The Marvel 52, Part Two: Midnight Sons

One of my earliest memories of Marvel's trying an imprint formula was when they put all of their supernatural books into a line called Midnight Sons. Before then, there were sort of unofficial lines (the Spider-Man titles, the X-Men books, etc.), but this was the first time I remember seeing a purposeful attempt to start a new brand. It didn't last long, but I loved it while it did. So for my Marvel 52, I'm bringing it back.

Not exactly as it appeared in the '90s though. The original Midnight Sons line-up was Blade, Blaze (featuring Johnny Blaze, who at that time wasn't the Ghost Rider, but a bike-riding carnie with a hellfire-spouting shotgun), Darkhold (about a secret group trying to limit the effects of Marvel's version of the Necronomicon), Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Morbius, Nightstalkers (a team of monster-hunting vampires), and Spirits of Vengeance (a Blaze/Ghost Rider team-up book). It was awesome, but here's my version:

42. Fin Fang Four by Scott Gray, Roger Langridge and Richard Moore



In 2005, Marvel published a Halloween event called Marvel Monsters. My version of Midnight Sons owes as much to that as to the original Midnight Sons line. One of the several Marvel Monsters one-shots was Fin Fang Four, co-written by Scott Gray and Roger Langridge and drawn by Langridge. It featured Marvel's most famous giant monster as he teamed up with other Altas-era giant monsters (a robot, a gorilla, and an alien) to fight a microscopic warlord who'd been enlarged to giant-size. In my version, they'll continue to fight giant menaces (sort of an update on Marvel's old Godzilla comic) while drawn by Richard Moore (Boneyard), who's got a knack for drawing light-hearted, but empathetic versions of classic creatures.

41. Elsa Bloodstone by Vera Brosgol and Paul Taylor

Marvel's answer to Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Elsa Bloodstone, daughter of monster-hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. She doesn't need a lot of introduction thanks to Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's including her in Nextwave, but my version would be more of an adventurous romp through Marvel's monsterverse for the Young Adult crowd. Balancing fun with scares is tough, so I picked two YA comics creators who already know how to do that. Vera Brosgol's Anya's Ghost is part high-school comedy/part horror story, while Paul Taylor's Wapsi Square mixes relationship comedy with some spooky Aztec mythology in a very cool way.

40. Legion of Monsters by Paul Cornell and Richard Sala



Just an excuse to team up Marvel's versions of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster with other monster-inspired characters Werewolf by Night, The Living Mummy, Mr. Hyde, The Lizard, Quasimodo, and Zombie. Paul Cornell (Captain Britain and MI13, Action Comics) could have a lot of fun with that and I'd love to see Richard Sala's takes on all those characters. There'd have to be a cute girl though, so maybe this could be a companion to Elsa Bloodstone's solo title. Especially since Marvel's already doing one kind of like that.

39. Inhumans by Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola

I wouldn't really want to offer any editorial input on this. Just: Gaiman. Mignola. Inhumans. Go!

38. Ghost Rider by Joshua Fialkov and Ben Templesmith



Though I'm perfectly okay giving Fialkov a jungle comic with The Savage Land, I'd be missing a huge opportunity if he wasn't also writing a horror comic. And I just love Templesmith's Ghost Rider.

37. Doom by Kurt Busiek and Fiona Staples

The first of a couple of villain books in my Marvel 52. Busiek's grounded enough in Marvel history to make a book work about one of its most classic villains, but he's also inventive and willing to shake things up. I'm not interested in seeing Doom fail at an endless succession of master schemes. I'd much rather read a series exploring his more personal ambitions and the clash between science and supernature. Staples would be perfect for that, especially the supernatural parts.

36. The Hulk by Steve Niles and Skottie Young



I've known Steve Niles for years and I know how much he loves this character. He'd be brilliant on a Hulk book. And just look at how Skottie Young draws him. I'm crying a little right now because this doesn't actually exist.

35. Doctor Strange by Alan Moore and Joann Sfar

Can you imagine Alan Moore on a Doctor Strange book? That might actually be dangerous to read. Doctor Strange should totally be a horror series. That folks keep trying to turn him into a superhero is a shame. Sfar would make it nice and creepy too.

34. Monsters on the Prowl by Steve Niles and Duncan Fegredo



Niles has already sort of worked on a Hulk comic. His and Fegredo's Monsters on the Prowl was another part of the Marvel Monsters event, but what was really interesting and cool about it was that it didn't feature characters inspired by classic monsters. Instead, it featured recognizable, big-name superheroes who also all have some monstrous qualities. '60s versions of Thing, Hulk, Beast,and Giant-Man fight a menagerie of Atlas-era giant monsters that have escaped from the Collector. I'd love an ongoing series with that team.

33. The Defenders by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Eric Powell

As you've seen in the art above, Eric Powell did the covers for the Marvel Monsters books and in my dream line he'd be drawing a book too. The Defenders isn't traditionally a supernatural book, but its founders are a sorcerer, a monster, and an unpredictable menace from beneath the waves, so I'm putting it here. I've always been much more interested in the fantasy aspects of horror than actual scares anyway, so my Midnight Sons line would reflect that. The Defenders ought to sit quite nicely in the catalog next to Monsters on the Prowl and The Hulk.

Pak and Van Lente are easy choices for a book like this. My dream lineup for characters would include Doctor Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Clea, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, and Hellcat

Tomorrow: The X-Titles!

Saturday Matinee: Steampunk Robot Duel

Pomplamoose's "Single Ladies"

At last, a version that I don't have to feel guilty listening to...



Remember the original Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1951?



Filmabrams' Star Trek



The Doom-O-Matic!



Leviathan



A Gentlemen's Duel

I am SUCH a nerd

So, one of the guys at work is married to a woman from Latvia. He mentioned earlier in the week that she was going back for a visit, so when he got off the phone with her today and told me, "The eagle has landed," I knew what he meant.

"She made it okay to Latveria?" I said, completely unaware of the slip.

He just stared at me, obviously trying to figure out where the heck Latveria is.

At which point I realized my mistake and had to shamefully explain that I'd honestly mixed up his wife's homeland with the fictional kingdom ruled by Doctor Doom.

Yeesh.

Friday Night Art Show: Tentacles of Death!

Monster of the Caverns



Artist Unknown [Poulpe Pulps]

The Little Mermaid



By J. Scott Campbell [Admiral Calvin]

An affinity for anatomical drawing



By Mitchell Hooks [Today's Inspiration]

Love in the Jungle



Artist Unknown [The FictionMags Index]

Jungle Girl



By James P Brouwer. [Sketchy Business]

Terror Trap!



Artist Unknown [American Pulps and Magazines]

Dinosaurs!



Artist Unknown [Jon Knutson]

Li'l Gotham



By Dustin Nguyen. [Robot 6]

Lifesize Sasquatch



I don't know who made that, but I want one! [Brother Calvin]

Doom



By Dylan McCrae. [Kirby-Vision]

Space Girl



Don't know who she is, but [Brother Calvin] found her.

Adventureblog Gallery: The Puppies of DOOM!

Your 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Picture of the Day



By Alphonse de Neuville.

Needle



By Paul Orban.

Mufindi's Tale



By Katie Shanahan.

Your Marvel Classics Comics Cover of the Day



By Gil Kane.

Kitty Hawk in the Ruins of Old Seattle



The Kitty Hawk web comic is starting a new chapter and the cover for it looks very promising. Not that it hasn't already been a great read up to this point.

Super-Villain Rehab



By "PandaFace" (found at The Kirby Project).

Robot



By Jeremy Vanhoozer. (Lots more robots at DrawerGeeks.)

Quotes of the Week: Doom's Record Collection

"You know, I'd never say this in real life, but I'm kind of cheering for Doctor Doom now. (The general public of the Marvel Universe) are possibly too stupid to run themselves."
--Kalinara, wondering if the person-on-the-street in the the Marvel U actually believes that the Green Goblin and his Dark Avengers are good guys.

"I am totally unashamed to say that between the two of us we probably have the worst record collection ever."
--Calvin (of the Canadian Cave of Cool), commenting on my recent choices in the music meme.

Namor: "Who's scruffy-looking?"

I need to preface this by saying that under most conditions, I really love Alex Maleev's art. But this?



Alex, please please please cut that out.

That's not how Maleev draws him on the cover of the book, which makes me think that maybe this is some sort of joke? I've heard people saying that they think Namor looks like Robert De Niro in this thing. Others see Joe Pesci. Personally, I think it's Bendis himself.




Whoever it is, it's not Namor, the Sub-Mariner.



So, it's gotta be some kind of joke right? Some kind of inside joke? "Ha, ha! Won't Bendis get a laugh when he sees how I drew Namor!" I don't know. I'm totally guessing at the motivation, but something is seriously screwed up here.

The only reason I'm halfway interested in Dark Reign is because I'd like to see how Marvel handles their undersea king character and he apparently is going to play a big role in it. But this just about kills that little bit of curiosity. If the current vision of Namor is a dumpy, scruffy-looking, bald guy hitting on the White Queen and failing miserably at it, that vision needs to change.

I'm torn though, because I like the idea that Dr. Doom and Namor have formed an alliance to take over the world and split it up between the two of them.



I mean, that's cool, right? I really want to see how this turns out. I've got zero interest in Norman Osborne and his schemes. His "coming to power" at the end of Secret Invasion was totally lame and unbelievable. It was the worst sort of forcing a plot to go where you want it to without bothering with things like logic and plausibility. But Doom and Namor? That I can get excited about.

Just please please please don't draw Namor like that anymore. Doom though? Totally cool.

(Except that Doom should have a much better plan than "let's sit back and see what happens." Doom should be making things happen. Bendis has some really cool ideas, but he doesn't pull them off in a very exciting way. Boy howdy, am I ever torn.)

Edited to add: I just remembered the dark, shadowy figure that Osborne has supporting him from the doorway during the bad guys' meeting. Joe Quesada makes a big deal of this person and calls him the ace up Osborne's sleeve.

"Osborn opens up that door, and Dr. Doom is given pause. I mean, Dr. Freakin' Doom swallows hard, and Dr. Doom blinks. So Norman has a pal that can make Dr. Doom blink. Look at it this way— Dr. Doom does not get up from that table. He stays for the whole meeting. He's intimidated. Now on what planet does that happen?"

I thought it was curiosity that kept Doom there. That's the explanation that's offered early in the issue, and I don't really see where it changes. But I get now what they're trying to do. Dr. Doom is frightened of whomever's behind that door and that's why he's willing to passively wait for Osborne to "implode" instead of manipulating events directly. Or, at least, why he says that's what he's going to do. Maybe he's been thrown off guard and needs some time to plan his next move, so he just tells Namor they're going to sit tight.

Again, I'm really conflicted about how interested in this I want to be. I don't really trust Bendis to play it out very well.

Reason # 612 why you should be reading Marvel Adventures Hulk

First of all, except for the Hulk looking a bit trimmer than he should, you gotta love that cover.

But look what happens when the Doombots attack the Baxter Building.



This is why you need both the Hulk and Ben Grimm in the Marvel Universe. 'Cause the Hulk can never say lines like this:



And someone really needs to.

Thank you, Paul Benjamin, for writing that.

Awesome List: Runaways movie, Moon Nazis, Sea Freak, Steranko, Fleming movie, and the coolest Hulk toy ever

Runaways: The Movie



I quit reading Runaways when Brian K. Vaughan quit writing it. News of a Runaways movie makes me realize how much I miss those characters. Especially Molly (pictured above).

Night at the Museum 2

I'm not quite as thrilled about a possible sequel to Night at the Museum as I am a Runaways movie, but the first one didn't suck and I'm all for any movie with the potential for more dinosaurs chasing security guards down hallowed halls.

Iron Sky



"In 1945 the Nazis fled to the moon. In 2018 they are coming back." I want this on DVD right now.

Manhunter interview

Like all lovers of excellent superhero comics, I'm way looking forward to the return from hiatus of DC's Manhunter. Comic Book Resources has a talk with series writer Marc Andreyko that's got me even more pumped up.

Andreyko said he has the next six to eight arcs for "Manhunter" in various stages of planning but his goal is to hit the century mark with the title. "My dream is to get to #100," he said. "So please, buy this book."

Sea Freak



If that panel doesn't make you want to check out Sea Freak, nothing will. (Thanks, JK!)

Steranko's Radical covers

Comic Book Resources has another great conversation up, this time with the Awesome Jim Steranko on his cover (and possible, future interior) work for Radical Comics.

...we felt the traditional action approach would be a cliche. The Radical version is different from all other comics' versions and I felt my cover should underscore that quality. So, instead of casting it in spine-cracking action, I did the opposite: I visualized a silently inert, fearsomely intense Hercules, a Hercules just before the storm, a moment crackling with tension!

Hulk (and friends) Mighty Muggs



These Marvel Mighty Muggs are all great, but look at that Hulk one. Mike Want!

Scrubs creator dishes on NBC

I just watched the NBC Scrubs "finale" the other night. As fun as it was, what a crappy way to end an even crappier relationship between the show and the network that's screwed it over for the last seven years. Here's to an excellent final season on ABC.

...when we first did the show, it was a drama with elements of comedy and lots of stupid sound effects. But some of the strongest episodes in the second and third year had character comedy. You can still do things like kill Brendan Fraser and have the lady that loved musical theater die and then sing a song at the end. This became a very Simpsons-esque show with incredibly broad, unrealistic moments and fantasies that were both in reality and not in reality. When you've been writing this show for seven years, it's so easy to get into these patterns of writing the same jokes over and over: J.D. loves Turk, J.D. wants Dr. Cox's approval, Elliot's whiny and neurotic. But this year the stuff is really f--king good. I think our old stand-by fans are really going to dig these shows.

Fleming: The Movie



Leonardo DiCaprio's bought the rights to make a fictionalized biopic (à la Shakespeare in Love or Finding Neverland) about Ian Fleming, presumably with lots of extra spy stuff thrown in.

Elemental

Rufus Sewell's new show has a new name. Cannot wait for this one.

Video du Jour: More Iron Man, er... "adventures."

"Hulk take seven!"

Links: Black Canary/Zatanna hardcover, Justice League of Amazons, and Coked-Out Carrie

Man, it's been a long time since I've done one of these. Not gonna get caught up today, but I'll make a dent in it.

Mystery

• About halfway down this report on the Saló International del Cómic de Barcelona, The Beat posts the coolest convention costume I've ever seen: Blacksad. Or if you don't feel like going to look for it, click here.

Science Fiction

• I totally skipped over blogging about the Star Wars 30th Anniversary. I'm not even sure why. But my favorite celebration of it was Kevin Church's "Ten Reasons I Still Really Like Star Wars Despite The Fact I Keep Saying I've Walked Away And That It's Over, Really, So Don't Call Anymore, George." My favorite reason is also his: Coked-Out Carrie.
• I got a nice email from Richard Starkings concerning my review of his comic Elephantmen. It was short, but it was the highest praise I ever hope for from a review: "You got it."

Superheroes

• Illustration on Paul Dini's Black Canary/Zatanna hardcover graphic novel should begin later this year, hopefully out by next summer. Dini's not saying who's illustrating but promises, "It will be worth the wait."
• Ragnell reminded me of what could've been the coolest superteam of all time. And still could again, I suppose, if someone wanted to make another comic about them.

Writing is Hard

• Pub Rants offers some advice on marketing.
• Speaking of marketing, I usually skip over writer interviews because most of them end up sounding like ads for the writer's latest book. Not so with this one with Nancy Kress. Of course, it might have something to do with her latest book, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, being a book about writing, but still, her interview is full of useful thoughts on craft.

Stuff Nobody Cares About But Me

• Doctor Doom loves the Gilmore Girls: "Doom does not understand much of your attraction with the medium of television, although Doom does confess a certain admiration of Gilmore Girls. Doom has no time or need for romance, but were he so inclined, Lorelai Gilmore, with her sharp tongue and quick wit, is indeed a paramour worthy of Doom."