365 Days of Defiance, Day Fantastic 4: If I could save Thing in a bottle

Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #30 (September 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Chic Stone, letters by Artie Simek

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 4: We Are the World, Outside Your Window

As we all know, on December 22, 1987, Pittsburgh blowed up real good.


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
As we often say around here: well, that'll happen. Speaking of wells, what also will happen is following up a natural disaster with a charity rock concert. You and I both know that anytime anybody falls in a hole, big-name musicians will rush to cut a single, most or some of the proceeds of which going toward hole relief. (I should never say that phrase again.)


That's why the movers and shakers of the New Universe (except perhaps for Fred Rogers, Kurt Angle, and the Steeltown Rockers) have all...wait for it...banded together to throw a big-ass mega-concert to benefit the survivors of the Pitt! And what else could it be called but

PITT-AID!

Double-page splash spread from Justice #20 (June 1988); script by Peter David, pencils by Lee Weeks, inks by Mike Gustovich, colors by Janet Jackson, letters by Agustin Mas
(Click picture to Meat Loaf-size)
Pitt-Aid! It only sounds like the world's most disgusting drink mix. But despite the terrible name, they've actually got some pretty big-name music stars playing there. And no Dokken! But they did get Mick Jagger...


...and I'm not certain who that is to the right of Mick. I'm just guessing now: Bob Geldof? If you know better who That One Guy is, answers on a postcard in the comments and let me know!

Of course, this is clearly Aretha Franklin singing her popular hit "Think," all while doing her Grace Jones impression.


Meanwhile, Chico Marx The Edge and Bono out of U2 perform their smash single about looking for things. I should indicate at this point that author Peter David is juxtaposing the lyrics on each page with what's going on during Justice's search through the crowd for some nefarious New Universe do-badder. Here, for instance, it might possibly be inferred or detected that Justice, in his search, is unsuccessful so far, in the looking-for category.


Madonna is here, fresh from her disastrous Pepsi commercial, in which her hair was accidentally set on fire. Look out, it's still aflame! But we kid Ms. Ciccone, because her hair is actually a sentient being activated by the New Universe's White Event. "Sing 'Like a Virgin', Madonna!" "Okay, Talking Hair!" This is actually one of the incredibly rare appearances of Madonna in any comic published by Marvel, but I wish they'd done a Marvel Team-Up starring Spider-Man and her, just so Sean penn could punch photographer Peter Parker in the face.


And it wouldn't be a Peter David story without an overlabored joke, now, would it?


Kids seem to love the Peter, Paul, and Mary, and I'm sure their guest appearance here in a seldom-viewed corner of Marvel Comics did a lot to drive up sales of their homey folk LPs. Me, I like the Peter/Paul more than the Mary. Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't.


Now, this next one gave me a lot of trouble, mainly because it's kind of a vague caricature but mostly because I couldn't identify the lyrics he's a-singin'. And no, he's not the perpetually-spied-upon-by-the-Watcher Rockwell.


I spent an afternoon searching on Google for songs with these lyrics and all I came up for a song titled "Somebody's Watching You" are African American musicians. No, this is not Sly and the Family Stone, nor is it Rufus and Chaka Khan, and I'm pretty sure it's not Little Sister, which in addition to being a black band, was all-female.

For a moment I thought I'd found it: Billy Squier has a song titled "Lonely Is the Night" which features the lyrics

Somebody's watchin' you baby
So much you can do
Nobody's stoppin' you baby
From makin' it too...

...which, at least, is no

I'm rockin' tonite — I'm walkin' on air
Gonna find me some trouble — gonna grab my share
I want ya tonite — I want ya with me
Make me guilty of love in the first degree

But it turns out Squier's "Lonely Is the Night" is not the droid song we're looking for. He doesn't elongate the "you" in that lyrics. But still, I had to watch a Billy Squier music video online, so you have to, too.


I got some suggestions: Chuck Topley from Random Happenstance huckrolled me by suggesting it might be the Guy from Simply Red.

But I'm inclined to believe Neil Bradbury's keen and incisive skill at identifying real humans in comic books:


I'm going to go with Neil's excellent suggestion that this is Sting (not actually a real bee) and that Peter David simply forgot the exact lyrics of "Every Breath You Take." Wait, didn't Synchronicity have a sleeve with the lyrics on it? Well, at least there wasn't a terrible, terrible pun at work here from Mister David.

So remember, support all those people stuck down the Pitt and buy your official Pitt-Aid music and merchandise today! Me, I've got a t-shirt. In XXXXXXXXS.

The 1978 2017 Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar: January Jinx

January! It's a month of white sales, exercise machine blow-outs, and half-price calendars! That's why I never buy a wall calendar until they're marked down the day after Christmas. Granted, you might get stuck with a Taylor Swift calendar, but...I'm sorry, I can't think of an immediate drawback to that one.

Luckily this year I snagged The Vintage Marvel Comics 2017 Calendar! It's bigger than me!


Each month features a larger-than-life, full-color repro of a Marvel Comic cover, performated so you can remove them for fine-art-type framing!


With twelve oversized prints to hang on my walls, I won't even need wallpaper this year!


But what I really wanted to show you was another great comic book 1978 calendar that you can use again in 2017 because, as Professor S. Miller has taught us, time keeps on slippin slippin slippin into the future. It's the Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978!


Check out the nifty back-cover full-color flashback mural!


Who better to star in the calendar's introduction than our star of last year's 366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, J...uh, Jonah Jameson!

None other than a guy I really respect, Matt D. Wilson, has written one of the definitive appreciations of JJJ in his "Threat or Menace: Celebrating the Brilliance of J. Jonah Jameson" on ComicsAlliance, a piece I took a lot of inspiration from when putting together 366 little salutes to Jameson. But I've just noticed that Matt sez

(The classic headline "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" really encapsulates the rhetoric, though it can’t be attributed to Lee. It first appears in relation to Spider-Man in 1981’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15, by Denny O'Neil and Frank Miller. Lee usually stuck to the more simple "Spider-Man: Menace.")

I believe I've found a definitive earlier use of the "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" headline here in this 1978 calendar. Matt's right, though; it's not by Lee. The text for this calendar was written by David Anthony Kraft and Jim Salicrup. Looks like I'd better update the Wikipedia article!


There's even a quick spotlight on how Spidey affects "random decent citizens," including a guy named Peter Parker. Hey, no dropping ash on Aunt May's sofa, Jonah!


Each calendar spread features a big twelve-by-twelve full-color pic illustrating Spider-Man and Peter Parker through the years, and I'll be showing them all to you at the beginning of every month throughout this year of 1978 2017. First up: an Amazing Fantasy #15 flashback!


"January: A Time for Beginnings" in The Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978, art by Al Milgrom ("in tribute to the one-and-only Steve Ditko")
And here you can see the January calendar itself. Check out the insane amount of detail; there's a big delight in every bite day!

(Click picture to '78 Ford LTD Landau Coupe-size)
So not only are you getting the 1978 DC Calendar, but the 1978 Marvel Calendar, all this year! Until their lawyers come down on me, so you'd better look fast. Excelsior!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 3: Even his name says escape from tyranny

Panels from Mister Miracle #2 (May-June 1971), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by John Costanza
Please rest assured: the works of Jack Kirby will appear a lot in this feature.

Today in Comics History: 1988 continues to be really no improvement over 1987

Splash page from D.P. 7 #21 (July 1988), script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Danny Bulanadi, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 3: Just us Stars of America

Hey look! Even silver screen tough guy Humphrey Bogart and sultry siren Lauren Bacall (famous Hollywood husband and wife) are impressed by the JSA! Meanwhile, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (making a second appearance already in this feature) make the woo-woo eyes at Black Canary! Aw, I betcha Dinah would appear on your show, Bob. I'm sure she uses Pepsodent!


Panels from "Evil Star Over Hollywood" in All-Star Comics #44 (December 1948-January 1949), script by John Broome, pencils by Irwin Hasen, inks by Bob Oksner

The 1978 2017 DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters: January Justice

It's once again January and time for me to finally and reluctantly take down my 2016 Li'l Björk Calendar


and hang up one for 2017. So let me first consult with my handy-dandy Perpetual Calendar, which tells me that it's 2017. Um, thanks, Perpetual Calendar! Ah, it's also telling me that if I have any calendars from the years 1967, 1978, 1989, 1995, or 2006, I can hang 'em up on the wall and use them to party as if it were 2017! Which it is, so that's a good thing.

Well, whatdaya know!


Cover of The 1978 Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters, front cover art by Neal Adams
I's a year full of Super-Spectacular Disasters, so this really should have been a calendar for 2016, and I'm certainly hoping that it doesn't apply to this new year, or, as I'm calling it, the Year of the Bull. (does celebratory somersault, lands in plate of spaghetti) Whoops.

Yo, 2017, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but 1978 had one of the best comic book calendars of all time! One of the best comic book calendars of all time! It's probably the only calendar that actually tells a story over the course of a full year, apart from some copies of Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying Calendar 1984.


With its all-star cast of characters and artists, the 78CoSSD is attractive enough, but month by month it unravels a sinister plot of the DC Super-Villains to execute dark deeds plotted by an evil mastermind! Follow the story in each month's illustration!

"January: Batman" in The 1978 Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters; artwork by Dick Giordano
(Click picture to 100-watt-size)
Then, pick up on the clues in the date boxes! Please note that beginning on January 1, Doctor Light threatens the Big Apple by...no, not that, stop it...by putting the city under a blackout. He starts with a one-minute power failure on 1/1, and by 1/4 has increased it to four minutes!


That means he's doubling the blackout duration each day, so by the time Batman slugs Doctor Light upside the luminescent bulbs on January 11, the blackout is 17 hours and four minutes! Why, by the very next day, he'll be sinking Manhattan into darkness for 34 hours a day! Good thing Batman was right on that or Dr. Light would have been warping time and we all might be our own grandpas.

There's more long-game clues to follow: throughout the month, certain days will tell you to black out squares...


...in a grid at the end of the calendar, so that by December 31, you'll have figgered out the identity of the super-jerks' evil boss!

"December 31"; art by José Luis Garcia-López
(Click picture to you-sunk-my-battleship-size)
Starting on February 1, at the beginning of each month, I'll show you the blacked-out version of the grid so far (or take a Sharpie and mark them off on your computer monitor screen!), and we'll all meet back here on December 31 and see who was behind all these terrible, world-breaking disasters.

On the other hand, you might just be able to detect some inkling of the dastardly villain thanks to this bald-faced clue on January 29.


(And tune in tomorrow for a peek at a 1978 calendar from the Magnificent Competition Guys!)

Today in Comics History: Superhero team The Uncanny Car-Exploders snap into action

Splash page from Psi-Force #19 (May 1988), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Tony DeZuniga, colors by Greg Wright, letters by Rick Parker

365 Days of Defiance, Day 2: Cap pastes one on Zemo

Panels from Avengers (1963 series) #6 (July 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Chic Stone, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Sam Rosen

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 2: You're rocking up the wrong tree there, April

Hollywood starlet wanna-be April O'Day dreams of next-level love achievements Elvis Presley, Richard Chamberlain, and Tony Curtis!


Panel from "Midnight Cinderella" in Girls' Love Stories #109 (DC/National, February 1965), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Bob Oksner
But the wah-wah-wahhhhhh reality of it all? When she goes to work she runs into Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker from TV's Bonanza.


Later, of course, as April's star rises, engulfing Hollywood in flames and burning it to the ground, she actually encounters major silver screen hearthrobs like Ernest Borgnine (be still, my beating heart!) and Rock Hudson (oooh, wouldn't he be a catch for any girl?!). I'm not certain who the guy in the middle with the surfboard is, nor why she is actually dating Jimmy Olsen.


It's rumored that April O'Day slightly changed her name and became Angel O'Day of the famous detective agency O'Day and Simeon. Motto: "We'll go ape to solve your crime!" The truth is, she later became Emma Stone.

Free gift with this blog!: Your *new* 1950 2017 Batman and Robin Calendar!

Hey, look, kids (and adults, and little stuffed beings)! A calendar from 1950 can be used perfectly again in 2017! Now, it's your job to keep looking forward and not bring the country itself back to the '50s, but you can clip 'n' save this nifty Dark Knight and Boy Wonder calendar for the entire year of 2017! Click it to embiggen, and take it from there! (This message brought to you by Canon™ CLI-251 "Y" yellow ink cartridges!)

"1950 Batman and Robin Calendar" from Batman #57 (February-March 1950); pencils and inks by Win Mortimer
(Click picture to beefy-chesty-Batman-size)
(And tomorrow: a look at another, detailed-the-way-fans-want-it DC calendar you can use for 2017!)

Things are gonna get weird in 2017...

...so I might as well prep you by posting this on Day One.


Happy Weird Year!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 1: That time is now

"What chance do we have? The question is, what choice? Run, hide, flee, scatter your forces! You give way to an enemy this evil with this much power, and you condemn the galaxy to an eternity of submission. The time to fight is now!" — Jyn Erso, Rogue One

Well, let's try this again.

About halfway through each year I begin brainstorming for what the following year's "365 Days" in comics will be. This year had a few strong front-runners (I really am going to subject treat you to 365 Days of Gwen Stacy one of these years) but inside my little brain full of oatmeal flakes and pins and needles, celebrities in comic books won out for 2017.

The process after decision: I start researching, hunting down and savings instances of celebrities in comic books: picking ones I'd thought of off the top of my head, brainstorming searching for celebrity names in the invaluable Grand Comicbook Database (without which I couldn't do this blog, much less this feature, and I don't toast them enough), and asking pals o' mine to keep their eyes out for celebrity appearances between the pages of a four-color comic.

By the beginning of January, I had a few hundred ideas and beginnings to populate this feature (and I always add many more throughout the year). I've got a folder on my desktop labelled "365 Days of Celebs" containing 332 files totaling 115M, marked with notes like Rock Hudson, Orson Welles, Robin Quivers, Jay Leno, Ed Sullivan, Geraldo Rivera, and Grant Morrison. I've found comic book appearances of Brandan Behan and Fidel Castro and Rin Tin Tin and that time Herbie Popnecker met Mao. Remember when Pat Boone sang a song of Superman? Remember when Miracleman told off Margaret Thatcher? Remember when Star Brand killed John Byrne?

But before January had barely finished, I realized my heart wasn't in it. You may remember I spent most of November in a dresser drawer with some socks before I finally found the courage to come out again. But I didn't much like hiding, and it didn't make the problem go away. Instead, it got worse.

Look, I've been in depression much of the time since the election of Donald Trump and I'm obviously not very happy about it. But what can a little stuffed bull do? In this big terrible mess we're deep in, does a little stuffed bull really matter? Well, judging by the kindness and encourage and support of all my friends, I guess I do. And my heart only gets more fluffy and shiny thinking about that.

So, my point (and I think you'll be glad to know I have one) is that maybe this isn't the year to hoist celebrities in comic books up on our shoulders when there's the closest thing to a real life Lex Luthor with the manners and subtlety of a Solomon Grundy in the White House. This should now be 365 Days of Defiance.

I hinted at this abrupt early-stream change and hinted at it on Twitter, comparing it to turning a battleship under full steam around on a dime. It took me a while to get my figurative ducks in a row, though. And what becomes of 365 Days of Celebs in Comics? Well, if you glance at it now, you'll see that it's become A Month of Celebrities in Comics. And if you start on New Year's Day and work your way forward, you'll see that I've retroactively populated the blog with Defiance for each of the days of January. Please click on the tag and explore January 1-29 to see what's up now, and keep on following me for one more act of defiance a day.

But what form does Defiance in Comics take? Well, some of it will be Nazi-punching (or fascist-punching, or evil-slamming), some of it will be triumphs against self-doubt, some of it will be busting free from captivity, some of it will be vowing to fight a never-ending battle, some of it declarations of "Okay, bub, you took your best shot...now it's my turn!" It's all dedicated, in my own little stuffed way, to speaking the greatest truth to power: that we as a people will stand up to injustice. Even though it's all just dots on paper in the end, I hope it inspires you and animates you into words or action.

And listen: I'm not fooling myself or pretending that posting pix of Captain America knowing Nazis' noggins is in any way a significant or serious part of battling against the actual horrible reality of our times. (I'm doing other things to protest, too, but I'll keep those out of this blog.) But I hope you'll be both inspired and informed by 365 Days of Defiance, to find that spark of heroism, courage, and will-not-take-this-lying-down of our comic book heroes: social justice warriors, every one of 'em, and I proud that they are. i (and you) probably will never get a chance to rip a rubber mask off the face of a corrupt government official and discover that they're the Red Skull. But I hope this feature encourages and reminds you that this is a never-ending battle. Discover your own boldness and fortitude and vow to ponder: what would Captain America do? What would Wonder Woman do? What would Princess Leia do? What would a hero do?


F'r instance, let's start out this series with perhaps the most iconic image of comic book defiance in history. Ask yourself "what would Captain America do?" He'd do this.


Cover of Captain America Comics #1 (Marvel/Timely, March 1941), pencils by Jack Kirby
Note that date of the first Captain America comic book: March 1941. Nine months before Pearl Harbor, before America was in a formal war with Germany, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon already knew Hitler was our enemy and they would not put up with this. Neither would Cap. There's a lesson in there somewhere: that your own sense of right shouldn't be influenced simply by what the government tells you. Steve Rogers was made a super-solider by the American Government, but he is Captain America because he loves what out country stands for and what it can be. (Um, let's momentarily ignore the comics' current anti-Cap as a temporary story trope; by the end of the year we'll look at him again and see what's goin' on in that Hydra-warped brain of his.)

Yes, this is serious stuff at heart. But that doesn't mean it won't be a little silly sometimes. You'll still see some goofy post titles and hovertext, for instance. We live in dark times but we still should laugh. Self-care is very important in days when you feel at your lowest. If a cup of tea or a silly comedy movie or a comic book or cuddling a little stuffed bull makes you feel a little comforted, I highly recommend it.

And if you have any suggestions as to scenes or moments of sheer defiance in comic books, please send 'em to me and I'll try to feature them at some point if I have or can get my hands on the comic! We're all in this together!

Oh, and those celebrities in comic books I didn't get to? Well, I'll cover some more of them periodically throughout the year. After all, I still have to spotlight the time The Avengers appeared on Late Night with David Letterman.

There's a poem by Maya Angelou that gives me comfort and strength in days of fear:

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops
Weakened by my soulful cries

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

It's also been turned into a heartlifting and inspiring dancepop theme for hope within the gay community, and I think its words and rhythm speak to all of us.


Rise. Rebel. Defy.

Happy New Year!

And now, John Byrne will argue with you about the usage of the phrase "Happy New Year."


Cover of Marvel Age #86 (March 1990), art by John Byrne

Today in Comics History: Cult building conveniently painted bright orange

Splash page from D.P. 7 #31 (May 1989), script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Danny Bulanadi, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 1: There's Something Fishy About This Movie Studio

Andy Warhol once famously said "Who stole my can of Campbell's Soup?" He also said something or other about fifteen minutes, celebrity, yadda yadda yadda. But what he didn't say is that in the future, every superhero would be a celebrity! And he oughta to have done. Look, for instance, at the fame the Fantastic Four have achieved pretty early on in their careers: so famous that not only do kids play-act at being the FF, but there are licensed masks available in stores for the greatest superhero of them all!


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #11 (February 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Yes, the Fantastic Four are such worldwide celebrities that they get a metric ton of fan mail every day. Actually, most of that is from Nigerian Princes to Johnny. And need we point out that this is the very first time that someone applies to be a member of the FF? That Galactus Trilogy woulda been over in six panels when faced with Willie Lumpkin's harrowing ear-wiggling power!


But superheroes as celebrities is not what we're going to feature this new year, all year! No, it's those occasional cameo stars, those special guest appearances, those "you'll never guess who shows up in this issue!" characters making a trip from the real world to Earth-616 or Earth-1 or whatever four-color paradise they're popping up in! In other words, welcome 2017, a year of 365 Days of Celebrities in Comics!

EDIT on 01/29/17: As you'll see elsewhere in this blog, I've made the mid-January decision to switch this year's feature from Celebrities in Comics to 365 Days of Defiance! Never fear, though: this feature is now A Month of Celebrities in Comics. And there'll be more throughout the year even after January, I promise you! So for please mentally replace all references here to 365 Days of Celebrities in Comics to A Month of Celebrities in Comics! You'll be glad you did!


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #9 (December 1962), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Hooray for Hollywood! Hooray for guest-stars! Like (in panel one, left to right), Amanda Blake and James Arness of TV's longest running oater, Gunsmoke, and that's the infamously recognizable profile of fright-meister Alfred Hitchcock! The guy next to Hitch is hard to ID, but I've read that he might be director André DeToth, who directed the 3-D classic House of Wax (even though he'd lost an eye at an early age!).

The bottom tier of panels: well, just call me Dorothy Lamour if you don't recognize Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and on the bottom right being startled all the way to the moon by Ben Grimm is The Great One himself, Jackie Gleason!

In this next panel we can see alongside Gleason, by kind permission of DC Comics, Mister Dean Martin! An expy of Dino was very soon to begin appearing in Marvel's Sgt. Fury: Dino Manelli of the Howling Commandos, so you can look on this as a try-out of Jack Kirby drawing the proclaimed King of Cool.


Ladies and gentlemen, and especially gentlemen, prepare for wolf whistles for Miss Ann-Margret! Or, it might be Brigette Bardot! We're not certain and Stan doesn't remember, so an official Bombshell No-Bull Prize goes to the first Conqueror of Time to hop in his Delorean back to 1962 and ask Jack Kirby about it! All I know for sure is, it probably isn't Nicole Kidman.


Of course, no celebrity surprise appearance could be quite as shocking and improbable as the revelation that "S-M Studios" (bad name, marketing department) is headed by...Namor, the Sub-Mariner! Shown here, dashing, debonair, and smoking one of those seaweed cigarettes all the kids love so much. Hey, where'd he get that green suit? (rings bells, sounds klaxon for the first appearance of that joke in 2017)


So there you have it: 2017 is the year of 365 Days of Celebrities in Comics! You'lkl be seeing all sorts of guys 'n' gal from the real world crossing over to the land of four color comics in the next 52 weeks, all the way from Frank Sinatra to Lea Thompson! Look for Walter Cronkite and Humphrey Bogart! Popping in along the way will be Courtney Cox and Sarah Silverman! (And I'm hoping Jane Wiedlin will show up somewhere.) To paraphrase Lucy van Pelt, "how can you say someone is great who's never had his picture in comic books?" Stay tuned and find out...it's gonna be a star-studded year! But remember: with fame comes fan mail, and with fan mail comes...well, show us the risks, Ben Grimm: