Today in Comics History, September 12: Happy birthday, Neal Peart!

A very happy birthday today to the late great Neal Peart, drummer and primary lyricist for Canada's only band, Rush, born on this day in 1952! He was also a big fan of Ayn Rand, but as it's his birthday, we shan't hold that against him today.


But what, you may be asking around now, has Neal Peart got to do with the focus of this here puppet-town cow-blog about comic books? Well, that's a very good question, and I can answer it with a reference to the fact above that Neal was a fan of Ayn. I could also say to you a four-letter word: 2112.


cover of John Byrne's 2112 (Dark Horse, November 1991), pencils and inks by Inks John Byrne, colors by Steve Oliff (?)
No, no, no, get outta here, John Byrne, I didn't call you. I meant this 2112:


cover of 2112 by Rush (Anthem, 1976), artwork by Hugh Syme

Today in Comics History, December 31, New Year's Eve: Defenders HR has a little talk with Hulk

from Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar 1977 (Marvel, 1976)

BatrocTober, Day 6: Battle of the ESL Guys

from The Defenders (1972 series) #64 (Marvel, October 1978), script by David Anthony Kraft, breakdowns by Sal Buscema, finishes by Don Perlin, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, September 9: Happy birthday, Colonel Sanders!

Born on September 9, 1890: Colonel Harland Sanders, chicken magnate. That's magnate, nor magnet, because I don't know how you could have a magnet for chickens.


from Cracked #188 (August 1982), script and art by John Langton

Today in Comics History, January 4, 1975: Nighthawk crosses over to DC Universe; steals Silver St. Cloud from Bruce Wayne

from Giant-Size Defenders #4 (Marvel. April 1975), script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Gaspar Saladino

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 16: Wait, there are Spider-Man comics?

Panels from The Defenders #61 (July 1978), script by David Anthony Kraft, breakdowns by Ed Hannigan, finishes by Bob Lubbers, colors by Nelson Yomtov, letters by Rick Parker

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 25: The Psycho-Man's Murder Machine

There are certain devices we use constantly in our everyday lives whose purpose is completely detectable by their names. A vegetable peeler peels vegetables. A tire pressure gauge gauges tire pressure. A Batmobile mobiles bats. It's all pretty simple, and occasionally a piece of KirbyTech falls under the same criteria: it is, pretty much, what it says on the tin. You don't have to read the user reviews on Amazon for the Ultimate Nullifier to get an idea of what it does. (Nullifies, ultimately.) Such is the case with that device whose name defines its purpose: The Murder Machine.


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #76 (July 1968), co-plot and script by Stan Lee, co-plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

One Night in Rutland: 1981

(Okay, let's try this: instead of 1977, Part 2 as I promised last night, let's visit Rutland, Vermont in 1981 for tonight. Then, tomorrow, I'll take you to the rest of 1977. why? Because I didn't find the comic book until late this afternoon because I was looking for a comic titled Deadman/Phantom Stranger instead of DC Super Stars. D'oh!)

Although the glory days of superheroes visiting rutland, Vermont, for the annual Halloween Parade was the early 1970s, it still remained an occasional stop on the tour route for big demonic crossover super-battles well throughout the 1980s: at least as well as it could, with the competition from Disney World being what it was. Let's step boldly into the era of Reagan and Thatcher to see Marvel's famous non-team, the Defenders, fight a foe almost as supervillainesque as those two. Who could it be? Could it be...Satan???

Why yes. Yes, it could.

Two-page splash spread from Defenders #100 (October 1981), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils and inks by a whole lotta guys undoubtably struggling to get this thing in on schedule, colors by George Roussos, letters by Janice Chiang and Shelly Leferman

(Click picture to Satan-size)

One Night in Rutland, 1971: Part 2

How iconic are the founding members of the Defenders, Doc Strange, the Non-credible Hulk, and Namor the Sub-Mareener? In only their second appearance in print, they hitchhike up Route 7 to Rutland, Vermont, to the 1971 Rutland Halloween Parade! (Yep: the same one attended by Batman and Robin in Batman #237.)


from Marvel Feature #2 (Marvel, March 1972), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Sal Buscema, letters by Sam Rosen

Why they're going is a completely different question: because of the appearance of The Prince of Evil!



One thing I haven't mentioned previously here: as brought up by Marvel Feature, Rutland County is home to...Bald Mountain!



Here's the real, Vermont-y, Bald Mountain:



Oh, wait. I need to add something to the photo here:



That's better.

Anyway, 'tis not Chernabog; it is his Earth-616 heterosexual lifemate, Dormammu! (We will now pause for everyone in the audience to declare 'Yo' mammo!')



Here's Rutland Halloween Parade Master of Ceremonies Tom Fagan, greeting those popular guest stars from Avengers #83, Roy and Jeanie Thomas! Wow, it was really cool of the script-writer for this story to fit them in, huh? It's good to have friends in the comic book industry.



Say, where are our title heroes...the Marvel Featurettes Defenders, during all this? They're blending into the crowd in civilian guise, these civilian guys. They're masquerading as Clea, Charles Xavier, Dick Tracy, and Howard the Duck! And hey, I see Fawcett's DC's Captain Marvel Jr., the world's only superhero who can't say his own name!



If you subscribe to the concept that all stories in all universes take place at the same time (and hey, isn't it our nature to try to link up every fictional character with each other...I'm lookin' at you, Phillip Jose Farmer), then consider this: the Defenders' battle versus Dormammu takes place at the same time Batman faces off against the Grim Reaper and Nazis. That's one busy Halloween Parade. But trust me...it gets even busier in 1972...the year of the first, albeit unofficial, DC/Marvel crossover! Stay tuned, gals and goons!

Double-Wide Doctor Strange, Day 5: Hmmm, Subbie never has an extra cup of tea at home.

Double-page spread from Doctor Strange v.2 #2 (August 1974), co-plot and script by Steve Englehart, co-plot and pencils by Frank Brunner, inks by Dick Giordano (!!!), letters by John Costanza
(Click picture to what the sam scratch was Dick Giordano doing at Marvel???-size)

Great Moments in Comic Book History: Hulk Needs Sunglasses

Page from Marvel Universe: The End #2 (June 2003), script and pencils by Jim Starlin, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Cory Petit

A Merry Marvel Christmas: The Defenders

Page from Marvel Treasury Edition #13 (1976), script by Roger Stern, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Don Perlin, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 274

Cover of [New] Defenders #125 (November 1983), art by Carl Potts and Bill Sienkiewicz

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 234

Panels from [New] Defenders #125 (November 1983), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Don Perlin, inks by Kim DeMulder, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 175

Panel from [The New] Defenders #149 (November 1985), script by Peter Gillis, pencils by Don Perlin, inks by Art Nichols and Dell Barras, colors by Michele Wrightson, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 145

from The [New] Defenders #125 (Marvel, November 1983), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Don Perlin, inks by Kim DeMulder, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 119

Panel from [New] Defenders #149 (November 1985), script by Peter Gillis, pencils by Don Perlin, inks by Art Nichols and Dell Barras, colors by Michele Wrightson, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 75: Oh My Stars and Garters Week, Day 3

L: Panel portion from [New] Defenders #128 (February 1984), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Mike Mignola, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang
(Click picture to what Hank did!)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 54

Panels from The [New] Defenders #127 (January 1984), script by J. M. DeMatteis, layouts by Sal Buscema, finishes and inks by Alan Kupperberg, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 53

Panels from The [New] Defenders #128 (February 1984), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Mike Mignola, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang