365 Days of Defiance, Day 354: Sing a Song of Superman

In which Superman defeats the most hideous strength in the DC Universe...by singing!:


Panels from Final Crisis #7 (March 2009), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Doug Mahnke, inks by a whole lotta guys, colors by not so many guys, but still a lot of 'em, letters by Travis Lanham
So here I ask you: what song would Superman sing to defeat Darkseid? Could it be


Or maybe it's


Or perhaps Superman chose to sing


Do you think Superman sang this at Darkseid? Well, he did grow up in Kansas.


Me, I think Supes sang this, as befits the cosmic odyssey of the whole thing:


But let me know your suggestions! Write to "MTV's What Did Superman Sing? Contest, 100 Grand Central Station, New York, New York, 10036!" Or, you could say it in the comments.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 275: Darkseid Is.* *Defiable.

Beware the serpent-tongued words that tell you you are better than the others, not matter how much honey drips from it. Also, don't eat honey off of a serpent's tongue, okay? Yuck.



Panels from The Forever People (1971 series) #3 (June-July 1971), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by John Costanza
Instead, summon your own inner power to fight against the falsehoods!





Because you never know who might be the power behind the deceptive words.



This message has been brought to you as an allegory and fable and not necessarily a direct connection to Donald Trump being used like a puppet by Vladimir Putin. Although Putin and Darkseid have both been known to wrestle bears and ride shirtless on horseback. Hmmmm...

365 Days of Defiance, Day 36: You know we'll have a good time then, Dad

Panels from Orion #3 (August 2000); script, figure pencils, and inks by Walt Simonson; background inks by Cliff Chiang; colors by Sherilyn van Valkenburgh; letters by John Workman

A Month of... Batman's Got a Gun, Day 31: Bang Bang, My Batman Shot Me Down

Let's wrap up A Month of...Batman's Got a Gun with Batman and the ultimate gun...a KirbyGun. Darkseid used it to shoot Orion, and Batman's gonna use it right back. I don't know what kind of Apokoliptan bullet that super-science pistol packs, but I betcha anything firing it is going to be accompanied by Kirby Krackle. Heck, even if it was a bubble gun it'd shoot Kirby Krackle. Shoot 'im, Batman! shoot 'im! This one we don't object to!


Panels from Batman #702 (October 2010), script by Grant Morrison, pencils and inks by Tony Daniel, colors by Ian Hannin, letters by Travis Lanham
So, we've seen Batman with a gun thirty-one times this month, and what have we learned, Charlie Brown gentle reader? The truth is, no matter how many handguns Batman's hoisting, more often than not he doesn't have a gun. Like 7Up and caffeine, he's never had 'em, never will. Why, he'll even use janitorial equipment before he picks up a Smith & Wesson!



Panels from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #60 (March 1997), script by Alan Grant, pencils by Dave Taylor, inks by Stan Woch, colors by Pam Rambo, color separations by Android Images, letters by Bill Oakley
If I take anything from this sampling of the hundreds of armed Batmen in my "Batman's Got a Gun" folder (seriously, there's enough for at least a couple more months), it's that sometimes Batman has a gun. Sometimes it's a fake-out, sometimes it's a ruse, sometimes it's a mistake, sometimes it's a hoax, a dream, or an imaginary story. But if we can say one thing, we can all agree on this: Batman's Got a Gun.

As I did yesterday, i'm going to point you to Further Reading by the guy who has influenced my own critical thinking on Batman (and the goofy riffing on him that I do in my blog), America's Foremost Batmanologist, Chris Sims! Check these out, and you'll have a fuller and more thorough understanding of the Batman's rocky relationship with revolvers.

• Guns and the Batman: Why The Dark Knight Doesn’t Use Firearms
• Ask Chris (About Batman) #54: Why Doesn’t Batman Kill?
• This Issue, Batman Kills: The Dark Knight’s Most Murderous Moments

But enough about Batman Oughta Have Guns, what about Comics Oughta Be Fun, you ask? What's on the agenda for June? Well, here's a little preview. Next month, all month: Mary Jane's Got a Gun!


Panels from Spider-Man Unlimited (1993 series) #9 (May 1995); script by Tom Lyle; pencils by Ron Lim, Ron Garney, and Ron Tod Smith; inks by (inhale) Tom Palmer, Randy Emberlin, Tim Tuohy, Al Milgrom, Jimmy Palmiotti, Klaus Janson, Sam de la Rosa, and Don Hudson; colors by John Kalisz; letters by Joe Rosen
Oh...maybe not.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 187: Meet your new Justice League Cosmos starting lineup

House ad for Cosmic Odyssey #1 (November 1988); printed in Detective Comics #591 (October 1988)
Ad art: pencils by Mike Mignola, inks by Carlos Garzon (?), colors by Steve Oliff

Darkseid Does Some Dumb Stuff

Sure, he's noble and regal and dangerous and deadly. But sometimes Darkseid does some dumb stuff. (Hence, the title of the post.)

Darkseid trips and falls flat on his face!

Panels from Superman/Batman #38 (September 2007), script by Alan Burnett, pencils by Dustin Nguyen, inks by Derek Fridolfs, colors by Randy Mayor, letters by Rob Leigh

Darkseid drinks needlessly expensive designer coffee!

Panels from Sovereign Seven #1 (July 1995), script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by Dwayne Turner, colors by Gloria Vasquez, separations by Olyoptics, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Darkseid Breaks and Enters!

Panels from Action Comics #593 (October 1987), script, pencils, and figure inks by John Byrne, background inks by Keith Williams, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza

Darkseid doesn't have an escape plan!

Panels from JLA: Another Nail #1 (May 2004), script and pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Patricia Prentice

Darkseid breaks into a secondhand clothing shop!

Page from Super Powers v.3 #3 (November 1986), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Joe Orlando, letters by Albert DeGuzman

...and then he gets mugged!

Not to mention all of these.

Panels from Ambush Bug #1-4 (June-September 1985), plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Fleming, inks by Bob Oksner, colors by Tony Tollin, letters by John Costanza

Yes, occasionally...Darkseid Does Some Dumb Stuff.

Caption from Superman/Batman Annual #1 (December 2006), script by Joe Kelly, colors by Guy Major, letters by Rob Leigh.

Countdown to Infinite Weddings, Day 1: I'll take "Weddings at which the word 'maggots' is spoken" for five hundred, Alex.

The Wedding of Barda and Scott Free!

Panels from Mister Miracle v.1 #18 (February-March 1974), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer

Darkseid is miffed

Panel from Super Powers v.1 #5 (November 1984), plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, script by Joey Cavalieri, inks by Greg Theakston, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda

He's had a bad week. But it's Friday! (Hope you're happy your week's over, too!)

24 Hours with Jack Kirby: Hour 2

Self-portrait by Jack Kirby from The New Gods (Deluxe Edition) #6 (November 1984)

I'm just a Peeping Tom on my own for far too long, problems with the booze, nothing left to lose

In the Marvel Universe, we've got The Watcher, who keeps an eye on matters of humanity at all times. But who do they have watching them over in the DC Universe? Why, that's an easy answer, because as we all know...

Darkseid likes to watch.

Say, whaddaya think old Helmet-Head there is peeping in on through the window, anyway?:



So, what do ya think about seeing that, Darkseid?




Well, that'll teach ya, Stoneface.


Panels are from The New Gods #4, Angel Love #1, and The Hunger Dogs.