Wally's Spider-Man Moment

"Wally's Spider-Man Moment" from Flash vol.2 #76 (DC 1993) by Mark Waid, Greg LaRocque and Roy Richardson

Barry may have been my first Flash, but Wally was MY Flash. But it took a while. The Baron and Messner-Loebs issues, I picked up occasionally, but they weren't to my taste. The Flash downgraded to breaking the sound barrier and having to eat enormous amounts of food to stay awake... It was the same kind of "realisticking" Superman was going through, but simply robbed the character of the most interesting aspects of his powers. I really came on board with Mark Waid's origin story, and then the book REALLY took off. What an awesome, awesome run, and in large part because Waid brought in all the other speedsters - Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Jesse Quick, and later, Impulse. Even a faux Barry! He changed Wally's powers for the better, and exploring the Speed Force and what it could do was incredibly exciting. In Linda Park, he created a real match for Wally, and a love story that would count among DC's best ever (no matter how much they're sweeping it under the carpet today). After Waid left, I read the book only occasionally. Johns and Morrison had some good stories to tell, but the art wasn't always on par with those who'd come before, especially LaRocque and the late, great Wieringo.

Here's to Mike, Wally and Linda! I miss you guys!

Spider-Man and the Kingpin--No, Wait

"Spider-Man and the Kingpin--No, Wait" from Black Lightning vol.1 #8 (DC, 1978) by Tony Isabella, Trevor von Eeden and Vince Colletta

You gotta admit. Black Lightning is in an odd pose (for him), and Tobias Whale is the Kingpin type! Easy mistake to make!

As the story goes, DC's first African-American headliner was going to be the Black Bomber, a white racist only posing as a black man, and offensive on about every level. When the editor responsible left the company, writer Tony Isabella jumped in and convinced the powers that be that his creation, Black Lightning, was a much better way to go. They paired him up with a 16-year-old African-American artist called Trevor von Eeden and a legend was born. And then was cancelled 11 issues in, though the 12th issue did eventually see print in a couple of anthology comics. Even so, Black Lightning would live on, first in World's Finest and Detective back-ups, then after refusing the join the Justice League, in the Outsiders (yeah I know, not much of a life, but he was definitely one of the better characters in there) and eventually get enough traction for another solo book... but that's tomorrow's tale.

Johnny Arachnid

"Johnny Arachnid" from Spider-Man: Season One (Marvel, 2012) by Cullen Bunn and Neil Edwards

Season One... if a season was only two or three episodes long. Spider-Man must follow the Sherlock format.

Those Trees Look Familiar

"Those Trees Look Familiar" from Spider-Man: Fear Itself GN (Marvel, 1992) by Gerry Conway, Stan Lee, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

Spider-Man vs. Man-Bat

"Spider-Man vs. Man-Bat" from Untold Tales of Spider-Man #24 (Marvel, 1997) by Kurt Busiek, Tom DeFalco and Bob McLeod

Not really, but it looks like a Marvel/DC crossover!

Superman vs. Spider-Man

"Superman vs. Spider-Man" from Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (DC/Marvel, 1976) by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

2 of 2 of a special diptych

Spider-Man vs. Superman

"Spider-Man vs. Superman" from Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel/DC, 1976) by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

1 of 2 of a special diptych

Ze Non Sequitur

"Ze Non Sequitur" from Heroes for Hire vol.2 #7 (Marvel, 2011) by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Tim Seeley

Spider-Man in the Land of the Dead

"Spider-Man in the Land of the Dead" from Amazing Spider-Man #655 (Marvel, 2011) by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin