Brian Cronin
You Decide – Before the Man of Steel, Which Actor Do You Think Was the Definitive Superman?
This one is a bit more about who finishes SECOND, but WHO comes in second is still fascinating to me.
Check out the poll after the break…
Continue Reading »
The Great Comic Book Cover Homage Streak: Week 38
It occurs to me that it seems like many comic book covers are homages. Which is fine with me. I have no problem with it. It just made me think, though, how long could I go before I hit a week where NO new comic book was released that had a cover that was an homage to something? Let’s find out! Here is an archive of all the cover homages featured in the streak so far!
Last Day to Vote for Your Favorite Avengers Stories of All-Time!
Today is the last day for voting in our Greatest Avengers Stories of All-Time poll!
Click here to vote before 11:59 PM Pacific tonight!
Comic Book Six Degrees: Tomorrow Woman to Mega Man
I name two comic book characters. You then have to connect the two using only shared appearances in comic books (official appearances in comics only – no cameos like Terry Austin sneaking Popeye into the background of a panel and no outside comic book appearances, like cartoons and the like). You have to do so using less than six comics total. Covers and pin-ups do not count – only actual appearances in the same comic book story (so it doesn’t count if they each appeared in separate stories inside the same anthology). Mythological characters, public domain characters (other than public domain comic book characters, they’re free game) and real people (by the way, unless a fake name is used for a real person, like Ronald Raygun or whatever, you can use the person even if they are not officially named in the comic) are unique to their own comic book appearances (so DC’s Thor is different than Marvel’s Thor, DC’s Ronald Reagan is different from Marvel’s Ronald Reagan, etc.). But a licensed character is the same in all of their various comic book companies (so the Marvel Red Sonja is the same as the Dynamite Red Sonja) and approved appearances by a real person can go across comic book companies, as well (so, for instance, you can use Marv Wolfman from his Teen Titans appearance to connect with Marv Wolfman in his Fantastic Four appearance). Approval tends to be the key (except for public figures, of course).
Every week, whoever connects the two characters in the least amount of turns gets to pick the next week’s match (in the event of a tie, the winner is chosen randomly). Last week was Optimus Prime to Xena. Smokescreen was one of a lot of you folks to get it in three moves. Here is how Smokescreen connected the two…
Xena appears with Ash in Army of Darkness/Xena #1
Ash appears with Spider-Man in Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness #1
Spider-Man appears with Optimus Prime in Transformers #3 (Marvel, first series)
Smokescreen’s challenge is…
Tomorrow Woman to Mega Man
E-mail me your answers at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Do NOT post your answers in the comments section!
Whoever connects the two characters in the least amount of comics gets to pick the connection for next time around (I’ll pick a random winner in the event of a tie)!
Remember, only authorized appearances in comic books count (for instance, all the Marvel characters in Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck do not count)!
I Love Ya But You’re Strange – That Time Lois Lane Hypnotized a Baby to Make Superman Marry Her
Every week, I will spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories (basically, we’re talking lots and lots of Silver Age comic books). Here is the archive of all the installments of this feature. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have a suggestion for a future installment!
Today (based on a suggestion from Rob Hansen), we take a look at the time that Lois Lane tried to hypnotize Superman while he was trapped in a baby form. Be sure to check out the story, if only for one of the greatest (in other words, messed up) twist endings of the Silver Age!
Like A Fool I Mixed Them – Who’s That Dude With the Jewel in His Chest?
As you all know, superhero comic books are a serial medium, and superhero continuity, in particular, is an ever-changing status quo as characters change dramatically over the years. However, “classic” storylines are often viewed on their own and not as a part of whatever continuity was current at the time the story was released. As a result, when you look back at these storylines and the issues surrounding them, there often is a bit of a disconnect between viewing these stories as “timeless” and the reality that they are very much rooted in their own particular era.
This is the latest in a series (of indefinite length and regularity) of pieces looking at interesting overlaps in comic book continuity. Today, let’s look at the use of Bloodwynd in the Death of Superman (NOTE: This’ll take the place of Abandoned an’ Forsaked this week).
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
Week of Cool Superman Comic Book Moments – Superman Saves The World…For the Last TIme?
All week long we will feature brand-new Cool Superman Comic Book Moments (all from the 75 Greatest Superman Stories of All-Time). Here is an archive of all the past cool comic moments that I’ve featured so far over the years.
Today we finish up with a look at the finale to All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.
Continue Reading »
Superman Legends Revealed!
In honor of Superman’s new movie opening this weekend, we decided to spotlight past editions of Comic Book Legends Revealed that has featured Superman over the years!
Check them all out below!
Continue Reading »
Week of Cool Superman Comic Book Moments – Superman Makes An Entrance
All week long we will feature brand-new Cool Superman Comic Book Moments (all from the 75 Greatest Superman Stories of All-Time). Here is an archive of all the past cool comic moments that I’ve featured so far over the years.
Today we look at the awesome way that Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu first introduce Superman in his costume.
Continue Reading »
Comic Book Legends Revealed #423
Welcome to the four hundred and twenty-third in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous four hundred and twenty-two. This week, in honor of the Man of Steel opening today, it’s an All-Superman edition of CBLR (also, amusingly enough, this is CBLR #423, the same number as the last issue of the original Superman ongoing series)! Learn the odd origin of Superman’s S! Find out whether Jerry Siegel REALLY reviewed Philip Wylie’s novel, Gladiator! And finally, discover a odd series of edits involving Superman’s super-imagination!
Let’s begin!
Gimmick or Good? – Adventures of Superman #500
In this column, Mark Ginocchio (from Chasing Amazing) takes a look at the gimmick covers from the 1990s and gives his take on whether the comic in question was just a gimmick or whether the comic within the gimmick cover was good. Hence “Gimmick or Good?” Here is an archive of all the comics featured so far. We continue with 1993′s polybagged and peel-away cover of Adventures of Superman #500
Adventures of Superman #500 (published June 1993) – script by Jerry Ordway, art by Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood
Following the “Death of Superman” story and the subsequent “Funeral for a Friend,” arc, all of DC’s Superman titles went on hiatus for about three-to-four months until Adventures of Superman #500 was released with the teaser “back from the dead?!” So anyone in 1992-93 who had six months in the “how long before DC caves and resurrects Superman” pool, you probably made more money on that bet than you did on those 30 polybagged copies of Superman #75 you tried reselling to speculators.
Mirroring the “Death of Superman” comic, Adventures #500 was packaged in a white polybag with the iconic red “S” on the front. But wait … there’s more. The polybagged comic came with what retailers described as a “translucent removable cover” (I don’t know if I already removed it as a kid, but my current copy doesn’t have anything translucent on the front). The unbagged version of the comic had a standard cover. But wait … there’s more! DC also marketed a “Platinum Edition” of the polybagged comic, which actually came in a black bag with off-white lettering (as opposed to the blood red lettering on Superman #75’s polybag).
But what about inside the comic?
Continue Reading »
Week of Cool Superman Comic Book Moments – Superman Returns
All week long we will feature brand-new Cool Superman Comic Book Moments (all from the 75 Greatest Superman Stories of All-Time). Here is an archive of all the past cool comic moments that I’ve featured so far over the years.
Today, we take a look at a famous moment from Kingdom Come where Superman, well, you know, returns…
Continue Reading »
The Line it is Drawn #143 – Superman Team-Ups!
Go follow Comics Should Be Good on Twitter (if you have Twitter, that is – if you don’t, you can go sign up). Here is our Twitter page… http://twitter.com/csbg. And here are the Comics Should Be Good writers who are on Twitter (the links go to the person’s Twitter account) – myself, Greg Hatcher, Chad Nevett, Kelly Thompson, Bill Reed, Greg Burgas, Sonia Harris, Melissa K. and Ken H.
I update the blog’s Twitter account updates whenever a new post is put up on the blog, so it’s an easy way to keep up with the blog. In addition, I post new content on the blog’s Twitter account.
Now on to the bit!
So every week, I ask a question here. You reply to it on our Twitter page (just write @csbg with your reply) and our blog sketch artists will each pick one of your suggestions and I will post them here every week. So every week you will have a new question and you will see the choices picked from the previous week. Here is an archive of all the previous editions of The Line It Is Drawn!
To qualify, you have to be following us when you reply – so go follow us and then give your answer to the following question/challenge (All suggestions due by 2pm Pacific Friday).
The topic is…
In honor of the new season of The Venture Brothers, team-up or mash-up comic characters with Venture Brothers characters.
Read on for the sketches that came about courtesy of the last question/challenge!
In honor of next week’s opening of The Man of Steel, let’s do something basic. Team-ups of Superman and another comic book character.
Enjoy!
Week of Cool Superman Comic Book Moments – Life According to Darkseid
All week long we will feature brand-new Cool Superman Comic Book Moments (all from the 75 Greatest Superman Stories of All-Time). Here is an archive of all the past cool comic moments that I’ve featured so far over the years.
We continue the list with this powerful single page by Mark Millar and Mike Manley…
Cover Theme Game for 6/12
Every week you’ll get a brand-new comic cover theme game! The game works like this: I’ll show you three covers. They all have something in common, whether it be a character, a trait all three characters share, a connection between all three characters, a locale, a creator, a trait all three creators share, SOMEthing. And it isn’t something obvious like “They all have prices!” “They all have logos!” “They all feature a man!” “They are all Avengers (who ISN’T?)!” “They’re all dead (who HASN’T been killed off?)!” “They’ve all been cloned (who HASN’T been cloned?)!” “They’re all mutants! (who ISN’T a mutant?)” “They’re all legacy heroes (who ISN’T a legacy hero nowadays?)!” etc.
In addition, please note that you must have some familiarity with comic book history to correctly guess these comics. You cannot guess the connective theme just by looking at the covers solely, you must have some knowledge beyond just the covers. The connections will ONLY have to do with connections in the actual comic books (so no incidental connections like “they share the same last names of Vice Presidents,” etc. Now, if the three characters were each named Gerald Ford, that’d be another story, as that’d no longer be incidental).
If you come up with an answer that works outside of what I intended, I’ll give you credit (well, provided I think it fits, of course).
One more thing – if there are floating heads on the cover, ignore them! They don’t mean anything! Same thing with corner boxes!
If you think you know the answer, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Don’t answer in the comments. This way, people who check in at different times of the day can still get credit for answering it correctly!
Here is an archive of all the past cover theme games, plus their answers. Before each new installment, I’ll post the answers to the previous week’s game.
Good luck and enjoy! Continue Reading »
