Super Fashions Gone Wrong

Curt Swan may have been a helluva Superman penciller, but he wasn't always the most visionary of design artists.

Case in point?

Wonder Warrior!


Tiaras and white leotards...what could go wrong!

Well, not much if it's on a lady.

(However, I do quite fancy those sexy knickers!)

Script by Martin Pasko
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Letters by Ben Oda

Superman #349
The Turnabout Trap!
July 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Wheel of Torture

For some people, the definition of torture would be having to read a Mr. Mxyzptlk issue. Not for me, as I love the freedom it allows the storytellers to do whatever they damn well please...like the wheel of torture!


It's funny that "Stallone Movies" is one of the torture methods, as he hasn't even filmed Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot yet!

(Got to make a mental note for another Mxy post in 90 days)

Script by John Byrne
Pencils by Jerry Ordway
Inks by Dennis Janke
Colors by Anthony Tollin
Letters by Albert DeGuzman

Adventures Of Superman #441
The Tiny Terror Of Tinseltown
June 1988
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Many Lives of Superman #2

The Many Lives of Superman

Aristocrat!

Script by Leo Dorfman
Pencils by Al Plastino
Inks by Al Plastino

Action Comics #337
From Riches To Rags
May 1966
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Harsh Justice of the Golden Age

That's pretty ballsy considering that it was you, Superman, who put him on that flying plane in the first place!

Of course, this was after he threatened to drop him into the spinning propellers, so I guess this punk should just consider himself lucky that he's only going to fall to his death instead of getting sliced to pieces.

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Leo Nowak
Inks by Paul Cassidy

World's Finest Comics #2
The Unknown X
Summer 1941
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Characters Continuity Forgot #1

Professor Whiffensniff

Here's a shot of Professor Whiffensniff in his first (and last) appearance from 1946.

It just goes to show you that you're not going to get very far in the world of imaginary characters by pointing out the obvious.

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Ira Yarbrough
Inks by Stan Kaye

Superman #40
There Is No Superman!
May/June 1946
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Dwayne McDuffie, 1962-2011

Yesterday afternoon, the sad news was released that Dwayne McDuffie had died at the age of 49 due to complications from surgery. I assumed that when I started this blog that there would be opportunities to eulagize different creators who had come and gone over the years and made a difference to the Superman legend. What I had not assumed, is that the first occasion would be for someone who died way too soon.

While Dwayne only ever wrote one story for the Superman line of titles, he was a major player when it came to the Justice League of America. As an editor and producer of the cartoon series Justice League Unlimited, he more than cemented his place in not only Superman history, but that of the entire DCU.

For me however, my fondness for Dwayne McDuffie goes back to 1992 with the creation of the Milestone line of comics. It seemed that every other time you went to the comic book store in the 90's, there was a new line of comic book superheroes being created. Like most of them, the speculation boom wasn't kind to Milestone and it didn't make it out of the decade alive. Unlike most of the others, however, Milestone tried something different with an eye towards racial and cultural diversity. For that, it left the 90's with it's reputation in good standing.

Fast forward more than a decade and Dwayne was writing Justice League of America with the promise of the Milestone characters being integrated into the DCU proper. To say that there was some editorial over-reaching that hampered his stories and resulted in unfulfilled expectations is a bit of an understatement. With that in mind, here's today's panel in honor of Dwayne McDuffie.


Rest in peace, Dwayne McDuffie.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Script by Dwayne McDuffie
Pencils by Jose Luis
Inks by J.P. Mayer
Colors by Pete Pantazis
Letters by Travis Lanham

Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #28
Welcome to Sundown Town, Chapter 2: Shadow and Act
February 2009
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Superman Sketchbook #1

One of my all time favorite Superman sketches from Skottie Young.


I swear, that man has more talent than there are minutes in the day to utilize it. I wonder if he will ever be non-exclusive with Marvel, as I'd love to see him do something in print within the confines of the DC Universe.

Artwork by Skottie Young

President's Day

What better way to celebrate President's Day, than with Superman fighting Mt. Rushmore itself.

Script by Brian Azzarello
Pencils by Jim Lee
Inks by Scott Williams
Colors by Alex Sinclair
Letters by Rob Leigh

Superman (Vol. 2) #209
For Tomorrow, Part Six
November 2004
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Weekly Panel of Steel #2

My apologies for being a little late with the Weekly Panel of Steel feature, as I was away in Indianapolis on business with no easy access to a scanner. Of course it's only the second installment, so as far as anyone knows its only schedule is an erratic one.

We'll see if I can't maintain a Thursday schedule in the future, but in the meantime let's see what this week had to offer.

There were some flashback scenes in Justice League of America #54 that featured Superman, but Brett Booth has never been my cup of tea, so we'll keep looking.

I thought for sure that when I saw that he was going to be showing up in Green Lantern #62, as drawn by Doug Mahnke, that we'd have our winner. Alas, standing around in the Watchtower does not make for the most stunning of visuals, especially with Batman getting all of the best lines.

Luckily, we also had Superman/Batman #81 released this week. This title has actually been quite good for a couple of months now, so I was pleased to see that new creative team was able to keep things going strong. Cullen Bunn and Chriscross did such a good job, that they gave us our Weekly Panel of Steel!


In an issue filled with dragons, demons, and medieval versions of the World's Finest, it was this simple panel of Superman's eyes that steal the show.

You'd think that stare would be enough to let you know that you just crossed the line with Superman, but him being Superman, he's still going to give you a chance to bow out before he beats you senseless.

Script by Cullen Bunn
Pencils by Chriscross
Inks by Marc Deering
Colors by Brad Anderson
Letters by Swands

Superman/Batman #81
Sorcerer Kings Part One
April 2011
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Awesome Mahnke Cover

Here's one of my favorite Superman covers by one of my favorite Superman artists, Doug Mahnke.


Boy oh boy...what I wouldn't give to get him back on a Superman title.

Pencils by Doug Mahnke
Inks by Dennis Janke

Superman: The Man Of Steel #88
May 1999
Copyright (c) DC Comics