–27.
- ^Skeates, Steve(w),Wrightson, Bernie(p), Wrightson, Bernie (i). "The Gourmet"Plop!,no. 1 (September–October 1973).
- ^Klein, Todd(March 15, 2010)."Logo Study: PLOP!".RetrievedMarch 23,2010.
- ^"1977 | the Eagle Awards".April 4, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-04-04.at the official Eagle Awards website, archived at theWayback Machine.(Retrieved 9 September 2018.)
References
edit- Plop!at theGrand Comics Database
- Plop!at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)