Continuing with the theme of weddings and romance this week, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the best, most memorable weddings in comic book history. It took place in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, and I’m not talking about Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. No, I refer to the unholy union between Aunt May and Dr. Otto Octavius, aka Dr, Octopus.
I don’t know what it is about Peter Parkers wheat cake making aunt, but damn that woman is senile. Okay, that’s a little harsh. Maybe it’s more that she’s a sweet, trusting little old lady. And who wouldn’t assume that a chubby man with a bowl cut and four mechanical tentacles isn’t what May Parker would consider, “such a nice man.”? And as for Doc Ock, well, I suppose beggars can’t be chosers. What geriatric lady doesn’t dream of being held tenderly by their lovers cold, metal prosthetic tentacle arms? There is seemingly no explanation as to how the two met, or what they really saw in each other, but man did it get Spidey’s dander up. There was no courtship period, it was just right to the wedding. My favorite feature of the entire issue has to be the cover. I mean, come on: I thee web!? Cracks me up every time.
The story was titled: My Uncle My Enemy? and ran well past the heyday of Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. In the course of researching this issue, I found out that the story before Spidey 131 was the first and last issue featuring the Spider-mobile, if that tells you anything. This tale also follows on the heels of the first appearance of the Punisher. So let’s see: Punisher, Spider-buggy, to Aunt May almost marrying Doc Ock. Wow, the 70’s must’ve been awesome!
So far I’ve brought you my top five best and worst comic couples, but I haven’t necessarily listed my favorites. some couples included may be repeated from my previous postings, but I list here now my top 5 favorite comic book couples (married or unmarried)
5. Gambit and Rogue (X-Men)- Imagine if you will: A charming but scheming Cajun boy who woo’s all the ladies and falls for a southern belle who can’t touch anyone without risk of death or coma. You can always feel the electricity between these two, and the not being able to touch angle can make things tense. Still, these two are obviously meant to be.
4.Peter Parker & Mary Jane (Spider-Man)- These two ranked previously on my top five best comic couples, but they are also amongst my favorite as well. Although MJ doesn’t always like that Pete puts himself in danger on a daily basis, she still supports him while leading a life and career all her own. Right now, their marriage has been annulled in current continuity, and technically never happened, but we all know better. Hey Marvel! Get these two back together.
3. Batman and Catwoman- Although these two basically just flirt with each other while being at odds, you just know there’s romantic tension between the two. They just each wish the other can come around to their side of the law. As we’ve seen in Hush, it’s not unfeasible for these two to get together, but Bruce Wayne will forever be obsessed and driven to be Batman.
2. Green Arrow & Black Canary- Ollie and Dinah make for the best married super-hero couple that I can think of. They’re both very passionate about one another, and they always back each other up well in a fight. Ollie may have a reputation as a womanizer, but no one has a home in his heart quite like his pretty bird.
1.Collosus & Kitty Pryde (X-Men) Although the X-Men are primarily a metaphor about prejudice, it is usually told in the format of an action oriented soap opera. This has brought us the unending saga of Scott and Jean, Rogue and Gambit Dazzler & Longshot, Storm and Forge. But hands down, my favorite X-couple is Kitty and Peter. I can’t really explain it. I just like these two.
I can only imagine married life to be as exciting as it is for the couples listed above. I’m sure Jenni and I will have lot’s of adventures in our lifetime, but I doubt we’ll have to stop the world devouring Galactus, or get whisked away to a Secret War. Who knows.
Let’s finish this off true believers. Here are Jon’s top 5 comic album covers.
5. Supersuckers – The Smoke of Hell
This was the first studio album by the self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock ‘n Roll Band in the World” featuring art work by post-underground icon Dan Clowes. It very much resembles the “Like a Velvet Glove” era of the artist’s work. Honorable mention: The Supersuckers had an equal awesome comic cover to the 7″ single for “Saddle Tramp.”
4. The Yardbirds – Roger the Engineer
The cover designed by Yardbirds rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja features the oafish Roger the engineer surrounded by a cluster of retarded looking birds on the back cover. It also features the best garage rock song of all time “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.”
3. Sup Pop 200 Compilation
The legendary compilation features early artwork by Seattle alum Charles Burns and some of the first recordings by Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden Beat Happening and Cat Butt(?). Burns’ “rocker with a monkey on his back” image was the perfect statement for the burgeoning “Seattle scene.” I recommend the haunting spoken-word piece by Steven Jesse Bernstein, “Come out Tonight.”
2. Melvins – Houdini
I had this album cover on my wall for about two years before I moved into my current apartment. The image my Frank Kozik is associated with the Melvins first major label album. Delving into the context behind the art one can imagine the two kids as clueless industry reps signing a two headed mutated dog version of the Melvins, conflicted between their underground roots and the outrageousness that such an odd bad was being signed to a major label in the first place.
1. Big Brother & the Holding Company – Cheap Thrills
The album that made Janis Joplin and R. Crumb famous. This is the one that started it all and put underground comics on the fast-track to middle america. In retrospect, it’s funny to think that Crumb largely despised the hippie counterculture but was able to so accurately encapsulate it.
Honorable Mentions:
Mudhoney – Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Boston – Self-Titled
Daniel Johnston – Hi, How Are You?
Sesame Street Fever
By now most of the regular blog readers know that I’m just as obsessed with vinyl albums as I am with comic books. It’s always fun to combine your interest, so nevermind the bollocks, here’s Jon’s top 10 comic book album covers:
10. Joe Satriani – Surfing With The Alien
Talk about misappropriation. Satriani most iconic album famously features the Silver Surfer blasting off the cover, which is arguably the only good part to this guitar-wanking LP. Too bad artist John Byrne was never paid for his image taken from page 6 of Silver Surfer #1 from 1982.
9. Big Black – Songs About Fucking
Steve Albini’s Chicago noise outfit will forever be associated with the notorious cover to their final album. The a pop-art manga image is a frightening compliment to the imploding album, and an example of a early import of Japanese comic art. Honorable mention: Big Black’s “Racer X” EP.
8. Menomena – Friend and Foe
This hyper-kinetic collage was designed by none-other-than Craig Thompson of Blankets fame. I recommend the gorgeous key-laced single “Wet and Rusting.”
7. Sonic Youth – Goo
Between my girlfriend and myself, I probably have 9 or 10 different copies of Sonic Youth’s “Goo” around the apartment. This is perhaps artist Raymond Pettibon’s most famous image, also known for his album covers for his brother Greg Ginn’s band Black Flag.
6. Ramones – Road To Ruin
Underground comic artist John Holmstrom famously co-founded New York “Punk Magazine” with Legs McNeil and design the Ramones fourth album. Though this is probably his most recognizable cover, I recommend the “Weird Tales of The Ramones” box set design entirely like a comic book with contributing art from Holmstrom, Dan Clowes and many, many more.
This month, I want to take you back to 1997. I can barely remember one significant thing about 1997. Sorry. But what I do remember, very vividly, is that it was the second year in a row that Will Smith had saved the Earth and the summer. Folks, today, I want to talk about 1997’s Men In Black. MIB was the story of two men, Agent K (The rugged old vet played by Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (The bold and stylish rookie played by Will Smith), who were tasked with the mission to save the world from what essentially was a giant cockroach (Vincent D’Onofrio). But that’s just at it’s barest description. MIB eventually went on to make 578 million dollars worldwide. That was back in 1997. 1997! 3D was still a dead format, so… There were no inflated “$15 for special viewing” tickets, IMAX screens were still mostly being used for education, and the economy was leagues ahead of what it is currently. MIB was a monster. But then, you might be asking me, “Fleet! MIB wasn’t a comic book, what are you talking about?” To this, I say, “Yes it was.”
The original comic, by Lowell Cunningham, was published by Aircel Comics in 1990. It featured various agents of a secret organization that was designed to suppress paranormal activity on Earth as well as keeping the public in the dark about what really goes bump in the night. One of the most major differences between the comic and the movie is that the movie had the MIB policing alien activity on and around Earth, however, the comic had the MIB dealing with ghosts, demons, mutants, and other things as well as aliens. Another difference comes with the handling of witnesses. In the comic, witnesses are killed whereas in the films, witnesses are mindwiped with an alien device that causes memory loss. The other big difference is that the MIB of the comic were ultimately manipulating and controlling the ways of the planet into their designs, opposed to the MIB of the films that were just protecting the Earth from devastation.
But this isn’t a history lesson on the comic… No. This is why I love the movie so much. It’s hard to convey, but I can tell you that it’s a whole lot harder to not like the movie than it is to like it. I mean, how can you not enjoy the quips of the Fresh Prince, or the surly old-man antics of Tommy Lee Jones? The aliens were inventive, the technology looked awesome, the theme song was cool while paying tribute to the original sampled song called “Forget Me Nots”, and all the side characters were great in the roles they played. Rip Torn as the boss of the agency, Zed was a very interesting take on a boss. But then, Rip Torn is a very interesting dude. Linda Fiorentino as a medical examiner who has a knack for continuously running in the MIB, (only to be mindwiped) shared a great chemistry with Will Smith’s Agent J, so good that my mother was very disappointed that she didn’t return for the sequel (which probably wasn’t the worst decision). Then you had a pre-Monk/post-Wings Tony Shalhoub as a alien black market arms dealer with the unique ability to regrow his limbs. For the few moments he was in the film, he was also great with what he had to play with, plus, seeing his head explode and grow back is still fun to see. Then there’s Frank the Pug. Voiced by Tim Blaney, (Also the voice of “Johnny” #5 of Short Circuit 1 & 2) most folks love this “adorable” dog shaped alien in a dog suit. Personally, I’m not a fan of Pugs, but when he shared the screen with Jones and Smith, well, you can’t help but to enjoy the fun they’re having. And of course, let’s not forget D’Onofrio. He played a farmer whose skin was used as a disguise for a giant nasty cockroach. His mannerisms were priceless as the skin began to decay and sag. Plus he looked pretty creepy… So there’s that.
What’s also great here is the special effects. From the time between the previous Summer’s Independence Day movie, it seemed like the CG used in the film skipped a few generations forward. I think the only thing that really looks dated now-a-days are the effects used for creating the giant bug at the end of the film, but by no means are they awful. The practical effects are pretty sweet as well. For example, the alien humanoid-squid baby was as far as I can tell, it was completely practical, save for maybe it’s blink. Maybe. But there was a lot of imagination used to create for the movie. Between Steven Spielberg (Producer), Barry Sonnenfeld (Director), and Rick Baker (One of the greatest special effects/make-up artists of all time)… A lot of good things happened in this movie. I’d go as far to say that they created magic… They tried to recreate that magic again back in 2002. It didn’t work as well. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy the movie, it just couldn’t live up to the original, nor could it live up to the animated series that followed the first movie either. But hey, no one’s perfect. I’m just happy to hear that everyone is willing to try one more time with Men In Black 3. While only an announcement, I hope that it does come to fruition. It’s been a long time since Will Smith has saved the summer. See ya next time.
Love and wedding are on my mind lately, especially since I’m due to get hitched here in less than a week. In our previous episode, I brought you my top 5 best comic couples. In this installment, I bring you the dark side of love and romance to bring you the top 5 worst comic book couples of all time.
5.Cyclops & Jean Grey (X-Men) Say what you want about my selection of these two on this list. When you think about it, their relationship is pretty messed up. Scott married and had a baby with a clone of Jean, he gets all whiny and self doubting whenever they’re an item, and lets face it, Jean could do better. Scott Summers with Emma Frost wins. They make each other better people. Scott with Jean is downright toxic.
4.Matt Murdock &… anyone (Daredevil) At first glance, Matt Murdock is a sly pimp who gets all the chicks. And then there’s the matter of what happens to the poor women who are unfortunate enough to develop a relationship with him. One becomes a notorious assassin, one becomes a crackhead porn star, and ultimately other woman can’t compete with his self-destructive tendencies, and Catholic guilt issues.
3.Morpheus & Nada (the Sandman) These two hooked up back in prehistoric times as a beautiful princess fell in love with a anthropomorphic immortal demi-god. Of course, if you should spurn an anthropomorphic demi-god, he won’t just break up with you, he’ll lock you away in hell for all eternity.
2.Hank Pym (aka Ant Man, Giant Man, Yellow Jacket) & Janet Van Dyne (the Wasp) Two words: wife beater. That ain’t cool Hank. Whether it’s the main Marvel universe, or the Ultimate universe. Hank Pym is an awful, awful spouse abuser.
1. Reed Richards & Sue Richards (Fantastic Four) I feel bad for the Invisible Woman. She has the most neglectful, unintentionally emotionally abusive spouse in all of comics. Deep down, you know Reed loves her, but it seems like his obsession with super-science trumps emotional attachments. No wonder Sue feels invisible at times.
I am interested to know if any of you out there can think up anymore cases of tainted love. Until next time, I’ll see you same Jim-time, same Jim-channel.
You can thank the fact that I’m getting married in a week for the following theme of love, romance, and weddings in my blogs. The first topic that came to mind for me was the best comic couples, married or unmarried in comics. I’m also a fan of compiling top 5 lists, so strap yourselves in; It’s Jim’s top five best comic couples.
5.Cyclops & Emma Frost (X-Men) Emma Frost who is already a pretty strong, independant lady helps complement Scott Summers who is thrust into a leadership role, yet is still plagued with self-doubt. Have you noticed how no-nonsense he’s been lately? And he doesn’t whine or cry as much as he used to. You can thank tough as nails Emma for that.
4. Dick Grayson (aka Robin, aka Nightwing) & Barbara Gordon(aka Batgirl, aka Oracle) This is one of those stories which never quite happens, but should. These two are great together. This is the high school sweetheart story, but replace the bat-cave with a regular school.
3. Buddy Bradley & Lisa Leavenworth (Hate) Buddy and Lisa are such awful, messed-up people, that they go so well together. Buddy hates everyone and everything, and Lisa is certifiably crazy. When two people like that find each other in life, it’s true love. Right?…
2. Peter Parker & Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man) “Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot!” Truer words were never spoken when uber-nerd Peter Parker first met Mary Jane for their first date. This is an example of intelligence is attractive, and that a sense of humor is important to ladies. MJ is the ultimate nerd wish fulfillment.
1. Jesse Custer & Tulip O’ Hare (Preacher) Jesse Custer is a tough, no-nonsense Texan with essentially a soft heart made of gold. Tulip O’ Hare is a tough as nails defiance of a stereotype. Their love is one that has seen all kinds of adversity from secret Armageddon societies, and a certain hard drinking Irish vampire. When I got to the end of this series, I got a little misty-eyed over these two.
I’m ready to hear people complain about putting Cyclops and Emma Frost on this list, but whatever, I stand by it. Tune in next time for my top 5 worst comic couples.
Last week saw the release of a new miniseries in the Astonishing X-Men brand, entitled, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis. This series is being written by Warren Ellis, who also happens to be the writer on the current run of “normal” Astonishing X-Men run, which looks to be on hiatus until the end of the X-Book wide crossover of Second Coming or just plan cancelled… I’m not 100% on that one… So what we have here is another out of continuity story featuring the current lineup of the Astonishing Team. For those who are in need of a refresher, the astonishing lineup consists of Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Emma Frost, andArmor. Also, it seems that the team is still based out of San Francisco… That’s about all you need to know to get caught up.
Xenogenesis follows a string of potential mutant births that are occurring in Africa and causing all sorts of havoc and mayhem. It appears that the children being born are manifesting their destructive powers immediately after birth, opposed to the start of puberty that most mutations are initiated. So the Black Panther sends a message to his wife, Storm, asking for support from his favorite mutants; The X-Men. So after a brief conversation at the breakfast table, it is decided that the X-Men will go to Africa to begin a new adventure. However, this is only after Cyclops stumbles through an awkward conversation with Storm about race relations. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, but I’m not certain that everyone shares my humor with this one. Anyway, the team gets a new uniform and like any other time, Emma finds herself not following the rules and wearing some sort of white latex thing that is way too small and tight.
And there it is. Hopefully that was enough to get you excited. There’s even an interesting history lesson about Nelson Mandela from Wolverine. In fact, even though the first issue is light in action, the conversations are enough to keep things interesting. I know a lot of people are feeling burned out on Warren Ellis, but I quite like what’s going on here. But the real winner of this comic is Kaare Andrews. That dude’s art is fan-****ing-tastic. All the characters look awesome, except for maybe Emma Frost. She looks weird to me on closeups of her face. But that probably just he making weird faces and forcing her fake accent. And as folks around here know, I’ve never liked Storm’s mohawk look… Until now. She looks amazing, as does Beast. I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series, regardless of story. What made me pick up the book was the artwork. As long as it stays solid, I’ll keep picking the title up. Thumbs up, Kaare Andrews.
Originally, I was going to bombard you all with about 3 months of continuous posts about the various alternate versions of Superman that I’m a fan of. Then I took a moment to think about what I’d be doing to all of you. So, I decided to take a step back. Understand, there will be posts about alternate Supermen in the coming weeks, but I’m thinking that I’ll keep the frequency down to one blog every one or two weeks. I haven’t yet settled on a set schedule, but I can assure you that there will be some weeks where you wont be able to escape the grasp of a not-Superman Superman. Next week, will feature the first of many entries to come, but to make it fun, I’m going to leave a little hint or clue about who the next Superman that is going to be featured in the next article.
As some of you may know, I absolutely loved Final Crisis. I get a bit of grief about it every now and then, but it’s understandable. There was a lot of stuff going on in that event, and it kinda required that you read outside of the main title to get a better understanding of what was going on. Of the satellite books that were “required”, Superman Beyond was my favorite bit, primarily because it dealt with a multitude of alternate-Earth Supermen. In general, I’ll read just about any story that features an alternate Superman. It’s just so fun to see what the writer does with the character, when tasked to make the big guy something different. But, don’t be alarmed… This wont just be about weird out of continuity Supermen. No. Expect to see familiar faces, and unexpected ones as well. If there is an argument for why a character could be called Superman, you should probably expect to see that character named here… I think the only Superman you shouldn’t expect to see is the current mainstream Superman. This isn’t about him. We all know who that guy is, but I’m certain that there are those out there who would love to learn about some alternative Supermen. So get ready.
So, next week, I’m going to start this series of blogs off. As such, here is your clue for next week’s Superman:
“Judge and jury… Who needs that when I can go straight to the execution? Don’t let these glasses fool you, I am not one to be trifled with.”
You can all thank my wife-to-be (very soon) Jenni for bringing this to my attention. We all know about a Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds is coming relatively soon. I’m never one to get excited about these kinds of things until I see production photos or find out about someone with respectable credentials attached to something. Well, I’ve finally got a little of both from GL.
Yes, that is Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond. So I can officially look forward to seeing the Green Lantern movie whenever it comes out. Usually, speculative talk about comic book related movies makes me roll my eyes a bit as I am a seeing-is-believing type. I like GL, so I don’t want to set myself up for a disappointment. Something I’ve heard mention of when it comes to DC films is the idea of a full fledged Justice League feature film, or at the least a Batman/Superman film in the near future. To this idea, I would like to put out a hearty NOOOOOOO!!!!!! It would be one thing to provide some fan service, but the idea just makes me think of a plot-less cluster$&%# that would ultimately be a really bad movie. These kind of team-ups are indeed entertaining in the pages of comic books and even animated features but in live action movies, you’re asking an awful lot to get the average movie goers to suspend their disbelief. I can see just a Green Lantern movie in two or three installments as well as any other DC character for that matter, but all those characters together in on live action film would be too much for my tastes. DC characters work best within their own world with perhaps a wink and a nod to their other characters, but I don’t think that these larger than life characters can co-exist in the same film the way Marvel characters can.
As good as the Batman movies were, and considering the disappointment that Superman was received with, I hope Green Lantern can live up to the hype it has already generated with as little information that has been provided. Also, I just realized that as frustrated with talking comic-movies over comic books as I can get, I just posted three blogs in a row talking about comic book movies. I genuinely enjoy watching them, it’s just that over-analyzing them seems can get old. My time can be better spent over-analyzing why Green Lantern is a science based character and not based in some form of mysticism. But that might be a discussion for a later day. Maybe.
One of my favorite bookstores in St. Louis. Star Clipper offers not only the best selection of comic books and graphic novels in the city, but also a cornucopia of art, design and pop-culture related books and magazines. 
