5. The next Kingdom Hearts game could feature "Marvel world."

For those of you not up on your vidjagames, Kingdom Hearts is an RPG (that's role-playing game) series that takes young, androgynous protagonist Sora, teams him up with guys like Goofy and Donald Duck, and has him journey through various worlds and dimensions comprising the Disney multiverse, teaming up with characters like Tarzan, Jack Skellington, Aladdin, Winnie the Pooh, and scads of others. Utilizing fanboy logic, one presumes that a future installment of the PlayStation franchise could feature Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, depending how the video games are licensed. I only made it through about half the first game, myself, but it was fun. If I could have the Mighty Thor hit Jafar upside the head with Mjolnir, or take Dr. Strange on a trip through Fantasia, or see Namor the Sub-Mariner punch Ursula in the ovaries,  however, it would be more fun.

4. CrossGen Comics could return.

Five years ago, Disney paid a scant million dollars (compared to the four billion and a song it cost to acquire Marvel) for CrossGen's assets, just so's they could publish some Abazadad novels. Technically, though, they've got the rights to all of it-- so if, say, they wanted to produce a Ruse or Negation movie, they could, and Marvel could start putting the comics out to tie into the film. That, or Marvel could ask nicely and start folding CrossGen stuff into Marvel, much like DC's been doing with the Milestone and Red Circle characters.

People like CrossGen, right?

3. Better book distribution.

Let's think about this-- Disney owns their own publishers which use different  distribution channels than Marvel, according to Rich Johnston. Disney's also a marketing powerhouse. At this point, they could distribute their comics through different channels, and maybe widen the market, driving Marvel up even further to the top of the sales game. What would this mean for Diamond? Some retailers are worried, but I wouldn't mind to see Diamond's industry strangehold loosened. Is it likely to happen? Probably not-- I doubt Disney cares one whit about the distribution of the comic book single, or even collections and graphic novels; they're in it for the licensing revenue. But it could happen.

2. The Pixar guys could produce an animated Marvel movie.

Now, Pixar itself sticks to original material, but like any world famous rock band, they've got side projects, and thanks to Disney, they can bankroll them. We've already heard rumors of Marvel execs and Pixar execs giggling like school girls on a conference call over the possibilities. Therefore, the people that brought you The Incredibles (which I wasn't a big fan of, myself) or WALL-E (which is one of the finest films of the past decade) could give us-- well, whatever doesn't have its rights tied up in other studios. Runaways? Dr. Strange? Rocket Raccoon? Devil Dinosaur!? Maybe it won't happen. Maybe we won't get that Red Ronin cameo in Toy Story 3. But you never know.

Maybe we'll see the animated adventures of some waterfowl trapped in a world he never made...

1. Howard the Duck loses the pants.

Remember how Disney sued over Howard looking too much like Donald and made him put on trousers? Well, theoretically, Howard could now be Donald's cousin, and they could both run around with their duck junk hanging out. I imagine Disney will still keep Howard's wardrobe intact to deter character confusion, but you never know. I say we start a campaign now: let our ducks run bottomless and free!

Now place your bets, folks. I'm putting five dollars down on "none of the above." Honestly, I don't think we'll notice much of a difference, aside from an extra animated series here or there on ToonDisney, and maybe some movie rights shuffling around in the next decade.

How about you? Any other possibilities popping into your head? Let 'em be heard!

52 Comments

• At September 1, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  Personally if Disney were to ever produce an animated Marvel film I'd rather a classic 2-D hand drawn "Fantasia"-like version ...

• At September 1, 2009, EthanK wrote:

  I'm also thinking that Disney theme parks might open a "friendly neighborhood comic store" in their parks that offers Marvel/Disney ...

• At September 1, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  One word: M.O.D.U.C.K.

• At September 1, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Good article. I honestly couldn't give a crap about the retailers being worried. The problem with the current ...

• At September 1, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  It's the Pixar possibilities that I'm really excited for. I've been saying for years I'd like to see some comic ...

• At September 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  The main benefit might simply be publicity. In addition to the Disney Channel, Disney owns ABC, ABC Family, and Disney ...

• At September 1, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  M.O.D.U.C.K. is awesome, by the way. Props to whoever made that.

  That was Ryan Dunleavy.

  Here's another one, from Chris Samnee.

• At September 1, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  Ooh, more Crossgen. Cool.

• At September 1, 2009, chad wrote:

  no doubt animated marvel films are one thing on Disney's mind though they proalby are also seeing how ...

• At September 1, 2009, Matt Halteman wrote:

  Bill, I'd like to hear what you didn't like about "The Incredibles". I don't think I've ever come across anyone, ...

• At September 1, 2009, Talent Copies - Genius Steals » Blog Archiv » Walt und Stan - endlich vereint wrote:

  [...] Als ich das bei den Splashpages las, dachte ich eine ganze Weile lang, daß das doch ein Aprilscherz sein ...

• At September 1, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  I saw someone getting overexcited about Kim Possible joining SHIELD or the Gargoyles being implemented into the MU and dealing ...

• At September 1, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  If they never publish another Howard the Duck comic, that's fine with me. Steve Gerber passed away, sadly, and I'm ...

• At September 1, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Matt Halteman --

  I am another who didn't care for The Incredibles. But I didn't hate it, either. But I ...

• At September 1, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  My problem with The Incredibles probably lies with me being a jaded comic book fan; it showed me nothing I ...

• At September 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I saw someone getting overexcited about Kim Possible joining SHIELD

  I would buy the hell out of that.

• At September 1, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Good analysis of why Disney did it:

  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2009/08/the-big-deal-marvel-is-disneys-new-family-brand.html

• At September 1, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:

  For one that I think will probably happen, I'm looking forward to some quality reprints of Carl Barks's Uncle Scrooge. ...

• At September 1, 2009, Dean wrote:

  My best guess is that animation drives the post-acquisition Marvel in the short-term.

  WSJ is reporting that properties like ...

• At September 1, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  pixar won't make runaways, it has gay characters.

• At September 1, 2009, buttler wrote:

  I'm looking forward to Bendis's "House of Mouse" series.

  "No more ducks."

• At September 1, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Hi fanboy d,

  Disney is very 'gay friendly' and has no problem with homosexual charecters. i don't know why pixar wouldn't ...

• At September 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Why would Disney now want Howard to look more like their childrens character?

  If Disney really cares either way, I'd say ...

• At September 1, 2009, Fabricio Neves wrote:

  "My problem with The Incredibles probably lies with me being a jaded comic book fan; it showed me nothing I ...

• At September 1, 2009, Bill wrote:

  It's probably already been said, but doesn't this shine some new light on Marvelman/Miracleman? Plenty of money & will now ...

• At September 1, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:

  Thing I'd like to see come out of the Disney/Marvel buyout; new reprint volumes of Carl Barks' Donald Duck books, ...

• At September 1, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  Anybody who didn't love the The Incredibles has no soul.

• At September 1, 2009, Matt wrote:

  So, what you're saying is, the Ruse Omnibus is finally coming out? :P

• At September 1, 2009, John Chidley-Hill wrote:

  Was CrossGen good? I was on a sabbatical from comics when all that happened. Are they worth searching out?

• At September 1, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Some of them, John.

  The biggest hurdle was that they all had to sort of kind of kind of sort of ...

• At September 1, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  And really, that didn't hurt them all that much at all. It felt a little forced at times, but the ...

• At September 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Was CrossGen good? I was on a sabbatical from comics when all that happened. Are they worth searching out?

  They were ...

• At September 1, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I unfortunately got into Crossgen about 6 months before they shut down, but I really liked a lot of their ...

• At September 1, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  The Incredibles was everything awesome about superheroes without all the continuity, cynicism and other garbage that's been dragging superhero comics ...

• At September 1, 2009, Felipe wrote:

  Also, I wouldn´t rule out the possibility of some live-action series based on Marvel characters debuting on ABC, sooner or ...

• At September 2, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Kirayoshi: Boom! has already announced trades like Life and Time of Scrooge.

  re: Incredibles...what it showed me that I hadn't seen ...

• At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Years ago, Marvel was publishing Disney comics for newsstand distribution.

  A little while later, Disney puts out the '67 Spider-Man cartoon ...

• At September 2, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  I've been wondering if DC will by buying out Archie.Ooooooh, maybe now we'll get that Josie and the Pussycats/Swing with ...

• At September 2, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Taking a few hours to think about this, it really comes as no surprise that "The Mouse" bought "The House" ...

• At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Snark noted.

  Completely unnecessary...but, noted.

• At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  *sigh*

  The above was not meant for DanCJ...

• At September 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Ooooooh, maybe now we'll get that Josie and the Pussycats/Swing with Scooter crossover that everyone's been clamoring for....

  I'd buy it.

• At September 2, 2009, Cass wrote:

  Imo, the biggest thing to come out of the Disney buy-out of Marvel will be the sprawling enterprise of fan-generated ...

• At September 2, 2009, harry wrote:

  If you all want absurdity...go to this link http://blog.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/...and click on the related links...just a tip of the iceberg...

• At September 2, 2009, Gary wrote:

  I just hope the Villain in Spider-man 4 is not Cruella DeVille

• At September 2, 2009, Adamantium Wholesaler wrote:

  Add me to the anti-Incredibles bandwagon. Pixar is usually pretty original with their themes, but, a millionth movie about a ...

• At September 2, 2009, Capt USA wrote:

  sign me up for opening day of a pixar Rocket Raccoon movie. That just sounds so awesome it has to ...

• At September 2, 2009, Jon H wrote:

  As I said in another thread, Micronauts would be *perfect* for Pixar, if they could hash out any rights issues ...

• At September 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Oh, right, I also forgot that the Incredibles had what I felt to be contradictory themes-- the "everybody is special/but ...

• At September 2, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Take Pixar for example. A few years ago, Pixar had a falling-out with Disney and severed all ties with them. ...

• At September 3, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  The biggest hurdle was that they all had to sort of kind of kind of sort of tie in together, ...

• At September 3, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  Whoops, screwed that html up something fierce. Apologies.

Well, I was just doing a bit about La Pieta at Legends Revealed here, and it reminded me of the last time I did a bit on this style of covers some folks noted we should draw a distinction between covers likely influenced by La Pieta and covers CLEARLY homaging La Pieta.

So, here are the the top five covers that are homaging the actual La Pieta...

HONORABLE MENTION

This Greg Lauren Hellblazer cover is a bit too subdued for my tastes, but it's still a strong piece of work.

5.

This Alvin Lee Deadpool cover is a strong one, and even ties directly in with the Deadpool story arc (which involved the whole "Deadpool doesn't seem to be able to die" plot point), but since it clearly follows in the footsteps of another cover on this list, I knocked it down a bit.

3 (TIE).

This was a clever cover approach by Pat Broderick.

First, he does a bit about how Captain Atom and the villain Plastique share some compassion...

and later, we revisit their relationship...

Very nice little sequence there, separated by almost exactly three years!

2.

This is probably the most famous cover on the list, and Jim Starlin does a magnificent job, but I just think there's another cover that's a bit more on point than this great cover, which spotlighted the cover of the first Marvel Graphic Novel - the death of Captain Marvel!

1.

Okay, so this member of Harbinger is forced to sacrifice her child for the good of the world and she meets him later on when he's an adult and has taken on a sort of savior-like role for the world.

Come on, do you get any more spot on for having a La Pieta cover homage than this Howard Simpson cover?!

I say thee nay, so it gets the #1 spot.

What say you folks? Any good La Pieta cover that I'm missing? Let me know (I don't really need to tell you that, do I?)!!

20 Comments

• At August 13, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  I'm not familiar with the title. Why does the adult child on the Harbinger cover look so much like Magnus, ...

• At August 13, 2009, nicola wrote:

  my favourite pieta was in a comic book. Brainiac 5 cradling his broken supergirl sex bot

• At August 13, 2009, Michael M. wrote:

  Because that was Magnus, Robot Fighter. :>

• At August 13, 2009, Marcus Brute wrote:

  Though it's not as directly influenced by the statue, I've got to mention Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. It's one ...

• At August 13, 2009, Namor wrote:

  Nah, Starlin's deserves top spot.

• At August 13, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I bought two Legion Of Super-Hero books when I was a kid. they're the only two I ever had, ...

• At August 13, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Which came first: Crisis #7, or X-Men #137 (I think) with Scott holding Jean in the same pose?

• At August 14, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The X=Men cover came first, Adam.

  But as you can see from this cover gallery of covers that seem tangentially inspired ...

• At August 14, 2009, Rob Schamberger wrote:

  The list goes from number five to number three. Also, the Harbinger cover rules.

• At August 14, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  There's a tie for #3, so that means no #4.

• At August 14, 2009, Greg wrote:

  Fables #81 is Pieta-esque, but I guess not as much as the covers on your list.

  It's a beautiful cover, though.

• At August 14, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I agree with Namor.

• At August 14, 2009, Jack Cheng wrote:

  What I find interesting as an art historian is that people generally agree that although the Pieta is a masterpiece, ...

• At August 14, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  Is her lap so large that she can actually hold God on it, or is God so small that he ...

• At August 14, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion also has a very iconic image of two of its characters in a Pieta ...

• At August 14, 2009, Howard Simpson wrote:

  I'm happy to have my cover chosen number one in this category. Brian hits the nail on the head for ...

• At August 14, 2009, Bald Steve wrote:

  The final page of 100 Bullets #100 is a La Pieta as well, although reversed and armed.

• At August 14, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  Sure, some of the proportions of La Pieta don't stand up to close inspection (look at Mary's right hand), but ...

• At August 14, 2009, Michael Painter wrote:

  What about Fables #81's cover? If that isn't one of the top Pieta covers, then I don't know what is.

• At August 14, 2009, ParanoidObsessive wrote:

  I have to admit, every single time someone brings up La Pieta, my mind has ALWAYS jumped to the Harbinger ...

5. Jim Corrigan (Gotham Central)

This Jim Corrigan was a dirty cop and a walking red herring for the identity of the new Spectre. Still, he had a pretty big impact in the world of Gotham Central; everything came crashing down on our favorite GCPDers thanks to him. He was the one who shot Crispus Allen, after all.

4. Jimmy Corrigan II (?)

The absentee father with the nervous laugh who tries to connect to his grown son and fails in every conceivable way? That's Chris Ware for you.

3. Jimmy Corrigan, 1893

The eldest of the Jimmy Corrigans, this young feller got into some scrapes at the World's Fair and led a lonely, depressed, occasionally angry life until he eventually became a crazy old man. Good times!

2. Jimmy Corrigan, present day

The most awkward and depressing Jimmy Corrigan in a book filled with awkward and depressing Jimmy Corrigans, the present-day version serves as our protagonist in Chris Ware's most lauded work-- the poor schlub who dreams of a better world but is trapped in his sad life. We really feel for him throughout. We are all Jimmy Corrigan, underneath.

1. Jim Corrigan (Spectre)

You don't mess with the original. The first Jim Corrigan, after all, was the human host to the Spectre, the instrument of God's vengeance. And you don't go around telling the instrument of God's vengeance that he's anything but #1. Besides, he's the only one on our list drawn by both Jim Aparo and Tom Mandrake, which makes him, by far, the coolest-looking.

Thoughts?

28 Comments

• At July 18, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  How could you forget Jim Corrigan, the African-American Metropolis patrolman and red herring for the E-1 Spectre's host from those ...

• At July 18, 2009, Sebastian wrote:

  I've never read that Ware book, so all of the Corrigans got a good laugh from me.

  Mr. Reed, you just ...

• At July 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Was there something planned but never executed with that Gotham Central Corrigan? Seemed like waaaaay too much buildup for ...

• At July 18, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Am I wrong in wanting Chris Ware to do a Spectre one-shot?

• At July 18, 2009, wil wrote:

  If you're expecting, a, er, laugh, from Jimmy Corrigan, you've probably got the wrong idea of the book. Don't ...

• At July 18, 2009, Diggity wrote:

  I don't think the GC Jim Corrigan was a red herring, just a misdirection. Instead of becoming the Spectre himself ...

• At July 18, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  I agree with Omar. The Africian-American Jim Corrigan from Metropolis needs some recognition! Are he & I the ...

• At July 18, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  If you read Chris Ware a certain way (for instance, if you have a mean streak), he can be pretty ...

• At July 18, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  Diggity: Misdirection is the purpose of the red herring.

  "Red herring (idiom), a deliberate attempt to divert attention"

• At July 18, 2009, layne wrote:

  Chris Ware is unfunny in the same way that Margaret Atwood is unfunny; that is to say, not at all.

• At July 18, 2009, Eric wrote:

  I'm not the present day Jimmy Corrigan underneath. And after a very short time reading his sad self-centered non-story, I ...

• At July 18, 2009, Mr Wesley wrote:

  @Adam:

  I think that was the whole point. Set up the fact that the Spectre needs a new host, bring a ...

• At July 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Mr Wesley--

  Interesting. Did Rucka ever confirm that the writing was a response to early guesses?

  I'm curious mainly because I ...

• At July 18, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  @layne

  At least Margaret Atwood's writing is interesting.

• At July 18, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  This is a terrible list. How could you leave out Jim Corrigan? Not to mention Jim Corrigan.

• At July 18, 2009, Jbird wrote:

  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

• At July 18, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  It really is an inexplicable coincidence, this business of the multiple Jim Corrigans emerging from the far and unrelated corners ...

• At July 18, 2009, XyphaP wrote:

  @anonymous: No one's ever really been interested in Chris Ware's writing. His style and art, though, are a marvel.

• At July 19, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  I'm not much of a fan of the Crispus Spectre, though I like him better than the Hal Jordan Spectre. ...

• At July 19, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  Cool. Now do a list of all of the guys in Bob Haney comics named Cathcart.

• At July 19, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  XyphaP... I find your statement, presented as exposition of some sort sort of universal pole resulting in 100% unanimous results, ...

• At July 19, 2009, T. wrote:

  And part of what continues to bother me about Crispus Allen is the unexplained Jim Corrigan in the background. I ...

• At July 19, 2009, XyphaP wrote:

  @benday-dot: I was maybe a little flippant.

  I'd agree that the man is an auteur, able to construct whatever stories he ...

• At July 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Reading Jimmy Corrigan at the moment, and I'd argue that the eldest Jimmy Corrigan should be first - the modern ...

• At July 19, 2009, T. wrote:

  It just confused the hell out of me as to why Jim Corrigan was back and this time he was ...

• At July 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  So when I read Gotham Central in trade, I mentally partitioned it like I was reading two different series.

  Having no ...

• At July 20, 2009, T. wrote:

  Having no notions of Rucka on DC books, knowing him only from his excellent Oni work,

  I haven't read his Oni ...

• At July 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I haven’t read his Oni work, so i didn’t know he did great stuff there.

  You should check it out!

  Start ...

With all that in mind, however, let's look at the Top Five fivesomes found in comics.

5. Dynamo 5

Jay Faerber's Dynamo 5 is a superhero team consisting of five illegitimate children of the deceased superhero Captain Dynamo, each one having inherited one of his superpowers. Our own Greg Burgas says it's one of the best superhero comics you aren't reading, so it must be good! Then again, Burgas likes ABBA. ... Aww, hell, so do I. Hurray for Dynamo 5! Buy it wherever Image Comics are sold, and support a book worth supporting.

4. Fatal Five

Let's break it down thusly. The Fatal Five is a group of super-villains from the future, consisting of a guy named Tharok, who is like Two-Face, only half of him is robot; the Persuader, who persuades you with his giant axe; Emerald Empress and her big floaty emerald eye of doom; Mano, who can disintegrate you with a handshake; and, of course, Validus, the giant baby monster creature who shoots lightning out of his exposed brain bits.  Also, they were created by a 15 year old Jim Shooter. How can you go wrong?

3. Fantastic Five

I'm expecting to be in a minority on this one, but I dig the Fantastic Five. First appearing in the pages of Spider-Girl, they eventually launched into their own short-lived series that reunited Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan! I was the only person on Earth who bought the series, and it ended after five issues. But it featured Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, a grown-up Franklin Richards, Lyja (!) and Reed Richards' brain in the body of HERBIE (sort of). By the time it was over, and during the follow-up mini-series the book was more like the Fantastic Ten when you threw in Kristoff, and Ben's kids, and Johnny and Lyja's kid, and Sue, and all that. But it was fun while it lasted, the best example of the cheeky stuff you could do with the possible future timelines and a penchant for DeFalco continuity.

2. The Five Fists of Science

Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders blinded me with SCIENCE! in their 2006 historical fiction/steampunk/adventure graphic novel. Of course, this being a Matt Fraction comic, it naturally ends in a confluence of giant robots, evil magicks, a yeti, and evil inventors. The five fists themselves are actually only three people, two of whom are Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, the third of whom is the one-handed assistant to Tesla. It does become a fivesome by the end of the tale, with the addition of Bertha von Suttner and another surprising ally-- you'll have to scrounge up a copy to find out. It looks to be out of print; Image should put out another run of this baby, because it's a helluva lot of fun.

1. Inferior Five

This quirky quintet-- a Bridwell/Orlando/Esposito gathering of complete misfits in ill-fitting spandex outfits who bumble their way through crime-fighting careers-- has languished in limbo for too long, serving merely as a punchline. It's time for the Inferior Five to get the spotlight! No more zipsville for them! I'd love to see Merryman, Awkwardman, Blimp, Dumb Bunny, and White Feather in a Showcase volume, at least. So let's choose not to overlook our inferior friends, and instead--

Oop, lunch time. I'm outta here!

21 Comments

• At July 6, 2009, Nick Marino wrote:

  good list... except Dynamo 5 should be #1!!!!!!!!!!!!

• At July 6, 2009, Argo Plummer wrote:

  It is a good list, but the Fatal Five should be higer. Would swap it with the Fantastic Five, ...

• At July 6, 2009, DailyRich wrote:

  RE: the Five Fists -- if you have three people and one of them is one-handed, that's literally five fists.

• At July 6, 2009, hangmanjury wrote:

  Love the Inferior Five at number one, but where are the Five Swell Guys?

• At July 6, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Other Fatal Five members have included Flare, Caress, and Mentalla, created as replacement members after the senseless killing of Tharok; ...

• At July 6, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  Five Fists of Science is absolutely awesome. One of my favorite iterations of Tesla in comics.

• At July 6, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  Other Fatal Five members have included Flare, Caress, and Mentalla, created as replacement members after the senseless killing of Tharok; ...

• At July 6, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  Wish there were a super team consisting of five men who each have the same first name.

  Here come.... "The Five ...

• At July 6, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:

  Where's Brainiac-5??

• At July 6, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I would've moved Dynamo 5 to #3, but I can't argue with the top two.

• At July 6, 2009, gjghost wrote:

  aww.. no Five Swell Guys from Promethea?

• At July 6, 2009, Tuomas wrote:

  I thought this list would've included the five members of the Invisibles cell in The Invisibles... But I guess they ...

• At July 6, 2009, Greg Geren wrote:

  The Fatal 5 should definitely be higher, but you made up for that by not finding some way to include ...

• At July 6, 2009, christopher wrote:

  I was also a "fan" of the Fantastic Five during it's brief run. As much as I enjoy today's improved ...

• At July 6, 2009, Ellis Wyatt wrote:

  When I was a kid, I thought that five was the perfect number for a superhero team, because then the ...

• At July 6, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Let's note that the original X-Men may be the most famous superhero team with five members.

• At July 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Incidentally, you forgot the Fearsome Five.

  No... No I didn't.

• At July 6, 2009, Oinkman wrote:

  On the Fantastic Five, isn't a half metal Ben Grimm a little excessive? I'm pretty sure he'd prefer some skin ...

• At July 6, 2009, R3D RJ wrote:

  Inferior Five? That's a first. =P

  BTW, is that the same Merryman who showed up in Superman Beyond? If so, kudos ...

• At July 6, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yes, R3D RJ, that's the same guy.

• At July 7, 2009, George wrote:

  What about the Civic Minded Five from The Tick? SPOOOOOON!

5.  The Comedian

Edward Blake: a grizzled, aging, badass intelligence agent who's pretty much an asshole to everybody he encounters. Thanks to his role as Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep, we know Bruce can play a lonely, sad, mean old man, and many of his earlier roles tell us he can play a slightly more cheery badasshole. All he has to do is add some rape and some flamethrowers and a domino mask, and bam! The Comedian, the only guy who knows the joke-- and isn't laughing.

4.  Nick Fury

Nick Fury: a grizzled, aging, badass intelligence agent who's pretty much an asshole to everybody he encounters. Also, he has an eyepatch. We all know Bruce Campbell is a leader of men, so I think he could step into the blue uniform of Nick Fury, the only man who can command the goddamn Punisher as well as the toughest guy with a bowler hat and a walrus mustache you will ever see. As agent and/or director of SHIELD, the Campbellized Fury would be a a devlish rogue who'd just as rather insult you as lay on the charm. He chomps on cigars, curses like a sailor, flies on jetpacks, shoots sci-fi Nazis in the face, and gets the girl. Give him some sugar, baby.

And hey, if Hasselhoff can do it, anybody can, right?

3.  Hal Jordan/Green Lantern

Imagine the Bruce Campbell of sometime around Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness as the young, daring pilot Hal Jordan, a kind of doofy adventurer who confuses charm with smarm and has a penchant for cranial trauma. Why, that's only a few steps away from Ash! Replace the chainsaw with a power ring and you've got Hal Jordan, space-cop! Sure, the special effects in 1992 might not have done the concept justice, but Bruce would've pulled the role off with aplomb. And Ted Raimi could've played G'Nort.

2. Mysterio

Bruce has appeared in all three of the Spider-Man films so far, thanks to pal Sam Raimi. He's named Spidey, defeated Spidey, and teamed up with Spidey! What's next? Well, I don't think he's going to become Spidey anytime soon, but he could do battle with Spidey! Fans have been clamoring for Campbell to portray a Spider-villain. Some say his macho exterior would be a good fit for Kraven the Hunter, but still others think Bruce would be a perfect fit for Mysterio. I can see it. The bombastic, failed special effects guy/stuntman Quentin Beck who couldn't seem to make a name for himself in show business and decided to make a name for himself in crime would be a role Bruce could really sink his teeth into. And hey-- perhaps Quentin Beck has been the same guy all along, taking jobs as a wrestling announcer, snooty usher, and faux-French maitre d' while trying to hit it big. Finally, he gives up and turns to flamboyant crime!

Mysterio might not be able to carry an entire movie by himself, but he'd make for a great secondary villain, one with just enough over-the-top-ness for Bruce to chew the scenery without swallowing it whole. The famous Campbell panache would work wonders for Mysterio. And who wouldn't want to see Spidey bash that fishbowl head in, only for a mighty chin to jut out from beneath it?

1. Captain Marvel

(I drew the above a couple years ago. It is the height of my artistic skills. I was afraid to ink it lest I ruin it, so what you see is what you get.)

Captain Marvel-- of the Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! variety-- plays to all of Bruce's strengths. He can range from boyish and goofy to serious and tough: equal parts comedy and action/adventure. Captain Marvel is, after all, the Big Red Cheese, and no one does bigger or cheesier than Bruce Campbell-- he's the master at it, and has the acting chops to pull off the wisdom of Solomon and the spirit of Billy Batson. Alright, he might be a bit grayer and rounder than he used to be, but underneath that chin lurks the heart of a champion, or somesuch rabble. Anyway, I think he would've made a cool Cap back in the day, but we'll probably never know, eh?

What do you think? What other comic characters would benefit from a bit of the ol' chin magic?

45 Comments

• At April 15, 2009, Poor Yorick wrote:

  You missed the most obvious and best - The Creeper! I actually wrote and pitched a Creeper screenplay in ...

• At April 15, 2009, Mea wrote:

  Somehow, I see young Bruce (circa Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness) as Eel O'Brien/Plastic Man. Too old ...

• At April 15, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Bruce's name comes up alongside Plastic Man so often that I think he was actually up for the role back ...

• At April 15, 2009, Rohan Williams wrote:

  Nice. I've long believed that Bruce Campbell (or, at least, '90s Bruce) was the one person (well, besides Matt Dillon) ...

• At April 15, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I still want to write a movie in which Bruce Campbell, Matt Dillon, and Nicholas Brendon play brothers.

• At April 15, 2009, Greg Manuel wrote:

  A younger Bruce Campbell, maybe somewhere in the timeframe of "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." ...

• At April 15, 2009, Beacon wrote:

  Yeah, I’ve been saying Bruce’s Spider-Man character should become Mysterio for years now. Maybe if enough of us demand it ...

• At April 15, 2009, Dean wrote:

  A movie featuring Bruce Campbell as Nick Fury would include far too much awesomeness for the human mind to deal ...

• At April 15, 2009, GarBut wrote:

  That was a terrifically entertaining post, Bill. Inspired and provocative; this'll be a ton-o-fun comments thread, I'm sure.

  I'm going to ...

• At April 15, 2009, Ben wrote:

  After seeing Bruce for the first time on the big screen in Army Of Darkness way back whenever, I thought ...

• At April 15, 2009, Coralskipper wrote:

  I'd love to see him play Deadpool, and I mean the loudmouthed quipping variety, not the mute SOB in the ...

• At April 15, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Bruce Campbell for Wildcat.

• At April 15, 2009, Grico wrote:

  He would be a good wise-cracking revamp of the old Flash villain the Turtle. No seriously, I can picture ...

• At April 15, 2009, stephen cade wrote:

  When I heard that he had lost out on the lead for the Phantom I was left to mourn what ...

• At April 16, 2009, Kolya wrote:

  I was thinking the other day that Bruce Campbell would be the ideal lead in the new Judge Dredd film. ...

• At April 16, 2009, mactbone wrote:

  Maybe it's just the eyepatch but Campbell as Fury = Phil Kensebben to me.

• At April 16, 2009, Wil wrote:

  Deadpool, fo sho. But I've they decide to make ANOTHER Punisher flick (which I personally suspect they will at some ...

• At April 16, 2009, Wil wrote:

  should nor sure. Dunno what happened there

• At April 16, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Well, according to his bio "If Chins Could Kill.." he was seriously in the running for Batman, before Clooney got ...

• At April 16, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember seeing Bruce Campbell in the movies Spider-man 2 and 3, but not in the first one. Where ...

• At April 16, 2009, Mecha-Shiva wrote:

  In my head, Secret Six's Deadshot is a Brisco County-era Bruce.

  (Bruce was the wrestling announcer in the first ...

• At April 16, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I was thinking the other day that Bruce Campbell would be the ideal lead in the new Judge Dredd film. ...

• At April 16, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  In Spider-Man 1, Bruce is the commentator at the wrestling match

• At April 16, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  Tommy Monaghan aka Hitman.

  With Ice Cube as Natt the Hat.

• At April 16, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Second the Hitman nomination. He could do Ennis's words justice, and have the chops to make it serious when it ...

• At April 16, 2009, Wil wrote:

  Bruce Campbell in in Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium? This needs to exist. Now.

• At April 16, 2009, Adam wrote:

  What, no love for Simon Williams? Campbell's physique and personality would be perfect for Wonder Man.

• At April 16, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  All excellent suggestions, gang. Bruce Campbell: the world's most versatile hypothetical comic book actor!

• At April 16, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Humour? Judge Dredd?

  Absolutely full of humour.

  Black humour and satire, admittedly, but definite chock-full of humour...

• At April 16, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  Also Wonder Man.

• At April 16, 2009, The Patent Dragon wrote:

  Easy. Kilowog.

• At April 16, 2009, Mike Huckabee's Nutritionist wrote:

  How can Wonder Man not make the list when he's practically the Marvel version of Bruce Campbell? He's a ...

• At April 16, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  The only one out of the 5 that I think Bruce could still pull off is Mysterio. Hook the ...

• At April 16, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  To me it's not his chin but his wisecracking personality. With that in mind I could see him with a ...

• At April 16, 2009, Bob wrote:

  CGI him into Johnny Thunders Thunderbolt!

• At April 16, 2009, Andrew Kennedy wrote:

  Bruce Campbell as Hitman? Have you been inside my dreams?

• At April 16, 2009, aboynamedposh wrote:

  Love love LOVE that drawing of BC as Captain Marvel.

• At April 16, 2009, stephen cade wrote:

  Commenting on suggestions above--

  The Tick could work--if they get it right this time.

  Wonder Man could be cool.

• At April 16, 2009, Supermachodude wrote:

  Reuben Flagg

  Max Lord

  Pat Dugan

• At April 17, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Absolutely full of humour.

  Black humour and satire, admittedly, but definite chock-full of humour…

  The strip, yeah - but not the character ...

• At April 17, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Though then again "Gaze into the fist of Dredd" and "Foul smelling bearded woman" and a few other one-liners suggest ...

• At April 17, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  He’s almost completely devoid of a sense of humour.

  True, he's more of a straight man in that regard, but ...

• At April 17, 2009, Casey wrote:

  Based on looks and his sarcastic wit, he woulda made a good Savage Dragon.

• At April 17, 2009, John Seavey wrote:

  I'm really surprised nobody has suggested Bruce Campbell as Will Magnus yet. By the time I got to Volume Two ...

• At April 20, 2009, Carycomic wrote:

  I think he would have been more appropriate for the movie version of Denny "the Spirit" Colt (minus the plagiarized ...

So enjoy the top five Warren Zevon characters who would make for good comic books!

NOTE: More so than Bob Dylan, heck, more so than most songwriters period, Warren Zevon had a lot of songs that were stories that followed characters around, including some of his most famous songs/characters. The problem with this is that while a lot of these songs are awesome, they don't exactly lend themselves to a long form narrative, which you need to have for a good comic book. So while you could certainly disagree and think Song X would work well as a comic, just rest assured that if I don't mention a song, it's not because I didn't think of it, but it is because I didn't think said character was a good pick.

SECOND NOTE: A few Zevon songs are about actual people, like Frank and Jesse James. I'm not going to count those as "Zevon characters," because he didn't create them.

On to the list!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Excitable Boy from "Excitable Boy"

One of Zevon's most notable characters, I don't think the Excitable Boy character really works on his own, but damned if he wouldn't make a great character in a Garth Ennis comic book!

He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy

The Mercenaries of "Jungle Work"

The mercenaries Zevon writes about in "Jungle Work" are fairly non-descript mercenary characters, so they'd work well for any basic mercenary comic book (which are plentiful), but they're basically blank slates as far as characterization goes:

Where the pay is good
And the risk is high
It's understood
We'll do or die
Sten gun in hand
Where the gun is law
From Ovamboland
To Nicaragua

The Narrator of "Renegade"

The story of "Renegade" sounds a lot like Brian Azzarello's neat Vertigo series Loveless, so I think it would work nicely in that vein.

Some prayers never reach the sky
Some wars never end
Some dreams refuse to die
Next time I would rather break than bend

I am a renegade
I've been a rebel all my days
I am a renegade
I've been a rebel all my days

But while the character is intriguing, Zevon does not spend THAT much time developing the character, beyond the basics.

The Narrator of "Piano Fighter"

I could easily see an interesting Vertigo series following around the exploits of a gifted freelance piano player drifting through America (or even the whole world, if you liked) playing in all sorts of different places with different new characters introduced each arc.

Someone called Piano Fighter
I'm a holy roller, I'm a real lowrider
Hold me tight, honey, hold me tight
Then let me go, Piano Fighter
Let me go, Piano Fighter

Maybe I'll go to Reno
Nobody knows my name
I'll play Claie de Lune in a quiet saloon
Steady work for a change
Ain't going down that long, lonsome road
Ain't going down that long, lonsome road

I'd follow that character.

The Werewolves of "Werewolves of London"

Clearly Zevon's most famous song, but I dunno, is there really much here to do a series about that wouldn't require just inventing personalities for the werewolves out of whole cloth?

Still, the song is cool enough to make it perhaps worth it!

He's the hairy, hairy gent, who ran amok in Kent.
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair.
You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out Jim.
Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor.

Aaahoo, werewolves of London
Aaahoo, werewolves of London

The Narrator of "Carmelita"

He's certainly intriguing on his own, but his story does not really seem to have a massive amount of room to go, does it?

Well, I pawned my Smith Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer chicken stand

Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

I guess you could do a study of the town as a whole?

The cast of "Things to do in Denver When You're Dead"

It's a GREAT hook, but really, as great as the hook of the song is, Zevon does not really go into much detail, and while you could certainly do a good comic with the PREMISE, I dunno if the characters stand out enough on their own.

I called up my friend LeRoy on the phone
I said, Buddy, I'm afraid to be alone
'Cause I got some weird ideas in my head
About things to do in Denver when you're dead

I was working on a steak the other day
And I saw Waddy in the Rattlesnake Cafe
Dressed in black, tossing back a shot of rye
Finding things to do in Denver when you die

You won't need a cab to find a priest
Maybe you should find a place to stay
Some place where they never change the sheets
And you just roll around Denver all day

Here's the toughest omission!!

The Narrator from "Jeannie Needs a Shooter"

This song, co-written with Bruce Springsteen, works as a limited series/graphic novel really well. The only thing keeping it off the top five is the fact that the story is a BIT familiar. I mean, heck, it's basically Body Heat, right?

She came down from Knightstown with her hands hard from the line
From the first time I laid eyes on her
I knew that she'd be mine
Her father was a lawman, he swore he'd shoot me dead
'Cause he knew I wanted Jeannie and I'd have her like I said

Jeannie needs a shooter
Shooter like me
Jeannie needs a shooter
Shooter on her side
Jeannie needs a shooter

Still, great song.

5. THREE WAY TIE!
The narrators of "Desperados Under the Eaves," "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" and "The French Inhaler"

All three songs are basically about the same thing, just with "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" having a more sardonic and less serious approach to life on the West Coast than the other two (you could probably add "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands" to these three, too).

Some samples...

From "Desperadoes"...

I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I'm gonna drink 'em up

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill

From "Pitiful Me"....

Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood
I ain't naming names
She really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

From "Inhaler"...

You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are
I thought you'd be a star
So I drank up all the money,
Yes, I drank up all the money,
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar,
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar

Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
And when the lights came up at two
I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase

Your pretty face
It looked so wasted
Another pretty face
Devastated

From "Even a Dog" (which is more specifically about the unsavory side of the entertainment industry)...

All the worms and the gnomes are having lunch at Le Dome
They're all living off the fat of the land
Everbody's trying to be a friend of mine
Even a dog can shake hands

4. The Gorilla from "Gorilla, You're a Desperado"

If you can't get an interesting story surrounding a gorilla who escapes from the zoo and just takes up the life of a human, then you aren't trying hard enough!

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place

I wish the ape a lot of success
I'm sorry my apartment's a mess
Most of all I'm sorry if I made you blue
I'm betting the gorilla will, too

They say Jesus will find you wherever you go
But when He'll come looking for you, they don't know
In the mean time, keep your profile low
Gorilla, you're a desperado

3. Mr. Bad Example from "Mr. Bad Example"

Any of the top three choices would be fine at #1, I think. Here, this sounds a lot like Jack of Fables, an incorrigible lout who is also charming and a lot of fun to hate.

I'm very well aquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule trying to fit them in
I'm proud to be a glutton, and I don't have time for sloth
I'm greedy, and I'm angry, and I don't care who I cross

I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I like to have a good time, and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred, and go down in infamy

2. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner from "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"

The only way this doesn't reach #1 is that you really most likely have to come up with a separate lead to make the story worth, as Roland is, you know, headless. So you probably would have to come up with an Ichibod Crane type character to work with him.

Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Norway's bravest son
Time, time, time
For another peaceful war
But time stands still for Roland
'Til he evens up the score
They can still see his headless body stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun

Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in
He found him in Mombassa in a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his Thompson gun - he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body from there to Johannesburg

Roland the headless Thompson gunner...
The eternal Thompson gunner
still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it

What a cool visual.

1. The Narrator from "Lawyers, Guns and Money"

Likely Zevon's second-most famous song, the narrator of "Lawyers, Guns and Money" is similar to Hunter S. Thompson in he just seems like a crazy fun guy to follow around on various misadventures.

I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the
Russians, too?

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this

Okay, that's the list!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

33 Comments

• At February 18, 2009, tally johnson wrote:

  The narrator from my rides here and his mishaps in texas...modern day jonah hex?

• At February 18, 2009, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Ooh, that's wonderful. Roland was the first thing to come to mind when I saw the title, and I was ...

• At February 18, 2009, Bill D. wrote:

  I'd buy a Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner comic book in a heartbeat.

• At February 18, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  What Bill D said.

• At February 18, 2009, Dave wrote:

  I don't know.. I love Zevon and I love comics but this seems like a real stretch. Maybe Roland....

• At February 18, 2009, R wrote:

  I agree that Zevon comics could be awesome, but if we aren't including real people-

  Things To Do In Denver ...

• At February 18, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  This is awesome. I'm a huge Zevon fan.

  For a Champions campaign once I made a supervillain named Suzie Lightning. Didn't ...

• At February 18, 2009, aboynamedposh wrote:

  I really enjoyed this.

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Things To Do In Denver is about Zevon and his collaborators/buddies. Desperados Under the Eaves, Poor, Poor Pitiful Me, ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  How about “The Envoy”? That’d be an awesome comic book. I sort of grouped that in with "Jungle Work," ...

• At February 18, 2009, R wrote:

  Fair point! He certainly had enough of a life to make a pretty interesting movie :)

• At February 18, 2009, Mike wrote:

  I'm thinking Duke in Doonesbury already establishes the viability of a Mr Bad Example comic.

• At February 18, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  I love this topic. I mean I only know enough Zevon to appreciate this thread, not enough to contribute ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I’m thinking Duke in Doonesbury already establishes the viability of a Mr Bad Example comic.

  Yeah, that's exactly what I ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Do I have my chronology mixed up, or did they title a movie after Things To Do In Denver When ...

• At February 18, 2009, Cory Strode wrote:

  I didn't see Mutineer:

  Mutineer Lyrics

  Artist(Band):Warren Zevon

  Review The Song (0)

  Print the Lyrics

  Send "Mutineer" Ringtones to Cell

  By Warren Zevon

  c. 1995 ...

• At February 18, 2009, Hunter wrote:

  As much as I would love the work of Warren Zevon to be spread among many pop culture artifacts could ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  How do you mean "harp on"?

  And I definitely considered "Mama Couldn't be Persuaded," and you're right that it would ...

• At February 18, 2009, Hunter wrote:

  By "harp on," I mean I thought I was the only guy who thought that "Desperados" would be a great ...

• At February 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  That's what I figured, Hunter, but I also figured I'd might as well check to make sure. :)

• At February 19, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I want to see Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner by David Lapham and Marcos Martin.

• At February 19, 2009, Catullus wrote:

  From "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School," released circa 1980, was "Jeannie needs a shooter". Which was ...

• At February 19, 2009, Catullus wrote:

  Hunter, a great idea about Fagen/Becker. Imagine a four-color version of "Kid Charlemagne", maybe done by Christopher Priest.

  Apodaca, Lapham ...

• At February 19, 2009, Kizu wrote:

  The Factory!

  "Early in the morning I feel a chill

  The factory whistle blows loud and shrill

  I'd kill my wife or she'd ...

• At February 19, 2009, Hank wrote:

  Where's "the Envoy"? He should have been in the Top 5 and not even an honorable mention? The ...

• At February 19, 2009, Pól Rua wrote:

  Not to mention the fact that 'The Envoy' has already appeared as a cold-war era superhero in the comic book ...

• At February 19, 2009, Pól Rua wrote:

  Or 'Nick Cave'... hrmm... 'Tom Waits'...?

• At February 19, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Great list, Brian.

  "Excitable Boy" is also semi-autobiographical. Zevon actually rubbed a pot roast all over his chest, as I ...

• At February 20, 2009, sean wrote:

  "French Inhaler, maybe. He was a bit cagey on that one."

  It's about Marilyn Monroe, isn't it? Isn't that what ...

• At February 20, 2009, sean wrote:

  If 'Preacher' ever gets made into something, "The Vast Indifference of Heaven" should be in it somewhere.

  And the best character ...

• At February 20, 2009, Aaron Poehler wrote:

  Worth noting that the biography "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Warren's ex Crystal Zevon is an excellent read, and ...

• At February 20, 2009, Joe X wrote:

  John Ostrander beat you to it in Grimjack #76, with Excitable Boy and Roland, who's a telekinetic head (like in ...

• At February 20, 2009, Catullus wrote:

  Or the Elvis of "Porcelain Monkey"...

Anyhoo, this thread on our forum gave me an idea for a post. We're all in our "Best of '08" food comas by now, so it's time for something else. Something hopeful for a hopeful nation (and their hopelessful friends from other countries who read this). Let's look ahead, now, and guess at what's going to end up on our Best of '09 lists. Comics should be good, after all-- these especially!

(And yes, we're a month in. Well, I started this post weeks ago. Quiet, you.)

5. Vertigo's Crime Line

This is the first of three Vertigo-published entries on this list. It will be a good year for the dazzling heights of mature-readers comics. (And there's also Milligan's Hellblazer, the first issue of which I think came out but I haven't read it yet but feel free to tell me if it's good or not in the comments kthxbye.)

I'm not sure when the first of these crime books is set to appear, but it's something this annum, and it should be a good time. Ian Rankin's writing one-- starring the aforementioned John Constantine, of all characters-- and you can see the cover to Azzarello's above. What's most exciting is that these books are coming out as original graphic novels, and, by the publication design, are clearly aimed at the discerning bookstore market. This could be a cool coup for Vertigo, and may push them to do further OGNs, rather than publish awesome but unsuccessful serials.

4. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century

New work from Alan Moore is always something worth anticipating, and even though I haven't gotten around to buying LoEG v2 or the Black Dossier yet (I am totally waiting on the vinyl record), I will probably pick this up. Century will be comprised of three 80-page comics-with-spines, two of which are due out in 2009, and the first in April. Hurrah!

I'm interested to see how Moore's literary protagonists handle the 20th century, and what works (books? film? TV? But... the public domain!) he'll bring into the universe.

3. Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

The boys from Brazil (I know, I know) are teaming up again, this time for a 10-issue Vertigo series. I'm not entirely sure what it's about, but it's Moon, it's Ba, it's going to be awesome, buy the damn thing.

Here is a semi-explanation from this Newsarama interview:

The title "Daytripper" refers to the structure of the story, as readers will travel to different points in one person's life. "We see how, as we go from age to age, where he is and how he's dealing with different parts of his life -- how he deals with his mother, his wife, his friends. And we light from issue to issue and check him out from various perspectives," Schreck said, explaining the title. "It's that we're going from day to day. We go from age 32 to age 48 to age 18. So we're tripping, sort of, through his various days. And really, each issue is a day. We get to see what he did when he was 18, then what he did when he was 32. So it's 'daytripping' with this character."

I am intrigued. And the art will be gorgeous.

2. Ignition City by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani

Here's a release from Avatar I've been stoked about for ages, every since Internet Jesus started playing around with the idea in his BadSignal newsletter. The high concept is basically "Flash Gordon meets Deadwood," and I, for one, couldn't be more excited. Also, it's drawn by the dude who drew Aetheric Mechanics, which, as I'm sure you'll all remember, was beautiful.

Supposed to bow in April. Here's a bit of script to whet your appetite:

Pic 3
He awakens fully, realising what’s hit him. Because there's a turd on his chest. He tries to focus on it, almost going cross-eyed.

YURI
No. Is-- is mouse turd.

YURI
You drop your baby turds on Yuri now?

Pic 4
He rages, standing shakily.

YURI
Lightning Bowman! Govnjúk! You are assfucker of pigs!

YURI
How dare you deploy your shitpot on greatest Russian ever in time!

YURI
I have more medals than you have scabs on your whoremonger’s cock!

Should be awesome, no?

1. Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart

Did you really expect anything else of me? I've been salivating for a salacious sequel to the scintillating Seaguy since the conclusion of the last mini, almost five years ago, now. And finally, finally, it's here! And on April 1, no less! I must be dreaming! Da fug!

The way Morrison has spun it before, this second Seaguy series will be his "teenage rebellion" phase, after the "childhood's end" type of story we had in the first mini. Did I mention the first mini is one of Morrison's best works of all time? Right up there with Flex Mentallo, We3, and whatever else you might happen to think is totally awesome?

From the solicitation:

In Seaguy’s cartoon future world, everyone is a Super Hero and no one dies. It’s absolutely perfect...Or is it? In this follow-up to the cult 2004 miniseries, Seaguy resurfaces with a sinister new partner, a hatred of the sea and a rebel restlessness he can’t explain. Why are Doc Hero and his ex-archenemy Silvan Niltoid, the Alien from Planet Earth, whispering strange equations? Why is Death so useless? And can that really be the ghost of Chubby Da Choona mumbling uncanny warnings and dire prophecies of ultimate catastrophe?

And from Cameron Stewart's blog:

Beautiful. Cameron Stewart is a helluvan artist, and more people should realize this. More pages at the link.

Looks like April is more "the awesomest month," rather than the cruelest. Suck it, T.S. Eliot!

Stuff Other Cool People Are Probably Anticipating but I Am Not Fit to Comment On: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

Stuff That May or May Not Come Out, for which I Vote for "May": The next issue of the Next Issue Project! Corey Lewis' Pinapl! More Casanova!

Reprints I'm Salivating Over: Jack Kirby's Losers! Tales Designed to Thrizzle in hardcover! Showcase presents Doom Patrol by Drake and Premiani! More Herbie Archives!

So, readers! What are YOU awaiting in oh-niner?

39 Comments

• At January 22, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Holy crap, I totally forgot about Pinapl! Man, what ever happened to that? Is it still in the queue?

  Also looking ...

• At January 22, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Well, I'm looking forward to the return of Potter's Field. And a number of issues in what I have decided ...

• At January 22, 2009, John wrote:

  I'm waiting for the new ongoing Inhumans series we are bound to get after War of the Kings. Every ...

• At January 22, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I remember this post from when you began working on it, and I didn't notice it had just now gotten ...

• At January 22, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  This could be a cool coup for Vertigo, and may push them to do further OGNs, rather than publish awesome ...

• At January 22, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Should be awesome, no?

  I'd say...no.

  Definitely the least exciting on the list.

  Ellis has been slumming it for awhile now - Aetheric ...

• At January 22, 2009, scorp wrote:

  "Never let it be said I didn’t use proper grammar."

  There's nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition if ...

• At January 22, 2009, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  Hey, I'm waiting for the LoEG record, too! If it wasn't in the Absolute Edition though, when the hell ...

• At January 22, 2009, Anthony Cheng wrote:

  Great list! There's some stuff on here I wasn't really aware of.

• At January 22, 2009, Grant wrote:

  "Hey, I’m waiting for the LoEG record, too! If it wasn’t in the Absolute Edition though, when the hell is ...

• At January 22, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Great art and sounds like an interesting story.

• At January 22, 2009, Aaron Walther wrote:

  The cool thing about the Black Dossier was that Moore used characters from films of the time as well as ...

• At January 22, 2009, Anthony Cheng wrote:

  I thought Dossier was fun, but I liked it better when the characters were strictly public domain. The idea that ...

• At January 22, 2009, Trey wrote:

  I'll be getting all of these, (Daytrippers, i'll wait for the collection)

  Also looking forward to the Avengers books, the Marvel ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  "There’s nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition if it makes the sentence more clear and less awkward."

  A ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Oh, and these all look good, but I'll probably end up getting them second-hand sometime in 2011.

• At January 23, 2009, manglr wrote:

  One of the other things I"ll be eagerly awaiting is Guy Davis' Marquis reprinted by Dark Horse. And the ...

• At January 23, 2009, J to the AAP wrote:

  I’m very much looking forward to the ’Parker’ adaptations by Darwyn Cooke and ’Ten Against The World’ by Scott Morse. ...

• At January 23, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  With you on LOEG...

  Didn't know about the Ellis book, so that's going on the list...

  I'm really looking forward to ...

• At January 23, 2009, John Seavey wrote:

  I'm actually dreading the LoEG...I thought that 'Black Dossier' suffered greatly from using non-public domain material, as Moore had to ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  The simple fact that that SEAGUY thing will exist is likely to make me stab myself in the eye at ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  *the 5 I'm most looking forward to," that is. Typ(o)ing before waking up is fun!

• At January 23, 2009, Jeff R wrote:

  Well, I'm looking forward to Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Modern World Part II:From the Bastille to Bagdhad, roundabouts ...

• At January 23, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  There’s nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition if it makes the sentence more clear and less awkward.

  Damn ...

• At January 23, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "The simple fact that that SEAGUY thing will exist is likely to make me stab myself in the eye at ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Well, I think my use of *likely* gives me a bit of wiggle room ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  I will be perfectly happy, however, to stab someone else in the eye.

• At January 23, 2009, Stu wrote:

  Seaguy would be a lot better if it weren't incoherent crap.

• At January 23, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  One man's incoherent crap is another man's ingenious sense-making piece of pop art.

• At January 23, 2009, Grant wrote:

  "I’m actually dreading the LoEG…I thought that ‘Black Dossier’ suffered greatly from using non-public domain material, as Moore had to ...

• At January 23, 2009, Grant wrote:

  According to Erik Larsen there's two more Next Issue Project books in the works. They are going be 32 page ...

• At January 23, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  The ASTRO CITY books Grant cites definitely go high up on my list, then. As do those NEXT ISSUE PROJECTs.

• At January 23, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  On the LOEG side, I thought "Century" took place just after the events of Book 2 (i.e. a good 40+ ...

• At January 23, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Chapter 1 of Century takes place in 1910, Chapter 2 in the sixties and Chapter 3 in the present day.

• At January 23, 2009, Kyle wrote:

  Re: Black Dossier vinyl record

  I think if DC had any plans of releasing this we would have seen it by ...

• At January 23, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Seaguy? Yay! Finally!

• At January 24, 2009, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  Dang, it's too bad about the League record being tied to DC. And the whole point is to get ...

• At January 25, 2009, Grant wrote:

  I have to say I'm also excited about Jersey Gods and Man of Action books from Image.

• At January 25, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Aha -- I forgot about JERSEY GODS. That's definitely on my list as well.

  MAN OF ACTION I don't believe I ...

Enjoy!

HONORABLE MENTION, of a sort...The Boys has a lot of gross scenes, and I generally enjoy The Boys, but this past year, at least, I don't think any of the gross scenes really helped the story, at least not in the same way they did in 2007. Nothing this past year was as compelling as, say, Tek-Knight dealing with the sudden compulsion to have sex with everything he sees.

HONORABLE MENTION, of a sort...to Scalped, which had a number of absolutely brutal scenes that I just don't think I'd categorize as "gross," most notably the scene where Dashiell decides to start doing heroin (in one of the best endings of any comic of 2008) or the scene where, when given a hamburger, the oldest son (of a bunch of kids) of a prostitute automatically starts splitting the burger up for his siblings until he learns that they are each getting their OWN burger - brutal, right? But probably not "gross."

Before we move on, yes, Garth Ennis is on this list a lot, but you know what, that's what Ennis does - he has more or less cornered the market on somehow making gross comics actually compelling.

5. The final FINAL battle between Punisher and Barracuda in The Punisher #54.

This was one explicit fight scene, including some gross violence, like Barracuda's nose being torn off with a pliers. However, Ennis somehow manages to make the whole thing compelling by intermixing flashbacks from Barracuda's life along with some excellent observations on the sheer monotony of the Punisher's effectiveness - “He’s going to kill you. Not over me. You’re going up against him, so he’ll kill you. Because you’re a joke, in spite of it all. And he’s the most dangerous man who ever walked this Earth.”

4. The Crossed "zombies" masturbating on to a pile of bullets in Crossed #2.

I use quotes around zombies because the bad guys in Crossed are not exactly zombies, really. When you get bit by a "Crossed" person, you become insanely violent, often in sexual ways and psychotically sadistic, but you're not really a zombie, per se. The effect, though, is sort of the same.

In any event, in the last issue of Crossed, one of the survivors we are following gets shot. Later on, the survivors spy a group of the Crossed masturbating in a group. One survivor notes that it is like the game with the biscuit (a group of men masturbate onto a biscuit - cookie in England - and the last one to ejaculate has to eat the biscuit) - only we soon learn that what they are masturbating on to is a bunch of bullets. You see, the bullet that hit the survivor earlier on was coated with semen, and as it turns out, you don't just need to be bitten - ANY sort of exchange of bodily fluids does it (just not as quickly as simply being bitten), so the wounded survivor is now suddenly a Crossed in their midst!

The whole point of Crossed has been how screwed the survivors are - well, in this issue, Garth Ennis shows they are even MORE screwed that first thought, because the Crossed are apparently able to think strategically.

3. The cops examining a particularly gruesome murder scene in Echo #4.

I believe it is #4.

In any event, at the end of (#3, I guess) we see a conspiracy nut who got too close to the truth get murdered. In #4, though, we see the extent of it, as agents come to the man's home and see that his body has more or less been exploded and almost fossilized all over the room. Terry Moore's storytelling here in his artwork is spectacular - he gets across the utter disgusting nature of the crime as well as the effect it has on the people who see it - so creepy and yet so effective, as it sets up the dark villain of the piece (in the latest issue, there's also a pretty gross fight sequence).

2. A husband and wife being anally raped while their daughter is ripped in two by "zombies" in Crossed #1.

That's how awesome Garth Ennis is.

Look at the description of that scene - it sounds like the trashiest, vilest, most ridiculously obscene for the sake of obscenity type of scene imaginable - and yet Ennis really makes it work (I think so, at least).

In the first issue of Crossed, we meet our survivors who are just trying to come to terms with what is going on, only the situation is not one that you really CAN come to terms with. Ennis details all of the various survivors' thoughts and slowly teases out the helplessness of the situation and he tempers it against one character's seemingly naive idea about what could stop the "zombies."

When he later tries to use the idea to save his wife and child instead of just taking his child and leaving his injured wife (as she desperately pleads with him to do), the end result is the gruesome scene described above, only adding in the fact that his wife is berating him while it is all taking place.

It's a gross scene, but one that I think Ennis has "earned" with his set-up work earlier in the issue, making the scene certainly depressing as hell, but compelling enough for it to still work, which is an impressive job by Ennis.

1. Cee Cee saving the arm of her miscarried fetus in Young Liars #10.

Young Liars has a lot of gross scenes, but I dunno how many of them really result in all that compelling stories. I enjoy this series by David Lapham as a whole, but while I do not mind the gross stuff that goes down, rarely do I find it all that much help to the story - it's more like something I put up with for the other stuff in the comic.

In the latest issue, though, the gross stuff really does help the story, as we get background on one of the supporting cast members, Cee Cee, including the fact that she keeps the arm from her miscarried fetus in her purse.

It is such a disgusting scene, but it also ends up working as a highly effective statement about Cee Cee's mental state, and leads to an excellently written confrontation between Cee Cee and Danny (the character who is closest to being Young Liars' "protagonist").

Young Liars #10 was one of the best issues of the series yet, and the gross scene with the arm is a big part of the effectiveness of the issue.

That's my Top Five! How about you folks?

41 Comments

• At December 27, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  This was an awesome list, Brian.

• At December 27, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Three out of Five, AND an honourable mention! wow!

  This proves Ennis is the Master of of Compulsive Gross-out....

  I guess ...

• At December 27, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I seem to remember a certain "Allfather Starr" wiping the butt of a retarded cannibal in exchange for a gun.

  Garth ...

• At December 27, 2008, The Dude wrote:

  Man, that's why I love Ennis so much!

  The coolest thing about him is that he can run circles around other ...

• At December 27, 2008, T. wrote:

  Thanks for warning me from EVER reading Crossed, Brian!

• At December 27, 2008, Cat Skyfire wrote:

  Wow...that was like a list of "comics you should probably avoid" for me...

• At December 27, 2008, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  You beat me to it, Cat. I was just gonna post the same thing. :)

• At December 27, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  I was kind of surprised that there wasn't more of a fanboy backlash against Ennis for setting up such an ...

• At December 27, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Rosario Dawson's character said it best about the donkey show in Clerks 2.

  That applies to Ennis in no matter what ...

• At December 27, 2008, Ortiz wrote:

  I f$%&ng love Ennis, he is a sick bastard, as simple as that. For me, definitely the anal rape is ...

• At December 27, 2008, Gabriel Mckee wrote:

  Nope, sorry. Ennis used to know how to write compelling characters (on Preacher and Hellblazer especially). He apparently thought people ...

• At December 27, 2008, Alvin wrote:

  I can occasionally take a bit of Garth Ennis but find generally I'm not that interested in a lot of ...

• At December 27, 2008, Wolfsbane wrote:

  I grew up on horror movies, what Craven did in the seventies with Last House on the Left and the ...

• At December 27, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  You know what I miss? Hitman. The only legitimate proof that Ellis can write something with heart .

• At December 27, 2008, JackKing wrote:

  Now I can't wait for the Crossed trade to come out.

• At December 27, 2008, Michael wrote:

  Welp, I am never reading Crossed.

• At December 27, 2008, Rene wrote:

  It's not the naughty, gore bits that turn me off Garth Ennis's work. I have a pretty high tolerance for ...

• At December 27, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  "You know what I miss? Hitman. The only legitimate proof that Ellis can write something with heart ."

  Preacher doesn't count? ...

• At December 27, 2008, David wrote:

  ew. ew. ew. ew. ew.

• At December 27, 2008, adam! wrote:

  It’s not the naughty, gore bits that turn me off Garth Ennis’s work. I have a pretty high tolerance for ...

• At December 27, 2008, adam! wrote:

  Preacher doesn’t count? At all?

  it should, along with all the Belfast books he did, from TROUBLED SOULS to HEARTLAND to ...

• At December 27, 2008, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " so his works don’t put you off, it’s actually his personality that you don’t approve of? "

  That generally seems ...

• At December 28, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  Confucius said: "When the people have lost their stock of virtue, evil men rule. The superior man withdraws to restore ...

• At December 28, 2008, Dave wrote:

  Haven't read Echo, but the rest of this list was basically some of my favorite comics of 2008, especially Punisher ...

• At December 28, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  although it was more of a throwaway joke and less of a compelling plot point. Yeah, that's how I took ...

• At December 28, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  That generally seems to be the case with much of the criticism Ennis receives; it’s the overall tone of his ...

• At December 28, 2008, adam! wrote:

  Also note that Ennis’ ” badass anti-heroes ” aren’t painted as always unflappable– Jesse Custer certainly had more than his ...

• At December 28, 2008, Travis Pelkie wrote:

  That Scalped scene with the boy and breaking up the hamburger automatically was actually one of the most heartbreaking scenes ...

• At December 28, 2008, edc wrote:

  garth ennis; the oneiest trickiest pony the ever hacked.

• At December 28, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Ok, since we're examining this: for me the flaw in Ennis' writing is that those aspects of Ennis' personality previously ...

• At December 28, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Dan Dare had real heart. No gore. Brilliant story-telling. Try it for Heaven's sake!

  I also think ...

• At December 28, 2008, Rene wrote:

  Guys, it's sort of what Stephane said.

  For the record, I recognize that Ennis is technically talented, and I sorta like ...

• At December 28, 2008, Michael wrote:

  "Gleeful derision of any sort of romanticism?" I think you need to crack open Preacher and take a closer look ...

• At December 28, 2008, Rene wrote:

  Maybe I'm not choosing the correct words. Is "romantic" the correct word here? Cowboy romanticism is okay with him, because ...

• At December 28, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I meant, woman cop from HITMAN, whatishername.

• At December 28, 2008, Anthony Cheng wrote:

  CROSSED is so disturbing because the story's zombie disease has these sexual and sado-masochistic elements which haven't really been explored ...

• At December 28, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  @Wolfsbane, Given that the little kid was last seen clutching a sharpened colouring pencil about an inch away from his ...

• At December 30, 2008, Iron Maiden wrote:

  I guess this a "guy' thing to consider anal rape as entertainment. Dress it up anyway you like, ...

• At December 30, 2008, Bryan Long wrote:

  Looks like this thread's winding down, but I'll chime in. I read Crossed #1 to see what the fuss was ...

• At August 1, 2009, bats wrote:

  if you don't like ennis stuff don't read it and shut the fuck up...i never read his preacher stuff or ...

• At October 16, 2009, Maven wrote:

  Dear "bats" If you like ennis, read is and shut the fuck up. Or, accept that this is ...

Enjoy!

5.

Calero has a real eye for photorealism, - he does not make them too blocky. I dig it. That makes him a great call for licensed work. He did a number of good Sliders covers when he was just breaking into comics, and he continues his strong licensed work today with this recent Star Trek cover.

4.

This is a striking cover for the Unique hardcover that Calero worked on with the great Dean Motter.

3.

This is the first of two Legion covers by Calero on the list - I really like how Supergirl pops on the cover without going overboard.

2.

This Legion cover, though, is a lot more striking - very compelling visuals.

1.

This variant cover for X-Men: Noir (written by Fred Van Lente), though, I think is by far the tops for Calero - what a brilliant use of negative space and silhouette.

Just awesome.

That's the Top Five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

3 Comments

• At December 7, 2008, Matthew E wrote:

  I was really impressed by Calero during his stint on the Legion. I'd be happy for him to be the ...

• At May 15, 2009, Frank Trujeque wrote:

  I love Calero's NOIR series. His new TROJAN WAR cover work started out weak, peaked at TW 3 (his best ...

• At August 10, 2009, Mike wrote:

  His Star Trek art looks like pictures of the cast with a photoshop filter run across them. In other words; ...

Enjoy!

5. The Manga X-Men

I really was not much of a fan of this manga take on the X-Men, but I can't think of a more deserving fifth place variant!

4. The Noir X-Men

This Fred Van Lente-penned variant on the X-Men is cute - you have to love the notion of the plot being the murder of Jean Grey!

3. The Fairy Tale X-Men

This was a strong mini-series filled with good fairy tale takes on the X-Men, and the artwork was stunning all throughout, particularly the Kyle Baker art for the second issue!

2. The X-Babies

The X-Babies are a cute concept, and they also seem to have legs, as the gag is still being used nowadays, two decades or so after they first popped up!

1. Kitty's Fairy Tale X-Men

One of the most charming issues of Claremont's X-Men run, this one-off issue by Claremont and the late, great Dave Cockrum was so cool that Cockrum even got to do a Nightcrawler mini-series based on the Bamf! character from Kitty's fairy tale!

That's the top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

13 Comments

• At December 7, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Kitty's Fairy Tale X-Men are good and all, but I don't see how anyone could pick anything other than the ...

• At December 7, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It's not like Dave Cockrum is some slouch! :)

• At December 7, 2008, manglr wrote:

  I think Kitty's Fairy Tale benefits from the comparative lack of exposure. The X-Babies were cute the first time....and ...

• At December 7, 2008, Jace wrote:

  I HATE the X-Babies and anything to do with Mojoverse. Always have, always will.

  Kitty's Fairy Tale all the way!

• At December 7, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  Lord, I hate Kitty's fairy tale.

  Then again, i hate Kitty.

• At December 7, 2008, Jordan D. White wrote:

  Technically, all of these ARE alternate reality X-Men groups.

• At December 7, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  "Lord, I hate Kitty’s fairy tale.

  Then again, i hate Kitty."

  Then I guess you must be glad she's "GONE" from the ...

• At December 7, 2008, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Would love to see a new version of Kitty's Fairy Tale in the context of modern X-Men stories. Telling a ...

• At December 7, 2008, Ryan wrote:

  Mangaverse?

  Come on, with some of today's most talented writers and artists working on the Age of Apocalypse, how can that ...

• At December 7, 2008, Ryan wrote:

  erm, read the whole post... nevermind.

• At December 8, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  The post is kind of vague. What if's or alternate realities sort of apply to The X-Babies and Kitty's Fairy ...

• At December 8, 2008, Blair wrote:

  Did anyone actually win one of those Columbia bikes???

• At December 9, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  I second 1602.

Enjoy!

5.

A very nice take on the concept of the readers voting on which philosophers that they wanted to see featured.

4.

This would be a bit higher had it not been for the cover of #1 sort of taking away from the uniqueness of an "action" cover.

3.

Perhaps a straightforward cover idea, but a very well executed one.

2.

This is the first issue's cover - this is the one that first gave us an idea of what the comic was going to be like!

1.

This one, though, I think was the boldest of the bunch.

Very clever and very striking.

As an extra bonus, here's just a piece Ryan did for Wizard recently that I came across and I thought I'd share. It's a cute look at the people who came back from the dead in 2007 and those people who were killed that same year.

8 Comments

• At December 7, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Anywhere we can see a larger version of the Wizard piece?

• At December 7, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ask and ye shall receive...

  http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dunlavey.jpg

• At December 7, 2008, Sam wrote:

  That Wizard piece is outta Alan Moore's 1963. Still a clever idea, though.

• At December 7, 2008, Ryan Dunlavey wrote:

  Thanks guys! The AP covers are some of my most proudest work, and #2 is Fred's favorite as well.

  One small ...

• At December 7, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  Wow, a ton of cool characters died in 2007.

  Great piece there.

• At December 7, 2008, Dan K wrote:

  I think I'd have to put issue #8 at no. 1. Great stuff.

• At December 8, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  "Ask and ye shall receive…"

  If only all prayers could be answered so quickly...

  Anyone else interested in setting up the First ...

• At December 8, 2008, StereotypeA wrote:

  As I'm just about to complete my first semester of Philosophy, these covers are pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Enjoy!

5. The Fantastic Four (Black Panther, Storm, Human Torch and the Thing) versus the Marvel Zombies

Man, looking back, Marvel really undercut the whole "new Fantastic Four" idea, didn't they? It was kinda sad that Reginald Hudlin was still telling stories with the new Fantastic Four when the actual Fantastic Four title had already gone back to the original team.

In any event, Hudlin had a great plot device for a fun bunch of stories as he has King Solomon's Frogs teleport the Fantastic Four all over the place for a few arcs. In this one, they are taken to the Marvel Zombies universe for a fun little free for all set after the events of the first Marvel Zombies series.

4. Marvel Zombies: Dead Days

This one-shot was an engaging origin for the Marvel Zombie situation.

3. The Ultimate Fantastic Four and Magneto versus the Zombie Fantastic Four

The introduction of the Marvel Zombies came in this cute story by Mark Millar where Reed Richards thinks that he has contacted the Reed Richards of the standard Marvel Universe, but in reality, it is the Reed Richards of the Marvel Zombies universe who wants the fresh meat. This leads to a cool story where Magneto fights the evil zombie Fantastic Four.

2. Marvel Zombies 3

Fred Van Lente and Kev Walker combine for a fun series starring Machine Man and Jocasta, who are sent to the Marvel Zombies universe, while meanwhile the Zombies are planning an invasion of the "real" Marvel universe!

1. Marvel Zombies

Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips did an amazing job with this fun series, as Phillips makes the book look amazing and Kirkman fills the book with amusing gags as well as some actual good character work, including the notion that the Zombies become cogent right after eating, so, say, Spider-Man feels tremendous amounts of guilt.

But mostly, the book is itself a guilty pleasure - lots of gross sight gags and funny bits - it is the best.

That's the top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

16 Comments

• At December 6, 2008, Randy wrote:

  Not to be a ball buster, but how can Marvel Zombies 3 be on the list if it isn't even ...

• At December 6, 2008, Eldric IV wrote:

  Three words:

  Fred Van Lente.

• At December 6, 2008, Matt wrote:

  There is only one other story about the Marvel Zombies...

• At December 6, 2008, Matt wrote:

  Wait, i forgot the Army of Darkness crossover.

  Still, not a huge list of possible choices to select from

• At December 6, 2008, Michael wrote:

  Actually, it was the audience who thought Ultimate Reed had contacted Regular Reed. Ultimate Reed just thought he had contacted ...

• At December 6, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  Marvel Zombies for a top five? Really? Why not just do the top five Hush stories? Or ...

• At December 6, 2008, timbre68 wrote:

  What about the original Marvel Zombie, Simon Garth. I recently read the Essential Marvel Zombie. Great stuff, classic ...

• At December 6, 2008, Hawkeye wrote:

  I remember that first zombie story in Ultimate FF as being genuinely creepy, probably the only one on the list ...

• At December 7, 2008, ReWatchTheRunningMan wrote:

  I agree with Hawkeye. The UFF story was EXCELLENT! Very original at the time. The rest...meh.

• At December 7, 2008, ResIpsa wrote:

  I really liked the two-parter in Exiles which included Zombie Wolverine. My favorite line, addressed to a decapitated Zombie ...

• At December 7, 2008, ResIpsa wrote:

  By the way, here's the approximate chronology of the Zombie stories (there aren't many to pick from, when you come ...

• At December 7, 2008, Salamurai wrote:

  I've honestly had enough of the zombies.

• At December 8, 2008, Zombie Reporting Center » Blog Archive » CBR Lists Their Top Five Marvel Zombies Stories wrote:

  [...] Cronin over at Comic Book Resources (CBR) lists his top five Marvel Zombie stories: 5. The Fantastic Four (Black ...

• At December 8, 2008, Adam Tyner wrote:

  I have to admit that I thought the Marvel Zombies' turn in "Black Panther" was borderline-unreadable...even worse than "Marvel Zombies ...

• At December 12, 2008, Midnight Podcast » Midnight Podcast Episode 114 wrote:

  [...] Top 5 Marvel Zombies Stories according to Comic Book Resources (from Zombie Reporting Center) [...]

• At January 19, 2009, calum wrote:

  I have the first marvel zombies ummm annual? its a collection of the first ones it kicks major ass and ...

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Hawkeye

Kate Bishop is a cool character and all, but darnit, Clint Barton is Hawkeye!!

Dove

Dawn Granger really filled the boots of Don Hall quite nicely. The Hawk and Dove series by the Kesels was really underrated - it was a fun comic based on two strong characters - well, Dawn was strong at least - strong enough that she could hold up Hank's cro-magnon end of the duo.

Dr. Light

Kimiyo Hoshi could be a great character, but let's face it, she's been available for anyone to use now for about a decade, and her only real notable appearance was to show how tough the old Dr. Light is. Hopefully Dwayne McDuffie will rectify that!

5. Starfire

I like Starfire, but I'd love to see her get a bit of character development in a year that does not begin with 198.

4. Scorpion

Created by Fred Van Lente and Leonard Kirk, Carmilla Black is a great addition to the Marvel Universe. As a superhero operative working for SHIELD, Carmilla has the problem of dealing with the fact that her biological mother is the head scientist for the evil organization, A.I.M., and Carmilla was genetically bred to be the perfect assassin (she is immune to all poisons and can deliver poison herself). So how do you deal with the fact that your mom bred you to be a killer while you want to be a hero? It's a great challenge, and seeing Carmilla deal with that strange relationship while continuing to make a name for herself in the superhero community (while also combining that with her duties as a government operative) has been a lot of fun to watch.

3. Manhunter

Marc Andreyko's Kate Spencer is riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a costume made up out of confiscated superhero and supervillain gear. What I love most about Kate is that she is such a normal person, while pursuing a decidedly ABnormal lifestyle - Andreyko had really produced a multi-faceted character who works well in many different environments.

2. Moonstone

Moonstone is a lot like Kate - well, except sorta evil.

Karla Sofen has powers due to the "moonstone," a powerful gem. How did she get that gem? She used her psychological training to convince the dude who had the gem that he did not want it! How awesome is that?

She's been a bad guy, she's been a bad guy pretending to be a good guy, she'd been a good guy, she's been a bad guy who might be a good guy. She's all over the place, but one thing stays consistent - she remains an intriguing and delightful character to follow!

1. Captain Marvel

Come on, people, who else did you expect me to have here?

That's the top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

39 Comments

• At December 6, 2008, sandwich.kid wrote:

  is it just me or are all those covers strikingly similar?

• At December 6, 2008, Biggles wrote:

  Brian, we know you love Monica but....

• At December 6, 2008, nadir wrote:

  i really wish artist would use a bit more creativity in designing these female characters using old male names. so ...

• At December 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Hehe...touche, folks!

  It's corrected now!

• At December 6, 2008, Tracer Bullet wrote:

  Man, Captain Marvel fell from star to also-ran in a heartbeat, didn't she? I'd hoped she'd become a recurring character ...

• At December 6, 2008, John Cage wrote:

  Huh. Someone must really like Monica Rambeau.

  Have a good day.

  John Cage

• At December 6, 2008, John Cage wrote:

  ...And of course the page is corrected between the time I opened the page and the time I got to ...

• At December 6, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  Crazy high placement for the new Scorpion, but she really is a great character.

• At December 6, 2008, Rob wrote:

  Hey - can you post what the former-male Starfire looked like? I never knew that Starfire was a knock-off, ...

• At December 6, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Definitely nothing wrong with the female Hawkeye. No offense to Barton, but he's not even sexy. ;-)

• At December 6, 2008, Michael wrote:

  There's a male Starfire?

  And it's sadly all-too-obvious why Starfire (or most of the '80s Titans) hasn't received any character development ...

• At December 6, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  The russian hero known as Red Star was originally called Starfire when he met the Teen Titans in the 60's. ...

• At December 6, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I thought K'ory was doing alright in Countdown to Adventure...

  Sure she's not playing a big part in Rann/Thanagar Holy War ...

• At December 6, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I'm the only one who bought Countdown to Adventure... Aren't I?

• At December 6, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Brian, it's a bit of a cheat having Starfire on your list. The original Starfire had only appeared in one ...

• At December 6, 2008, Lawrence wrote:

  Have they explained why the female Dr.Light keeps calling herself Dr. Light? Does she really want to be named after ...

• At December 6, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  What, no love for the Renee Montoya Question??

  Technically, couldn't you also count any of the female Green Lanterns as ...

• At December 6, 2008, Aaron Strange wrote:

  Who's had one of the most complex arcs in DC over the last decade? Good Question. Due to Rucka's work ...

• At December 6, 2008, Paul Krogen wrote:

  What about Speedy?

  and Quasar?

  Good point on the Question!

  And I bet DnA's Starhawk stays a woman as well...

• At December 6, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Don't forget Rucka's "Five Books of Blood" and "Final Crisis: Reveleations" developing the Montoya Question even further...

• At December 6, 2008, Paul Krogen wrote:

  Ew.

  and "Ms. Sinister". I don't know if she qualifies for a "best", but she's got the name!

• At December 6, 2008, Marcus Brute wrote:

  Anyone think that Phyla-Vell is a glaring omission? Not only only is she a great character, but she also used ...

• At December 6, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  No love for Inza Nelson as Dr. Fate? Or Morrison's Shining Knight? Boo.

• At December 6, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  ooo! Shining Knight! Justine! Forgot that one, she was/is great!

• At December 6, 2008, Rhod wrote:

  I was sure White Tiger would be on here.

• At December 6, 2008, Kelson wrote:

  "I’m the only one who bought Countdown to Adventure… Aren’t I?"

  I bought it too. But...well...I still haven't read past ...

• At December 6, 2008, Michael Jones wrote:

  I'd have tossed in a bid for the all-new Star-Spangled Kid, until she changed it to Stargirl and freed the ...

• At December 6, 2008, T. wrote:

  Brian, it’s a bit of a cheat having Starfire on your list. The original Starfire had only appeared in one ...

• At December 6, 2008, b_rad wrote:

  After the orginal Crisis DC went crazy for this concept. There was not only a new, female Dr Light, but ...

• At December 6, 2008, T. wrote:

  although it’s very hard to come up with a worse codename than Ms Marvel.

  Yet somehow Kurt Busiek managed to accomplish ...

• At December 6, 2008, Dave Lane wrote:

  Actually, before Kory of the Titans, there was another female Starfire from DC; she was a sword and sorcery adventurer ...

• At December 6, 2008, Dave Lane wrote:

  And during Jerry Ordway's Shazam series, didn't Mary Marvel call herself Capt. Marvel?

• At December 7, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  "Given that Wolfman created both Starfires and was the writer on that one issue where the original Starfire appeared, I ...

• At December 7, 2008, CATR'S Chris wrote:

  Come on! Captain Marvel? The girl shouldn't have made it into the list at all!

• At December 8, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  I had no idea there was a female Captain Marvel - then again, Billy Batson is the only Captain Marvel ...

• At December 8, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  I think in regards to Starfire, Wolfman just liked the name and though it was available as noone had used ...

• At December 8, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Hey, someone else brought up Quasar!

  And I also second the Montoya Question. Who will hopefully get some more play when ...

• At December 9, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Charlton heroes, and I don't think that'll happen. The people who go and see the Watchmen movie that don't ...

• At September 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  When I was looking through the list all I could think of was Captain Marvel. I was so scared ...

Here are the top five covers from that time period!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

A nice use of contrasting colors.

Incredibly dynamic cover.

A classic shot of mortal enemies.

5.

A very interesting visual approach.

4.

A classic action shot - a really appealing image for a cover - very colorful, too.

3.

Such a bizarre mix of character and theme that it really draws in your eye.

2.

Talk about a dynamic cover image!

How can you see that cover and NOT want to look inside?

1.

SOOO tough, but this cover was one of the most famous images of the 1980s, so I think it has to take the top spot.

Well, that's my top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

25 Comments

• At December 5, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  Well #1 was the first one that came to mind for me, so it's probably warranted. You know, I don't ...

• At December 5, 2008, suedenim wrote:

  #275 is one of those covers that did its job on me as a kid, prompting me to buy an ...

• At December 5, 2008, anonamouse wrote:

  "How can you see that cover and NOT want to look inside?"

  being born in a country other than america helps ...

• At December 5, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  Matt D. Me too...when I saw the title, I was preparing to unleash the hounds on Brian for skipping it, ...

• At December 5, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Madness. Where's the Assistant Editors' Month cover with Bernie America and Mo-Skull?

• At December 5, 2008, Nate wrote:

  300 was one of my favorite Cap story arcs.

• At December 5, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I've always loved teh cover to #272. Just so different to the usual run-of-the-mill covers of the time.

  I wish ...

• At December 5, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  Zeck does these fun commissions where he shifts other characters into his classic covers, if I remember right.

• At December 5, 2008, Tom from West Chester wrote:

  Is the Red Skull wearing a bath robe on the cover to Cap #300? Awesome.

• At December 5, 2008, Purple Hayes wrote:

  Captain America #332 was the first issue of Cap I ever bought. I remember I saw it on the ...

• At December 5, 2008, Rob Schamberger wrote:

  321 is one of my favorite covers of all time.

• At December 5, 2008, Ryan Day wrote:

  That Cap vs. Wolverine issue was one of the earlies comics I remember buying. I have no idea what actually ...

• At December 5, 2008, Ralph wrote:

  I had a poster of # 1 on my bedroom in the 80's... I loved that cover!

• At December 5, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  #321 was my first issue of Cap, which I bought because of the cover, and then continued on with the ...

• At December 5, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  Oh, and I don't remember what issue number it is, but there's a Zeck Cap cover with a giant Cap ...

• At December 5, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>Madness. Where’s the Assistant Editors’ Month cover with Bernie America and Mo-Skull?

  A personal favorite of mine, as it happens. I'd ...

• At December 5, 2008, danjack wrote:

  Hey Jazzbo,

  Going off my faulty memory, i believe that the giant Cap holding real Cap was around #232 or so. ...

• At December 5, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  That was the cover for Captain America #262.

• At December 5, 2008, danjack wrote:

  About the giant Cap cover, my memory is totally off, but i can't find it anywhere. Sorry,

• At December 5, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  What about the Deathlok cover where Captain America is in the sight for his gun? That's one of Zeck's ...

• At December 5, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  I've always been very fond of issue 284's cover image of a calm Cap on a high building ledge looking ...

• At December 5, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  I always thought that on the cover of #284 Cap looked sad. It's yet another good cover.

  #262. Thanks guys. I ...

• At December 6, 2008, Rene wrote:

  The Captain America Annual depicted here was a pretty decent read, I think. Cap and Logan only fight for two ...

• At December 6, 2008, dhole wrote:

  I'm glad no. 272 made the list, that's probably my favorite Cap cover.

  I second the surprise at no "Deathlok/gunsights" appearance ...

• At December 7, 2008, Craig M. wrote:

  The cover to #321 is what got me to buy it.

5.  Funky Flashman.  First off, he was made by Jack Kirby, so that's got him some cred right there.  Secondly, he's a parody of Stan the Man after Stan totally screwed Jack over.  Thirdly, he wears a toupee on his head . . .AND ONE ON HIS FACE.  The beard is fake!  That's so awesome that I can't get over it.  But it's not nearly as awesome as that cravat.  Goddam, I love a good cravat.

4. Just look at that guy.  I want you to tell me right now that he won't stone laser your face off.  You can't tell me that because he obviously will.  His shirt's all ripped and he is hard.  Look at those eyes.  Are they a killer's eyes?  They are an awesome laserer's eyes I know that much.  You only wish you had the cajones to step to a man like Flash Gordon.  You don't.  NO ONE DOES.

3.  Except maybe for this dude here!  Awwww, yeah.  GI Joe's original laser trooper expert.  You always knew he was cool because he had red pads and a weapon that doesn't really make sense in any battlefield sense.  You know what I would give for slacks like that?  A few babies, that's what (any ethnicity).  I always liked Flash, and that makes him awesome.

2.  Almost as awesome as this man right here.  Look at him.  He's got a sweet sweater with his last initial on it.  The ladies love him.  And he gives that unbelievable tool Parker just what he deserves.  And please don't think I'm being sarcastic here.  Can you imagine having to deal with that whining ninny in high school?  I bet you can because you did.  That's because school's don't have proper alpha males like Flash Thompson anymore.  Sure, Steve Ditko played him as a bad guy, but that's because Ditko was a nerdy freak, too.  Flash Thompson is frickin cool.

And the greatest Flash of all time?

1.  This guy with his name misspelled.
Seriously, screw all those red and yellow fast crapfaces.  Barry's boring, Wally's a former Teen Titan and therefore a giant entitled Gen X/Boomer whiner.  And Jay is old and therefore probably a Republican.  And running really fast is dumb as a power, so they give them everything else in the world.

This post is fact.

Love,

Joe Rice

34 Comments

• At October 28, 2008, thespianphryne wrote:

  Rice, you such a nerd. NERD.

• At October 28, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  IT CANNOT BE DENIED

• At October 28, 2008, T. wrote:

  Actually Wally West is the one established in continuity as a Republican. (Seriously)

• At October 28, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Dude what about that time ultimate Wasp showed ultimate Hulk her BOOBS!!!! that was the best flash lol

• At October 28, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Guys with lasers > boobs. It's science, it'll tell you so.

• At October 28, 2008, TV's Grady wrote:

  FLASH!!! AHHHH-AHHHHH!!!

  KING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE!!!

• At October 28, 2008, DoctorDoom wrote:

  I like you. You're crazy.

• At October 28, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  You know who gets songs written about them by Queen?

  FRICKIN AWESOME PEOPLE that is who.

• At October 28, 2008, sononsj wrote:

  I love how the pic for #4 is too awesome to show up on my computer. No doubt it would ...

• At October 28, 2008, sononsj wrote:

  oh god the pic showed up

• At October 28, 2008, Clayton wrote:

  I see Jay Garrick as more of a Roosevelt Democrat myself. But even if he did register Republican once ...

• At October 28, 2008, T. wrote:

  Clayton, first two chairs of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities (1934-1937) were John W. McCormack and Samuel Dickstein, Democrats. ...

• At October 28, 2008, Thok wrote:

  Actually Wally West is the one established in continuity as a Republican.

  Wait, I thought Wally supported the mad bomber for ...

• At October 28, 2008, Grico wrote:

  Funky Flashman was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains so he wins in my book. The fact is ...

• At October 28, 2008, sononsj wrote:

  And now it's not showing up... way to be a dick picture #4.

• At October 28, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Tsk tsk, Joe, we have an image server, so we shouldn't hotlink to photos!

  I uploaded all the images to our ...

• At October 28, 2008, T. wrote:

  #5 shouldn't count. Technically he's not a Flash at all but a FlashMAN. Big difference.

• At October 29, 2008, St. Michael wrote:

  All the rest are just FlashBOYS.

• At October 29, 2008, doron wrote:

  I believe wally is a republican because Bary was a republican. ( I mean, cmon he is police)

• At October 29, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:

  Wally was a Republican bak in the 80s, which, thanks to the rolling ten-year window of comic book time, is ...

• At October 29, 2008, CBrown wrote:

  Pretty ballsy to not include any of the three Flashes on the Best Flash list. But what about REVERSE Flash?

• At October 29, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  "Cajones" in spanish means "drawers". I assume you meant "cojones" ;)

• At October 29, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I like cabinets all right? Geez, get off my back!

• At October 29, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  No Flash Funk = FAIL.

• At October 29, 2008, T. wrote:

  Yes, Wally was explicitly labeled as Republican in-story by Mike Baron. I don't know if it was ever mentioned ...

• At October 29, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  Oh yeah, some GI Joe Flash love! My first GI Joe figure! He kicked ass in Marvel's GI ...

• At October 29, 2008, jhota wrote:

  what about Grandmaster Flash?

• At October 29, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  Flash Funk and Grandmaster Funk; the team up that damn well ought to exist.

• At October 29, 2008, lauren wrote:

  I think Grandmaster Flash is cooler than s/flash and he had the furious five!

• At October 29, 2008, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Incidentally, G.I. Joe's Flash went the way of Barry Allen (well, until recently, I guess) and died in an explosion ...

• At October 29, 2008, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Oh, and bravo for this post having no Garrick, Allen or West! Just cuz, why not?

• At October 30, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  I find the G.I. Joe love completely impossible to relate to.

  REAL G.I. Joe is twice as tall and has ...

• At October 31, 2008, Michael Mayket wrote:

  Yeah! What Lauren said!

• At August 7, 2009, Speed Reading: Rebirth, Crimson Lightning, Turner Tribute and More « Speed Force wrote:

  [...] Comics Should Be Good has a list of the Top Five Flashes. I’m sure most Flash fans will find ...

Enjoy!

HONORABLE MENTION

The Punisher

I've decided not to count him as a superhero. If I did count him, he'd be #1 easily, as Garth Ennis' run on The Punisher was amazing.

5. Argent

Toni Monetti, Argent, was a member of Dan Jurgens' Teen Titans line of a bunch of teenagers who found out they all shared alien heritages and had powers.

Her father was an Italian mobster.

When Devin Grayson did her Titans run, she insisted on taking one member of each Titans run, and Argent was her pick from Jurgens run. Jay Faerber, who followed Grayson, did some good work with Argent, but really, she was a pretty blah character.

4. Rockslide

Santo Vaccarro was a minor character in New Mutants, as a member of the "bad" other team of students at Xavier's, the Hellions. He was a fan-favorite, and when Chris Yost and Craig Kyle shook up the New X-Men, he ended up as a member of the new team.

Currently, he's on the Young X-Men, one of the few remaining members of the New X-Men still in the book.

He is sort of like Rob Liefeld's Badrock character.

3. Witchblade

It's weird - Sara Pezzini is Italian-American, and so is Jackie Estacado, the Darkness. That's kinda weird, no?

In any event, Sara was a decent character, although she had a flash of coolness when Paul Jenkins took over Witchblade for a little while.

And more recently, Ron Marz has been doing some strong work on the character, giving her an interesting romantic relationship and a new baby!

2. Strong Guy

Guido Carosella was the bodyguard to Lila Cheney. He was strictly a background character until he made Peter David's "leftover mutants" team, X-Factor, and it was there that David made the character a total fan-favorite, with his humorous approach to the superhero lifestyle (like taking the name Strong Guy, because every team has a strong guy!) and his pretty sad background (including the fact that the way his powers work, he is in constant pain).

David recently brought Guido out of limbo as a cast member of X-Factor, where he continues being a cool character.

1. Huntress

Helena Rosa Bertinelli is the post-Crisis take on Huntress, who before Crisis was the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. Joey Cavalieri and Joe Staton introduced this new take on the character in a short-lived (but good) series in the late 80s. She was a short-lived member of Giffen and DeMattei's JLI, too.

She is an intriguing character - she's Catholic, but she also is willing to kill people. Her origin is that she was Bruce Wayne, only her parents were part of the mob.

After the Cavalieri series ended, Chuck Dixon rescued her from limbo, and made her part of the Batman universe.

Her interesting dynamic was used well by Greg Rucka, who did some really nice work with in her Huntress: Cry for Blood mini-series. Gail Simone also did nice work with her in Birds of Prey.

That's the top five!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

67 Comments

• At October 13, 2008, Wesley wrote:

  I think the #4 Huntress cover is cooler than the #1 Huntress cover.

• At October 13, 2008, Joey wrote:

  Did you intend to put the same cover up for all of them?

• At October 13, 2008, Vichus Smith wrote:

  Joey: I think that was an error only if you read it through RSS. I was thinking the same thing, ...

• At October 13, 2008, tk. wrote:

  I had forgotten that Guido started out as Lila's bodyguard. They should use her more often...

• At October 13, 2008, Ryan the Iowan wrote:

  I totally agree with this one, especially #1 and #2. However, I think you should have used this ...

• At October 13, 2008, DBish wrote:

  great list

  I forget most of them are italian, especially when I don't see their last names in their books

• At October 13, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Yay, Huntress. I especially like how Gail Simone and Greg Rucka (amongst others) still look back to the Helena Wayne ...

• At October 13, 2008, Nick Marino wrote:

  honestly, i can't disagree because i think these are the ONLY italian-american superheroes (the only character i can think of ...

• At October 13, 2008, JdRavnos wrote:

  Good list. Huntress was one of the first people that came to mind when I saw the post title.

• At October 13, 2008, Dave wrote:

  I believe the explanation was that Frank Castiglione changed his name to Castle so that he could illegally re-enter the ...

• At October 13, 2008, Dan K wrote:

  What? No love for Omerta? ; )

• At October 13, 2008, C. Snail wrote:

  Really, I always did figure Frank was Italian. I'm not sure about what was established before it, but in the ...

• At October 13, 2008, Tom Russell wrote:

  Frog-Man!!!

• At October 13, 2008, C. Snail wrote:

  Oh and it's a shame this is only heroes because Unus is probably the greatest character ever.

• At October 13, 2008, Jbird wrote:

  Mario.

• At October 13, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  What about Francesco Totti?

• At October 13, 2008, Nick Marino wrote:

  Dave and C Snail - thanks. both explanations make sense to me. especially the changing the name when coming over ...

• At October 13, 2008, Aaron Poehler wrote:

  Wow, what a sad crop of has-beens and never weres. Should have just said "The Huntress, plus the Punisher ...

• At October 13, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  Hello, am I missing something or are you guys? No mention of Giovanni "John" Zatara and, by extension, his ...

• At October 13, 2008, ‘Top Five Italian-American Superheros’ » The Carnic Chronicles - A twice weekly horror webcomic wrote:

  [...] form of goodie in honor of Columbus Day, Brian Cronin of Comics Should Be Good!, has released his list ...

• At October 13, 2008, Billy F wrote:

  I didn't like Argent until Grant Morrison got a hold of her for the Rock of Ages arc in JLA. ...

• At October 13, 2008, Michael wrote:

  I thought that Argent got points off for the cliched "father is a mob boss" backstory, but there Huntress is, ...

• At October 13, 2008, Rohan Williams wrote:

  The Witchblade and Darkness thing isn't that weird, is it? I'm assuming Marc Silvestri is Italian-American, and he had a ...

• At October 13, 2008, Vic wrote:

  If this was really in honor of Columbus Day it'd be Top 5 Superheroes Who've Killed Indians

• At October 13, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  Or people who take HUGE leaps of faith in finding new lands

• At October 13, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  speaking of Native Americans, I was rereading mid-80's X-stuff and found if weird there were 3 Native American characters (Thunderbird, ...

• At October 13, 2008, Loren wrote:

  He's not a superhero, but I'd still like to give a shout-out to Jake "Bobo" Benetti of Starman fame.

• At October 13, 2008, Matthew E wrote:

  I was trying to think who the five were before I clicked on the link, but only came up with ...

• At October 13, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  Luigi.

• At October 13, 2008, Agent_Torpor wrote:

  Thank the almighty meatball that you didn't pimp Ivory Madison's grease-stained Huntress mini.

• At October 13, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  speaking of Native Americans, I was rereading mid-80’s X-stuff and found if weird there were 3 Native American characters (Thunderbird, ...

• At October 13, 2008, buttler wrote:

  Sheesh, yeah, I'd bump Argent for Zatanna no question.

• At October 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Zatara is not even human, so I don't count him as Italian-American.

• At October 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  However, I think you should have used this to pimp Ivory Madison’s recent Huntress: Year One, which was one of ...

• At October 13, 2008, stephencade wrote:

  I'd have listed Huntress as #1 as well--but no version of Helena Bertinelli has been as good as the original ...

• At October 13, 2008, Sijo wrote:

  > "Zatara is not even human, so I don’t count him as Italian-American."

  Since when? Are you referring to his being ...

• At October 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You would have to consider EVERY magic user in the DC Universe nonhuman, then.

  Not all, just the ones that ...

• At October 14, 2008, Luis Dantas wrote:

  In what sense are Homo magi not human? They are obviously a subespecies of Homo sapiens, to the point ...

• At October 14, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  I thought it was Zatanna's mother that was Homo Magi, not Zatara.

  And tecnically Argent is Italian American by name only, ...

• At October 14, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  What about Captain Hammer from Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog?

• At October 14, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  Zatara's family lived in Italy (actually the city-states that would one day become Italy) for centuries where they inter-married with ...

• At October 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>she’s Catholic, but she also is willing to kill people.

  Not sure I get the juxtaposition (probably not the right word, ...

• At October 14, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Let us not forget the Inquisition

• At October 14, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  I have no idea why I thought Santo was hispanic.

• At October 14, 2008, joshschr wrote:

  No one expects the Inquisition.

• At October 14, 2008, Brian Mac wrote:

  Matt, I assumed Santo was Latino as well, so you're not alone.

  I also would have guessed that Tony Stark is ...

• At October 14, 2008, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  As a half-Italian-American, maybe it should annoy me that two out of five are connected to the mafia. But that's ...

• At October 14, 2008, Graeme White wrote:

  Santo's on the Wikipedia list of Italian Americans, but I always thought he was Hispanic as well.

  Saying that Mirage from ...

• At October 14, 2008, Dario Delfino wrote:

  Zatanna's one of ours, no discussion necessary. All of our people are descended from Homo Magi.

  I was particularly fond ...

• At October 14, 2008, Sijo wrote:

  ALL of DC's magic users are descended from Homo Magi. Check Wikipedia for details.

  Besides, saying that Homo Magi are ...

• At October 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>Not completely sure here, but I think the point was that Helena being Catholic was very much a part of ...

• At October 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  ALL of DC’s magic users are descended from Homo Magi. Check Wikipedia for details.

  If you want to accept Wikipedia ...

• At October 14, 2008, Carl wrote:

  Actually what's going on here with Zatara is the somewhat common mixing up of species, race, and ethnicity/nationality.

  Homo Maji is ...

• At October 14, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  For reference, The Punisher never even had a first name until he got his own limited series in the 80's. ...

• At October 14, 2008, johnny zito wrote:

  Zatara may be genetically Homo Magi (whatever) but his nation of origin is Italy. Just like Wolverine is Canadian.

  Frank ...

• At October 14, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I also think it's silly that Guido (Homo Superior) is considered human, while Zatanna/Zatara (Homo Magi) isn't.

  Doesn't make any ...

• At October 14, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  "and it was there that David made the character a total fan-favorite"

  An interesting list might be top 5 background/left over ...

• At October 14, 2008, R. J. Sterling wrote:

  Funny that this makes it seem as though Rockslide is the first Italian-descended X-Man! Why wasn't there one sooner?

• At October 14, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  Stop discriminating against the homo magi, Cronin! Especially when you are such a mutie lover!

• At October 14, 2008, Sijo wrote:

  >"If you want to accept Wikipedia as the authority, check out their Homo Magi page, they list tons of magic ...

• At October 15, 2008, Basara wrote:

  Given some of the hypotheses floating around that Columbus WASN'T really Italian, think of the alternative lists that could have ...

• At October 15, 2008, Nick Evans wrote:

  "Zatara is not even human, so I don’t count him as Italian-American."

  Surely the same applies to Strong Guy, who's not ...

• At October 15, 2008, Ben Herman wrote:

  I've heard some good buzz about Ron Marz's run on Witchblade. Have any of his issues been collected ito ...

• At October 15, 2008, Libaax wrote:

  Nice to see Guido in the list. He is a big favorite of mine.

• At October 16, 2008, Michael wrote:

  "Funny that this makes it seem as though Rockslide is the first Italian-descended X-Man! Why wasn’t there one sooner?"

  There was. ...

• At October 20, 2008, Stephanie wrote:

  EEK!

  Brian, I heart you so much for making Helena number one.

  I f***ing, love Helena; at the moment, I am currently ...

• At August 1, 2009, bats wrote:

  isn't santos latino...im sure ive seen him speaking spanish in the xmen comic books?

But to keep as a fill-in, here are my picks for the November 2008 solicitations for Marvel Comics.

Enjoy!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I love a lot of the subtle touches Gerald Parel puts into this cover, but in the end, I don't think any one of them stands out enough for the cover to really "pop."

I think the cover theme of these Magneto covers by Marko Djurdjevic is going to be growing old soon.

Okay, it grew old already.

Still, otherwise, great cover.

Speaking of Djurdjevic, besides his ability to depict motion through mostly using odd angles (something Alex Ross also does to great effect sometimes), he also knows how to draw an action cover - you depict the action directly PRECEDING the action the readers presumably WANT to see.

These two covers are examples of this idea...

Good work by Djurdjevic.

Arthur Suydam goes a little too far in my book, but on the whole, it is still a very well-designed cover.

A stunning piece of work by Clayton Henry - I don't recall any of his work ever being THIS dynamic!

This Gerald Parel cover is a bit more striking, and I especially love the way he uses the fade effect to make the main character stand out that much more.

5. The only thing keeping this awesome Marcos Martin cover this low is the fact that yeah, it's a bit of a cliched cover idea.

Still, wow, what a great cover.

4. Dave Johnson gives us probably the best Punisher cover featuring Jigsaw, well, ever.

Strong design work there.

3. Stuart Immonen delivers a striking Venom cover for Ultimate Spider-Man.

The force and ominiousness of the cover are amazing.

2. Mark Brooks showing that computer art can occasionally look amazing with this cover featuring Rogue.

1. New Thunderbolts cover artist Francesco "Matt" Mattina helps out incoming writer Andy Diggle a lot with this alluring and mysterious cover that manages to stand out while still maintaining subtle charms (unlike the Parel cover on top that has the subtle charm but does not stand out as much).

That's my top five! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

13 Comments

• At September 16, 2008, Joe H wrote:

  Definitely love the Thunderbolts cover. That would be in my top 5. Don't like the Ultimate X-Men cover so much ...

• At September 16, 2008, Joe H wrote:

  My #2 would have been New Avengers 47 instead.

• At September 16, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  Djurdjevic's Thor, Parel's Musketeers & Henry's Herc in 2,3,4 respectively with Rogue or Magneto rounding it out.

• At September 16, 2008, Nick Marino wrote:

  disagree!

  3. X-Men: World's Apart - because Storm is awesome and so is the cover. currently my desktop wallpaper at work.

  2. ...

• At September 16, 2008, Michael wrote:

  For a minute, I thought Long John Silver was Wolverine.

  And there's a story in that idea...

• At September 16, 2008, Stu wrote:

  Why does Bullseye only use Aces of Spades? Regular decks of cards are significantly cheaper.

• At September 16, 2008, Thomas wrote:

  Stu

  "Why does Bullseye only use Aces of Spades? Regular decks of cards are significantly cheaper."

  ___________________________________________________________________________

  He goes to the same magic ...

• At September 16, 2008, Hal wrote:

  My #1? The Venom cover.

  Absolutely ROCKS.

• At September 17, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  I'm amazed no-ones ever used that theme for jigsaw before....

  Love Immonen's Venom - REALLY scary!

  Thunderbolts cover is definintely No. 1 ...

• At September 17, 2008, Bic wrote:

  My pick for the month is X-Force #9. That cover is packed to the gills with violent, sexy, sleazy ...

• At September 17, 2008, fanboy d wrote:

  what happened to judging the entire solicitations???

• At September 17, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  "what happened to judging the entire solicitations???"

  Too many covers.

• At October 10, 2008, David Lee Ingersoll wrote:

  I hope you're able to do the full solicitations in the next installment of Judging. I'm sure it's a lot ...

Enjoy!

Top Five of DC's July 2008 Covers (solicits here)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I think this Juan Doe is the coolest of all the Joker's Asylum covers.

I am a sucker for covers like this Scott Kolins' one where arrows are shooting at the protagonists like this!

5.

Very cute cover by J. Bone, with a great level of detail.

4.

Overall, this Cooke cover for Jonah Hex rules, but I dunno, it could be a bit less oblique.

3.

I am a huge Mark Schultz fan, so I am glad that DC seems to continue to find covers for him to do.

2.

A simple, yet evocative cover by J.H. Williams - a nice treat by DC giving us a new cover for this Batman: The Black Glove HC - especially since Williams already gave them a number of fine covers to work with.

1.

I like how this Cooke cover for the next Spirit HC looks cool just on the face of it, but when you look deeper, it gets even cooler, and it is one of those rare covers that actually does entreat the viewer TO look closer.

An impressive visual feat by Cooke.

Top Five of DC's August 2008 Covers (Solicits here)

First off, two special DIS-honorable mentions...

Was this Scooby Doo cover done in, like, MS Paint!?

Secondly, this Titans cover was so bad that they actually cancelled the book and re-solicited it with a different cover.

That's usually not a good sign.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

This is a very cute Ryan Sook Superman/Batman cover.

I love this Quitely All-Star Superman drawing as a drawing, but I don't think it "pops" enough for it to be in the top five covers for this month. Can't wait until the issue comes out, though!

Art Adams' appreciation for apes/gorillas has got to be one of the most amusing comic artist peccadillos out there, doesn't it?

I think it is actually quite charming that he is this forthright with liking something like gorillas/apes.

Sorta like Frank Cho and breasts!

Two strong Massimo Carnevale covers this month!

First off, he gets to put his stamp on early Y with this nice cover for the first volume of the Y hardcover collection.

Next, he gets to tell a whole lot of story with one cover image with his Northlanders cover.

Here is a nice Bill Sienkiewicz Joker cover for All Star Batman and Robin.

5.

It's a great cover concept for Scott Gross to work with, and he executes that good idea (why HASN'T there been a comic with these two racing before?) impeccably.

The effect they have on the roads is top rate.

4.

This is where a standard cover format comes in handy, because occasionally, artists will "rebel" against that format, and it makes them stand out that much more for doing so.

This cover "pops" specifically BECAUSE Doug Mahnke chose to vary from the standard Final Crisis cover motif.

3.

J. Bone has been absolutely nailing these Super Friends covers lately - he makes the book all-ages without talking down at all - it's brilliant work.

Here's another one where he does some intricate design and character work, all the while making it look like, well, child's play.

2.

There are times I can't believe that these covers are by Bradstreet!

I liked the last issue's cover, but I REALLY like this cover, especially his strong usage of negative space.

Eye-catching work by Bradstreet. More like this, Mr. Bradstreet, please!!

1.

Stephane Roux was given a pretty awesome assignment here with this Birds of Prey cover - the Joker appearing in Birds of Prey again?

Such a confrontation needs an amazing cover, and luckily, Roux was quite up to the task, with this striking cover with just the right amount of twisted humor.

Top Five of DC's September 2008 Covers (Solicits here)

HONORABLE MENTION

Not a lot of covers stood out for me this month (some fine covers, just not standout ones).

5.

Yeah, it's just a dog posing, but come on, how often do you see covers with just a dog posing, let alone a Superman cover?

It looks cool, consarnit!

4.

Very clever cover idea by Robert Pope and executed quite well.

3.

I really dig the Mad Men-vibe Johnson went for with this 100 Bullets cover.

Nice work.

2.

I like how James Jean captured the change in the book that is presumably going to happen post Fables #75.

And it is a cute cover, period!

1.

Not as cute as this Sook Superman/Batman cover, though, where Sook manages to work the "Junior Leaguers" into the cover with a lot of style.

Top Five of Marvel's September 2008 Covers (Solicits here)

Very cute Dave Bullock cover for this "Silver Age style" comic book mini-series.r

Another fun "movie poster" style cover by Steve Epting.

I am so happy that Sean Murphy is doing a Grant Morrison series - look how much style and cool this guy demonstrates in his art!

Another strong Gerald Parel cover - I love the collage effect here.

A very fun Patrick Scherberger cover.

I love how this Immonen Hellcat cover looks, but it perhaps is not the strongest cover image - he's already done better in the earlier issues of this series.

Still, good stuff.

5.

Can't say that I'm normally a fan, but I dig this Deodato Wolverine cover a lot - he used the negative space of the cover brilliantly.

4.

Kaare Andrews also uses the negative space nicely, only he also provides a cool looking visual, as well.

3.

The "new" Dougie Braithwaite is a great sight to see.

A powerful and cool-looking Thor cover.

2.

You might argue that this is just a pin-up cover, however, that's not the case - these three heroes showing up together is a major part of Secret Invasion.

That, and it is an awesome shot of them by Gabriele Dell'Otto.

1.

Marko Djurdjevic adds a great touch of quiet class to this Magneto Year One cover.

It may be a bit of a predictable angle to take, but Djurdjevic takes that angle and does wonders with it.

Top Five of DC's October 2008 Covers (Solicits here)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Wow, a new Nick Cardy cover!!

Awesome! Great work by DC getting Cardy to do a new cover for the Bat Lash mini-series trade.

Cool Pat Gleason cover for Green Lantern Corps.

Another strong Massimo Carnevale cover.

He is quite consistent.

This Rags Morales Nightwing cover is a lot of fun.

Cute Joshua Middleton Supergirl cover (man, Cat Grant is not coming off great in the Superbooks, is she?).

Good cover by Cooke for the Spirit softcover, but I am shocked that it appears that he did not try to write anything on the ground in the rain.

5.

Vixen looks odd and this cover idea was already basically done by JG Jones for a JLA cover, but otherwise, this is a really nice cover by Joshua Middleton for this Vixen mini-series.

4.

Very cute cover idea by Aaron Lopresti - not as big of a fan as the execution.

3.

J. Bone coming out with one of the scariest kiddy comic book cover you'll ever see!

2.

Love the look Sook gives Jimmy, as well as the implication on the cover that this is the type of life Jimmy Olsen lives - he has supervillains coming after him while he's doing his work! Good storytelling.

1.

Occasionally, I think Alex Ross' manic looking covers work to great effect, and I think this Earth 1/Earth 2 match-up is one of them - his odd angles make the cover look like it is practically bursting with energy.

Top Five of Marvel's October 2008 Covers (Solicits here)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Another nice drawing by Sean Murphy, but come on, man, it's basically the same cover layout as LAST ISSUE!!!

I'll keep it here because it IS still a cool-looking drawing, but come on, Murphy, mix things up a bit!

Really nice look to this JRjr Amazing Spider-Man cover.

5.

Cute Ramos cover for Runaways, but I think it would be a much better image if we knew what Molly wanted to do INSTEAD of watching Chase play Guitar Hero, so I would make it clear what kind of DVD she has in her hand.

4.

Yet another fun cover by Dave Bullock.

I think this one is actually a step up from #1.

3.

Extremely simple, but still an effective cover by Steve Epting.

2.

Another strong and evocative cover by Marko Djurdjevic.

1.

The idea of Thor and Beta Ray Bill teaming up to kick Skrull behind may be such a cool idea that I am placing this Dougie Braithwaite cover too high, but I don't think so, as it is awesome.

Those are the top fives! Agree? Disagree? Let me know! And share your top fives!

22 Comments

• At August 5, 2008, Philip Ayres wrote:

  never mind the cover what about the title for that Iron Fist special ? Orson Randall and the Death ...

• At August 5, 2008, FD wrote:

  The Teen Titans features one of the most awkwardly drawn kisses I have ever seen. I need a "History ...

• At August 5, 2008, Negman wrote:

  Whoa, when are they starting the Y hardcovers? The second I saw that I tried heading over to Amazon ...

• At August 5, 2008, GarBut wrote:

  Cooke's SPIRIT s/c is, I believe, the h/c cover sans "Spirit" treatment wrap, which is to say, the dust cover ...

• At August 5, 2008, Grapeweasel wrote:

  You used the word 'Cute' 8 times, which to me sums up the most disturbing trend in comics these days.

  Too ...

• At August 5, 2008, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  There has been a cartoon episode with Roadrunner racing Speedy. Seriously!

  Best,

  Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

• At August 5, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Like Pedro said, Road Runner races Speedy in a 1965 cartoon called "The Wild Chase". It has a lot of ...

• At August 5, 2008, Eric wrote:

  I kinda dig the "MS Paint" Scooby Doo cover. It reminds me of animation background art, or the work of ...

• At August 5, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Okay... ANY cover by Alex Ross featuring Power Girl is brilliant in my books...

  BUT...

  Isn't that Jade at the ...

• At August 5, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Blackjak,

  The new JSA Annual explains what you're asking. Power Girl was shunted off to the old Earth-2 by Gog where ...

• At August 5, 2008, Teebore wrote:

  I just want to say how happy I am that "Judging Books By Their Covers" will be back in all ...

• At August 5, 2008, MDV wrote:

  I also missed this feature for the last few months. Even if you don't plan on writing comments for ...

• At August 5, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You used the word ‘Cute’ 8 times, which to me sums up the most disturbing trend in comics these days.

  Too ...

• At August 5, 2008, Rebis wrote:

  Just add me to the list of peeps who are very happy this feature's back. It's one of my faves.

• At August 5, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  Sean Murphy. Hell yeah.

  Cannot wait for Warcop.

• At August 5, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  Had to open up a notepad file for this...

  - That Nightwing / Hawkman BatB kicked so much ass. Great issue, ...

• At August 5, 2008, Eric wrote:

  Awesome. So happy this is back. We don't always agree, but it is always good to judge a book by ...

• At August 5, 2008, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Green Lantern Corps: Yes...nice cover by Gleason. However...weird/creepy looking Guy Gardner.

  Wonder Woman: Lopresti trying to invoke Norman Rockwell.

  Captain America: ...

• At August 5, 2008, Rob wrote:

  I wish Sienkiewicz would throw his computer away and just do some ink drawings.

• At August 6, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  You're SOOOO wrong about Quitely's All-Star cover.

  "Lex Luthor powered-up and razing the city, backed by a tyrant sun, and Superman ...

• At August 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It'll be a great panel inside the comic, I'm sure.

  You only need to compare it to some of his great ...

• At August 31, 2008, Andrew wrote:

  Thanks for these.

  *Whistles*

  Are the new ones due up soon?

Enjoy! And I hope you enjoyed Top Five Month!!

5. Goliath (Tom Foster)

If Reggie Hudlin stops writing comic books any time soon, then Tom Foster, cousin (or is it nephew?) of Bill Foster will probably be his best creation.

Tom was created as sort of a response to the piss-poor way that Bill Foster's death was handled. Reed Richards, Tony Stark and Hank Pym built a cybernetic clone of Thor, the clone KILLED Bill Foster, and basically, all we get is a "Oh man, I'm so sorry."

It was absurd, and Tom was created, at least in part, to make up for that lackluster treatment of Bill.

Dwayne McDuffie took the character over and used him to great effect as a member of Damage Control.

4. Goliath (Hawkeye)

You have to give it up for that cover, eh?

That said, Hawkeye is better without the growing, although it does sorta make it silly that he'd ever choose to go BACK to just shooting arrows if he could be Goliath.

That idea was actually addressed during Galactic Storm, when Hawkeye is left off of the main teams in place of USAgent, because USAgent is more powerful than he is, Clint takes the Goliath serum again.

3. Goliath (Erik Josten)

I liked Eric as Goliath for two reasons:

1. The name wasn't really being used, and a villain was a nice twist on the idea

and

2. It was hilarious that he, as Power Man, had his name "stolen" by Luke Cage, so now he was going to "steal" a hero's name!

Classic.

2. Goliath (Hank Pym)

The original Goliath!

1. Goliath (killer whale)

This talking whale was a mighty hard guy for Kamandi to face off against!

Okay, okay, here's the real deal...

1. Goliath (Bill Foster)

While it normally would be cheesy to have a hero who took the name of another hero, it wasn't like Goliath was even Hank Pym's first name - it was his THIRD!! And his SECOND with the same power-set!

And as opposed to Hawkeye, Bill did not have anything but Goliath going for him, superhero-wise.

And as opposed to Eric Josten, he was a good guy.

And as opposed to the talking killer whale, he was a human.

So Bill Foster is a posthumous #1!

That's the list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

45 Comments

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Ummm...

  Brian??

  What's with the five Kamandi covers??

• At August 1, 2008, DCD wrote:

  Six.

• At August 1, 2008, Filrouge wrote:

  IIRC Hawkeye gave up the serum because it was very damaging to his body. Especially when he gave it another ...

• At August 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  That was a weird one! Thanks for the heads up, Tim!

• At August 1, 2008, Sam wrote:

  Black Goliath rocks. Bring him back. Marvel needs more grounded-type heroes without personality disorders.

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Thank YOU, Brian! I really enjoyed the last Damage Control mini-series... particularly the name play on the new Goliath... ...

• At August 1, 2008, Wilbur wrote:

  There is only one Goliath - The much underrated and badly-used Hank Pym.

  The rest are baggage.

• At August 1, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:

  "I would like to be explained though, how an athlete like Clint Barton couldn’t hold the serum as well as ...

• At August 1, 2008, Rusty Priske wrote:

  I have to go Hank first. Nothing against Bill Foster, but you lose a TON of credibility when you are ...

• At August 1, 2008, avengers63 wrote:

  There was also a period in WCA when he couldn't change size at all. Well, he COULD, but the ...

• At August 1, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  I was really expecting you to dig up an old Davey and Goliath comic for #1. Kamandi is close, though.

• At August 1, 2008, T. wrote:

  Why can't Clint be Hawkeye AND Goliath at the same time? WHy does he have to choose? I ...

• At August 1, 2008, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  "Because You DEMANDED It---- In His Own MIND-BENDING Mag At Last!"

  They just don't write cover blurbs like they used to.

  And ...

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Don't know about you, but the great big hole to show off his six-pack bends my mind... WHY??? What were ...

• At August 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  This isn't who's the best character PERIOD, of course Hawkeye and Hank Pym would be higher, in that case.

  This is ...

• At August 1, 2008, T. wrote:

  Don’t know about you, but the great big hole to show off his six-pack bends my mind… WHY??? What were ...

• At August 1, 2008, JdRavnos wrote:

  I'd probably put Tom Foster ahead of Clint as Goliath. Tom seems like a good kid, and I hope he ...

• At August 1, 2008, RichYan33 wrote:

  That's a lamp post he's bending. Not my mind. It's hard to believe at that late date they would still ...

• At August 1, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  I don't think the list lost any credibility with the whale as #1. I'm just gonna count it as a ...

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  The whale is still pretty cool! Look at the gorgeous artwork!! The water flowing off the back... The speed ...

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Brian?

  Please can we have anotehr four months of this??

  Five Months of Top Fives??

  PLEASE?

• At August 1, 2008, Filrouge wrote:

  "Well the answer is Pym couldn’t. It gave him health problems for years and is cited as one of the ...

• At August 1, 2008, Robert wrote:

  actually Filrouge theres a couple reasons Hawkeye passed out in those stories. He did 2 things Pym never did he ...

• At August 1, 2008, avengers63 wrote:

  RE: T's question "Was Goliath the exact same power set at Giant Man actually?"

  Close, but not the same. As ...

• At August 1, 2008, Grapeweasel wrote:

  You know.

  I was buying the whole 'Killer Whale' thing...

• At August 1, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  I loved the Dr. Pym period.. Applied use of powers rather than blatant use. That's just good stuff!

• At August 1, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Re; Avengers63...

  10" or 10'...

  We're talking Spinal Tap Stonehenge issues here... ;-)

• At August 1, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  Filrouge -

  Hank has the HGH1 allele of the growth hormone gene, whereas Clint has the HGH2 allele.* Hence their different ...

• At August 1, 2008, Filrouge wrote:

  Thanks a lot "O" the Humanatee!, that is the kind of explanation I can believe in.

• At August 1, 2008, Hal King wrote:

  My thought about Clint having a much more drastic reaction than Hank was that Pym had been using the formula ...

• At August 1, 2008, T. wrote:

  Thanks for clarification guys, but are you sure Pym Goliath is only 10' tall? He seems to be way ...

• At August 1, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  They used to cram him into the jets, so I don't think he was supposed to be more than 10 ...

• At August 1, 2008, JSpec wrote:

  As Giant Man, Pym was only 10-12' tall. When he first returned as Goliath he was 25' (so the ...

• At August 1, 2008, The Indestructible Man wrote:

  Since SLG has been putting out GARGOYLES comics, I'd have to go for their Goliath, personally -- you don't see ...

• At August 1, 2008, Loren wrote:

  If Reggie Hudlin stops writing comic books any time soon, then Tom Foster, cousin (or is it nephew?) of Bill ...

• At August 1, 2008, Lothor wrote:

  Didn't the "real" Goliath (the guy David fought) ever apper in a comic?

• At August 1, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:

  I'd like to see a Top Five Hank Pym Superhero Identities.

  My suggestion would be:

  5: Yellowjacket (Rita was a much better ...

• At August 2, 2008, Filrouge wrote:

  I believe Mr. Cronin actually did this one.

• At August 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  Was Bill "Goliath" Foster ever on any super teams?

  I'd love a Goliath the Killer Whale series.

• At August 2, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  The mention of the "real" Goliath brought to mind a story from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, where Jimmy goes back ...

• At August 3, 2008, Luis Dantas wrote:

  The first Immortus story had him summoning what was supposed to be the Biblical Goliath to fight the Avengers. ...

• At August 3, 2008, Jbird wrote:

  I'm honestly surprised they're planning an Ant-Man film rather than just folding his story into the Avengers movie, and the ...

• At August 4, 2008, Carl wrote:

  People seem to forget that as Goliath, Josten also had his ionic powers restored, so he had the powers of ...

• At August 4, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Now that you mention it, Clint's costume is pretty darn awful!!!

  At least Bill had a decent six-pack to boast of... ...

• At August 4, 2008, tk. wrote:

  I think Josten should be number one. Best costume, and glowing eyes to boot, and if there's anything more ...

5. Black Widow

Definitely a weird choice to see in the top five Avengers leaders, but Black Widow was the chairperson of the Avengers for over FIFTY issues!

Her stint, though, was bizarre because she was really more of an administrative chairperson, and her teammate Black Knight did most of the field leading. Natasha served as a sort of administrator for Captain America when Cap was chairperson, and when he left, she got his job, but stayed as an administrator.

When Black Knight left the team, Natasha, due to necessity, took over being field leader, as well.

She's also notable for being the Avengers leader who couldn't manage to form a new team when she thought Cap and the rest were killed during Onslaught, despite a goodly chunk of her current team still being alive (her, Deathcry, Quicksilver and Hercules - or basically the same lineup she was leading just a year or so earlier!).

4. Iron Man

Iron Man only edges out Black Widow because I'm counting him as at least CO-chairperson during the early New Avengers issues. That's fair, right?

He certainly SEEMED to be leading the team.

Currently, as head of SHIELD, he is the technical "head" of the Mighty Avengers, but I think Ms. Marvel is more of what you would consider the chairperson of the group.

3. Hawkeye

Hawkeye gets here by virtue of basically being the main leader of the Avengers West Coast throughout their history, specifically the first 40 or so issues (plus the dozen or so appearances before their ongoing series) and then a later stint on the team.

2. Wasp

Wasp edges out Hawkeye due to her short-lived stint as Avengers chairperson when Captain America left the team during Kurt Busiek and George Perez's run, and Scarlet Witch was unprepared to take over the job as full-time chairperson. That's what happened, right? I'm not misremembering that, am I?

Anyhow, Wasp led the Avengers for most of the 80s, from #217-278, with a few notable gaps in between (when Vision became the leader of the team).

1. Captain America

Captain America was the first Avenger to be named permanent chairperson (although I think they said chairMAN back then, which is weird, because by the time Cap got the job, Wasp had specifically BEEN chair for a few issues), and in the first 100 issues, while Cap wasn't TECHNICALLY the chairperson all the time he was on the team, while he was there, everyone essentially treated him as the leader.

In fact, Wasp had the embarrassing scenario of being chairperson when the Avengers were caught up in Secret Wars and have everyone say, "Yeah, okay, but we'd prefer Cap be the leader of everyone, okay?"

So yeah, Cap and Avengers chairperson go together nicely, well, except for him being dead, of course.

That's the list!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

48 Comments

• At July 31, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Wow, Brian, this is a first. Here you have a perfect opportunity to write about Monica Rambeau, and yet you ...

• At July 31, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Maybe Mr. BC is Monica Rambeau-challenged?

• At July 31, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  She wasn't even the next in line! In fact, I think she would be behind both Hank Pym AND Thor!!

• At July 31, 2008, Colin wrote:

  Arh ya see when people dismiss the Wasp they forget stuff like this. My fav Marvel character always gets much ...

• At July 31, 2008, Dan K wrote:

  I think I would have to go Thor just for his shear anality as chair in the very early issues. ...

• At July 31, 2008, Even Bigger Nerd wrote:

  Actually, the Associated Press Stylebook recommends using "chairman" and "chairwoman" over the generic. I am 100% sure this is ...

• At July 31, 2008, Rusty Priske wrote:

  Captain Marvel should be third... or maybe fourth.

  The rest of the list order I agree with.

• At July 31, 2008, avengers63 wrote:

  FWIW: In the Heroclix game, the Avengers are the only team that can have two leaders out there - Cap ...

• At July 31, 2008, Nessor Sille wrote:

  The problem is, every time someone decides to give Janet some depth and maturity, the very next writer goes "HEY! ...

• At July 31, 2008, buttler wrote:

  I kind of loved Thor as chairman. He was so awkward at it, and by awkward I mean awesome.

• At July 31, 2008, M Bloom wrote:

  In regards to Black Widow's inability to form a new Avengers team after Onslaught, I'm not sure that was really ...

• At July 31, 2008, adam barnett wrote:

  Wasp as chairperson was part of the big "token female as team leader" trend that made me roll my eyes ...

• At July 31, 2008, David M wrote:

  I totally remember that moment from Secret Wars #1 when all the heroes agreed to let Cap lead them. (Did ...

• At July 31, 2008, Nessor Sille wrote:

  "Wasp as chairperson was part of the big “token female as team leader” trend that made me roll my eyes ...

• At July 31, 2008, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  I have no recollection of Thor chairing the team. I can't imagine it went well at all.

• At July 31, 2008, Colin wrote:

  "The problem is, every time someone decides to give Janet some depth and maturity, the very next writer goes “HEY! ...

• At July 31, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:

  I keep scrolling up and down the list and I don't see Monica Rambeau listed.

  Did Brian and her have ...

• At July 31, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Brian, If you want a decent Monica Rambeau list...

  How about "Top Five leaders of Nextwave"!?!??!

• At July 31, 2008, Michael wrote:

  Looking at the Avengers West Coast cover, how awesome would it have been to see a team that consisted of ...

• At July 31, 2008, buttler wrote:

  ROM was also one of the candidates on the famous Avengers #221 cover with the head shots and check boxes. ...

• At July 31, 2008, Gopher wrote:

  Colin wrote: "Arh ya see when people dismiss the Wasp they forget stuff like this. My fav Marvel character always ...

• At July 31, 2008, buttler wrote:

  That would be one way to get Tony Stark out of everyone's hair for a while, Gopher.

• At July 31, 2008, Gopher wrote:

  In fact, how about the top 5 Marvel drinkers and the top 5 DC drinkers (writers and artists not included) ...

• At July 31, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:

  If this were a top five Avengers Chairpersons as for favourite or most interesting or most effective, I'd be asking ...

• At July 31, 2008, Michael wrote:

  "(And if I recall correctly, I believe Jan spent most of Secret Wars getting busy with Magneto.)"

  For some perverse reason, ...

• At July 31, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  And who HASN'T been there?

• At July 31, 2008, buttler wrote:

  Well, at this point Wolverine also wrote Shakespeare's plays and built the pyramids. Back then he was pretty much ...

• At July 31, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  “Wasp as chairperson was part of the big “token female as team leader” trend that made me roll my eyes ...

• At July 31, 2008, Da Fug wrote:

  How can people quibble about Captain Marvel or the ordering of the list when the list was compiled by looking ...

• At July 31, 2008, Tungsten Man wrote:

  I love those horrible fake-out roster covers. Who will answer Hawkeye's call? Cyclops? Hell no! Are you stupid?

• At July 31, 2008, JdRavnos wrote:

  "I have no recollection of Thor chairing the team. I can’t imagine it went well at all"

  Stan Lee originally established ...

• At July 31, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "Who will answer Hawkeye’s call? Cyclops? Hell no! Are you stupid?"

  Tell that to my younger self who practically died of ...

• At July 31, 2008, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  Hercules with a shave looks even more wrong than Black knight with a lightsaber and that's saying something... Dark days ...

• At July 31, 2008, Lothor wrote:

  Hawkeye was also the leader of the GLA for a brief time. Don't know whether those appearances would give ...

• At August 1, 2008, Ganky wrote:

  Hulk should be chair-hulk! Hulk is the STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!!! Hulk gonna grow a beard ...

• At August 1, 2008, Ganky wrote:

  By the way, has everyone else gotten those awesome DVD collections of every issue of (Avengers, Cap, FF, Ghost Rider ...

• At August 1, 2008, Wilbur wrote:

  Captain America (the REAL one, not Bucky) is and will always be number one in the Avengers. Having someone other ...

• At August 1, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  Am I wrong in assuming we're going to get a crazed compilation (.... gods, I'm turning into Stan Lee) of ...

• At August 1, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Jan did in fact get one turn as chairman (no, seriously, that's what she said) during Lee's Avengers run. I ...

• At August 1, 2008, dhole wrote:

  Just want to say the Vision was a real cool chairman, even if he did go nuts and try to ...

• At August 1, 2008, Rene wrote:

  - Clean-shaven Hercules in the 1990s Avengers. Was that because of the TV show, I wonder?

  - Candy as leader of ...

• At August 1, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  I don't know if this is relevant, but there's a weird scene in the Avengers issue where they first fight ...

• At August 1, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:

  Rene,

  You do realize that saying that Heather was the most level headed member of Alpha Flight during that time period ...

• At August 1, 2008, Lothor wrote:

  Lynxanara, the Avengers #10 Hercules was retconned into being the Space Phantom in disguise.

• At August 2, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  ... of _course_ he was! Do I want to know what book established this?

  (Was it written by Roy Thomas?)

• At August 2, 2008, R. J. Sterling wrote:

  'GENERAL Immortus'?! He fought the Doom Patrol, not the Avengers, yo. Yeesh.

• At August 2, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Immortus, in his first appearance, was not a terribly memorable villain. I'm not at all surprised I mixed him up ...

• At August 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  Loved that era that the Iron Man cover is from.