Hi! Since it's now 2011, I'm going to do something special, i.e., a quiz! So, today, I'm going to give you a quiz. It has 10 questions, and covers comic strips as well as comicbooks, so be prepared!
1. This is an easy one: What is Superman's usual secret identity?
2. In the comic strip Big Nate, what is Nate's middle name?
3. In the Legion of Superheroes, what person became a Legionnaire during the Fatal Five's second appearance?
4. Who died in Amazing Spider-Man #121? (Hint: It's infamous)
5. How many issues of Fantastic Four did Stan lee and Jack Kirby produce together?
6. In the Legion of Superheroes, Phantom Girl comes from:
a) The planet Bgztl, in the fourth dimension
b) The planet Bqztl, in the sixth dimension
c) The planet Bqtl, in the fourth dimension
d) The city Bgztl, in the fourth dimension
7. In the comic strip FoxTrot, what is the name of Jason's pet?
8. How fast can Superman fly, according to The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel by Scott Beaty?
9. 344 Clinton Avenue is the Silver Age home of what superhero?
10. Last question! In Flash No. 228, in the seventh panel of the seventh page, what did Barry Allen say?
Answers
_______________________________________________
1. This is an easy one: What is Superman's usual secret identity?
Answer: Clark Kent.
2. In the comic strip Big Nate, what is Nate's middle name?
Answer: Trick Question! He has no middle name!
3. In the Legion of Superheroes, what person became a Legionnaire after the Fatal Five's second appearance?
Answer: Shadow Lass.
4. Who died in Amazing Spider-Man #121 (Hint: It's infamous)
Answer: Gwen Stacy.
5. How many issues of Fantastic Four did Stan lee and Jack Kirby produce together?
Answer: 102, plus one cover.
6. In the Legion of Superheroes, Phantom Girl comes from:
a) The planet Bgztl, in the fourth dimension
b) The planet Bqztl, in the sixth dimension
c) The planet Bqtl, in the fourth dimension
d) The city Bgztl, in the fourth dimension
Answer: a, The planet Bgztl, in the fourth dimension.
7. In the comic strip FoxTrot, what is the name of Jason's pet?
Answer: Quincy.
8. How fast can Superman fly, according to The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel by Scott Beaty?
Answer: Nobody knows.
9. 344 Clinton Avenue is the Silver Age home of what superhero?
Answer: Superman!
10. Last question! In Flash No. 228, in the seventh panel of the seventh page, what did Barry Allen say?
Answer: "But... Why tell me? I just work in the police lab!"
Congratulations! You just completed the quiz! I hope you got the right answers. Bye!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Oops!
Hi! Today, after Christmas, I'm going to tell you how, shockingly, there was a mistake in a comicbook! And, when it was written about in the letters pages, unlike some letters that were explained away, like this one I found on my favorite blog
replied like this:
So, here's the letter, from a cool website I found:
Dear Editor: In "The 100 New Feats of Superboy," the Boy of Steel says, "And while I've often endured the sun's heat of 20 billion degrees, I've never visited this star, the hottest in the universe - over 10 billion degrees." I'm sure this is a 100% goof! -Bob Rozakis, Elmont, N.Y.
(Oops! It looks like the Bizarros got some of their whacky mathematics into this story, too! Seriously, the sun's heat should have been given as 20 million degrees. -Ed.)
If you find any more goofs in comics, please let me know in the comments. Bye!
replied like this:
So, here's the letter, from a cool website I found:
Dear Editor: In "The 100 New Feats of Superboy," the Boy of Steel says, "And while I've often endured the sun's heat of 20 billion degrees, I've never visited this star, the hottest in the universe - over 10 billion degrees." I'm sure this is a 100% goof! -Bob Rozakis, Elmont, N.Y.
(Oops! It looks like the Bizarros got some of their whacky mathematics into this story, too! Seriously, the sun's heat should have been given as 20 million degrees. -Ed.)
If you find any more goofs in comics, please let me know in the comments. Bye!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
25th Post!
Hi! As you know, this is my 25th post on Evan's Library! This calls for hoopla! This calls for celebration! Well, maybe I'm exaggerating it a little. But still, since I've done 1/4 of a hundred posts, I'm going to do something special. And what better special thing to do than write an essay about the Silver Age of comics? Here it is:
All About the Silver Age of Comics
The Golden Age of comics was over, and it was the middle of the Atom Age, where instead of superheroes, comics were mostly horror and western. But, in October 1956, it all changed. Showcase #4 featured the reappearance of the Flash, this time as Barry Alllen, and kicked off the Silver Age of comics!
The Flash wasn't the only one to be revived. Green Lantern came back, also different this time. There were some people who came back, but were the exact same people, albeit with a few differences, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. (She had actually never disappeared.)
The artwork was different too. Instead of the kind of crude drawing in the Golden Age, Silver Age artwork was somehow pretty realistic, yet pretty cartoony at the same time. Here's a sample of Silver Age DC Comics art:
DC wasn't the only comic publisher that took part in the Silver Age. Marvel also got into it by creating the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, and much, much, more. Also, Stan Lee teamed up with Jack Kirby, forming what is arguably the best team in comics history, second only to the most important one, Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster, and they created one hundred and one Fantastic Four comicbooks and the cover of Fantastic Four # 102 STRAIGHT. To quote Comic Books 101 by Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton, “DC's flash may have kicked of the Silver Age, but Marvel owned it.”
Here's a sample of Silver age Marvel art:
Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton were right.
But, all good things had to come to an end. The thing is, no wide agreement on when it ended has been made. There are a few different theories, but I think it happened with Amazing Spider-Man # 121 in 1973, also known as the DEATH of Gwen Stacy. A lot of people agree with me.
Well, now you know all about the Silver Age of comics! Now, on to section two of my 25th post, recommended reading!
25 Comicbooks on MY Recommended Reading List
(Not necessarily in this order.)
1.Comic Books 101
2.Showcase Presents Superman, Volumes 1-3
3.The DC Encyclopedia
4.Marvel Encyclopedia 2009
5.Marvel 70th Anniversary Collection
6.Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four, Volume 6
7.The Best of Foxtrot
8.Big Nate Strikes Again
9.DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories
10.DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories Featuring Batman and Robin
11.Garfield: 25 Years and Still Kicking!
12.The Greatest Batman stories Ever Told
13.The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Collection
14.Showcase Presents Dial “H” for Hero
15.Essential Fantastic Four, Volume 3
16.Tales to Astonish No. 13 tied with
17.The Kid who Collects Spider-Man
18.Amazing Adult Fantasy No. 10
19.All Star Comics No.3
20.Superman No. 141
21.Amazing Spider-Man No. 30-33
22.Avengers No. 4 (1998)
23.Fantastic Four No. 52
24.Adventure Comics No. 357
25.Superman No. 162!
Yes, I know numbers one, three, four, and eight aren't technically comicbooks, but they're close enough. NEXT up is an infomercial for my favorite blog of all time!
Do you like comics but don't know much about them?
Do you like the idea of blogs, but don't like them to be too much about the author?
Then you would love the (discontinued) blog...
COMICS COVERAGE!
Created by Mark Engblom, Comics Coverage is a blog almost all about comics with three YEARS worth of posts under its belt! Though it isn't active anymore, it's still great! Use your computer today to visit the blog... Comics Coverage!
And that's my 25th post! Adios!
All About the Silver Age of Comics
The Golden Age of comics was over, and it was the middle of the Atom Age, where instead of superheroes, comics were mostly horror and western. But, in October 1956, it all changed. Showcase #4 featured the reappearance of the Flash, this time as Barry Alllen, and kicked off the Silver Age of comics!
The Flash wasn't the only one to be revived. Green Lantern came back, also different this time. There were some people who came back, but were the exact same people, albeit with a few differences, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. (She had actually never disappeared.)
The artwork was different too. Instead of the kind of crude drawing in the Golden Age, Silver Age artwork was somehow pretty realistic, yet pretty cartoony at the same time. Here's a sample of Silver Age DC Comics art:
DC wasn't the only comic publisher that took part in the Silver Age. Marvel also got into it by creating the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, and much, much, more. Also, Stan Lee teamed up with Jack Kirby, forming what is arguably the best team in comics history, second only to the most important one, Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster, and they created one hundred and one Fantastic Four comicbooks and the cover of Fantastic Four # 102 STRAIGHT. To quote Comic Books 101 by Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton, “DC's flash may have kicked of the Silver Age, but Marvel owned it.”
Here's a sample of Silver age Marvel art:
Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton were right.
But, all good things had to come to an end. The thing is, no wide agreement on when it ended has been made. There are a few different theories, but I think it happened with Amazing Spider-Man # 121 in 1973, also known as the DEATH of Gwen Stacy. A lot of people agree with me.
Well, now you know all about the Silver Age of comics! Now, on to section two of my 25th post, recommended reading!
25 Comicbooks on MY Recommended Reading List
(Not necessarily in this order.)
1.Comic Books 101
2.Showcase Presents Superman, Volumes 1-3
3.The DC Encyclopedia
4.Marvel Encyclopedia 2009
5.Marvel 70th Anniversary Collection
6.Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four, Volume 6
7.The Best of Foxtrot
8.Big Nate Strikes Again
9.DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories
10.DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories Featuring Batman and Robin
11.Garfield: 25 Years and Still Kicking!
12.The Greatest Batman stories Ever Told
13.The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Collection
14.Showcase Presents Dial “H” for Hero
15.Essential Fantastic Four, Volume 3
16.Tales to Astonish No. 13 tied with
17.The Kid who Collects Spider-Man
18.Amazing Adult Fantasy No. 10
19.All Star Comics No.3
20.Superman No. 141
21.Amazing Spider-Man No. 30-33
22.Avengers No. 4 (1998)
23.Fantastic Four No. 52
24.Adventure Comics No. 357
25.Superman No. 162!
Yes, I know numbers one, three, four, and eight aren't technically comicbooks, but they're close enough. NEXT up is an infomercial for my favorite blog of all time!
Do you like comics but don't know much about them?
Do you like the idea of blogs, but don't like them to be too much about the author?
Then you would love the (discontinued) blog...
COMICS COVERAGE!
Created by Mark Engblom, Comics Coverage is a blog almost all about comics with three YEARS worth of posts under its belt! Though it isn't active anymore, it's still great! Use your computer today to visit the blog... Comics Coverage!
And that's my 25th post! Adios!
Comicbooks Collections
Hi! Today, I'm going to talk about different types of comicbook collections, and their advantages and DISadvantages. Here it is:
Adios!
-Evan
P.S. Next up is my celebratory 25th post!
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Update: A librarian said that he got some Omnibuses when he was a librarian at a middle school, and he has two complaints about them:
1 The binding weren't very durable, and the books fell apart after something like three readings, and
2 They were really thick.
So, maybe the Omnibuses aren't so great!
Adios!
-Evan
P.S. Next up is my celebratory 25th post!
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Update: A librarian said that he got some Omnibuses when he was a librarian at a middle school, and he has two complaints about them:
1 The binding weren't very durable, and the books fell apart after something like three readings, and
2 They were really thick.
So, maybe the Omnibuses aren't so great!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Severely damaging the fourth wall
Hi! Today, I'm going to talk about how some comics have been "leaning on the fourth wall". I got the idea from a website.
First off, we have the category of comic strips. In the last week of FoxTrot dailies, it was all about how "some cartoonist" was switching to Sundays only. The most damage to the wall was done in the very last daily, when Roger said "The opportunity to do a comic strip that millions of people read every day is a rare and special privilege. This guy had better thank the newspapers and readers that stuck with him and made it possible. Maybe he'll do something like that in the strip." Andy's reply is
"And break the fourth wall? Not likely."
Also, on Garfield's 25th birthday, Garfield thanked the readers. And in another strip, he "talked" to the reader. Stone Soup also said that you could wear PJ's at Joan and Wally's wedding, and had an invetation in their strip.
There was also a one-week FoxTrot story arc, where an Peter and Jason were wondering how cartoonists do their strip when they're sick, and for each suggestion Peter came up with, it actually happened to him. (e.g. "Did you hear what Dan Quayle saidon Carson last night?" when he said that cartoonists had reserve jokes.) In another strip, Jason was wondering if anything would go wrong with comic strips at Y2K, since so many carttonists used computers with their work, and Peter said "What could go wrong in a comic strip?" As he and Jason suddenly transformed into characters from the early 1900's. There was also a FoxTrot one that involved the Washington Post, but I didn't get it.
In Bloom County, however, there is no fourth wall. All the characters know they're just part of a comic strip. (And yet, Bill and Opus still run for office.) They actually had a strike for bigger strip sizes once.
Now, we have comicbooks. In the DC Universe, before the infamous (at least, to ME) Crisis on Infinite Earths, they have the fourth wall in an interesting way. In their Earth, they're quite real, but, this world is called Earth-Prime, and their dimensional counterparts are just fictional. My favorite Earth-Prime story is When I Flew With Superman! by Curt Swan.
The Marvel Universe in the Silver Age also had an interesting fourth wall. The superheroes were real, but the ones without secret identities had comicbooks about them published, thanks to good ol'Marvel. I'm not sure if the Silver Surfer wanted that to happen or not.
In one Uncle $crooge comicbook, Scrooge McDuck had a bunch of actual Carl Barks paintings, and said he was his favorite artist, and Donald Duck said something like they looked like scenes from nutty children's comics.
And that's how some comics leaned on the fourth wall! Adios!
P.S. Tune in in two posts for my 25th post!
First off, we have the category of comic strips. In the last week of FoxTrot dailies, it was all about how "some cartoonist" was switching to Sundays only. The most damage to the wall was done in the very last daily, when Roger said "The opportunity to do a comic strip that millions of people read every day is a rare and special privilege. This guy had better thank the newspapers and readers that stuck with him and made it possible. Maybe he'll do something like that in the strip." Andy's reply is
"And break the fourth wall? Not likely."
Also, on Garfield's 25th birthday, Garfield thanked the readers. And in another strip, he "talked" to the reader. Stone Soup also said that you could wear PJ's at Joan and Wally's wedding, and had an invetation in their strip.
There was also a one-week FoxTrot story arc, where an Peter and Jason were wondering how cartoonists do their strip when they're sick, and for each suggestion Peter came up with, it actually happened to him. (e.g. "Did you hear what Dan Quayle saidon Carson last night?" when he said that cartoonists had reserve jokes.) In another strip, Jason was wondering if anything would go wrong with comic strips at Y2K, since so many carttonists used computers with their work, and Peter said "What could go wrong in a comic strip?" As he and Jason suddenly transformed into characters from the early 1900's. There was also a FoxTrot one that involved the Washington Post, but I didn't get it.
In Bloom County, however, there is no fourth wall. All the characters know they're just part of a comic strip. (And yet, Bill and Opus still run for office.) They actually had a strike for bigger strip sizes once.
Now, we have comicbooks. In the DC Universe, before the infamous (at least, to ME) Crisis on Infinite Earths, they have the fourth wall in an interesting way. In their Earth, they're quite real, but, this world is called Earth-Prime, and their dimensional counterparts are just fictional. My favorite Earth-Prime story is When I Flew With Superman! by Curt Swan.
The Marvel Universe in the Silver Age also had an interesting fourth wall. The superheroes were real, but the ones without secret identities had comicbooks about them published, thanks to good ol'Marvel. I'm not sure if the Silver Surfer wanted that to happen or not.
In one Uncle $crooge comicbook, Scrooge McDuck had a bunch of actual Carl Barks paintings, and said he was his favorite artist, and Donald Duck said something like they looked like scenes from nutty children's comics.
And that's how some comics leaned on the fourth wall! Adios!
P.S. Tune in in two posts for my 25th post!
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