''Plop!'', "The New Magazine of Weird Humor!", was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

in the mid-1970s. It falls into the horror /

humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

. It lasted 24 issues and the series ran from Sept./Oct.

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

to Nov./Dec.

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Background and creation

According to

Steve Skeates Steve Skeates (; born 1943) is an American comic book creator known for his work on such titles as ''Aquaman'', ''Hawk and Dove'', ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and ''Plop!'' He has also written under the pseudonyms Chester P. Hazel and Warren Savin. ...

, ''Plop!'' was based around a horror / humor story he wrote called "The Poster Plague", which was published in ''The

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

''. The title initially was intended to be called ''Zany''. A number of the one-panel cartoons published in the comic included the visible prefix ZA, in reference to the originally intended title.

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is w ...

credits publisher

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

with coming up with the final title: "

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

and 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".

Each issue was centered on a

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

starring three ghoulish characters with Biblical names:

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepher ...

(previously introduced in ''The

'' and ''The House of Secrets'', respectively) and

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

. An issue would typically contain a story told by each of the characters, each bidding to outdo the others in fiendishness. Stories for ''Plop!'' were generally created in one of three ways. The most common was that

would write the stories himself, using the

full script A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...

method. Due to a brief feud with editor

, for a time Skeates' stories were written under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Chester 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. An illustrative tale drawn by

Berni Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

involved a gourmet diner whose love for

frog legs Frog legs ( French: ''Cuisses de grenouille'') are one of the better-known delicacies of French cuisine, where it has been considered as a national delicacy. The legs of edible frogs are also consumed in other parts of the world, including Vi ...

leads to a predictable amphibian revenge: he is left without lower limbs and is doomed to negotiate the world on a trolley.

Basil Wolverton Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the

Wallace Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as '' Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', and ''MAD Magazine'' fro ...

provided 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 by

. All three artists worked on '' MAD'', and the logo of ''Plop!'' is reminiscent of the early logo of that magazine. Wolverton's covers were not drawn for ''Plop!''; 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 in ''Plop!'', 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. Aragonés drew most of the frame stories. Later MAD contributor Dave Manak also did art. 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.

Awards

The series received a number of awards, including the

Shazam Award The Academy of Comic Book Arts (ACBA) was an American professional organization of the 1970s that was designed to be the comic book industry analog of such groups as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Composed of comic-book profession ...

for Best Humor Story in 1973 for "The Gourmet" in issue #1, and another nomination for the same award for "The Escape" in the same issue.

also won the

for Best Writer (Humor Division) in 1973 for his work on the series. The comic was nominated for the Eagle Award for Favourite Comic (Humour) in 1977. at the official Eagle Awards website, archived at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

. (Retrieved 9 September 2018.)

Collected editions

* ''The Steve Ditko Omnibus Volume 1'' includes ''Plop!'' #16: "Love is a Dandy!" by Steve Skeates and Steve Ditko, 480 pages, September 2011,

Notes

References

* * {{DC Comics Mystery Titles Comics magazines published in the United States Satirical magazines published in the United States Satirical comics 1973 comics debuts 1976 comics endings Comics by David Michelinie Comics by George Kashdan Magazines established in 1973 Magazines disestablished in 1976 Defunct American comics Bimonthly magazines published in the United States

Background and creation

Contents

Awards

Collected editions

Notes

References