365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 338: Groot: Jedi Master

Panels from Star Wars: Dark Empire II #3 (February 1995); script by Tom Veitch; pencils, inks, and colors by Cam Kennedy, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 337: Jedis are jerks

Panels from "Twisted Toyfare Theatre: Sith Sandwich" in Toyfare #98 (October 2005), by Pat McCallum, Zach Oat, and Justin Aclin; with Jon Gutierrez, Andrew Kardon, and Chris Ward

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 336: Muppet Labs in the Star Wars Universe

Panels from Star Wars: Agent of the Empire: Iron Eclipse #1 (December 2011), script by John Ostrander, pencils by Stéphane Roux, inks by Julien Hugonnard-Bert, colors by Wes Dzioba, letters by Michael Heisler

Comic books teach me numbers!

Yesterday Mike "My Comic Book Shop is Made Out of Silver" Sterling, proprietor of America's only comic book blog, asked the musical question, at the special request of pal Cathy Leamy, how do you keep the different editions of recently published comic books straight, especially when they been renumbered very recently? Which is a darn good question to ask.

I, for one, am a master of all things numbery, from chimpan-one to chimpan-three. Why, I've even read an entire comic book devoted to the art of how comics teach numbers, both whole and numbers between (and presumably up to eleventy-teen).


Comics Teach ##M-03 [Whole Numbers and Numbers Between]

Because comics have taught me many numbers. They've taught me how to count one-two-three:


Amazing Spider-Man #1, 2, and 3

They've taught me to count all the way up to 718, 719, and 720!


Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #718, 719, and 720

Comics have taught me how to count up to one thousand!


2000 AD Prog 1000, Wolverine #1000, Radioactive Man #1000

And even all the way, as of last week, to 1,958! Which was a pretty good year.


2000 AD Progs 1956, 1957, and 1958

Tho' I have to travel overseas, passport in hand, comics can teach me to count all the way up to 4,016!


Robbedoes #3518, The Dandy #3610, Spirou #4016

Yes, comics can teach you to count to a million. It takes a long time, and it's pretty confusing, but there's a really good story about Robin the Toy Wonder along the way.


Batman #1,000,000; Legionnaires #1,000,000; Starman #1,000,000

What, more? Yes! Comics have taught me to count backwards from 899!


Deadpool Team-Up #899, 898, and 897

Negative numbers equal something I've been taught by comics.


Silver Surfer #-1, Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1, What If? #-1

Also, to embrace the cool mysticism of the simple, round zero given to us by famous ancient mathematicians who left clues behind, so that one day Indiana Jones and Lara Croft could find nothing.


Avengers vs. X-Men #0, Star Wars #0, Batman #0

They've taught me about fractions...


Spider-Man #½, The Twelve #½, Fathom #½

Those three above comics are each ONE-HALF, which makes one and a half comics, or therefore: one of these:


Avengers #1½

And from there it's merely a hop, skip and a jump to count in decimals:


Avengers #24.1, Wolverine #5.1, Fear Iitself #7.1

My comics done taught me the delicate art of counting and adding "AU" after the numbers...


Superior Spider-Man #6AU, Fearless Defenders #4AU, Uncanny Avengers #8AU

And when I'm done counting those then, I can count these now!


Nova #13.NOW, Iron Man #23.NOW, Guardians of the Galaxy #11.NOW

Yep, it's true: many comics have actually taught me how to count two numbers at the same time. Regular numbering, and extra-crispy< numbering!


Daredevil #22/402, Donald Duck #4/371, Fantastic Four #42/471

Comics have taught me that if you're counting, make sure you keep track, because if you wait a few years you might forget where you left off!


Daredevil Annual #4, Daredevil Annual #4 (should be #5)

Comics taught me not only my 1-2-3s but my A-B-Cs (copyright ©1970 the Jackson Five).


The Prisoner #A, B, and C

Ordinary school teaches you how to count using numerals, but comics teach you how to count using colors!


Deathmate Red, Yellow, and Blue

Above and beyond our puny human limits of numbering, comics have taught me how to count from alpha to omega, and even all about prime numbers!


X-Men Alpha, Omega, and Prime

Yes, comic numbers! They can take you to infinity! (And beyond!)


S.H.I.E.L.D.* #Infinity

Abiut the only things numbers in comics don't help you do is figger out which rassin'-frassin' volume of Howard the Duck #1 you're picking up from the shelf especially since they even look alike GRRRRRRRRRRR


Howard the Duck (2015 series) #1, Howard the Duck (2016 series) #1

And the same could be said of Squirrel Girl, except


The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015 series) #1, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2016 series) #1

…because at least Squirrel Girl tips you off it's Volume 2.



As always: game, set, and match: Squirrel Girl.

* Start Helping In Elegant Little Decimals

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 335: Well, That'll Happen

Panels from Star Wars: Rebellion #16 (August 2008), script by Rob Williams, pencils and inks by Dustin Weaver, colors by Wil Glass, letters by Michael Heisler

The 1987 2015 Marvel Age Calendar for Daredevilish December!

December 1987 calendar from the back cover of Marvel Age #59 (February 1988),
script by Mike Carlin, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Paul Becton
(Click picture to Decidedly-Bigger-size!)
I hope you clipped 'n' saved every month of the 1987 2015 Marvel Age Calendar! Now, put them away safely and bring 'em back out in 2026, when you can use 'em again! Who says this isn't the Boisterous Bully Year of Calendar Cut-Price Savings?

Today in Comics History: Thing ditches FF, decides to get a little bit of that sweet, sweet MCU money

Splash page from Marvel Two-in-One #97 (March 1983), script by Dave Michelinie, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Rick Parker

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 334: Usagi Yo-yoda

Stan Sakai's variant cover for Star Wars #1, pencils and inks:


Variant cover of Star Wars (Marvel 2015 series) #1 (March 2015), pencils and inks by Stan Sakai
Colored version:
Colors by Tom Luth
And the finished cover:

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 333: Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions in the Star Wars Universe

Panels from "Sabotaged Supplies" in Star Wars: Rebels Magazine (Egmont UK Ltd 2015 series) #7 (15 July-11 August 2015), script by Martin Fisher, art by Ingo Römling

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 332: We're having a hat party and mine is the grandest of them all

Panels from Star Wars: Invasion: Rescues #1 (May 2010), script by Tom Taylor, pencils and inks by Colin Wilson, colors by Wes Dzioba, letters by Michael Heisler

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 331: Spring Break in the Star Wars Universe

Panels from Star Wars: Legacy (2006 series) #24 (May 2008), script by John Ostrander, pencils by Jan Duursema, inks by Dan Parsons, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Michael Heisler
Please note: that's a bikini, so technically not a Belly Shirt of the Star Wars Universe.

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 330: The Star Wars Thanksgiving Day Special

Panels from Star Wars: Dark Times: A Spark Remains #4 (October 2013), script by Randy Stradley, pencils and inks by Douglas Wheatley, inks by Douglas Wheatley, colors by Dan Jackson, letters by Michael Heisler
Yes, there are many things to be thankful for in the Star Wars Universe! Artoo-Detoo! Wookiees! Puppet Yoda! Maybe that ten minutes when Anakin is being kickass instead of whiny! Kitt Fisto! And, of course…

Belly Shirts of the Star Wars Universe!

Happy Fourth Anniversary to my two favorite people, John and Randi!

art from variant cover of Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 (August 2015), pencils, inks, and colors by Skottie Young

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 329: It's a nice day for a light(saber) wedding

Four years ago today, my favorite people in the world, John and Randi, got married! To commemorate this, here's Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade doin' the same thing, Jedi-style!

Panels from Star Wars: Union #2 (December 1999), script by Michael A. Stackpole, pencils by Robert Teranishi, inks and colors by Chris Chuckry, letters by Amador Cisneros
(Click lower panel to that's-no-moon-size)
Happy Anniversary John and Randi! May you never know the heartbreak of having your Extended Universe retconned!

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 328: Vader Season! Rabbit Season! Vader Season!

Say, who's Darth Vader's mysterious opponent in this riff on the events of The Empire Strikes Back?


Variant cover of Star Wars: Vader Down #1 (January 2016), art by Chip Zdarsky
Why, it's none other than my personal favorite Star Wars character of all time

GIANT GREEN STAR WARS RABBIT!

Variant black-and-white (and spot color) cover of Star Wars: Vader Down #1 (January 2016), art by Chip Zdarsky

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 327: Let the Wookiee lose

Panels from Star Wars (1977 Marvel series) #13 (July 1978), script by Archie Goodwin, breakdowns by Carmine Infantino, finishes by Terry Austin, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Rick Parker
Truth in Disclosure Department, Comics Blog Division: The title of this post was inspired by the cover of the very same issue.


Cover of Star Wars #13 (July 1978), pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, letters by Rick Parker (?)

Today in Comics History: Time travelers make the JFK assassination a popular holiday destination

Page from Hourman #2 (May 1999), script by Tom Peyer, pencils by Rags Morales, inks by David Meikis, colors by John Kalisz, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Kurt Hathaway

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 326: Let the Wookiee win

Panels from Chewbacca #2 (December 2015); script by Gerry Duggan; pencils, inks, and colors by Phil Noto; letters by Joe Caramagna