Merry Christmas 2014

I hope your day is splendid!  As I eagerly await the time we get to watch our first Doctor Who Christmas special ON Christmas Day, enjoy these Christmas themed comic book covers from my collection!

Happy December!

I like comic books.  I've been collecting comics for over 30 years.  I have 8,781 comics in my database with about 20 more lying around waiting to be entered.  I've brought comics into every classroom I've ever had and have shared my love with my students more and more in recent years.

 I am a fanboy but have recently slipped into a "grumpy-old-man, get-off-my-lawn, back-when-I-was-a-kid" sort of phase with comics.  I liked stories, back in the day, that lasted an issue or two.  I am NOT a fan of books these days that are one long continuous soap opera with no jumping on or off point.  I dropped my last superhero book from my pull list yesterday.

Awhile back, I intended to spotlight certain comics on the first day of each month.  So, without further ado...here are a bunch of comics, in my collection, that bear December cover dates!

Cover Date 1964
My 10th oldest comic book!

Cover Date 1975
Man, does this cover make me laugh!

Cover Date 1976
I love Neal Adams' cover art...but this is one weird image!

Cover Date 1979
One of my all time favorite covers!

Cover Date 1979
You can take the Justice League out of the 70s, but...

Cover Date 1980
Totally forgot I own this until I was scrolling through for this post!

Cover Date 1980
Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

There aren't many December dated comics in my collection worth spotlighting!  But scrolling through the database gave me a bucket load of ideas of issues to donate to Goodwill!!

Blogging From A To Z: J is for

Justice League of America

The Justice League of America is, essentially,  DC Comics version of The Avengers.  I think the League is best when the "Big Three" of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are on the team, but some of the more off-beat lineups have their moments.

As Marvel has laid out a specific movie plan culminating next month (*squee*) with The Avengers movie, DC has never really seemed to get their act together (beyond the recent Batman's which are...okay).  However, their animated efforts (television shows, direct to DVD animated features) are usually phenomenal.

Blogging From A To Z: J is for

...Justice League.  Though they appeared before The Avengers, I discovered them after.  Different in my mind than other super-hero teams, in that this team is best when DC's biggest characters are on the roster.  

My favorite back issue finds these days are 1970-1980 era JLA comics....always a good read.

30 Days Of Comics: Day 2: A Comic That Made You Laugh

Justice League #5

Many comic fans know this issue because of "The Punch". Comic Book Resources rated this "fight" #16 on its list of "25 Best Comic Battles".

Here is their write up:

The Justice League of America fell apart during the mid-80s, when most of the members of the team were killed by an old nemesis of the League, Professor Ivo. After the crossover “Legends,” a brand new Justice League was formed, made up of mostly superheroes that had never been in the League before, such as Mister Miracle, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle and Doctor Fate, along with old League stalwarts such as Martian Manhunter, Batman and Black Canary. One new member had a certain idea of how he was going to be involved with the team, and that member was Guy Gardner, a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He felt that he should be the leader of the team.

In the very first page of “Justice League” #1, by writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire, Guy is shown waiting for the rest of the members of the new League. He is dismayed, though, when he discovers that the rest of the team tends to look to Batman for leadership.

Over the next few issues, the other Leaguers soon grew tired of Gardner's constant complaining, but they also did not appreciate Batman's churlish handling of leading, either. He could have dealt with Gardner in many different ways – he chose to treat Guy like a child, only enraging Guy even more.

The relationship came to a head in quite a humorous fashion in “Justice League” #5, when Guy decides to finally decide once and for all who is in charge. In the issue, he challenges Batman to a fist fight.

Batman agrees, and after Guy takes a swing, Batman proceeds to knock Guy unconscious with one punch.

This greatly amuses Blue Beetle, and it confuses Martian Manhunter and Black Canary, who enter the room to see Guy out cold on the floor.

Beetle's repeated "One punch! One punch!" has become a catch phrase forever associated with Giffen and DeMatteis' Justice League.

Text from HERE