Saturday, November 21, 2009

Separated at Birth: Don't go in the water for one hour after after dying

UXM #101/AWC #71
L: [Uncanny] X-Men #101 (October 1976), art by Dave Cockrum
R: Avengers West Coast #71 (June 1991), art by Tom Morgan and Danny Bulandi

(Click picture to Titanic-size)



365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 325

What If v2. #11
Panel from What If? v.2 #11 (March 1990), script and pencils by Jim Valentino, inks by Hilary Barta, colors by Tom Vincent, letters by Phil Felix



Saturday Morning Cartoon: Mr. Magoo for Stag Brew



1960s Mr. Magoo animated commercials for regional midwest beer Stag Brew, commercials created by United Productions of America


Friday, November 20, 2009

Wolvie needs food badly.

Marvel Comics Presents #93
Cover of Marvel Comics Presents #93 (December 26, 1991), art by Todd Foxx



365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 324

Thing: Freakshow #1
Panel from The Thing: Freakshow #1 (August 2002), script by Geoff Johns, pencils by Scott Kolins, inks by Andy Lanning, colors by David Self, letters by Randy Gentile



Thursday, November 19, 2009

All these comics and not one Dark Reign tie-in.

Marvel Subscription as
Marvel Comics subscription ad, as seen in Werewolf by Night #29 (May 1975)


So you think there's a lot of Marvel Comics to buy each month in 2009...check out 1975! Sure, there's no multiple Avengers or X-Men or Spider-Man titles, but look what you would get: classic cancelled comics like Arrgh! Frankenstein! War is Hell! Our Love Story! Chamber of Chills! (That last one, by the way, was just a refrigerator.)

If you look at that subscription list carefully, can you count the number of titles that are still around today without having been rebooted to a new #1 at some point? Go ahead, start counting...I'll wait for you right here...keep counting...write down the numbers if you need to...

That's right...NONE! Not a single one of these titles had an uninterrupted run; every single one of them was either cancelled or renumbered to start a new series, and only a handful (Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, and Thor) have resumed their regular numbering. In fact, there's only one title currently being published by Marvel that still retains its original numbering without having been rebooted...and it ain't on the list, not quite. Give up? Uncanny X-Men, very nearly cancelled but not quite, was in reprints until 1975. Giant-Size X-Men, which is on this list, would herald in a new age of confusing crossovers, Chris Claremont's fetishes, and, eventually, Gambit.

Speakin' of Giant-Size X-Men #1, wouldn't you have loved to pick that up at its 1975 price of 50¢? Or for that matter, any book on this list...or why not...all of them? Just for fun, I computed that if all of these books came out in one single month (they didn't, but work with me here)...they'd cost you a total of $31.50. You'd get eighty-six comics for your money. And one of them would be

Spidey Super Stories #8

Comic: 35¢.
Spidey fighting the Mole Man while the multi-ethnic pop group The Short Circus perform their new hit "Jelly Belly" above him? Priceless.



From The Electric Company: Morgan Freeman as DJ Mel Mounds introduces The Short Circus (including Irene Cara!) sings their #1 hit single "Jelly Belly." Hey, Rita Moreno digs it!



365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 323

Muppet Wikia
Panel from Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #48 (June 2009), script by Paul Tobin, pencils and inks by Denis Medri, colors by Soto Color, letters by Nate Piekos
(Click picture to retweet-size)



Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Spider-Ham, Spider-Ham/Does whatever a Spider can/Gets into lots of scuffles/Catches thieves just like truffles

Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham
Cast of characters from the Marvel/Star comic book Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham, full-page by Steve Mellor from Marvel Age Annual #3 (1986)
(Click picture to ham-size)


Spider-HamI'm very fond of Marvel's attempt at the venerable funny-animal parody comic, Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham...it was one of the few kid-oriented Star Comics that actually had an appeal to pre-exsiting Marvel fans. Populated by characters whose names were groan-inducing, delightfully-bad animal puns on Marvel's super heroes (Deerdevil! The Fantastic Fur! Goose Rider! Ducktor Doom!) and some distinctive fluid and delightfully cartoon-inspired art (mostly by Joe Abelo, Mark Armstrong, and Steve and Mike Mellor), I frequently hope for a Marvel trade paperback...heck, I'd settle for a crayon-it-yourself Essential Peter Porker. After all, it doesn't need to be in color and nobody will get confused...I'm sure every Marvel fan will be able to understand what the pig meant.

Essential Peter Porker


Spider-Ham came back relatively recently in an almost universally lambasted Civil War one-shot appearance, I'm betting the little bacon-ball still has a lot of friends out there: Marvel fans voted him the Spider-Guy they wanted to see on the Mike Wieringo alternate cover of Amazing Spider-Man #528:

ASM #528


Hey Joey Q! With the rest of the Star original characters reappearing in this year's X-Babies miniseries, isn't it time to bring Your Friendly Neighbor Spider-Ham back to comics? C'mon...don't hog all the fun! Look, we'll even let you bring back this guy:

Hambit



365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 322

UFF #8
Panel from Ultimate Fantastic Four #8 (August 2004), script by Warren Ellis, pencils by Stuart Immonen, inks by Wade Von Grawbadger, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Chris Eliopoulos

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

You know of course this means war.

Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes
Live Action Looney Tunes


365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 321

MAFF #47
Splash page from Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #47 (June 2009), script by Paul Tobin, pencils by Vincenç Villagrasa, colors by Andrew Dalhouse, letters by Nate Piekos

(Click picture to Mister-Green-Genes-size)



Monday, November 16, 2009

Sponsored advertisement FAIL

Muppet Wikia
As seen here and throughout the Muppet Wiki on November 16, 2009

(Click picture to Sweetums-size)



What If...Monty Python Wrote Marvel Comics?

Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7 Silver Surfer #7
All panels from Silver Surfer #7 (August 1969), script by Stan Lee, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Sal Buscema, letters by Sam Rosen



365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 320

FF #548
Panel from Fantastic Four #548 (October 2007), script by Dwayne McDuffie, pencils by Paul Pelletier, inks by Rick Magyar, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Rus Wooton



Sunday, November 15, 2009

Ten of a Kind: And Ann B. Davis as The Hulk





















(More Ten of a Kind here.)


365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 319

FF: World's Greatest Heroes
Screenshot from Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes "Impossible," (June 23, 2007), featuring—who else?—The Impossible Man



Sunday Morning Bullyfilm: Breakfast at Forbidden Planet