X-Men and The Atom (Part Two)

 

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see who has been tormenting the Mighty Mite.  I guess he is action figure sized, so perhaps Arcade just couldn't resist creating game time around him.

The Roustabouts (Vs. Arcade!)

 

For the fifth appearance of The Roustabouts, I figured that it was time for an entire team free for all.  Who better to turn this team of circus heroes against one another than Arcade?

X-Men and Madam Xanadu

 

Perhaps if the X-Men paid a visit to Madam Xanadu, they could have avoided a lot of drama ahead of them.  Or would her readings just cause them to find drama on another path?  It does seem to follow them around.

Nightcrawler and Green Lantern

 

Bob Greenwade, a patron of this blog, suggested that Nightcrawler would make for a good candidate to receive a GL ring.  I have to agree with that sentiment, so here you go, Bob!

Coming tomorrow - the beginning of a 5-part tale!

Green Lantern and The X-Men

 

Hal Jordan and the X-Men have some history on the blog.  It all started when Hal and Logan mixed it up in STF #209, then continued when Hal brought the Corps along to confront Wolverine and the X-Men in STF #2122.  Wolverine, Hal and the Corps mended their feud in a 3- Part tale that began in STF #3489, continued in STF #3490 and concluded in STF #3491. It's good to see them finally all on the same side.

The Roustabouts in: "Satan at the Circus!"

 

For this, the fourth appearance of The Roustabouts, I thought I would raise the stakes a little.  Let's see how the Brawlers Under the Big Top fare against Mephistopheles himself!  It's a good thing that half of their members have extensive experience battling demonic entities.

Nightcrawler, Wolverine and the Green Lantern Corps

 

Presenting the conclusion of our three-part epic!  Let's hope the combined forces of all of these heroes is enough to turn back an attack from The Empire.  Marvel Studios has mastered the cinematic universe and now they are about to dive headfirst into the multiverse... how long until they take the next step and have Marvel heroes cross over into other Disney-Owned properties like Star Wars?

Jakita Wagner and Nightcrawler

 

Planetary is a comics series that I have to pull out and read again.  I takes a trip through many different genres with interesting characters and wide screen visuals   Much of the credit goes to artist John Cassiday.  I was lucky enough to pick up some original art by him several years back, One from Planetary and a two-page spread from X-Men/Alpha Flight:

X-Men and Spaceman Spiff

 

I  have been rereading the entire run of Calvin and Hobbes and I am about half way through.  It amazes me how Bill Watterson really hit the ground running with the comic strip.  Often you'll see a progression in the first few years of a strip, but he had the character designs, personalities and comedic style pretty much fully formed right from the beginning.  On the other end, he never let the quality wane, either.  If anything, he stayed at top form right until the final installment.  This is my third or fourth time reading these and I am still enjoying them as much as the first time around. 

Nightcrawler and Storm Join The Legion of Super-Heroes

 

A big part of the appeal of both the LSH and X-Men for me was the wide array of cool costumes their respective rosters were given.  Dave Cockrum was the artist responsible for many of the best outfits on both teams. Indeed,  Storm and Nightcrawlers' looks were adapted from unused Legionnaire designs of his, a bit of trivia that inspired me to make this cover.

THE STF #3000TH ISSUE EXTRAVAGANZA!

It is a simple concept:  What if the Bronze Age DC Comics team-up series Super-Team Family kept running forever... and what if it could use characters from anywhere, not only from DC?  This blog is my answer to that question, and a celebration of the amazing creators and characters that have entertained so many over the years.  And here we are...  Presenting the 3000th issue of STF (cover #3510 in total)!  Thank you to everyone who regularly visits here and lets me know through your kind words, comments and suggestions that you get a kick out of the covers.  A huge thanks goes out to those that have gone the extra mile and made a donation or became Patrons of STF: The Lost Issues - your support has helped this milestone to be reached! Now, let's get to the special features...

AND NOW,  A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR...

YOU GET A RING!  AND YOU GET A RING! AND YOU GET A RING!

 I definitely have some recurring themes on this blog... and the GLC handing out Power Rings like Pez is definitely one of them!  I thought it might be fun to present some of the characters that have wielded the universe's most powerful weapon...

TIME FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...

OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN!

I try not to give myself too many restrictions while creating covers for this blog, but I do have a few rules:  Don't use images from something that was already an inter-company crossover to begin with, and try not to re-use any character images more than once.  That second one is a rule that I have broken quite a few times as you will see below.  I didn't do it on purpose, sometimes I just forgot that I had already used an image - you have to forgive me, I've done a lot of these.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to present some of these examples here, it's interesting to see how an image can be used in different ways:

COMING SATURDAYS THIS FALL!

It hasn't been easy keeping up with this blog on a daily basis for the past decade, but I am glad that I have kept with it - your enthusiasm, encouragement, ideas and patronage have helped keep me inspired and motivated and I want to thank you all for joining me on this ride!  Let the march to STF #4000 begin!

The (All New) X-Men Vs. Darkseid

Regular Lost Issues visitors will know that Darkseid is referring here to the events of STF #2485... I thought it would be interesting to have a sequel with the next iteration of the X-Men.  It always seems to me that Darkseid goes very well against the heroes of Marvel.  I guess it's because he was created by Jack Kirby, he really seems at home in the 616 universe.

X-Men Vs. Vigilante

There is much speculation about when the concept of mutants will be introduced into the MCU.  It will probably be some time before we see a fully formed team of X-Men appear, but there's no reason we can't see individual mutants show up here and there.  I think the best place to start might be with a character we already know.  Perhaps in the course of her upcoming series Wanda/Vision, The Scarlet Witch will discover her and her brother's true origin as mutants.  Maybe that revelation will cause her to seek out more like her... or maybe even create them.

Excalibur in Camelot 3000

Excalibur was one of those comics that was only released in specialty shops, so I never was able to catch the series when it was first released.  Still, I was a fan of Captain Britain and the artwork of Alan Davis, so I made sure to seek out some issues later on. It was an odd comic, with a lot more inventive story lines than I found in the other X-titles.  Even when it got too weird, the appealing cast of characters included won me over.

The X-Men and Amanda Waller

I am very interested in what James Gunn will be doing with The Suicide Squad.  As some actors and characters will be returning from the first cinematic outing, it can't really be seen as a reboot, even though it is said that he will be going in his own direction.  One aspect that I really hope he addresses is the depiction of Amanda Waller.  She is a tough as nails character, willing to go to extreme ends to achieve her goals - but the first film went even further and made her into a cold blooded killer, which did not sit well with me.  Hopefully, Gunn will find some way to fix that.

Nightcrawler Vs. Warp

This would be an interesting battle.  Warp probably may be a slightly more powerful teleporter, but then again Kurt Wagner has amazing acrobatic abilities as well, not to mention that awesome tail.  It's definitely a match up I would have like to have seen if X-Men/Teen Titans crossovers had continued.

Wildcat and The X-Men

I have mentioned before that classic Brave and The Bold writer and creator of Metamorpho Bob Haney is a huge inspiration for this blog, given his loose way with continuity and love for oddball team ups.  Haney also really liked to use Wildcat in his stories, and I have to confess that I do as wll.  There's something about Ted Grant that really appeals to me, so I hope folks don't mind that he shows up here as often as he does.

The Roustabouts in: "Rule of the Ringmaster"

This is the third appearance of The Roustabouts on this blog.  They were last seen recruiting Deadman in STF #2010, and first appeared in STF #1810. The last time around, more than one commenter thought they should tangle with The Ringmaster, and I had to agree that it was a natural subject for a follow up - so here you go!

Nightwing and Nightcrawler previously tangled with The Ringmaster in STF #28...

The Roustabouts Return!

As I mentioned when The Roustabouts first appeared on this blog, no circus-based team is complete without the addition of Deadman.  So, here's the official initiation issue!  He's one of my absolute favorite characters and I can't believe I forgot to include him the first time around.

Nightcrawler and The Atom

I'm still hoping that The Atom gets a little bit closer to his comic counterpart in the upcoming season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.  I like Brandon Routh's performance as Ray Palmer, but I want to see a lot more shrinking and the costume definitely needs and upgrade,  Lets see a sleeker suit that is inspired more by Gil Kane's designs than Tony Stark's.

These two shared a Pirate adventure in STF #1454...

In four days... The STF 2000th issue 100-Page Giant!