6 Things Ben Got Into This Year

Following in Kiel’s mighty footsteps, I wanted to also endorse a half dozen neat things I discovered and found to be rad over these past 12 months as part of our two-year blogiversary. I don’t think any of these will come as any great surprise—or perhaps I am indeed an enigma wrapped in a mystery more than I believe—but maybe my endorsement this time around gives somebody that last little push to give something cool a shot.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS
Silver Age Marvel has always been a big gap in my comic book reading repertoire until quite recently. One reason is simply that I didn’t have access to the material—even at Wizard our Marvel library started a lot later than our DC stuff—and the other was that I’d sampled old school X-Men and Avengers comics as those were my primary franchises and didn’t really fall in love with them (ditto early Justice League). However, over the last couple years over at Marvel we’ve been re-releasing the Masterworks series in paperback, and thus I’ve had the opportunity to sample the classics. This will shock nobody, but wow, those original Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four runs got their reputations for a reason; the fertility of incredible characters and ideas as well as the frankly stunning Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko art is just jaw-dropping. I also really took a shine to the Stan Lee/John Buscema Silver Surfer series and was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the Captain America series from Tales of Suspense. Next up for me is giving Doctor Strange a try as well as continuing to wait patiently for the Warlock stuff to come around.
PARENTHOOD
I wasn’t sure what to make of this show when it came on—Rickey loves the original movie but I don’t remember it that well—but it has rapidly become one of my absolute favorites on TV. I’m a sucker for family dramedies with talented big-ass casts, in part because I have a very entertaining extended family myself, and since “Brothers and Sisters” has been running out of steam a bit, this came along at the perfect time. I’m happy to see Peter Krause on a good show (since I suffered through the unevenness of “Dirty Sexy Money”), I’m loving seeing what all the fuss was about in regards to Lauren Graham, I’m shocked at how much I enjoy Dax Shephard’s work, and it’s always nice to see Craig T. Nelson on television. That’s just scratching the surface of the great group of actors on this show, and not even getting into brilliant scripting, the clear improvisation, the heartstring-tugging stuff, and the dynamite chemistry—just a pleasure.

DAYTRIPPER
I’ve spent a good bit of blogging real estate this year talking up Daytripper, but now that the series has wrapped, I think it warrants at least one more solid praising. Credit where credit is due: this book wasn’t on my radar at all, but Ryan Penagos recommended it to me after the first issue came out, I borrowed from Rickey (I believe) and then bought the rest of the series, seriously eagerly anticipating each installment. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba created something really beautiful here that I feel like is going to be a timeless work and something I personally look forward to putting on my shelf. Death is a very hard subject for me to deal with or even think about, yet these guys had me devoting time to doing just that every month, and ultimately I do believe I made a little bit of peace with how much living a full life and really appreciating those you love ultimately matters more than anything in the end; can’t speak highly enough of this book.

RING OF HONOR WRESTLING
I’ve never stopped watching pro wrestling, but prior to 2010, I think it had been about seven years since I’d been to a live show. My buddy “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels has tried to remedy this fact in recent years, but I always indisposed whenever he came to town. Finally, back in May, I not only had the fun of Chris joining myself and Megan for lunch at the Saddle Brook Diner, that night I went and saw him perform at Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor V at the Manhattan Center in New York City. There and then again on September 11 for Glory By Honor IX, I had a real blast rediscovering how awesome live wrestling can be via the great product ROH puts on. There’s just something real cool about watching guys who are awesome at what they do and pretty damn fearless put on an incredible show while surrounded by passionate and vocal fans who are totally into it. Getting to hang with the boys after the shows was really a dream come true for me as well, as I’ve always been totally fascinated by this bizarre fraternity that is pro wrestling, and love getting to be even a fringe part of it every few months.

MARVEL ALL-AGES BOOKS
I’ve been pretty openly complimentary to Thor: The Mighty Avenger in particular recently, but that’s really just the crown jewel in the awesome all-ages empire of titles Nate Cosby and his band of miscreants have carved out at Marvel. I’ll admit I used to chuck away the bulk of my Marvel Adventures books in my comps, but once Paul Tobin took over MA Super Heroes with that killer regular Avengers line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Invisible Woman, Black Widow, Vision and Nova, I was hooked and started gobbling it up. When that got re-launched alongside MA Spider-Man, I gave that a shot as well and it’s more great stuff. Those are seriously three of the most enjoyable comic books on the market right now, and I don’t think it matters how old you are as far as digging them; “all-ages” really does mean for all ages in this case. Beyond that, you’ve got Pet Avengers, Power Pack and so on—all great stuff. Roger Langridge, Paul Tobin, Chris Eliopoulos, Chris Samnee, Ronan Cliquet and the rest of the talented crew Nate has assembled are hard-working dudes (and ladies) who love to have a good time and the fruits of their enthusiasm are some of comics’ true gems right now.

AMY’S SOY CHEESE PIZZA
As a guy who gave up pizza about five years ago when I learned I was lactose intolerant and has suffered without it ever since, I cannot thank whoever Amy is enough for this glorious creation.

My Top 5 Comic-Con Celebrity Sightings: 2010 Edition!

Just like last year, Comic-Con 2010 ended up being a hyper-real parade of strange late night encounters with people most of us would vaguely describe as "famous." I'm not the kind of dude who watches TMZ or clicks to People.com in my spare moments, but even I got a little giddy during the show when I'd bump into Jerry O'Connell while heading to dinner in the Gaslamp or bump into Matt Groening and the cast of "V" in my hotel lobby (though part of that giddiness was obviously sleep deprivation).

Though aside from the "aww shucks! weren't that neat?" aspect of bumping into celebrities at The Big Show, I think the thing I like the most about rubbing elbows with minor TV stars and other people too pretty to be nerds is the fact that Comic-Con somehow becomes the ultimate equalizer in terms of how we interact with the people we usually only see on Letterman. The Hollywoodization of San Diego doesn't just mean that these celebs get big panels where their names are cheered for. It also means that they have to share the same hotels, restaurants and pedicabs as people who come to the show to dress up like Power Girl or buy slabbed issues of My Greatest Adventure. And even with the supposedly awesome yet inaccessible studio parties, I think seeing a celebrity at Comic-Con is more like seeing a celebrity at Taco Bell than anything else. Let me show you what I mean with my Top 5 famous folk sightings from this year's show...


5. Erik Estrada

After the first day of the show, Rickey came out to the CBR Yacht after his stint at the DC booth so we could live the glamorous dream of eating Subway and buying beers at Ralph's together. But before we took off on that envy-inducing adventure, we took a quick walk from the slip where CBR's boat was docked to my room at the Marriott Marina Hotel. That path took us just past this spaceship-shaped, Hawaiian-themed restaurant called Ray's. And as we strolled past, Rickey looked up and declared, "Erik Estrada!" and sure enough, the "CHiPS" star was standing by the hostess table being rapidly circled by his nine children (okay, maybe not that many, but there were at least four of them, and they were ALL bouncing off the walls).

As we moseyed on by, I couldn't help but notice that the double E seemed to be quite exasperated with the wait staff. In my mind, I imagined him going, "Look man, I know it's busy here, but I was fucking Ponch...can't I just get goddamned table?!?!" Maybe it was going easier than it looked, but it didn't look that easy on the dude.

In any event, I was glad when I heard that Estrada got some love from members of the Scott Pilgrim cast later in the weekend.


4. LeVar Burton

When I told people that we had LeVar Burton out to the CBR boat for a video interview, they'd do one of two things: sing the theme from "Reading Rainbow" or go "Did he wear a barette over his eyes?" That's about as clear a nerd divide as one can get when you think about it. And really, I'd wondered a little myself whether the real guy was more the imaginatively happy man whose word I didn't have to take for it when it came to picture books or more the no-nonsense problem solver that was Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge.

Though as it turns out, the real LeVar Burton is more like when he shows up on "The Soup" or "Tim & Eric" – a boisterously loud and kind of bonkers joker who doesn't sit still and loves ever minute of it. While most of the staff sat below deck during the on camera CBR interviews, we might as well have been lounging beside him on the captain's chair during his chat with Jonah (which you can see here) as Burton was cracking jokes and rocking the complimentary CBR kazoo at full volume the entire time he was aboard. After the shoot was done, Burton bound down into the cabin for the briefest of moments and declared in the cartooniest pirate voice imaginable "I's just wanted to see what the crew in the bowels of the ship was like. ARRRRRRRRR!" before shooting back up the stair and out of our lives.

I won't lie. It was pretty rad.


3. Donald Glover

Like I said, I've never been really high on trying to get into the big Hollywood parties like the infamous EW shindig or whatever, but one exception I used to make was getting to the United Talent Agency party because the booze was free and it was co-sponored by Oni Press so I got to hang with cool comics people of my acquaintance while gawking at movie stars. This year, the UTA party went on its own way and the Oni crew had their own Scott Pilgrim-themed shindig sponsored by the Toronto Tourism Board. That was great for a few reasons:

1 - As I made my way to the location of the Oni party, I just happened to bump into the Man of the Hour himself – Bryan Lee O'Malley – in the middle of the street. When I asked O'Malley if he was coming from or going to his party, he said, "Going to...follow me!" From there on out, I was led to the entrance where a quick "He's with me" from O'Malley got me a VIP pass and direct entrance into the party (thanks again, dude). I've got to say, for all the bitching I've done about people cutting to the front, acting like a big whig myself for five minutes was kind of awesome.

2 - As expected, the event was chock full of cool people to hang out with. Off the top of my head, I can recall chatting up Matt Loux, Abbie Denson, Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, Doug Sherwood and Chris Butcher, and I KNOW there are people I'm forgetting who I'll want to add back in later. I don't care what people say about comics people getting pushed out by Hollywood – I fucking rocked out with some of the best comics folks I know that night, thank you very much.

3 - At one point in the evening, I came across Oni Editor-in-Chief James Lucas Jones and his super keen wife Jennie (who was MEGA helpful all weekend whenever I was covering Oni and Scott Pilgrim stuff or just bumming around near their booth), and it just so happened at that moment they were hanging with "Community" star and would-be Spider-Man Donald Glover. I snapped the above photo and chatted up the trio for a minute, and while I didn't really get to talk much to Glover in any real way, I have to say that the company he kept made him A-list in my book. I mean, I'm pretty sure dude was the only star in attendance at that party, meaning he bailed on the flashier UTA gig to drink with a cabal of cartoonists and Canadians. Gold star for Donald Glover.


2. Stan Lee

I'm sure EVERYONE who spends some time wandering around Comic-Con gets a Stan Lee sighting at some point – the Man is everywhere at the show! – but it can't be said enough that if anyone from the comics side of the aisle whose crossed over into the broader celebrity, it's Lee (pictured here being awesome thanks to UGO and Robot 6). On Thursday morning, I got dragged to the local Fox affiliate at 5:00 AM to be their "Comic-Con expert" for a 12-second segment, and even though most of the staff (even the ones who dressed in costume) had little to no idea what went on at Comic-Con, there was a buzz at the station because THE Stan Lee was coming in later that morning for his own segment.

Anyway, I crossed paths with Stan The Man early on Friday morning when I was running around seeing folks in the Marriott. While waiting at the elevator bank for a trip down to the lobby, Lee and a young man who I have to assume is one of his POW! Entertainment employees came around the corner and stood next to me. They were talking about another of the countless interviews he'd done for the show.

"So how'd that piece for the newspaper go," Lee's aide said.

"Oh, pretty good. Pretty good," he chuckled in reply.

"Do you think they'll run it tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Probably they will. They get those newspapers out pretty fast these days."

"Do you think they'll run it on the front page?" asked the young man, kind of half checking his Blackberry.

"I don't know about that. Maybe they will. Maybe it'll be on the front page," said Lee, absent-mindedly staring at the floor. Then, he sort of mumbled more to himself than anyone else "Maybe they'll put Obama on page two!"

God bless you, sir.


1. Charlie & The Waitress

You'll never hear me complain about this really, but experiencing Comic-Con as a working reporter is a marathon of running about to the point of exhaustion each and every day, staying out late socializing and forgoing sleep and most meals in the name of work and/or partying. And hey, the negative effects the show takes on your body and brain won't ever outweigh how awesome it is to get paid to party for free at the Scott Pilgrim affair or chat up Kieron Gillen on camera or just plop down in a panel room and hang off Mike Mignola's every word. The job is fucking great, and I won't deny that. But I can't gloss over how bedraggled you end up being by week's end either – mostly because said bedraggling led to my most bad ass celebrity encounter of the show.

Saturday night, despite my extreme exhaustion I found myself in a state of total insomnia after nabbing a few hours of fitful sleep (Comic-Con fucks with your circadian rhythm like whoa) and was wandering about the lobby of my hotel into the wee hours trying to occupy my mind. After chatting up the similarly unsleepy Mike Choi and hacking my way through a draft of my Jeff Parker Red Hulk interview (which I'm still not sure is AT ALL readable but whatever), I was heading back to my room for a power cord at around 4:00 AM when I ran into a problem at the elevator bank.

A young lady and I had both pressed the button to head up to our rooms, but after moments of waiting the only doors that opened were to an elevator containing a cleaning lady, hard at work on her hands and knees scrubbing the entryway to the lift. After a moment of awkward silence, the girl said to me, "I'll just wait for the next one" and I agreed. As the doors slid shut, we hit the up button again and the down button (a trip down would be just one floor before going back up) and waited patiently for a ride that wasn't being waxed for tomorrow's guests.

And thank the Lord we did because moments after that, the husband and wife team of Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis (also known as Charlie Kelly and the waitress from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia") walked right up next to me.

Now, I'm not sure how familiar all of y'all are with the series, but I'm a big "It's Always Sunny" supporter in part because I think Day's Charlie character is primed to go down as the first truly great sitcom character of the 21st Century. Some day we'll talk about Charlie Kelly in the same way we do about Ralph Kramden, Arthur Fonzarelli, Latka Gravas and Cosmo Kramer. Dude is that funny and that unique. So needless to say, the second the pair of them turned the corner and came my way, I started to freak out a little.

And as I sat there debating whether or not to say anything, of course the elevator door that opens ready to go down a floor is the same one where the cleaning lady continued to scrub at the brass step into the unit. After everyone stood there for a minute, the woman looked up from her task and kind of waved us towards the elevator, to which Charlie replied, "Really? Well, yeah okay...it's only one floor down. Come on everybody!" and kind of skipped over the woman into place.

Once we were there, shoulder-to-shoulder with the cleaning lady still scrubbing the elevator's bottom, I couldn't help it and I turned with as much restraint as I could to tell them both how much I loved the show. As the thanked me, Charlie's hand shot right out to shake mine, and he pulled me in a bit with a sly 4:00 AM grin saying, "Did you have a good night tonight, man?"

"Yeah, I had a pretty good night. Now I've just got to get through tomorrow so I can catch my plane back to Chicago."

At this point, Charlie broke out into song in a way which I can only describe as "total Charlie" where the lyrics were "Ohhhhh, he's flyin back to the Ol' CHI-TOWN!" and I had to literally bite my tongue to stop from bursting out laughing. Ellis dragged her (somewhat faded) husband to their room a few floors later with a tossed back "Good night." And with the grin on my face, it was pretty certain that I wouldn't be getting any sleep that last night of the show.

I wish you could've been there with me.

**********

Honorable Mention:

All right, I know this has been going on for a while, and I've used up all my semi-interesting celebrity stories, but I've got one related anecdote I thought I'd share for posterity's sake.

As I said in my "What I Wrote" roundup, the CBR coverage of the whole Hall H eye-stabbing was a really harried and surreal experience all around. Though one humorous bright spot to that sad incident came as I rushed over towards the Hall H doors in hopes of getting word from con officials or the police on what exactly had happened.

After I arrived on the scene and fell into a photo of the suspect doing a perp walk, I made my way over to the big glass doors for the hall where a few journalists and some of the Marvel Comics staff arriving in bewilderment for their own delayed movie panel were milling about. After tapping on the glass and getting the attention of a con staffer, I asked whether a statement would be released, who with the police might go on the record, etc. He didn't seem to know but told me that they'd start letting folks into Hall H in a few minutes so maybe I should wait around.

As I stood there trying to call the San Diego Police's media line, I felt a gentle tug at my sleeve. I turned to find an older woman with red hair and a smile on her face. "Excuse me, young man," she said. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

"I can try," I said. "What can I do for you, ma'am?"

"You see, I'm Mark Ruffalo's mother, and I'm trying to figure out where the Marvel panel is."

At that moment, a gentlemen with the lady started to whisper "He can't help you!" in her ear and pull her away as I thought, "Oh fuck! This poor lady has no idea someone's been stabbed in the eye with a pen! She just wants to see her son become the Hulk!"

Luckily, I was able to wave down Marvel's C.B. Cebulski and Mike Pasciullo who put her in the hands of who I'm pretty sure was Marvel Studio's PR contact Melissa Zukerman. I heard later that she was front and center for her son's big moment. Not a celebrity sighting really, but a sweet lady all around.

Her kid's SUPER dreamy too, right?


See you next year!

Cravin' some Kraven

I swear this post was not born out of any sort of Marvel shill motivation—though if you are a fan of Spider-Man and the villain I’m about to discuss, you should certainly check out the upcoming Grim Hunt storyline in Amazing Spider-Man by the talented creative team of Joe Kelly and Michael Lark kicking off later this month (you’re welcome, Steve Wacker).

No, tonight’s subject actually comes from my recent foray into the original Amazing Spider-Man comics of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, which I have been consuming over the past couple months via the new softcover Marvel Masterworks re-releases (I’ve got one more volume left to go before John Romita takes over on art).

As an aside, this will probably sound redundant to many, but these are really good comics. I have definitely had a stigma against “classic” Silver Age material for much of my post-college years after getting burned by the first couple volumes of Crisis On Multiple Earths (I can’t enjoy stories where Superman and Green Arrow not only have the same voice, but essentially the same powers) and old X-Men and Avengers stuff (both took awhile to find their voice, but this isn’t really news either). However, I put my bias aside to go for it on the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four as well as this Spidey stuff and have been richly rewarded, so I have to really recommend anybody who had my hang-ups does the same. Next up for me is the Captain America stuff from Tales of Suspense and classic Legion of Super-Heroes.

Anyways, aside from the quirkily endearing early persona of Peter Parker and the absolutely dynamic art of Steve Ditko, the thing that really makes those first 30 and change issues of ASM stand out are the truly awesome villains Lee and Ditko cranked out. Their misses were rare (but The Cat was pretty lame) and hits plentiful, but atop the heap of baddies for me from those halcyon days isn’t Doc Ock or The Green Goblin, but instead Kraven the Hunter.

I already had an appreciation for The Hunter having read Kraven’s Last Hunt and recognizing its capacity for rocking like most, but the guy was really a gem from his very first appearance. Here are the things I think put Kraven ahead of the pack…

GREAT MOTIVATION
Too many villains come from the very basic “I want power and/or money and/or to rule the world/this country/my neighborhood” mold. A smaller but still substantial subset just wants revenge on a particular hero because they did them some grievous wrong (though they still also fight other heroes too for some reason). Some villains are just insane. None of these are necessarily bad motivations, indeed many of the very best bad guys in comics spring from these roots, but anytime you see something unique from them, it’s neat.

Kraven fights Spider-Man because he’s a big game hunter who has accomplished everything he has set out to do in his life, and the only challenge remaining for him is to capture/kill a super hero. He didn’t have this idea on his own—The Chameleon prodded him—but it ends up consuming his life. It’s the first thing he has ever failed at and it drives him nuts. If you offer Kraven millions of dollars or his own island, he’ll probably turn you down because neither of those things would allow him to say he beat Spider-Man. And at the end of the day he also doesn’t really truly hate Spider-Man, he actually respects him, he’s just pissed off at him because he prevents him from being able to say he has a perfect record.

There’s a sort of twisted honor to why Kraven does what he does, but it’s also completely nuts, so those two things converge deliciously.

KILLER SKILLS
From his very first appearance in 1964’s Amazing Spider-Man #15, Kraven boasted a skill-set that really separated him from not only Spidey’s other foes, but the majority of comic book bad guys. This was an era where you had the guys who punched real hard, the super geniuses, or the god-like energy wielders. Kraven was strong, he was smart and he had a bag of tricks, and while none of those things on their own really made him a great threat, the way he combined them did.

You check out that first Kraven story and he is so much more deliberate in his plans to immobilize Spider-Man than any other villain to that point. He doesn’t just jump in fists flailing, he scouts his opponent, sets elaborate traps, uses cool toys to gain the advantage (he’s seriously got like the jungle equivalent of Batman’s utility belt) and only then comes in with the physical prowess that allowed him to out-wrestled lions and elephants and shit.

A Spidey-Kraven fight is just fun to follow as there’s as you need to keep up cerebrally instead of just soaking in Ditko’s rad battle sequences.

DYNAMIC LOOK
Kraven’s appearance should be absolutely ridiculous—and I’m sure some people find it so—but I kinda love it. The guy’s wearing a vest with lion eyes that shows up his rippling chest, leopard print pants, and he’s got a truly epic moustache.

He looks like the lost member of the Village People.

But he also looks awesome! Ditko took all these wild, busy elements and pulled them together in just such a way that it looks more fearsome than freaky…but also still pretty freaky. It helps that he was written as enough of a bad ass that you couldn’t imagine anybody (even Spidey) calling him out on his look.

And though I’m no endorser of cruelty to animals, I think there’s a great untold story waiting to be told at where that lion vest came from.

DIFFERENT KIND OF BEAST
Just about every one of Spider-Man’s early villains had some sort of animal theme, be it a vulture, a lizard, an octopus, a scorpion, a rhino, a, um, goblin. The guys like Sandman, Mysterio or Electro already had a leg up to stand out in that regard.

With Kraven, he both opposes and inverts the traditional Spider-Man villain.

On the one hand, he’s a hunter, so he’s the natural enemy of all those animals. On the other, so many of his weapons come from the prey he hunts, so he kinda combines all of them.

So yeah, Kraven just rules.

Amazing Spider-Man #634! June 16! Kraven’s kids are pissed! Buy buy BUY!

Collect This: Marvel Visionaries

One reason I love being a part of Marvel is our incredible Collected Editions department and our immense backlog of trade collections, both because I can fairly easily access some of the best comics ever and because that in itself is something to be proud of.

In particular, I’m a big fan of our Visionaries series, devoted to collecting the key works of marquee creators on characters that made them famous (and in many cases vice versa). Again, the folks responsible for these fine books have done an excellent job covering a significant breadth of Marvel’s immense history, but the pursuit of perfection is one that never ends, so thusly here are a few more classic runs I’ve both read and want to check out that I think merit Visionaries status.

SILVER SURFER VISIONARIES: STAN LEE
Of all the numerous characters that Stan Lee has had some hand in creating, he has often cited The Silver Surfer as his very favorite, and it shows in the laborous love “The Man” applies to Norrin Radd’s pathos and prose. Now you can get Surfer’s debut by Lee and Jack Kirby in the classic Galactus Trilogy in several Fantastic Four collections and pick up his origin by Lee and Gene Colan in Essential Silver Surfer, but it sure would be neat to have both those tales, plus some more Kirby FF goodness, as well as the early Surfer solo stories Lee wrote topped off by his classic collaboration with Moebius all in one handy set.

ADAM WARLOCK VISIONARIES: JIM STARLIN
I got to see cosmic kingpin Jim Starlin play plenty with Adam Warlock as well as his friends and foes with the Infinity trilogy in the 90’s and other subsequent follow-ups, but I’ve longed wanted to check out the gonzo stuff from the 70’s that established both the character and creator as mainstays. Gimme the stuff from Strange Tales and that kooky Warlock ongoing that transformed him from tossed-off Lee/Kirby creation to put-upon interstellar messiah and introduced The Magus as well as ignited his feud with Thanos.

CAPTAIN AMERICA VISIONARIES: MARK GRUENWALD
The much-beloved and greatly-missed late Mark Gruenwald spent a whopping 10 years chronicling the adventures of Steve Rogers and company, and as one would expect, had his ups and downs as anybody would over the course of a decade on one title. Gru’s swansong, Fighting Chance, has been collected, but I want to see the goods from his first five years in particular, including the establishment of the second Baron Zemo, the Sourge saga, the introduction of Flag Smasher, and of course Rogers’ replacement by John Walker and stint as The Captain; cherrypick for a first volume and then we’ll see what’s left for a second.

AVENGERS VISIONARIES: ROGER STERN
A lot of folks know Roger Stern for writing one of the very best Avengers stories of all time in Under Siege, but the guy spent 75 issues with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, starting with the trial of Hank Pym and ending with an assault on Olympus itself. In between, he brought some wild members like Starfox and Doctor Druid onto the team, established both The Wasp and Captain Marvel as impressive female leaders, and crafted some fine stories alongside one of my favorite artists of all time, John Buscema, that I’ve love to see all in one place.

SHE-HULK VISIONARIES: JOHN BYRNE
John Byrne already has one impressive multi-volume Visionaries collection to his name displaying his awesome run on Fantastic Four, a tenure greatly aided by his bringing the boisterous She-Hulk on the team as a replacement for The Thing. Following the end of his FF sting, of of Byrne’s next opuses was a lengthy period on Shulkie’s solo series—albeit one broken up by a hiatus of 22 issues. From all I’ve heard, it was Byrne at his funniest and She-Hulk at her sassiest, but no decent trade exists and I’d like to see that change.

BLACK PANTHER VISIONARIES: CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
For 62 issues over five years, Christopher Priest’s Black Panther was widely hailed as one of the most critically-acclaimed comics on the racks, yet despite every effort on the part of both creator and publisher, it never quite achieved commercial success and always hovered near cancellation level before finally caving. It’s a shame, because having read all 62 of those issues, I can assure you it’s one impressive body of work from start to finish; a true epic with a great beginning, exciting middle, and satisfying end, albeit one that came a bit too soon. With the Panther enjoying some renewed success in print and on the small screen, it would be great to get Priest’s work out there, as he’s responsible for introducing so many characters and components contributing to that resurgence and left an indelible mark on Wakanda.

Hallmarks of the Silver Age part two

Picking up from where we left off...

1963: Iron Man
It’s possible 1963 may have been Marvel’s biggest year of the Silver Age, with Doctor Strange making his debut and both the Avengers and X-Men coming together while the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor and the Hulk all continued to churn forward, introducing new villains and supporting characters as they went. However, I place Iron Man at the head of the class for this one, and would have done so even without the character’s recent big screen success (though that certainly doesn’t hurt). Just as Thor did with fantasy, Iron Man introduced the realm of technology into super hero comics in a way not done before; yeah, heroes and more often villains often wielded fancy weapons of some sort or another, but Iron Man was really the first high profile comic book character who relied solely on technology to provide him with his “powers,” with invention and innovation playing a huge part in his ongoing adventures. On the human side of the coin, Tony Stark was in many ways Bruce Wayne done over Marvel styles, with the same crazy wealth and playboy persona—though his was not a front—but also with his feet firmly planted in the clay of hubris and the unawareness of the idle rich. Iron Man was a richly flawed character from the start, and he’s never really completely reformed his ways, but he has persevered as a good guy in spite of them, which makes him a compelling character. It’s also worth noting that few tropes in super hero lore have been re-used as often as “guy in a suit of armor,” but not other similar character comes close to Iron Man’s success and popularity.

As a recently enlightened Doctor Strange fan, I was tempted to consider Doc here almost on the strength of Steve Ditko’s visuals alone—coupled with being comics’ most prominent magic-wielder—but like how Thor and Hulk get eclipsed by Spider-Man, so too does Strange by Iron Man. The Avengers was just the Justice Society or Justice League done Marvel style, with all the biggest names coming together, and while it’s proven a vital franchise, there wasn’t much innovation behind it and unlike with the year the JLA was created, there was actual competition here. The idea of misfit heroes embodied by the X-Men and Doom Patrol, both created in this year, took Spider-Man’s plight somewhat to the next level, but the latter have never really managed to hit it big, and the former have succeeded not really in much part due to its original incarnation.

1964: Daredevil
Way before the likes of Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, et al. came along to reinvent him into Marvel’s hard-luck kid and most hardboiled costumed hero, Daredevil was in many ways a sort of second rate Spider-Man, ripping off his counterparts acrobatic moves, witty repartee and other trademark qualities in hopes of lightning striking twice. It was a success in some regard as DD remained a viable star who could support his own ongoing series until the 80’s where his renaissance took place, but he never achieved Spidey’s success, nor could he really be expected to given that he basically inherited all his big brother’s hand-me-downs. However, it’s not like Daredevil just exploded two decades after his creation without there being anything there, as Stan Lee, Bill Everett and their collaborators certainly invented a unique protagonist and took some pretty significant risks in his realization. The idea that a hero with a major handicap like blindness would swim as opposed to sink with an audience chiefly composed of young boys who were highly unlikely to find such a setback sexy or appealing certainly could have been enough to shoot the idea down, but Daredevil’s creators persevered and indeed his unique standing as comics’ first and most well-known blind hero—though not the last—laid the groundwork that gave Miller somewhere to start and that has always set him apart from his contemporaries enough to keep him noticed. Major credit must also go to artist Wally Wood, who created one of the medium’s sleekest, coolest looks by modifying DD’s somewhat gaudy original yellow togs into that slick red costume.

The other most significant creations of 1964 were both villains: Spider-Man’s true archnemesis the Green Goblin, and the Justice League’s evil counterparts the Crime Syndicate; both have endured and made for some excellent stories, but neither rates above Daredevil.

1965: The Inhumans
While both Marvel and DC were thriving in terms of the ongoing adventures of their existing characters, 1965 was a bit of a lean year for new characters in comics. However, I’d tag Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s introduction of the Inhumans in the pages of the Fantastic Four as being the most noteworthy new arrival. Though nobody has ever found quite the perfect recipe to making the Inhumans true headliners—though Paul Jenkins made a damn good case—so many creators come back to them time and again wanting to give it a shot because the characters possess some intrinsic quality that makes them quite appealing. I’d say a large part of that can be attributed to Kirby doing some of the finest design work of a remarkable career, particularly with Black Bolt, whose costume has few peers when it comes to sheer radness. The bizarre and intriguing mix of personalities and powers within an extended family unit also presents an irresistible hook for fans and inviting challenge to writers and artists.

Speaking of great looks, the bizarre Metamorpho also hit the scene in 1965 and parallels the Inhumans somewhat in terms of being a consistently popular character with both fans and creators who has never really reached that upper echelon. These days Donna Troy is better known as being the greatest symbol of continuity’s potential damage, but years before her first retcon she was significant as the first female sidekick who really stuck.

1966: The Black Panther
This was maybe the toughest call of this little exercise, as three pretty iconic and impressive characters all debuted as part of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s ongoing Fantastic Four tour de force in 1966, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to go with the Black Panther. Obviously the major consideration here is that he’s the first African-American hero who really broke through comics’ color barrier and emerged as a legitimate star, but that aside, T’Challa really is a pretty great character on merits aside from that as well. The concept of the warrior king was hardly a new one in either comics or fiction in general by the time Lee and Kirby created the Panther, but I’ve always liked the way they made him a thinker first and fighter second—a trend pretty much every subsequent creator handle the character has continued and improved—who had an edge over opponents who outmatched him based on his ability to keep his cool and strategize. The idea of a technologically-advanced civilization in the middle of Africa may not have been born with Wakanda, but certainly Lee and Kirby gave this particular fictional nation more spark than any others. Ultimately though, great character or not, the Black Panther will always be most remembered for being a trendsetting black character not only due to his coming first (or darn close), but also for the respectability he has garnered.

The other guys I had under consideration for 1966 were the cosmic duo of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, introduced in perhaps the best Lee-Kirby collaboration ever. The Silver Surfer is one of the most incredibly tragic figures in all of comics, Galactus is the amazing realization of two of the medium’s most epic minds working at their biggest scope and both sport, again, great Kirby designs, an had they just been introduced a couple months earlier they would have been shoo-ins; oh well.

1967: Batgirl
While Wonder Woman has always been recognized somewhat de facto as DC’s top female character—and the biggest female character in comics history—I daresay the Barbara Gordon incarnation of Batgirl is not only more affable in many ways, but has also left a more fondly remembered impression on a wider audience (within comics at least; despite Yvonne Craig’s best efforts, she can’t topple Lynda Carter on her best day). At first thought, the idea of a teenage girl slipped into the grim world of Batman may seem an odd fit, and during some periods it would have been, but Barbara came about during the Dark Knight’s more innocent Silver Age days and acclimated perfectly. In the long view though, just as Robin gave Batman a necessary counterbalance to his darkness in the Golden Age, Batgirl added a just as crucial element of renewed enthusiasm as the 60’s began to wind down. With a great costume and that neat link to the civilian side of Gotham as Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara gained an acceptance among male fans many female characters never enjoy—and was probably the first crush for more than a few—and was certainly also a more than decent role model to young girls with her pluck, independent spirit and ingenuity. Her translation to various forms of multimedia (Alicia Silverstone aside) also demonstrates the character’s enduring value.

1967 also saw Steve Ditko leave the Marvel nest definitively with his creation of The Question perhaps his best-known character from outside the House of Ideas and another chance for him to explore his fascination with the ideals of right and wrong. Vic Sage has become a neat vessel for creators like Denny O’Neil to play with over the years and benefits from strong roots put in place by Ditko.

1968: Franklin Richards
As you’ve no doubt gathered by reading this list (and likely by being a comic book fan), a lot of first took place in the pages of Fantastic Four, including the first time two teammates entered into a lasting marriage, followed in 1968 by the Invisible Girl giving birth to Franklin Richards, the first child of super heroes after a fashion. Certainly Franklin has not always been the most beloved character, but his continued presence (and lack of aging—save for time travel hijinx) in the FF’s world over the last 30 years both speaks to a core of quality and the fact that once again Fantastic Four is not quite like most other comics. Some creators have also done some pretty neat stuff with Franklin over the years—not just in terms of Chris Eliopoulos’ laudable all-ages efforts, but in the Marvel Universe proper as well—including current FF scribe and major Franklin fan Jonathan Hickman.

Two other enduring figures who showed up in Avengers during 1968 were the yin and yang of the Marvel robotic set, Ultron and the Vision, with one becoming an implacable villain who has become only more terrifying with time and the other carving a niche as a unique hero and touching examination of humanity’s nature.

1969: Black Canary
DC wrapped the Silver Age as it had begun it: by taking a Golden Age concept, applying some polish, and creating a new superstar. In this case, the elevation was done in the form of Dinah Laurel Lance, the second and more well-known Black Canary. Though at the time the Canary was thought to simply be the same lady from the 1940’s migrating over from Earth-2 to Earth-1 following the death of her husband, she immediately displayed a new take-charge personality in fitting with the rising feminist movement, and we would learn years later via retcon this was in fact the daughter of the heroine who served in the Justice Society, so we’ll go ahead and recognize her first appearance as being in 1969. Regardless of her origins, the revitalized Black Canary represented a new breed of female characters who didn’t need the powers of Wonder Woman to break out of the role of damsel in distress, and gave the Justice League a feminine counter to the similarly non-powered Batman and Green Arrow. The romance between Arrow and Canary would also quickly become one of the most intense and popular in comics, opening up a whole new world in the 70’s.

Across the street at Marvel, Stan Lee and Gene Colan gave Captain America a new partner who couldn’t be more different from his original teen sidekick Bucky: the street-smart, mature, high-flying Falcon, who also happened to be a black man. Written with a combination of savvy and passion by Lee and successors, Falcon would prove popular enough to share billing with Cap on his series for several years.

Well this was fun and educational for me, so I hope you all dug it—anybody wanna see me tackle the 70’s next?

Hallmarks of the Silver Age part one

Obviously the Golden Age of comics is where it all started, so it’s always going to have that going for it. In the 80’s, revolutionary work by guys like Alan Moore, Frank Miller, John Byrne and more turned the industry on its ear and forced it to grow up while the underground underwent a revitalization as well. The 90’s was the era of access and the past decade has been nothing to scoff at with leaps and bounds both creatively and commercially.

But after all is said and done, no period in comic industry proved as pivotal and creatively fertile as the Silver Age.

From 1956 to 1969 (which is what we’ll be classifying as the Silver Age for our purposes), dozens (if not hundreds—maybe hundreds) of iconic comic book characters were created and a generation of incredibly talented creators picked up their pens and pencils to make their mark. These were the years that established comic books—and the super hero genre in particular—were here to stay as a fixture of pop culture that would spread like wildfire over the second half of the century in beyond into all facets of media.

The other day, Rickey and I were having a conversation about some of the more incredible concepts that sprang out of the Silver Age and how amazingly rich they’ve proven for a time often considered simplistic until you take a closer look. That chat prompted me to do a little digging, figure out what characters debuted when, and try to tag year-by-year what I thought were the most innovative, dynamic and influential creations to emerge over that 14-year stretch; here’s 1956 through 1962.

1956: The Flash
Though I’ve made no secret that the Flash has long been one of my favorite characters (though since we’re talking Barry Allen here, that’s more in the broad, abstract sense that I love the costume and powers in this case), he doesn’t need my personal endorsement to be the undisputed king of 1956, the year that kick-started the Silver Age. Make no mistake: had Julius Schwartz not rolled the dice and commissioned Robert Kanigher, John Broome and Carmine Infantino to give DC’s old Golden Age Flash concept a sci-fi-heavy sprucing up, and had Barry Allen not succeeded, there may not have ever been a Silver Age, and comic books might all still be about war and romance to this day. So yeah, in addition to being the character of 1956 by a long shot, the Barry Allen Flash is also in my mind one of the top five most important super hero characters of all-time.

1957: Challengers of the Unknown
Compared to 1957 with the Flash’s dynamic debut, 1958 was a pretty lean year for comic book creations, but Jack Kirby did produce one standout concept that would end up being even more notable for influencing his more high profile work down the line in the Challengers of the Unknown. With the Chals, Kirby became one of—if not the—first creators to delve into protagonists who weren’t just square-jawed good guys getting into fist fights with society’s undesirable elements, but rather a quirky group built around a family dynamic whose adventures emerged from their ongoing quest to chart the undiscovered regions of our world. And the whole “living on borrowed time” because they survived a plane crash together thing? Pretty cool.

1958: The Legion of Super-Heroes
Super hero teams were not an altogether new idea when Otto Binder and Al Plastino introduced the Legion of Super-Heroes into Superboy’s life in 1958, but whereas the Justice Society of America and Invaders had set a certain precedent, the Legion broke new ground. Unlike those aforementioned teams, the Legion did not come about from a company taking all its biggest name characters and using the surefire recipe for success of putting them all in the same book, but consisted instead wholly of new characters who appeared for the first time as part of a pre-existing team. Obviously this approach stemmed from the original intent of the Legion being to supply Superboy with fresh supporting cast members, but the group proved so rich and popular that they would eventually supplant their ostensible lead in terms of popularity and even longevity. Also making the Legion unique from the start was their membership consisting solely of young characters that represented the ultimate wish fulfillment fantasy for readers and their setting in the future putting them completely apart from the rest of the DC Universe.

Honorable mention for 1958 has to go to another character that came into existence via Superman: Bizarro, who has proven the most popular and enduring in a long line of “evil twin” villains.

1959: Green Lantern
The thing that got this whole ball rolling in terms of the conversation I mentioned between Rickey and I was Green Lantern, who was DC’s next big Silver Age pillar three years after the Flash, with John Broome and Gil Kane stepping even further into the realm of sci-fi for this twist on an old favorite. Honestly, I don’t think Hal Jordan on his own would necessarily have been a hugely impactful character, but the incredible mythology he helped his creators introduce into the DC Universe is virtually unparalleled in terms of grand scope. While Batman and the Flash both have superior rogues galleries, the idea of 3600 space cops from every alien race the folks writing and drawing could imagine has produced some truly amazing characters and stories over the years. Beyond that, the huge ideas behind the Guardians and their Green Lantern Corps have beget such monumental contributions to the DC Universe as Krona, Qward, the Manhunters and so on and so-forth; no franchise has done more to enrich the vast galaxy beyond Earth than Green Lantern, and as the success of the Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night as well as the seemingly endless parade of new ideas Geoff Johns keeps churning out demonstrate, it continues to be incredible relevant and productive.

Believe it or not, I did think for a moment about giving Sgt. Rock the nod for 1959 as he was the character who first pulled war comics through into the Silver Age, but ultimately Nick Fury became a far more prominent character and Rock can’t hold up against Green Lantern besides. Supergirl was also introduced this year and has merit as the first female version of a male character to really last as well as on general popularity and visibility, but she falls just short as well.

1960: The Justice League of America
Really the decision by Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox to unite their seven most marquee heroes as the Justice League in 1960 wasn’t particularly innovative since it was just the Justice Society done over, but it was undeniably smart from a business standpoint and has certainly provided immeasurable entertainment for fans over the last half century. Unlike the Flash or Green Lantern, the JLA didn’t deviate much from the JSA formula of simply bringing huge draws together, but there’s no denying the impact of the group or that the success of this launch would raise the stakes as far as team books and thrown down the gauntlet to DC’s competition.

While certainly dwarfed by the events that took place around him during his first appearance, Snapper Carr was one of the first truly non-powered characters to earn himself an active spot as the Justice League’s trusted mascot. Also, Elongated Man never quite achieved headliner status, but his publicly-known identity—a major problem for him way down the line—as well as his more lighthearted persona and well-adjusted romantic life made him a unique creation.

1961: The Fantastic Four
I’ve written at some length before about the huge importance of the Fantastic Four in terms of changing comics and super heroes forever—and for the better in my humble opinion—so I’ll direct you there rather than rehash too much, but to touch on the big stuff, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby changed the game by introducing a group of protagonists who actually had flaws and distinct personalities and who didn’t always get along; in other words, they were human. With Lee, Kirby took his basic formula from the Challengers of the Unknown and raised it several echelons with the FF in terms of building on the idea of a family of heroes as well as a group that was concerned with exploration first and incidental do-gooding a close second.

1962: Spider-Man
Speaking of game-changers, when I spoke about Barry Allen being one of the five most important super heroes ever, Spider-Man is ahead of him on that list. While the Flash may have begun the Silver Age and the Fantastic Four gave comics its first feet-of-clay heroes, I don’t think I’m overstating that when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man, they spawned a character that ensured the survival of their industry. For the most part, comics have always been the realm of young men when it comes to who is making up the fan base, and while guys in their tweens, teens and slightly above thrilled to the adventures of Superman and company, they connected with Spider-Man in a way they never had any other character. First and foremost, this was a young character who was not playing sidekick to an older hero, he was out there on his own the way the kids reading him longed to be. Second, while the FF had their flaws, Spidey practically made them look like the Justice Society; yes, at his heart Peter Parker is a fundamentally good person who wants to do the right thing and that has driven the success of Spider-Man for over 40 years, but he was not born with this innate nobility, he had to learn it through a series of costly mistakes, the same way most of us do in the real world. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Peter Parker was an outcast in the same vein as many of his fans. Sure Clark Kent was a nerd, but only because he pretended to be, and besides, he was still a hugely successful reporter; Peter could not escape his put-upon persona unless he put on a mask—and even then his life was hardly bed of roses—and he was constantly bombarded by life’s mundane villains, from trouble with girls to bullies to making ends meet financially. I’ve not always been the biggest Spider-Man fan myself, but I could never doubt the nearly-unparalleled and universal appeal by virtue of being relatable the character has among a huge chunk of fandom and the amazing—pun intended—impact he has had on comics.

In any other year Thor or the Hulk would have a good shot due to bringing high fantasy to comics in a way not accomplished prior and the strength of a great Jekyll and Hyde dynamic respectively, but as far as this list goes, they had the misfortune to be “born” in 1962.

To be continued...

The Definitives: Doctor Strange

Here's a tip to aspiring comic creators looking to create new characters: If you're looking to have your male heroes appeal to kids, don't give them greying temples.

From early on in my comic book fanship, I not only noticed that I never saw any real world physical evidence that men started going grey from their temples, I also quickly realized that the dudes sporting white patches around their ears were generally fatherly types who weren't gonna be challening the mulleted ear-pierced glory of Nova or Superboy for my attentions any time soon. This meant I ignored Fantastic Four before they "killed off" Reed Richards and put his wife in a bathing suit with the "4" cut out, did not purchase Green Lantern until Hal Jordan went nuts and got replaced by Kyle Rayner, and never paid any mind to Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme.

In the decade-plus since those youthful days, I like to think I'm developed enough to not be quite so quick in deeming a fictional character uncool simply because of a wacky physical trait. I think the proof in that is that I still can't stand Hal Jordan even though his hair is totally brown again (and Geoff Johns is writing great stories about him)

But in all seriousness, since I was 13, I've gone back and discovered many good FF stories as well as more than a few instances where I dug a Green Lantern yarn starring you-know-who.

I've also taken a shine to Doctor Strange, who I would never think to name as one of my very favorite characters, but I daresay he may top my list of comic book sorcery types. He definitely possesses a certain debonair charm and wizened cool that shines because he's a bit more advanced in years than most characters as opposed to in spire of it.

As my interest has recently been reignited thanks to the Strange limited series penned my the magnificent Mark Waid, here are my personal favorite stories starring the Master of the Mystic Arts.

"The Origin of Dr. Strange"
I'm not a big devotee of the Silver Age generally as I feel a lot of the material holds up better in theory than in practice, and while I'm cool with revering what that old stuff innovated and led us to, I prefer not to re-read it. I would say the two biggest exceptions I've found to that rule--i.e. the stuff I still enjoy reading in nearly 2010--are the earliest installments of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, as well as those of Doctor Strange in Strange Tales by Lee and Steve Ditko. Obviously both strips benefitted tremendously from having artistic giants in Kirby or in Strange's case Ditko whose work was revolutionary and does not feel dated five decades later because it was simply that good. At the same time, the motivations provided by Lee and his co-creators for why their heroes did what they did also went a long way in both instances.

With Spider-Man, I dug the basics of his origin long before I developed any real interest in the character, and I'd say such is also the case with Doctor Strange. This makes sense, as in many ways the prototypical Stephen Strange was very similar to the formative Peter Parker pre-mystic schooling/radioactive spider bite; sure one was a wealthy and successful surgeon while the other was a put-upon nerdy teenager, but both fell squarely into the category of not being out and out bad guys, but also not folks spurred easily to heroism either.

The fact that Strange started out as a cocky jerk makes him infinitely more appealing in my book. That he sought out the means by which to ultimately do good not for that reason but to selfishly help himself adds a layer of pathos to his story and both provides that ever-present danger he could backslide into his previous unethical self as well as the satisfaction when he does not and devotes himself to penance for half a life in some ways ill-spent (I'm actually seeing even more parallels to Hal Jordan as I write this, but I don't want to take time articulating them, just thought it was worth noting).

Strange's origin has been re-told and fiddled with many times since, but I still defer to the Lee/Ditko version from Strange Tales #115 as being rad from the start and not really needing any update.

Marvel Fanfare
When I snagged the Marvel Fanfare trade gathering the first seven issues of that veritable 80's anthology title for a read, no question the crown jewels of the collection were a pair of standalone Doctor Strange stories by a quintet of industry legends, each dealing with Doc up against a brash young would-be contender to his Sorcerer Supreme throne.

In "To Steal the Sorcerer's Soul!" by Chris Claremont and the art team of Marshall Rogers and P. Craig Russell, the crafty Nicodemus uses a little girl to Trojan Horse his way into the Sanctum Sanctorum and then capitalizes on a distraction he created by victimizing Doc's girlfriend, Clea, to transfer most of Strange's considerable power into him. Having to think on the fly rather than rely on his years of experience and most potent spells, Strange jumps to the astral plane and then directs Clea in the use of her own mystical abilities in order to outwit the more-powerful Nicodemus in quite clever fashion if I do say so myself. Rogers' wonderfully wavt layouts aided by Russell's psychadelic inks are the perfect fit for a magic-based story while Claremont's usual loqautiousness also proves quite apt for Strange and makes me wish he had writen the character more over the years.

The ostensible follow-up tale, "The Showdown!" sees the arrogant yet oddly likable Ian McNee show up at Doctor Strange's door demanding a duel for the title of Sorcerer Supreme in a yarn by Roger Stern and Charles Vess. Doc shows poise, calmly inviting Ian in, explaining he has been expecting him, then ushering him along to the arena of mystic combat. Vess unleashes several pages of glorious mystic combat, pulling out all the stops in visually expressing magic in all its glory, before Stern abruptly tosses in a curveball that completely alters the proceedings in an unexpected way. It's a neat bit of smoke and mirrors, so I won't spoil the whole deal here, but needless to say, Strange must again rely on smarts over sorcery to dispatch Ian and teach him a lesson in the process. As much as I like arrogant unsure Doc, I also find his all-knowing zen persona to be neat as well, so I dig this bit of business a lot.

"Strange Matters"
As you may have gathered from the first two entries in this post, I find Doctor Strange to be quite the multi-faceted character, and it's largely in seeing him alternate between various figurative hats (no doubt pointy and adorned with many stars) from which I derive my enjoyment of following his adventures. Another role Strange fills within the Marvel Universe is that of de facto leader and babysitter of the ever-bickering Defenders, serving to try and keep teammates the Hulk and Namor at arm's length lest they tear each other apart rather than their foes.

During his epic run on Incredible Hulk, writer Peter David reunited the three original Defenders for a two-part tale in issues #370-371, illustrated by Dale Keown. It's actually an interesting twist on the typical dynamic, as the Hulk is in his belligerent but more intelligent grey incarnation while Namor is considerably calmer than usual, meaning Strange doesn't need to play peacemaker and instead enlists his two old allies in battling his counterpart Sorcerer Supreme from a dark alternate dimension.

Said baddie Sorcerer Supreme ends up possessing the Hulk and thus fisticuffs ensue, but I enjoy this story far more for PAD's trademark psychological dissection of the three leads and their relationships with one another, Strange and how he relates to his colleagues in particular. And "colleagues" is the right word in this case, as the trio clearly has been through enough to consider one another more than just co-workers, but they're not quite friends either. It's actually quite neat and refreshing to see a super hero dynamic based more on respect and necessity than pumped up camraderie once in awhile, and that's on display in full here.

I actually perhaps most enjoy the scenes between Doctor Strange and non-Hulked out Bruce Banner, as you can kinda feel a swell of pride in Doc for the long-suffering Banner and how he has managed to survive all these years and never been completely overwhelmed by the monster within. Doctor Strange doesn't have too many close buddies in the Marvel U outside of Wong, but he certainly shares something significant with Namor and the Hulk, and it's nice to see the human being get to shine over the magician for a bit, almost like watching your dad when some old college buddies he wasn't particularly to but shares fond memories with need a stopover.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Much as I consider the mid-90's Spider-Man cartoon a guilty pleasure, I hardly consider much about it definitive in any significant way, but man, they nailed Doctor Strange pretty stone cold.

In the opening chapter to the shows third season-long "Sins of the Father" arc, the aptly-titled "Doctor Strange," Spidey ends up needing the Sorcerer Supreme's help when Mary Jane gets caught up in a cult run by Strange's archenemies, Baron Mordo and the dread Dormammu. Spider-Man actually goes after Mordo on his own first, but ends up under hypnosis and dispatched to steal the Wand of Watoomb, necessitating Strange and Wong to break the spell and then offer back-up on the Wallcrawler's second run to save MJ.

As you can probably tell from that quick summary, in this half hour episode the folks behind Spider-Man: TAS manage to nail just about all the major hallmarks on Doctor Strange mythology, from his origin to the Sanctum Sanctorum to Wong to the Mordo/Dormammu combo and even the Wand of Watoomb. It kicks off with a pretty nicely-animated (for 1994) fight sequence with Strange putting down the mesmerized Spidey and gives Doc the chance to play the "big gun" cavalry he often serves as in the comics.

The episode also benefits from some stellar voice-casting, as the late John Vernon--no doubt best-known as Dean Wormer in "Animal House," but also a super hero voice acting alum as Rupert Thorne on "Batman: The Animated Series" and a legend to me and my buddies as the immortal Officer Mooney in the classic "Killer Klowns From Outer Space"--exudes equal parts authority and swagger as Strange. And George Takei as Wong? Awesome!

Doctor Strange: The Oath
I know I'm not the only guy reading comics today or reading this blog entry who first realized the potential for coolness in Doctor Strange in 2006 thanks to Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's superlative limited series Doctor Strange: The Oath. This was the story that allowed me to look past the perception of the stodgy old guy with grey temples I remembered from youth and discover all the other stuff on this list (well, except the Spider-Man episode--that ship had sailed) plus much more.

Vaughan took Stephen Strange very much back to his roots, not turning the clock all the way back to his pre-sorcerous total heel days, but reminding us that beneath the Shakespearean verse and alliterative toys, there was still a self-assured fellow who knew he was very good at what he did and does it best with a wink and a smirk.

The story opens in the medical clinic of Night Nurse and wastes no time cutting to the quick as Wong rushes in with a Doctor Strange who is bleeding out thanks to a gun wound to the chest. Night Nurse races to save Doc's life with the aid of a surprising consult: Strange himself in astral form! Immediately Vaughan ignites sizzling chemistry between these two characters who straddle the medical and super heroic worlds, as ghost Doc has plenty of time to put the moves on the alluring Nurse even as he's overseeing his own emergency surgery.

However there's a third essential point of the characterization triangle of The Oath, and that's Wong. Ever Doctor Strange's trusted aide and closest ally, the typically unflappable Wong faces peril that provides the motivation for this adventure and allows Vaughan to show how much Strange has grown from that self-absorbed surgeon into a true hero who will risk everything for his the people he cares about. We also see the humanity in Strange as the oft-nearly omnipotent Sorcerer Supreme is faced with a problem he can't abra kadabra away, and thus shows his frustration and desperation as he rages against a deadly deadline.

Vaughan creates a unique dilemma for Strange (won't spoil it here) and provides him with fascinating enemies (that either), but the gold here is the presentation of the stoic Doctor as a three-dimensional and likable rogue who is fully capable of demonstrating friendship, romance and passion for doing what he believes. In short, he takes a character who was far too much a deus ex machina for many years and transforms him back into an exciting and vibrant protagonist who motivates events rather than end them.

Complimenting Vaughan's brilliant writing is Marcos Martin, an artist who needs not take a back seat to any illustrator in the modern era. Martin's trademark is the ability to take deceptively simple linework and use it to create gorgeous figures, capturing true emotion in every scene he depicts. He takes to Strange's world like a fish to water, exalting in both the out-of-this-world mystic scope as well as the subtle noir Vaughan uses to paint his renewed picture of the good doctor.

Though he compares himself to Sherlock Holmes throughout the series and the parallels are clear, the great detective has nothing on Doctor Strange in The Oath.

The Definitives: Fantastic Four

As a kid, I never really got into the Fantastic Four. I think a big part of that comes from me being in the throes of oncoming adolescent rebellion and not particularly cottoning to the idea of a super hero "family" being cool. Truth be told, I'm sometimes surprised the FF has remained as commercially viable as it has for so many years given that a large part of its target audience has always been tweens who don't want to spend time with their parents, but that consistent success speaks to the strength of the core concept.

That appeal and the inventiveness of what Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created is something I came to appreciate a lot more on a more professional/critical level, if still not really a personal one, as I resumed reading comics as an adult (or close to it) and began drifting into the industry myself. I began to gain a respect for what a game-changer Fantastic Four was in terms of moving comics away from the "everybody has the same personality and everybody is always happy" early Silver Age DC stuff and into the more nuanced character work of the 60's and beyond.

My third phase of interaction with the Fantastic Four is where I'm at today: I still wouldn't say I'm among the world's biggest FF fans, but I've developed a soft spot for Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny that was never there before. Part of that may come from working at Marvel and having been exposed to more material than at any other time in my life, but I also think as I've gotten older, strengthened my relationship with my parents, and settled down a bit in temperament, I've been able to move past the bias I had against a family-oriented comic once upon a time and see there are some really excellent stories starring these characters.

Here are some of them.
"Bedlam at the Baxter Building!"
If you want an example of how Lee and Kirby were able to make the Marvel Universe feel like an actual universe long before the advents of Civil Wars and Secret Invasions, this would be the one in the textbook. It's the wedding of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, an event that would in and of itself qualify as a comic book landmark, but Lee and Kirby up the ante by having Doctor Doom use a "high frequency emotion charger" to influence pretty much every prominent Marvel villain who had been introduced by 1965, including Kang, the Mandarin, Electro, the Mad Thinker, the Puppet Master, Attuma, Hydra and more, into attacking the big event. Fortunately, the Avengers, the X-Men, Nick Fury and others happen to be on the guest list (and Spider-Man and Daredevil happen to be in the neighborhood), so the baddies never get inside the church, allowing Reed and Sue to focus on tying that knot. While the sizzle here is getting to see Kirby's unparalleled rendition of the entire Marvel U in one place, at one time, in one book, the steak is still the emotional stuff between the FF members, be it Reed finally committing to something other than science, Ben displaying his softer side or Johnny growing up a bit as his sister gets hitched; you could say it's not just a marriage of two super heroes, but also of dynamite action with scintillating soap opera as well (and I just did!). "The Coming of Galactus"
Ironically, while I have read the actual Galactus Trilogy in its original form at some point, that's probably the interpretation I remember the least; I do recall having seen it in plenty of other incarnations, both in print (most memorably in Marvels) and on the small screen as part of the seminal 90's FF cartoon (featuring Brian Austin Green rapping!). The story has translated so well on so many occasions in so many ways (and while I wasn't the biggest fan of the animated series I just mentioned, I loved the Galactus episodes, probably because they adopted it pretty faithfully) because it really is Lee and Kirby hitting on all cylinders with huge concepts, amazing set pieces, and wonderful characters, from the FF themselves to Galactus to the Silver Surfer. It's an epic that feels like a huge deal even if you go back and read it today, with high stakes and pivotal moments, so I can only imagine the scale back in 1966. While the FF don't necessarily get the whole spotlight, in many ways that is one of the times when Fantastic Four is at its best as a comic: the lead quartet are familiar and likeable enough to take something of a backseat and serve as your guides to a world of unfamiliar and amazing heroes and villains. The pathos of the Silver Surfer, the humanity embodied by Alicia Masters, the brilliant Kirby designs of Galactus and his technology, and the FF's struggle basically against God all make for a classic story that earned its place there.
"Terror in a Tiny Town"
If (like I said above) Lee and Kirby spent their impressive formative run on Fantastic Four largley utilizing the FF as a door to introduce the universe in their minds, a decade after they wrapped up, John Byrne took over as writer/artist and, while not abandoning the exploration aspect of the book altogether, definitely excelled when it came to really getting in the heads of the FF, showing what made them tick, pushing them to their limits, then building them back up. In a particularly impressive yarn from Fantastic Four #236, Byrne cold opens the issue with Johnny Storm having a nightmare about a familiar space flight and bursting into flames only to wake up to his normal, happy life in Liddleville, alongside Reed, Sue, a human Ben, a not-blind Alicia and her stepfather, Philip, who is not the Puppet Master? What the hell? Of course it's all good to be true, and you know that from page one, but Byrne weaves a tearjerker of a tale about the FF getting everything they ever wanted at too great a cost, and the horrible sacrifices they must make to set things "right." It's emotional, it's intensely psychological, and it features an incredible villain reveal as well as great art by Byrne to match his words.
Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules
I can pretty much guarantee that James Sturm and Guy Davis' Unstable Molecules is unlike any other Fantastic Four story you will ever read--that certainly rings true for me--but it's certainly worth it, as it takes the bedrock characteristics of the FF and uses them as the building blocks for an entirely different kind of story that is extremely thought-provoking and entertaining. Unstable Molecules is basically Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny without super powers, placed in the complex world of America in the 1960's with their character quirks played out in what would seem to be logicial extremes in the "real world" without aliens and tyrants to battle. It's a fascinating commentary on relationships, gender roles, the class system, youthful rebellion and a lot more, as well as a surreal look at how bizarre it would be to live in the same neighborhood as the Fantastic Four even if they didn't turn invisible or have skin made of rocks. This sucker won an Eisner, so you don't need to just take my word for it.
"Unthinkable"
My first real, prolonged exposure to the Fantastic Four as a reader began in 2006 when Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo came onboard as the creative team. I was a big fan of Waid and dug Wieringo too, but I'll be honest: the nine cent price on their first issue was probably the biggest factor in me picking it up. Said issue did it's job though, as Waid penned a story that summed up perfectly why the FF was a fun grouping of diverse archetypes who played off one another beautifully and also demonstrated his ability to tell the sad side of their story while Wieringo just made everything look absolutely gorgeous. However, while I enjoyed the initial seven issues of what would become an excellent run just fine, it was in the eighth story, the prologue to Waid's opus to Doctor Doom, "Unthinkable," that I truly became a believer. I know that some folks weren't huge fans of the revamp Waid and Wieringo gave to Doom (I worked with them at Wizard), but for me, the idea that Doom would eschew science for magic as a way to finally gain his revenge against Reed and the FF made perfect sense and I loved how it opened up the toolbox beyond Doombots and deathtraps. From the prologue issue, which swings abruptly and powerfully from poignant to tragic, through the utter torture Doom puts the FF through in the subseqeunt chapters, "Unthinkable" is just amped-up emotion incarnate and maybe the best demonstration I've ever seen if what makes Doom such an awesome villain and unstoppable force of malice. But as much as the big overtures make "Unthinkable," so do the clever twists Waid throws in, not the least of which is how Reed ultimately saves the day. "Unthinkable" is a case where you can really see two great creators having fun and demonstrating mastery over their craft; it's quite something to behold.