Sunday, April 30, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Thirteen

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Twelve

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Friday, April 28, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Eleven

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Ten

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!


Answers on May 23rd!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Nine

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Eight

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Monday, April 24, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Seven

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Six

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Five

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Friday, April 21, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Four

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Name that JJJ Artist! - Day Three

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Name That JJJ Artist! - Day Two

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Name That JJJ Artist! - Day One

For the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man, there were forty pencillers (not counting Don Heck pencilling Romita's breakdwons). Twenty-nine of them drew J. Jonah Jameson at least once. Here is a list of the 11 other pencillers who never drew J. Jonah Jameson.

Guess which penciller drew this J. Jonah Jameson!



Answers on May 23rd!

THE BEST TIME OF THE MONTH!

You know what time it is folks, it is "Brian comes up with a nifty contest to make up for falling behind on the site" time!

Last time, it was "Name That Iron Man Artist!" This time, the contest is a little odder - AND bigger - it's "NAME THAT JJJ Artist!"

There have been forty pencillers to work on Amazing Spider-Man in its first volume.

Eleven of the artists never drew J. Jonah Jameson, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of the Daily Bugle. Most of them are from the mid-80s, when JJJ was not around much. Most of them also only drew one issue of the book, except Alan Kupperberg, who managed to draw about 4 1/2 issues without drawing JJJ (although in the ONE issue that he drew half of, JJJ DID appear - just in the half drawn by the OTHER guy!) and Alex Saviuk drew about three issues without JJJ.

The eleven artists are:

Alan Weiss
Luke McDonnell
Alan Kupperberg
Bob Layton
Paty
Mike Harris
Alex Saviuk
Mike Zeck
Cyndy Martin
Colleen Doran
Angel Medina
Darick Robertson
Rafael Kayanan

So that leaves twenty-nine artists who HAVE (not counting Don Heck's pencils over Romita's breakdowns, as that seems too unfair) drawn JJJ.

Well, NAME them!!

Monday, April 17, 2006

Monday Challenge for 4/17

How many Terminators (from the first movie) would it take to defeat Deathstroke the Terminator?

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Have a Snark Free Easter!



Saturday, April 15, 2006

Who Is It? for 4/15

Remember, tell me who it is and what # clue gave it away!!


1. This character is female.












2. She is a villain.















3. Her arch-enemy is a not-so-well-known superhero.













4. She took her name and personality from a fictional book.












5. She has fought Spider-Man a lot, as well.

Who is it?

Friday, April 14, 2006

Who's Yer Fav'rit....

...Metal Man?

Gold....



Platinum...



Lead...



Tin...



Iron...



Mercury...



or (gulp) Veridium?



Pics courtesy of Lauren Foutz's neat site here.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Name That Iron Man Artist! ANSWERS!!

Here they are, in all their glory!!! Also, all the people who named the artist!! (If someone said that they guessed the answer based on someone else's guess, I noted that )

Enjoy!!

Day One - Chic Stone



Iron Man #81

Nobody guessed it!

Day Two - Barry Windsor-Smith



Iron Man #47

Guessed by Ken Robinson!

(Inked by Jim Mooney)

Day Three - Jim Starlin



Iron Man #55

Guessed by Ken Robinson, Hoosier X and Overworm (inspired by earlier guesses)

Day Four - Arvell Jones



Iron Man #75

Guessed by leagueofnowhere and Hoosier X!

Day Five - Keith Giffen



Iron Man #114

Guessed by Jason Sacks and leagueofnowhere (inspired by Jason's guess)

Day Six - Alan Weiss



Iron Man #136

Nobody guessed it!

Day Seven - John Byrne



Iron Man #118

Guessed by Al from Italy and gorjus (inspired by Al's guess)

Day Eight - Don Heck



Tales of Suspense #59

Guessed by Tim Callahan, Jason Sacks, John Hartnett, leagueofnowhere, Hoosier X, Overworm and Greg Hatcher WOULD have guessed Heck had I remembered to eliminate Ditko from the choices earlier

Day Nine - Keith Pollard



Iron Man #107

Nobody guessed it!

Day Ten - Herb Trimpe



Iron Man #39

Nobody guessed it!

Day Eleven - Johnny Craig



Iron Man #3

Nobody guessed it!

Day Twelve - Jerry Bingham



Iron Man #132

Guessed by Jason Sacks, Bill Reed, leagueofnowhere, Hoosier X and Overworm!

Day Thirteen - Luke McDonnell



Iron Man #151

Guessed by Anonymous!

Day Fourteen - John Romita Jr.



Iron Man #120

Guessed by leaugeofnowhere!

Day Fifteen - Gene Colan



Tales of Suspense #86

Guessed by Tim Callahan, chris, Jason Sacks, John Hartnett, leagueofnowhere, Hoosier X and Greg Hatcher!

Day Sixteen - Sal Buscema



Iron Man #129

Nobody guessed it!

Day Seventeen - Carmine Infantino



Iron Man #108

Nobody guessed it!

Day Eighteen - George Tuska



Iron Man #18

Guessed by Anonymous, Jason Sacks, leagueofnowhere and Hoosier X!

Final Day (Two Artists) - Alan Kupperberg



Iron Man #157

Guessed by Anonymous!

Bob Layton



Iron Man #130

Guessed by leagueofnowhere and Dave Lewis!

You all did well, the following just did a little more well...hehe.

With five correct - Jason Sacks!

With six correct - Hoosier X!

With seven correct - leagueofnowhere!

Congrats, folks!

Hope you all had fun!!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

"Name That Iron Man Artist!" Answers Up Tomorrow!

Just so's you know...hehe.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Top Five Zero Hour Crossover Issues

Here they are, the top five Zero Hour crossover issues (this is a lot like getting water from a stone, by the by)

HONORABLE MENTION: Guy Gardner: Warrior #24 - neat time-travel story, introduced Lady Blackhawk into our timeline (who is still around, as a member of Birds of Prey)

5. Superman: Man of Steel #37



People forget, but at the time, Superman and Batman rarely talked to each other, so this issue was significant, because it gave both characters a chance to catch up after all the changes in their lives (Batman's back breaking, but healing and returning to displace Azrael as Batman and Superman dying and returning).

Also, what a cool Bog cover!!

4. Adventures of Superman #516



Karl Kesel, more so than any other writer, seemed to really embrace the Zero Hour concept. In this issue, he uses the concept of shifting timelines to introduce a world where Rome never fell, and Metropolis is protected by the Alpha Centurion, who eventually ended up showing up in the Superman titles, and was a pretty cool character, to be honest.

3. Superboy #8



Straightforward concept, but it worked so well.

Superboy (the clone) meets up with Earth-One Superboy, Clark Kent. It was handled very well by Kesel, who uses the comparisons between the two to really develop the clone as a character.

3. Flash #94



This was a tough one. It really doesn't tie in THAT much, but it DOES tie-in, and it is part three of an excellent story (that introduced Impulse), so I can't help but place it high on this list, as it IS a very good comic.

1. Robin #10



Straightforward concept, but it worked even better than the Superboy issue.

Dick and Tim teaming up - SUCH a cool idea. And Dixon and Grummett do a good job. And what a cool Grummett cover!

That's my picks! How about you folks?

Monday, April 10, 2006

Monday Challenge - Create a Green Lantern!

You're given the job of writing Green Lantern Corps - introduce a new (not from Earth) Green Lantern!!

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Name That Iron Man Artist! - FINAL Day!

For the final day, TWO artists!!

These artists are from between Steve Ditko's stint on Iron Man and the beginning of the post-David Michelinie's era (his first run, that is, namely issue #158)!






Click to enlarge!

Let's see some guesses!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Top 5 Marvel Superhero Heroic Stands Against Insurmountable Odds

One of the reasons why I like Marvel's superheroes more than DC's is that they have a real tenacious streak in them. It feels like they have to work for their victories. I don't get the same feeling from the DCU's pantheon of gods. Superman and Batman never seem like they're really in danger, while there's always a possibility Spider-Man will get the shit kicked out of him in a given fight. Of course, none of these characters are ever in any danger, what with that revolving ressurection door and all, but I can suspend my disbelief a lot better with the Marvel characters. Here are five of my favorite reasons why:

1. Spider-Man lifting the machinery to save Aunt May- Duh. The single greatest "overcoming insurmountable odds" scene in superhero comics ever, Steve Ditko rendered Spidey's struggle in the intensely operatic way that only he could, and Stan provided matching dialogue. The zenith of one of the best superhero runs in history.

2. Captain America, shieldless, against Thanos, who was wielding the Infinity Gauntlet- This stands out to me as the ultimate in defying the odds. Cap knew he was going to die. He had no defense. Thanos had godlike powers, with which he slaughtered every other superhero who had stood against him. But Cap still wouldn't back down, no matter what the cost, because it was the right thing to do. Now, his noble sacrifice wound up being meaningless in the grand scheme of things, since Warlock got the gauntlet eventually and hit the reset button, but that is still one damn powerful scene, idn't it?

3. Daredevil vs. the Namor Submariner- Stan Lee and Wally Wood doing widescreen fight comics about 30 years before they were in vogue. Well, not really, but this is easily up there with the most intense fight scenes that the subsequent 30+ years have produced. This is also up there with anything Frank Miller ever did with the chaacter. Because, in a single issue, Daredevil shows an amazing amount of tenacity in his attempt to stop Namor from declaring war on the surface world (again); so much so that old point ears comes to respect him and calls the whole thing off, showing a good deal of nobility on his part. Of course, being a Daredevil comic, Matt Murdock winds up being Namor's lawyer, too, which leads to a great scene where Lady Dorma shows up in court wearing a fish bowl on her head. But never mind that; this issue is all about the fight, and what a fight it is.

4. Daredevil vs. the Hulk- This is from an issue that Frank Miller and Klaus Janson drew, which was written by Roger McKenzie. What is it with hornhead and getting nearly beaten to death in order to do the right thing? He does it very well. He's like John Cena, except most of the audience doesn't hate him. Maybe Cena needs to be turned in to a broody ninja with an evil Greek ex-girlfriend.

Anyway, wrestling wankery aside, this another damn great story/horrific beating for Daredevil, who tries very hard to lend Bruce Banner a hand, and winds up having to try to and stop a rampaging Hulk single handedly. The ending, the Hulk leaping off, a tormented look on his face, still resonates with me to this day.

5. Spider-Man vs. Juggernaut- Yes, it's a Spider-Man sandwhich. Or Spider-Man bookends.

This is referring to the "Nothing Stops the Juggernaut" two parter by Roger Stern and John Romita that Wizard mentions a lot, from what I've seen in between bouts of ignoring them. They're right about this one. This is pretty much the only time that I can remember the Juggernaut living up to his unstoppable reputation, as he methodically destroys everything in his path on the way to kidnapping Madam Web, and only Spider-Man can stand in his way. It's a titanic battle that ends heart wrencheningly, with Spider-Man taken to his limit but vowing revenge. And that's just part one. Spidey's last ditch effort to deal with Juggernaut's threat doesn't use the cop out I remember from most of his X-Men appearences (ie, get his helemet off!), and this really feels like an epic, life or death struggle. This, along with "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man", are the two best reasons why Stern deserves to be remembered as one of the best Spider-Man writers in the history of the strip.

Name That Iron Man Artist! - Day Eighteen!

The artist is from from between Steve Ditko's stint on Iron Man and the beginning of the post-David Michelinie's era (his first run, that is, namely issue #158)!



Click to enlarge!

Let's see some guesses!