Daredevil and Batman in: "Bot Bout!"

 

Batman has met Matt Murdock more than once on this blog, but it dawned on me that he had yet to cross paths with the original Daredevil.  It was time to remedy that.

Green Arrow Vs. Bullseye in: "One Perfect Shot!"

I'm looking forward to Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+.  I haven't seen any sign of Bullseye in the promotional material, so I don't know if he is expected to show up in this upcoming season.  That would be too bad, they spent so much time building up the character on the Netflix series.

Green Arrow and Bullseye first clashed in STF #2505...

Scarlet Witch and Mr. Mxyzptlk

 

I've seen Wanda Maximoff put plenty of characters at unease due to the use of her hex powers.  It might be interesting to see the tables turned on her in that regard.  I'd love to see how she reacts to being stuck with Superman's impish adversary.

Captain Marvel Jr. and Bucky in: "Bunker Busters!"

 Freddy Freeman previously met Bucky Barnes in STF #2934, and I thought that I would revisit this pairing.  This time out, they have the despicable Red Skull to contend with.

Plastic Man and Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu

 

When we last saw Plastic Man on this blog, he was  training Ms. Marvel in STF #4598.  I thought that he might go for a little training himself.  Who better to teach him than the Master of Kung Fu himself.

Steel and Doctor Doom

 

I always liked the story when Iron Man and Doctor Doom were forced to work together when they were stuck in medieval times.  I thought I would give that concept its own STF spin.  The jury is still out for me as far as Tony Stark becoming Doctor Doom, though - we'll have to see how the movies handle that.

Wonder Woman and The Champions

 

Bees have always creeped me out. I can only imagine how much worse giant mechanical bees would be.  Hopefully this would tunr out to be a buzzworthy issue.

Mars Attacks The Flash

 

Uh oh!  Is even the fastest man alive swift enough to get out of this predicament?  I'm sure those vile Martians will give him a run for his money!

Squirrel Girl Vs. Catwoman

 

I lot of times I will pair characters together on this blog because I feel that they would get along and work well together.  This is a case in which the opposite is true.  I imagine that Selina Kyle would have no patience for a squirrel-themed hero.

Justice League of America and Samurai Jack (And More!)

 

For this Anniversary Issue, I thought that I would present the kind of Saturday morning line-up that would have made my head spin.  With shows line these and some Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, I would have been all set.  Here are some closer looks at the stories in this issue:

Iron Man and Captain Marvel (Vs. Black Adam and Radio-Active Man!)

 

Stories in which heroes swap villains have always appealed to me.  Acts of Vengeance remains one of my favorite Marvel crossovers.  I thought that I would go that route for this cover.  Iron Man and Captain Marvel previously met in STF #4588 and shared an adventure with The Avengers in STF #259 and the Avengers and Marvel Family in STF #1518...

Coming tomorrow: STF #4700!

Sandman and James Bond

 

Big news hit this week as control of the James Bond franchise has been given to Amazon.  What will that mean for the future of Bond movies?  Amazon has made some great content, but also some real clunkers, so who knows? I just hope this doesn't lead to a James Bond Cinematic universe.  I like Miss Moneypenny and Q, but I don't need to see them get their own spinoffs.

Underdog and Snoopy

 

Here's another World's Finest inspired pairing, this time with some canine heroes taking the spotlight.  I think these two would get along famously.  Thanks to Simreeve for suggesting this team up!

Fantastic Four and Hawkman

 

Of all the DC characters that I wish I had seen Jack Kirby illustrate more, Hawkman would be at the top of the list.  He worked on the character in the Super Powers mini-series, and a sketch or two - and I really loved his take on the winged wonder.  How cool would it have been to see Kirby really let loos with a Hawkman series of his own?

The Atom and The Falcon

 

Sam Wilson's newest cinematic outing seems to only be getting middling reviews, and the box office seems to be following suit. It looks like I can wait a few months for the Disney+ debut to watch it.  Have any of you seen it, and what is your opinion?  Should I catch Captain America: Brave New World on the big screen?

Captain America and Doctor Fate

 

This one would be like one of those hidden gem Golden Age tales that I discovered as a back up tale in a 100-Page Giant or Annual back in the day.  It was cool as a young reader to get a peek at comics from an earlier era.

Katana and The Swordsman

 The  Swordsman was introduced in the Disney+ Hawkeye series, and I hope it isn't the last that we will see of him in the MCU. We saw Katana in the DCEU, but she was very underutilized.  Let's hope the character gets more of a chance to shine down the road in the DCU. 

Black Canary and Ms. Marvel

 

I'm a little surprised that I haven't paired these two blonde heroines together yet.  Something tells me that they would get along well.  Maybe they would even have the makings of a World's Finest type of team.

Superman and Flash Gordon

 

I am a big fan of the classic Republic Movie Serials.  How much cooler would they have been if they had existed in a shared universe, as is all the rage today?  Here's an idea of what could have been presented in such a scenario.

The Avengers and Zatanna

 

It was a pretty controversial storyline when it was revealed that Zatanna erased some memories of her allies in the Justice League.  What would happen if she tried to pull the same stunt on Earth's Mightiest Heroes... and what would cause her to take such a drastic action?  The answers are only 60 cents away!

Spider-Man and Karate Kid

 

Avengers: Doomsday is about to begin filming, and I wonder what Spider-Man's role in it will be.  I am sure Marvel will want to include him, but his new status quo after No Way Home means that all of his ties to Earth's Mightiest Heroes are gone.  How will a loner like him fit in with the rest of the action?

Ragman and Morbius

 

Whatever type of situation that would call for an alliance between these two would certainly make for a moody tale. Let's hope that this fragile truce holds long enough for them to reach their goal.

Mister Miracle and Devil Dinosaur

 

It's time for another all-Kirby classic.  Scott Free has made a lot of great escapes in his day, but can even he break free from the bonds of time? It would be fun to see how he got in to this situation - and how he gets out!

Doctor Mid-Nite and Dr. Strange in: "The Doctors Are Out!"

 

This is the third meeting between Doctors Mid-Nite and Strange, a pairing originally suggested by Bob Greenwade, frequent commenter and Patron of this Blog.  They were last seen with Dr. Fate in STF #3267 and they first met in STF #2721...

Brother Voodoo and Hellboy

 

Has anybody checked out the Hellboy: The Crooked Man movie?  The reviews that I saw during its brief run said that the limited budget was very noticeable, but that the story was pretty faithful to the comics. I couldn't even finish the previous David Harbour Hellboy movie, so I hope it is better than that.

Wonder Woman and The Whizzer

 

This might have been a fun Golden Age pairing to see.  Here's another random villain from those days. It's too bad The Future man didn't stick around - I guess there wasn't much to his future after all!

Green Lantern and Tintin

 

Filming on the HBO Max Lanterns series is finally underway.  Hopefully that means we will soon get some more details on the look of the production.  I am sure the costume designers will want to steer clear of the mockery that Ryan Reynold's CGI costume received.  One distant set photo has been released, but it did not reveal anything.

The Vision, Frankenstein Jr. and Red Tornado

 

This is the first time that either has met Frankenstein Jr., but The Vision and red Tornado have crossed paths before in The Lost Issues - They battled The Construct in STF #2054, They investigated "who stole humanity?" back in Issue #1272 , merged programming Issue #971 and first met in an early MS Paint cover in Issue #44

Spider-Man and Darkman

 

When Sam Raimi was first announced as the Director of the first Spider-Man movie, I thought back on his comic book-inspired Darkman movie and knew that the wall crawler was in good hands.  How cool would it have been if Raimi could have brought audiences a big screen team up between the two heroes?

New Mutants in the House of Mystery

The original splash page that I was working from required a bit of tweaking before I could add in the New Mutants.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Thunderbird and Booster Gold

 

Thunderbird had a great look (designed by Dave Cockrum, so no big surprise there), and it was too bad to see his time on the X-Men cut so short.  I think his gruff attitude was too close to that of Logan and they didn't want two loose cannons on the team.  It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had been kept around.

X-Men and The Creeper

 

Goodness knows that the Professor has a few skeletons in his closet. I'm not sure the Children of the Atom would take to kindly to Jack Ryder snooping into their headmaster, and that conflict would make for and exciting tale.

Iron Man, Katma Tui and Flash Gordon

 

A triple dose of Gil Kane goodness would be more than enough for me to want to pick up this issue! He is definitely my all-time favorite Marvel cover artists for a reason.

Vixen and Valkyrie

 

This would be a different issue, with both heroines adapting to situations outside their usual worlds.  One of the great things about having characters with well defined personalities is the fun a writer can have by taking them out of their comfort zones.

The Guardian and The Guardian

 

Evert since I had these two appear together in a back up tale for STF # 665, I have received requests for them to get a full issue to themselves.  It took a while, but I finally got around to doing just that.

The High Evolutionary joins Star Wars

 

The High Evolutionary seems like just the kind of villain that would be employed by The Empire.  I can see them turning to him to help produce an army of soldiers to replace the Stormtroopers (perhaps with better aim).  Let's hope a rag-tag team of rebels can upset his plans before they are fully in motion!

Hyperion Vs. Green Lantern

 

With all of the multiverse-related shenanigans that have been going on, I am a little surprised that we have'nt had any hints about the Squadron Supreme existing in the MCU.  Perhaps they could be brought into Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers; Secret Wars, but those movies already sound jam packed without introducing a whole new team of heroes.  I'd get a kick out of seeing them, though!

Deathlok Vs. Brainiac

 

For the reasons that Deathlok lays out above, I think that he would give Brainiac more trouble than most heroes.  Will Brainiac be a part of the upcoming Superman movie?  If so, they've certainly kept that under wraps.  I hope that his existence is at least teased, his movie debut is long overdue. 

Metamorpho Vs. The Super Skrull

 

We only got a split second shot of Metamorpho in the new Superman teaser trailer, but it was enough to get me excited.  I thought that Anthony Carrigan looks great in the make up they are using on him, he looked very comics accurate.  With at least one major scene taking place at Stagg Industries, will we possibly be getting Rex Mason's origin in this movie? 

The Nuclear Option

 

I've been meaning to put together a nuclear-powered team for a while now, and I'm finally getting around to it.  This cover is dedicated to The Irredeemable Shagg Matthews, Master Podcaster and the biggest Firestorm fan in the world. I was definitely thinking back to my appearance on the Fire And Water Network's Firestorm Fan podcast a few years back as I made this.

Hercules and The Tick

 

Now these two heroes I am sure would get along.  Their heroism loving personalities with a dash of vanity and great strength to back up their boasts would probably make them fast friends.  It would be a fun romp to see them working togather.

Aquaman and The Silver Surfer

 

Making this cover, it dawned on me - I don't believe that I have ever seen The Silver Surfer using his board to actually surf on ocean waves.  I mean, I know it's designed for spanning the spaceways, but I'm sure it would be operational for traditional surf board use as well.  Has such a scene ever been depicted in the comics?

Power Man and Doctor Fate

 Not a pairing that immediately comes to mind, but now that I see them together, I like it.  The similar color schemes look good side by side and the differences in power sets and personalities would make for an interesting dynamic. I'd pick up this issue.