Comic Book Journal

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.