April Answers From the Vault

Welcome back to another edition of Answers From the Vault. You may recall that last week I canvassed the vast Vault community for questions, queries and general mysteries of the comic book world, all in the name of providing you with the most kick-ass clump of knowledge ever to be dumped in your grill. After receiving over ten trillion questions, though, I narrowed it down to just two worthy of answering. So without further ado, let's all embiggen our brains and get some fresh Answers From the Vault.


Can you think of a creative team's run that would have worked better if attached to another project? For instance, I liked Karl Kesel's Daredevil run, but it might have been better as a Spider-Man run. Erik Larsen's Defenders run was pretty bad, but might have worked better if he was doing it attached to the revamped Heroes for Hire book. And actually, come to think of it, that HfH run (was it an Ostrander book?) would probably have worked better in the Defenders. -- Mark

Thanks for the question Mark. The answer is no, I can't think of any. Next question!

No, just kidding. The funny thing these days is that mainstream superhero comics have become so self-referential that a lot of writers seem to be writing archetypes more than actual characters. Maybe that's just the influence of Alan Moore and Watchmen, but because of this, there are a lot of books that could pretty much have the characters completely swapped without any real effect on the stories at all. And that's not even getting into characters that are specifically created as proxies for other characters, such as Planetary.

Plus, with DC's New 52 and the constant shakeups at Marvel, characters are being reinvented so frequently that it's hard to really figure out what stories make sense for a character anymore anyway. For instance, in terms of traditional Marvel, there's no question that Bendis' New Avengers would have made more sense as a Defenders series, specifically post-Civil War. At that point the team was underground, doing either street level stuff or combating secret menaces the rest of the superhero community was ignoring, with a roster comprised of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange and Hawkeye. That's the Defenders, people, even if it has an Avengers logo on the front in order to boost sales.

But having said all that, I'll say that while I absolutely love Ed Brubaker's Captain America, it really reads more like a modern day SHIELD series than a traditional Cap superhero story. I can't say it would have worked better as a SHIELD story per se, since it worked so darn well as it was, but it would arguably have worked about the same if the lead was Nick Fury instead of Cap.

What are the 5 Worst Resurrections in comics? I would have to think Aunt May's return would have to top the list. Is there a worse one? -- David Wright

Thanks for the question, David. At this point, death is essentially meaningless in mainstream superhero comics, to the point where it's pretty hard to narrow it down. Off the top of my head, though, here are a few really egregious examples, including Aunt May:

1. Aunt May -- Officially killed the concept of development in comics, specifically in the Spideyverse. Good buy character progress, hello neverending stasis.

2. Captain Marvel -- This gets a special mention, because his return fromt he dead was retconned away before they even explained it. During Civil War, Captain Marvel showed up, suddenly alive again even though The Death of Captain Marvel is one of the most famous, acclaimed and beloved comics of all time. But no matter, even that can't stand up to the fact that Marvel has to publish a comic called Captain Marvel every so often to retain their trademark. so they came up with this asinine story where Captain Marvel was transported forward through time from before the moment of his death, meaning he was now alive in the present only knowing he would eventually have to go back and die.

The worst thing about this, though, was after hyping this up as some kind of giant event -- Mar-Vell is back!!! -- and publishing a one-shot to return him from the grave, a couple months later they just said, "oh, that was a skrull. Just kidding." It was hands down the most blatantly manipulative scam Marvel's ever run, because they knew in advance that this story wasn't his return at all, but they hyped it up anyway to sell a bunch of comics. Just a complete fraud perpetrated on the comics community. An all-time low point for Marvel. The comic itself sucked, the idea sucked, the reasons for publishing it sucked and the liars and con men who called themselves Marvel's editorial staff sucked most of all. What a joke.

3. The Green Goblin -- Hey, there goes three decades of continuity out the window. Because Spidey doesn't have any other good villains they could use instead, right?

4.  Mockingbird -- Okay, this is maybe just me. But Bendis spent years putting Hawkeye through the ringing, killing him off, resurrecting him in an alternate universe, leaving him somewhat morose and dealing with existential angst. It's not where I would go with the character, but it at least opened the door for some new character development. And then, after all that set-up, instead of exploring any of that they instead brought back Mockingbird in Secret Invasion so they could try and revert to a mid-80's status quo that nobody was a fan of anyway! Except for one guy who happened to be a writer at Marvel. It's just asinine.

5. Barry Allen -- See above. Don't get me wrong, I like Barry, but he was dead for a quarter of a century and nobody under the age of 55 wanted him back. Wally West is one of the most popular and successful "replacement" superheroes in comics history and is still much more popular than Barry Allen. I have to think they did this because of some kind of future movie tie-in. But then again, the fact that they made such a big deal about this to the point of building entire crossover events around his return, only to scrap the entire DCU before the story was even finished, kind of shows how little direction anybody at DC has these days.

You'll note the absence of two characters from this list, namely Jean Grey and Bucky. I don't think Jean Grey should have been brought back form the dead and in many ways her return is the key moment where death stopped having any meaning in comics for all time. But I still have to give her a bit of a pass because she was, after all, the Phoenix. Returning form the dead is an inherent part of being the Phoenix. Bucky, on the other hand, gets a pass because the story has totally been worth it. I know, it surprised me too, but Winter Soldier has become one of my favorite Marvel characters and Burbaker continues to do great stories with him. And that's what it's all about after all.

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Boston Comic Con Showverview

Long time readers no doubt noticed a curious and perhaps frightening lack of activity at The Vault over the past two days. Desperately -- and correctly -- needing their fix, these stalwart champions have likely begun to worry about my safety. What could be so important, so serious and potentially deadly that it could possibly keep me from talking about comics? Was it an earthquake? Was the server attacked by thirsty monkeys? Was I accidentally shunted into a dangling subplot that only Mark Gruenwald could rescue me from, twenty years after the fact? Well, rest easy, friends, because although your concern is appreciated it is unwarranted. The truth can be revealed: I was getting ready for this weekends comics extravaganza, Boston Comic Con.

Held for some reason in the basement of the Back Bay Expo Center (though I was assured that it is moving to larger and more prestigious facilities before the next show), this year's Boston Comic Con was a two day affair and featured appearances by a horde of creators both famous and unknown. It also had a decent, if somewhat compact, dealer room that provided some interesting bargain hunting; and perhaps most importantly, it provided fans of comics to let their hair down or, better yet, pull it up under a cowl or or themed headpiece. Thanks no doubt in part to the proximity to Halloween, this year's show bordered on a costume party that included not one but two female Captain Americas as well as what appeared to be a themed date night (best costumes and couple of the night was a toss up between an excellent Green Arrow/Black Canary team and an equally impressive Scarlett/Snake Eyes duo which managed to top the film versions by excluding unnecessary gigantic fake lips).

But the highlight of the day was undoubtedly the creators in attendance. Among the many notables were Cliff Chiang, Khoi Pham, Geoff Darrow, David Mack, Mike McKone and Tim Sale. However, the highlights for me involved two of the more old school artists in attendance: Herb Trimpe and Walt Simonson. Simonson, who was accompanied by his equally acclaimed and lovely wife Louise Simonson (and before you ask, no, I didn't have a copy of House of Secrets #92 for her to sign), was nice enough to spend several minutes discussing the origin of his unique signature, which he designed to look like a Brontosaurus after his mother suggested the dinosaur theme to him as a kid. Trimpe, meanwhile, talked at length about the creation of Wolverine, chalking it up to luck of the draw; out of the dozens of Hulk villains he helped create, Wolverine just happened to go on to become super popular. He also lamented the fact that Wolverine had now overshadowed the Hulk himself, even in terms of the commissions and sketches he does at shows, because he feels the Hulk is a much more complex and interesting character, more a victim of circumstance than a hero or villain, while Wolverine is just one-note by comparison. Both gentlemen were generous with their time and friendly to both hardcore fans and those new to comics.

This was evident because both of those conversation took place thank to the attendance of a friend who has never read comics much less attended a show before. While she enjoyed the creativity on display and the seemingly universal friendliness of the pros we talked to, there was one less inviting aspect of the show on display as well -- the juvenile and and many instances inappropriate depictions of women on display at just about every turn. This deserves a longer discussion (which you can expect in a future essay), but though the convention was actually well attended by women and girls, there's also no doubt that steps could certainly be taken to make both the shows and, more importantly, the comics themselves more welcoming to women readers and attendees.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the day was, as you may expect, my trip through Artists Alley. As always, I spent a good deal of time talking to the lesser known creators who self publish or work on small press books and who continue in the business because they just love comics; these people, after all, are the creative center of the art form and it is from this group of creators that the talent of tomorrow will arise. One of the highlights was mys discussion with the creators manning the Comicbook Artists' Guild booth. The CAG is an organization where independent creators meet to discuss the theory of comics craft and the practicalities of self-publishing comics in both print and online. It also acts as a way to meet with potential collaborators and get your work peer reviewed in order to hone your craft. For up and coming creators like myself, it may be an avenue worth looking into, especially if you are in the New York or New England areas, since they hold regular meetings in those locations.

Lastly, a special shout out must be given to longtime friend of The Vault, inker Bob Almond, who as always was in attendance to promote The Inkwell Awards. If you happen to be at a show with Bob, I recommend stopping by his booth with your purchases so he can diagnose at a single glance what art team -- and inker in particular -- worked on the cover. It is a singular skill that helped make this convention one of the more interesting and educational that I have attended in recent years.


Tomorrow: But wait, there's more! What would a show be without interviews with some of the creators who make comics so great? That's right, beginning tomorrow it's another batch of interviews with the Voices From Artists Alley, including a more detailed talk with the people at the Comicbook Artists' Guild.

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The Real Top 70 Marvel Covers: #50-41

So, you want to know what's number one in the hood, G? Well, first you have to find out what's #50-41 in the hood, which in this case refers to the entire history of Marvel Comics. We're on a quest to determine the real top 70 covers for Marvel, so keep reading and get your awesome shoes on, 'cause it's time to dance. Metaphorically. And for a shortcut, here's the Real Top 70 Marvel Cover Master List.

Oh, and click on the images to make them big and stuff. Let's go!


50) X-Men #190

It's always interesting when artists experiment with cover design, particularly when they incorporate the logo into the image. X-Men #190, which comes in at number 50 on our list, is an excellent example of what can be done when editorial unleashes the artist and allows this kind of experimentation (and we'll be seeing more funky logo work later in the countdown). Drawn by Chris Bachalo, this cover is also just a cool use of Iceman, which is a very rare thing indeed.










49) Captain America #332

Another day, another classic cover from Mike Zeck. This time it's from his great run on Captain America, which produced a number of striking and memorable covers. None of them, however, topped this classic, which began the 19 issue epic by Mark Gruenwald exploring why replacing Steve Rogers with a new Captain America is just a bad plan since the man makes the costume. Given recent events in Cap, this story is more timely than ever; the cover, however, has never gone out of style. P.S. -- Special props for the crying Abraham Lincoln portrait in the corner box.









48) Iron Man #128

In the history of Iron Man, which is close to a half decade at this point, no image is as famous among comic fans or as identified with the character as this cover from Bob Layton. It's just a great change of pace cover -- no action, no fighting, barely even a costume. Indeed, it's really a cover about Tony Stark rather than Iron Man. This image (and the storyline that followed) has become so ingrained in the minds of comic readers that you almost can't think about Iron Man without thinking about this cover. That's not necessarily always a good thing, but it certainly speaks to the power of this image.








47) Marvels #4

The second of our covers from Alex Ross and Marvels brings us another classic comic cover motif -- characters reflected in someone's eyeball. It also is a striking rendition of a classic storyline; in a way, the image is enhanced by the reader's knowledge of what it represents. That sinister grin on Green Goblin's face is a twist of the knife because you know what's going to end up happening to his captive, Gwen Stacy. Ross plays nicely on the reader's familiarity with the subject matter in this classic cover.










46) Thor #337

Speaking of covers that incorporate the logo into the image, here's Thor #337. Perhaps no cover has so successfully used the logo as this introduction of Beta Ray Bill and Walt Simonson to the book. Simonson viscerally shows how he is smashing the book's somewhat stagnant stereotypes by bringing in a shocking new version of Thor and by literally blasting the old logo and corner box to pieces. One look at this cover pretty much tells you everything you need to know about what is inside and what is to come in this title: the old is gone and in its place, anything can happen.









45) New Avengers #1

This cover from David Finch is notable not only because it appears on my list even though my dislike of New Avengers is pretty well known, but also because it's one of the most recent covers I chose. Part of this is because it's simply too soon to tell in most cases just what covers are going to end up being memorable; and part of it has to do with the design philosophy currently in place at Marvel. While pin-up style covers are often memorable and usually attractive, I think Marvel is kind of overusing this these days to the point where many of the covers are almost indistinguishable from each other. For instance, try randomly rearranging the covers for the entire current Thor series and see if you can tell which cover goes to which story. I bet you can't really tell (other than the Iron Man appearance). This inherently limits the iconic potential of the covers. They may all be beautiful, but is one beautiful cover more memorable than the next? New Avengers #1 managed to avoid this -- and also managed to become iconic despite the fact that there were several variant editions as well, another factor in reducing the iconic potential and basic memorability of today's covers (after all, if there are five versions for each issue, how can any one image becomes synonymous with the story?). For those reasons, and for being the top image identified with the industry's best selling title for the past half a decade, New Avengers #1 gets the nod. Plus, it honestly is a cool cover.



44) Daredevil #182

This is probably one of my more controversial decisions on the list (though there's one later that may be a bit more debatable). It's certainly true that the preceding issue, Daredevil #181, is a more famous cover (it's the yellow one with Elektra and Bullseye jumping at each other). However, in terms of the actual image itself, I've always found this cover to be the more powerful cover. #181 is the tease -- what will happen? But #182 is the heartbreak that follows -- it's the real power of the story. Elektra's death is only important because of how it affects Daredevil, after all, and that is perfectly and beautifully spelled out right here. Art, of course, by Frank Miller.








43) Fantastic Four #1

Okay, so you may be wondering why the cover that launched the Marvel Universe is ranked this low. Its historical importance cannot be denied or overstated, its true, and artist Jack Kirby does a fine job of both introducing the characters and providing a visual bridge for readers from the monster books Atlas had been putting out to this new superhero aesthetic. In other words, it's a solid, effective cover. However, it's not a great cover by any stretch (no pun intended); the greatness is in the history, not in the art. Because of this it should be included, but I can't really put it any higher, because there are other books that are both important and feature better art and design. Still a classic, though.







42) Captain America #113

This is one of my all-time favorite covers. Drawn by Jim Steranko during his all too brief but still legendary stint on Captain America, this cover has one of the most perfectly realized moods in cover history. From the monument to the grieving form of Rick Jones prostrate on the ground to the skulking figures of the Hydra squad closing in on him, every detail is perfect, especially the creep moon shining dully above. The green background chosen for the night sky is pitch perfect, which you can pretty much say about every aspect of this cover. A masterpiece.









41) Avengers Annual #2

One of the resources I consulted when figuring out my rankings was Wizard. Don't laugh too hard. Even though Wizard is usually worthless, they do occasionally have a good idea, and probably the best of these is their ongoing feature where they ask contemporary artists to list and discuss their ten favorite covers of all time. Some covers just come up over and over again (most of them are on this list) and one of the most often cited covers is this classic from John Buscema. Here Buscema is again expermienting with the heroes fighting each other on a black background, but this time he's got two entire teams facing off. There may be more famous team vs. team covers, like X-Men #100 or Avengers #141, but none quite have the same level of dynamism as this great example from the legedary Buscema.






Tomorrow: The Silver Age takes over, with a batch of classic images sure to drive you mad with the power of art. Get in your way back machine, because Merry Marvel is on the March!

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