10 best Superman tales you haven't read

 Super-Mania is upon us and soon we'll be bombarded with listicles of the "best" Superman comics.

Those lists will undoubtedly have all the classics: All-Star Superman, Action Comics Annual #11, and Superman: Birthright among others, but those are just step one.

To celebrate the Man of Steel, I point you towards 10 great Superman stories that you might not have read:

1. "Be Careful What You Wish For..." by Scott McCloud (Superman Adventures #2) Superman's girlfriend is threatened by Metallo... and it's not Lois Lane! This companion comic to the WB animated series has lots of great Superman tales by a wide variety of writers who would graduate to bigger careers.

2. "Just Passing Through" by Chuck Dixon (Nightwing #30) Superman checks in on Nightwing, the former Robin the Boy Wonder. Dixon has a great handle on Superman's character here. It's too bad he didn't write a Superman monthly.

3. "The Day Superman Couldn't Save" by Robert Loren Fleming (Action Comics #580) Superman is haunted by a choice he had to make early on in his career. An early story that examines the moral dilemma of being Superman.

4. "Superman Batman: World's Finest" by Dave Gibbons (World's Finest vol 2.) In this two-part comic, Batman and Superman team up when Lex Luthor and Joker torment each other's cities. It's one of the earliest "post-Crisis/post-Dark Knight Returns" team-up tales where the world's finest friendship is strained at best. Steve Rude proves why he's one of the best comic storytellers around.

5. "Sons and their Fathers" by James Robinson (Starman #75) Superman learns that Jack Knight met his father, Jor-El, while in space. All of Robinson's Starman run is fabulous, but the last 3rd of the series is amazing and this story is a highlight.

6. "Of Thee I Sing" by Garth Ennis (Hitman #34) After failing to save a life, Superman has a heart to heart with Tommy Monahan aka the Hitman. Ennis, like Grant Morrison, really shines when he writes characters he didn't create. He's got a strong handle on Superman and even makes "Truth, Justice and the American Way" mean something worthwhile.

7. "Big City, Little Man" by Joe Kelly (Action Comics #792) When a newspaper vendor goes missing, Clark is determined to solve the mystery. A touching "small" story that reminds me of Will Eisner's writing.

8. "Ex-Machina" by Paul Chadwick (Christmas with the Superheroes #2) - A stranded suicidal man gets advice from Superman. Paul Chadwick (Concrete) knows how to write Superman's quiet strength and humanity.

9. "Glasses" by Joe Kelly (Mysteries of Love in Space #1) Lois muses why it took her so long to see past the glasses and see Clark. A charming tale of Lois and Clark.

10. "The Living Legends of Superman: Chapter Six" by Frank Miller. (Superman #400) - Two boys go to a virtual reality theater to act out their version of Superman as he battles injustice. This is Miller preparing for The Dark Knight Returns but with Superman. It's light-hearted, fun and a good reminder that all versions of Superman are valid.

 I hope you enjoy reading all of these comics! 

What you know about Batman is wrong

As I visit my favorite sites to celebrate Batman day, I often come across posts by "experts" that are riddled with inaccuracies about my favorite fictional hero. 

The one that grinds my gears the most is the idea that "In the early days, Batman used a gun all of the time." While not incorrect, it is also wrong. Let's explore the history of the "gun-wielding" Batman.

Most "experts" use the above image from Detective Comics #35 as their proof of "Batman using a gun all of the time". Let's ignore the fact that this is a splash image that has nothing to do with the story, in that actual story, doesn't even carry, let allow use a gun in the actual issue. As it has nothing to do with the continuity, I think this is a straw man in the "gun-wielding Batman" case.

 

In Detective Comics #31-32, Batman does use a gun - twice - to dispatch the Mad Monk and Dala, who are actually vampires. At the end of the story, Batman fires silver bullets into the creatures. Since the vampires are already dead (undead) does this really count? I think not.

 
On the cover of Detective Comics #33, Batman is shown with a holster on his utility belt but in the actual story, he fires the gun, not to kill anyone, but to detonate a deadly death ray machine.

 

This house ad from DC comics does nothing to dispel the idea of Batman as a gun-wielding vigilante hero.

In Detective Comics #36, the holster is gone, and Batman uses a gun taken from defeated henchmen to fire a shot to draw the attention of the police, who will presumably come to arrest the minions.

We see the most gun play in Batman #1 when Batman fights madmen that Hugo Strange has transformed into monstrous creatures and outfitted with bullet proof outfits. Batman uses his Batplane mounted machine gun to first shoots a truck filled with monsters, causing it to crash and presumably kill everyone inside, including Strange's human henchmen. Then he uses the machine gun to knock another monster off a skyscraper, which it had climbed King Kong-style.

The last golden age story in which Batman shoots a gun, this time to disarm a gunman, is in Batman #4. But the text states that "The Batman never carries or kills with a gun."  

That rule obviously doesn't apply to Robin! In Batman #6, Robin forces the hand of a killer to shoot himself in the head!

Gun-wielding Batman shows up once in the silver age in Detective Comics #327 when Batman takes a gun from a crook to keep him and his accomplices at bay. He never fires the weapon.

The cover of Detective Comics #575 shows Batman wielding a pistol, but I think this is just for shock value, since the character hadn't used a gun in over twenty years. In the story, Batman debates using a gun on Joe Chill, the killer of his parents, but decides against it.

Batman wields a machine gun on the cover of Detective Comics #710 but in the story, he uses a rifle to disarm assassin Gunhawk after being goaded by Deathstroke the Terminator to use the rifle.

 

In the Elseworld story The Dark Knight, Batman fires a machine gun at a mutant who has kidnapped a child. It is presumed by the image that he has killed the kidnapper. But maybe not. Maybe he just wounded her?

Later in the story, he fires a cable from a rifle to swing to Two-Face's helicopter to prevent a bomb from exploding.

Is Dark Knight's Batman a hypocrite. In Dark Knight Triumphant, he snaps a rifle in half, calling it "The weapon of the enemy" and that he "will not use it." He also calls a gun a "coward's weapon" and "a liar's weapon."

In modern stories, Batman knows how to use guns, he just doesn't. His dislike of the weapons prevents him from using them. It is also well established that Batman does not kill. 

Even the Joker, who, between you and me, Batman should have killed decades ago.

 
Although that doesn't stop him from using the grappling hook gun first introduced in the Batman movie (1989). Does this make Batman a "gun-wielding" hero? I think not.

The era of comic books revised

 

I have never liked the "Olympic medal" eras of comics as it breaks down after Bronze. What's after that? Tin? Dumb. It never made sense to me as a) It infers that everything after Golden is inferior when nothing could be further from the truth - from an art and storytelling perspective to the way the books are created and manufactured. b) The metal eras doesn't address what's next after maybe "dark" and that was almost 30 years ago and c) doesn't take into effect too much of the history of comics both in terms of publication content and editorial decisions.

I, myself, have taken some cues from the classifications of genres used in film studies which are: Primitive (or Pioneer), Classic (or Golden), Revisionist, Parody, Post-Modern, Nostalgic and modern (which is used as a sliding scale to whatever is the "current" era). I've applied this to comic books and came up with the following classification system*:

Primitive: 0 - 1935 (Proto-comics to New Fun #1)
Classic (or Golden): 1935 to 1952 (Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #1, etc.)
Revisionist (or Atomic): 1953 -  1970 (with the passing of the Comic Code, Incredible Science Fiction #1, Showcase #4, Fantastic Four #1, ZAP #1, etc.)
Post-Modern (or Super): 1971- 1985 (Green Arrow 85 , Amazing Spider-Man 96, Crisis on Infinite Earths)
Dark: 1986 - 1994 (Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight, Spawn )
Nostalgic: 1995 -2000 (Marvels, Astro City, Zero Hour, Starman)
Ultimate (or Marvel): 2001-2010 (Marvel Ultimate, Alias, Wolverine: Origin, Editorial changes at DC)
Post-Revisionist: 2011 - 2015 (Flashpoint, New 52, Marvel NOW!, Ms. Marvel)
Modern: 2016 - present (DC Rebirth, etc.)

Granted I realize that the "edges" of these eras aren't as clear as I'm making them out to be, but ya gotta draw the line somewhere! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this classification system of mine!

* I freely admit that my classification has a bias towards American superhero comics in general and DC published books in particular.

Bedbug shirts return!

It's been awhile since I've offered Bedbug T-shirts but I've created a new store over at SpreadShirt with some old favorite designs. Check them out!

And keep a look out for more new Bedbug designs in 2020!

Bedbug appears in Lucky Shot #1!

Bedbug's latest adventure can be found in Lucky Shot #1!

Lucky Shot #1

Former gangster Michaela Saez balances being a public hero and a single mother as Lucky Shot, the tiny titan of crimefighting! Lucky and her coworker Andromeda work to make the world a better place for humans and superhumans alike, all while learning to get along with each other! By Araujo, Wade, Monsanto, Hebert, Birch, Lozano and Casseday

Head over to Indy Planet to buy your copy today!! 

Bedbug appears in POWERUP board game!

Ramon Redondo Perez is a Spanish designer whose video game inspired board game POWERUP is currently on Kickstarter.

I was immediately charmed by the clever concept (a 2D dungeon-crawl - why didn't I think of that?) and the 16-bit graphics (having been a video game artist earlier in my career) and I backed the game. When Senor Perez discovered I backed the game, he excitedly asked permission to included Bedbug as a character in the MERC expansion.

 

No sooner had I said "yes" than did he produce the card that will feature Bedbug! I must say, Bedbug looks pretty great as a retro-video game character. I wonder if Player One would approve... more likely he'd get jealous!

If you want to buy the game (which is due out this fall) and the MERC expansion with Bedbug, back the game at the DELUXE level.  And many thanks to Ramon for including Bedbug into his awesome POWERUP game!

Bedbug to appear in World Wide Warriors!

My friends over at Red Anvil Press are creating a new comic book called World Wide Warriors! 

In addition to the Mighty Titan, Mantis, Shadowflame and Power House, issues 1 and 2 guest-star none other than Bedbug!

The adventure begins when Buddy and Elvira visit a local science center where they a strange experience that results in trouble!

The art looks absolutely amazing with artist Allan Goldman doing a stunning job! I can't wait for this to come out!

 

Look for World Wide Warriors #1 coming to your local comic shop in the near future!