Comic Book Journal

Star Wars comics have been in operation roughly as long as the movies, first published by Marvel Comics during the time of the original trilogy’s debut, and then offering refreshing glimpses into the expanded universe after Dark Horse Comics set up shop and took over the franchise.

However, the Expanded Universe doesn’t run on comics alone, and in addition to the often Lucas-saunctioned fan film creations, books both literary and comics stretch from 25,000 years before the original Star Wars trilogy all the way to 100 years after.

Unfortunately, the books and the comics don’t cross paths nearly enough in my opinion. The books move faster and faster, adding on years and years to our favorite characters, while the comics seem more apt at development within the comfortable monthly time frame.

Below is a list for the best ideas from the books which haven’t recieved any or nearly enough play in the comics.

10. Yuuzhan Vong - Okay, these guys already got a lot of play in the John Ostrander-written comic Star Wars: Legacy (not a History Channel documentary). But they really should have gotten more comic book play after the Chewbacca mini-series, a post-mortem look at our favorite Wookie, who ultimately sacrificed himself against the then-worlds-conquering Vong. The villainous Vong are religious extremist with a penchant for bio-terrorism. The problem is exploration of their culture is best explored visually. The books throw so much terminology with so little descriptions that sometimes its hard to remember exactly what these things look like. Also, only a few benign Vong show up over the course of The New Jedi Order - only to disappear into the background.

9. Lowbacca - Here’s a fresh caveat straight from comics: if you’re going to kill a well-known hero off, you better have someone to replace him or her, even if that someone is the Punisher. And you can bet your blaster that applies to Chewbacca. The loveable Wookie may have bit it during The New Jedi Order, but to date, neither Dark Horse nor Del Rey has done much as of late to develop Chewie’s nephew Lowbacca. C’mon guys, he’s a Jedi and a Wookie! That’s just all kinds of cool waiting to happen! Though the books did well to introduce and distinguish him within the Jedi Academy, he’s dropped off the radar as of late. Honestly, there’s really one last thing Lowie needs to do - take his uncle’s place in the Millennium Falcon. Han was understandably admant about allowing Lowbacca to do so, but if audiences were to latch onto him in the comics as they have done in the books, I think this is one place the passing of the torch would be appreciated.

8. HK-47 - This isn’t actually someone who apppeared in the books, but rather, someone who appeared in the video games and desperately requires a comic book appearance. Probably the best part of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, HK here is the Deadpool of droids, loyally requesting to exterminate “meat bags” on his Master’s behalf. One of most popular figures for gamers, HK-47 has an usually long lifespan for droid, stretching in some form or another from the Old Republic through the original trilogy. Its clear bits and pieces of his escapades will continue to be fleshed out in the video games, but let’s speed up the process a bit - given him a comic series or two. Team him up with IG-88 or Boba Fett and you’ve got a hit on your hands.

7. Ben Skywalker - Basically, its Lowbacca all over again. The Expanded Universe is moving so quickly that some characters seem to be getting the shaft, namely this little guy - the son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. He’s a major character in the mythology, but with Luke Skywalker moving closer and closer to over-the-hill, and Ostrander’s Star Wars: Legacy centering around another descendant named Cade Skywalker, this guy seems to be the missing link between the two. This isn’t to say Ben is blatantly ignored - he plays a large role in the ongoing Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels. But seeing as how he kicked major Sith butt in the non-canonical Star Wars Tales, it seems a given he should keep on appearing in the comics. Of course, there is a minor possibility that Ben could be the engimatic Darth Krayt - the Sith plaguing Cade all along in Legacy is rumored to be someone we know - but come on, how lame will that sound? “Cade . . . Cade . . . I am your GREAT-GREAT-GRAND-father!”

6. Anakin Solo - If ever there was a character who desperately needed a comic book mini-series, it was definitely Anakin Solo. Not to be confused with his whiney prequel counterpart, Anakin Solo, youngest son of Leia and Han Solo, died basically because George Lucas feared two Anakins in completely different time periods would cause confusion. Anakin Solo was in many ways the perfect reinvention of his flawed grandfather, and in fact, whiney farmboy uncle. Smart, stubborn and self-sacraficing, Anakin Solo is one character who deserves a bigger mention, especially in comics. Considering Chewbacca died saving this kid, you would think more stories would be written about him. But far too often, Anakin is relegated to dreams, shadows and starship and AI names. He’s far too quickly becoming both the forgotten and fallen hero, and comics are certainly one way to change that.

5. Dash Rendar - Okay, first off, who’s going to say “No” to a guy named Dash Rendar? That’s probably the hands-down coolest moniker since Han Solo. Dash Rendar is the main focus of Shadows of the Empire - probably the best Star Wars development of the 90’s (which certainly wasn’t Greedo shooting first) - a fresh perspective to the time between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The character already appeared in comic form in the comic tie-in of the same name, but it is probably best remembered, like HK-47, for his video game appearance in the Nintendo 64 game. Surviving supposed death in the ending of Shadows, Rendar has appeared sporadically since then, with a sparse mention in New Jedi Order being his most recent impact. But with a fresh perspective needed on the Star Wars saga, Rendar is certainly the go-to-guy in this field. Much like Ghost Rider demonstrated at the box office, 90’s characters can have quite a pull with audiences, and Rendar is one to consider in revitalizing the franchise both before and after the original trilogy.

4.Young Jedi Knights - With Lowbacca, Ben Skywalker and Anakin Solo already ranking in the Top 10, this was a given. The Jedi Academy is given most detail in the Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J. Anderson. The books focused on the Jedi education of Jacen and Jania Solo, twin children of Han and Leia, as well as their frequent interaction with a variety of famous Star Wars figures, ranging from the remnants of the Empire to bounty hunters. Though Young Jedi Knights was a stellar series, the remainder of the Solo children’s youth and subsequent adulthood should have been covered in the comics, as the The New Jedi Order and Star Wars: Legacy of the Force showed the twins getting progressively older and older in between books. If the current trend continues, they’ll be middle aged by the time the series ends (assuming they’re still alive. Things are particularly bleak for one Solo child). Though all three aformentioned series do an admirable job depicting and developing Jacen and Jania, the twin’s contrasting duality as well as their wide variety of classmates requires a visual depiction here. Plus, the slower timeframe allowed by comics lets readers actually enjoy watching the characters grow up over the course of years - instead of aging them drastically over in a span of months!

3. Star Wars Infinities - As was the case for Ultimates to Marvel, Star Wars Infinities is a comic book solution for a galaxy growing steadily too cold and distant. The original comic book series centered around alternate realities within the original trilogy - what if Luke hadn’t destroyed the Death Star, what if Luke died on Hoth or what if the plan to rescue Han Solo fell apart? I think Infinites will probably be re-organized to deal with What If’s surronding the prequels, but I think there are plenty of other uses for Infinities as well. The most interesting, I think, is a revamp of Expanded Universe, using similar characters in alternate format ala Ultimates. Of course this is all just idle speculation on my part, but one of the things I liked so much about the Ultimate line was it gave readers an alternative when things went poorly in regular continunity. Given how dark things are getting in both Legacies and Legacy of the Force, I think this is a viable option.

2. The Fett Clan - Boba Fett is like the Wolverine of Star Wars: deadly, mysterious and insanely popular. But Boba Fett’s own family tree is just as ripe for comic book adaptaion. Boba Fett’s daughter, Ailyn Vel, was born in the space between Episode III and IV. Ailyn spent her life tracking her father, and even wore Fett’s armor for a time. Sadly, by the time Fett started looking for her in the current Legacy of the Force books, it was too late, and she was killed during an interogation by Jacen Solo (see what I mean by bleak?) However, Bloodlines ends with Boba Fett reunited with Ailyn Vel’s conspirator - her own daughter Mirta Gev, making her Fett’s grand-daughter. Since Boba Fett is last seen settling down, it seems unlikely that the pair will resurface, at least in Legacies of the Force. Doesn’t this prevent the perfect lead-in for a comic book series? Boba Fett, already probably the most popular Star Wars figure in comicdom, trains and passes the torch to his scrappy granddaughter, leading to the birth of a completely new bounty hunter? Given all the strife and terror going on in the galaxy right now, there’s plenty of story to cover, and possibly a mention of the Fett Clan’s ultimate fate in Ostrander’s Legacies would seal the deal. In other terms, think of it like Million Dollar Baby meets Stephanie Plum - a touching yet hilarious account of a bad-ass bounty hunter’s own legacy.

1. 501st Legion - This Legion of infamous Stormtroopers has been around since the beginning, but the group first caught my attention in Timothy Zahn’s Survivor’s Quest, when a fire team of the Empire’s best were dispatch to back up Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade in a mission to a space station. This is the great thing about the 501st and about the Stormtroopers in general - they appear as both allies and adversaries. The 501st - dubbed Vader’s Fist - have appeared throughout the movies, comics and books, but these guys (in the end, girls) need a series of their own, one that walks from one end of the Star Wars mythos (The Clone Wars) to the other (the current Legacies). Think of it as an in-cannon Star Wars Tales with a rotating cast of comic’s Who’s Who penning the monthly adventures of the 501st in a different era each time. One story arc could find them alongside Obi Wan Kenobi in the Clone Wars, another by Thrawn and yet another by Emperor Fel. There’s plenty of fresh territory to include, such as the interaction between clones and human Stormtroopers, the inclusion of females and aliens to the ranks, and the eventual team-up between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant in face of common enemies. George Lucas really surprised me in “Attack of the Clones” - by making the clones themselves, well, really cool. Now its time to take it to the next level - and give the Stormies their due.

Before we begin, I have to give credit due where credit is undoubtedly due. This entire story began based on Paul’s revelation that G.I. Joe #21 , which I used to link the Top 10 Comics Which Made Me Read More Comics with the Top 10 Accidental Discoveries in Comics - was indeed intentionally without dialogue, and the error in question was actually an urban legend. I scoured the Internet for confirmation of such an event, and found a vast resource - the blog Comics Should Be Good, which greatly reduced tireless research and made an on-the-whim story idea a fun and educational process - one that might have resulted in me burning comics in frustration if attempted without the establishment of said blog!

10. Has anyone ever seen the Boston Legal episode where James Spader verbally obsesses over the word lesbian - “Lesbian . . . lesbi-an . . . LE-HES-BIANN.” That seemed to be the tones set by DC Comics, when less than a year ago a press release announced the new Batwoman - Kate Kane - was a lesbian. The story was then picked up by several major news outlets, among them USA Today and CNN. But what’s most irritating is, for all this comic commentary - Batwoman has, to date, played only a foot note role in 52.

The move seemed instead designed to prove how progressive comics - especially DC’s - were, but the hype was actually rather late. From Marvel’s Northstar to the bisexual bouncer Grace (not to mention the scores of alternative and underground trades exploring this issue) gay and lesbian figures were nothing new in comics - but the PR was more focused on what the public figured comics to be, not what they were.

It’s too bad none of the PR mentioned established DC detective Renee Montoya, one of the central figures in 52, was a Latino lesbian with tons more characterization and dialogue then her Batty lover.

9. This is a little-known legend to begin with, but since it’s Starman, I feel obligated to mention it anyway. In one issue, the supervillain the Mist battles a Justice League reserve squad consisting of Ice Maiden, Firestorm, Crimson Fox, Amazing Man and Blue Devil. Disguising herself as Ice Maiden, the Mist wipes out the entire team, save Firestorm.

I always figured Robinson amped up the body count to show just how deadly Jack Knight’s adversary - herself a legacy villain - really was. But as it turns out, Robinson only intended to kill Crimson Fox, but JLA editor Dan Raspler insisted the Mist wipe out the lot of them.

To date, however, Blue Devil has returned as well as a new Crimson Fox, leaving Amazing Man the only hero not to return - though the MIA status of his predecessor leaves the door wide open.

8. As Paul from Toy Bender said, the unintentional printing of G.I. Joe #21 was one of comicdom’s urban legend - one that prompted me to start this list in the first place. As it turns out, though the issue’s production was indeed rushed, Larry Hama was toying with a silent issue for long time before the issue went to print. As Comic Should Be Good’s Brian Cronin notes, “The concept of an entire comic without any dialogue was fairly novel at the time (not the first time it was done, but one of the most notable), and on such a popular title!”

I have to admit, it does some a bit conspicious that the so-called flawed printing would coincide directly with a character who doesn’t speak at all. Thank goodness this never happened with Deadpool!

7. Jack Kirby sued Marvel Comics. I mean, he had to, right? Jack Kirby’s conflict with Marvel Comics, and at times, the very echelons of industry policy in the 60’s and 70’s, is well-documented to say the least. According to Mark Evanier’s Jack FAQ, the lawsuit “is a great urban myth of the business”. The rumors of lawsuits apparently resulted from an overreaction to Jack Kirby’s refusal to sign or settle in his quest to secure rights to his artwork. But whenever Marvel’s legal department pushed, Jack Kirby pushed back - verbally. Although I can only speculate the content of these calls, the effects seemed to cause the “Jack Kirby’s suing us” reaction - even when that option wasn’t on the table.

The interesting thing about this urban legend is not its legend status, but instead, the multiple endings. In some accounts, Kirby is victorious, defeated in others and yet in still more legends he settles with Marvel!

6. Human Torch was replaced by H.E.R.B.I.E. to stop kids from jumping off roofs and lighting themselves on fire. Johnny Storm was particularly absent from the line-up of the old Fantastic Four cartoons. There was a fear that childrens, idolizing the Human Torch, would try to follow in his footsteps - and leap blazing from the building tops! The core of this fear has been grounds for an urban legend explaining why a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby-created robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. replaced the Human Torch, but once again, it’s Mark Evanier who shoots down this burn bug. During the time when Marvel was actively pursuing movie and TV deals - including the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno Hulk series, as well as a Dr. Strange and Captain American movie pilots - Human Torch was also up for grabs, preventing NBC from including the character in the line-up of the animated series.

I’m just trying to picture exactly how Universal intended to make a series about the Human Torch ala The Incredible Hulk way back in 1977. How would they pull it off? Dousing an actor in kerosene and send him flying around everywhere?

5. William Marston created Wonder Woman and the polygraph test. I always thought this one was true until just last night. Marston was a psychologist as well as a feminist, with both of these roles heavily influencing Wonder Woman’s theme and creation. However, though William Marston heavily contributed to the ultimate invention of the polygraph test, he was not the actual inventor of the device. Still, though, Cronin notes that Marston may have been the inventor of the first lie detector, among them the idea of measuring blood pressure to determine if the subject is telling or truth or not. In conjunction with this development and three other innovations, the polygraph test was eventually invented on top of Marston’s foundation.

Still, it is ironic that the man who contribute so much to the field of lie detection would also establish a popular pop culture heroine whose hallmark is to identify truth through a magic lasso.

4. Video may have killed the radio star, but radio did Superman a huge favor. This one I had know for quite a while - ever since my parents bought me a book of all the scripts for a couple seasons of the 1940’s Superman radio show. Ironically, these radio scripts contributed more to the mythology of Superman as as we know him today than Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s first issue of the Man in Steel. The radio show introduced Clark Kent’s place of employement - the Daily Planet - as well as his boss. It was the radio show that also introduced his sidekick, Jimmy Olson. But it was also the radio show that introduce those tiny green glowing rocks that Superman fears so much - Kryptonite, his biggest weakness. In many ways, not only did the radio show secure a place for Superman in the American public - but it also laid the foundation for many of the laws and character which make up the Man of Steel to this day.

3. Can anyone tell me who Stanley Martin Lieber and Jacob Kurtzberg are? They are two of the most important figures in comic book history - and one of them has already been the subject of his own entry on the list already. Stanley Martin Lieber condensed his first name to the ever-recognizable Stan Lee, while Jacob Kurtzberg, after signing under a variety of pen names during his days as a cartoonist. Finally he settled under Jack Kirby after frequent collaborator Joe Simon advised he just pick one name. As Mark Evanier once again informs us, “It wasn’t so much a matter of concealing one’s religion as of having a name that sounded like a professional cartoonist.” Both Evanier, and in fact J.K. himself, were very clear in emphasizing the move was not designed to hide Jacob Kurtzberg’s ethnic heritage.

2. The Sentry - here we have both a hoax and a hype. The Sentry was originally passed off as the a Pre-Fantastic Four creation of none other than Stan Lee, who was apparently using a more Golden Age look and feel before Stan Lee seemingly established his trademark Silver Age. Eventually, the truth came out - with a twist - as not only did Marvel fabricate the Stan Lee-related origins of the Sentry, but Wizard Magazine was apparently in on it. The story has originally proposed by Paul Jenkins and Rick Veitch as the beginnings of a new Hourman story - you can see some of the resemblance in the two character’s costume, both blending blue capes with yellow tights. When DC turned it down, Jenkins followed the Squadron Surpreme path - and pitched it to Marvel. Despite the revelation of the hoax, the Sentry remains an extremely popular figure to this day, as a member of Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers - and then Mighty Avengers post-Civil War.

On a final note, the decision to make Sentry’s hair long to avoid confusion with short-haired heroes Captain America and Hawkeye only added to confusion among the Avengers, particularly as fans speculated Sentry might be an amnesiac Thor!

1. Uncle Ben didn’t say “With great power comes great responsibility.” I know, I didn’t believe it until I read it. My grandmother in Ohio receives reprints of classic Spider-Man comics with her newspaper, which she perodically mails me. I read the first reprint - of the first issue -and discovered to my suprise Uncle Ben doesn’t say the famous, hero-making line “With great power comes great responsibility.” I expected to find the discombobulated and transparent head of Uncle Ben saying the quote over Peter Parker’s shoulder, but to my suprise, the famous line appears in the exposition box - not in the word bubbles of any of the characters! Not surprisingly, Comics Should Be Good spotted this long, long, long before I did!

But if enough people believe it, well, it must be true, and the line is certainly quoted by Ben Parker in the 2002 motion picture.

This is a more personal, subjective list than last week’s. As such, it’s open to debate, interpretation, and of course, argument. These are the most important comic books seen through the filter of me.

In other words, I wouldn’t be here writing this if it weren’t for these.

10. G.I. Joe by Larry Hama - It’s fitting that I begin with this one, because it links right back to “Top 10 Accidental Comic Book Discoveries”. The comic below is billed “The Most Unusual G.I. Joe Story Ever!” with good reason - because a mistake somewhere down the production line caused the comic to be printed without dialogue. Fortunately, it just so happens the titular ninja on the cover - Snake Eyes - doesn’t speak at all, and Marvel went ahead with it as is. G.I. Joe might not look like much in a stack of comics, but often times the action series penned by Larry Hama performed heads and tails over its animated counterparts.

Favorite Moment: After a spirited chase with his rival/former blood brother Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes finally learns the truth - Storm Shadow didn’t betray him, didn’t kill one of his Masters, and has infiltrated Cobra for revenge. By the time fellow Joes catch up with Snake Eyes, he’s slumped against a wall processing everything that just happened. When Scarlett asks Snake Eyes where’s Storm Shadow, the shadowy ninja gives no indication he’s heard her. A jilted Scarlett replies, “Nevermind. You never answer.” as she walks away.

9. Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley - Most simply forget that its just an awesome story. During a time when Mary Jane was dead and Spider-Man was spiraling back into the “Why me?” category of whiners, Ultimate Spider-Man fixed so many problems which had plagued the Spidey continunity in the regular line. It wasn’t just Peter Parker in trendy clothes - it was how a young and scrawney Peter Parker would respond verbatum if he was some regular kid in New York. Mary Jane was no longer simply a sexy party girl outclassing Peter, but a fellow science geek with heart. And the best parts of the book - from the highest moments of Spider-Man’s rise to the most tender and soulful aspects of Peter and MJ’s relationship - were entrusted to powerful art with absolutely no words in between.

Favorite Moment: When Peter Parker reveals he’s Spider-Man to MJ - she falls off the bed laughing, and then freaks out when she realizes the truth. Moments later, MJ is more at ease with the prospect, but Aunt May isn’t - she bangs on the door and demands the two stop with the “hanky panky” and even asks if Peter about “protection”!

8. The Shade by James Robinson - As much as I love Starman, I have to admit the highlight of the book is the enigmatic Shade, a (semi)-reformed supervillain with immense longevity in every sense of the word. Given his own series by Robinson, The Shade is one of the great buried treasures of the comic world, and a pain in the bins to track down since often confused with Shade: The Changing Man. The Shade sheds very little light on the exact nature of the English gentleman’s origins, instead focusing on a treacherous family called the Ludlows, whom Shade butchers after their manipulations backfires. The mini-series centers around the complex relationships the Shade has with the future generations of Ludlows, who are often inevitably drawn into the centuries-old bloodfeud with the immortal. After two hundred years crossing country and genre completely, the Shade has one final confrontation with one last Ludlow in the heartland of America - although another shows up later in Starman.

Favorite Moments: After saving his arch-nemesis Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash) from a particularly nasty variation of Ludlow in the 1950’s, the Shade writes in his journal of a subsequent encounter with the Flash while bank-robbing. The two smile at one another in mutual respect before “Jay punched me in the jaw. He was good at that.”

7. Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams: Wikipedia defines Green Lantern/Green Arrow as “a socially-conscious, left-wing creation that effectively took over Green Lantern’s book to use him as a foil and straw man . . .” Part of this is true - the social conscious part as well as the forcing of Green Lantern to share the spotlight with the boisterous Oliver Queen. But what made such a concept work is the even-balance of the characters - one a lot more fair and balanced than the talking head newscasts of today. O’Neil did make Green Lantern quite a bit more of a wallflower than today’s version, but he complimented the works by making Green Arrow an over-the-top loudmouth who makes Howard Dean look tame. Even more stunning was how the book forced both intergalatic policeman Hal Jordan and streetwise man’s man Oliver Queen to challenge and change their beliefs by confronting real life issues instead of soap-boxing about them.

Favorite Moment: After Green Arrow kicks out his ward Speedy for . . . ummm . . . doing speed, his sidekick goes into a tailspin trying to sort his life out. Eventually enlisting the aid of Hal and G.A.’s on-off lover Black Canary, he is successful is kicking the habit - but to Oliver’s unwelcome surprise, Speedy ends up kicking his not-so-canny mentor along with the habit, citing how his friends were ones who helped him through this - not trash talking or tough love rhetoric.

6. Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon - Flipping through a trade of Preacher is one of the most macabre sensations you’ll ever come across. I dare you to try it. Inside, you’ll see grosteque, disturbing and downright blasphemous illustrations which will make you wonder “Why on earth am I even standing here doing this?” But if you read all the way through that same trade, you’ll find heart and hilarity attached to each one of those literally gutsy installments. Preacher is all about Jesse Custer, a disillusioned preacher on a not-so-metaphysical journey to find God, and must literally fight Heaven, Hell and everything in between to do so. While I don’t necessarily agree with Preacher’s sacreligious tone, I totally dig the content - immensely insightful social commentary on the darker side of faith and freedom. Ennis intelligently imports John Wayne and the Wild West to find a light at the end of a vastly nihilistic journey through the American Dream. This is Garth Ennis’ best work - also his saddest and also his funniest, and definitely his liveliest.

Favorite Moment: You think The Da Vinci Code is bad? In one storyline we’re introduced to the bloated yet bulimic Allfather - a grossly obese parody of the Pope, who charges an ill-suffering guard to watch over “the kid” - the inbred descendant of you-know-who. The poor guard watches as the kid prances around drinking gasoline while claiming to turn it into wine, but things get even worse in the end, as the guard watches as the Allfather is flung from a helicopter during a coup - and splats right on top of them!

5. Aquaman by Will Pfeifer - Will Pfeifer has the makings of a comic book legend, but you’d never know it save for a few choice reviews. A couple years ago, he was charged with writing Aquaman - probably a death sentence for most writers. But Will was actually a local favorite of mine - I knew of his columns in the Rockford Register Star and his work on the series H.E.R.O. Then, halfway through the story arc, it hit me - this guy is really good. I soon found I was liking Aquaman in a way I never had before. He was back in the orange and green scales costume, but the artistic execution didn’t bring back laughable memories of Superfriends. Instead, it proved one natural constant - Aquaman is the best at what he does, even if, or especially if, that’s talking to fish. The storyline itself was brillant - with San Diego falling into the ocean to form Sub Diego, and giving Aquaman a new reign as commander of the disaster-ridden city, filled with Americans turned water-breather virtually overnight. DC really threw pearls to swine with this one - favoring Kurt Busiek’s new Arthurian take over Pfeifer’s street-bound business, and Sub Diego, to my knowledge, hasn’t appeared all that much since, although the new Aquagirl, established by Pfeifer, appeared as a member of the makeshift Titans in 52.

Favorite Moment: The immense details Pfeifer employs in the rebuilding of Sub Diego, as huge humpback whales support falling buildings while electric eels are used to restart a man’s heart, and, far more sinister, an army of sharks provide a toothy border for any water-breathing citizen who tries to flee to the now-poisonous surface.

4. Spectacular Spider-Man #200 by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema- I bought this one at Odd Lots in a “value pack” of comics supposedly totalling more than $20 in worth for just 7 bucks. The pack included a few lame 90’s Avengers, a lot of Power Ranger comics, and this one, with a silver cover and artist signature at the bottom. The issue itself focuses on the final fate of Harry Osborn, as he escalates his conflict with Peter Parker by stalking his former friend through the streets of New York. Along the way, Pete and MJ deal with marriage problems while the picture-esque home life of Harry and Liz Osborn, with their son Normie, threatens to trigger the Osborn madness a generation further. The real crux of this issue is the ending. I don’t profess to know what will happen to Harry Osborn in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 less than a month from now, but if this is his final chapter in the Spidey franchise, this should be the basis. This issue tells you everything you need to know about Harry - who he is and what he does - in the face of his father’s bloodcurdling madness.

Favorite Moment: Again, the ending. I don’t want to spoil it in case the filmmakers do indeed chose to purse a direction similiar to this, but the final scene with Harry and Peter is touching and tragic combination all rolled up into one. Definitely one of the best-written Spider-Man moments to come out of the soon-to-be-Clone-dominated 90’s.

3. Daredevil by Frank Miller - In my stack of 80’s comics, it was easy to see Darevil stood out the most. The coloring, the shading and the point of view were all so radically different from the time. I’ll bet it was a bit like reading “The Spirit” in the 40’s or anything by Jack Kirby in the 60’s - it was an entirely different perspective. Though there were still plenty of other comics in my uncles’ collections I would give a read, Frank Miller’s writing on Daredevil was as diversive as the artwork. Daredevil wasn’t just the gimmick hero - the blind guy - he was a living and breathing figure, one who made mistakes and learned to make payments for them. The covers often touted the complex themes and tones within, with tag lines like “How does a man search for his soul?” While I didn’t have any of the groundbreaking comics dealing with Kingpin or Elecktra, what I saw in the issues I have showed just how powerful this medium could be.

Favorite Moment: I’m terrible with issue numbers, but my favorite comic has Daredevil playing Russian Roulette with a bed-ridden Bullseye, discussing how their last much-publicized battle caused a media-frenzy which pushed a young boy often the edge - eventually wounding a classmate at school with his father’s gun. In the end, Daredevil reveals the gun is empty, and says “I guess we’re stuck with each other.”

2. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - What you have to understand is I found out about Watchmen through Wizard Magazine. So I knew all about the high body count, the break-neck ending, and the uncoventional adversary. I didn’t actually read it until two years ago. And that’s when I saw the true core of Watchmen - the characters. Though deconstructionist and nihilistic, every character - from the abusive Comedian, the impotent Nite Owl, the removed Dr. Manhattan - show their humanity at one point, and when they do, the result is absolutely amazing. Moore even succeeds in bringing sympathy and humanity to Ozymandias, the ultimate villain of the piece, after all he has done - so much so that I liked him a whole lot better than the remaining so-called heroes.

Favorite Moment: Wizard was wrong to frame Rorscharch as the bad-ass of the piece. Rorscharch is sociopathic, absolutist, and I suspect, possibly homosexual (given his frosty reaction to Silk Spectre), all of these contributing to the all-consuming hatred and rage seething beneath the mask. Yet despite all of these flaws, and a great deal of others, Rorscharch doesn’t crack, doesn’t accept anything less than the truth, and stands alone as the only hero who refuses to give into the world peace/mass murder trade-off the other heroes accept. This is the sole brillance of Watchmen - though cosumed by his flaws, Rorscharch’s willingess to sacrifice himself for his ideals define him as the piece’s true hero.

1. Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson - Hidden behind the view of superheroes fighting out-of-this world threats and monsters, Busiek and Anderson’s Astro City explores the masks people wear day-to-day just as much if not more than the masks heroes wear fighting supervillains and bank robbers. While I love and recommend each one of these books, my favorite by far is Confessions, which follows a young man named Brian as he serves as superhero sidekick Alter Boy to the methodical and mysterious Confessor. Aliens are laying siege to the space around Earth, while the citizens of Astro City are becoming paranoid following a series of grisly murders. And it doesn’t help matters any that the Confessor has a secret of his own that will change everything for Brian and the heroes of Astro City.

Favorite Moments: Like Spectacular Spider-Man #200, I don’t want to give too much away. Suffice to say, after Brian learns his mentor’s secrets, he asks the Biblical-themed Crossbreed what they thought of the revelation of the Confessor’s true nature, to which Noah, leader of the Crossbreed replies, “What matters more, the burdens we bear or the way we bear them?” Like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s X-Men before them, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s characters work on so many different levels, with layers only limited by the reader’s perpsectives.

Well, that’s all for me today. I’ve told you mine, now I would like to hear yours. What comics out there propelled you further into the medium and kept you coming back to the shop for more?

Comic books are, like any entertainment industry, one built around hype. We may not always admit it, but comic book companies are all about promoting the next Watchmen, the next Sandman, just as much as Hollywood is searching for that next Godfather, that next Star Wars.

Funny thing about success is that sometimes it happens to people who weren’t looking for it, or at least not in the way they thought. Like penicillin for pages and panels, here are the Top 10 Accidental Comic Book Discoveries:

Hellblazer: Alan Moore claims to have discovered the character he first breathed to life in the pages of Swamp Thing through a real life meeting. The face-to-face was supposedly in Westiminister, London, as the reclusive writer described to Wizard Magazine an encounter with John Constantine at a sandwhich bar. I guess “Life Imitates Art” isn’t a one-way street after all!

9. Harvey Pekar: Not all success stories center around those seeking fame and fortune. A collegue of Robert Crumb and a pioneer in autobiographical comic books, Pekar’s small-press fame lead to eight appearances on David Letterman (though he was subsequently banned for criticising General Electric) as well as ultimately a feature film adaptation starring Paul Giamatti.

As Scott McCloud writes, “For years, Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor had been a lonely standard bearer for comics autobiography, but suddenly the ‘Alternative’ shelves were swarming with the things — almost enough to constitute a full-fledged genre of their own.” Pekar’s discovery by a largely mainstream culture is a success story in and of itself, documenting how Pekar met succcess on his own terms, not someone else’s.

8. Heavy Metal: Least we forget, not all comic book success stories are American. Its easy to point to Japanese manga, which have now densely populated a shelf of their own in Barnes and Noble. But while interest in manga and anime has slowly but steadily grown for decades, it was a French magazine of all things which virtually exploded on export.

Originally entitled “Metal Hurlant” (Screaming Metal) in France, this illustrated adult fantasy magazine nearly trippled in sales upon its re-naming as “Heavy Metal” by the editors of National Lampoon magazine. In addition to its overseas appeal, “Heavy Metal” would herald the apperances of the likes of Trina Robbins, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson and Michael Moorcock among many others. The magazine would also spawn two animated films as well as a video game, feeding a generation of science fiction and fantasy fans who had grown tired of mainstream superheroes.

7. Hellboy: If you’re a comic book fan, it stands to reason you should probably attend comic book conventions. There, you can buy (or at least drool over) rare comic book memobilla, meet and greet your favorite writers, maybe, just maybe, launch a demonic superstar from the pit of the convention hall.

Mike Mignola coined Hellboy while drawing a simple comic con cover - one that would slowly metamorphosize into the wise-cracking-demon-hunting-demon for Dark Horse Comics. Now, with a golden comic book empire as well as one feature film, two (going on three) animated DVDs and talk of a second film, Mike Mignola has effectively proved that comic conventions are moved than sweaty fans and overpriced hot dogs.

6. Golden Age Comic Boom: Not all accidental discoveries are good ones. You might be wondering, how can comics worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions be a bad thing? This is actually two accidents in one - the first the unforseen effect of a sixty-odd year history, and the second an accident waiting to happen in the comic book industry.

It was in the 1990’s that news stories were first a flutter with tales of kids finding big bucks in their grandma’s basement. Old comics from the 1940’s were all the rage, and suddenly the possibility of raising your kid’s tuition in these dimestore rags was a real possibility. But this mainstream interest backfired in the comic book shops, as the resulting “collector bubble” burst, with the industry leaders like Marvel and DC offering variant issues of big events like “The Death of Superman” to entice the non-comic crowd. Soon the truth came out: Golden Age comic prices were only hiked up by the shredding and recycling of World War II rationing efforts, with the regular laws of “supply and demand” applying to everything.

And that, my friends, is why your gold-etched copy of “The Death of Superman” is still worth only five bucks.

5. Maus: Unlike Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, both of which had the backing of a major comic publisher, Art Spiegelman’s Maus was for the most an underground experience, published for 3 pages in Apex Novelties in 1972, and then in serial form starting 1977 in RAW Magazine. Once collected, however, the graphic novel had a profound effect on the medium, even winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.

I suspect the core honesty of the book aided its impact. Art’s father, although a Holocaust survivor, exhibits racism, and one point even Art himself confesses fears his father has become the stereotypical stingy Jew. Though it may be a bit of a stretch to call this comic’s mainstream inception accidental - as the underlying metaphor of the Holocaust Jews being depicted as mice to the cats of the Nazi party was visually profound - it is amazing that such an underground graphic novel rose so quickly to the ranks of the literary elite in a time when comics were still fighting public perception as “funny-books”.

4. Star Wars: Okay, okay, I know most of this is a movie truimph, not a comic triumph, but some credit has to be given to George Lucas for holding on to the merchandising right for Star Wars, an overshot and overbudgeted film so sure to be a box office bomb, so no one really gave a Wookie in 1977. The instant success of the movie made merchandising possible, and much of that merchandise exists to this day in the form of comic books.

Though Star Wars slipped in and out of comic book form afterwards, it was truthfully Mike Richardson’s Dark Horse Comics, which expanded the view of the Star Wars Universe beyond the canon of the films, giving fans a view of characters ranging from Kevin Rubio’s bumbling Tag and Bink to Timothy Zahn’s fan-favorite figure Mara Jade.

But none of this would have happened if a maverick director all but relegated to failure for a cheeseball sci-fi flick hadn’t kept his merchandising rights.

3. Superman: We’re already in the Top 3, and you might be thinking, if this is the beginning of the Top 3, why is Superman on the bottom already?

Well, because Superman was a mediated discovery - creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had high hopes for the last son of Krypton - but no one else did.

In fact, DC editor Vin Sullivan accidentally discovered what would would become the publisher’s most recognizable hero in the slush pile.

Supes joins the ranks of Stephen King and Nicolas Sparks as book-selling personalities gracing the interiors of waste baskets and slush piles alike, with Sullivan chosing the Siegel and Shuster creator simply because it looked different than all the rest.

Who knew waste disposal systems were such fountains of creativity?

2. Spider-Man: Once again, like Siegel and Shuster, writer Stan Lee had high hopes for his bold new superhero Spider-Man - but his boss Martin Goodman didn’t. The idea of a teenager being the hero instead of the guy in short-shorts running beside the hero was a laughable one back before the dawn of the Marvel-lead Silver Age.

So Lee put Spidey on the cover of the last issue of a failed series Amazing Adult Fantasy - figuring his boss wouldn’t care about Spider-Man taking up the front page of a cancelled series. But Amazing Fantasy #15 struck a cord not just in sales, but in a fan mail explosion, one which ultimately garnered Spidey his own comic, Amazing Spider-Man.

In retrospect, Spider-Man’s success paved the way for a large number of similarly angst-ridden teen heroes, including the X-Men, Teen Titans and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But none of this wouldn’t have happened if Martin Goodman, who favored square-jawed Golden Agers like Captain America and Ka-Zar, had his way.

I mean, can you imagine a Silver Age sans the wry and skiny Spidey, replaced by the bare-chested Tarzan clone Ka-Zar?

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Unlike Stan Lee or Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird didn’t have high hopes in the least when they penciled on masks and ancient ninja gear onto four overgrown turtles - they were just brainstorming.

But still, Laird and Eastman knew something was up as a result of their accidental discovery, so they gathered funds from tax refunds and family loans to publish one single issue - parodying current comic hits like Daredevil (”The Foot Clan” to “The Hand”), New Mutants, Cerebrus and Ronin.

The resulting pop culture tidal wave was probably more than any Laird or Eastman could have prepared for. The subsequent Saturday morning cartoon, airing several years after the start of the creator’s Mirage series, included a far more humorous and self-conscious tone in contrast to the Laird and Eastman comicseries, which parodied the darker tones of Frank Miller and Dave Sim.

With the release of the latest TMNT at the box office, there’s no doubt from the box office numbers that TMNT still holds a popular grasp on pop culture.

Not surprisingly, Peter Laird was attached as executive producer of the CGI film, which beat down the competition for a No. 1 spot when it was released.