It's time for the latest Comics Q and A!  Now on PWIPop AND the Comci Geek Speak website.  You send in your questions about comics and I answer them, and now that I am getting a lot more questions, the column will be written weekly.  So, let's get to it:

What is the relationship between wrestling and comics? between wrestling fandom and comics fandom?

I have always said that for the most part, wrestling is like Super-Hero comics come to life.  There are good guys and bad guys and they resolve things by fighting...and in the 90's, both of them got to be VERY popular by blurring the lines between good guys and bad guys.  I would also say that in the mind of a lot of the general public, they have the same type of disdain for the fans of both.  I would also say that if you are a fan of one or the other, it's hard to explain why you love it, but when it is done right, there nothing else quite like it.

As for any formal relationship, there is a LOT less of a relationship than you would think.  There were some stories featuring wrestling in comics, but until the 80's, wrestling was treated the same way that boxing was in pulp fiction with the most famous example being the “Crusher Hogan” character in the first Spider-Man story.  By the 80's, wrestling had exploded with the Hulk Hogan mainstream popularity and Marvel did what Marvel does:  They did a series that tried to play off that popularity as The Thing became a professional wrestler in an underground super-powered wrestling federation.  It failed and the Thing's solo book was canceled.  It also seems like the whole idea was just forgotten and never referred to again.

In the 90's, a few companies tried to tie in with wrestling's popularity in a more legitimate way.  Valiant  had a short-lived series of WWF comics that were presented like the “Hulk Hogan's Rock and Wrestling” series, WCW had a Marvel series, and later when the Attitude era was in full swing, horror publisher Chaos published a few WWF comics based on Undertaker, Mankind and Steve Austin among others.  None of them did very well, even though the Chaos books were worth finding if you're a WWF fans of that era.  There was also an excellent issue of “Twisted Web” which told the backstory of “Crusher Hogan”, written by Raven that was probably the best issue of that comic, and is one that I think any wrestling fan would love.

There's also an odd connection in that a lot of former and lower tier wrestlers will appear at Comic Conventions to hawk autographs and videos, much like Lou Ferrigno and other genre stars.  They must make money at it, or they wouldn't show up, so there is some crossover appeal.

At the comic shop I helped out in the 90's, whenever WCW or WWF were in town, we'd hear about wrestlers dropping by comics shop and buying a bunch of books.  I've also heard on PWInsider's Elite Audio (MUST listening for any wrestling fan, so subscribe already!) that there are members of the WWE creative team who are fans.  

That's about it for connections...but as a fan of both, I can't help but think that WWE is missing a huge opportunity to make their product better by hiring comic book writers.  They can't do worse than the failed Hollywood writers currently working on RAW.

And a related question:  In the 1990's, Chaos comics had a short lived WWF comics line with Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Mankind. How did these sell? Where there any other companies that did wrestling comics?

See above.  How did they sell?  Not well enough that they continued, probably in the 15,000 – 25,000 range which would be a huge hit now, but in the late 90's wasn't that good for a licensed book in full color, especially when they were being pushed pretty hard on RAW which was drawing around 5 million viewers at the time.

One that I wish they WOULD have done was a Mankind book that Evan Dorkin (of Milk and Cheese fame) pitched.  He sent them a plot that he posted on his blog that showed that Dorkin was a HUGE fan, and had some really cool ideas in it, but Chaos stuck with the creators they had at the time.  Of course, Dorkin has recently stated he doesn't much watch any more, which makes him a pretty typical wrestling fan.

Why don't we see many licensed comics for legitimate kids toys now (I don't mean gen-x retro projects like GI Joe -- I mean the 21st century version of GI Joe)?

Mostly because the toys are based on comics and movies.  There are very few toy lines that aren't media driven, unlike the 80's when a toy line would be created, and as part of the creation of that toy line, they would plan for animated series, comics, etc...  When I walk down the toy aisle at Target, all I see are toys based on comics and movies.  

Why don't we see video game comics much, at least among the big two?

Because you aren't looking?

DC's Wildstorm line has comics based on World of Warcraft, Gears of War, Prototype, Starcraft and others.  Marvel has Halo, which would have sold a lot better if the video game company would have kept their approval deadlines.  All of those books sell quite well outside the direct sales market, but do poorly in comic shops, which is why you probably haven't seen them.  I have read that the first Halo graphic novel sold over 150,000 copies in hardcover, which is more than just about any Original Graphic Novel.  

And just a reminder that Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog line is still selling in spite of the fact there hasn't been a good Sonic game in about 10 years.

The main reason you don't see them is because comic shop owners don't know how to promote anything that isn't Spider-Man, Wolverine or Batman.  These are great gateway books and could draw in new readers, but in most comic shops, they simply aren't ordered, and if they are, they are thrown on a rack and forgotten instead of given advertising or window displays.

What contemporary toy and game properties do you think most deserve a comic?

I don't know of any toys that aren't a comic or movie spin-off, but I think Archie is missing the boat by not having a Barbie comic.  In the shop I worked at in the late 980's/early 90's, we had a general audience as comics were a side business, as we would sell as many issues of Barbie as we would Spider-Man.  In fact, at an early convention, I was asked by our Marvel rep WHY we sell so many issues of Barbie and was told we sold more in our one store (in a chain of 13 stores) than all the shops in the rest of Minnesota COMBINED and I told him that I racked the comic over by general interest magazine so that kids and parents would find it.

As for games, I think that a Final Fantasy comic set in one of the more popular worlds (like FF VI, VII or X) would do well, especially since the Final Fantasy stuff from Japan tends to be aimed at kids and takes place in a new world that fans don't know.  I also think that a Mario Brothers comic could work if Archie did it in the same way they do the Sonic comic.  

Like a lot of people here in the US, I was laid off at the end of the year, which knocked a lot of wind out of my sails, and filled my day with filling out forms, updating my resume and the like.  So, if you know an employer looking for someone with 18 years of HR experience or 10 years of corporate training, please send them my way!

Got questions? Cory!! Strode, The Best Dressed Man In Comics has answers!  Send yours to me, Heck, I am BEGGING ya, or I'll just ramble on how much I want Barry Allen to stay dead, so E-mail them to me at solitaire.rose@gmail.com.

See his out of date website at www.solitairerose.com.