Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
This story is all kind of dull until you remember how sharp those wings are.
Splash page from Marvel Team-Up (1972 series) #79 (March 1979), co-plot and script by Chris Claremont, co-plot and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panels from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panels from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panels from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panel from Star Brand #13 (March 1988); script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Tom Palmer, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Joe Rosen
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panels from Justice (1986 New Universe series) #18 (April 1988); script by Peter David,
pencils by Lee Weeks, inks by Tony DeZuniga, colors by Janet Jackson, letters by Agustin Mas
That first panel above (from Star Brand) is accurate, and that panel at the top of the Justice page is not: Ken Connell was hovering above the earth when he set off the Star Brand, and therefore the hole named "The Pitt" that destroys Pittsburgh is actually the lower part of the energy sphere.Well, here, check it out in your Official Handbook of the New Universe:
from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt
"And the New Universe would never be the same again."
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
Panel from Marvel Graphic Novel: The Pitt one-shot (April 1988); script by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Stan Drake; ink assists by Chris Ivy and Donald Hudson; colors by Janet Jackson; letters by Agustin Mas, Michael Heisler, and Rick Parker
'Member yesterday when I warned you there wouldn't be any more panels about J. Jonah giving out cheapskate Christmas bonuses? I sorta lied.
Panels from Spider-Man: Christmas In Dallas one-shot (1983), script by Jim Salicrup, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Rick Parker
But actually the great surprise is that Jonah's flying Peter out to Dallas
No, no, not that one. Although I would certainly buy Spider-Man/J. R. Ewing Team-Up #1 in a second.
But why Dallas, for a story that could take place so easily in...I dunno...Manhattan? The real reason may astound you: this one-shot comic book was published in conjunction with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Dallas Times Herald, a daily Texan newspaper that was founded on the credo of TEXAS TWISTER: THREAT OR MENACE?
Santa Claus: he's a wide as he in tall! And he's got a mean-on for everybody in Whoville Dallas! Also, his wife is named Vanessa. That's just a little Mrs. Claus fact from all of us here at Comics Oughta Be Fun!
The Dallas Times Herald distributed several specially made Marvel comics about superheroes in The Big D, including Spider-Man, Firestar and Iceman at The Dallas Ballet Nutcracker, an seventeen page comic which devotes nine of its pages to retelling the Nutcracker story! To kids wishing for a Spider-Man comic, this is almost as big a bait-and-switch as Superman Salutes the Bicentennial!
Panel from Spider-Man, Fire-Star [sic] and Iceman at the Dallas Ballet Nutcracker one-shot (1983), script by Jim Salicrup, pencils by Jim Mooney, inks by John Tartaglione, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Also in this series: Spidey Does Dallas*Spider-Man and the Dallas Cowboys, which only includes one panel of the world-famous Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! I call foul on that, Marvel Comics In Association with the Dallas Times Herald!
Panel from Spider-Man and the Dallas Cowboys one-shot (1983), script by Marie Severin and David Anthony Kraft, pencils by Marie Severin and Kerry Gammill, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by R. G. O'Shaw
Luckily, there was a whole comic about Spider-Man and the Hulk teaming up with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. THANK YOU MARVEL AND THE DALLAS TIMES HERALD!
Panels from Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk one-shot (1982), creators unknown, altho' that's Jim Novak lettering, isn't it?
So the success of these many Spider-Man comics ensured that the Dallas Times Herald would continue to be a strong, vital part of Texas journalism! Until 1991, when it closed down. Well...that'll happen.
So far we've seen J. Jonah Jameson hand out Christmas bonuses of five bucks, ten bucks, cigar scented cards, cigars, and a thousand bucks in Confederate money. In this, the final (well, the last one I could find) set of panels commemorating JJJ giving a Christmas bonus, what do you think it will be? Could it be something as boring and mundane as...a necktie?
Panels from The Spectacular Spider-Man #173 (February 1991), plot by Gerry Conway, script by David Michelinie, pencils and inks by Sal Buscema, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker
Yes. Yes it is a necktie. And Pete gave the same one to Jonah, so i think we can sum this one up under the category of you reap what you sow, Spider-Man! Bwah-ha-ha-ha! I woulda paid folding money to see Peter wear that over his costume for the rest of the issue.
By the way, the placement of those last three panels really bugs me — they don't visually read in sequence. Sal Buscema is usually much better at panel placement, so I'll just assume he was miffed at Tom DeFalco giving him a cee-gar for Christmas. In the olden days they woulda put an arrow to guide you from panel to panel. Here, I rearranged it for ya!
Tomorrow! Yes, tomorrow...just because I haven't anymore JJJ Christmas Bonus sequences at hand doesn't mean A Holly Jonah Christmas ends! Tomorrow: the most surprising and yet unsuitable Santa of them all, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! Also tomorrow: Pittsburgh blows up! Don't miss it!
Happy holidays! Since I'm off baking and eating Christmas cookies, here's a Bully Blast from the Past, re-presenting a classic post (and now updated!) from December 27, 2011!
For years it has been a popular holiday favorite of school children everywhere.
But what began as an innocent playground skipping rhyme has become a vicious taunt...and a dangerous challenge...to one of the world's most renowned crimefighters. But with its sudden fame came an intense backlash as a tease by tots turned into a killing joke. For every peal of laughter, there's the tears...of a clown.
Its origins...unknown. Its derivation: lost to time. But again and again this sinister rhyme bedevils the crimefighters, both costumed and official, of Gotham City:
Panels from Gotham Central #14 (February 2004), script by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, pencils by Michael Lark, inks by Stefano Gaudiano, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Clem Robins
...but none so much as the nefarious foes of Gothan's caped crusader, the Dark Knight known as Batman, and his cadre of costumed sidekicks:
Panels from The Batgirl Adventures #1 one-shot (February 1998), script by Paul Dini, pencils by Rick Burchett, colors by Rick Taylor, letters by Albert DeGuzman
But...are these lethal lyrics true? Does, Batman, in fact, smell?
Is it simply a malicious urban legend...or did the Batmobile really...lose a wheel?
Panels from Batman #408 (June 1987), script by Max Allan Collins, pencils by Chris Warner, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein
Many half claimed creatorship of the malignantly mocking music. The Penguin asserts he wrote it on a cold night in jail. Bane has been heard to hum it while cracking the backs of his victims. Two-Face says he wrote two lines of it. But is the author of this threatening tune actually...the one who got away?
Panels from Batman Adventures (1992 series) #28 (January 1995), script by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett, colors by Rick Taylor, letters by Rick Starkings
Or is this corrupt and criminal clown bedeviled as well by these loathsome lyrics?
Panels from Robin (1993 series) #85 (February 2001), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Pete Woods, inks by Jesse Delperdang, colors by Noelle Giddings, color separations by Jamison, letters by Willie Schubert
(Special thanks to CalvinPitt for ID'ing this panel for me!)
When we return...the truth behind the most criminal carol of them all!
(And now, these commercial messages:)
We're back. We've seen that the most dangerous weapon against the ebon-garbed hero known as Batman is the melodic mockery known as "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells." But the true origin of this torturous tune has been unknown...until now. Behind the Music now brings the world the true origin of "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells: What It Is and How It Came to Be!"
from "Batman Smells" in Bizarro World (February 2005), script by Patton Oswalt, pencils and inks by Bob Fingerman, colors by Dave Stewart
Next week on Behind the Music: is she really fighting for your rights in her satin tights...or are they made of polyester? On "Behind the Music: The Theme from 'Wonder Woman!'"
Whatever will Jonah's Cheapsake Christmas Bonus be today? Could it be a ratty old teddy bear? Or a can of you'll-poke-your-eye-out Pick-Up Sticks?
Panels from "Not a Creature Was Stirring" in Marvel Holiday Special 1996 one-shot (December 1996), script by Mark Waid, pencils by Pat Olliffe, inks by Brett Breeding, colors by Joe Andreani, letters by Jon Babcock
Maybe this time it'll be a thousand dollar Christmas bonus...
Oh. A thousand dollars in confederate money.
On the bright side, Peter got bus money. Looks like a cool seventy-five cents, which is nothing to scoff at. (Except that Manhattan bus fare in 1996 was a buck fifty.)
Yesterday, we experienced JJJ's Daily Bugle Christmas bonus that is a cigar-scented Christmas card. Can it get (in my Chandler Bing! voice) any better?
Why yes! Yes, it can. A real cigar!
Panels from Amazing Spider-Man #130 (March 1974), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Panels from Batman Adventures (1992 series) #28 (January 1995), script by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett, colors by Rick Taylor, letters by Rick Starkings
