Legends of the Dark Knight... That Aren't Often Discussed

No real preamble for this particular blog entry, aside from one quick mention; I've yet to catch up with another episode or two, but my BIGGEST television surprise is how genuinely entertaining CW's "The Flash" is!  I probably should've mentioned this more for yesterday's entry, detailing the media infusion of comics into television and films, but I had to rediscover my "blog voice" for that entry above all else.  For the current television offerings that are comic-based, "The Flash" feels the MOST genuine in its love and appreciation for it's comic-bookiness.  Super-villains, a hero that BRAZENLY wears his costume, lots of fun tidbits thrown out to long-time DC fans, and a cast that seems to really "get" the comic book tone equals a true highlight for me!  It has me curious about wanting to check out the back catalog of "Arrow" episodes, even!  (Brief notes on the other offerings: I'm STILL not 100% sold on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D", but I'll give the Agent Carter series a shot when that launches.  I've given a pass on "Gotham" after the first two episodes.  And I've not dipped my toes into "Constantine" as of yet.)

Before this year ends, I REALLY want to come up with an appropriate 75th anniversary set of postings about this particular character.  But this will require still a bit of study, so expect an in-depth two-part pro and con posting on today's character to come in December, more likely than not.  BUT for a sneak peek, I wanted to do a lil' something special as a sampler platter for this year's comic book birthday boy.  Y'see, in 2013 we celebrated Superman's 75th birthday... or at least those of us that LOVE the character did.  I'm STILL not sure if the company that even HOSTS Superman as part of their universe, DC, gave much of a rip about Kal-El's milestone.  But of COURSE their second major company success gets the "red carpet" approach.  (I don't mean to sound grouchy about it, but geez... It sometimes feels like today's character has a birthday EVERY year, based on how much love he receives from fans and creators, alike.)  But whereas we all know about the contributions of such artists to his legacy like Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, Frank Miller, Greg Capullo, and EVEN Jim Lee, I wanted to provide you readers with a spotlight on artists that don't OFTEN get enough positive word-of-mouth for their visits to the alleyways of Gotham City.  Artists that seem to be neglected for their criminal profiles they provided for Commissioner James Gordon.  Artists we shall look at today, for their highlight runs on the Dark Knight Detective... the Batman!

Don Newton- This mention is a BIT of a cheat, because Newton's legacy on Batman is not as "forgotten" as others may think.  Recently DC published a hardcover collection of Don Newton's contributions to both the "Batman" and "Detective Comics" titles.  Heck, I even recently read an issue of "The Brave and the Bold" that was graced by Newton's artwork!  What made his Batman so memorable was that he carried over the dynamics of the 70's feel of the character, and gave Batman a definitive polish.  Newton's Batman was a certifiable lean, mean, detective-and-fighting machine!  And Batman wasn't the ONLY beneficiary of the Newton touch!  Outside of the creative genius of Jim Aparo, Don Newton was the OTHER great artist on Aquaman for the late 70's, and Captain Marvel received the signature Newton touch in the early 80's.  Such touchstones of Newton's time on the Batman titles was the creation of Maxie Zeus, the death of the Kathy Kane Batwoman, and the first appearance of Jason Todd... who would become the SECOND person to wear the mantle of Robin.  The true sorrow of the legacy of Don Newton was how short his time on Earth was, when he died a few months shy of becoming 50 years old in 1984.  I'd HIGHLY recommend people that appreciate clean and kinetic storytelling to check out the aforementioned Don Newton collection of Batman stories.  And speaking of artists that have JUST RECENTLY received collected volumes...

Alan Davis- Yes, Alan Davis' Batman work is ALSO collected in a handsome hardback edition.  No, no need to worry, because Alan Davis is still among the living, unlike the tragically gone-too-soon Don Newton.  And yes, you probably know Alan Davis from MANY other projects, such as an extended run on Marvel's "Excalibur", and having a hand in co-creating the revised "Captain Britain".  But even Alan Davis had a hand in the legend of the Batman.  Another student of the "clean and dynamic" style of artwork that portrayed Batman as a lean... but STILL believable beater of butts... Alan cut his teeth on the character via "Batman and the Outsiders".  (Heck, if he can make such lame characters like Looker and Geo-Force look good, the man is a MIRACLE!)  And for a brief stretch of time, Alan Davis was a MAIN creative driver on "Detective Comics", where in his run as an artist, he helped revert Catwoman back to her villainous ways, gave us a truly interesting take on the Scarecrow, and gave a truly lunatic polish to the Joker.  Editorial differences caused Alan to vacate "Detective" in the opening stretch of the "Year Two" event storyline, but he DID later return for a graphic novel sequel, "Batman: Full Circle", and in two of my favorite original series, gave us ANOTHER shot at Batman via "JLA: The Nail" and "JLA: Another Nail".  (Both of which are some of the BEST "Elseworlds" titles that DC published, and it would be awesome if they were given the omnibus/Absolute treatment!)  But while his overall time on Batman wasn't an extended run, Alan Davis' run on Batman helped establish a truly engaging legacy on the character!

Irv Novick- It's kind of unheard of for artists to have a NEARLY 50-year career in comics, and to be so instrumental in so many varied titles for a given company, but Irv Novick accomplished JUST that for DC comics for the 60's until about the 90's.  Irv was present for the latter phases of the "new look" Batman phase that arose in the wake of Julius Schwartz' editorial run with the character.  Irv also DRAMATICALLY evolved his artwork to match the "Dark Knight" return to form at the cusp of the 70's, and proved to be a nearly seamless transition of styles from what Neal Adams contributed to the title!  (I also may be so bold as to suggest that the ladies of Gotham city NEVER had it so good under Irv's pencils!  YOWZA!)  Irv may be BEST known for his LLLOOONNNGGG 70's stretch on "The Flash", but he also had extended runs on "Batman" and "Detective Comics".  Notice how I seem to give notice to a lot of artists that keep Batman in more of a trim fighting shape.  (Against my admiration of Greg Capullo, I REALLY am not a huge fan of a "bulky" Batman.  To me, he's a character that's best served to be more of an athletic build.)  But Irv Novick has a true legacy in the DC Universe, not only having gifted his talents to adventures of the Dark Knight, along with his strong Flash... pardon the pun... "run", but he ALSO contributed to the stories of Superman and Wonder Woman during his time as a regular DC artist.  Such key moments for Irv's run on the Batman titles include being the artist behind "One Bullet Too Many", the story that served as a splitting between Batman and Robin for the onset of the 70's solo "Creature of the Night" Batman, AND he was the launch artist for the truly unusual experimental title of the 70's, "The Joker" solo series!  In my eyes, Irv Novick is one of the artists that has left an undeniable stamp on the DC Universe as a whole!

Dick Dillin- Admittedly his time on the solo Batman titles was rather limited, but there's one artist that is often forgotten for his LENGTHY portrayals of the Batman in comics... and who also had an unfortunately short life... it was Dick Dillin.  People may recognize a bulk of his portrayals of the darker ego of Bruce Wayne in a nearly-continuous 12-YEAR RUN on "Justice League of America", along with participating in one of the most unique sagas in the pages of "World's Finest Comics", the "Super Sons Saga".  Another acolyte in the lean-and-mean Batman artistic style, Dick's portrayal of Batman is probably the one that stuck with me the longest of time in my collecting life.  It was due to the JLA DC Digests that I REALLY started reading about the DC Universe in more detail, and I appreciated the figure work that Dick Dillin gave in portraying the key heroes of the Universe, Batman included.  A lot of people tend to criticize his work as being "stiff", but I still feel there's an energy to his style that it just takes the right mind-set to connect to.  And anyone that devotes nearly 12 years of their life to one given character is SURELY worthy of note.  Major developments that Dillin contributed to the team-work aspect of the Batman's life include an apparent "son" that would carry the legacy of Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting career, the departure of the Martian Manhunter from the JLA, the introduction of the android Red Tornado to the team, the first DC appearances of the acquired Fawcett characters... and Batman TOTALLY macking on Green Arrow's steady lady, Black Canary!

No Forgetting The Blog, Or Forgotten Saturday Comic Cartoons!

I cannot state this enough: I am REALLY sorry for no entries, this past weekend.  Here's the short story behind my sabbatical; I had an utter week from HELL at my job... of which still carried over a little bit into this week... and the potential career highlights I was looking towards as an escape from my general menial working existence were denied even before I could step into the door for an interview.  Such an epic sense of self-failure caused me to want to retreat into myself, and it even killed off my drive to indulge EVEN in discussing comic-related matters.  So to the people that read this blog, I do sincerely apologize for leaving you hanging, this past weekend.  But the ironic piece of this entire period is I HAD topics already selected for the two entries of the first weekend of November!  So... why waste them, when I still feel like I have something to offer on my talking points?  Let's play some catch-up!

These past few weeks have offered up some VERY interesting developments in the realm of the Marvel and DC film universes.  It's become a world where the characters and stories we, as "comic book nerds", have grown to willingly share with the world as a whole... and have THEM enjoy the kind of storytelling we've already known has been exciting for YEARS!  (The only bummer about that media transition is when fans of the movie franchises ACTUALLY decide to sample the current comics the companies are publishing.  ... Yeah, even I REALLY don't seek out that kind of sadomasochism.)  But once upon a time, media related to comics was relatively limited.  Sure, we had the popularity of George Reeves in "The Adventures of Superman", the PHENOMENON of Adam West in "Batman", and the first real depth explorations of the possibilities of film-making with comic characters in Richard Donner's "Superman the Movie", and Tim Burton's "Batman".  In those in-between years when the glory of the Christopher Reeves "Superman" series had faded, where the shadow of the "Batman" was really starting to rise, and Marvel only had to offer faltering efforts of television and silver screen cinema efforts with latter "Incredible Hulk" tele-movies and well intentioned... but "questionable"... translations of "Captain America" and "Punisher", we found our haven for comic book media in the rise of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini collaboration piece, "Batman: The Animated Series". 

The success of "Batman: The Animated Series" COULD be discussed, at length, in a blog entry of it's own... but that animated series is almost a GIVEN of how excellently a comic book character can thrive in the hands of talented creators.  But the success of that given series gave birth to OTHER successes, like "Spider-Man", "X-Men", and the later Timm/Dini collaborations like "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Justice League".  We're not talking about ANY of those successes, though!  Today, I wanted to pay tribute to the animated series that were based off comic books that lie neglected on their island of animation cel "Misfit Toys".  The efforts to expand on then-"HOT" books.  The forgotten Saturday morning comic book cartoons!

Ruby-Spears' Superman- Technically, this series PREDATES the success of B:TAS, originally seeing broadcast for ONE SEASON in 1988.  And it's not as difficult to find as the latter mentions of this blog, having been officially collected on DVD by Warner Bros., to probably DIRT-CHEAP prices by this point.  But I feel this series still deserves some tender loving mention for blog expansion, because of just how FUN it was!  The series operates with some foundations of the John Byrne post-Crisis reboot of the character, with Lex Luthor being a multimillionaire illicit businessman... voiced by the SAME GUY who voiced Duke in "G.I. Joe"!... and with Clark Kent's parents still being alive.  But the bizarre thing is the series STILL clung to a lot of the Bronze Age comic tropes, like Clark Kent being a timid "act", and a lot of the villains of the series being semi-ridiculous one-offs.  But the animation quality of the series was TOP-NOTCH, and one particular episode highlight involved a crossover between Superman and Wonder Woman.  I remember when I first saw that episode in syndication, it BLEW MY MIND.  Wonder Woman... in a cartoon... WITH SUPERMAN?!?  If this series was given a better time-slot for broadcast, I think it would have been FAR more successful, and could have been given a longer lease on life.  The possibilities that this series contained for an earlier integrated DC Animated Universe never occurred, but I still HIGHLY recommend you readers give this show a shot, since as I mentioned, it's not difficult to find... along with not difficult to part with the pocket change you need for buying this!

WildC.A.T.s- The first of the "HOT" property comics to see animated life was Jim Lee's Image Comics creation.  (And if you remember this series at all, then I apologize for the fact that you're probably already thinking about that AWFUL Rap theme for the show.  "We're heroes, not zeroes, we've got, what they need..."  B.A.R.F.)  We also have the first example of a challenging conundrum for animated series based off of the "Independent" comics characters: how to make them Saturday morning "safe".  Sure, Batman and the X-Men had "mature" themes in their storylines, but they were still generally "kid-safe" material.  In the case of WildC.A.T.s, we had a team that KILLED people OFTEN in the comics, and one of their members was a former STRIPPER!  Um... Time to grab that bowl of Trix, and enjoy watching a former stripper help in the slaughter of an evil alien race?  So a lot of the initial comic's impact was "softened" for animated purposes.  No longer did the Daemonite hordes get filled with lead: they were mere "excised" from people by said former-stripper Voodoo... who is NO LONGER an "exotic dancer", and is dressed far more modestly.  No longer did Grifter use live-ammunition in his battles against evil: he was given REALLY weird looking laser guns to use in fights.  And the REALLY weird thing is the series chose Warblade, the not-Wolverine-Meets-T1000, as our "entry point" character.  And purportedly, "WildC.A.T.s" was created as competition against the MASSIVELY popular FOX series, "X-Men".  But doing the math, 5 seasons of "X-Men" versus 2-ish seasons of "WildC.A.T.s"... Yeah, guess who won that broadcast brawl.  The interesting thing about "WildC.A.T.s" is it WAS officially released onto DVD, but in a VERY limited run by A.D.V Video.  I remember at a HorrorHound Weekend convention, one night, spotting the set with my buddy Jake McLargeHuge, and was about to commit... when I noticed even a USED copy of this series collection costed nearly ONE.  HUNDRED.  DOLLARS.  Yeah... This isn't even nearly worth 90% of that price, but it was an interesting curiosity.

Savage Dragon- Erik Larsen was the next man up with his Image creation, the Savage Dragon, seeing animated life in a REALLY weird block of cartoons on the USA Network.  (If memory serves me right, it was sandwiched between the unintentionally HILARIOUS animated series of "Street Fighter 2" and "Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm".  Seriously, look up clips on YouTube if you want some quick chuckles.)  "Savage Dragon", like in the case of "WildC.A.T.s", had to undergo some sanitization for network standards.  For example, gone was his complicated relationship backstories with his executed neighbor, and later a former hooker-turned-superhero named Rapture.  Also gone was the fact that Officer Dragon beat the LIVING SNOT out of the Super Freaks he battled in Chicago.  I remember more than a few issues involving bloody... and FATAL... battles.  But thankfully, being a figure like a police officer, and working in a police department, meant that the Dragon's essential M.O. remained unchanged.  As did the Super Freak... now you've probably got that Rick James song stuck in your head... criminal gang controlled by Overlord.  (No longer a failed human Mafioso who used power armor to make a grab on the "mutated" legions of crime... and ESPECIALLY not killed by a gun-shot into his mouth by Savage Dragon.)  I remember being disappointed by how "tame" the series was in comparison to the outrageous antics the amnesiac Chicago P.D. officer got himself into in the comics, but I still give this series points for somewhat retaining more of the originating spirit than "WildC.A.T.s" did.  In retrospect, if Erik Larsen could have grabbed a deal like Todd McFarlane had with "Spawn" and HBO, and had been granted a MATURE "Savage Dragon" animated series... Oh, the possibilities...

UltraForce- The Malibu Universe is somewhat like the forgotten stepchild of 90's comics in current times.  I mean, a cross section of Image properties still exist... and even if they don't, people STILL remember how much of a splash the company made in its initial impact.  And Valiant properties are becoming popular AGAIN, thanks to a successful relaunch.  But Malibu is like the "one left behind" of the companies that were once experiencing a blazing moment of popularity in the 1990's comic boom.  Which is a shame, because they DID have a lot of nifty concepts... even if they were STILL riffs on existing material.  (Sorry, Malibu fans, but you CANNOT convince me that Prime wasn't another version of the Captain Marvel story, or that Prototype had MORE than a little Iron Man in his diet.  Heck, even the Ghoul had VERY strong creative ties to Deadman!)  So it's kind of surprising that Malibu... for their flicker moment in the 90's... managed to produce ONE animated series based on their premiere super group, "UltraForce".  I've only read about the first 3 issues of the series, proper... and I DID enjoy it, because how can you NOT enjoy George Perez artwork?  But the characters never seemed to light a comic book reading fire under me.  The odd thing was I STILL watched pretty much every episode of the animated series, which detailed... for one season... the Force's battles against such Malibu villains like Lord Pumpkin, Rune, Boneyard, NME... and Sludge.  (I could have SWORN that Sludge was a "hero" character.  Eh... Go figure.)  I remember the animation quality was decent, and the stories were entertaining in a generic cartoon superhero show fashion, but this is obviously a series that is going to be a hard sell to anyone NOT familiar with the comic universe it originated from.  Heck, even DURING the time of UltraForce's animated life, I felt like I was the ONLY kid that even knew of its EXISTENCE!

Spider-Man Unlimited- It sucked.  Big-time.  NEXT?!?  Sigh... Okay.  FOX Kids KNEW they had a success in their "Spider-Man" series, so after that show ran its course, they launched a new series featuring Peter Parker inadvertently taking a trip into the future via a space shuttle accident.  (Why am I now thinking about "Buck Rogers in the 25th. Century"?)  And in said future, humanity is having a rough time of things, being under the heel of human-animal hybrids.  Venom and Carnage show up, there's a lot of unlikable characters that interact with Spider-Man, the war with humanity against the mutants is boring, Spidey's "future costume" looks like something Ben Reilly and Miguel O'Hara came up with after getting massively wasted on "magic mushrooms".  But the WORST part about this series is, thanks to Netflix Instant, you can HANDILY watch it any time!  I only recommend to those with a VASTLY morbid sense of curiosity.

Avengers: United They Stand- Now THIS is an odd duck of a series!  I would have honestly expected Marvel Studios to try and re-release this single season show after the popularity of the "Avengers" film.  But I get the feeling this show is kind of like Marvel's version of the "Star Wars Holiday Special"; they prefer it to be lost to history.  Which is a shame, because outside of the REALLY stupid "power armor" transformation gimmicks, and the SHEER early 2000's feel of the series... it WASN'T THAT BAD.  In a way, the series was almost an adaptation of the general "Avengers West Coast" concept.  The "big three" of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor aren't running members of the team, with it featuring Ant Man and Wasp as the established figureheads.  A lot of the series centered around the integration of the Vision into the team, along with repeat battles against Ultron.  You also witnessed tussles against Kang the Conqueror, the Zodiac team, and I BELIEVE even the Masters of Evil got an episode to shine... that ALSO guest-starred Captain America!  I wouldn't exactly rank this as a "missing classic" of the animated superhero cartoons, but it was competently put together, and I feel it deserves a legitimate reissuing to capitalize on the current popularity of anything and EVERYTHING Avengers!

Youngblood- *Cue record scratching noise*  What's that, you say?  "Why did I EVER decide to end this article on a comic book animated series that NEVER EVEN SAW A FULL EPISODE?!?".  Because y'all know me, and you KNOW I just can't pass up a mention of a Rob Liefeld creation in a given blog entry.  This animated series was LONG talked about in issues of Wizard Magazine around 1992-4, with it also being the subject of heated creative right battles between Liefeld and animation studios.  The ONLY existing animation you will ever see of this project are both available on YouTube: 1. A promotional reel created for convention showcasing, and potential network syndication interest. 2. A test reel of an extended battle sequence... that also includes a KINDA CREEPY split-second insert of a mannequin head having its hair combed.  I would have been REAL curious to see how this comic book would have existed as an animated series, because while "WildC.A.T.s" and "Savage Dragon" suffered some content blunting, "Youngblood" probably would have had to been PUMMELED down because of it's "Adult" content.  (I say "Adult" instead of "Mature", because there's a fine line between telling a story that goes above an average child's sensibilities... and a story that features gratuitous butt-shots and heads exploding.)  But the animation that DOES exist for this series actually isn't too bad in quality.  I guess if anyone can make Rob Liefeld's creations assume realistic proportions, it would HAVE to be Korean animation studios.  It's honestly worth your few minutes doing a brief curiosity viewing!

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Halloween Better Than A Spider Can!

One thing that is constant in comic books is change.  Popular characters have their appearances altered throughout their creative lives.  Sometimes they can be subtle differences, like the changes introduced throughout the years of Superman and Batman's existences.  Other times they can just strike you out of the blue, like the switch from Wolverine's original yellow-and-blue costume to the orange-red-and-black outfit... and then BACK to the yellow-and-blue!  But in all of my time as a comic book fan, there's one character that I feel epitomizes the spirit of Halloween, by making sure he chooses MANY different costumes for different occasions.  ... Which is ironic, since he usually is grousing about how to make ends meet, yet is STILL able to afford the examples I'm about to present to you in today's blog!  I present you with some of the MANY costumes of Spider-Man!  But a brief note: this list is just a showcase of the more outrageous examples, and are STRICTLY from the comics.  If I extended my reach to action figure variants...  How about I have you readers contact my current employer to have an excused day off to detail as MANY of the different fantastic-plastic costumes Peter Parker sported?  ... Yeah, I didn't think that would work!  So, let's talk about Peter Parker's sense of costume fashion!

The Amazing Bag-Man: If'n you folks remember a blog entry I wrote about the symbiote costume Spidey sported in the wake of the "Secret Wars" storyline, maybe I made mention of the living costume being briefly kept under observation by Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.  Being separated from a creature that was essentially using his body as a puppet was by FAR not a terrible development for Peter.  But... Spider-Man can't become your "friendly neighborhood streaker" until the research on his costume was complete!  So, let's welcome in the spirit of innovation in "Amazing Spider-Man #258", where Johnny Storm... Spidey's "biggest fan"... suggests he take a spare Fantastic Four body suit.  But since the FF has no use for masks... that's where the quicker sandwich transporter, with eye holes, comes in handy!  Also, you may be wondering, "Then why the bare feet?".  Remember that Spidey's costume boots are little more than basically more-tough "socks", because he NEEDS some level of base contact with objects to crawl on walls.  Genuine boots hinder that ability, so Peter Parker takes the John McClaine approach... without walking on broken glass.

Spider-Armor... Because The 90's: This particular costume may have a personal comics record; the bag-man appearance didn't occur OFTEN, but it did appear at least more than once.  "Web of Spider-Man #100" was the first and LAST appearance of the cumbersome Spider-Armor.  Here's the deal; a group calling themselves the New Enforcers started laying siege to the New York turf of Spider-Man... with PARTICULARLY heavy caliber firearms.  That Spidey-sense can only carry you so far when you're dealing with weaponry that's more than just your average barrage of bullets.  So Peter develops the silver-and-black Spider-Armor.  What this costume achieved was it WAS more resilient to the firearms being used against him.  But like any extra padding suits of armor, Peter had to sacrifice his mobility and his leaping abilities.  And I GUESS like any suit of armor, bullet-blocking is all well and good, but surviving an attack with an acidic projectile is NOT going to be feasible.  However, Spider-Man survived that particular attack... the Armor, not so much.  And that particular version of the Spider-Armor concept was one and done.  But did I mention "particular version"...?

Iron Spider: Tony Stark... makes you feel... like he's your buddy and creates new armor for you, then later turns on your during the "Civil War" event.  (Not quite as catchy as the original theme song for "Iron Man", but I tried.)  I COULD attempt trying to describe to you the events of the "Spider-Man: The Other" storyline, but that would also take a sizeable chunk of my day... and also force me to re-read that particular event, which I was not a huge fan of.  But from what I remember, Peter's powers are thrown a bit out of whack for a stretch of time, and Peter Parker has been bonding with Tony Stark during his employ with Stark Industries.  Tony wants to HELP Peter out of a rough spot, so he takes the principles of the Iron Man armor... basically turning a man into a walking arsenal... and transforms those abilities to become more spider-centric.  Peter was a HUGE fan of the Iron Spider concept, and became a supporter of Tony's Initiative movement while still sporting the multi-legged suit.  But when Spider-Man starts to side with Captain America's rebellion, Tony uses his links to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Thunderbolts initiative to POUND THE TAR out of Spider-Man, and thus making Peter turn his back on the costume of Tony's invention.  But three other Iron Spider suits were made for other users for added muscle for Tony's Initiative movement.  (And I would list the abilities of this given suit... but there are just SO BLOODY MANY.  It's like the Iron Spider suit was just an enormous video game cheat code!)

Future Foundation Tighty-Whities: What do you do when a long-running member of Marvel's "first family" is considered "deceased"?  (When, in actuality, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch was ONLY stuck in the Negative Zone, and was basically brought back to our reality not too far off from that unfortunate incident.)  You take under you wing a long-time friend of the family to lend some support.  Hence, the group that Spider-Man first wanted SO BADLY to be part of... just to receive added income... accepted membership into the Future Foundation to honor the memory of his "frenemy", Johnny Storm.  Outside of the fact that wearing this costume makes eating ANY kind of food while wearing it a mean feat of personal care, the only special ability it granted Spider-Man was the benefits of the patented Reed Richards unstable molecules.  So basically Peter could binge on fried chicken, and any additional weight gain he receives from such feasting would not affect his costume.  He just has to make sure he has PLENTY of Wet-Naps on hand...

Stealth-Armor, or Jeff Bridges Made this While in the Grid: All black costume... Sure, that's pretty stealthy.  A costume that has a visual, and sonar, disguise setting?  Okay, I'm still on board.  But what the BLEEDING HECK does bright neon-highlights serve in a "stealth" mentality?  If that's the case, no one would "Eat at Joe's".  Anyways, with the threat of a new Hobgoblin that has the ability to produce a "sonic scream"... of which Dinah Queen should ROYALLY sue over... in "Amazing Spider-Man #650", Peter used the technology he had access to while under the employ of Horizon Labs to develop a suit that could allow him to operate with a measure of secrecy against an enemy who could now locate him through sound as well as sight.  While the costume didn't remain in Peter's possession for long, his clone... or is it the OTHER WAY AROUND... Kane, received the costume in the wake of the "Spider-Island" event.

Blue Spider, or... Say, Ted Kord Looks a Little Bit like Someone Else...: During the odd time that Spidey sported his one-off "Spider-Armor", for a limited engagement in a short-lived Justice League incarnation for the "Extreme Justice" series, Ted Kord/Blue Beetle started looking AWFULLY familiar to a "Friendly Neighborhood Wall Crawler".  It's not like the Blue Beetle costume was all THAT different, and it's not like the founder of Kord Industries developed web shooters, or started showcasing a "Beetle Sense" of danger, but a reader of the comic could NOT HELP but notice that when Blue Beetle was in action, his poses were PRETTY similar to seeing Peter Parker in action.  Right down from swinging into the scene via his Scarab ropes, or delivering standard physically impossible high-kicks, it was like Ted Kord left the building for issues of this book, and Peter Parker took on a part-time job for the "Distinguished Competition"!

Marvel Ensures Horror Is A Universal Language!

I'm entering the weekend after a week resembling the folk story of the "Bloody Hands", due to increasingly cold and dry conditions in Michigan for weather, and having my hands become BRUTALIZED hunks of meat and bone at my workplace.  Still, I do have an upcoming interview for another position on Monday, and have yet to hear back on other options that have extended some leads, so I cannot give up on hope for a better paying... and FAR less physically and mentally taxing... employment situation.  At least I'm 80% over the cold I endured this past weekend; my girlfriend already had hers well in position by the time I saw her, so it's not as if she passed me her illness.  Tonight SHOULD prove to be interesting, since I may be going to a "Haunted Forest" attraction with her and her visiting aunt, and apparently I am given a pass on helping out prepare dinner, since I actively handled all of last weekend's dinner preparations, due to her being otherwise occupied. 

One caveat before I begin the first of this weekend's entry: I realize SOME may consider two "Halloween-themed" entries to be a bit overkill, but since next Friday I'm fairly certainly I'll be FAR too exhausted to write a date-appropriate entry, and with my wanting to find a less physically intensive position to get back into a semi-daily blog entry schedule, I would fully miss the Halloween date for posting.  So, why not double-up on a blog celebration for the occasion?!?  (And it's not like I'm going to totally let Halloween slide for the festivities.  I get the feeling a much-needed revisit of "Burial Ground: Nights of Terror" will be in order!  Now let's light the carved pumpkins, fill the candy dishes, and watch out... because the BOOGEYMAN IS LOOKING FOR YOU!!!  (Especially if you have a latter year endorsement deal with Activia!)

For the first of my Halloween entries, I present a merging of universes... Sort of like a "reaching" version of crossing over the Universal Studios famed monster creations, and finding their spiritual successors in the Marvel Universe.  (Who had a rather sizable week of their own with the "Avengers 2: Age of Ultron" trailer being revealed.  Two words that summarize my thoughts on said trailer: CANNOT WAIT!")  Stan Lee has often mentioned many of his Marvel creations were inspired by the Horror features he grew up watching, and in the limbo years of the superhero bust, Marvel... then known as Timely Comics... published many code-approved Horror titles featuring many a gigantic beast of terror.  (And also the first appearances of that purple-trunked dragon, Fin Fang Foom, and everyone's favorite living tree, Groot!)  So no real surprise the Marvel Universe would offer readers MANY options for characters to associate with monstrous icons that captured silver-screen fame!  And here's my choices for the matches I picked for those Universal cinematic icons!

Morbius the Living Vampire/Dracula: This comparison may not be the MOST imaginative, but also bear in mind that Marvel had the publishing rights for a comic book FEATURING that famous Transylvanian that doesn't drink... wine.  And that would have been FAAAR too easy to draw a comparison.  So why not offer up the next best character to draw a correlation line, than Marvel's own "Living Vampire", Michael Morbius, who first saw life in "Amazing Spider-Man #101"!  But unlike Count Dracula, Michael Morbius developed his taste for life-giving blood via an accident of science, with his seeking a cure for a genetic blood disorder resulting in his becoming a semi-member of the "undead".  Y'see... Morbius is called the "Living Vampire" because he never technically "died" to gain his status.  But after his ill-fated transformation, he gained the traits of traditional vampires; super strength, flight abilities, and an aversion to daylight.  Morbius, in recent years, has gained more of a heroic reputation than his original genesis, which was more of a conflicted creature of the night that sided a BIT more towards the reactionary "villain" type, but if you have a fix for a character that can satisfy your interest in vampiric activity... or your lust for VERY high red shirt collars, with an exposed chest piece... then you cannot go wrong with Morbius the Living Vampire!

Werewolf By Night/Wolfman: Some men are cursed with lycanthropy via a werewolf attack.  Some men, like the soon-to-be-detail Jack Russell... yes, that IS really his name... inherit their lycanthropy via family lineage.  (And some men, like myself, can thank real-life genetics for granting them enough body hair to make someone THINK they are potentially part lycanthrope!)  But Mr. Russell became a less-than-proud family inheritor to the Russoff werewolf curse, and after revenging himself on a rogue family wolfish killer, sought to overcome his bestial nature by doing "good" with his new found powers.  And that has been an ongoing battle for Jack Russell since his first appearance in "Marvel Spotlight #2".  Like many a famed lycanthrope, Jack's existence is based on his trying to overcome his savage bestial nature.  UNLIKE many "angry furballs", Jack Russell isn't quick to start munching on potential victims, due to the character's relative control over his urges.  And if it weren't for Jack's curse, we never would've also seen the first appearance of Marc Spector, better known to Marvel aficionados as Moon Knight!

Franken-Castle/Frankenstein's Monster: This COULD be another case as mentioned with Dracula, since the monster of Victor Frankenstein had a healthy publishing un-life in his own Marvel title.  But all it took was Norman Osborn, AKA the Green Goblin, to gain control of the Marvel Universe to set up the "Dark Reign" event, to kickstart a NEW take on the Monster that Frankenstein built.  When Norman was given the keys to S.H.I.E.L.D., after his assassination of the Skrull Queen, he decided some of his more intimate thorns in his side needed dealing with.  One such thorn was Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher.  To achieve such means, Norman sent his own H.A.M.M.E.R. security agents out to pursue Frank, and essentially herd him into a battle against an Osborn pawn, Daken... the son of Logan/Wolverine.  Now Frank has had some battles against Wolverine, in the past, but Daken was an unknown factor, and the final equation of that battle involved Frank Castle being turned into sections of cold cuts.  But his parts are found by the Legion of Monsters... who ALSO count Morbius and Jack Russell in their membership... and with a lil' help from Morbius' surgical know-how, Frank Castle lived on as a patchwork Punisher!  During this particular storyline, the Legion recruited Frank to assist in their conflict with Japanese monster hunters, and this even led into a rematch with Daken... which Frank DEFINITELY got the upper hand on, despite the protestations of Wolverine.  It was due to the magicks of the mystic Bloodstone that restored Frank Castle to the land of proper "living", but honestly... one of the Punisher's most entertaining runs was when he went the living-jigsaw path, and unloaded some ammo on rival monsters and monster-hunters ALIKE!

The Living Mummy/The Mummy: Now this entry I'm going to have to REALLY piece together some internet information.  The Living Mummy is a character I KNOW about, but I never read any of his adventures, and had VERY limited exposure to his meetings with the rest of the Marvel universe.  But according to my research, Imhotep certainly had an interesting Marvel legacy character in N'Kantu... who is ANOTHER not-quite-dead version of an undead character!  First appearing in "Supernatural Thrillers #5", N'Kantu actually had his roots in Africa over Egypt.  N'Kantu was of royal blood, and after gaining the throne after his father's untimely death, upon returning from a village hunting trip, finds his turf taken over by Egyptians, and his surviving villagers about to be captured as slaves.  N'Kantu attempts a rebellion against his captors, and the ruling Pharaoh... whom he slays... but the Pharaoh's priest sprays a paralyzing agent into N'Kantu's face, and begins a rapid operation of mummification of the rebellion leader.  Interesting thing about paralyzing agents... APPARENTLY even after your vital fluids have been drained from your body, you aren't "DEAD", since you're still in a phase of "stasis".  After the agent wears off on N'Kantu in "modern day", he awakens with superhuman strength and rock-hard skin from the drainage of his fluids, in exchange for burial coagulants.  Because... COMIC BOOK SCIENCE?   Still, while he's not held a regular title of his own for a stretch of time, N'Kantu has not done TOO badly for himself, since he's been in Marvel existence since his "modern day" revival in the early 70's.

Mr. Hyde/Mr Hyde: You see the matching names, and probably wonder, "Okay... Now you're just being LAZY!  THEY'RE THE SAME CHARACTER!".  Shame on you if that WAS your assumption!  You see, the character behind the Robert Louis Stephenson novel, Dr. Henry Jekyll, explored what went the make-up of the darkness of humanity for noble reasons, and that resulted in the tragic creation of Edward Hyde, a savage and bestial killer.  However, Marvel's Calvin Zabo started off as a pretty rotten egg, and upon being rejected by a prestigious medical position by Donald Blake... you may know him better as a golden-locked Thunder God by the name of Thor... decided to WILLINGLY unleash such a bestial side with a chemical compound of his own make in "Journey Into Mystery #99".  (By the way, he wanted the job to STEAL medical secrets and funding for his own gains.)  Thus was born Calvin Zabo's new existence as Mr. Hyde, who would frequently clash with Thor, Daredevil, and even Spider-Man.  He would EVEN go on to form an unusual "buddy cop" duo team with the Cobra!  But in recent years, Calvin got a chance to redeem some of his bad reputation as a member of Luke Cage's Thunderbolts squad.  (Someday I should REALLY write an entry about the Thunderbolts...)

Triton/Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Inhumans made sure that you didn't have to take a trip to the Amazon to see a human/aquatic life form hybrid!  All they did, in their Arctic sanctuary of Attilan, is make sure Triton was exposed to the Terrigen mists to gain his water-based powers.  He ALSO has one heads-up on the Fishman of the Amazon... Royal blood!  Brother to Karnak... he who can spot a breaking point in ANY object... and cousin to pretty much EVERY member of the Inhuman ruling family, ole' Triton's living on easy street!  (And he DOES carry on the proud tradition of pretty much EVERY Marvel water-based character, and sports a fair hair-trigger temper.  Must be due to the fact that he's the most water-reliant character of the Marvel aqua-dwellers.  Basically he has to wear a special apparatus to survive on the surface, otherwise he just physically grows weaker in exposure to any non-water environment.)  I also think that outside of the royalty connection, the super-strength, and his decidedly exotic locale, Triton sports ANOTHER slight appeal over the Creature: DOSE GLOVES, TRUNKS, AND BOOTS!!!  Seriously, you have to be a MAJOR power player to actively decide that dark pink is going to be your coverage for just your mid-section, your feet, and your hands!

Invisible Woman/Invisible Man: There's more of a change here than just switching out sexes.  You see, Griffin, the main character of H.G. Well's "Invisible Man", discovers his invisibility through an accident of science, and lets the secret of invisibility corrupt him into the path of villainy.  Susan Storm/Richards discovers HER invisibility in "Fantastic Four #1", after being bombarded by cosmic rays from a failed space ship launch, and then investigating hers, along with her fellow team mates' physical changes after a crash landing.  Sue Storm DOES feature a major advantage over Griffin; our unfortunate scientist is permanently rendered physically invisible, whereas Sue can CONTROL whenever she becomes part of the visible spectrum.  Having the ability to generate force fields, and force projectiles, also doesn't hurt Sue's viability as more of a "power player" than the sad story of Griffin's fall from scientific grace.  And even with the impending cancellation of the "Fantastic Four" title as a whole, you can bet Sue Storm won't COMPLETELY... ahem... "disappear".  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Doctor Doom/Phantom of the Opera: We end today's comparison entry with a look at two of fiction's most famous figures of disfigured fury.  On the one hand, we have Gaston Leroux's Erik, who "haunted" an opera house to gain the love of Christine, by means of manipulation and murder.  On the other hand, we have Victor Von Doom, a child of a witch, and a youth of a war-torn country, who becomes malicious monarch, master of science and seeker of magic, and yes... even makes room in his heart for an interest in Susan Storm!  But whereas Erik was born with his revolting physical features... twisting his heart and mind, Victor grew into a handsome young man, before an experiment disfigures his "beautiful features".  (Though HOW SEVERE his injuries were, before he ultimately broiled his face by placing on a red-hot mask, has been a subject of various comic book debates.)  But while their origins, and their ultimate fates, vary wildly, the fact that they are both villains by action... but carry twisted nobility in their hearts... make these two characters nearly siblings!

A List Of Villains You Did Na-Zi Coming!

I REALLY should apologize for any potential disorganization for today's coming post.  Whatever bug I have in my system has made me feel really mentally scattered.  (Or maybe it was trying to read that first Todd McFarlane artwork issue of "Infinity Inc.".  Ugh... TERRIBLE layouts...)  So if this doesn't come as cohesive as previous efforts, please bear in mind I'm still fighting off an illness, and I didn't want to leave a weekend gap in my posting routine.  So, hang tough, true believers!

Let's face it; if you need an easy fix for comic villainy, you can scarcely fail in basing your creation in the concept of Nazism.  There's a reason why World War Two is often deemed the "good war"... as good as any conflict that causes massive losses of lives CAN be... and it's due to the sheer fanaticism and brutality of the Nazi Party in Germany.  In fact, the conflict against Fascism was often the basis of comic books published DURING WW2!  And with Marvel Comics gearing up for... sigh... YET ANOTHER event called "Axis, detailing the melding on one of the most infamous Nazi villains in comics melding with just a VERY infamous for the comics' industry villains of the 1990's, it's due time to look at a select group of villains that only just ADDED to their villainy by affiliating themselves with a political movement that almost DEFINED a new meaning of evil for generations.  (And I PROMISE you all this will be as potentially "political" my thoughts will be for the blog.  The first person to suggest I review the DC event, "DC Decisions", I'll just pleasantly block my eyes and ears to such a suggestion.  I'm talking about comics, here; not deeper world issues.  Heh!)

The Red Skull: You don't get more iconic for comic book Nazi Party cheerleaders than Johann Schmidt, who while first appearing in a separate identity in "Captain America Comics #1" in 1941, made his PROPER Germanic debut in "Captain America Comics #7".  If anything, the Red Skull is most closely identified as Captain America's pre-eminent arch-nemesis.  And it makes PERFECT sense!  Captain America represents freedom not just for his own nation, but also for all nations... and this is set against a figure that represents totalitarian beliefs, along with fascism and terrorism.  But discounting the "deeper element" of their comic, the Red Skull is one of the few foes that can time-after-time stand toe-to-toe against Steve Rogers.  This was achieved by many means, such as a superior intellect, a cloned body of Captain America, mastery of the Cosmic Cube, machines known as "Sleepers", and even costumed mercenaries like Crossbones!  Heck, Johann was SO evil, he managed to pass such dishonorable traits to his very daughters, Mother Superior and Sin.  And like any great arch-nemesis, no matter WHAT reworking or reboot Captain America faces, the Red Skull will NEVER be far behind to crush both Cap, and the American spirit, beneath his boot heels!

Baron Zemo: The Heinrich Zemo clan had a claim to being second-place in terms of hatred towards Captain America!  (But then again, Helmut the First was SO despised, even his fellow German countrymen wanted his head in the midst of WW2!)  For years, Baron Zemo had at least one LONG-ALLEGED victory over Red Skull for his achievements; it was due to a flying bomb he attempted to launch to the United States shores that claimed Bucky Barnes' "life" in an act of "noble sacrifice".  (And as we ALL know, Bucky will NEVER RETURN IN COMICS.  EVER.  ... Think about it.)  But I guess having your head soaked in Adhesive X, causing your identity-disguising mask to become stuck to your face, gets you AND your latter generational son mighty upset when thinking about the Star-Spangled Avenger.  First appearing in "Avengers #5", it wasn't enough that Zemo ruled over a small South American tribe, it was also that he introduced the Masters of Evil concept.  (Remember a certain post about THAT group a few weeks back?)  Heinrich actually dies in "Avengers #9", but Helmut Zemo... his bouncing baby boy... carried on the legacy of darkness behind a velvet mask... which apparently is wrapped by a rather nifty tiara at times!

Master Man: Now we begin touching upon lesser-known examples of Marvel Nazi threats.  First seeing light in "Giant Sized Invaders #1", the concept of the German Master Man saw life.  I use the term "concept", because the character survived into THREE generations of existence!  The concept of Master Man involves a lesser German strain of the Super Soldier serum Professor Erskine developed for the American government... with HUGE success... in Steve Rogers.  But don't mistake this "Mr. Pibb" approach to the serum fool you about Master Man's abilities; a lesser super soldier can STILL stand toe-to-toe against the primary super soldier, along with his allies in Namor, the Human Torch, Toro, and Bucky... who will NEVER LIVE AGAIN AFTER THAT HEROIC SACRIFICE.  When I mention three generations, I refer to the first Master Man being William Lohmer, a second being an altered Nazi scientist known as Axl Nacht, and FINALLY William's future nephew, Max Lohmer.  Now, if only we can get a Master Man cameo in a Cap movie...  Or maybe even my last Marvel Nazi nod...

U-Man: If you're a fan of professional wrestling, you're well familiar with the concept of a "heel turn".  It can either happen with an established "baby face" hero, or a character you didn't pay much attention to, turning towards the "dark side" for more power and influence.  Case in point to Merrano, an Atlantean defector who sided with the Nazi Party as THEIR own "Sub-Mariner", debuting in "Invaders #3".  Merrano apparently had a life-long enmity towards Namor... maybe it's because Subby got his grubby mitts on Lady Dorma... and this caused him to side with the Third Reich, who even Namor... who HATED humanity in general... despised!  Aside from his already astonishing Atlantean strengths and abilities, he received further enhancement from Nazi experimentation.  I remember a story I read featuring the character involved in an ocean-bound kidnap attempt of Winston Churchill.  I don't even think Johann Schmidt did much of ANYTHING to the British Isle side of the conflict, so U-Man scores some wickedness points for thinking outside of the box!

Captain Nazi: Now we have sort of an in-between case of comic company Nazi villainy!  Y'see, Captain Nazi FIRST debuted in "Master Comics #21", published by Fawcett Comics.  But, like ALL elements of the Fawcett universe, in the aftermath of a LONG legal battle between DC and Fawcett over the concepts of Superman and Captain Marvel, Fawcett folded, and the characters were eventually transplanted into the DC Universe, where Captain Nazi FIRST showed his Aryan flat-top in "Shazam! #34".  So while Albrecht Krieger found himself torn between two universes' custodies, one thing that did NOT change was the fact that he was a result of Nazi super-science... in the comics world, the Nazis could practically make ANYONE a potential "perfect soldier"... placing him on equal physical footing with Captain Marvel.  But what makes Captain Nazi additionally unique was that he inadvertently CREATED another foe of his.  During a battle against Captain Marvel, Captain Nazi is found temporarily knocked out in a lake by Jacob Freeman, and his nephew, Freddy Freeman.  Captain Nazi thanked them for his revival by killing Jacob, and crippling Freddy Freeman.  But Captain Marvel ends up imparting part of the power of the wizard Shazam into Freddy, creating Captain Marvel Jr.!  Cappy Nazi... not one of the great master planners...

Doctor Poison: I thought it would be interesting to lead into the DC side of Nazi villainy examples with a unique one for the company.  If my assumptions are correct, DC's first Nazi super-villain proper not ONLY debuted against the company's first super-heroine, Wonder Woman, but it was also a WOMAN!  Princess Maru was a Nazi spy ring leader who disguised her appearance to a sexually ambiguous persona known as Doctor Poison.  (Think of "Saturday Night Live's" character, Pat, only with access to Zyklon-B.)  And this first conflict occurred in "Sensation Comics #2".  What also makes the original Doctor Poison... because the latter incarnation had NO Nazi affiliations... was that her debut heralded a group of Wonder Woman sidekicks known as the "Holiday Girls".  And she was also a founding member of the FIRST all-female villain team, Villains Inc.!

Baron Blitzkrieg: So maybe the Baron favored citric colors for his costuming.  There's STILL no denying that this powerhouse of the Reich was VASTLY underused in the DC Universe!  Debuting in "World's Finest Comics #246", the Baron would not have his origin revealed until an issue of "All Star Squadron".  Baron Blitzkrieg participated in a unique brand of wickedness during the prime of World War Two; he was a key general and warden of a concentration camp.  So cruel and monstrous was his treatment of the camp's prisoners, they one day revolted in an equally brutal retaliation; a bottle of acid BROKEN against his face.  (Harvey Dent thought he had it bad with acid just SPLASHED against his face!  Imagine that with broken glass grinding into your skin!  Eek!)  But thanks to that EVER-MIRACULOUS Nazi super-science, Baron Blitzkrieg had the blindness that resulted from this attack erased, restoring his eyesight.  (But also it provided an Achilles Heel, in that the Baron would go into COMPLETE shock when faced with any situation that involved vision loss.)  And with a little bit of tinkering, the scientists granted the Baron with super strength, flight... and HEAT VISION!  So, again, a pretty cool concept!  But it just feels like the company that created him never used the character to his full potential.  But alas, we end this entry with a character that DID deserve his brief wet-squib existence.  (And he ONLY got the nod, because I actually read his first appearances during my summer of general unemployment.)

Red Panzer: While "Wonder Woman #228" helped modernize the adventures of Diana Prince, and also further separated her from the adventures of her Earth Two counterpart, this issue ALSO featured the introduction of the menace of Helmut Streicher, AKA the Red Panzer.  No real awesome origin story... because he HAD none!  He did come awfully close during his introduction storyline to launching an atomic bomb over Washington DC... and he would've gotten away with it too, if it were for those pesky Wonder Women!  I'd say for this 2-3 issue story arc, the most INTERESTING part of it involved the conflict between, and latter resolution, the two Earths Wonder Women.  Because all we get out of Red Panzer is that he has armor, and an arm cannon.  (Does this mean he is part Shogun Warrior?!?)  But from what I read during my INTENSIVE RESEARCH... on Wikipedia... is that the Red Panzer armored concept DID carry on to three latter incarnations.  But let's be honest; the Red Panzer wasn't going to set the world ablaze like his similar-hued Skull companion in ANY person's incarnation!

Continuity Comics... Or As If I Needed ANOTHER Reminder How "Unique" Neal Adams Is...

So... What's new with me for this week out?  I came within a hair's breadth of walking away from my job this past Thursday after a particularly stressful day.  (Relax... I'm still there.  I'll remain loyal and true until better horizons open up.)  I cut my left hand in three separate places on my left hand... at aforementioned job.  I also apparently caught a cold, recently... either due to one of my ill co-workers, or just from sheer physical and mental stress, at aforementioned job.  BUT at least today I had a personal highlight that may help erase a level of tension I've been carrying with since late August.  I also finally watched the first episode of CW's "The Flash".  Comparing this to "Gotham" is like comparing a steak to a banana; they're two separate methods of delivering a comic-book universe.  The MAIN difference is I WANT to return to the story of Barry Allen's adventures as the Flash, and I APPRECIATED the universal integration that's being played out in that series.  Whereas with "Gotham", the interconnectivity of everything grated on me a little bit, and I cannot shake the impression that this series is trying TOO hard to not be a "comic book" in tone.  But while you may disagree with my perspective, and I won't take offense if you do, we can at LEAST all agree that to live in a time where movies and television are giving comic book worlds a DECENT shake, and help share the love of the medium to people who haven't been reading the books in a solid capacity, it's pretty... COOL!

Today's blog entry was partly inspired by two key sources in my life:

1. I'm just about halfway finished reading TwoMorrow Publishing's "Batcave Companion", written by Michael Eury and Michael Kronenberg, where today's creator gave a rather... interesting interview about his time working on the "Batman" titles of the 70's.
2. Many of this company's books I've been finding access to in a comic store nearby my girlfriend's home in the $0.31 bin... arbitrary number, I know... making a complete run STILL a spotty mission, but giving me better access to reading those titles.

I speak of the well-respected artist... and sometimes writer... Neal Adams, and thusly finding his "Continuity Comics" imprint of books.  To piece together the Wikipedia entry into a bite-sized version, Continuity Studios existed as early as the 1970's, where Adams and partners acted as a freelance art studio for various contracts.  The company PROPER began life in 1984... even if some of the titles weren't published under the Continuity banner.  (The article... and one of my issues... gives the example of "Ms. Mystic" being published by Pacific Comics, initially.)  Neal Adams provided the "house style" of the books, and created the universe's characters.  Some of the innovations of the Continuity Comics company was the creation of "Tyvek": an "indestructible" cover material.  (So, blow 'dem comics up with a nuclear bomb, dunk them into a toxic waste dump, and throw them in the middle of a firefight, and they, will, Not, DIE!!!)  They also were experts at milking both the gimmick cover and MASSIVE crossover fads of the 90's, before fading from existence in 1994.  (Shame we never got that promised "Valeria the She-Bat VS Spawn" crossover.  Yes... That WAS going to be a thing!)  I want to now provide you with a road map of some of my stops in the Continuity Comics universe!

Megalith: Ms. Mystic may have been the "first", but Megalith was sort of the "corporate" spokesman of Continuity Comics.  The best way to describe the character is he's kind of a mish-mash of Superman, a dash of Batman's tragedies, and a smidge of Wonder Man's "fame and fortune".  Basically, an average young man is recruited by a covert government agency operating out of Munich... NOT tied to any Neo-Nazi scheming... to be trained to be mentally and physically superior.  When he begins to question the authority, the authorities go WAY out of their way to teach him where his "proper place" is.  Let's talk about the checklist:

• Threaten to kill his parents
• ACTUALLY kill the dog they provide him with
• Basically forbid him from leaving the training compound

But that's kind of hard to do with a man that's not only supposed to be the mental nadir, but ALSO can survive massive amounts of physical damage... and deal out his equal share.  (If I'm vague about the character names and background, it's PRETTY hard to find information about the comic line online, so I'm going on memory, alone.)  But if memory serves me right, Megalith's parents are eventually killed, BUT he is not left without "family": his first actual comics appearance was in "The Revengers #1", where he was part of a trifecta of heroes, including the speedster, Silver Streak, and this guy...

Armor: Take Venom's concept about living armor... but make it more knight suit-of-armor like, and make the owner a more glamorous Bruce Wayne playboy type, and you have the character of Armor!  This may have been the most recent Continuity character I was exposed to from a recent read, which contained a RIDICULOUS story about a nuclear-powered "wizard" leading a group of cavern-dwelling mutants against demonic forces.  ... Because that TOTALLY makes sense!  I recall that Armor's costume gimmick was that he could summon his costume to life, and that it contained a sheer arsenal of items to battle the forces of evil with.  And THIS is where the 80's/90's atmosphere of the comic sparks to glorious life.  You want nunchucks?  This character has them.  Throwing stars?  Armor has your back.  KATANAS?!?  ... C'mon, you didn't think Armor would let you down, would you?  But I also recall that Silver Streak was actually his brother, so if you want an element of familial relations in your comics, you know where to turn to!

Ms. Mystic: Now SHE was technically the first "Continuity Comics" character.  But she also tends to be the most confusing character for me.  From what I can piece together from issues that NEVER can match up in a consecutive numbering, she's kind of like the Continuity universe's Wonder Woman, but with the "Earth Connection" element of Swamp Thing.  (So... maybe a super-powered Wiccan?  I'm only just throwing that connection against the wall?)  A lot of her battles did take place against hyper-technological threats, which seems custom-made for a character that has such an elemental/mystical basis.  I can even remember the VERY FIRST issue I bought of hers: it was part of the you're-VERY-lucky-if-you-read-it-all "Deathmate 2000" event, and it was a gimmick cover that featured Ms. Mystic battling not-Marvel's-Sauron, but her costume was printed in the 3D illusion gimmick that was probably most predominantly featured in Kevin Smith's "Mallrats".  You know, the one that Ethan Suplee was having the WORST time trying to figure out.

CyberRAD!!!: What do you get when you cross over the concept of Replicants from "Blade Runner", and cybernetics, with the WAY LATE Punk Rock scene of the 80's?  You get the story of an artificial life form that bonds with some proto-Punk/Hair Metal band, assuming the identity of their formerly missing lead singer, and is faced with an identity crisis... while also evading government forces who want to eliminate his very existence.  ... Can we get Missing Persons to make this into a concept album back in 1980-something?  I've only read one issue of this book, and REALLY can't say I am "dying" to find out how it concludes... if it even DOES... but that single issue left such a bizarro impression on me that I just HAD to include it into this article.

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: Neal Adams was not one to turn down licensing gigs when he could: later in the 90's, another Continuity concept that ONLY saw life in one graphic novel was given a brief life as an animated show/action figure line/video game.  (... If you're not screaming it at the device you're reading this blog off of, the correct answer is "Bucky O'Hare", proving green rabbits with laser guns are NOT LAME!  LAY OFF OF JAXXOR, ALREADY!)  And while very ambitious... and probably EXCEEDINGLY expensive..., "Captain Power" was a much enjoyed series by yours truly that just died on the vine after a season of television existence.  BUT it did manage to score some action figure fun, along with a 2-issue Continuity Comics run!  Brief story: the Captain and his team of armored rebels battle against a cybernetic overlord, and his army of robots, for the freedom of humanity.  Very fun stuff, and custom-fit for a comic book universe!  A shame the license didn't continue into the comics realm, because I feel that if "Captain Power" was given a fair printed shake, it could've brought the series to a DEFINITIVE conclusion for us fans!  Ah well... Maybe an aspiring creator will see this article, and the seed will be planted.

So, how does a comic company perish after 10 years of existence?  Well... Neal Adams gave GREAT interviews promoting the company... along with his "interesting" perspectives on the industry as a whole.  But not even that could save MASSIVE shipping delays in titles, or titles that were advertised... but just were never delivered upon, or EVEN existing in the comic book collecting GLUT of the early-to-mid 90's.  (Even as a hardcore comic fan that appreciates the excesses of the 90's realizes a LOT of the decisions the companies made during that time were inspired by playing on pointless collecting mentalities.)  With that in mind, could Continuity Comics have survived after the great collector collapse of the 90's?  ... Maybe if the company was more TIMELY on delivering titles, it could have maintained a presence.  But I also sometimes wonder if the lack of originality with a LOT of their characters, and some POOR editorial decisions, would've just killed them off, just the same.  (Seriously: that aforementioned issue of "Armor" I mentioned had SO MANY spelling errors present in it, it made me wonder if Tommy Wiseau wrote their scripts!)  But at least the company had their time to shine, and was poised for "greater things", and remains potentially one of those comic book "what if" stories that could be debated.

The Other Half Of The "World's Finest" Side-Friendships

What a FULL day, today!  And no... not in a bad way!  My girlfriend and I KILLED a 5K nature walk, had a delicious no-wait lunch at Steak and Shake, I helped her with some Victoria's Secret shopping, and she helped me with buying new shoes at Kohl's.  And to top it all off, she treated me to a late anniversary gift: 3 tabloid comics of my CHOOSING!  So added to my collection are DC's "Superman and His Incredible Fortress of Solitude", and Marvel's "Giant Superhero Team-Up" and "Spider-Man Vs. The Hulk at the Winter Olympics"!  Good reading times, ahead!  And ironic, since I just wrote about Marvel friendships, yesterday, and will be touching upon how one aforementioned DC character handles a rotating friendship roster in his own title that lasted from 1978 to 1986.  Obviously, I must be talking about Jack O' Lantern.  HAH!

People are usually under the impression that Kal-El broke ground for nearly EVERYTHING in the DC Universe.  Not quite so.  You see, Kal and Bruce Wayne HAVE been buddying up since about the 1940's in stories being featured in either "Superman" or "Action Comics", which then lead into them being regular co-stars in the long-running "World's Finest Comics".  (And can you people remember that time when Superman and Batman were FRIENDS?!?  And called each other thusly?!?  Yeah, it was sometimes silly to see them both hanging out in costume, but they were also two great tastes that went GREAT together!  Now it's all about adversarial relationships.  People: LET "DARK KNIGHT RETURNS" GO.)  But Batman... contrary to ALL modern characterizations... was the FIRST one of the World's Finest duo to expand his circle of friendship, back in 1967 when he inherited the long-running comic, "Brave and the Bold", to feature Batman teaming up with various elements of the DC Universe.  Sure, continuity rules for the book made NO sense, otherwise how do you explain Batman teaming up with Sgt. Rock so BLOODLY OFTEN?!?  But seeing a healthy rotation of familiar faces like Aquaman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and etc. socializing with the often brooding "creature of the night" was a treat!

For Superman's 40th. anniversary in 1978, sure... a little film NO ONE saw starring Christopher Reeves, directed by Richard Donner would make for a nice gift, but DC Comics saw fit to give Superman a regular team-up title to highlight his building popularity.  Thus was born the subject of today's blog entry: highlighting unique issues of "DC Comics Presents"!  But before I begin, a little bit of plugging: I've not communicated with him about this, but I want to tell you people about a fun, and SHORT, podcast hosted by Russell Bragg called DC Comics Presents Show.  The goal of his show is to cover EVERY issue of "DC Comics Presents" in discussion, including annuals, and he provides background for the guest star of the issue, so check it out if you so wish!

DC Comics Presents #1: The book that started it all, and featured the first of a two-issue arc written by Martin Pasko and featuring faultless artwork by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (PRAISE BE HIS NAME).  I will admit, the whole alien warfare aspect of the story is mostly forgettable.  (Two races of aliens, BOTH splinters of the same species but with differing evolutionary paths, seek alternate time travel paths to either stop their galactic war, or give one side a decided victory.)  But their threats to Superman and the Flash are fairly credible, and their use in the story is inventive: One side chooses the Flash as their champion, and if he succeeds, he can save humanity.  Another side chooses Superman as their champion, and they offer him the chance to save Krypton with his success.  And thus begins the set-up for a Superman/Flash race against... LITERAL... time.  But in the midst of this crossover, we get appearances by the Legion of Superheroes, Superboy, and a brief battle against the Reverse-Flash!  This is the start of two books worth of Bronze Age fun and adventure!

DC Comics Presents #17: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (PRAISE BE HIS NAME) returns to the book after about a 4 issue initial stretch to illustrate a VERY fun story written by Gerry Conway, the very CREATOR of the fusion of Professor Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond: Firestorm.  (Soon to be a major feature in CW's "The Flash"!)  The gist of this issue involves Firestorm's arch-villainess, Killer Frost, escaping from her imprisonment, and using her frost powers to mind-control Superman into a battle against the Nuclear Man.  Of course, this DOES eventually lead to a team-up, because unlike Marvel's version of the team-up, this battle is not based on haphazard enmity, but on mental manipulation, but seeing how a character that can manipulate basically ANYTHING in reality deals with another character who is a solar-powered POWERHOUSE is great!  Plus, you can't beat the dynamic illustration of this conflict... along with the appeal of Killer Frost.  (I'm sorry, but for a woman that's a living ice sculpture, she is H-O-T.)

DC Comics Presents #27: This was the second issue in a punctuated run by Jim Starlin... Y'know, the guy that created that Adam Warlock guy for Marvel, and another certain Mad Titan, Thanos.  Not like you'll ever see THAT guy in a series of Marvel movies...  The previous issue MAY be worth more, because of its free insert of a preview for Marv Wolfman's and George Perez's "New Teen Titans", but THIS issue begins a exciting trilogy that featured the very first appearance of Mongul, housekeeper to Warworld, wielder of a Sinestro ring, and the yellow guy that made Alan Moore a lot of bank when he made famous the statement in a Superman special, "For the Man Who Has Everything".  In this trilogy, Mongul seeks the keys to Warworld, protected by J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter.  But to get Superman to put his dukes up against J'onn for control of the key, Mongul kidnaps some of Superman's friends... and Steve Lombard... and holds their lives for ransom.  So this issue IS a bit more Marvel-like in its conflict source, but aside from the AWESOME artwork by Starlin, this issue PROVED that the Martian Manhunter was on an even-keel with Superman for power levels.  SERIOUSLY!!!  Superman, himself, even claimed that it took nearly everything he had to put J'onn down for the count, and to provide Mongul with the operational Warworld key.  But as for the conclusion to that storyline... look to the next stellar issue!  Just not the one I'm about to write about.

DC Comics Presents #61: OMAC is... a PUNK ROCKER!  (Well, that Mohawk would've helped establish his rep at CBGB's during the Punk prime!)  But Len Wein partners his writing talents with another nigh-godly comics' artist, George Perez, to tell the story of how Superman met the One Man Army Corps, to square off against a Terminator-esque giant killer robot who seeks to destroy a figure from its past to complete a mission.  This issue not only kept OMAC from slipping ENTIRELY into obscurity, but it proved that maybe George Perez should have been drafted as a regular Superman artist for a stretch of time before the first "Crisis".  Seriously, this is one of the most dynamic and fast-paced issues of the series' run!  Check it out if you can!

DC Comics Presents #81: Between a previous issue, and this discussed one, they have taught me how to appreciate Keith Giffin's wit and sense of style and humor... along with appreciation for the TRULY unique character known as Ambush Bug.  (You kids think Deadpool was the first guy to break the comic book "fourth wall"?  HA!  Ambush Bug was DEMOLISHING comic walls to comment to us real readers little more than a decade previous to the creation of the "Merc With a Mouth"!)  And this issue deserves REAL special mention, because not only do Superman and Ambush Bug square off against the lethal terrorist, Kobra, but their personas end up switching bodies.  So you have the MASSIVE oddball weirdo in Superman's body, and Superman trying to figure out how to operate Ambush Bug's costume, and not being quite so "super".  I kid you not when I say I was literally laughing-out-loud at a local Biggby's Coffee when I was reading this issue!

DC Comics Presents #91: In a way, this last issue I discuss is... unique.  You see, it's not an issue I particularly recommend as a GREAT read.  And while I don't want to knock Tom Mandrake, it's not exactly a stunning artwork issue.  If anything the very last issue of "DC Comics Presents" would have deserved more of an "excellent" issue highlight.  But this issue is just SO WEIRD, I COULDN'T not mention it!  Here's the deal: it's meant to be a follow-up issue to the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event.  Not like you'd really be able to tell, because Clark Kent's, and Superman's, existence feels JUST THE SAME as it did before the "Crisis" hit the DC Universe.  But how can you tell things have changed?  Because such pivotal characters to the Crisis, like Lady Quark, Harbinger, and EVEN Pariah, are just wandering the city as "normal people".  Yep... They go clubbing, try out food, and attempt to have fun in this new universe.  They also fight a COMPLETE Mort of a villain called the Volt Lord that plays on Lady Quark's grief over her lost husband... with REALLY no solid reason why this should affect her so profoundly.  Like I said, this is not really a masterpiece comic, but it's a VERY unique showcase of how DC MEANT well for the post-Crisis changes they had in mind, but some changes would take a few years to become more refined.  So if you want a hoot about Crisis continuity, check this issue out!