Gamora and Katma Tui

This cover features two characters whose deaths truly shocked me.  Katma Tui was a favorite of mine, so I really hated the way she was unceremoniously slaughtered in the pages of Action Comics Weekly by Star Sapphire.  It hurt all the more that it was illustrated by famed Green Lantern artist Gil Kane.  For some reason, she is one of the rare characters that has never been brought back.  I knew that Avengers: Infinity War would have a body count, but I have to admit, I did not see Gamora's death coming.  It looks like it just may stick, too, since it occurred before the Thanos SNAP at the end of the film.

Please Consider Supporting STF: The Lost Issues

It is time once again for my yearly reminder about how you can help to keep the blog going - while it is a labor of love, it is still (despite what some may think) a one-man operation and can be quite time consuming to keep up on a daily basis. Every little bit of support helps.  This year has been tough - my advertisers closed up shop so I am trying out a different ad provider - not crazy about them so far, though.  As for Patrons, I actually took a step backwards and lost some in the past year, hopefully that doesn't mean that folks are getting tired of the covers. I've just moved to a new place and there are lots of expenses associated with that, so I am hopping to get a little more support to make ends meet.

The blog will of course always be free, but if you would like to help support it, there are a couple of ways to do so - by by making a one time contribution by clicking on the "Donate" button at the bottom of the page, or by becoming a Patron.  While I take suggestions from anyone, Patrons of course will get special consideration.

Thanks again, and especially thanks for coming by for your daily dose of team up fun!

Futurama and Rick And Morty

I saw the suggestion to for this match-up in the comments section and I couldn't resist.  Futurama was one of my all time favorite cartoons, with more humor, heart and far out concepts included in each episode than I could count, making it quite re-watchable as well.  It wasn't until Rick and Morty came along that I found another animated series to compare to it.  It's another show will all those elements and has been a joy to watch.  I'm hoping they are hard at work on new episodes right now.

Spider-Man and The Huntress

At least now we know who won the battle in STF #742...

I like the huntress best as she was originally conceived - The daughter of Batman and Catwoman who grew to be a hero that shares traits with each of them.  It's too bad the Crisis took that away - the mob daughter version works OK, but isn't nearly as compelling as the Earth-2 origin.  Now that Batman and Catwoman are getting hitched in the mainstream continuity, everything is coming full circle anyway.

Huntress first met Spidey in STF #288...

Nova and The Ray

The Ray was out of the spotlight for a while but I am glad to see that DC has given him a bit of a push in the past few years.  He's had his own animated show on the CW Seed, has appeared in live action on DC's Legends of Tomorrow (although I wish he had stuck around), and in the comics he is currently a member of the Justice League of America.  I've liked him since his introduction and it's good to see him getting around.

Hawkman and Condorman

Young comic fans don't know how good they have it these days.  Long before the age of Marvel Movies, or even Tim Burton's Batman, superhero movies were few and far between.  Condorman came out right at the advent of VHS recorders, and I remember it being one of our first rentals - I must have watched it 5 times over the course of a weekend.  Watching Michael Crawford with his flying suit and array of trick vehicles and gadgets was a blast, and made me long for more comic book heroes on the big screen.

Tarzan Vs. King Kong

This is yet another suggestion from comics historian and Patron of this blog, Marc Tyler Nobleman that had me smacking my forehead because I had never thought of it before.  Imagine a movie featuring the Lord of the Jungle having to deal with the King of all Beasts?  It pretty much writes itself in my mind's eye.  Let's bring on Lord Greystoke after Kong finishes up with Godzilla in his next theatrical appearance!

The Mask Vs. Loki

This would make for a fun - and close - match up.  With Loki, nothing is ever as it seems and you never know what magical trick he has up his sleeve next.  The Mask can match his unpredictability, though, and has the power to back that up with.  It might come down to who is more ruthless, which would give the God of Mischief the evil edge.

Orion and Medusa

I'm still scratching my head at many of the decisions made for the now cancelled Inhumans TV series.  Making it a TV show instead of a film was probably the first one, its a property that really needs a big budget to present well.  Having almost all of the characters stripped of their powers for most of the series didn't help either - chopping Medusa's hair off in the first episode, never having it return?  I know it has happened in the comics before, but it's not what I was hoping to see.  This is one property I wouldn't mind giving the Marvel Cinematic Universe a do-over on.

Man-Wolf Vs. Swamp Thing

Justice League Dark is coming back in a new series, and I have to say I was amused at the slight redesign given to Swamp Thing.  He now has long flowing vines of "hair", making him look somewhat like famed Swamp Thing scribe Alan Moore - and it kind of works!  I wasn't crazy about the antlers he grew for a while a few years back, but this I can live with.

Captain America and Wonder Woman (The Movie!)

I made this cover just before it was announced that Kristin Wiig would be playing The Cheetah in in the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 - here you can see my choice for the role.  I am very curious to see what Wiig, primarily known for her comedy chops, will do with the role. Now that we have seen set photos featuring what appears to be a very alive and un-aged Steve Trevor, I'm wondering what the heck is up with that situation as well.

This marks the 19th appearance of the WW/Captain America romance on the blog...

X-Men and The Justice League of America in: "Duplicating Dinah!"

The X-Men and JLA crossed paths once before on this blog, in STF #700, but that was with the original team.  The crossover between these two powerhouse groups that I would really love to see would feature the line ups that these teams had from around issue #150-200 of their respective titles. I was the perfect age to enjoy such Bronze Age goodness, and those rosters really resonated with me.

Batgirl and Black Panther

Batgirl is about to undergo another costume change. This new one pretty much goes back to her classic look, except for the cowl, which now will cover a lot less of her head.  I guess artistically it will work well to see her red hair in motion as she battles crime, but is it really that practical in Gotham City?  I always wondered why the various Robins didn't use more head protection and now Babs is making the same mistake!

Firestorm and E-Man

I remember being surprised when the relatively new hero Firestorm was allowed to join the Justice League of America.  He was a welcome addition though - I really liked his interactions with other members of the team.  Superman acted as a mentor, and The Flash would get annoyed by his inexperience.  There was even a spark of romance with him and Power Girl during the JLA/JSA crossovers, I always hoped that would have gone somewhere.

Doom Patrol and Alpha Flight

Alpha Flight is another team like the Doom Patrol that has gone through many changes and incarnations over the years.  Nothing has ever quite been able to capture the magic of the original team that was introduced in Uncanny X-Men for me though - the farther that Marvel strays away from that, the less it has worked for me.  Give me the original line-up any day, I loved the first few years of their comic.

Blue Beetle and War Machine

Like many, I did not like it when Blue Beetle Ted Kord was killed off, even if I did like his replacement.  I am glad that DC eventually came to their senses and brought Kord back, as a mentor to the younger Beetle.  It looks like similar things are happening with Ray Palmer sharing the Atom Identity with Ryan Choi.

Jaime Reyes first entered Tony Stark's armory in STF #386...

Spider-Man and Martian Manhunter

The Trailer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been released, and it looks like a lot of fun.  I know that some have been clamoring for Miles Morales to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for me it still seems to soon when they have just established their teenage Peter Parker.  This animated spin-off seems like a perfect solution.  From the Spider-Gwen cameo at the end of the trailer, it looks like we can expect to see some other spider-iterations to show up in it as well.

All-Star Squadron and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

All-Star Squadron seems to be very fondly remembered whenever I see the series brought up.  I am surprised that we have never seen a revival of that comic in one form or another.  DC does not seem shy about using legacy titles for its comics, after all.  I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise when The Justice Society themselves go AWOL for years at a time.

Batman and Daredevil in: "Revealed... and Recruited!"

I always liked the look of the original Daredevil.  It's such a simple costume design, but the red/blue split works so well.  Add in the spiked belt for an air of danger, and you have something very sleek and cool.  It's no wonder that modern artists have not felt the need to update it very much when presenting new adventures of the public domain hero.

Jonny Quest and Robin

I watched these two boy heroes in adventures on Saturday mornings when I grew up, and always thought it would be cool if they got together.  While Robin had access to all sorts of cool gadgets and vehicles, he was still a junior partner.  Jonny may have been a bit more low tech, but he definitely seemed like the leader of his group to me.  Together, they could have taught each other a thing or two.

The Silent Partners in: "Monster in the Mix!"

I thought it was time to increase the ranks of the stealthiest team in the STF Universe - and without much discussion, Man-Thing has joined in! I mentioned in the comments to their last appearance that they would be adding a member next time out - did any of you guess correctly?

This is the third adventure of The Silent Partners - they last appeared in STF #1650, and made their debut in STF #764...

Halo and Kitty Pryde

I had heard good things about Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men and had read plenty of issues - but out of order.  I didn't start collecting the title regularly until the Paul Smith run.  It wasn't until years later when I picked up some X-Men Essentials to fill gaps in my collection did I get to read Claremont's early years on the book, sequentially.  I gained a whole new respect for him.  Sure, it could be a bit wordy at time, but he did an amazing job of weaving multiple plot lines in and out and giving each member of the team distinct personalities and motivations.  The Dave Cockrum/John Byrne/Terry Austin artwork didn't hurt either!

Kamandi and Sub-Mariner in: "Terror, Thy Name is Titano!"

One thing I never got about the Golden Age Sub-Mariner stories I read was the way he was depicted.  His head was shaped like a big triangle!  It wasn't just the artist's style, the other characters in the stories had normally shaped heads... but Namor himself had a noggin that was big and fat on the top and narrow at the chin.  It looked so weird to me, it was hard to get past it.

Kamandi and Namor previously met in a story that began in STF #570 and continued into STF #571 - and they were joined by The Hulk in STF #877...

The Marvel Family and The Watcher

As far as I know, The Don Newton-illustrated tales of the Shazam Family that were featured in World's Finest when it was an over-sized Dollar Comic have never been collected.  That's a real shame, because I think is would be a big seller.  The stories are a ton of fun and Newton's artwork was absolutely gorgeous.  There have been many attempts to modernize the look of the world of Shazam over the years, and I feel that those stories were the most successful at that.

Brother Voodoo and The Demon

One thing I like about The Demon is how so many different types of stories can be told with him.  he can be either the protagonist or antagonist in any tale and his adventures can be set in many different time periods.  His stories can range from Gothic horror to swords and sorcery to superhero action.  He's even had a comedic series that worked pretty well.  Pretty versatile, if you ask me!

Hawkwoman Vs. The Vulture

I was surprised how well The Vulture worked as a villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming.  I always figured that when he finally made it into a Spidey flick, he would be a secondary villain, but the writer's gave him a great hook and it really worked.  His design looked great as well, and Michael Keaton was perfect in the role as enough time has passed that audiences don't automatically think of Batman when he he appears.  I even liked the plot twist with who his family was, which I didn't see coming.  It just goes to show that any character can shine on the big screen, given the right care.

The Vulture first went after Nth Metal in STF #741...

Ultra: The Multi-Alien Vs. The Super Skrull

Ultra the Multi Alien was a hero that I used to think of as a one-off creature character, like the monsters that appeared so often in early Marvel comics.  Looking back though, he was given a real push, appearing in multiple issues of Mystery in Space.  I wonder why he never made it to the Big (or even Middle) Leagues?  Maybe the popularity of other characters like Adam Strange pushed him out of his series, or maybe his look was too similar to Metamorpho's, who knows?  At any rate, I always thought is would be cool to see him in battle with The Super-Skrull, so here goes!

Jack of Hearts and Green Lanterns

I really hope that DC can get the Green Lantern Corps movie up and running.  Like Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel, it could be a great way to open up the DC Universe.  A movie about space cops with members from thousands of races is can't help but do so.  They could get caught up in the Rann-Thanagar War, deal with a threat from Mongul's Warworld, or investigate what happened to Mars' once thriving civilization... the possibilities are endless.

Jack of Hearts met Green lantern Hal Jordan in STF #587...

Indiana Jones and Sgt. Rock

It seems like Stephen Spielberg and Harrison Ford are serious about making one more Indiana Jones movie together.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with, given the fact that Ford is not quite a spry as he once was.  Kingdom of the Crystal Skull definitely had its issues, but there were still enough fun moments for me to enjoy it - which I can honestly say about all of the sequels.  Nothing comes close to Raiders of the Lost Ark, though.  That movie is just about perfect in my eyes.  Will they be able to recapture at least some of that magic?  I hope so.

Legion of Super-Heroes Vs. The Fantastic Four in: "Time Crimes of the Puppet Master!"

This cover marks a first for me.  It's the only time that I have used an image on a cover that I actually own the original artwork for!  I remember loving the Kevin Nowlan illustrations of each member of The Fantastic Four that is saw listed on Ebay, and wanting them all on my wall.  Alas, my limited budget resulted in my being easily outbid on three of the four.  The Thing is my favorite Marvel character, so I placed a higher bid on his illustration, and I was lucky enough to win that auction:

Very cool to be able to use it on a cover!

The LSH and The FF first crossed paths in STF #2066...

Mephisto Vs. The Phantom Stranger

It's crazy how long it took until The Phantom Stranger showed up in other media.  We finally got an animated version on an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold a few years back.  But now we need a live action version.  DC's Legends of Tomorrow or the on-again off-again Justice League Dark movie seem like the most likely options.  He should be an easy character to pull off, as long as they remember to keep his eyes in shadow.