Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - Secret Invasion

Well, it’s about that time of the year again. I’m stuck between what black thing I’ll be wearing Wednesday (got to get plans though), I’m looking at that pesky corn candy, and I’ll probably break out into the "Thriller" dance. I’ll also link that Tim Curry song from The Worst Witch again. That still makes me laugh. Instead of doing something monster-based, I think I’m going to go the sci-fi horror genre. These next two posts will talk about the 2008 Marvel crossover, Secret Invasion. Here, I’ll just be talk about the main series while the other post will be about the event itself.

I was pretty much into Secret Invasion when it first was hinted at in 2007. A lot of stuff had gone on in the Marvel Universe at that point, and I was psyched. I even had the money to keep up with it this time! I got all 8 issues of the crossover and a couple of New Avengers tie-ins. Since then, I really haven’t heard much about this one. Unlike Civil War, this event has kind of been looked over. Now that I’ve reread the main series, I can kind of see why. I’ll get to that later, though. For this and the next post, I decided to go all in on this one. I pulled out the books and perused Marvel Unlimited for all this stuff, so I’m ready!

Brian Michael Bendis wrote the main series. BMB was pretty much the Marvel architect at this point. It’s still weird to see him at DC. Anyway,  Avengers Disassembled, Secret War, and House of M were his babies. Leinil Francis Yu was the penciller. Before this, he was penciling along with Bendis on New Avengers. I also got to mention my favorite Superman origin, Superman: Birthright, since Yu was the artist. Man, even BMB had to get in on Superman. Mark Morales handled the inks and Laura Martin did the colors. So, what happens when the Skrulls’ “secret” invasion ain’t no secret no more?

Secret Invasion

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils: Francis Leinil Francis Yu

Inks: Mark Morales

Colors: Laura Martin

Letters: Chris Eliopoulos

Editor: Tom Breevort

Favorites - Favorite Supporting Characters for Superman

Well, September has come to an end. I was able to get to all the supporting players I wanted to get to. Yeah, I left out a couple like Krypto, Emil Hamilton, and maybe Bibbo, but I had to end it somewhere. Besides, I already got a Krypto post from a few years ago that’ll satisfy most folk. As for other personal stuff, I’ll save that for a Random Thoughts post. I’m not done with the Man of Steel’s people yet. So, it’s time for the obligatory favorites list. This time, I’ll be listing down my 12 (sort of) favorite supporting characters from the franchise. The list isn’t really in order, but my favorites are at top.

1. Lois Lane

I might as well start off with his first supporting character. Lois has been around as long as Superman has. She’s been the rival reporter, the love interest, and a cool character especially in modern times. While I’ll admit that she wasn’t always the best during her 80 years, Lois is still an essential part of Superman’s life. Without her (married or not), things feel off. You can’t keep those two separate for long.

2. Jonathan and Martha Kent

Next, we got the Earth parents of Superman. In a lot of ways, they are the ones who made Clark into Superman. Yeah, the Els helped, but the Kents had to raise him. They taught him the values of humanity and how to live in the world. They even had things to share even when they got to live and see Clark become Superman. While they aren’t needed for every story, I think it’s cool to have them around at times. I don’t need them showing up in almost every other episode, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

3. Batman

Yeah, I got the Dark Knight on this list. What of it? Of all the superheroes Superman interacts or teams up with, Batman is right up there. It’s cool to see those two interact since they approach things differently. They both tend to learn things off of one another and they’re usually the closest of friends. Batman’s not essential to Superman’s story, but he adds variety to it from time to time.

4. Jimmy Olsen

While I do rag on Olsen at times, I think that has to do with how he’s sometimes written. When written well, Jimmy can be cool. When it comes down to it, Jimmy’s is more or less us. He’s just a regular guy in an extraordinary world. He has to pay the bills like everyone else. He just happens to be friends with one of the most powerful people in existence. At times, even he can get in on the action. He is the “Man of Action” after all.

Trade Tales! - Superman/Batman: Absolute Power

Well, it’s the last post for the month… sort of. Yeah, I had a busy weekend with going to church, fighting sickness, cutting yards (while having a temperature?), and spending time with someone I care about. So, I might as well hold off the Dark Knight for all… three of you out there? The last supporting character for Superman Month is Batman. Remember that these are the “World’s Finest” and that’s not because they wear speedos quite nicely either. By the way, it looks like the trunks are back in for both guys… dang traditionalists!

Anyway, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (1939) as part of a push for the superhero. He ended up being popular and even got featured with Superman in World’s Finest Comics, an anthology series. Eventually, the two heroes would first team up in Superman #76 (1952). Since then, those two would regularly team up in certain books. They were the best of buds. I mean, they were the two biggest superheroes, so why not push that? They were also on the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America.

Then, things changed in the 1980’s. The Dark Knight Returns  showed them at odds with one another. There was also another pre-Crisis story (World’s Finest #323) which showed them having a falling out. All this kind of made their relationship in the post-Crisis different. Since continuity was rebooted, they rarely interacted and didn’t approve of each other’s methods. They still had a respect for one another, though. This also carried over into places like the DCAU and even the DCEU for good or ill. I kind of like it for their first meetings, but I do feel like them not becoming friends would be weird.

Eventually, DC decided to bring the World’s Finest together again. In 2004, DC started to release Superman/Batman, a team-up series. If you wanted to see Superman and Batman come together and kick butt, this was the book for that. We’ve even seen two animated movies get spawned from this series. Today’s trade will be Absolute Power which has Superman/Batman #14-18. Jeph Loeb, a guy that has experience writing both characters, is the writer. Carlos Pacheco handled the primary pencils while Ivan Reis helped out a little. Jesus Merino handled the inks. So, what happens when Superman and Batman get turned into despots? Time-travel stuff, yo!