Same Story, Different Cover: Everybody's always down to be the painter but no one wants to be in the picture

L: Strange Tales #108 (May 1963), art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers
R: Human Torch #8 (November 1975), reprinting Strange Tales #108
(Click picture to National Gallery-size)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 226

Panel from Dazzler #21 (November 1982), script by Danny Fingeroth, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Janice Chiang

Saturday Morning Cartoon: The Blue Danube

The Blue Danube (1939), directed by Hugh Harman

How to Write Comics the Marvel Way

Letter printed in Fantastic Four #22 (January 1964)

With an attitude like that, Mister Jack Harris, you'll never get a job at Marvel Comics. Yah boo!

Later, in 1994, this Marvel comic book miniseries came out:


Spider-Man: Web of Doom #1-3 (August-October 1994)

The scripter of Web of Doom? Ah, you oughta have guessed by now. Jack C. Harris. Yep. Same guy.

So the lesson is...the moral of the story is...what you should learn from this...

Eh, I got nothin'.


Wikipedia-style citation.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 225

Panel from Incredible Hulk #161 (March 1973), script by Steve Englehart, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Sal Trapani, colors by George Roussos, letters by Artie Simek

An Epic of Epic Epicosity-ism-esqued-ness

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Hulk!

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 224

Panels from Super-Villain Team-Up #14 (October 1977), script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Bob Hall, inks by Don Perlin and Duffy Vohland, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Irving Watanabe

Fifteen Things You Never Knew About James Bond

James Bond knows where cigars come from.




He wears a stylish orange suit and sky blue trousers.




James Bond is slow to take a hint.




Bond has never read a DC comic book.




He is very rude to hotel clerks.




He knows all about Chinese culture.




He thanks girls for getting him off.
Also, he knows what a Chinese name doesn't sound like.




Death and microfilm are his sterious.




?????




Occasionally, James Bond transmutes into a fish.




While the safe is blowing, he tastes fish.




In fact, Bond is a carnivore.




James Bond is one lucky S.O.B.




He knows how to relax.




????!!????!!!!!

All panels are from the James Bond comic books Death of a Spy,
Chinese Riddle and Super Duper, published in India by SP Ramanathan.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 223

Panels from Avengers #53 (June 1968), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by George Tuska, letters by Artie Simek

Design Oughta Be Fun: Turner Classic Movies Trading Cards

I like cool-lookin' things. That's basically the only point of this new semi-occasional feature, to show off bits and pieces of interesting design spotted around the web, out in the world or print, and on the shelves of my local supermarket.

First up: Turner Classic Movie, best channel on the cable dial, is promoting their monthlong "Summer Under the Stars" series of 31 themed days of one-actor-centric programming with a beautifully designed minisite and a set of downloadable trading cards, both featuring the design and art of Michael Schwab. Here's a few of 'em:









Pretty beautiful, huh?

You can see and download the entire set of 31 make-'em-yourself trading cards here. Read the story behind the creation of the cards right here, and enter to win an actual set of the cards here. And don't forget to watch some of the greatest stars of Hollywood in some wonderful movies throughout the month of August. I'll bring the popcorn!

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 222

Panels from Avengers v.3 #4 (May 1998), script by Kurt Busiek, pencils by George Pérez, inks by Al Vey and Bob Wiacek, colors by Tom Smith, letters by Richard Starkings

Monday Night Murals: Xecret Message

Okay, so you're at your local comic book store, shop, emporium or dungeon, and you're hanging around the X-section, which takes up roughly two and a half aisles of the store. You're looking at the new comics, and in between Uncanny X-Men, X-Men Legacy, X-Factor, X-Force, Xew Mutants, Xolverine, Xylophone-Men, The Uncanny Xerxes and Kitty Pryde: Rated X, you might see Hope Summers's sad, sad face pouting out at you:


X-Men: Second Coming #1, third printing variant (May 2010), art by Matt Banning, David Finch, and Peter Steigerwald

Huh! Now that's an intriguing message. SHE. Could this first issue of a new X-storyline mean the return of the Super Heroes of Europe?!?



Or maybe an X-Men tie-in with the all-new, all-viridian, mint-flavored She-Hulk!



Or it just might be a beautiful love song by Elvis Costello (reserve member of X-Men UK):



Actually, it's the ever-popular none of the above. Wouldja believe...it's just another mural?

1. X-Men: Second Coming #1, third printing variant (May 2010), art by Matt Banning, David Finch, and Peter Steigerwald
2. Uncanny X-Men #523, third printing variant (June 2010), art by Rachel Dodson, Terry Dodson, and Justin Ponsor
3. New Mutants v.2 #2, third printing variant (June 2010), art by Brian Reber and Ibraim Roberson
4. X-Men Legacy #235, third printing variant (June 2010), art by Greg Land, Jay Leisten, and Justin Ponsor
5. X-Force v.2 #26, third printing variant (June 2010), art by Michael Choi and Sonia Oback
Click image to third-printing-size



Hey! What the Sam Scratch is goin' on here!?! That's a cheat of a mural! The pictures don't link together! Well, technically it's a mural, because the bottom third gives you a secret message that you probably figured out around about page two of UXM #523. But still, hey, if it worked for Old Man Logan, why not do it again?

Doing it again is really the watchword of the X-Men, now, isn't it? So maybe there's a secret secret message hidden in these covers, huh? Hmmm, let me put my jigsaw puzzle skills to work here, combined with my love of cryptographs and my subscription to Games magazine. Put this one here...and that cover there...let's see, move that one on the right...huh, what do ya know...there is a special message that tells you just what this storyline is:

So there ya go: the true nature of the Second Coming storyline is that it's just like every other X-Men storyline. And we like it that way, don't we?

I'll be back next week with another mural...oh wait, it's the doorbell. Hang on a minute. Hey, look, it's Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Matt Fraction, Zeb Wells, and Mike Carey! Golly, what are you guys doin' at my place! Hey, what's up with the baseball bats and billy clubs?

Okay, I might not be back next week with another mural. Hey, X-Guys, are you sure you don't wanna talk about this first...?

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 221

Panels from X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (February 2006), script by Ed Brubaker, layouts by Trevor Hairsine, finishes and inks by Scott Hanna and Mike Perkins, colors by Val Staples, letters by David Lanphear

Ten of a Kind: Everybody's learning how

(More Ten of a Kind here.)