This is a fantastic example of the classic Kirby first page. The opening prologue is punctuated with loads of dramatic Kirby Crackle. And, then, there’s that alien. Oh, the alien. Is it just me, or is that alien just a little too excited?

Best of all, Cap’s sidekick in this issue is … Hendricks. HENDRICKS! I love it. Start the petition now. We want a ”Hendricks: Origin” Limited Series!

LOCAL ANCHOR MAN: What happened today, Mr. Hendricks?

HENDRICKS: Well, suh, I was tending to my fields, bustin’ up some chiffarobes and whatnot, and this great big flyin’ saucer come out of the sky and landed in mah field. I went inside and a big pink alien was tryin’ to make the animal husbandry on Captain America hisself. I just knew, I needed to find a weapon and kill me that alien. So, I done it.

LOCAL ANCHOR MAN: You are a true, American hero, Mr. Hendricks.

Guys … this one is easy. I am going to gush forth a lot of digital love today. (Stay away from me, Chris Hansen.)

You have to love that there was a comic called, “Journey Into Mystery” … and that it made it to 107 issues by this point.

You have to love Stan and Jack created a villain named “The Grey Gargoyle” … and that they repeated his origin in each of his first four appearances almost verbatim.

And, that said villain could be seen as worth of going toe to toe with a god.

But, you’ve really got to appreciate that they show him getting into costume …

Dr. Doom Ettiquette Note: One must take time to get one's villainous boots on properly, lest one be horribly embarassed.

And, that, when attacking Dr. Donald Blake, his weapon of choice is … a paper airplane he turns into stone. I FREAKIN’ LOVE THAT!!!!!! Only in Marvel, kids. They’re here all week. Try the veal.

Modern comics are nice, but I have always … always … had an affinity for the classics. And, J.I.M. has been a particular favorite. I even tried to mount a relaunch of the title in 1985, but Marvel somehow did not take a shine to the hand-drawn, un-inked covers I mailed … with no stories inside. Go figure. Evidence Below.

Please, don’t ask me what “Klink the Iron Knight” was going to be all about. Or, what “J.O.E.” stands for in “Godakin J.O.E.” Or, even what “Godakin” means. I’m not sure I ever really had a plan.

1896: Se considera como el nacimiento del cómic con la aparición de la primera tira cómica, The Yellow Kid creada por Richard Fenton Outcalt que además introdujo los “globitos” como recurso para que sus personajes se expresaran.

1929: Surge el primer intento de comercialización del cómic con Funnies No. 1, sin nada de éxito.

1930: Las tiras cómicas ganan popularidad, con personajes como Anita la Huerfanita, Popeye, Dick Tracy, antecesor indirecto del Cómic Negro y creado por Chester Gould, Flash Gordon de Alex Raymond y el más exitoso de todos, Tarzán, creación de Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Vídeos de Dick Tracy

Vídeo de Flah Gordon

Tarzán en el cine

  1931: Aparece por primera vez Superman en el fanzine Science Fiction: The Vanguard of Future Civilization #3, creación del escritor Jerry Siegel y el dibujante Joe Shuster. La idea les pareció buena pero no tuvieron éxito cuando trataron de comercializarla ya que las editoriales pensaban que un personaje tan poderoso no podría tener éxito.

Superman en el cine:

SuperMan (clásica)

SuperMan Returns

1933: Famous Funnies es considerado el primer cómic. Fue una re-impresión de varias tiras cómicas, en formato de comic book.

1936: Se crea el primer superhéroe tal y como los conocemos, aunque irónicamente no tiene ningún poder sobrenatural. The Phantom dibujada por el artista Lee Falk, aparece como tira cómica en los diarios norteamericanos y cuenta la historia de un hombre que utiliza un disfraz púrpura y un antifaz para proteger su identidad y así poder combatir el crimen. Porta dos pistolas calibre .45 y monta un corcel blanco.

1937: Se lanza Detective Comics No 1, posteriormente la compañía toma las iniciales para crear DC Comics, una de las casas editoriales más importantes actualmente.

1938: El cómic comienza a tomar cada vez más importancia, pero es hasta que Joe Shuster y Jerry Siegel presentan en Action Comics #1 (junio de 1938) a Superman que nace la Época de Oro.

1939: El segundo superhéroe en cobrar importancia es Batman, creado por Bob Kane y presentado en mayo de 1939 en Detective Comics #27. Aparecen por primera vez juntos dos de los superhéroes más importantes de todos los tiempos, Batman y Superman, en la portada de New York Worlds Fair Comics #1, aunque nunca aparecieron en una misma historia hasta 1952. Se crea Timely Comics, que a la postre se convertiría en Marvel Comics, con el lanzamiento de La Antorcha Humana (no confundir con Johnny Storm) y Prince Namor: El Sub-Marinero.

Batman en el cine:

Batman Begins

Batman: El caballero Oscuro

La Antorcha Humana en la película “Los 4 Fantásticos”

1940: Para esta década el personaje más popular es Capitán Marvel (Shazam) cuya primera aparición se dio en Whiz Comics (Número 1 en portada y 2 en interiores), publicado por Fawcett Publications. Posteriormente DC obtiene los derechos y crea la revista Shazam! cuyo primer número corresponde a febrero de 1973.

1941: Se lanza el primer cómic con contenido bélico, haciendo aparición el superhéroe más patriótico de todos los tiempos, Capitán América, en Captain America #1 creación de Jack Kirby y Joe Simon. Otra inclusión importante es la de Wonder Woman de William Moulton Marston (creador del detector de mentiras).

1952: Aparece en Superman #76 la primera historia de Superman y Batman juntos escrita por Edmond Hamilton y dibujado por Curt Swan.

1954: El New York Worlds Fair Comics cambia su nombre a Worlds Finest Comics. En el #71 de dicha serie Superman y Batman aparecen en la portada y se incluye una historia de los superhéroes juntos. A partir de entonces la revista se dedica a publicar exclusivamente historias protagonizadas por Superman y Batman, y desde ese momento el dúo se conoce extraoficialmente como World´s Finest (Los Mejores del Mundo) y aparecen varios crossovers en sus respectivas publicaciones.

La década de los cincuentas fue difícil para el Noveno Arte, ya que la censura Mcarthista afectó a todos los géneros del cómic y, con la conjunción de diferentes circunstancias termina una de las mejores etapas del Arte Gráfico Secuencial. La Época de Oro termina, lamentablemente, con la publicación del libro Seduction of the Innocent del psiquiatra austriaco Frederick Wertham donde planteaba la teoría ultraconservadora anti-cómic de que éstos inducían a los jóvenes a cometer actos delictivos y atentaban contra la moral.

En consecuencia directa se crea el Comics Code Authority, un código para regir los contenidos de los comics donde queda estrictamente prohibido la aparición de temas sexuales, políticos o de violencia (de manera ilustrada o escrita) además también prohibía que personajes terroríficos aparecieran como protagonistas de comics. Por si no fuera poco, se crea The Comics Magazine Association of America, que regularizó los temas de varias revistas de terror, prohibiendo la aparición de sangre, tortura, vampiros, hombres lobo, lujuria, necrofagia, necrofilia, canibalismo, zombis y las palabras horror y terror.

1956: Durante los años subsecuentes a la creación del CCA, varias casas editoriales fracasan, desaparecen personajes importantes y las ventas bajan considerablemente. Es hasta que aparece Barry Allen, mejor conocido como Flash, que la industria da un nuevo respiro y nace oficialmente la Época de Plata del cómic. Otro acontecimiento importante es el lanzamiento de Fantastic Four el cual dio inicio a la denominada Era Marvel del Cómic. Marvel lanza personajes tan importantes como Spider-Man, X-Men y Daredevil entre otros.

Daredevil en el cine

Actualmente el Noveno Arte es uno de los movimientos más importantes, con gran número de personajes, corrientes, temas y autores renombrados. La industria del cómic ha evolucionado con el tiempo, convirtiéndose en uno de las formas de contar historias más populares, dedicando convenciones a nivel mundial, programas de radio, revistas especializadas, tiendas exclusivas y un largo etcétera.

It’s been over a year since DC gave us this title. Not particularly sure who asked for it, or even better, who thought it was a good idea. Taking the world and characters Jack Kirby poured so much of himself into(not hard given he was the main writer/artist on a lot of the early stuff) and just tossing it aside for a few bucks. For a poor set-up. For a ‘Crisis’. Shameful, that.

Though I’m a positive soul, so I won’t dwell too much, now at least. Instead, I plan to go back and revisit all the good stories and, essentially, make this blog into one nice and happy little love letter to the New Gods(the Frees especially), and by proxy the late and great Jack Kirby. Why? Partially to just express my love of these characters but also, hopefully, to help others enjoy them as well.

Now to the meat of the story. After the cover comes a little strip with the faces of the new (as they were) faces of the Fantastic Four namely Dr. Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm and Johnny Storm all with their faces contained within neat little roundels. Stan and Jack sign their names right next to this strip of faces. Reed looks like the brain he is. Ben looks like a thug. Sue looks like Doris Day. Johnny looks like the strange offspring of any of the previous three. At least they are all recognisable though.

By now even the most dim-witted youth has figured out who is who, but since this is a comicbook drawn by Jack Kirby – we have to lead in with at least two panels of trademark New Yorkers gaping and pointing at the sky like the lunatics we all know them to be. I’ve never been to New York but if the residents of that great metropolis don’t stand around gawking and pointing skywards then this reader is going to be mightily disappointed!

Don’t anyone point out that the narrator in panel two doesn’t know where he is! Central City? Where’s that? Must be over the bridge or something. This is New York pal! Though, I am wondering what building Reed has just fired his flare gun out of and, let’s face it, why he bothered with a flare? Going back to the very first issue is likely to throw up quite a few oddities but the flare is one I think we can safely say has been written out of the continuity. I’m surprised he didn’t just shine a light onto a cloud – now that would’ve been silly!

Reed however, his face hidden in the darkness, utters the immortal line: “It is the first time I have found it necessary to use the signal. I pray it will be the last!” Some hope! And some first line. Just another reason why Reed is so popular (!) in the Marvel Universe.

The first of our quartet to respond to the signal is Susan Storm, the Invisible Girl (I gotta get used to calling her ‘Girl’ and not ‘Woman’ because she’s obviously not a woman yet – don’t ask). Susan promptly displays her power of invisibility which seems somehow linked to her power of outright clumsiness and her predilection for jaywalking as she barges through a crowd and hails a taxi frightening the driver half to death. I’m not going to pick holes in the logic underlying this comic but … okay then. Why the heck does she feel the need to make herself invisible at all? Is she going to get anywhere any faster like that? At this point it doesn’t seem like she’s going to be the brightest member of the Fantastic Four – but something tells me that’s just the way society wanted it back in the fifties (1961 was in the fifties right?)! That’s right – keep ‘em in their place! But wait, ah quick thinking Stan Lee just about gets away with it – it was all part of her plan to see if see really were invisible! Yeah, right and if you believe that you won’t have any problem with a big orange lump in as trench coat.

Speaking of which, the next quarter of the Fantastic foursome to make an appearance is The Thing – and what a terrifying appearance it is! I mean the back view of his blue trunks as he exits the back door of the tailor’s shop is enough to frighten anyone. It makes you wonder how …? Anyway put that thought from your minds dear readers and ponder how The Thing uses a hat and coat and a pair of sunglasses or goggles to disguise his great bulk from the world. When the policeman fires off a shot Ben (for it is he) thinks it was lucky that it missed him – which makes no sense at all since we know the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing is impervious to mere bullets. Perhaps we ought to cut Stan some slack here and suggest The Thing was just ‘firming up’ in the early days after the change!

Also the Thing talks nothing like the great thick ear we know and love. In fact he sounds more like Dr Doom! Again I should say Ben Grimm is probably just getting used to his new situation so he’s playing up a bit – you can’t blame him – it’s mortifying!!

Next Time on Forever4: The introduction of the Human Torch … again!

Clearly, I’m mad, I tell you.  MAD.

I’m one of those guys who spend their lives liking the rough sketch better than the final art.  It’s a curse.   I have a fondness for the scribbled, eccentric, humanistic and unembarrassed linework of a rough sketch.  There’s a lovely connection to movement and thought in the first contact with the image to muscles and paper,  often softened unbearably by turning it into a final illustration.   As a professional drawer-boy, I’m always fighting between “cleaning it up” and “letting it live”.

The Batman sketch from an old, old Adventures cover, (which I just found in a box yesterday, and hence this post) is less than three inches high.  It’s drawn in pencil and a thick pentel marker which was clearly drying out, as the background becomes less dark to the right. But the sense of danger, the monster, and the expressions on everyone’s face works for me in a way the final doesn’t.

My Pekar’s AMERICAN SPLENDOR work last year did the same thing to to me.  I was going for a very sedate, “realistic” Curt Swan type of storytelling for Harvey, since that was the basic feel of this particular script…but the rough layouts had a Kirby-like energy to them, with a lively and playful sense of proportion that I wish had fit the story.

( for more Harvey online, click here)

Again, these layouts are about three inches tall, and the final art is fifteen inches high…so the movements of your hands vs. the movements of your shoulders are going to be different.

I just got through reading an issue of Marvel’s new “STRANGE TALES” comic, with folks like Peter Bagge, and James  Kochalka doing very indy looking work on Marvel super-heroes.  Astoundingly great fun, and some of the pages have the same feel as my rough pages do…before I clean myself up.

If only I hadn’t seen so much Harvey Kurtzman while growing up.  I could rid myself of this demon of liking the roughs.

AND NOW—

FOR THOSE WHO DEMAND THEIR HOVERBOY FRIDAYS ON FRIDAY, I GIVE A FIE TO THEE!  A FEE FIE!

Hoverboy Fridays continue to wander the calendar, and we find one barging into Sunday.  I’m only making this rare exception to move Hoverboy Fridays from its regular spot on Tuesdays, to this weekend, because the most recent update is topical!  It has to do with Hoverboy’s very tenuous connection to Sesame Street, which celebrated it’s 40th, or 45th anniversary this week, I wasn’t paying enough attention when Wolf Blitzer mentioned it.

Go to the Hoverboy museum and read more about this astounding connection between Kermit the Frog and The Boy Who Hovers.

www.hoverboy.com (for those who don’t hyper link well).

Ty the Guy.  AWAAAY!

Source: Twitch

Correva l’anno 1989, novembre 1989 quando Ratty vide la luce su Spot nr. 2, supplemento del mensile L’Eternauta. Dal 1990 al 1995 venne pubblicato su di una fanzine made in Usa e poi Leo Ortolani, stravagante geologo, fece la coraggiosa scelta di pubblicare in proprio una collana dedicata al Ratto Mascherato. Dobbiamo attendere fino al 1997 affinché una nota casa editrice noti questo straordinario supereroe. Inizia così la collaborazione con Paninicomics (allora Marvel Italia).

Con il nr. 74 di Rat-Man Collection intitolato Non di questo mondo, si festeggia il ventennale della nascita del nostro eroe. Come potete vedere voi stessi, la copertina è un chiaro omaggio a Jack Kirby e Stan Lee. Da segnalare che in questo numero si potrà leggere la prima vera storia di Rat:man così come l’aveva pensata e disegnata Leo ancora da aspirante fumettista .

Fonte | Punto di vista…

Story by: Bruce Timm
Written by: Rich Fogel
Directed by: Dan Riba
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Jack Kirby – Long live The King.
Original Airdates: February 7 & 14 1996
DVD: Superman TAS Volume 3

Summary: Darkseid finally makes his move, launching a full-scale attack on Earth. With Metropolis as the front line, Superman is forced into battle to defend his adopted homeworld. One major problem – Darkseid does not take losing well.

Arc Note: Third and fourth episodes dealing with Darkseid and the New Gods.

Debuting Characters: Pretty much every signifcant New God shows up during the course of this one, most of which haven’t been seen before. Look at this screencap that, in any other episode, would have been the above-the-jump image:

The most prominent debutee is Orion, and Darkseid hench… people… Granny Goodness and Steppenwolf also make their first appearances.

Also, Maggie Sawyer’s long-time partner, Toby Raynes, makes her first DCAU appearance, which I’m reasonably certain is the first depiction of a gay couple in Saturday Morning animation. It’s neat how matter-of-factly this was handled; you get the feeling that watchdog groups were blissfully ignorant of the characters’ history.

Featured Characters: Dan Turpin *sniff*; this episode marks the conclusion of the “can the SCU hold their own without Superman” subplot.

Background:

There’s no way around it – aside from this being the high point of S:TAS, this story is famous for containing the most significant death in the DCAU TV programmes. So no spoiler protection here: this is the episode where Dan Turpin is killed by Darkseid. So as opposed to actually talking about the background of the characters appearing, I think it’s more appropriate to talk about the making of the episode itself, especially as there’s a LOT of material about this episode, between the Timm interview and the commentary track on Part 2. Timm describes the genesis of the episode:

The “Apokalips Now” story came out of anumber of brainstorming sessions with myself and Paul Dini in particular. We were sitting around, talking about Darkseid – what about him do we want to use, what would work for us in animation, how to pare down that big, sprawling mythos Kirby did over five books into a half-hour adventure cartoon. We had to come up with a couple of springboards of what to do with the character, and then the “Apokalips Now” storyline just came full-blown into my  head one day.

Bruce Timm, Modern Masters, p. 56

As the episode was uniquely concieved in almost the exact form that made it to the screen – Superman vs Darkseid with the fate of the world in the balance – there weren’t many issues with the story until the team got to the ending.

My original ending was a little more oblique. Turpin was still going to deft Darkseid at the end and say “You guys can’t have this planet, we’d rather die first.” At that point, Darkseid was just going to go “I really want this planet, I don’t want to just destroy it, so you win.” And everbody realised that was just too anticlimactic… I had thought of the idea of the New Gods as the cavalry at the last second and having that as the reason Darkseid gives up, but I rejected it myself because I thought it was too easy.

B. Timm, ibid.

However, even though Darkseid doesn’t win, the producers came up with a method for Darkseid’s loss to be even more devestating to Superman than it was for Darkseid. In this case, Darkseid takes his frustrations out on a member of Suerpman’s regular supporting cast, which for a show that aired on Saturday mornings, was a drastic step.

While we were talking about (the Anti-Life Equation), I jumped ahead to the end of the story and went, “You know what? Wheat he’s got to do is after Superman has defeated him, Darkseid has got to kill someone who is very close to Superman just out of pure spite… I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I was doing was channelling the end of the Galactus trilogy… but the minute I said that, Paul said “Yeah, that’s the way to go. So who’s he going to kill?”

B. Timm, Modern Masters, page 57

Amongst the potential killing-off candiates were:

• Ma and Pa Kent (rejected by DC, and Timm thinks that was a good thing as it would be “just wrong.” It’s something I agree with – it’s a great way to contrast Superman and Batman)
• Lois and Jimmy (obviously not possible)
• Professor Hamilton (no one on the staff liked him to begin with, and they were worried the viewer would actually be happy if Darkseid killed him off. It’s a good thing, as Hamilton got a better character arc in JLU as a result)

So it came down to Dan Turpin – as Timm notes, the similarity of killing Turpin, who was visually modelled after Kirby, shortly after Kirby’s death was appropriate, and Turpin’s funeral is actually a close match for that of Kirby’s.

Thoughts on the Episode:

This is an episode that’s actually a neat trick from a narrative point of view, as the first part of the episode feels much like a typical character introduction episode for Orion, in which we’re given his background, find out his capabilities, and then Superman and Orion presumably team up to save Metropolis. Only this time, things don’t go according to plan in any way, as Darkseid’s initial plan works, putting the fate of the entire planet for the first time in DCAU history.

One of the more obvious ongoing themes in these reviews is that the more an episode contrasts its main characters with others, the better it works. That’s the case in Justice League, but as Bruce Timm explains,

(Superman) is normally a character who is optimistic and brighter, and you put him up against a character like Darkseid who pushes his buttons and brings out the worst in him, then it’s much more dramatically effective.

Bruce Timm, Modern Masters, p. 56

The contrast here is twofold – first, with Orion, and then against Darkseid and his minions. As noted, the first half of the story plays out like as a fairly standard character introduction for Orion – if you cut out the final scenes involving the power plant explosion, it’s almost identical, structurally, to episodes like “In Brightest Day.” However, after it looks as though Superman has won another skirmish against one of Darkseid’s minions, the ante is raised through the roof, as part one ends with Superman and Turpin staring into the glare of a nuclear explosion in the distance.

The second half has a common DC Universe signal that something really, really bad is about to happen, specifically that the skies are as red as blood throughout, but beyond that, the second half has a great ominous feel throughout; even if you don’t know that there’s going to be a death at the end, the entire thing just feels as though something bad potentially could happen at any moment.

Although Orion is really only featured in the first part of the story, he does get established as someone who is fated by destiny to battle his own father to the death in order to save his adopted planet. Although the paternal aspect isn’t there with Superman, the idea of a hero saving his adopted world from a threat from his original does get repeated in the Superman mythos quite often, and we’ll see that later with the debut of the evil Kryptonians.

Although Orion’s design is quite “busy”, he comes across well in animated form, and is a much-needed martial counterpart to Superman’s outlook. It’s as though Superman is being galvanized into something bigger through these two episodes, taking parts of Orion’s approach to fighting Darkseid while maintaining his own inherent Superman…ness. Plus, in any other episode the length explanation of the history of the warring planets would be the standout moment; it’s a really good sequence, reminiscent of later flashbacks such as the Amazons / Hades story from Paradise Lost.

This is also a really effective blending of the animated / comic version of Superman with the Christopher Reeve movie incarnation. If you look at the Donner Superman films, Superman simply doesn’t go around getting into the knock-down drag-out battles that this version specalises in (I know this was a common complaint about Superman Returns, but those first two movies only have one really good fight, against Zod and friends in Metropolis). The scene where Superman vents the atomic fire by drilling relief holes is very reminiscent of something Reeve’s Superman would do; he’s dealing with an evil plot, granted, but he’s really just trying to save lives. As is pointed out in the commetnary, the initial run of episodes largely featured Superman going after a criminal with a gimmick, in the style of Batman or the George Reeves Superman; this is something markedly different.

Although I don’t really agree with the idea that Superman hadn’t “distinguished itself” to this point that is expressed on the commentary track, this episode is obviously of a different calibre than just about any other that came before it because of just how much drama is packed in. The creators on the commetnary track say that this type of episode became commonplace thanks to Justice League, but in a more basic storytelling time, having this level of action (and violence – Superman pulls off some nasty, nasty tricks here) and scale makes this stand out. It really does seem that it’s a genuine, ongoing military conflict as opposed to a simple comic book battle.

The famous point of this story is the final act. Superman bound before Darkseid, and only saved by quick thinking by Turpin, followed by an abbreviated rematch with Kalibak, and then the entirety of the New Genesis forces pouring through three giant boom tubes to actually cause Darkseid to back off.  Darkseid killing Turpin is a perfect shot to the viewer’s guts; it looks as though he’s first taking a parting shot at Superman, only for his Onega beams to curve around Superman and vaporize Turpin on the spot, followed by the shocked reaction of Maggie Sawyer. The best part of it is that it’s seemingly so effortless for Darkseid – and the fact that he then flees, leaving Superman to vent his frustrations on the leftover war machine. In retrospect, this is only about parts three and four of the longer Darkseid saga in the DCAU, and even though Darkseid loses the fact that he actually draws blood ensures that the stakes have been permanently raised.

Grade: A. The animation may be a tad spotty at times (it’s not as great as in, say, World’s Finest), but the emotional impact is off the charts, and wouldn’t be matched until “Legacy”

Random Thoughts:

• The scene with Superman being attacked on the mountain by Darkseid is drawn from the New Testament, where Jesus is tempted by the Devil. Darkseid’s belief that Superman would join him would be picked up later….
• The scenes in the Apokolips flashback resemble Samurai Jack as much as they do classical Kirby artwork.
• To this day I’m not sure why they added the plot device communicator, since it’s quickly rendered useless. I suppose it’s to avoid any questions of why Superman didn’t try and get help when it became apparent he was outgunned.
• It astonishingly goes unmentioned in the commentary track, but the Superman / Parademon fight occurs in front of the Hall of Justice.
• The level of in-jokes takes a step up in this episode; the air base in part one is named for legendary inker Joe Sinnott, while the cops that Turpin yells at in part two while battling the Parademons are named for the inkers of Kirby’s New Gods run.
• Also, amongst the mourners at the funeral are artist Alex Ross and one of the rare Kirby creations not to be utilised in the DCAU, Kamandi (I can’t find him, but I’ll take their word for it), along with the usual suspects in the creative team.
• OBVIOUS CONTINUITY ERROR ALERT: Forager (red guy with shield, bottom right of the New Gods image) shows up as part of the New Genesis army… except as later seen in “Twilight”, he shouldn’t have met the New Gods yet. Whoops… then again, this was about six years prior to that episode’s conception.
• I don’t know if it was intentionally framed like this, but it looks as though there’s a blank space next to Lois at Turpin’s funeral – I always read it that she was saving it for Clark, but he didn’t show up.

Line of the Episode: “In the end, it didn’t take a super man… just a brave one.”

Next Side Story: The next episode in the Darkseid arc, and Supergirl’s debut, in “Little Girl Lost”

Next Justice League: Metamorphosis, which… lacks… the emotional impact of this one.

Weekend stuff: I don’t know, either I get Metamorphosis done early or I indulge myself with a look at Batman and the Outsiders.

As covers go, around the period in question, I’m thinking this isn’t one of Jack Kirby’s best. The monster looks OK but the Fantastic Four themselves are a bit lacklustre. The Thing looks like a regulation Kirby monster in the same way the monster is a regulation Kirby monster and I expect you’re not really expecting Susan Storm, the Invisible Girl to do that much in any cover (unless you make her a tart and we’ll get to that later). The most exciting character visually is the Human Torch but here he’s the unstylised version – a ‘match-head’ as the Thing will say, without even any legs. I’ve never really liked that ‘get-out-of-drawing-the-legs’ thing – not even on Nova! Most disappointing though is the depiction of Mr Fantastic who seems little more than a Harry Houdini with bendy arms. But hold up! Precisely who has tied him up in the first place? Considering Reed Richards’ character in the modern Marvel universe as a super-intellect and putting aside his phenomenal elastic powers it seems a bit limp to have him wriggling out of a poorly tied knot on the front cover of issue one. I suspect some readers might have thought he was disabled, lazy or just badly drawn. He makes the Invisible Girl look exciting.

There’s a lot of writing on the cover. Not all of it makes sense. “Together for the first time …” Were they ever apart? The Human Torch of course had been seen a generation or two earlier but this would not be the same character. Also the Invisible Girl seems to be suggesting her power is limited by time – I mean just how long does it take to turn invisible? Is this just a cheap jibe at how long girls usually take to get ready for anything! The Thing seems unusually verbose and, as I’ve said, Mr Fantastic is almost redundant.

At least the masthead typography sets a certain standard. It’s been mucked about a bit over the years but it still stands up pretty well. The letter ‘c’ seems a bit weak, but as a whole it’s kinda iconic. The white background seems odd for a four colour comic of the time. It was yet to be declared the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine. It certainly wasn’t the World’s Greatest cover – but I love it just the same. I’m no fan of Alex Ross but his version was pretty good I have to admit – but that’s all in the future!

So I made this,

Avengers Table

Avengers Table Close up

Avengers Table Closer Close up

A few weeks ago I picked up this round end table at the rummage sale benefiting the local girls softball team (I think).  It was for a good cause and I thought I could do something fun with it.  I picked up some dark stain and gave it a good coat.  After it dried, I cut up the copy of Avengers Classic #2, reprinting Avengers #2 with very nice Art Adams cover, and begin gluing it to the table top.  As per usual, my glue of choice was Modge Podge.  I decided to feature the new cover, the classic cover, and the opening splash page across the center of the table and fill in the gaps with panels throughout the rest of the book.  It was kind of tough deciding with Jack Kirby panels to use, but I think I did a pretty good job selecting the right ones.  Once the glue was dry, I applied 3 coats of Modge Podge and another coat of acrylic sealer to finish it off. 

This would look pretty sweet next to your favorite comic reading chair, don’t you think?

I think it might be hard to follow this one….

You have to stay up really late to catch this one on “Game Show Network. “  View a bigger version here.

P.S. You don’t even want to know the strangest place Dr. Zola has ever made whoopee.

E’ uscito un libro importante, in un edizione uberpettinata… Di quelle che anche se te lo becca la mamma non ti rompe le palle coi giornalini, anzi si bulla con la portinaia perchè avete dei volumi di un certo pregio in casa. Un libro che ha pure vinto un Eisner Award, che non ci sta mai male come cosa.

Un libro su Jack Kirby, non con i suoi fumetti badate bene, ma SU Jack Kirby: l’uomo, l’autore, il padre di famiglia e -consentitemi- il genio. Ovviamente corredato da molte foto e chiaramente tantissimi disegni dalla sua adolescenza fino agli anni ‘90, quando -ahinoi- Jack decise di lasciare questo pianeta. Il tutto narratoci dal suo assitente e amico di sempre, il rubicondo Mark Evanier.

Si apre con una bella prefazione di Neil Gaiman, sentita e per niente retorica… Un fan che parla del suo mito, una dichiarazione di devozione e appartenenza viscerale… E così sono tutti gli interventi su di lui nel libro: nessuno ha parole “carine” tutti ne sono profondamente devoti. Umanamente, professionalmente e immaginificamente Kirby non ha lasciato nessuno semplicemente “sorpreso”, ha creato per ognuno un nuovo mondo, diventando non un autore “gradito” bensì “fondamentale”… Kirby per decenni è stato il dio che i ragazzi dovevano pregare perchè i fumetti fossero bellissimi, dinamici e avvincenti.

Da queste pagine emerge un uomo caparbio, un figlio coriaceo dell’America della riscossa, con i piedi per terra e la testa in un vorticare di crepitanti pallini di energia nera e galassie sconfinate. Un ragazzo del Lower East Side che ci ha fatto conoscere come è vivere su altri mondi e dominare galassie.

Non mi voglio dilungare troppo sul perchè dovreste acquistare questo libro: se amate i fumetti e se li amate davvero lo saprete già istintivamente che è la cosa giusta da fare… Anche perchè, disegni a parte, la storia di Jack Kirby è la storia del “Sogno Americano”, del self made man nella sua accezione migliore, del fumetto americano e di chi lo ha reso grande; Perchè la sua vita si intreccia con tutte le figure più importanti del fumetto dagli anni ‘30 agli anni ‘90 e le scelte e le invenzioni che farà da solo, o in coppia con qualche altro autore, le leggiamo ancora oggi sugli scaffali delle fumetterie.

Quindi cacciate questi 30 euro, portatevi a casa questo tomo meraviglioso e inchinatevi al più grande creatore di mondi mai apparso nel fumetto ma soprattutto inchinatevi all’umiltà di un grande uomo che ha sempre subordinato il suo lato autoriale per la resa commerciale del suo lavoro, riuscendo nonostante ciò a far passare nelle sue pagine tante idee in più di tantissimo fumetto sedicente “colto”.

A tal proposito: nel volume è raccolta per la prima volta in Italia una bellissima storia breve, La legge della strada, sulla sua infanzia nel turbolento Lower East Side, in cui Kirby tira fuori (sotto la richiesta di un suo fan che si propose di pubblicare qualsiasi storia avesse voluto disegnare il Re) tutto il suo lato d’autore, alla veneranda età di 50 anni per la prima volta… Ed è un ritratto struggente e crudo della vita per strada che conobbe molto bene: poche pagine non inchiostrate, solo matite in cui c’è però tutta la maestria dell’artigiano e tutto il cuore dell’artista.

Excelsior.

A pouco tempo descobri um herói do qual gostava muito mas não tinha muito conhecimento sobre, apenas da “divindade cósimica” da qual ele representava.

“Nota do autor e editor: Não gosto de recorrer ao Wikipédia para desenvolver um post, mas o tamanho imenso com o qual o post se finalizaria, foi dividido em 2 partes, para a leitura não ficar cansativa. A primeira parte, retratando da primeira aparição dele, a segunda parte, a sua revista solo e recomendações. Espero que LEIAM e se interessem, por isso estou aqui.”

O  Surfista Prateado

O Surfista Prateado tem uma trama triste e reflexiva para com os padrões e hábitos terrestres, dentro deles, a destruição do meio-ambiente, a discrimanação e etc.
Stan Lee enquadrou toda a melancolia de um amor galático impossível ambientado em um planeta longíquo muito semelhante ao nosso planeta Terra.

O ano é 1966, um pequeno lanchinho entre Stan Lee e Jack Kirby resulta em varias questões de como seria a nova empreitada do Quarteto fantástico nas suas revistas mensais, que já contava com seus tão famosos e rotineiros vilões; Dr.Destino, Toupeira, Namor e por aí vai.

A vontade de jogar a familia fantástica em algo grandioso, maior do que todas as passadas, foi algo trabalhoso e difícil de se idealizar.

A nova proposta da dupla era ultrapassar qualquer tipo de barreira em questões de vilânia; Não poderia ser um simples homem, alguma raça alienígena ou um grupo de super-vilões, mas sim um ser do qual se assemelharia um grande senso de poder, temor e quase onipotência nos seus atos, que poderia destruir um planeta quando bem entendia, quando estava entediado, coçando a bunda em alguma constelação distante. Simples assim.

Conheça nosso amiguinho escarlate:

A chegada de Galactus na Terra foi marcada por essa página inteira, mostrada de um ângulo em que a sua maioridade sobre os humanos era reforçada.
Stan Lee fala que sua divindade cósmica ultrapassava qualquer clássificação genética humana, equivalente a superioridade do homem a uma simples formiga. Acertou em cheio.

A forma com a qual Stan Lee escrevia seus roteiros, o até nomeado “Marvel Way” (que foi descartado com o tempo), possibilitava uma participação maior dos desenhistas ao meter o bedelho e adicionar ideias em cima, criando personagens e acrecentando conceitos ao que bem lhe desejassem.
Com essa possibilidade e abertura de roteiro, Jack Kirby adicionou em seus desenhos que até então, incluam apenas Galactus, um homem careca,que usava como meio de transporte uma prancha e tinha a pele prateada.
Baseado na obviedade das características do personagem, Stan Lee o batizou como Surfista Prateado (Silver Surfer).

Kirby idealizou o personagem como um cavaleiro de poderes supremos dados pelo seu até então mestre, Galactus.
A tarefa do Surfista se baseava em apenas averiguar quais planetas seu mestre devoraria, seus atos são superficiais nos primeiros instantes de sua vida a terra, dos quais ficariam mais claro e justificados no futuro.

Dada então as ideias e as características, Stan Lee começou a trabalhar nos aspectos de diálogos em cima do Surfista, se baseando na forma com a qual a Jack Kirby o desenhara, viu que o personagem havia criado  um potencial muito além de um mero coadjuvante e decidiu criar características próprias do personagem, formando uma aura distinta e diferente em cima do personagem.

Stan Lee desenvolveu uma nobreza, uma conduta espiritual. O padrão de discurso do personagem, se assemelharia a um apóstolo que cruzava as galáxias. O Surfista teria atitudes bíblicas, algo totalmente puro e magnificamente inocente. Tornando-o em um ser de aspectos semelhantes a personagens religiosos.

Voltemos agora a parte em que o Planeta corre perigo…

O Surfista, cumprindo o papel que fora dado por seu mestre, prepara e analisa os padrões terrestres para que então seu mestre, consuma o planeta e sacie sua “fome”.
Entra em cena, então, o Vígia. Um ser cósmico que mora na Lua e  observa todos os grandes acontecimentos terrestres  sem mover um dedo , mas vendo que o planeta Terra não teria salvação, decidiu meter o bedelho na história e entregou a Reed Richards, a única arma capaz de deter o devorador de mundos.

Tarde demais, já que o trabalho do nosso amiguinho prateado já havia sido concluído, dando chegada ao seu mestre. Como você pode ver na imagem um pouco mais acima nesse mesmo post.

O Surfista então, se encontra com a namorada cega do Coisa, e se dá conta da semelhança dela com sua amada, da Terra com seu planeta natal e com a maldade e arrogância do seu mestre.

Advinha então o que ele fez quando bateu aquele peso na consiência?

A parafernalha do Vígia deu certo, mas a revolta do seu Arauto, fez com que Galactus banisse o Surfista da galáxia, e o prendesse na órbita do planeta em que ele adotou, fazendo o Surfista Prateado lamentar durante toda a sua estada por aqui.

A história da chegada do Surfista na Terra, até a primeira aparição de Galactus na terra, se desenrolou em três edições (Fantastic Four #48-#50) e foi apelidada pelos fãs, como a Trilogia de Galactus.

No próximo episódio: A vida e a morte do Surfista Prateado! NÃO PERCAM!

Story by Rusti Bjornhoel
Written by Stan Berkowitz
Original Airdate: May 9, 1998
DVD: Batman: TAS, Volume 4

Summary: Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake attend an auction of ancient artifacts and are drawn into the midst of an ancient conflict between Jason Blood and the witch boy Klarion, with the fate of Blood’s alter ego Etrigan hanging in the balance.

Debuting Characters: This is the animated debut of Jason Blood, Etrigan, and Klarion (BUM BUM BUM*) the Witch Boy.

Background:

Back to Kirby history for a moment now. Along with the Fourth World characters, Kirby drew on old Prince Valiant comic strips as inspiration to create Etrigan, The Demon, a much more magic-based character than the science-fiction influenced New Gods. Although he wasn’t Timm’s favourite character, geographic closeness made Etrigan a logical guest-star in Batman, as he explains:

It’s not so much that he was a favourite chraracter, it’s just that I’m such a Kirby fan. I mean, I like the Demon comics… I always kind of liked The Demon and the fact that he was based in Gotham City… it just seemed interesting to team them up.

Bruce Timm, Modern Masters, p. 62

Although I’m once again going to defer talking about Etrigan here (since his origin is actually shown in his next appearance, with only the briefest character exposition given here), the interesting thing about this episode is that it’s essentially a direct sequel to the Batman Adventures story I covered last time. That type of thing is… uncommon, to say the least; the only other example I can immediately think of is how Dick and Barbara’s romance largely happened off-panel in the animated series, with the creators choosing to leave it up to the fans to fill in the blanks. In this case, it’s even more unusual, as Timm points out:

The comic book animated continuity is actually different than the actual animated continuity – they’ll do things that contradict what we do and vise versa. But for the sake of the Demon story we did in the animated show, we subsumed the annual we had done into the animated continuity just to get things moving faster. We didn’t have to have them meet and slow the story down. The story starts as a fait accompli, they’ve already met each other off-stage and have some history together.

Bruce Timm, Modern Masters, p. 62

Thoughts on the Episode:

A common theme in recent years is that many of DC’s biggest heroes have problems whenever faced with threats that are magical or mystical in nature. This makes some sense when you think that most trace their modern origins to the sci-fi influenced 1950s, but the fact that one of Superman’s catchphrases these days is “I hate magic” certainly shows that it goes beyond the sci-fi revival characters. Therefore, putting one of DC’s big guns with a magic character provides for an interesting story opportunity, one which the creators took full advantage of in this very fun episode.

The idea of separating Etrigan from Blood may seem like it’s reaching back to an old well, but as powerful as Klarion obviously is in this episode it would make it much more difficult to have Batman going into combat against what looks to be a small child rather than being up against the more physically imposing character in Etrigan. Jason playing “mission control” and helping Batman magically makes the fight more plausible, and the reverse happening – Klarion directing Etrigan against Blood’s desperate defence – is also effective. Although the actual action in this episode isn’t all that much, consisting as it does of a brief skirmish early, a short chase scene, and then Batman ambushing Klarion while Tim gets the crud kicked out of him by Etrigan, the episode certainly feels like there’s a lot going on.

I haven’t really had a chance to talk about Tim Drake much – he was absent from both of the prior new format episodes I’ve reviewed – but this episode almost is a better chance for him to shine than it is Batman. I still don’t think that his street urchin origins in this animated form are much to write home about – especially compared to his “tech geek made good” background in comic form – but compared to the dour, ageing Jason Blood and the dour-by-definition Bruce, Tim’s energy really carries a lot of this episode. Playing the role of Blood’s apprentice / errand boy is a good utilisation of him without him necessarily getting into the Robin outfit, and most of his quips work. He also shows why Robin is a necessary part of the Batman mythos from a narrative perspective, as his presence allows for a lot of exposition to be delivered in a small amount of time.

(Plus, Tim also genuinely seems to like all the magical craziness going on, which as noted is something of a change of pace from DC hero standard.)

Klarion is an interesting choice for an antagonist, as he’s often portrayed as a lot more neutral of a character than the strictly villainous characterization here, but it’s not that far off Kirby’s original idea. This would wind up being Klarion’s only appearance of significance, as the next two times Etrigan would feature prominently in the DCAU, he’d be up against an antaonist whose existence was hinted at in this episode: Morgan LeFey. The animators certainly got the unsettling nature of the character down right, as even while he plays a somewhat impish role, he’s straight-out creepy.

However, his childish nature holds throughout, and getting so frustrated that he tries to physically attach Batman at the end of the episode (only to find himself to be too short to do any real damage) makes it clear that he’s only a threat as long as something else isn’t distracting him. While he doesn’t have to carry the episode thanks to the great work with Tim (and it’s a shame they only had one scene together), he’s a good bad guy in a good episode, and you can’t ask for much more than that.

Grade: B+. Fun, good design work, and some slick animation make this a winner.

Random Thoughts:

• The transformations of Etrigan and Klarion’s cat Teekl feature Kirby’s classic “Kirby dots” technique that he used as a shorthand for mysterious energies of any source.
• The movie Klarion attends is “Devestator 3″, in case you missed it. Given what happened in Legends of the Dark Knight, you get the impression that the Bat-team didn’t like threequels much.
• Does every ice cream truck in the DCAU play “Pop Goes the Weasel”?
• As another example of the looser Broadcast Standards & Practices of this series, Tim actually uses the word “killing” literally, followed by Klarion giving an unequivocal “kill” order to Etrigan, which would almost never happen in the old days.
• Sadly, Etrigan doesn’t feature his rhyming speech in his DCAU incarnation. “Clerks” director Kevin Smith had a great deal of fun with that gimmick when he wrote Etrigan into his Green Arrow story Quiver.

Line of the Episode: “No strawberry, Master.” – Etrigan, epicurean.

Next time: Another gem from the New Adventures era, as Superman guest-stars in the continuation of an ongoing plotline from his show in “Knight Time.”

Next Justice League: Even more Kirbyesque action, in what’s the closest thing to a DCAU Halloween episode, “A Knight In Shadows”

* I don’t normally do inside jokes, but readers of Peter David’s Young Justice should appreciate that.

ในตอนนี้ โครงการหนัง Thor ยังอยู่ในช่วงคัดนักแสดงอยู่ ซึ่งผมก็อยากเห็นภาพของหนังเรื่องนี้จนเนื้อเต้นแล้ว  หลังจากข่าวคราวครั้งที่แล้ว มีข่าวลือมาว่า โรเบิร์ต เด นิโร และ จู๊ด ลอว์ จะมาร่วมแสดงหนังเรื่อง Thor ด้วยนั้น ก็ได้ยืนยันแล้วครับ ว่าทั้งสองคนนี้ ไม่ได้มาร่วมแสดงด้วย และสำหรับตอนนี้ หลังจากบท เืืทพโอดิน บิดาของเทพธอร์ ยังว่าง ไม่มีใครมารับบทอยู่ แต่ในตอนนี้ มีแล้วครับ!!

โดยนักแสดงที่รับบทนั้น ก็มีผลงานมาฝากไว้ปีหน้าก่อนแล้ว คือเรื่อง Wolfman นั่นเอง และหลังจากนี้ เขาจะมารับบทเทพโอดิน เครายาว สาวความยืด ของยุโรปเหนือครับ เขาก็คือ แอนโธนี่ ฮอพกิ้นส์ ตาลุงหน้าปุ๊กลุกคนนี้นี่เอง โดยทาง THR ได้รายงานว่า ฮอพกิ้นส์ได้เจรจามารับบทเทพโอดิน และตอนนี้ ก็ได้รับการยืนยันแล้วว่า รับบทแน่! ก็เป็นโครงการที่ค่อยๆ เดินหน้าไปอย่างมั่นคง และไม่แน่ อาจจะมีนักแสดงมารับบทอีก ถ้ายังมีบทว่างอีกน่ะครับ

เทพโอดินนั้น เป็นผู้ัปกครองผืนแผ่นดินอาณาจักร แอสการ์ด และเ้ป็นผู้เก็บเืทพพระเจ้าธอร์มาเลี้ยงไว้ เทพโอดินนั้น ปรากฏตัวครั้งแรกใน หนังสือการ์ตูนชุด Marvel’s Journey into Mystery เล่ม 86 ออกวางแผงในปี 1962 (นานมาก!!!) สำหรับตัวละคร และครอบครัวโอดินนี้ สร้างสรรค์โดย สแตนลี และ แจ็ค เคอร์บี้ ซึ่งเคยได้มีข่าวมาสักพักนึงแล้วว่า ทายาทแจ็ค เคอร์บี้ ต้องการสิทธิ์ตัวละครคืน สามารถอ่านได้ ที่นี่ ครับ ดังนั้น ตัวละคร Thor ก็มีสิทธิ์หายหน้าหายตาจากมาร์เวลโดยถาวร!

เรื่องย่อคร่าวๆ นั้น ก็ยังไม่มีัอะไรมากครับ ยังเป็นการลือๆ กันอยู่ หนังเรื่อง Thor กำกับโดย เคนเนธ บรานาห์ และนำแสดงโดย คริส เฮ็มส์วอร์ธ รับบทเป็น ธอร์,  ทอม ฮิดเดิลส์ตัน รับบทเป็น โลกิ, นาตาลี พอร์ตแมน รับบทเป็น เจน ฟอสเตอร์, ไจมี่ อเล็กซานเดอร์ รับบทเป็น เลดี้ซิฟ, โคล์ม ฟีออร์ รับบทเป็น ตัวร้ายไร้นาม, สเตลลอน สคาร์สการ์ด ยังไร้บท

Thor มีแผนฉาย 20 พฤษถาคม 2011 ฉายหลัง Spider-Man 4 เกือบเดือน ครับ

Here’s an interesting link I cam across in the past week.

The kind folks over at Comic Book Resources have posted an article that acts as a tutorial in the works of the “King of Comics,” Jack Kirby, the artist behind many of the classic heroes we know today, including Captain America, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, and Thor.

In my opinion, it was the work of Kirby that got comics to be what they are now. Kirby’s work always had an otherworldly aspect to it, he was the firs to portray superheroes as being godly, sometimes having that being the premise of his stories.

This article is definitely worth a look for those who want to know more about Jack Kirby

Sheldon "Shel" Dorf (July 5, 1933 – November 3, 2009)

Sheldon “Shel” Dorf, founder of the San Diego Comic Convention, died on Tuesday 3rd November in a San Diego hospital, where he was being treated for diabetes this year.  A funeral service was held for Shel on Wednesday.

Since its inception in 1970, the San Diego Comic-Con International has grown from 300 attendees to over 125,000 comic book fans from across the world.

David Glanzer, a convention spokesman, had this to say about the man:

“Shel had notable foresight in not only believing these people needed some public acknowledgment, but that this truly was an American art form that Americans knew very little about.”

During his time as a letterer, freelance artist, and convention organiser, Shel befriended many creative figures in the industry, not least of which was Jack Kirby.  According to comics historian (and Kirby’s closest friend) Mark Evanier, Shel claims the rare honour of being made into a Kirby character, namely Himon, inventor of the Mother Box and Mister Miracle’s mentor in his landmark New Gods series.  He also made appearances as well-meaning football player “Thudd Shelley” in Steve Canyon, a comic strip which he lettered for twelve years.  He was also responsible for publishing ninety-nine issues of Dick Tracy in 1984, later collecting them as twenty-four graphic novels.

We at Bat-Shark Repellent salute Shel Dorf for his contribution to Comics.  Legions of comics fans and creators alike are forever in your debt.  Thank you.

[source]

With a new month comes a new kind of post and that is Cover of the Day!!! Not of the Month, but OF. THE. DAY. That’s right every day (if I remember) I will upload a cover that I think is awesome and/or funny or for other reasons that I can’t think of right now.

The cover of the day is brought to us by the genius of Jack Kirby. This is without a doubt my favorite comic book cover of all time. What I like about this cover is that it is exciting and looks absolutely amazing, unlike a lot of covers are nowadays.

Story By: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
Art By: Bruce Timm and Glen Murakami

Summary: When Ra’s Al Ghul retrieves a mystical tablet from beneath a Gotham building, Batman is forced to turn to Jason Blood for help. However, Blood hides from the world a horrifying secret….

Background:

In spite of their backgrounds in animation, the DCAU team has always been drawn to print work for DC (and occasionally Marvel). In the intermezzo between the conclusion of the first run of Batman episodes, Timm, Dini and artist / director Glen Murakami were all involved with a significant amount of comics work (Modern Masters claims this is Timm’s most active print period, and I don’t think I can argue that), producing, amongst other comics projects, the acclaimed Batman: Mad Love. However, a similar project that slipped through the cracks was the introduction of another Kirby character, The Demon Etrigan, in the second Batman Adventures Annual.

Timm thought that, more than the Demon itself, the fact that Jason Blood operated out of Gotham in Kirby’s series made him a natural to appear alongside Batman:

I mean, I like the Demon comics. It’s not my favourite Kirby comic or even my favourite DC Kirby comic, but I always kind of liked The Demon and the fact that he was based in Gotham City, even in Jack Kirby’s version, it just seemed interesting to team them up.

Bruce Timm, Modern Masters, p. 62

Once the Demon idea was presented, the issue was put together in the “Marvel Style” – namely, with the artists working off a relatively skimpy plot outline and generating much of the story themselves. As Timm explains, this led to the book being done in a very short period of time for an extra-sized Annual:

We had less than a month, I think, from beginning to end. We started out working from such a simple plot, it wasn’t plotted out in-depth at all, just because of the time factor.

Bruce Timm, supra at p. 87

The resulting issue was one of the team’s best Kirby tributes, and as we’ll talk about next time, is a rare occurence of a tie-in comic being essential reading in order in order for the animated series to work.

Thoughts:

As Timm notes in his interviews, this issue is pretty much just him and Murakami drawing as Kirbyesque a comic as they can get away with and still call it Batman. Setting Etrigan agaisnt Ra’s makes sense, given that they’re both immortals moving through the world as it ages and dies around them, and Ra’s is certainly not a villain who would be against the idea of using magic to further his goals. Plus, it results in great images like this, as Blood tracks Ra’s back to colonial-era South America:

And, of course, Ra’s is just about the perfect foil for Batman as well, especially when Talia chooses to tag along. She ties into the standout sequence of the issue, as after she ambushes Batman he suffers through a dream sequence featuring both surreal and romantic visions:

As Timm tells it, the dream sequence originally wasn’t even part of the plan:

So as Glen was going through it, he got about halfway through the book and realized it was time for the climax. It was like, “Wait a minute, we can’t just have them fight for the last 20 pages.” Talking it out between the two of us we came up with the ide of doing that dream sequence. Glen said, “Okay, I can do that,” so he just went crazy for eight pages, slowed the book down, and filled up the pages. (It was v)ery Kirby. That was the only time in the entire book that I took Kirby books out and had them laying in front of me to actually swipe stuff from.

Bruce Timm, ibid.

However, even though Timm didn’t think that they could fight for the entire final 20 pages of the book, it wouldn’t have been out of place at all, because Ra’s’ plan to summon a vile eldritch sees a creature straight off the cover of an early Fantastic Four issue attack Batman and Jason Blood:

Batman’s subsequent usage of Talia’s felings for him to fight back also helps a bit in explaining why she seemed somewhat more distant the next time they encountered each other (in the Superman episode “The Demon Reborn”, which is often confused with the first Etrigan episode). However, Batman does get his way and manages to summon Etrigan, leading to perhaps the greatest comic spread in history:

Of course, Batman and Etrigan manage to beat back the monster, andthe two are left contemplating the price of their victory, as well as one last dedication of the issue to the master:

Great issue all around, and it’s just as good an introduction to the Demon as his actual cartoon intro.

Per ora abbiamo incontrato un buon numero di babbei nati così, vissuti così e a volte morti, e dimenticati così, babbei inquadrati e coerenti che devono andare orgogliosi del loro ruolo.
Ma non sono i soli, c’è anche chi va contro a questa regola “babbei si nasce” per dare forma a un inedito “babbei si diventa”.
Questa è infatti la storia di Andy e di come è diventato, nel panorama Marvel attuale, un grandissimo babbeo.

Nome: Andy l’androide, il terribile Andy (Awesome Android, poi Awesome Andy).

ricordi di un grandioso passato

Vero nome: E’ un androide, il suo vero nome è quello.

Genesi del personaggio: Come anticipato Andy nasce come personaggio “non-babbeo”, o meglio, come cattivone di tutto rispetto. Creato dal Pensatore pazzo, in una storia del lontano 1963 dei “Fantastici quattro” partorita dalla Coppia per eccellenza del fumetto Stan Lee/Jack Kirby, il nostro era un semplice robottone dalle fattezze imprecisate che voleva uccidere un po’ chiunque gli capitasse a portata di mano.
Grosso, brutto, incazzato, fortissimo, surreale, un cattivo di tutto rispetto.
Da quel giorno, nonostante le numerose ma sudate sconfitte, Andy s’è menato anche con Iron man, gli X-men, Capitan America, i Vendicatori… in pratica ha fatto a botte con tutti gli eroi Marvel.
Poi però è successo qualcosa…

Aspetto: Ha cambiato più volte aspetto nel corso di questi quaranta e passa anni di vita editoriale. Le uniche certezze sono che è: Grosso, inespressivo come un blocco di ghisa (vedere imaggini esplicative) e particolarmente brutto.

Poteri: Superforza, e può anche imitare le abilità dei supereroi con cui si scontra. Quindi proprio uno sprovveduto non è.

Il tragico cambiamento: Potevano alcuni scrittori di fumetti odierni lasciare in pace questo burbero e carognoso tenerone gigante? Ma certo che no!
Succede così che dopo quarant’anni di baruffe supereroistiche un giorno Andy si scassa le palle di prenderle da cani e porci, si ribella al Pensatore pazzo e… si fa assumere nello studio di avvocati di She-Hulk diventando un comprimario fisso della serie.
Niente più scazzottate, niente più rabbia per Andy, complice l’aver assorbito lo spirito di Thor (bella cazzata che si sono inventati per far diventare un beota buono quello che era un insensibile oggetto di distruzione), il tutto raccontato con dovizia di particolari nella storia “Tutto quello che avreste voluto sapere sul terribile Andy, ma non avete mai osato chiedere” scritta da Dan Slott (se cercate un colpevole quindi eccovelo).
Non contento Slott fa anche innamorare Andy dell’avvocatessa Mallory Book…
A questo punto resta solo una domanda: Era più babbeo la macchina di distruzione controllata da un pazzo o lo sguattero gigante di uno studio legale vestito come un idiota che si esprime scrivendo su una lavagnetta?

Ps: So benissimo che la trasformazione di Andy verte verso un progetto umoristico, ma l’han reso ugualmente in un babbeo degno di uno spazio su questa rubrica, almeno per ricordarne il grandioso passato.

come uno sceneggiatore può spingere un robottone al suicidio