Sunday, July 31, 2005

Really Cool Scene - Luthor Meets His Master

Never let it be said that I do not take suggestions from readers here at Snark Free Waters!

Reader Vic Fluro mentioned a Lex Luthor scene that HE thought was really cool, and after checking it out, I would tend to agree.

So here is the scene (which came to us courtesy of this page)...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Very nice examination of Pre-Crisis Lex Luthor, don't you think?

Really Cool Scenes - The Lex Luthor Waitress Bit

Remember the Lex Luthor Waitress Bit?

Isn't it funny how that scene is not remembered anymore?

That scene used to be, like, the most acclaimed Superman scene, like, ever.

Now you do not hear about it as much.

That is too bad, because it is a good little short story.

It appeared in Superman #9, and was written and drawn by the regular writer/artist, John Byrne.

In it, Lex Luthor stops at a roadside diner, and well, you know the plot in Indecent Proposal?

Same thing, basically.

Only Luthor leaves before she will ever know what she would have truly done.

Nice, twisted example of how evil the new Lex Luthor was.

I really enjoyed it.

Definitely, a really cool scene.

Character We Should See More Of - James Rhodes

Isn't it sorta amazing that we have not seen James Rhodes in over a year and a half?

That is too bad, as Jim Rhodes is a great character.

David Michelinie is a fine writer, and his introduction of Rhodey into Iron Man was done with such fluidity and smoothness that I was extremely impressed.

As soon as he was introduced, Rhodey seemed like he had been appearing in the book for years.

The relationship between Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes quickly became the best part of the book, making Tony's relationship with Bethany Cabe pale in comparison.

Later, when Rhodes became Iron Man, it was a rare exception in the whole "superhero gets replaced" story in that Rhodey did not really seem like an usurper, the same way that an Azrael or a Johnny Walker did for Batman and Captain America.

I really enjoyed, later on, when John Byrne rewrote Tony Stark's Iron Man origin so as to include Rhodey. I thought that that was quite clever.

Rhodes' War Machine time was not the proudest moment of his career, but Christopher Priest seemed to be returning Jim to a proper level of coolness.

Too bad that the Crew ended.

I want Rhodey to appear in comics again!!!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Fun Run for 7/30

Today's fun run is Peter David's Spectacular Spider-Man run.

The mid-80s was a weird time for Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man, as there really WAS no "official" writer, nor was there an "official" penciller.

However, from #103-124, Peter David wrote seventeen of the issues, so we might as well call him the official writer.

His pencillers for his run were Rich Buckler for eight of the issues, Luke McDonnell, Dwayne Turner and Mark Beachum for two apiece, an issue apiece by Bob McLeod and Mike Zeck and one "jam" issue.

David's issues were marked by a very good combination of humor and drama, while still having a very healthy dose of characterization and character interaction.

Obviously, the known highlight of his run is the "Death of Jean DeWolff" storyline that ran for four issues from #107-110.

For such a newcomer at Marvel, David really wrote that story as if he had been writing the book for years.

In that one four-issue story, a longtime supporting character without any real depth was killed off, and what David did was what writers often TRY to do, which is to make the readers care about a character they never really cared about in the past.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

This was also the story that Eddie Brock first appeared, and found a reason to hate Spider-Man.

Also, Spider-Man and Daredevil traded identities.

One of my favorite David stories was a fun two-parter teaming Spidey with the Wasp...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

It was a good example of shared continuity (as David worked with the stories that Stern had set up for Wasp in Avengers).

The Santa Claus issue was pretty funny, and is remembered fondly, I believe...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

MY favorite, though, was the Rashoman issue, which was drawn by a "jam" of Spider-Man artists.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

It's the Rashoman plot, every fictional story EVENTUALLY has a Rashoman issue, and here was Spidey's, as Spider-Man, Mary Jane and J. Jonan Jameson all have different looks on events.

Really cool issue.

Anyone else have fond memories of David's Spider-Man?

Anyone looking forward to his new Spider-Man ongoing?

Friday, July 29, 2005

Chat With Nunzio DeFillippis and Christina Weir!

Sunday night, I am moderating a chat with Nunzio DeFillippis and Christina Weir at Comic Book Resources (7:00 PM EST).

So if you have any questions to ask them, feel free to stop by!

You have to register to chat, but that's no big deal, as it is free. Click here to register.

Once you've registered, just click on "Comic Chat" and join "The DeFillippis/Weir Chat."

Hope to see some of you folks there!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Battle of the Bands Challenger WINNER!

It was a tough call, determining who would be the only band cool enough to challenge Alex's THE MOST INCREDIBLE BAND IN THE UNIVERSE.

Mssrs. Robinson, Haas, Rutherford and Doughty certainly rose to the occasion.

However, there can only be one winner.

The judges?

The esteemed Snark Free Waters panel (not counting the esteemed Precocious Curmudgeon guy). Luckily, Mssr. Whitmore's vote was not needed (although we are sure he would join with us in making it a unaminous 3-0 vote), for both Mssr. Hutchinson and myself determined that the winner would be.....

BLACKBELT JONES!

Derek and Bill gave able efforts, and Ken came extremely close, based on his genius move of actually picking characters who have demonstrated the ability to play the instruments assigned to them.

However, nothing can quite compare to Black Adam shouting "SHAZAM" and getting out of the way really fast while the magic lightning bolt sets off a GIGANTICNORMOUS fireworks show that ends with a "rock" sign in the sky.

So Blackbelt Jones is the only band qualified enough to actually compete with THE MOST INCREDIBLE BAND IN THE UNIVERSE in a Battle of the Bands.

As to the winner of THAT?

Quite simple.

The FANS, man, the FANS!!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Cover Homage Game for 7/27

Sorry, there are only two covers today, because I liked the idea of an All-Batman Cartoon Cover Edition...but only two of the covers were homages!

Darn them!

1.
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2.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Snark Blocker for 7/26

Okay, you may want to take a seat before I tell you what today's Snark Blocker is, for the coolness of it might just stun you.

Seated?

Okay, check it out...a link where you can read Same Difference, the comic that won Derek Kirk Kim the Eisner last year for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition....for FREE!

Click right here.

Here is the "cover" to Same Difference...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

And here is a sample of the work, which is about a group of 20-something, Korean-Americans who talk about life in a touching (and quite often FUNNY) manner.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Don't you feel the snark run out of your body when you see the coolness you get to read for FREE?

Monday, July 25, 2005

Monday Challenge - Explain What a Hex Bolt Does!

I think a few of us could probably give you a decent explanation as to how Scarlet Witch's basic powers work, but can you explain what

A. Her hex bolts ARE

and

B. What they DO?

Fabian Nicieza Chat Transcript Up!

Check it out here.

A lot of fun questions and some interesting answers!

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Great Supporting Characters - Hindsight Lad

Carlton LaFroyge was a neighbor of Robbie Baldwin, who was secretly a member of the New Warriors known as Speedball.

During a crisis involving their building, Carlton discovered that Robbie was Speedball.

He then blackmailed him into letting him join the New Warriors, or else he would reveal Robbie's identity.

This was his costume, and his name was Hindsight Lad (with a big H on his chest).

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Introduced solely as a goofy comic relief character (which he certainly was), Hindsight Lad was used to good effect by Fabian Nicieza, who decided to mess around with reader expectations by making Carlton a real member of the team.

Nicieza did this during an event where the New Warriors were trapped in time, and Carlton put together a replacement team to save them, even coming up with the plan to reach them in the past!

After the team got back together, Night Thrasher kept Carlton on as an "analyst/strategist" for the team.

Later, writer Evan Skolnick would go even further, and have Carlton become more and more involved in the team (even dropping the "Lad" part of his name).

For a character introduced just as a total gag, Hindsight Lad proved to be quite a successful character!!

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Fun Run For 7/23

Today's fun run is the 18 issue run that Christopher Priest had on Steel from 1997 until the book's cancellation in 1998.

What Priest did with Steel was one of the more major revamps in recent comic book history.

He took the entire Irons family, nad jettisoned all but John Henry Irons' niece, Natasha.

He had Natasha and John move to new locale where John became a doctor at a hospital, run by Dr. Villain (pronounced Will-hane).

Here is the cover of the first issue.

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Dave Johnson's bold covers really got across the idea that this series was different from previous Steel's, and Priest's writing (and Denys Cowan and Tom Palmer's art) got that across as well.

Priest had Steel return to wearing an "S" on his chest, which I thought was cool, as it looked much cooler than his previous armor.

In addition, Priest addressed (and resolved) the questionable idea of giving Steel superpowers.

The most outstanding aspect of Priest's run, though, was definitely his handling of Natasha and her new best friend, named Boris.

Boris and Natasha (nice, eh?) were the best of friends, but Boris had a secret - he had HIV.

Boris was a fine creation by Priest, making sure that he was depicted in a non-stereotypical way. He had HIV, and that was that. No preaching here.

The next best thing about the run was the character interaction.

Steel and Natasha.

Natasha and Boris.

Steel and Boris.

Steel and his love interest, Dr. Amanda Quick.

Steel and his boss, Arthur Villain.

Steel and the supervillain who was wooing Amanda.

Lots of really neat characters, lots of funny lines, plus lots of action made this one of the best books DC was putting out in 1997.

Here is a good cover by Cowan later on in the run...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

A fun run, indeed!

Anyone else care to share their thoughts on this Steel run?

Friday, July 22, 2005

Theme Day for 7/22

Today's theme is .... "_____, No More!!"

The following are examples of heroes who gave up their heroic identities.

1. The first of Captain America's TWO times doing it! In the 70s, Cap became disillusioned with America, so he dropped the Cap identity and became a cop. Then he figured he needed to be a superhero, so he became NOMAD!

2. Later on, the government STRIPPED Cap of his Captain America title. Cap still went out in a similar costume as...the Captain!

3. Wonder Woman also dropped her identity twice. The first time is when she gave up her Amazonian powers and decided to make a go at it as just Diana Prince! Details here.

4. Later, Diana TOO was stripped of the title Wonder Woman! She decided to go hang out in hot pants and a sports bra and be...DIANA!

5. Tony Stark had to give up being Iron Man a couple of times, and both times, Jim Rhodes stood in for him. Good friend, that Rhodey.

6. For a time, Peter Parker believed himself to be a clone of the REAL Peter Parker, so he took some time off and retired to Oregon with Mary Jane.

7. All added up, I think Hal Jordan may have spent more time NOT as the Green Lantern as he did AS the Green Lantern...hehe.

8. Batman had his back injured, so he decided that perhaps Azrael was a better Batman than him.

9. When Batman realized that that was a poor decision, he still took some time off and let Dick Grayson be Batman for awhile.

10. When his father found out he was Robin, Tim Drake was forced to give up his identity for a time. The Gotham gang wars brought him out of retirement.

10 is enough for me, but I know there are literally tons more!

Feel free to fill them in, folks!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Battle of the Bands

Derek Haas suggested a great challenge....Captain Marvel vs. Black Adam...in a BATTLE OF THE BANDS!

Luckily, Alex (proprieter of the upcoming comic haven, Rocketship) already MADE a band for Captain Marvel, which he titled THE MOST INCREDIBLE BAND IN THE UNIVERSE.

Your challenge is to come up with a band for BLACK ADAM that could POSSIBLY compete in a battle of the bands with Alex's Captain Marvel band of...

Bender on lead guitar
Captain Marvel as the front man
Popeye on Keyboards

and

Sgt. Rock on bass.

WHO COULD BLACK ADAM HAVE IN HIS BAND THAT COULD BEAT THIS BAND?!?!

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Cover Homage Game for 7/20

Special All-Justice League Europe edition!!

(NOTE: One of the covers being homaged is NOT a comic cover)

1.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

2.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

3.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Let's see some guesses!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Chat With Fabian Nicieza!

Thursday Night, I am moderating a chat with Fabian Nicieza at Comic Book Resources (10:00 PM EST).

It is the first live chat that he has done in quite a few years, so if you have any questions to ask him, feel free to stop by!

You have to register to chat, but that's no big deal, as it is free. Click here to register.

Once you've registered, just click on "Comic Chat" and join "The Fabian Nicieza Chat."

Hope to see some of you folks there!

Snark Blocker of the Day (7/19 edition)

I always like coming up with new shticks.

Well, here is today's new shtick.

Tuesdays at Snark Free Waters will now be your "Walking on Sunshine" day, as I will dig up some comic related thing that will be so unexpectedly nice that any snark you might have built inside you will be wiped out.

Therefore, it will totally block the snark.

Today's snark blocker is David Peterson's Mouse Guard.

Mouse Guard is about a species of mice trying to survive in a dangerous world.

Here are some samples...

The cover...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

and an interior page...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Don't you feel Snark Free now?

You can see more of them here at his website.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Monday Challenge - Black Adam vs. Captain Marvel - in ARM WRESTLING!

A regular battle, I think, would be boring.

So here it is - Captain Marvel (at full strength) arm wrestling Black Adam (at full strength)....who takes this match?!!?

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Snark Free - You Decide!

I really enjoyed Sean's piece about sound effects, and it got me thinking about the Snark Free content.

Namely, what would you folks like to see here that you aren't seeing now?

I know that that is not the easiest thing to answer, as really, it is sorta our responsibility to THINK of interesting stuff...but well, is there some sort of content you'd LIKE to see here at Snark Free?

Polls?

More character profiles?

More things like Fun Run?

More contest-like things?

No trivia, as Pop Culture Wake-Up Call handles that nicely, thank you very much...hehe.

But otherwise, spill...we're always up for Snark Free fun!!

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Fun Run for 7/16

Today's fun run is Young Heroes in Love.

Written by Dan Raspler and drawn by Dev Madan, this was a more "realistic" look at superheroes, done in a cartoonish style.

The closest comparison to this fun series, I think, would be Giffen and DeMatteis' work on Justice League International.

The heroes form a club, but their motives are quite human.

Says their leader, Hard Drive, "We want to help, but we’re afraid to do it alone."

The group consists of ditsy Bonfire; muscular dumb guy Thunderhead; shapeshifter Monstergirl; teleporting Off-Ramp; a tiny guy named Junior; ice-powered Frostbite; and leader Hard Drive, a super-strong flier with hypnotic powers.

Hard Drive was quite creepy, as we learned later on.

This was a really smart, funny, "sexy" comic.

Raspler really played well off of the conventions of the genre.

A book I think is like this now is Noble Causes.

I really liked Off-Ramp.

Everyone, share your memories of this late (but certainly lamented) comic series!

Friday, July 15, 2005

Theme Day for 7/15

Today's theme is "Cousins, Identical Cousins."

The following comic storylines are remarkably similar to previous comic storylines (and I do not mean in an "homage" sort of way).

1. OMAC Project and Tower of Babel. In Tower of Babel, a bad guy steals Batman's hidden dossiers on his Justice League teammates and uses them against the League. In OMAC Project, a bad guy steals Batman's hidden spy satellite that he was using to keep tabs on everyone and uses it against the good guys.

2. Eclipso the Darkness Within and the recent Superman/Shazam storyline. In the Superman Annuals during Eclipso the Darkness Within, Eclipso uses Lois Lane to get Superman angry enough to be possessed. Later, when Superman IS possessed, he is faced by Captain Marvel. In the recent Superman storyline, Eclipso uses Lois Lane to get Superman angry enough to be possessed. Later, when Superman IS possessed, he is faced by Captain Marvel.

3. Hunt for Xavier and Dangerous. In Hunt for Xavier, a piece of the X-Men's equipment becomes sentient and tries to kill them. In Dangerous, a piece of the X-Men's equipment becomes sentient and tries to kill them.

4. Truth and Gruenwald's Captain America. In Truth, the army awards Steve Rogers a whole lot of money in back pay. In Gruenwald's Captain America, the army awarded Steve Rogers a whole lot of money in back pay.

5. Heroes for Hire #1 and New Avengers #1. In Heroes for Hire #1, a whole ton of supervillains are busted out of jail, causing a bunch of disparate heroes to team up to capture them, forming a new team in the process. In New Avengers #1, a whole ton of supervillains are busted out of jail, causing a bunch of disparate heroes to team up to capture them, forming a new team in the process.

Can anyone think of any more?

Thursday, July 14, 2005

No Prize Game for 7/10

Mention continuity errrors you noticed in Marvel Comics, and win a No Prize!!

Post them here or e-mail me (cronb01@aol.com)!!

Today's "errors" are....

B. Cronin writes, "This week, Marvel released two books, both set after the New Avengers prison escape, and both featured the Wrecker! That makes no sense! What a goof!"

Not so fast, Mr. Cronin.

If you recall, New Avengers #7 is set right after the breakout, like, a day or so later.

Toxin #4 is set well past the breakout, as villains like Razorfist have already developed a large following of kids.

If the Wrecker found his crowbar in TOXIN, then there might be an issue, but he didn't, he found it in New Avengers.

So no goof there!!

And speaking of New Avengers, that reminds of the bit from Brian C., who wrote about the series, "They have characters shown as prisoners in the prison who died YEARS ago! And I'm not talking "new character - same costuem, the EXACT same villains! What a goof!"

Not so fast, Brian.

In #6, we learned that SHIELD has, for some secretive reason, been FAKING the deaths of prisoners so that they can hold them in jail without anyone knowing.

Scary, huh?

But not a goof!

That's it for today!

Let's see some errors, people!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Cover Homage Game for 7/13

Surprisingly enough, All-IMPULSE COVERS!

That's right, only 89 issues, but at least three cover homages!

Name the comic that inspired them!!

1.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

2.
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3.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Good luck!

Let's see some guesses!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Killer Quilt - No, Seriously

Remember when a villain like Killer Quilt was played like a serious threat?

I like that.

I think that takes a certain amount of impressive brashness to say, "Yeah, the guy wears a costume that is essentially a multi-colored jumpsuit, but we're playing him as SERIOUS!"

I admire that.

I think Grant Morrison could still pull Crazy-Quilt off.

Who else could, do you think?

And I mean the same way as he was! No drastic revamp!!!

Monday, July 11, 2005

Monday Challenge - Explain J'onn J'onnz Back Story in less than 50 words.

Can you handle it!??

Can you explain J'onn J'onnz' back story in less than 50 words?!?!?

Just for the record, this sentence right here is about 39 words, so I can only imagine how much success you will have explaining the convoluted origin (or should I say, originS) of J'onn J'onnz, the Manhunter from Mars.

Good luck!

Sunday, July 10, 2005

What was your favorite Fantastic Four change?

Fantastic Four, throughout its history, has been a great example of John Byrne's adage that the best sort of change is one that is not really a change, but LOOKS like a change.

The Fantastic Four has had many of these, including some that did not LOOK like changes, but really WERE changes!

But when all was said and done, things always came back to the standard.

However, it is fun to look back and think about what your FAVORITE major Fantastic Four change was.

I'm not talking "Reed having a scar on his face" or "Luke Cage joining" or "Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk and Ghost Rider forming a new FF." Those were all temporary stuff.

I am talking about major, long-lasting changes.

Some options:

1. Crystal replacing Sue as the 4th member.

2. Medusa replacing Sue as the 4th member.

3. Thing using a suit for his powers.

4. Alicia and Johnny dating.

5. She-Hulk replacing Ben as the 4th member.

6. Sharon Ventura and Crystal replacing Sue and Reed as the 3rd and 4th members.

7. The Fantastic Four existing without Reed (Namor, Ant-Man and Kristoff all, at times, working as the 4th member).

8. Thing having a disfigured face.

9. Johnny being married to a Skrull.

10. Franklin being grown up.

11. Valeria Richards as Marvel Girl.

So, what do you folks think?

What was your favorite major change in the FF?

Feel free to suggest ones that I missed!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Silly Stuff - Wayne Foundation Building Batcave

After the Batman TV series ended, editor Julie Schwartz felt as though he should streamline the Bat-titles, and go for a "back to basics" approach.

This meant Robin would go off to college for his own adventures.

It also meant no more Batcave.

To accomplish this task, Scwartz had Batman leave Wayne Manor and take up residence in the penthouse of the Wayne Foundation Building in the middle of Gotham.

This was the status quo for a few years, until writers more and more had Batman travel to the Batcave to do things.

So Steve Englehart came up with the idea of having a SECOND Batcave - underneath the Wayne Foundation Building!

Pretty silly, eh?

This lasted for about three years, and even after it was given up, this Batcave remained in use as the headquarters for the Outsiders!!

Fun Run for 7/9

Today's Fun Run is Chuck Dixon's run on Robin.

Yes, that's right.

His WHOLE run.

All 100 issues of it.

What can I say?

It was a fun run!

The way that he developed Shotgun Smith (the suburbian version of Harvey Bullock).

The way that he developed Spoiler to the point that she was so popular that the fans DEMANDED that Tim date her.

The way that he worked in new villains constantly.

The way he worked in older villains he created constantly.

The way he made Tim's Dad and his Step Mom cool characters.

The way he gave personality to Tim's friends.

The way he addressed serious issues without getting preachy.

The way he worked in crossovers with grace and aplumb.

The way he changed the book DRASTICALLY post No Man's Land, but STILL kept the same sense of fun.

The way he introduced and developed THOSE characters as well (his roommate, and all his friends at the school).

Basically, each facet of the book pretty much combined to form one word.

It has three letters.

The first letter is F.

The last letter in N.

The middle one?

U know.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Theme Day for 7/8

Today's theme is "A ragtag group of heroes form a team."

This is, of course, different from the Justice League or the Avengers, who met and decided that they should form a team.

Those were all the major heroes of their universe.

Nothing ragtag about that.

This is just ragtag stuff!

1. Muir Isle is under attack by the Reavers, so Banshee and Forge have to throw together a ragtag team of X-Men.

Their team? Legion, Banshee, Forge, Moira MacTaggert, Amanda Sefton, Lorna Dane and Sunder.

Staying power? Just this one storyline.

2. Magneto is about to lead Genosha into a war against humanity, so Jean Grey has to form a ragtag X-Men team to stop him.

Their team? Jean Grey, Dazzler, Northstar, Sunpyre (Sunfire's sister), Hector Rendoza (some see through mutant guy), Paulie Provenzano (some homophobic invulnerable guy) and Frenzy

Staying power? Northstar eventually rejoined. The rest? Nope (and I believe Sunpyre died, but came back the next time Scott Lobdell had a chance to write her).

3. Alpha Flight is kidnapped by aliens, so Sasquatch has to form a ragtag Alpha Flight team to save them.

Their team? Sasquatch, Centennial, Major Mapleleaf, Nemesis, Puck and Yukon Jack

Staying power? 12 issues.

4. Spectre is slaying a bunch of superpowered folks, so Ragman, Enchantress, Blue Devil, Nightmaster, Detective Chimp and Nightshade form a ragtag team, call themselves the Shadowpact and prepare to attack the Spectre.

Staying power? At least for as long as this mini-series. Beyond that? Who knows.

5. Various undesirables are held captive by an Alien Alliance, and once freed, they decide to form a ragtag peacekeeping group called LEGION.

Their team? Vril Dox, Stealth, Lyrissa Mallor, The Durlan, Strata and Garryn Bek.

Staying power? 70 issues, and most of them stuck together for another 16 in R.E.B.E.L.S.

6. Various people are torn from their universe and planted in another universe called Negation. They are experimented on until a ragtag group of prisoners escape, and then decide to band together to either get home or stop the Negation bad guys.

Their team? Obregon Kaine, Evinlea, Javi, Matua, Corrin, Zaida

Staying power? Right up until Crossgen's bankruptcy forced them to close shop (or 28 issues).

7. During the Evolutionary War, Captain America had to draft a ragtag Avengers team to stop the High Evolutionary.

Their team? Captain America, Falcon, Beast, Hercules, Hulk, Yellowjacket II and Jocasta.

Staying power? Never referenced after this issue.

8. After that issue, with still no Avengers team, Cap drafts ANOTHER ragtag team to stop Nanny and Orphanmaker.

Their team? Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Gilgamesh and Thor.

Staying power? Just over six issues before the Fantastic Four members left.

That's it for me!

I'm sure there are many more, but I figure I will let you, dear readers, fill them in!

Eight, as they say, is enough!!

TTFN (Paul Winchell RULED!)!!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

No-Prize Game for 7/7

Remember, folks!

If you chime in with continuity errors that you have noticed in Marvel Comics, you can win an official Snark Free Waters No-Prize, delivered right to your door!

Since no one has chosen to play (you can also e-mail me at cronb01@aol.com), I will supply the errors.

Let's begin!

Special New Avengers #6 edition!

B. Cronin writes in to say, "In New Avengers #6, Sauron can breathe fire! He can't breath fire! What a goof!"

Not so fast, Mr. Cronin!

First of all, writer Brian Michael Bendis insists that he saw Sauron breathe fire once in an old comic book. If so, then that clears THAT up.

Otherwise, there are plenty of other explanations.

Remember, Sauron was experimented on at Weapon X. Who is to say that they didn't give him the ability to breathe fire?

Sauron also could have had a secondary mutation.

Or perhaps this is just a weird side effect to him being shot in the head.

Plenty of logical reasons why he can breathe fire now (even if he has not, as Bendis says he HAS, done so in the past).

Brian C. writes in to say, "In New Avengers #6, they explain away Sauron's recovery by saying that he absorbed Wolverine's healing ability. But Sauron doesn't absorb POWERS, he absorbs life energy!! What a goof!"

Not so fast, Brian!

First of all, perhaps he had a secondary mutation where he can absorb powers now (and maybe that would explain both that AND the fire-breathing).

Secondly, Wolverine said he MIGHT have absorbed Wolverine's powers. Nothing definite.

So that's it for this week!

Let's see some errors, people!

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Cover Homage Game for 7/6

All Legion Cover Edition!!

1.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

2.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

3.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Let's see some guesses!

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

"You Had To Have Been There" Good Comics

A funny thing that I have noticed is that time, and the radiant, heavenly city, tends to put things into different perspective.

For instance, what was praised heavily in 1988 might not be so well-thought of in 2005.

Heck, what was praised heavily in 2004 might not be so well-thought of in 2005.

So what I thought I would do is to look at some past acclaimed comics and/or issues that are currently not so acclaimed, and examine perhaps WHY they are no longer so acclaimed.

The first book I will detail is Legionnaires #7 (and the title in general).

In late 1992/early 1993, Legionnaires was quite the critical darling.

Perhaps in response to the "adult Legion" or perhaps just in response to darkened comics PERIOD, a lot of burden was placed upon Legionnaires to be this shining knight of fun and goodness that was to save us from dreary comics.

An issue that was highlighted in particular was Legionnaires #7, which was drawn by Adam Hughes, and depicted the Legionnaires on vacation on a waterworld.

Reading the issue now, it is still a nice issue, so why the drop in esteem for the title?

This one is the easiest one to explain (hmmm...I wonder why I put it first), as the reason Legionnaires is probably not all that well remembered is because the book was "erased" by Zero Hour about a year later, and the title became just a second title for the "new" Legion of Superheroes post-Zero Hour.

Which is too bad, as Tom and Mary Bierbaum did a heckuva job on this title, while artist Chris Sprouse has currently (due to his association with Alan Moore) found a position as one of the more acclaimed artists of today.

So check out Legionnaires, folks!

It was acclaimed at the time, and after re-reading it, it was acclaimed with good reason!

Monday, July 04, 2005

Snark Free Challenge - Redeem Jack Flagg and Free Spirit

Today's Fourth of July Snark Free Challenge is as follows:

Come up with an interesting pitch for a series starring Jack Flagg and/or Free Spirit.

Here is Free Spirit, to refresh your memory.

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And here is Jack Flagg.

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Good luck!

Sunday, July 03, 2005

What Old Fantastic Four Plot Would You Like To See Brought Up Now?

One of the funner Fantastic Four Annuals was the one where John Byrne went back to the plot from Fantastic Four #2 where we see what happened to the Skrulls that were hypnotized into thinking that they were cows by the Fantastic Four (an oddly cruel punishment, really).

Grant Morrison and Mark Millar picked up on this idea in the mid-90s, when they showed what happened to the humans who ate hamburgers made up out of Skrull cows.

In any event, can you think of any unresolved or sorta-unresolved Fantastic Four plot that you think it would be interesting for a current Fantastic Four writer to revisit?

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Fun Run for 7/2

Today's Fun Run is another short one, Robert Loren Fleming's Valor run from 1992-1993, ten issues in total, until Mark Waid took over the book, basically to lead the book into Zero Hour (where Kurt Busiek and Colleen Doran took over to wrap up the title's cancellation).

Valor starred Lar Gand, formerly Mon-El from the Legion of Super Heroes.

It was a spin-off of the big Eclipso mini-series that Fleming had co-written with Keith Giffen (it was mainly Fleming), and both spin-off series went to Fleming - Eclipso and Valor.

This series was noteworthy just for the amount of fun stories that happened in it.

Fleming made sure to bring back (from a previous Giffen crossover, Invasion!), the Blasters, and they had a fun crossover.

The art was by MD Bright at first, and then Jeffrey Moore.

Both were good.

This was a fun series.

Anyone else remember it?

Friday, July 01, 2005

Theme Day for 7/1

Today's theme is "I'm really ____" "DUH!"

In other words, times when a hero's supporting cast found out his secret identity BEFORE being told...most of the time, this was done retroactively ("I ALWAYS knew it").

1. Iris Allen. On their wedding night, Barry talked in his sleep, and revealed that he was the Flash! So when, a year or so later, he actually came out and admitted it to her, Iris already knew.

2. Mary Jane Watson. In a pretty major retcon, Mary Jane Watson saw Peter Parker (as Spider-Man) change from her window. So she knew he was Spider-Man right from the get-go. This does not exactly jibe with her appearances before this was revealed, but it really wasn't SO out of whack.

3. May Parker. When May died in Amazing Spider-Man #400, she revealed that she, too, had known Peter was Spider-Man for quite a long time. This jibed even less so than Mary Jane. However, when Norman Osborn revealed that this Aunt May was an actress paid just to mess with Peter's mind, the original Aunt May came back. She, too, eventually found out that Peter was Spider-Man, but it was news to her.

4. Ben Urich. In a recent Pulse, Ben Urich revealed that he had known Peter was Spider-Man for quite some time. In fact, Ben treated it as almost an insult that Peter would think he WOULDN'T know, as the two had worked side by side as both Ben and Peter and Ben and Spider-Man.

5. Pete Ross. Pete found out about Superboy's identity when they were teens together, however, he did not reveal the truth to Clark. In fact, he also used all his abilities to make sure noone ELSE found out. Later, when they were adults, Clark copped to it, but Pete already knew.

Can anyone think of any other examples?