At last, the culmination of my Five-Year Plan!

'Scuse me if I blow my own li'l horn(s) for an evening, folks, but it's a special occasion...I'm five! Well, not me (I'm six!), but Comics Oughta Be Fun! turns five today amidst much hoopla, celebration, singing, dancing, and all-around partying. (Well, at my house anyway; I hope at yours too!) Yes, five years ago today I started this little puppet-town cow-blog of mine with a post reviewing some comics I'd picked up that week. A lot has changed since then. Spider-Man's revealed his identity, and then whoops! That was undone. He was married too, but whoops! Undone. The JLA hadn't yet become the Justice League of America. And the Incredible Hulk didn't have a planet of his own, wasn't at war with the world, and most certainly wasn't red. My, how times have changed!

I've had a lot of fun writing this blog over the past year, and I've downed a lot of donuts. (Little chocolate donuts.) So why not journey back over the past 365 days (each one stuffed with the rich goodness of either Ben Grimm or Hank McCoy) and join me on this self-indulgent trip through

My Favorite Posts of the Past Year!

(counting down to my very favorite at the bottom of the list!)

• Don't despair, folks: even tho' I only got up to Herbert Hoover, Presidents in Comic Books will continue.
• Ten of a Kind continued throughout the year (I recently celebration my 200th edition of this feature). I celebrated the "widening" of my blog by featuring Ten Widescreen Comic Book Covers.
• A photograph on the New York subway inspired Ben Grimm: Graffiti Artist.
• Hercules like things! (These things, to be precise.)
• It's a lot of fun following Ben Grimm's Twitter feed, especially when he has adventures at the Academy Awards.
• Bully-Con 2009.
• Supporting Character Slamdown—another feature I will continue soon!
• In between a year with Ben Grimm and a year with Hank McCoy, I suggested we spend a year looking at this Marvel hero. (For your sanity, I only did it for five days.)
• DC was not interested in my suggestion for a Blackest Night tie-in comic.
• With all the shake-ups in the post-Siege Avengers, here's my humble suggestion for a brand-new Avenger.
• Ever wonder what if they made a live-action Looney Tunes movie? I mean, one without Brendan Fraser.
• It's not really Christmas without Hitler comic-book references.
• If only comic book readers loved the Sentry as much as everyone in the Marvel Universe.
• For the Ides of March, the true history of the Fall of Rome.
• Someday I will run a comic book company and you'll get comics like this. (And also like all these.)
• A recent favorite: the Siege Reading Group Guide.
• Exactly what it sounds like: The Pantone Cards of the Marvel Superheroes.
• Everybody knows that one Angel Love panel. Now, here it is set to music.
• And oh yeah: those power rings. Red. Yellow. Orange. Purple. Green. Blue. And Black.

Whew! That's a lotta posts I really liked. (And there were a few others too.) Remember, if you liked reading this blog this past year half as much as I liked writing it, then I liked writing it twice as much as...wait a minute, I'm not very good at math and I have to check my figures. (It's difficult with hooves).

Instead, I'll just point out to you that, by some weird and wonderful coincidence, this very post is my 2500th on the blog. Wow, I couldn't have planned to hit that target if I'd had Ollie Queen standing behind me whispering in my ear! (Warning: don't let him do that). In celebration of 2500 posts and five years, why not join me and all my friends for some celebration cake! (Note: blog does not actually contain real cake).



Mmmmm, that's good blogiversary cake. While me and my friends have a second piece, why not cast your peepers over this specially-chosen Five of a Kind of covers with Tens on them. I mean, Ten of a...ahhh, you know the drill by now.





















And in all sincere gratitude, this blog wouldn't be nuthin' without you guys. You know who you are. No, not you...not you...that guy. And that girl. And that group of people over there. Not you. But those folks. And...ah, heck, thank you to everybody who reads my blog . You have the gratitude of a little stuffed bull. (But you're not getting any cake.)

Stick around, folks—there's even more fun coming up during Year Six! And don't forget, we're all meeting back here this time next year for:

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

Monday Night Murals: Go get yourself some cheap sunglasses

Sunglasses! They make anybody look cool. Isn't that right, eighties Canadian rocker Corey Hart?



Yup! That's right. All the cool kids are wearing sunglasses. Sunglasses make everyone look hip, with it, and attractive. Case(s) in point:



Well, almost everybody:



My point (and I do have one) is that you can take pretty much anybody and make the look "hep" and "fab" by adding sunglasses. Take Golden Age nerd Kid Eternity...please!



Man, it's a good thing he can summon up any figure from history to appear before him, because otherwise, it's going to be a long, lonely life for K.E. But let's bring in our ace makeover staff to add a pair of dark specs, frizzle up his hair, add a bit of a Billy Idol sneer, and, as they say in France, violin!:

Covers of Kid Eternity #1-3 (1991), art by Duncan Fegredo
(Click picture to Mr. Keeper-size)

Yep, that's right: Kid's eponymous Vertigo miniseries turns into a panoramic view of his new look. So, while we bought the issues to read, he bought it to spare himself the expense of going to Ikea and getting a Barnslig (some assembly required). And I'm sure it's not at all a coincidence that the new, improved Kid Eternity happens to look a little like Vertigo godfather Neil Gaiman, I bet?



So, there you go. To assemble K.E.'s stylish new appearance, just collect the individual volumes of his miniseries to create a mural so you can gaze on his eerily compelling Robert Smith impression all day long. Just don't make the mistake I did and only buy issues one and three:



So. Sunglasses. They do a body good. Right, Lucky-You-Got-a-Second-Chance-Actor David Caruso?

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 144

Panels from Uncanny X-Men #339 (December 1996), script by Scott Lobdell; pencils by Adam Kubert and Cedric Nocon; inks by Jesse Delperdang and Scott Hanna; colros by Steve Buccellato, letters by Richard Starkings

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 143

Panel from Uncanny X-Men #350 (December 1997), script by Steve Seagle; pencils by Joe Madureira and Andy Smith; inks by Tim Townsend, Vince Russell, and Dan Panosian; colors by Steve Buccellato; letters by Richard Starkings and Kolja Fuchs

Ten of a Kind: Again? But that trick never works!

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

Separated at Birth: I would not be able to equate my life with sand

L: All Star Comics #35 (June-July 1947), art by Irwin Hasen
R: JSA #72 (June 2005), art by Alex Ross "after Hasen"

(Click picture to dega-size)

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 142

Cover of Wonder Man #5 (January 1992), art by Jeff Johnson and Terry Austin

Saturday Morning Cartoon: I Am the Greatest!

I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali (1977), Saturday morning TV cartoon featuring the voice of Muhammad Ali as himself

G.O.A.T.

So: who is the greatest fighter in the DC Universe? Why, it's this man (hint: not the guy in blue and red):



Panels from All-New Collectors' Edition #C-56: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978), plot by Denny O'Neil, script and pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin, colors by Cory Adams, letters by Gaspar Saladino

That's the Greatest Of All Time, the Champ, the former Cassius Clay, Mister Muhammad Ali, TKO'ing Superman in one of the greatest comics of all time,. Superman versus Muhammad Ali. (To be fair to the Supester, they were fighting under a red sun.) But any man who can knock out the Last Son of Krypton has got to be considered one of the DCU's mightiest warriors of all time. That's why this little stuffed bull was very disappointed that the deus ex machina of "Blackest Night" wasn't Muhammad Ali punching the livin' daylights out of all those Black Lanterns. Now that would be an uncontested victory, folks!

On the other hand, the Muhammad Ali of the Marvel Universe...? Eh, he ain't so tough:


Panels from Iron Man #145 (April 1981), co-plot and script by David Michelinie; breakdowns by John Romita Jr.; co-plot, finishes, and inks by Bob Layton; colors by Roger Slifer; letters by Joe Rosen

Man oh man, a Muhammad Ali that shies away from a fight with Iron Man? That's not the real Muhammad Ali. That's why I think Iron Man #145 is the first appearance in the Marvel Universe of the Skrull replacement for The Greatest, which explains why you didn't see him out there punching Skrull warships through the Baxter Building in Secret Invasion.

Y'all know I'm the biggest little Marvel fanbull around. But here's one argument that I'm gonna have to give the DC Universe the trophy belt on: they have the best Muhammad Ali in all the multiverse.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 141

Panel from X-Men Fairy Tales #1 (July 2006), script by C. B. Cebulski; pencils, inks, and colors by Sana Takeda; letters by Tom Valente

Siege Reading Group Guide and Discussion Questions

Now that you've finished reading Marvel's Siege, you may enjoy getting together with your book group and discussing the series. We suggest finger snacks and light beverages for your book club meeting. Be sure to tell that one person in your reading group—you know the one I mean—that you're meeting tomorrow instead of tonight. Or, when they ring the doorbell, shut off all the lights and hide behind the couch. Ready?





1. Compare and contrast the character and role of Loki in "Siege" with that of tricksters and mischief-makers in other literature. Do you think he has more in common with Uncle Remus's Br'er Rabbit or Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It? What do you think Jack Kirby would have thought if he had lived to see Loki as a woman? If Loki had a team-up with any DC character, who do you think it would be? Batman? Is it Batman? Do you think he might team up with Batman? Wouldn't you buy that series?





2. What does HAMMER stand for? Is "Ham" the first word? Discuss.





3. In the first issue of Siege, the Chicago Bears are destroyed by an energy explosion that levels Soldier Field. What effect do you think this would have upon the remainder of the 2010 NFL season? If you were running a rotisserie NFL league and had picked the Bears, how would you re-arrange the rest of your season to compensate?





4. Do you think Oprah was at that football game? If she wasn't, couldn't it be possible that she was hit by energy flying outwards from the stadium, frying her instantly? Or, perhaps, a piece of falling debris sliced her in two? Maybe Dan LeFevour fell on her? How many ways can you think of that Oprah would die in the Marvel Universe?





5. What the heck is up with Norman Osborn's hair, anyway?





6. Examine and compare the death of Ares in Siege #2 to the deaths of Hamlet, Anna Karenina, Woody Woodpecker and two fictional characters of your choice. Use math and show your work. Were you eating dinner when you read that page where the Sentry ripped him in half?





7. Marvel-Earth's President Obama originally supported and backed up the actions of Norman Osborn. Is he a chump or a Skrull? Discuss and use examples from Secret Invasion, World War Hulk, and Fox News.





8. How many characters had the reset button pushed during Siege to erase all the actions of Civil War onwards? Is this (choose one) a cheap plot device or a corner Bendis couldn't write his way out of? What would you have done to redeem the following characters?: Tony Stark, Hank Pym, J. Jonah Jameson, Willie Lumpkin. For extra credit, use Teen Tony from The Crossing.





9. Broxton, Oklahoma, has no movie theaters. What do you think the residents of Broxton do in the evening? What time do you think they go to bed? If there was a movie theater in town, which three movies would it be running? Then, match each of these movies to one of the Warriors Three in personality and appeal, and postulate how much popcorn they buy. If one of the movies is Sex and the City 2, which of the Warriors would most like to see that?





10. If you were going to use the SHIELD helicarrier as a bullet, who would you drop it on? Would it be Oprah?





11. Why does Spider-Man feel so much anger and resentment towards Norman Osborn? Oh, yeah, that Gwen thing. Sorry, never mind about this question.





12. Apparently the Sentry was the most powerful and important superhero in the Marvel Universe since its beginning. Choose a major Marvel Comics event of the past and explain how he saved the world much better than anyone else. Extra points for explaining "Atlantis Attacks."





13. Match each one of the Dark Avengers to the Seven Deadly Sins. Now match each one of them to the Seven Dwarfs.





14. Believed to be murdered, both Captain America and Batman were actually hit by time bullets and sent careening through history. Which historical events do you think they got to team up together in? You'd buy a comic book based on that, right?





15. Where were the Pussycat Dolls during all this?