Here are the five winners!!

Blair Davis

Phillip Kwong

William Moore

Paul Schweedler

Cory Stauffer

I heard the total of people who entered, and it was quite impressive. Glad so many folks were interested!

Congratulations to the winners!

3 Comments

• At October 26, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  Aw, man! Guess I'll have to shell out for one.

• At October 27, 2009, The Ugly American wrote:

  The next contest is to guess how many people entered.

• At October 27, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Congratulations, guys!

Enter here today!

Enter here.

12 Comments

• At October 10, 2009, Tuomas wrote:

  The contest is open to all citizens located in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

  The rest ...

• At October 10, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Does Puerto Rico count? We are American Territory, but sometimes contest rules can't seem to make their minds about it.

• At October 10, 2009, Ralf H. wrote:

  I'm very disappointed that readers from Europe (Germany in my case) can't join the contest.

• At October 10, 2009, atma wrote:

  @Ralf

  Me too. I'm from france but i read mainly english sites for info, and every single contest shuns poor old ...

• At October 10, 2009, TomerS wrote:

  Ah, dammit. I sent my details without seeing the rule about location.

• At October 10, 2009, Timo R. wrote:

  Only Great Britain of all of Europe? There is life elsewhere!

• At October 10, 2009, rhod wrote:

  Life yes, but not important life ;)

• At October 11, 2009, Tuomas wrote:

  It seems like a weirdly arbitrary rule to limit the contest to English-speaking countries only. I don't think it costs ...

• At October 11, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Typical anglo-saxonic mentality. Well, no big deal since I already got the book.

  (To be fair, most comic contests sponsored by ...

• At October 13, 2009, Nuno wrote:

  I bet there's a lot of us (non anglo-saxonic people) reading this blog daily.

• At October 13, 2009, Nuno wrote:

  "on a daily basis"

• At October 22, 2009, Reminisce the classic | Camping Holidays wrote:

  [...] Win an Autographed Copy of Was Superman a Spy! (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

Here's the issue in question (click to enlarge):

Read on for some info about the show and the winner of the contest!

Here's the info on the show:

"Fear Itself", the suspense and horror anthology series from the creators of "Masters of Horrors" and aired on NBC, is now available to watch for free on FEARnet's website and VOD service. Each installment bears the signature mark of one of a host of award-winning filmmakers, including John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London"), Darren Bousman ("Saw II, III and IV") and Ronny Yu ("Freddy vs. Jason"). A line-up of gifted film and television actors star in the series, and the teleplays are penned by luminaries from the horror/suspense world.

"New Year's Day," directed by Darren Bousman ("Saw II, III and IV") and written by Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night") from a story by Paul Kane, is now live on FEARnet. The episode is about a young woman who wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by horrifying zombies. Take a look at these behind the scenes videos new to FEARnet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6f5409AbyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuKYJ8C5eIg

Check out the official "Fear Itself" page for all available episodes:
http://www.fearnet.com/shows/fear_itself/index.html

I did a random drawing out of all of the entrants, and the winner was...

Brian Lynch!

Congrats, Brian! Drop me a line with your mailing address, so we can mail it out to you!

1 Comments

• At January 31, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  Congrats to Brian Lynch

Good luck!

20 Comments

• At January 13, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  Is it somewhat shakey anatomy?

• At January 13, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  No pupils in the eyes of background characters.

• At January 13, 2009, joecab wrote:

  or as they used to say in Pogo's "Li'l Arf & Nonnie," "blankety" eyeballs. (And it sure made it tough ...

• At January 13, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  There's superheroes fighting villains in each of the books. ;-)

• At January 13, 2009, manglr wrote:

  There is a woman trying to break up a fight in each instance?

• At January 13, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  Someone gets punched. OR All is not what it seems.

  No, wait! Both!

• At January 13, 2009, Matt wrote:

  I've never read the Justice League one and I'm not familiar with the character, but the other two feature at ...

• At January 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  True, Matt, but what superhero has never been mind controlled?

  In the Emperor Doom OGN, the entire Marvel Universe (more ...

• At January 13, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  I recognize a couple characters in the Justice League Quarterly (is that the Jewish mystic from Ostrander's Suicide Squad & ...

• At January 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  All three feature characters who have been tricked into fighting their allies?

• At January 13, 2009, Matthew Johnson wrote:

  Do all three feature Jewish characters? There's Leonard Samson, Seraph from the Global Guardians, and... hmm... I'm too lazy to ...

• At January 13, 2009, mrjayberry wrote:

  I don't know who is actually on the cover for the Global Gaurdians but if the flying lady is Owlwomen ...

• At January 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yay, jayberry!

• At January 13, 2009, Greg Geren wrote:

  I didn't know that, and I live in Tulsa!

• At January 13, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Glad someone got it, I was starting to make some pretty weird guesses.

• At January 13, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  Man, Brian, these ones where you make the theme "all these feature characters from one city" it's crazy hard. ...

• At January 14, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  And today I learned that people from Tulsa are "Okies"...

  What's the singular?

• At January 14, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Just drop the S!

• At January 15, 2009, TimGunn wrote:

  I was going to say guest stars with the same hair color as the series regular (Polaris and Doc Samson, ...

• At January 17, 2009, Anthony Strand wrote:

  I just want to make it known that I miss the line "They all feature a man!"

  I don't even know ...

Here's the issue in question (click to enlarge):

Here's the info on the show:

"Fear Itself", the suspense and horror anthology series from the creators of "Masters of Horrors" and aired on NBC, is now available to watch for free on FEARnet's website and VOD service. Each installment bears the signature mark of one of a host of award-winning filmmakers, including John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London"), Darren Bousman ("Saw II, III and IV") and Ronny Yu ("Freddy vs. Jason"). A line-up of gifted film and television actors star in the series, and the teleplays are penned by luminaries from the horror/suspense world.

"New Year's Day," directed by Darren Bousman ("Saw II, III and IV") and written by Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night") from a story by Paul Kane, is now live on FEARnet. The episode is about a young woman who wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by horrifying zombies. Take a look at these behind the scenes videos new to FEARnet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6f5409AbyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuKYJ8C5eIg

Check out the official "Fear Itself" page for all available episodes:
http://www.fearnet.com/shows/fear_itself/index.html

Just post in the comments if you want to enter a random drawing for the issue!

48 Comments

• At January 9, 2009, Guedo79 wrote:

  Random giveaway, that requires no work on my part?

  Sign me up.

• At January 9, 2009, Chuck Daniel wrote:

  Heck yeah! LOVE Steve Niles' work...rough, edgy...dark, dark stuff.

• At January 9, 2009, Matt wrote:

  Sweet, random give away! I'd like to add myself to the list.

• At January 9, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  I never realised that Ben Templesmith drew this.

  I'd really like one now.

  Can I have one please?

• At January 9, 2009, Dial Z for Zombie wrote:

  This show is great! I think it replaced Masters of Horror. I haven't watched every one but New Year's Day ...

• At January 9, 2009, Sat wrote:

  Free Stuff - I will have it!

• At January 9, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Yes please! I quite enjoyed the WWII Russian Front installment!

• At January 9, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  I like horror, I like free stuff. Sign me up!

• At January 9, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  Enter me in, please.

• At January 9, 2009, Keith wrote:

  I would like to enter. I bought the original 30 Days of Night miniseries before everyone jumped on the ...

• At January 9, 2009, valerie m wrote:

  yes yes yes - please enter me!

• At January 9, 2009, Robbie wrote:

  Yeah...I likes me some Templesmith/Niles team up

• At January 9, 2009, JP wrote:

  Enter me... thanks

• At January 9, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  Whoa, whoa, whoa, there are actually people in existence who LIKE Steve Niles' writing? How can one possibly defend that?

• At January 9, 2009, BadSpock wrote:

  Sign me up, please!

• At January 9, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Now that's what I call a very cool collectible. Sign me up.

• At January 9, 2009, Eldric IV wrote:

  You enter the random drawing by posting in the comments.

  What if all you posted was, "Do not enter me in ...

• At January 9, 2009, Jamie Tarquini wrote:

  Oh man, that is COOL!!!

• At January 9, 2009, Brian Lynch wrote:

  Oh hell YES.

  And in regards to Eldric, no.

  The universe would implode if you wrote, "This is not a contest ...

• At January 9, 2009, David wrote:

  Oh, Lady Randomocity, bless me with this wondrous gift. (Yes, the god of random numbers is a "Lady")

• At January 9, 2009, Cameron wrote:

  Because I should actually write something. How does Fear Itself stack up to MoH?

• At January 9, 2009, Chrysus wrote:

  I'm in. I love the content of FEARnet.com VOD.

• At January 9, 2009, tk. wrote:

  @David: I just usually call her "Lady Luck".

• At January 9, 2009, olokin wrote:

  A raffle? Sure, count me in.

• At January 9, 2009, Brandon Boyce wrote:

  Pick me! Pick me!

• At January 9, 2009, Fanboy wrote:

  I'd like to throw my hat in for that shiny comic.

• At January 9, 2009, Heather wrote:

  Please.

• At January 9, 2009, Flinkman wrote:

  ooooh me please!!!

• At January 9, 2009, Mike wrote:

  love the 30 days of night series!!!

• At January 10, 2009, betty rood~simply southern wrote:

  oh ...Yes! By all means..would love to own this ..my son would grovel and beg for this... lol...I'd have to ...

• At January 10, 2009, SKFK wrote:

  Enter me to the drawing as well. On a related note, I liked the recent first issue of 30 Days ...

• At January 11, 2009, George wrote:

  Imagine if Ben did an issue or GN of batman? that'd be amazing.. like if the story was batman in ...

• At January 12, 2009, Dale Caldwell wrote:

  Hopefully the comic is better than the show. It had moments but overall wasn't great.

  Dale

• At January 14, 2009, Chi wrote:

  I heart autographs :)

• At January 15, 2009, Christina Brunetti wrote:

  I would love to have this.

  Thanks

• At January 16, 2009, Sheila H. wrote:

  I would love to win this!!

• At January 16, 2009, Tracey Byram wrote:

  A cool comic book AND it's autographed? Be still my heart. Contest gods, do shine upon me.

• At January 16, 2009, wendy wallach wrote:

  I love the idea of this....and the autograph puts in over the top!

  madamerkf at aol dot com

• At January 16, 2009, Amy B. wrote:

  Coolest giveaway! Please enter me! Cheers!

• At January 16, 2009, lisa wrote:

  enter me please. great giveaway

• At January 17, 2009,   * 13 NEW * Blog Giveaways — 1/18 — Enter Now!! wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources: Win an Autographed Copy of “30 Days of Night” Ends: Jan 31 [...]

• At January 30, 2009,   ** ALERT ** Contests Ending TODAY - 1/31 — Enter Now!! wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources: Win an Autographed Copy of “30 Days of Night” Ends: Jan 31 [...]

• At January 31, 2009, Zebulon Pike wrote:

  why not?

• At January 31, 2009, J. Yu wrote:

  Count me in!

• At January 31, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  What time is it? Deal me in.

• At January 31, 2009, Guy wrote:

  i hope im not too late

• At January 31, 2009, Stacie wrote:

  Please count me in.

• At February 1, 2009, Drew wrote:

  count me in too

1. Strange Tales #166 by Jim Steranko, who wrote it and drew it. Even if you didn't let me know that Steranko wrote and drew it, I gave you two points. I forgot to mention in the instructions to indicate that one person wrote and drew it, so it's my bad. Nick Fury, by the way, didn't get his own book until a few more issues of this comic had come out.

(Well, obviously someone stopped Voltorg, or he'd still be rampaging around!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

2. Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord #2 by Keith Giffen and Timothy Green II. If you just wrote Starlord, I gave it to you. The Annihilation story is really good, if you want to know.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 9
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

3. My Greatest Adventure #85 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. This is the Doom Patrol, of course, but the name of the book hadn't changed yet.

(There's more than one "fury from 4,000 miles below"? That has to suck.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 3
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

4. Legends of the Dark Knight #193 by J. H. Williams III, Dan Curtis Johnson, and Seth Fisher. Fisher, as you all know, is flingin'-flangin' awesome.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 6

5. Inhumans #10 by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee. This is a very cool story with stunning art. Paul Jenkins really fell off the map, didn't he? Now he's writing ancillary junk for Marvel. Strange.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 7

6. H-E-R-O #6 by Will Pfeifer and Kano. A forgotten gem. Shouldn't there be more trades of this book?

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

7. Hellcat #1 by Steve Englehart and Norm Breyfogle. Breyfogle's art is certainly distinctive, but how many people knew this was the epic Hellcat mini-series he and Englehart did in 2000?

(Englehart actually incorporates Ellis's run on Hellstorm: Prince of Lies into this mini-series. That's because Englehart is awesome.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 1
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0
This was one of the most difficult one to identify. I was a bit surprised, as Breyfogle doesn't work all that often so it seems like his work would be easier to track down. Or maybe I just like Breyfogle a lot more than most people do, so I recognize it.

8. Tales of the Unexpected #8 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. Another trick one. There was no "Dr 13" comic book; this was the back-up story in the comic, of which that largely panned Spectre story was the main feature.

("I just ade my own vomit." Tee-hee.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 7
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 5

9. DC Comics Presents #85 by Alan Moore and Rick Veitch. Superman goes nuts, and only Swamp Thing can save him! Alan Moore proves once again that, even if he hates superheroes, he writes them pretty damned well.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 14
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1
I guess a lot of people own the Alan Moore trade paperback of random DC stories. There's some good stuff in it!

10. Captain Marvel #3 by Peter David and ChrisCross. I ought to get more trades of this. The first one is interesting. Cap goes a bit loopy and remakes the universe. Isn't that always the way?

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

11. Bloodstone #2 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Michael Lopez. Before Warren Ellis reformed her, Elsa starred in a truly crappy mini-series. But it's a guilty pleasure, thanks to asinine panels like this one.

(Man, that's an awful cover. Really, really awful.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

12. Avengers #93 by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams. This is part of the Kree-Skrull War (well, it's included in the trade), but it's Ant-Man inside Vision, finding out what's wrong with him. A weird digression, but Adams' art is, of course, wonderful.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 3

13. The Question #2 by Dennis O'Neil and Denys Cowan. Batman has nothing but contempt for Vic Sage! Check out the sneer!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

14. X-Men and Alpha Flight #1 by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith. Apparently the trade that includes this story is out of print. It has Paul Smith art on the mini-series, and Arthur Adams on the annuals that come out as a sequel. Come on, Marvel, get a new printing out!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

15. X-Force #102 by Warren Ellis, Ian Edginton, and Whilce Portacio. This was part of Ellis' "Counter-X" thing he did with the minor X-books back in the day. Marvel is bringing them out in trade these days. It's not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4 (although no one, I believe, gave me Edginton's name)
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

16. Wonder Woman #193 by Mike Sekowsky (writer/artist). It's Diana Prince kicking ass! You really ought to pick up one of these kooky trades.

("This is the only kind of law for a rat like him!" The Sixties rocked, man.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

17. The Thing #3 by Dan Slott and Andrea Divito. One of Slott's doomed seried. Oodles of fun.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

18. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #4 by Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa. Marvel does manga! And does it well! But it doesn't sell a lick! Sigh.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 11

19. Silent War #1 by David Hine and Frazer Irving. Frazer Irving = awesome. The story is okay, but Irving's art makes the book better than it should be.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 9
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

20. She-Hulk #1 by Dan Slott and Juan Bobillo. More Slott! Why doesn't Bobillo get more work? This is great art. His Howard the Duck series wasn't as good. But still - he should get more work.

("It's one of Iron Man's loser villains. Snowflake? Freezer Burn? Chilly Willy?" Oh, Slott, you slay me.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 12
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

21. Superman: Secret Identity #3 by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen. This is a great story. I vacillated about this, because it seems like it's obviously an Elseworlds, but it's not listed as such, so I counted it.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

22. Legion of Super-Heroes #294 by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. This is part of the Great Darkness Saga. Darkseid takes away everyone's power! Oh no! It's always interesting to see Giffen's art before he became so stylized.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

23. Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #2 by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder. I like this comic, but don't love it. It does feature some solid and not-at-all disturbing writing by Johns, though. I suppose he decided that didn't pay the bills!

(Paintball should fight Batman. It has to happen!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 7
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

24. Birds of Prey #59 by Gail Simone and Ed Benes. Huntress kicks ass and takes names!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 11

25. Sword of Azrael #1 by Dennis O'Neil and Joe Quesada. Look at Joey Q, drawing stuff! How cute!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

26. Fantastic Four: First Family #3 by Joe Casey and Chris Weston. This is an odd little comic. Weston just isn't well-suited for superhero action, but the comic itself is interesting.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 7

27. Alpha Flight #13 by Steven Seagle, Duncan Rouleau, and Ashley Wood. This is actually a creepy issue, and Seagle probably got away with it because the book's sales were in the toilet. Nice art by Wood, before he got really weird (and I like his weird art).

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

28. DC One Million #4 by Grant Morrison and Val Semeiks. You could just tell this was the God of All Comics, couldn't you? It's just that bizarre.

("I'm holding the sun in my hands!" Come on - Morrison writes stuff like that while he's eating his Froot Loops!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 14
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

29. Strikeforce: Morituri #1 by Peter B. Gillis and Brent Anderson. Here's another one that can't be in continuity, can it? I guess it was supposed to be part of the New Universe (wasn't that the subject of an Urban Legend recently?), but officially, it was released with just a Marvel logo, so it counts. Some of this series features early Whilce Portacio art, which is interesting to check out.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 2
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

30. X-Men Annual #3 by Ian Edginton and Gene Ha. Yes, Edginton and Ha writing a story about Storm, whom Shinobi Shaw tries to seduce. Good times!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

31. Xenobrood #0 by Doug Moench and Tomm Coker. Ah, Xenobrood! God, this series sucked big-time. I don't know what Moench was thinking with this. I wonder if these characters have ever made any appearances in the DCU since this? Maybe one of them was slaughtered in Infinite Crisis and we missed it!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2
The fact that several people knew this was Xenobrood makes me sad. You should be ashamed of yourselves! (Of course, I own every issue, so I'm pretty embarrassed, too.)

32. X-Men Unlimited #32 by Will Pfeifer and Jill Thompson. Hulk watches a "Behind the Music" episode about Dazzler. One of the great obscure stories in recent Marvel history.

("Hulk's TV busted in fight with Abomination. Hulk hate Abomination." Poor Hulk!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

33. Black Panther #2 by Christopher Priest and Mark Texeira. Everett K. Ross sells his soul for a pair of pants. Brilliant.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 7
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

34. Sandman #5 by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth. Another trick one, as Sandman was not a Vertigo book in the early days. This was the issue in which Morpheus visits the Justice League and disturbs Scott Free's nightmare.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

35. Fate #20 by Len Kaminski and Anthony Williams. Another lousy series, but I own every issue. I rule!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 0
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0
Yes, it's the hardest one to identify (well, tied for the hardest), as absolutely no one guessed any part of it. Most people who guessed wrote "Dr. Fate," but although that's a good guess (what with all the Nabu talk), it's incorrect. I suppose congratulations are in order, because nobody has read this crappy comic. Good job, people!

36. Resurrection Man #2 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Jackson Guice. I got the first three issues of this and then dropped it. I know it didn't last long, but I should go get the rest of them, just for the hell of it.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 9
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

37. Sleepwalker #2 by Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins. Bill Reed's favorite ongoing series EVER! This is the origin of 8-Ball, a truly classic villain. Who doesn't love 8-Ball?

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 12
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

38. Spider-Man's Tangled Web #4 by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso. Tangled Web was a cool little comic. This issue is about a soldier for Wilson Fisk who screwed up a job and needs to face the consequences. Cool stuff. The next two issues were the Milligan/Fregredo issues in which Rhino becomes smart, and then a three-parter by Bruce Jones and Lee Weeks. Good comics all!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

39. What If ...? #87 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Frank Teran. I guess this is another cheat, because it's a "what if?" story, but it only has a Marvel logo on the cover, so it counts. This was the first (and best) issue of the revamped What If ...?, which featured much darker stories. Sabretooth hunts Jubilee after killing a couple of X-Men. A pretty good book.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

40. Beyond! #2 by Dwayne McDuffie and Scott Kolins. Secret Wars III! Cool stuff with obscure Marvel characters!

(Well, that's a charming cover.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 6

41. Elongated Man #1 by Gerard Jones and Mike Parobeck. Bill Reed's favorite mini-series EVER! Very funny story, with fantastic art by the late, great Parobeck.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 9
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

42. Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil #1 by Joe Casey and Charlie Adlard. Back when Marvel did the whole "Heroes Reborn" thing, they did a few of these one-shots. This was a very funny one by Casey and Adlard. Of course, it ends rather seriously, but it's a good comic.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 1
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0
Another very difficult one. Only Chad Nevett, who has an abnormal love of Joe Casey comics, knew this one.

43. Marc Spector: Moon Knight #55 by Terry Kavanaugh and Stephen Platt. The third volume of Moon Knight started well, but by the time Platt came on as penciler, it was pretty hopeless. I know Platt was a "hot" artist back then (and whatever happened to him?), but these issues (#55-60) are awful. Really, really awful.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

44. The 'Nam #3 by Doug Murray and Michael Golden. Here's another one that I don't think was "in continuity" when it started, but didn't Frank Castle make an appearance later on, which made it part of the Marvel U.? Great art by Golden.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 1
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 6

45. Livewires #4 by Adam Warren and Rick Mays. More poor-selling manga-influenced stuff from Marvel! This was part of that teen thing they tried a few years back that died on the vine quickly. But this series is pretty keen.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 4
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

46. Justice League America Annual #4 by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Mike McKone. Yes, it's Justice League Antarctica! And evil penguins! You know who doesn't love the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League? Commies, that's who!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 11
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

47. Invasion! #1 by Keith Giffen, Bill Mantlo, and Todd McFarlane. Oh, that wacky Invasion! (yes, the exclamation point is required). Early McFarlane, early Sears, and 240 pages of sheer awesome.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

48. Chase #4 by Dan Curtis Johnson and J. H. Williams III. Poor Chase. It deserved better.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 12
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

49. Conspiracy #1 by Dan Abnett and Igor Kordey. I don't know what was going on with Conspiracy, because it was two issues long and seemed ready to go somewhere, and then it never did. Has Marvel just decided to claim this never existed?

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 10
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

50. The Brotherhood #3 by X and Essad Ribic. Whoo-hoo, it's The Brotherhood! It wasn't a great comic, but it was part of that Bill Jemas "let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" Era at Marvel. Good times! I don't know if "X" was actually Howard Mackie, but "X" is credited, so "X" is the writer!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 0
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0
Here's another one that no one guessed any part of. I thought The Brotherhood had a lot of potential that it never quite fulfilled. I'm actually surprised about this - it's an X-book, after all. Fate I can understand - it was a spin-off of a book that never sold well in the first place. But this comic came out when Marvel was doing some keen things with the mutants, so it was interesting that no one knew this.

51. Aztek the Ultimate Man #7 by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and N. Steven Harris. Oh, Aztek! Why did you have to go? Was this one of the Morrison issues, or one of the Millar ones? Based on the Joker's speech patterns, I'd say G-Mozz, but who knows. Either way, they're both credited!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 2
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1
It's out in trade, people! Pick it up!

52. Damage Control #2 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon. DC collects an unpaid bill from Dr. Doom. Hilarity ensues. If this isn't out in trade, it ought to be.

("When Doom Defaults!" Bwah-ha-ha-ha!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 2

53. Black Widow #1 by Devin Grayson and J. G. Jones. This is a fine series with gorgeous art by Jones. Okay, it's only three issues, but he actually finished it!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 9
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

54. Doom Patrol #14 by Paul Kupperberg and Erik Larsen. I was trying to trick you by showing Dorothy Spinner, as she played such a big part of Morrison's run. But she actually showed up first in this Kupperberg/Larsen classic!

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

55. Detective #470 by Steve Englehart and Walt Simonson. Silver St. Cloud was onto Bruce even before Marshall Rogers started drawing her! This looks nothing like Simonson's art, but it was 1977, so he hadn't grown into the master he became.

(His hair is damp because he digs the skinny-dippin', of course! Come on, Silver, it's just logical!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 8
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0

56. Starman #66 by James Robinson and Peter Snejbjerg. This is part of the "Grand Guignol" story that went on and on and on (after the space story went on and on and on). I still liked it! Culp does nasty things. Because he's, well, nasty.

(Boy, I hated the French in this title. Of course, I can't read French, which is probably why I hated it so much.)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 7
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 6

57. Swamp Thing #60 by Alan Moore and John Totleben. Another pre-Vertigo Vertigo comic. This is part of the Swamp Thing In Space arc that Moore did after he made our hero too powerful to stay on Earth. This issue, "Loving the Alien," is one of the weirder issues you might stumble across. Very cool.

(The purplest of prose!)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

58. Aquaman #6 by Shaun McLaughlin and Ken Hooper. Some people prefer McLaughlin's Aquaman series to Peter David's. I can't agree with them, but this had its moments. Whatever happened to McLaughlin and Hooper?

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 5
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 1

59. Marvel Fanfare #5 by Roger McKenzie and Luke McDonnell. I apologize again for trying to trick you. This isn't even the lead story in this issue. It's a neat little story, though.

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 1
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 0
Another very difficult one. Sorry!

60. Batman: The Cult #3 by Jim Starlin and Berni Wrightson. Cool art by Wrightson, and not a terrible story by Starlin, but not great, either. Batman loses his mind to a charismatic preacher who tries to take over Gotham. Wrightson was a good choice, because parts of this are pretty creepy. Plus: A monster truck Batmobile!

(Does Robin look really freaky in panel 4, or is it just me?)

Number of people who got the entire answer correct: 6
Number of people who got everything right except the issue number: 4

There you have it! There were 309 total points (9 extra because two writers were credited), and here are the top three points-getters:

1. Peter Garcia Sanchez: 259
2. Zeb Aslam: 243
3. Satya C: 234
[Edit: More scores!]
4. Mike Loughlin: 188
5. Matias Duarte: 184
7. jazzbo: 168
9. Travis Pelkie: 147
12. Maxwell Y.: 136
13. Tim Callahan: 121
14. Chad Nevett: 114
16. Billy F.: 76

If you want to know how points everyone racked up, give me your permission in the comments section and I'll edit it in! The fourth place finisher wasn't really close, so I don't feel bad about leaving him out of the money!

Thanks a lot for participating, everyone. It's always fun to have contests, and I'm sure I'll have another one in the future. I always like to share weird and wacky comics with our readers!

32 Comments

• At December 7, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:

  If my computer hadn't died, I probably would've actually participated in this. And lost.

  But still, awesome to see Sleepwalker and ...

• At December 7, 2008, Matt wrote:

  I have a bad feeling that i was the one that ended up in 4th place...

• At December 7, 2008, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Well, judging by those scores, I wasn't even CLOSE to winning... but I'll take pride in being the only one ...

• At December 7, 2008, Mario Ferenández wrote:

  Actually "The Brotherhood" writer turned out to be J.D. Salinger, from "Catcher in the Rye" international fame.

  I recall having read ...

• At December 7, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Who doesn't love 8-Ball? Abnett and Lanning, who pointlessly killed him off in the Heroes for Hire mini that ...

• At December 7, 2008, Zeb Aslam wrote:

  Dammit...I own that damned Hellcat mini and I still didn't get it. I have no clue why I couldn't remember ...

• At December 7, 2008, Johnny Bacardi wrote:

  I kinda like that Bloodstone cover, actually- it's kinda retro-fun. But then again, I have no taste.

  I think that Simonson ...

• At December 7, 2008, Matt wrote:

  "Actually “The Brotherhood” writer turned out to be J.D. Salinger, from “Catcher in the Rye” international fame"

  Well, there's a new ...

• At December 7, 2008, Mxy wrote:

  ARGH! I'm kicking myself for not recognizing that issue of The Question! I love that series! At least I got ...

• At December 7, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Congratulations to all the winners!

  You have my permission to post my *sniff* losing score.

• At December 7, 2008, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  Yeah, I want to know my score. I did a lot worse than I thought.

  I was one ...

• At December 7, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  "And I’m gonna have to look up that Brotherhood book. Sounds cool and the early Esad Ribic artwork is pretty ...

• At December 7, 2008, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Also, feel free to post my score.

• At December 7, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chad: Sure, you should be proud! That comic is quite fun!

  Johnny B: I don't mind the the layout of ...

• At December 7, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Wow, I honestly thought I had a shot at winning this, mainly because I figured no one would take the ...

• At December 7, 2008, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Ah, yes, Invasion! I was always a big fan of that series. It's a shame it seems to be rarely ...

• At December 7, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It does feature some solid and not-at-all disturbing writing by Johns, though. I suppose he decided that didn’t pay the ...

• At December 7, 2008, dhole wrote:

  Wow, I can't believe how many issues I actually own on this list but still didn't recognize (a Sandman AND ...

• At December 7, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:

  Actually “The Brotherhood” writer turned out to be J.D. Salinger, from “Catcher in the Rye” international fame.

  I recall having read ...

• At December 7, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I think you should note the probable April Fool’s date on that particular issue of Wizard.

  I think he's gotten it ...

• At December 7, 2008, TimCallahan wrote:

  I obviously got dominated. But you can post my score.

• At December 8, 2008, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  Wow, 9th place, not too bad, sorta.

  Tim, you were obviously too busy trying to figure out RIP :)

  And on a ...

• At December 8, 2008, John Cage wrote:

  Re: Conspiracy.

  It seems to be in continuity -- there was a mention of one of the characters featured in it ...

• At December 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Tim: Well, you beat Chad! That's something, isn't it?

• At December 8, 2008, Chad Nevett wrote:

  GAH! By seven points!

  Strange that our scores were so close, though.

• At December 8, 2008, tk. wrote:

  @Travis Pelkie: Bill Watterson?

• At December 8, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  4th place! Aaargh!!!

  Oh well, at least it wasn't close. It's easier to lose by 46 points than 2 points.

• At December 8, 2008, Billy F wrote:

  Oh wow I did terrible. I just know it.

  And the sad thing is...I own half these comics! ...

• At December 9, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Fate's not that bad, but it didi get mildly better after it became Book of Fate.

  And you really should ...

• At December 9, 2008, Mike wrote:

  The Rouleau-era Alpha Flight never got the love it earned.

• At December 9, 2008, Lee wrote:

  Maybe J.D. Salinger became interested in comics after son Matt played Captain America! ;-)

• At December 9, 2008, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  @tk : Yes! I would totally buy the JD Salinger/Bill Watterson "Wolverine fights Sabretooth, and phonies" 12 issue maxiseries!

  Harper ...

Aces: Curse of the Red Baron by Shannon Eric Denton, G. Willow Wilson, and Curtis Square-Briggs. This is an action-adventure story set during World War I that goes weirdly off the rails at the end, but you might like it!

Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology. Lots of weird short stories by dozens of independent creators. It's published by Evil Twin Comics, so you know it's quality!

The Black Diamond by Larry Young and Jon Proctor. Larry's homage to 1970s car-centered action movies is gleefully goofy, and while Proctor's art is occasionally stiff, it gets better as it goes along and the coloring makes it pop off the page.

Dugout by Adam Beechen and Manny Bello. This is the tale of a manager of a bad baseball team and the lengths he'll go to in order to get his star pitcher out of prison. A nice, twisty story.

Captain Stoneheart and the Truth Fairy by Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo. This is a big-ass hardcover version of Elephantmen #7. Richard Starkings gave it to me at San Diego, and while I want to keep it because it's a nice huge thing, I do already have it, so I ought to share it!

Elephantmen: War Toys by Richard Starkings and Moritat. This is the trade that tells of the war that shadows the elephantmen in the present. It's stunning - one of the best "mini-series" of the year (I put that in quotes because the regular book went on hiatus while this was being published, and it could easily fit into the regular title).

Holmes: Haydn's Head by Omaha Perez. Perez, who seems normal enough, retells a Sherlock Holmes story as a wild acid trip through some ridiculous situations. It's Holmes as a Mad magazine feature, and works quite well.

The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine. This collects every Middleman series and the original graphic novel. Grillo-Marxuach was nice enough to give me a copy, so I have an extra one. Yes, I ordered it even though I own every issue of The Middleman already. I don't care! It's a wonderful comic book. Join the Middlecult!

Strange Embrace by David Hine. This is another monster hardcover that Starkings gave to me, and another one I'm tempted to keep. I'm sure it looks fantastic (it's wrapped in plastic, so I haven't looked at it). But I do have the issues, so I'll pass it on to a lucky winner. It's a creepy horror comic that is a tad predictable, but scary nevertheless.

Yes, that's NINE comics you can win! Okay, not one person, because we'll have three winners. The winner will get their choice of five (5) comics, the second-place finisher will choose three (3), and the third-place finisher will get the one that's left. That's fair, isn't it? ISN'T IT??????

So here are the rules, if you've never done this before. I show you panels from comic books. You tell me the title of the book, the issue number, the writer, and the penciller (I won't ask for the inker, because that's a bit too difficult). Each answer will get a point value. Thus:

The title of the book is worth one (1) point.
The issue number of the book is worth two (2) points.
The writer of the book is worth one (1) point. I should point out that some of these have two writers, usually a plotter and a scripter. You can give me only one, but if you give me both, I'll give you a bonus point! How nice am I?
The penciller of the book is worth one (1) point.

The issue number is worth more because it's harder to get the issue number. At least I think it is. It seems like it would be, because you can guess the others more easily. I could be wrong, but I'm sticking to the point system! So each panel is worth five (5) points. You can get a possible three hundred (300) points.

What's that? You can do math? Does that mean that there are sixty (60) panels to identify? Mais oui! Isn't that too hard? In the past, people have accused me of being a bit too obscure with these. So I put more panels in this contest, but tried to address that criticism. Therefore, every panel below is from a Marvel or DC book. Nothing too weird. In fact, every page below is from a Marvel or DC book that, when it was published, had nothing but a DC or Marvel logo on it (I will say that I have no idea if the pages are still "in continuity," but I can't help that, can I?). That means no Vertigo, no MAX, no Elseworlds, no Icon, no Epic, no New Universe, no Milestone - only Marvel and DC, as mainstream as you can get! How easy is that????

Of course, I do try to trick you. I'm not going to make this too easy, after all. So I tried to find some obscure Marvel and DC books for you to identify. I'm not Greg Hatcher, though, so I often don't have too many obscure comics, but I hope I did all right. But trust me - every comic below has only a DC or Marvel logo on the cover, and nothing else.

People who want to enter should send me an e-mail with their answers. Remember: Give me the name of the comic that appears on the cover of the book. Just because a famous character shows up in a panel, don't just assume that name is on the front cover (in fact, it's probably not going to be the case, although it might be!). And to those people who complained about this the last time I did it ... well, is there any reason to do that? If you don't want to enter, don't enter. It's all in fun!

I guess I'll give you until the end of November to enter. That means you have until the Sunday after Thanksgiving, a little over a week. That's enough time, right? I'll remind you about it over the next week so you don't forget. Last time I did this I got 12 entries. Let's see if I can top that!

Okay, let's check out the panels. Have oodles of fun with them! Click on them to make them bigger, because they're kind of tough to read. Plus, it will help you gaze in wonder at the awesomeness!

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Have fun, everyone! Remember - you don't have to answer them all, just beat everyone else! That's easy, right?

[Edit: Sorry I had to delete some comments, because they contained answers. I didn't even look at them, so I don't know if they were right or not. DON'T ANSWER IN THE COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!!! That would defeat the purpose a bit, don't you think?

I thought the link to my e-mail address worked. My e-mail is: chlothar1@earthlink.net. I hope that works! Let me know if anyone is having problems with it.]

21 Comments

• At November 22, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  I'm surprised by how many of these I actually recognize.

  I was expecting to be stumped on, like, all of 'em.

  Good ...

• At November 22, 2008, John Warwick wrote:

  My emails not sending to your address. Is there another way to enter the contest?

• At November 22, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  John: I wrote the address out without a link, so give that a try. If that doesn't work, I'll ...

• At November 22, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  I definitely recognized some. I now need to fasttrack the papers I need to get done this week so ...

• At November 22, 2008, Matt wrote:

  Question: is this open to people outside the U.S.?

• At November 22, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sure, Matt! I'll send free comics anywhere that has a post office! Even the Maldives! Or Senegal! ...

• At November 22, 2008, jhota wrote:

  8, 16 and 56 i know without breaking a sweat.

  the rest? no clue.

  man, i feel dumb.

• At November 22, 2008, R wrote:

  I just want to know what 37 is so I can buy it.

• At November 22, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>8, 16 and 56 i know without breaking a sweat.

  8, 11 & 26 for me. I'm hoping I'll be able ...

• At November 22, 2008, John Warwick wrote:

  Thanks. The link works but my mail doesn't like the address.

  Also I'm in the UK. If I won a prize ...

• At November 22, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  R: Come back on 1 December and you'll find out!

  John: I will mail stuff overseas, because we're all part of ...

• At November 22, 2008, Matthew E wrote:

  I recognized 8, 22, 23 and 46. But I think I'll let someone else claim the prize.

• At November 22, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:

  I knew 19 off the top of my head well enough that I could pull the TPBs off the shelf ...

• At November 23, 2008, PBozzy wrote:

  All I could think about #13 was "Why does Batman sport shoulder pads?"

• At November 23, 2008, Tyson wrote:

  Am I the only one that thinks it's odd to reward this kind level of DC/Marvel knowledge with a bunch ...

• At November 23, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Tyson: Yeah, I've heard that before with other contests. My problem is, of course, that DC and Marvel don't ...

• At November 23, 2008, jhota wrote:

  and maybe it's a secret plot to wean hardcore readers off of the big two and into a more diverse ...

• At November 23, 2008, rasalghul wrote:

  Greg, with what the big two are putting out anymore, I think you'd have a hard time drumming up enough ...

• At November 27, 2008, Zeb Aslam wrote:

  Hmm...I actually know most of these. But I won the last one.

  I may enter for fun...but I think it would ...

• At November 30, 2008, Matt wrote:

  I sent my entry earlier today. I really hope mail didn't bounce or anything and i miss the contest, or ...

• At December 1, 2008, olokin wrote:

  I'm not expecting the top prize, but I hope I got some of the panels right at least.

Vote for your top 10 top (and by top, I mean your favorite) comic book battles by 11:59 Eastern on November 19th, and we'll reveal the results in a special feature on CBR the following week!

Simply list your top ten (and please pick 10 - less than ten and I won't count any of your votes) from your top choice to your bottom choice, in the comments below (please include the word ACBC in the comment, that way your ballot will appear invisible to other readers).

Your top choice will be given 10 points, your second choice 9, etc.

Here are the following guidelines:

1. Vote for a specific battle in a comic book. It's that simple.

Spider-Man versus the Juggernaut? Fine.

The Battle of Thermopylae in 300? Fine.

Superman versus Doomsday? Fine.

2. Specific issue numbers aren't necessary, just make it clear what you're referring to (so if you want, say, Superman versus Lex Luthor, be more specific about WHICH battle you're referring to).

3. List ten choices.

Remember, please include the following word: ACBC - on your ballot. It will make it so your ballot appears invisible to other readers, so only I can read it (and count your vote secretly).

Most importantly, have fun!

Now vote!

145 Comments

• At November 10, 2008, Ray Mason wrote:

  arghh forgot to make it secret

• At November 10, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I fixed it for you, Ray!

• At November 10, 2008, Bill wrote:

  Everyone vote for the big 'escape from the prison' battle at the beginning of the New Avengers series!!

• At November 10, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Remember, pick ten - numbered one to ten. Not just one!

• At November 10, 2008, Eric N. wrote:

  Can we include metaphorical battles? Like, should one phrase it, "Spider-Man versus Defeatism" or "Spider-Man versus a Giant Machine that ...

• At November 10, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I'm going with "no" on metaphorical battles.

• At November 10, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  What if the metaphorical battle is represented as an actual battle, but metaphorically, like when Captain Marvel fights Thanos in ...

• At November 10, 2008, Dave wrote:

  Is this limited to American comics, or can we do manga as well?

• At November 10, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Fine questions!

  1. I'm still going with "no" on the "fighting imaginary battles" one. If it was something like Baron Mordo ...

• At November 10, 2008, Craig M. wrote:

  Where do we put the code to hide it? Just anywhere in the comment?

• At November 10, 2008, KMFPL wrote:

  Fun question!

• At November 10, 2008, John Chidley-Hill wrote:

  I really hope people are voting for Batroc the Leaper v. the Tarantula from the EUROHIT story arc in early ...

• At November 10, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Anywhere in the comment, Craig.

  I dunno if you can put it, like, in the middle of another word, but otherwise, ...

• At November 11, 2008, justinkos91 wrote:

  Can I choose more than one battle, like my top 3? I can think of three that I like the ...

• At November 11, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Pick your top ten, numbered 1 to 10 (with 1 being your favorite, 2 being your second favorite, etc.).

• At November 11, 2008, Khaldoun Omar Abbas wrote:

  Lobo Vs Mask

  JLE VS Extremists Rnd 1

• At November 11, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  This was tremendous fun, even if I don't think any of mine'll make it.

  After the votes are tallied I'd love ...

• At November 11, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:

  "This was tremendous fun, even if I don’t think any of mine’ll make it.

  After the votes are tallied I’d love ...

• At November 11, 2008, Chris McAree wrote:

  Gonna have to think about this one.

  What about indirect conflicts like Lucifer vs Yahweh in Lucifer? Does it have to ...

• At November 11, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  Hey, Brian- I'm a moron. Can you fix that for me?

• At November 11, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  DanLarkin - Four of your votes are in my list too!

• At November 11, 2008, eRIC wrote:

  I went pretty cliche with my choices. I think my #1 is going to be the #1 as well. We ...

• At November 11, 2008, BHam wrote:

  Well that was fun. My choices were definitely old school, with only 3 having occurred in the last 10-15 ...

• At November 11, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  Let's say I want to vote for Batman vs Grendel Prime but they fought a few times in the ...

• At November 11, 2008, eRIC wrote:

  Jesus...I suck. Sorry, Brian. Can you fix my earlier post?

• At November 11, 2008, derek dark hold wrote:

  does Hank pym V's Janet Pym count

• At November 11, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:

  Do you have any idea how many fight scenes are in my comic book collection? (Beyond guessing it's in the ...

• At November 11, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:

  I halfway agree with Lorendiac. There are so many fight scenes that it's hard to pick 10. Of ...

• At November 11, 2008, NinjaFace wrote:

  I get teary eyed every time I see the Champions vs. Godzilla in Godzilla #3....

  Just sayin'...

• At November 11, 2008, Wadebeforeslade wrote:

  I vote for the Deadpool vs. Kitty Pryde fight from Deadpool Vol. 1. One punch indeed. So, include ...

• At November 11, 2008, chris g wrote:

  you've opened up the can of worms from HELL...

• At November 11, 2008, scott wrote:

  Rhe first time the thunderbolts fought the avengers.

• At November 11, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Nobody does big satisfying comic battles better than Jim Starlin. He got four of my spots but he ...

• At November 11, 2008, Yonatan wrote:

  Superman vs The Elite (action 775)

• At November 11, 2008, Jerky McJerk wrote:

  Honorable Mention: Some of these commentators vs. reading comprehension

• At November 11, 2008, FD wrote:

  Can we vote for the fanboys vs. Joe Quesada in the battle for Spider-Man continuity (OMD/BND)?

• At November 11, 2008, plok wrote:

  Whew! That was a lot of geeking out for a bunch of stuff that mostly doesn't have a prayer ...

• At November 11, 2008, Bill Lee wrote:

  I decided that my list would be completely from memory and the first ten that came to mind would obviously ...

• At November 11, 2008, Kevin wrote:

  And I'm an idiot for forgetting about Ultron Unlimited. Dammit.

• At November 11, 2008, PeeGee wrote:

  I already voted but realized I want to swap out the battle at the end of Ultimates vol 1 and ...

• At November 11, 2008, Blackjack wrote:

  Ooh...forgot Kingdom Come. How, I don't know...

  Can I make that my 10?

• At November 11, 2008, Nasri wrote:

  How has no one mentioned the greatest fight in the entire medium, the final fight between Ogami Itto and Yagyu ...

• At November 12, 2008, Shane wrote:

  How about an honourable mention for John Constantine giving the devil the finger?

• At November 12, 2008, Kevin wrote:

  Aaaaaaaand if I could revise my list, "Mr. Hyde vs. the Invisible Man" would so be on the list.

• At November 12, 2008, PeeGee wrote:

  Oh my god, leaving out the miracleman/kid miracleman was a big oversight on my part. Also pretty much every ...

• At November 12, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  How has no one mentioned the greatest fight in the entire medium, the final fight between Ogami Itto and Yagyu ...

• At November 12, 2008, Shane wrote:

  You know how you always think of something else afterwards well it just occurred to me there were 2 other ...

• At November 12, 2008, Scott wrote:

  How about Dream vs. the demon (forget his name) to reclaim his helm? So it's not a punchy-kicky fight, but ...

• At November 12, 2008, Atman wrote:

  The demon is Choronzon. I put that as my number 2. Great moment.

• At November 12, 2008, KiplingKat wrote:

  How about the RSS Konstantnov vs. RSS Taktarov in The Red Star? That was a truly epic battle.

• At November 12, 2008, Herr Mike wrote:

  Too many.

  One super comicky slugfest that is surely overlooked is Odin vs Thanos in Infinity Watch 25.

  Thor vs Silver ...

• At November 12, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:

  "How has no one mentioned the greatest fight in the entire medium, the final fight between Ogami Itto and Yagyu ...

• At November 12, 2008, Tony Bennett wrote:

  OMG I forgot probably the best battle of all time:

  Grendel Christine Spar Vs. vampire Kabuki dancer Tujiro XIV ! Pander ...

• At November 12, 2008, El Charro Ninja wrote:

  Althoug it is not a comic, in one episode of He-man the 2002 series, he fights the whole army of ...

• At November 12, 2008, Stefan wrote:

  And just for the heck of it, here are my Top Ten Battles OUTSIDE of Comics:

  1) Inigo Montoya vs. the ...

• At November 12, 2008, Heath wrote:

  man...everyone has alot of great opinions....I hope you guys make this a top 50 list and not just 10!!!!!

• At November 12, 2008, aquafan wrote:

  avatar test

• At November 12, 2008, Carter Hall wrote:

  Guys, where the heck do I vote?

• At November 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Just list your top ten here, along with the word ACBC.

  And remember, people, list ten! Less than ten and I'm ...

• At November 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Some rule clarifications - if a mini-series is all about various battles between two characters, like Batman versus Predator, that ...

• At November 12, 2008, kilmoonie wrote:

  This thing needed a nomination process first. I'm wondering how many lists are just going to be a different ten?

  JR

• At November 12, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  I'm not sure if it would have counted but the Great Cow Race from Bone just barely missed my list.

• At November 12, 2008, JimZipCode wrote:

  Any votes for Howard the Duck's team-up with the showgirl from the "essay" issue, Howard the Duck #16?

• At November 12, 2008, Wes Mantooth wrote:

  I threw a couple on mine I don't think I've seen yet on anyone else's

  Punisher vs. The Russian

  JLA vs. Prometheus

  Tommy ...

• At November 12, 2008, matt wrote:

  I really loved issue 25 of the Incredible Hulk series three where he and The Abomination fought. JRJR drew ...

• At November 12, 2008, ggersten wrote:

  My list is still awaiting "moderation", but I can lobby for some of the items on my lislt, I guess, ...

• At November 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  All the lists should be awaiting moderation - that's so no one can see them, as this is a secret ...

• At November 12, 2008, peegee wrote:

  I submitted also, I would like to lobby on behalf of Spider-Man vs Firelord from I think and old Web ...

• At November 12, 2008, Carlo Cariño wrote:

  That was fun!

  I didn't think I could come up with 10 -- and then had five more to cut ...

• At November 12, 2008, Atman wrote:

  When you say is has to be a physical confrontation, would that rule out the Dream vs Choronzon battle that ...

• At November 12, 2008, plok wrote:

  Ggersten, I included Superman vs. Ali in mine.

  But I'm ashamed I didn't put in any Gulacy Shang-Chi. Almost put ...

• At November 12, 2008, Kevin wrote:

  How come no one has mentioned We3 versus We4?

• At November 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Atman, I think there was enough physical confrontation in that one to count it.

  And Kevin, remember, people's ballots are secret, ...

• At November 12, 2008, plok wrote:

  But man, I should've voted for We3 vs. We4. I'm a tool.

  However, if I start doing takebacks I'll never ...

• At November 13, 2008, Tomas Harris wrote:

  Yea I think people will be surprised to see that many of their "No one else could have thought of ...

• At November 13, 2008, plok wrote:

  Okay, I'm taking that as a challenge...

  My #1 is Captain America vs. The Tumbler/The Adaptoid. Honest to God.

  Anyone else ...

• At November 13, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  If people don't vote for the time Wonder Woman fought a Maxwell Lord controlled Superman then I'll bitch slap them.

• At November 13, 2008, Man-El wrote:

  Maybe we should also vote for the 25 Worst Comic Book Battles of all time. Or maybe the Stupidest Comic ...

• At November 13, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  If people don’t vote for the time Wonder Woman fought a Maxwell Lord controlled Superman then I’ll bitch slap them.

  Unless ...

• At November 13, 2008, Black Manta wrote:

  Wow, this was difficult to come up with a top ten. I'm digging through my brain and collection coming up ...

• At November 13, 2008, John R. Fultz wrote:

  My #1 was Bullseye vs. Elektra from DAREDEVIL #181--the climax of Miller's legendary run. (Although I thought about changing it ...

• At November 13, 2008, Jersen wrote:

  In picking my top 10, I also only picked battles that I have personally read, and pulled all of mine ...

• At November 13, 2008, Kevin wrote:

  I realize they're secret ballots but a lot of people are throwing around a lot of fights like Captain America ...

• At November 13, 2008, Colin wrote:

  One of the things that surprised me about my list was how little correlation there is with the top runs ...

• At November 13, 2008, peegee wrote:

  I really screwed up by not putting in Odin vs Surtur.

• At November 13, 2008, Tomas Harris wrote:

  My number one that bubbled up from memory was the Iron Man vs mr Sensitive fight. It's brutal and awesome.. ...

• At November 13, 2008, I AM FeAR wrote:

  Agreed Tomas Harris, I got that one on my list too!

  Maybe some of my lesser known fights have a ...

• At November 13, 2008, KMFPL wrote:

  Interesting that almost all of mine have shown up mentioned here. I've hardly bought a monthly comic in years, ...

• At November 14, 2008, joso wrote:

  Can we vote for comics that haven't been translated in English? (just wondering, as the vote il open to mangas...)

• At November 14, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  I can pretty much guess the answer to that would be "yes, but it would be a wasted vote because ...

• At November 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Dan just about nailed that one.

• At November 14, 2008, joso wrote:

  Well, I thought of that, but voting "useful" rather than for even in comic book battles will start to become ...

• At November 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, sorry, joso, I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't vote for whoever you want to vote for!

• At November 14, 2008, Lord Paradise wrote:

  Is the reason my number one pick hasn't been mentioned yet just because it's so blindingly obvious? I'm not ...

• At November 14, 2008, The Mutt wrote:

  My top ten:

  The #1 pick was an instant no-brainer.

  The next four came pretty easy.

  Garth Ennis wrote two of them.

  Thor ...

• At November 15, 2008, Atman wrote:

  I love that so many people seem to have a good idea of what the number one fight will be, ...

• At November 15, 2008, PeeGee wrote:

  What's the one that noone is saying? Maybe I'm a bit dense, I can't think of what the obvious ...

• At November 16, 2008, I AM FeAR wrote:

  TDK Batman vs Superman? feh... I'd put the TDK Batman vs Joker fight above it myself, but it's not in ...

• At November 16, 2008, Lord Paradise wrote:

  I would be very, very surprised if the Dark Knight ending didn't at least make the top 5, especially given ...

• At November 17, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:

  Every time I think I have ten, I remember something else that just has to be there. This is ...

• At November 17, 2008, Gadget3440 wrote:

  Lord Paradise: "My love of Sylar vs. my hatred of Heroes"

  I'm totally with you on that one!

• At November 17, 2008, Chris Hipwell wrote:

  Xmen Vs Brood in Australia

  Xmen Vs Mauraders in San Fran

• At November 17, 2008, theblast wrote:

  Does Ralph Dibney vs. Neron in 52 count? They didn't really fight a fist fight, but Ralph defeats him.

• At November 17, 2008, Man-El wrote:

  Why isn't anybody reffering to God Vs. The Devil in Savage Dragon? Did people forget? Or was it just me ...

• At November 17, 2008, Matt wrote:

  Looks like people didn't read the part where they are supposed to add the word so the votes are secret

• At November 17, 2008, Man-El wrote:

  Ups. That should read "referring" and "hilarious". Sometimes my Portuguese gets in the way of my English. And other times ...

• At November 17, 2008, FearEmbodied wrote:

  My vote is going to The Punisher vs. Pittsy from Punisher MAX.

• At November 17, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  So did everybody else get Izaya vs. Steppenwolf as their number one?

  I started out with We3 vs. We4, Bats v. ...

• At November 17, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  This list will make a terrible top 25, I think.

  Consensus will not line up with so much nostalgia. A ...

• At November 17, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  @chris:

  3.Marauders vs. x men (mutant massacre/ Messiah Complex)

  That's funny. Those two fights are close to 20 years apart.

• At November 17, 2008, Zeeb wrote:

  So no one else put in Spider-Man v. Green Goblin (Norman), following Gwen Stacy's death?

• At November 17, 2008, Danny Potter wrote:

  HOW ABOUT GOOD VS. EVIL

  NOW THERE IS A BATTLE

• At November 17, 2008, Si wrote:

  This'd take me longer than being addicted to an online game, so many choices.

  Howsabout top 10 KO's next, eg: Slam ...

• At November 17, 2008, dhole wrote:

  fourthworlder!

  Avengers vs. Michael/Korvac is sixth on my list! I was also surprised no one was mentioning it.

  My list is ...

• At November 17, 2008, D wrote:

  1. Superman vs Doomsday.

  that's pretty much my list.

• At November 17, 2008, Chickawah wrote:

  Easy...the never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way

• At November 17, 2008, Adam wrote:

  I was very close to including Savage Dragon v. Jimbo Da Mighty Lobster on my list. There just wasn't enough ...

• At November 17, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:

  I had Avengers vs. Korvac on my list, but knocked it off due to lack of space.

  But it saddened me ...

• At November 17, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:

  Zeeb-

  Spider-Man vs. Norman after the death of Gwen Stacy was another I was sad to strike from my list.

  In fact, ...

• At November 17, 2008, Adam wrote:

  I agree. Sentimentality means a lot. The majority of my list was from my childhood.

• At November 18, 2008, Chris Hipwell wrote:

  Phoenix Vs Galactus in Excalibur.

  Awesome Alan Davis visuals!

• At November 18, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  I'm a little surprised no one else has mentioned The Thing vs The Champion from that Marvel Two-in-One Annual. That ...

• At November 18, 2008, PEP wrote:

  Miracleman Vs. Kid Miracleman!!! Mmmmm, inspiration for Neo Vs. Agent Smith in Matrix Revolutions?

• At November 18, 2008, betaraywilliam wrote:

  X-men vs the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to determine the fate of Jean Grey in Uncanny X-Men #137

• At November 18, 2008, Brian wrote:

  How's this for obscure: 2 of my favorite battles occur in SECRET WARS 2, including my #1. Really surprised ...

• At November 19, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Hmmm... looks like the special word isn't working any more. I can see pakx's list even though the word ...

• At November 19, 2008, joshschr wrote:

  yeesh. Feel free to correct my spelling. Sad that I think I spelled "Choronzon" correctly and "Israeli" incorrectly.

• At November 19, 2008, Airow wrote:

  My number one battle is Jem and the Holograms Vs. The Misfits in episode 7D. LMAO!!!

• At November 19, 2008, Tugrul wrote:

  Because comic history is very long, I'm actually very new to this. The first comic books I've read besides Ultimates ...

• At November 19, 2008, ggersten wrote:

  It looks like this poll is really going to be a battle between newer and older readers, even more than ...

• At November 19, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:

  ggersten said:

  It looks like this poll is really going to be a battle between newer and older readers, even more ...

• At November 19, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:

  Hm. Looking at my list again, I see that they all fall in between 1985 and 1995 (Although I'm ...

• At November 19, 2008, Juan Da Charro Ninja wrote:

  Iron Man vs Jack Daniels

• At November 19, 2008, Juan Da Charro Ninja wrote:

  Charlie Brown vs the Kite Eating Tree

• At November 19, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  So, if this is a poll of the top twenty-five battles, that means you'll actually show us the top couple ...

• At November 19, 2008, The Hamms Bear wrote:

  Oh wow, someone else already put Kite Eating Tree. Guess I should have read the thread before posting.

• At November 20, 2008, looseleaf wrote:

  Batman vs Guy Gardner in Justice League #5

• At November 20, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Wow! It's really refreshing to see that there ARE new readers out there! I thought the 90s had ...

• At November 20, 2008, Dreighton wrote:

  My list went back into the 40s! Not that I was reading comics then, but as a young reader ...

• At November 20, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  I'm excited to see how this turns out. I am quite fond of my list, and I hope it shows ...

• At November 20, 2008, Alex wrote:

  Damn! I was going to put down the kite eating tree too! I didn't think it would get on though...

• At November 21, 2008, Shane wrote:

  Now I didnt look at comments before I voted to not dilute my 1st responses.That said, HOW did I miss ...

• At November 21, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:

  For what it's worth, Shane, I didn't "forget" or "miss" the big fight with the Imperial Guard in the Dark ...

• At November 22, 2008, SLAT4Fish wrote:

  Scanning through the comments, I'm wondering if I'm the only one who picked a fight from the DC vs. Marvel ...

• At November 22, 2008, KMFPL wrote:

  SLAT4Fish: Well, I voted for the final battle in JLA/Avengers. Hard to beat a fight that has Superman ...

"There's those two titles you were looking for, Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa and Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa!" = Books of Magic (They're both titles of Magic: The Gathering novels).

Have fun!

1. It's only that guy Scott who's dating that Ramona Flowers girl!

2. See, I told you! If you hit the door hard enough, it WILL open!

3. Boy, that guy from Chuck and Firefly sure is odd!

4. Man, where the heck is Xavier's kid?

5. That magazine will never stop listing the sexiest man alive!

6. Look! There's Alge Crumpler and Chris Simms!

7. She likes to help stop both poverty and hunger in the world!

8. I must be hallucinating, because I see Elizabeth II walking with Denmark!

9. D'oh! I knew this would happen when I left my cheap gold lamp out in the rain!

10. Is that Peyton and Eli's dad hanging out with some buddies of his?

20 Comments

• At October 26, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  1 - Lone Pilgrim?

  3 - Adam Strange

  10 - Archie and Friends

  Or Archie's Pals & Gals, I guess.

  That's all I have ...

• At October 26, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  4. Legion Lost

  5. Forever People

• At October 26, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  1. Just a Pilgrim

  2. ?

  3. Adam Strange

  4. Legion Lost

  5. Forever People

  6. Titans Together

  7. ?

  8. Queen & Country

  9. Green Lantern

  10. Archies ...

• At October 26, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  6. Giant-Man?

  8.Queen & Country

  10. Archie & His Pals.

• At October 26, 2008, Bat2supe wrote:

  4 - New Mutants

  7 - Wonder Woman

  9 - Green Lantern

• At October 26, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Oops. It was Phil Simms, not his son, who played for the Giants, I guess. And I have no idea ...

• At October 26, 2008, Myke G wrote:

  9. Rust

• At October 26, 2008, Erik wrote:

  6 - New Titans (both Crumpler and Simms are new to the team this year)

• At October 26, 2008, Michael wrote:

  2. Force Works

• At October 26, 2008, winterteeth wrote:

  1. Just a Pilgrim?

  2. Locke & Key?

• At October 26, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  2- Force Works

• At October 26, 2008, guayec wrote:

  1. Scott Pilgrim

  4. Legion Quest

  6. Teen Titans

• At October 27, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  I'm trying to find the answer to number 7, and it's driving me mad!!! Brian, at least tell us if ...

• At October 27, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Ok, this is a huge stretch for #7, but is it "The comic adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her ...

• At October 27, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  7. Lady Justice?

• At October 27, 2008, tk. wrote:

  Lady Death? :)

• At October 28, 2008, Eldric IV wrote:

  7. Miss America

• At October 28, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  7. Lady Liberty?

• At October 28, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  American Dream?

• At October 28, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Sorry, meant:

  7. American Dream

Read on for the Press Release on the topic, including submission details.

Remember, this is the award both Josh Cotter AND Danica Novgorodoff won before they began doing bigger graphic novels, so this is a great award to win for your comic career!

Submissions Open for the 2008 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics

SAN FRANCISCO (September 10th, 2008) San Francisco comics retailer James Sime, proprietor of Isotope - the comic book lounge, announced today that submissions for the 2008 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics will be accepted until October 24th at midnight. "There is honestly nothing that makes me happier each year than to get the opportunity to help spotlight a creator who is toiling in the underground making something wonderful," said Sime, "And I know that many of you out there are hand-crafting some mini-comics brilliance, let us help share that work with the world!"

The Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics has been the first step in launching the careers of previous award-winners including Eisner-nominated Josh Cotter (SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST) and Danica Novgorodoff (SLOW STORM), as well as, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey (THE LAST SANE COWBOY), Rob Osborne (1000 STEPS TO WORLD DOMINATION), and Max Riffner (QUICK STEP).

The five judges for the Isotope Award represent various aspects of the comic industry including creators, retailers, and press. This year's judges are:

Josh Cotter - 2004 winner of the Isotope Award for his mini-comic, SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST. This Eisner-nominated series has recently been collected in a beautiful hardcover edition by AdHouse Books.

Jason McNamara - Xeric award winning author of FIRST MOON, CONTINUITY, and the recently-released THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY.

Johanna Draper Carlson - Publishers Weekly writer, and the brilliant mind behind Comics Worth Reading. Johanna's open-minded reviews and enthusiastic reporting set the bar for commentary throughout the industry.

Kirsten Baldock - The Isotope's Special Projects Director. Kirsten is also a librarian, bartender, and the author of the SMOKE AND GUNS graphic novel.

James Sime - Proprietor of Isotope - the comic book lounge in San Francisco.

To enter this competition, send five copies of your mini-comic to Isotope's address (326 Fell St. San Francisco, CA 94102) before October 24th deadline. The award will be given out at the grand ceremony during APE AFTERMATH at the Isotope in conjunction with San Francisco's ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO. Because of the nature of this award, the winner will be contacted in advance and must be present at the Isotope at 9 PM on Saturday, November 1st for the award presentation ceremony.

For more information contact the Isotope at (415) 621-6543 or at isotopeaward@gmail.com.

4 Comments

• At September 11, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  Great news! But what exactly is a mini-comic? A one page comic? Can a strip be considered a mini-comic? Thanks ...

• At September 11, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Wow, I thought they explained it, but you're right, they did not.

  Anyhow, a mini-comic is just a self-printed comic book.

  Most ...

• At September 11, 2008, scott king wrote:

  Traditionally mini-comics are 5.5 inches by 4.25 inches. You see them all the time at indy friendly conventions like ...

• At September 11, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  Great, thanks for the explanation guys! ^_^

Project Rooftop (the site is here) is doing another neat costume re-design, this time along with Harris Comics, the publishers of Vampirella!

The judges are going to be Trina Robbins, Joe Jusko, and Dan Brereton!

The prizes include:

Grand Prize (1) - The winning entry will appear as a pinup in a future issue of Vampirella, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.

Second Prize (1) - A Vampirella wall poster illustrated by Jose Gonzalez, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.

Third Prize (1) - A Vampirella T-shirt illustrated by Stephen Segovia, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.

In addition to these prizes, the finalists selected by the judges will also be up on a fan poll at Vampirella.com for the "Fan Selection" prize of a limited edition Vampirella print.

Send in your Vampirella redesigns to projectrooftop@gmail.com, with the subject line: "ReVamp" Please include your full name, age, website and mailing address for prize shipment. International winners may be responsible for prize shipment. All the usual P:R Guidelines apply.

All entries must be received by Monday, September 8th, 2008!

Get cracking, people!

6 Comments

• At August 15, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:

  Now THIS one will be interesting to see.

• At August 15, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  Yeah, exactly, those were my thoughts,

• At August 15, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  totally.

• At August 15, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  "ReVamp." VERY clever. Here's hoping the winning artists are actually allowed to, well, stretch out. I actually WOULD be interested ...

• At August 16, 2008, R. J. Sterling wrote:

  Dang, I was about to say something involving even less fabric would be nice.

• At August 19, 2008, Kirk Warren wrote:

  Uh, it's going to be hard to improve on half naked, well endowed vampire lady, but I guess they could ...

Have fun!

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2.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

53 Comments

• At June 24, 2008, Rich wrote:

  Brian, the images aren't visible, just the URLs. Can you please fix that? Thanks!

• At June 24, 2008, MJ wrote:

  Those are tough! I consider myself a good recognizer of artists, but the only one I know for sure ...

• At June 24, 2008, Sam wrote:

  I think #1 is Steranko. #8 looks like Kirby.

• At June 24, 2008, Pyccio wrote:

  #6 looks like Mike Zeck, while #8 should be Gene Colan. #9 I think it's Paul Neary.

• At June 24, 2008, Rob M wrote:

  Since MJ started using initials (but MJ, are you sure you don't mean #4? I think #4 is FR. ...

• At June 24, 2008, Rob M wrote:

  Oh, and #7, I don't know who the penciller is, but the inker is almost certainly Pablo Marcos.

• At June 24, 2008, Alonso wrote:

  1. I'm getting an itch, but nothing more.

  2. Roger Cruz? Ian Churchill?

  3. These are tough! All I can guess is ...

• At June 24, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  The only three I knew for sure were the same three Pyccio knew (#6 is from the great #258, Zeck's ...

• At June 24, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  1. Cap's face looks a little like Frank Robbins's style, heavily worked over, but Robbins is later on, so I'm ...

• At June 24, 2008, TimCallahan wrote:

  1. No clue

  2. Tom Morgan?

  3. Don Heck?

  4. No clue

  5. Frank Robbins

  6. Mike Zeck

  7. Sal Buscema

  8. Gene Colan

  9. Paul Neary

  10. Looks ...

• At June 24, 2008, Colin wrote:

  Arh too temping for a muggy afternoon at work. Ok my guesses - it was a lot hard than I ...

• At June 24, 2008, Rob M wrote:

  This time with full names instead of initials:

  1. One of the Kupperburgs -- I think Alan, but maybe Paul.

  2. ...

• At June 24, 2008, johnny wrote:

  1. Frank Springer (from the famous Punisher issue, if I'm correct)

  2. Dave Hoover

  3. A super-redrawn-by-the-inker George Tuska?

  4. ...

• At June 24, 2008, Colin wrote:

  Sorry I meant two is Dave Hoover not 1 - 1 is a nope

  7 is driving me nuts. I'm beginning ...

• At June 24, 2008, MJ wrote:

  I meant #5 to be Frank Robbins. Sorry for the confusion.

• At June 24, 2008, Nancy wrote:

  The last one's Herb Trimpe?

• At June 24, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  I'm just loving Cap's sly smile in panel 3.

• At June 24, 2008, Rob wrote:

  1) pass

  2) Dave hoover

  3) George Tuska

  4)pass

  5) Sal Buscema

  6) pass

  7)John Buscema

  8)pass

  9)pass

  10) Rik Levins

• At June 24, 2008, Horsebandit wrote:

  Oddly, the only thing I'm sure about is that 2 and 9 are lettered by Joe Rosen.

• At June 24, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  1. Not sure

  2. Tom Morgan?

  3. Sal Buscema

  4. Looks like Frank Robbins, but it's not because...

  5. ...is Frank RObbins

  6. Mike Zeck

  7. ...

• At June 24, 2008, MJ wrote:

  Upon further review, is 4 by Carmine Infantino? I knew it reminded me of someone and I finally placed ...

• At June 24, 2008, Johnny Kwango wrote:

  Pretty sure number 2 is Ron Lim.....

• At June 24, 2008, Patent Dragon wrote:

  I'd agree on 2 being Ron Lim - I remember that run.

• At June 24, 2008, booksteve wrote:

  1-Dave Simons?

  2-Rob Liefeld

  3-Got nothin’

  4-Uh…

  5-Frank Robbins/Vince Colletta

  6-Mike Zeck

  7-Don’t think it’s Neal but one of those Adams school guys inked by Pablo ...

• At June 24, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  Jack Kirby. Dick Ayers. Don Heck. Sal Buscema. All possibilities not getting much mention.

• At June 24, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  "Jack Kirby. Dick Ayers. Don Heck. Sal Buscema. All possibilities not getting much mention."

  They're not possibilities because none of the ...

• At June 24, 2008, MJ wrote:

  After reading everyone else's comments and studying the art some more I'm going to make my final guesses:

  1. Don Perlin ...

• At June 24, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, I left Kirby, Sal Buscema, Byrne and a couple of other artists off who I felt were far too ...

• At June 24, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  For some reason I'm feeling irrationally combative about all this. So let me apologize in advance for saying: If the ...

• At June 24, 2008, ja-x wrote:

  1. Jack Kirby and Joe Simon from the 1940's

  3. George Tuska

  5. Sal Buscema

  7. John Buscema

  8. Gene Colan (the classic Gene ...

• At June 24, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Is this gonna be one of those things that Brian asks and never answers if nobody gets it exactly right? ...

• At June 25, 2008, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Okay...

  I'm basing this off of my own knowledge (although I'm Canadian, I followed Cap quite closely for a long time) ...

• At June 25, 2008, Scott wrote:

  The general style for number 1 looks very old school, but the text looks a little more up to date. ...

• At June 25, 2008, V. Kraken wrote:

  The only thing I would say I'm sure of is that #10 is Rik Levins.

• At June 25, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  2 - has to be rob Liefeld.. ridiculously large shoulder muscles, and ankles the size of a small marble attached ...

• At June 25, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  Just thought of another possibility for no. 1: Lee Elias?

• At June 25, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  ANother guess on #2, CHris Merrinan?

• At June 25, 2008, RichYan33 wrote:

  1 Looks like Coletta inks. Paul Kuperberg?

  2. No idea. Liefeld -ish but too well drawn to be him. The head ...

• At June 25, 2008, Andrew wrote:

  I'm sad there isn't one by Ron Lim :(

• At June 25, 2008, RichYan33 wrote:

  #2 is driving me nuts. I know who draws gloves and boots that look like they are made out of ...

• At June 25, 2008, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  1. Could be a Kupperberg. You know, mediocre/generic with a mediocre/generic inker.

  2. I agree, too well drawn for Leifeld but ...

• At June 25, 2008, Soya wrote:

  1. Don Perlin #244

  2. Dave Hoover #428

  3. George Tuska #215

  4. Lee Elias #257

  5. Frank Robbins #190

  6. Mike Zeck #258

  7. John ...

• At June 25, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Wow, Soya. That's pretty damn impressive. Have you been lurking all this time, quietly chuckling to yourself, waiting ...

• At June 25, 2008, Soya wrote:

  I started reading Captain America around issue 230 until the second time Mark Waid left the series. I bought backissues ...

• At June 25, 2008, MJ wrote:

  "O" was right. Pablo Marcos did the inks over the elder Buscema on CA 217.

• At June 25, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  ' “O” was right. Pablo Marcos did the inks over the elder Buscema on CA 217.'

  To be fair, I was ...

• At June 25, 2008, MJ wrote:

  1. Perlin/Tom Sutton

  2. Hoover/Dan Bulanadi

  3. Tuska/Pablo Marcos

  4. Elias/M. Hands

  5. Robbins/Colletta

  6. Zeck/Zeck

  7. J. Buscema/Marcos

  8. Colan/Al Milgrom and Frank Giacoia (I'm guessing ...

• At June 25, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Damn, I should have recognized M. Hands! Whatever happened to him anyway? I'll bet that goddam DiDio refuses ...

• At June 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  By the way, panel 10 is actually two panels.

  How freaking weird is THAT?

• At June 25, 2008, TimCallahan wrote:

  Is it really two panels, or a coloring error?

• At June 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Oh, good call!

  You're right, it's probably just a coloring mistake!

• At June 25, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Man, I was so sure that 3 was Sal Buscema. And I'm shocked that 7 was John Buscema. ...

• At June 26, 2008, MJ wrote:

  I stopped reading some Marvel comics during that coloring experiment time. I remember dropping Thor and maybe a few ...

Bill Reed picked it as the comic he'd most recommend to new comic book readers.

Well, Kirk Warren, over at the Weekly Crisis comic book review blog, is running a contest where he is giving away three AUTOGRAPHED copies (by Atomic Robo writer and co-creator, Brian Clevinger) of the Atomic Robo trade paperback, collecting the six issue Atomic Robo mini-series!

Click here for more details!

Here are the rules (and a link to the excerpt).

Sounds to me like a pretty straightforward way for an aspiring comic book artist to show off his or her storytelling skills, for a large audience.

This nice fellow named dogwelder on Flickr decided to re-ink a panel I posted awhile back as an example of how DC had people redraw Kirby's Superman.

I liked his ink job, but I call upon you artists out there to give it a shot, too! Re-ink the same panel dogwelder did, and e-mail a jpeg of it to me (bcronin@comicbookresources.com), and I'll post them! It's just the one panel, so it shouldn't take up too much of your time.

Sound cool? If so, get inking!

10 Comments

• At September 28, 2007, Oof! Blog! Argh! » Good Idea, But What the Hell is a dogwelder? wrote:

  [...] Comics Should Be Good wants you to join in the fun started by someone (or something) named dogwelder by ...

• At September 28, 2007, Ryan Day wrote:

  Funny enough - have you checked out Jim Rugg's livejournal lately?

• At September 28, 2007, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  To answer a particular question: Dogwelder was a hilarious character from Ennis' Hitman. He was part of a disfunctional ...

• At September 28, 2007, Luke wrote:

  Hey, a post about me! Neat!

  I'm glad you enjoyed my cheese-ball inking of Kirby's Superman, but the good Kirby re-inking ...

• At September 28, 2007, garbonzo wrote:

  Aren't inkers just a bunch of tracers anyway?

• At September 28, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  That livejournal just reminds me that Jim Rugg is AWESOME.

• At September 28, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Wow, Jim Rugg is awesome.

• At September 28, 2007, James wrote:

  Jim Rugg!! That's the first time I have ever wanted to buy Aquaman. And they were just sketches ...

• At September 29, 2007, yo go re wrote:

  seeing the picture, I stand by my original statement: DC made the right call in the first place...

• At October 2, 2007, DanCJ wrote:

  No no no! Jack Kirby's Superman might not have matched the official model of the time, but at least ...

If you have not been following Comic Book Idol 3, it begins officially today, Thursday, October 11th.

Here is a list of the ten finalists, with a link to their websites.

The contest is a simple one - post in the comments section to this entry who you think the two finalists will be. Everyone who guesses correctly will be entered into a random drawing, with the winner receiving a bunch of free stuff, including autographed comics courtesy of Comic Book Idol 3's host, J Torres!!

So make your guesses! I'll stop accepting guesses next Wednesday, at 11am Eastern time.

18 Comments

• At October 11, 2007, Nils wrote:

  Of course I don't know, who the two finalists will be, but I can say, who I like to see ...

• At October 11, 2007, Mer wrote:

  Charles Paul Wilson III and Jose Holder

• At October 11, 2007, nadir wrote:

  i have a very good sense it will be Caio Oliveira & Daniel Lafrance. they both use space very well ...

• At October 11, 2007, Aaron wrote:

  Dan McDaid and Daniel LaFrance. I like the cuts of their respective jibs.

• At October 11, 2007, TimCallahan wrote:

  McDaid and Pitarra look like the top 2 to me--I hope they make it all the way.

• At October 12, 2007, Comic Book Idol 3 - The Amateur Art Contest from Comic Book Resources » Idol Thoughts 10/11 wrote:

  [...] I am running a Comic Book Idol 3 contest on Comics Should Be Good! Check the contest out here. ...

• At October 12, 2007, Raghu wrote:

  Jon Reed & Nicholas Pitarra are my votes.

  I loved Jon Reed's work - looks very special. Suprised that he is ...

• At October 12, 2007, Scott wrote:

  I'm going to go with Jon Reed and Charles Paul Wilson III.

• At October 12, 2007, Kevin Collazo wrote:

  Charles Paul Wilson III & Jon Reed take the cake easily.

  When is Comic Idol 4 starting?

• At October 12, 2007, William Ferguson wrote:

  Warren Leonhardt all the way! Oh you want two? Daniel LaFrance then! Canadians kick ass!

• At October 12, 2007, Edison Culver wrote:

  Jon Reed & Nicholas Pitarra

  GO JON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• At October 12, 2007, Nabeel A. wrote:

  Andrew Huerta and Jon Reed

• At October 14, 2007, DanCJ wrote:

  Going purely on the strength of the pages that were posted in the Snark Freee Corner (I can't get into ...

• At October 15, 2007, Shane wrote:

  I've got a pair of Dan's

  Daniel Lafrance

  Dan McDaid

• At October 16, 2007, Comics Should Be Good! » Snark Free Corner for 10/15 wrote:

  [...] And you have until Wednesday 11am to make your picks for my Comic Book Idol 3 contest! [...]

• At October 16, 2007, avengers63 wrote:

  With the ten pages we've seen, my favorite two are Charles Paul Wilson III and Caio Oliveira. In my ...

• At October 17, 2007, DeeSnider wrote:

  I'll go with Charles Paul Wilson III and Warren Leonhardt.

• At November 16, 2007, Scott wrote:

  So, Brian, looks like we have a couple of correct guesses. When is the drawing? :)

First, if you like, review the questions.  It's up to you.  Then, peruse the answers.  Obviously, SPOILERS abound, so don't tread where you might not want to! 

1. The Joker attempted to copyright smiling fish in Detective Comics #475.  I wrote "patent," and for that I apologize.  It didn't seem to bother anyone.  This story, of course, is part of the six issues of the classic Englehart/Rogers/Austin run in the late 1970s.  If you haven't read it, seek out the trade!

2. Christine Spar is the daughter of Hunter Rose's adopted daughter, Stacey Palumbo.  That puts her in the exact same situation as my wife.  Hunter Rose, of course, was the original Grendel, and Christine later became Grendel to save her kidnapped son.  Spar also wrote a book about Rose.

3. Jen and Gabe appeared in a cameo in Justice League America #34, one of the Kooey Kooey Kooey issues.  The two are the stars of The Maze Agency, which Adam Hughes drew.  So when Hughes was on JLA for his all-too-brief run, he (or Giffen and DeMatteis) put them into the lobby of Booster and Beetle's hotel.

4. Okay, John Constantine's age is a bit of a thorny issue, although it didn't affect the answerers, most of whom answered comprehensively.  John's birthday is 10 May 1953, making him 54 right now, because he ages in real time.  I had heard that before, but I wasn't sure if DC was still claiming that he ages in real time.  The last time it was mentioned in the comics was Hellblazer #63, when Garth Ennis threw him a 40th birthday party.  I gave credit for either answer.  Does he age in real time but not actually, you know, "age"?  What's DC going to do in twenty years, if they're still publishing Hellblazer?

5. John first appeared in Swamp Thing #37.  However, it's a general consensus among comics people that he showed up in one panel in Swamp Thing #25, when he looks more like Sting than he ever would again:

6. Here's another tricky one that didn't cause too much controversy.  Tommy, aka Monolith of the Elementals, was molested when he was young by a kid named David.  This is revealed in Elementals Special #1, which is about child abuse.  I read that story probably 17 years ago and promptly forgot about it.  I was thinking of Mary Lo, the government liaison who seduces him in Elementals Sex Special #1.  I gave credit for either answer.  Hardly anyone got this one, so it doesn't really matter that much.

7. Warren White faked an insanity plea to avoid jail time, and turned into a creepy character who called himself the Great White Shark.  Actually, that was his nickname when he was a free man, too, because of his business practices.  This information is from Arkham Asylum: Living Hell by Dan Slott, Ryan Sook, and Wade von Grawbadger.  Man, that's a cool comic.

8. In Amazing Spider-Man #289, Ned Leeds is killed by the Foreigner's men.  Why?  Because he's the Hobgoblin!  Some people answered Jason MacEndale, but I couldn't accept that, sorry.  MacEndale hired the Foreigner to kill Ned Leeds, but it was the Foreigner's men who actually did the killing.

9. In Fantastic Four #1, Sue Storm calls Ben Grimm a coward and asks him if he wants the Commies to get to the cosmic rays first.  This is, of course, one of the great panels in history:

10. Maggie Jordan is the victim in Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's Scene of the Crime, a very good crime drama from 1999.  Maggie was killed, somewhat accidentally, by her sister, Alex Jordan.  One of the contestants claimed she was not killed at all, but I've looked at the damned book three times since that answer came in, and I can't see any evidence that she's still alive.  Sorry!

11. Sir Jim Jaspers made his first, and only, appearance in the "American" Marvel Universe in Uncanny X-Men #200, when he showed up at the trial of Magneto.  This is a puzzling answer, because Jaspers appeared in the old Captain Britain strip written by Alan Moore and drawn by Alan Davis, and he was in the normal Marvel U., as in Earth-616.  Everybody else from that time is in regular continuity, but not Jaspers, it appears, because the Jaspers who is in UXM #200 doesn't appear to be the same person.  Only Chris Claremont knows for sure, I guess.

12. More people than I thought know about Scurvy Dogs, which is a freakin' hilarious comic, because the oldest Portuguese leper trick in the book is, indeed, hiding "shillings in the belly."

13. Only one person got this right, which means most people don't own John Byrne's hilarious run on She-Hulk.  At one point, Shulkie tears through the pages of the comic itself and runs across two pages made to look like those price guides that used to appear in comic books back in the day.  Except Byrne makes up all the prices, and although it takes a while to read them, they're very funny.  Amazing Spider-Man #1, for instance, is worth "indentured servitude for a period of not less than 15 years."

14. In My Greatest Adventure #80, the first appearance of the Doom Patrol, we learn that Rita Farr, who was filming a movie in Africa, inhaled some vapors and turned into a giant.  Just like in real life!

15. In Centravian, the northern hemisphere spells out "Dean Fusk is embezzling the canteen fund."  The southern hemisphere spells out "And Mrs. Fusk is a convicted shoplifter and their horribly ugly son Mark is a known snitch."  What the hell is this about, you ask?  This is from D. R. & Quinch, a strip from 2000 AD back in the day, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Alan Davis, featuring the adventures of two alien juvenile delinquents.  It's very funny.  I have the collection, which was published by Fleetway back in 1991, but it's probably out of print.  If you find it, snatch it up.  Moore can be very humorous, if he wants to be. 

16. At the end of "Born Again," Frank Miller's story about Daredevil's fall and rise, our blind hero takes the man sent to destroy him, Nuke, to The Daily Bugle office, in order to show that the government was involved.  Mass arrests and suicides follow!

17. Here's another pain in the butt answer.  William Gravel is the protagonist of Warren Ellis' fine series of mini-series from Avatar, Strange Kiss/Stranger Kisses/Strange Killings.  Technically, he's a sergeant major in the S. A. S.  He's also been described as a "combat magician," which is what I wanted.  But I gave credit for either answer.

18. Mary Jane, so distraught by Peter's proposal, flees to ... Pittsburgh.  Ah, the Iron City!  Home of the Pisces!  Peter follows her, and hilarity ensues: the Spider-Slayer is on his trail!  That Smythe guy is always good for a few laughs.

19. "Scenes from a Night's Dream" is based on Little Nemo in Slumberland.  It's on the album ...And Then There Were Three, which is quite a good album.

20. In the second Captain Britain trade (even though it was released first), we learn that a strange African ruler, Doctor Crocodile, captured and tortured Jamie Braddock, the older brother of Brian and Elisabeth Braddock (otherwise known as Captain Britain and Psylocke).  Jamie totally deserved it, though - he was a scumbag.

21. Rot Lop Fan is the Green Lantern who couldn't see, as he lived in the Obsidian Deeps.  One of the contestants answered Katma Tui, but she was, of course, the GL who gave Rot Lop Fan his ring.

22. At the beginning of their current ongoing series, we learn that the Shadowpact has been trapped in Riverrock, Wyoming, for a year.  Sucks to be them, I guess.

23. Kylun, who disappeared as a child into a weird portal in Excalibur #1 and showed up as an adult forty-some issues later, could replicate any sound he heard.  Some people might think this is a pretty lame mutant power, but I love it.  Just like Doug Ramsey's, mutant powers shouldn't always be something that aids in fighting.

24. John Cumberland, otherwise known as the High, flew into the force field (the Storm Door) around StormWatch headquarters, Skywatch, in StormWatch #50.  He then went splat.

25. Vanity, the city that drives people crazy, was introduced in Grant Morrison's and Mark Millar's sadly short-lived series Aztek: The Ultimate Man.  I guess in the horrific World War III series from earlier this year, it was pegged in Oregon, which is implied in Aztek, but the region is definitely the Northwestern United States.  A few people just answered Oregon, and I'm sorry, but I asked for the region, not the state.  No soup for you, unfortunately.

26. The day before I posted this, but long after I came up with this question, Bill Reed gave away the answer to Beta Ray Bill's ship, which was called Skuttlebutt.  Stupid Bill Reed and his excellent series about reasons to love comics!  I thought about changing the question, but I stubbornly kept it.  I wrote it down before Bill posted, after all!

27. Way back in Avengers #92 (reprinted in an Essentials volume and The Kree-Skrull War trade), we met H. Warren Craddock, who hated superheroes and led a public charge against them (and he would have gotten away with it, too, if not for those lousy kids!).  It later turned out that he was the fourth Skrull from the original Skrull story back in Fantastic Four #Whatever-it-was - the one who wasn't turned into a cow.

28. Chris Grahame is the protagonist of Kingdom of the Wicked, an excellent comic by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli.  He suffers from headaches and blackouts, so if you answered that, I gave you partial credit, even though those are only symptoms.  His real problem is that he has a twin brother, but one who was never actually born.  His brother's tiny body is lodged at the base of Chris's spine, causing all sorts of trauma to Mr. Grahame.

29. The woman who wrote Riverrun is named Anna.  She first appeared in Swamp Thing #151.  She and Alec Holland had some bizarre adventures over the course of the story arc.  This is all part of the brilliant Mark Millar/Phil Hester run that ended the first Swamp Thing series.  Yes, I wrote "brilliant," and I mean it.

30. In the sadly underread Major Bummer #1 by John Arcudi, Doug Mahnke, and Tom Nguyen, Lou Martin receives a box in the mail.  When he opened it, it exploded in his face, making him muscular and invulnerable.  We then find out that aliens sent him the package, which contained an "Extreme Enhancement Module," by mistake.

31. Peter Sands attempted to write a biography of Metropolis' most famous citizen.  This, as you might expect, didn't work out too well.  The full story can be found in Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography by James Hudnall and Eduardo Barreto, a pretty good one-shot in that old Deluxe format DC used to use.

32. The purple Infinity Gem gives its user complete power over space.  It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically, space.

33. Kyle Rayner makes his first appearance in Green Lantern #48 by Ron Marz, Bill Willingham, Romeo Tanghal, and Robert Campanella.  He shows up on the last page, watching Hal Jordan fly off on his mission of revenge.  He's with his girlfriend, whose fate is, well, unpleasant.

34. Namor started a new company called Oracle, Inc., in the solo series that was written and drawn by John Byrne.  Later Byrne wrote it and Jae Lee drew it.  I think it's Lee's first comics work, but I'm not sure.  Does anyone know?

35. Joshua Jones is otherwise known as Captain Gravity, star of two mini-series from Penny-Farthing Press.  He discovered something called Element 115 in an ancient Mayan temple, and this allowed him to manipulate gravity.  I haven't read the first mini-series yet, but the second, by Joshua Dysart and Sal Velluto, is pretty neat.

36. This is another question that raised some issues, and it's my fault.  The original Jihad was made up of Rustam, Djinn, Manticore, Jaculi, Chimera, Ravan, as we found out in Suicide Squad #1.  However, I gave people credit for answering Colonel Mushtaq as well, because Ravan didn't really have a superpower.  I should have worded the question differently - maybe something about the field team?  Anyway, it didn't matter that much - people who knew the six members usually gave me the colonel anyway.  And no, it doesn't matter that Chimera was really Nightshade.  She was still in the Jihad!

37. Finally, another one with some controversy.  I wrote "person," which should preclude the stupid leprechaun in X-Men #103 (before they became "uncanny"), but the truth is I simply forgot about the little turd.  His name was Padraic, in case you're wondering, and he called Wolverine Mr. Logan.  I was looking for Heather MacDonald in Uncanny X-Men #139, when Wolverine and Nightcrawler hooked up with Alpha Flight.  I gave credit to either answer.  More than one person guessed Mariko, but that ain't it.

So those are the answers.  Sorry if I went on a bit - you know how I am.  The winner, with 171 points (out of 200), was Stergios Botzakis.  He would have gotten a higher score, but I ruled against his answer of Jason MacEndale for the person who killed Ned Leeds and the fact that the High was trying to "bring down" a "United Nations space platform."  Those answers just weren't specific enough.  Yes, I am a hard taskmaster.  Brice Dare finished in second place with 166 points.  Brice answered "Oregon" for where Vanity is, but even if I had given credit for that, it still wouldn't have won it, as that question was only worth 4 points.  If you want to know the rest of the point totals, you can clamor for it in the comments, and I'll oblige.

Thanks for entering, everyone.  It's always fun for me, because I get to give away comics.  We'll see how long it takes for me to accumulate some more and have another giveaway.  I'll have to figure out what kind of contest to run!

I should point out that there's something wrong with my computer, so I may not be posting much for a while.  It gets overheated very quickly and I can't keep it turned on for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.  This post, for instance, took me four days to type because I kept having to turn the machine off, wait a while, and then turn it back on.  I've tinkered with it a bit, but fear to do anything more because of my ineptitude with machines.  So we'll see - maybe I'll get it fixed in a day and be back soon with more opinions about crappy comics that everyone but me hates!  Or it could be a while.  Only my PC knows for sure!

12 Comments

• At August 15, 2007, Mike Valiquette wrote:

  I think Jae Lee's first work was an X-Men Annual. It had some purple guy with red horns on ...

• At August 15, 2007, acespot wrote:

  You could try lowering the voltage using your BIOS, but could DEFINITELY set the BIOS to NOT turn the machine ...

• At August 15, 2007, James wrote:

  The Jim Jaspers who appears in Uncanny X-Men #200 was supposed to be the same one. You can find information ...

• At August 15, 2007, DeeSnider wrote:

  Well, by my count I broke 150, so I'm happy. That's a sold C+! Thanks for the fun contest Greg!

• At August 15, 2007, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  So we’ll see - maybe I’ll be back soon with more opinions about crappy comics that everyone but me hates!

  You ...

• At August 15, 2007, David Frankel wrote:

  Great fun! Thanks, again.

  As to Jae Lee, His first published works were in Marvel Comics Presents #85-92 (late 1991), ...

• At August 15, 2007, Da Fug wrote:

  Dang, I woulda been in the running if I sent mine in :( I was gonna try and find ...

• At August 15, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Heh. Heh. Sniffy.

• At August 16, 2007, Zach Adams wrote:

  Re: Vanity, OR. It wasn't in the 52 tie-in "World War III" where this was established, but the Mageddon ...

• At August 16, 2007, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Whoops, I forgot about the JLA arc called World War III, because DC made me forget it!!! It doesn't ...

• At August 17, 2007, Mr Tumnus wrote:

  For those who are interested, (and trust me, if you like Alan Moore you should be) a new edition of ...

• At August 20, 2007, Danar wrote:

  wow. my search fu must be decent because i didn't know more than a handful of these but i ...

This time I'm asking questions about certain comics and characters.  Instead of identifying panels, you'll have to answer questions about comics.  I think it's a lot harder than the identification of panels, but I could be wrong.  Anyway, before we get to the questions, let's look at the loot!

I have a bunch of different kinds of things, some pretty mainstream, and some far more independent.  First, I have the two trades of Captain America making up the "Winter Soldier" story arc.  This includes Captain America #1-7 and #8-9, 11-14, written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Steve Epting (for the most part).  It's a pretty darned good story.  Brubaker turns it into more of an espionage story, which I think is the right way to go.  I also have the hardcover edition of Elephantmen: Wounded Animals, which just came out this past week.  I mentioned that Richard Starkings gave it to me in San Diego last week, which was very nice of him, but as I already own the issues it collects (#1-7 of the monthly series), I figured I'd give it to someone who hasn't yet experienced it.  I'd point to my reviews, but I've been reviewing each individual issue.  Suffice it to say that it's a very good series.  Next up is Mouse Guard.  I have the six individual issues, some of which were sent to me by the fine folk at Archaia even though I bought them already.  Yes, I have a copy of issue #1, which is hard to find, but you might be disappointed to know it's the fourth printing.  These books are to read, not auction off!  This is a gorgeous comic book that is good for both adults and kids, and if you missed it the first time, you can get it here - just in time for the sequel!  I reviewed it here, in case you're interested.  Moving on, I have a couple of graphic novels Larry Young was cool enough to send to me even though I already had them.  First Moon is a werewolf story, and although I'm a bit ambivalent about it, I admit it's pretty entertaining.  The Last Sane Cowboy and Other Stories is extremely surreal, but it's also quite touching. Read my review here!

So those are the prizes.  I'm going to give prizes to the top two finishers (unless there's a tie for second, in which case I'll think of something).  The winner will get his or her choice of four prizes.  The second-place finisher will get the two prizes that are left.  And no, the two Captain America trades are not a set.  If you win and you only want one, be my guest.

So that's what you can win.  Now for the questions.  There are 200 points to be had, and each question has a different point value.  Let's face it, some of these are relatively easy because they are about pretty well-known comics, while some are so obscure I feel almost guilty asking them.  But that's part of the fun!  I have no idea how many of these answers you can find on-line, but I tried to word them so it would be difficult to search for them.  Obviously, you can try - use any means necessary to answer the questions, I always say.  You have a few days to answer, so if you want to ask around or dig through back issues, you'll have time.  I'm hoping to make you work!  Here are the questions, with point values attached.  Obviously, what I may think is worth 10 points you might know immediately, but I think those are the hardest.  And, you know, vice versa.  But I think the point values are pretty accurate.   

1. What did the Joker once attempt to patent? (3 points)

2. How are Christine Spar and Hunter Rose connected? (4 points)

3. In what DC comic did Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb appear? (10 points)

4. At least how old is John Constantine, and how do we know that? (5 points)

5. Speaking of John, in what comic is his first "official" appearance?  And what is his first "unofficial" appearance? (3 points; 4 points)

6. To whom did Tommy Czuchra lose his virginity? (9 points)

7. What name did Warren White go by after just a brief stint in Arkham Asylum? (4 points)

8. Whose men killed Ned Leeds? (3 points)

9. How did Sue Storm get Ben Grimm to fly Reed's rocket? (2 points)

10. Who killed Maggie Jordan? (9 points)

11. In what comic book in the "real" (meaning "American") Marvel Universe did Sir Jim Jaspers first appear? (5 points)

12. What's the oldest Portuguese leper trick in the book? (5 points)

13. According to John Byrne's "special price guide," how much is Amazing Spider-Man #1 worth? (7 points)

14. On what continent did Rita Farr have her life-altering accident? (3 points)

15. What do the Northern and Southern Hemispheres spell out in Centravian? (10 points)

16. Where did Daredevil take Nuke when he died? (2 points)

17. What's William Gravel's job? (7 points)

18. Where did Mary Jane Watson go when Peter Parker asked her to marry him the second time? (4 points)

19. What Genesis song is based on a famous comic strip by Winsor McCay? (9 points)

20. What brother of a superhero did Doctor Crocodile capture and torture? (6 points)

21. What is the actual name of the protector of the "black and lightless void known as the Obsidian Deeps"? (4 points)

22. In what town in what state did the Shadowpact spend a year, trapped? (3 points)

23. What's Kylun's mutant power? (4 points)

24. How did John Cumberland die? (5 points)

25. In which region is Vanity located? (4 points)

26. What was Beta Ray Bill's ship called? (3 points)

27. What was the name of the person (later revealed to be a Skrull) who led the charge to banish superheroes in general, and the Avengers in particular? (3 points)

28. What's Chris Grahame's medical problem? (10 points)

29. Who wrote River Run, a collection of short stories set in alternate universes along the Mississippi River? (5 points)*

30. How did Lou Martin get his superpowers? (5 points)

31. Who tried to write The Unauthorized Biography of Lex Luthor? (6 points)

32. What does the purple Infinity Gem give its user power over? (6 points) 

33. In which comic book did Kyle Rayner first appear? (4 points)

34. What did Namor call his ecologically-minded company? (4 points)

35. What mysterious and ancient thing allows Joshua Jones to manipulate gravity? (8 points)

36. Name the superpowered members of the original Jihad. (1 point each, 6 points total)

37. Who was the first person to call Wolverine "Logan"? (6 points)**

* You can give me the first name only, mainly because the character doesn't have a last name.  Stupid lack of surnames! 

** This does not mean chronologically within the Marvel Universe, you understand.  Flashbacks to World War II or earlier don't count if they were published years later.  I mean in terms of the first time we found out his name.

Phew!  Get cracking, people!  One thing: if the answer is an issue of a comic book, I want the name of the book and the issue number.  Don't worry about which "volume" it is.

Once you have found all the answers you can, send me an e-mail.  I will add up your points, and voila! we'll have a winner.  I figure I'll give you all week to do this, because it might take a while.  So let's say you have until midnight on Saturday, 11 August.  That's midnight Pacific Daylight Time, which for all intents and purposes is Arizona time (we're on Mountain Standard Time, because we're too cool to switch to Daylight Savings).  That should be enough time, right?

Have fun, everyone!

8 Comments

• At August 5, 2007, Dave wrote:

  I assume you mean Christine Spar and not Christine Parr on #2.

• At August 6, 2007, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Damn it! I'm an idiot. Thanks, Dave.

• At August 6, 2007, Matt Bird wrote:

  And wasn't it Jim Jaspers?

• At August 6, 2007, Greg Burgas wrote:

  This is what happens when I don't look these things up first. Thanks, Matt.

• At August 6, 2007, Matt Brady wrote:

  Because I know very few of the answers here, I've been inspired to make up a bunch of lame jokes. ...

• At August 6, 2007, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Wow. I'm amazed - you got every single one of them right! Oh, except #6, which should have ...

• At August 6, 2007, The Cosh wrote:

  HA! Was number 15 especially for me? The only one I definitely know and it's a meaty ten pointer!

• At August 6, 2007, Apathy Boy wrote:

  Damn it, Greg. You're messing up my spring cleaning plans. How can I toss out my crappy John Byrne comics ...

One such Bullpen Bulletin, from 1969, was a gallery of members of Marvel's famed "Bullpen." So it struck me as a good game for you all to play (and no looking at his blog for the answers!).

I will list (alphabetically) 16 of the writers/artists/editors, and you simply have to tell me which letter (each one corresponding to the picture of a different writer/artist/editor) matches which writer/artist/editor!

1. Neal Adams
2. John Buscema
3. Gene Colan
4. Johnny Craig
5. Bill Everett
6. Gary Friedrich
7. Don Heck
8. Gil Kane
9. Tom Palmer
10. John Romita
11. John Severin
12. Joe Sinnott
13. Jim Steranko
14. Roy Thomas
15. Herb Trimpe
16. John Verpoorten

Good luck!

A.B.
C.D.
E.F.
G.H.
I.J.
K.L.
M.N.
O.P.

10 Comments

• At August 5, 2007, Ian wrote:

  I'm pretty sure Roy Thomas is M and I'm going to guess that Steranko is D.

• At August 5, 2007, Ian wrote:

  Wrong on the first one right on the later.

  I think Steranko was the easiest one because he just looks like ...

• At August 5, 2007, Mark Engblom wrote:

  1. Neal Adams = B

  2. John Buscema = L

  3. Gene Colan = E

  4. Johnny Craig = I

  5. Bill Everett = ...

• At August 6, 2007, Ted Watson wrote:

  I had two guys narrowed to two photos each. Listing the favorite first:

  Neal Adams is either B or J (from ...

• At August 6, 2007, The Rural Juror wrote:

  I got B (Neal Adams) and F (Gil Kane) and that's it.

• At August 6, 2007, Punch wrote:

  all I know is P looks like Rorschach

• At August 6, 2007, Rob Allen wrote:

  A. Everett

  B. Adams

  C. Trimpe or Palmer?

  D. Steranko

  E. ???

  F. Kane

  G. Sinnott

  H. ???

  I. ???

  J. ???

  K. Verpoorten

  L. Buscema

  M. Friedrich

  N. ???

  O. ...

• At August 6, 2007, layne wrote:

  Man, the one contest I have a shot at winning, but I can't enter it... or can I? *Strokes beard, ...

• At August 6, 2007, Johnny Kwango wrote:

  Tom Palmer is C, definately. Really.

  ISTR reading that Herb Trimpe was often mistaken for Alan Alda in his younger ...

• At August 7, 2007, tolworthy wrote:

  The whole freature is reprinted at the end of Essential Fantastic Four volume 5. Worth the cover price alone!