Suddenly Something Snapped In His Head...
Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Tư, 10 tháng 9, 2008
In the Golden Age, most of the villains required no particular reason for doing what they did. Why did the Joker use crimes involving humor? Because he was the Joker. Why the Penguin commit bird crimes, or the Catwoman crimes involving a cat? Because that's who they were.
Oh, sure, we learned a lot more about the characters as time went by. We discovered that the Joker had dived into a vat of chemicals, giving him his bizarre appearance and driving him nuts. And the Catwoman had amnesia, caused by a plane crash.
But in the Silver Age it no longer was possible to ignore an "origin" for costumed villains. Yet because of the very tight nature of the stories back then, the origin by definition had to be very brief.
And so the origins started to look very similar, particularly for Batman villains. The basic template was that the villain is mocked for something, and as a result, he goes a little cuckoo and starts using that something for crime.
Danny the Dummy:
The Wheel:
Mr Hydro:
More about →
Oh, sure, we learned a lot more about the characters as time went by. We discovered that the Joker had dived into a vat of chemicals, giving him his bizarre appearance and driving him nuts. And the Catwoman had amnesia, caused by a plane crash.
But in the Silver Age it no longer was possible to ignore an "origin" for costumed villains. Yet because of the very tight nature of the stories back then, the origin by definition had to be very brief.
And so the origins started to look very similar, particularly for Batman villains. The basic template was that the villain is mocked for something, and as a result, he goes a little cuckoo and starts using that something for crime.
Danny the Dummy:
The Wheel:
Mr Hydro:
Trivia Quiz #8 Answers
Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Ba, 9 tháng 9, 2008
#1 is the Signalman. The Signalman is one of the fairly rare Batman villains who had more than one appearance during the early 1960s, and one of the extremely rare villains who had two identities during the Silver Age of Comics. Phil Cobb, a small-time crook found it hard to raise a gang of supporters, so he assumed the costumed identity of the Signalman and used signs and signals in his crimes. After two appearances in that guise, he became the Blue Bowman, the Green Arrow of crime.
#2 is the Kiteman, a hood who uses kites (and hang-gliders) to commit his crimes. His initial appearance in Batman #133 is also the final Dick Sprang story in Batman (aside from reprints).
#3 is the Dummy. Danny the Dummy had a good shtick; he was a ventriloquist who looked like a dummy, so he would perch on the lap of a real dummy. Note: The Dummy is clearly modeled after Charlie McCarthy, one of the most famous dummies of all time:
#4 is the Wheel, who appeared in Batman #135. Frank "Wheels" Foster decides to use wheels to commit crimes.
#5 is the Brand. Notice the cowboy outfit and the Circle B on his chest? He uses brands to provide clues to his next crimes.
Good job by commenter George C, who correctly identified the first three villains. Joe Bloke also recognized those same villains.
Friday Trivia Quiz #8: Obscure Batman Villains
Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Bảy, 6 tháng 9, 2008
Sorry for the delay on this one; I won't publish the answers until Tuesday to give folks more time. The task is straightforward: Identify the five Batman villains shown below:
This should be fairly tough, as the villains are fairly obscure, with the exception of #1.
More about →
This should be fairly tough, as the villains are fairly obscure, with the exception of #1.
#060.Spider Man 2
Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Sáu, 5 tháng 9, 2008
Spider-Man first appeared in the comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962). The series was cancelled with that issue, but response to the character was so positive that a solo title, The Amazing Spider-Man, was launched with a March 1963 cover-date.
The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko, and the pair produced 38 issues from 1963 to 1966. Since then, many writers and artists have taken over the monthly comic through the years, chronicling the adventures of Marvel's most identifiable hero.
The Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel, all 1963)
Issue 3 July 1963
Issue 4 September 1963
Issue 5 October 1963
Issue 6 November 1963
Issue 7 Nov [Dec] 1963
These are Dr. Krishna's contributions.
I Keep Telling Myself
Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Hai, 1 tháng 9, 2008
That someday I'll be as good as Robby Reed at Dial B for Blog. But it probably ain't going to happen. Go over and check out his one-day only set of twelve posts on the letterer Gaspar Saladino. Who? Well, that's what I said when Robby did his amazing series on Ira Schnapp.
The letterers seldom get any credit; heck Stan used to use his credits page to poke fun at their contributions. Robby shows why that is wrong.
More about →
The letterers seldom get any credit; heck Stan used to use his credits page to poke fun at their contributions. Robby shows why that is wrong.
Trivia Quiz #7 Answers
Người đăng: Unknown
#1 is from Superman #162, featuring The Amazing Story of Superman Red and Superman Blue. (Note the blue costumes of the kids).
#2 is from Jimmy Olsen #69, featuring Nightwing (Superman) and Flamebird (Jimmy Olsen):
#3 is from Lois Lane #42.
This is one of those unbelievably wacky Lois Lane stories. She has a photo of Superman changing from his normal identity (as yet undeveloped, so she doesn't know it's Clark). Superman implores her to give him the film, but (influenced by a concussion she has sustained) she blackmails him into agreeing to marry her the next day. But Lois sprays herself and Superman with a rejuvenation spray that makes them temporarily underage. Cute idea for a story, but it gets even better. Lois is undeterred, and tries to get a blind Justice of the Peace she knows to marry them. But Superboy cures his blindness. Meanwhile they've regressed further in age, back to pre-teenagers. But:
"This is highly irregular, but..." is the favored plot-hole covering of writers everywhere. But Superboy causes some heavy waves with his breath, making Lois seasick, and she demands to be taken to shore. By this time they have become youngsters of maybe five years old, but she hires a lawyer and the marriage license is issued, and by the time they're ready to walk down the aisle, they can't walk:
Fortunately the tots are unable to say, "I Do," so the story ends before we get to the point where the priest says "I now pronounce you zygote and zygote."
#4 is from Action #303. You can only see a small part of Superman in this picture; his tail (he had been turned into a monster by Red Kryptonite).
#5 is from Action #305, Why Superman Needs A Secret Identity, a cute bit of myth-polishing.
Kudos to Joe Bloke who got #2 and #3 and clearly knew #1 even if he wrote Superman #152 instead of #162. And big props to anonymous, who correctly identified all five covers by story name or issue number. Very impressive!
If you'd like to request a trivia quiz on a favorite character or topic, please feel free to leave a comment.
