Skyrocket and The Invaders

 

DC Comics may have forgotten about Skyrocket, but I haven't.  She's too cool of a character to keep on the shelf.  Hopefully they will realize her worth and create a comic that can present her further adventures.

All-Star Squadron and The Invaders (And more!)

When I was a kid, the 100-Page comics and Annuals that featured classic reprints were my introduction to the characters and creators of the Golden Age. It was cool to see the building blocks of the heroes and stories that I had been currently enjoying.  I thought that I would pay homage to those specials for this Anniversary Issue.

Here are the full sized images of each story: 

The Demon and The Invaders

 

They say that war is Hell, after all - so why wouldn't Jack Kirby's demonic creation get caught up in an Invaders mission?

This cover required a bit of prep work before I could add Etrigan into the mix.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Hawkman and The Invaders

 

Uh oh, looks  like Hawkman is caught between The Invaders and The FGG!  Fortunately, the Golden Age Hawkman has had some experience with the individual members of Marvel's first fighting team - He met Captain America in STF #757, The Human Torch in STF #1519, and Sub-Mariner first in STF #208, and then again in STF #1896...

The Invaders and The Trinity

 When Richard Graef suggested having this pair of heroic trios share an adventure together, I thought that it would be the perfect way for the WW/Cap romance to celebrate the 4th of July (in their 30th appearance on the blog).  Thanks, Richard!  I hope all of the American visitors to this blog are having a nice holiday with family and friends today!

Coming tomorrow: STF #4100!

Invaders Vs. Solomon Grundy in: "The Battle Above!"

 

I wonder If Solomon Grundy was affected by the Comics' Code Authority.  He was technically a zombie after all, which were against the Code for some time - prompting Marvel to present stories about "zuvembies".

Solomon Grundy previously met The Invaders in STF #3623, and faced off against Captain America in STF #1430...

The Invaders and The Haunted Tank

 

I've lamented the lack of a live-action Invaders in the MCU before, and now come to think of it - I'm not sure there's ever been an appearance of the team in animation either.  DC has managed to feature the JSA here and there, it's too bad that Marvel has never shown these WWII heroes in cartoon form.  Or have they somewhere and I missed it?

Solomon Grundy and The Invaders

 

There's been lots of speculation about Chris Evans returning the MCU as Steve Rogers, despite the fact that his story came to an end in Avengers Endgame and the Captain America mantle has been passed on.  One way to do bring him back without undermining  those developments is to tell stories of what happened to Cap in the alternate timeline where he finally had his dance with Peggy Carter. That way we could get a WWII Captain America movie featuring the debut of The Invaders. That's what I would do, anyway.  Kevin Feige seems to have taken my number off of his speed dial.

Justice League of America Vs. The Invaders

Another Anniversary Issue has arrived, and this time I though I would go for an issue-long battle between two major teams that have yet to meet on this blog.  Who better to illustrate such an epic meeting that the King himself, Jack Kirby?  While putting this together I was fondly remembering back to Fantastic Four Annual #11 from 1976, in which Roy Thomas and John Buscema presented a meeting between the FF and the Invaders (with a Kirby cover to top it off), a great comic.

The Flash and The Invaders in: "Blasted... by the Blue Bullet!"

 

I'm very happy to hear that John Wesley-Shipp will be reprising his role as the Original Flash in the upcoming season of Stargirl.  He's great in the role and still lo0ks perfect in the suit.

Jay Garrick previously met The Invaders with the rest of the JSA in STF #272 and with Barry Allen in STF #135...

That's an Ernie Chan Flash on the cover, one of my favorite Bronze Age artists.  One of the few color pieces in my original art collections is by him:

The Human Bomb joins The Invaders

 The Human Bomb had a simple concept and even simpler costume, but I always got a kick out of him as a kid.  I just liked the idea of a guy that could make his body combustible and survive to do it again.  Lots of heroes and villains could cause explosive destruction through weapons or energy beams from their eyes or hands, but this guy was the explosion!  I though it was cool then, and I think it's cool now!

Seven Soldiers of Victory Vs. The Invaders in: "Victory Slap!"

 

This year may be a bit tougher than most to find things to be thankful for, but I am still counting my blessings.  I am glad I will get to see at least a few of my relatives today for the holiday.  I am also of course thankful to all who take the time to stop and visit this blog on a regular basis so that I can share my love of comic artists and characters with them.  Happy Thanksgiving!

These two teams first crossed paths in STF #2824...

7 Soldiers of Victory and The Invaders

The JLA/JSA crossovers that featured the heroes of two Earths coming together, often with a third Earth in the mix, introduced me into the concept of the multiverse.  I loved the idea, but DC must have thought it too complicated after a while, for it  lead to reboots in an attempt to streamline everything (which, of course, only made things more complicated).  These days, the multiverse is back, and is widely understood thanks to shows like Fringe and The Flash, plus movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and news of the Upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I'm glad the rest of the world has finally caught up to us comic fans!

The Invaders and Sgt. Rock in: "A Timely Intervention"

Now that Marvel has access to all of its characters for future movies, most of the talk has been about new versions of The X-Men and Fantastic Four appearing on the big screen.  While I'd like to see those as well, another property that they can finally give audiences is The Invaders.  Even if Captain America is taken off the table after Avengers: Endgame, there's no reason that we can't see an adventure out of his past with Namor and the original Human Torch.

Sgt. Rock first met the Invaders in STF #1348...

The Spectre and The Invaders

I first encountered stories of the Spear of Destiny in the pages of All-Star Squadron, and I thought it was an effective plot device.  It's ability to control magic-based heroes was a good explanation for how some of the more powerful Justice Society of America members didn't just take matters in their own hands and end World War II.  It also allowed for nothing to be taken away from the accomplishments of the non-super powered service men and women during the war effort.

Captain Marvel and The Invaders in: "Pyramid Scheme!"

This was one of those covers that looks relatively simple but took a bit of tweaking to get just right.  Captain Marvel's position worked for what I was going for, but his right leg had cover elements on it that I had to "erase" and his left leg was missing entirely, requiring a "transplant" form the reversed right one.  The Human Torch's body needed to be flipped horizontally to work, which then required me to fix parts of the pyramids in the background.  With a new sky added in, I finally got the image looking the way I had it in my mind's eye.

Captain Marvel first met The Invaders in STF #1214...

Liberty Belle and The Invaders

Happy 4th of July!

It looks like the Disney/Fox merger is about to finally go through, which mean there should be no obstacle to using The Human Torch (be it Storm or Hammond) in the movies.  I understand the Namor has a similar situation with The Hulk's - rights issues mean he can't have a solo film, but can appear as a guest star.  Given the fact that we only saw the bulk of Captain America's war years in a brief montage, there's no reason we can't have an Invaders movie now.   Let's hope it's something that Marvel Studios considers one of these days.

The Rocketeer and The Invaders

Captain America's war years were covered quickly in a few scenes and montages in his first movie.  Now that Marvel is on the verge of acquiring most of its characters, a flashback Invaders movie could actually happen - and be very cool.  Of course, the one sticking point would be Namor, who's rights are still tangled up with Universal Pictures, but perhaps a deal like was done with Spider-Man could make it work.

Man-Bat and The Invaders

One scene I really liked in Justice League was Batman's battle with a Parademon at the beginning.  So far Batman has been facing off against his human, non-powered adversaries in the movies, and it was definitely time to see him fighting super powered characters on screen.  Now that the door has been opened I'd love to see Man-Bat show up in the next solo Batman flick.  They could have Kirk Langstrom working with Professor Hugo Strange.  Strange's genetic experiments created his Monster Men in the comics and could be a way to bring about characters like Man-Bat, Killer Croc and even Clayface.

The Invaders Vs. The Brotherhood of Evil

It's a small comics world.  The Brotherhood portion of this issue comes from a cover by Ed Hannigan and Jose Delbo for of Mayfair Games' Blood Feud, starring the New Teen Titans.  It is a Role Playing Game written by none other than than Jeff O'Hare, a Patron of this very blog!  That was a very cool discovery to make, nice work Jeff!