Saturday, September 24, 2011

Same Story, Different Cover: Kulkulkan, Fran, and Ollie


L: [Uncanny] X-Men #26 (November 1966), pencils by by Werner Roth and Jack Kirby (Kulkulkan assist), inks by Dick Ayers
R: [Uncanny] X-Men #74 (February 1972), reprinting X-Men #26, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Frank Giacoia
(Click picture to Kulkulkanisize)



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 267


Panels from Thor #398 (December 1988), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Ron Frenz, inks by Don Heck, colors by Greg Wright, letters by John Workman, Jr.

Stan Lee Saturdays #10: You sunk my battleship


Cover of Navy Combat #19 (August 1958), art by Joe Maneely
L-R: G. Ward (?), Stan Lee, Joe Maneely, John Severin



Friday, September 23, 2011

Vox Populi


Panel from Secret Origins Special v.2 #1 (1989), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Mike Hoffman, inks by Kevin Nowlan, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by Todd Klein



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 266


Panel from Marvel Super-Heroes v.3 #15 (October 1993), script by Walt Simonson, pencils by Joe Barney, inks by Frank Turner, colors by Sarra Mossoff, letters by John Costanza Inks: Colors: Letters:



Gwen-Tossin', Day 5: Meanwhile, on Earth-7736...




Pages from What If? #24 (December 1980), script by Tony Isabella; breakdowns by Gil Kane; finishes by Frank Giacoia with Carl Gafford, Peter Poplaski, Ron Zalme, and Joe Albelo; colors by Joe Rosas, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hey Little Stuffed Bulls! Comics!











365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 265


Panels from Marvel Spotlight #30 (October 1976), script by Len Wein, breakdowns by John Buscema, finishes by Joe Sinnott, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Joe Rosen



Gwen-Tossin', Day 4: No wonder Spidey couldn't stop the Green Goblin...he's huge


Page from Amazing Spider-Man #365 (August 1992), plot by Tom DeFalco, script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by John Romita Sr., colors by Joe Rosas, letters by Chris Eliopoulos



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Green Lantern Has Never Heard of Wikipedia


Panel from Super Powers v.2 #2 (October 1985), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Greg Theakston, colors by Joe Orlando, letters by David Cody Weiss



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 264


Panel from Thor v.2 #12 (June 1999), script by Dan Jurgens, pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Richard Starkings and Wes Abbott



Gwen-Tossin', Day 3: The Fine Art of Gwen-Tossin'


from Marvels: Portraits of a Universe #3 (May 1995), art by Hector Gomez
(Click picture to big-emotional-moment-size)



Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Robin Hood Riding on a Pig

Now, we've had Australian Robin Hoods...



...and American Robin Hoods...



...and a New Zealander Robin Hood...



And a Robin Hood who can speak in an English accent!



...but have you ever seen Robin Hood riding on a pig? Let me answer that for you: no. No, you have not.

Let's remedy that.

The action begins in DC's The Brave and the Bold #6, back in those pre-Batman Team-Up days when B&B featured blazing adventures of The Silent Knight, The Golden Gladiator, The Viking Prince, The Neanderthal Warrior, The Scarlet Swashbuckler, The Reluctant Bullfighter, The Conscientious Objector, The New Yorker, The Nashville Network, and The Guy Who Definitely Isn't Batman, Not Yet. (I may have made up one or two of these.) Also, the hero of Nottinghamshire in his stinking outfit (not many washing machines in the forest) Robin Hood! And, his band of Merry Men. And Maid Marion. Wouldn't you like to see some of their adventures in their famous forest? Sure would!

Deep in the woods, Robin Hood, dressed in his traditional outfit of Lincoln Green Red, his band of outlaws, and Gloop and Gleep from The Herculoids hear the terrifying tale of the newest danger in Sherwood: a giant boar! That's boar (a wild pig), not bore (a wild Glenn Beck). On that, at least, Robin has lucked out.


Panels from The Brave and the Bold #6 (June-July 1956), script by Bob Haney (of course), pencils and inks by Joe Kubert





But Robin can't shoot the boar! That's because it is made of...adamantium! (First appearance, Wolverine-Boar, Brave and the Bold #6.)




Not only that, but Robin allows himself to be captured by the wily boar and his group of tiny warriors! Ah, so this is the infamous Robbin' Hog and his Merrie Midgets! Or, as Occam's Razorback would tell us, a simpler explanation is that it's a trained boar used to guide Robin into a trap set by the wily Sheriff of Nottingham. Which is a pity, because I want to see a Robbin' Hog adventure. "Stand and deliver...your slops and mash!"




Say, why wasn't Robin able to shoot that boar with his Hawkeye™ brand Nev-R-Miss Arrows? Well, as Robin's tortured inner thoughts tell us, the pig's covered with armor painted blue. Whoever it was in the S. of N.'s R&D department who came up with this got a raise, or at least possibly his first-born child back.




Setting the standard for supervillains from Goldfinger to his cheap brother Butterfinger, the Sheriff does not put a loaded Glock against Robin's head and blow his brains out, but instead puts him in a pig pit. Oh, well, that actually doesn't sound too bad at all! Soon Robin will be noshing on rich barbecued pork ribs slathered with tangy sauce and...oh, not that kind of pig pit. I've made another one of my silly mistakes. This pit will kill him.




Devo shows up to whip it good while Robin Hood takes advantage of the matador knowledge he learned in an earlier adventure set in South America (Brave and the Bold issue #3, "Robin Goes Bananas").




Now here's where you get what was labelled on the tin. Bask in the glory that is Robin Hood Riding on a Pig!




RIDING ON A PIG, MAN!




Thus, after aiding Robin with his daring escape in a stunt for which even Errol Flynn would have demanded full access to Olivia de Havilland, this noble beast became one of the most renowned of Robin Hood's famous band: The Pork Knight! Fighting alongside the valiant outlaws of Sherwood Forest until rightful King Richard was restored at last to the throne (and he'll be out in just a couple minutes), The Pork Knight is mentioned in tales, ballads, myths, legends, and is even rumored to be the distant medieval ancestor of today's most dangerous warthog warrior: The Punisher's Battle-Pig!!



Sadly, we see no more of this little piggy in the Robin Hood tale, the rest of which is taken up with a celebration of kites (!) and Robin Hood attacking the Sheriff by hiding in a flying box kite (!!) to rescue Richard the Lionhearted (!!!?$@&^!) from a tower in Nottingham. Although he isn't pictured in the panels, I like to think the blue boar was right alongside the Merry Men, firing arrows into the air and making hearty quips with the others about the chances for medical recovery from a dangerous arrow wound in the thirteenth century. And thus, he ran into legend, blue chain mail and all.

Let's check to see if Robin and Company enjoyed this post, shall we?



I'll take that as a vote of cheery confidence! And on that bombshell: play us off, Bryan Adams!




365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 263


Page from Journey Into Mystery #122 (November 1965), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Artie Simek



Gwen-Tossin', Day 2: Better check the oil on that thing, Gobby


Panel from Amazing Spider-Man #510 (September 2004), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Mike Deodato, inks by Joe Pimentel, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Cory Petit



Monday, September 19, 2011

My Favourite '70s Brit Detective TV Series!




The Interceptors, Top Gear

Ten of a Kind (International Talk Like a Pirate Day Edition): Oooga shaka oooga oooga*

Arrr, me hearties! In honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day, the holiday mocked by 78% of your cool internet commentators, we once again bring you, as we have in the past, ten pirate comic book covers. Except this time, Jim lad, it's really Ten of a Kind: all cover featuring J. M. Barrie's is-he-or-is-he-not in-or-out-of-copyright's Captain Hook! Gather up your ten crocodiles and check these out!























As always, if you're looking for fifty men on a dead man's chest other pirate-themed comic covers, well, walk the plank on over to International Talk Like a Pirate Day Ten of a Kinds for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Arrrrrrrrrrr!

(More Ten of a Kind here. And get ready: only three more until Ten of a Kind #300!)


*If you can put together this reference, man, your mind works as weirdly as mine.



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 262



Panels from Marvel Fanfare #13 (March 1984), script by Alan Zelenetz, pencils and inks by Charles Vess, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Jim Novak



Gwen-Tossin', Day 1: I'll tumble 4 ya

The Mid-Day Matinee this week, all week: Gwen-Tossin'! It's the Sport of Kings Goblins! I can't tell you exactly how how the scoring is computed—obviously, you get points for tossing Gwen off a bridge in the first place, but there's also extra points to be had for style, difficulty, and how loud Spidey yells "NO!" Trouble is, it can only be played once...unless you get some of those clones from Professor Miles Warren. Then, it's a party game for all! Let's all adjourn to the George Washington Brooklyn Bridge and have ourselves a weekly competition round of...Gwen-Tossin'! First up: original recipe Gwen-Tossin'!


from Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by John Romita Sr. and Tony Mortellaro, colors by David Hunt, letters by Artie Simek

Sunday, September 18, 2011