There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 16

Panels from Batman: In Darkest Knight one-shot (1994), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils and inks by Jerry Bingham, colors by Digital Chameleon, letters by Pat Brosseau

Same Story, Different Cover: Another tragic ink-related death

Left: Daredevil #164 (May 1980), pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Wally Wood
Right: Daredevil: Marked for Death (March 1990), pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Al Williamson

(Click picture to battling-size)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 168

Panels from Detective Comics #815 (March 2006), script by Shane McCarthy, pencils and inks by Cliff Chiang, colors by David Baron, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

Today in Comics History, June 15, 1897: Marcia, Jan, and Cindy claim another victim

from Bram Stoker's Dracula #2 (Topps, November 1992), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Mike Mignola, inks by John Nyberg, colors by Mark Chiarello, letters by John Costanza

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 15

Page from Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight, (June 2008), written and illustrated by Ralph Cosentino

Not Quite Enough for Ten of a Kind

Talk all you want about it not being tremendously faithful to the original concept, but I'm really diggin' the idea of DC's new Earth 2.


Cover of Earth 2 #1 (July 2012), pencils by Ivan Reis, inks by Joe Prado, colors by Rod Reis

I like the idea that we're not necessarily seeing exactly the same heroes we've seen before, that the costumes and characters and events may be surprising to us.


Cover of Earth 2 #2 (August 2012), pencils by Ivan Reis, inks by Joe Prado, colors by Rod Reis

At the same time, if it gets too far away from the familiar, it risks turning into the Tangent Universe or Stan Lee's "Just Imagine." But so far I'm liking it, right down to the re-invention of Power Girl and Huntress as the next-gen Supergirl and Robin of their earth in in the accompanying title Worlds' Finest (note the placement of the apostrophe that sets it apart from past World's Finest books!)


Cover of Worlds' Finest #1 (July 2012), pencils and inks by George Perez

It's the first time in a long while that the idea of Earth 2 has moved away from being "The Golden Age" and instead has become "The Next Age"—what happens after the fall of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, not before their rise. So at last we've got the universes numbered in the right order! If I'd been Alan Scott and Jay Garrick and Ted Grant I'da been mighty ticked off at being called Earth-2 when hey, they were around a lot earlier than those young whippersnappers in spandex. Only Futurama seemed to nail the terminology right: call one world "Earth-1" and the other "Earth-A."



And, I'm certainly looking forward to the exploration of Alan Scott, Earth 2's Green Lantern, as a gay man. Done with good taste and subtlety (something you can't always take for granted in a superhero book), this is going to be an interesting take on the character.

But I certainly hope there's not going to be a big deal made of how much Alan Scott used to hang around construction sites, which he has done on numerous occasions that almost but don't quite add up to ten of a kind:















So, despite all the appearances of evil construction workers, please...no Village People jokes.



Anyway, it's not like Alan Scott's the only Green Lantern who fought villains on construction sites, right? In the words of Bill Cosby: Right.




We wish you all the best, freshly-out Alan Scott! May you never be replaced as cover feature in your own book by your dog:

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 167

House subscription ad from Detective Comics #489 (April 1980)

(Is this Jim Aparo art, folks?)

Today in Comics History, June 15: That ain't snow

from Batman #406 (April 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 14

Panels from Secret Origins v.2 #6 (September 1986), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Marshall Rogers, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Marshall Rogers, letters by Carrie Spiegle


#4,600.

The Navigator: A movie review on Unseen Films

This week, all week, my buddy DB is spotlighting the great films of the silent clowns: Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. And yours little stuffed truly just finished helping my bestest pal John (who helps me with this blog, so it's only fair) in writing a review of our favorite Buster Keaton film, The Navigator! It's more fun than eating fish in a barrel (says my good friend Shelly the Little Otter Puppet). I got to pick out all the photos he used in the review.



So don't dally, go rally and read all about The Navigator, alligator! It's funniest movie that's ever been put on the silver screen without fart noises!

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 166

Panels from Teen Titans: Year One #4 (June 2008), script by Amy Wolfram, pencils by Karl Kerschl, inks by Serge LaPointe, colors by John Rauch, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 13

Panels from Batman #232 (June 1971), script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano, letters by John Costanza

The Creeper Sings Tom Jones

Panels from "A Cold Night In Hell" in Showcase '93 #12 (December 1993), plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Alan Grant, finishes and inks by Ted McKeeer, letters by John Costanza






Bonus: The Creeper sings the Bee Gees!







Extra Special Bonus: The Creeper sings the The Standells!

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 165

Panels from "Robin's Revenge!" in World's Finest #184 (May 1969), script by Cary Bates, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Jack Abel

Today in Comics History, June 13: The hiring of the blindest bank security guard in Gotham City

from "Questions That Begin With a Queue" in Batman Adventures (2003 series) #11 (DC, April 2004), script by Dan Slott, pencils by Rick Burchett, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Zylonol, letters by Rob Leigh

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 12

Page from Batman: The Cult #4 (November 1988), script by Jim Starlin, pencils and inks by Berni Wrightson, colors by Bill Wray, letters by John Costanza
Man, Wrightson wanted to do The Dark Knight so very bad, didn't he?

The Zen of Batman: Proportion

From Batman: "The Joke's on Catwoman" (January 4, 1968), written by Stanley Ralph Ross; directed by Oscar Rudolph

Today in Comics History, June 12: The creation of the cheese metaphor

from "The Death of a Romantic" in Heartthrobs #3 (DC/Vertigo, March 1999), script by Peter Milligan, pencils and inks by Eduardo Risso, colors by Grant Goleash, letters by Clem Robins

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 164

Panel from Outsiders v.3 #21 (April 2005), script by Judd Winick, pencils and inks by Carlos D'Anda, colors by Guy Major, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11

Panels from Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986), script and pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Lynn Varley, letters by John Costanza

Flop

Inspired by and with thanks to Dorian.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 163

Panel from Robin II: The Joker's Wild! #1 (October 1991), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Tom Lyle, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Tim Harkins