Batman and Robin team-up with Hostess to defeat the Mummy

In ending 2007 I thought I would give you one of the comics more unusual team-ups. I have read that this was the first team-up of where Hostess helped the superheroes. It was a five year career move that helped Hostess in sales and left a fond memory for all of us to enjoy. It's nice to know that when all of their superpowers or supergadgets failed they could always throw junk food at the villains and save the day. Now here is the first ad with Batman, Robin and Hostess defeat the Mummy and thanks dear readers for a fun start to this blog.

Astonishing Tales #1

Recently I told you that one of my Christmas gifts was the Essential Super-Villain Team-Up Vol.1. I opened it up to read the first story and to my surprise it wasn't Super-Villain Team-Up #1 but Astonishing Tales #1 from 1970. This was a split book that had Ka-Zar and Dr. Doom as its stars in separate stories. It seems Doc Doom was in it for 8 issues and then he went to Super-Villain Team-Up. Ka-Zar, boy Marvel was hyphen happy back then, took over as sole star with issue #9. By issue #20 the star became It the Living Colossus and later Deathlock was the star till the end of its run. However, the only issues I saw of the series when it was first out were issue #4, and I liked the Dr. Doom Story , and issue #29, my Dad got it for me to read while I was sick, which was a reprint of a Guardians of the Galaxy story. So I completely missed It and Deathlock's runs.

Only the Doc Doom story is reprinted here so that is what I will write about. The story is called "Unto You is Born...The Doomsman!" It was written by Roy Thomas with art by Wally Wood. It starts with Doc Doom saying that the Americans are full of self-esteem and think they are in the space age since they landed a man on the moon. (Remember this book is from 1970 and the moon landing happened in 1969 so it was a current event and not history just yet.) Doom says that the Americans will soon find out that we are really living in the era of Dr. Doom.

Meanwhile, the Government has been examining a ball that the astronauts found on the moon. It has been brought to the attention of the President as they cannot find out the purpose for the ball. Once the President speaks an image appears. It is that of Doc Doom. The ball was set to only activate when it heard the voice of the President. Doom says that he teleported himself to the moon and left the ball for the American astronauts to find. This proves that he is more powerful then America. He makes no demands or threats but says one day he will and it will be obeyed as there will be no where to hide from him.

Later Doc Doom visits his lab where his men have followed his exact instructions on his new project. He has created his ultimate weapon. It is a superpowered being activated by cosmic rays. It also has been given the brain pattern of Victor VonDoom himself. Doom believes that he has created an ally since they will think alike.

Meanwhile the underground to take back Latveria,led by Prince Rudolfo whose family was in power before Doom took over, have a plan to defeat Dr. Doom. One of their members is a woman who looks like Valeria a woman who Dr. Doom cared about. He has been looking for her but not able to find her. They stage an accident and she is found by one of Doom's robot guards. Doom wants to believe it is her but under hypnosis she tells she is really Ramona. She is to gain Dooms trust only to betray him and put Prince Rudolfo back on the throne.

Back at the headquarters of the underground Prince Rudolfo tells he knows Doom will get the truth out of the girl. He is relying on Doom to keep her alive because she looks like Valeria. Then she will find a way to signal them when it is time to attack.

Doom does just as the Prince thought. He even tries to let her see his face. However, when he takes off his mask it is not scarred. Doom runs away as the face she saw and liked was not really his. It was a projection that he created to hid his real face and he didn't want to live a lie by not showing her his true face.

Prince Rudolfo and his men tire of waiting and he contacts Ramona. His voice breaks her out of her trance and she finds the power source to the Castle. There she sees Doom's true face. When he tries to capture her again she sees how much of an evil monster he is really. She smashes Dooms master panel and plunges the Castle into darkness.

That was the signal to the underground and they attack. Still the ever resourceful Dr. was ready and in the end the Doc wins. Many of the underground are dead and Prince Rudolfo and Ramona are under the spell of Doc Dooms Hypno-probe. Two blows were dealt to Dr. Doom. First is that one of the robots that Doom used to take his place in times of danger was destroyed. The second blow was the hardest of all. His Doomsman broke free during the fighting but instead of trying to help Dr. Doom it went its own way during the attack. Since he has Dr. Dooms brain and the powers that he gave him the Doc wonders if he created an ally or did he really created a powerful new foe?

Plastic Man and Hostess team-up in Gold for Dessert

Happy Birthday Stan Lee

Today is the birthday of every comic book fan's favorite comic book writer Stan "the man" Lee. It is safe to say that comic books, movies, and television wouldn't be the same if Stan was never born or if he had chosen another line of work. Marvel comics itself may have gone out of business years ago if Stan had not been there to create the Fantastic Four out of a desperate bid for sales when he was ordered by the publisher to create a superhero team when it was learned that the JLA was DC comics top seller. Thus created the Marvel age of comics with Stan's version of what superheroes should be like. The would be no animated TV shows based on his creations or the creations of others whom Stan was smart enough to bring into the Marvel fold or give them the freedom to create as they had not been able to before. Mostly creators Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby whose styles still influence artist to this day. Mr. Kirby has passed on years ago and to my knowledge Mr. Ditko is still alive but his art has not been seen by the public in over 20 years.
The Marvel live action movies of the 1970's that spawned the TV show Spider-Man and the Hulk that made a star of Lou Ferrigno and briefly out of Nicholas Hammond. For the purpose of this site there would be no books like Marvel Team-Up or Marvel Two-In-One. Would the biggest team-up in superhero history, Superman and Spider-Man, have happened? Probably not. Maybe it would have been between Superman and another comic book companies superhero. Of course there would not be the current blockbuster movies from his Marvel creations and Hollywood wouldn't be showing it's current interest in comic books today. Who knows what would have happened if Stan had not been born. Perhaps another comic book company like Archie, Harvey or Charlton would have risen to the challenge and been the main competition for DC. Perhaps DC would not have had any competition and had dominance over all of comic books. Either way I think comic book, movie and TV fans all benefited by Stan's birth. Of course Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko could have taken his place but destiny designed it that Stan was in the right place at the right time. So Happy Birthday Stan. Thanks for all of the fun that you have given comic book fans everywhere.

Red Tornado and Hostess in a Clean Sweep

Red Tornado teams up with Hostess cupcakes to stop the vacuum thief. It is great to see Reddy get his own ad for hostess but I would have loved to see him in his own series. This should have shown how well he could have handled himself as the star of a series. They could have made him the robotic version of Marvels Silver Surfer.

Essential Super-Villain Team-Up and Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold the Batman Team-ups

Well you can expect to see more post about Brave and the Bold and Super-Villain Team-Up here. My wife got me the Essential Super-Villain Team-Up vol. 1 and the Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman team-ups for Christmas. I just have one thing to ask about the Super-Villain Team-Up book. I have only flipped through the book so I don't know if I am missing part of a story or not yet. As you may know these books on the inside reprint the covers of the books they are covering and usually right after the cover the story follows. However in thumbing through Essential Super-Villain Team-Up I saw the cover to issue #15 but it was followed but the cover to issue #16 with no story in between them. Does anyone out there know if this was a printers mistake? It sounds like one to me but I like to read the story line in order so it will be awhile before I get to it. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Superman Fan Site

I had not planned on doing much posting till the new year but I just found out that this excellent new Superman site had linked up to this site. So I thought I would let other readers of this site know about it. It is called Superman Fan.Net and you can go there if you click here. I hope you have all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year.

Favorite Superhero Christmas Story Poll Results

Well our favorite Superhero Christmas Story Poll is over. The results are in. The winner is.....













Ta Da! Batman #239. Silent Night! Deadly Night!

Not really a team-up book but since it usually had Batman team with Robin his crime fighting partner it is more of a team book. Second place is a three way tie between A Christmas Happening from Teen Titans #13, Small Miracles from Marvel Team-Up #127, Silent Night...Deadly Night! from Marvel Two-In-One #8. Thanks to all who voted and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hembeck Helps Mantlo

Trying to help for the care of his friend Bill Mantlo Fred Hembeck is selling a his art of Rom whom Mantlo wrote the entire series. I was going to post the art here but I didn't ask Fred for permission and if I did someone may have taken it for free. If you go to Fred Hembeck's site he will direct you to his E-bay site so you can buy it.

Tales From the Dollar Bin: Marvel Two-In-One #8

Not long ago I bought this from Comicbook World when I saw it in their dollar bin. As I am trying to rebuild my collection I couldn't pass up this deal. It was one of my favorite Christmas comic book stories when I was a kid. I probably would have bought it for a little bit of a higher price so I felt lucky to have found it for a dollar.
The story is called Silent Night...Deadly Night! It came out in 1974 and was written by Steve Gerber with art by Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito. The letter was Charlotte Jetter. Colorist was George Roussos and it was all edited by Len Wein.
It starts with Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, driving through the desert at night when he is startled to see three men dressed in robes riding camels. They are the three wise men. Johnny crashed because he was so surprised to see them. The check to see if he is ok then ask if he is demon or human. He assures them that he is as human as they seem to be. He ask where they are going and they tell him they are following a star seeking the child of the prophecy. They ask him to join them but he politely refuses as the camels can't keep up with his motorcycle.
Back in New York Mr. Fantastic and the Thing are getting a telescope ready to view the new star in the heavens. The Thing is upset as this means that Mr. Fantastic will miss the family Christmas party. When the Thing arrives at the party all is well with family and friends as they prepare to light the Christmas tree that Mr. Fantastic decorated himself earlier. As the Human Torch turns on the tree it lights up too bright and even has some small fireworks that come out of it. Everyone but the Thing is shocked at how it looks more like the 4th of July then Christmas. The Thing is getting a good laugh out of it. He understands that Mr. F showed that he really did have Christmas spirit and got so involved in decorating the tree that he couldn't stop himself till every branch was lit up.
Back west in the desert Ghost Rider see a city in the distance that is straight out of biblical times. He drives into the city to investigate further. He finds that the people there are not from the middle east but are American Indians. He goes to the Inn and knocks on the door. The owner of the Inn answers and it is the Fantastic Fours friend Wyatt Wingfoot. He seems in a trance as he tells Ghost Rider that the Inn is full and he slams the door in his face. Ghost Rider then looks inside the stable. There among the animals he sees a man and woman watching their new born child lying in a manger. Before he can enter the stable a man stops him. He tells GR that he is the creator and that the child is his as he made him. He tells GR that he has no business there and to leave at once. Of course Ghost Rider says that this is the whole worlds business and he won't leave till he gets answers. Then the man creates a whirlwind that throws Ghost Rider out of town.
Back at the Baxter Building in New York Mr. Fantastic tells the Thing that he found out that the star actually points to the reservation where Wyatt Wingfoot and his people live in Arizona. He is about to leave for Arizona when the Thing says he will go and Mr. Fantastic can celebrate Christmas with his family.
When he arrives in Arizona he fortunately meets with Johnny Blaze first. (You must remember that back then in the Marvel Universe even the superhero community didn't know that Johnny Blaze's powers were real. They just thought he was a stunt man who had special effects just for show. His flaming skull was thought to be a special motorcycle helmet and not real. It seems almost funny when he has to tell the Thing that why he can't remove the skull helmet is a personal matter.) He tells him what is going on out there and assures the Thing that he didn't start whatever it is. Now they have to figure a way to get into town unnoticed. The answer to their problem arrives when they see the three kings approaching. GR sets up a ring of fire around them to stop them. He tells them he is an avenging angel and needs their help. So they disguise themselves as two of the wise men and ride into town. Once there the villain shows up again thinking his plan worked and he won. The villain is the Miracle Man and surprised to see that his plan didn't work since GR and his old enemy the Thing took the wise mens place.

A fight breaks out in the stable and Miracle Man reveals how he planed to become a God by creating his own messiah. During the battle Miracle Man finds that his powers won't work directly against Ghost Rider but they will on the Thing. He knocks the Thing out and sets the town on fire and leaves. GR revives the Thing and they get the people of the town to safety. They catch up to Miracle Man. The Thing knocks him out and everything returns to normal.
As they bid farewell Ghost Rider can't help but wonder why Miracle Man's powers didn't work directly against him. Was it help from his mysterious Jesus Christ looking like friend whom we were introduced to in Ghost Riders own series? Was it stopped by Satan because he wanted to get Johnny Blazes soul back and that Johnny would not die doing a good deed? The answer to these questions can only be found in back issues of Ghost Rider.
When I re-read this story I still loved it. However, it did seem odd that the Christian faith that night was defended by a Jewish superhero and one who originally got his powers from Satan. It wasn't widely known back in 1974 that the Thing was Jewish so most readers may have thought he was part of a Christian faith. Also, Ghost Rider had just been told by his Jesus Christ looking friend that Ghost Rider had done so much good with his powers that God forgave him, this is comic book logic as you can't get to Heaven by doing good deeds you have to accept Jesus Christ into your heart but for the sake of the Ghost Rider series this worked. So this would also make some sense in comic books that he would defend the Christian faith. Later in the Ghost Rider series it was revealed that the "friend" was really a demon in disguise and part of a plan to hurt Johnny Blaze.
There is something else that was odd about this issue. The last page said that next issues guest star was Iron Fist. Now back then I didn't buy every issue of MTIO so I missed issue #9. Thanks to the Essential MTIO I have the first 25 issues. Who was the guest in #9? It was Thor. When did Iron Fist show up? Not until issue #25. His first appearance barely made vol.#1 of the Essential series. Why did Marvel break their promise? Why did they take so long to get him into the series? Was the story that hard to write? I haven't read the whole book yet so I don't know but it seems odd to me.
Also I would like to point out that the images for this posting came from the Marvel Two-In-One Homepage.

Superhero Christmas Story Poll

Here is a Christmas Day poll for all you comic book lovers and poll takers. You can choose the 3 that we recently reviewed or three others that have been added for this poll. The winner of this poll will be revealed on Christmas Day. Vote early for your favorite.

Favorite Superhero Christmas Story

What is your favorite superhero comic book Christmas story? A Christmas Happening from Teen Titans #13 Small Miracles from Marvel Team-Up #127 Silent Night Deadly Night from Batman #239 Twas The Fright Before Christmas from DC Comics Presents #67 Have Yourself A Sandman Little Christmas from Marvel Team-Up #1 Silent Night...Deadly Night! from MarvelTwo-In-One #8 Current Results

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #255 Ad

I just got a bunch of Brave and the Bold comic books that I won in an e-bay auction. It was 5 issues for a little over $5 and that included shipping. Not a bad price for a bunch of comics from the 1970's. It contained Brave and the Bold #126 which I have been looking for and the only price I found it for was at a store for $11. Now I got it and 4 more for less then half the price. Not a bad deal.
This ad for Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes is from issue #154. I am showing it today as I don't recall seeing too many full page ads for this comic book. Issue #255 must have been special and they even found room to get a plug in for DC Comics Presents #13.
Sorry for the crooked scan but that was how my scanner scanned it.

Batman, Robin and Hostess stop the Sable Lady

Over at On My Mind I have been putting up the old Hostess ads where the heroes use Hostess products to catch crooks. Then it occurred to me that the heroes were "Teaming up" with Hostess to catch the crooks not just always using them as weapons. So from now on they will also be showing up on Mail It To Team-Up. Over at On My Mind I have been showing the Marvel heroes adventures. When both of them have run their course I will flip-flop them so Marvel will be here and DC there. Today we will show Batman and Robin team-up with Hostess to stop Sable Lady.

El Jacone Looks at Excalibur

Over at El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker Luke takes a look at the team book Excalibur. While this X-Men spin-off was never a favorite of mine it had an interesting combination of characters with Nightcrawler and my favorite British import Captain Britain. I loved the Captain when I read one of the British comics and hoped he would be given his own series when he was brought stateside to join Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up. It took them awhile but they made him the leader of Excalibur.

Spidey and Santa Team-Up

Here is an ad from 1983 where Spider-Man and Santa Claus team-up to sell...fishing poles???!!!
Well you'll see Santa in a team up later this week.

Fred Hembeck's Brave and the Bold?

With permission from Fred Hembeck here is his version of the Brave and the Bold.

Aquaman Team-up Poll Results

Well time got away from me and I didn't post the winner of our Aquaman team-up pole. As you can see it was none other then the Martian Manhunter. Coming in second it was a tie between Metamorpho and Red Tornado. Third was Wildcat and the rest didn't get any votes. Actually I think it would have been fun to see how a partnership between the Creeper and Aquaman would have done.

1984 Marvel Subscriber's Ad

If you are looking at this ad on it's own merits there doesn't seem to be anything odd about it. However, I got this from the back of the 1984 issue of Marvel Team-Up. Marvel Team-Up #148 to be exact. As many comic book fans know Marvel Team-Up was canceled with issue #150. So why was it still showing up in their subscription advertisements for that year? Maybe the subscription department didn't get the memo or that may be the reason for the refund guarantee on the right side of the page. If I had mailed this in after buying #148 I doubt I would have gotten my first issue. If I had it would have been #150 and that wouldn't have been fun to see my first issue by mail was going to be my last issue.

Sheldon Moldoff signed original art Batman Hawkman 1 Day Auction

This is an original painting by Sheldon Moldoff one of the greats of the golden and silver age of comics. It is for sale on e-bay and I am the seller so click here to bid on it. I met Mr. Moldoff in the 1990's when he was at the Mid-Ohio convention. He is a very nice man and loved talking about his grandson. Make a comic book fans Christmas and get them this original watercolor painting by one of the greats in the business.

Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag

This was posted at On My Mind a couple of years ago. I recently got a positive comment on it and thought that others who read this site would like to see the posting. So here it is and I hope you enjoy it.

Here is the Christmas comic/photo for today. The 1976 Marvel Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag. The The stories are reprints of Marvel Team up #6, Tales to Astonish #93, The Avengers #58 and Daredevil #86. There is an orignal story that is written by Roger Stern with art by George Tuska and edited by Archie Goodwin. That story starts out with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers holding a charity snowball fight. Spider-man, who is not a member of either group hits Ben Grimm with a snowball. Instead of getting mad Ben jokes with Spidey so Ben's not made to look foolish in public. Then the Marvel Team up story starts. Later the action shifts back to the snowball fight. There the Wasp rembers the classic story of how the Vision joined the Avengers in "Even An Android Can Cry." After that story the Silver Surfer is shown flying over New York and he passes by the Defenders HQ and seen by the Hulk. Hulk remembers the Surfer, or as he called him Silver-Face. He recalls the story from Tales to Astonish. Later Hulk is given a Christmas party by the Defenders. The story shifts to the law office of Nelson and Murdock. Matt Murdock leaves for the day and recalls the story "Once Upon A Time...The Ox" Finally the story winds up in sunny California with the then new super team the Champions with Hercules, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Angel and Iceman. Iceman makes it snow so they can have a white Christmas. They too have a snowball fight. Then they tell Iceman to stop the snow. He says that he did and they all stand there in awe of watching it snow in California.
None of the reprint stories had anything to do with Christmas but they were all entertaining. This is the way I prefer to have a book of reprints. A loose knit story that ties then all together.But who cares as long as it is an affordable way to read good classic stories.

1970's Superman Belt Buckle

Here is the actual Superman Belt Buckle that I mentioned on an earlier posting. It is for sale on e-bay if you click here. Here is your chance to actually own a part of the bronze age of comic book merchandising. I have never been a fan of belt buckles but I might even bid on it.

Publishing Contract

Here is something that I had put on my other sites but didn't here as it isn't comic book related. But I wanted to share the good news with you all here too.

Keep an eye out for my name at your local bookstore. I just signed a contract with a small publisher called Morning Sun Publishing to publish a children's book that I wrote. They want to get it out in time for Christmas this year as it is a Christmas story. I hope they do but I think it will be closer to next Christmas but I'll take it whenever it comes out. I had a short story published once but this will be the first time I will have written a book.

The story use to be on my other site but I have taken it off since then. Long time readers of the On My Mind site may take the above photo as a hint to the title. I don't want to say much more till I know when it will definitely be coming out.

Marvel Two-In-One #7

The conclusion to the story that began in issue #6 is called "Name That Doom!" It is written by Steve Gerber and art by Sal Buscema. Oddly enough another writers name appears on this story. It is Bill Mantlo but as the colorist. Who knew he was also an artist?

The story starts with homeless drunk Alvin Denton. He was the other person on the subway platform in the last issue that Ben and Dr. Strange were looking for. They were surprised to find that the harmonica they had that provided any clues had been taken by Valkyrie.
Now as Alvin is sitting on a park bench Vlakyrie swoops down and grabs him and flies away. Then they vanish in a burst of light.

Back at Dr. Strange's home they find something that amazes even these two adventurers of the unknown. That Valkyrie could not have taken it as the Dr.'s crystal ball shows that she is sitting under a tree in Cobbler's Roost, Vermont. Ben takes off to find her in Cobbler's Roost but before he does the Dr. informs in that Val doesn't know who she really is. That she was created by the Enchantress and sometimes Valkyrie will inhabit the body of a young girl named Barbara.

On the way there Ben stops at a gas station for directions. The attendant attacks Ben and then reveals that he is really the Executioner. While he has Ben's attention it is the Enchantress who strikes him down. It was not Valkyrie who took the harmonica but the Enchantress disguised as Valkyrie. They leave and as they do they leave behind Ben and Alvin Denton.

Ben awakes and sees that he is not alone. Dr. Strange sends his projection of himself and informs Ben the man is who they have been seeking. He tells Ben that the forces they are fighting are too powerful for him to fight alone and to come back to New York. Ben tries but Alvin pleads with Ben to take him home to Vermont. It seems he is from Cobbler's Roost and he believes his daughter is in danger.

Ben takes him there and he sees his daughter Barbara. As she hears them come from behind she turns and become Valkyrie and is ready for battle. To her surprise the man runs up and hugs her. She pushes him away as she doesn't understand that this is Barbara's Father. The Enchantress and the Executioner reappear. Enchantress returns Val to being Barbara before she became Valkyrie. It seems that something drove Barbara insane and she became a madwoman. Alvin desperately wants to cure her and believe the harmonica that everyone is talking about holds all the answers. He takes it away from Enchantress and blows it.

In doing so he has fulfilled his destiny as the power of the mouth-harp blows up the world. Enchantress makes Barbara whole again by returning her to being Valkyrie. Enchantress tells Alvin to blow the harmonica again and restore order to the planet. But Alvin can't as he has lost the harmonica because he is having a heart attack.

Executioner tries to blow the harmonica but Ben stops him. Ben doesn't want to live in a world that would behave the way the Executioner thinks it should. Val tries to attack Enchantress
but can't as her magic created her and that prevents her from doing her harm. So she attacks Executioner. This frees Ben to take on the Enchantress. He defeats her and then he grabs the harmonica and blows it to put the world back together. He then joins Val and the defeat the Executioner together.

Val approaches her Father but he is dead. He can never fill her in on her past that she is missing in her memory. While the story here is ended her search for herself continued in Defenders #20.

Bicentennial Subscription Ad

Here is a subscription ad from 1976. You could get a Superman belt buckle if you sent in the top of 5 of your favorite comic books. At 30 cents each that came to $1.50 plus tax. Not much by today standards but it was a kings ransom for a kid living on an allowance or a part-time job. Plus I don't think DC still understood the collectors at that time. No comic book collector I knew was going to cut up their comic books just to get a belt buckle. I was never a belt buckle guy but I bet you could sell them for a nice penny on e-bay these days.

Superman #301

Ok so this isn't really a team-up. But when I saw this in the back issues at Comicbook World I had to buy it. After all how often do you see Superman fight Solomon Grundy?
The story is called "Solomon Grundy Wins On A Monday!" It is written by Gerry Conway and to my surprise it was drawn by J.L. Garcia Lopez. I was surprised as I thought Curt Swan would have drawn it as he did most of the Superman stories at this time.
The real story starts on Earth-Two where Solomon Grundy is trying to break the force field that was placed around his swamp by the two Green Lanterns. In a rare moment of intelligence the lonely Solomon Grundy realizes that if there are two Earths and two Green Lanterns then there must be another Solomon Grundy on the other Earth. He starts walking in his swamp and is determined to go to the other Earth to meet the other Grundy. As he walks Solomon Grundy disappears.
It is 6pm on Earth-One in Metropolis and anchorman Clark Kent is delivering the nightly news to the city. Suddenly there is a breaking news story that a monster (Solomon Grundy) is walking the streets of the city. How can Clark shange to Superman and still inform the city of the news? He seems to know how and in a flash he is defending Metroplois against the searching Grundy.
Grundy is stronger then he was during the last time he and Superman battled. Superman is able to slow him down long enough to ask him who brought him to Earth-One. To his surprise Grundy tells him he came on his own and he walked there. It seems that something in the swamp gave Grundy the power to bridge dimensions and also made him stronger on his trip over.
During their battle the streets of Metropolis start becoming filled with swamp water. The city is slowly turning into Grundy's swampy home. Meanwhile, a frightened Clark Kent has hit the streets to give his eyewitness report. Who is this new Clark Kent? It seems that Superman hypnotized sportscaster Steve Lombard and made him up to look and sound like Clark Kent.
Superman realizes that he can never defeat Grundy on land and in the air it would be a stalemate. So he dumps Grundy into the bay where he thinks he has a better chance of defeating him. Wouldn't a creature born in the swamp be more at home in water? Grundy proves he is smarter then Superman gave him credit. He puts a ship in the bay in danger so Superman will forget him and have to save the ship. After saving the ship Superman realizes that what Grundy wants.
The scene changes to Grundy on the docks. He hears his name called and turns to see another Solomon Gurndy. They become fast friends and the new Grundy takes the old one where no one will hurt them. With a giant leap they wind up on the moon.
When the Earth-Two Grundy turns to ask why he sees that he is alone again. The other Grundy is flying back to Earth. It was really Superman in disguise. The way he disguised Steve Lombard gave him the idea on how to fool Grundy. He feels bad about this since he was really just a lonely man but he was becoming a menace to the people.
Later we see the city is being cleared of the debris that Grundy and his swamp left in the streets. Clark wonders if there is a Earth-One Grundy somewhere. As the scene shows the swamp waters being pushed in the the sewers we are lead to believe that there may not be one now but that Solomon Grundy may have just arrived a little too early.

the Hawk and the Dove

Here is a DC Comics in house ad for one of my favorite duos. It is the brother team of the Hawk and the Dove. I have always loved the original team especially Don (Dove) Hall.

Batman and Santa Claus?

Here is a nice Christmas video I found. Batman and Santa team up. Or is it really Santa?

Aquaman Team-up Poll

While visiting my local comic book shop this weekend I was reminded of how when two series were failing they would team-up the two stars to try and have at least one hit instead of two flops. This was done in the 1960's when DC teamed the Atom and Hawkman. Unfortunately that still didn't give DC a hit. Marvel did it in the 1970's and had a bigger hit with Power Man and Iron Fist.

One of my favorite sites to read is the Aquaman Shrine. Knowing that Aquaman had a series that was canceled in the late 60's. It may have been 1970. Anyway I started to wonder who Aquaman would have been teamed with if DC went that way with him. Perhaps it would have been someone who had their own series fail or maybe someone with no series at all at the time.

I created a poll that you can see below. This time next week we can see who the readers of this blog would have liked to see the King of the Seven Seas work with in his battle against crime back in the 1960's.
I am posting this a little early as I may not have the time to do this tomorrow.

Aquaman Team-up Poll

Who would you team-up with Aquaman? The Creeper The Hawk and The Dove Wildcat Dr. Fate Elongated Man Martian Manhunter Red Tornado Metamorpho Current Results

JLA/JSA Crossover Ad

Not much time for a long posting today. The conclusion to the Marvel Two-In-One story will have to wait till later in the week. I am a bit under the weather so there may not be much to post for a few days. Till I can here is this quick ad.

I saw this ad in the Brave and the Bold #156. I don't recall ever seeing an ad only directed at the JLA/JSA crossovers. This was always a big event for me when I was a kid. It was hard for the teams to team-up as they were on two different Earths. Now that they have merged into one it isn't as big a deal when they do meet. Or perhaps it is because I have gotten older.

Also keep an eye out for my name at your local bookstore. I just signed a contract with a small publisher called Morning Sun Publishing to publish a children's book that I wrote. They want to get it out in time for Christmas this year as it is a Christmas story. I hope they do but I think it will be closer to next Christmas but I'll take it whenever it comes out. I had a short story publised once but this will be the first time I will have written a book.

Marvel Two-In-One #4

This issue is the first of a two part story. It is called "Doomsday 3014!" Ben is taking Wundarr to visit the Central Park Zoo. Ben isn't too happy at being a baby sitter for the man with the child like mind. Topping it off Wundarr calls him Unca Ben-Jee! So he is not too happy when he leaves him alone for a second that Wundarr decides to free the animals. Meanwhile another couple in the Zoo are SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter and her boyfriend Steve (Captain America) Rogers. Seeing all the commotion Steve changes into his battle garb and investigates. He sees that the Thing is handling the animals but not too far away thieves are taking advantage of the now empty concession stands and stealing the money. The Captain puts an end to this rather quickly.

Not much later Namor's cousin Namorita and her friend Annie come along. Namorita has just started college in Long Island and is living with Annie. They offer to take Wundarr in and tutor him. Ben agrees that might be best. After they leave The Thing meets up with Cap and Sharon. He invites them to the Baxter Building for some coffee.

When they arrive Mr. Fantastic stops his work on the time machine that has been occupying him that day. However, Ben accidentally turns the power on as they leave the room. It is while they are enjoying their quiet time that they hear a scream come from the lab. They rush in to find a young woman sitting in the middle of the time machine. They want answers as to how she got there but she can't tell them as she doesn't know. When she sees the city through a window she knows she is not in her time and passes out.

When she awakens she tells them she is from 3014 and that Earth was invaded in 3007 by the Badoon. Most of humanity is dead and the rest are slaves. Captain America is their symbol for freedom and liberty. The leaders of their underground are the Guardians of the Galaxy and they named their spaceship after Captain America.

In order to save Earth Mr. Fantastic decides to send Cap, Sharon and the Thing to 3014 with the girl. He will stay behind to bring them back. They must be at the exact spot where they arrived at in order to come back. Mr. Fantastic has never tried this before so he is uncertain if it can be done.

Once there it is night time and after curfew. The meet with the police force called the Zoms. These men were once human but now made to not feel pain and only follow orders. Our heroes are winning the battle so the Zoms call in their weapon the Monster of Badoon!

With the strength of this monster the Zoms easily defeat our three heroes. Yes I said three as the Zoms seem to have forgotten about the girl. The story is continued in issue #5 as the girl watches them leave she thinks to herself that the Badoon will live to regret forgetting her and leaving her behind.