Comic Coverage

Cover to Cover: The Floating Heads of Marvel Comics

We've all heard it at one time or another from the Anti-Superhero snobs:  "Marvel and DC are as different as Coke and Pepsi"...the familiar charge that America's two largest comic book publishers have product as indistinguishable from the other as the famous Cola Giants.

In answer to that charge, I'll let my favorite Norse thunder god do the talking, "I say thee NAY!"

True, there have been some superficial similarities (such as their mutual focus on superheroes), but the educated fan can easily rattle off key stylistic differences between Marvel and DC Comics...and that's what it's all about here at Comic Coverage. Educating the comics fans of past, present, future, and assorted alternate futures...so let's get to those differences.

Sure, there's the standard differences you find in all the comic book histories, such as DC's traditional preference for plot-driven, squeaky-clean stories vs. Marvel's more character-driven melodramas...or DC's anonymous "editor" figure vs. Marvel's affable "crazy uncle" figure of Stan Lee, and so on, and so forth.  You've heard it a thousand times.  Then there's the subtle, yet truly profound difference that will forever drive a cosmic stylistic wedge between these two publishing titans.

Of course, I'm referring to The Floating Head Cover!

Cover to Cover: The Many Deaths of Barry (Flash) Allen

As DC Comics faced yet another Crisis of Infinite proportions in 2006, as characters were dropping dead left and right, I was reminded of the heavy casualties of its 1986 predecessor Crisis on Infinite Earths. Most of the deaths were third-string "cannon fodder" (losers like Bug-Eyed Bandit and Prince Ra-Man), but a few of them were bonafide A-Listers like Supergirl and the Flash. In a classic one-two punch, the seventh issue of Crisis saw the death of Superman's young cousin, followed by the death of Barry (Flash) Allen in the very next issue.

Already reeling from Supergirl's death, fans were shocked to see yet another character with a nearly thirty year history with DC wiped out.

But should we have been shocked by Barry's death?

After researching my own Flash collection, I've come to the disturbing conclusion that Barry's death was virtually inevitable, and should never have surprised us when it actually came to pass!

In other words, Barry Allen was a marked man!

Cover to Cover: Take This Job and Shove It!

"Take this job and shove it I ain't workin' here no more My woman done left and took all the reasons I was workin' for. You better not try to stand in my way as I'm walkin' out the door Take this job and shove it I ain't workin' here no more."

– Ferret-faced Country-Western legend
Johnny Paycheck

At one time or another, we've all faced the temptation to blurt out Johnny Paycheck's immortal words of resignation to the incompetent, tyrannical employers of the world.  From the lowest ditch digger to the highest corporate executive, "walkin' out the door" remains a potent fantasy for the hassled, unappreciated working man.

However, quitting a job in righteous indignation is by no means confined to our mortal plain, but extends into the fanciful world of comic book superheroes as well!  Yes, even the costumed champions of justice have been known to storm off the job in cold, Paycheck-like fury!

Cover to Cover: Lo, there shall come...HIPPIES!

"What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down..."

So observed folk-rockers Buffalo Springfield in their classic hippie anthem For What It's Worth back in 1966, as America's counter-culture feverishly grabbed signs (and headlines) and took to the streets to protest against "The Man"! 

Older Americans, which included the middle-aged comic book creators of DC and Marvel, weren't quite sure what to make of the sign-waving, bra-burning Baby Boomers. It's this struggle to both comprehend and appeal to the youth culture of the late 60's that resulted in some of the most unintentionally hilarious comics of the era.  Like most efforts to incorporate fads into superhero comics, DC and Marvel's depictions of the counter-culture were surreal, endearingly clueless affairs.

So, pull up a beanbag chair, flick on the lava lamp, spark up some...er, incense...and enjoy a Magical Mystery Tour through 1960's counter-culture (by way of tie-wearing, middle aged comic book creators).

Cover to Cover: Girl Germs!

Once upon a time, comic books were tailored not to twenty and thirty-something adults (as they are now), but to teeming hordes of Baby Boom children.   

Following the creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, comic books of the next two decades became more kid-friendly than ever.  With such a huge audience of young children buying comics, it should come as no surprise that the adult characters within them had many of the same childish emotions and conflicts as their audience. Since young boys were the primary readers of superhero comics, the heroes and their casts routinely reenacted common boyhood anxieties.  Chief among those anxieties was the ever-present “danger” of.... GIRLS!

Whether they were barging their way into a boy's secret clubhouse, besting him in competition, or...horror of horrors...targeting him for marriage, girls represented a very real threat to the Boy Way of Life (except for mom, of course).

This boyish conviction was reinforced by their favorite superheroes, whose female cast members were little more than grown-up versions of pesky kid sisters, tenacious tomboys and flirty girl classmates.

Real-life kid sisters were often bratty pests and hair-trigger tattlers, blabbing a boy's secrets at the drop of a hat.

Supergirl pretty much confirms that assessment on the cover of Action Comics #313 (1964) by blowing Superman's precious secret identity.

Cover to Cover: Superheroes Gone MAD!

"They're coming to take me away,
Haha, they're coming to take me away,
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha,
To the funny farm
Where Life is Beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those Nice Young Men In their
Clean White Coats
And they're coming to take me AWAY,
HA HAAAAA"

--Napoleon XIV (1966)

For well over half a century, superheroes have stood for the best humanity has to offer. As promoters of justice, fair play and civic-minded benevolence, these comic book champions were models of stable, mature adulthood.

That is, when they weren't losing their minds.

Oh, sure ... mental illness has been a common fixture of comic books since their inception, but it's been confined primarily to the supervillain community and its collection of Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses and World-Conquerors. Their ranting, raving, robot-creating behavior easily qualified them for what mental health professionals commonly diagnose as "Crazy as an Outhouse Rat."

However, as insane as the bad guys could be, there have been many in the good guy set (including some of the biggest names) who've also gone for a ride on the Crazy Train at one time or another.

In addition to the rather obvious nuttiness of wearing garish costumes in public, superheroes have had a long, documented history of even more serious lapses in sanity. So, strap on your favorite straitjacket and let's explore this dark, forsaken ward of comic book history, shall we?

Cover to Cover: "You Are Cordially Invited..."

While most people know that summer is the most popular time of year to marry, you might be surprised to learn that in many parts of the U.S., autumn is a close second.….so what better way to kick off fall than to check out the delightfully skewed world of comic book weddings?

We’ve all been to weddings where the bride and groom didn’t seem like the greatest match…like the clueless Wonder Woman and her gruesome groom on the cover of Wonder Woman #155 (1965).

Cover to Cover: Superboy or Super-Reject?

As I've touched on before, DC superhero comics of the late 50's and early 60's were virtual windows into the souls of their child audience.  Childhood insecurities were routinely transposed into superhero adventures by DC's editorial staff.  However, the undisputed king of tapping into the latent anxieties of children was Mort Weisinger, long-time editor of the Superman titles. Weisinger went straight for the "psychological jugular" by infusing his Superman books with all the petty jealousies, bitter rivalries and deep-seated insecurities of childhood.  In other words, Mort hit the kids right where they lived.

One of Weisinger's most common themes was that of rejection, by no coincidence the radioactive core of childhood anxiety.  Whether it was the fear of a popular kid stealing away their best friend, or a new baby edging them out of mom and dad's hearts, children constantly struggled with rejection....of being pushed aside for another.  Someone better.  Most of Weisinger’s stable of characters dealt with rejection in one form or another, but it was Superboy who became the undisputed poster child for rejection.

Cover to Cover: I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

Comic book publishers have always had their collective finger on the pulse of the larger culture, looking to incorporate whatever fad, trend or movement they perceived their readers wanted to see reflected in their stories.  Invariably, these attempts to mirror the culture came off as unintentionally hilarious, endearingly clumsy affairs that did more to caricature the trend than capture it.   The Women’s Liberation Movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s was no exception to this rule. Most likely spurred on by the idealistic Young Turks trickling into the business, the Old Guard (no doubt trying their best to make sense of it all) gradually began featuring female characters with aggressive, take-charge attitudes. The traditional roles of Girl Friday, Damsel in Distress and Passive Background Figure were replaced with brassy firebrands that had plenty to prove.

Cover to Cover: World's Laziest: The Misspent Years of Batman & Superman

"... and I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals."

– Young Bruce Wayne, Detective Comics #33 (1939)

With these words, the grief-stricken orphan embarked upon a grim, life-long path of retribution, honing his body and mind to battle crime as...The Batman.

That is, until he met Superman on the Golden Age covers of World's Finest Comics.

Suddenly, his mission to avenge the murder of his parents was all but forgotten, as Batman was swept up into Superman's world of frivolity and idle leisure.

Along with his young ward Robin, the Batman of World's Finest spent much of the 1940's living the good life with his pal Superman, a sort of Kryptonian Huckleberry Finn who reveled in the world's myriad lazy pleasures.

Don't believe me?  Here....let the covers speak for themselves!