From the first line of the Genesis 1:3 to the radioactive arachnid bite that turned scrawny Peter Parker into a spider-man to the titular face-hugging creature in Alien, the greatest stories ever told all owe their beginnings to a single metaphorical light-bulb going off in someone’s head. (more…)
“If they can make it there, they’ll make it anywhere.”
In this paraphrased line from “New York, New York,” Frank Sinatra summed up the role the Big Apple has played for superheroes across comic book history. (Sinatra was possibly himself a mutant with those freakish blue eyes.) After all, the vast majority of tall buildings a hero might leap in a single bound are located in New York City – or at least based on a real-life counterpart. (more…)
The place – New York Comic Con 2011.
Amongst the throng of autograph-hungry fans sandwiched between a tiny table and the massive DC Comics booth, the atmosphere and air of anticipation was palpable. (more…)
I came across a list of the 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century on the CBR forums and thought that is a list that should be put to the test. To that end I will read and review every comic on that list and report to you faithful readers as to exactly why this comic book should be recognized as a piece of comic book history.
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Tales of Suspense #39
Marvel Comics
(March 1963)
Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby
Tales of Suspense #1-38 were published under Atlas Comics and ran from January 1959 until August 1962 before falling under the Marvel banner. It showcased science-fiction mystery/suspense stories written mostly by Stan Lee. Until…
who? Who? WHO?
Who? Or what, is the newest, most breath-taking, most sensational super-hero of all…?
IRON MAN!
He lives!
He walks!
He Conquers!
From the talented bull-pen where the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor and your other favorite super-heroes were born! (more…)
I came across a list of the 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century on the CBR forums and thought that is a list that should be put to the test. To that end I will read and review every comic on that list and report to you faithful readers as to exactly why this comic book should be recognized as a piece of comic book history.
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Fantastic Four #1
Marvel Comics
(November 1961)
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
I remember hearing a story where the head of Timely Comics (pre-Marvel) and National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) were playing golf, and the DC chief says “yeah, we got this book out, it’s a team of superheroes, called the Justice League, selling like hotcakes!” The head of Timely, which was mostly into publishing monster comics at the time, turned to young Stan Lee and said “make me a book, kid, and have it be a team of heroes, but you know, keep the whole monster thing in there to keep these books selling to our regular customers.” Maybe that’s not how it was, but I like the Mad Men aspect of business suits out talking about the big bucks in publishing illustrated periodicals, always on the lookout for the next big thing.
The Fantastic Four was that next big thing, the landmark comic that is essentially the birth of the Marvel Universe, the beginning of the creative dream team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby working in what would become the ‘Marvel Method’. So with Stan eager to make a name for himself and to write comics that he wanted to read, and with Jack Kirby eager for more work outside of DC (then National Comics), Atlas Comics published Fantastic Four #1. What an odd group of superpowered individuals, all fighting a giant monster on the cover. It really has that pulp adventure tone, a team of explorers, altered by cosmic radiation and therefore the perfect people to tackle all manner of bizarre otherworldly menaces. Here on the cover though we have Invisible Girl all up in peril, the Human Torch all bravado and no action, the Thing, his back to us but ready to get into the fray, and Mr. Fantastic is tangled…in ropes. But this all of them in one mighty magazine and it has a nice design-sense to it. That logo though is pure awesomeness. It’s late 50′s pop-quirkiness at its finest. (more…)
I came across a list of the 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century on the CBR forums and thought that is a list that should be put to the test. To that end, I will read and review every comic on that list and report to you faithful readers as to exactly why this comic book should be recognized as a piece of historical merit.
Incredible Hulk 01
Marvel Comics
(May 1962)
Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Having been on a Hulk spree for the last six months or so, from the animated movies Hulk vs. Thor/Wolverine and Planet Hulk to the comics, World War Hulk, Skaar Son of Hulk, Savage She-Hulk, Red Hulk, A-Bomb, and all of a sudden the Hulk corner of the Marvel Universe is out of control, running rampant in the madcap style of Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuiness.
So when I wanted to start a review of the 100 Greatest Comics I decided to start here with the STRONGEST ONE THERE IS. Let’s take it back to the beginning.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK: THE STRANGEST MAN OF ALL TIME!!
Is he MAN or MONSTER or…is he BOTH?
Fantasy as you like it! (more…)
The NHL has to be very happy as they ring in 2011. Ecstatic. Giddy, even. All this because their showcase event, the New Year’s Day outdoor tradition that is the Winter Classic, has been an unmitigated success since it was launched in Buffalo in 2008. This year’s edition pitted the league’s two marquee players against each other, as Alexander Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals beat Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 under the lights at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field, and the end result was the highest TV rating the NHL has seen in the United States since 1975. And that’s despite rain pushing the game from its usual mid-afternoon time slot into prime time. As a hockey fan, I’m thrilled that the NHL has struck pay dirt with this idea, because so many of their other ideas have fallen flat. And they’re about to fall flat again thanks to a new ally – Stan Lee.
Yes, true believers. That Stan Lee. (more…)
