Hey, it's March 1! (C'mon, go along with me on this one for once.) Time to say "bunny, bunny!" Time for things to come in like lions or lambs, to eventually go out the complete reverse way. It's also time to check in once again with The
(Click picture to Giant Rat of Sumatra-size)
In this month's exciting contribution to the all-out big-deal disaster that threatens to tear apart the entire DC Universe we dare not call it a crisis!): Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen are invited to be the grand marshals (as opposed to my sister, the grand Marshall) of the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade! Meanwhile at their homes, Green Lama and the Hulk sulk.
I bet they've been invited to marshal their way down Fifth Avenue by New York City Mayor Abe Beame, which is pretty odd, because he lives in the Marvel Universe!
Panels from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976 series) #1 (December 1976), script by Gerry Conway, breakdowns by Sal Buscema, figure finishes by Mike Esposito, background finishes and colors by Dave Hunt, letters by Joe Rosen
And that's why Abe Beame breathed a relieved sigh and wiped his forehead with relief when Ed "How'm I doin'?" Koch defeated him in the 1977 Mayoral Elections.
Anyway, back in the 1977 DC Universe, thar be rats here!
And I think we all know who's responsible for that, right?: Neal Adams!
Cover of Batman: Odyssey (2011 series) #7 (June 2012), pencils and inks by Neal Adams
Still, Green Arrow shouldn't be left to fight rats, especially when it's his ward Speedy who has all the rat-battlin' experience!:
Panel from The Brave and the Bold #102 (June-July 1972), script by Bob Haney, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano
Anyways! As I did last month, I've taken all the "clues" to the secret identity of the ultimate criminal mastermind from the previous month's calendar, and tallied them up by blacking out the squares on the big Justice League computertron featured on the calendar's final spread. Here's what we've got so far:
Wait, if you squint a little bit all those dots look like a bull charging...hey! No, it was not me! And if you think that the JLA computer is kind of weak sauce, just remember it was like forty years ago! Everybody's computer looked like a Lite-Brite! Cases in point:
Panels from:
Top: Superman (1939 series) #405 (March 1985), script by Craig Boldman, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Karl Kesel, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Ben Oda
Middle: Iron Man (1968 series) #130 (January 1980); co-plot by David Michelinie; co-plot, script, pencils, and inks by Bob Layton; colors by Ben Sean; letters by Jim Novak
Bottom: Incredible Hulk Annual #6 (November 1977), plot by Len Wein, plot and script by David Anthony Kraft, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Frank Giacoia and Mike Esposito, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Finally, there's one more clue you'll find within the day boxes of March's calendar itself. Let's check it out with all the keen attention of Batman, the intuitiveness of Elongated Man, and the butt-scratching of Detective Chimp:
Hmmm, an outfit suitable for St. Patrick's Day. Could it be...Jack O'Lantern?
Maybe it could be...Tommy Monaghan, Hitman? After all, he is the only good thing to come out of Bloodlines!
No wait, I know who it is, and he's the perfect suspect, because he would not be invented for another seventeen years: Kyle Rainer!
The perfect crime!
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