L: The Best of DC #50 (July 1984), art by Kurt Schaffenberger
M: The Best of DC #62 (July 1985), art by Joe Brozowski and Larry Mahlstedt
R: The Best of DC #69 (February 1986), art by Joe Staton
(Click picture to Oscar-size)
Say, just how do DC choose which stories are collected in their "Best of the Year" digests?
Cover of The Best of DC #71 (April 1986), art by Keith Giffen and Karl Kesel
In lieu of showing you clips from the new The Beatles: Rock Band video game that was announced this week, let's slip into our Yellow Submarines and zip back to the 1960s for some vintage Beatles animation!:
The Beatles "Got to Get You Into My Life" (1967), directed by Jack Stokes and featuring the voices of Lance Percival and Paul Frees Read more about The Beatles cartoon here
Whoa, it's been a busy, busy week, so excuse the image-heavy content. But what better excuse than to wrap up the working week with a visit from those most amazing superheroes of Spain: Los 4 Fantásticos! ¡Ay, caramba!
Panel from What If? v.1 #26 (April 1981), (inhale) idea by Mike W. Barr, Roger McKenzie and Don Perlin script and creative contributions by Roger Stern & John Byrne, breakdowns by Herb Trimpe, finishes and inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Michael Higgins (exhale).
Lo! And in those days, did gods walk the earth! Smiting! Fighting! Annihilating! And...loving!
And as Kevin Sorbo would tell us, the most pitching-woo-iest of the ancient gods was the Lion of Olympus, Hercules! (A slight change to the program: the part of Hercules in tonight's post will be played by the mid-nineties metrosexual version of Hercules.) Let us poor mortals now watch the wooing tactics of Mighty Hercules! (ules ules ules ules...)
Panels from Avengers Annual #23 (1994), script by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Susan Crespi
(Click picture to Steve Reeves-size)
Shucks, what with his arm candy of Tori Spelling and Shannon Doherty, us ordinary guys could take a lesson or two in picking up girls from Herc, huh?...And when Herc picks up girls, he picks up girls! (rimshot) But that old Greco-Roman temper is something he has to watch, because as Carrie Bradshaw might remind him in her popular weekly column syndicated in the Olympus Plain Dealer (it's Hera's favorite section of the paper, which always ticks off Zeus because it's on the back of the daily discus game sports section):
Are we all just looking for a Mister Big, a He-Man, holding our for a hero till the edge of night? And what happens when that super man turns into a super-jerk just because you happen to make a joke about the time he murdered his wife and kids? Is that a no-no in today's dating game? Are we all just in love with a hero who's really a zero?
Smooth move, Jerkules.
But that's crazy mulleted Hercules of the nineties, and I'm pretty sure his adventures have been rendered non-A-Canon by the events in Secret Civil Houses of the 198 Dark World War Hercs. For a look at how the real Herc would make the sweet, sweet kissy-ness, you oughta check out this or this or this or this...or you could just make with the clickety-click and check out this Herc, Prince of Passion:
Yes, millennium from now, humanity will have forgotten such mythical heroes as Knight Rider, Squirrel Girl, and Lou Grant, but forever shall we sing the praises of the man who can swoon himself a dozen lady-persons at the drop of a Grecian urn. What's a Grecian urn? About ten drachmas a...oh, I'm not gonna do that joke.
Panel from The Thing v.1 #3 (September 1983), script by John Byrne, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Hilary Barta, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker
Panel from Marvel Two-in-One #77 (July 1981), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by7 Chic Stone, colors by George Roussos, letters by Michael Higgins
Say, let's take a closer look at Ben's get well cards, shall we?
Wow, real nice of the rest of the FF to not even bother to sign the card with "Reed, Sue and Johnny." And of all the people to call Ben "Orange Skin," Captain America is the one I'd least expect. Still, nice of Stan to send a card. And hey look, Jim Shooter "niiids" the Thing!
Sure, Werewolf by Night, you may turn fuzzy, furry and feral every month at the dawning of the full moon...
Panels from Werewolf by Night #11 (November 1973), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Gil Kane, inks and letters by Tom Sutton, colors by Petra Goldberg
...but that doesn't mean that the fine, fine, ladies won't be ambushing you in their teeny-weeny polka-dot bikinis...
...mackin' on your poor fuzzy werewolfy self like you rolled around in a puddle of Axe, Tag, Bod, or any other of the three-lettered body sprays..."Jet," "Ahi," "Cud," "Log," and "Pie" come to mind...
Suddenly this becomes the swingin'est werewolf comic ever, right? Wrong! Like all nerds, Jacky boy is frightened of girls and follows the wisdom of Monty Python...RUN AWAY!
It's too bad, because if the Hilton sisters back there in panels two and three had thought he was a real animal before, wait'll they get a load of Jack now!
So, take it from Werewolf by Night...and for that matter from Hank McCoy and Wolverine...the 616 ladies loves them the furries.
Page from Fantastic Four #543 (March 2007), script by Dwayne McDuffie, pencils by Mike McKone, inks by Andy Lanning, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Rus Wooton
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