Comic Coverage

Superman@70: Happy Daddy-O Day!

As America honors its doting dads today, be thankful your dad never crossed paths with the Knave of Krypton and Kryptonite Kid, the juvenile delinquent arch-enemies of Superboy.

In Superboy #128 (1966), Superboy dreamed that Krypton did not explode and that he grew to a teenager living on his home planet.  The dream quickly turned into a nightmare when young Kal-El met Dev-Em, the "Knave of Krypton", who turned the son of Jor-El evil by exposing him to a mysterious "Heart-Gem". During their elaborate pranking spree across Krypton, Kal-El and Dev-Em met the Kryptonite Kid, who then beamed Kal-El (and Krypto) into the Phantom Zone and formed an alliance with the Knave.

As Kal-El watched helplessly from the Zone, the Delinquent Duo raided the laboratory of Jor-El and exposed him to the Heart-Gem (which also seemed to grant the ability to speak fluent Beatnik):

(click on the panels for a larger view)

So...aren't you thankful your dad was never tricked into destroying the Earth by Heart-Gem weilding cosmic creeps? For that reason alone, wish the guy a Happy Daddy-O Day!

Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue (costumes)!

On this 232^nd birthday of the United States of America, I'll be heading out of town for a few days of rest, relaxation, and colorful explosions...but in the meantime, I've got a little America-themed activity to occupy your Independence Day weekend.

You'll see that I've posted 32 red-white-&-blue comic book characters from various decades and publishers. Your task as red-blooded Americans is to identify as many of them as possible using your encyclopedic knowledge of comics lore (and Google).

This time around there's no lucrative prizes involved, but who needs 'em?  Identifying flag-themed comic characters is its own reward, right? As such, I'll be keeping the comments section open for you to compare notes and figure out who these star-spangled superstars are.

Never fear, the answers will be provided for you on Monday if your combined brain power (and Google) should fail you. Until then, have a wonderful (and safe) holiday weekend!

Red, White, and Blue: The Answers

With another great Independence Day holiday behind us, it's time to identify those 32 star-spangled comic book characters I posted on the 4th. You've had all weekend to figure them out on your own, and a reader named Buttler (along with Pat and his chat room buddies) rose to the occasion and identified just about all of them.  Well done, guys!

Okay, here's the official list, along with all 32 images (click on the gallery for a larger view):

1.  Star-Spangled Kid (DC)
2.  Commander Steel (DC)
3.  Citizen V, version 5 (Marvel)
4.  Liberty Girl (Heroic Publishing)
5.  Stripesy (DC)
6.  Uncle Sam (Quality/DC)
7.  Captain America (Timely/Marvel)
8.  Pistolfist (Bluewater Prod.)
9.  Captain Flag (MLJ/Archie)
10. Miss America (Quality/DC)
11. Superpatriot (Image)
12. Skyman (DC)
13. American Dream (Marvel)
14. Commando Yank (Lowe & Co.)
15. Captain Freedom (Harvey)
16. The Defender (Timely/Marvel)
17. The Comedian (DC)
18. General Glory (DC)
19. Fighting Yank (Nedor)

20. Fighting American (Crestwood/Prize)

21. Major Victory (DC)

22. Pat Patriot (Lev Gleason)

23. The Patriot (Timely/Marvel)

24. Miss Victory (Helnit/Holyoke)

25. Miss America (Timely/Marvel)

26. Patriot II (Marvel)

27. Yankee Clipper (Marvel)

28. Private Strong (Archie)

29. The American Crusader (Nedor)

30. The Spirit of '76 (Marvel)

31. The Shield (MLJ/Archie)

32. Major Liberty (Timely/Marvel)

POLL: Who Should Join the BIZARRO BAD GUYS?

For the past couple of years, I've staged voting campaigns to form Bizarro versions of DC's Justice League and Marvel's Avengers. Both campaigns were a great deal of fun (for both readers and myself), so let's continue the tradition...though not with Bizarro superheroes, but Bizarro supervillains! 

Here's the deal:  I've mined various internet photo sites to dredge up some of the world's weirdest, goofiest, or just plain worst-looking supervillain costumes...which, to use the twisted logic of Superman's imperfect double, qualifies them for membership to the Bizarro Bad Guys!

Every four or five days through October, you'll get to vote on a different character category, picking who you believe deserves to be a member of:

The contestant in each character group who gets the highest number of votes by Wednesday, October 29th will make the cut....and join the final line-up of the Bizarro Bad Guys on Halloween Day!

Which villainous characters will you be voting for?  Well, to kick things off, you'll be casting your ballot for Bizarro Dr. Doom!  First, take a look at the four Dr. Doom contestants in the gallery below (if you dare).

Next, click on your choice for your least favorite costume.  

Or your favorite if you're using Bizarro-logic!

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As for the other villains...stay tuned!

POLL: Choose Bizarro Galactus!

As my recruitment drive for the Bizarro Bad Guys continues, it's time for you to pick another member. 

This time, the spotlight falls on Marvel's planet-devouring space god Galactus. Anything but the awe-inspiring cosmic menace created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the costumed contestants below were all plucked from various internet photo sites to compete for the title of Bizarro Galactus...in other words, the costume that gets the most votes for being the absolute worst of these goofy Galactuses (Galacti?). 

Next, click on your choice for your least favorite Galactus costume in the poll below. You'll have between now and October 29th to vote, with the winner announced on Halloween Day (along with the winners of the Dr. Doom and yet-to-be-announced character groups).

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POLL: Choose Bizarro Magneto!

First you voted for the goofy Bizarro-version of Dr. Doom! Then you voted for the worst Galactus costume in all the cosmos! Now it's time to vote for the lamest version of Magneto, Marvel's master of magnetism and arch-enemy of the X-Men. Gathered from photo posting sites across the internet, these four contestants are vying for the status of least-attractive Magneto (Get it? Magnetism? Attraction? Oh, never mind).

Next, check out the poll below and click on your least favorite Magneto costume. You'll have between now and October 29th to vote, with the winner announced on Halloween Day (along with the winners of the Dr. Doom, Galactus, and a final mystery category). Got it?  Then go vote!

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Poll: Bizarro Bad Guys...WILD CARD!

As the Blog of Horror heads into its final week for 2008, it's time to pick the last member of the Bizarro Bad Guys.  However, unlike the polls for Dr. Doom, Galactus, and Magneto, this time you'll be picking from four completely different super villains. Gathered from photo sites across the internet, these hapless specimens of low-budget villainy are all vying for your vote.

Next, check out the poll below and click on your least favorite costume. You'll only have between now and October 29th to vote, so get to it!  The contestant with the most votes will join the winners of the other three categories on Halloween Day in the final Bizarro Bad Guys lineup, ready to rock the world with their impressive unimpressiveness.

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Wishing You a Thanksgiving Feast of JUSTICE!

Smashing the stuffing out of Injustice! 

Sending evil to the kiddie table! 

Clubbing criminals with his deadly drumsticks! 

It's a bird! It's a serving tray! 

It's Captain Thanksgiving, the Turkey Terror of Crime!

I wish all of my readers a wonderful (and safe) holiday weekend!

Gold Nuggets: A Captain Marvel Christmas Carol

The Obscure Adventures of Comics' Greatest Generation!

One of my absolute favorite stories (especially this time of the year) is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
The story's powerful messages of redemption and social responsibility are timeless and transcend its original Victorian England setting...which is why I enjoy its adaptations into so many different media, time periods, and social settings.

One of the many media forms to adapt Dicken's classic morality tale is, of course, comic books...such as the (somewhat looser) adaptation found in Captain Marvel Adventures #42 (1945). 

"The Plot Against Christmas" opens with young radio journalist Billy Batson being sent to cover a special Christmas surprise at the Smith Toy Company. Billy learned that Happy and Jolly Smith were planning to give a sleigh full of free toys to the children of a local orphanage. Sounds great, right?  Well, not according to their older brother (and president of the company) Gouge Smith. Yes, that's "gouge" as in "chisel" or "swindle". Like any Scrooge stand-in would do, Gouge pulled the plug on the good-hearted plan....

An orphan himself, Billy Batson vowed to set things right as Captain Marvel!

(click on the panels for a larger view)

Fulfilling the role of Scrooge's ghostly guides, Cap flew Gouge to a local
 family's home to witness the simple joys of the Christmas season...

 

Undeterred, Cap took the anti-Christmas curmudgeon to 
visit a noble home of civic responsibility and sacrifice...

Finally, Cap brought greedy Gouge to the very orphanage
 the old man had turned his back on earlier that day...

Upon awakening, those troubled dreams (resulting from Cap's heart-tugging tour) inspired Gouge to not only change his ways and help the orphans...but to also dress up as Santa Claus and get stuffed down a chimney while doing it! Now that's a turnaround!

Like all the closing scenes of countless Christmas Carol adaptations, a spirit of giving and fellowship enveloped Gouge and his new-found friends...ending in a toast that echoed Tiny Tim's immortal "God bless us...every one!"

Dreaming of a White Christmas (Win a DVD!)

As the snow continues to fall in my neck of the woods, I dreamed up a little White Christmas contest for those of you who (like me) marinade in comic book trivia. Much like my previous color-themed contests (and my most recent skull-themed contest), I've tracked down a bunch of comic book characters that share something in common, this time having names that all feature the word "white".

Some are easy, but most are incredibly obscure...so the first person to name all eighteen of them, or guess the most names by noon on Friday, December 12th will not only be a trivia master beyond compare...but also the winner of my favorite holiday movie: A Christmas Story!  That's right, identify the most white-themed characters in the gallery below and a brand new DVD of this 1983 classic will be winging its way to you before Christmas! 

A few ground rules: Anyone is welcome to play...even those of you who've won a previous contest. I'll be turning off the comments for this post, since I don't want anyone "borrowing" the answers of others to complete their own lists. Oh, and only cheaters use Google and Wikipedia...so let your conscience be your guide.

Once you've completed your list, click here to email it to me.  The winner will be announced Friday afternoon, so get to work...like young Ralphie Parker feverishly solving Little Orphan Annie's secret code!

Bizarro's Toybox: Oh, What Fun it is to Ride...

When it comes to children and their toys, adults should always resist applying too much grown-up logic to their innocent flights of fancy. After all, who's to say any toy is beyond the power of their imagination to thrill and entertain?

That said, I've come across some superhero vehicles that are so goofy and nonsensical that even a logic-challenged child would question their baffling existence and consign them to the dark, topsy-turvy recesses of Bizarro's Toybox!

For example, would Aquaman...water-breathing King of the Seven Seas and swimmer beyond compare really need an Aqua Sub to get around underwater?

How does a permanently enraged, 1,000 lb. gamma-irradiated giant with the intellect of a child get around?  Why, by flying around in his own customized helicopter, that's how! The Hulk's sausage-sized fingers should have no problem working the copter's delicate instrument panel, or using that collection of tiny yellow tools!

 

Would the Flash...whose super-speed running can propel him around the planet several times a second...or even through the time barrier...really have a need for a motorcyle (albeit a really cool-looking one)?

Now let's talk Captain America...a hero who's actually been known to ride a motorcycle...wouldn't he be a logical character to get his own motorcycle toy? Not so fast (literally, in this case).  As it turned out, somebody at Marx toys (lousy Commies!) stuck Cap with a put-putting Euro-weenie scooter...and a yellow one at that! Where's he going...to a coffee shop? 

In France?

Following Cap's lead, Superman got his own yellow motorcycle, but with a dreadfully anti-feminist twist! See, instead of getting her own motorcycle, Wonder Woman was consigned to a mere sidecar...and to add insult to injury, a really bad orange dye job (conspicuously not matching the raven-haired images of Wonder Woman adorning the sidecar)!

The Man of Steel was also associated with another goofy superhero toy...which was quite possibly the most insane superhero vehicle ever created!  

Looking a bit like a Star Wars Scout Walker/La-Z-Boy recliner hybrid (with a flip-down beauty parlor hair dryer), the Justice Jogger was billed as an "overland villain chaser" with "power stepping action". It's unknown what the Justice Jogger actually did to apprehend said villains once it caught up to them...or for that matter why an invulnerable, super-strong man who could fly, run at super speed, and shoot heat rays needed such a preposterous contraption to apprehend bad guys.

By the way, one more day to send in your entry for my White Christmas contest!  Send in your guesses...and you might win a DVD of A Christmas Story!

We've Got a White Christmas Winner!

Wow! Look what a little begging can do!  

After yesterday's plea for White Christmas contest entries, a veritable tidal wave of emails poured in throughout the day!  Thanks to everyone who took a shot at guessing the names, even if you only knew two or three of 'em.

But, like all contests, only one person can win...and the winner of my White Christmas DVD contest is Rick Phillips. Mr. Phillips guessed a very impressive 14 out of 18 characters, many of which were insanely obscure. Congratulations, Rick...your Christmas Story DVD is on its way to your mailbox!

So...who the heck were all of those white-themed comic book characters anyway?  Let's go down the list:

1. White Feather, member of DC's superhero parody The Inferior Five.

2. White Lightning, flirtatious foe of DC's boy-speedster Impulse.

3. White Martians, a warlike race of Martians opposed by the peaceful race of Green Martians, of whom J'onn J'onzz was the last survivor.

4. White Dwarf, a Teen Titans foe who had the powers of directed gravity, density, and the ability to absorb explosions.

5. White Tiger I (Hector Ayala), vigilante hero.

6. White Rabbit, a minor gadget-touting Spider-Man villain.

7. White Dragon, a white supremacist villain of Hawkman III.

8. Perry White, editor of The Daily Planet.

9. White Light, an Iceman enemy who possessed hypnotic powers.

10. White Tiger II, evolved from a white Bengal tigress into a woman by the High Evolutionary, this "were-tiger" later became a Heroes for Hire operative.

11. White Lotus, a martial artist with an ability to generate force fields, member of the short-lived team Supermen of America.

12. Whiteface, psychotic clown villain of the Squadron Supreme's Nighthawk.

13. White Rabbit, a Metropolis arms dealer and minor Superman villain.

14. White Tiger III (Kasper Cole), a police officer who gained powers similar to the Black Panther through the use of a synthetic drug.

15. White Witch, a 30th century sorceress and member of the Legion of Superheroes.

16. White Queen, the alias of mutant Emma Frost when she was a member of the villainous Hellfire Club.

17. Whiteout, a supervillain able to generate a selectively blinding flash of light and a member of the Savage Land Mutates.

18. White Tiger IV (Angela Del Toro), a niece of the first White Tiger who took up his heroic mantle.

And there you have it.  Hope you had fun, despite me raising the bar a little higher this time around. Stay tuned for more contests and games in the coming weeks and months! 

The Perfection Checklist

My checklist for the perfect Superman comic book:

1. A cover by Jose Garcia Lopez.

2. Interior art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

3. A team-up with Santa Claus.

From DC Comics Presents #67 (1983)

Dr. Doom's SCARY SANTA Gallery: The SEQUEL!

••• PART TWO •••

"Greetings, ignorant curs! I am Victor Von Doom, the greatest enemy of both the Fantastic Four and the insipid holiday known as Christmas!  As I revealed last year, I have been undermining Christmas for years through 'Operation Santa Scare', a secret campaign to frighten children with my army of sinister Santa agents planted in department stores across the United States. The sheer terror generated by these Bearded Beazlebubs has made a normally joyful time into an unholy trauma for countless mewling brats...their tear-stained screams serving as sweet music to my ears!"

"This year, I shall reveal ten more of my most prized "Sinister Santas"...some of whom may be plying their anti-Christmas craft at a shopping mall near you!"

1. "Agent F-77's dingy yellow beard can't hide the malevolence behind those shifty, calculating eyes. Why, even the cartoon character on the boy's shirt is scared witless!"

2. "Not even the wails of a screaming infant can wake the creepy, narcoleptic Agent Z-ZZ...bundled snugly inside his beard and hat while dreaming evil dreams."

 

3. "Don't let the smile of Agent Q-32 fool you...those angry eyebrows and the claw-like death grip on the hysterical child reveal his inner moral rot!"

4. "Feel your willpower slip away under the blank, hypnotic gaze of Agent X-1000, a fully robotic operative capable of terrorizing three children at once!"

 

5. "One of my greatest agents, C-33 boldly displays his anger and contempt for all that is good and decent."

6. "Can you feel the waves of evil (and menthol) wafting from Agent D-53?"

7. "Though not a truly living agent, the cyclopean stare of my miniature Santa Drone accomplishes the same goal: Total and utter hysteria!"

8. "Look how youthful innocence is eclipsed by the slovenly, highly-intoxicated evil of Agent Y-45!"

9. "Agent T-63, a hatless madman, triggers instant fear with hair resembling SNL character Rosanne Rosannadanna and smelling like a filthy Texaco bathroom!"

10. "Ah, Agent B-00...my pride and joy!  This eerie emissary of evil gives even me, DR. DOOM, a shiver of fright...as his cold, dead eyes and grave-pale skin consume all innocence, happiness, and light within a five mile radius. Exquisite."

"Now that I have crippled you with fear and despair, I take my leave.  I shall spend every moment between now and thrice-cursed Christmas monitoring the misery spawned by my Sinister Santas! Slowly, but surely, I shall bring an end to this fetid holiday of rank hypocrisy...one screaming baby at a time!"

"WhooHa Ha HAAAH!"

Bethlehem or Bust!

Of all the superhero Christmas covers I've come across (some of which can be seen here and here), the DC Super-Star Holiday Special (a.k.a. DC Special Series #21, 1980) stands apart as one of the most surreal. While the other covers focus on predictable secular imagery (stockings, presents, Santa Claus, etc), this one depicts a disparate band of DC characters following a blazing star to, presumably, the ancient city of Bethlehem...in other words, indisputably religious territory!

Illustrated by Garcia Lopez, the unusual traveling companions included (from top to bottom) four teen heroes from the 30th century, Superboy from the 20th, deformed western anti-hero Jonah Hex, an anonymous witch, horror mag hosts Cain and Abel (seated on the camel), WWII hero Sgt. Rock, and an uncharacteristically cheery Batman beckoning us to join them on their spiritual pilgrimage!

Though I don't actually own this issue (yet!), I'm reasonably sure the stories inside don't depict the Merry Band arriving in Bethlehem to visit the newly-born Christ Child.  However...I couldn't resist visualizing what that incredibly bizarre Nativity scene might have looked like if they did!

(click on the Nativity scene for a more glorious view)

I should note that the three tiny Legionnaires in the foreground are part of DC's line of "Pocket Super Heroes", all of which feature the original uniforms of Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, and Saturn Girl (unlike the groovier mid-70's versions depicted on the cover). Wildfire (behind Batman) was actually a custom figure someone made (man, that guy was hard to find), while Cain and Abel were actually taken from a set of DC Direct bookends. The others were all "official" action figures from DC Direct (except for the witch...I didn't bother looking for the witch).

So there you have it.  A Nativity scene like no other....and a ticket straight to Hell for Yours Truly!

Merry Christmas from Comic Coverage!

I'll be spending the next several days taking "a long winter's nap", but before I take my mini-breather, a Christmas greeting from my favorite web-slinger. After defeating the Manhattan rampage of Stegron and his pack of reanimated dinosaurs, the epilogue* of the tale finds a window-peeping Spider-Man delivering a gift to the beleaguered family of Curt Connors (who'd just transformed back from his villainous identity of The Lizard)...then pulling a "Tiny Tim" in a rare moment of non-angst!

(click on the page for a larger view)

 

* Outside of comics and Quinn Martin TV detective shows, 

was the term "epilogue" used anywhere else? Ever?

2008: The Good & The Bad

 

Here in the closing days of 2008, I thought I'd take a rare jump onto the bandwagon and offer my own take on the best...and worst...the world of comics (and comics-related media) had to offer over the past year.

With the optimism the holiday season brings, let's 

begin with the Good Stuff (in no particular order):

1.  The Iron-Man movie: Although I was cautiously optimistic toward Marvel Studios' freshman effort, I had no idea just how wildly successful Iron-Man would turn out to be, both creatively and financially. Marvel proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that fidelity to the source material (as well as clever, carefully-seeded connections to future Marvel movies) is a winning strategy...and an approach the perpetually flat-footed Warner Bros. studios are quickly trying to adapt to their inert (non-Batman) superhero franchises. Check out my review of the movie for more specifics, but to sum it up: Iron-Man was a finely-tuned collaboration between a director who "gets it", top-notch actors (especially Robert Downey Jr.), eye-popping special effects, and a very smart marketing campaign. In other words, it's the new standard against which all Marvel movies will be measured (sorry, Spider-Man 2...you've been replaced)!

2. Writer Geoff Johns: As one of the most prolific, enthusiastic, and professional writers in the business (if not the most), Geoff Johns has become a sort of defacto "quarterback" of DC Comics as his ideas and ambitious storylines propel the publisher into exciting new directions. Like any popular creator, Johns has his vocal critics...many of whom claim he's systematically reinstating DC's "Silver Age" of the 1950's and 60's, but fans of his (like me) don't see rote revival but rather carefully considered re-imaginings combined with compelling new ideas.

Yeah, I can agree with some of the criticism leveled toward his occasional use of visceral, violent imagery...but the key word is "occasional".  Experience seems to have given Johns a bit more wisdom regarding where and when to use such imagery, but it's still a characteristic that dogs his work...and, frankly, a bit of a "crutch" he could easily drop altogether in my opinion. His work is strong enough without having to resort to the cheap shocks. 

However, that's the only qualification I have in endorsing Johns' writing. In fact, considering so many of my monthly comic books are either written by Johns (Green Lantern, JSA, Action Comics, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds), are collaborations with Johns (Superman, Green Lantern Corps), or his upcoming titles (Flash: Rebirth, a Legion of Superheroes revival in Adventure Comics), it's obvious the positive, entertaining aspects of his writing far outweigh the occasional turn-off of excessive violence. As with the past couple of years, Johns remains the writer to watch.

3. Superman's 70th Anniversary: Back in June, I tried something I'd never done here at Comic Coverage before or since, and that was 30 consecutive days devoted to a single topic: 70 years of Superman. The character has always been a favorite of mine, but my enthusiasm for the month-long commemoration was certainly fueled by the ongoing quality of DC's line of Superman books. Following several years of colossally bad stewardship of the character, DC finally hired an editor and a stable of creators who reinvigorated the character and his world...once again making the Superman titles the first books I read on a weekly basis. Finally...it really IS a great time to be a Superman fan.

4. The Incredible Hulk movie: Hitting two for two, Marvel Studio's second film was also great fun...and certainly more entertaining than Ang Lee's dull-as-dishwater 2003 version. Equal parts a comic book adaptation and a nod to the 1970's TV series, this version had many more of the elements I'm looking for in a Hulk movie...namely huge amounts of noisy smashing sprinkled with a bit of angsty emoting (which the 2003 movie got exactly backwards). Where the franchise goes from here is anyone's guess, but it's great to see an old favorite brought to the screen in such style and wall-shaking volume.

5. The Reprint Tsunami: In addition to the usual trade paperback collections of recent stories, there seems to have been a virtual explosion of affordable volumes reprinting the great (and, yes, not-so-great) comic books of decades past. Whether it's the pricier hardcover color volumes or the dirt cheap black-and-white "phonebooks", comic book history has never been more accessible to old and new fans alike. Dark Horse has recently jumped into the ring with their reprints of Gold Key titles like Magnus Robot Fighter and Doctor Solar, and other defunct publishers like ACG (who published cult favorite Herbie the Fat Fury). As a steady stream of consumers and public libraries snap up these books, more people than ever have easy access to several decades worth of outstanding entertainment.

With those five highlights duly noted, let's make the inevitable 

turn to 2008's comic-related lowlights...a.k.a. "The Bad".

1. The Dark Knight movie: I said it then, and I'll say it again: I don't get it.  I simply don't get the hysterical enthusiasm for The Dark Knight which, outside of a single brilliant performance by Heath Ledger, was a dreary, incoherent mess. Most disappointing was the inert performance of Christian Bale as a blank-faced Bruce Wayne and laughably robo-armored, monster-voiced Batman. Depressing, non-sensical crap.

2. Writer Grant Morrison: Though just as prolific and high-profile as fellow DC writer Geoff Johns, Morrison's stock really took a tumble during 2008, at least from my point of view. To be sure, when Morrison is "on", his ambitious high-concept epics are a thing to behold (like his JLA, Seven Soldiers, and All-Star Superman stuff)....but man, when he's phoning it in, it's a lazy, non-linear stagger through fever-dream journals and meta-textual abstractions. Which leads me to...

3. Final Crisis: Yaawwwnnn. As the supposed be-all end-all of DC's Crisis-themed projects, the still-incomplete Final Crisis has become the poster child for poorly conceived and executed event comics.  Plagued by art delays and a dull, meandering storyline, Final Crisis is little more than Morrison's arcane meditations on word power, cosmic symbology, and...oh yeah...his refurbished version of the New Gods, Jack Kirby's campy-cosmic space opera that's never been a good fit with the DC Universe. Sure...we got the return of Barry Allen out of it, but even that's been handled in such an obtuse way, I wish it had happened somewhere else (like in The Flash or even Legion of Three Worlds). All in all, a crashing disappointment...with little hope the two remaining issues will somehow make sense of it all.

4. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Fantastic Four: The much-ballyhooed takeover of The Fantastic Four by golden boys Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch was probably the biggest creative belly flop of 2008. Unceremoniously kicking the critically-acclaimed team of Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier to the curb, the King of Self-Promotion and his pal "Hitchy" spectacularly missed the target with Marvel's First Family, growing more pathetic with the long delays that inevitably accompany the self-styled rock star creators. Now that his narcissism and relentless self-promotion seems more at home in Hollywood, is it fair to say that Mark Millar's time in comics has passed? Sure, he's been threatening to overhaul the Superman character for at least a decade...and is equally determined to write a trilogy of Superman movies...but as the hot air from so many of his over-hyped projects continues to dissipate...does anyone really care? 

5. $3.99 cover prices: Comic book fans are good at threatening to cut back on comics (or drop them altogether) following a cover price increase, but now that Marvel (and shortly DC) has surpassed the $3.99 barrier, I suspect many of us will finally follow through on those threats. Just as we found out what the breaking point was for a gallon of gasoline earlier this year (also about $4.00), four bucks for a lousy 22 pages of story seems to be another "clarifying moment" for comic book consumers. I know I'll be cutting back in 2009, although it'll be more out of protest than actual financial strain. We need to see more diverse, innovative formatting in comics...not another bump in cover price.

Super Self-Improvement for 2009!

As we all know, New Year's Day brings with it a renewed determination for self-improvement...even for comic book superheroes! 

Like Superman did at the dawn of his 70th year, he and his DC Comics colleagues kick off 2009 with some surprisingly common New Year's resolutions... 

(click on covers for a larger view)

A Happy & Healthy New 

Year to all of my readers!

UPDATE: To make your New Year's Day even happier, check out this hilarious piece at The Onion. Somebody over there knows their comics!

Are You a Winner O' The Green?

Gosh and Begorrah! What better day for a green-themed color contest than St. Patrick's Day?

Much like my previous blue, black, red, and white-themed contests, I've tracked down several comic book characters that all have the color green in common. Ahhh, but this time I've added a twist. As before, some characters will have names that include the word "green"...or synonyms like "emerald" or "jade". However, other characters will not have "green" (or any of its synonyms) in their name, but will actually have green-colored skin.

Some characters are obvious and easy to guess, while a few are incredibly obscure...and the first person to name all twenty-seven of them, or guess the most names by 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 18^th will win a free month of Netflix DVD rentals* (like maybe The Hulk, The Emerald City of Oz, Anne of Green Gables, Envy, Godzilla, Curse of the Jade Scorpion, The Grass is Greener, etc). 

A few ground rules: Anyone is welcome to play...even those of you who've won a previous contest. I'll be turning off the comments for this post, since I don't want anyone "borrowing" the answers of others to complete their own lists. Oh, and only cheaters use Google, Wikipedia, or leprechauns...so let your conscience be your guide.

Once you've completed your list, click here to email it to me. The winner (and the answers) will be posted on Friday March 20^th, so pull your socks up! (Irish slang for "Get to Work!")

* The prize is for two free Netflix movie rentals within a one month period.

The Winner O' the Green!

Well....that didn't take long! We've already got a winner for my St. Patrick's green-themed contest...and his name is PAT! How perfect is that? 

Pat Curley, proprietor of the excellent Silver Age Comics blog (and, I think, several of his minions) guessed every single character in the Green Gallery. Congratulations, Pat...you and your pals will have to divide up that free month of Netflix rentals! So...wondering who all of those green-themed characters are? Here we go:

1. Green Lantern-Hal Jordan (DC) 
2. Savage Dragon (Image) 
3. J'onn J'onzz, Manhunter from Mars (DC) 
4. Green Fury (later Fire) (DC) 
5. Brainiac (DC) 
6. Green Hornet (radio, Harvey Comics, etc.) 
7. Emerald Empress (DC) 
8. Abomination (Marvel) 
9. Green Mask (Fox) 
10. Jezebel Jade (Hanna-Barbera, Comico) 
11. Man-Thing (Marvel) 
12. Green Lantern-Alan Scott (DC) 
13. Green Goblin (Marvel) 
14. Professor Radium (DC)
15. Hulk (Marvel) 
16. Jade (DC) 
17. The Green Ghost (Nedor, ABC) 
18. Swamp Thing (DC) 
19. Green Arrow (DC) 
20. Green Giant (Pelican) 
21. The Harpy (Marvel) 
22. Green Lama (Prize) 
23. Brainiac 5 (DC) 
24. Green Turtle (Rural Home) 
25. Kryptonite Kid (DC) 
26. She-Hulk (Marvel) 
27. The Leader (Marvel)

The Highlight Reel: Who's Your Daddy?

Who better to celebrate Father's Day with than one of the "Big Daddies" of superhero comics: ODIN!

Traditionally the chief god of ancient Norse mythology, Odin made the jump to modern mythology courtesy of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Thor series. Like all legendary patriarchs, Marvel's Odin was as wise and regal as he was remote and wrathful. Most of the time, Odin (and his inexhaustible supply of fabulous headgear) ruled from on high, leaving the messy clash of battle to his loyal subjects. However, once in a great while, Odin would set aside his fancy helmets, step down from his throne, and take matters into his own all-powerful hands.

One such rare intervention took place over a span of three issues in Thor #143-145 (1967). Arriving from another dimension, a mysterious trio named the Enchanters sought to conquer Asgard and Earth using their "limitless power". Possibly a foreshadowing of Kirby's Celestials, these eerie, elaborately-armored beings make quick work of Thor and his fellow Asgardians...drawing the attention and challenge of Odin himself!

(click on the panels for a larger view)

The action jumped back to Thor and company taking down the remaining two Enchanters, so the conclusion of Odin and Forsung's battle wouldn't be revealed until the following issue. As the smoke clears in the realm of Asgard, Odin stands victorious over the vanquished Forsung...with only a lost helmet to show for it! Ah...but instead of stopping there, Odin sends a message to any who would dare challenge him....

That message? 

Don't mess with Dad!

To all of my fellow (not so) All-Powerful
 Patriarchs, have a Happy Father's Day!

Cover to Cover: Give Me Liberty (Covers)!

Since its official debut in October of 1886, the Statue of Liberty has become not only one of the world's most recognizable American icons, but a symbol of freedom and inspiration as well.

Because of this vaunted status, the Statue of Liberty has appeared in countless movies, TV shows, video games, books, and...of course...comic books. To start the July 4th festivities a few days early, I thought I'd take a stroll through various cover galleries searching out comic book covers that feature an image of Lady Liberty...fourteen of which you can see below.

However, I know there's a bunch more out there, so I encourage you to post specific titles and issue numbers for Statue of Liberty covers you'd like me to add.  I'll be sure to add your suggestions to a second "reader suggestions" gallery. Keep in mind I'd like the statue itself to appear on the cover, not characters resembling or based on the Statue of Liberty (such as Lady Liberty of the Freedom Fighters or the Force of July). With that...give me Liberty (covers)!

(click on the covers for a larger view)

 

 

UPDATE: You guys never let me down!  Here are

some Statue of Liberty covers suggested by readers:

(click on the images for a larger view)