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I used to get a kick out of the fact that despite having such incredible magical abilities, The Spectre would sometimes choose to just grow huge and start walloping the bad guys. And what better combatant than the King of All Monsters himself? This issue would call for some nice two-page splashes.
Here's an example of where I had to declutter and complete an image before I could use it. This awesome great shot of The FF in the Fantasticar was just what I needed, but I had to do some prep work to get it ready. Here's a peek behind the scenes:
An oddball pairing here but this was a case in which I noticed that I had a couple of images that seemed to go together well. I can definitely see a story that mixes both Manhunter and Stark Tech. Garth doesn't get enough respect, especially these days, and it would be nice to see him take center stage again.
Joe Giella, whose inks are featured in the cover above, passed away last week, and he leaves behind a storied career. I remember seeing his name on the credits of so many of the Marvel and DC tales in my youth, stories that went on to be the building blocks for their entire respective universes. May he rest in peace and with the knowledge that he helped bring so much enjoyment to the fans over the years.
Welcome to the 4000th cover for Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues! When you count the B&B and MTIO covers that I began with, the total comes to 4510 covers. It's been just about 13 years of daily work, but it's been a fun ride thanks to all of the enthusiasm and support from visitors to the blog. This year was especially nice, with STF: The Lost Issues getting a segment in The Team-Up Companion from TwoMorrows Publishing, quite an honor. I truly appreciate everyone who stops by to check out my daily covers, especially those who take the time to comment and let me know what they think and offer praise, constructive criticism and suggestions. The biggest thank you of course must go out to the Patrons of this blog. Your support has meant the world to me and a huge reason why the blog has lasted so long.
In addition to the main cover here featuring a meeting between two teams that I have been meaning to get to for years, I've prepared some special features. You know, it's too bad that legal red tape prevents me from selling any STF-related merchandise on this blog, but it got me thinking. What are some of the cool STF-Inspired tie-in items that might have appeared over the years? Let's see some of the greatest STF Swag that never existed - but should have!
Your All-New Saturday Line-Up!
I presented some Saturday Morning cartoons as part of the special features in my special features for STF #3000, and I wanted to expand the concept here. Most of these new shows are based on previous STF adventures:
Adam Strange joined Star Wars in STF #3343...
Shazam met Shazzan in STF #1178...
Dick Tracy hunted Spider-Man in STF #1080...
Johnny Quest and Tintin Shared a two-part tale in STF #186 and STF #187...
and Aquaman and Sub-Mariner have a long history on the blog, they last appeared together with The Defenders in STF #3927, they battled Mer-Mutates in STF #2270, tried to avert war in Issue #1105, faced the sea's wrath back in Issue #751 and starred in my very first STF two-parter in Issue #3 and Issue #4.
That should make for a fun Saturday Morning, but there's no reason you can't get into the STF fun on school days with the...
Scooby-Doo: Marvel Madness Lunch Box!
After School, it's time to relax with a board game, perhaps one that's based on STF's longest running romance:
The Captain America & Wonder Woman Game!
They certainly have a history on this blog - this marks the 30th appearance of the WW/Cap Romance!
If it's a newer game you are looking for, maybe it's time for a round of...
Superman Vs. The Hulk Rock-'Em Sock-'Em Robots!
The Superman and Spider-Man Video Game!
And don't miss out on the fully articulated...
STF Action Figures!
When Ben W mentioned in a recent comment section that there should have been a cinematic meeting between these two properties since their movies came out so close together, I had to agree it was an excellent point. I highly recommend the Batman/TMNT animated move that came out. It's an excellent crossover and the closing credits are amazing, with lots of mock covers like I make here on the blog.
Coming Tomorrow: STF #4000!
I'll be interested to see if Jimmy Olsen will be a part of Janes Gunn's Superman: Legacy. Gunn seems to want to go back to basics with the property, so I think there's a good chance we'll see Superman's Pal. The real question is, will we see a ginger live action Jimmy for the first time ever?
Ever since I paired these two way back in STF #59, I have received requests for a follow up tale. Well, consider your wish fulfilled... 11 years later! Sorry about the long wait, you might say I slept on this one for a while...
I am interested in the Amazons series that is being readied for HBO Max. Will Diana herself be a part of the series. I'm not sure when it will take place so I don't know if she will already be off the island, or if we will see a young Diana in training - or perhaps the show will predate her birth. Hopefully we will get some more details soon.
My favorite memories of The Shadow do not come from his print or theatrical appearances, but from the classic radio plays featuring the character. When I was a kid, we had a collection of them that we would pop in and listen to at bedtime. I'm sure that someone has a bunch of the episodes on Youtube, I'll have to give them a listen again after all these years.
I decided to take a picture of my cat Ace to celebrate his seventh birthday today, and it was he who gave me a present. He is named after Ace the Bat-Hound, and here he was giving a perfect Bat-Signal impression! He even has the scalloped bottom of the wing, I was glad he didn't move before I got a picture off.
We've seen Green Lanterns of all sizes, from microbes to entire planets - so there's no reason these two diminutive heroes can't get in on the action. It might be fun to see them explore the Microverse of OA.
Can we really only be a week away from STF #4000? I'll give you a tease about what to expect: An oversized cover featuring an adventure between a major DC team and a fan favorite Marvel mutant group that have yet to meet on the blog, which will take them to various exotic locales. Then, some extras - A new STF-inspired Saturday Morning cartoon line up plus a big look at STF-related swag... the toys and games and merchandise from over the years that never existed - but should have! Of course, there are a few covers to go before that which I hope you will enjoy (including a couple of comment suggestions fulfilled).
This story is Part Two of the battle that began in STF #3044. Looks like Ronnie Raymond bit off more than he can chew when storming Doom's castle. Then again it looks like Victor Von Doom may have underestimated what it takes to control the power of Firestorm. This should be interesting...
Time for an all-Ditko cover. Neither of these guys has received so much as a mention in the Marvel and DC cinematic universes. I wonder which will be featured in live action first? I think that both of them could be pretty impressive visually on the big screen.
I've read rumors that the follow up film to Godzilla Vs. Kong will be titled Godzilla and Kong. That indicates that the two titans will be teaming up against a larger threat. We've already seen King Ghidora and Mecha-Godzilla, so I am not quite sure who it could be, though. I wonder what The Cloverfield Monster is up to these days?
DC comics seems to be going through yet another reboot phase with their new Dawn of DC titles. Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott will be bringing readers an all new Titans series and the line up will be the one we see above (plus Starfire), meaning that the classic New Teen Titans team will be back together. I hope that this is a sign of what we can expect to see on the big screen if a Titans film for the DCU gets greenlighted.
These guys definitely went to the same tailor. Whoever it was probably figured that Matt Murdock wouldn't notice he was getting a hand me down look from Rex Tyler! These two previously appeared together in these our fits in STF #3220, and first met back in STF #2892...
When Marc Tyler Nobleman, Comics' historian and Patron of this Blog, suggested I pair up Spidey and The Atom, It was a no-brainer. No only have I not teamed them up before, but their costumes actually go together pretty well. I never noticed that before. Thanks, Marc!
I love those hip-discs on Iron Man's classic design. I'm not sure what special purpose they served, but I have seen that they are loaded with circuitry when he's removed them, though. Mostly I just think they look cool, like the widow's peak and buccaneer boots on this design. Maybe someday we'll see it in live action.
I wonder if this crossover was ever considered for real back in the day. How cool would it have been to see the casts of these two outer space shows interact with one another? I'm not sure how the timelines match up, but they could have come up with a plot device to get around that.
There may have been characters that I thought were cooler, but the superhero I most identified with as a kid had to be Elongated Man. He loved having his powers and didn't want to keep his identity a secret. He had red hair and loved a good mystery. He never became quite as popular as some of the others he shared adventures with. I even had a brother named Ralph. I hope James Gunn likes Ralph Dibny too and that he finds a place for him in the DCU.
Was Alan Moore the first writer to present Etrigan speaking in rhyme? I'm not sure I remember any other writer doing that with the character before seeing it in the pages of Swamp Thing. Whoever came up with it, it's a brilliant technique to make The Demon unique, even among occult characters. It makes him a little trickier to write for, but the storytelling effects are worth the extra effort.
They do say that war is Hell, so this is a match up that might actually make a crazy kind of sense. Even with the ultimate power at his fingertips, I'd like to believe that Sgt. Rock would make the right decision here. I'd love to see Mephisto's reaction when his plans failed due to the will of a single America soldier.
One real shame about Natasha Romanov being killed off in the MCU is that it creates a big missed opportunity. Now that Daredevil is in the MCU proper, I would have loved to see him share some adventures (and possibly romance) with The Black Widow. I guess there are a couple of opportunities to do this. The upcoming 18 episode Daredevil series on Disney+ will have plenty of room for flashbacks, so maybe she could be included there. Failing that, they could bump into each other in one of the upcoming time and reality warping Avengers movies. I think all of these scenarios are probably long shots, however.
The were lots of rumors about a Ben Affleck-starring Batman movie which would have featured the Dark Knight up against Deathstroke. Those plans seem to have gone away now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are in charge of the DCU. That's OK with me - I much prefer to see Deathstroke as a foil for Dick Grayson and the New Teen Titans anyway. Still, it seems like this new DCU is skipping right to Damien Wayne (& Nightwing possibly), so who knows if we will ever get a proper Titans movie anyway?
This is a crossover that I really wish DC had done. Joe Kubert is in my opinion the greatest comic book artist to ever live and it would have been great to see him work on a projects featuring two characters that he depicted so masterfully. Heck, throw in Sgt. Rock and you might just have the perfect comic book!
I saw this pairing discussed in a recent comments section and it inspired me. I remember seeing the Super-Turtle comics strips in the back of some of my old Silver Age titles. I'm not sure if the Turtle of Steel ever made it into regular continuity, though... I never did see him join with the Legion of Super Pets.