The Comical Cal Ripken Bio-Comic

In honor of Cal Ripkin’s 54th birthday this past August 24, Dan Glickman posted highlights from Baseball Superstars Comics’s 1992 bio-comic on Junior to his web site The Baseball Continuum (baseballcontinuum.com).

Bizarre Baseball Culture: A Cal Ripkin Bio-Comic

By Dan Glickman (The Baseball Continuum, August 24, 2014)

Baseball Superstars Comics‘ 1992 bio-comic on Cal Ripken, Jr.

Baseball Superstars Comics‘ 1992 bio-comic on Cal Ripken, Jr.

In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared its head in pop culture and fiction.

There is a special type of baseball culture that I haven’t really covered yet… the baseball biography comic. Whether authorized or unauthorized, the baseball bio-comic is it’s own small subgenre of weird.

Take Baseball Superstars Comics‘ bio-comic on Cal Ripken, Jr. from 1992. A black-and-white comic from the now long-defunct “Revolutionary Comics” and seventh in a series of baseball bio-comics, it’s like a fever-dream of a look into the life and times of the Orioles great up through the 1991 season. The art is disturbing, the writing wooden, and the facts sometimes feel wrong.

That said, it’s not all bad. It’s got a so-bad-it’s-good quality at times, and any comic that features two pages devoted to the longest game ever is going to get my attention.

So, on his 54th birthday, here’s a look at the Baseball Superstars comic on Cal Ripken Jr.

Continue reading “Bizarre Baseball Culture: Cal Ripkin Bio-Comic” at Baseballcontinuum.com.

*** The BALTIMORE OR LESS Highlights Reel: ***

OK, like Cal himself, the “Baseball Superstars” comic is pretty dull. It’s hard to get excited over lines like “Ever mindful of the heroic figure he presents to children and adults alike, Cal is careful to provide a healthy, fit, drug-free example…” and the Ironbird’s championing of milk:

Cal asks: Got Milk?"

Cal: “The nutrition that milk provides does great things for your body!”

So the comic attempts to sex up the storyline (and no doubt stir the loins of its male adolescent audience) with some rather tame – but well-rounded – visual T&A, as in the following panels, which remain our faves.

calbioladies

Though he’s “popular with the ladies” Cal is known for “treating women with respect.”

Of course, the sexiest panel is reserved for Cal’s close encounter at home plate on May 2, 1988 with “Morganna the Kissing Bandit” (a baseball groupie who knew a thing or two about the benefits of milk glands herself!). To quote Cubbies fan Cameron from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”: “Hey batta batta batta, hey batta batta batta, SCHWING batta!

calbiokissingbandit

Following are additional images of the real-life encounter.

Morganna Rose Roberts, also known as "the kissing bandit," is shown kissing Cal Ripkin, Jr. at home plate in 1988 (Gene SWeeney, Jr. Baltimore

Morganna Rose Roberts, also known as “the kissing bandit,” is shown kissing Cal Ripkin, Jr. at home plate in 1988 (Gene Sweeney, Jr., Baltimore Sun)

Watch Cal Ripkin, Jr. Kissed by Morganna the Kissing Bandit.

 

This entry was posted in 1980s, 1990s, Baltimorons, Celebrities, Orioles, Sports and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

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