SDCC Stories: Fallen Angels & Fickle Fandom

As I prepare to depart for my fifth trip to San Diego’s Comic-Con International (fourth consecutive) next week, my mind wanders back to SDCCs past and the adventures therein. While each holds a special place in my heart, from the initial job-seeking odyssey back in 2004 alongside Tim Stevens to last year’s Marvel livestreaming tour de force, if I were put on the spot and asked to pick out a favorite, I believe 2010 would leap to the fore.

SDCC 2010 was really a tale of two shows for me when it came to after hours hijinx. Half the time I was led down the path of debauchery by this man…

…yes, reigning TNA World Tag Team champion Christopher Daniels, “Fallen Angel” and master of mischief. Some of my favorite SDCC memories period have spent in the company of my rasslin’ buddy, whether helping his conduct his “Fallen Angel Files” video interviews for Marvel.com (getting Travis Charest to cut a wrestling promo that fell somewhere between “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Popeye), meeting his rad family (his daughter Jerica was not only the most adorable host we ever had on Marvel.com, she also asked her dad if I was a wrestler too, causing him to point at my lack of biceps and laugh hysterically) or terrifying my poor wife by putting his buddy Curry Man on the phone to say hi. Chris is one of the most interesting and hilarious guys I know, but also a genuinely good fellow who I don’t get to see nearly often enough, so getting to hang out in sunny San Diego with my bud is a consistent highlight.

Of course the debauchery comes after the show floor closes and I find myself in his company at a party on the roof of PETCO Park and then back in Jeff Katz’s hotel room having a conversation with Shane Helms about how you market Captain America overseas and Samoa Joe congratulates Jill Thompson on her Eisner win (yes, this is the PG-rated version of that story with certain names omitted—Helms is a father now, after all!). There was also last year where Daniels, Eric Young and Kazarian tried to figure out how they could reasonably split my one free drinks bracelet between the three of them at the Marvel party, but I suppose jumping ahead to 2011 is cheating…although that really was the story.

Bottom line: Wander the streets of San Diego with Christopher Daniels and a good time will be had.

Good times were also had throughout 2010—and have happily continued—with my comic book SDCC “family” of Todd Nauck and his wife, Dawn, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Brad Walker and Tom Brennan. Todd and Dawn are two of my favorite people on the planet and probably in the top five as far as the nicest (I’m only saying top five because there are several million people I haven’t met yet), DnA are as wonderfully entertaining and friendly in life as they are brilliant in writing, and Brad is a joy with a smile as big as his artistic talent (I am a writer and this is how I compliment people). We spent many a rousing dinner, be it around Odin’s plinth (some long wooden table we found in a bar) or at the ritzy seafood place Mike McKone (another gem) invited us along to. I had hours of fun with this gang and then reported it all home to my jealous wife.

Oh yeah, and Tom Brennan was there too.

Ok, here’s the deal with Tom Brennan: He’s a co-worker and—I hope he’ll let me get away with this—friend of mine who I rag on a lot. To be fair, he has it coming to him. Ok, no he doesn’t. Tom is very funny and quick witted and for some reason lets me berate him with my brand of “humor” without eviscerating me in return. He’s also one of the hardest working, smartest editors at Marvel who never gets enough credit for his work (the Harvey-nominated Shame Itself, one of the most entertaining one-shots you will ever read, was birthed by Tom through sheer force of will, I believe).

Now let tell a story about Tom Brennan from SDCC 2010 (not the one where we waited in line to meet “Captain America: The First Avenger” director Joe Johnson because we wanted to get his autograph and I confided in Tom I wasn’t that familiar with his work and he told me that was ok because he wasn’t either then stabbed me in the back by waxing poetic about “The Rocketeer” for ten minutes leaving me to follow up with “Uh…good luck with the movie”—I won’t be telling that story).

Brennan and I are hanging out at the Marvel booth, doing crowd control or something (“crowd control” was what Tom and I would tell everybody we were doing when Tim Dillon was looking for us to do real work) when a group of young men approached us, the lead hooligan with rampant excitement in his eyes. “Oh my god, I am such a big fan of yours…” he began to Tom Brennan—yes, that Tom Brennan—before continuing with “…but which one are you?” A flattered but confused Brennanator asked for clarification of the previous statement, to which the lad responded with “Are you the one from X-Men or Smallville?”

At this point we realized this kid thought Tom was one of the Ashmore twins, Shawn and Aaron, an admittedly not too outlandish comparison that he claims he has gotten before.

Tom, an improvisational actor to the core, ran with it and said he was actually the lesser known third Ashmore triplet, Tom, and that he was promoting nothing in particular. The kid was a bit confused, but still quite excited to be meeting even a tangential famous person. Tom kept it up for another half minute or so before giving it up and admitting he was merely Tom Brennan, editor of Spider-Man.

Without even a pause for breath, the kid did a complete 180 that would have left most dizzy and begin tearing into Tom for One More Day.

Where can Tom Brennan be mistaken for an actor one second and castigated for being a comic book editor the next? Only in San Diego, gang.

Ben's San Diego Comic-Con Photo Parade

In past years, myself and the other members of this blog have put together elaborate recollections of our wild times at San Diego Comic-Con telling daring tales of after hours shenanigans and inspirational stories of professionalism by day.

You may have noticed a dearth of such posts this year.

Now don't by any means take this lack of reporting to mean we have slowed down our crazy nights (I mean, no more so than usual given my scaled down approach to "partying"; I'm no Kiel Phegley) or that we're any less heroes of journalism (not that Kevin, Rickey or have ever been such, since we work for "The Man" and "The Other Man"; man, Kiel really is the best of us). While I can't speak for my fellows, I can say the reason for my lack of San Diego share-age was simply that the whole thing was kind of a blur.

Seriously, I had a lot of fun, but the whole five day affair felt like it got compressed into 48 hours or so. Much of that was because of the time spent getting Marvel Live up and running then maintaining it throughout the week, which somewhat threw my con into overdrive, but in general, it just felt like time flew. The good times were there in spades, but I wasn't able to stop and mentally catalog them as thoroughly as I may have in the past.

At this stage at the game I'm also past racing to every party or trying to score face time with every single person I haven't seen (though, again, I was never really that guy). Honestly, my fondest memories of San Diego aside from the crazy moments tend to be getting to have a nice dinner with the friends I don't get to see more than once or twice a year or even getting to steal ten minutes with Phil Jimenez or Jamal Igle in between Live segments. Younger men can have the Hyatt Bar (all yours, K-Smooth), I'm content to get grilled calamari at Tin Fish with my crew.

But as I said, my inherent lameness aside, I still happened upon some cool and memorable stuff out in San Diego, such as...

-Scouring the streets of the Gaslamp for a liquor store open past 10 pm with the Marvel.com video team and Harry Go then settling for CVS five minutes before it closed.

-Eating the most awesome Mexican food to ever make me fell really sick and then rallying the same night to debate the definition of a beach with Kiel and Laura Hudson on the deck of the Hilton.

-Bringing the guys from Impact Wrestling into the Marvel party around midnight and watching a hush fall over the room as it looked like I'd left and brought back a well-groomed biker gang; subsequently watching Christopher Daniels and Peter David try to out enthusiastically hand gesture each other in a spirited conversation while Eric Young struggle to figure out how to operate my free drinks bracelet (my only regret is turning down an invite for a Kurt Angle-hosted nightcap at the House of Blues, but I had to work the next day).

-Reversing that adventure by accompanying Todd and Dawn Nauck to their first ever live wrestling show hosted by Impact Wrestling at a local club (sadly we arrived too late for the matches, but still got to mooch off the free food and see the ring get taken down).

-And, of course, Megan's favorite story wherein at the brink of exhaustion (I had just asked my pal Jesse Falcon if I ever gave him the stick of gum I had given him 30 seconds earlier) I was way too enthusiastic to meet Mel Caylo's buddy Scott Porter (give me a break, I *just* finished Friday Night Lights).

But of course they say a picture tells a thousand words, so enough typing for me...

Here's myself and my capable co-hosts "Agent M" Ryan Penagos and Grace Randolph as we're preparing to kick off a day of Marvel Live. I'm pretty sure Hunter Lydon photographed this one, as he was always encouraging me to bust out Blue Steel. I haven't looked this boy band-ready in years. And check out those mint Avengers t-shirts that we were giving away exclusively at the show.

As you likely gleamed from above, San Diego has become, for me, in addition to a place to indulge my love of the comics medium, an event where I can celebrate my fandom for professional wrestling and where I've gotten to meet and get to know some really cool folks who work in that industry. This year was no exception as Mike Kingston's Headlocked booth provides a great hub for the SDCC wrestling contingent, and where I got to catch up with Ring of Honor producer Dave Lagana as well as Wrestling Revolution founder Jeff Katz, plus snap this pic with Eric Young after I defeated him for the Impact Wrestling Television title; it's long been a little dream of mine to pose with a championship belt, so thank you again, Eric, and you can have your rematch next time you're in Jersey.

At the conclusion of either Preview Night or the Thursday, we spotted a dude in Khal Drogo cosplay gear a few booths over from Marvel. Our new Social Media Director Janna O'Shea and I were particularly enthused and implored our intern, Ashley McCollum, to solicit the guy pretty out of nowhere to come take a picture with us; to her credit--or foolishness--she actually did it with minimal protest, forever earning a place in my heart as the girl who tapped the half naked guy with the scythe on the shoulder and said her bosses wanted a photo with him. As you can see here, Ryan and our boss John Cerilli also joined the fun.

I interviewed the Impact Wrestling guys on Friday to promote their live event Saturday and afterwards got this pic of what would be no doubt be a stable to be reckoned with: Eric Young, me, Christopher Daniels, Ryan Penagos and Kazarian. From what I understand, Beer Money are terrified we'll be taking their spots in Fortune.

I've met Stan Lee a couple times, have gotten my picture with him, interviewed him and even received kind wishes from him on my wedding day (Kiel had done a phoner with him on the way to the ceremony and recorded him saying congrats after letting him know where he was headed), but it's a thrill every time. Here, I was off to the side while Ryan and Grace interviewed Stan and witnessed two memorable moments: First was Stan saying he was parched the whole shoot and then totally swiping the half-consumed bottled water I had left on the table and second us urging him to take the stairs off the stage and him instead making a Spider-Man like leap three feet to the floor. Stan Lee is amazing (he still owes me a water).

We had another Impact Wrestling guest on Marvel Live later Friday, and it was none other than Rob Van Dam, who was super nice and extremely on the ball when it comes to comics (no surprise, he did used to own his own store). Had a great chat with RVD about his own efforts to self-publish a comic and his favorite character, Ghost Rider (he was a bit wary of a female GR, but I think I sold him). After we finished interview, Janna, who has never said word one about wrestling, grabbed me and said "Is that Rob Van Dam?! He's awesome!" hence the picture above.

After recovering from my Scott Porter debacle, I got back on the horse and dusted myself off to team with Grace and interview Clark Gregg, aka S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson from the Marvel movies. Judy Stephens (I'm pretty sure) got a nice action shot here (as "action" as comic book "journalism" gets) and I certainly look like I'm working hard. Truthfully, Clark made it easy, as he was friendly, easygoing, and crazy revved up for somebody who had been working the show and the crowd all day. To my credit, I think I got some insightful questions in, none of which I can remember. My favorite bit was definitely at the end when I said to the camera "Clark Gregg, everybody!" and he shot back with "Grace and Ben, everybody!" Good people.

A couple months ago, I noted that Chris Daniels was selling an old pair of wrestling tights on eBay and joked I needed them for Comic-Con. A gent noticed this, challenged me to back up my words and said he'd put my kids (who don't exist) through college if I followed through. Chris said he'd bring the tights. I thought he was joking. He was not. Thus I spent part of Saturday morning sporting Fallen Angel gear over my khakis and pitching my and Chris' mixed tag team to compete against duos that included midgets. Here, I'm poised to tact my erstwhile and unsuspecting partner.

Me on Saturday night with two of my dearest friends in comics, artist Todd Nauck and his lovely wife Dawn. I end up spending most of my after hours time at SDCC with them as they're genuinely fantastic people and we never stop laughing. When Todd's on the East coast for a show, Megan and I hang with him and have an excellent time as well. Amazingly, Megan and Dawn have never met, as neither has made the trip to the other side of the country in some time, but I can't wait until all four of us can finally get together. Todd and Dawn make me smile.

One last hurrah with my wrestling pals as I play the role of a thin, pale A.J. Styles with Daniels and Kazarian. As an aside, I thought I had grabbed two of the Defenders shirts we were giving out at the show--a small for Megan and medium for me--as I needed Marvel gear for every day I was on camera; Sunday morning I woke up, threw my shirt on and realized all I had was Megan's, and it did not look so hot on me. I did a last minute raid of the booth and found this kick ass Thor "Wing Man" shirt which I will now cherish.

As cool and unique way to end my Comic-Con experience, I got to, along with Grace, interview the entrants in the Ultimate Marvel Cake contests, the winning entry of which is shown above. I love cooking shows and am fascinated by how truly great food comes together and the art of it all, so interviewing these skilled pastry chefs was really neat, although having not had breakfast, the smell was like sweet torture.

Hey, looks like I had a pretty packed Comic-Con after all! Go me!

Art Attack: Anniversary/Birthday Present

I am blessed for so many wonderful things in my life, but nothing more than my amazing wife, Megan. A few months ago, we celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary and coming up next weekend is my 29th birthday; to commemorate both, Megan commissioned me an amazing piece of art from our buddy Todd Nauck...
It's me and Megan surrounded by my very favorite characters, Nova and The Flash, as well as her namesake, Miss Martian. Oh, and also Captain America (Megan wanted to include another Marvel icon). We're all chilling at the spot Megan and I took photos following our wedding in Newport, Rhode Island with us in our tux and dress.

I'm fortunate enough to have a great many original art pieces from Todd, but no question, this is my favorite yet. His incredible talent is undeniable and wow does he draw a wicked Flash.

In conclusion: I may be getting up there in the years, but I'm a luckier dude than ever! Thank you Todd and I love you so much, Megan!

Ben's SDCC 2010 After Hours Adventures pt. 1

By now you’ve read a zillion and one reports on last week’s San Diego Comic-Con International—including mine and Kiel’s—giving you all the details on the panels, announcements and other spectacular happenings during the show itself. But haven’t you been yearning to read about what a legitimate comic book professional does after the convention hall closes its doors to the public each evening?

Well, in that case, I wish you the best of luck finding a legitimate comic book professional to spin those yarns for you.

In the mean time, here’s what I did during the late PM and early AM hours of my San Diego experience.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
It’s tough to have a fuller day that I had Wednesday, as it was wake up at 5:00 AM or so Eastern time, get to Newark Airport, hop on a six-hour plane ride to San Diego, check into my hotel, grab a bite, book it to the convention center, then help assemble the Marvel booth and hobnob with fans and pros for a bit during Preview Night (“hobnob” really meaning tell people where stuff is and keep them off Odin’s throne until it’s all set up).

By 9:00 when the show floor closed, I and the rest of my posse were pretty wiped, so we made the easy beeline to the Tin Fish across the street to score some quick grub before passing out. In this case said posse consisted of myself, Ryan Penagos, John Cerilli, Marc Strom, our photographer Ryan Russell and illustrious Spider-Man assistant editor Tom “The Third Ashmore” Brennan (so called because a fan mistook him for Shawn Ashmore one day of the show and acted awestruck for 30 seconds or so before realizing who he actually was and complaining about Brand New Day).

I am much in Mr. Penagos’ debt for introducing me to Tin Fish last year, as it’s not only conveniently located a literal stone’s throw from the show (I mean, you need to put some heft into your throw, but still), but also boasts great eats and a pleasant outdoor seating area where you can really enjoy the great San Diego weather and get a neat view of the goings on around the Gaslamp District. Dinner was a good chance for me to bond with Mr. Brennan, who would become the Toejam to my Earl as the weekend went, learning a bit more about his mystery-enshrouded personal life and explaining to him why San Diego is pretty much my ideal dream city to live in some day.

But as much as I enjoy hanging with T-Bone, the highlight of Tin Fish is without question its grilled calamari, which I waited 12 long months to experience once more. Calamari is absolutely delicious and among my favorite things to eat, but most places you can only get it fried as an appetizer, which makes my mouth happy, but not my stomach; Tin Fish has an awesome version sans deep-frying which serves as a satisfying and scrumptious meal accompanied by awesome waffle fries.

We got back to the room about 11:30 and while Ryan P. opted for bed, I headed over to the Hyatt bar to meet up with Rickey and Kiel real quick. I actually ended up bumping into Todd and Dawn Nauck, two of my favorite folks in the comics world, and chatted them up after our usual greeting which consists of a hearty handshake for Todd and kiss on the cheek for Dawn that I assure her is “an East coast thing” (this year I finally confessed it is not). Things actually got pretty fast and furious for me as seemingly everybody I knew from Kevin to “Big” Jim Gibbons to ComicsAlliance’s Laura Hudson to more ex-Wizard chums converged on where I was standing and Megan also called to say goodnight, so I was multitasking and socializing like a champ. I hung around way past my bed time and offered up a prayer that I’d be able to wake up a few hours later.

THURSDAY, JULY 22
First real night of the con, I got a dinner invite I could not—and would never want to—pass up from the Naucks to sup with them as well as cosmic writing dream team Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning as well as their erstwhile Guardians of the Galaxy artist Brad Walker. As DnA were late arrived from England following a delay in their flight while Todd and Brad (and Dawn) had better things to do, restaurant arrangements were left to me—the fools.

Luckily I had a lull in liveblogging a panel and free Wi Fi to spare, so I figured out that the Hyatte, where they were all staying anyhow, had plenty of places to eat, including Redfield’s Sports Bar, where we ended up.

When I got to the lobby, Todd and Dawn were running a bit late, so I killed time with the space cowboys and officially met Brad for the first time. A few minutes later, we were joined by a slightly shaken Nauck duo who had just spent an hour dealing with hotel security after a flyer for some video game party (or something) was left on their bathroom mirror and the bell desk knew nothing about it; turned out to be a kinda crappy viral stunt perpetrated on most of the major hotels housing con guests (Ryan and I got one in our room but rather than reacting sensibly like Todd and Dawn, just left it on our mirror for two days because we’re lazy).

Redfield’s was nice and laid back, the only downside being there weren’t any real tables so we ended up at the (pictured above) thing that Dan and Andy christened “Odin’s [some British word I don’t remember].” Actually, that wasn’t a downside, it was awesome.

Brad and I both ordered Kobe beef hot dogs that have probably ruined regular hot dogs for us for the rest of our lives they were so good (it’s worth noting this did not prevent me from having several more convention center hot dogs over the course of the show as they along with soft pretzels composed the bulk of my diet). As for entertainment, that was provided by the Brits, who are just friggin’ hilarious, Andy in particular (I don’t think Dan would take offense at my saying so as he seems quite content in his role as straight man to Andy’s manic stand-up). They had us all rolling, especially Dawn, who had heard tales from Todd of their humor, but was witnessing it for the first time in person; getting Dawn’s attention by yelling “Dawn! Dawn! I believe Andy is telling a joke!” became a running gag for the weekend.

Incidentally I also got to hear a top secret DnA pitch that could have been and would have been awesome on a major character that made me hope someday the stars will align because it would be so so cool.

Relatively early night after spending a bit more time with just the Naucks and seeing Mike Carlin for the first time in a couple years, during the course of which I learned there is a 25-year-old Secret Wars promotional video haunting the Marvel offices that must be mine.

To be continued...

Underrated/Overlooked: Sins of Youth

Young Justice isn’t just one of my favorite comics of all-time, it’s also in my mind a tremendous accomplishment.

That may have made a few of you scratch your heads; no, Young Justice wasn’t a game-changer like Watchmen or record-breaker like Civil War, but hear me out on the impressive merits it did possess.

I’ve extolled the virtues of Peter David on this blog before, and this is another one of his triumphs. As usual, he did a long haul job, penning 55 uninterrupted (there may have been one fill-in) issues plus numerous Annuals, specials, etc. over the course of five years. Young Justice is as funny and as poignant in spots as his work on Incredible Hulk or Supergirl, but it’s also far more metatextual and self-aware than even PAD’s usual stuff. There’s a scene in one of the later issues that’s one of my favorites that took place just a few months after Superboy and Impulse’s solo books getting cancelled and has The Ray relating to them about “their favorite comics” ending and all of them giving Robin the evil eye when it enters the room—fun but clever bits like that just peppered the book.

But maybe more impressive than the impressive effort put in by PAD was the breakout performance of my good pal Todd Nauck, who absolutely owned this series. It’s not unheard of for a writer, particularly one with the rep of Peter David, to spend half a decade perfecting his craft on a title, but in this day and age, generally guys not named Mark Bagley don’t stick around as long; not only did Todd match PAD for longevity on Young Justice, he utilized his growing familiarity with the characters as a way to constantly up his game and make improvements of what he already knew as well as bringing something new to the table nearly every month (Snapper Carr’s collection of super hero-themed t-shirts—ranging from Plastic Man to Metron—immediately comes to mind). Todd is that rarest breed of modern artist who can draw as fast as he does well (again, shades of Mark Bagley); he drew nearly every issue of Young Justice plus one-shots plus sometimes other series, but it never looked rushed or half-finished. If you look at Young Justice as a showcase for Todd Nauck—and it’s many other things but it’s certainly that in large part—you’ll see a guy who indeed draws fun, colorful cartoons, which is what he’s best-known for, but also an incredible range from an artist who spent five years with these characters and truly shepherded them into young adulthood.

So yeah, not even getting into all the other stuff Young Justice did well—reclaim obscure characters, new takes on tired settings, defying expectations with issues addressing real world hot button stuff, and of course all the great humor along the way—it was just a great series. I hail it as an accomplishment because without many stunts or aggressive promotion, it really was a book that achieved a lot on the backs of two guys who just worked really really hard.

And about a year and a half into their run, DC rewarded the creators of Young Justice by making the book the center of a company-encompassing fifth week event.

The set-up for Sins of Youth took place both in the pages of Young Justice and in Superboy’s ongoing series as the Agenda—a sort of renegade version of Cadmus, also focusing on cloning—led by Lex Luthor’s ex-wife Contessa expands their grudge against Kon-El to his team as well. Attempting to turn public sentiment against the young heroes of the DC Universe, the Agenda manipulates aged Golden Age teen sidekicks (including Dan the Dyna-Mite, which has always weirded me out since he had Hitler’s brain put in his head in The Golden Age, but was played mostly for laughs here) into forming Old Justice and publicly campaigning against their youthful counterparts. In order to address their detractors, Young Justice—under Wonder Girl’s temporary leadership because Batman won’t let Robin appear in public—sets up a summit in Washington DC with member of the JLA, JSA, Titans, et al coming out en masse to either support the kids or keep them out of trouble.

At the rally, chaos ensues like wow as the real Superboy shows up and reveals his evil clone Match has been posing as him, the Agenda’s clone army the Point Men attack, and for the coup de grace Klarion the Witch Boy—also hired by the Agenda and in a more lighthearted pre-Grant Morrison incarnation—mixes his magic with an alien space ray whipped out by Old Justice’s Doiby Dickles to make all the older heroes young and vice versa (except for Superboy, who initially can’t age because he’s a clone though this gets rectified in the second chapter after he kvetches about it, and the original Teen Titans who learn they were previously exposed to the same magic/science mix in a short Secret Files & Origin story written by my boy Jay Faerber).

From there, it’s a series of adventures all over the DCU as the various aged and de-aged heroes run around trying to figure out ways to reverse the situation, to defeat the Agenda, or to just have fun with their new status quo. The action unfolds in a series of one-shots—all with killer Mike Wieringo covers—by various creators wedged between the bookends by PAD and Nauck.

Yes, the ol’ age swap routine is absolutely a gimmick, but as the great Sean T. Collins has said, the best, most successful events no matter how nuanced or deep always center around something your inner 8-year-old can latch onto and enjoy (Civil War is heroes vs heroes, Blackest Night is a zombie movie, etc.)—this is certainly the case with Sins of Youth.

Even if the bookends are more an excuse to set up/resolve the plot along than anything else, PAD and especially Nauck take full advantage of the spotlight being given them and really show off what they and their characters can do. Wonder Girl is at her most heroic, Impulse is at his goofiest, Secret is at her quirkiest, and if you were wondering how Robin would fit in a team book, you get an idea of what a neat dynamic it is. Todd really goes to town drawing the entire roster of DC heroes, cramming as many as he can into a page George Perez-style and making the fight sequences sing with crackling energy and about a billion punches and energy blasts being thrown.

The one-shots are, as you’d expect, of varying degrees of quality, but most of the writers really sink their teeth into the concept, providing insight into what drives the older heroes as well as establishing the credibility of their sidekicks to a greater degree, while also following the general Young Justice mandate of “Have a good time.”

Chuck Dixon and Cary Nord handle the Batboy and Robin one-shot, which—appropriately given the characters—is probably the most serious an introspective of the series, though of course not without lighter moments. Taking a break from the larger crossover to check in on Gotham City, Tim Drake as Batman and Bruce Wayne as Robin rescue Zatanna from a group of villainous Russians. There’s some genuine insight as to how each guy views the other’s role over the course of the adventure as both struggle—Tim can’t do the “Batman” voice to fool Commissioner Gordon or get used to calling him “Jim,” Bruce regrets never having a real childhood—and Tim admits for the first time he doesn’t ever really want to be Batman. It also sets up a funny scene in Sins of Youth #2 where Tim tries to have a beer with his father and ends up spitting it all over him.

JLA, Jr. is more of the romp you’d expect, with Dan Curtis Johnson providing the script and Carlo Barberi rocking it on art as Captain Marvel takes the little Leaguers to see his wizard. Seriously, Barberi doesn’t draw Kyle Rayner in the same costume in any two panels, having him use his ring to whip up new ones every single time he is shown—it’s awesome. I also enjoy Aquaboy using the JLA roster files as Internet porn.

As a Flash fan, I am of course a sucker for Kid Flash/Impulse by Dwayne McDuffie and Angel Unzueta, wherein the speedsters embark on a PR tour to try and salvage the good guys’ image. I love Unzueta’s design for the grown-up Impulse costume and McDuffie’s characterization of young Wally West as perpetually impatient and annoyed. The best scene is definitely Wally briefly getting back to his honeymoon—which was interrupted by all this—and getting totally shot down by Linda when he tries to score.

Starwoman and the JSA is written by some dude named Geoff Johns with art by Drew Johnson. It’s another fun one as the Golden Agers head to outer space with the adult Stargirl as their babysitter; Geoff’s love for the characters shines through and he gets to do some nice work showcasing his creation, Stargirl/Starwoman, and her potential.

The compliment to Batboy and Robin, Superman, Jr./Superboy, Sr. by Karl Kesel and Rob Haynes, progresses Kal-El and Kon-El’s relationship in some pretty significant ways. Most importantly, Superman finally confesses his secret identity as Clark Kent to Superboy—only for Superboy to let him know he had already figured it out some time ago. It’s a nice moment in a book full of them plus a big ol’ fight scene made more awesome by Haynes’ unique style.

It all culminates in the second bookend, in which Klarion—and Peter David—up the ante by introducing a dozen or so de-aged villains into the mix, forcing the heroes—and Todd Nauck—to rise to the occasion double time. I won’t spoil who wins between the good guys and bad guys, but Todd absolutely comes out a champ.

Sins of Youth is a timeless, enjoyable story I probably pull off my shelf more than any other trade I own because it always cheers me up and makes me chuckle—and reminds me how much I miss Young Justice.

Art Attack: Megan's Miss Martian Sketchbook

I've already told you all the secret origin of Miss Martian and how my wife, Megan, inspired everybody's favorite green Teen Titan, and also showed the kickin' piece she got from Ethan Van Sciver to canvas the inside cover of her sketchbook. But as with my Nova-themed book, Megan has amassed an impressive collection of Miss Martian sketches from various talented artists, and thanks to the magic of the scanner I got for Christmas, I'm pleased to present them here now...

Todd Nauck
It should surprise nobody that the first official entry in Megan's book is from our good buddy Todd Nauck. The always gracious Mr. Nauck had actually already drawn an incarnation of Miss Martian in the Teen Titans Go! comic adapting the animated series, but not so much the "classic" version. Todd had done his share of commissions and of course put some extra "oomph" in for my girl, putting together this sweet mix of the fun cartoon style and more refined "real" M'gann M'orzz.

Bill Willingham
One of the first comics Megan got into on a regular basis was Fables, so when I spotted the book's writer, Bill Willingham, in Artist's Alley at a Wizard World Los Angeles the weekend of her birthday, I thought one nice present would be a Miss Martian sketch from the man himself. An artist as well as talented writer, Bill had no problem putting pencil to paper and also as a bonus made the piece an unofficial Teen Titans/Fables crossover, with Miss Martian meeting Snow White and learning her unique "super power."

Juan Doe
Another buddy of mine from my Wizard days, ultra-talented man of mystery Juan Doe was extremely enthusiastic about contributing to this sketchbook (although he still refers to the character as "Martian Girl"). As with everything Juan does, this sucker is utterly unique and wonderfully stylized, bringing his knack for design and dynamic sensibility to a character he had never encountered before; just beautiful stuff.

Don Kramer
Another one of those "nicest guys in comics" you're always hearing about, Don Kramer actually lobbied to get a crack at Megan's book, and I'm not gonna say no to somebody with Don's mad skills (and suave good looks). This may look like it took weeks, but Don did it in an afternoon, complete with awesome background and incredible shading. Miss Martian seriously looks like a real figure ready to fly off the friggin' page. This is the kind of care and nuance Don puts into every single commission he does, so if you're at a convention he's attending, do yourself a big favor and track him down (and to the comic book powers that be: give him more work!).

Franco Aureliani
While she was serving as Wizard's official on-screen interviewer at their 2008's Philadelphia convention, Megan hit it off with Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, the co-creators of the Eisner award-winning Tiny Titans, which is tough not to do because those dudes are just fun. As they had recently introduced a super cute Miss Martian into Tiny Titans, upon learning of Megan's tie to the character, Franco was more than happy to do this adorable piece.

Dennis Calero
The second two-page spread in Megan's sketchbook came from X Men Noir artist Dennis Calero, who worked long and hard to create a dark, moody Miss Martian who certainly stands out from the pack and does not look like a lady you want to mess with. Not so sure about the bit in the bottom corner (I think he was a bit sleep-deprived), but no question Dennis has a one-of-a-kind style and finesses every line he puts on the paper, so it was cool to see his take here.

Terry Montimore
After he did a kick ass Nova sketch for me, my officemate Margarita's beau, Terry, was hungry for more and did this lovely layout for Megan just in time for our wedding. Believe it or not, this is not Terry's day job, which is pretty insane given how good he is at it. Terry has a great sense of humor and fun, which he does a great job conveying in his art, from the exaggerated facial features to the neat touch of the puppy. Why did he decide to include the Men in Black? Not entirely sure, but it works. I also love the color, which really makes the whole thing pop and adds a new dimension.

The Definitives: Superboy

Back when I was a kid (well, depending on how far your definition of “kid” extends) and still didn’t know much about the DC Universe, I did know one thing: I really dug Superboy. And no, I don’t mean Clark Kent when he was a boy, I mean the dude who would go on to become Kon-El and later Conner Kent, the guy who rocked a zillion belts in the strangest places before moving to a t-shirt and jeans—that Superboy. Before I knew that Wally West was the guy wearing the Flash outfit or that Dick Grayson wasn’t Robin anymore, Superboy was far and away my favorite DC character.

With the all-too-short run by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul on Adventure Comics coming to an end recently, it made me reflect back on how much I dig Superboy, who may not be my favorite character in the DCU anymore, but he still sits comfortably in the top three.

I may have said as much in earlier posts (we’ve written quite a few of them at this point, folks), but Superboy just came along at the perfect time for me, as I was hitting my semi-rebellious (or more wannabe rebellious) early teen years and a wiseass kid with a fade haircut, leather jacket and earring who hit on chicks was the avatar of all I found cool in the early 90’s. It wasn’t a case of image being everything though, as Superboy’s creators Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett really infused him with a feel-good, “this is fun” energy that the grim and gritty years were sorely lacking and that I didn’t even realize I was missing.

As I grew up and came back to comics, it was nice to see that Superboy had matured a bit too under the pen of writers like Peter David and Geoff, but not too much. Here are some of the Superboy stories from over the years that have always kept the character on my list of faves.

Reign of the Supermen
I’ve heard in read in various interviews and accounts (including a Wizard Retrospective I helped edit) that Superboy’s creators weren’t completely shocked by his almost-immediate popularity, but at least somewhat surprised he caught on the way he did. I know hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but even at the time of “Reign of the Supermen,” I had a good feeling Superboy would stick around if only because in one of the most epic of epic storylines, he still stood out brightly among a cast of dozens. Fashion sense aside, Superboy was the breath of fresh air fans such as myself were looking for in a story where you had a Cyborg Superman blowing up Coast City, the shades-wearing Eradicator frying criminals while wearing an “S” on his chest and the real Man of Steel sporting a Fabio mullet; amidst the doom and gloom (that, don’t get me wrong, was still a killer story), Superboy hearkened back to comics being fun. I also always dug that while the other three would-be Supermen were being positioned as possible replacements, it was always up front that Superboy (or then “don’t call me Superboy!”) was a clone and not trying to convince anybody of anything. Kesel and the other Superman writers of the day did a nice job using the “The Kid” as comic relief, but also as a hero from the word go, anxious to prove himself if somewhat lacking in attention span.

Superboy #1-5
In the first half-dozen issues of Superboy’s first solo series, Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett did an exemplary bit of world-building that many creators today could learn a nice lesson from. Right off, they dropped The Kid in a totally exotic (in more ways than one) locale, Hawaii, to set him apart from anybody else in the DC Universe and then set about populating this new frontier. Superboy carried over his ambitious girlfriend Tana Moon as well as sleazy agent with a heart of gold Rex Leech and his bombshell daughter Roxy from his Adventures of Superman run, but then also added sage advisor (and Jack Kirby creation) Dubbilex and sober cop Sam Makoa (Hawaii’s Commissioner Gordon) to round out a solid supporting cast. Within five issues, Kesel and Grummett provided their protagonist with the start of a unique rogues gallery in the hapless Sidearm, bad girl Knockout, crazed Scavenger, and noble yet misguided Silversword. Of all these new creations, Knockout would prove the most enduring and intriguing, taking The Kid’s propensity for ogling beautiful women and turning it against him in the worst of ways (it’s also kinda cool that she’d go on to venture outside Superboy’s world thanks mostly to Gail Simone, though I wish the two of them had been able to have one last tangle before her untimely demise). In under six months, Hawaii was nearly as fleshed out a DCU locale as at least Midway or Star City and ready to contend with the Gothams of the world (though how so many super villains ended up in the islands I’ll never understand). Oh, and I can’t conclude this section without throwing particular props to the awesome Superboy #4, featuring Rex Leech’s skewed “Superboy: The Animated Series,” as illustrated brilliantly by the late Mike Parobeck).

“Watery Grave” (Superboy #13-15)
This three-parter from 1995 was actually my very first exposure to the Suicide Squad back before I was aware of much beyond that there had at one time been a team and book with that name. It’s pretty neat stuff as it places the happy go-lucky Kid in way over his head amongst a group of unrepentant thugs and murderers who stand in stark contrast to his bluster and general optimism. The story itself has Superboy and the Squad going after perennial string-pullers the Silicon Dragons in the culmination to much of what Kesel had been laying down over the book’s first year; Kesel also does a great job playing out the intrigue of a traitor within the group, a common theme, but one he nicely misdirects more than once. The action is top-notch as expertly done by Grummett and by the end of the story Superboy has definitely grown up a little following his first real solo epic—but not too much.

Sins of Youth
Superboy Definitives or not, I heartily recommend Sins of Youth just because it’s a fantastic and wonderfully entertaining story with more actually funny humor than just about any comics event ever plus Todd Nauck outdoing himself again and again, but it is cool that at its heart, this is a DCU-wide story that centers around Young Justice and, more specifically, Superboy. The gimmick of adult super heroes becoming teens and the young good guys getting older is a neat hook, but it’s also central to the through line of Superboy’s big character arc: that he can never grow up even if he wants to. Amidst the laughs and visual hilarity of this adventure, Karl Kesel and Peter David in particular give Kon some incredible pathos as well as one major turning point event that made the 11-year-old in me shed a tear for certain.

Superboy #83
It seems like I do nary a list for this blog without mentioning how perpetually skilled and underrated Joe Kelly is as a writer, but hey, you can’t fight truth. Back at the turn of the century, Kelly had another one of his too-short oddball runs on a book when he took on Superboy with artist Pascual Ferry and had a good ol’ time mixing smart comedy with straight up weirdness involving gorillas, robots and the like. His first issue was a particularly witty bit of meta-textual storytelling, as Superboy realized that he had somehow become considered “uncool” within the confines of the DC Universe and sets about giving himself a makeover that dragged him visually beyond 1993 and into 2001. As Kon muses on how he lost his hipness and chats with guest stars over how to regain it, Kelly does nice work picking apart the character and explaining why he is in fact timeless regardless of whether or not he needs a new costume.

Teen Titans Annual #1
If Karl Kesel, Peter David and Joe Kelly were Superboy’s principal stewards as he got to enjoy his early teen years, Geoff Johns was the guy who stepped in and started prepping him for real world responsibilities and an adulthood that may never come (this is comics), but never lost sight of the youthful exuberance that made the character stick to begin with. Nowhere does Johns’ “growing up” Superboy ring more true than in his Conner’s relationship with Wonder Girl, one of my favorite comic book romances of the past decade. While The Kid has always had a lady on his arm, what he had/has with Cassie feels more “real,” both in the way it’s been portrayed and in the sense you get that this is the first romance of his that could really go somewhere; in that latter regard, Geoff has always done a nice job making the relationship reflect the more heartfelt ones we have in our late teens or early 20’s as opposed to the flirtations of youth. This issue is maybe the best and most heartstring-tugging Conner/Cassie story in a pretty impressive pantheon that includes not only everything Geoff did with them on Teen Titans, but also the adorable “will they or won’t they?” routine Peter David had going for years in Young Justice. In the midst of Infinite Crisis and coming off Conner getting his ass kicked by Superboy Prime, he and Cassie share their feelings and memories, recalling all they’ve been through together and ultimately consummating their relationship before the world ends; it’s touching, poignant, and yet not too dire, as this is still a Teen Titans story starring Superboy after all.

Art Attack: Groomsmen gifts by Todd Nauck

I'm back! It was an absolutely incredible weekend experience where I got to see my friends and family, eat great food, smoke cigars, belt out hair metal tunes, party like a rock star--and oh yeah, get married! Megan Morse (not to be confused with Megan Morse) and I are blissfully happy and enjoying our one day off before it's back to the work grind (Honeymoon coming in 2010), but I had to duck away from my lovely bride quickly to write this post, which I've literally been holding back on for weeks.

For my elite team of groomsmen, I was fortunate enough to have Megan's brother, Chris, my buddy since childhood, Matt Corley, my college pal, Jordan Geary, and of course our own Rickey Purdin. They did a fantastic job keeping me cool, running the show (with help from elite ushers Taylor Cunningham, T.J. Dietsch, Dan Hartnett and Alex Verdaguer) and dealing with a limo driver who told them stories about whorehouses in Thailand and openly admitted to driving drunk and destroying private property in the process.

As groomsmen gifts, I wanted to do something special that not everybody could necessarily make happen. I figured given my occupation, it would be neat to contact a comic artist friend and see if they'd be able to mock up some super hero identities and sketches for my boys.

From the start, my amigo Todd Nauck was the perfect and only choice for this gig in my mind and I was just hoping he'd have the time, as he's currently hard at work on Spider-Man: The Clone Saga. Still, besides just being an awesome guy, Todd did an amazing job on a piece for me and Megan a few years back depicting us as Superboy and Wonder Girl as well as a wedding present for my friend Tim with him and his bride as Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves, so I know how great he is at capturing the look of folks, plus he's an incredible costume designer, as clearly evident in his Wildguard series.

I gave Todd a call and he said he'd love to do it but had to think about it, given his workload, which I completely understood.

About a day later, he e-mailed me his concept sketches--the guy is nuts and I love him.

All I gave Todd to go on was a few pics of each guys plus snippets about their occupations and personalities (Chris likes to play poker, Jordan loves Transformers, Matt's a political blogger and Rickey obviously works at DC); from that he was able to create magic.

Enough yakking from me--here are reference shots of each dude, then the penciles and inked versions of their gifts. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did (and as much as the guys did). Thanks again, Todd!

CHRIS

JORDAN

MATT (pictured with my sister)

RICKEY