Blue Beetle and The Fantastic Four

 

Nothing like a Kirby-Ditko combo to deliver some Silver Age action!  Blue Beetle previously met the FF along with Booster Gold in STF #3590. The FF met the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle in STF #1632.

Captain Universe and Plastic Man

 I wonder just who is wielding the Uni-Power this time out?  That certainly doesn't look like Woozy Wink's physique, so I think we can rule him out.

Aquaman Vs. Sandman

 

Aquaman is a pretty tough guy but location is everything!  It would be interesting to see how he would get out of this fix.  I just finished the surprisingly entertaining Spider-Noir on Amazon Prime, and I enjoyed how The Sandman was realized on that show, pretty good for a TV budget.

Blue Beetle and The Hulk / Zatanna and Son of Satan

 

I never had much disposable income growing up, so comics that featured multiple stories always appealed to me.  This issue would have definitely had me at least flipping through it at the stands.

Blue Beetle last crossed paths with The Hulk in STF 1855...

Chuck Norris and The Spectre

 

I was sad to hear of the passing of Chuck Norris this week, he was a true legend among action stars. I hope he rests on peace - but if he wants to do some butt-kicking in the afterlife, I'm all for that as well.

Blue Beetle & Booster Gold and Nighthawk

 

Despite his wealth and abilities, Nighthawk was never quite able to rise above B-list status.  Still, I always liked Kyle Richmond and he had a very cool costume, so I always welcomed his appearances.  I think he would work well with the Blue & Gold team, acting as kind of a less gruff Batman.

ROM Vs. Batman

 

In the middle chapter of this Three-Part Epic, we see that the Dark Knight has not taken kindly to the events of last issue!  But if ROM is innocent, then what is really going on here?  Make sure that you return tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!  

Batman first encountered ROM on a Lost Brave and the Bold cover, an MS Paint effort from way back in 2010...

Amanda Waller Vs. Green Goblin

 

Norman Osborn is referring here to events that took place in STF #4395, when he clashed with The Suicide Squad. Let's see if their leader has better luck against him!

Wildcat and The Hulk

Rumors are that The Hulk will finally return to his savage form when he appears in the next Spider-Man movie.  I'm not sure what the story reason would be, but I hope that it's true.  Not only has Professor Hulk, (who to me just seems like green Mark Ruffalo) worn out his welcome, but now the stage can at last be set for a big screen Thing/Hulk fight!

 

The Hulk and Blue Beetle in: "Bodyguarding Banner!"

 

This is the third meeting between these heroes.  They first met with Booster Gold and The Defenders way back in STF #165, and The Hulk almost replaced Booster in STF #1855... 

Blue Beetle took a little tweaking on this one.  Here's a peek behind the scenes: 

Blue Beetle and Rom

 

Time for another double dose of Ditko. His skilled design work extended to the various creatures that he would create. This big guy wasn't given a name, so I cam up with one for him.

Captain Marvel and Captain Action

 

Thank goodness that when a giant monster emerges on Earth-STF, there will always be a random pair of heroes to combat it.  Let's hope that these two are up to the task.

Man-Bat and Doctor Strange in "No Escape From Castle Mordo!"

 

This is another example of a cover that required the removal and patching of portions before any new images could be added to it.  Here is a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Man-Bat and Dr. Strange Previously met in STF#2993 and STF #2833...

Machine Man and Green Arrow & Black Canary

 

One of the things that I hope to see in James Gunn's DCU is the relationship between Green Arrow and Black Canary.  Arrow touched upon it, but that series was much more interested in the archer's feelings for Felicity Smoak.  I think that Gunn is a fan of the characters, so hopefully he has some plans up his sleeve.

Dick Tracy Vs. The Sinister Six

 

As cool as Dick Tracy's rogues gallery was, most of his villains did not live past their first adventure with the classic cop hero.  It's only natural that he would need to seek out new challenges once he worked through his personal roster of adversaries.  But how would he fare against the enhanced abilities of a half-dozen of Spider-Man's biggest foes?

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...

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.

Blue Beetle Vs. The Scorpion

 

It's time for another double-dose of Ditko.  Who better to face The Scorpion in his STF debut than a similarly themed hero that was also designed by the legendary comics creator?  It would have been cool to see him illustrate this entire issue!

Spider-Man and Mr. A

This is another pairing that has been long overdue.  I never read too much of Mr. A, but I was intrigued by his rigid take on life and crime. It would have been interesting to see him confront the wall-crawler, especially if such a meeting was depicted by Steve Ditko.

 

Spider-Man and The Challengers of the Unknown

 

The fourth Tom Holland led Spider-Man movie now a go according to the actor.  Rumors have swirled from the plot being tied in heavily to the two upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars films to a smaller, more street level adventure.  I think that I would prefer the latter.  I loved the status quo set up at the end of the last movie, and would like to see that explored a little before he gets mixed up with a big crazy universe-changing story again.