Daughters of Darkness

 

Happy Halloween!  I've been meaning to put together a team like this for years.  What better day than today?

Ultraman Vs. Ultraman

 

Ever since I featured the giant Ultraman on this blog, I have received  requests to have him face of against his DC Comics counterpart.  So this one is for blog patron Bob Greenwade and all the others that were hoping to see them tangle. I'm rooting for the big guy.

Wildcat and Cloak & Dagger

 

You know, I could go for an entire series centered around Wildcat training other heroes to fight.  You could have a rotating roster of guest stars coming to Ted Grant's gym to polish up their super-heroic fisticuffs as only he can. And as we all know, in comics when heroes gather for whatever reason, action is sure to ensue!

Miss America and The Star-Spangled Kid

 

Kicking it old school today with a pair of Patriotic Heroes.  The main reason I wanted to use this SSK image was the cool design of that retro robot.  That henchman might want to tweeze his eyebrows though.

Ultra the Multi-Alien and The Silver Surfer

 

Ultra The Multi-Alien is definitely a Silver Age C-lister, but as a kid, I thought he was pretty cool.  Maybe it's because he looks like something that a kid might have come up with.  We used to play a game where we would fold paper in three and pass it around with each of us kids drawing a head, torso, or legs on it.  Then you would unfold the paper and see what kind of crazy character was created.  Ultra reminds me of one of those.

Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel in: "The Clutch of Thanos!"

 

While they appeared together on a whole team of Captain Marvels  in STF #1610, I haven't featured these two as a pair since way back in STF #16,over 11 years ago.  This is truly a belated sequel to that tale, which also featured Thanos.

The Flash and The Vision

 

I'm in a golden age mood today, so Barry Allen and the Avengers' resident synthezoid will have to sit this one out.  Their predecessors can take over this case.

Batgirl and Black Cat

 

Black Cat first met Batgirl with the Birds of Prey in STF #3029...

This cover required a bit of background repair before I could swap out a canary for a cat.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Hawkwoman Vs. Ego: The Living Planet

 

It sounds like we will be getting the Kendra Saunders version of Hawkgirl in Superman: Legacy, played by Isabela Merced.  Still, I hope there will be some reference to Shayera Thal.  Will the reincarnation aspects of her story be told here, or is that something we will have to wait for future appearances to see?  Only time will tell.

Iron Man and Wallace & Gromit

 

Sure, Tony Stark may have come up with the Arc Reactor, but let's not forget that Wallace & Gromit managed to build a rocket to the moon.  It's about time these creative inventors start collaborating to see what they can come up with together.

Mephisto Vs. The Phantom Stranger in: "Giving the Devil His Due!"

 

Mephisto's dialogue here refers back to the events of STF #2240, where he first tangled with The Phantom Stranger.  He should have known that this was one crimefighter that he could not intimidate.  It looks like the Stranger's tactics for dealing with the demonic entity will be a bit different this time around.

Darkwing Duck and Duck Dodgers

 

Doctor Doom faced off against Bugs Bunny in STF 4120, so it was only a matter of time before that envious Daffy had to take his own crack at the Lord of Latveria.  At least he had the good sense to bring along Darkwing Duck to help out.

Black Goliath and The Atom

 

Sometimes you don't need big battle sequences if the science is cool enough in a story. It's interesting to see superheroes putting their heads together to solve a problem rather than stop a crime. I can see these two being intrigued in whatever Starro needs their assistance with.

Sub-Mariner and The Rocketeer

 

Hey, I'm not sure how a jet pack is supposed to operate underwater either.  That's just the kind of hook that would have had me picking this issue up off the stands. At least to flip through the pages, anyway!

ROM in Camelot 3000

 

I bet a good writer could make a cool story out of this set up.  King Arthur is always looking for a few good knights to fill out his Round Table, after all.  It only follows that a futuristic Arthur would want a space age knight for the job.  

Ragman and Morbius

 

Pat Broderick was an underrated artist.  I was already a fan of his when Fury of Firestorm #1 hit the stands and really blew me away.  Nobody has ever been able to illustrate DC's nuclear hero as well as he looked in those early issues.  Broderick also really impressed we with his work on the Ragman maxi-series, where he used the traditional 9-panel grid comics format to great effect. 

Vigilante and Spider-Man

 

This one was me just experimenting.  I've gotten a kick out of some of the covers I have seen that feature heroes against a solid black background, with only the highlights of their costumes coming through in stark contrast.  I thought I would try to emulate one of those covers here.

Booster Gold and Futurama

 

I've been checking out the new episodes of Futurama on Hulu, and it's good to see the old gang back together. It's pretty cool that the show has now returned twice after being off the air for several years in between seasons.  I'm glad everything worked out and the full voice cast came back, it wouldn't have been the same without all of them.

Avengers and The Teen Titans in "Mad March of the Mega-Men!"

 

I've had the Avengers meet The New Teen Titans on the blog - first in STF #1250, and then again in STF #3179, but for this Anniversary Issue, I thought it would be cool if Earth's Mightiest Heroes had an epic adventure with the original Teen Titans team.  With two such powerful teams, I needed to find adversaries that could give them a run for their money, and that's where the classic Kirby monsters come in!

Here are larger images of the individual stories:

Jonny Quest and Superman

 

Kandor was an interesting concept.  A miniaturized city in a bottle that Superman could have non-powered adventures in provided plenty of story ideas.  My only problem with it was that it really made it hard to still think of Kal-El as the last son of Krypton.  Supergirl and the Phantom Zone villains were one thing, but now there was an entire city of Kryptonians still alive and thriving? So much for the being sole survivor of a doomed planet! Perhaps that issue was dealt with at some point. At any rate, I didn't let it bother me too much, because I enjoyed the stories that took place there.

Superman and Jonny Quest first met in STF #3369...

Coming tomorrow: STF #4200!

Elementals and Metamorpho

 

I don't know too much about The Elementals, but they always looked like a pretty cool team.  who better to pair them up with than the Element Man himself?  Oh, the visuals that would ensue.

The Creeper and The Inhumans

 

I always gravitated towards the offbeat heroes, so this is an issue I would have grabbed off of the stand without thinking. I can see Jack Ryder launching an investigation into what's happening on the Blue Area of the Moon and then unwittingly getting caught up in an interplanetary incident. 

Storm and Big Barda

 

Dave Cockrum and Jack Kirby created two of my favorite superheroine costumes when they came up for the looks for Storm and Big Barda.  That would be reason enough for me to be interested in  a story that featured them together.  I'm betting there would be plenty of great action as well.

Conan and Aquaman

 

This is a pairing that I think could work.   despite their disparate backgrounds I fell like there would be some mutual respect for one another.  And if their timelines don't exactly match up - well, strange occurrences are known to happen in the Bermuda Triangle, after all.

Mary Marvel and Spider-Man

 

I used to like how in Marvel Team-Up, Spider-Man would often be put off and unnerved by some of his more dark co-stars, like Ghost Rider.  I think the opposite would be true with someone like Mary Marvel.  Something tells me that Spidey would appreciate her wholesomeness and treat her like a super powered kid sister.

Jonah Hex and The Rangers

 

I thought this was a cool western themed team when they appeared in West Coast Avengers.  It's too bad they did not appear more often. Jonah has met a couple of the members of the team before on this blog - Red Wolf in STF #1641 and then again in STF #1909, and The Original Ghost Rider in a two-parter in STF #1466 and STF #1477...

The Thing and Batman in: "Microagression!"

 

Continued from yesterday's cover, we finally see where the Dark Knight has disappeared to.

Batman and The Thing are my favorite characters from from DC and Marvel, and they have met before in other Lost Issues -  They quarreled over Aunt Petunia in STF #3322... They had a boxing match in STF #2455... They faced a fiery situation in STF #554... They topped off an Anniversary Issue in STF #500... before that, They battled the Riddler/Trapster team... earlier, The Thing discovered the Bat Cave... and was handed control of The Outsiders... not to mention This Whole Blog... and finally, they first appeared together in one of my earliest covers...

Detective Chimp and Jessica Jones

 

Uh oh, looks like the Caped Crusader has gone missing again.  It's a good thing we have these two sleuths on the case - if they can learn to work together! If you are curious to exactly where Batman may be, make sure you come back tomorrow, where all will be revealed!

Chewbacca and The Fur Force in: "Trial by Fur!"

 

It looks like the third appearance of this team will truly put its leader to the test.  Let's hope this hairy rebel has what it takes to see it through.  Chewbacca and The Fur Force last appeared as an animated series in STF #3920, and made their debut in STF #1258.

The Avengers Vs. Chronos

 

Sure, there's Kang, The Lord of Time and others - but my favorite time traveling villain has always been Chronos.  I think it's because he was a foe of The Atom, who I also really like and that way cool creepy clock face mask he would wear.   The black and white striped leggings on the other hand... OK maybe he didn't have a perfect costume, but it worked for my young eyes!

The Hulk Vs. Robotman

 

The final episodes of Doom Patrol are about to hit HBO Max, and it will be interesting to see how the series ends up.  I've enjoyed it so for, although sometimes it does seem to be spinning its wheels with no resolutions to its many ongoing plot points.  Now that the end is in sight, I am looking forward to some closure for the characters.