Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

I'm a big fan of Anj's Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, and the feeling is mutual, which is why he nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger Award. This is one of those sort of pat-on-the-back/chain letter sort of thing I've grumbled about in the past on other blogs, but when combined with Anj's kind words, how could I resist?

One thing that I appreciate about the blogosphere is that fans passionate about their favorite characters have a venue to ...well ... be passionate. One of my absolute favorite sites is the Idol Head, a tremendous site for anything about the Martian Manhunter by Frank Diabolu. Informative about all the eras of J'onn J'onzz as well as looking ahead, this blog is everything that I strive to be about Supergirl. It is organized and spiffy in ways that make me jealous.

The first rule of K-Klub, is to promote it with its jpeg. The second rule is to link to the person who nominated you. The third is to thank them, being Anj, who I thank. The fourth rule is to nominate seven other bloggers for the award, with links. The sixth is to send me $10 American, $135 Mexican. The seventh is to punch Anj in the ear as hard as you can leave those blogs a comment to let them know you care. I don't always color with the lines, though. I'm going to avoid the obvious choices, since I pretty consistently link to brethren blogs like Firestorm Fan, Being Carter Hall, Comics Make Me Happy!, and The Aquaman Shrine anyway. Since I assume there's no tag backs, I have to bypass Anj and nominate...

Marvel Genesis
At which Don Alsafi offers a chronological review of each comic of the "Marvel Age," which for our purposes begins with Fantastic Four #1. I love that this guy is trying to take the historical perspective here, commenting on the slow, organic progression of Marvel Comics from the primordial goop of Marty Goodman's shell game publishing empire.

Every Day Is Like Wednesday
J. Caleb Mozzocco is my favorite comic book reviewer, plus he offers strong industry commentary and the occasional cute comic strip.

Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep!!
I only rediscovered this blog recently, but I consistently enjoy Snell's humorous assault on the rampant stupidity of modern Big Two comics.

Armagideon Time
I enjoy Andrew Weiss' writing on most subjects (aside from '80s console games,) but I especially enjoy his weekly "Nobody's Favorite" underwhelming super-hero spotlight.

Rob Kelly Illustration
Rob's got so blamed many blogs, its easy for some to get lost in the shuffle. This is the home of all his commercial and personal art projects, and they're too fine to pass up.

The Factual Opinion
I miss their political coverage, but they still have the snarkiest comic book, TV, and movie reviews around. I very sharp blog.

Sanctum Sanctorum Comix
It's a Dr. Strange blog. If that alone isn't enough to pique your interest, you need to read more Dr. Strange comics. Except that JMS crap. Or anything by Bendis. You should know this already.

In further mutual appreciation society news, Michael Netzer took a break from drawing really boss material for Dynamite's Green Hornet comics to throw a little love at Martian Manhunter’s Favorite Blog...

I know that all this isn’t enough to make Idol-Heal a favorite Martian Manhunter blog. It only adds a touch of appreciation to all of the other marvelous content there. Frank-Lee Delano doesn’t miss a beat and is dedicated to this site as if it was was a primary bread and butter enterprise. So do visit and have an updated look of what’s new with the resurrected Martian Manhunter. The darkest days appear to be behind the DC Universe of late, and old favorites are shining in brightest day again, as is the Idol-Head of Diabolu. Seems like a good sign for aficionados of illuminated environs.

Netzer also offers up another neat vintage convenition sketch from a unique perspective, which I'll totally have to steal once its been up long enough I won't step on anyone's traffic!

Observing Memorial Day

I wanted to get a lot of writing done over the holiday weekend, but that hasn't worked out too great so far. I hope to be productive tomorrow, but in the meantime, I'm sifting through the mess left by my main computer drive crashing many months back. Among the debris was a bunch of pictures I asked a friend to take for me in the earliest months of this blog. I considered running a picture of myself a few dozen pounds ago, wearing a Captain America shirt while holding Martian Manhunter and Atom figures. Fortunately for your eyes and those with more delicate sensibilities, I figured the U.S. holiday called for something more respectful. Thanks to Dave for his efforts.

The Greatest Martian Manhunter (Related) Covers of All Time!

The Top 0 Mr. V/Vulture/Marco Xavier Cover(s)
...

The Top 3 Human Flame Covers
3) Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #6 (December, 2009)

2) Justice League of America #21 (July, 2008)

1) Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #1 (July, 2009)

The Top 0 Professor Erdel Cover(s)
...

The Top 3 Scorch Covers
3) Action Comics #774 (February, 2001)

2) Adventures of Superman #582 (September, 2000)

1) JLA #84 (October, 2003)

The Top 0 Diabolu Cover(s)
...

The Top 3 White Martian Covers
3) Son of Vulcan #5 (December, 2005)

2) Son of Vulcan #6 (January, 2006)

1) JLA #57 (October, 2001)

The Top 0 Monty Moran Cover(s)
...

The Top 2 Professor Arnold Hugo Cover(s)
2) DC Super Friends #24 (April, 2010)

1) Detective Comics #306 (August, 1962)


The Top 0 Captain Harding Cover(s)
...

The Top 1 Diane Meade Cover(s)
JLA: Classified #49 (February, 2008)

She doesn't actually appear inside.


The Top 2 Glenn Gammeron Cover(s)
2) Justice League Task Force #29 (November, 1995)

2) Justice League Task Force #31 (January, 1996)



The Top 1 Vulkor, the Capsule Master Cover(s)
The Brave and The Bold #50 (November, 1963)


The Top 1 Doctor Trap Cover(s)
Chase #6 (July, 1998)


The Top 1 The Marshal Cover(s)
Justice League of America #230 (September, 1984)



The Top 1 Bette Noir Cover(s)
Martian Manhunter #3 (February, 1999)


The Top 1 Commander Blanx Cover(s)
Justice League of America #144 (July, 1977)
Click To Enlarge

The Top 5 Bloodwynd Covers

5) Fate #5 (March, 1995)


4) Justice League America #70 (January, 1993)


3) Justice League America #69 (December, 1992)


2) Justice League America #74 (May, 1993)


1) Justice League America #88 (May, 1994)

The Top 10 Mongul Covers

I think we can safely call Mongul a Green Lantern Corps villain these days, although he'll always have a home in the Superman books. I'm still waiting for his debut battle with the Manhunter from Mars to play out someday. I have hope though, since Peter Tomasi is currently overseeing both Mongul and Martian Manhunter in separate books, and they're both favorite characters of his...

10) The Flash #102 (June, 1995)


9) Showcase '95 #7 (August, 1995)


8) Green Lantern Corps #26 (September, 2008)


7) Green Lantern Corps #20 (March, 2008)


6) JLA: Destiny #3 (August, 2002)


5) DC Comics Presents #27 (November, 1980)


4) Green Lantern Corps #24 (July, 2008)


3) DC Comics Presents #43 (March, 1982)


2) DC Comics Presents #28 (December, 1980)


1) Superman Annual #11 (1985)

The Top 5 Malefic Covers

By Wednesday, my schedule was already slipping, due partially to work and school business, but mostly from helping my baby get everything together for a trip out of the country. I needed a quick and easy post, which these retrospectives can be when dealing with a character who has only appeared on six covers. I mostly knocked out this Malefic countdown that afternoon, but computer issues kept me from posting anything that evening, and life took me out the rest of the week. Hence, here's a stopgap, to be followed later this evening by a lengthier retrospective, and two more on Saturday. I'll be dealing these out throughout the holiday weekend while striving to rebuild a scheduled reserve across several blogs, so out of sympathy for my broadband readers, I've reset the blog to only display six posts at a time. Enjoy!(?)!

Dishonorable Mention- JLA: Classified #42 (November, 2007)

Rather than a psycho with a face full of metal, Malefic looks like J'Onn's transvestite uncle P'Att, who let himself into the pyramid uninvited for an extended "visit." Being a health nut who has noted his nephew's Saturnian Belt Dunlap, P'Att decided to repay J'Onn's hospitality by taking out all the sandwich cookies in the house with Martian Vision... and the blood wind-- cries-- "Choco..."

...Or "Oreo..." Certainly not "Hydrox," despite the Hendrix reference.

5) Martian Manhunter #35 (October, 2001)


Ma'alefa'ak. Evil twin brother. Murderer of the Martian race. Barely visible floating head over J'Onn's shoulder, while the prominent Etrigan appeared once in a forgettable tale. Sigh.

4) JLA: Classified #46 (January, 2008)

Look on Quato and know fear.

3) Martian Manhunter #33 (August, 2001)


Mandrake doesn't sell "evil from birth" here so much as "J'Onn's so innocent looking, the other one must be Ma'ala'ak." Regardless, all babies are inherently evil, and fill me with dread, plus there's points for poignancy.

2) Martian Manhunter #6 (May, 1999)


The real J'Onn J'Onzz totally wouldn't put Wonder Woman in a chokehold or step on Steel's (of all people's) neck, and this time Mandrake does sell the eeeeevilll.

1) DCU Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 (April, 1999)


This is a Bryan Hitch cover featuring almost nothing but villains the Martian Manhunter has fought, three being major adversaries of his, and two Martian-specific. It's also the only one with a clean, clear, full body shot of Malefic. With standards this low, how could it not be #1?

The Top 10 Despero Covers

Today, we'll be looking at the nemesis of the Manhunter from Mars. There is no shortage of impressive images of Despero the Destroyer. However, because he's often the big bad in a big reveal during a story, the covers often do not reflect the magnitude of his presence. In fact, I'll cop to the latter five as being almost completely arbitrary choices, because I'd say only the top five are truly great representations of this menace.

Honorary Mention:
Official Justice League Of America Index #8 (1987)


10) Supergirl #17 (January, 1998)

The Destroyer drawn by Gary Frank. It's just so pretty.

9) Superman/Batman #33 (March, 2007)

Literally chewing up a host of alien heroes in his jagged maw

8) Justice League Task Force #31 (January, 1996)


Just a striking image of Despero in bondage-- no small accomplishment.

7) Justice League Task Force #27 (September, 1995)

The finest cover example of Despero's gun-toting, anti-heroic, "the Savage Dragon stole my bit" period.

6) Justice League of America #133 (August, 1976)

Flanked by the world's greatest heroes, Despero kills Superman and ask who wants next.

5) Justice League of America #251 (June, 1986)

The first clear cover image of Despero reborn as a finhawked badass of massive scale.

4) Justice League of America #178 (May, 1980)

A great riff on Despero's debut, beautifully rendered by Jim Starlin, and the first indication of personal animosity toward the Martian Manhunter.

3) R.E.B.E.L.S. #12 (March, 2010)

Nothing says "we're in trouble" like someone holding Despero's severed head, while nothing quite says "our way out is almost as frightening as how deep we're in" like Vril Dox grinning.

2) Justice League America #39 (June, 1990)

I almost threw in the issue where Despero crash lands in the JLI's midst, but he's just a funky colored blob in an intentionally obscured image. Here, you can clearly see the result of his onslaught, and the beginning of his fan favorite villain status.

1) Justice League of America #1 (November, 1960)


The original. The classic. One of the most inspirational and imitated covers of all time.

Check out more spotlight countdowns of great art from the past 75 years of DC Comics Covers at DC75: Top Character Covers of the Dodranscentennial