Flashback Friday: Icemaster

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Icemaster!

Icemaster first appeared as a villain in the Hostess comic book ad "The Human Torch in 'The Icemaster Cometh!'" (1979). 

He first appeared in an actual comic book story as a member of the Masters of Evil in Thunderbolts #24 (January 1999).

I have seen mentioned that this Masters of Evil team - which featured 25 members for the 25th issue - was part of a contest to see who could name the most villains on the team. I can't find any proof of that, but if it's true, Icemaster was likely added because he's so obscure.

Regardless, he has continued to pop up here and there, in books as diverse as Gambit, Avengers Academy, and X-Men: Legacy. Surprisingly, he's never fought Iceman, but you never know when - or where - someone will use him next!

Star-Lord's and Gamora's Relationship

The current and most well-known version of the Guardians of the Galaxy team formed in the 2006 event, Annihilation. Eight years later, they received their own movie, 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. In that time, they appeared in 75 issues across multiple titles. In the five years since then, they have appeared in over 200 issues. That is almost entirely due to the success they've had on film. So it's no surprise the comics have steadily changed to make them more like their movie counterparts, from character designs like Star-Lord and Nebula, to new concepts like the Milano and the Ravagers, to relationships like Nebula and Gamora. It's another Gamora relationship we'll talk about today, this time between her and Star-Lord.

In the comics, Gamora does have a romantic relationship with a fellow Guardian, but it's Nova, aka Richard Rider. This is first seen in Annihilation #1 (August 2006) and lasts until his death in the Cancerverse (Guardians of the Galaxy #20, June 2014).

In the films, however, Gamora has a relationship with Star-Lord. In the first film it's mostly flirting, but they're officially together during the second film.

But this all changed in the latest volume of Guardians of the Galaxy. Although it's been building since Infinity Wars, they officially get together in Guardians of the Galaxy #7 (July 2019).

Is this a temporary thing or will they go the distance? Only time will tell.

Flashback Friday: Hall of Justice

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: the Hall of Justice!

The Hall of Justice first appeared as the Justice League headquarters in first episode of the Super Friends animated series (September 1973). It quickly became a trademark of the series, especially during Challenge of the Super Friends when it was contrasted with the equally iconic Legion of Doom headquarters. Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you: the Hall was based on Cincinatti's Union Terminal:

The Hall of Justice first appeared in comics in Super Friends #1 (September 1976), but since DC TV comics are...complicated in terms of continuity, we'll keep going.

The designed was used in Kingdom Come (1996) as the United Nations headquarters...

...but the actual Hall of Justice debuted in Justice League of America #7 (March 2007) as one half of the JLA's new headquarters (the other half being the Satellite Watchtower).

Since then it has become a mainstay. It technically continued to exist in the New 52, although it was blown up in the first month, in Justice League International #1 (September 2011).

It was then rebuilt following the destruction of the Watchtower, and the new version debuted in Justice League #1 (June 2018).

It has also been featured as - or inspired the look of - headquarters in many adaptations. I won't list them all, but some examples include the Arrowverse...

...Young Justice...

...The Batman...

...and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Character Spotlight: Sergeant Slipper

Today we'll be talking about a comic strip called "Dennis the Menace", but first we need to get something out of the way: it's probably not the Dennis the Menace you're thinking of. See, the US and the UK each have a comic strip character called Dennis the Menace. They're both about young boys up to no good (who wear striped shirts) and they both debuted on March 12, 1951, but they're separate characters. Of course, successful properties get exported to other countries, so the US version is typically called "Dennis" across the pond, while the UK version is called "Dennis and Gnasher" outside of the British Isles.

Just like the American Dennis, the British Dennis - who first appeared in a comic book called The Beano - has found success in other media as well. In 1996, he starred in an animated series called Dennis the Menace (renamed Dennis and Gnasher in season two) that aired on CBBC.

The show's first episode (April 1996) introduced a police officer character named Sergeant Slipper who acted as an antagonist for Dennis. This makes sense; if your main character is always getting into trouble, there needs to be someone who can punish him. There are his parents, of course, but it might not make sense for them to be around in every story.

It made so much sense, in fact, that Sgt. Slipper started appearing in The Beano not long after the show. His debut was in #2904 (March 1998), in the cover story.

Although he's a much more minor character in the book than in the show, he has maintained a steady presence, appearing in 77 issues spanning the past 20 years. He also appeared in the 2009 animated series.

Appearance Spotlight: Killmonger

Black Panther's Killmonger is easily among the best Marvel Cinematic Universe villains, due to a combination of a sympathetic backstory and goal and being played by the charismatic Michael B. Jordan.

In the comics, Killmonger's backstory is pretty much the same although his goal is exactly the opposite (making Wakanda even more isolationist rather than sharing its technology with the world), but another important difference is their appearance. While the movie's Killmonger where's a leopard-inspired take on  Black Panther's armor...

...the comics version of Killmonger goes for more a gladiator-esque look.

And that's still true today, for this Killmonger. But it's not true for another Killmonger. See, in Black Panther volume 7 by Ta-Nehisi Coates establishes an "Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda" that's some combination of in another reality and 2000 years in the future. I'm a little unclear based on what I could find online. Regardless, many of the people in this storyline share their names with Wakandans we know, including Emperor N'Jadaka, who's named after Killmonger. And his armor looks like this:

Note that it's not an exact recreation, and the MCU's Killmonger certainly doesn't have a cape made from a Symbiote, but it's still close enough that it's easy to tell what they were going for.

Flashback Friday: Kal-El's (and Kal-L's) Name

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Kal-El's name (and Kal-L's)!

Everyone knows Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 (April 1938), and that's where his origin was told for the first time. What many people don't realize is how bare-bones the origin was at the time. A scientist on a dying planet sent his infant son into space, where he landed on Earth, grew up as Clark Kent, and used his superpowers as Superman.

All of that is still accurate today, but it's missing a lot of detail. Luckily, Superman became very popular very quickly, so in January 1939, a Superman comic strip started - which, incidentally, was Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's preferred format for Superman in the first place (the first Superman story was simply the first 38 strips they had produced when they were shopping the character around). This new strip allowed them a do-over, so it started with a more detailed origin, where we learn the baby's name is Kal-L in the first strip ("Superman Comes to Earth").

Superman's origin was re-told again when he got his own series (Superman #1, April 1939), but it didn't include the baby's Kryptonian name.

Soon after, Superman got a radio adaptation and one of the radio show's writers, George Lowther, wrote a book called The Adventures of Superman (1942). In this re-telling of his origin, his name is spelled "Kal-el" for the first time. I couldn't find proof of that, but here is an image from the book of "Jor-el" being spelled the same way.

Surprisingly, the spelling "Kal-El" (with or without a capital) wouldn't appear in comics until Superman #113 (March 1957).

Over time, it was established that one of the differences between Earth-One and Earth-Two is Kryptonian naming conventions, with Earth-One using "-El" and Earth-Two using "-L". The name "Kal-L" would appear as the birthname of the Superman of Earth-Two in Action Comics #484 (April 1978).

In the New 52, the primary Earth's Superman is still called Kal-El, but Earth-2's Superman is also called Kal-El. However, the Pre-Crisis Earth-Two's Superman is still known as Kal-L when he appears (such as in Convergence: Action Comics #1, April 2015).

Character Spotlight: Snoopy's Mother

Last week I talked about Snoopy's siblings and how one of them - Andy - originated on tv. But guess what? He's not the only Snoopy family member who did! In fact, the other one appeared in the same tv special: Snoopy's Reunion (May 1991).

As you might imagine, a story about Snoopy reuniting with his siblings might also include an appearance by his parents. And it does: both his mother and father reunite with their kids. But while Snoopy's dad had already appeared in the strip on June 18, 1989...

...Snoopy's mother made her first appearance during this special.

She later had a small storyline in July 1996, with her only actual appearance being on July 26 of that year.

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if this is meant to be the same character. Her design doesn't exactly match, although we don't get a great look at her. On top of that, her storyline takes place in Snoopy's World War I narrative (she's traveling to visit Spike in the infirmary), so we can't say what she's like in real life. That being said, with lack of evidence to the contrary, I am going to count it.