Eight Observations About Daredevil #62 (1970)!

#1--Nighthawk should really go back to the original costume.

Seriously, I like this one so much better than the boringly generic one he started wearing with the Defenders...Am I the only one?

#2--Gene Fucking Colan.

Gene Colan should be far more celebrated than he is. Statues should be erected in his honor.

Gene. Fucking. Colan.

#3--That plan never works!!

See, Nighthawk is pretending to be a good guy here...

And of course fickle New Yorkers are completely wowed over by the new guy.

His real plan?

Yes, Batman Returns completely ripped off this plot. (Of course, Roy Thomas undoubtedly ripped it off from some other comic...)

Still, who would ever believe that a rat could turn popular acclaim into political power?

Sigh...

So Nighthawk continues building his reputation...

...and the White House is only a few busted head away!!

But wait--did I mention Batman Returns completely ripped off this issue? Yup, even down to the "hero uses surreptitiously recorded megalomaniacal dissing of the public to convince public that they were wrong" gambit:

And thus ends the master plan of The Penguin Nighthawk!!

#4--Matt Murdock, practicing biochemist!!

Earlier Nighthawk had knocked DD out of action with a "dizziness serum." Next time?

Wait--what? How? Did you have a double major in law and biochemistry?!?

I think we all know that "I developed an antidote" means "I stopped by the Baxter Building on my way over..."

#5--Daredevil, master of disguise!!

When Nighthawk captures a jewel thief...

He's really...

OK, how does that even work?!? I mean...

#6--Where does he get all of those wonderful toys?

I have no idea what the hell this car even is...

...but man, do I want one!

#7--He even looks like Jeff Goldblum!!

Well, I see it...

#8--Did I mention Gene Fucking Colan?

Well, he's worth mentioning again!! And again. And again...

Your Move, Black Bolt!!

Someone has taken over the Fortress Of Solitude (shh--it's Brainiac!!), and they've turned all trophies and captured weapons against Superman!!

Time to unleash a new/long forgotten/pulled-out-ofthe-creators-ass power!

Ten billion decibels? Really? What utter nonsense. It's a logarithmic scale, Kal-El. That the Tunguska meteor crash, generally considered to be the loudest sound in Earth history, was merely 300 decibels or so. That would make Superman's "ten billion decibel" shout approximately 10^(999999997) times louder than the loudest sound ever, and probably would have cracked the Earth into pieces. (Yes, I almost certainly screwed up the math on that. Don't @ me)

Still, now we can look forward to the great Superman/Black Bolt shout-off, right?

From Action Comics #514 (1980)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

We have a winner in the unbelievable Slay Monstrobot 5.000th Post Contest-A-Rama, and it's tomg:

The Trouble Shooters
Core members: Alison Double (Marvel), Phantasmo (Dell), Vibe (DC), Copper (DC). Invisible Scarlet O’Neil (Famous Funnies), Blue Jay (DC) Frequent ally: The Golden Bat (Nagamatsu) Temporary members : Life Lass (DC), Weight Wizard –(prior to his capture by Nardo) (DC)

Alison Double, the albino telepath who was last seen recovering in the Alps with Elizabeth Braddock just before the latter adopted the mantle of Captain Britain (back in 1986), returned to her work at S.T.R.I.K.E. She moved up in the organization, eventually being placed in charge of security which also gives her authority of the robot known as Copper on loan to S.T.RI.K.E by Doctor Magnus.

S.T.R.I.K.E. scientists experimenting with some machines confiscated in one of their assignments accidently activate a time storm that causes chaos across the English countryside. Copper and Double do their best to assist in stopping rampaging dinosaurs and some creatures they cannot identify (like the flasher beasts from Adventure Comics 339). They find themselves aided by Vibe and Phanstasmo who were pulled in from the past before the respective deaths as well as from Life Lass and Weight Wizard from the 30th century. The Golden Bat, a hero missing for decades, also joins the battle and leads the drive in locating the person or people behind the increasingly uncontrolled temporal storms. (That would be Wizard, a villain from Dial H for Hero, looking to gather all the unclaimed dials from across time and space).

After the Wizard’s defeat, S.T.R.I.K.E. is left decimated. Vibe, Double, Phantasmo, Copper, Life Lass, and Weight Wizard decide to remain work together and are allowed to operate out of the remains of S.T.R.I.K.E.’s headquarters (which will eventually be purchased outright by Phantasmo) providing stability to the team. Golden Bat reveals that he is not time-displaced and generally operates on his own, but agrees to help the team with emergencies that have global ramifications.

Sometime later, Life Lass and Weight Wizard, are rescued and returned to their time by the Heroes of Lallor in a time bubble… but not before a team-up can occur where the Lallorians can shine. Losing two members leads the team to conduct a recruitment drive. They opt for powers of stealth and select Invisible Scarlet O’Neil and Blue Jay. 

No shade to any other entrants, but this cross-multiversal team most tickled my fancy, both in the obscurity of some of it's characters, and for having the audacity to plan for the replacements in the first The Old Order Changeth event.

Congratulations, tomg. A copy of Take That, Adolf is winging itself your way.

Stand by for the next contest at Post 10,000...

Seriously, Why Can't We Have Kraven?

I'm glad that Spider-Man: Homecoming managed to avoid the Green Goblin trap, because let's face it, tiger, we've had about all the movie Osborns we need.

Let's help Sony & Marvel find foes for the next Spider-Films, by having Sal Buscema draw every Spider-Man villain EVER!!

So many to choose from...

I mean, the fact that we haven't had a movie Kraven is just unfathomable.

And Mysterio as a villain in the CGI age? It practically writes itself!

Let Daredevil keep Kingpin. We've got Hammerhead!

The Enforcers? I would see that movie 10,000 times.

Man-Wolf? MAN-WOLF!!!

And Chameleon? Duh.

I'm not sure why the hell Sal left the Scorpion off of here. Surely he's more prominent than Mirage or Will-O'-The Wisp at this point. But, yeah, Scorpion.

And what about Spider-Slayers?? SPIDER-SLAYERS!!

All I'm saying is, Spider-Man has a great and vast rogues gallery, so there's no need to repeat/reboot villains from past movies.

Oh, and don't forget Kangaroo, man. Kanga-freakin'-roo...

From Amazing Spider-Man #181 (1978)

The Best Cover You've Never Seen--Doom Patrol #119 (1968)

Straight trippin':

Layouts by Carmine Infantino, pencils & inks by Bob Brown.

Manic Monday Triple Overtime--THAT'S NOT A WORD!!

 That's not a word.

 That's not a word.

 That's not a word!!

 That's not a word!!

 That's not a word.

That's not a word!!

Oh, well, the world is doomed. So I guess it doesn't matter.

But Gkmlooom is not a word!!!

From Worlds Of Fear #3 (1952)

Manic Monday Bonus--That Time Cliff Steele Became A Hare Krishna?!?

This sort of thing happened all of the time in the 1960s:

Ouch.

Oh, don't worry. Cliff is fine...

...mostly.

Geez, it was just a truck. Shoddy workmanship, Chief!!

Anyway...

...the power of prayer and meditation fixed him!!

From Doom Patrol #119 (1968)

Manic Monday--LaborDay Was Different One Earth-1!

See, on our world, we were used to the Jerry Lewis telethon.

On Earth-1, however?

$10 million? Really? I wonder how America would react if they knew that Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen were manning those phones, and could have donated that much and had enough left over to buy the moon...or that Aquaman recovers that much sunken treasure every single day...

Still, a super-hero telethon is a tradition DC should revive...if only to raise the funds to buy the rights to the Legion Of Super-Heroes and let someone who is actually interested in the franchise publish it.

From Justice League Of America #114 (1974)