Today in Comics History: The JLA claims North Carolina through the cunning use of flags

North Carolina variant cover of Justice League of America (2013 series) #1 (April 2013), pencils and inks by David Finch
Déjà vu?

365 Days of Defiance, Day 197: We'll let blood build a bridge over mountains draped in stars

I'm a sucker for stories of defiance that feature heroes struggling against impossible feats of strength or will. Like giant Spectre holding two Earths apart and keeping them from merging.


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #46 (August 1966), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Sid Greene, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Of course, a crisis on Earths One and Two is best served by a team-up, like this giant hero joining forces with a tiny hero! (No, not me, I'm sorry.) Suddenly, it's Atom Ant! i mean, the Atom. Altho' why don't those new DC/Hanna-Barbera team up Ray Palmer with his Formicidae Earth-=HB equivalent? Because reasons, I assume.


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #47 (September 1966), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Sid Greene, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Spectre will willingly "sacrifice his existence" (and I think we all know how painful that can be) in order to save the twin Earths. Oh no! But then who will turn criminals against humanity into trees and chainsaw them into logs, or into candles to be burned on the Spectre's birthday cake? Anyway, Dr. Palmer ain't havin' none of that. Our favorite Tiny Titan Little Leaguer has applied The Patch to the Spectre's upper arm, which will reduce his cravings for nicotine at the same time it allows the Ghostly Guardian to shrink down to the size of a tiny pet store turtle!


Then, they blow up the Spectre. Boom! [SPOILER WARNING: he gets better.]


Earths-1 and 2 are saved, and even better: I have no idea how they did that. But good job at cosmic defyin', Mister The Spectre!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 120: Robot Ruckus

Panels from Justice League of America #108 (November-December 1973), script by Len Wein, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda

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.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 93: I think I've got something in my eye...I've just been chopping onions, stop asking me.

Panels from Justice League of America #184 (November 1980), script by Gerry Conway, breakdowns by George Pérez, finishes by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Ben Oda

365 Days of Defiance, Day 79: To Me, My Earth-X Men

The Justice Society of America! Strange visitors from another world (Earth-2, to be precise)! Hey, since they came first, why is their world Earth Two? If'n I were the Original Flash and the Original Green Lantern and the Original Superman, I'd have a thing or two to say about that. Anyway: they're fightin' Nazis! Which is always a good thing, as Earth-2 Martha Stewart told you first.


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #107 (September-October 1973), script by Len Wein, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda
All is darkest before the dawn (and also because my scans didn't turn out as bright as I'd hoped on those last panels), but luckily the JSA is accompanied by their Earth-1 non-union equivalents, the Justice League of America! Er, at least, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, and...Red Tornado, not even actually yet a member of the League. Oh man. They're boned.


Hooray! It's the Nazi-bustin' heroes of Earth-X! The Earth where no one under the age of eighteen will be admitted, cos' it's kinda saucy. It's...Amerihat! Gnat Boy! Cling-Film Woman! Captain Rhinoceros! Designed-By-Mike-Grell-Costume Kid! And Poppin-Fresh! They are the Freedom Fighters!


I kid the Freedom Fighters, but they punch Nazis, so they're okay by me. You go, FF!

Today in Comics History: The JLA claims Nebraska through the cunning use of flags

Nebraska variant cover of Justice League of America (2013 series) #1 (April 2013), pencils and inks by David Finch
Also today: Bully reuses a joke from December 7.

Today in Comics History: The JLA claims Delaware through the cunning use of flags

Delaware variant cover of Justice League of America (2013 series) #1 (April 2013), pencils and inks by David Finch

Today in Comics History: Justice League arrives for Batman's surprise birthday party, but it isn't his birthday

Panels from Justice League of America (2015 series) #1 (August 2015), script and pencils by Bryan Hitch; inks by Daniel Henriques with Wade von Grawbadger and Andrew Currie, colors by Alex Sinclair with Jeromy Cox, letters by Chris Eliopoulos

Today in Comics History: Clark Kent takes Lois Lane to a party...

Panel from Justice League of America (2015 series) #1 (August 2015), script and pencils by Bryan Hitch; inks by Daniel Henriques with Wade von Grawbadger and Andrew Currie, colors by Alex Sinclair with Jeromy Cox, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
...just to keep her from finding out he's Superman.

Panel from Superman: Lois and Clark #4 (March 2016), script by Dan Jurgens, pencils by Lee Weeks and Marco Santucci, inks by Sergio Cariello and Scott Hanna, colors by Jeromy Cox, letters by A Larger World Studios

Today in Comics History: Justice League of America are destroyed; never appear again

Panels from Justice League of America #159 (October 1978), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda

Teniversary Countdown #22: Thumbthing in the way he moves

Panel from Justice League of America #10 (March 1962), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Bernard Sachs, letters by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 111: The Sandman's Hypnosonic Whistle

"You know how to whistle, don't you?" said the hottest woman in the universe:



But for the Sandman, whistling involves — you guessed it! — a very special piece of KirbyTech: the Hypnosonic Whistle.


Panel from The Sandman (1974 series) #2 (April-May 1975), script by Michael Fleisher, pencils by Ernie Chan, inks by Mike Royer, letters by Ben Oda
Gosh, Mr. Sandman, Miss Bacall don't need no magic whistle to do that.

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 110: The Sandman's Universal Dream Monitor

Santa Claus knows if you're naughty or nice because that #^!&@% snitch The Elf on the Shelf rats on your actions to the Man in Red at the North Pole. All the more reason to take the Elf on the Shelf and turn him into the Elf in the Blender. On the other hand, The Sandman...the Kirby variety, not the Gaiman guy (altho' we'll see Mr. G. in this feature), gets his info by honest and decent means, by looking into our homes and our dreams. The same process as the National Security Agency! The Sandman, however, has cooler equipment that the NSA, namely the Universal Dream Monitor! Also included: his dandy cool Eisneresque logo, upon which unfortunate boats at sea have been shipwrecked.

Panel from The Sandman (1974 series) #1 (Winter 1974); script by Joe Simon, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
(Click picture to Brute-size)

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 101: The Skywalker's Destruction Ray

Two whole years before Star Wars hit the silver screen with the pew-pew-pew sound of zippy blasters, Denny O'Neil and Jack Kirby brought us the adventurers of a guy called...Skywalker*!


Cover of Justice, Inc. (1975 series) #2 (July-August 1975), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by Gaspar Saladino
*No relation.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 360: The Human (and Kryptonian, and Martian, and Amazonian, and Atlantean, and Apokoliptan) League

House ad for The Brave and the Bold #28 [Justice League of America] (February-March 1960); printed in Batman #129 (February 1960); comic cover art: pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Murphy Anderson, colors by Jack Adler (?), letters by Ira Schnapp; ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp


House ad for Justice League (1987 series) #1 (May 1987); printed in Batman #406 (April 1987); ad art from the cover of Justice League #1: pencils by Kevin Maguire, inks by Terry Austin


House ad for JLA (1997 series); printed in Superman Adventures #6 (April 1997); ad art: pencils by Howard Porter, inks by John Dell

Comics News for December 2, 2013

Top: from the Wonder Woman story "Slave of the Queen Bee!" in Adventure Comics #464 (July-August 1979),
script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Joséé Delbo, inks by Joe Giella, colors by Gene D'Angelo
Middle: from Avengers #74 (March 1970), script by Roy Thomas,
pencils by John Buscema, inks and colors (?) by Tom Palmer, letters by Sam Rosen
Bottom: from Blackhawk #229 (February 1967), script by Bob Haney,
pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Charles Cuidera, letters by Stan Starkman

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 335: I llits t'nevah dnuof tahw m'i gnikool rof

And so we begin the countdown of the last 31 DC House Ads of 2013. Hope you've been enjoying it so far, and if I've missed any of your favorites, let me know in the comments and I'll try to fit them in somewhere (no promises, but it would help if you can provide the comic and issue number). Also: look for plenty of Christmas ads in the upcoming month!

I'll be sad to close the door on our House Ads, but I've got something fantastic and bombastic planned for 365 Days in 2014. In the words of Rocket J. Squirrel, now here's something we hope you'll really like! You can put your guesses and suggestions in the comments for that as well, although remember, this is not the Legion of Super-Heroes Election and I am not prone to bribery on behalf of Ultra Lad. This is a not a voting procedure, so please, no wagering.


House ad for Justice League of America (1960 series) #110 (March-April 1974); printed in Batman #255 (March-April 1974)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino (?)

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 334: November comes in like an explosion and goes out like an explosion

House ad for Justice League of America #139 and DC Super-Stars #12 [Superboy] (both February 1977) printed in World's Finest Comics #243 (February-March 1977)
Comic cover art: JLA #13: pencils and inks by Neal Adams, colors by Anthony Tollin
DC Super-Stars #13: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson, colors by Tatjana Wood
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

One Night in Rutland: 1977, Part 1

Bear with me here a few moments, folks; this post has a long introduction. But it's totally worth it and has a good bit with Green Arrow at the end so don't skip ahead!

I don't always remember to write by thank-you letters. Mama Bull always had to pester me well into January to get out my new stationery and write something like this:

Dear Grandma,

Thank you for the pajamas. They were very nice. I am wearing them to bed.

Did you have a good Christmas? I did.

Well, I have to go now.

Love, Bully

Another thing I don't always finish is the final segments in a long series of posts, leaving you, gentle readers, hanging on a branch in anticipation, not unlike that "hang in there, baby!" cat poster that my kid sister Marshall has on her wall. Yes, someday I will finish these posts...just...not right now when it is good kite-flying weather and before the snow comes so I can ride my Radio Flyer down the hill.

Tonight I am going to redress (definition: put on new clothes after being told the ones you're wearing have a big gravy stain on them) both of those minor spots of tarnish on an otherwise-glitteringly delightful bull you'd be pleased to know.

Back in January (gulp!) I got a lovely email from Professor Charles Xavier Professor Craig Fischer from Appalachian State University, thanking me for my 2012 Halloween post series on the Rutland, Vermont, Halloween parade and its portrayals in comic books from Avengers and Justice League to Amazing Adventures (starring my favorite mutant, the Beast) and Freedom Fighters. Prof. Fischer wrote to me:

...[T]here's a series of particular Bully posts that were very helpful for my recent work. About seven months ago, I submitted a presentation idea for an academic conference (the Modern Language Association conference, held in early January 2013). My paper was titled "The Illegitimate Sons of Superman: DIY Publishing and the Rutland Halloween Parade."...

...I started to actually write the presentation...and then, BAM! Your series of Rutland posts came out, and were incredibly informative and a great place to steal images from. I acknowledged my debt to you when I delivered the presentation last Saturday, where I said..."In talking about the Rutland comics, I rely heavily on scans and information from the comics blog run by 'Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull,' who for Halloween 2012 put up image-rich posts from Rutland-themed comics. Thanks, Bully!"

WOW. I have been cited at the MLA. At a real honest-to-goodness academic conference! I am beaming with pride at being the first stuffed animal comics blogger to be mentioned at MLA. Take that, Giraffo!

I'm ashamed to note that I didn't write back to Professor Fischer immediately, and by the time I intended to do so, I could no longer find the email. Mea culpa! Sorry about, that, Professor. But when I was looking through my vast clippings morgue for Halloween posts this year I finally came across the email, and my luttle stuffed hoof hit my fuzzy forehead, and I said to myself in great shame (and a little bit of hunger, because it was well after lunchtime): "I forgot to thank Professor Fischer!"

So here y'are, Professor F! Thank you for the kind mention and the lovely note, and I apologize for being so late to reply either privately or publicly. Well, at least you didn't send me hand-made pajamas.

At the same time I'd realized I never finished the Rutland posts, although the biggest ones were done in '12. So here, dedicated to Professor Craig Fischer for all the hard work he put into what sounds like an ultra-cool academic presentation, is the next chapter in the life of the Rutland, Vermont and Parade founder and host Tom Fagan! Let's go up to New England in the year 1977, shall we, and find out what the Justice League of America is up to!


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #145 (August 1977), script by Steve Englehart, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Ben Oda
While Tom Fagan's there to greet the teleporting JLA, it's not Halloween and there's no Parade, so this post should actually be titled something like "One Night in Rutland, Probably in Late November, Just Before Thanksgiving." They've come here to investigate a mysterious magical attack on Superman, discovered comatose on the JLA satellite (22,300 miles above Earth). How do we know it's a magical attack? Because, The Phantom Stranger, that's why.


Now that we know the "true" identity of the Phantom Stranger is a guy with 30 silver coins he got for betraying a friend, I think these days we'd show the P.S. to the door and say, "Eh, thank you, we'll read your pamphlets, goodbye now." Back then in those more innocent days of Earth-1 and Earth-2 and Dinah Lance suddenly becoming her own daughter and what I picture as Roy Thomas sitting in his office surrounded by ten thousand index cards and huge stacks of Golden Age National comic books, though, they're off with P-Strange to Rutland, barely giving Tom Fagan the time of day. So rude, Funky Phantom! Well, at least Batman is polite. Although I'm having trouble hearing in my head the Batman voiced by Kevin Conroy, Adam West or even Olan Soule saying "Take care."


Well, as you all know, it's not a Rutland, Vermont story without various creepies and ghoulies, and this story veers off into a battle against the villain Count Crystal, in his triumphant debut and final appearance in DC Comics. Yep: we never saw the villain again after Batman punched him in the nose and made him cry on page 27. I woulda enjoyed it had Count Crystal attempted to make a comeback in the 1990s by threatening the team that was to the Justice League America and Justice League Europe what the band Asia was to Yes and ELO: Justice League Extreme. But sadly, he never would have made it: his supervillain name had far too few "Kill"s or "Blood"s in it.

Sometimes when the JLA gets together around the team table to reminisce about the old days, somebody will bring up Rutland, Vermont, and they'll all remember the far-out, zany, crazy times they had there in 1972, but nobody ever brings up 1977, because they wasn't anything particularly memorable about visiting Rutland that year. It was a story of which the best you could say is that it brings back Red Tornado, and of that even the Grand Comics Database says, with some exasperation I might be projecting onto the entry, "Red Tornado revived again."

So, Professor F., this one is dedicated to you with thanks and appreciation, but you didn't miss much in this one. Except the sight of Green Arrow being his usual action-oriented, hard-hitting, quick-to-battle self throughout the whole adventure:


Tomorrow! One Night In Rutland...1977, Part 2!