Saturday, April 15, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 105: REC! I suggest Asgardians come to the rescue

AIEEEEEEE! EVERYONE IS ASGARD IS HELPLESS AGAINST THE THREAT OF MANGOG, the sum total of the hatred of a billion beings! Or just six Fox News watchers.


Panels from Thor (1966 series) #157 (October 1968), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Sam Rosen

IT'S RAGNAROKIN' TIME, and we mean the nasty Ragnarok, not the cool, Led Zeppelin-scored Ragnarok coming in this fall's major motion picture from the good folks at Stan Lee Moviolas.


But wait! At the most dire moment, it's Balder the Brave and his Boisterous Billions of Battle Buddies, riding in like the cavalry (not to be confused with Ming-Na Wen)! Go Balder go!


I'm pretty sure this sequence should be scored to one of the greatest pieces of soundtrack ever composed. Take it away, Elmer Bernstein!


Friday, April 14, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 104: Say the secret word and win a Wonder Woman


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #55 (August 1967), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Sid Greene, letters by Gaspar Saladino

The rest of the comic is just a lot of punching accompanied by word association.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 103: Even I don't know why this guy is called "Snow King."

Does the Sub-Mariner need help to fight a big monster, namely Torg, The Abominable Snow King?


Panel from Sub-Mariner (1968 series) #55 (November 1972), script and pencils by Bill Everett, inks by Bill Everett and Frank Giacoia, letters by John Costanza

Well, yeah...actually he does, so the sailors watching the battle vow to stand with Namor against the weedy foe! And also: why isn't a creature named The Abominable Snow King white and furry and hanging around the actual snow-covered mountains of the Himalayas, not just some ice caves at sea? Hmmm.


I mean, I guess if the Abominable Snow King was actually a big abominable snow man, he could be easily defeated by tossing him down a ravine. Wait, no, that wouldn't work: bumbles bounce. Luckily these easily killed humans are leaping to aid the super-powered mutant by...um, jumping up onto him. Dudes! This isn't a climbing wall at your local gym!


Still, Snow King climbing is is a little more exciting than rock climbing.


Later, just plain ordinary humans show up to put the kibosh on Mr. So-Called "Snow King" (yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Greeny) by bombing him from helicopters and sending out a buncha boats to save the other guys.


So, it's Snow King 0, Sub-Mariner 1, Humanity 6. Even Subbie has to hand it to them: in a thought balloon to save his own fishy face. Send those guys a nice Hallmark thank you card, Namor, ya bum!

So there you have it: Torg the Snow King! The monster so ice he only appeared in comics twice!



Panels from Avengers (1998 series) #43/458 (August 2001), script by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Tom Smith, letters by Albert Deschesne

To conclude: "THAT'S NO KING!"

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Today in Comics History, April 12, 1919: Early sexting is rejected


from Providence #1 (Avatar, May 2015), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by Jacen Burrows, colors by Juan Rodriguez

365 Days of Defiance, Day 102: The Last Temptation of Matt Murdock


Panels from Daredevil (2016 series) #16 (March 2017); script by Charles Soule, pencils and inks by Goran Sudžuka, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Clayton Cowles
(Click bottom picture to Kingpin-size)

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Today in Comics History, April 11: John Jerome, luckiest criminal alive, is born


from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #4 (November 1984), script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Carlos Garzon, colors by George Roussos, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days of Defiance, Day 101: Squirrel Girl: The Most Patriotic Marvel Hero of 2017


Panels from USAvengers #1 (March 2017), script by Al Ewing, pencils by Paco Medina, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Jesus Aburtov, letters by Chris Eliopoulis

Today in Comics History, April 11, 1988: Feuding thought balloons leave Marvel to form their own comic book company


from The Draft one-shot (Marvel/New Universe, July 1988), script by Mark Gruenwald and Fabian Nicieza; pencils by Herb Trimpe; inks by Kyle Baker, Mike Gustovich, Klaus Janson, Lee Weeks, and Keith Williams; colors by Michael Higgins; letters by Jim Novak

Monday, April 10, 2017

Today in Comics History, April 10, 1959: There's a little too much spaghetti sauce in Veronica Kelly's calzone


from newuniversal: 1959 #1 (Marvel/New Universe, September 2008), script by Kieron Gillen, pencils and inks by Greg Scott and Kody Chamberlain, colors by Val Staples, letters by Ed Dukeshire

365 Days of Defiance, Day 100: Tanks, Headline Hunter

Say, how will Headline Hunter (The Sensational New Character Find of 1941, if you don't do any other research) stop the Nazis, or the Fascists, or the Nazifacists, from smashing a tank into the British Parliament?


Panels from the Headline Hunter story "The Engine of Destruction" in Captain America Comics #6 (Marvel/Timely, September 1941), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Jack Binder (?)

Why, of course he crashes a plane into it. That certainly won't hurt anyone or anything at all near the densely populated Parliament Square, I betcha.


Good thing HH bailed out that suicide plane and landed three miles away across the Thames. Still: advantage, Headline Hunter.

Today in Comics History, April 10, 1988: Comic causes all readers to take scalding shower and scrub with Brillo


from "Family Tree" in Star Brand #14 (Marvel/New Universe, July 1988); script by Howard Mackie, pencils by Kieron Dwyer, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Michael Heisler



Oh.

Today in Comics History, April 10, 20XX: Newspaper continues running streak of not looking like a real newspaper



from Spidey #4 (Marvel, May 2016), script by Robbie Thompson, pencils and inks by Andre Lima Araújo, colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, letters by Travis Landham

Sunday, April 09, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 99: Hope, Help, and Compassion for All


Panel from The Adventures of Supergirl (2016 digital series) #13 (September 2016), script by Sterling Gates, pencils and inks by Emma Vieceli, colors by Sandra Molina, letters by Saida Temofonte



Screenshot from Supergirl "Alex" (May 1, 2017), script by Eric Carrasco & Greg Baldwin, directed by Rob Greenlea