Comic Coverage

Friday Night Fights: GRUNDY SMASH!

What's shaping up to be a fun weekly event here in the comics blogosphere is the Friday Night Fights, graciously hosted by our pal Bahlactus and contributed to by just about everyone with a comics blog! As the name suggests, Friday Night Fights highlights some of the great moments in comic book combat. We can pretend superhero comic books are about higher, loftier things...but at their core, it's all about laying the smackdown! Truly something to celebrate.

My first foray into the Friday Night Fights is taken from Superman #301 (1976), which features a nearly full-issue slugfest between the Man of Steel and the savage Solomon Grundy!
Dimly recalling how some superheroes had doubles from alternate Earths, everyone's favorite swamp zombie wonders if there might be another Solomon Grundy out there to pal around with. In his bizarre supernatural fashion, Grundy decides to simply "walk" between dimensions from Earth-2 (his pre-Crisis address) to the Metropolis of Earth-1, bringing most of Slaughter Swamp along with him!

Predictably, his visit gets the attention of Superman, sparking one of the best knock-down-drag-outs I've ever seen in a comic book.

On the left, I've gathered a few random panels from the battle (click on 'em for a much larger view), but you owe it to yourself to track this baby down and read the whole thing. Illustrated by the amazing Jose Garcia Lopez, the dynamic action and cinematic layouts still blow away most of what passes for comic book art today, and with sound effects like "THOMM!", "SPRANK!", and the classic "BARROOOM!" ("bar room?"), it's a book you'll be glad to add to your collection.

BONUS: If Solomon Grundy throwing Superman around like a ragdoll isn't enough mayhem for you, be sure to check out That's Gotta Hurt!, my look at comic book covers from the Pain Hall of Fame!

Friday Night Fights: It's Clobberin' Time!

After a brief interlude, the mighty Bahlactus has sounded the battle cry for another round of Friday Night Fights....and when Bahlactus calls, the teeming hordes of the Comics Blogoverse rise to the challenge!

My spine-crushing contribution is taken from Fantastic Four #77 (1968), the final chapter of The Second Coming of Galactus!

Sent by Galactus to find the reclusive Silver Surfer, Reed, Johnny and Ben journey into a bizarre sub-atomic Microverse, where they encounter the emotion-manipulating threat of Psycho-Man.

This ridiculously entertaining tale was published during the high tide of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's classic run, featuring their insane concepts, rollicking dialogue, non-stop action and brilliant artwork (made even better by the sublime inking of Joltin' Joe Sinnott). These panels give you just a little taste of that magic, so spend some time looking them over (click on the panels for a Galactus-sized Mega-View).

Now, without further ado, let's join The Thing as he introduces Psycho-Man to his left and right fists, otherwise known as
"The Brothers Grimm!"  

Be sure to grab a helmet and safety goggles to protect you from the sheer seismic insanity of that final panel. You can feel the impact all the way from here, nearly forty years later! Take it away, Benjamin!  

Friday Night Fights: EGO TRIP!

It's no secret I'm a big fan of Marvel's THOR, a character most of the self-proclaimed sophisticates view as hopelessly passe'.

Naturally, I haven't lost a wink of sleep over that.

In fact, the cornball amalgamation of Norse legend, swashbuckling adventure, Shakespearean dialect, chivalrous morality, and hi-tech Mardi Gras headgear is precisely why I enjoy the Thunder God's tales.

One of the pillars of Thor comics is the "Epic Quest" storyline, in which Goldilocks and his pals have to journey somewhere, find something, or defeat someone (or sometimes all three), invariably with the fate of the entire cosmos in the balance.

One such quest took place in Thor #226-#228 (1974) in a tale written by Gerry Conway (which character didn't he write in the 70's?), pencilled by Rich Buckler (in full Kirby-pastiche mode) and inked by Joe Sinnott (Kirby's greatest inker). Sent by the quest-happy Galactus, Thor, Hercules and Big-G's herald Firelord are sent to find EGO, an insane sentient planet roaming the universe destroying other planets (essentially stealing the food of Galactus). 

Their mission once they found Ego? Shut 'im down!

After the trio spent most of issue #227 fighting their way onto the surface of Mr. Planet McGrumpy Face, then smashing through armies of demonic "anti-bodies", Thor finally muscles his way into the core, hurls the mighty Mjolnir, and blows up Ego's giant brain!*

(click on the panels for brain-exploding bigness) 

Be sure to check out Mighty Bahlactus for more Friday Night Fighting!

*  Again with the "BARROOM" sound effect?  Man, the 70's were all about the subliminal pro-alcohol messaging, weren't they?

Friday Night Fights: A Few Ants Short of a Picnic

Despite taking a breather last week, the battle call of Bahlactus beckons for another Friday Night Fight...and I must answer!

With the height of summer (and picnic season) upon us, what better way to celebrate than with an insane Ant-Man and billions of ants attacking the Avengers? Avengers #161 (1977) finds the team's resident headcase Hank Pym having yet another nervous breakdown/identity crisis, this time reverting to his original Ant-Man identity. Pym's mind also reverted back to a previous time frame, believing that the Avengers team has only recently come into being and that the people he sees in Avengers Mansion are either villains or impostors.

In a dynamic sequence illustrated by a young buck named George Perez, the addled Ant-Man launches a full-scale attack upon his perplexed teammates, culminating in a spectacular "growth-spurt knockout" of the Black Panther and the Beast (click on the panels for Pym Particle-like expansion).

SPECIAL BONUS BUTT-KICKING:

Of course, no Crazy Hank Pym story is complete without an appearance by his malevolent android "son" Ultron, who shows up seconds after Pym is subdued by the Avengers. Witness Ultron as he unleashes a KA-BLAAMM-flavored smackdown...

"Live From New York, It's Friday Night Fights!"

When a modest late-night sketch comedy show named NBC Saturday Night made its debut on October 11th, 1975, nobody had the slightest idea it would become one of the longest-lived programs in television history.

Retitled Saturday Night Live in 1976, the irreverent series quickly became a pop cultural phenomenon by appealing to the uniquely twisted sense of humor of young adults. By 1978, many of its cast members (and their characters) had become household names, inspiring fellow New York institution Marvel Comics to create one of the strangest comic books ever published.

Marvel Team-Up #74 (1978) paired Marvel figureheads Spider-Man and Stan (The Man) Lee with NBC's Not Ready For Prime Time Players*, who together battled the menace of The Silver Samurai and his gang.  As Spidey and the SNL cast cleaned up the goons, the Silver Samurai pitted his sword against....who else?  John Belushi as the Samurai!

As you can see from the panels (click to enlarge), Belushi held his own against the Silver Samurai until Spider-Man took over.  A few panels later, the Silver Samurai used the magic ring to disappear from Studio 8H, escaping to fight Spider-Man another day.

With that, Stan and the crime-fighting SNL crew
gathered for the traditional end-of-the-show curtain call...

From left to right (click for a front row view):  John Belushi, producer Lorne Michaels, Laraine Newman, Stan Lee, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris (in a Thor costume), and Bill Murray.

* When the '78-'79 season of SNL began just a few months later, the cast
members were no longer referred to as the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".

Craving more Friday fisticuffs?  Bahlactus is your fix!

Friday Night Fights: How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Rhino?

Though the average supervillain will stick to fighting the same superhero for their entire evil career, there have been rare occasions when a supervillain will jump ship and move to another superhero's rogues gallery.

One of the most high profile transfers was The Rhino. Originally a foe of Spider-Man, the Pachyderm Powerhouse left Spidey's rogues gallery for a shot at the Major Leagues, namely by taking on THE HULK himself!

Making his Hulk-foe debut in The Incredible Hulk #104 (1968), the Rhino received an upgraded costume and a strength-enhancing blast of Gamma Rays from the same guys who originally made him a Spider-Man supervillain. Sent to snatch Bruce Banner from military custody, the Rhino predictably triggered Banner's transformation into the Hulk, who then let loose with his customary smashing and alienated soliloquies.

In the resulting chaos, the Rhino attempted to slip away...which prompted the fight-hungry Hulk to bait him with "Why do you run from Hulk? Are you AFRAID?"

With that, the battle begins (click on the panels above for a ringside seat).

Illustrated by Marie Severin (one of my absolute favorite Hulk artists), enjoy this lesson in abject humiliation, face-to-pavement interaction, and ill-advised career moves.

Why do I celebrate such brutal violence? Ask Bahlactus!

Friday Night Fights: Demi-God Demolition!

At the bidding of his royal highness Bahlactus, I shall tell you the tale of the demi-god Hercules and his epic supper club battle with fedora-wearing thugs from Thor #125 (1965). Let me grab my mandolin and sing for you:

"The Ballad of Hercules and the Street Lamp Enema!"

...and, most likely, the "lower regions" of the hapless driver as well! OUCH!

Friday Night Fights: Uncle Sam's Righteous Vandalism!

During my ongoing survey of the legendary JLA & JSA team-ups, I've come across some pretty spectacular fight scenes.

With all of that multiple-earth mayhem to chose from, the scene that just seemed right for the All-American Labor Day Weekend featured the personification of America itself:  Uncle Sam!

Taken from Justice League of America #108 (1973), the JLA & JSA are helping Uncle Sam and his Freedom Fighters liberate Earth-X from Nazi rule.  Breaking into smaller squads, the heroes track down and destroy Nazi mind-control machines hidden in various locations across the planet. In this chapter, Uncle Sam, Black Condor, Sandman and the Elongated Man arrive at a twisted version of Mount Rushmore, which includes a bust of the hated Adolph Hitler!

After making short work of the Nazi guards, Elongated Man deduces that the mind-control machinery is actually located within the Hitler bust itself...which was magic to Uncle Sam's ears (and fists).

After a quick assist from E.M., it's Uncle Sam with the windup... AND THE PITCH!...completely obliterating the granite visage of Herr Schickelgruber and the hidden mind-control device.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...AND BAHLACTUS!

Friday Night Fights: Happy (Belated) Birthday, Jack!

Once again I let the (August 28^th) birthday of the late, great Jack Kirby slip by without a mention...his 90^th birthday, no less!  What kind of a fan am I? (hangs head in shame)

Under the omniscient gaze of mighty Bahlactus, let me rectify that mistake by serving up one of the King's frenetic fight scenes, where concrete walls and metal machinery crumbled like paper mache! Where acrobatics and body contortions no human could possibly duplicate were commonplace! WHERE FISTS AS BIG AS CANNED HAMS PUMMELED FOES WITH SEISMIC FORCE!

From Captain America #106 (1968), Comic Coverage proudly presents:

One of the hundred zillion things I love about 1960's Marvel Comics was their willingness to portray real-world Communist political figures as clowns, creeps, or outright villains.  It didn't happen all the time, mind you, but when it did, it was a beautiful thing.

While clueless left-wing radicals in the United States were wearing t-shirts and hoisting banners of Red China's Chairman Mao Zedong, Jack Kirby made him the mastermind behind Operation Replica ("Take that, Hippies!")!  Creating a nearly-identical Life Model Decoy of Steve Rogers, Mao and his minions sent the robotic agent to America to destroy and replace the real Steve (Captain America) Rogers!  We now join the Cap vs. Evil Robotic Steve battle already in progress (click on the panels to enlarge)...

"Can I get an AMEN?"

____________________________________

Disclaimer:  Any resemblance between movie producer (and Commie dupe) Cyril Lucas and Republican presidential candidate (and former actor) Fred Thompson is purely coincidental.

Friday Night Fights: Supes vs. Spidey...The Movie!

After giving us a two week break to mend our wounds while perfecting deadly new moves, mighty Bahlactus begins another cycle of Friday Night Fights...a weekly fever of mass mayhem that grips the violence-prone comic book blogosphere. So, lace up those boxing gloves, break out the smelling salts, and let's hit Friday Night Fights: Sucka-Punch!

Before the reign of never-ending Super Secret Crisis Wars, so-called "Event Comics" were few and far between in the dawning years of my comic book addiction (early to mid-70's).  However, one of the first genuine (and most fondly remembered) Event Comics of that period was the Superman vs. Spider-Man treasury edition (1976).

As the first real crossover between rival publishers Marvel and DC Comics (they co-published a Wizard of Oz treasury edition a year earlier), my fellow ten year-olds and I comprehended enough of the proprietary hurdles involved to really appreciate how special the team-up was...yet at the same time being young enough to truly revel in its primal "Who'd Win In a Fight?" premise.

Needless to say, Superman vs. Spider-Man left me and my pals utterly gobsmacked...and it remains a highlight of my collection all these years later. So much so, I wanted to feature some choice panels for Round One of Sucka-Punch, but due to its unwieldy size and high-grade condition, I didn't feel like mashing it into my scanner.

However, through the miracle of YouTube, I can post the next best thing...an epic video re-creation of Superman vs. Spider-Man! In Spanish, no less!

Don't let Webhead's luchador-like mask or the Man of Steel's five o'clock
shadow fool you...these guys were BORN to play Spider-Man and Superman!

Now, watch as these two gifted actors, the magic of
amateur video, and a pulse-pounding musical score
faithfully bring to life one of comicdom's most epic events!

(except for the part where Superman is hung from a chimney like a Christmas stocking.)

Friday Night Fights: GIGANTO AHOY!

When the long-lost Sub-Mariner was brought out of an amnesiac fog by the Human Torch in Fantastic Four #4 (1962), he immediately resumed his cherished pastime of invading the surface world!  To assist him with his invasion, Prince Namor blew the Protean Horn to summon GIGANTO, "the largest living thing of all" from the ocean depths!

How did the Fantastic Four counter the threat of a monstrous walking whale?  As proof the fledgling Marvel Comics was profoundly different from the more straight-laced heroes of DC Comics, the F.F. sent the Thing inside Giganto's body to blow him up with a bomb!  Definitely not a Justice League-endorsed tactic....yet undeniably effective.

Flash forward a number of years to Fantastic Four #149 (1974), where we find the Sub-Mariner once again engaged in a surface world invasion...though in truth, this one was a hoax designed to bring the estranged Reed and Susan Richards back together again.  Hey, only in comics, right?

Anyway, accompanying the mock invasion force was a "Mini-Giganto" creature...perhaps looking to avenge the 100 ft. family member blown-up years earlier by the Thing!  Let's see how that worked out for Giganto Jr. (click on the panels for a larger view)...

"BUNT"?

Wow...was that anti-climactic, or what? Ah, but luckily there are gobs of great fight scenes in this issue, so to better meet the high standards set by Bahlactus, here's a picture-perfect clobbering truly worthy of Friday Night Fights: Sucka-Punch...

You are a great American, Benjamin J. Grimm!

("Plow"?  Hey, I don't write the sound effects...I just scan 'em!)

Friday Night Fights: Less Talking. More Smashing.

Since I've entered the Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm (a.k.a. "The Thing") twice before in the knuckle-busting battle pits of Bahlactus, I thought the third time could show him on the business end of the clobbering for a change.  Who better to take care of that business than the Incredible Hulk?

Although Thing vs. Hulk fights number in the dozens, one of the very best appeared in Marvel Feature #11 (1973), the first of two preludes to the Thing's long-running Marvel Two-In-One team-up title.

In a race against time, the Thing had to destroy an Ultrex Bomb capable of destroying the planet Earth. Why? Because two rival supervillains (Kurrgo & The Leader) decided to battle each other using super-powered proxies, namely the Thing and the Hulk. Teleported to a deserted ghost town, the Thing desperately tried to reach the bomb while the reliably cantankerous Hulk unknowingly stood in his way!

After several minutes of scenery-oblierating mayhem, the Thing made a last-ditch appeal to the Jade Giant's rationality. Um, yeah...let's see how that worked out for him (click on the panels for full seismic impact)...

Gold Nuggets: Fighting the Jungle Hordes of Hitler!

The Obscure Adventures of Comics' Greatest Generation!

I've had some fun with the obscure heroes of Golden Age comics here in the Gold Nuggets feature, all courtesy of the fantastic Golden Age Comics site.  They've got hundreds of old comic books available to download (pending registration), all of which have passed into the public domain...so anyone can view them or use the characters in their own comics.  In fact, Dynamite Comics will be featuring many of these forgotten heroes in their upcoming Superpowers series...with new stories, updated costumes (reimagined by Alex Ross, no less) and a chance to regain their Golden Age glory.

One of the front-and-center stars of Superpowers will be the eternally cool Daredevil (known as simply "Devil" for obvious copyright issues), whose skintight, cape-free costume was the basis of so many modern-era costume designs (such as Spider-Man's).

Daredevil made his debut as the headliner of Daredevil Battles Hitler (July of 1941), a fascist-bashing jamboree featuring the heroes from the Lev Gleason line of comics: Silver Streak, Lance Hale, Dicky Dean, Cloud Curtis, and the Pirate Prince! 

Throughout the issue, the hapless Hitler and his fiendish inner circle (such as Goebbels, Goering, and Himmler) randomly wander the globe and encounter the fists, boot heels, and...yes...charging elephants of our fighting-mad patriots.

The second story finds Hitler preparing to take over the jungles of Africa, going so far as to lead the invasion himself!

Let's join Herr Schickelgruber and his generals are they're interrupted by a certain red and black-garbed visitor (along with his own "personal shock troops")...

And that's how they did it back then.  No "talks".  No "diplomacy".
Just fists and feet, pal!

Oh, and since tonight is another round of Friday Night Fights, Bahlactus decrees another knuckle sandwich for Uncle Adolph!

Friday Night Fights: The Power Cosmic

Following the "Big Bang" of cosmic storytelling introduced by Marvel founders Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the next generation of creators expanded upon those concepts in spectacular new ways. One of these young turks was a guy named Jim Starlin, who quickly rose from the penciller of the failing Captain Marvel title to its writer and chief architect of its complex cosmic mythology.

Like nothing else before it (or since, for that matter), Starlin's Captain Marvel incorporated elements of the late 60's psychedelic art movement, physical sensuality, and Eastern spirituality into a powerful, surprisingly cerebral adventure. In short, the perfect comic book to read while cranking a Led Zeppelin album.

One of the most impressive aspects of Starlin's Captain Marvel was how effortlessly he could combine heady, metaphysical or psychological concepts with standard superhero conventions like fight scenes. A perfect example of this mind-bending hybrid appeared in Captain Marvel #29 (1973), a porton of which I've posted to the left (click on the big slab of panels for the full Starlin-esque effect). While encountering the cosmic entity named EON, Kree warrior Mar-Vell is granted the Power Cosmic, who then undergoes a metamorphosis into a new kind of being (like I said, heady stuff). To pass his final test, Mar-Vell must turn inward and face his dark inner demon...resulting in a battle of equal parts raw power and soul-searching psychology.

A raw power and soul-searching psychology
that may even surpass that of....Bahlactus!

Friday Night Fights: Let's Play Wac-A-Skrull®

As the heroes of the Marvel universe begin to uncover a Secret Invasion by the shape-shifting Skrulls, it's as good a time as any to recall the first big event involving that treacherous alien race.

Five years before the original Star Wars blew out our brain pans, the Kree-Skrull War was a sprawling space epic written by Roy Thomas and (mostly) illustrated by Neal Adams. Against this cosmic backdrop, it's revealed that the android Avenger named The Vision had romantic feelings toward his human teammate the Scarlet Witch, who had recently been captured by the Super Skrull and taken to the Skrull Throneworld. During a spectacular space battle, the Vision learned the fate of the Scarlet Witch, which caused the normally cold and logical android to pop a bolt and take matters into his own diamond-hard hands.

Few fight scenes in my memory are quite as chilling as the Vision's matter-of-fact assessment that he is, indeed, fully aware he's killing his hapless Skrull punching bag.  Click on the panels for the full effect of the face-mashing violence...the same violence that feeds the very soul of Bahlactus!

Friday Night Fights: You Fight Like a GIRL!

Back in the early 60's, DC Comics decided to reintroduce The Justice Society of America, the characters they'd published during the World War II era (or "The Golden Age" in comic book parlance). Once most of the "A-listers" were revived, DC dusted off many of the "B-list" JSA members as well, such as Starman and Black Canary.

Teaming up in The Brave and the Bold #61 (1965), Ted (Starman) Knight and Dinah (Black Canary) Lance come out of semi-retirement to battle Starman's old foe The Mist and his band of invisible thugs! While robbing the home of the wealthy Freda Van Taller, the ghostly gang is surprised by the Black Canary, who...after making them partially visible...proceeds to mop the floor with them. Click on the panels to the left for the wince-inducing puns, punches, sassy quips, airplane spins, and furniture-shattering Judo flips of the Girl Gladiator!

BONUS BUTT-KICKING PANEL:

Okay, this panel occurs much later in the story, but the sheer spine-pulping impact of Canary's punch demands that it be seen!

Thus sayeth BAHLACTUS!

Friday Night Fights: The (Overlooked) Battle of the Century!

"Who's stronger--Superman or the Hulk?" It's a question my young friends and I often pondered (at least until puberty kicked in and...ahem....other things were pondered).

Of course, we soon discovered that such a Battle Royale probably wasn't going to happen. The fact that the popular characters were owned by competing comic book publishers created what seemed to be an insurmountable legal barrier that not even this pair of powerhouses could smash through.

Ah, but then lightning struck in the form of Superman vs. Spider-Man (1976), a tabloid-sized answer to our prayers that proved competing characters could not only meet each other, but fight each other over a misunderstanding as superheroes tend to do. More inter-company crossovers were arranged over the next several decades...some good, others not so good. One of the very best of them was The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman (1999). Unfortunately, this well-crafted story kinda got lost in the shuffle during a flurry of late 90's DC-Marvel crossovers, so I thought I'd give it some of the attention it deserves...

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!)

Friday Night Fights: "Free to Destroy...Like a Man!"

As I've observed many times before, the Wonder Woman comics of the 1940's were essentially a vehicle for the assorted theories and wacky fetishes of her creator, eccentric psychologist William Moulton Marston. 

Hardly an issue went by without Marston circling back to his creepy preoccupation with physical submission, girl-on-girl wrestling, spanking and bondage. A recurring element in these surreal psychodramas revolved around the bracelets worn by Wonder Woman. You see, due to a long-standing Amazonian curse, Wonder Woman would lose all her power whenever her bracelets were bound together....which (under Marston) happened with alarming frequency.

One of these bizarre bracelet incidents took place in Sensation Comics #19 (1943). Storming a Maine logging camp secretly occupied by Nazi saboteurs, Wonder Woman was captured by their leader...a Nazi provacateur named Mavis (who had recently escaped from the Amazons' Reform Island). Keeping Wonder Woman captive through the weakening effect of the bound bracelets, Mavis wondered aloud what would happen if she actually cut them off using a special acid-tipped dagger (click on the panels for a larger view)...

Little did Mavis know that removing Wonder Woman's bracelets wouldn't make her weaker, but quite the opposite. According to the agonized Amazon's thought balloon below, the absense of her bracelets would increase her strength, remove her self-control, and make her "free to destroy like a man"...which meant a devastating headstand body-slam for Mavis!

 

After upside-down strangling Mavis into submission (another Marston buzz word), a psychotic Wonder Woman swatted the Nazi villainess straight through the window!...

Later, in a panel the psychologists might describe as "fraught with meaning", Kink-meister Marston characterized Wonder Woman's man-like destruction as "an orgy of unleashed power" while she bludgeoned cabins with a giant log! 

 

The Nazi camp in ruins, the rampaging Wonder Woman was approached by her best friend Paula, who commanded her to "stop this mad orgy of strength". Later, with her restored bracelets "tighter than ever", Wonder Woman proclaimed how happy she was to be bound...because "power without self-control tears a girl to pieces"!

A lesson lost on Bahlactus, who always destroys like a man!

Friday Night Fights: She's a (Phantom) Lady

Among the female superhero set of the 1940's, there were two basic groups of girls. One was portrayed in a more modest style of costuming while the other group was portrayed in...well...a much less modest (and much more provacative) "Good Girl" art style. One of the most...uh...memorable of this racier Good Girl set was Phantom Lady. Originally published by Quality Comics beginning in 1941, then later with Fox Feature Syndicate, debutante Sandra Knight secretly fought crime using a "black light projector" while clothed in a skimpy costume (which she later explained as a deliberate tactic to distract male criminals).

As the decades zipped by, Phantom Lady and other Quality Comics characters were eventually snapped up by DC Comics and retroactively integrated into their Golden Age pantheon. Which brings us to Starman #44 (1998) as Phantom Lady became the focus of that fine title's occasional "Times Past" flashback adventures. Retro-fitted as Ted (Starman) Knight's cousin, the 1943 setting opened with a catty call-out from a broom ridin', pistol-packin' Prairie Witch!

Woah! Them's fightin' words! Let's flash forward to the Girl Girl vs. Bad Girl clash over the streets of Opal City, ending with a thorough thrashing and a witty kiss-off from the Peek-a-Boo Powerhouse!

(click on the pages for a larger oggle, er...look)

 

Want more female fisticuffs? Check out Friday Night Fights: Ladies Night,
courtesy of the Fightin' Mad Bahlactus!

Friday Night Fights: You're a Wonder, Wonder Woman

Note:  Hey, just because Bahlactus decided to take an impromptu day off doesn't mean I have to, so I'm presenting my already-prepared Friday Night Fights: Ladies Night entry anyway. So...let's get to it! 

Not familiar with how comic book publishing schedules worked, my boyhood friends and I were continually surprised by what we found on the bookstore shelves and 7-Eleven spinner racks of the late 1970's. One of the biggest surprises (literally) were the so-called treasury editions that would just sort of appear out of the blue with little to no publicity.  The whopping 10" x 13" format made them almost irresistible to buy, regardless of their subject matter.  Typically the vehicle for reprints of older stories, treasury editions would occasionally feature original stories that took full advantage of their "widescreen" proportions. 

One of these original productions was DC Collectors' Edition C-24 (1978), which featured Superman vs. Wonder Woman. Although boys like us constantly debated "Who Would Win" when it came to various intramural superhero battles, we tended to shy away from male vs. female match-ups. Whether it was a latent sense of gallantry (highly doubtful) or the whole awkward mystery of girls, Superman vs. Wonder Woman was greeted with guarded interest and more than a little discomfort. 

As it turned out, it was a spectacularly entertaining story.  Written by the great Gerry Conway and dynamically illustrated by the sublime Jose Garcia Lopez, this clash of DC's Golden Age royalty was set during the Golden Age itself in the midst of World War II. Wisely ignoring the usual "Earth-1 / Earth-2" fiddle-faddle, Superman and Wonder Woman individually uncover an Axis plot to disrupt something called "The Manhattan Project" (yes, that Manhattan Project). However, unlike Superman's wary approval of the project, an outraged Wonder Woman refused to let mankind create an atomic bomb and began sabotaging a Chicago research site! Naturally, Superman arrives to stop Wonder Woman's rampage, leading to a brief but bruising fight that eventually took them to the moon! Let me give you just a taste of the wonderfully choreographed fight, courtesy of Jose Garcia Lopez (click on the image for a super-sized view)...

OUCH! Happily, the fighting didn't last too long, as Superman and Wonder Woman set their differences aside and joined forces to defeat the twin Axis threats of Baron Blitzkrieg and Sumo the Samurai...though not before setting off the world's first atomic explosion!

Just an all-around great story....especially now that I finally own it!  I recently nabbed a copy on eBay and it arrived in yesterday's mail...so I couldn't wait to share some of the spectacular imagery. Hope you enjoyed it!

Friday Night Fights: "My! What a Lovely Costume!"

Of all the dunderheaded things DC Comics has pulled over the past several years, one of the worst has been their shabby treatment of the SHAZAM stable of characters...or "The Marvel Family" as they're more commonly referred to. 

Sure, some of the more tangential SHAZAM projects have been top notch, but the family's treatment in DC's in-continuity "universe" has, for the most part, been pretty pathetic. Ever since Crisis on Infinite Earths folded them into the mainstream DC Universe, the Marvel Family has been largely ignored or, when they do show up, are caricatured as whitebread, bubble-headed naifs. More recently, Captain Marvel himself has been completely sidelined as some kind of white-haired mentor figure, while Cap Jr. is now (somehow) the current Cap, and (worst of all) Mary Marvel has been made EEEEVIL!  How do we know? Why, because she's wearing a sleazy black version of her costume (complete with fishnet stockings). Like I said: pathetic.

So, instead of dwelling on the current Mary Marvel's fallen state, let's turn our attention back to her Golden Age beginnings when publisher Fawcett Comics was running the show. Making her debut in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (1942), a wealthy girl named Mary Bromfield was revealed to be Billy Batson's long-lost twin sister. After rescuing Mary from a kidnapping plot, Cap magically transformed back to Billy, who then confirmed their sibling connection. 

In a charming, authentically child-like panel, Mary wondered aloud if her new status as Billy's sister might also grant her access to his magic word...a theory Billy promptly shoots down. With boyish bravado, Billy simply can't imagine the old wizard Shazam sharing his mighty power with...(gulp)...a GIRL! 

However, Mary's musings would shortly be put to the test, as Billy and Freddy Freeman (Cap Jr.) were suddenly bound and gagged by the aforementioned kidnappers...leaving it up to her to recite the magic word! 

(click on the panels for a larger view)

I just adore that final panel.  A scene that today would receive a full page and paragraphs of dialogue was just a single, yet very powerful panel back then. 

So, just how strong and powerful was the new Mary Marvel? The band of hapless, cliche-spouting gangsters was about to find out...

 

Now that's a debut appearance...not to mention a worthy addition to Friday Night Fights: Ladies Night, courtesy of Fightin' Mad Bahlactus.