This Looks Like A Job For...Golden Corral!

from Justice #7, by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, Doug Braithwaite

Gotta Catch'em All!

PICK OF THE WEEK: Action Comics # 842 by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Pete Woods

The current storyline in Action Comics centers around a giant alien called the Auctioneer who's been snatching up famous monuments and putting them up for sale on some intergalactic version of eBay. This issue reeks of silver age goofiness, but it never becomes so completely ridiculous that you stop caring about the story. Besides, it gives Superman the chance display his bonafides to a world that still doubts his identity and motives.

When the Auctioneer notices the insane number of rare and collectible super beings that Earth has to offer, he decides to take advantage of this untapped market and begins kidnapping them, heroes and villains alike. Superman ends up in a cell with Skyrocket, Aquaman, Blue Jay, Livewire, and the Veteran.

Stories like this pop up every now and again in comics. Nigh omnipotent alien or villain comes along, grabs up a bunch of super beings for whatever reason. Hodge-podge group always manages to escape and put the kibosh on villain'a plans. Pretty standard.

This one kind of reminds me of an Ultra-Humanite story from JSA a few years back.As predictable as they are, I can't help but to love most of them. Don't tell anybody, but I even have a few fond memories of Secret Wars.

In Action Comics #842 we get the same basic story. All the super guys and gals are floating in some weird energy field that negates their powers. It's up to Superman and the random assortment of metas he's locked up with to save the day. Also, Nightwing and Firestorm have managed to stow away on the alien prison ship.

There's a nice little bit where everyone's standing around arguing about who's going to be in charge. Meanwhile, Superman and Nightwing have already formulated an escape plan.

Busiek and team successfully mix comedy, sci-fi, and heaps of good old fashioned super hero drama to produce one of the most entertaining Superman stories I've read since...well, since last issue. This is the kind of stuff I'd like to see in the Justice League title.

One of the coolest parts about stories like this is trying to identify all the background characters. Some of the more interesting characters I've managed to spot are what looks like a blond Zatanna (1st panel, two left from Superman), Sam Simeon (1st panel, three up and one left from Superman), and Dr. Fate(1st panel, two down and three to the right from Superman.)

Any thoughts on who the Zatanna lookalike might be? Coloring mistake, perhaps? What about Fate? I'd love to see Simeon turn up as more than just background decoration later on.

Maybe one of you guys with a more complete knowledge of DCU characters and a better set of eyes could point out some more little nuggets.

What say you oh great and powerful floating head of FDR?

His Only Weakness...

Alan Scott's always been my favorite Green Lantern . I think it has something to do with the fact that he's not always flying around the galaxy fighting aliens. I'm just not into the whole cosmic-hero thing. There's nothing wrong with Hal , John , Kyle or Guy. I just find Alan more interesting.

He's been a railroad engineer, a WWII veteran, the head of a major broadcasting company, and one of the leaders of a U.N. sanctioned covert operations agency, not to mention a founding member of the JSA. Freakin' Superman comes to this guy for advice! He's been called the elder statesman of the DC universe. He even managed to spawn a couple of mega powerful super brats along the way. Plus, you gotta admit, the eye patch is pretty bitchin'.


Another thing that's cool about him is that, unlike some other Lanterns I could mention, he still has his trademark vulnerability. In my mind this has always put him in the same league as Superman. You know, the "this guy's so awesome there's only, like, this one substance that can totally mess him up" kind of powerful. That being said, I find it incredibly goofy that the he can be taken out by a splinter. Incredibly goofy is alright though. I happen to like incredibly goofy.

And it's a good thing, too, because I've decided to make my way through every single issue of All-Star Squadron over the course of the next two weeks. Besides the sheer juvenile fun of getting to catalog all my All-Star Squadron picture files in a folder labeled "ASS", I get to post panels where Alan Scott gets taken out by

a piece of driftwood

a stick

and a ventriloquist dummy

Filed Under "T" for Transgender Vigilante Canines

Dwayne "the canoe guy," of the Hexcellent Matching Dragoons site , has posted the following panel as his Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics.

He then challlenges us in the blogosphere to offer our own interpretation of what exactly Batman finds so hilarious. So open up your image manipulation software and get cracking! Here's mine-

Swipe the Swiper!

from Detective Comics #31, Art by Bob Kane

from All-Star Squadron #24, Tribute Art by Jerry Ordway and Mike Machlan

Don't Ever Let Anybody Tell You Smoking Isn't Cool

From Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z

Fun for Drunken Comic Book Geeks!

I've been playing around with Heromachine lately. For those of you who don't know, it allows the artistically challenged to create their own super-heroes by placing a bunch of predrawn pieces together to form a completely new character. Very similar in spirit to one of the best toys ever- the Mighty Men and Monster Maker. Except without the colored pencils.

Just for shits and giggles I tried hitting the random button and discovered it's a helluva lot more fun this way. If you're looking for some good dumb fun, try it out. As with so many stupid pastimes, it's always better with a group. When your multicolored abomination of a character is finished see who can give it the most appropriate name and backstory. You're guaranteed minutes of fun!

Here are just a few of the hideous beings I created with the mere push of a button.

Now the only thing left to do is name the freaks and give them amusing mini-origins. Maybe you guys can help me out.

*It looks like a few people have given this little game a whirl. Jonni, curator of the High Velocity Super Disco gives us a lovely origin for the crazy Mohawk dude while Erich, of the Fish Flavored Baseball Bat , presents a few of his own freakish heroes for your consideration.

Just a Few of the Reasons Why I Like Comics

Murderous shapeshifters

from Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters #1

Pantsless professors

from The All-New Atom #2

Kung Fu chainsaw shark fights

from Shaolin Cowboy #6

All's Well That Ends Well

I love how in most of these old EC stories, you can pretty much tell exactly what happened from reading the last panel. When they don't just outright repeat the entire story, there's always an alien or psychopathic killer ready to beat you over the head with whatever moral or suprise plot twist you might not have seen coming from a mile away.

"Oh no! You mean the delicious stew we've been eating is made from the chopped up remains of that hobo I murdered and stuffed in the freezer two pages ago?!! Dear God!!

or

"Had the small-minded Earthlings realized that the flesh devouring tentacle-monsters were in fact a peaceful race, World War III would never have happened."

Y'know, that sort of thing. Anyway, here are some of my favorite EC endings.

Filed Under "P" for Phallic...

from Doom Patrol #88, by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani

* I'm pretty sure I've seen this panel posted on someone else's blog before. Can anyone help me out here?

EDIT: Looks like Chris of Invincible Super-Blog fame already beat me to this one. In a much better post, no less.

Damn you Sims!! Revenge will be mine!...Mine I tell you...Mine!... *Ahem*

And much thanks to Steven for the find.

Because I Couldn't Wait 'Til Then...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And For Absolutely No Reason Whatsoever...

A Random Assortment of Creepy, Floating Heads.

YAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Memophiliac

My variation on a meme found at Comics Oughta Be Fun and started by Beaucoupkevin .

Go here to make your own.

EC Endings Thursday Presents:

Wha...Huh?

What horrible events do YOU imagine led up to this bizarre moment?

from Weird Science #14, "They Shall Inherit" by Al Feldstein, Joe Orlando, and Marie Severin