Comic Coverage

Friday Night Fights: Citizen Kane (GIL Kane, that is)

You know, it's been awhile since I've jumped into the ring of Friday Night Fights, the weekly event celebrating the smashy-clobbery stuff we superhero fans can't get enough of.

Switching things up a bit, fighting-mad space god Bahlactus has decreed that all battle scenes should be in black and white only, sorta like that cinematic masterpiece The Raging Bull.

Well, I'm more of a Citizen Kane man myself, so I thought my color-free frenzy could feature the work of the late, great Gil Kane.

As one of the most distinctive stylists in comics history, Kane (no relation to Bob) was one of the first artists I could readily identify as a kiddie comic fan. In fact, my friends and I classified him as "the nose guy" in response to his repeated "nostril canyon" close-ups of characters. Although Kane has never been one of my favorites ("distinctive" can easily become "distracting"), there WAS an aspect of his work I prefer over everybody else: Gil was the undisputed king of the Sprawling Smackdown!

As a master of foreshortening and human anatomy, Kane would super-charge characters with so much dynamic, explosive power that stray hands, feet, or elbows would routinely extend into adjoining panels. Punches were never the stiff, Rockem-Sockem pokes of lesser artists, but thunderous blows that sent the target sprawling head over heels at a steep backwards angle.

Assembled as a montage of panels from Marvel Team-Up #16 (1973), Comic Coverage proudly presents the flashing fisticuffs of Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and the evil Basilisk, as choreographed by Gil "Citizen" Kane!

(click on the scratchy Newsreel film footage for a larger view!)

Worst Cover Ever: Wide Open Spaces

As if growing up during History's Ugliest Decade wasn't bad enough, along came the mid-1970's covers of DC Comics.

Here's the deal:  For years it was a common practice for DC and Marvel Comics to use one artist as their primary cover guy.  Their reasoning was that a single art style would give their line of comics a unified look that potential readers could identify and stick with over time.

Obviously, a big assignment like that required artists with speed, a superior sense of design, and a flair for dramatic imagery.  Hitting all three of these requirements were guys like Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru, Gil Kane, and Nick Cardy...all of whom enjoyed long, successful and very memorable stints as cover artists.

Okay, back to the 70's.  Starting about 1975, that decade's stifling mediocrity managed to worm its way onto the covers of DC Comics. During this period, DC's primary cover artist was Ernie Chan who, because of an error on his immigration papers, was forced to sign his work as "Ernie Chua" for a time. Let me make it clear that I've long appreciated Ernie Chan's artwork, primarily his inking over artists like John and Sal Buscema....but for whatever reason, whether by editorial fiat, overwork, or the black hole gravitational pull of mid-70's suckitude, his covers were some of the dullest I've ever seen. Why?  Take a look at the cover of Justice League of America #136 (1976) for a clue:

No, the good guys aren't battling bad guys in the vast nothingness of the Phantom Zone...this completely blank background was actually the norm for DC's covers at the time. Often colored vanilla white or a dreary pastel shade, these minimalistic covers provided zero context, setting, or sense of scale, so the positions and proportions of characters were a confusing jumble of imagery.

For example, is Dr. Light (the guy shooting at Hawkman) standing on the ground or flying in the air?

Is Earth-2 Robin laying on his back or jumping onto The Shade? 

Since the Shade's left foot establishes the ground plane, where exactly is the Joker standing? In a hole?

Is that Hawkman, or a Hawkman-shaped growth sticking out of Batman's left shoulder?

Note how the logos and the copy blurb along the top of the cover are all crammed together, yet there's an open space big enough to drive an SUV through above and to the right of Hawkman.

Throw in some funky foreshortening on Batman's right arm, his oddly-positioned head and the Joker's massive barrel chest, and it's safe to declare this the Worst Cover Ever (at least for this week).

Marvel Movies AHOY!

For the past several days, in seems the entire pop cultural spectrum has been buzzing about the "invincible" box office mojo of Iron-Man, the first official film of the fledgling Marvel Studios. Adding to the giddy excitement of the mammoth $100 million weekend was yesterday's perfectly-timed Q1 financial report from Marvel Entertainment, Inc.

Normally I don't get too excited about financial reports, but this one included Marvel's slate of future movie projects...complete with release dates! Now, I realize this is probably premature...and release dates can change on a whim...but I thought I'd take a look at the list and jot down a few thoughts on each movie, if anything to look back and see how prophetic (or pathetic) my musings were.

First of all, it looks like nothing from Marvel is on tap for 2009...which I can hardly complain about since the Iron-Man and Hulk movies are a mere six weeks apart here in 2008. I have to say, though...as great as it is to have two big Marvel movies coming out the same summer, I think it'll become more obvious as blockbuster season rolls on that summer of 2009 might've been a better time to release the Hulk.

However, as you'll soon see, the "double-release summer" appears to be something Marvel is sticking with for their upcoming films...so I guess we'll have to see how that strategy pans out before I get too skeptical. I suspect the Hulk movie's performance will have a strong influence on many of these tentative release dates...but for now, let's go with the schedule Marvel's provided. Leading off the list, of course, is...

Simply the Best: Around the Round Table

Normally, a cover's artistic merit alone earns it a place in my Simply the Best gallery, but sometimes even a sub-par cover design can make the cut on sheer historical importance alone. One of these major milestones was All Star Comics #3 (1940), which featured the first official meeting of the Justice Society of America. 

Prior to this issue, All Star #1 and #2 featured stories of the individual heroes, but no sign of them interacting with or even being aware of each other. This changed in the third issue, as all of these individual superheroes met as The Justice Society of America for fellowship and to recount their recent adventures. Later issues would feature them heading out on missions and solving crimes as a team, but for now, the fact that they were all in the same room together was the big news. In other words, what we had here was the world's first comic book superteam.

In fact, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide has long considered the JSA as "a breakthrough concept, second in importance only to the creation of the superhero".  Adding to the JSA's stature is the mystery of what could have inspired such a gathering.  Some believe it could have been an entirely original idea by writer Gardner Fox, while others point to the old myths as possible inspirations..such as the Ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, a team of famous adventurers (most notably Heracles), each with their own special power or skill to contribute to the quest for the Golden Fleece.

Based on the distinctive circular table pictured on All Star #3, others believe the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table is the most likely precedent for the JSA:

Another possible influence (also featuring a round table) was a 1938 cover of The Shadow magazine, which pictured the mysterious pulp hero and his gang of loyal operatives gathered 'round a meeting table.

However, despite all of these plausible influences, the Justice Society of America seemed like something new. Instead of warriors, knights, or operatives following a single leader, the members of the JSA were considered equals with no single superhero as the group's primary leader or raison d'être. Considering "America" was part of the team's name, I guess their more democratic approach shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but at the same time, the importance of this new group dynamic should be recognized as something special...and the template for all the super teams that followed.

Is it a simple (bordering on crude) cover design? It certainly is, but despite the stiff, endearingly mundane staging, there's an undeniable and surreal power to the scene that's hard to describe. Is it the somewhat eerie appearance of fully-masked (thereby emotionless) characters like the Atom (far left), Sandman (next to the Atom), and Dr. Fate (with the gold helmet) at odds with their grinning teammates? Could it be the presense of the Spectre (wearing the green hood), a nearly-omnipotent living corpse sitting there as casually as a customer at Denny's? Or is it just the moon-bat crazy spectacle of all those colorful, whimsical and occasionally spooky costumes in a single setting?

Well, whatever it is, it's working for me. Oh, and to get past some of the Golden Age drawing limitations of the original, how about a recreation of the All Star Comics #3 cover by Jerry Ordway, which appeared in All-Star Squadron Annual #2 (1982):

Now, I'm not sure getting rid of the original's Big Box O' Words was a completely good thing (did we really need to see the Atom's bare legs?), but its absense does cut down on the visual clutter and crowding. The best part of it? The surreal vibe of the original scene is still very much intact.

How about you? Are there certain covers that remain your favorites despite crude or "past its prime" artwork? If so, what are they?

At The Movies: Iron-Man

There's just something about the opening night of a superhero movie I can't resist (not that I've ever tried to resist one), and Iron-Man was certainly no exception.

When I saw the Iron-Man trailer last September, I knew things looked good for the inaugural film of Marvel Studios, a conviction that grew as positive press for the movie continued to pour in.

Which brings us to opening night.  Like I said, it's hard to resist the kick-off of a superhero movie, but all the great buzz combined with my fondness for the Iron-Man character made my butt in a seat on opening night a foregone conclusion.

So, now that I've actually seen it...what's the verdict?  I'll break it down into various categories:

1. Setting: I appreciated how the ongoing Jihadist threat was woven into Iron-Man's origin (replacing the original Viet-Nam angle).  Although the "Ten Rings" terrorists are a vague reference to the Mandarin (an old ring-wielding Iron-Man villain), they're clearly the same sort of nomadic fanatics making life miserable here in the Real World.  Depressingly familiar images of flea-bitten warlords, wide-eyed followers, and videotaped hostages all pack a ready-made emotional punch and give Iron-Man an urgency and relevance other superhero films just don't share.

2. Story: Without going into spoiler-heavy detail, I loved the tight, no-nonsense storytelling. With just the right amount of information, complex personalities and relationships are communicated with a minimum of fuss. For example, instead of resorting to tedious exposition, the conflict between Tony Stark and bad guy Obadiah Stane is cleverly introduced through a series of magazine cover photos. This same economical approach infuses the entire movie, which allows Iron-Man to clip along at just the right pace.  Slower "emotional beats" elegantly balance out (and amplify) the action scenes, so nothing feels indulgent or meandering (I'm looking at YOU, Superman Returns).  At its core, it's the story of hubris transformed by tragedy into redemption through self-invention...a theme the movie never loses sight of despite the potential distractions of head spinning action scenes and generous amounts of clever humor.

3. Acting: Although the movie had solid performances all around, Robert Downey Jr. completely knocked it out of the park. In fact, his nuanced, intelligent and genuinely moving portrayal of Tony Stark was so good, I can't imagine anyone else in the role...that's how much he owned it. Unfortunately, the dominance of Downey's acting cast a bit of a shadow over the supporting performances of Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and Terrence Howard (Jim Rhodes).  They certainly weren't bad by any means, but their interaction with Downey seemed to amplify their weaknesses. Someone who managed to stand toe-to-toe with Downey was Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, whose disarming charm made his two-faced treachery all the more shocking. 

4.  Special Effects: Part of the challenge of any science fiction movie is to give mythical technology the illusion of believability...and Iron-Man pulls it off.  From Tony Stark's awkward flying tests to the magnificent "suiting up" scene (with that awesome robot "pit crew"), the off-the-charts impossibility of super-powered armor was easy to ignore with such convincingly "real" costuming and effects. Most impressive was the near-seamless integration of computer animation with live action...making me realize they've come a long way since the first Spider-Man movie's rubbery and not terribly convincing CGI sequences. Sure, the "robotic" appearance of Iron-Man gets more of a pass from our brain's "authenticity gauge" than a non-armored figure would (I'm looking at YOU, Hulk), but still...what they accomplished in Iron-Man was about as believable as anything I've seen so far.

5.  The Directing: Special kudos to director Jon Favreau, who infused what could have been a soulless, high-tech thrill ride with humanity and grit. His inspired casting (remember, Downey was seen as a pretty risky choice in some quarters), insistence on a smart script, and the performances he coaxed from actors and sci-fi wizards alike deserve a sustained (albeit symbolic) standing ovation.

That's the long story.  The short story?  I'm rating this a full five out of five Iron-Man helmets!  Yes, it's that good.  As soon as you pick up your Free Comic Book Day comics, proceed immediately to the nearest movie theatre to see Iron-Man! 

A Tale of Two Iron-Men

Iron-Man © Marvel Comics

So, who's going to see the movie today? I'd love to go tonight, but I'm not sure if the timing is going to work out. We'll see. Whenever I do get to see it, I'll be sure to give you the full report!"

Iron-Man vs. Dr. Strange! No, the OTHER Dr. Strange.9

I've always been fascinated by the earliest stages of enduring comic book characters. Much like a long-running TV series, the beginning "baby steps" of now-familiar figures are often a period of growth and experimentation, before their signature cast, concepts and personalities were in full bloom. 

A good example of this awkward stage is Iron-Man's early appearances in Tales of Suspense.  While the core elements were in place from his debut in issue #39 (billionaire genius as armored adventurer), the next seven or eight issues featured fantastical settings and oddball villains that (in hindsight) seemed a poor fit for the character (click on the covers for a larger view).

It's during this period that you realize just how fluid and improvisational the nascent Marvel Universe was. The cover of Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963) certainly drove that point home, as Iron-Man faced a supervillain named Doctor Strange...a mere two months before Strange Tales #110 hit the newsstands, featuring the debut of Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme: Doctor Strange!

On a completely unrelated note: For those of you who've already read this week's DC Universe #0, see me after the jump (MAJOR spoilers ahead)....

Iron and Water Don't Mix

You know, it just occured to me today: the Iron-Man movie hits theatres on Friday! After a crazy-busy April, time's flown by and here we are barreling toward May and....Iron-Man!  To help celebrate the much-anticipated movie, I think I'll spend today through Friday musing about ol' Shellhead.

After a year and a half of researching and writing Cover To Cover pieces, I've sifted through thousands of cover images. With that much searching, various trends and patterns are bound to emerge.  One of those odd trends that have caught my eye is the sheer number of covers featuring Iron-Man fighting Namor, the Sub-Mariner. 

Granted, Marvel has a long tradition of intramural conflict between their superheroes, and even more when an infamous hot-head like Namor is involved...but for whatever reason, these guys seem to mix it up more than just about any other pair of characters (with the noteable exception of the Hulk and the Thing).  Making it even more interesting and/or bizarre is the fact that the fully-armored Iron-Man is probably the most...shall we say "clothed" character in the Marvel universe (with ZERO visible flesh), while Namor (with only those green swim trunks and wrist bands) is most likely the least clothed. Make of that what you will.

In The Red: The Winner (and the Answers)!

Late last week, I challenged you to identify 32 red-themed comic book characters, each with the word "red", "crimson", or "scarlet" somewhere in their names.  Although nobody got all of them right, Thomas Aderholt managed to nail a staggering 31 out of 32 names (missing only character #5). Congratulations, Thomas...your copy of the Watchmen trade paperback is on its way!

Thanks to everyone who participated...I hope you had fun!  Stay tuned for more comics-themed challenges in the months to come.

So...who were all of those In The Red
characters, anyway? Here's the official answer key:

1. The Red Hood: An old Batman villain who later became...The Joker!

2. Crimson Fox: A DC Comics French superhero and member of the Global Guardians.

3. Red Tornado II: Android member of the Justice League.

4. Red Wolf: A Native American superhero appearing in Marvel Comics.

5. Red Dragon: Golden Age superhero published by Street and Smith from 1943-44.  Taken from quite possibly the most gruesome cover I've ever seen pitched specifically to "Boys and Girls".  Yick.

6. Mr. Scarlet: Golden Age superhero published by Fawcett Comics, mentor of Pinky the Whiz Kid.

7. Crimson Dynamo: Iron-Man's evil Soviet counterpart.

8. Red Arrow: Formerly Speedy, sidekick of Green Arrow.

9. Red Ryder: The cowboy hero that will always be associated with his "Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle" a young Ralphie Parker had to have in the movie A Christmas Story.

10. The Scarlet Centurion: Time-traveling Marvel villain and son of Kang the Conqueror.

11. The Crimson Avengers: A very early Golden Age hero, seen here wearing his original Shadow-like costume.

12. Red Guardian: The Soviet answer to Captain America and one-time adversary of the Avengers.

13. Red Power Ranger: Chop-socky teen hero from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers TV series.

14. The Red Ghost: In addition to turning invisible and intangible, this classic Commie villain was also the master of three super-powered apes.  Yes, really.

15. Red Rube: A Golden Age hero published by MLJ Comics (precursor of Archie comics). By shouting "Hey, Rube!", young Reuben Reuben transformed into an adult superhero with a vast array of powers and abilities (sounding suspiciously close to Fawcett's Captain Marvel).

16. Red Robin: Superhero identity of former Batman sidekick Dick Grayson in Kingdom Come, an alternate future set in the DC universe. Recently, another former Robin named Jason Todd has adopted the Red Robin identity.

17. Omega Red: X-Men villain and Soviet counterpart of Wolverine.

18. The Red Bee: Golden Age superhero published by Quality Comics who fought crime with a "stinger gun" and a swarm of trained bees, one of whom he affectionately named "Michael". You can't make this stuff up, can you?

19. Red King: Justice League villain.

20. The Scarlet Witch: Mutant sorceress and long-time member of the Avengers (before she flipped out and scrambled all of reality).

21. Red Raven: Flying Golden Age superhero published by Timely (Marvel) Comics.

22. Crimson Commando: X-Men foe and former member of the Freedom Force, the first government-sponsored mutant team.

23. Red Mask: Western hero published by Magazine Enterprises during the mid-50's cowboy craze.

24. Red Panzer: Agent of the Third Reich and enemy of Wonder Woman.

25. Red Shift: One of the many heralds of space-god Galactus.

26. Red Sonja: The "She-Devil With a Sword" introduced in Marvel's Conan series.

27. Red Star: A DC Comics Russian superhero, originally known as "Starfire".

28. Red Tornado I: One of the first superhero parodies, Maxine "Ma" Hunkel posed as a male superhero by sporting a homemade costume and fighting crime in her New York neighborhood. She's most famous for her blundering cameo appearance in All-Star Comics #3 (1940), the official debut of the Justice Society of America (thereby making Ma an honorary member of the very first superhero team).

29. Scarlet Spider: Heroic identity of Ben Parker, the clone of Peter Parker (from the infamous Spider-Clone saga)

30. Red Skull: Arch-enemy of Captain America.

31. Scarlet Scarab: Egyptian supervillain who fought the Invaders during WWII.

32. Rocket Red: An individual member of the Rocket Red Brigade, an armored force that was created to defend the former Soviet Union.

There...you now know more red-themed characters than you ever cared to know about!

Oh, before I forget, Thomas not only got 31 of the 32 characters, but he also sent along five additional red-themed characters I had overlooked.  Here they are:

Red Torpedo
Agent Crimson
Red Blazer
Red Demon
Red Rocket
Red, White & Blue

Now that's what I call "going above and beyond the call of duty"!

P.S.: On a completely unrelated note, be sure to check out Brian Disco Snell's much-deserved skewering of DC's horrendous Countdown series. Several bloggers have slammed this wretched, meandering mess...but nobody hits the bulls-eye quite like Snell. I thankfully bailed after the first three or four issues, but for those of you who put all that time and money into following the year-long weekly series, let Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep (one of my daily "must visit" blogs) soothe your pain!

If it's springtime, it must be...MICRO-CON!

I use the term "springtime" lightly, since most of Minnesota received a surprise last-blast of winter over the past few days...including snow in many parts of the state. It's a bit like those psycho-killer movies where the psycho-killer pops up one last time before going down for good (or until the next sequel).

Anyway, a springtime tradition here in the Twin Cities metro area is the Micro-Con, which (as it's name implies) is a scaled-down version of Fall-Con, the area's largest comic convention (which I covered here last October). Instead of an all-weekend thing, Micro-Con is one day only with about the same number of comic book dealers, but not as many of the "extras" like programing and A-list guests. Oh, we have the reliable cast of local pros showing up, but none of the "headliner" guys Fall-Con specializes in. For me, it's essentially a chance to do some hardcore "comics shoppin".  So, with my want list in hand and my iPod securely attached to to my head, I'm off.  I'll check in later today with a full report.

UPDATE:  Okay, I'm back.  Some random thoughts on Micro-Con:

1.  Not much "Micro" about it as far as attendance goes.  Hitting on a cold and periodically snowy April weekend did wonders for drawing hordes of people to the Con.  In fact, when I got there at !0:00, there was a line several blocks long waiting to get in.  I thought that sort of thing only happened in San Diego!  Of course, being a middle-aged dude, I was dressed for the weather, but alot of my younger fellow geeks were wearing shorts and t-shirts (!) and looking quite cold. Oh, and another thing:  bright pink hair and multiple piercings lose a substantial amount of coolness when said pink-haired-multiply pierced person is hunch-shouldered and shivering uncontrollably. 

2.  I was surprised to see so many costumed people wandering around...since Micro-Con hasn't normally been a "show up in costume" kind of event.  There was even a guy in a Gonk costume (the "box robot" from the Star Wars movies) awkwardly wobbling about.

3.  As with Fall-Con, I was at Micro-Con strictly for hunting down deals on back issues.  I typically spend about half an hour just walking the floor to get a sense for who's there to move some comics and...who's not.  The guys selling their comics at the Overstreet Guide or above...buh bye.  Guys with 50-75% off?  That's where you'll find me.  However, even those guys you have to watch out for, because 50% off a $14 comic book is still too much to pay for a book that should only be $3 to $4...and that's something you can only get a sense for if you've been doing this awhile.  Not to brag, but it's good to have a working "Spidey Sense" that can tell me in seconds if a dealer's display is worth my time searching through. Once the walk-through is done, I "swoop" in a scoop up the deals.

4. Speaking of the deep discount tables, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many dealers were willing to sell their stuff at 50-75% off the marked prices.  Whether it's a result of heavy eBay competition or the economic downturn, I don't care.  It's good news for collectors like me looking to get the most bang for their buck.  Sure, a couple of dealers stuck to their usual "150% of guide" pricing policy, which scared off most of the browsers. However, I suppose for those guys, if they sell a handful of comics at horribly inflated prices, their Con visit was worth the money and the trouble to set up shop.

5. Finally, how about a look at "The Stack" itself?  My enthusiasm for 1970's Marvel Comics keeps on rolling, as nearly 90% of the comics I bought are prime Marvel Bronze. Some highlights (click on the comics for a larger view):

Marvel Team-Ups: One of my favorite titles as a kid was Marvel Team-Up, especially the first couple of years of the series.  It served as a neat little "primer" to the Marvel Universe, as a favorite hero (Spidey) met dozens of new and exciting characters. There was also a real effort to tie the storylines into the continuity of the Amazing Spider-Man title, so you really had a sense that these team-ups had some bearing on the characters' lives and the overall Marvel continuity (unlike the somewhat isolated feeling of DC's team-up titles). The great Gil Kane drew the covers for issues #7 and 24, while John Romita Sr. did the Spidey/Iron-Man one in the center.

Marvel Monster books: I can't get enough of the excellent Tomb of Dracula series.  The stories hold up remarkably well, many of which are genuinely spooky and well-crafted.  The other one?  Giant-Size Man-Thing #1.  I'm such a sucker for battling monster covers, I overcame my inner 4th grader's relentless snickering about the title and bought the dang thing.

Battling Man-Monsters: I recall having Hulk Annual #5 as a kid, but have no idea what happened to it (there's a segment of my 70's comics that mysteriously disappeared during "the moving years"), so I bought a replacement.  Hulk battles a gang of famous Pre-Marvel Monsters, including the first "Hulk" character (now called "Xemnu the Living Titan", upper right corner). Second, Hulk #139 (1971).  What can I say? Any cover with the hero in the middle of a "gauntlet of arch-enemies" is as good as mine. The last one is Marvel Two-In-One #50 (1979), featuring another theme I enjoy: modern hero battling a previous version of him or herself. In this case, it's the current Thing battling his lumpier incarnation from early issues of The Fantastic Four.

A Couple of Caps: Captain America #171 (1974) for no reason other than the stellar Romita cover.  Captain Marvel #30 (1973) because it's the last issue I needed in Jim Starlin's epic Thanos Saga, still one of the coolest cosmic hoo-hahs in all of comics.

Some Sub-Mariners: Not a title I've collected much, these covers caught my eye today, particularly the Dr. Doom one.  As a surprise bonus, Gene Colon does the interior artwork, which was fun since I don't recall ever seeing Colan's version of Doom before.  The Sunfire cover? Anytime a character more arrogant than Namor fights Namor, that's worth checking out.  Lastly, the new costume cover...come on, it's a Romita...of course I'm going to buy it (plus I've always liked that blue costume with the armpit fins).

A Measly Three DC Comics: I seem to be buying fewer and fewer DC Comics as time goes on.  Perhaps it's because alot of their 1970's comics simply aren't as entertaining as Marvel's (something I finally admitted a number of years ago), or that Silver Age (1960's) DC's are getting priced out of my comfort level...whatever the reason, I'm not big on looking for DC's at conventions.  When I can, I keep chipping away at my Action Comics want list, today picking up issues #363 (1968) and #447 (1975). I also picked up The Brave and the Bold #200 (1983), for most of its history a Batman team-up title. Much like the issue of Marvel Two-In-One above, this one features an earlier and current version of Batman battling a common foe. It's also got an incredibly sharp-looking cover, with that brilliant red background color, the clever positioning of the current Batman and the Bat-Signal, and that wonderful old Batmobile.

Now...time to relax and go read some of these beauties!