Featuring: X-Men Release: November 4, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents Story: Stan Lee Layouts: Jack Kirby Pencilling: Jay Gavin Delineation: Dick Ayers Lettering: Art Simek 20 pages
In my ignorance, my fear, I created an evil far greater than the menace it was built to destroy!
They are still tweaking the tagline. “The most mysterious fighting team of all time!” Usually, they are “unusual” instead of “mysterious”.
This issue is about the redemption of Bolivar Trask. But we see in the pull quote above, that he still doesn’t quite get it. He figures out that the Sentinels are worse than mutants, but the lesson should be that he was wrong to hate and fear all mutants.
Night of a Million-Zillion Ninja
by Ben Edlund and Maxfield Banks
He stands… Like some sort of pagan god or deposed tyrant. Staring out over the city he’s sworn to… to stare out over… And it’s evident… Just by looking at him… That he’s got some pretty heavy things on his mind.
And what is there to possibly say? How many words can I squeeze out of, “It’s funny.” (Over a thousand, it turns out.)
I guess I could point at different gags and say, “Look isn’t this one funny?” That’s kind of like commentary.
And if we’re going to talk about an issue of The Tick, why this one?
The answer to that is easy: I like this joke about a hedge.
I could have covered the first issue insead. That tells his origin, and I do like his origin, enough to quote it here.
Destiny is a funny thing. Once I thought I was destined to become Emperor of Greenland, sole monarch over its 52,000 inhabitants. Then I thought I was destined to build a Polynesian longship in my garage. I was wrong then, but I’ve got it now. I’m the destined protector of this place. I’m this City’s superhero.
Jenny and her brother Butch get trapped in another dimension where they meet a teenage superhero named Zot. They go on an adventure and face all these villains and Butch gets turned into a monkey. Fun all around. The series lasted 10 issues, published by Eclipse comics, 1984-85.
A couple years passed. Finally, Zot! #11 hit the stands. Now black and white. Jenny had been a point-of-view character, a way for the audience to see themselves in Zot’s story. But by now McCloud had decided she was really the star, and that this was the story of a girl who occasionally visited a fantasy world she was starting to find more real than her own world.
But as to the real protagonist of Zot!… the true character arc on display belongs to Scott McCloud himself. He was 23 when he started Zot! and 30 when he finished. He changed a lot in that time, in terms of figuring out what he wanted from life and from the comics medium. What stories he wanted to tell. How he wanted to tell them.
“Even between good friends, there are things that are hidden.” “That is the nature of friendship, but more is revealed over time.”
Stan Sakai has been writing, drawing, and lettering the adventures of Usagi Yojimbo for 38 years and counting. A ridiculous number of comics made almost entirely by a single individual.
Usagi stories first appeared in various anthology comics such as Albedo and Critters before he finally got his own ongoing series published by Fantagraphics. Sakai has found new publishers every so often, moving from Fantagraphics to Mirage, then to almost 30 years with Dark Horse before recently starting the fourth Usagi series with IDW.
I was going to attempt to begin with a summary of Usagi’s story, but I realize I can’t do any better than the summary that opens the first Dark Horse issue, meant to serve as a starting point for new readers.
So let’s just quote it.
The close of 16th century Japan is regarded as the age of civil wars, as feudal lords fought amongst themselves for land and power. It was during the Battle of Adachigahara that samurai Miyamoto Usagi lost his Lord Mifuné to the armies of Lord Hikiji.
Finally one leader rose above the others and was proclaimed Shogun <military ruler>. The Shogun’s peace came upon the land, and samurai warriors found themselves suddenly unemployed. Many of these ronin turned to banditry to survive; others found work with minor lords or the emerging merchant class. A small number, Usagi among them, traveled the Musha Shugyo <warrior pilgrimage> to hone their spiritual and martial skills.
Usagi has made many allies on his road–including Tomoe of the Geishu Clan, Gen the bounty hunter, and Zato-Ino the blind swordspig. There have also been many enemies. Chief among them is Lord Hikiji, who, with his secret army of ninja, plots to overthrow the new government and set himself as Shogun!
Usagi continues to wander alone across the nation– over mountains, deep into valleys, through towns and farmlands, and along rugged coasts–searching for harmony.
The Anatomy Lesson
by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben
This is the place. At night you can almost see it… At night, you can almost imagine… You shouldn’t have come here.
Welcome back. As explained recently, I’ve been on a short hiatus from my reading of the Marvel Universe. Still not quite ready to return to it.
However, I find myself with a bit of time thanks to having contracted a bug that’s going around, and thought I could return to my series on reading great comics. I call it a series, though this is only the third entry. But hopefully we’ll be getting more.
The format is similar to my posts about the Marvel Universe, where I pick up a single comic and read it and write down my thoughts as I do. Except where my Marvel reading is guided by the internal chronology of those stories, I will here be picking up my very favorite comics, specifically those not focused on the early Marvel Universe. We’ve talked about a favorite issue of Sandman and Astro City… it’s time for Swamp Thing.
The Sanctioning
by Fabian Nicieza, Jose Delbo, and Mike DeCarlo
You know, the United Way and the NFL® work together to form a winning team!
Can’t let him make a big play from the opening kickoff!
This is ridiculous! But facing the 49ers offensive line was worse!
And now, let’s show America what teamwork’s all about!
The early 1990s was an explosion of creativity for Marvel Comics, introducing enduring new characters from Sleepwalker to Darkhawk, and revitalizing classic concepts with new versions of Fool Killer and Deathlok.
Some gems get obscured amongst the sheer volume of the decade’s creativity. Today, I want to talk about a character celebrating his 30th anniversary this year, the great superhero who sometimes is referred to simply as Superpro, but who is more properly known as NFL® Superpro!
You might have noticed the NFL® logo in the title and on his chest and his helmet…
In Dreams
by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross
I can’t save everybody–people die even while I’m saving lives here–but I can still do what I can.
In my dreams I fly. I soar unfettered and serene, laughing at gravity and at care. The clouds embrace me as a friend and the wind lazily tousles my hair. I lose myself in the sun and sky.
“But except in dreams you’re never really free” — Warren Zevon, Desperados Under the Eaves
Today, August 10, marks the 25th anniversary of the introduction of one of my all-time favorite comic book series, Astro City. To mark the occasion, I would like us to read through Astro City #1 together.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
Things have changed and will change more; and Gaia no longer welcomes us as she once did.
But he did not understand the price. Mortals never do. They only see the prize, their heart’s desire, their dream… But the price of getting what you want is getting what once you wanted.
Things need not have happened to be true.Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.
Thirty years ago today, one of the finest comics I have ever read was published. I would like to take a moment to reflect on Sandman #19, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”; admittedly at some considerable length.
Due to its length, the post is broken into 3 pages. The first page gives an overview of the Sandman series, and some background. The second page discusses this issue in depth, as well as Sandman #13 and #75, which serve as prologue and epilogue respectively. The third page examines particular themes of this issue and how they resonate throughout the entire series.
Please find the buttons at the bottom of each page to navigate.
