Separated at Birth: In the land where the venetian blind man is king

L: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For #1 (November 1993), art by Frank Miller
R: Lobo #17 (July 1995), art by Val Semeiks and John Dell

(Click picture to she grew up-size)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 30

Kelsey Grammer, hangin' around as Hank McCoy/The Beast, in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), directed by Brett Ratner

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Thor, God of Metal

"Thor, God of Metal" by GadgetWK, featuring "Raining Blood" by Slayer

Maps found in the glove compartment of Odin's '67 Chrysler Imperial

More images and maps of Asgard for you! Who sez this isn't the Awesome Age of Grand Geography from a Bombastic Bull?


The first appearance of Asgard in Journey Into Mystery #85 (October 1962), script by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers, letters by Artie Simek




The origin of Asgard, as told in Thor #294 (April 1980), script by Roy Thomas, breakdowns by Keith Pollard, finishes and inks by Chic Stone, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Joe Rosen




"Asgard: Home of the Norse Gods," from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe v.1 #1 (January 1983), art by Peter Gillis, letting by Tom Orzechowski
(click map to god-size)




"Asgard: The Nine Worlds," from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Deluxe Edition #1 (December 1985), art by Eliot R. Brown
(click map to tesseract-size)




"Asgard: The Continent," from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #1 (December 1985), art by Eliot R. Brown
(click map to Norn-size)




Cover art from Thor #601 (June 2009), art by Marko Djurdjevic


Not pictured: wherever the Sam Scratch this took place:


"Thor and the False Immortal" (from Marvel Comics cover-dated November 1976), scripter unknown, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Jack Abel

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 29

Screenshot from X-Men: The Animated Series "Night of the Sentinels" (1992), featuring Beast (voiced by George Buza)

Take off...to the Great White Norse

And now, just in time for vacation-planning season...the Vanaheim Chamber of Commerce happily presents you with this

Authentic Map of Asgard!

But book your holiday in the Nine Worlds early—tourist reviews on Expedia and Priceline report there's a wait of up to one hundred and seventy minutes to go on the "Giant Bust of Odin" ride. (Especially if Volstagg is in line in front of you.) And don't forget: The Museum of Heroes is closed on Thorsday! So enjoy yourself in Asgard, but when you're heading for the Asgardian Shopping Center (newest additions: Victhoria's Secret, Build-a-Balder, the Iðunn's Apple Store, and Chik-Fil-A), remember to bring your Visa. Because Heimdall woin't allow you entrance over the Rainbow Bridge until you've slain the Mighty She-Bear of the Northland Forests of Umulak...and he doesn't take American Express.


"Map of Asgard" from Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965),
written by Stan Lee with art by Jack Kirby
(Click map to Skurge-size)

Also, kindly do not give this map to Norman Osborn or any agents of H.A.M.M.E.R.* during the events of "Siege." Remember: loose lips sink Sif!

*Ham and Mozzarella Maniacs Encouraging Revenge

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 28

Panel from Ultimate X-Men #87 (December 2007), script by Robert Kirkman, pencilled by Yanick Paquette, inked by Serge LaPointe, colored by Stephane Peru, lettered by Joe Caramagna

Clobber different.

Unless you've been living under a rock today (and if so, how do you get cable?), you'll have heard that Steve Jobs introduced a device which is going to change all our lives, making information and entertainment more accessible for our busy lives out and about, hither and thither, and on-the-go. No, sorry, it's not the Librarian Helper Monkey 3000™ (Out in time for Christmas 2012 for sure!) but rather the Apple iPad, which will bring you infographics and datagrams from around the wikisphere at the speed of Thomas Edison spinning in his grave, where ever and when ever you are! (Offer void to time travellers.) But hey, Steve Jobs: don't be too proud of this technological wonder you've constructed...as we can see by checking in on the Twitter account of our old pal, that ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, Benjamin J. Grimm! Note: big brain Reed Richards has invented a device to reverse the usual Twitter sequence, so just read along from the top to the bottom! If you can't read the fine print, just click to embiggen!

(You too can follow Ben Grimm on Twitter—click here for his Twitter page!)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 27

Panel from Ultimate X-Men #44 (June 2004), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by David Finch, inks by Danny Miki, colors by Frank D'Armata, letters by Chris Eliopoulos

Tuesday Nighty Tighty-Whities: Caged Heat

Who's the black Power Man who's a love machine to Jessica Jones?

Cage!

That dude Cage is one bad m...

Watch yo' mouf!

I was just gonna say that Luke Cage is bad at Monopoly! Sheesh.

Anyway, I think we are all in agreement: Luke Cage, Power Man, rocks every world he's in. Even if he's not in his classic ultra-seventies costume...and all he's wearing is a pair of tighty-whities and hoppin' around on one foot in front of a client. Now that's something Spenser never did.


Panels from Power Man and Iron Fist #111 (November 1984), script by Jim Owsley, pencils by Greg LaRocque, inks by Jerry Acerno, colors by Julianna Ferriter, letters by Janice Chiang

No wonder Hugo Strange is mopping his brow...that's just too much Luke Cage for the normal mind to comprehend.

Of course, we all know it don't matter whether our cool-handed pal Luke has pants on or not...because really, he's not fully dressed until he puts on his headdress:



So, whether you're Power Girl in the DC Universe...



...or Power Man in the Marvel Universe...



...it apparently don't hurt your career to unbutton a few buttons on your shirt. Thank goodness that's not true of Professor Power, huh?



Isn't that right, Jessica Jones?



Well, glad we cleared that up.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 26

Panels from Ultimate X-Men #1 (February 2001), script by Mark Millar, pencils by Adam Kubert, inks by Art Thibert, colors by Richard Isanove, letters by Richard Starkings and Wes Abbott
(Click picture to ultimasize)

Reed Richards Has Got a Great Big Brain

For a technology nut, it's always a great time to hang around the Fantastic Four. Why, Reed Richards invents more before breakfast than can be contained in your average issue of Wired magazine! (Holiday gift issue not included.) Give that man a problem and he won't just solve it, he'll invent a machine that will make it more complicated and then solve it! Why? Why, you ask? Because that's the way Doc Rick rolls.

So, let's drop in on superherodom's kookiest kouple to see what just rolled off the drawing board:



So. Reed Richards has invented...the telephone. And he's made it bigger and bulkier. Granted, it's a visiphone...but with no visible screen.

And he's using it to contact a furniture store. "You know, Reed, we have a regular telephone.." "Quiet, you!"

Ah well. Let the man invent his little rubbery heart out, won't you? After all, it's not rocket science.



Whoops. Never mind.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 25

Panels from S.W.O.R.D.* #1 (January 2010), script by Kieron Gillen, pencils by Steven Sanders, inks by Craig Yeung, letters by Dave Lanphear

*Sentient World Observation and Response Department

Ten of a Kind: I'm not done, and I won't be 'til my head falls off

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 24

Panel from Uncanny X-Men #512 (August 2009), script by Matt Fraction, pencils by Yanick Paquette, inks by Karl Story, colors by Justin Ponsor, letters by Cory Petit