Dave's Comic Heroes Blog: SBTU

Showing posts with label SBTU. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Dave's SBTU Staff Picks

Something a little different this time around...as the Super-Blog Team-Up gave total freedom to us with just four rather generic categories, and a pick from each one of us...and never was there a more difficult assignment...doing what I think as opposed to just facts or neat things encountered on the way...

...still, here...we...go!

Classic Pick: One covered before, but worth some love here...Justice League Of America #144 (July, 1977), story by Steve Englehart, art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. An early attempt at "retroactive continuity", putting all the characters in action just before the introduction of the JLA....and keeping to the period it was set in. The basis for Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier, and truly a classic!

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Superman And Superboy Switch

Time for another Super Blog Team-Up. This time around, focusing on time travel!

Remember those fanciful days as a child when you wished you live your life as your adult self...or, the days of being an adult, that you could back to those fanciful days as a child?

Well, Clark Kent doesn't have to wonder about such things, as Superman and Superboy experienced a little mind switch one time when they were both travelling in time, and got to live each others life for a time...

...and, time to see how this happened!

A Mind-Switch In Time!

Starting off with Superman #380 (February, 1983, with a Ross Andru/Dick Giordano cover, and a story by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Dave Hunt), where Superman is heading back in time (way back to the days of the cavemen) on a request from Professor Lang (and thinking of his days back in Smallville as he heads back). Meanwhile (well, as much as it can be in a time travel story), Superboy is saying goodbye to Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville as he heads into the future to a meeting with the Legion of Super-Heroes.

In the time stream, they both see a phenomenon they never encountered, and both being possessed of Kryptonian might (and ego), think they can just fly through it and be fine. Well, not so much, as they both go through, they "meet" (and turn phantom, as a rule of time travel involving Kryptonians is that they can't exist in a time they are in), and Superman is sent back to his time in Metropolis after the almost collision, as Superboy is sent back to his Smallville. Both are shaken up, but Superman seems shocked he ended up in Metropolis...until he sees his reflection and sees he is older, a Superboy in a Superman's body!

After dealing with a few problems, Clark somehow ends up at the Daily Planet after an encounter with Lois Lane (which she sees Superman as oddly distant and standoffish....not knowing of his body switch), where he decides to get the lay of the land as Clark Kent. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet staff has been dealing with a new hero, Euphor, who makes people bad feelings go away. The young Clark in older Clark's body meets the modern Lana Lang (whom he is so totally attracted to) and the two go on, as Euphor spends more time in Metropolis absorbing the bad feelings of the city.

The Day That Lasted Forever

The New Adventures Of Superboy #38 (February, 1983, with a story by Paul Kupperberg and Kurt Schaffenberger, with a cover by Ross Andru and Mike DeCarlo) picks up the story from the Superman in Superboy's body point of view, where Clark ends up back in old Smallville after a little time establishment, with Superboy lamenting how he can't help the young Lex Luthor at Thanksgiving. Then, Superboy heads into the time stream, and everything changes...

With Superman (in Superboy's body) now in old Smallville, Clark realizes he doesn't want to go back to Metropolis as a boy, so he decides to go back to his (at Superman's time) empty farm house...where he finds Ma and Pa Kent! Stunned, the experienced Superman goes along with it as guests arrive (a young Pete Ross and Lana Lang) for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, in the main town, Chief Parker has a problem to deal with...an escaped Lex Luthor on the loose, who seems to have no fear of Superboy arriving. Back at the Kent home, Superboy starts his day, heads to the prison, then to travel in time (again?)...yes, Superman in Superboy's body has been trapped in a 24 hour period, unable to move forward (as Luthor had planned, and tells Chief Parker).

But, then how does Superboy show up to stop Luthor? Well, it's a solution only a Superman would know (that he could just keep going back in time to the beginning, which meets up with the end of time, and continue to go back from there). Having solved the Luthor problem (with a little extra anger, as Superman knows the vile deeds Luthor will commit in the future), Clark is still faced with the problem of how to get back to his time in his own body!

Whose Super-Life Is It, Anyway?

Back to the future (at least from Superboy's point of view), with Superman #381 (March, 1983, cover by Gil Kane, story by Bates/Swan/Hunt), where the boy in the man's body goes home to Smallville to recover (finding the house empty, and having his parents death while he was still Superboy revealed to him by the home's caretaker, the former Chief Parker). Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Euphor heads to an on camera interview at WGBS while a motorcycle rider near him seems to get a bike upgrade and a suit of armor!

At WGBS (also the home of the Daily Planet), Lois tells Jimmy Olsen that she feels something is off with Superman, and it fills her with dread. Euphor shows up and says he'll take away her pain, but Lois storms off, wanting to deal with it herself. Euphor goes on camera with Lana Lang, and tells the people of Metropolis of his powers, and promises to drain their sorrow and anger from them (which he does), giving the city a feeling of contentment and happiness (and hopefully higher ratings for the show). Superboy in Superman's body is dealing with the knowledge of his parents death when that motorcycle rider attacks a Superman statue, with Clark showing up to stop Mace Malloy, who doesn't know where his powers came from.

Meanwhile, back at WGBS, Lois confides her feelings of losing Superman to Lana, who tells her not to worry. Clark shows up and he and Lana go to prepare for a newscast (but young Clark's mind is still distracted by what to him is the now grown up Lana. Euphor finds the newscast, and realizes he is shedding power due to all he has absorbed, and puts an ad in the Daily Planet to draw people unhappy with Superman to the park.

Perry White assigns Lois to cover the story in the park, with Lois agreeing, as she also feels unhappy with Superman now. Superman goes to check on Lana, still having a Superboy's feelings towards her, but she rejects him as their time has long been over, and SuperMAN should be thinking about Lois. In the park, Euphor empowers three Superman haters who manifest abilities based on their Superman hate, with Superman arriving to try to stop them. He does, but the energy in them consumes their bodies. This becomes a problem as Euphor gets a new recruit, Lois Lane, who manifest the energy as a witch to attack Superman (and, Superboy wonders how to stop her without killing her....).

Where Trouble Goes -- Euphor Follows

Superboy (in Superman's body) is still dealing with Euphor in Superman #382 (April, 1983, story by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Dave Hunt, and a Gil Kane cover) and his newest recruit...Lois Lane! Superboy (in Superman's body) lures her away from the park (as Euphor solidifies his hold on more Metropolis citizens). Having gotten Lois unconscious, Clark hopes her powers will fade as he's secreted her to the Fortress of Solitude. When Lois wakes up, Superboy explains he's the mind now in Superman's body (which explains why he was cold to her. The duo get closer as an alarm goes off signaling trouble in Metropolis.

At WGBS, Morgan Edge is angry about the station giving Euphor more time, until Euphor hits him with his power, and goes on live again, detailing his origins of how he found Mr. Mystic at a street fair, and that magician revealed the source of his power to the boy, and how he could do the same drawing people's negative emotions to use as he wished. Euphor then proceeds to draw even more from Metropolis' citizens, with Superboy and Lois watching at the Fortress, realizing that this will leave Metropolis as a home of drained people. Superboy doesn't know how to handle this, but Lois figures the Superman in Superboy's body is also working on a solution, and likely would be waiting on the other side of the temporal storm to repeat the accident which switched their minds in the first place.

Grateful, Superboy takes off into the time stream as Euphor's powers grow. Superboy and Superman meet up at the anomoly and are successful in reversing its effects, with the now fully Superman headed home to deal with Euphor (and Superboy safe in Smallville, with no memory of his time in Metropolis). Superman finds Lois at the Fortress, who fills him in on the menace of Euphor. Superman goes to Metropolis to confront him, and takes him into the time stream, where Superman goes back to witness the destruction of Krypton (making Superman very sad). Euphor tries to absorb Superman's sadness but it is too much, and he overloads (with Superman having brought him back to Metropolis, allowing the city residents to get their feelings back, and Superman to go back to life as normal).

Quite an adventure for Superman and Superboy!

If you still have time...

...be sure to check out the rest of the Super Blog Team-Up family's work on time travel, as you can see by the links below...

...or look for the hashtag SBTU!

Between The Pages Blog - When Scooby-Doo met the Flintstones and the Jetsons

The Telltale Mind - Time and Time Again - The Man Who Lived Forever!

Asterisk54 - Squirrel Girl Meets Time Travel

The Source Material Comics Podcast - TIMEQUAKE! (What If...?!)

- Part One Fantastic Five

- Part Two Avengers

- Part Three Wolverine

- Part Four Thor

- Part Five Watcher

Superhero Satellite - Hex Communications

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Justice League Of America 200

The Justice League of America.

Building a good foundation takes teamwork, and one of the best examples of that in comic books is Justice League of America #200 (March, 1982).

This teamwork shown through with the characters in the comic, as well as with the creation of the comics, so, with this little chapter of the Super-Blog Team Up, it s a look at this epic issue.

The Foundation

The issues beings with the origin of the Justice League of America (retold by Gerry Conway, George Perez and Brett Breeding), where Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman and Superman come together to face an alien invasion from Appellax in the form of odd creatures who emerged from meteors tinged with Kryptonite at seven different locations across the world. Working together, these heroes decided they could do more good together, and formed the Justice League.

This was the origin of the JLA, that the charter members told to honorary member Snapper Carr (who first worked with the team when they fought Starro) and first recruit Green Arrow in Justice League of America #9 (February, 1962) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

Flash forward to the now of the issue, where we take a look inside the JLA satellite with newest member, Firestorm, bored with monitor duty...

Firestorm vs. Martian Manhunter

Firestorm is surprised by the Martian Manhunter, as the Martian goes through the satellite looking for a meteor. The Martian Manhunter doesn't know why this meteor isn't in the JLA HQ in Happy Harbor, and fights Firestorm, eventually defeating him, taking the meteor as he felt he had to since he got an emergency signal from his JLA signal device.

This chapter is drawn by Pat Broderick and Terry Austin, as Pat would soon be drawing Firestorm in the Fury of Firestorm title.

Firestorm wakes up and sends out an emergency signal to all JLA members, but only Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary (who brings Green Arrow, who at the time had resigned from the JLA), Elongated Man, Red Tornado and Zatanna. With the lack of charter members attending and the mention of a meteor, Green Arrow figures out this must involve the original JLA formation case, backed up when Snapper Carr arrives. So, Green Arrow suggests the present members split up to stop the original JLA from getting the other meteors (with Firestorm and Snapper remaining at the Satellite as back up).

Red Tornado vs. Aquaman

Here, in a chapter drawn by Jim Aparo (known for his work with Aquaman), Aquaman is at a newly formed volcanic island southwest of the Seychelles, where the Phantom Stranger (he, a man who was offered JLA membership but never formally accepted) narrates the tale. Red Tornado shows up, and is almost successful in stopping the amnesiac Aquaman from getting the meteor...yet is stopped by the mysterious mystic (for reasons the Phantom Stranger doesn't make clear).

The Phantom Stranger broods about his decision, but at least is nice enough to secretly take the unconscious android to the JLA satellite, where he is found by Snapper and hooked up to a medical computer by Firestorm (both of whom wonder how Red Tornado got there...).

Zatanna vs. Wonder Woman

Drawn by former Wonder Woman artist Dick Giordano, Zatanna finds herself on Paradise Island, home of Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons. The maiden of magic asks Hippolyta where her daughter is, with the Queen answering and confused about how odd Wonder Woman is acting. Zatanna and Wonder Woman battle (with Wonder Woman not knowing who Zatanna is), and Zatanna is beaten by Wonder Woman and nearly drown as Wonder Woman takes the meteor and leaves.

Zatanna is healed by the Amazon's with their Purple Healing Ray, with Zatanna and Hippolyta worrying about Wonder Woman's state of mind.

Atom vs. Green Lantern

Gil Kane provides the art for this chapter (having worked on both Green Lantern and Atom since their beginnings in Showcase). Green Lantern is trying to retrieve the meteor from the wildlands of Zimbabwie. The Atom, who has been a hero nearly as long as Green Lantern, tries his best to stop the ring slinger, but is unsuccessful.

Atom heads back to the JLA satellite, where he and the other members of the JLA realize that the original members, not having their current memories of their teammates, have an unfair advantage in facing them. as the charter members are not held back by the bonds of friendship that have formed over the years of JLA membership..

Elongated Man vs. the Flash

Quickly getting to the next chapter, with art by Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia (Carmine having an artist hand in the first appearances and more of both Flash and Elongated Man) in the northern plains of Italy, going for that meteor. Beat friends Flash and Elongated Man battle (though Flash knows not of the friendship), with, yet again, a charter member beating the new one. Flash races off with the meteor...

...ending up at the original headquarters of the JLA, in great disrepair, where he and Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern wonder about their strange compulsion to get the meteors, the odd folks they faced, Wonder Woman's altered costume and why Martian Manhunter woke up not on Mars but another planet with his fellow Martians as refugees (all changes that had happened to them after they joined the JLA).

Green Arrow and Black Canary vs. the Batman

In a chapter drawn by relative newcomer Brian Bolland (who would have latter ties to Batman), Green Arrow and Black Canary try to stop Batman from getting a meteor in the swampland off the North Carolina coast, yet Batman proves too tricky for the duo, defeating them by using their strengths against each other and getting away with the meteor.

An angry Green Arrow fumes about being beat at the JLA satellite as Atom wonders what to do after the meteors are gathered, while Batman, rejoining his team at the original JLA HQ, relates his battle with a Green Arrow he doesn't recognize (as Green Arrow changed his costume while in the JLA) and the meteors begin to glow.

Hawkman vs. Superman

In the final battle of JLA members, with art by Joe Kubert (who drew Hawkman on and off since his debut in the Brave and the Bold), Hawkman gathers his ancient weapons to stop Superman's plans to retrieve the meteor in Greenland. As the meteors were made of Kryptonite, Superman sent his robots to get it...which Hawkman was easily able to defeat, yet failed as a lead coated Superman came to get the meteor, and was successful, yet left Hawkman floating in orbit....who then disappeared.

Hawkman found himself transported to Rann, where he was found by JLA ally Adam Strange and his wife Alanna, who contacted the JLA informing them that they were sending him back (due to rough feelings due to a recent war with Thanagar, the remnants of which were what kept Hawkman's wife, Hawkwoman away from this momentous meeting). Elongated Man stretched himself out to rescue Hawkman.

Meanwhile, at the Secret Sanctuary, the original members started to remember their lives as the meteors hatched the Appellaxians, who planned on continuing their battle to decide who would rule their planet (with consequences to Earth be damned). The original team wasn't strong enough to defeat the aliens.

This did make enough of a scene to get news coverage, getting the JLA newcomers to go to Happy Harbor (with Snapper handling the satellite). Reunited, the JLA went off to defeat the battling Appellaxians with teamwork. Happy again, Green Arrow felt he could leave, as he was no longer a member....but decided that he learned a lesson, and rejoined the team.

In this issue, readers were given a basic rundown of the Justice League, its members and its history, saw the team act in a way they did many times in the past, and were even treated to incredible art (not only the wonderful George Perez, who did his last JLA interiors here) but of individual artists on each character by people who were associated with the characters they drew. If that isn't a foundation to build upon, then what is?

Super-Blog Team Up

Building on that, here are a few other blogs from other members of the Super-Blog Team-Up...

...and how they had built foundation related stories of their own.

Here are the other blogs to check out!

Between the Pages Blog - Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Star Trek

TEAL Productions/NewsPrint Commando - Witzend A Foundational Comic

Superhero Satellite: The Comics Digest. A foundational entryway to comics from Archie to DC Blue Ribbon and Beyond.

*51 - My First Next Issue, Incredible Hulk #333

The Source Material Comics Podcast - “Traumatic Resonance - What I Learned from Deb Whitman”

DC Multiverse - What is a Penny Worth? Enough to Fund the Wayne Foundation

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Secret Origins Of The Blue Beetle

At some point, heroes fall, and are replaced by other heroes. That is now a frequent occurrence in comics, but it had gone on before.

Even before Blue Beetle reached DC Comics, back when he was a character at Charlton, there was a replacement of the original super powered Blue Beetle to a non-powered tech driven hero.

In cooperation with the Super Blog Team-Up, now the story of that switch can be told!

The Original Blue Beetle

Dan Garrett was an archeologist, premiering (at least this Charlton version) in Blue Beetle #1 (June, 1964) by Joe Gill, Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. On an Egyptian dig with his friend, Luri Hoshid, Dan ran afoul of a local warlord, General Amenhotep, who fancied himself a descendant of the original pharaoh. Heading back to the excavation, there the duo went into the crypt of Kha-Ef-Re, with Dan seeing an azure scarab on the tomb. Touching it put him in contact with an Egyptian god, who, seeing Dan was an honorable man, gave him the power of the Blue Beetle when Amenhotep had the tomb bombed. As they tried to escape, Dan summoned the power of the scarab with the phrase Kaji Dha.

Now as the Blue Beetle, Dan was ready to face the reawoken Kha-Ef-Re (brought back to life by the radiation in the General's bomb).

Fighting off the mummy, Dan and Luri escaped the collapsing tomb, with Blue Beetle dealing with the General and leaving Luri, to pursue a life as an adventurer.

What an adventure it was, where Blue Beetle faced Communists unleashing a prehistoric thread (#2), the electric villain Mr. Thunderbolt (#3), the Preying Mantis Man (Hunter Mann) (#4) and the Red Knight (Lew Coll) (#5), then a slight hiatus, coming back with much higher issue numbers to fight Mister Crabb and his Scorpion machine (#50), the robot Mentor The Magnificent (#51), the Magno-Man (Dr. Louis Forte) (#52), the return of the Preying Mantis Man (#53) and the Eye Of Horus (#54, written by Roy Thomas).

But then Dan was gone again. When Blue Beetle returned again, it was a new man, Ted Kord, with a more acrobatic, non super fighting style and a giant vehicle that he called the Bug.

The Replacement Blue Beetle

Ted Kord was an engineer, premiering as a back up in Captain Atom #83 (November, 1966) by Steve Ditko with dialogue by Gary Friedrich. Taking down the thug Killer Koke in his first appearance, Ted continued the fight against crime in his next appearance, taking down the Masked Maruader (#84) (Count Von Steuben, while avoiding his secretary Tracey, and Lt. Fisher (who was looking for missing archeologist Dan Garrett, whom Ted was a student of). Facing a spy in a submarine and getting in trouble (#85), dealing with Tracey asking about Dan's disappearance (#86), then getting his own title with (another) Blue Beetle #1 (June, 1967) and facing a group of thieves called the Squids.

With Blue Beetle #2 (August, 1967), it is finally revealed what happened to Dan Garrett. Ted went to Dan for help, as his Uncle Jarvis called Ted to help build robots. But, those efforts stopped when Jarvis; lab blew up, supposedly killing Jarvis. Ted, going through his uncle's papers, found a map to Pago Island and plans to create a robot army. Going to Dan for help, Ted accompanied Dan to Pago Island, where the duo saw their boat destroyed by a robot army, who took them to...the living Uncle Jarvis! Jarvis planned on taking over the world with his robots, but, Dan turned into Blue Beetle. During the melee, the lab exploded, wounding Dan, who asked Ted to carry on for him as Blue Beetle, but another explosion separated them. Leaving the island, Ted took up the mantle of Blue Beetle, but his way, creating the ship, the Bug, as well as a strobe light gun and metallic mesh cowl, Ted would fight crime as a mortal man, doing the best he could.

His next cases included facing the Mad Men (#3), the Men of the Mask (#4) and the Destroyer of Heroes (#5) in his last published issue (though a planned #6 was done by the CPL Gang in a pair of issue, and later included in DC's Action Heroes Archive, where Ted faced the Specter (Amos Fend).

Ted had a few more appearances in Charlton Bullseye #1 (June, 1981), Americomics #3 (August, 1983 and Americomics Special #1 (August, 1983) before showing up with other Charlton heroes on Earth-4 in the Crisis On Infinite Earths, then in Secret Origins #2 (May, 1986) by Len Wein and Gil Kane....which led to his own DC title, and eventually to the Justice League, and, unfortunately, Ted's death, which kicked off the Infinite Crisis!

Another Blue Beetle?

Jaime Reyes was an ordinary student in El Paso, Texas, until an alien scarab bonded to him, turning him into the Blue Beetle.

Sucked up in the events of Infinite Crisis by Booster Gold, but later, was able to find and work with Ted Kord.

The Rest Of The SBTU

Here, from an unreplaceable group of bloggers...

...the Super Blog Team-Up members...

...are a few more cases of times identities were filled by replacements!

Between The Pages Blog:

I Am Groot! - The growth of Groot from a seed of an idea to the world's most beloved tree.

Source Material Comics Podcast:

WE KILLED JASON TODD!

Super-Hero Satellite:

The Reign Of The Supermen

Asterisk 51:

Not-So-Giant-Size X-Men

The Telltale Mind:

Replacement Heroes - When Marcus Johnson finally became Nick Fury

Newsprint Commando:

Monolith of the Elementals

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

X-Men And Avengers Beginnings

Back on July 2, 1963 was a day like no other. The Marvel Universe was changed, when two teams were formed, one of a group of students bound together by their mutations, the other, a mighty gathering of the greatest heroes of that age.

Join this entry of the Super Blog Team-Up, wherein will be discussed the earliest days of the X-Men and the Avengers.

Formation

With these two books by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Marvel Universe began to take shape. X-Men #1 (September, 1963 inked by Sol Brodsky and Frank Giacoia) introduced the world to the mutants of Professor X's school for gifted youngers, as these kids banded together to face Magneto, while Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man and the Hulk were gathered together to fight Loki in Avengers #1 (September, 1963, inked by Dick Ayers).

More X-Men early history here, with the beginnings of the Avengers here.

Meeting

The two teams first met in X-Men #9 (January, 1965, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Chic Stone), as Professor X tracked down his nemesis, Lucifer (the alien who cost Xavier the use of his legs). Xavier has to dispatch his team of X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel and the Beast) to stop the Avengers (with Captain America replacing Hulk) from defeating Lucifer, as the tricky villain has tied a thermal bomb to his heartbeat, with the bomb detonating should the Avengers defeat him.

This sets the stage of X-Men vs. Avengers which would then play out over decades....

Crossover

The two teams would later encounter one another due to the manipulations of Magneto, searching for two of his ex-students, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (who had joined the Avengers). Magneto had also captured the X-Men, with Cyclops breaking free to battle Quicksilver in X-Men #45 (June, 1968), with the X-Men facing the Avengers (which included Hawkeye and Black Panther, along with former Ant-Man now Goliath and the Wasp) in Avengers #53 (June, 1968). The heroes would eventually realize they had been manipulated into fighting, and gather to work against Magneto and his allies, the Toad and Mastermind.

Combination

As a little extra for anyone still reading, the teams even started to combine, as the Beast had graduated the X-Men, got a job, mutated a little further to being grey and furry, then became blue and furry, and joined the Avengers in Avengers #137 (July, 1975) by Steve Englehart, George Tuska and Vince Colletta (with Jim Starlin providing one panel, and John Romita providing the cover).

The Avengers are short members (Swordsman dying, Mantis leaving, and the Vision and Scarlet Witch going on a honeymoon), and begin a recruitment drive, which, along with the return of Yellowjacket (formerly Goliath) and the Wasp, get the Beast (an ex-X-Man) as well as the enigmatic Moondragon....all to face what appears to be the menace of old X-Men cosmic villain, the Stranger!

Oh, but how much stranger the years would become.

Super Blog Team-Up!

Thanks to the rest of the Super Blog Team-Up members...

...even more X-Men and Avengers history is revealed, and you can read them here....