Justice League of America and Warlock

Back in the Silver and Bronze age of comics there were certain concepts and motifs that were repeated over and over.  One that I always thought was cool was "giant hand grabs hero/heroes".  I'm not sure where the trend started, but it almost always worked on me.  For some reason I always found it to be an eye-catching image, and those covers drew my eye right in.

The JLA squared off against Thanos before on the blog - First in STF #184 and then again in STF #931...

The Demon and The Punisher

There are certain characters that artists really seem to have fun with.  The Demon definitely falls into this category.  Jack Kirby came up with a great visual for Etrigan and illustrators that have worked on him since have all had a unique take.  Whether it was Matt Wagner, Val Semeiks, John Byrne, John Totleben, John McRae, Dick Giordano or another talent, each artist gave an interesting and effective interpretation of his appearance.

Batman and The Black Terror

I am a sucker for retro-looking robots.  Sure, we have modern movies focusing on high tech AI like Ex Machina - but give me the old school designs like in the cover above any day.  It's one of the reasons I love watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - the movie itself is pretty good, but the designs of the robots, vehicles and machines are awesome to look at.

Sub-Mariner Vs. Green Lantern

News on DC's Green Lantern Corps movie is very slow to trickle out, but this week we did get one more tidbit:  Kyle Rayner will be joining Hal Jordan and John Stewart on the big screen, with Jordan being an mentor type to the younger recruits.  I prefer Hal and John to be contemporaries, but that set up can still work.  I just hope that we still get to see a lot of alien lanterns in addition to the humans.

Green Arrow & Black Canary and Hawkeye & Mockingbird

Now that *** SPOILER for Arrow fans who aren't caught up **** the death that has been teased all of the current season was revealed to be Laurel Lance, the (second) Black Canary, the series could go a few ways.  Laurel whispered something to Ollie before she was declared dead, so the whole thing could be a fake by the two of them, which would anger fans I think.  Felicity could be come the new Black Canary, which would anger fans even more. Maybe they will just give the character a rest.  What I hope will happen, though, is that by next season Caity Lotz will return from her time on DC's Legends of Tomorrow as the White Canary and reclaim her role as the Original Black Canary.  I always prefered her in the role anyway.

Although this is the first appearance of all of these heroes together, Black Canary and Mockingbird have crossed paths before on the blog.  Green Arrow and Hawkeye have met a few times - They first met in one of my very earliest STF covers... then they were at odds with a few fellow Avengers along for the tale... Next up they faced off against The Hulk and Solomon Grundy... and the last time we saw them it was time to hone their skills...

Vindicator and Halo

I am glad that Katana has been gaining more popularity through her own comic series as well as appearances on TV and in the movies - I just wish that her Outsiders teammate Halo got some of the spotlight as well.   She had a great look and power set, and best of all was not simply a female version of a pre-existing male hero.  It's a shame that DC just chooses to keep her in limbo for years at a time.

Ghost Rider and Blue Devil in: "Charge of the Cursed!"

When Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares relaunched Ghost Rider back in 1990, they also reignited my interest in the character.  I still remember that run fondly.  Saltares gave Dan Ketch a great look, and in my opinion the best Ghost Rider cycle ever.

Blue Devil and the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider had an adventure together back in STF #732...

The Black Panther and Kamandi

It's frustrating that Captain America: Civil War is opening in other areas weeks before I will get a chance to see it.  I have heard great reviews so far and I am very interested to see to how the Black Panther and Spider-Man will be portrayed and figured into the plot.  Still, I am going to try and stay as spoiler free as possible, which wont be easy.  My curiosity has gotten the bettor of me and ruined a lot of movie surprises lately and I hope that won't happen again.

Iron Fist and The Bronze Tiger

When I first heard that Will Smith had been cast in Suicide Squad, my first thought was that perhaps he would be playing The Bronze Tiger.  It will be interesting to see what Smith does with the role of Floyd Lawton/Deadshot - but I am a little disappointed that we wont be seeing Ben Turner on the big screen.  Hopefully the film will be enough of a success to warrant sequels, and The Bronze Tiger will get another chance to take part in the action.

Daredevil and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Batman is currently crossing over for real with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the comics, which is pretty cool - but I have to say that I am surprised they are sharing an adventure with The Dark Knight before The Man Without Fear.  The Turtles came about as a response to the popularity of comics like Frank Miller's Daredevil run, and it seems to me that a story featuring them together would be a natural.  I wondered why it's never happened?

Superman and The Hulk (The Movie!)

I was glad to see The Incredible Hulk join the Saturday Night MeTV family recently.  Nothing like curling up to back to back episodes of The Adventures of Superman, Batman, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Star Trek and a Svengoolie-hosted classic horror movie.  That's what I call a power-packed line-up!

Superman had a more traditional comic adventure with The Hulk(s) in an earlier STF Issue...

Jonah Hex and The Original Ghost Rider (Part 2)

It was interesting seeing Jonah Hex pop up on DC's Legends of Tomorrow the other night.  I wish they had given him a little more to do, though.  I did like that they acknowledged his experience with time travelers.  Hopefully that means there is a chance he will reappear in a future episode.

Jonah Hex met the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider in an earlier STF issue...

Jonah Hex and the Original Ghost Rider (Part 1)

I always liked the look of the original Ghost Rider (later called Night Rider, and Phantom Rider).  The all-white outfit complete with white mask, cape and hat riding on a white horse made for a great image and I am sure gave out a signal to bad guys that a there was a new force for good in the west.

This is only the first part of this tale, so make sure you come back for the thrilling conclusion tomorrow!

Thor and Doctor Who

I have read reports that The Russo Brothers are eager to use Thor in Avengers: Infinity War due to what they explain as the interesting place that the character will be following the events of Thor: Ragnarok.  This is purely speculation, but maybe Thor will finally be taking his place as the ruler of Asgard.  If that is the case, I hope his helmet will finally officially become part of his outfit!

The Rocketeer Vs. Boba Fett

This cover comes about from a suggestion by Marc. Tyler Nobleman, a Patron of this blog.  Thanks, Marc!

I watched the Star Wars: Rogue One trailer with interest. This movie wasn't high on my radar - franky I have concerns about Disney diluting the franchise by putting too many films out.  What I have seen so far looks pretty promising though.  I love that the story takes place in the time frame of the Original Trilogy.  Thant raises possibilities of some old favorites showing up - will there be appearances by Darth Vader and/or Boba Fett?  I hope so!

Werewolf By Night Vs. Swamp Thing

It's great that Len Wein is back writing the adventures of Swamp Thing.  Don't get me wrong, I was a huge fan of what Alan Moore did with the character - but I still look back fondly to Swamp Thing's original series by Wein and Wrightson.  I loved that this horror character shared the same world as Superman and Batman, and their run was a scary, moody delight.

Blue Beetle Vs. Spider-Man in "Bug Off!"

We now know a little about the next Spider-Man movie.  It will be titled Spider-Man: Homecoming and will feature at least one more Marvel hero in addition to the web-slinger.  The Vulture has been rumored as a villain - and Michael Keaton is in talks to portray the main antagonist.  I am looking forward to Tom Holland's debut as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. I recently watched him in In The Heart Of The Sea, and I am confident he will do well in the role.

Longtime readers know that in the above cover, Ted Kord is referring back to his first meeting with Spider-Man on this blog...

Spidey has also met the Dan Garrett and Jaime Reyes Blue Beetles on previous covers...

Calvin and Hobbes and Captain Marvel

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was wearing a Black Adam T-shirt at a recent awards show, and it is nice to see him so enthusiastic about the upcoming role in DC's cinematic Shazam!  Unfortunately, his casting is still just about all we know about the long-in development project.  I hope some movement is made on the film soon, DC really needs some more lighthearted fare on the big screen.

Green Lantern and Space Ghost

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that The Watcher's warning was not an idle one...

I am glad to see that Space Ghost has found a home in comics again in the pages of Future Quest.  Now that DC has a Hanna-Barbera imprint, I hope we will see some real crossovers between the two sets of characters - GL and Space Ghost would be a great place to start.

Tintin and The Watcher

One of the greatest things about Herge's Tintin stories was the amazing design sense he put into them.  Not only were the tales densely illustrated, he was constantly coming up with interesting characters, outfits, vehicles and locations.  He really got to shine with Tintin's outer space adventures, I loved the look of the spacesuits and rocket.

This is only Part One of this epic adventure - make sure to come back for Part Two tomorrow!

Godzilla Vs. Apache Chief

"SKREEONK!"

"Eh-Neeek-Chock!"

'Nuff said!

Max Mercury and Quicksilver

This cover comes about as a result of a conversation by regular STF visitor Isaac, among others.  I enjoyed the mentor-student relationship that Max Mercury had with Bart Allen in Impulse.  I would have liked to have seen him have more interaction with Jay Garrick though - I'm sure those two Golden Age speedsters would have had plenty to discuss.

Mars Attacks Howard the Duck!

I have read a few rumors that Howard the Duck will be showing up again in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.  While still a small role, it should be larger than the post credits cameo that appeared after the first film.  I hope this speculation turns out to be true - I love that Marvel is willing to embrace somie of its more outlandish concepts for their film universe.

Indiana Jones and Han Solo

STF: The Lost Issues Patron Marc Bryant suggested a Short Round / Chewbacca team up, as they were both partnered with Harrison Ford characters.  There wasn't a lot of Short Round images to choose from, so I figured why not pair up Han and Indy themselves? Thanks for the support and inspiration, Marc!

Harrison Ford is looking to reprise his roles as Indiana Jones and Rick Deckard in upcoming films, and after seeing him have so much fun as Han Solo again, I look forward to seeing him revisit two of his other iconic characters.

The Atom and Nightcrawler

I thought that Nightcrawler provided some of the best superhero movie action ever in X2: X-Men United, so I am glad that the character is finally being brought back in this Summer's X-Men: Apocalypse.  I hope we will see more of Kurt Wagner's carefree personality this time around.  I enjoyed Alan Cumming's take, but his Nightcrawler was pretty sullen for most of the film.

Savage Dragon and The Hulk

This is a team up that I am amazed has not happened yet.  While these two characters are both big, green and strong, that's where the similarities end, and it would be cool to see them laying the smack down side-by-side.  Erik Larsen has a great history with both Marvel and Image and I'd love to see him working on a project that brings those two comic universes together.

The Shadow and Captain America

I have enjoyed the adventures of The Shadow in film and print form, but my favorite memories of the character are from the classic radio dramas that he was featured in.  We used to listen to those as kids when we would go on camping trips.  With his ability to cloud men's minds, he was the perfect character for those audio mysteries.

The Joker and Jack of Hearts

I remember picking up the Jack of Hearts 4-issue mini-series back in 1983 on a whim because I liked the George Freeman art, and I have been a fan of the character ever since.  It's too bad he hasn't been used very much over the years.  I have read that some artists do not like having to illustrate his complicated costume over and over - I hope that's not a reason for holding him back!

Robo Force in "Victory has a Price!"

Robo Force was the first team that I created for STF: The Lost Issues, so I have always had a soft spot for them.  I like when groups have an artificial life form among them in comics, so an entire team made up of AI characters just seems like it would be a lot of fun.

This is Robo Force's third appearance on the blog - they Battled Ultron in STF #202 and first became a team back in STF #150...

Robocop and Futurama

The sign of a good animated series is whether the episodes stand up to repeated viewings. Futurama definitely succeeds when it comes to that metric.  The shows are so packed with verbal and visual gags that I can enjoy visiting them again and again. Certain episodes like "The Problem with Popplers" are so perfect that I have seen them several times over and they still manage to make me laugh.