Green Lantern and Black Bolt

 

STF's greatest villain is back for his 9th appearance!  Can our heroes trust him, or are they due for a double-cross?  The answers are just 60 cents away...

Adam Strange and the Inhumans in: "Tomorrow's Terror... Today!"

 

There's a little too much light pollution where I live, so I don't pull out my telescope to use very often.  When I do, I like to check out Jupiter or Saturn if I can, and looking close up at the Moon is always cool.  It makes me think about the dark side which never faces us - who's to say there isn't a Blue Area over there, just waiting for a team of heroes to call it it their home base?

Adam Strange first met The Inhumans in STF #4372...

Darkseid Vs. The Inhumans

 

I was a little surprised that I had not pitted these Kirby creations against each other yet.  Let's remedy that right now - it would make for an epic storyline after all!

Green Lantern & Green Arrow and The Inhumans

 

It was always fun to see street level hero Oliver Queen's take on the goings on when he would get into some type of cosmic adventure with Hal Jordan or the JLA. I think a tale like the one above would provide plenty of opportunities for him to make some interesting observations.

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. 

Hawkeye & Huntress Vs. Black Bolt and Black Canary

 It looks like STF's most famous brother-sister act (here making their 11th appearance on the blog) has gotten  on the wrong side of one of Helena's Birds of Prey teammates.  Apparently Black Bolt and Black Canary have kept in touch since their performance together way back in STF #88. 

The Inhumans Vs. Sinestro

 

Sinestro was perfectly cast with Mark Strong and looked great in Green Lantern.  It's too bad the movie's various shortcomings meant there would be no sequel to explore his turn to evil.  The Inhumans TV show was ill-conceived on many levels, leaving Marvel to shift their big screen focus to The Eternals (which had issues of its own).  Let's hope that everyone on this cover gets another chance to shine in their respective cinematic universes.

The Silent Partners in: "Breaking the Silence!"

 

We've now seen The Darkhold on Wanda/Vision after a version of the book was used on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so it appears that Kevin Feige is ready to use concepts and characters from the Marvel TV shows.  That's good to hear, because I think the MCU will do a much better job of presenting heroes like Black Bolt and The Inhumans and villains like Absorbing Man and Graviton than we got in their first live action incarnations.

This is the fifth adventure of The Silent Partners - they last appeared battling Soundwave in STF #2810... the recruited Man-Thing in STF #2250, they were targeted in STF #1650, and made their debut in STF #764...

The Silent Partners in: "Shouted Down by Soundwave!"

I was a little to old to get into Transformers toys when they hit the scene, but Soundwave looked like one of the cooler ones.  I like that he transformed from a cassette tape player that also worked in his robot form.  I can imagine that made for lots of fun by swapping the recordings out..

This is the fourth adventure of The Silent Partners - they last appeared recruiting Man-Thing in STF #2250, they were targeted in STF #1650, and made their debut in STF #764...

Martian Manhunter and The Inhumans

With Spider-Man: Far From Home introducing the concept of the multiverse to the MCU, they now have a loophole for any do-overs they may want to do.  I can see them eventually explaining that the Marvel TV Shows on ABC and Netflix featured adventures from a different version of Earth than we have seen in the movies.  That leaves them clear to have a second chance on presenting characters like The Inhumans or Deathlok should they ever want to bring them to the big screen.

Medusa and Mera

I haven't made it out to see Aquaman yet, but I hear that it is a ton of over the top fun and visually spectacular. I'll try to get out to a theater next week because I'm thinking this is a movie that should be seen on a nice big screen.  I wonder if we will see Mera rise in prominence in the comics now that she is a bona fide movie star?

Aquaman first met Black Bolt in STF #1980...

Superman Vs. Black Bolt

This is a fight I have always wanted to see.  It would give both characters a chance to really go all out an not hold anything back from the battle, as they are sometimes forced to do. Would Superman's array of powers be enough to withstand the mightiest vocal chords in the galaxy?

Black Bolt's bride didn't get along too well with the last son of Krypton, either, as seen in STF #1842... 

The Silent Partners in: "Monster in the Mix!"

I thought it was time to increase the ranks of the stealthiest team in the STF Universe - and without much discussion, Man-Thing has joined in! I mentioned in the comments to their last appearance that they would be adding a member next time out - did any of you guess correctly?

This is the third adventure of The Silent Partners - they last appeared in STF #1650, and made their debut in STF #764...

Aquaman and Black Bolt

It's too bad that the buzz on The Inhumans TV series has been universally poor. n I love the characters and think that they have great potential, but this whole project seems not to have had the same consideration put into the marvel Movies or Netflix shows.  I will still give it a shot, hopefully my lowered expectations will not be completely justified.

This pairing was a suggestion from Robert E. Jackson, a Patron of this blog.  Thanks, Robert!

Justice League of America Vs. the Marvel Universe!

I loved the Tabloid-Sized comics that Marvel and DC used to put out when I was a kid.  We had a whole bunch - Secret Origins of Super-Villains, The Fantastic Four, Superman Vs. Shazam, Stories from the Bible, Tarzan, Dick Tracy, Batman's Villains, Marvel Holiday Specials, and more.  I have fond memories of lying down on the living room floor and seeing my favorite heroes in "big screen" action.

So, you see the line up here - who ultimately wins? I see Captain Britain, Black Bolt, Rogue and Iron Man winning for Marvel, The Atom, Superman, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman winning for the JLA with Captain Marvel Vs. The Thing being a draw, so... advantage JLA!  I tried to make it close, though, so your opinion may vary.

Let the journey to STF #2000 begin!

The Silent Partners in: "Killing the Quiet!"

This is one of the teams that I have been meaning to bring back..  I like the shared silent motif and they kind of look like they go together, too. Upon completing this cover, I thought of a good fifth member that I will try to include should they reappear on the blog.

The Silent Partners first appeared in STF #764...

All-Star Squadron and The Inhumans

I am glad that the original Justice Society members are poised for some kind of a return due to DC Rebirth.  I hope that also means that the extended cast of characters from All-Star Squadron will make some appearances as well.  Liberty Belle, Amazing man, Commander Steel, Tarantula and many others may not have been official JSA members, but I always enjoyed following their adventures.

This is only Part One of a Two-Part Epic - be sure to come back for the thrilling conclusion tomorrow!

The Silent Partners

The fact that all of these heroes are usually presented with little to no dialogue has lent them an air of mystery and unpredictability that make them appealing to me.  A team made up of these guys may be tough on a writer, but I think could make for some unique stories.

Legion of Super-Heroes and The Inhumans

This is the kind of story I would have loved as a kid.  I was, of course, a big fan of team and team up comics and I would love tales that would feature many characters interacting.  The master of this was Gardner Fox.  In his Justice League stories, he would have his characters split off into smaller teams for a series of chapters, and then bring everyone back together for a slam bang finale.  It was great to see stories on such a large scale, yet completely told in the span of a single issue.

Black Canary and Black Bolt

I was glad to be able to finally feature the artwork of Alex Toth on this blog.  He is one of the most amazing illustrators that the comics medium has ever seen.  The strength of his Super Friends designs cemented in my mind early on what a superhero should look like.  I wasn't sure how well his style would mesh with Kevin Nowlan's, but I think that they work OK together here.

We'll be seeing a new live action iteration of Dinah Lance in the new Arrow TV series.  She has appeared previously on Birds of Prey and Smallville, but neither version really captured the feeling of the comic character for me.  Hepefully the third time will be the charm.