V is for The Vision

Vision is one of my all time favorite comic book characters.  When I started collecting comics, I actively sought out all of his appearances.  When I returned to comics in the last few years, I found out he has become virtually unrecognizable to me as a character.  But I still enjoy reading his older adventures....

U is for Uncanny X-Men #175

One of my favorite comic book covers ever...

So many covers these days have little to nothing to do with the story inside.

Unlike the Uncanny X-Men 175 cover.

When I bought this issue, I had only been "officially" collecting for two or three months. I had no idea of the back story of this issue, having only bought three issues of the series. But I've always been wowed by this cover.

I love the colors, the action, and the fact that it does tie-in to the story inside. Of all the elements, I think the "claw" and the "rubble" are the most striking to me. Just glancing at the cover, you can pretty much figure out each character's abilities. You know who the "bad guy" is.

This cover was created by Paul Smith, who is often over-looked when mentioning the artists who drew the X-Men. I understand why when names like Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Dave Cockrum, John Byrne and Jim Lee are attached to such a storied franchise. Smith only penciled 10 issues of the X-Men (#165-175, except #171) and he only worked 21 total covers for ANY comic in my entire collection (17 on his own and 4 with someone else inking him).

Regardless, this is the cover that stands out for me when I think about my collection.

S is for Superman for All Seasons

This was a tough one.  I have more "S" comics than any other letter in my collection..  So many great characters start with the letter.

But if you want an "S" comic starring an "S" character, you could do worse than this one.  Mr. Rosacker is a recent comic convert and has expressed his...not so much disdain, but disinterest in the character of Superman.

This is the book I should have recommended to him.  It is not an origin story, per se, but a fleshing out and rounding of who the character is and who he can be.  Each "season" is narrated by a different supporting character from the Superman mythos, which only adds to the picture.  You are never in the head of Superman himself.

And each issue is beautifully painted and colored by Tim Sale and Bjarne Hansen.

Of all the collaborations between Loeb and Sale, this is one of the best.

R is for Rutland, VT

In addition to being my hometown, Rutland, Vermont is the site of a large Halloween Parade.  While the parade is still impressive today, it pales in comparison to the production "back in the day."

"Okay, Mr. Mock", you might say, "Get with the comic books...."

Well, what you might not know is that starting with Avengers #83 (Cover date December 1970, on the stands the month I was born in October 1970!), Rutland was the site of about 25 comic book appearances!

In the 1970s, organizer Tom Fagan began giving the parade a super-hero theme, and several comics creators would attend the parade and subsequent parties. This became something of a comics legend after it was written into comic books from a number of companies, notably Marvel and DC but also Whitman, Charlton, and Warp.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Fagan a few times and actually worked one parade with him.

You can read about him HERE.  You can read a synopsis of each of the following issues HERE.

Avengers 83

Batman 237

Thor 206

Amazing Adventures 16

Thor 207

Justice League of America 103

Avengers #119

Freedom Fighters #6


Justice League of America #145


DC Super Stars #18


Freedom Fighters #13


Ghosts #95


Defenders #100

Thunderbunny #5

The following REALLY isn't a "Rutland Issue"...I actually bought it by chance, but in the letters page is a letter that asked  "Does Rutland, Vermont annually become a nexus of realities similar to that existing in the swamp near Citrusville, Florida?" The Watcher's answer was "While the nexus in Citrusville is a natural aperture, the nexus near Rutland is an artificial one that fluctuates in size and accessibility. For reasons that I have not investigated, it has not been opened in recent years."

What If #22

P is for Henry Pym

Hank Pym

Who?  


Well,  Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym was the original Ant-Man.  He was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby and made his debut inTales to Astonish #27 in January 1962.

He was a founding member of The Avengers (and one of only two not to make it into the movie).


He later became Giant-Man...

Then Goliath...

Then Yellowjacket...

And so on....but the REAL reason he is on this list...he was front and center on the cover of the FIRST comic I ever bought....Avengers # 228....

O is for The Outsiders

Last year, I entered a contest on "Here in Bongo Congo" wherein you have to come up with your perfect cast for a comic book-based movie. And of all the entires in the contest, I won!!!!!

At the time, I struggled far longer than I should have, but thought I would post all of me thoughts here so that I could share what I was thinking about.

I decided to cast a movie based on a comic book from the 1980s entitled "Adventures of The Outsiders". I was looking at this cover specifically for inspiration:

For those of you who may not know, the series started as "Batman and the Outsiders" in 1983, as a way for Batman to get a little edgier and move away from "cosmic" sort of adventures with Superman and the rest of the Justice League.

After awhile, Batman left the book and "The Outsiders" continued on their own. I liked the idea of using this group, as none of the characters wear full face masks, so it sort of matters who you cast.

Here are my choices:

Kenneth Branagh As Geo-Force

You might know him as Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter

Vin Diesel As Metamorpho

Jamie Chung As Katana

Jessica Biel As Looker

Donald Glover As Black Lightning

and AnnaSophia Robb as Halo

So there you go....my choices for a rather obscure (to the general public) group of superheroes. I actually enjoyed putting this together. The hardest part was finding a decent image of Halo, one that captures her youth and naiveté.

N is for Nightcrawler

My all time favorite X-Men character.  There was something smooth and suave about him. I loved the look of the character. I loved the simplicity of his costume. I loved his power and the mystery that surrounded him.

My favorite version is the John Byrne version from Uncanny X-Men 108 to 141 but I could not find a decent scan of him!  So I used this one by Alan Davis from Excalibur.  It was a series with great promise that seemed to fizzle quick.  And like so many characters from my youth, when I rediscovered comics in the last few years, Kurt Wagner was no longer someone I recognized.