L: Splash page of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* #1 (June 1968), script, pencils, and colors by Jim Steranko; inks by Joe Sinnott; letters by Sam Rosen
R: Splash page of Captain v.5 #23 (December 2006), script by Ed Brubaker, pencils and inks by Mike Perkins, colors by Frank D'Armata, letters by Joe Caramagna
(Click picture to Eiger-size)
And that's not even all, mountaineers! The second and third page of the Cap story mirrors, in layout if not content, the second and third page of the Fury story:
So the next time you forget your house keys...take a hint from Nick 'n' Bucky and just go in via the side!
*Special Ham Ingestion and Eating Liverwurst Department.
Panels from Uncanny X-Men #295 (December 1992), script by Scott Lobdell, pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Joe Rosas, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
"And there came a day...a day unlike any other...when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand!"
Also, they had a table.
From the very beginning...
...starting out very small...
...as it became a symbol of the team...
...and even the chairs joined in the fun...
...no matter how good or bad your posture...
...whether it's used for breakfast...
...or a council of war...
...through tragedy...
...and through Claremont...
...to other realities...
...and back again...
The Avengers' Table can never be replaced!
Oh, except for the time Namor broke it and they made him buy a new one.
So now say we all: Avengers Table Assemble! And if there's a few parts left over when you're done, don't worry. They're s'posed to be built like that.
Panel from What If? v.1 #9 (June 1978), concept by Roy Thomas (who else?), script by Don Glut, breakdowns by Alan Kupperberg, finishes and inks by Bill Black , colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Tom Orzechowski
An alternate universe where Jimmy Woo, Gorilla-Man, the Human Robot, Marvel Boy, Namora and Venus team up to fight crime? Hey, wait a minute...
With this "Heroic Age" dawning in the Marvel Universe, every comics fan is looking forward to a new grand era of can-do, gung-ho, happy-go-lucky, cheese-and-bacon flavored superheroes, because for the last few years the Marvel U. has pitted brother against brother...Asgardian against technocrat...vigilante versus claws...Super-Soldier versus bullet. But now, at last, it's going to be just like the old days...when every hero was ever-ready to team up with another, to fight together for the cause of right, truth, and justice, and nobody was ever rude or short-tempered with another hero...just like it was in the early days of the Marvel Universe, right?
Right.
Panels from Avengers #3 (January 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Paul Reinman
Luckily, at least one person is willing to help:
You know, when Rick Jones is the only person who doesn't slam the door in your face and make rude noises at you...hoo boy, you need to find some new team-up partners.
"Master" Henry McCoy of Earth-311, in panels from 1602 #2 (Late November 2003), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils and inks by Andy Kubert, colors by Richard Isanove, letters by Todd Klein
Splash page portion from Cable #26 (Early December 1995), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Rob Haynes and Randy Green, inks by John Lowe and Bud LaRosa, colors by Mike Thomas, letters by
Richard Starkings
...then I'd introduce just what the comics world needs...another X-Men title! No, no, I wouldn't call it X-Cess...that'd be too much truth in advertising. I'd bring out a brand new X-Men #1 ("the first X-Men 1 in nearly twenty years," sez Marvel...go ahead, collect 'em all!). I'd take the fine artwork of Victor Gischler and Paco Medina's advance pages for this new X-comic (you can see the pages here). And then I'd jettison all that vampire nonsense and bring aboard some good old fashioned summer fun that, I think, we can all get behind.
So here it is...a sneak preview of a little stuffed bull's version of X-Men #1! (Caution: those of you seated in the first four rows will get wet!):
Panels from X-Men Unlimited v.1 #32 (September 2001), script by Will Pfeifer, pencils and inks by Jill Thompson, colors by Atomic Paintbrush, letters by Paul Tutrone and Dave Sharpe
Long before the the King of Denmark granted Danish merchants monopoly on trade with Iceland, long before the carving of the Jelling Stone, even prior to Björk...heck, waaaaay before the Sampo...
...there were the Norse Gods of Asgard! Mighty Thor, god of thunder! All-Powerful Odin, the All-Father! Mischievous Loki, god of evil! Or maybe just mischief. We're not quite sure. The Warriors Three: Larry, Moe, and Curly! (And occasionally Shemp.) Tammy, Norse goddess of the shopping mall! And, the rest! Here in the mighty halls of Asgard! (gard gard gard gard)
I don't think it's any secret that one of my favorite back-up features in comic books is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Tales of Asgard, the short but utterly bombastic back-features to their early stories in Thor #97-145. Some of the tales were reprinted in 1968 in a 68-page king-size comic:
...and reprinted again in 1984 to capitalize on the success of Walt Simonson's Thor (with a spankin'-new Simonson cover):
...but it wasn't until last year that Marvel reprinted all the Tales of Asgard back-ups in a six-issue, newly-recolored series (followed this year with a fancy-schamncy but lovely hardcover). If you're a purist you may balk at the modern colors applied to Stan and Jack's classic (I kinda liked it myself). But how to represent the vast panoply of Lee & Kirby's mythology on a mere six comic book covers? Well, first, call in Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, and Laura Martin to create the new covers. Here's two of 'em.
Well, those are impressive, but are they covers worthy of the Norse gods? Well, when you connect 'em all into a mega-mural, hoo boy, by Odin, are they ever! You betcha, ya!
Covers of Tales of Asgard #1-6 (July 2009-October 2009), art by Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, and Laura Martin
Click once, then again, on the picture to Volstagg-size...but wait! Is your monitor worth of the Norse gods? Because this image is truly GOD-SIZED! (So don't click it over a dial-up modem unless you can wait until Ragnarok to see it all!)
I was wondering why the first few issues in the mural are out of order...from left to right, 3, 2, 1,....until it occured to me: of course your want to not only start the series with Thor on the cover, but also put him smack-dab in the middle of the mural as well, so ish #1 has got to be in the middle of the interlocking piece. Poor, Loki...he thought he was the star of this thing! Maybe it's his posture. Sit up, ya lazy galoot!
Anyway, everybody who's anybody in Asgard is in this mural, except maybe Frog Thor and Beta Ray Bill. (And as much as we love 'em, they didn't come around until much later. But maybe they're hanging around in the back behind Hela.) I've used the original Marvel solicitation art rather than the actual comic book covers to let you see the full grandeur of the piece. Wouldnb't you love to have this hanging on your wall? Well, you can, because Marvel's also
And if you don't know your Balder from your Brimer, well, there's a handy numbered chart of who's who! (Thor's in there somewhere, believe it or not!)
Want a closer look? Clickety-click on over to Marvel.com and then click on the "ZOOM" button in the upper right hand corner of the image. Did you ID all the Norse gods? Did you forget Candy, Thor's high school crush at Asgard Science and Technical High, cheer captain for the Asgard Vikings and archrival to Sif? I bet you did.
Now, swing your hammer on over to DeviantArt and check out Olivier Coipel's pencils and Mark Morales's inks on the unfinished covers to issue one, two, four and five!
All hail Thor, mighty god of thunder! And so, we bid adieu to fair Asgard...or, in the words of Thor himself from his 1997 hit single "Ride of the Chariots": We go in for the kill / With our iron will / we are the planet riders / in the name of Valhalla!":
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