Happy 4th of July, Jack Flag

When the patriotic vigilante Jack Flag showed up in Thunderbolts post-Civil War a few years back, I imagine many figured the red, white and blue-haired hero with the American flag Grifter mask to be a cobbled together Warren Ellis creation dreamt up for the purpose of giving the T-Bolts a disposable “good guy” to demonstrate their new status quo against. I was among those who not only recognized Mr. Flag, but both gave Mr. Ellis a serious kudos for raiding Marvel’s truth depths obscurity and smiled a bit to see the return of a character from my youth who both seemed ridiculous at the onset and yet to possess some intangible coolness about him.

The year was 1994, I was 12, and it was tough to ignore the dude with the jingoistic dye job wielding what appeared to be a boom box leaping at me from the cover of Captain America #434, particularly with his name emblazoned graffiti style to the side. The introduction of Jack Flag was part of the year-long “Fighting Chance” storyline by Mark Gruenwald and Dave Hoover that saw Steve Rogers’ super soldier serum begin failing on him and Cap embark upon a mission to settle his affairs before he had to hang up his shield.

“Fighting Chance” was an extremely 90’s storyline that certainly seemed to sit in the shadow or the Death of Superman or Knightfall, taking another iconic hero and doing the previously unthinkable by laying him low and potentially putting him out to pasture. There were some eye-rolling moments like Cap’s battle vest or his Iron Man-designed armor, but because it was Gruenwald, who loved the character like few others and always tried to have fun with whatever he did, there were quite a few bright spots and cool stories too. One promising aspect was exploring how the idea of the America hero had changed with a new Super-Patriot, the ultra-violent Americop, the female-empowering Free Spirit and, finally, Jack Flag.

Jack Harrison was introduced as a guy who was a member of Captain America’s computer hotline network—a Gruenwald creation established in the 80’s as a sort of nationwide Bat Signal or network of informants for Cap—and alongside his brother Drake decided to take a more active role, forming a citizen patrol. Hard times fell on the Harrisons when Drake got crippled attempting to break up a robbery and then the Serpent Society moved into their hometown, buying off local law enforcement and forcing folks out of their homes, including Jack’s parents. Inspired by Cap, Jack began wearing a costume and went after the Serpent Society; he ended up not only helping his hero and Free Spirit take down the Serpents, but helped save Steve Rogers’ life when his super soldier serum finally crapped out.

For a few issues after “Fighting Chance” wrapped, Jack Flag and Free Spirit hung around as Cap’s support squad and possible successors, but then vanished after Mark Waid took over for his own acclaimed run, shuffled off to limbo with hundreds of other characters from the 90’s.

As I mentioned up top, Jack Flag returned over a decade later in the pages of Thunderbolts, where Norman Osborn had just taken over the team and populated it with super villains who were responsible for enforcing the new Super Human Registration act. Jack surfaced as a street level hero who continued to do what he felt was his duty despite it now being against the law because of his innate goodness as well as a lingering obligation to and admiration for Captain America, who had opposed the Act and then apparently been assassinated. He saves an innocent girl from a gang attack and then is swarmed en masse by the T-Bolts.

Two things from this story are a testament to strengths in the Jack Flag character I didn’t even really know existed despite getting a tingle of excitement at seeing a trivia question I knew the answer to resurface on the national stage: First was that he represented the type of unfettered hero with a Cap-like strength of character Ellis needed to hold up against his new Thunderbolts and demonstrate how nasty and immoral they were. The respect Ellis showed by having Jack tear through his more powerful pursuers, including Moonstone and Venom, before being felled and paralyzed by nothing less than a Bullseye sneak attack makes a statement of legitimacy for somebody who could not have been reasonably considered anything but D-list to this point.

Second, cover artist Marko Djurdjevic and interior artist Mike Deodato do not change Dave Hoover’s original costume design even a little bit, they just do it up in their respective ways and show that it was a bold, memorable collection of stylistic choices; I kinda want to start a Jack Flag sketchbook.

Most would assume that would be it for Jack Flag—and for a character who only had a few appearances to his credit prior, taking on some of the Marvel Universe’s bigger bads and getting nailed by Bullseye while doing the right thing wouldn’t be a shabby send-off—but he would return in of all places Guardians of the Galaxy, courtesy of my pals Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. When Blaastar attempts to take over the Negative Zone prison where Jack is being held, despite being wheelchair-bound, he leads the other inmates to resist the alien tyrant, impressing Star-Lord in the process; Peter Quill gets Jack the heck out of jail and has the science whiz types on Knowhere fix up his spine so he could join the Guardians.

It always blew my mind a bit reading Guardians of the Galaxy and realizing that among cosmic powerhouses like Drax and Adam Warlock there was this footnote of a character from when I read Captain America as a kid standing shoulder to shoulder, but so much of the joy in reading DnA’s work is they love comics minutiae as much as any fan and jump at the chance to elevate characters with potential. They made Jack a fairly integral member of the team, even having folks who would know like Kang tout his grand potential in the universal scheme of things.

That a guy who called Captain America’s hotline in the 90’s and took the time to evenly separate three bizarre colors into his hair would eventually become an intergalactic champion for good is pretty much as good a representation that anything can happen in comics as you’re going to get; it’s also proof in point that the best creators in our industry not only make their own mark, but are never bashful about going back into the seemingly infinite backlog of those who came before to mine everything they can from the most forgotten of creations.

Art Attack: July 2011's Coolest Covers

-Dale Eaglesham draws a great Puck, but the real beauty of that Alpha Flight cover is the upside down maple leaf as the light through a window (that sentence was heartfelt, but still somehow hilarious to me as I read it back).

-My man Paolo Rivera snags cover artist of the month honors this go around by showing his versatility with two completely contrasting pieces that both incorporate clever side bits. His Amazing Spider-Man cover is in his lush painted style with a playful take on the title placement while his Daredevil employs the more traditional drawn style he'll be using on that series but with the clever little touch of DD taunting us by using his own billy club as a blindfold--love it.

-If there's one thing I've learned compiling these each month, it's that Batman seems to just bring out the best in artists. Whether it's Chris Burnham having him kick English schoolgirls in the face or that striking David Finch traditional pose, the character consistently shines through. And look at Red Hood's head exploding on Guillem March's Batman and Robin!

-Speaking of characters bringing it this month, digging Neal Adams' classic take on Captain America as well as Olivier Coipel's gritty version, as well as Marcos Martin's mischievous Daredevil (have I mentioned that book is going to be amazing?).

-Fantastic Four #1 almost always makes for a great homage, but using Frankenstein and Howard the Duck? Thank you Michael Kaluta.

-Black Bolt has one of the best costume designs ever, Mark Bagley knows how to create beautiful pin-ups--'Nuff Said.

-Did you really think there wouldn't be at least one Dave Johnson cover here?

-Kevin Nowlan's Flashpoint: The Outsider cover is just so weird I can't help but like it.

-I believe the minimalist approach Salva Epsin took on Generation Hope will really pop on the stands.

-Thank you Tony Moore for keeping the streak of rad Venom covers alive.

ALPHA FLIGHT #2 by Dale EagleshamAMAZING SPIDER-MAN #665 by Paolo RiveraAMERICAN VAMPIRE #17 by Rafael AlbuquerqueBATMAN AND ROBIN #25 by Guillem MarchBATMAN BEYOND #7 by Dustin NguyenBATMAN INCORPORATED #9 by Chris BurnhamBATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #4 by David FinchCAPTAIN AMERICA #1 by Neal AdamsCAPTAIN AMERICA #1 by Olivier CoipelDAREDEVIL #1 by Marcos MartinDAREDEVIL #1 by Paolo RiveraDARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER - THE BATTLE OF TULL #1 by Michael LarkFEAR ITSELF: DEADPOOL #2 by Ryan StegmanFEAR ITSELF: FEARSOME FOUR #2 by Michael KalutaFF #6 by Mark BagleyFLASHPOINT: BATMAN - KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #2 by Dave JonhsonFLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #2 by Cliff ChiangFLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #2 by Kevin NowlanGENERATION HOPE #9 by Salva EspinHELLBLAZER #281 by Simon BisleyINVINCIBLE IRON MAN #506 by Salvador LarrocaRED SKULL #1 by David AjaUNCANNY X-FORCE #12 by Esad RibicUNCANNY X-FORCE: FEAR ITSELF #1 by Simone BianchiVENOM #5 by Tony Moore

Art Attack: Anniversary/Birthday Present

I am blessed for so many wonderful things in my life, but nothing more than my amazing wife, Megan. A few months ago, we celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary and coming up next weekend is my 29th birthday; to commemorate both, Megan commissioned me an amazing piece of art from our buddy Todd Nauck...
It's me and Megan surrounded by my very favorite characters, Nova and The Flash, as well as her namesake, Miss Martian. Oh, and also Captain America (Megan wanted to include another Marvel icon). We're all chilling at the spot Megan and I took photos following our wedding in Newport, Rhode Island with us in our tux and dress.

I'm fortunate enough to have a great many original art pieces from Todd, but no question, this is my favorite yet. His incredible talent is undeniable and wow does he draw a wicked Flash.

In conclusion: I may be getting up there in the years, but I'm a luckier dude than ever! Thank you Todd and I love you so much, Megan!

Some Memorial Day reading

It’s Memorial Day in the United States, the day when we particularly pay respect to those who have given their lives in military service to our country. I’ve never served myself, but my grandfather was a medic and my uncle is also a vet, plus I’ve got several friends and acquaintances still in the military today. Like so many, I’m eternally grateful for what they do to preserve our safety and way of life and try to display my appreciation every chance I get.

Speaking of doing just that, a Memorial Day reading list of comics that honor or highlight military service is a pretty paltry offering in the grand scheme, but hey, you stick with what you know.

(Speaking of what I don’t know, I’ve never gone back and familiarized myself with the war comics of yore, but if anybody feels like recommending some in the comments section, I’d be curious to know which ones were the cream of the crop in your mind)

CAPTAIN AMERICA #255
I tend to think of the origin of Steve Rogers, the original and iconic Captain America, as being the best and most quintessential story about what it means to serve your country and possess that drive to be a part of something more than yourself (and again, I myself have never been in the military, so please take statements I make like that one with your preferred helping of salt). It’s a tale of a young man possessing inadequate physical capabilities to be a hero, but a relentless heart and spirit that would not quit and propelled him all the way to being not only America’s greatest symbol for liberty, but the most inspirational hero within the Marvel Universe. Though it’s a story that has been told many times by many great creative teams over the past seven decades, I don’t believe any two folks captured the majesty of Cap’s humble beginnings better than the quintessential team of Roger Stern and John Byrne in this special 40th anniversary issue.

THE JUSTICE SOCIETY RETURNS!
In 1999 as DC prepared to re-launch the Justice Society franchise with JSA, they tested the waters first with the “Justice Society Returns!” event, set in the Golden Age and showcasing the old school heroes in a series of one-shots bookended by two chapters. It was a pretty awesome and underrated little event that I need to get more in-depth into another time, but the gist was that a bunch of Nazis during World War II use Doctor Occult to summon a mystical baddie named Stalker who the JSA battles in Washington DC, but then he splits his power all over the globe, leading the team to pair off in classic fashion to go after the bad guys. Some of the one-shots were of a higher quality than others, of course, but I include it here because among my favorite chapters were those set in the theater of war with the military playing a strong supporting role, in particular National Comics #1 where Mark Waid and Aaron Lopresti place The Flash and Mister Terrific behind enemy lines as well as Smash Comics #1 where Doctor Mid-Nite tries to put up with Hourman against a similar backdrop in a story by Tom Peyer and Steve Sadowski.

THE LIGHT BRIGADE
Another oft-overlooked gem (yeah, I should get to this one too), it’s a mix of straight-up action with some spiritual overtones and pretty heavy metaphysical questions as a crew of WWII grunts end up with an angel in their ranks and get propelled into a quest to protect a heavenly artifact from falling into demonic hands who happen to have allied from the Nazis. On the one hand, it’s not exactly light reading from writer Peter Tomasi as I alluded to above, but on the other, the themes of brotherhood, commitment, and why soldiers do what they do are really the driving stuff behind this story; the angels and the flaming swords and the unkillable Nazis are just window dressing. This really is a story about the willpower of the human spirit, particularly in those who serve in the military, with jaw-dropping art by Peter Snejbjerg lighting the way.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #574
A still-recent story that we’ll have to see whether or not it stands the test of time, but I was genuinely moved by Marc Guggenheim and Barry Kitson’s account of Peter Parker’s tormentor-turned-friend Flash Thompson’s time in Iraq and I don’t think there’s much question he’s perhaps a more interesting character now than he has been in years as a result of this story and the glimpses that have followed. In part it’s a story about how Spider-Man inspired Flash to try and be a hero, but really it’s more about how that heroic drive resides in normal people who can’t fly or lift cars, and how they exist in the real world. I’ve heard and seen praise of this issue by actual military folks and their families, which of course is a far greater stamp of approval than I could ever give it.

Happy Memorial Day and to those men and women serving my country, thank you so much for what you do.

My Five Favorite Avengers

Ok, so the Lost fervor has died down a bit and it’s time to cash a check I wrote over a week ago.

Yes, you can say goodbye to those sleepless nights, because I’m finally set to reveal…

…my five favorite Avengers.

THOR
In last week’s Avengers #1, after Kang gets blasted across several roofs via a blast of mystic lightning from Mjolnir, Hawkeye says, “And that’s what it’s like to be on the Avengers with Thor” (or something similar enough for me to get away with it)—and that right there pretty much sums up why I love Thor as an Avenger: He’s the ultimate powerhouse bruiser in the Marvel Universe (excepting The Hulk, who is more a force of nature) and thus it’s number one team is just cooler when he’s on it. Thor makes both the best cavalry as well as the best way for a villain to score a quick belt notch and thus make whoever takes them down seem like more of a badass. It’s also always rad to see Thor with his Shakespearean speak dealing with reporters or standing eight feet tall with a smile or sneer over the rookie Avengers or enjoying mead and mutton feasts provided by Jarvis. Thor is such a crazy, unique character that everything about him and a group of mortal heroes just gets better when the two get mixed.

LUKE CAGE
For my money, the best addition to the Avengers in the last decade and Brian Bendis’ greatest triumph as godfather of the franchise. Luke Cage was a character who had been around for decades before he got roped into New Avengers, and during at least half that time I’d say no way he qualified as A-list material, but it was like the hometown boy making good and getting into the majors or something, so we dug it at first. But Bendis was bound and determined to show that Luke belonged, and I’d say he succeeded. The nice thing was, though, that Bendis didn’t have Cage become some out of nowhere world-beater dispatching cosmic level threats in a feverish attempt to prove he wasn’t wasting a roster slot, he just slowly but surely became the quiet conscience of the team, the guy who steered everybody else in the right direction, and yes, was still one bad sonuvagun. When Luke became de facto team leader with no official proclamation post-Secret Invasion, it felt totally natural and totally earned because his maturation process had been a joy to experience—well done, Mr. Bendis.

THE WASP
Janet Van Dyne grew up in the Avengers, entering as a flighty young woman and ultimately becoming perhaps the gutsiest heroes male or female to ever serve. The thing is, I liked The Wasp in all her incarnations, and her versatility was one of her best assets. She was ridiculously Silver Age as the original Avengers’ flirtatious airhead, but unlike a lot of other female characters of the time, she kinda seemed in on the joke, whether Stan Lee and others wrote her that way intentionally or not, and that made her cooler than The Invisible Woman or Wonder Woman. But no doubt Janet Van Dyne’s finest moments came after in the fallout of her messy domestic dispute with and divorce from Hank Pym, rather than curl up in a ball somewhere, she marched into Avengers Mansion and told no less than Captain America and Iron Man in no uncertain terms that she was the team’s new chairperson and they’d better just deal with it. I dug that Jan was a damn effective team leader and held the group together during the darkest days of “Under Siege,” yet didn’t suddenly become so uptight she wouldn’t come on to Paladin shamelessly—this balance of bold and bubbly made her a great character for the remainder of her days.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Steve Rogers)
The Avengers weren’t really the Avengers until Captain America came along; they were just a loose-knit group of bickering demigods trying their best to work together until they thawed Steve Rogers out of this iceberg and he decided the team was a good idea and threw his considerable talents towards making it work. The heart and purity of Captain America was what inspired the bulk of the Avengers to be Earth’s Mightiest Heroes over the years, and placed them several notches above the Defenders, Champions, etc. Only Superman can boast the same symbolic value as Captain America in terms of his effect on his several heroes, but Cap trumps the Man of Steel by also being one of the best team leaders in comic book history and certainly the finest the Avengers have ever seen. To continue the DC shorthand, Captain America has the strategic genius and quick-thinking of Batman, but with Superman’s charm and winning personality. I don’t think anybody believes in the Avengers quite like Cap does—they gave him a reason to continue on in a world that had left him behind, after all—and nobody works as hard towards keeping them in fighting shape. A good ol’ fashioned “Avengers Assemble!” charge doesn’t give you nearly the chill if Steve Rogers isn’t racing at the fore.

HAWKEYE
So you’ve got gods, super-soldiers, billionaire geniuses and uber-powerful mutants making up the Avengers, and then you’ve got Clint Barton: the guy with the bow, the arrow and the attitude. That to me was always one of the coolest thing about the Avengers: that a dude like Hawkeye could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest and not seem out of place in the least. He’s the guy who questioned whether Captain America was leadership material; the guy who managed to found an Avengers team in California. You can say there was already a precedent for an archer fitting in amongst the powerhouses with Green Arrow in the Justice League, but as much as I am a GA fan, it always seemed like he either was just another square-chinned cipher in the JLA’s fledgling days, and then later more the rabble-rousing square peg than anything else; Hawkeye would mouth off, sure, but at the end of the day he was integral to what the Avengers were all about and very much the heart of the team in a way his DC counterpart never quite was. Despite starting out as a questionable Iron Man villain, Hawkeye was a true blue good guy with a romantic streak who was made to be one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. I absolutely love when the rest of the team has been taken out and it’s Hawkeye who has to beat the odds and make the impossible shot against a rampaging She-Hulk or omnipotent Collector to win the day—and that’s why he’s my favorite Avenger.

Earth's Mightiest Sketch Blog: Captain America

Jack Kirby's design for Captain America's costume has always been one of my quiet favorites in comics. That it was conceived so much in an ultra-patriotic era of jingoism yet has remained consistently popular and rarely been deviated from speaks to the strength of just how cool it looks. Who else but Kirby could make a guy wearing an American flag a pop icon outside the United States?

I did kinda a quickie sketch on this one, basically just taking a Gabrielle Dell'Otto Secret War cover and stripping down all the tricky details that make him a professional artist and me a guy drawing in my sketchbook...

I'm pleased with my effort, but I think a lot of that owes not only to aping Dell'Otto, but, again, the inherent quality of that Kirby design; it's just tought to screw up.

I will say this sketch showed me that Captain America just doesn't work as well for me in black and white or grey tones. I can do without the chain mail or glint off the cowl, but there's something about the balance of the red, white and blue that really does make it pop.

C2E2 Is Here!

The first ever Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo--or C2E2 as the kidz call it--is currently underway in the Windy City and we're pretty darn psyched about it. Rickey and Kiel are both on site partying it up while I'm following intently from tropic New Jersey.

Just a reminder that you can follow all the C2E2 action on Comic Book Resources, Marvel.com and The Source, as news about neat stuff like Ed Brubaker & Dale Eaglesham's Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier (pictured above) and Roger Langridge & Chris Samnee's Thor: The Mighty Avenger (pictured below) is already breaking.

Have a great weekend, folks! Comics!

Comics Coupling: Almost Weres

The seconds are ticking away rapidly before Valentine’s Day weekend concludes (and President’s Day begins!), but before it all came to an end, I wanted to commemorate not by looking at the best couples in comics or most romantic moments or whatever, but instead the pairings that could have been…but weren’t. Y’know, those characters you were rooting for to get together, but then due to a writing change or because it made no sense in the first place, it just didn’t happen.

I promise these will not all just be Nova and some girl (not all of them).

CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE SCARLET WITCH
Right before and carrying into “Avengers Disassembled,” long-time teammates Captain America and the Scarlet Witch began striking up an unlikely romance in the pages of Captain America & The Falcon which would then be touched on briefly in Avengers. Ultimately I believe the whole thing turned out to be another symptom of Wanda Maximoff’s hastening trip off the rails on the crazy train, but I thought there was definitely something there. In those Cap & Falcon issues, writer Christopher Priest touched on some interesting stuff with Wanda basically telling Steve Rogers flat out he still thinks of her as a little girl because that’s how she was when she first joined the Avengers, but she’s a woman now and he should be able to see her as such. I don’t really have a dog in the whole “older man-younger woman” romance race in the real world (I’m only a couple years older than my wife), but the idea in fiction of a female character’s ultimate “coming into her own” moment being telling the guy who thought he was her father figure “Hey, I’m pretty hot now, and if you want to give this a shot, it’s not weird” has always intrigued me. What does that say about me? Who knows, but I did think this would have been an interesting break for both characters, as Cap doesn’t generally dally with fellow costumed heroes and Wanda was married to an android for years (there was an interesting What If? one-shot that further explored it).

THE FLASH (Barry Allen) & BLACK CANARY
Wow, two in and my running theme seems to be girls with daddy issues, awesome—don’t judge me! Anyhow, I haven’t been shy in the past about saying I don’t find Barry Allen to be the world’s most interesting character. However, I never enjoyed him more than in Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn and Barry Kitson’s JLA: Year One re-imagining of the Justice League’s formative year together, where he was the true blue and calming central hero steering the team through that awkward “getting to know you” phase. His burgeoning “opposites attract” friendship with Hal Jordan was part of that, but the sparks between him and the young Black Canary were certainly another. Barry was the consummate straight arrow of course, dutifully devoted to Iris West, but he fell into that all-too-familiar trap of the bombshell at work—Canary—showing interest and him not knowing how to handle it. For her part, young Dinah was overwhelmed by following in her mom’s footsteps and looking for a stable port in the storm which reliable Barry filled much better than obnoxious Hal. The way Waid and Augustyn played this “office romance” felt very genuine and though you knew it could never work (in part because we know Green Arrow has to show up at some point), it gets you wondering what that path would have been like, but also realizing the reality probably never could have lived up to the potential.

ICEMAN & ROGUE
Just after the Age of Apocalypse, there was a period in the X-Men books where Rogue and Gambit were split up because she had kissed him just before reality went all wonky and learned all his dark secrets (basically that he had worked for Mister Sinister). She went off to discover America on some sort of road trip (really she was just trying to learn more about Gambit by following his memories) and Iceman came along to keep her company. From what I can remember, all signs seemed to point to Rogue and Bobby hooking up, but the writers and editors pretty firmly denied this in letter columns and whatnot, saying theirs was more of a brother-sister relationship (there was some reference to Luke and Leia in “Star Wars” in one reply, but I can’t remember if it had to do with Rogue and Bobby or a reader saying he thought Gambit’s secret was he was Rogue’s brother). Regardless, it went nowhere steamy, but I was hopefully both because it was something different and because I was a huge Iceman fan, so I wanted to see him end up with one of the hotter X-Men ladies. A decade or so later, the two characters got together not in the conventional comics, but on the big screen as well as in Ultimate X-Men, so apparently I wasn’t alone.

NIGHTWING & DONNA TROY
Speaking of “brother-sister” relationships that could have gone the other way (what is wrong with me?!)… This is one I know many folks have thought about over the years, both because the two characters have always been so close and also because it’s the mini-version of Batman and Wonder Woman getting together (though I guess these days it would be half of the full-version of Batman and Wonder Woman getting together). Around the mid-90’s, both these characters were so damaged in the relationship department, what with Donna being divorced and then almost immediately widowed and Dick Grayson coming out of a decade-long (in our world) thing with Starfire that ended horribly. One potential direction would have been for these two close friends to see something more in one another and leapfrog into romance. It would certainly have created some dynamic tension with their shared friends and former flames (Arsenal, Starfire, Oracle, Kyle Rayner, etc.) and made for some sweet moments and hard choices. The “best friends-turned-lovers” route is one we see a lot in real life and explored more often than not (though not so well) on TV, so I’m a bit surprised this has never happened, but I guess the stars have just never aligned—maybe now that they’re both on the JLA…

NOVA & FIRESTAR
Ok, gimme just this one. There’s actually a really emotional and well-done back-up story written by Fabian Nicieza in New Warriors Annual #4 where Firestar’s friend is a victim of date rape and after going after the dude and feeling powerless to do anything about it, she heads back to the Crash Pad and Nova ends up being her shoulder to cry on as he’s the only one there (and Justice is still in jail). The New Warriors were such a small, tightly-knit team with three set couples (Nova-Namorita, Justice-Firestar, Night Thrasher-Silhouette), so as a fan it was only natural to wonder about the possibilities of partners being traded (not in a weird way). The idea of alpha male Nova with nice girl Firestar as opposed to brash Namorita, and Angelica Jones swapping smart and sensitive Vance Astrovik for the more down-to-earth Rich Rider intrigued me more than any other potential pairings, and this story just reinforced that. Hey, I’d still like to see this!

Well, writing this has made me feel oddly dirty. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend, freaks…

Cap's Last Supper

Yesterday I wrote a bit about my chat with the legendary Joe Simon about, among other things, the "death" of his most famous creation, Captain America. I related a story Joe told me about painting a version of Jesus' last supper with Cap seated center one of the times Marvel had told him they were killing the character off.

Though it's been over two years since I heard about this piece, I've never actually seen it...until today.

The esteemed Kevin Melrose over at Robot 6 gave my post a nice plug and then, upon reader request, unearthed the famous painting.


So cool! Every bit as rad as I imagined it would be and I'm so glad Kevin found and posted it. For those wondering, the "Gail Simon" whose name appears in the bottom corner is Joe's daughter ("Leonardo" of course is Leonardo da Vinci, who did the original painting of Jesus' final meal, and I love that Joe credits him in the same way somebody would put "After Byrne" if they did a knock-off of that Days of Future Past cover).

Ok, so I can pick out The Red Skull, 3-D Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, The Thing and The Fighting American among the assembled diners, anybody know who the rest are? And anybody know enough about da Vinci's piece to comment on if there's any significance to the placement of folks?