Saturday, September 29, 2012

Same Story, Different Cover: The one where Rogue shoves a grapefruit in Storm's face


Left: Uncanny X-Men #185 (September 1984), pencils by John Romita, Jr., inks by Dan Green
Right: X-Men Classic #89 (November 1993), pencils and inks by Paul Smith

(Click picture to permanent record-size)



366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 273


Panels from Detective Comics #654 (December 1992), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Michael Netzer, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza



Friday, September 28, 2012

Today in Comics History, September 28, 1907: Batman teams up with Houdini to battle the evil Penn and Teller


cover of Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop one-shot (November 1993), painted art by Mark Chiarello

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 272


Panels from "Slow Down--and Die!" in Detective Comics #460 (June 1976), script by Bob Rozakis and Michael Uslan, pencils by Ernie Chan, inks by Frank McLaughlin



Thursday, September 27, 2012

I say thee nay

Tonight: Thor says No!


Panels from Thor v.1 #372 (October 1986), script by Walt Simonson, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Bret Blevins and Al Williamson, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by John Workman


So, Thor...is that your final answer?




366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 271


Panels from Batman & Superman Adventures: World's Finest one-shot (February 1997), co-plot and script by Paul Dini, co-plot by Alan Burnett, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Linda Medley, letters by Albert DeGuzman

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Am I the only one who hears the screams and the strangled cries of heroes in love?

Supes and Wondy! Sittin' in a tree the air! K-I-S-S-I-N...well, R, I guess then.


Cover of Justice League v.2 #12 (October 2012); pencils by Jim Lee; inks by Scott WIlliams; colors by Alex Sinclair

Let's trace the history of this super-couple (I call them Cliana), not as we usually do via TMZ and Screw Up Your Life People magazine, but by looking at their various romantic antics (I call them romantantics) going backwards in time from today to before the Crisis. Okay? Okay. Get your timesuits and and let's check in on...the New 52! (It's corny, but I call it maize.)



Panels from Justice League v.2 #12 (October 2012), script by Geoff Johns; pencils by Jim Lee; letters by Patrick Brosseau; inks by one or more of the following (inhale): Scott Williams, Sandra Hope, Jonathan Glapion, Mark Irwin, Matt Banning, Rob Hunter, Joe Weems, Alex Garner, and Trevor Scott; colors by some assortment of these people: Alex Sinclair, Gabe Eltaeb, Tony Avina, Sonia Oback and/or Alex Sinclair. Gosh, you don't think Jim Lee could have fallen behind on his pencils and in a rush to keep the book on schedule DC farmed it out to multiple inkers and colors? Nawwwwwwww.

Ewwwwwwww. This is too mushy for this little stuffed bull. Let's go back in time to the late eighties, when Kim Wilde ruled America with her iron fist, and immense, giant hairstyles stalked the land, and peek into Diana and Kal (I call them Di-al) playin' kissy-face in the Post-Crisis DC Universe!



Panels from Action Comics v.1 #600 (May 1988), script and breakdowns by John Byrne, finishes and inks by George Perez, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza

More mushy stuff! What, is this comic made of oatmeal? (Mmmmm...delicious, sugary oatmeal.) Luckily, by the end of the comic book Superman and Wonder Woman decide to just be good friends. Hooray! let's all cheer platonic superhero relationships!


And finally, here on good old Earth-1, we see Superman and Wonder Woman (I call them Superman and Wonder Woman) deciding to not have a love affair. And deciding it with a gosh darn it!


Panels from World's Finest Comics #204 (August 1971), Script: script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Joe Giella

So, you make up your own mind: which version of the Supes/Wondy-mance do you prefer? Me? I'm a li'l old-fashioned, sure, but I take my Clark the way I take my coffee: with a heaping tablespoon of Lois Lane. After all, as Carly Simon once said to me, that's the way I've always heard it should be. Isn't that right, Superman?


366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 270


Page from The Batman Strikes! #33 (July 2007), script by Jai Nitz, pencils by Christopher Jones, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Heroic Age, letters by Robert Clark Jr.



Today in Comics History, September 26: Giant calendar pages begin their space-migration to Alpha Centauri



text page from Wonder Woman (1942 series) #32 (DC, November 1948), text by William I. Irwin

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Eventually Jamie Oliver just got fed up with asking nicely


Panel from "10,000 Clowns, Part 1" in Batman Beyond Unlimited #6 (September 2012), script by Adam Beechen, pencils and inks by Norm Breyfogle, colors by Andrew Elder, letters by Saida Temfonte



366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 269


from Batman Meets Dr. No-Face [World Adventure Library #3] (1966)




Today in Comics History, September 25: Everyone admires Bruce Wayne's floating flat-screen TV


from Batman #407 (May 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

Monday, September 24, 2012

You've just rented a dune buggy to the Batman!


Panels from "Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!" in World's Finest Comics #202 (May 1971), script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Joe Giella

...Kiss that baby goodbye!




No, no, not because of that. It's because he forgot where he parked it.


366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 268


Panels from Detective Comics #839 (February 2008), script by Paul Dini, pencils by Ryan Benjamin and Don Kramer, inks by Saleem Crawford and Wayne Faucher, colors by John Kalisz, letters by John J. Hill



Today in Comics History, September 24, 1975: Joker watches too much Beavis and Butt-Head


from "1975: Troubled Souls" in Superman & Batman: Generations II #2 (September 2001), script, pencils, inks and letters by John Byrne; colors by Trish Mulvihill

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Ten of a Kind: Ten Recent Graduates of the Charlie Sheen School of Anger Management





















(More Ten of a Kind here.)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 267


Panel from Batman: The Order of Beasts one-shot (September 2004), script and painted art by Eddie Campbell, co-scipted by Daren White, letters by Michael Evans



Today in Comics History, September 23, 1971: Metamorpho gets cranky when he's woken up early


from "Cold Blood, Hot Gun!" in The Brave and the Bold (1955 series) #101 (DC, April 1972), script by Bob Haney; pencils, inks and letters by Jim Aparo