It's not really fair to call Christopher Priest's Deadpool the third-best run of the book: Joe Kelly set the standard, and Gail Simone's closing arc is shiny and perfect. (I'm not counting Fabian Nicieza's Cable & Deadpool: I haven't read all of it yet, and he has the handicap of having to shoehorn Cable in there.) Priest came onto a book that had faced down cancellation more than once, and was looking at it again. In fact, that's kind of how Priest got the job: Deadpool was almost cancelled, which caused Kelly to scramble to get other work; so when he was told it wasn't done, he still had to leave the book to take his new commitments.

Priest's tenure ran from #34 to #45, minus most of #42, a (mostly) silent issue homaging/mocking the classic silent issue of G.I. Joe and that may have been responsible for that "'Nuff Said" month. His issues featured rematches with Bullseye and the Taskmaster (both of whom are almost completely different every time they cross paths with Deadpool: sometimes enemies, sometimes rivals, sometimes work buddies), new roommates Titania and the Constrictor, Wade's abortive attempt to join the Frightful Four, a crossover with Priest's other book Black Panther, and a halfassed mission in space ending with a psuedo-Lobo character. But my favorite was the fourth part of his three part opener, where Deadpool meets Loki, god of mischief.

Deadpool had spent the previous three or so issues in a tube in a lab, turning into snot and having flashbacks. Death, as in, the hooded purple embodiment of Death Jim Starlin used to use all the time, is also there, captured. 'Pool escapes to find he's not on earth, the scientist that captured them is really Loki, god of mischief; and Loki claims to be Deadpool's father. Any one of these revelations would probably crush a lesser (or maybe better) hero, but for Deadpool, it's to be expected.
Loki manipulates 'Pool into his larger plan, playing off Deadpool's insanity, or 'comic awareness': like She-Hulk or DC's Ambush Bug, Deadpool knows he's in a comic book. This was played a little more straight in Priest's run, less winking and nodding, more like another facet of 'Pool's insanity. That way, it would make him a little more likely to act without worrying about the consequences, since it wasn't 'real' anyway. Deadpool doesn't really care, since he doesn't have much choice, and he gets to keep his Loki-hat.

Putting Deadpool back on earth, Loki draws Thor out with a fire at the Chrysler Building. As 'Pool watches with the bystanders while Thor saves victims and a helicopter, he understands more and more why Loki hates "Fabio Big Hammer." As another explosion traps more people, Thor is separated from his hammer, and will return to his mortal form in 60 seconds. Yet, Thor keeps digging for trapped victims, making Deadpool feel like scum but giving him a chance to get to Mjolnir. He notes the inscription on the hammer "sounded like another slap at poor Loki. Man, what a screwed-up family that must be."

Thor sees Deadpool, but can't abandon the victims, then reverts to his current human form, Jake Olson. Which 'Pool doesn't mind:

Even though the reader knows Deadpool shouldn't do this, shouldn't be able to do this; it's still awesome when he does.

Given the godly power, hammer, and kickass helmet of Thor, Deadpool proceeds to do what most of us would do: monkey around. Peeping, breaking stuff, getting Taco Bell--Priest mentions Bell multiple times in his run, and I'm not sure why. Wade's never gonna be one for the endorsement deals, is he?

He eventually shows up at Avengers Mansion, anxious to go "avenge something!" but is stopped by a skeptical Justice. 'Pool tries to convince him whoever has the hammer is Thor, then is tackled by Jake. Usually, if someone isn't worthy, Mjolnir is unmovable; Jake is able to move it but nothing else. Justice uses his telekinetic powers to show both of them the door.

Outside, Deadpool wonders why he now talks "like Shakespeare in Love," and Jake strikes the hammer on the ground to no avail. He then questions 'Pool's relation to the House of Odin, and Loki appears and zaps him.

Jake ends up in the goo-tube Loki had Deadpool in previously. Loki tells his brother now he'll know what it's like to lose a birthright to someone more worthy. Loki then frees Death, but not for Deadpool (Death was kind of/sort of Wade's girlfriend, leave it at that!) but for Thor.

Feeling burned, Deadpool accuses Loki of only being in it to kill his brother, not embrace his son. Wade frees Jake, who still can't lift the hammer. Loki says Thor is no more, no longer worthy, and also puts a curse on 'Pool: "Let thy life fall into ruin until thou dost seek thy father's forgiveness!" Loki then leaves, relatively confident everyone there is good and screwed.

Jake, who is pretty much Thor in a different body, makes 'Pool return him and Death to earth and the Chrysler Building. When 'Pool made his "none of this is really happening" crack, Jake realized it had to be an illusion: Loki couldn't move the hammer or break it's enchantments, so he simply made Mjolnir invisible, then substituted a fake hammmer juiced up to give Deadpool the costume and enough powers to be convincing. (Oh, yeah, simple.)

A very pissed-off Thor then opts to "smite yon harlequin of Death--!!" 'Pool tries to stop him, which leads to fighty time, a very good speech about teaching Thor humility, and the inevitable:

In the end, after Deadpool regains consciousness, Thor is gone, Death is gone, his hammer's gone, and he's left to slump back home alone. He remember's Loki's curse, but figures, how bad could it be? Then he takes off his mask, and instead of his usual scabby cancer head, Wade now has a man-pretty face, one that would be made to look like Tom Cruise in subsequent issues.

This was one of my favorite single issues of Deadpool, and I completely agree with the spin it puts on Loki: centuries of being the bad son, watching his moron brother bask in the glow of being dad's favorite, and losing to Thor time and time again even though he's about a million times smarter. (I don't think Thor's dumb by any stretch, just that Loki's that much more clever.)

My only criticism of Priest is that he sometimes has too many plates spinning at once, and often seems incapable or stubbornly unwilling to tell a story chronologically from point a to b; not when he can go from b to f, to negative u, back to e, coming back to a in two month's time. It was noticeable in Black Panther, but didn't become problematic until the Crew and Captain America and the Falcon, both of which were still criminally underrated, and hold up pretty well if you sit down with the whole series at once.

Putting the pictures together for this, I realized I had no less than five different Thor figures floating around. (Two Marvel Legends, from the Avengers line and the box set, and a Famous Covers) And two Loki's. (Avengers line, Legends) Deadpool squeaks by with three, two from the ToyBiz X-Men line, and his Marvel Legends, one of the high points of the line. Along with an early issue of his series, a pile of guns and swords, and a stand, this version of Deadpool comes with Doop, the green potato-looking thing from X-Force/X-Statix. If you don't have this comic or this toy, go, now!

From Deadpool #37, "Chapter X: Benediction" Written by Christopher Priest, pencils by Jim Calafiore, inks by Mark McKenna. Read more!

I figured if anyone, comic book fans would know...

Is there a word for this: the feeling you get when you should sympathise with someone, or maybe even do initially feel bad for someone; but after dealing with them they're so unlikable you're glad they get the treatment they deserve? There's probably a German word for it...enmity or antipathy are close, but think more like the death of empathy. When you start with "What can I do to help you?" and end with "Everyone really is right to be against you, you know."

Yeah, could've been a better day at work. To make up for it, we're just going to have a couple pages from one of my favorite comics.

Although I think Alan Grant was more or less writing the book by himself at this point, he and co-writer John Wagner did a ton of Judge Dredd; and you can see the influence in Cornelius Stirk. Stay on your meds, readers! I don't care if the docs have you on chloropromazines or Flintstones vitamins, keep taking them or this could happen. Maybe.

It's weird: I have the same appreciation for Norm Breyfogle that others might have for Jim Aparo or Tom Mandrake--both also great, but you see where I'm going with this. Yet, I haven't followed him to other projects, partly because he seems to have moved away from the big names; and much as I'd like to see it, I don't know if I could see him returning to a book like Detective.

Today's posts are from Detective Comics #593, "The Fear, part two: Diary of a Madman" Story by John Wagner and Alan Grant, pencils by Norm Breyfogle, inks by Steve Mitchell. Incidentally, "Diary of a Madman" was also the title of a very entertaining Judge Dredd story, one that seemingly foretells the plot of the 1993 Michael Douglas movie Falling Down, directed by Joel Schumacher, oddly enough. (Hollywood, if you get tired of...'remaking' J-Pop horror movies, there's still a ton to be stolen from 2000 AD.) Something to look into later.

I feel better. And not just because going postal came up, either, promise. Read more!

From sad android to werewolf superhero: that's a hell of a character arc.

Continuing the origin of Lone Wolf, later Timber Wolf, with "The Youth who Wasn't Human!" Written by Ed Hamilton, art by John Forte. And now the weirdness starts...

The chapter begins with Lone Wolf totally moping because, as a robot/android/soulless automaton, he'll never know the joys of friends, family or love. Well, boo hoo. Speaking as someone who's been kicked in the jewels more than once, metaphorically and literally, you didn't exactly draw the shortest straw, 'Karth.' You're an incredibly lifelike android with cool powers and more emo than Red Tornado and the Vision put together. Suck it up, robot!

But, one thing he would be denied is Legion membership: since he's not human, Lone Wolf would be barred from joining under false pretenses. That rule may be in place because the Legion's a bunch of robotophobes, or just to prevent Brainiac 5 building a bunch of robots to replace everyone. Either way, Lone Wolf runs away, rather than let Light Lass see if androids do cry.

Regaining consciousness, Sun Boy and Brainiac 5 are brought up to speed by Light Lass, who cries when told Lone Wolf must be an android. Meanwhile, Lone Wolf gets almost an entire page to lament his robotness. He remembers seeing children playing, and agonizes over not having a childhood of his own; but then he probably never was picked last for dodge ball or had to go to bed early because mom and dad were fighting or missed homecoming because they had the chicken pox at 17. What? No, my childhood was awesome, why do you ask?

Lone Wolf then goes on to emote something fierce about how no girl will ever love him since he's a robot. Yeah, robots never get the sweet honeys like the Scarlet Witch or Voodoo or anything. Shouldn't the fact that you're a robot with a libido mean something? Light Lass was into him, but he regrets having to "reject her...tell her the terrible truth about myself!" You know, you being an android didn't seem to be a deal-breaker, man.

Meanwhile, Lightning Lad and Ultra Boy pick up the stranded Legionnaires. Following the android angle, Brainiac 5 has a little research done and comes up with a Dr. Mar Londo, a scientist on Zoon who had worked with androids, but died a few years prior. Figuring Lone Wolf may be hiding out there, they fly to his lab, and are met by his son, Brin Londo.

Brin explains that his dad created an army of androids (in what look like wrestling unitards, for some reason), to send into the caverns of the planet and retrieve the rare element Zuunium. Dr. Londo was going to use the element in a ray that would give humans super powers. Karth Arn was the most intelligent of the androids, so he was their leader, and Karth was the only one to make it back with the Zuunium. (The rest were destroyed by monsters, cave-ins, and so forth. Man, I hate it when they scream.) Dr. Londo tells Karth that he will be like a son to him now, but Brin says when the doctor died, Karth took off and committed those robberies as Lone Wolf.

About that time, Lone Wolf walks up to the lab, fixing to kick Brin's ass for trying to kill him with the blue-light thing that wrecked their ships. Brin wants to shoot him, but Brainy stops him, knowing Ultra Boy can put Karth in a headlock in about two seconds, which he does. Light Lass doesn't want Lone Wolf hurt, Brin does, and Brainy finds all the stolen items in the lab. (You may have wanted to hide those, yeah.) Brainy also points out 'Brin' doesn't have fingerprints. (Which he could see on the gun? I don't know.)

Caught, 'Brin' makes his confession. He was really Karth Arn, the android that brought back the Zuunium. Dr. Londo was already on the way out, but before he died he used his ray to give his son 'limited' powers. ('Limited' in this case meaning, not as strong as Superboy, Mon-el, or Ultra Boy.) Jealous, Karth decided he should be the master. Dr. Londo died after zapping his son, and while Brin was dizzy, Karth shot him with a raygun to give him amnesia. That seems like an awfully specific effect for a weapon, but all right. Karth switched clothes with him...so he could be pretty, I guess; and told Brin the reason he didn't have any memory is because he was a newly created android, named Karth Arn. 'Karth Arn' is kind of a cool name for an android, unless on Zuun it means 'lab slave' or something. How did the android get fat, anyway? He looks like Bouncing Boy in that fourth panel.

Eventually, 'Karth' ran away, to find somewhere he could pass as human. The android Karth, still passing himself as Brin, and still wearing his harness...ew...decided maybe he should get a weapon to take care of the superpowered human if he returned. Which is why he stole the space crystals and stuff. Brainy points out that just proved Lone Wolf's innocence, since he wouldn't steal a weapon to use it on himself; although that's not outside the realm of possibility in a Legion story either.

Brin is overjoyed to discover he's human, and off-panel Brainy cures his amnesia, hopefully while clucking his tongue. Apparently, Brin thought he was an android for maybe a couple of years, and while his powers may have helped make that seem plausible, it still really isn't. Grife, Brin: didn't you maybe think you weren't an android when you were hungry? Or sleepy? Or went to the bathroom or had impure thoughts or cut yourself? This would lead to Brin's characterization as a bit thick later in the series. (I remember a much later issue, when faced with their greatest fears, and with other Legionnaires screaming in terror and panic; Brin sees himself exposed as an android again. His response? "Huh?")

He asks not to be called a Lone Wolf anymore, and as Timber Wolf would eventually join the Legion; but even then he was prone to wandering off by himself. Brin also dates Light Lass for a long time, until she catches him holding Saturn Girl; setting into motion a chain of events that would start with LL leaving him and the Legion and end with her in a committed long-term relationship with her fellow ex-Legionnaire Salu Digby, aka Shrinking Violet. Now that's a break-up. In his defense, there were other Legionnaires there, they were trapped on an ice planet and doomed to die, huddled together for warmth, and Saturn Girl was going on about how much Light Lass loved T-Wolf and her marriage to Lightning Lad was crap in comparison. Hmm. Yeah, I can see my wife not buying it either.

We'll probably have more Timber Wolf stuff some other time, but here's some other bits: his bout with drug addiction was something I saw mentioned once or twice, but never saw until Chris Sims (of Invincible Super-Blog fame) covered it,: it was a little more dramatic in my head, honestly.

A retcon during the Five Years Later era was that Brin was in constant agonizing pain, from the treatments that gave him his powers. That didn't seem to match up with anything seen before, but I suppose if I got superpowers from a weird ray, I might try to discourage others from using it. "Um, Zuunium's rare. No, not like Kryptonite, there's some of that right here. Like super rare, so I guess you shouldn't even bother trying to find any. Oh, and I'm in pain. Yeah, lots of pain. Constant agony since I got my powers, oh, ow."

Lots of Legion talk lately: Over at Again with the Comics, there's the origin of Bouncing Boy, which finally forced me to get off my ass and blog this story. And lastly, check out a Legion writer that would definitely be worth a try. Read more!

Things fall apart.

No blogging yesterday, but I swear I had a good reason. Funny story, involving my Oldest son, why my wife and I need a locking door for our bedroom, and why he wouldn't meet our eyes all day...uncomfortable.

Did I say funny? Yeah, not so much. Hey, look, toys! Wholesome, non-suggestive toys. I'm not as much of a completest these days, so aside from the Modok build-a-figure, I've been letting them slide. I would have liked the Annihilus, but I only wanted Hercules out of the whole lot. Whenever I finally get around to buying She-Hulk and maybe Jean Gray, I'll have half a Blob, which isn't nearly as great as it sounds.

I sold a couple of the Apocalypse parts on eBay quite a while ago, but eBay's done nothing but piss me off lately. Everything is overpriced, the last thing I bought never showed (Curse you Hong Kong! Curse you!) and postage never seems to be what it should be. So, I don't feel like selling them off yet, instead holding on to see if I stumble across a stash of Legends substantially discounted. Yeah, prices slashed to the point where I could feel good about buying Lady Deathstrike or Longshot; which would be absurdly cheap.

The one I'm most likely to end up with? Mojo, since I do kinda want the First Appearance Iron Man, if I could find a gold one for cheap, wouldn't mind Zemo, and hey, the original Longshot series was great even if he was never good again. Read more!

It's Legion of Super-Heroes time, so prepare your suspension of disbelief for a bruising.

Just about anyone who's read Legion of Super-Heroes for any period of time has a favorite Legionaire or two. Whether it's because they've got cool powers (Matter-Eater Lad's powers go so far past stupid they loop around back into awesome.) or a shining moment (Karate Kid's death made Projectra cooler than she had ever been.) or maybe, and probably not just for me, a cool logo. (I doodled Timber Wolf's logo obsessively on my high school notebooks.)

That said, I periodically lose track of the Legion, and not because I don't keep track of the reboots. Well, I keep up a little, but it's like making copies of copies, or having a small child tell you about a movie they haven't seen but their friend saw and they're really enthusiastic about it: every reboot gets a little further away from what I remember. I look at Lightning Lad, and I don't know if he's Livewire or Proty now, or if Validus is still his kid, or what he has to do with a JLA/JSA crossover, and hell, I don't even like Lightning Lad.

Most Legion fans and writers take a grab bag approach to the characters and continuity, trying to keep everything they like or that works, and ditching elements that have become dated, borderline offensive, or plain goddamn stupid. The trouble is, some of the stupid was pretty entertaining. Case in point: "The Lone Wolf Legionnaire!" Written by Ed Hamilton, art by John Forte. Originally presented in Adventure Comics #327.

The story opens with a prisoner arriving on a distant, prison planet and lamenting his failure: he joined the Legion of Super Heroes in order to sabotage their emergency board, to further some evil plot. Gah, that seems like more work than it's worth: develop super powers, as a teenager, since the Legion charter at the time forbid oldsters. Monkey with emergency board that looks like a bunch of TV's with lights and planets' names under them. Somehow commit or help crime so great it's worth this investment in time and effort. I see overthinking things is still a problem in the 30th Century. Like I should talk.

Actually, if you think I've overthought this panel, the annotations in the back of the reprint digest wonder who the hell Mystery Fake Legionnaire was (so does Wikipedia), and if the prison planet was Takron-Galtros, a recurring setting later in the series' run. This is why the Legion is both really engrossing and often impenetrable.

Moving on...now that we've established the emergency board, we see a bunch of Legionnaires watching and waiting for disasters. One planet sends a call that their moon exploded, and Superboy and Mon-El fly off to take care of it, which gets them out of this story. Any mission that doesn't involve flaming chunks of suborbital wreckage is probably going to be disappointing now, and Ultra Boy and Lightning Lad get sent to investigate the theft of 'treasured space crystals' on the planet Zoon. It sounds like someone knocked over the new age store, but the officer swears it was by someone with superhuman powers.

Five minutes after they leave, the officer calls back with another big theft. Meanwhile on Earth, the Interplanetary Circus is featuring creatures too dangerous for display, which sounds like a good selling point to me. Brainiac 5 and Light Lass go to investigate...yeah, they seem well-equipped to deal with wild alien animals. Light Lass in particular, since she could make things less heavy or even weightless, and that was a power that should have been more interesting than it was made out to be in these old stories.

One of the 'unknown' animals turns out to be a "Morvennian fear-beast," which someone probably should've guessed since they found it on Morven. I mean, duh. Light Lass makes it light so Brainiac 5 can pick up the cage and get it out of there, but the other animals panic and stampede. A young man in a costume swings down on the acrobat's rope (OK...), grabs a spotlight (it's the 30th Century, you shouldn't have to plug things in anymore), and swings shining the spotlight in the animals' eyes to stop the stampede (really?).

The man introduces himself as Karth Arn, then turns to leave. Light Lass is already into him, and just about offers him Legion membership, and herself, on the spot. Slow your roll, girl! Karth points out the lone wolf logo on his chest means he wants no part of any organization. Hey, kids who don't want to be part of society or have jobs have those logos today, too: they're called facial piercings.

Light Lass blurts out the Legion is shorthanded and totally hiring and there were robberies on Zoon and what are you doing later. Seems, ah, a bit desperate there, but all right. L-Wolf perks up at mention of the robberies, but still refuses to join up. Brainiac 5 wonders if he could be involved, and sure enough, Karth flew straight to Zoon. (Interplanetary travel in the old LOSH stories was easier than me driving across town. Ah, how far we've come.)

Brainy, Sun Boy, and Light Lass head out for Zoon; as Ultra Boy and Lightning Lad watch the security tape of the robberies. (That should be well worth travelling light years out from earth.) They see the burglar wasn't wearing gloves when he tore a steel door off its hinges. Ultra Boy uses his pentra-vision to check for fingerprints, but finds blank handprints. All right, so you're looking for a perp with no fingerprints. Well, that has to narrow it down some.

Meanwhile, the other Legionnaires' cruiser has caught up with Lone Wolf's ship, and try to get him to pull over, even though they aren't strictly cops, and there's no probable cause. This is what happens if you don't defend your rights in the here and now, kids. But Lone Wolf sees a 'blue force,' recognizes it as dangerous, and pulls out of it. The Legion cruiser is pulled in, and about to be sucked into another dimension. Lone Wolf won't abandon his pursuers, especially since Light Lass may be on that ship, so he rams the cruiser with his own. It works, but both wrecked ships crash.

The guys knocked out, Light Lass goes to the unconscious Lone Wolf, kissing him on the cheek. Waking up, he tells her to stay away from him, since he wasn't human at all. (Cue soap opera dramatic musical flourish, and...commercial.)

Re-reading this, I was thinking of Adam Warren's comics (specifically Dirty Pair and Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone, both of which are great) and post-human theory; his premise being by the year 2500 or 2960 or whatever future date you want to set your story in; baseline humanity will be more or less extinct and everyone will have some level of augmentation or superpower, and the Legion stories seem like a precursor to that. Off the top of my head, I can think of maybe three unpowered human characters in the Legion mythos, two of which were Science Police and doubtless armed to the teeth with crazy crap, and Rond Vidar, who was hiding a Green Lantern ring (somewhere...) and had a dad that was a hypnotist super-villain.

Lone Wolf's origin continues next time, with "The Youth who Wasn't Human!" Things get emo. Robots revolt. And Light Lass uses her powers, by which I mean she cries and acts like a girl. Read more!

Janet knows what men really want: Avenging! Wait a sec...

Last month, or a little further down this page: Equinox, the Thermo-Dynamic Man, has just blown up Yellowjacket. In between issues, the cops, including Jean DeWolff, have shown up and put up barricades, but Equinox is still gloating. Injured and unable to shrink yet, Wasp hops the barricade and stings Equinox, but he shrugs it off.

Margay Sorenson, Equinox's mom, had been working on a device to neutralize his powers, and tries it; and since we're on the fourth page it fails. Spidey, Margay, and Wasp decide to head to the Baxter Building to use its lab. The FF isn't home, but Wasp's Avenger's ID gets them in while Margay runs through Equinox's origin. Meanwhile, Equinox is tearing into the cops.

My copy of this is a reprint, Marvel Tales #194, and it has the next two pages obviously out of order: Equinox blows a transformer and blacks out midtown Manhattan (I have no idea if that's how that should work, but play along) which resets the FF's computers, setting off the defensive systems. (Remember when comics could have a page out of order and it wasn't a big deal? Granted, this was a reprint title, but still.) Spidey and Margay get into a lab, but Wasp is locked out.

That empty screw hole? Reed Richards totally fired someone for that.

As defensive lasers start shooting at Jan, she notices she's reacting faster than the computers can shoot her, which even Jan knows shouldn't work. (That's not a slight on the Wasp, it's just rare for a comic character to admit something defies suspension of disbelief.) Then, at Wasp-size, she tears a grate off an air duct and flies down to reset the security system, wondering about her power surge. Meanwhile, Spidey and Margay have worked out a harness to stop Equinox's powers, except now they have to figure out how to get it on him.

Luckily for them, Equinox blows another hole through a wall, so they don't have to go looking for him. Spidey webs up his hands, but still can't go punch-for-punch with Equinox, and has to resort to smashing up Reed Richard's lab--and setting up the next issue, which I don't have, and I guessed wrong on the next villain, too...Hopefully, Reed sent the repair bill to the Avengers, along with a sternly worded memo about lab practices.

Equinox has Spidey "pinned...in an ice straight-jacket!" At the darkest moment, Yellowjacket returns, then Wasp. YJ tells the startled Jan to blast Equinox, and this time the sting throws him across a room. Hank cryptically wishes Jan a happy birthday, and then (relatively casually, it seems) slaps the harness on Equinox, stopping his changes and knocking him out. (Equinox didn't have a lot of other appearances, but may not have ever been cured. Oddly, Wikipedia has his i.d. as "Michael Steel," while he's Terry in this one.)

Yellowjacket explains that when the gas truck blew up, he shrank to insect size, and rode the shockwaves out. Blwah? I guess the next time you have a hornet's nest, don't dynamite it: you'll just scatter the bees, they'll be back. Hank also explains that for Jan's birthday...oh, hell, I'll let him explain part of it:


Hank secretly gave his wife a 'serum' to increase her powers. I hate to say it, but that's a Dr. Phil episode waiting to happen. And I'm not at all sure how the Wasp could "harness" the awesome power of shrinking (that sounds like she should be cleaning my countertops, somehow) and get more powerful stings, without using so much energy she'd get stuck at Wasp-size. Plus, if Jan's strong enough to tear off a grate, she's probably strong enough to punch a normal person's head off now, which maybe isn't an ability you want to surprise someone with.

Still: love these issues, and for me Hank and Jan still spring to mind as a couple. I just hope if I'm ever 'killed' in an explosion, I can pull such a great entrance out of my hat. All panels from Marvel Team-Up #60, "A Matter of Love...and Death!" Written by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne, inks by Dave Hunt. Back when the world was new... Read more!

A slight delay, but for a good reason.

Flames on his head, a new electric guitar, like a three day birthday celebration with his grandparents and aunt and friends: All that, and he probably has more Transformers comics than you. Spoiled. Happy Birthday, Oldest!


And this? Coming soon. Read more!

Monsters, Norse gods, campaigning: pretty much what it would take to get me to watch C-Span.

When Mangog, a chatty monster who represents the distilled hatred of a "Billion billion beings" wiped out by Big Daddy Odin, replaces said Odin as ruler of Asgard...well, you'd think Thor would notice the change sooner, since it's still a grouchy, insane, ranting monster. Odin's not a great dad. It's also never really mentioned why exactly Odin was laying down the genocide, except that they were, y'know, evil and monstery and stuff.

Since the rest of the Asgardians are unknowingly worshipping the fake-Odin, Mangog is able to draw power from them, which he uses to mess Thor up. Mangog then claims Thor was trying to overthrow him, and has him chained up in front of Asgard as an example to everyone. But Thor's crew--including Balder, Sif, the Warriors Three, and some girls I don't recognize offhand--are out spreading the word of the fake Odin and rallying the peasants. Citizens. Fellow vikings. Whatever. This goes on for about a page and a half, when really this could be drawn out for months. Months and months. Just like the next election cycle!

Sif and Balder would be the most like conventional politicians: pretty, polite, stick to the talking points, a bit dull.

Karnilla would threaten the hoodoo: listen to her or the sky will quake, toads will fall from the sky, warts for everyone. You know, like Pat Robertson or something. Maybe less evil.

Hogun wouldn't have to appeal to the people, or try to reason with them, or otherwise cajol them. Hogun would point, and they would go.

Fandral would tell long, involved stories that wouldn't have been out of place in either the Canterbury Tales or Penthouse Forum. Maybe both. People would follow him.

I can't tell if the guy Volstagg is sitting on is freaking out as his ribcage caves in, or from Volstagg's lecture. If the only way for him to get votes and support was by sitting on people, hell, it'd still be close, Volstagg could very conceivably sit on a lot of people.

The shield-maiden Hildegarde's approach would be very similar to Hogun's, except there would be some jackass to give issue at listening to a "mere wench," which would lead to a brief interlude of a substantial, well-deserved beating.

I imagine Odin's Vizier as sounding a lot like Bob Dole, or the Bob Dole from the Simpsons: refers to himself in the third person a lot, doddering, prone to long stories and general annoyance. Gets the seniors out.

For the life of me, I have only the vaguest idea who the last girl in the purple hat and cape is. Nanna? Sigyn? Anyone have this one, let me know.

From Thor #250, "If Asgard Should Perish...!" Written and edited by Len Wein, art by John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga. Read more!

If this is how Hank survives the Initiative, well, that would be kinda cool.

Concussion? Fah! Who needs medical attention when you've got hot cocoa? Again, Marvel Team-Up #59, "Some Say Spidey Will Die By Fire. ..Some Say By Ice!" Written by Chris Claremont, pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Dave Hunt.

Since last time was spent more-or-less gushing about Yellowjacket, this time we'll hit the plot; which, as I prefer, hits the ground running. Within the first two pages, Spidey's swinging home and gets sucker-punched by a flame blast, then an Iceman-style icicle.

Just before Spider-Man starts his fall into the river, Janet Pym, the Wasp, is waiting for her husband, Hank "Yellowjacket" Pym, to drag himself out of his lab. Where he'd been for a week. I must say, if I was down in my basement or my work for a week and my wife didn't see me, let's just say she probably wouldn't be greeting me in her lingerie. Well, maybe.

Hank mentions that he's upgraded his powers, not a bad idea for a guy on a team with Thor, Iron Man, Hercules, etc. (How come Hank always doubted himself, yet Hawkeye was completely confident about his place in the Avengers?) Before things get too heated with him and Jan, though, he sees the flash in the distance that zapped Spidey, and flies over to fish him out of the river.


As Spidey recovers back at the Pyms' apartment, YJ (not much of a nickname there, so I don't think it's ever caught on) points out Iceman's currently in the Champions in L.A. and the Human Torch is out of town with the Fantastic Four, and if they didn't zap Spidey, who did? Spidey recalls a bad guy he may not have faced directly, but he had told the Torch and Iceman about, and they fought him: Equinox, the Thermo-dynamic Man. Even though the cover there looks like the Torch and Iceman spent most of the issue fighting each other; Equinox, who had both of their powers, gave them a hard time until they blew him up. Spidey figures he'll take care of it himself, when Equinox blows a hole through a wall, having followed YJ there.

At this point in Spider-Man's life, post-Gwen, he's more surprised if someone doesn't try to kill him.

Spidey gets thrown around a bit, and Wasp's stings prove useless against Equinox ("They're useless against just about everybody, buster.") Yellowjacket eventually zaps Equinox outside, and the fight relocates to the Queensborough bridge...I know nothing about NYC outside of what I've read in comics. Too many people there for me, and I don't think I'd be able to stand the traffic, crowds, subways. Unless I could fly, swing from building to building, or teleport, New York City would drive me up the wall. Besides, I'd spend all my time looking for Dr. Strange's house and get pissed if I couldn't find it.

Anyway...Wasp takes a hit that knocks her on her butt, but is more mad at Hank for amping up his powers but not hers. If Hank has any chores at the Pym household, it must be the weirdest 'honey-do' list ever:

Clean gutters
Talk ants out of kitchen
Invent better superpowers for wife

Hank tries to "But honey" his way out of that, but no time. Equinox nearly kills YJ with a car door (Yeah, why throw the whole car, when just the door seems pretty dangerous?) but Spidey webs it. Then, a woman with a science-fictiony looking rifle calls Equinox "Terry," and begs him to stop. In response, Equinox does throw the rest of the car at her, and Spidey saves her as well.

The cars explode, knocking out Jan. Hank is forced to go hand-to-hand with Equinox; while Spidey helps up Jan and questions the woman, Margay Sorenson, Equinox's mom. Before they can get back to help, Equinox forces Hank back against a fuel truck, and blows it up. Equinox walks out of the explosion, triumphant.

Wasp was shaken, but walks it off: She was an Avenger, and now, it's on.

The scene changes a little the next issue, but that'll keep, 'til next time.

Honestly, I'm not even positive I ever owned this issue as a kid. I may have read it in a store (for some reason, I'm thinking in a Ben Franklin store somewhere in northern Montana) but not bought it; or I may have read it until it dissolved into ink-and-paper particles still lodged in my internal organs. It was reprinted in Marvel Tales #193 and the conclusion the month after. I would recognize Yellowjacket the next Avengers appearance I saw him in, so I knew he must have survived, but it was a long, long time before I got to see how. Hopefully, I won't keep you waiting that long. Read more!

Be Sure to Miss!

Guff. Running behind a little already this week, since yesterday I helped the Wife paint the bathroom. She had me do the taping, and said it would be 'totally easy.' Of course, it totally wasn't, and ate up a lot of time I would've spent blogging or taking pictures or, probably, watching the Venture Brothers and sleeping.

Later this week my parents and my sister and her family will be up here, and it's the Oldest Son's birthday; so who knows how timely any of this will be; but down the line we've got my favorite Legion of Super-Heroes origin, the political campaign and debate process with Thor and his friends, more Yellowjacket and the Wasp action/adventure/dysfunction, and maybe a little piece from the third-best run of Deadpool if something works out for that.

Pretty sure if the Youngest could talk, he'd ask why the 30th Century is so dated and out of style. From the back cover of The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #57, by Pat Broderick: his signature's backwards, next to 'Bizzaro' (it's misspelled on the back cover, which is actually sort of fitting!) Cosmic Boy. Read more!

First impressions are important, and that's why Hawkman sucks and Yellowjacket rules.

This is why I keep harshing on Hawkman's wings: as near as I can tell, this appearance in All-Star Comics #65 was my first exposure to Hawkman, and he spends most of the issue sans wings, which pretty much reduces him to an older guy in a luchadore mask. Although, he's more composed than I would've thought, losing the one thing that seems to define the character. I sorta expected Carter, Katar, whatever, to curl up in a ball and weep openly.

(Incidentally, thanks to this issue, when I think of Superman, I think of the gray-templed Earth-2 version first; and think of Power Girl and Star-Spangled Kid as the new guard.)

Very often, your first impression of a character is going to be how you remember them forever. For example, the first time I saw Hank Pym, Yellowjacket, he was blown up. No, not there, here: Marvel Team-Up #59, "Some Say Spidey Will Die By Fire. ..Some Say By Ice!" Written by Chris Claremont, pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Dave Hunt.

If I may sound like a total geek for just a moment: I would totally wear the Yellowjacket outfit. Especially since that's where the powers are--when exactly did Hank and Jan, the Wasp, 'internalize' their powers? Initially, they used gas to shrink and, um, stingers to sting people, I guess. For the Yellowjacket identity, Hank's put together a grab-bag of powers: control insects, shrinking and growing, flight, bio-electric disruptors. I suspect writers thought the initial gimmicks for the character weren't enough, and added more and more.

Then, since that didn't seem to be working, writers, probably Jim Shooter, started fiddling with the character of Hank Pym. The first appearences of Yellowjacket I read portrayed him as a hardcore science-hero, and an Avenger of renown; a guy who was more comfortable in the lab than with people, but also wasn't above fighting the good fight himself. Then the instability started and the next thing you know, Hank's hitting Jan, taking Paxil, and seems a lot more flawed and incompetant than his teammates, or his confederates Reed Richards and Tony Stark.

Hank's on the comeback trail now, or living on borrowed time. Could go either way.

Now, keep in mind that since this is one of the earliest superhero comics I remember reading, I didn't know about Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, or any of Yellowjacket's lameass rouges' gallery. So Equinox totally blew my mind. As the issue sets up, Equinox had previously fought Iceman and the Human Torch to a standstill, because he had both their powers, and a head shaped like Wolverine's mask! I remember making Equinox out of red and white Legos as a kid, and alternating the colors on the top and the bottom.

Equinox does have the unfortunate honor of being yet another comic character that's black, but you can't tell because of his powers or mutation or whatever. But, next time we'll look at the plot, the revenge of the Wasp, and a slightly creepy birthday present from Hank.

Hawkman picture from All-Star Comics #65, "The Master Plan of Vandal Savage" Dialog by Paul Levitz, plot and art by Wally Wood. Read more!

My toy buying habits lately? All over the map.

What was more difficult to explain to the kids?

A. Why that girl has a gun for a leg.

B. That Elvis really is dead and that mummies very rarely suck the life out of the elderly. Like hardly ever.

C. The "history" between Yellowjacket and the Wasp.

D. That Captain America will be back. Probably. Eventually.

Bit of a placeholder today, as I'm working on a longer look at Yellowjacket's first appearance, or at least the first comic I have with him, which is better.

Today at the Comic Book Shop, picked up the most recent issue of Wisdom: it's the second-to-last issue, so it's setting the board for the conclusion, but the sales are so bad at this point your comic shop probably isn't even shelving a copy now. Anyway, this issue wasn't as good as the rest of the series, but it probably had to be done. Buy the trade, please.

Out of the quarter box: random recent issues of Legion of Super-Heroes and Marvel Universe; another issue each of limiteds Thor: Blood Oath and Spider-Man/Human Torch (haven't got the whole set of either yet, but working on it); the last two issues of X-Statix; and the terrible Black Panther 2099. Man, I know Kirkman's done good work, but I have not liked his Marvel stuff at all, and that's all I've really read.

So. Tomorrow: Yellowjacket, and the most hardcore villain of 1977! Unless I get distracted. Read more!

Today, it's Kirby-style monsters vs. Image-style inks. No one wins.

Sometimes, when trying to explain why I'm so excited for a particular comic (or movie, or show, or whatever) I believe I have been guilty of the sin of hype. I have had friends read books that I swore up and down were better and more exciting than Darth Vader fighting Godzilla with the spirit of Bruce Lee waiting to take on the winner; and come away a little underwhelmed.

Well, no hype this time. No, this is about me falling victim to the windup, only to be crushed when I looked up the delivery.

A couple weeks ago, I lucked into a cheap copy of Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters, a charming pseudo-reference guide to your...Marvel Monsters, yeah. If you don't know Fin Fang Foom from Groot, then you need...to get the hell off my blog! Close the door behind you!

Oh, just kidding. It's a dense little book though, surprisingly text heavy; although that may have been done to cheap out on art. Elsa Bloodstone pulls together various accounts of giant monsters and weird crap, pieced together from accounts by Reed Richards, Henry Pym, Dr. Druid, and even mentions Nightcrawler vs. the Son of Krakoa. Somewhat disappointingly, it's not written in the same super-ass-kicker British-accented voice she would have in Nextwave. (Admittedly, Elsa's monster-fighting origin in Nextwave was a case of a good joke trumping continuity porn, as it were.)

One case mentioned multiple times in this handbook involved our friend Rorgg, king of the Spider-Men; Grottu, a Blip, the Two-Headed Thing, and Zzutak. And the Fantastic Four. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Based on the description, I was wondering if it was one of the Marvel Monster one-shot issues (like the sublime Fin Fang Four) or something, but it turned out to be Fantastic Four Unlimited #9. Nice Claudio Castellini cover, but I actually had this issue in my basement, and had read before, since I got it out of the quarter bins maybe a couple of months ago. It's not very encouraging that the handbook description was more memorable than the actual issue, is it?

You'd think I'd remember a title like "The Shape of Things that Came" too, if only to giggle. Written by Roy Thomas, art by Herb Trimpe, inks by Carmen Imperato. None of whom I blame for this: this was from 1994. The Image-ization of comics was in full effect, and I think Trimpe was having his arm twisted to deliver a more "hawt" style of pencils. The issue was also set when Reed was missing, presumed KIA with Doom; and Ant-Man was his replacement. And Wolverine had sliced part of the Thing's face off. Yeah, they were kind of working under a handicap here, and may have been forced to shoehorn the story into continuity; but I'm not sure that excuses the Thing's scars, which look like an afterthought or correction made in the inks.

(It may sound odd now, but Ant-Man replaced Mr. Fantastic for two years. And, back in the day, Reed lost his powers for over two years. I think She-Hulk's term replacing Ben was a little longer than that. Does anyone think the current FF roster with Storm and Black Panther is going to be that long?)

On to the plot: on their way to Soho, the FF run across the Molten Man-Thing (not the swampy, mouthless one, which is just as well for me) stomping down the street. After a brief skirmish, the monster disappears, and the Four are introduced to Frank Johnson, who created the monster with with a magic set of paints, to hype up the grand opening of his Museum of the Monstrous and Strange. Even though the cops are a little suspicious Frank caused the monster; you know, in the Marvel Universe, I don't think this even qualifies as reckless endangerment, possibly not even a disturbance.

Guh. That art's just not good. And I like Herb Trimpe. His Hulk work was steady and straightforward, and his Savage Tales strip was really not too shabby.

Like the monsters in this issue, Frank previously had appeared in one of Marvel's pre-superhero stories, in Frank's case Strange Tales #88 http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=16449 . This is probably like Ashley Simpson talking about her old nose, but all those Kirby/Ditko monster stories are in continuity at Marvel. Sometimes I love that the Punisher exists in the same universe as Zzutak, the thing that shouldn't exist. Still, this whole issue reads better if you've seen at least some of those old stories: I hesitate to call them 'classics,' since while they are endearing, they're formulaic even for comics.

Thomas does give you the bulletpoint recaps: Frank was a fantasy painter given a magic palette of paints by "an Aztec elder obsessed with restoring their ancient empire," that could bring what he painted to life. And monsters would be the first thing to come to mind, huh? You wouldn't want to paint Halle Berry or anything? Either Frank's really devoted to his museum, or, judging from the monsters' color schemes, all the paint he had left was either crayon green or burnt ochre.

So, Frank's lured the FF to his museum's opening and to meet his son, Cal. After a brief recap of the monsters, visitors begin to arrive, and Sue elects for the FF to stay. Things go swimmingly, including a Spider-Man cameo where he explains the science of Rorgg to a lost Ant-Man; until Scott sees an Aztec and gets jumped. Even for a superhero, it's not really fair to expect Ant-Man to singlehandedly beat up four or five very large Aztec warriors; but he's embarrassed to be sent running to hide behind the rest of the team.

In short order, the head Aztec, Yucoya-Tzin, the "lord who creates," reawakens the monsters, coming as a surprise to hopefully no one there. I'm not sure if the monsters were brought back to life, or merely reanimated somehow, but they all act like their old selves and are generally pissed about being dead or defeated. Using the old trade partners routine, the Four eventually defeat them; but the Aztecs are gone with Frank and Cal.

In Johnson's office, Johnny finds a 'Z' traced into the dust on his desk...oh, that's the least believable thing yet in this issue: I'm a freakin' slob, and I don't have a layer of dust thick enough to leave messages in at my desk. Even my toy shelves don't collect enough dust to leave a message on...although I do feel compelled now to tidy up a bit. Anyway, where do you think the Aztecs are going, Poland?

It's 'Z' for 'Zzutak,' as Yucoya-Tzin forces Frank to reawaken the monster. Don't ask how they got from NYC to the Yucatan Peninsula in the turn of a page, since the FF arrives right behind them. (The FF have a pogo plane and other transport, though...) As the fighting starts, Frank knows the Four could be in trouble, since as a thing brought to 'life' by magic paint, Zzutak doesn't have internal organs or weak spots. He tries to use the paint to bring back the monster he'd previously created to defeat Zzutak, but it was buried too deeply. Frank convinces Scott, who persuades the rest of the team, to let their minds go blank and give the unnamed monster their strength. Poor nameless monster. Still it defeats Zzutak and the two are buried again.

So, the Aztec revival gets put on hold until Apocalypto, I guess. Aside from the occasional cameo or alternate-reality appearance, this would about do it for the Marvel Monsters until the 2005 specials. Even more oddly, the specials, including Fin Fang Four, appear to be in continuity; making it weird to reconcile the Reed Richards that clones Thor and is an apologist for McCarthyism with the one that plays chess with Fin Fang Foom and employs Gorgilla as a window washer. Read more!

In case you thought Supergirl was mishandled now...well, yeah, probably.

I got The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #11 and #12 out of the quarter bin, and while Gil Kane is awesome, I was kind of wondering how he got away with basically the same cover twice in a row. Looking at GCD, Supergirl didn't have a great 1983 for covers: #7 and #8 both have Supergirl looking down on the action from a distance; and try to imagine the cover for issue #5 drawn by Adam Hughes, or much worse, Michael Turner.

The story features Kara, seemingly dead of an exotic radiation poisoning, her body being examined by generic evil organization the Council. Lazy, but what do you expect from a group headed by the Chairman, a guy in a red costume and...a chair. At Marvel, it would've been C.O.U.N.C.I.L. or something...Chronal Omnipresence Union, Northern Canada Independent League. Crap, that sucks. Kara gets upgraded from mostly dead to feeling crappy, barely able to heat-vision a couple of guards during her escape.

The Council sets their Supergirl clones on the trail, all six of them; which sounds impressive, except they didn't have enough "material" and ended up with six twelve-inch tall copies. (I suppose they could've made one clone a fifth larger than the original, or maybe one regular size and a spare twelve-incher...) Since the clones have all her powers and she's currently barely super at all, it doesn't go well for Supergirl; and they smash up a bit of her cousin's Fortress of Solitude.

I did kind of like the last page of the story, where during the wrap up, a recurring (I guess) cop character gives Kara the hassle because he doesn't approve of vigilantes, and she tells him where he can cram it. At the time, I'm pretty sure Superman didn't have to put up with any police blowback. It may be telling that Kara gets lip from the same cops that probably would've kissed the hem of Superman's cape; but it's just as in character that she doesn't take it quietly either.

Lois Lane was the back-up feature for Supergirl at the time, and the back-ups don't have any of the charming insanity of her old solo book. Hell, they don't have any charm at all. Moreover, it seems like DC either put their girl-characters in a ghetto together, or put all their girly eggs in one basket: wouldn't it have been smarter to have Supergirl's back-up feature be, I don't know, the Viking Commando or something, more of a draw to male readers? Then, keep Lois as a backup in Action maybe, to pull more female readers there? Well, like a lot of things I say, that probably sounds reasonable but is completely wrong, and I don't know where these hypothetical girl readers were coming from anyway, and I'm Monday-morning quarterbacking an unsuccessful comic from 1983.

Panels from the Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #12, "Guess Who's about to Die?" Written by Paul Kupperberg, art by Carmine Infantino and Bob Oksner. The title would get downgraded to just Supergirl the next month, saving everyone a lot of typing and confusing the filing. Read more!

If you could go back in time, why not go with a coolass jet?

Even though I love the quarter books, I'm not adverse to paying through the nose for books I like. And while I love Ken Steacy's Tempus Fugitive, it was definitely love I paid for: $4.95 a pop the first two issues (starting March 1990) and $5.95 the last two, ending July 1991. (For comparison, a Fantastic Four issue next to me dated October 1990 was cover priced $1.25.)

This is one of the first comics I can remember having to buy at the comic shop: before this, comics were plentiful at grocery stores, bookstores, Circle-K, everywhere. At best, for the first two issues at least, I hadda drive 80 miles to get them.

You may have notice the gap in publication there. I don't think a 15-month wait from start to finish helped the sales any, but I'm also not 100% sure I've ever seen this collected as a trade. Which is too bad: Steacy, a pilot himself, loves to fly and it shows (boo!) in the art; and it's an exciting and occasionally touching book. ("I've known him since he was a boy," still got me when I read it again yesterday.)

Of course, my only other complaint is that this was around the start of the glut of 'prestige' format comics. Fancier coloring, better paper, funky bindings that won't lie flat in a scanner...Everyone wanted to get the next Dark Knight Returns, but went about it like the packaging was the key to the product.

While I don't approve of slapping any old comic into a squarebound format and jacking up the price, I do have to admit the color in Tempus Fugitive still looks great. I also usually have no sympathy for late comics, but I was so grateful to have this series completed I let it slide. In retrospect, I think I may have even enjoyed it more with the long wait: I have read the first two issues many, many times; anxiously waiting to see how it ended.

If this looks interesting, shop it around a little. I know I have another copy of issue #1, pulled from some cheap bin somewhere, so it's out there. Well worth a look. Read more!

Plan 4-20, huh? I'm sure this is a completely innocent reference.

Um, that's Silvermane, not your grandma there. This is from Daredevil #123, "Holocaust in the Halls of Hydra!" Written by Tony Isabella, art by Bob Brown, inks by Vince Colletta. From 1975, which of course makes this pre-Frank Miller glory days, and possibly even pre-4-20. Whatever that means...

Bonus: Foggy Nelson, held hostage by Hydra in their secret base under Shea Stadium, socks a guard, steals a rifle, and shoots out the chain restraining Daredevil and the Black Widow. Hell, yeah. Even though he's often the comedy relief for DD, Mr. Nelson has had stretches of actual competence, and at the end of this issue, Nick Fury repeats his offer of a spot on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Directorial Council. Foggy declines, since while he can step it up when needed, he also seems like a guy that knows his limitations, and where he's comfortable.

Anyway, in honor of this not-at-all special day, I heartily don't encourage you to do or not do anything that may or may not be legal or medicinal. Yeah, definitely medicinal. Maybe. Read more!

Sure, Rorgg will enslave humanity and suck the juices out of our young, but don't expect him to jump up and down about it.

That is one glum looking alien. From Journey into Mystery #64, "I Dared to Battle... RORGG, King of the Spider-Men!!" Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers. Reprinted in Monster Menace #4.

One of the few good things to come of the 90's comic market was that in their mad rush to put out enough comics to cram each other off of the shelves, a lot of companies put out reprint material. So instead of buying expensive back issues, or holding out for fancy archive editions, or getting the mammoth Essential/Showcase phonebooks; I have piles of random-ass flimsy reprints of EC and Marvel (Timely?) monster nonsense.

Pro: these reprints are still mostly dirt cheap, not super hard to find, and are semi-disposable if you want to introduce someone to disturbing horror or goofy monsters. Con: The print and paper quality is spotty, on occasion seemingly worse than the originals. The Marvel reprints in particular have ads and editorial from the 90's; which can cause uncontrollable crying in lab primates. Good luck trying to get any coherent order out of those reprints, since they aren't chronological or anything. And these 90's reprints still have their original dialog, unlike most of the old reprints today. Well, that's either a plus or a minus for you.


That spider-cop is dope. Not sure who wrote this issue, but I'm pretty sure that's another of those little awesome things Jack Kirby threw in on a whim; like the Silver Surfer. Like Kirby was skimming through the plot for this story, and came to "Rorgg describes his advanced civilization, space travel through webs, fill out a page, etc." and just hopped to the conclusion that advanced societies must as a given have traffic cops. Spider-Cop deserves at least a one-shot, you ask me...

Although it probably doesn't bring new readers into the fold, I like it when an admittedly obscure character like Rorgg rears his mopey, Eeyore-like head again. Later this week we'll take a look at another Rorgg sighting, but I think the days of such 'comebacks' are gone. After all, if Rorgg here attacked the Mighty Avengers, he'd probably be the most sympathetic character in the book.
Read more!