Saturday, October 08, 2011

The 300 Challenge! #4


(Decide your answer, then click the image to see the full cover!)



The 300 Challenge! #3


(Decide your answer, then click the image to see the full cover!)



The 300 Challenge! #2


(Decide your answer, then click the image to see the full cover!)



The 300 Challenge! #1

You've taken the Pepsi Challenge! You've taken the DC Challenge! You've taken the Challenge of the Super-Friends! But now it's time for a challenge three hundred times as exciting as any of those! It's Bully's Patented Once-in-a-Lifetime 300 Challenge!



Tomorrow night at 9PM I'll be presenting the three-hundredth edition of "Ten of a Kind," and to get you excited and geared up for this dubiously important event, over the next 24 hours you can take the "300 Challenge!" Here's how it works:

You'll be shown a portion of a comic book cover that is #300 in the series—a 300th issue. Guess which comic book it is...write 'em in the comments (don't look at the others); then click on the image to blow it up to full-size to see the answer! It's as simple and fun as that! (I'm assuming you have low standards of fun.)

Here's how to score:
  • You get 2 points for every correct answer.
  • I'm not going to be strict about very close answers. For example, if the answer is "Action Comics" and you say just "Action," that's A-OK for the full two points.
  • No fair Googling or checking the Grand Comic Book Database before you guess!
  • Even if you miss, I'll give you 1 point if you come close. The details will be seen on the answer panel. There are some with bonus or penalty points, however, so guess as closely as you can!
  • Extra-special bonus: There is one fake cover for a comic book that doesn't exist, in among all the correct ones. DO NOT mention this in the comments, but mark down which one you think is the fake cover. At the end of the 300 Challenge I'll reveal which one it is to give you bonus points!
  • Almost all of the covers are American comics; there's a few British ones in here too. At the end, if you can think of any American 300s I missed, let me know!
  • The 300 Challenge will run through the next 24 hours, but you don't have to stay up all night. You can catch up tomorrow morning or afternoon!
  • Finally, each and every one of these is actually issue #300. There's no "fake" 300s in here...for (fictitious) example: Ultimate Bully the Little Stuffed Bull Comics ran #1-212, then rebooted back to #1 for volume 2 for one hundred more issues (#1-100), then rebooted back to the original numbering with #313 onwards. That doesn't count...there's really no issue 300 in that series! Get it? Got it? Good!
  • (Lemme know in the comments if you have any questions about the Challenge or scoring and I'll try to make it clear!)
Here's the first of the 300 Challenge. Remember, don't look at the comments until you've made your guess. Then, let me know in the comments what you guess was: right or wrong! Remember, the decision of the little stuffed bull is final, and this is a game, not a contest (no prizes) or a competition (no wagering!)


(Decide your answer, then click the image to see the full cover!)



Same Story, Different Cover: Who ever heard of a friendly sea monster / Lovin' and laughin' his life away?


L: Four Color #318 (March 1951), cover art by Carl Buettner
R: Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures #18 (December 1989), art by Don Rosa
(Click picture to Loch Ness-size)



Curiously and sadly, there's no actual Carl Barks cover for this great story. But here's another version of the Four Color cover. This time it apparently took place during the Crisis on Infinite Earths:




365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 281


Cover art from Thor #609 (June 2010), pencils and inks by Mico Suayan, colors by Laura Martin



Stan Lee Saturdays #12: Who They Are and How They Came to Be


Splash page from "The Real Origin of the Avengers!" in Avengers Classic #1 (August 2007), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Kevin Maguire, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Rus Wooton



Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 8)


Walt Disney's Donald Duck Special ("Fit To Be Pied") (October 2006), cover art by Don Rosa



Friday, October 07, 2011

The Zen of Batman: Traffic Safety


From Batman: "Ma Parker" (October 6, 1966), script by Henry Slesar



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 280


Panels from Thor #352 (February 1985), script, pencils, and inks by Walt Simonson; colors by Christie Scheele, letters by John Workman, Jr. Letters



DC Ads of the Golden Age, Day 5: DC Presents the New 5!


Ad from Detective Comics #26 (April 1939)



Ad from Detective Comics #34 (December 1939)



Ad from Detective Comics #41 (July 1940)


Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 7)


Donald Duck [and Friends] #308 (October 2003), cover art by William Van Horn



Thursday, October 06, 2011

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 279


Panel from Thor #136 (January 1967), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Artie Simek



DC Ads of the Golden Age, Day 4: Well, it's just after six o'clock, and time for the Superman on top of your radio set to explode.


Ad from Detective Comics #40 (June 1940)



Ad from Detective Comics #33 (November 1939)



Ad from Detective Comics #42 (August 1940)


Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 6)


Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #370 (October 2007), cover art by Giorgio Cavazzano



Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Batman & Robin & Gilbert & Sullivan


Panels from "The Case Batman Failed To Solve!!!" in Batman v.1 #14 (December 1942-January 1943), script by Don Cameron, pencils and inks by Jerry Robinson, letters by George Roussos



By popular request, here's the alt-text:

I am the very model of a Gotham City crimefighter
I try to make the hope of common people in the town lighter
Let's go! Atomic batteries to power! Turbines up to speed!
I'll put you behind bars for every felony and crooked deed!
With crooks like these behind jail bars you'll soon see Gotham's crimes decreased
I fight Two-Face, the Penguin, Doctor Hugo Strange and KGBeast
Professor Pyg and Ra's a Ghul (that's Arabic for Demon's Head)

(long pause)

I do this every night because a bad guy shot my parents dead!

(He does this every night because a bad guy shot his parents dead)
(He does this every night because a bad guy shot his parents dead)
(He does this every night because a bad guy shot his parents dead!)



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 278


Panels from Thor: The Trial of Thor one-shot (August 2009), script by Peter Milligan, pencils and inks by Cary Nord, colors by Christina Strain, letters by Joe Caramagna

DC Ads of the Golden Age, Day 3: One of these things is not like the other


Ad from Detective Comics #40 (June 1940)


Hey, wait a minute...what's that guy doing there?!? Yeah, you...yes, you know I'm talking about you. G'wan, get along, nobody cares about you. Get lost, pallie! Sheesh. Can we get a real star in here?


Ad from Detective Comics #41 (July 1940)


Ah, good. There we go.

(Click to read pal Andrew Weiss's forensic dissection of Ultra-Man at Armagideon Time!)


Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 5)


Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #158 (November 1953), cover art by Carl Barks



Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Here's What I Don't Get: You Catholic girls start much too late

Hey look, it's Huntress!


Batman: Streets of Gotham #5 (December 2009), cover art by Dustin Nguyen


She's a good Catholic girl. That is, a good comic book Catholic girl. Ah, yes, comic books: the place where Catholic girls look like this:


The Ride: Die Valkyrie #1 (June 2007), cover art by Jason Pearson


Here's what I don't get about Huntress...


Panel portion from Batman: Streets of Gotham #5 (December 2009), script by Chris Yost, pencils by Dustin Nguyen, inks by Derek Fridolfs, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Sal Cipriano


...why would someone who early in her career took a freakin' gunshot to the stomach...


Panels from Batman Chronicles #1 (July 1995), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Lee Weeks, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Ken Lopez


...and survived because of Kevlar armor...




...later wear a a costume that exposes her stomach? Huh? Huh? That's what I don't get.




Even Batgirl doesn't get it, and she can't even see or breathe out of her costume. Disclaimer: dissing of the totally awesome Cassandra Cain Batgirl done purely for humorous effect.


Panels from Batman: Battle for the Cowl: The Network one-shot (July 2009), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Don Kramer and Jim Calafiore, inks by Mark McKenna, colors by Jonathan D. Smith, letters by Steve Wands


Still, at least Huntress can protect her soft underbelly with a sound effect.




And at least now she has higher, leg-covering boots, which would have come in handy with her old uniform:




Still wouldn't you think that Huntress could use a helmet?




There's what I don't get.


365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 277


Panels from Thor #338 (December 1983), script, pencils, and inks by Walt Simonson; colors by George Roussos; letters by John Workman



DC Ads of the Golden Age, Day 2: Na na na na


Ad from Detective Comics #40 (June 1940)



Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 4)


Walt Disney's Donald Duck Featuring "Hobblin' Goblins" one-shot (2005)



Monday, October 03, 2011

With This Ring, I Thee PWN

Batman's great, but stealing the power ring off the finger of a Green Lantern without him even noticing it? I call shenanigans.


Panels from Justice League America v.2 #1 (October 2011), script by Geoff Johns, pencils by Jim Lee, inks by Scott Williams, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Patrick Brosseau


Uh huh. Yep. (He said, dismissively.) This out-of-character nonsense from the New 52niverse is a poor plot device that, let's face it, wouldn't have happened under the "old guard." Before the events of Infinite Crisis Final Crisis Flashpoint, you'd never catch a GL getting de-ringed by the Dark Knight! Not in a bajillion years.




Panels from The Batman Chronicles #15 (Winter 1998), script by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Rob Schwager, letters by Ken Lopez


Oh. Um. Okay. Well...

Never mind.


365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 276


Page from Thor Giant-Size Finale one-shot (January 2010), script by J. Michael Straczynski; pencils by Marko Djurdjevic; inks by Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, and Marko Djurdjevic; colors by Christina Strain; letters by Joe Sabino

DC Ads of the Golden Age, Day 1: This guy'll never catch on

The Mid-Day Matinee this week, all week: DC Ads of the Golden Age! Forget the New 52...let's kick it old schoo'! Here's announcements and advertisements for all the comics books that were the rage back in the cheerful, joyous happy days of the Depression and World War II, introducing a few guys who you might remember today, if they could stick around for a while. But now, less talk, more Action...on DC Ads of the Golden Age!




Inside front covers of Detective Comics #15, 16, and 17 (May, June, and July 1938)



Hey, check it out...Separated at Birth!:




Flash Comics #1 (January 1940), cover art by Sheldon Moldoff




Duckburg: Hellmouth (Day 3)


Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #38 (November 1943), cover art by Carl Buettner



Sunday, October 02, 2011

Thirteen of a Kind: Bells starting rings and chains rattled loud



























(More Ten of a Kind here. And get ready: only ONE more until Ten of a Kind #300!)