Psylocke Psaturday #3: Let me axe you a question

Betsy's first cover appearance—and hey, it's not of her rear end! She's still auburn-haired...for the moment.


Cover of Captain Britain v.1 #10 (December 15, 1976), pencils by Larry Lieber (?), inks by Frank Giacoia, letters by Joe Rosen (?)

Here's a nifty Kirby-styled interior panel by Herb Trimpe:


Panel from Captain Britain v.1 #10 (December 15, 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Fred Kida, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Irving Watanabe

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 26

House ad for Batman and Robin v.1 #7 (March 2010); printed in Batman 80-Page Giant v.1 #1 (February 2010)
Ad art pencilled and inked by Cameron Stewart

He walked through walls.

Why yes he did.


Splash panel from "He Walked Through Walls" in Tales to Astonish #26 (December 1961), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers

5,500.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 25

House ad for Justice League of America #10* (March 1962) and Aquaman #2 (March-April 1962);
printed in Adventure Comics #294 (March 1962)
Comic cover art: JLA #10: pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Bernard Sachs. Aquaman #2: pencils and inks by Nick Cardy
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

*Hey!: Ten fingers, issue #10. COINCIDENCE? I think not!

Today in Comics History, January 25, 1945: Well, we know it wasn't the Battle of Anzio

from Batman: Arkham Unhinged #46 (DC, October 2012), script by Karen Travis, pencils and inks by Riccardo Burchielli, colors by Alejandro Sanchez, letters by Travis Lanham
P.S.

The Marvel Comic Where the Jerk Wins in the End

...no, no, not Civil War #7...


Cover of Civil War #7 (January 2007), pencils by Steve McNiven, inks by Dexter Vines, colors by Morry Hollowell
...but rather, My Love #10!


Cover of My Love v.2 #10 (March 1971), pencils by John Buscema, inks by John Verpoorten, letters by Sam Rosen
Yes, My Love! The only Marvel comic book named after a Sir Paul McCartney song. (At least until Magneto/Titanium Man Team-Up came out.)


Our scene opens in a fancy restaurant, where Our Heroine™ Gwen Stacy Beverly Dayton is out on a date with her jerky boyfriend "Flash" Thompson Nick Howard, waited on my Professor Charles Xavier a waiter. This story is, as the credits tell us, "narrated to Stan Lee," which is pretty much the way the rest of the Marvel Universe books were written, if I recall correctly. Remember when Stan 'n' Jack would head on over to the Baxter Building to get the low-down on what had happened in the past month to the Fantastic Four? And how the FF would toss them out because they'd betrayed the FF to Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #10? Oh, how they all laughed and laughed.


Nick is, not unlike Doctor Doom, a jackass himself:


Now, I don't want to contradict our heroine, but I was pretty certain that in Marvel Comics, girls named Beverly loved duck:

Panel from Howard the Duck Annual #1 (May 1977), script by Steve Gerber, pencils and inks by Val Mayerik, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Joe Rosen
It's pretty obvious that Nick doesn't give a dang 'bout the opinions and wants of Beverly, dragging her off to all the places she'd rather not go on a date: the fights, a nightclub, a Star Trek convention... I bet that prize fight would have been a lot more interesting if it had been Muhammad Ali versus Superman, but alas, that was not to happen for another seven years.


Because it is the 1970s, it is federally mandated that Beverly discover Women's Liberation! Probably around the same time she discovered est, the Ford Pinto, the typeface Helvetica, the television series All in the Family, and many other events that occurred in 1971. It was a tumultuous age, after all!


Hooray! At last, Bev asserts her own identity and say so long and see you later...not! to that loser Neanderthal Nick. Also, she bought some groovy pop art and a "5" sign for her wall. Who says this isn't the age of far-out flourishment?


The story woulda been lovely and had a very happy ending...if it had just stopped there. "I am woman, hear me roar!" should declare Beverly! Instead, the Divine Ms. D. attempts a disappointing string of romantic dates with wishy-washy modern men. How rude! They actually give her a chance to voice her opini9on. Well, that's no good, either.


As the old folk song goes, "nice guys finish last," and they also have an entire Wikipedia page devoted to them. What the Sam Scratch, Wikipedia? Must you have a page for everything? Geez! (This is okay, though.)


In a panel that could have been ripped off by Roy Lichtenstein if only he'd been reading My Love, Beverly "realizes" that Womens' Lib only applies to her right to be paid the same as men for doing the same work. She then immediately returned to her career as Secretary of State under Richard M. Nixon, earning a peachy $7,800 a year.


So, by the end of the story, she's back in the arms of he-man woman-hater Nick. Boo! Boo! "The Start of Something Lovely!" declares the caption. More like "Three Years Later, the Divorce!" Hah! (Also, once again I ask...where do you find a green suit?!?)


Poor, poor Beverly, saddled with a jerk thug for a boyfriend and misguided ideas of what Women's Lib is all about. Somebody send her a copy of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique or is a nonfiction book by Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman or at least Ms. Marvel #1.

We started this post with Paul McCartney's "My Love," but it's too bad, for Bev's sake, that it would be another 12 years until Sheena Easton sang

He asks her to dinner, she says I'm not free
Tonight I'm going to stay at home and watch my TV

I don't build my world 'round no single man
But I'm gettin' by, doin' what I can
I am free to be, what I want to be
'N all what I want to be, is a modern girl

Yeah! You tell it, Sheena, sister!

Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na, she's a modern girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na, she's a modern girl

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 24

House ad for Time Warp #4 (April-May 1980); printed in Detective Comics #489 (April 1980)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Mike Kaluta
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, January 24: Principal Skinner gets jealous

from "The Great Springfield Gold Rush" in Bart Simpson Comics #68 (Bongo, February 2012), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Phil Ortiz, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Nathan Hamill, letters by Karen Bates

Comics News for January 23, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 23

House ad for Showcase #73 (March-April 1968, the debut of The Creeper); printed in House of Mystery #173 (March-April 1968)
Creeper silhouette by Steve Ditko (?)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino (?)

Today in Comics History, January 23: Wulf joins a third-tier Marvel team

from "Wulf Hunt" in World's Finest Comics #246 (DC, August 1977), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Michael Netzer, inks by Terry Austin
He joined Wolfpack?!?


cover of Wolfpack #1 (Marvel, August 1988), pencils by Ron Wilson (?), inks by Kyle Baker (?)

Here come de judge!

Sorry for the brief posts the last few days, folks, but I'm busy prepping to take a case to court. (Just call me Bully, Little Stuffed Attorney at Law!) Now, you never know which judge you're gonna have assigned to your case, but I sure hope I get the

FUDGE JUDGE!

FUDGE JUDGE?!!

FUDGE JUDGE!!!

Tootsie Roll Fudge ads from Detective Comics #294, 296, and 298 (August 1961-October 1961)

Fudge Judge, won't you?

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 22

House ad for The Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964, the first issue of their comic after being renamed from My Greatest Adventure); printed in Batman #162 (March 1964)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Bob Brown
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Well, that'll happen.

Panel from "The Fifth Challenger" in Challengers of the Unknown #30 (February-March 1963), script by Arnold Drake (?), pencils and inks by Bob Brown

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 21

House ad for Batman and the Outsiders v.1 #32 (April 1986); printed in Detective Comics #560 (March 1986)
Art pencilled and inked by Alan Davis, reversed from the cover of BATO #32:


Note that in the ad Halo's aura is yellow, her "brilliant light" power, but on the cover it's blue, her "holographic distortion effect" aura. Which means

1. On the cover, Halo can't be bothered to show up for Batman's leave-taking and instead just sends a halo-graphic image;
2. I know waaaaaay too much about Halo.

Today in Comics History, January 21: Northstar comes out; newspapers are so shocked they forget about basic design and typography

from Alpha Flight (1983 series) #106 (Marvel, March 1992), script by Scott Lobdell, pencils by Mark Pacella, inks by Dan Panosian, colors by Bob Sharen

Ten of a Kind: 1,001 10 Arabian Nights

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

Today in Comics History, January 20, 1961: JFK is inaugurated; superheroes crash party

from Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #4 (DC, January 2013), script by Len Wein, pencils and inks by Jae Lee, colors by June Chung, letters by John Workman

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 20

House ad for The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #117 (March-April 1970); printed in Detective Comics #397 (March 1970)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino (?)