365 Days with Sue Storm, Day 5

Snowbird battles Kolomaq in a blinding snowstorm, with special guest-star Invisible Girl standing in the background. (Also featured: White Tiger and Moon Knight), in panels from Alpha Flight #6 (January 1984), script, pencils, and inks by John Byrne, letters by Michael Higgins, coloring by Andy Yanchus

(Click picture to white-sale-size)

You know, this ain't quite working out the way I'd hoped. Let's try something else. Hmmmm...how about...

He'll see you tomorrow.

(Click picture to spoiler-size)

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 365

Panels from Fantastic Four #574 (February 2010), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils by Neil Edwards, inks by Andrew Currie, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Rus Wooton

So, why that image, above, for the very final "365 Days with Ben Grimm"?

Well, glance back at the very first 365 Days with Ben Grimm, and you'll find this image...




...which was the very first appearance of Mr. B. Grimm in the Marvel Universe. The first image is, as a bookend, the most recent appearance: the final panel in Fantastic Four #574, the most recent FF comic book to be published before the end of 2009. My point with this panel—and I do have one—is that I've taken you from first to most recent, but it's not "the last" Ben Grimm. In other words..."And the adventure continues."

Here's to you, Benjamin J. Grimm: thanks for a fantastic year. See ya down on Yancy Street, big guy!

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 364

Panels from Fantastic Four: The End #2 (January 2007), written and penciled by Alan Davis, inked by Mark Farmer, colored by John Kalisz, letters by David Lanphear
(Click picture to happy ending-size)

365 Days with Sue Storm, Day 4

Panel from Fantastic Four #21 (December 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by George Roussos Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 363

Panels from Marvel Two-in-One #14 (March 1976), script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by John Tartaglione, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Karen Mantlo

365 Days with Sue Storm, Day 3

Panel from Fantastic Four Annual #6 (November 1968), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Sam Rosen

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 362

Panels from Marvel Two-in-One #10 (July 1975), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Bob Brown, inks and colors by Klaus Janson, letters by John Costanza

365 Days with Sue Storm, Day 2

Panel from Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Steve Ditko, letters by Artie Simek

Twenty-Five of a Kind: All I Want for Christmas is You (And Comic Books)

Click on each picture to Santa-size. Happy Christmas, everyone!

See also and as well. (And there's more Ten of a Kind here.)

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 361

Panel from Fantastic Four #236 (November 1981), script, pencils, and inks by John Byrne, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Jim Novak

365 Days with Sue Storm, Day 1

I'm so eager to start my new year-long series, I'm beginning it a week early! So sit back and enjoy the first installment of...

365 Days with Sue Storm!

First up:
Panel from Fantastic Four #21 (December 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by George Roussos, letters by Sam Rosen

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 360

Panel from Marvel Comics Presents #18 (Early May 1989), script by Glenn Herdling, pencils and colors by Richard Howell, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Jack Morelli

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Merrie Melodies "The Shanty Where Santy Lives"

Merrie Melodies "The Shanty Where Santy Lives" (1933), directed by Rudolf Isling

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 359

Panel from Fantastic Four #8 (February 1992), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Danny Bulanadi, colors by Ed Lazellari and Christie Scheele, letters by Bill Oakley

And may you not only get what you want and you need, but discover the joy in what you already have.

"Every time a bell rings,
an angel gets his wings."—ZuZu Bailey

Panels from X-Men: First Class v.2 #12 (July 2008), script by Jeff Parker;
pencils, inks, colors and letters by Colleen Coover

Today in Comics History, December 24, 1967 and 1944: How Hitler Tried to Steal Christmas, or, Have Yourself a Furious Little Christmas

Every Belgian in St. Vith liked freedom a lot...
But Herr Hitler, up in Berchtesgaden did not!



And especially at Christmas he'd turn extra brutal
And vow to make holiday joy and hope futile.



He'd shout and he'd curse and he'd cause lots of mayhem
And order the Nazis to round up and slay 'em.



But why did he hate Christmas, A. Schicklgruber?
I'm not sure, but maybe his brain was a tuber.



I didn't do research, so don't call me lazy
But he was that mixture of evil and crazy



He hated the Roma! He hated the Jews!
If he lived above Whoville he'd hate all the Whos



He hated the Slavs and he hated the Poles!
Total mass extinction was his final goals.



The gays and the Soviets, he hated them all
But mostly the Belgians with their soccer balls



(Because legend has told it, if you listen close,
Herr Hitler was jealous, he had just one of those.)



So he met with Herr Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
And plotted to wipe St. Vith out, cold stone dead.



In the snowy forests of Belgium's Ardenne
Invaded a half million German armed men



And Hitler's plan might have been a great prize
Were it not for the valor of all the Allies.



Those thousands of soldiers who marched through the snow
US grunts like Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe.



And among them parachuting down through the flurry
Were the Howling Commandoes and Sergeant Nick Fury.



They landed on Nazis, attacked with a yell
And sent every one of those Germans to hell.




(Cause war isn't pretty and war isn't kind.
I'll expect you have to keep that fact well in mind.)



They snuck through the woods with orders to shoot
But sometimes you have to give Jerry a boot.



Snuck up on a tank, commandeered it. Voila!
With Gabe Jones's trumpet playing tah-rah! Tah-rah!



Drove it into the woods and across German flanks
And proceeded to blast the hell out of their tanks



Till the stolen tank finally ran out of fuel
Fury said "March!" (Mom Fury raised no fool.)



"Keep 'em movin'!" Nick grunted, and then soon forthwith
They were moving down into the town of St. Vith.



But the Howling Commandos had run out of luck
There were Nazis up on the road ahead. "Oh &#@%!"



And among the snow-covered Ardenne firs
Rounded up with a pack of American prisoners



Each one of the soldiers was condemned to death
How would they escape? Are you holding your breath?



Sergeant Fury came up with a plan that was awesome
And commanded the Howlers to lie down and play possum.



They survived to battle through the long winter night
Sgt. Fury wasn't leaving St. Vith with no fight.



Til the orders came down to stop the attack
St. Vith was lost, it was time to fall back



They marched through the snow, and can you believe
They'd nearly forgotten it was Christmas Eve.



All the Belgian kids came o'er the hills with a grin
There was Bernard, and Dieter, and Max, and Tintin



Each one was an orphan, without mom, without dad
Howlers determined to give them Christmas like they had



When up in the sky there arose such a clatter
The Germans were bombing! Duck, cover and scatter!



They blew up the chocolate! Blew up the coffee!
Why, those Ratzis even bombed Nick's Christmas tree.



The Howlers shot back on that cold Christmas Eve
(As Nick Fury says, 'Better to give than receive!')



They fought them with rifles! They fought with grenades!
They slammed 'em with weapons to stop the blockades



They each had a weapon or two, ev'ry fella
Dum-Dum's cannon turret! Percy's black umbrella!



On the cold winds the sound of jazz trumpet was borne
It's not really a fight 'til you hear Gabriel's horn.



When you fight against Fury, nothing goes just as planned
And the last battle's with Nick himself, just hand-to-hand.



With a boot in the crotch and a face full of snow
Fury struck at the Nazi with blow after blow



There's no law book to warfare, no Queensbury rules
And a soldier learns to use each of his tools



The Nazi grabbed for a grenade with a grin
"Was ist? Meine Güte!" Fury'd pulled out the pin!



His bones blew to bits and fell down with a rattle.
(He probably shouldn't have narrated his own battle.)



On a snowcovered hill in the chill Ardenne
At last it was Christmas for Nick and his men.



Fury survived the war, years later to divulge
This one heroic tale of the Battle of the Bulge



(What of Hitler, you ask? Well, he died four months later.
The Human Torch flame-broiled to death the dictator.)



So as you enjoy your Christmas with your tree
Just remember the men who kept your country free.



As Nick Fury was heard to yell "Hitler! $@%# you!
"Merry Christmas to all, and a howling WAHOO!"