Brian Cronin
Comic Book Legends Revealed #417
Welcome to the four hundred and seventeenth 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 sixteen. This week, was there really a Batman/Pokemon crossover? Did Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz have Dan Quayle as the villain of Eletkra: Assassin? And what’s the deal with DC and fixing errors in their reprints of old Superman stories?
Let’s begin!
The Line it is Drawn #137 – Comic Book Characters in Classic Music Videos!
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 3pm Pacific Friday).
The topic is…
Team-up or mash-up comic book characters and characters from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books (preferably, let’s stick with the characters who have appeared on the TV adaptation already)!
Read on for the sketches that came about courtesy of the last question/challenge!
In honor of our own Daniel Cox’s music video directorial debut (which you can see here), the theme is mash-up comic characters and famous music videos!
Enjoy!
Don’t Send Me No More Letters No – I Learned the Birds and the Bees From Mort Weisinger
In this feature I spotlight responses that amuse me for whatever reason by Mort Weisinger to letters fans wrote in to the Superman family of titles back in the 1950s and 1960s.
In this latest installment, Mort teaches children a new word that their parents might not want them to know…
Don’t Send Me No More Letters No – We Get It, Krypton is a Element. Enough Already.
Here’s a new feature where I just spotlight responses that amuse me for whatever reason by Mort Weisinger to letters fans wrote in to the Superman family of titles back in the 1950s and 1960s.
Today, it’s a response to a missive from a fan who noted the amusing coincidence that Superman’s home planet, Krypton, is the name of an element…
Cover Theme Game for 5/1
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 »
The Greatest Pre-Crisis Superboy Stories Ever Told!
Every day we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator. These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today’s list is the Greatest Pre-Crisis Superboy Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
The Greatest Alex Ross Stories Ever Told!
Every day we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator. These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today’s list is the Greatest Alex Ross Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
Comic Book Six Degrees: Prince Ra-Man to She-Ra
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 P’Gell to Miss Misery. Eric Henry was one of a bunch of people who connected the two in three moves. Here is how Eric connected the two…
P’Gell was in “Batman/The Spirit” with Batman
Batman was in “DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar” #1 with Midnighter
Midnighter was in “Coup D’etat” #1 with Miss Misery
Eric’s challenge is…
Prince Ra-Man to She-Ra
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)!
The Greatest Two-Face Stories Ever Told!
Every day we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator. These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today’s list is the Greatest Two-Face Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
The Greatest Denny O’Neil Stories Ever Told!
Every day in April we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator (and throughout the month, you’ll get daily chances to vote for NEXT week’s lists). These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today’s list is the Greatest Denny O’Neil Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
The Past Was Close Behind: Marvel’s 1993 Annual Characters Are Built to Last, Unlike Squirrel Girl
This feature spotlights moments, exchanges, etc. from older comics that take on a brand new light when read in concert with later comic books. Here is the archive of previous installments.
I’m going a bit out of the norm and instead featuring a particularly amusing (in retrospect) article from a 1993 Marvel Preview magazine discussing Marvel’s 1993 Annuals, which each introduced a brand-new Marvel character. In the article, Squirrel Girl is used as an example of a character who did NOT last….
The Greatest Thanos Stories Ever Told!
Every day in April we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator (and throughout the month, you’ll get daily chances to vote for NEXT week’s lists). These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today’s list is the Greatest Thanos Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
Continue Reading »
You Decide: Which DC Character Has Been Translated Best Into the WB’s Arrow?
This week, our question is about the new TV series Arrow. It has done different versions of a lot of different DC Comics characters. Which one do you think they’ve done the best job with?
The Great Comic Book Cover Homage Streak: Week 31
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!
Comic Book Legends Revealed #416
Welcome to the four hundred and sixteenth 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 fifteen. This week, what Marvel “Create a villain” contest winner nearly saw his character become a founding member of the All-New, All-Different X-Men and instead went TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS before he saw his character finally appear in a Marvel comic? Plus, discover if the cast of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was based on the cast of Archie! Finally, marvel at another classic Superman story with a major plot hole resolved in a 1970s reprint!
Let’s begin!
