I've always liked a good back up story in comics. They were usually as good as the lead feature (unlike many of the "B" sides to record singles that I would pick up). Some of my favorites were Elongated man solo adventures in Detective Comics, Whatever happened to...? in DC Comics Presents, and Green Lantern or Firestorm in The Flash.
The first time I saw Firestorm was in a Back-up story in The Flash! After picking up Fury of Firestorm, I started tracking down the back issues...
ReplyDeleteWhatever Happened To...? And Elongated Man stories were cool... I was reading Adventure Comics with Prince Gavin, when they added Aquaman to the mix...!
(Ticked-off Tyler! HA!)
Let me guess: the lead story is a Cold War flashback, wherein the Gremlin has used a mind-controlled Solomon Grundy to abduct Betty Ross and Golden Age GL has patriotically volunteered to capture the Hulk so the latter can aid in the rescue attempt by "duke-king" it out with the erstwhile Cyrus Gold.
ReplyDeleteWhile the backup story concerns Hourman suffering from the very side-effect that Rex Tyler had summoned Henry Pym to help him eliminate from Miraclo through the use of irradiated formic acid. Namely: violent paranoid anger!
For STF #3425, I would like to suggest...Carnage vs. Carnage!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've been waiting an "Eternity" to say that. ;-D
Oh you kid!
DeleteI used to like some of those back-up stories (including the Huntress's in WW< and Dr Fate's in [?] too), as well.
ReplyDeleteCarycomics: Nice explanations.
(Remember that 'alternative DC multiverse' of mine that I mentioned, and you said nice things about, around a couple of weeks ago? Here's another snippet of it for you: An alternative reality in which a youthful 'League of Super-Heroes' was formed in the 1960s, based in Gotham, with its philanthropist benefactor -- whom the founding members had saved from an assassination attempt at Gotham Airport -- not R.J. Brande but Dr Thomas Wayne. Those founders were the twins 'Green Girl' & 'Shadow Lad', & their newfound friend Brainwave-2'.)
I'd buy that off the racks in a Gotham City minute! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy first look at the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Green Arrow was in their backup series in Detective, Adventure, and World's Finest. Knowing who they was a large part of the reason I was so excited when I first saw a house ad for Justice League of America.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that all of them were winners. Prince Ra-Man and Mark Merlin come to mind (and yet I still remember their names). In fact, the movie theater in Blue Valley (this week's Stargirl show) is currently showing "The Adventures of Mark Merlin"!
And of course, over on the Marvel side, due to the silly Post Office regulations about magazine subscriptions and Marvel's contracts with distributors, Marvel was limited in the number of books they could put out per month and was forced to go to two-sided books when they suddenly had more stars than books (Iron Man/Cap, Dr.Strange/Torch/SHIELD, Hulk/Giant-Man/Sub-Mariner) until they could get the legal issues worked out and have a new bunch of #1 issues.
ReplyDeleteKirby, Nodell, Baily!!!! Got to love the classics!
ReplyDeleteGreat Scott What a ring a ding cover! These are definitely two Tales to Astonish!
ReplyDeleteShame you got into dc after their implosion. You might have liked the 1960s early Flash.
Jay !
ReplyDeletegood catch , i thought i was the only one who saw that marquee !
Like to suggest Hulk meets Mighty Mouse: The Fight before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHow about a rematch between Deadpool and Ambush Bug?
ReplyDeletePlease! No!! Ross forbid!!!
ReplyDeleteThese are two pairings that I would not have thought of, but that somehow work in practice. In particular, Rex' name and Hank's personality lend themselves to the back-up story's title.
ReplyDeleteOn another topic, I've been trying to remember whether I've already suggested this or not: Shrek and Donkey finding themselves in a galaxy "Far, Far Away"!
And of course I support the Deadpool/Ambush Bug revival!
This talk of a Deadpool/Ambush Bug team-up reminds me of another idea that I had: Harley Quinn/Slapstick.
ReplyDelete@Simreeve: I vote in favor of that one. At least it'd be preferable to DPvABII!
ReplyDelete