365 Days of Defiance, Day 84: Escape from the Planet of the Ape-kolips

Darkseid is...being a complete jerk towards Scott Free. That's Mister Miracle if you're nasty.


Panels from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #9 (July-August 1972), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
You guys know I love Kirby. One of the many things I love about his work (along with the power, the wonder, the craziness, the boldness, and the quotation marks) is his themes of resistance against power and evil. Think of Kirby's Thing (too stubborn to lay down and take a beating) or Thor (he says thee NAY!) and their bombastic displays of defiance and resistance against the unbeatable foe. In Scott Free Kirby combines the resistance with escape in the saga of the ultimate escape artist: there is no trap, no disaster, no threat that Scott cannot get out of, defying nature, physics, and story logic. He's not running away: he'll be back.




For my money, this is Kirby's version of one of my favorite scenes from the movies: Artoo Detoo finally kicking the Millennium Falcon into hyperdrive just as the Empire is ready to capture the rebels...and the grim visage of Vader on the bridge as they do so.



Panels from Star Wars (1977 series) #44 (February 1981), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils and inks by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Rick Veitch
Like Luke Skywalker, it's not the end of Scott's story. The fight is just beginning.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 83: And if one man could stand tall / There would be some hope for us all / Somewhere in the spirit of man

Panels from Amazing Adventures [featuring War of the Worlds] (1970 series) #19 (July 1973), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Howard Chaykin, inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by John Costanza

You're welcome

Panel from Journey Into Mystery (1952 series) #125, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, words by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Bully Eats Food: Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese

This is just to say
I have eaten
the buffalo mac-and-cheese
that was in
the microwave


Forgive me
but you snooze
you lose

But I have not
eaten the carrots
heck no

Today in Comics History, March 23, 1983: Ben Grimm accidentally invents TiVo

from Marvel Two-in-One #100 (Marvel, June 1983), script by John Byrne, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Frank Giacoia and Kevin Dzuban, colors by George Roussos, letters by Joe Rosen

365 Days of Defiance, Day 82: I'm pretty sure Mandrake is talking about saving PBS from threatened government budget cuts, so please pledge generously today and you can receive this beautiful tote bag

Panels from King: Mandrake the Magician #1 (February 2015); script by Roger Langridge; pencils, inks, and colors by Jeremy Treece; letters by Marshall Dillon

365 Days of Defiance, Day 81: Look, up in the sky

In an age of talking heads


Yes, yes, thank you David, but what I meant was the talking heads on our TV telling us all the hourly doom 'n' gloom at that there's no hope. Well, we need to take a lesson from Lana Lang of the future uture uture and look to the grimy, polluted skies! There we will find a man who will help us fight back, a man who we can look toward in our struggle to resist!


Panels from Batman: The Dark Knight (1986 series) #2 (March 1986), script and pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Lynn Varley, letters by John Costanza
Also, there's Robin, the Girl Wonder. Yay!

Today in Comics History, March 22, 1993: Bruce Wayne is tricked by a pyramid scheme

from Batman: Book of the Dead #1 (DC, June 1999), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Barry Kitson, inks by Ray McCarthy, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Kurt Hathaway

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1988: The White Event causes calculus to become startlingly erotic

from The Draft one-shot (Marvel/New Universe, July 1988), script by Mark Gruenwald and Fabian Nicieza; pencils by Herb Trimpe; inks by Kyle Baker, Mike Gustovich, Klaus Janson, Lee Weeks, and Keith Williams; colors by Michael Higgins; letters by Jim Novak

Bully Eats Food: Pasta with Anchovies

In honor of Papa Bull's birthday, I'm having one of his favorite meals: pasta with anchovies! Yummmm, little salty melty fishies.

Today in Comics History, March 21: Happy birthday to Timothy Dalton, cinema's only James Bond!

from Licence to Kill one-shot (Eclipse, 1989); script by Richard Ashford; breakdowns by Mike Grell; finishes by Chuck Austen, Tom Yeates, and Stan Woch; colors by Sam Parsons, Sally Parsons, Mel Johnson, and Reuben Rude; letters by Wayne Truman;
and from Angel Love #1 (DC, August 1986); script and pencils by Barbara Slate, inks by John William Lopez, colors by Bob LeRose, letters by Bill Yoshida

365 Days of Defiance, Day 80: He'll be there for you

There's no need to fear. Superman is always here!




Panels from All Star Superman #1 (January 2006), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Frank Quitely, inks and colors by Jamie Grant, letters by Phil Balsman

365 Days of Defiance, Day 79: To Me, My Earth-X Men

The Justice Society of America! Strange visitors from another world (Earth-2, to be precise)! Hey, since they came first, why is their world Earth Two? If'n I were the Original Flash and the Original Green Lantern and the Original Superman, I'd have a thing or two to say about that. Anyway: they're fightin' Nazis! Which is always a good thing, as Earth-2 Martha Stewart told you first.


Panels from Justice League of America (1960 series) #107 (September-October 1973), script by Len Wein, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda
All is darkest before the dawn (and also because my scans didn't turn out as bright as I'd hoped on those last panels), but luckily the JSA is accompanied by their Earth-1 non-union equivalents, the Justice League of America! Er, at least, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, and...Red Tornado, not even actually yet a member of the League. Oh man. They're boned.


Hooray! It's the Nazi-bustin' heroes of Earth-X! The Earth where no one under the age of eighteen will be admitted, cos' it's kinda saucy. It's...Amerihat! Gnat Boy! Cling-Film Woman! Captain Rhinoceros! Designed-By-Mike-Grell-Costume Kid! And Poppin-Fresh! They are the Freedom Fighters!


I kid the Freedom Fighters, but they punch Nazis, so they're okay by me. You go, FF!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 78: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."*

Panels from Avengers (1998 series) #69/484 (September 2003), script by Geoff Johns, pencils by Olivier Coipel, inks by Andy Lanning, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Albert Deschesne
* Quote by George Washington.