Thor vs. Silver Surfer: an instant classic

The asgardian god versus the sky-rider of the spaceways, the former herald of the devourer of worlds, Galactus. Thor vs. Silver Surfer. This is one cover worth looking at every day (the story inside isn't bad at all, either):



I love this (John Buscema) one. And you?

Sam

Orkey's stuff, part 2: Johnny Storm: the human...torch?

You know Stan created the Fantastic Four to compete with DC's growing superhero line. You know he wanted a mixture of realism with golden age archetypes. Thus, he gave us the genius stretchy father figure, the invisible mother figure, the super strong monstrous older brother and the hotheaded not-a-teen-sidekick younger brother.

Aye, history was made when the first issue put the spin in the spinner racks.

But I wasn't there then. Wasn't even born. For me, the Human Torch was Johnny Storm in cartoon form. Yep, the 60's FF cartoon lead me to reading comics and finally years later collecting them. My first FF book had Medusa replacing Sue and Johnny wearing an orange to me costume.


This red costume was Johnny's way to pay homage to the original Human Torch. The who? I didn't know until I bought a King-Sized FF book that reprinted "The Torch That Was". It seems there was an android Torch before there was a human Torch. This hero fell in the Nevada desert and the Mad Thinker got his hands on him and remade him into a foe of our Fantastic Four.

This good Stan and Jack tale concluded with the first Torch dying and the FF placing him on a lab table as his final resting place. A sad ending.

Comics being comics, this was not the android's end. He came back. First, as an Avenger's time travelling foe and later as an Invader. When he was in the pages of the Avengers, Marvel made an error and left the android, Jim Hammond in the present time. Marvel would clear the air later in the letter pages by informing the readers that Jim had returned to his proper time off-panel.

But it was too late. I had high hopes that the original Torch was back in modern Marvel. Why not have two Torches around? Just change Jim's name to the Torch or even Toro, to pay homage to his fallen friend. I then wondered why Stan gave Johnny the powers of another Marvel/Timely hero in the first place?

He could had given Johnny powers swiped from another Golden Age company like he did with Plastic Man for Mr. Fantastic. Here comes the fun. What powers would you give Johnny?

Me? I have a few ideas.

Thanks to Stan's "Origin of Marvel Comics", I knew he like having flying heroes. But these fliers had to have a good reason for flight. Stan did not like how Superman flew. He wanted a reason like how the Human Torch flew because of his lighter than air flames. Later, Thor would fly because of his hammer and Spider-man "flies" due to his webbing. The reason did not have to be scientifically sound- just more realistic than "up, up and away".

So, how about Stan giving Johnny a big set of wings like Hawkman's? Not attached wings, but like the Wasp's. Johnny could cry "Wings on!" and these large wings seem to grow out of his back. Think a combo of Wasp and the Angel.

The youngest member of the Fantastic Four..meet the Angel! Nope. Not right. I think Stan would had wanted a more dramatic power for his first comic than just having wings (we had a simple Invisible Girl; don't need a Hawkman, too). Since we are now treading on mutant ground, what about giving Johnny the powers of Iceman? Fire's frozen opposite is ice. It is dramatic to see Iceman on his ice bridges "flying" across town as he hurls his assortment of ice blasts, ice 'balls' and many other shapes.

Bobby Drake could have had super speed or something for his debut.

Johnny Iceman doesn't work for you? How about Johnny the Human Nova, instead? Let's take a flying man and give him super speed. Perhaps John could hurl energy blasts err..cosmic ray blasts! Must give him a Stan Lee flaw to make him a Marvel hero!. Got it! The Human Nova cannot always fly. He, like our cars and jets, has limited "fuel" in his gas tank, so to speak. Thus, Johnny has to wear a parachute at all times. He never knows when he has exhausted his "fuel".

I just think the Human Torch was Marvel Comic's first cover boy and it was too bad when mentioning him, we have to say "original" or "Jim Hammond". I dislike DC comics for this very reason. The need to specify which Flash, Green Lantern, Robin or Atom I am talking about becomes annoying at times.

What- there are two Hawkeyes now? Check please!

Famous comic-book quotes!

In this new section we'll see some of what I think are the most famous comic-book quotes of all history. The first one, today, is by none other than Mary Jane Watson, from the first time she met Peter Parker, and the first time readers got to see her face, after many issues of seeing part of his body only...that was Stan Lee with his classic humor. Finally, Aunt May's efforts to date Peter with a girl were rewarded!

As an "amazed" Peter Parker stared at her, with his eyes and mouth wide open, MJ said:

Face it, tiger, you just hit the jackpot!

And though the original scene was drawn by none other than John Romita, this piece of art sums the feeling Peter got pretty well...


If you want to see the original, you just have to read Amazing Spider-Man #42 (1966), by Stan Lee and John Romita, where the first full Mary Jane appearance was shown.



See you, tigers!

Sam

Defending girls' movies!

Welcome to a new an exciting article by our guest-writer and guest-reviewer, David a.k.a Orkey! Enjoy!


Weepies. Soap Operas. Romance. Romantic Comedies. Love Stories.

I like a chick flick no matter what you call it. I would rather spend two hours in a dark room looking up at beautiful women than spend the same time looking at Arnold with a machine gun or Bruce with a revolver. But if some guys prefer to watch other men- to each his own.

I won't downgrade that guy. He can pretend he is his favorite action hero and I can pretend I am spending the evening with my favorite starlet. I don't mind action movies at all. Sure, I was push to see "Die Hard" by a friend, but I was just as entertained as everyone else in the theater.

I prefer movies with good characterizations and if the choice is a chick flick or an action movie, I will go with Meg Ryan over Bruce Willis any day. Chick flicks are formulic like action movies and this is the appeal. You know what to expect, just not quite sure how it will be presented.


Epic dramas, human dramas and fantasy/adventures are my favorite type of movies. Musicals and horror are at the other end of the scale. I do like my "Passage to India", but I did see "Beaches" not once.. but twice at the theaters. "Die Hard"? Just that one time. Skipped the sequels.

David a.k.a Orkey

House of M and the Avengers...again.

Remember that resistance band led by Luke Cage on the House of M reality? Well, though that series ended long ago, Marvel has decided that it is a good time to exploit any Avengers-related stuff, so a mini of 5 issues is coming out this November.


For more details, click here:

www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11751

Curious not to see Hawkeye with his HoM uniform but with his "normal" one...

Sam

Orkey remembers

Have you ever mixed a comic with a song? Not even when you were a child? Well, my collaborator Orkey did it, and he wants to share his little story with us:

AM radio, new comics from the shop and the certainty of getting a headache from reading in the car sums up a great childhood day for me. Course, my dog was not enjoying this with me. She had to stay at home, so this almost sums up a perfect day.

I credit my monthly trip to the comic shop for mixing up the Eric Clapton song for me then and now. "After Midnight" will always be "Captain Midnight" to my ears. My lyrics are superior to the ones Eric sings. It takes the innocence of a child to omit the sexual contents for superhero adventure. To exclude a night of passion with one fine lady for a call to action by Capt. Midnight, who will let everything hang out. Meaning, he will capture the bad guys and put everything right.



Being a pop fan, my head never bangs, but rather it gently bobs to the music. Headbanging and reading Giant-Size Avengers in a moving car? I leave the super heroics to the professionals. I am thankful my carsickness means getting a headache and not vomiting.

Course, I looked up Captain Midnight in my Steranko's History of Comic Book, vol. 1 and vol. 2. Was this corny ass figure with a clock striking midnight on his chest emblem interesting? He sure was! Being a child, I was more passive and accepting to odd things than I am as an adult reader. I think the good captain had aviator goggles, too.

Never have read a Capt. Midnight comic book. Always crank up the volume to Eric's song. Always choose to put aside his words and insert my ever changing ones. We have so many rock songs with sexual lyrics as it is. But only ONE song about Captain Midnight settling a drastic situation.

Maybe not we. Just me!

Archie Comics!

If you think we do not know the value of putting the comic back into comic book, just click on the suggested Silver Bullet Comics site. I will wait until you got a chance to do this and return.

See? Most people would had directed you to another damn serious site. Not me!! I direct you to Silver Bullet's Archie page!! Like you still read the adventures of Archie, Jughead..still cannot decide if it is going to be Betty or Veronica.

I want you to recall the time when comic books were pure fun. I dare you to look at any upcoming Archie book cover and not feel the good cheer. I hope you are at work and your co-workers are looking at your screen when you do this. Spread the cheer!

Archie now and forever.

Now this is fun.

Sam & David

Color in comics

It is as key a factor to attract the reader as the plot or the drawing. It sets the tone, changes the mood, can even damage the artist's original drawings, or make them look much better, filling them with life.

Color can turn you down, or make you think that you are looking at a bright piece of art, fresh and three-dimensional. And nowadays, with computer coloring, this old art has changed, because tones can be more subtle and colors can be digitally mixed as the writer imagines it.

I chose one classic example of how colors can make a page grow, be alive. It features two of the first Avengers, it is an scene from Captain America #110 by Steranko. Here it goes:



If you look at the backgrounds, they have different colors like strong red because of the action that was about to explode, blue background because of Captain America, or the green background on the big panel with Cap entering the scene. This green background was clearly chosen because the Hulk was the other character at play here, the force of nature who needed to be stopped.
So one can play a little with colors to give the art a new direction, and in this case it almost resembles a piece of pop art, don't you think?

See? I told you it was important!

Sam

Good storytelling

I just finished reading Cap's last issue. Man, that's good work. Nice art, a plot that moves fast without wasting a single page, a writer that gets inside the minds of the characters and shows the different angles, different approaches, they are taking towards trying to resolve the mystery of Captain America's murder.

Ed Brubaker, as he has been doing since issue #26, right after the "death of Cap issue", divides the issue in chapters, each of them featuring a different character. You can see, however, that their plots are about to collide into one really interesting story.

On the other hand, just last week I read the last New Avengers and Mighty Avengers issues, as a longtime Avengers fan. Well, though a few months ago I was enjoying the New Avengers title after Civil War, now all I see is Marvel giving Bendis "carte blanche" to do anything he wants and what's worse, taking the time/pages he wants.

What I mean is we find that a whole issue is just plain talk and the new team falling from the skies, with only an interesting point (that took two or three pages) at the end.

Here's the difference between two titles that are clearly moving on, setting new stages for Avengers characters (don't forget that the main characters on the Cap title right now are the Falcon, the Black Widow, Tony Stark and Bucky). One goes fast, things happening on each issue and has deep introspection on characters without taking five pages to go to the point, where the other titles (NA and MA) are clearly written for the trade paperback form, in a really slow motion...

Will that change for the best? Knowing Bendis' style and seeing that Marvel's chiefs adore him, I don't think so...

Sam