Today in Comics History: Marianne Kaplan invents anarchy

Panel from Daredevil v.3 #12 (July 2012), script by Mark Waid, pencils and inks by Chris Samnee, colors by Javier Rodriguez, letters by Joe Caramagna

Same Story, Different Cover: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Left: [Uncanny] X-Men v.1 #28 (January 1967); pencils by Werner Roth; inks by John Tartaglione; letters by Sam Rosen and Artie Simek
Right: [Uncanny] X-Men v.1 #76 (October 1970); pencils by Gil Kane; inks by Joe Sinnott (?), Mike Esposito (?), and/or Frank Giacoia (?); letters by Morrie Kuramoto

(Click picture to shillelagh-size)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 322

Panel from "Crown for a New Batman" in World's Finest Comics #228 (March 1975), script by Bob Haney, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Tex Blaisdell

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 17: Where's Waldo Wolverine?

Panels from Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2 (October 2009), script by Scott Gray, pencils and inks by Roger Cruz, colors by Val Staples, letters by Nate Piekos

Bye, bye, Twinkie, Cupcake and Pie

I am so high, I can hear heaven



I am so high, I can hear heaven



Whoa, but heaven...no, heaven don't hear me



And they say
That a hero could save us



I'm not gonna stand here and wait



I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away



Someone told me



Love would all save us



But, how can that be



Look what love gave us



A world full of killing



And blood spilling



That world never came



And they say
That a hero could save us



I'm not gonna stand here and wait



I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles



Watch as we all fly away



Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you



It isn't the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do



And they say
That a hero could save us



I'm not gonna stand here and wait



I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles



Watch as we all fly away



Watch as we all fly away

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 321

Panels from Batman/Grendel: Devil's Masque #2 (January 1993); script, pencils, and inks by Matt Wagner; colors by Joe Matt; letters by Ken Bruzenak

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 16: Junior Rao-dio Daredevils

Splash page from Superman Adventures #40 (February 2000), co-plot by Dan Slott, co-plot and script by Ty Templeton, pencils by Neil Vokes, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Marie Severin, color separations by Zylonol (now with even more cleaning power!), letters by Phil Felix

Aquaman is useful!

He's very helpful in transmitting messages from Green Lantern to Flash when Flash is on an alien planet where fish can speak...wait, what?!?


Panel from The Flash #175 (December 1967), script by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito

So there you have it: Aquaman was useful! That...that one time.

Comics News for November 15, 2012

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 320

Two-page spread from Batman and Robin: From Alfred to Zowie! (Golden Books, 1966), "told by" Ruthanna Thomas, "pictures adapted by" Tom Gill
(Click picture to eight-by-eight-size)

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 15: DJ How Now Brown Cow lays down some trippin' tracks

Panel from Avengers #120 (February 1974), script by Steve Englehart, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Don Heck, colors by George Roussos, letters by Artie Simek

Today in Comics History: The first Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler slash fiction is written

Panel from Fairest #7 (November 2012), script by Lilah Sturges; pencils, inks and colors by Shawn McManus; letters by Todd Klein

How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week? (11/14/12)

Whoops! No sooner do I introduce a running feature than I forget to do it for a couple weeks. Well, to keep this subject running and to fill in a post for an another slow-news Wednesday night, here's another mutant-crammed installment of...How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week!

• All-New X-Men #1: Hooray! At last, some all-new X-Men! Brand-new and never before seen! Exciting new characters who...wait a minute, it's the original five again? I shall be contacting the Better Business Bureau about truth in advertising, my good sir!
• The First X-Men #5: whoo-hoo! At last, a miniseries spotlighting the original X-Men! By golly, ya gotta love Teen Cyclops and Marvel Girl and Angel and what the Sam Scratch is this?!?!. Wehy, it's a Neal Adams miniseries that's nowhere near as looney as Batman: Odyssey, about the team of X-Men before X-Men. Whoo! Now that John Byrne's Marvel: The Lost Generation has become so amazingly popular, it was only a matter of time before the X-Men version came along!
• Gambit #5: Very canny of Marvel to put this comic out during the same week the new James Bond movie debuted, as Gambit's startling new origin—he's British!&151;is apparently revealed in this issue.
• Wolverine and the X-Men #20: Remember that TV show The White Shadow, in which a former pro basketball player (Ken Howard) coached a school team in the inner city? It's like that, except with Wolverine.
• X-Men Legacy #1: Because you demanded it: Volume Two of X-Men Legacy! For every one of those fans out there who was demanding a series about an X-Men team led by David Haller. I'm betting this book could sell several thousand copies a month, if each of Legion's personalities buys one.
• X-Treme X-Men #6: X-X writer Greg Pak promised us a couple days ago that another Earth-616 mutant would appear in this week's issue! I can only hope it's Maggott.

Hey, didn't I mention Gambit #4 and X-Treme X-Men #5 in my last post about how many X-Men comics were released only a few weeks ago? Is Marvel releasing these titles several times a month in an attempt to crowd other titles off the new release rack? Naw, if that were true they'd be releasing multiple X-Men titles every wee...uh oh. Well, at least Marvel only released two Avengers titles this week, and you can always say that they're not DC, who released both Batman #14 and Batman and Robin #14 this week. (Weren't the four Batman titles supposed to rotate weekly?) Next thing you know, they'll be releasing Uncanny X-Men and New X-Men and Astonishing X-Men and...whoops. See, that's what I miss when I don't give you, every week, a feature called How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week?

Today in Comics History: A security guard loses his contact lens

Panel from Watchmen #4 (December 1986), script by Alan Moore; pencils, inks and letters by Dave Gibbons; colors by John Higgins

Today in Comics History: Dr. Manhattan builds strong muscles 12 ways

Panel from Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (October 2012), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and inks by Adam Hughes, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Steve Wands

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 319

Pin-up from Tiny Titans #11 (February 2009); pencils, inks, colors, and letters by Art Baltazar

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 14: Knock Three Times on the Ceiling if You Need More Cow/Bull

Page from Thor v.1 #320 (June 1982), script by Doug Moench, layouts by Keith Pollard, finishes by Chic Stone and John Tartaglione, colors by George Roussos, letters by Diana Albers

First Cake in Orbit

Happy birthday to the Wonder Girl of my home, the lovely and talented Randi! We love you more than comic books, Randi (an' that's a lot!)



Panels from "Wonder Girl's Birthday Party!" in Wonder Woman v.1 #113 (April 1960), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito

Happy birthday, Randi!

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 318

Two-page spread from The Dark Knight (Universe Publishing, July 2008, text by Craig Byrne
(Click picture to Greatest Actor of Our Time™-size)

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 13: Katie Power is not impressed by bulls

Panels from "The Twelve Labors of the Babysitter, Part 3" in Thor and the Warriors Four #3 (August 2010);, script, pencils, and inks by Colleen Coover

Today in Comics History: Doc Savage's first successful escape

Panels from Doc Savage Annual #1 (DC, January 1989), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Gabriel Morrissette, inks by Rick Magyar, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Bob Pinaha

Or, she could just lock it.

Letter printed in Wonder Woman v.1 #124 (August 1961)

Wait a minute...it's invisible; how is a bad guy gonna find it?

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 317

Panel from "Police Line-Up!" in Batman #24 (August-September 1944), script by Don Cameron and Joe Samachson (?); pencils and inks by Jerry Robinson; letters by George Roussos

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 12: Wait, shouldn't he have to add some hamburgers to the jacket before he does that?

Panels from "The Man with the Eternity Hands!" in Superman Family #197 (September-October 1979), script by Jack C. Harris, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Joe Giella, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Todd Klein

In the company of heroes

Panels from Mythos: Captain America one-shot (August 2008), script by Paul Jenkins, painted art by Paolo Rivera, letters by Joe Caramagna