THE STF 5000th ISSUE CELEBRATION!

Welcome to the 5000th issue of STF: The Lost issues!  Many of the covers presented here have not only crossed over characters from different companies, but from different timelines as well.  There has been speculation that these encounters were the result of an ongoing war between a pair of time tyrants.  As you can see above, the rumors are true!

When you count the B&B and MTIO covers that preceded STF, I have posted 5510 covers so far.  Needless to say, I have never used AI to create them and never and I never will - all I need is Photoshop and the inspiration and encouragement from visitors to this blog!

Time for some Special Features!  First up, let's take a look at larger versions of the stories presented here:

An All-New Saturday Morning Line-Up!  I'd definitely get up early to catch these STF-Inspired shows:

Now for some STF-Related merchandise.  There have been some cool playsets for comic book fans, but what would have been great was one that combined the two greatest superhero teams:

Or How about a Playset featuring one of STF's oldest teams - Robo-Force?

STF: The Lost Issues generally features pre-existing characters, but I have created a few for the blog.  Here are Action Figures for a couple of them.  First up, from a trio of Dick Tracy/Rocketeer team ups, is that unfortunate informant that everyone in the underworld wants to off - Rats McTattler!

And what young fan of STF: The Lost Issues wouldn't want an action figure of its greatest recurring villain - Mr. Universe!

Time to kick back with a classic board game - How about one featuring the two most popular characters from DC and Marvel?

And for younger kids, here's a Colorforms Set that combines heroes from DC and Marvel:

And with that, we close out another Mega-Anniversary Issue.  Thank you to all of the visitors over the years, especially the Patrons, who have help keep this blog running for over 15years of daily covers! If you would like to support the blog you can join them here.  Make sure you come back tomorrow and every day, there are lots more covers coming - featuring surprising new team ups, new and returning teams, characters making their STF Debuts, and more!   

Batman Beyond and Space Ghost

 

This is a cartoon special that I would love to see.  These heroes have two simple yet amazing costume designs that are perfect for animation, and it would be glorious to see them together.  The Space Ghost appearance on Batman: The Brave and the Bold is one of the highlights of that series.

Batman Beyond and Iron Man 2020

The idea here was to put two heroes of the future together, but Arno Stark won't be a future hero for much longer when you consider that 2020 is only 6 short years away.  Isn't the "future" from Back to the Future Part II supposed to be coming right up as well?  Man, it really makes a guy feel old when he catches up to the futuristic tales of his youth!

Batman Beyond and Spider-Man 2099

As crazy as some of the match ups on this blog are, I do try to maintain some kind of internal continuity.  This cover is actually a sequel to one of my lost Brave and the Bold covers, which I posted way back on October 3, 2011.  That issue had Spider-Man 2099 warning the present day Batman of a corrupt Terry McGinnis.  For some reason, that set up always rattled around in my head and I wanted to make a follow-up.

The Thing and Batman Beyond

I would really love to see a Batman Beyond feature film. I have a feeling that Christopher Nolan is going to be saying goodbye to Batman after The Dark Knight Rises, so BB would be a good film to follow it up with. I already have the perfect casting in mind for Bruce Wayne: Clint Eastwood. All they would have to do is adapt the first few episodes of the animated series and you have cinema gold, right there.

It's nice to see the world of Batman Beyond enduring through the character's new ongoing self titled solo series. DC has been smart about taking what works well in their properties' TV and film efforts and weaving them into the comic continuity. Terry McGuiness, Harley Quinn and most recently Chloe Sullivan have all made the leap, and I am sure we will see more in the future.

Batman and Batman Beyond

A good idea in concept, I think this one suffers a bit from the disparate art styles between the two Batmen. Now that Batman Beyond is being introduced into the mainstream DCU, there is more non-cartoony imagery of the character out there than when I created this cover,I may take another crack at this pairing.

I remember being disappointed when I learned the creators behind the great cartoon Batman: The Animated Series were going to switch gears and move to Batman Beyond, featuring an elderly Bruce Wayne mentoring a teenage Batman. I figured the network was just aiming for the kiddie market and trying to sell more toys and while that may have been partially true, I should have had more faith in Bruce Timm & Company. They continued the excellent work they had begun on Batman and Superman and made the show a welcome addition to the Batman canon. I especially love the director's cut of the DTV, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.