Favorite Heroes Countdown #25 - Nova!

The Man Called Nova burst onto the comic racks in the late Bronze Age and was a breath of fresh air. Marv Wolfman had the notion of Nova rumbling around in his imagination since his boyhood but brought the idea to Marvel with fantastic effect. The character combines aspects of Spider-Man (angst-ridden teenager struggling to be a superhero) with aspects of Green Lantern (part of a space-spanning police force). I really loved the villains in Nova, they all had a nifty retro glow to them. The creators really worked overtime to make the villains distinctive and colorful. Diamondhead, Condor, Powerhouse, and the mastermind the Sphinx all tingle the memory.

Sal Buscema inherited the book from his brother's debut and "Our Pal" Sal was the perfect artist for the title, his style clear and light. Later when Carmine Infantino took over, I was less enthusiastic as his artwork at that time was exciting but felt muddled to me somehow.

Nova only lasted a couple of years, but the character like most all Marvel characters became a part of the broader universe and has been revived and revised more than a few times.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown #26 - The Peacemaker!

Pat Boyettets Peacemaker is a concept which is mocked by some, and frankly I've never understood why. Christopher Smith was a diplomat who traveled the globe attempting to come to terms with the dangerous folks he encountered. When that failed he donned his uniform and strapped on his weapons and confront the villain. It was a bit of wish fulfillment about how to handle the myriad of problems the world confronts. Looking at the way we deal with world problems today makes me think of the well-meaning Christopher Smith and his spectacular helmet.

But whatever the case, I love the "Action Heroes" from Charlton and Peacemaker though largely forgotten save in the guise of Alan Moore's Comedian is fantastic as rendered by Pat Boyette.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown #27 - The Sub-Mariner!

Prince Namor, the often regal scion of Atlantis is one of the greatest creations in comics. Bill Everett was casting about to find a way to make his superhero distinctive and in contrast to the Human Torch found a delightful blend of fantasy and science fiction and high-octane adventure with the Sub-Mariner. The Sub-Mariner was for a time of Marvel's Big Three heroes (alongside the aforementioned Torch and Captain America) and since that heyday Marvel has tried many times to revive the characters, sometimes as a villain, sometimes as a hero, and most often as something in between.

When Bill Everett concocted the Sub-Mariner, he had the innate genius to give him wings, tiny little wings which impossibly allow Namor to fly and that more than any other detail aside from his acerbic personality accounts for his popularity with me.

He's not just a sea-creature in human form, he's a fantasy hero of the highest order, able to operate in any environment with skill, strength, and even a delightful grace which Everett always brought to his work. Later artists like John Buscema emphasized Namor's power and like Marie Severin his nobility, but always the Sub-Mariner is about elegance.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown #28 - Dynamo!

Tower Comics produced some memorable heroes in a very short time, thanks mostly to the artistic genius of Wally Wood and others of his generation. The most powerful member of the THUNDER Agents was Dynamo. But in his other persona he was Len Brown, a hapless hard-luck chap who failed often at love and was almost always attempting to recoup his reputation as knucklehead moves in the field. Dynamo might have been the stupidest hero ever, but even then I am forced to admit I identified with his failings.

The THUNDER Agents tapped into both the spy craze of the time as well as the superhero craze, bonding (pun intended) several adventure tropes. Like super-spies, Dynamo was armed with the Thunderbelt, a device which was specific to his body chemistry and gave him his vast strength as well a measure of invulnerability. Dynamo was a high-tech Superman.

But Dynamo is on my favorites list because of the artwork of Wally Wood. Wood was an exceedingly itinerant artist who fashioned stellar pages of comic artwork using suspect techniques. But all I ever knew was that any comic with the name of Wally Wood attached to it looked better than most of the other comics on the stands. Helped by stalwarts like Chic Stone, Steve Ditko, and Gil Kane as well as assistants like Dan Adkins and Ralph Reese, the Tower pages continue to glow with a quality apart from the average comic of the time.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown #29 - Captain Atom!

On this birthday anniversary of the late great Steve Ditko it is only fitting and proper that I reflect on one of my favorite heroes, his Cold War co-creation with Joe Gill, the awesome Captain Atom. Captain Atom flew out of the pages of Charlton when superheroes were relatively rare and never had his own comic book title. When Charlton revived superheroes in the late 60's under the guidance of Dick Giordano, it was only appropriate that Captain Atom was the spearhead of that brief movement. But these were "Action Heroes" to quote Giordano, so Captain Atom's mighty powers were necessarily diminished to allow him to fit into a universe somewhat less overwhelming splendid.

While some prefer the golden uniform, I've always cottoned to his red, blue and silver suit which showcased his face and the shocking white hair. Captain Atom like most of the "Action Heroes" was a brief encounter on the stands, but was scooped up by DC and has become a linchpin of that company's many iterations of its universe.

Captain Atom has proven to be a lasting concept at DC, but I'll always remember his halcyon Charlton days.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown #30 - The Hulk!

When I first broke into the comic book world the Hulk was just getting his own book (for the second time) and it would prove to be quite the successful run. I was much entertained by the artistic merits of Marie Severin and Herb Trimpe in those early issues which made much of the Hulk and his alter ego Bruce Banner as itinerant characters, roaming the globe with little mission or direction, but always encountering some dire threat which needed to be countered. Always the Hulk himself was considered a monster, a threat himself and so was chased by the military relentlessly.

As my reading days accumulated, I fell alway from the Hulk a bit, especially after longtime artist Trimpe moved on. Other heroes caught my fancy just as the wider world was discovering the glory of the green giant for themselves on television and magazines and beyond.

The stories which made such a fan of "Old Greenskin" are out right now in a handsome Epic volume. These are some of the juiciest stories in the whole Hulk canon, at least I think so.

Rip Off

Favorite Heroes Countdown!

This month I will try something a little different here at the Dojo. I will conduct a countdown of my favorite superheroes, beginning later today when everyone has the sweet taste of holiday candy on their breath with number thirty and then continuing relentlessly to number one soon after the turkey, pumpkin pie and cranberries have fully settled. Why? It sounds like fun, and if I cannot have fun here, then why bother. Hopefully there will be a teensy mote of suspense as the countdown clicks down. Now to be clear, I am counting down my "favorite" superheroes, so I don't feel any obligation to suggest they are the biggest or the best, which in nearly all instances they are not. I like superheroes with a little difference, a personal flavor. Usually that is supplied by the idiosyncratic nature of the creators who either fashioned or worked on the hero.

I don't rule out other posts in addition from time to time, but hopefully if the stars line up correctly each day will give the faithful visitor to the Dojo a new hero to ponder at the very least.

Hang onto your hats! This should prove interesting. (I hope.)

Rip Off