Back Up, Baby!

I had high hopes for Amazing Spider-Man #357 because it included an appearance by the Taskmaster, arguably the most awesome villain Marvel has.  But, as is often the case, he's a little too awesome and is once again woefully underused.  Instead, we get these guys:

Okay, first: "Death-Shield" means that he protects me from death, not that he inflicts death.

And secondly... why?

Just... why?

You've already worked the Taskmaster into the story, and yet you feel compelled to shift attention to these guys.  Thankfully, their clocks were thoroughly cleaned and I don't believe they've made an appearance since then.

Back to America's Best Comics #3, back in the days when comics didn't need more than a Random Slap! (tm!):

As you saw on the cover yesterday, this is an anthology title with several characters.  This includes the Black Terror, who compensated for his ironic lack of terror by shouting:

OH, indeed.

Next up, we have the Liberator, who not only has one of the most homoerotic costumes since we looked at the Red Rocket a few days ago...

... but, just like his book-mate Doc Strange, he gets his powers by drinking a serum.  And while I recognize that there are only so many ways to impute superhuman powers on someone, don't you think we should at least try to keep two characters in the same comic from ripping each other off?

Hey!  It's time for Fun with Out of Context Artwork! (tm!)

Depending on what part of the Liberator you're talking about, he's either in great danger or is about to have the luckiest night he's had in a looooooong while.

And finally, we had Captain Future, establishing that there was some unspoken rule from the editor of America's Best Comics that no character could have a costume with any shred of dignity whatsoever:

What is it with this comic?  Two bare-legged costumes?  When I was a kid, Robin made me cringe because of the bare-legged look and he was a teenager.... well, sorta.  He wore that original outfit way too long.  But you see what I'm saying here?

But then I look back at "Death Shield" up there, and I realize that every era has its duds.

Ah, well.  See you tomorrow!

But As Dick Rises...

I couldn't resist pulling another title from the Public Domain.  I've been on a Golden Age kick because... well, because modern comics have been a bit too violent for me lately, so I just want to read stuff that's fun.  Sooooo, let's add America's Best Comics to our rotation, shall we?

It's interesting that there was a Golden Age character called "Doc Strange," who was no relation to the Marvel character that we all know and love.  I don't know that Stan Lee or Steve Ditko (who created Doctor Strange) had heard of this character, but it's an awfully big coinkydink.  I mean, I understand that names like "The Vulture" get used over and over, but this one is pretty limited.

Now, the deal with Pyroman as I understand it, is that he was put in the electric chair and came out of it with electrical powers.  Of course, the name "Pyroman" leads you to believe he had fire powers, but the Human Torch's sidekick was called the Spanish name for "bull," so I'm not sure people gave these things a whole lot of thought.

All I know is that HEY!  It's time for Fun with Out of Context Dialogue! (tm!):

Well, don't leave me hanging!

Get it?

Meanwhile, contributor Robert Gillis came up with a great new CMNS meme.  We've covered the Excessively Impossibly Expository Dialogue (tm!), which is where a character says way too much within the time frame given by the artwork.  But Robert has given it a new twist, which he has appropriately named...

Got All That? (tm!)

How does it work?  Thusly, courtesy of Superman Family #167:

Got All That? (tm!)

That's awesome.  Thanks again, Robert!

Meanwhile, from the Sgt. Doyle story in Pep Comics #11, we give you yet another CMNS theme I like to call:

That Never Happened Ever. (tm!)

That Never Happened Ever. (tm!)

See You Tomorrow!