There's something about groups of bad guys banding together that always appealed to me. It would probably be impractical for them, but the infighting while trying to work with one another to defeat the heroes usually made for a cool story. Maybe it strikes a chord with me because I loved seeing The Legion of Doom on Super Friends, I'm not sure. Marvel's Acts of Vengeance crossover, in which the villains swapped heroes to gain advantage was also a favorite of mine.
I think this one should have had just the top pic. FF vs SSOSV would take 100 pages to tell!
ReplyDeleteWho's the super-villain on the furthest left?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete"Who's the super-villain on the furthest left?"
Abra-Kadabra. Opponent of the Flash (both Barry Allen and Wally West). Comes from a rather repressive future (64th century AD?) with "sufficiently advanced technology"to pass as a magician, but got annoyed when people were more impressed by Flash & other super-heroes. Later sold his soul to a devil in exchange for genuine magical power, and guess how well that turned out...
I love that it is DC villains taking on Marvel heroes. Love that classic villain image used in the main story.
ReplyDeleteWhat else can I say except...OMG!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Ross! I am like you in that I love the team up of villains. They each have their own ego getting in the way of the collective agenda all the while trying to overcome the thwarts by the heroes. The main story in today's cover would be no different.
ReplyDeleteReed vs Luthor would be a great story alone.
ReplyDeletehow bout for 2500 issue you have hanna barbarra and marvel such as hong kong phooey and shang chi space ghost and nova herculoids and xmen or top cat and black cat or tigra also grape ape vs giant man
ReplyDeleteor hot stuff from harvey and hellboy or hellstrom
It's funny you should be exploring the concept of unholy alliances. Because I'm pretty sure that's what inspired M. Night Shyamalan to film the upcoming sequel to "Unbreakable" and "Split!"
ReplyDeleteGreat cover. Glad to see Eclipso finally make it to your pages. He's always been one of my favorites. A modern day Jeckell/Hyde story.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece, and I would read every one of those stories to pieces.
ReplyDeleteI remember that super villains cover; I think it predates the SSoSV as the cover to one of the DC calendars (maybe 1975?) It was DC Heroes Across America, if I recall correctly, and was just great. So many of those calendars were.
Ironic that you should be exploring unholy alliances of convenience. Because I think that's what inspired M. Night Shyamalan to film the upcoming sequel to UNBREAKABLE AND SPLIT.
ReplyDelete@2nd Anonymous: Holy Deja Vu, Batman!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though: was Deadshot recruited by Deathstoke after those two previous failed attempts on Daredevil's life?
ReplyDeleteYou mean the ones @ STF #2377 and #2386? Most likely.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Nah! STF #2386 co-starred Moon Knight.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to #1935! As Deathstroke is the only super-merc I know, capable of hospitalizing Black Canary on behalf of the Kingpin.
That Acts of Vengeance crossover puts me in mind of an old Champions adventure, The Great Supervillain Contest in which villains go out and, among other things, attack heroes out of the blue to earn points in the titular contest. The mysterious Red Claw (predating the DCAU Batman villain of the same name by several years) has promised the winner a device of massive power.
ReplyDeleteWere the villains take from one of DC's treasury editions because it looks familiar?
ReplyDeleteInteresting mask on the Cheetah.
ReplyDeleteFrom a DC Calendar, Scott.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHappy 2400th Ross!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the cover, because damn, if that wouldn't be one hell of a fight....provided Captain Comet's not on the team to betray them of course. Loser gets killed by Darkseid?
I'd also love, LOVE to see a proper Dr.Strange VS. Eclipso fight. Just seems like such a natural pairing that I wonder why I never though of it either.
Maybe we can get some more Eclipso love on this site?
@Brother Barnes: I think the Aqua-Bats were a Moby Dick foe on the old "Mighty Mightor" show in 1967.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@bob Greenwade, I am also familier with "The Great Super Villian Contest" and I told people at the time Marvel pulled thier acts of vengeance storyline that it was largely a plot ripoff of the RPG adventure.
ReplyDeleteI strongly felt whoever wrote / plotted/ edited the Acts of vengeance storyline should have given the Champions writers credit for the theft, to be frank. and it was a better storyline than the one in the comics, too. IMHO.
Great cover ! Just looking at it fires up my last neurons; Benjie clashing with Grundy: "Born on a Monday , clobbered on a Tuesday !" Reed dealing with Luthor: "I can't believe that fool Doom hasn't crushed you yet!" Richards: "I imagine you might come to regret making that statement aloud !"
ReplyDelete@Rilee: more likely the creators of the Great Super-villain Contest were inspired by "The Underworld Olympics." A now-classic four-part story arc done in Batman's parent comic during the mid-1970's. The unknown mastermind behind them never being caught!*
ReplyDelete*Which is I've always strongly suspected Ra's Al Ghul of having that dishonor.
Cary Comic said...
ReplyDelete"@Rilee: more likely the creators of the Great Super-villain Contest were inspired by "The Underworld Olympics." A now-classic four-part story arc done in Batman's parent comic during the mid-1970's. The unknown mastermind behind them never being caught!*
*Which is I've always strongly suspected Ra's Al Ghul of having that dishonor."
I forget, how was Hugo Strange being used in the comics during that period? I've been reading reprints of his earliest Golden Age appearances, in which -- apart from creating the Monster Men -- he had a criminal empire and was pretty obviously based on Professor Moriarty, and this contest would probably have fitted his style as it was then...
With the above comments, perhaps the GSVC might be a good basis for a 100-page special (possibly with some classic Champions villains involved -- most especially Foxbat).
ReplyDelete@Simreeve: the first time I heard of him, he was posing as an asylum administrator named Dr. Todhunter. As part of a story arc where he learned Batman's secret identity; tried to auction it off to the Joker, the Penguin, and Rupert Thorne; only to have the latter double-cross him, attempt to torture the info out of him for free, and then seemingly kill him; and culminating with Thorne being haunted by Strange's alleged ghost for about three or four subsequent issues!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePlease, brother. Have some sympathy for Daredevil!
ReplyDelete;-)
P.S.---How about, for Xmas, a match-up between Dr. Strange and...The Grinch?!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you for keeping Stingray on your blog. Pretty miffed that Marvel and their clueless staff of "writers" decided to kill off the character. He has always been one of my favorites.
ReplyDelete