Same Fight, Different Artists

Some of you are old enough to remember this story...

...where, as part of a game, the Grandmaster And Kang were sending some of the Avengers bopping through time and space to fight other folks, so the villains could resolve a wager.

And The Vision, Yellowjacket and the Black Panther ended up in 1941, fighting Namor, The original Human Torch, and a much younger Captain America!!

That story was written by Roy Thomas, and 8 years later, he was writing the Invaders! So he decided to re-present that fight, from the Invaders' point of view!! It's good to be Roy!

So, this creates the perfect opportunity to compare and contrast the styles of different artists depicting the same scenes!

I'll  present several scenes from the tussle. The first panels from each scene are from Avengers #71 (1969), drawn by Sal Buscema and inked by Sam Grainger. Those will be followed by the same scene from Invaders Annual #1 (1977), as drawn by Frank Robbins and inked by Frank Springer!

Enjoy!!

1969

1977

1969

1977

1969

1977

1969

1977

1969

1977

1969

1977

1969

1977

Well, that should be a help to someone's art history doctoral thesis, right?

Manic Monday Bonus--Then There Was That Time Captain America Fought (And Killed) Spongebob Squarepants!!

Captain America has been trapped in a "Maze of The Ancients" by an evil alchemist, because comics.

At one point, he faces...

Sponges!?! Did they come from a pineapple under the sea??

Oh, dear...

Thus ended the brief life of Spongebob Squarepants in the Marvel Universe...perhaps Ultimate Spongebob will turn up in Secret War...

From Captain America #187 (1975). Yeah, that's Frank Robbins drawing that crazy stuff...

Frank Robbins' Batman--Straight. Up. Bad-Ass.

We've had the Frank Robbins discussion before, and I'm certain we'll have the Frank Robbins discussion again.

But let's be very clear--his Batman was hardcore.

Batman has managed to worm his way into the lair of Conway Treach, a scum who is killing off wealthy Gotham gamblers, yet making their deaths appear to be irrefutable suicides...

Damn, that page is soooooo good...

Anyway, it turns out that Batman had deduced that Treach's gun was rigged, with a "trick cylinder-latch" that blocked the firing pin when Treach used it, so he was never in danger. So neither one of them was really in danger of buying the farm during Russian roulette.

Still, Frank Robbins' Batman? Straight baller, is all I'm saying.

Detective Comics #426 (1972) was written, drawn and inked by Frank Robbins.

How Bruce Wayne Can Afford All Those Wonderful Toys

In pursuit of a man who is apparently killing wealthy compulsive gamblers, Bruce Wayne boards an off-shore gambling yacht in a new disguise--John T. Hazard! (Of course, Frank Robbins wrote and drew the Johnny Hazard comic strip for over 3 decades...a guy's allowed to hat tip himself!!)

But he's not just there to play--Batman John T. Hazard is there to win!!

Now, I know what you're saying--there's no system that can beat roulette.

But before you call BS on this, perhaps you should read the caption more closely:

You see, back pre-1980s, there were an awful lot of bad roulette wheels out there--wear and other biases making making the outcome far less random. And many folks, with the aid of some pretty cool early computers, took advantage to make some huge bucks.This caused casinos to change the design of their wheels, to test and upgrade them regularly, and to try and ban electronic devices from roulette tables.

But of course, Bruce Wayne needs no such devices, for Batman is smarter than a 1970s computer!!

And that answers where he gets those marvelous toys. Batman needs a new Batmobile? Just break out the John T. Hazard tux, and watch out, Atlantic City!! [And no, there's no indication in the story that he ever gave back the "hundreds of thousands" he won that night...that probably went to pay for a new Bat-Copter...]

From Detective Comics #426 (1972)

So, What, Is Alfred Chopped Liver?

When you're going to commit suicide, you should make sure to leave as complete a note as possible...

I'll bet Alfred will be pretty chuffed that he was left off. Commissioner Gordon might me upset, as well.

I know, I know, thiat was a DC cover of the 1970s, so it was clearly a lie, right?

WRONG!

OK, OK, I know, you're saying that's just one of them there symbolic splash pages, right?

WRONG!

I guess you'll just have to tune in later today to find out...

The cover to Detective Comics #426 (1972) was by Mike Kaluta. The interior is by Frank Robbins.