Love. Metropolis Style.

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary, so I'm treating you all to a gallery of the MANY weddings of Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane. Enjoy

Happy Anniversary, Amy!

My lovely wife, Amy and I were married thirteen years ago today. And while I may very well be every bit the pompous ass that Mr. Fantastic is, I can assure you-Amy-you are not invisible to me. :)

I love you, Kitten. Here's to many, many more wonderful years together.

Saturday Morning 1967- The Fantastic Four

In 1967, Marvel Comics licensed most of its comic book superheroes to animation company Grantray Lawrence Productions. Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Sub-Mariner, Thor, Even Spider-Man (the animated version of which debuted the same day as the Fantastic Four). But for some reason, Marvel licensed one of their hottest properties to Hanna Barbera- the Fantastic Four. As far as I'm concerned, it was a brilliant move.

The Hanna-Barbera FF were redesigned for TV animation by Alex Toth, who somehow manged to simplify the Thing's lumpy, rocky hide and still make him look like the Thing. The scripts were lively and pretty dead-on, many of them adaptations of FF stories from the comics. There are a few oddities -like an episode where the Fantastic Four travel to Atlantis and deal with a "King Triton". Triton looks suspiciously like Namor, The Sub-Mariner, who was licensed to a different animation company.



Sadly, although this still airs on Cartoon Network and Boomerang occasionally, this series has yet to come to DVD.

Jimmy Olsen- What's Your Deal? a rant

"Superman's Pal" Jimmy Olsen you will- simply put- touch, handle, wear, taste, sniff, lick, eat, or drink ANYTHING.

I mean seriously, Jimmy, didn't your mom ever tell you not to put stuff in your mouth? Do you chew gum you find under tables in restaurants? It's like every issue you're becoming an alien or a monster or fat or giant, all because you can't keep your hands and mouth to yourself.

When Superman tells you not to touch something, DON'T TOUCH IT! It's like dealing with my 4-year-old!

No wonder you can't make time with Lois Lane's sister Lucy. Who knows where your hands, mouth, tongue have been?

I've lost count of the number of times you have undergone a crazy transformation and then, too embarrassed to go back to your job at the Daily Planet, joined a freak show. You're probably the only reporter with a circus union card.

Oh, Jimmy! Through your ceaseless, impulsive touching, how you've touched me!

Thank The gods Tis Thor's Day!- Journey Into Mystery # 83

As the good folks at Marvel Comics began to crank out a line of superhero comics, one question was hanging at the backs of their minds: "How can you top Superman?" I mean, for any hero to be more powerful than Superman he'd have to be... well, a god.

Enter The Mighty Thor, Norse god of thunder, hero of legend, scion of Asgard, user of leave-in conditioner.

While on a walking tour of Norway, "lame Doctor Donald Blake" (I LOVE how they describe him like that. He has a severe limp and walks with a cane, but it always makes him sound like he's a sub-standard physician.) is witness to a terrifying invasion by Stone Men from Saturn.

Seeking shelter in a nearby cave, Dr. Blake finds himself trapped in a cave-in. After stumbling through the dark, looking for an alternate exit, Don finds an old, gnarled walking stick laying on a stone slab. Don tries to use the stick as a lever to pry away a large rock blocking a potential exit, and in his struggles bangs the stick against the stone. Suddenly, lightning crashes within the cave and frail Dr.Blake is transformed into Thor.


The stick, it seems was the mighty hammer of Thor, Mjolnir, in disguise. Inscribed on the head of the mystical hammer are the words "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of THOR".

Using his new-found super strength, Thor hefts the boulder out of the way of the exit and leaves the cave. Setting his hammer down, Thor discovers that, after sixty seconds away from the magic of the hammer, he reverts to Donald Blake. He soon discovers that the hammer returns to his hand when thrown, is indestructible and can control the weather.

Thor quickly routs the alien invaders and transforms back into Lame Doctor Donald Blake.


The Hammer turns back into a walking stick. The story ends with the promise of further Thor adventures to come.

For anyone familiar with this comic from its later incarnations, I would like to note a few points of interest. Firstly, it seems pretty obvious (to me, anyway) that at this stage of the comic, Doctor Don Blake is really Doctor Don Blake and he only summons the power of Thor. The Hammer Mjolnir sort of functions like an Aladdin's lamp. Secondly, that being said, Thor reminds me very much of Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, who was secretly young Billy Batson. Batson would say the magic word "Shazam!" and transform into the super hero Captain Marvel.

Next Thor's Day will be a Hallowe'en-related post, but after that, I will pick up with Journey Into Mystery #84.

"The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Menace" Doom Patrol #89

The DP get some much-needed, cooler superhero togs in this issue (Well, Negative Man and Elasti-girl do, Robotman doesn't wear clothes, just black trunks. And I suspect they're just paint.), and a really funky new villain. The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Menace or AVM Man for short.

Once a friend and rival of the Chief's, the AVM Man is a brilliant scientist who has unlocked the secrets of the prime material from which all life developed. Staging an accident during a laboratory demonstration (do these really happen? I've never been to one of these, but they happen in old comics all the time. I mean, I've been to COSI -the science museum, not the patisserie- many times and NEVER have I witnessed any scientists, mad or otherwise seeking the origins of life, or irradiating helpless spiders or anything. ) Sven Larsen turns himself into the AVM Man with the power to change his form into anything animal, vegetable or mineral.

Bent on revenge for a wrong he believes the Chief has done him, AVM Man attacks the members of the Doom Patrol. Turning into a giant man of lead, he attempts to encase Negative Man's radioactive energy form. Robotman saves negative man, but AVM Man turns into a giant dandelion and blows away. Later he turns into a swarm of gnats and attempts to enter Robotman's ear canals in an effort to reach his human brain.

In a final showdown, AVM Man becomes a giant tiger and launches himself at Elasti-girl, only to be zapped by the Chief's "Anti-Decay Ray" which "halts all changes in living cells." It freezes the AVM Man as a tiger and prevents his ever-fluid form from continuing to move and change. I don't know why he can't just continue to attack as a giant tiger, but whatever. Irony-of-ironies, the ray is the very idea which Sven Larsen accused the Chief of stealing from him years ago, and is the very reason Larsen is seeking revenge.

A few notes: This issue contains one of the very few instances in which the chief involves himself in front line combat. Personally, I think any comic book in which a bad guy turns into a dandelion and blows away to escape capture is awesome. One more thing... should Robotman's brain really be accessible directly from his ear canals?? Shouldn't he have died in a much earlier issue if that were the case?

Pretty Pictures.

I'm too tired and too busy to write anything today. But I don't want to leave all of you dedicated readers without anything to do when you're supposed to be working, so here are some pictures to get you through.

These were used mostly as filler, when a story ran short or there was unused ad space. I especially like how many of these heroes have signed their picture for you with their secret identities.