Top 10 Most Powerful Pre-Crisis Superman Foes

Listening to a podcast this week, I heard someone mention that only reason General Zod is going to appear in the Man of Steel movie is because Superman has a weak rogues gallery. While I will admit, there are some clunkers in his rogues gallery (Toyman?), if one looks back at some of the foes he faced during Pre-Crisis continuity, then the list powerful foes is longer than most people think. Here is my top ten favorites (in no order whatsoever.)

Dev Em - First Appearance: Adventure Comics 287



Powers: Super strength, invulnerability, flight

Dev Em was a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who happened to escape the destruction of Krypton and ends up on Earth. While he begins his story as a foe of Superboy, he would later reform and join the Legion of Superheroes showing up from time to time in those stories. I first saw him when he showed up in the Great Darkness Saga.


Galactic Golem - First Appearance: Superman 248



Powers: Energy absorbtion, super strength and invulnerability

Created by Lex Luthor from collected pieces of galactic matter to destroy Superman. After its first battle with Superman (wherein Luthor helps to dispatch the creature) it shows up again a few issues later and really lays the smack down on Superman. The internet suggests the golem made an appearance in JLA vs Avengers mini-series. While I don't remember that, I can totally see Kurt Busiek adding the golem to the story.


Vartox - First Appearance: Superman 281



Powers: invulnerability, superhuman strength and senses, telekinesis, telepathy, energy projection, astral projection, ability to transfer these powers to others

Inspired by the Sean Connery movie Zardoz, Vartox was the Hyper-Powered hero on the planet Valeron who comes to Earth seeking justice for the death of his wife. While his vendetta initially puts him at odds with Superman, Vartox would return several times later in the series as an ally.

Karb Brak - First Appearance: Action Comics 460




Powers: Super strength, invulnerability (?), flight

An alien from the Andromeda galaxy, Karb had to leave his home planet due to having an allergy to everyone on his home world. Unfortunately, Superman's Kryptonian biology is enough to cause Karb's allergy to flair up which results in a battle between the two of them which ran its course through 4 issues. Karb-Brak was eventually cured by Vartox.

Hercules, Atlas and Samson - Multiple appearances during the Silver Age



Powers: Super strength, invulnerability

A common story idea in the Silver Age was to have Superman face off against some strong man from history. Grant Morrison pays homage to this conceit by having Hercules and Atlas show up in All-Star Superman. Of these three, Hercules seems to have had the most appearances.

Faora - First Appearance: Action Comics 471



Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and invulnerability, freezing breath, super hearing, multiple extrasensory and vision powers, longevity, flight, and regeneration

Faora's background suggests there is more to her story than is revealed in her Bronze Age appearances. A Kryptonian sentenced to the Phantom Zone for the crime of killing 23 men at a secret concentration camp, She is also a master of the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu. In her first battle against Superman, she has the ability to use mental lightning, but doesn't have this power in later battles.

Mongul - First Appearance: DC Comics Presents 27



Powers: Superhuman strength and durability, energy Projection

Created by Len Wein and Jim Starlin, Mongul is an interplanetary space tyrant with devastating powers and abilities. In their first confrontation, Superman ignores the advice of the Martian Manhunter to not face Mongul alone, and gets soundly defeated as a result.

Black Zero - First Appearance: Superman 205



Powers: Advanced Tactile-telekinesis that provided flight, invulnerability, and superhuman strength. Superhuman hearing and heat vision.

A space saboteur on a secret mission to destroy Krypton, Black Zero discovers that Jor-El's prediction of destruction was wrong because the internal pressures in the planet had subsided. To this end, Black Zero causes the pressures to build back up causing the destruction of Krypton. Later, Black Zero comes to Earth where he faces off against Superman. This character would return in name only in Post Crisis continuity.

Captain Thunder - First Appearance: Superman 276



Powers: Super-strength, speed, stamina, invulnerability, flight, wisdom, control over and emission of magic lightning

Created by Elliot S! Maggin and Curt Swan after DC's obtaining the rights to the Fawcett characters, this Captain Marvel doppleganger was actually a young boy named Willie Fawcett who obtained his powers from an Indian Shaman:



Little known fact: Twomorrows Publishing's Back Issue #30 revealed that another Bronze Age appearance which was drawn but never published.

Oriental War Demon - First Appearance: Superman 241



Powers: Magically tougher than Superman and has a 9 foot Katanna.

Appearing at the end of the classic Sand Superman Saga, an entity from Quarrm possesses a statue of an Oriental War Demon in Chinatown and proceeds to beat Superman up so badly he has to recover in a hospital. While this creature never returns after his initial appearance, his size, alien appearance and distinctive battle armor have always made him a personal favorite.

I actually bought this issue off a spinner rack, and it *may* have been the first Superman comic I ever bought (the timing works) which considering some of the more dynamic scenes of violence in the book, was quite the introduction to the Superman comics. (And to the best of my reckoning, that level of action was rarely scene again in this book.)
So, that's my Top Ten.

Is there a favorite Superman foe you would add to the list?

- Jim

5 Thoughts on the end of the Legion of Superheroes

Last week, DC revealed a new wave of cancellations (many of which would be no surprise to regular readers of this blog) including long time fan favorite, the Legion of Superheroes.


This prompted this tweet from the High Reactionary himself, Mark Waid:



And while I think Waid's hashtagged label for the tweet is a clue that perhaps his reaction is a bit extreme, the news of cancellation catalyze a lot of thoughts I've been having about the Legion over the years. In no apparent order, here they are:

1. Has the Losh really been continuously published for the past 40 years?
Wasn't there a period several years ago when they were just a seldom seen backup in a short lived Adventure Comics in 2009? Seeing how this latest version was Volume 7 of a title that has been rebooted 3 times, I think it's a bit rediculous to call it continuous publication.

2. Does anyone really think this will be the last we see of the Legion in a comic?
In a world where Grant Morrison can put juice back in the Batman of Zurr-en-arrh, I would be relunctant to count the Losh out for long.



3. Is the Legion a concept that can't be retooled for this era?
The list of excellent creators who have tried to rejuvinate the franchise is pretty long (Abnett and Lanning, Waid, Giffen, Jim Shooter, Paul Levitz) DC has tried a number of different approaches on the franchises (time jumps, reboots, retro reconfigurings, high concept storylines, etc...) with the exception of some mild interest in the last Waid/Kitson threeboot in 2004, nothing has really ever moved the needle. (And even the threeboot ran out of steam by issue 16 when it was retitled Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes.)

4. Why don't younger fans like the Legion?
From listening to 30 something podcasters on ifanboy talk about the series, I think there are several answers to this question:

• Dated, juvenile sounding names (Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy, etc.)
• A fear that they don't know where to start with the series
• They are overwhelmed by the large cast

Basically, I think a lot of modern comic readers are a bit lazy when it comes to trying new comics. If they can't grasp a concept in the first issue, they walk away from it. A comic like American Flagg (or from heretell, the current incarnation of Prophet) requires more mental energy than most modern readers want to expend. (And honestly, can you blame them? With the siren song of television shows, movies and video games ever calling them, why should they put forward the effort to read a title like the Legion?)

5. What is my favorite era of the Legion?
That's a tough one, because I like different eras for different reasons. Currently, I would say the Silver Age, mostly for the background ideas that appear in the stories - like a desk unit that has yes/no light displays on the front.


I would love one of those for work.

I'm going to end with a final question:  
How would you make the Legion a successful comic in this day and age?

Have a great week!

- Jim

Why Do People Quit Reading Comics?

On many occasions, I've written a post about the rather lackluster state of comics from the big two and invariably, the post will generate comments from people saying they've completely given up on comics "...ever since they cut off the Joker's face, or Avenger's Disassembled or DC 52, or..." you get the idea.

 

 I totally sympathize with the frustration people might feel about the lack of quality coming from Marvel and DC (though the actual change in quality might not be as huge as you think it is, all things considered.) What I don't understand, is how this leads people to just give up completely on the genre itself.

People don't quite watching television shows because they didn't like how LOST ended. So why is it that so many people quit comics altogether because Doctor Octopus is now Superior Spider-Man?

 I suspect the answer is that a large part of the readership isn't really that enthralled with the genre in of itself. That's why independent titles languish, but umpteen Batman titles reign supreme. It's not the genre that people like, but the idea that Batman and his universe is something they are partaking in.

The problem with that comes when writers do something with Batman that no longer fits with how you perceive his universe. Then you are left with nothing.  Which is sad, because in many ways, we are currently in a new Golden Age of independent comics.

I would definitely encourage anyone who has "Given up on Comics!" to try some new independent comics.  You might find yourself really enjoying the experience of discovery all over again!

- Jim

Rainbow Godzilla vs Iron Man 3

I had planned to go see Iron Man 3 yesterday, but due to circumstance beyond my control, I found myself casting about for cheap ways to keep my daughter and her friend entertained all day. My solution: take them to Free Comic Book Day! 

As it turns out, that was the right choice as they both got a lot of free comics and were enthralled with the guest artists drawing sketches at the event. Check out our friend Sean McGuiness as he accepts the dubious challenge of drawing a Rainbow Godzilla. 


We actually ended up making two trips to the event (it was either that or go to Build-A-Bear which is sort of like the antithesis of Free Comic Book Day) and during both visits, I was impressed with how many kids were in attendance. Also impressive was how well the shop seemed to be doing on back issues and graphic novels. There was always a line at the register with people waiting to buy stuff.

As for Iron Man 3, from what I hear, it will be in the theaters for a while, so I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

- Jim

A Robot fighting a Winter Troll

Here is a piece of art from a new project I'm working on. It's an all ages comic called NorthStars which will feature a favorite Flashback Universe character of mine, Artifact, as well a ton of new characters.

This illustration is by my partner on the project, the phenomenal Laurianne Uy, creator of Polterguys.

The story takes place in a world that is an extrapolation of the fantasy elements found in the old Rankin Bass holiday specials which have always intrigued me...

...with the lighthearted action of Asterix and Obelix...

...and the grand adventure you might occasionally see in classic Uncle Scrooge stories (where it seemed they were discovering lost cities and ancient civilizations every other issue.)

This has been a concept I've been wanting to work on for quite some time as the seeds for this story stretch far back into the original days of the Flashback Universe. As a matter of fact, if you were a keen reader of the Saturn Knight Christmas story, you would have noticed a rather odd Easter egg on one of the pages. Check it out here:

What that strange metal sarcophagus is will be explained in the story but let's just say, the adventures of Artifact span many worlds. ;)

- Jim

My Top Ten Herb Trimpe Hulk Covers

One of the posts that seems to be a favorite among people who stumble upon this blog for the first time is my article on the villians created by Ross Andru during his Spider-man tenure. To many old school fans, Andru became synonymous with the character he drew. I think that is also true of another one of my favorite artists from that era: Herb Trimpe!

Herb Trimpe is a bit like Kirby in that some people just don't like his stylistic approach. A far cry from the photo realistic Bryan Hitch clones that seem to be the norm of today, Trimpe's art embraces a simplicity and dynamism that you rarely see now. His style has been praised by many comic luminaries including Erik Larsen.

Here are some of my favorite covers from his prodigious seven year run on the Hulk with some reasons why I like them.

159 – Two Years Before The Abomination




In all fairness, this cover isn't on this list because of the art. (It's actually one of the poorer examples of Trimpe's skills.) The reason I picked this one was because this was first modern Hulk comic I ever bought during my collector

phase of my life. (I had sampled a few issues as a wee lad during the late 60's, but nothing had stuck.) This was issue wherein I experienced reading a story that referred to events from several years ago.


Year spanning continuity?! At the time, the idea that these stories could go on for years was staggering.

Also, this cover added the tagline At Bay! The next time we see that tagline was also an issue that featured the Abomination. (We'll get to that cover in a bit.)

160 – Nightmare At Niagara Falls



This is a MUCH better example. Check out the the way we are viewing the scene from such a distorted angle here.

164 – Phantom From 5,000 Fathoms!

 

Trimpe uses the technique of having a character break proscenium on this cover and he will use it again on 166 and 172 And Canst Thou Slay... The Juggernaut? (another one of my all time favorites.)



169 - Disaster Eight Miles High



This is cool because of how the transformation scene gets played out on the cover.

171 – Revenge!



Easily my all time favorite issue from this time simply because of the battle royale between Hulk, Rhino and The Abomination. The cover is great too because it almost has a 3D effect with the way perspective has been used to heighten the drama.

173 – Anybody out There Remember...The Cobalt Man?



Trimpe tilts the ship in this cover to make the fight scene more
exciting. As a result, it gives him room to draw the figures a bit broader than a regular horizontal plane would have allowed.

182 - Between Hammer and Anvil



This issue uses a bit of the same perspective and angle we saw on 171. Notice how the prison is a bit distorted to add to the perspective (and echo the lines of the logo.)

189 - None So Blind



Great use of framing here.

And finally, probably the most remembered (and homaged) Hulk cover from this era.

181 - And Now, The Wolverine!



The curious thing about this issue is Wolverine only appears in just a few panels is this issue which was odd after making such a big deal of him on the
cover.



I hope you enjoyed seeing those even if you aren't as enamored with the Trimpe style as I am!

- Jim

The Secret Origin of Rick Jones!

I was recently asked to contribute to How Would You Fix... a blog edited by Nathan Adler. It's an entertaining site which posts theories and continuity patches for the various holes in the Marvel universe. For my contribution, I chose the The Secret Origin of Rick Jones, a normal teenager who has somehow been able to wield both the Destiny Force and Cosmic Awareness at various times in his life.

My apophenia driven entry reveals how Arnim Zola, Moon Boy and Korvac all played a part in the events that have led to the rather auspicious life of Rick Jones.

While I haven't ever tried my hand at such a speculative article, I found reviewing the history of the Marvel universe and connecting the dots to be a fun challenge.

I hope you enjoy it!

- Jim