On Weezie and Fabe: Creators of Cable and Deadpool

Rob Liefeld is easy to make fun of. The dude is known for lazy artwork, omitting details such as feet and more than a couple of facial expressions. But there's a reason he sticks to the style that he's had since 1990, and that reason is that back then, that style brought him money. With an established fan base, there's little incentive for him to improve because of critics' preferences. He's also a co-creator of Cable and Deadpool, making him one of the single most successful creators of all time. Seriously, can you name five people post-1970 who created not one, but two successful characters that have an established fan following, and be recognized for it?

But he didn't do it alone. Let's make sure we recognize Louise "Weezie" Simonson and Fabian Nicieza.

Louise Simonson and Fabian Nicieza: Credit Where It's Due

by Duy

Let's start with Deadpool, who debuted in The New Mutants #88, February 1991. This is a character that Rob Liefeld designed. Deadpool looks like this.

He gave this design to Fabian Nicieza, who reacted just like anyone who read comics in the 1980s would. One of the biggest comics of the previous decade was Marv Wolfman and George Perez's The New Teen Titans, a title that will forever be connected to the X-Men, and their biggest enemy was Deathstroke the Terminator. Who looks like this.

So Fabian basically told Rob, "This is Deathstroke from the Teen Titans," and then gave the new character the real name of Wade Wilson, as an inside joke referring to Deathstroke's real name being Slade Wilson. Nicieza then gave Deadpool the exact opposite personality as Deathstroke, making him a bantering loudmouth who loved puns (the logical extension of Spider-Man) as opposed to a superserious mercenary with a lot of pathos.

Deadpool is probably the biggest superhero character created after 1990 (the competition: Spawn, Harley Quinn [who wasn't created in comics], and... that's it. No, really.) and Rob Liefeld gets most of the credit for creating him. But what makes Deadpool special is his personality, and for that you should thank Fabian Nicieza. I've actually made the joke that Deadpool was really created by Fabian Nicieza and George Perez. It's really only a half-joke.

This post isn't meant to disparage Rob, however; he still brought these characters to life. In the case of Cable, who debuted 11 issues and 11 months earlier, Rob said in a 2009 interview:

I was given a directive to create a new leader for the New Mutants. There was no name, no description besides a 'man of action', the opposite of Xavier. I created the look, the name, much of the history of the character. After I named him Cable, Bob suggested Quinn and Louise had Commander X.

Walt Simonson gave a comprehensive recounting of it back in 1991 for and reposted it on his Facebook group here. You can read it in its entirety, but the whole point is that Cable was a collaborative creation, borne out of Bob Harras's desire to create a new leader for the New Mutants, Weezie's desire to have that new leader be "a kick-ass, take charge kind of guy who would treat the team as a squad of soldiers," and Rob Liefeld's designs for Stryfe. Stryfe was a villain whose design, Harras thought, would do well for a good guy.

The working title, as Rob pointed out above, was Commander X, but the name was never going to be final. Rob suggested "Cable" and Weezie, who has a reputation for making artists happy, agreed.

Cable was a mystery man and there wasn't much known about him. Later creators added more layers to him, and in the 1993 Cable ongoing series, in which neither Weezie nor Rob were involved, they decided to make him the time-traveling older version of Nathan Summers, Scott "Cyclops" Summers' son from his first marriage to Jean Grey–lookalike Madelyne Pryor, who was given up in 1991, because the X-Men are complicated and they hate me. Point is, that's a defining and vital aspect of Cable's character, and none of his creators had anything to do with it.

Rob Liefeld gets most of the credit for these two characters, and a part of that is just because Rob Liefeld is the most famous person in this whole equation. But if you love these characters, be sure to thank Fabian Nicieza and Louise Simonson. Besides bringing them to life and making sure they had personalities beyond your standard 90s badass, they're both very excellent — and very underrated — writers.

Friendly reminder that Fabian Nicieza also co-created Gambit and the New Warriors, and Weezie Simonson also co-created Apocalypse and Steel.

Fear, Guilt, and Anxiety: The First Year of the Fantastic Four

The first twelve issues of Fantastic Four stretch from horror to farce, body dysmorphia to power fantasy. It was a freaky book, released in a heady time, and our memories of it now, our received idea of the early issues, they’re often so off the mark that many people are convinced it was The Incredibles or Harvey Birdman. The first year of the FF was sick, weird, silly, middle-aged avant-garde.

Fear, Guilt, and Anxiety:

The First Year of the Fantastic Four

Pop Medicine

Travis Hedge Coke

That first issue has many potentially true origins. There is a pitch ostensibly by Stan Lee, which, if believed, promoted a far darker comic than we got, wherein Susan Storm was not merely inconvenienced by periodically uncontrollable invisibility, but constantly invisible and forced to wear a fake face, a mask and wig at all times, flesh-toned gloves. There is evidence, in the amount of paste up and collaging, that the first story may have been a mash of two or more distinct tales. Maybe, the publisher wanted a title to compete with National’s renewed interest (and success) with superheroes. What we got was freaky, bastard-strong, unpredictable, and exciting.

The “World’s Greatest Comics Magazine” above the title wasn’t only hyperbole or sell, it was a punk FU in a pre-punk world.

FF #1

In the opening eight pages of their first tale, the Fantastic Four aren’t cool, they’re not admired, they’re not funny or chummy or daring. They’re scary. People are frightened. They’re causing public damage simply by existing, by walking down the street or receiving bad news. They break stuff. They terrify people. Cab drivers, clothing store clerks, police, the United States Army. All terrified. And, deservedly so.

Yes, these four freaks will come to fight monsters who are deliberately attacking people; bigger, scarier monsters, maybe. But, this is not superhero versus monster. This is monster versus monster. This is throwing two sets of horror show creepies at one another and may the smartest set win.

The Four aren’t superheroes. They’re a response team for horrors. There’s no costumes. No heroics. Ben very quickly tells Reed to can it, when Reed tries to make a traditional superhero speech. They go to Monster Island to discover the root of a monster problem and stop it.

FF #2

It’s bad enough you’re invisible or a rock monster, that you burn things when you get excited or accidentally tear the door off a car because you got frustrated with the latch. Now, there are shape-shifting aliens specifically in conspiracy to mess with your life? What’d you do to them? Why you?

That’s the drive of the second issue, opening with four straight pages of these ring-eyed green aliens ruining the already tenuous reputation of our beloved Four. Getting them declared public enemies, setting them up to be hunted and despised. And, do the FF run out and make a press announcement? Do they suit up and punch the aliens? Nah, they hide out in a shack and Johnny, the youngest, comes packing. They’re on the run for their lives and that’s what’s going to get them through. A pipe; sunglasses; a rifle.

Then, they get arrested, escape, threaten each other, sneak up on the aliens, beat them up, and then defraud their masters on the mothership. So far, the most superheroic things the FF have done are surviving an earthquake and lying to aliens.

FF #3

Three issues in, they get costumes. A special vehicle. Headquarters.

But, the villain, the Miracle Man, is almost note-perfect, the terror of the 1970 cinematic bloodbath, The Wizard of Gore. Same look. Same powers. The Miracle Man is simply (exceptionally) less gory about it. Through chapters like, “The Flame That Died” and “In the Shadow of Defeat”, the FF are outshone by their enemy, mocked as frauds, belittled and threatened. The threats are not physical feats, but conviction. Belief. The Miracle Man hypnotizes people into believing he has incredible strength, into seeing giant monsters, into believing they are his slaves, completely under his control.

FF # 4

At the end of the previous issue, Johnny, fed up with the adult members of his group, has run away, and his now living in a shelter, hiding out a friend’s auto shop. We’re four issues in, and we’ve gone from giant monsters and alien imposters to the story of a teenaged runaway… who, when one of the adults find him, is threatened with being smashed under a car held overhead. The FF can’t stop breaking things or threatening people.

Four issues about losing yourself, losing your identity, your good name, losing hope. And, in the flophouse, Johnny discovers an amnesiac bum is… Namor, the Sub-Mariner, Prince of Atlantis, hero of WW2! Who, getting his memory back, his identity back, immediately declares war and brings on the giant monsters because, darn it! this is gonna be a giant monster book.

FF #5

Doom! Dr Doom! They have to be superheroes now, right?

They are kidnapping victims, hostages, pretend pirates, actual thieves, and they absolutely lose their fight with Doom, except inasmuch as they do escape his clutches with their lives.

It’s an awesome comic, but the opening illustration of Dr Doom with his Demons and Science and Sorcery books and his blood-red-headed vulture say it all.

FF #6

Doom and Namor! That’s how you keep things alive, half a year in. There’s more smiling in the book — Reed smiles! Namor! — and more grand relaxing - Johnny and Ben read hate mail for a laugh; Namor is the king of leaning back in his chair. But, the comic also starts throwing us for a visual loop. Panels draw our eyes up and down like tracking a game of table tennis. When the Baxter Building is lifted high above Manhattan, we look down on characters staring up out a window towards us, as jet planes zip below them, between miles of sky and the city dangerously, crazily far below. When Reed stretches far to grab Johnny and prevent his lethal descent, the Earth has receded so far it is only a tiny blue and green ball.

Even with a couple grins and gags, the comic insists on tales, not of humor or adventure, but anxiety. The heroes hate themselves, more often than not, and their allies, and the enemies who hate them even more, except when it’s Namor and he’s trying to sleep with one of them.

FF #7

What if aliens made us all assholes? Kurrgo of Planet X has a hostility ray that does just that, turning society upside down by removing our basic and our manufactured decency. Strangers assault one another in the street, a wife slams a hot dinner over her husband’s head, and once again, someone in power declares the Fantastic Four are a threat to the land.

FF #8

This issue introduces one of the longest-standing supporting FF characters, a romantic link for two of the FF and a dead ringer for another. But, that cover! That ain’t no romance cover. It’s not a superhero cover. That’s horror, baby. That cover is why early Fantastic Four is every sound clip in every Rob Zombie song you could ever hear.

The villain, the Puppet-Master, is making a guy commit suicide at the beginning of the issue, just ‘cause. The lulz. And, when Johnny and the FF stop him, he decides he’ll mess with them next. That’s the sort of comic that Fantastic Four really was, back then. It’s the book where, do a good deed, some psycho murderer starts destroying your life. And, he’ll dress up his blind daughter like your sister to do it.

Eight issues in, and identity hasn’t stopped being under attack once. There is no sanctity of self. There is no surety in identity or identification. And, everyone wants to hurt you, or even if they don’t, they will given the chance.

FF #9

The Fantastic Four get evicted on the cover! They are so broke, they’re selling their stuff and they are going to have to take straight jobs. Show of hands: Who thinks Superman or Batman got evicted ever before this?

And, like a true nightmare, they get their jobs, working for a movie mogul, who turns out to be Prince Namor. In a pinstripe suit, loaded with cash, smoking from a cigarette holder. Namor can’t just make money off them, either, he’s got to try to murder them as well. So, he’s taking this Hollywood producer schtick all the way.

Like Godzilla in so many movies, Namor, at the end, just walks back into the sea. No punishment. No gain. Namor just leaves and the FF have enough money to not lose their home.

FF #10

The FF haven’t begun to plumb the depths of weird, yet, as they introduce the writer and artist on the cover, making a shocking announcement for the readers. And, Reed’s all evil. What?

What’d I say, up above? You can’t trust anybody. They’re all jerks. Or, can be turned into jerks.

Dr Doom comes to the Marvel offices and threatened the makers of the comic, before he swaps bodies with Reed. Of course, the FF trust the face, not the person, as most of us normally would. Doom, as Reed, proceeds to lie to his apparent teammates, manipulating them into dangerous scenarios. Evil smart guy with the face and voice of your boyfriend? Your best friend? Father figure?

FF #11

Serious-looking cover? Check. Our first almost entirely comedy issue? Oh, yes, check.

I love both of this issue’s stories.

“A Visit With the Fantastic Four” is the FF seeing their fame up close. Kids imitating them in the street. People buying their comic. Fan letters. Ben gets a prank present that punches him in the face, and Sue gets some hate mail, but they handle it with aplomb. They also compare Sue, who so far has been fairly handy in actual fights, to Abraham Lincoln’s mom, but they mean it in a good way. And, the art shows her kicking ass while they say it, so basically, conflict between dialoguer and artist/probable-plotter.

The main tale, “The Impossible Man” is a straight gag run. Impossy is a pointy-headed green alien who can be or do whatever he seems to want. He comes from the planet Popup and he just wants to have a good time and be noticed. He turns to steel, eats watermelon, turns to flowers, eats cake, flies around and makes bad jokes. And, the FF are stuck with him until he leaves. Which, they accomplish by simply and aggressively ignoring his antics until he’s bored and goes.

FF #12

Having gone from thriller to horror to drama to farce over a dozen issues, they cap off the last year with a guest appearance by the Incredible Hulk and open by having the FF, once again, attacked by law enforcement because of something someone else did. They are famous now, though, and they have some money, and Ben has a girlfriend. Things are way better than they were in the first issue, or even six issues ago.

But, there’s a Hulk on the rampage, and they’ve got to stop him. We’re almost, genuinely, to superhero territory here. They’re going to put on costumes and fight for truth, justice, and the American way. It even goes the extra mile, when we and they learn… the Hulk is not the threat! The real threat is Soviet communism. (Isn’t it just always, though?) They still have to physically fight the Hulk, but they have to beat back communism and the international enemies of America. Ends with a salute and everything.

And, that’s that. That’s the arc done. They spent twelve issues largely upset, anxious, doubting themselves and being doubted by the public, attacked by law enforcement, blocked at every turn, constantly impersonated and maligned, and occasionally beating each other up or running away to live on the streets. Greatest Comics Magazine. The Fantastic Four.

Shazam Proves Why We Can't Have Nice Things

I've long said that Captain Marvel (the Shazam Billy Batson one, not any of those other guys) could be successful today if they adhered more to the character's whimsical roots, and if they gave him his own universe instead of trying to put him next to Superman and Wonder Woman.

Demand What You Love

by Duy

The biggest change that hurt Captain Marvel is the insistence that he be a part of the DC Universe. I've covered this before, but the whole point is that Cap is built to be the primary superhero in his universe, while putting him in the DC Universe puts him right up against Superman, and he's never going to break that glass ceiling. Superman and Batman are too protected in that hierarchy, so the only solution is to find a niche for Cap. Traditionally, that's been as "the magic guy," which is what the modern version as established by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank does.

Johns and Frank ground their character, named "Shazam" and not "Captain Marvel," in a cynical world where Billy Batson is a jerk with a heart of gold. His character arc is about putting that heart of gold on his sleeve and learning to, you know, not be a jerk. That characterization has been there to some extent since 1987 and Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake's A New Beginning. Jerry Ordway's Power of Shazam had a version of Billy Batson who bragged about how he was hardened by the streets and, upon his first getting his powers, tossed around the wizard responsible for giving them to him in the first place, because when realism is done lazily, realism is stupid.

It doesn't work for the most part for most longtime fans. Captain Marvel, the most popular and successful hero of the Golden Age of superheroes, who outsold Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and Captain America at their peaks, was established as a story of whimsy. The high adventure and science-fiction fantasy and wish fulfillment make for a great package. I can understand why longtime fans do not want a cynical, realistic version of Captain Marvel.

And yet, when DC Comics finally gives us not one, but two versions of Captain Marvel that's closest to Otto Binder and CC Beck's versions, people in several Captain Marvel fan groups I'm in still complain about the version of him with the hoodie that's running around in the DC Universe, instead of exhibiting more demand for either of those two versions, each of which place him in his own universe, where he thrives, where the modernization aspect is on the trappings and the science fiction, while keeping their personalities as close to the Golden Age versions as possible.

DC literally gave us three options. One is the current in-DC Universe version, which was never going to work because his basic premise does not work in that universe.

The second option takes place on Thunderworld, in Grant Morrison's The Multiversity. Illustrated by Cameron Stewart, the tale centers around the evil Dr. Sivana colluding with other versions of himself throughout the multiverse to create a day that never was! Captain Marvel saves the day with ingenuity in addition to his usual set of powers, and it ends with this jolly, smiling shot of the Marvel Family.

The third one, Convergence, is the best version, and I ranked it as such when I listed DC's takes on the Marvel Family. Each entrance is momentous, every punch is felt, and they just capture the magic of the Marvel Family. The sense of wonder I feel when I read an Otto Binder/CC Beck Captain Marvel comic is the same one I felt in Evan Shaner and Jeff Parker's Convergence.

And yet, in my experience, all the noise and conversation comes from that first one. It's been three years since Thunderworld and two since Convergence. Fans of the DC version support the DC version. Fans of the original Captain Marvel would rather complain about the DC version rather than demand for either of the other two.

No wonder DC keeps trying to sneak in cynicism. At least that way, they know it'll at least get talked about. We fans can't even support the versions we say we'd enjoy.

If you would like to support Thunderworld or the Convergence versions, here are the trades:

In Search of the Lasso of Truth: An Interview with Christie Marston

I wanted to believe in Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, even though I know little of the filmmaker, roll my eyes at the title, and tend to be disappointed by fictionalizations in biopics, which are, of course, often full of heightened drama and good people turned into villains, etc. A woman of color taking an explicitly queer look at a family who changed comics? I want that to be good, not only to have good intentions, and quality production, but to get it right.

In Search of the Lasso of Truth:

An Interview with Christie Marston

Pop Medicine

Travis Hedge Coke

The more I saw Christie Marston express concern, frustration, and disdain, the more nervous I got. Because, I’d gotten it wrong, at times, too. I totally accepted that, for instance, Olive Byrne Richard and Elizabeth Marston were lovers, in addition to being romantically/sexually involved with William Marston. I’d seen it discussed in print, I had heard it from trusted acquaintances more in the know that I was. And, it seemed agreeable to me. It was, when you look how long they were connected and their lives, adorable. I like amazing couples, and even without William Marston’s living presence, Byrne and Marston were an amazing couple. Except, they weren’t, because it was not that kind of relationship.

So, what was it? What was going on, back then, and with this movie, right now? If I couldn’t rely on academics, comics critics, or writers and artists who’ve seen the depths of the DC archives, who am I going to turn to? Christie Marston, of course, the woman who started me worrying about the picture in the first place, and whose forthrightness has inspired me to steer a clearer path since becoming acquainted with her.

This interview is, in the interest of full disclosure, compiled from waves of question and answer, conducted through private channels. I have rearranged the order of some answers, but kept her statements intact as much as possible. I have not injected any new questions or speculation beyond what you have already read above, though I have reworded myself, for clarity’s sake.

Travis Hedge Coke: Are you looking at Professor Marston and the Wonder Women with any kind of optimism?

Christie Marston: No, I have been looking on with dread. Nobody had ever been in touch with the family to research and gather facts, which was a strong indicator that it was likely to be far from reality.

HC: The title of the movie bothers me. Maybe it shouldn’t, but even a cursory googling shows that Elizabeth Marston were on their own, very very accomplished. “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” to me, reads like, “Professor Marston and… um, some women.” Am I reaching?

M: LOL! No, I'm with you on that, but the reason for it is to use Wonder Woman's name in the title.

HC: What kind of negative effects do you believe can come of inaccuracies represented in the film?

M: Both the relationships portrayed and the story of Wonder Woman's 'origin' are sheer fantasy.

What people think about the relationships is pretty incidental. But Wonder Woman came about primarily because of Gram (EHM), and in the film she is doubting and negative. The truth is very much the opposite. My grandfather was hired as a psych consultant to help ease comic books into the mainstream. Charlie Gaines suggested (somewhat jokingly) to WMM that he write a comic book. He went home and discussed it with Gram; she said to go ahead and do it, but that the hero needed to be a woman. The real origin of Wonder Woman should not be obscured!


HC: Where would you suggest people go for the truth about Wonder Woman and about your family? Any particular books, websites, or museums?

M: The best book is Travis Langley's Psychology of Wonder Woman. Tim Hanley did a good job of researching his book; we disagree on a few things but he worked very hard to stick to reality. The Lepore book is pure poison. The Daniels book is pretty, but none too accurate.

HC: What was your grandparents' romantic/domestic situation, as you understand it? (And, are you tired of people asking that? I feel so rude asking, but I admit, I think it matters to be accurate, both historically as notable people, and as part of the roots of Wonder Woman as a concept and character.)

M: It is popular belief that WMM sired Dotsie's (OBR) children. I will not address that; that story belongs to Dots' side of the family. However, the kids were adopted by WMM and EHM to protect them from societal pressure, so they ARE his kids! Gram and Dots were as sisters.

HC: Are your branch and the Olive Byrne Richard branch of the family still close?

M: Really, it was always Gram and Dots who kept us connected, since we lived far apart. After their deaths, there were no regular updates. Dad and Byrne were on the phone frequently, now I talk to Byrne fairly often. I finally met his daughter — my cousin — for the first time last year. (She is wonderful!)

HC: For clarification, is Richard, in Olive Byrne Richard, an adopted surname?

M: Yes. She added that at some point around her first son's birth, and kept it. We all tended to shorthand names (WMM, EHM, MM) and I forget that strangers often refer to her as just Olive Byrne. She was OBR.

HC: I am amazed by Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne Richard, but there is so much speculation when it comes to Wonder Woman. How involved were they in the creation of the character and world, but also, in the serialized Wonder Woman stories?

M: EHM was the role model for Wonder Woman's character. She was fair minded, compassionate, intelligent and strong. She was also very determined; born in 1893, she earned 3 degrees and marched forward in life politely ignoring society's norms of the day. She was unfailingly positive and maintained her sense of humor no matter what obstacles got in her way. Dots was also an amazing woman, sharing many of the same characteristics. As to the appearance of Wonder Woman; she had Dots’ height and Gram's curves, and sported bracelets which Dots always wore. There is no doubt that both of them had much to do with Wonder Woman as she was portrayed in WMM's comic stories. Attitude is everything…

HC: What was childhood/family life like? Did you, or any of your family, experience any bullying or difficulty because of public stemming from your grandparents life or work?

M: When I was a kid, the Wonder Woman comic was barely known. It had changed drastically after WMM's death in 1947. Few friends even knew the connection; it just wasn't something that would ever have come up in conversation. The tales of the personal relationships were not hatched until the Les Daniels book was published. I can safely say, however, that I would have set straight any bullies on that or any subject!!

HC: That is the best answer!

M: Well, yeah...there was no bullying anywhere near me in school - if i saw somebody doing that to somebody, I put a stop to it. And made clear that I'd best not hear that it ever happened again. LOL.

HC: Is there any positive value, that you can see, in doing a “true life” movie about your family that is largely fictionalized for effect?

M: No, I see no value in doing a fictionalized movie about this family or any - I have an enormous respect for truth. There is, however, a positive value in doing a true movie or series about the family and Wonder Woman. The real people (and the generations that produced them) were interesting and very much open minded forward thinkers. They did not conform to silly societal norms; they simply worked around them. Like Wonder Woman, they can help people to open their minds, and to stay strong in being true to themselves and others.

HC: Given that the filmmaker wants to promote this as a feminist and queer-positive movie, what would you rather she have focused on, in terms of your family?

M: As far as involving the Marstons in a feminist and queer-positive movie, that would have been easy! All involved very very much pro-choice in all matters. The respect for women went back generations, so the feminist thing was already part of everybody's psyche. There was a lesbian who was very much part of the family who could have been included. The TRUE story would have been SO much better...and true!!

HC: Would you be open to working with a filmmaker on a movie about your grandparents, if they involved family in the vetting process?

M: At this very moment in time, there is a project being pitched which I will endorse if it comes to fruition. It comes from many, many years of very extensive research by a woman of integrity. Over the years of research we have become good friends, and I trust her. I have answered countless (countless!!! That woman wants to know every detail of both facts and personalities!) questions over the years, and will certainly continue to do so. She really does know the people involved, even though she never actually met them. I really hope that this happens. The true story is actually pretty fascinating!

Ranking the Wednesday Comics

So a while back, my girlfriend gave me this for a special occasion.

Originally published in 2010, Wednesday Comics was a true DC Comics art project. Attempting to recapture the magic of early 20th century newspaper comics such as Little Nemo in Slumberland and Krazy Kat, it was published in newspaper format and came out weekly. This hardcover edition is oversized and on glossy paper, and is gorgeous.

There are 14 features in Wednesday Comics, and while many reviews of the material have come out since, I haven't really run into any reviews that have ranked these 14 features. So you know what? Let's spend the next few minutes...

Ranking the Wednesday Comics

by Duy

There are only 12 pages in each Wednesday Comics feature, and thus not a lot of room for exploration in terms of plot or story. There's a lot to be done in terms of characterization though. But at the end of the day, this is still a book that celebrates the art of comics, and so my judgments will by its very nature be based on how much each story maximizes the artistic potential of these oversized pages.

15. Teen Titans by Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway

Even if Galloway's art worked for me without the usual black outlines, Teen Titans would be dead last because Eddie Berganza is Eddie Berganza and he shouldn't make any list.

But props to Galloway, who worked on Spectacular Spider-Man, still the best version of Spider-Man outside of the comics.

14. Batman by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso

This mystery by the 100 Bullets team never really comes together, especially when you consider that Batman's probably unethical attraction to dangerous women is played upon and never addressed head on. Still, good mood-setting stuff from Risso.


13. Demon/Catwoman by Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze

This should really be called "The Demon, featuring Catwoman," since Selina Kyle spends most of the story under the spell of Morgaine Le Fay. Etrigan the Demon is really the hero here, but what I find most fun about it is that the entire story starts off with Selina going on a date with his alter ego Jason Blood, just to case his house for possible things to steal.

12. Green Lantern by Kurt Busiek and Joe Quinones

Serviceable story with fun art. Nothing to really write home about, I think, but it's pretty much the benchmark of what these things should be like, at the least.

11. Superman by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo

The Superman arc is a fun one where Superman is forced to doubt himself and he has to go to Smallville to find his motivation again.

Points off for this, and I know it's personal preference, because Lee Bermejo's art just isn't the kind I think of when I think of these big newspaper-style comics. There's room for experimentation, of course, but something about it just didn't seem to fit.

10. Wonder Woman by Ben Caldwell

Talk about experimentation in Wednesday Comics, and this is it. Caldwell goes the exact opposite route of most everyone else and packs as many panels as possible in his strip, instead of going for money shots. Unfortunately, this led to some confusing panel flow and made it tough to read at points.

9. Supergirl by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner

With Streaky the Supercat and Krypto the Superdog going frantic and wreaking havoc on the city, Supergirl has to find out what's going on. With a twist ending that will put a smile on your face, it's easily the most fun of the strips.

8. Deadman by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck

Deadman wants to help out a beautiful woman, and then gets sucked into Hell! Dave Bullock's art is a visual treat.

7. The Flash by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher

Kerschl and Fletcher really play with the form here and for the most part cut each installment into two strips: The Flash and someone else, like Iris West. Narratives intertwine, and the story involves time travel and therefore multiple versions of The Flash. It can get confusing, but the playfulness is worth it.

6. Sgt. Rock by Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert

This Sgt. Rock story isn't as good as Joe Kubert's in DC Legacies, but it's Adam's first turn scripting, so we'll let that part off the hook. This is one of Joe's last works, and it's as good as ever. The scratchiness and the mood are perfect for wartime-era comics. Just like Kubert's art always was.

5. Metal Men by Dan Didio and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

My favorite artist in the entire book is Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, so this was always gonna rank fairly high. The story is nothing really to write home about, with its most ostensibly impactful moments lacking much oomph. But the art has Garcia-Lopez at his draftsman's best, with his big trick of characters breaking out of panels to emphasize power and momentum being used multiple times. I actually thought he was holding back. I'd like to have seen more.

4. Metamorpho by Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred

This type of fun sci-fi stuff isn't the kind of thing Gaiman is known for, but it's one of the most experimental comics in the entire collection. Metamorpho the Element Man has to go to The Antarctic to dig up some treasure. Allred's art is drop-dead gorgeous, and the two of them take risks with the form. There are two pairs of installments that form a polyptych, or a continuing picture, which is something I'm surprised I've never seen actual newspaper artists do. There's also a sequence where Metamorpho and Element Woman go through each element in the Periodic Table, which doesn't sound like it should be a fun read, but it is.

3. Strange Adventures, Featuring Adam Strange, by Paul Pope and Jose Villarubia

Not counting Jonni Future, a genderbent analogue of Adam Strange, this is my favorite version of DC's premiere spaceman. Paul Pope's art really shouldn't grab me as it goes against so many of my usual tastes, but I love it. He has so much quirkiness and so much momentum that it's a pleasure to look at.

His reinvention of Adam Strange is also something of interest. Traditionally, Adam Strange is an Earthman who gets taken to the scientifically advanced planet Rann via a Zeta Beam, where he becomes their superhero and falls in love with Princess Alanna. Pope turns Rann, into a wartorn planet, and Alanna into a Dejah Thoris–type warrior woman. But the biggest change he makes is the idea that the Zeta Beam translates you from your Earth self into your Rann self. So whereas in the regular DC Universe, Adam Strange is a superhero on Rann but normal on Earth only because he's surrounded by other superheroes on Earth, in the Popeverse, he's a superhero on Rann and a tired old man on Earth. This twist leads to the resolution of the conflict, but also raises questions. What would Alanna be like on Earth? And if they were on Earth, would they still be in love?

It's a really interesting take on the character that may not be sustainable in the regular DC Universe, but I'd love to see it explored more.

2. Hawkman by Kyle Baker

Kyle Baker is more known for being a humor cartoonist, so seeing him draw this way was a revelation. I've always liked the look and visual of Hawkman, so this was perfect. I really would like a more substantial Hawkman run from Baker or an artist with a similar tone. Plus, he really won me over with that dinosaur.

1. Kamandi by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook

Pretty much all of the Wednesday Comics are well drawn, but Ryan Sook's rendition of the Last Boy on Earth is evocative of a specific classic newspaper strip: Hal Foster's Prince Valiant. The prose style also allows him and Gibbons to develop the story more than the other strips did. It even includes a romance, as we're introduced to Orora, possibly The Last Girl on Earth. With the beautiful art, the callback to a classic strip, and more development than the other strips, it's hard not to make Kamandi the top Wednesday Comic.

Did Mars Ravelo Really Read Captain Marvel?

I've made many comments over the years about how Mars Ravelo must have based Darna, the Philippines' #1 superhero, on Captain Marvel, he who says "Shazam!" Since Darna's alter-ego is a young girl who says a magic word to turn into Darna, she's more like Captain Marvel than she is like Wonder Woman, who she looks more like. But recently I was asked...

Did Mars Ravelo Really Read Captain Marvel?

by Duy

Well, honestly, although I do vaguely remember reading somewhere that he definitely read Captain Marvel, I can't find it now. What I do find are some unsubstantiated claims and references to Superman, specifically this, pertaining to Varga, his pre-Darna creation:

Alam mo naisip kong gawin yung Varga para itapat kay Superman. Lalake yung sa mga Amerikano, babae yung sa atin. Di ba ayos?
(You know, I thought of doing Varga to put up against Superman. The Americans have a guy, we have a girl. Wouldn't that be cool?)

However, I would find it really difficult to believe that he didn't base Darna on Captain Marvel. Let's just look at some facts.

1. Mars Ravelo created Varga in 1939

Varga was the original Darna, and was created to be a counterpart of Superman. There isn't much more to her beyond that and the fact that her costume is based on the Philippine flag:

That's because Varga wasn't actually published until 1947. So although her creation precedes the release date of Captain Marvel (1940), there are no details about how her secret identity would have worked in 1939. When Varga was released in 1947, rights disputes forced Ravelo to give her up and then create Darna with the legendary Nestor Redondo. (Side note: Isn't this basically what happened with Walt Disney and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, leading to the creation of Mickey Mouse with the legendary Ub Iwerks?)

2. By the time Varga/Darna was released in full, Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero in the world. 

Superman was created to be a two-fisted champion of the oppressed. He was a grounded hero who just happened to have a crapload of superpowers. By 1950, he was participating in fantastical sci-fi adventures, and that's because Captain Marvel was outselling him, and everyone else.

As Michael Uslan put it:

If you go back and look at when Captain Marvel first started outselling Superman, this was a huge, huge turning point in the Golden Age of comics. And the way DC responded was by ordering a more comical, silly direction for Superman. 

All of a sudden, you started to see one-after-another covers of Lois dropping the pie she’d made on Superman’s toe, or Lois cutting Superman’s hair in a barbershop. They started to switch it over, since Captain Marvel had the lighter tone and was outselling Superman.

So Varga may have been created before Captain Marvel, but by the time she was published and had a secret identity, Captain Marvel had already been firmly established as a young boy named Billy Batson who said one magic word and then turned into a superhero. That's a bit too much of a coincidence.

3. During World War II, American soldiers got comics in care packages

Many soldiers who had read comics overseas found them to be a comfort item on their return. Maybe it was escapism, maybe it was a habit, but either way they were a solace to many of the soldiers who would later introduce the comics to their children.  -From History Rat

And a huge portion of American soldiers were stationed here in the Philippines. If Captain Marvel was the biggest comic book of the time, and American soldiers got comics in care packages, it's incredibly unlikely that Captain Marvel didn't make it to the Philippines. I mean, Plastic Man did:

Larry Alcala's Siopawman, playing off the three
most famous heroes whose names end with "man."

And we know Ravelo based a superhero on him:

The not-so-imaginatively-named Lastikman,
on a much more imaginative cover for Aliwan

4. Mars Ravelo created Captain Barbell, for crying out loud.

After her release in komiks, Darna had two movies in the 1950s, and Ravelo was a legend. He created more in the 1960s, most very probably because the superhero genre was getting revitalized in America. And next to Darna, his most famous creation was a young scrawny asthmatic boy named Tenteng, who'd lift magic barbells to become Captain Barbell.

C'mon. That's pretty obvious. The names even rhyme!

So Therefore...

It's possible that Mars Ravelo never had Captain Marvel on the brain when creating Darna. It is. It's also possible that the name of your favorite search engine has nothing to do with Barney Google. Meaning it could have happened that way.

But it would have been extremely unlikely. And I really, really wouldn't believe it.