Comic Coverage

Cover to Cover: Frankenstein meets...EVERYBODY!

October MONSTER MASH!
The Scarier Side of Superhero Comics (part one of four)

As arguably the first work of science fiction, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) has gone far beyond its gothic novel roots to cast a towering shadow across literature, film and the larger pop culture.  So much so, it’s probably safe to assume that nearly every living soul on the planet could identify Frankenstein or, more accurately, his monstrous creation.

Although the primary sources of the creature’s popularity are the Universal horror films starring Boris Karloff, Frankenstein’s Monster also turned up in the horror films of competing movie studios, as well as countless plays, toys, radio shows, TV shows and, of course, comic books!

Cover to Cover: GHOSTS! The Haunted Heroes of Comics

October MONSTER MASH!
The Scarier Side of Superhero Comics (part two of four)

“When twilight everywhere released the shadows, prisoned up all day, that now closed in and gathered like mustering swarms of ghosts.”

– Charles Dickens, from The Haunted Man (1847)

Since ancient times, ghost stories have fascinated mankind.  In giving shape to their anxieties and superstitions, ghost stories have provided the world’s diverse cultures a measure of control over the unknown forces that surround them.  From the campfires and dusty scrolls of distant history to modern day television and movies, ghost stories have permeated every form of human storytelling…including comic books!

While the traditional venue for comic book ghost stories has been the horror comics genre, a fair number of ghost stories and ghostly characters have haunted the superhero genre as well, primarily those published by DC Comics (Marvel, for whatever reason, seems largely ghost-free).

Cover to Cover: Hauntingly Familiar Marvel Monsters!

October MONSTER MASH!
The Scarier Side of Superhero Comics (part three of four)

Following the 1961 debut of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #1, a virtual army of new titles and characters sprang to life in its wake.  Now-famous names like Spider-Man, Thor and the Hulk entered the pop cultural landscape, thanks to the success of Marvel Comics’ inaugural title.

However, those particular names (and many others) have a secret history prior to the publication of Fantastic Four #1, when Marvel was known as Atlas Comics.
For most of the 1950’s, Marvel’s future superstars (such as Lee, Kirby, Steve Ditko and John Romita) toiled away on Atlas horror, romance and sci-fi titles. The sci-fi titles, such as Strange Tales and Journey Into Mystery, featured a staggering array of giant, malevolent monsters...each with its own bizarre appearance and name.

Some of the monster names demonstrated the creative flair of the proto-Bullpen, such as Fin Fang Foom (check out the green swim trunks).

…while other names suggest a “rough patch” where their creativity may have been on the wane.

Yet the most fascinating category of pre-Marvel monsters was the one with some startlingly familiar names.

Cover to Cover: Sinister Superhero Transformations!

Like those leftover fun-size candy bars at the bottom
of the Halloween candy bowl, a final installment of
October MONSTER MASH!
The Scarier Side of Superhero Comics (part four of four)

“Even a man who is pure of heart
And says his prayers by night
Can become a wolf when the wolf-bane blooms
And the moon is full and bright.”

–Gypsy fortune teller Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) from The Wolfman (1941)

Stories of the good and decent transformed into a monstrous evil are as ancient as humankind itself.  These potent mixtures of superstition and human psychology have long served to terrify even the most upstanding among us that somewhere, deep inside, exists a monster just waiting to claw its way out.  Even comic book superheroes, our fictional paragons of human goodness, have been twisted and warped into frightening, darker versions of themselves.

Cover to Cover: Stars & Stripes (and Capes) Forever!

On the heels of the United States elections, not to mention the November 11th commemoration of Veteran's Day, I thought it would be fitting to run a patriotic Cover to Cover column I originally wrote this past summer for Independence Day.  Enjoy....and God Bless our veterans!

Ever since the birth of the United States in 1776, its people have devised countless ways to express their patriotism.  Some of these expressions are noble and dignified…

…while others…not so much.

Similarly, comic book covers have a long history of patriotic sentiment, with many of them easily qualifying as “noble and dignified”...

…while other covers…..well, let’s just say they fall into an entirely different category.

As great as the more noble covers are, I wanted to dig a little deeper to find patriotic covers that stray off the beaten path.  In other words, covers that better represented the endearingly surreal world of superhero comics.

Cover to Cover: "Grandma, What a Big Head You Have!"

Comics' Colossal Craniums

Of all the freakish distortions of the human body depicted on the covers of superhero comics, none of them quite compared to the spectacle of Big Head Covers (not to be confused with Floating Head Covers).

Huge, swollen craniums have been a staple of science fiction dating back to the pulps of the 1920s and '30s, usually associated with malevolent alien masterminds or highly evolved future-men.

As pulps gradually gave way to comic books, big-headed characters found their way into the burgeoning superhero fad, usually as villains...such as Brainwave (All-Star Comics #37, 1947).

During the science-fiction craze of the late 1950s and early 60's, Big Head covers began appearing at an alarming rate. It should come as no surprise that the constantly transforming Superman Family was hit particularly hard.

Cover to Cover: "Does This Make Me Look Fat?"

Chubby Champions of Justice!

With Thanksgiving Day now behind us, it’s inevitable that many of us will pack on even more pounds over the coming holidays (Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Super Bowl, etc). However, perhaps a look at normally ultra-fit superheroes dealing with sudden morbid obesity will shock you into avoiding Grandma’s bacon-wrapped, chocolate covered cheese balls.

First up, on the cover of Flash #115 (1960), is the “The Fattest Man Alive” himself, weighing it at an even 1,000 pounds.  After being zapped by Gorilla Grodd’s moisture absorbing ray, Barry Allen rapidly expands to the point of resembling a costumed fan at a comic book convention!

Cover to Cover: Unmasked!

The Fine Art of Blowing a Secret Identity

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard that Spider-Man has revealed his secret identity to the world in a recent issue of Marvel’s Civil War mega-event. 

However, back before it was cool to unmask on international television, a superhero’s secret identity was guarded with the utmost care and vigilance.  Ostensibly, the importance of heroes hiding their identity was to protect their loved ones from an enemy’s retribution, but for those of us reading their adventures, the true appeal of the secret identity was….well…that is was a secret.

Secrets have a powerful kind of currency in the world of children, so the concept and sanctity of a hero’s secret identity was easily grasped and solemnly supported.  It naturally followed that whenever we spied a comic book cover depicting a secret identity threatened or even (gasp!) exposed, we’d snatch ‘em up, no questions asked. After all, a secret I.D. in jeopardy was some heavy drama, pal!

The fine art of blowing a secret identity often fell into three distinct categories:  (1) The “What?--Is he CRAZY?” self-reveal, (2) The betrayal of a trusted friend or family member, or (3) discovery by their enemies.

The first, and in some ways, most disturbing category is when the hero apparently loses his mind and reveals his own secret identity.

The cover of Flash #149 (1964) shows Barry Allen doing just that, earning a “jumpin’ jets” exclamation from freaked-out sidekick Wally (Kid Flash) West.

Cover to Cover: "I've Fallen, and I Can't Get Up!"

Superheroes as Senior Citizens

If we’re to believe those TV commercials for sunbelt retirement communities, growing old is non-stop conga line of carefree living and frivolity....cleverly disguising the fact that getting old stinks! 

As children, the gripes and groans of aging parents and grandparents suggested that getting old was no picnic, yet it was the spectacle of Senior Citizen Superheroes that really drove home the grim reality that "all things must pass away". Witnessing perpetually young superheroes reduced to feeble oldsters got a child thinking about his or her own mortality, in a way older real-world relatives never could.  In other words, if Superman could grow old...kids could too, right?

Senior Superhero stories typically took two broad approaches.  The first approach was through "imaginary stories" that depicted an elderly version of the hero tottering around in the far future.  More often than not, the futuristic super-senior was portrayed as a feeble, marginalized figure, like Superman on the cover of Action Comics #251 (1959).

Note the long white beard, the universal indicator of advanced age, perhaps dating all the way back to Rip Van Winkle himself. 

Cover to Cover: Have Yourself a SUPERHERO Christmas...

The power of American pop culture has worked its delightfully skewed magic upon a whole host of traditions and institutions. Transforming the transcendent to tacky and the solemn to silly, holidays like Christmas have become the venue of Norelco-driving Santas, caroling Star Wars characters and prancing Victoria’s Secret models.  It’s within this surreal alternate universe that even comic book superheroes gather to celebrate Christmas (or its generic equivalent “the holidays”) in their own inimitable style.

One of the earliest examples appeared on Comic Cavalcade #9 (1944), where Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are either leaving presents for a deserving child….or stealing them!