Justice League of America Classic No. 217

This is my first comic book- a reprinting of a Satellite Era JLA story from 1983. Not all of the characters on the cover appeared in the comic- the Atom, Black Canary and Green Arrow were absent from the adventure, "All the Elements of Disaster." I was left wondering who they were and came to the conclusion that they must be villains. I further wondered if the Atom (whose name was not known to me at the time) was very small or very far away from the others- ostracized, perhaps, due to his imagined villain status. Green Arrow's hat was seen as a baseball cap as well.

Interview with writer Paul Kupperberg here.

Archaeology Tooooday...

Bachalo's Fantastic Four vs. Super Skrull

From Wizard March 1998

"You'll want to shoot yourself."

Transformers director Michael Bay on rewatching the original cartoon.

Also, find out why we have Ronald Reagan to thank for so many Saturday morning memories here.

Big Time Attic, Big Time Blog

Check out the blog of Zander Cannon and his cohorts at Big Time Attic here. It features a recurring comic (complete with recurring panels) and helpful tips about creating comics.

Zander Cannon bio here.

It's astounding how many nearly-naked men fought crime...

Erik Larsen discusses collecting comics from the '40s and the lessons to be learned from them. Check it out right here.

Now, about that next issue of Savage Dragon...

When I'm 64....

via The Superficial

Metal Hero

The upcoming Iron Man movie is #11 on EW's current obsessions.

Metal Heroes

"Metal Heroes", a Japanese TV genre, was the source of stock footage for shows such as VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs. The American series were considered successful but quickly canceled after exhausting the Metal Heroes clips.

Micro Heritage

The legacy of Microman from 1972 to present.

via Pulphope

Jack Kirby Interview

If you can get through the cringe-worthy intro by Harlan Ellison, this interview with Jack Kirby is revealing as to the thought process behind all of his post- Galactus characters.

Furious when furious wasn't cool...

Matt Madden's fourth obstruction

Tom Hart's solution

Check out Hutch Owen creator Tom Hart rising to meet the comic strip challenges of Matt Madden a la "The Five Obstructions" here.

via The Beat

Travis Charest Interview

After a seven year absence from American comics, Travis Charest is back and Newsarama has the interview.
Check out Charest's homepage here.

Who was that masked foursome?

Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer Urban Legends are revealed over at Comics Should Be Good. When the FF adopted more traditional superhero suits in issue 3, they were originally set to wear masks. This idea was thankfully scrapped before it reached the printer. It seems unnecessary to sport a mask when you're on a first name basis with the commissioner (in the above panels).It surprised me to see that Ben Grimm's helmet made an appearance. In the 90s, during Tom Defalco and Paul Ryan's underrated run on the series, the Thing adopted the helmeted look to hide some Wolverine-inflicted battle scars. I always wondered why the statues of the early FF (where Ben gets this accessory) featured a helmet-wearing Thing...

Carl Barks Art Sets World Record!

Hands Off My Playthings! (1975)

Scoop has details here

Why New Avengers #31 Was Important

New Avengers #31, art by Leinil Francis Yu

I believe Iron Fist put it best when he said "What--What does this mean?"

Brian Bendis has a lot to explain here and here. Spoilers ahead.

Unca Carl's Treasures

June 4th was the Carl Barks Estate Auction

Details courtesy of Cartoon Brew here

Ben Grimm as Blackbeard

This temporal anomaly (from FF #5) takes first place in the AV Club's top ten weirdest moments from the past 46 years of the Fantastic Four.

the INCREDIBLE hulk

The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #159 (Jan. 1973). Cover art by Herb Trimpe.

Ed Norton as Bruce Banner! Tim Roth as the Abomination! William Hurt as General "Thunderbolt" Ross! How many more of my favorite actors can they fit into this movie?

"Mr. Wizard" Don Herbert (1917 - 2007)

Mr. Wizard, you will be missed.

Don Herbert obituary here
Mr. Wizard's Studios Official website here
Mr. Wizard television history here
Scoop remembers Don Herbert here

Ink the King

Apelad challenges you to show Vince Colletta how it's done here.
The Comics Journal Message Board discusses the inking of Jack Kirby here.

POW! and Disney Shake Hands

Marvel Goes Hollywood, Stan Goes...

...for the breasts.

'Nuff said.

Marvel Goes Hollywood

As seen in FORTUNE Magazine May 28, 2007

Maybe Marvel will wise up and stop letting Mark Steven Johnson ruin their pictures...?

Special Guests: Cat People!

Joseph Michael Lisner

Joe Matt

I wonder if Joseph Michael Lisner and Joe Matt knew that their pictures would be next to each other on the San Diego Comic Con guest list page.

Ghost Rider meets Jesus!

That and more at an all-Ghost Rider edition of Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed.

Ro-Bear Berbils Drafted!

The Ro-Bear Berbil in simpler times.

The Ro-Bear Berbil today.

It was announced today that the once-peaceful race of robot bears will join the US military.
More information on Ro-Bear Berbils here.

Passive Aggressive Notes

In case you missed the memo, Passive Aggressive Notes has moved. It'd be really great if you could update your bookmarks accordingly. Thanks!!!

What might have been...

Comic book writer and historian Mark Evanier collects unpublished covers to classic Marvel comics here.

Fun Fact: While Jack Kirby's design for Spider-man went unused, Stan Lee had him pencil the cover to Amazing Fantasy #15...and Steve Ditko inked it!

via Newsarama

Two-Fisted Tales

"Everything I like is either illegal, immoral, or fattening."

Mad magazine founder and EC Comics publisher William M. Gaines is about to get the Hollywood biopic treatment.

related: EC fan letters from Eleanor Roosevelt discovered!

A-HAA!

Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff

Check out ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive for more classic comic art and history. The Complete Guide to Cartooning, the book that taught Ralph Bakshi how to draw, has been posted here and here.

via Newsarama via Comics Comics

Update 06.06.07- Make sure you check out the comment section with more links from Stephen Worth.

Golden Age Comic Book Stories

Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians from Big Shot Comics #1, May/1940

Check out some classic illustrations at Golden Age Comic Book Stories! In addition to posting sci-fi pulp covers and pieces by Maxfield Parish, N.C. Wyeth and Bernie Wrightson, magician comics (including Zatara, Marvelo, Merlin and Tor) are reproduced their entirety.

DC redraws...

...Jack Kirby


... and Alex Toth.


via Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #105