#pencils: dave manak

[sonicpanels]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Ongoing) #4: "Tails' Little Tale"

Writer(/possible uncredited layouts): Michael Gallagher Pencils: Dave Manak Inks: Henry Scarpelli Letters: Bill Yoshida Colors: Barry Grossman

Editor: Victor Gorelick

[slysonicart]

I got to do an art collab with a Sonic comic legend! I am way past geeking out!

Pencils: Dave Manak

Inks and Colors by yours truly.

[the-gershomite]

Star Wars Droids #6 February 1987

Part One of a Three Part Saga “Star Wars: According to the Droids”

(1-10 of 23)

written by Dave Manak

pencil art by Ernie Colon

inked and colored by Marie Severin

lettered by Ed King

[loopyarts]

Yes yes thousands times yes you get it and I wholeheartedly agree with you. 👏👏👏

Here mate let me give you a few more examples of them seeing each other as father and son. It honestly baffles me how people think this is somehow a modern concept to their relationship. That some folks even imply that DC in the modern day is making them this way because of heteronormative means and American nuclear family values. Or in an attempt to erase a deep male friendship or the original intention of them being brothers and that they were never supposed to be read as father and son which is simply isn’t true.

Seriously shot me, like I went out of my way to fact check just to make sure that I wasn’t second guessing myself. Like here is the truth about them they were always all three dammit bestie/brothers/father/son this is how they always were. 👏👏👏

The Trial of Bruce Wayne.”Batman #57 By Bill Finger, art Dick Sprang and Charles Paris released in 1950 Golden Age. Here’s an example of an outsider saying that Bruce loves that kid like he was his own son and an example of Dick saying you’re like a father to me to Bruce.

Not having father/son relationship coding in the comics they say, they're only brothers they say, they’re only partners/good friends they say. Like come on people can you not read subtext it’s right bloody there. One of the most on the nose example was from Batman #66 written by Bill finger art Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Charles Paris released in August-September 1951 Golden Age.

Also worth noting Bruce being an overbearing and controlling father figure at times with Dick is nothing new as well. Dick’s perfectionism and wanting to please his father figure who he idolises is something that goes way back even to his Golden Age and Silver Age version of the character.

Panels from Detective Comics #228, Written by Jack Schiff Henry Boltinoff Jack Miller art by Win Mortimer, Bob Kane, Ruben Moreira, Henry Boltinoff, Joe Certa, Ira Schnapp, editor Whitney Ellsworth released in December 20, 1955-February 1956 Golden Age.

Here’s another example of Dick acknowledging that he see Bruce like a father. Also I added the panel of Dick punching Bruce because one I thought it was funny and two he totally deserves a good socking every once in a while.

Robin’s new boss Batman #137 written by Bill Finger, art by Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris released in February, 1961 Silver Age. Bruce again saying he’s like a father to Dick.

Another example from the Silver age era is World’s Finest #195 by written by Jack Miller, Bob Haney, art by Curt Swan, Ross Andru, Howard Sherman, editors Mort Weisinger, E. Nelson Bridwell released in August 1970. Like damn even in the bloody Silver Age where they were written to be seen as brothers mostly the father/son thing still pops up.

Batman #339 by Written by Gerry Conway, Pencilers Irv Novick, Inkers Steve Mitchell, Colorists Adrienne Roy, Letterers Ben Oda, Editors Dick Giordano, Dave Manak released in September, 1981 Bronze Age. Man this comic page is so beautiful to me. Also an example of Dick seeing his mother and father within Bruce and how he sees him like a second father.

Batman #438 by Written by Marv Wolfman, Penciler Pat Broderick, Inker John Beatty, Colorist Adrienne Roy, Letterer John Costanza released in September 1989 Modern Age.

An example of Dick saying he was like a father to me and how he loves his second father despite well Bruce being mostly an ass in the Modern Age era of comics.

Batman #439 written by Marv Wolfman, art Pat Broderick and Michael Bair released in September 1989 Modern Age.

The main conflict of the adoption drama was honestly more recent than one would think. Marv Wolfman was the one who started this whole Dick not wanting Bruce as a father and that he already has a father John Grayson making it be an actually issue; when it really wasn’t beforehand. Like as I have shown in the Golden Age and Silver Age even the Bronze Age examples Dick wasn’t necessarily that shy about letting it slip every once in a while that he viewed Bruce as like a second father.

But then again Dick was a freshly traumatised young lad, when this court of custody was happening within this comic universe. But even so this blend of Bronze and Modern Age Dick still viewed Bruce as a father figure despite being so bitter and hurt by how he was treated by him in this era. A mediocre to rubbish dad is still well a dad.

But overall the father/son thing was pretty consistent in all of the eras of comics with them. Which makes sense to me after all one of Batman main cores of his character is being father/parental figure and without Robin/Dick Grayson that would have never happened.

Batman #340 by Written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, Penciler Gene Colan, Inker Adrian Gonzales, Colorist Adrienne Roy, Letterer Ben Oda released in July 9, 1981 Bronze Age.

Slightly off topic but thank you Bronze Age Bruce. So at least in this comic it nice to know they were using an older version of the Law of Wardship. Here’s a link to a paper that dives into USA Wardship/Guardianship in the 1900s it’s a very interesting read. :3c

https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=law_faculty

Now about the brothers thing I think what has happened is that people have taken Bill finger interview from 1972 recently rediscovered in 2011 to heart. Here’s a quote from that interview ‘I thought of it in terms of … Frank Merriwell and Dick Merriwell, his half-brother, who was the kid he was taking care of. …’.

Here’s a link to the interview if care to read it for yourself. I cry because the ghost of that book author still haunts Bruce and Dick to this very day.

https://www.noblemania.com/2012/02/batman-and-robin-gay-bill-finger-said.html

But what I have noticed is that people seemed to have missed something about what he was saying. Frank Merriwell was taking care of his little half brother Dick Merriwell perhaps as a parental figure to him. I have no idea because I haven’t read the books, so I am not completely too sure myself on that front. But it would seem to me that maybe Bill was interested in the parental angle of their relationship. 🤔

Also, I do wish to say that I don’t think Bill was not completely sure on how to describe Bruce and Dick relationship. However, that doesn’t change the fact that in the comics he did write them as father/son as well.

I feel maybe when he was first starting out writing them as characters. He thought of them as Hero/sidekick, mentor/mentee, friends or just brothers but overtime he started to see them as father and son too and begin to write them as such. It is normal for a creative idea or concept of characters to change and evolve overtime as they come to understand said characters. Another thing I should say is this is just Bill perspective on things and his words are not the be all end all but that’s just me.

I also think it’s good to keep in mind that adoption for a single men was next to impossible back then and only couples and potentially single women could have adopted but that in itself was rare as well. I’m too lazy to want to go over these two adoption history so here some links to some posts about it.

I do wonder if the cause of this misinformation about them in the comics being just only good friends was caused by folks who only knew Batman and Robin from the 60s to 80s the show and cartoons where Dick in the Batman 1966 show was fifteen year old teenager rather then an 8-10 year old child and was also played an adult actor Burt ward and well of course no one was going to buy that this adult man was a teenage ward. 

In the cartoon The Adventures Of Batman at least Dick looked somewhat like a teenager but again. He was only referred to as Bruce’s ward, partner or his friend. Their relationship was the dynamic duo. Super Friends as well referred to their relationship as the dynamic duo or friends or again Bruce’s ward. 

By the 90s we finally got Dick as a child in Robin Reckoning in Batman The Animated Series which meant the father and son vibes were on full display. But still he’s just Bruce’s ward and friend but there are tie in comics which do give some content in terms of baby Robin Dick Grayson and Bruce being a father figure to him. 

And so on so on. Only the movies Batman Forever and Batman and Robin made Dick an older teen play again by an adult actor so them being just friends would be suitable. Then again cough those films are full of gay subtext and well I am not surprised by that given that the director was a gay man. But again this is an adaptation which has nothing to do with the comics and honestly is very different overall from said comics.

More modern cartoons like Teen Titans, The Batman 2004 and Young Justice. All have father and son subtext to them. Which makes sense they were more closer to the spirit of the comics overall. Teen Titans Dick Grayson even though we don’t see Batman in the show the episode called the apprentice heavily implies when he said I already have a father to be Batman given the bat imagery after it was said. 

Okay enough of the very brief history lesson on the show and cartoons of Batman. But again these are at the end of day adaptations which nothing to do with the comic canon and are in their own separate continuity from the comics. However I can see why it was easy at least back in early days to make that mistake and to think of them being father/son was somehow a new thing if they hadn’t never pick up a comic book or even read up on the golden and silver age comics overall. 

Oh another thing worth mentioning is the fact comics the Golden, Silver and Bronze Age were not fully preserved most of them were thrown away because they weren’t seen as important literature at the time and thanks to the infamous book if you know you know. Well it caused a lot of parents to throw out or burns most of their kids comic book collections which is why so many older comics of today are so rare. So with that in mind it could be that back then without a way to fact check comics through an archive or the internet, I could see how this misinformation could have been spread.

It an absolute miracle that almost all of the Golden and Silver Batman and Robin comics were preserved. Although, sadly the Bronze Age of Batman comics is still sadly missing some issues to this day.

Seriously, people have no idea how much damage that book caused and the comic code in general. It shattered the comic book industry and made most of the genres that were not superhero comics die out and even then comics were still treated like junk literature despite the code being in place which kept most comics from being seen as nothing more but a children medium for a very long time and having little to no value outside of that. Comic books fans need to thank the people from the Bronze Age era and the underground Comix movement for pushing against the code and being finally able to tell deeper and more complex stories with comics and do different types of comic book genres again overall in America again. Without that push I would say comics wouldn’t be where they’re today. 

So I will forgive all the older folks who did not know this was a thing given that most comics were throw away after said child was done reading it back then. However what I will not forgive is the ones who know this was a thing and lie about it. What so you have to gain about lying about comic book lore and history behind the characters of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

Anyway, that was my kind of essay and my overall thoughts and opinions on the matter. 😅

"Bruce and Dick weren't always like father and son in the comics." "The idea of Bruce and Dick being like father and son came much later." "They were supposed to be like brothers, originally."

An issue from the 40's:

Batman #20, published by DC Comics in December 1943 and January 1944.

Narrator: [...] Since that day, the mutual affection between this man and the boy has been as strong as that between father and son! [...]

I'm not saying their relationship was like father and son from the very beginning since they met. They would've needed time to develop that kind of bond in-universe. And I'm not denying their relationship being similar to that of brothers as well, since they've been described like that, too. From Dick's perspective, specially, I can see why some might think calling them brothers would be more fitting.

That said, it's still incorrect to claim the writers didn't intend them to be like father and son in the first years since their first comic appearance together. It's very clear they wanted to portray that kind of relationship with them. Although, it might be more explicit from Bruce's POV, since it appears that to Dick Bruce was more of a close friend, and it took longer for him to see Bruce as a father.

Anyway, I respect any opinions on the matter. I just made this post to keep in mind what's canon in the comics.

[shadowwingtronix]

"Yesterday's" Comic> Sonic Vs. Knuckles: Battle Royal

BW's "Yesterday's" Comic> Sonic Vs. Knuckles: Battle Royal

“Weren’t we supposed to do this a few comics ago?” “Blame the reviewer.” Sonic Vs. Knuckles: Battle Royal Archie Comics (1997) EDITOR: J. Freddy Gabrie “Battle Royal” WRITERS: Kent Taylor & Ken Penders PENCILER: Sam Maxwell INKER: Jim Amash COLORIST: Karl Bollers LETTERER: Jeff Powell “The Map” WRITER: Tom Rolston PENCILER: Dave Manak INKER: Rich Koslowski COLORIST: Barry Grossman LETTERER:…

[mobius-prime]

254. Sonic the Hedgehog #185

Mogul Rising (Part One: Needful Things)

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Josh Ray

Mina is finally back from her world tour, having returned to New Mobotropolis rather than Knothole for obvious reasons. Sonic meets her at the airstrip to welcome her and Ash back, and she informs Sonic that she and Ash have discussed some important things while they were away. Ash reluctantly but sincerely apologizes to Sonic for his jealous behavior in the past, saying that it came from a place of truly caring for Mina and worrying about Sonic's influence in her life, and Sonic likewise apologizes for being an insensitive jerk at times. Back on good terms, Ash leaves to go check things out in the city, while Mina insists Sonic accompany her to the site of Knothole's ruins so she can see it with her own eyes. 

Mina is happy, to see Freedom HQ still standing, though currently in the process of being rebuilt due to the damage Eggman's attack caused. Sonic reassures her that there's still a room for her and Ash to stay in if they want despite not being Freedom Fighters, and they enter, greeting Mighty and Tails, who are helping to fix up the roof of the main room. Sonic and Mina enter the lab to find Nicole on screen, calling Sonic back to New Mobotropolis, as apparently, Mammoth Mogul wants to meet with him in the prison. Sonic reluctantly heads back to speak with him, and Mogul wastes no time in arrogantly demanding that Sonic surrender to him, as he claims they find themselves in a "stalemate." Obviously, Sonic finds the idea laughable, as Mogul is currently contained within a cell that blocks all his magical and psychic powers.

I mean, Mogul, can you really blame him for not taking you seriously? The vast majority of people are not gonna find any threats very convincing when they're made from within a cell. That night, Nack irritably talks about how annoying he finds Sonic's attitude, and when Mogul says he's about to be vicariously vindicated then Nack reminds him that Sonic is right and none of them are really about to go anywhere. Mogul simply informs Nack that he's had the foresight to make plans for exactly a situation such as this years in advance, and "marked" several individuals so they can be contacted by his psychic powers even from behind his cell walls. I'm… not sure how that would really work given that the walls are supposed to block all psychic abilities, but sure, whatever! First, he calls out to Mina, reminding her of a memory he erased from her a year ago - that when she was running for her life in Eggman's retaking of Robotropolis, he had projected a vision of himself to give her her powers of speed before removing that part of her memory to create an effective sleeper agent. She "lost her way" when she only used her powers to try to grow closer to Sonic, but now he's finally ready to use her for his own purposes. Second, he calls out to Mighty. We already know a bit of his past, like being imprisoned in the slave labor camp when he was a child, but now we get a little more insight into his backstory and how he ended up alone without his family in the first place.

Well, how fascinating! Somewhere out there, it seems Mighty has a sister, as well as criminal parents locked up in a jail. This is important information, as it comes into play in some plotlines later on. Finally, we have none other than Tails, whom he of course marked when he was holding him prisoner as Turbo Tails while the sentient duplicate took his place. The three individuals wake up, brainwashed and with green diamonds on their foreheads to symbolize their mental enslavement, and simultaneously head for Sonic's room - hey, good thing for Mogul that his three marked subjects and his target are all sleeping in the same general area, right?

The three brainwashed friends tell Sonic as one, in Mogul's voice, that he was warned, leaving Sonic to face off against them and try to find a way to bring them all back without hurting them…

Misfit Badniks: The Salty, Soggy Sequel

Writer: Mike Gallagher Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Aimee Ray 

Welp, we've finally reached Michael Gallagher's final story in the comic! Obviously he hasn't been head writer for many years now, but unlike other former head writers, he's come back every once in a while to contribute a story here and there, presumably just for old times' sake. However, this is his final story - after this, we won't be seeing any more of him. While his silly style isn't much to my taste, and I've definitely had certain problems with his writing, overall he did guide the comic through its earliest years and was the driving influence behind how the preboot's story, world, and characters started out, and I think he deserves a fair bit of respect from that alone. So with that, let's read Michael's final story and say our goodbyes!

So if you'll remember from his penultimate story, the Island of Misfit Badniks has been deliberately sunk to the bottom of the sea so that the badniks and Pseudo-Sonic could continue their evil plans undisturbed. We find out that apparently, Pseudo-Sonic was equipped with a switch that would allow him to grow to an enormous size, so the other badniks flipped it and allowed him to grow outside their submerged island, before getting to work repairing him so he would be operational again. Personally, I think it would be a much better plan to repair him before making him bigger, so you would have to use far fewer materials in the repair process… Anyway, I'm sure you already have an inkling, given the setting, of who's about to come along to save the day. It's the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters, of course, ready to murder some more sentient beings, because that's what they do! Several of the badniks charge in to fight them, while the others retreat to speed along their repairs on Pseudo-Sonic so he can defeat the F.F.F.F. properly.

After a bit of fighting, all combatants find themselves being smacked aside by a giant metal-gloved hand, and the gigantic Pseudo-Sonic arrogantly claims that as the biggest thing on the planet, he declares war on all of Mobius! Unfortunately, he's forgotten that there's one last member of the F.F.F.F. that still has yet to show up…

Beautiful. Fluke orders his friends to sweep all the badniks into a pile while he rips the head off of Pseudo-Sonic's metallic corpse for no reason, because really, I cannot overstate enough how bizarrely bloodthirsty these guys are. He then uses his tail to compress Pseudo-Sonic, the badniks, and the artificial island into a single, small cube of metal that can be easily disposed of. With that, the F.F.F.F. make a few last water-related puns, and the story is over. Goodbye, Michael - we've had some good times, and we'll miss your silly style!

[soniccovers]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie) #24

Layout: Ken Penders (uncredited)

Pencils: Dave Manak

Inks: Jon D'Agostino

Colors: uncredited

[intergalactic-zoo]

I'll give one thing to DC Comics Skeletor: he's a quicker study than the animated version.

Turns out that searching for the Power Sword and trying to take Grayskull hasn't been working, so Skeletor decides to kidnap the Sorceress Goddess and make He-Man find the Power Sword instead.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Masters of the Universe #1 came out in August, 1982, the month after the Preview insert. Paul Kupperberg returns as writer, with George Tuska on pencilling duties. Mini-storybooks artist Alfredo Alcala is back to ink the first two issues, with Rodin Rodriguez taking over in #3. Adam Kubert and Ben Oda are our letterers, and Adrienne Roy and Anthony Tollin are the colorists. Getting Alcala back, even just for inks, really does make a difference; he brings a Prince Valiant quality to Tuska’s pencils in the first issues, which is lost a bit in Rodriguez’s cleaner style. Tuska definitely feels more suited to this setting than Curt Swan did; much as I love Swan, this era of Masters of the Universe really lives in a more brutal, Conan-inspired place than what would come later, and that’s just not what Swan’s classic superheroic style is best at.

Our story begins at another party, where Prince Adam is continuing with that playboy lifestyle, though we get explicit confirmation that this is at least in part an act.

I think this is a really interesting hook for the character, even if it clearly wasn’t very sustainable for a children’s property, particularly one as beset by watchdog groups as Masters of the Universe. The alter ego with a different personality from the hero is nothing new in superhero comics, and we’ve even seen characters like Batman playing the carefree Casanova, but Adam feels a little distinct here, characterized closer to Johnny Storm than Bruce Wayne. Usually the immature, impulsive character who’s always thinking about the opposite sex is played straight, as character flaws that the hero genuinely needs to overcome; it's less common to make those the hallmarks of his secret identity.

Adam gets attacked by demons in his bedroom, and finds Cringer when he hides under the bed, which is a solid gag. We never do find out what the demons were doing there. They rush off to the Goddess's magic cavern, where they are transformed—but find Skeletor instead of the Goddess (who is occasionally also called the Sorceress in the story). Skeletor has imprisoned her, and will only release her if He-Man retrieves the Power Sword for him, which the Goddess has hidden away. In order to find the sword He-Man will need to find three talismans (talismen?) representing the sea, the sky, and the cosmos. 

It's a fetch quest to start the fetch quest. Not the most auspicious start to a series. Or end to one.

He-Man returns to the palace, where we get confirmation of something that fans have always speculated about: do He-Man and Prince Adam really look that similar? In the DC Universe, the answer appears to be yes:

It also plays into a longtime fan theory that Queen Marlena knows Adam's secret. Now that he's back to the palace, He-Man seeks help from the palace wizard, Tarrak, who is being attacked by demons himself! 

He-Man, Teela—wearing for this issue only a sword-and-sorcery standard metal bikini—Battle Cat, and Man-at-Arms manage to defeat the demons, but not before they take the cosmos talisman. Meanwhile, the Bird-People of Avion are attacked by a squad of Beastmen, who are after the sky talisman, which Stratos wears. Stratos seeks help from He-Man, and with Tarrak's assistance, the heroes set off to find the other two talismans. 

This specific outfit and pose feels so familiar.

He-Man and Battle Cat head into the jungle, where they meet a clan of barbarians that He-Man has encountered before, in what feels like a nod to his classic origins. He-Man once helped them battle a sexy evil wizard named Damon.

The barbarians know where the cosmos talisman is, but before they can retrieve it, the group is attacked by demons again. He-Man takes the talisman, and is transported away. 

Out in the Sea of Blackness, Man-at-Arms, Teela, and Stratos are looking for the sea talisman, which is being held by the Mer-People. Fortunately, Tarrak gave them potions so they could breathe underwater. Mer-Man leads a fight against them, because this version also has ambitions of his own, until Skeletor pulls a Darth Vader from a distance. Teela is less than grateful, so Skeletor leaves them to the mercies of the Mer-People.

Just going to admire how great Skeletor looks in that first panel for awhile.

But Stratos claims the sea talisman just in time, and the whole crew is transported into a Steve Ditko drawing. 

They get attacked by demons again, but are saved by Zodac, who refuses to give them any information about the person sending the demons, but a page later we learn that it's the wizard Damon, who wants the Power Swords so he can control Eternia, not that dimensional-carpetbagging wizard-come-lately Skeletor. He's gotten considerably less sexy and more...problematic since that brief appearance in the previous issue. 

Seriously, he looks like the antisemitic caricature from that Carman video. He also happens to be right next to where the Goddess stored the two halves of the Power Sword, but they're in an impenetrable force field, which is not mentioned again. 

Zodac uses the talismans to open a portal to the Sword's location (sort of?) and then gives them to Zoar the poorly-drawn falcon before sending the heroes on their way. 

Feels like the reference got away from you a bit.

Meanwhile, Damon decides to tip his hand by attacking Skeletor, who lashes out with magic that is strong enough to teleport them both into Castle Grayskull, just as Damon had planned. But in a pretty great moment of both villains trying to two-steps-ahead each other, that was all part of Skeletor's plan, and he apparently kills Damon. 

These comics go pretty hard for stuff that was based on toys for babies.

Also, this happened earlier in the issue.

The heroes also end up in Castle Grayskull, which is apparently where the Power Sword is, even though we already saw Damon with the Power Sword before he was able to access Castle Grayskull.

You and me both, He-Man. The heroes split up to search the castle. Stratos gets caught in a giant spiderweb, Man-at-Arms gets blown up by a tripwire, and Teela ends up in a hedge maze until she stumbles on Skeletor, who pulls the Power Sword out of a magic warp. 

He-Man shows up shortly after, but Skeletor sends Beast-Man (singular) and a monsterized Man-E-Faces (who was briefly introduced earlier in this third issue) against the hero. Eventually He-Man, Teela, and Zoar get the sword away from Skeletor, and then the Goddess appears to say "actually I wasn't in any danger, but your friends are all caught in booby traps." The End. 

What an absolutely bizarre miniseries. It feels like it was initially intended to be four issues and cut down to three, but that change had to be made before the first issue—with its "Mini-Series 1 of 3" banner—went to the printers. The promotional push makes it seem like DC was intending to do a lot more than three comics and a handful of mini-comics. Editor Dave Manak speculated that there might have been an issue with contract negotiations, but I'd be really interested if there's a clearer answer. Every aspect of the DC Masters of the Universe license feels abnormally cut off, right down to the end of this story. 

Whatever the reasons were, this would be the last full-sized Masters of the Universe comic from DC for almost 30 years. Next time we'll pick up with the Marvel/Star Comics. 

[biggoonie]

What If? Astonishing X-Men #1 by J Scott Campbell

WHAT IF? ASTONISHING X-MEN Written by JIM MCCANN & MATTEO CASALI Penciled by DAVID YARDIN, KAI SPANNUTH & MIKE GETTY Cover by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL & KAI SPANNUTH From the pages of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's classic Astonishing X-Men run, see two titanic tales unfold: In the first, what if Ord from Breakworld brought Jean Grey back from the dead instead of Colossus? What happens when she’s reunited with the X-Men? And Emma?  And how will this change affect the entire galaxy? A story of life, death, love and loss resulting in one word that strikes fear into all: Phoenix! “WHAT IF JEAN GREY WAS RESURRECTED INSTEAD OF COLOSSUS?” by Jim McCann (NEW AVENGERS: THE REUNION) and David Yardin (X-MEN ORIGINS: GAMBIT). In the second, when the artificial being known as Danger is out to destroy Xavier and his X-Men, someone else picks up her signal. Someone deadly they’ve never faced before... someone who's ready to fall in love with the mutated Danger Room! “WHAT IF DANGER BECAME ULTRON’S BRIDE?” Written by Matteo Casali with incredible art by Mike Getty! Plus a “SAY WHAT?” comedy strip by Mike Gallagher (Mad Magazine) and Dave Manak (Spy Vs. Spy). 48 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ …$3.99

[kingddduke]

Some scans of Archie Sonic #185 are missing the back story and since it never got posted to YouTube, I’ll post it here and YouTube since I think this story is important to Archie Sonic history (and will probably never get reprinted just like the rest of Archie Sonic) since it was Mike Gallagher’s last Sonic story while working for Archie. He was with Archie Sonic from the very beginning at Archie Sonic Mini Series #0 in Nov 1992. This Story was published on Feb 2008

More Info from https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Archie_Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Issue_185

The Misfit Badniks Salty, Soggy Sequel

Writer: Mike Gallagher

Pencils: Dave Manak

Inks: Jim Amash

Colors: Aimee Ray

Letters: John Workman

Editor: Mike Pellerito

Synopsis

Motobug and Crabmeat are in the Mobian Sea talking not only about the Sonic's defeat of Pseudo-Sonic but also about rebuilding Pseudo-Sonic by the robot surgeon, Burrobot, who founded a "size doubler" which enlarges Pseudo-Sonic, similar to Burrobot's uncle. They then celebrated that with Pseudo-Sonic, they could take over Mobius, but just after that, Motobug and Crabmeat are ambushed by Bottlenose Dolphin from the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters. Orbinaut sees this and he and some of the Badniks then engage in combat against the Freedom Fighters but the Badniks are easily defeated. Caterkiller leads the last wave of Badniks to fight the Freedom Fighters giving Burrobot enough time for Psuedo-Sonic to be repaired. Pseudo-Sonic waves the Freedom Fighters and the Badniks away and declares war on Mobius since he's the biggest thing on the planet. Things seem lost until Fluke the Blue Whale flattens him and tells the rest of the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters to bring the Badniks into a pile. He then flattens them into a cube along with the island.

Appearances

Characters:

Badnik Horde

Dr. Ivo Robotnik (mentioned)

Freedom Fighters

Sonic the Hedgehog (flashback)

Classic Badniks

Coconuts

Metal Sonic Series

Ball Hog

Bat Brain

Burrobot

Buzzbomber

Caterkiller

Crabmeat

Jaws

Motobug

Orbinaut

Splats

Pseudo-Sonic

Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters

Bivalve Clam

Bottlenose Dolphin

Fluke the Blue Whale

P. B. Jellyfish

Ray the Manta

Races and species:

Mobian

Locations:

Prime Zone

Mobius

Mobian Sea

Island of Misfit Badniks

Items:

Ratio Redoubling Router (first appearance)

Sonic's sneakers (flashback)

Continuity

"The Misfit Badniks Soggy, Salty Sequel" continues from Sonic the Hedgehog #170, "The Island of Misfit Badniks".

Trivia

"The Misfit Badniks Soggy, Salty Sequel" is the final Sonic comic story written by Michael Gallagher.

[sonicpanels]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Ongoing) #9: "What's the Point?"

Writer(/possible uncredited layouts): Angelo DeCesare Pencils: Dave Manak Inks: Henry Scarpelli Letters: Bill Yoshida Colors: Barry Grossman

Editors: Victor Gorelick & Paul Castiglia

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

I had missed the first issue of the TEEN TITANS revival, and I skipped the second (though i recall seeing it on the stands at the time--there must have been other books that I wanted more) but with this issue I finally took the plunge. Kid Flash’s prominent placement probably didn’t hurt. It must be said, the inking on this Rich Buckler cover by Frank McLaughlin is painful, the faces in particular.

Inside the issue, the artwork way better, if not spectacular. DC mainstay and regular FLASH artist Irv Novick handled the penciling, which put it well within my comfort zone. Novick had been in the business since the 1940s, helping to create the first patriotic super hero, the Shield, for MLJ (later Archie)  He was a consistent craftsman and a fixture within the DC titles of the 1970s. In addition to achoring FLASH, he was also a regular contributor to BATMAN, where he’d channel as much of Neal Adams’ popular approach as was possible. 

The story opens with an attack on a Coliseum (clearly meant to be Nassau Coliseum but never specified as such) where a Battle of the Bands will be held, by the Fiddler, and old Jay Garrick Flash enemy from Earth-2 now mysteriously on Earth-1. Speedy and Mal happen to be on-site and engage the Fiddler, but they’re stomped all over by the mesmerized crowd while the villain makes his withdrawal. Back at Titans HQ, writer Bob Rozakis makes good his promise in BATMAN FAMILY by having Robin introduce the Joker’s Daughter to the group as a candidate for membership. I wonder if the continuation of this plotline may have been the tipping point that convinced me to pick up this issue.

But the crux of the story revolves around the aforementioned Battle of the Bands, a musical throwdown between a pair of disparate musical groups: Peter McCarthy and the Flyers and the Woodworkers, each of whom represent broad parodies of similar real-world musical groups of the era. Despite the fact that their music appeals to different crowds altogether, their common management has put together this Battle of the Bands as a promotion to attract the crowds--and it’s also attracted the attention of the Fiddler, who abducts Peter and Laura McCarthy.

The main Titans team finds the Fiddler back at the Coliseum, where he’s mesmerizing the crowds again with his hypnotic music. But despite their best efforts, the teen heroes muff the job and wind up taking one another out, once again allowing the Fiddler to escape, his plan to foil the concert undiminished. Elsewhere, Robin and Aqualad along with the Joker’s Daughter investigate the kidnapping scene, where they find among other things the floppy hats and sunglasses worn by the McCarthy’s. But before Robin can finish his deductions, the trio is teleported to the rest of the team by Mal.

Now the Fiddler has kidnapped the Woodworkers, whom he’s holding for ransom mesmerized atop the Coliseum. The Titans fly to the attack, but again one old man with an enchanted violin makes monkeys of them. As one by one the Titans are taken out of the fight, the Joker’s Daughter comes to the fore, using her humor-based gimmicks to get the upper hand and kayo the Fiddler, thus earning her spot on the team.

And the big payoff, of course, is that Peter McCarthy and the Flyers and the Woodworkers are the same band! They’d been performing under two separate identities for years, and when they were roped into doing a concert with themselves, they staged their own kidnapping to get out of it, figuring that the Fiddler would be blamed for it after his first attack. But now, they have to face the music, and reveal their secret in front of their stunned audience.

The text features in the back of the issue were both of interest to me. First, the letters page featured the second half of an index of all of the Teen Titans’ previous adventures. I loved these sorts of things and would eventually write up my own indexes of different comics I was reading. Then, the Daily Planet promo page spotlighted a softball game between the DC production crew and that of their rivals at Marvel--a game that DC won in this instance. Dave Manak did a great cartoon that illustrated the top of teh page in humorous style, one that showcased the Marvel characters far more than those of DC--something I wasn’t used to seeing in a DC title.

[the-gershomite]

Star Wars Droids #7 April 1987

Part Two of a Three Part Saga “Star Wars: According to the Droids”

written by Dave Manak

pencil art by Ernie Colon

inked by Al Williamson

colored by George Roussos

lettered by Ed King

[spiritsonic]

What run of the archie sonic comic most resemble the in-universe ones? Gallagher's run?

It’s Dave Manak’s pencils, but covering the events of games like SA1 and SA2 Mad Magazine-style. Wrap your brain-meats around that...

[the-gershomite]

Star Wars Droids #6 February 1987

Part One of a Three Part Saga “Star Wars: According to the Droids”

(11-20 of 23)

written by Dave Manak

pencil art by Ernie Colon

inked and colored by Marie Severin

lettered by Ed King

[the-gershomite]

Star Wars Droids #8 June 1987

Part Three of a Three Part Saga “Star Wars: According to the Droids”

(12-23 of 23)

written by Dave Manak

pencil art by Ernie Colon

inked by Al Williamson

colored by George Roussos

lettered by Ed King