Counting Comics - Part 6

Before today's count I had

DC = 669

Marvel = 53

Others = 27

Green Lantern (2005)

1 - 66

Alright I do love a Green Lantern comic book, one of my favourite characters for sure. The original Green Lantern Alan Scott was created by Martin Nodell and debuted in 1940 in All-American Comics #16. Back in those days the character was based in New York City and was mainly involved in fighting common criminals. Martin Nodell used the pen name of Mart Dellon as in those days "Comics were a forbidden literature, culturally unacceptable. It wasn't something you were proud of". Martin drew the books, with Bill Finger writing the stories, and was inspired by seeing a trainman waving a lantern along some darkened tracks, with green signifying to go. He added some Chinese and Greek Mythology to the look and a dash of Wagner's operatic Ring cycle and the 1st GL was born.

Green Lantern Rebirth (2004)

1 - 6

Silver Age Green Lantern Hal Jordan was invented by Julius Schwartz in 1959 as a sci-fi type character recruited into a universe wide police force, the Green Lantern Corps by a dying alien Abin Sur. Although his origin differed greatly from the Golden Age GL his power ring was very similar with it's abilities except for being powerless against the colour yellow where Scott's ring's weakness was against wood! His 1st appearance was in Showcase # 22 where he had to struggle with a runaway 'yellow' missile!

This run of books comes after Hal Jordan went mad and became Parallax and destroyed the Corps power battery, he then died and returned as The Spectre before being resurrected and resuming his heroic role. For a long time the Green Lantern books had featured Kyle Rayner, the 4th human to be recruited into the Corps, but the 5th hero to have that name, (I think!), as the only Lantern in the Universe.

There have since been 2 more human Lanterns, Simon Baz & Jessica Cruz.

Free Comic Book Day
Blackest Night - Zero Issue (Jun 09)

Green Lantern Corps Recharge (2006)

1 - 5

Green Lantern Corps (2006)

1 - 60

With Hal's resurrection the Green Lantern Corps was also able to reform. Old members and new ones got together in Recharge and in that book and the following ongoing title they battled against such menaces as the Spider Guild, Fatality and saw the beginings of the newly emerging Lanterns of the whole emotional spectrum like Sinestro and his yellow 'Fear' Corps powered by Parallax and Atrocitus with his Red Lanterns of rage. By far the greatest menace though were the Black Lanterns foretold of in the Darkest Night prophecy. The undead rose and the others of the emotional spectrum had to battle against them to save all life in the universe. New characters introduced in recharge include Soranik Natu, daughter of Sinestro and Vath Sarn and Isamot Kol, who are from the then at war with each other planets of Rann and Thanagar.

Green Lantern - Emerald Warriors

1 - 6, 8 - 10
Apparently this ran for 13 issues, so I am pretty annoyed that I have these gaps in my collection! It's possible that they just haven't been filed properly, I hope that the case and they show up later in my look through the shelves. The story of this series has Guy Gardner exploring the unknown sectors along the way he meets up with a bunch of different coloured Lanterns.

Justice League - Rise and Fall Special - One Shot (2010)

Green Arrow (2010)

31, 32
These Rise and Fall books followed Green Arrow in the wake of his execution/murder of Prometheus during the Justice League: Cry for Justice books. (See last week's blog) Prometheus killed Lian, Roy Harper (Arsenal)'s daughter and Ollie tracked him to his HQ and killed him. His actions caused a rift with Black Canary who he had recently married but the story didn't go too far before all DC characters got the big reboot in 2011 with the New 52.

Final Crisis (2009)

1 - 7

Wow, I had a look at the plot for this on Wikipedia and it's just a massive hot mess. I always found Grant Morrison's superhero work to be hit and miss for me and just reading the plot of this it's got so much going on I can't really sort it out into a synopsis. OK it has New Gods, Darkseid's spirit manifesting in the past, time travelling bullets, Martian Manhunter is killed and other stuff happens you can read about HERE

Superman/Batman (2003)

1 - 85

Superman/Batman Annual

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The World's Finest duo of heroes Batmam & Superman teamed up for these monthly books that consisted of independent self-contained stories outside of the normal continuity and crossover events of their main monthly books. Jeph Loeb was the 1st writer on the book and introduced the style of having both guys narrating the story in their own style which was continued throughout the books run. # 26 the issue I thought maybe was to do with the death of Superboy was written by Jeph's son Sam who helped to plot the story and died of cancer in 2005 aged just 17. The issue was illustrated by a number of artists, including 2 who were contracted to Marvel but were allowed to participate and they all donated their pay to the Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund.

Strange Adventures (2009)

1 - 8

This is the 3rd volume of comics using the Strange Adventures name, the 1st was DC 1st Sci-fi book and ran for 244 issues from 1950 to 1973 and the 2nd was just a Vertigo 4 parter from 1999/2000. This book ran a little longer for 8 issues and I found it to be quite enjoyable with a cast of lesser utilised characters. Following on from the Rann-Thanagar War, Captain Comet, Adam Strange, The Weird, Starman and Bizarro tangle with the near godlike Synnar. Captain Comet debuted in #9 of the 1st volume of Strange Adventures in June 1951, he is quite a unique hero in DC comics history having been created between the Golden and Silver Ages of superhero comics.

There is also a JSA: Strange Adventures six-parter and a Vertigo one-shot from 2011

Adventure in the Rifle Brigade (2000)

1 - 3

Adventure in the Rifle Brigade - Operation Bollock (2001)

1 - 3

As stated in the video these are a couple of humourous/daft war comics by Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra featuring the Rifle Brigade on secret missions during WW2. The British special forces commando unit is made up of a variety of oddball and at times deviant soldiers from various British cities and allied nations.

World's Finest (2009)

1 - 4

This mini-series features members of the Bat & Supes Family dealing with life and a criminal plot in the wake of Superman relocating to New Krypton and the presumed death of Batman Bruce Wayne.

JLA Classified (2005)

1 - 54

As I mentioned in the video this series features a rotating creative team, with each team's arc lasting several issues and featuring a different incarnation of the Justice League of America.

DC Universe Last Will and Testament (2008)

One Shot
A Final Crisis tie-in book

Final Crisis (2008)

Requiem

Rage of the Red Lanterns

Resist

Submit

Secret Files (2009)

Final Crisis Revelations (2008)

1 -5

This story focuses on The Spectre, Crispus Allen and The Question, Renee Montoya, they were partners in the Gotham City Police Force. Crispus was killed and became Spectre after Hal Jordan was resurrected to become Green Lantern once again and Renee became the new Question after the death of Vic Sage. This story follows an unhappy Spectre, he's dissatisfied with his role as God's vengeance, trying to exact vengeance on the murderers of the Martian Manhunter. The Anti-life equation is then unleashed.

Final Crisis - Superman Beyond 3D (2009)

1 & 2

To save Lois Lane's life Superman has to join a Monitor named Zillo Valla in a mission to save all of existence. Superman aquires 4D vision to see into The Bleed and the connections between all of the realities. 

Final Crisis - Rogue's Revenge (2008)

1 - 3

After getting off of the prison planet the Rogues return to Keystone City to find that a bunch of younger villains have usurped their base. Darkseid's accomplise Libra wants to recruit them to kill the soon to be returning Barry Allen Flash.

Final Crisis - Legion of 3 Worlds (2009)

1 -5

The story features Superman and the post-Infinite Crisis version of the Legion of Super-Heroes, uniting them with the team's 1994 and 2004 counterparts to battle the Time Trapper and a new incarnation of the Legion of Super-Villains (led by Superboy-Prime). I've got to admit I have never read a great amount of the Legion of Super-Heroes but this kind of alternate world/time lines kind of story is too much for my puny brain!

Justice League of America (2006)

0 - 58
The 2nd volume to run with this title, it ran from 2006 to 2011. The last issue was #60 so it seems I am missing two comics, god damn it!! I know I didn't stop collecting at this point, so it's highly possible they are in an unsorted pile somewhere or something happened and my comic shop let me down!

Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 2011

Justice League of America - Wedding Special (2007)

This is one of 3 one-shots to celebrate the wedding of the long time Superhero lovers Black Canary and Green Arrow. Oliver proposed in the last issue of Volume 3 #75 of his book and after this event their joint title began, Green Arrow and Black Canary which ran for 29 issues leading up to the Rise & Fall events I mentioned earlier.

Today's count is DC = 401

So now the grand total is
DC = 1070
Marvel = 53
Others = 27

    

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Counting Comics - Part 5

OK counting my comics, I started today with 

DC = 373

Marvel = 23

Others = 13

Justice League Generation Lost

1 - 24

After Max Lord uses tech to boost his powers to make the World forget about him only the ex-members of Justice League International remember and seek to bring him to task for his crimes. With Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Rocket Red, Fire & Ice, and Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle 3.

Blackest Night

Wonder Woman 1 (of 3)

Adventure Comics 508, 510

Suicide Squad 67

Starman 81

Catwoman 83

The Phantom Stranger 42

The Aom and Hawkman 46

Blackest Night Tales of the Corps

1 - 3

Blackest Night Superman

1 - 3

Blackest Night Titans

1 - 3

Blackest Night

1 - 8

Running on from the Sinestro Corps War the Blackest Night story line in 2009 - 2010 told of the threat of Nekron, a personified force of death who reanimated dead superheroes and seeks to eliminate all life and emotion from the universe. A Black Lantern power battery is found in Sector 666 and soon the rings reanimate hordes of previously fallen heroes. The situation requires all the other lanterns of the emotional spectrum to rally together to face the menace. They merge forces to create White Lanterns and the Blackest Night story changes to Brightest Day.

Shadowpact

1 - 25

Created by Bill Willingham, this group 1st got together in Day of Vengeance # 1 (2005) to battle the rampaging Spectre. The story has it that many groups have used this name over the centuries, as groups of mystics teaming up doomed to champion lost causes. Their original membership in the modern era includes Blue Devil, Detective Chimp, Enchantress, Nightmaster, Nightshade, and Ragman.

The All New Atom

1 - 25

Ryan Choi, the protege' of original Atom Ray Palmer, takes over the heroes mantle after he disappears for a time. The character is credited to Gail Simone and Grant Morrison. In this series he faces such adversaries as M'Nagalah the Cancer God, microscopic aliens, psychotic shrinking serial killer Dwarfstar and even gets swallowed by Giganta before engaging in a hunt to find Ray Palmer somewhere in the New 52 DC universes. Ryan's version of Atom was the 4th person to use the name and debuted in Brave New World #1 (2006)

Infinity Inc (1984 - 88)

1 - 53

Annual 1 - 1987

Annual 2 - 1988

Infinity Inc is a team of legacy heroes following on in the footsteps of their parents/inspirations who made up the Justice Society. Their original membership included Brainwave, Jr., son of the villain Brainwave who wanted to atone for his father's crimes; Fury, whose mother used the same name in her days in the Young All-Stars; Jade & Obsidian, children of Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott; Northwind, Hawkman & Hawkgirl's godson; Silver Scarab aka Hector Hall their actual son; Nuklon, son of Al Pratt the original Atom; and their leader Skyman who started his career as the Star Spangled Kid of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Infinity, Inc. was created by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Mike Machlan, first appearing in All-Star Squadron #25. (1983)

The Young All-Stars (1987)

1 - 28, 30 - 31

These guys were a probationary auxiliary team of the main All-Star Squadron group, they formed in the Spring of 1942 with a membership that consisted of Dan the Dyna-Mite, Flying Fox, Fury, Iron Munro, Neptune Perkins, Sandy the Golden Boy, Tigress, Tsunami. They were created by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, Brian Murray & Michael Bair and fought such foul
foes as Axis-Amerika, Baron Blitzkrieg and Per Degaton.
The cast itself was basically a mirror of Golden Age heroes who were erased from the All-Star Squadron's history by the Crisis On Infinite Earths: Iron Munro (Superman), Flying Fox (Batman), Dan The Dyna-Mite (Robin), Fury(Wonder Woman), Neptune Perkins (Aquaman), Tsunami (Aquaman), and Tigress (Green Arrow). Sandy the Golden Boy, already a member of the All-Star Squadron by being the partner of Sandman, served for a time as a member of Young All-Stars while Sandman was hospitalized. By the time of the final issue of the title series, Tigress had turned into the villain that would later be known as the Huntress, and the rest of the team was absorbed into the main All-Star Squadron group.

El Diablo

1 - 16

These books feature the 2nd of 3 men to use the El Diablo name. The 1st was a gunslinger vigilante of the old west named Lazarus Lane who was said to be possessed by a demon as he slept, a spirit of vengeance that hunted the wicked. The 3rd El Diablo is Chato Santana a fire controlling super criminal who was part of the Suicide Squad, he was depicted in the film of 2016 by actor Jay Hernandez

The El Diablo from these books, the 2nd character to use the name is Rafael Sandoval, he first appeared in El Diablo #1 (August 1989), and was created by Gerard Jones and Mike Parobeck. He was a rookie member of the city council of Dos Rios, Texas who fought crime under the alter ego of El Diablo. His book lasted 16 issues and since then the character has made a few guest appearances in other comics, most recently he was wounded by a member of the Royal Flush Gang whilst helping Oracle in the Villains United Special.

All-Star Squadron (1981)

1 - 24, 26 - 35, 37 - 67

This team debuted in a special insert inside Justice League of America #193 (August 1981) and started in their own book the following month that ran for 67 issues and 3 annuals. The team was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. It was set on Earth 2 as a retcon of the Justice Society, to explain how heroes active in the war could also still be active in the modern day. Issue 20's letters column, (April 1983), has the very 1st known use of the term "retcon" meaning "retroactive continuity", used by Roy Thomas to explain the reworking of origins, ironing out of continuity errors and filling in of missing details.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths this title was cancelled and replaced by The Young All-Stars that I already mentioned above. With many of the original JSA members now written out (retconned) so they were  never around at this time they were replaced with the analogous heroes as mentioned previously, so Iron Munro = Superman, Flying Fox = Batman etc.

So that's 265 more comics to add to the DC tally making the totals now

DC = 638

Marvel = 23

Others = 13

I made an impulse, crazy purchase as well, 75 random comics that I do an unboxing of here

This special from 1984 really caught my eye, it tells of a character called Wrath, who lost his parents the same night that Bruce lost his, but whereas the Waynes were murdered by Joe Chill, his lost their lives at the hands of a police officer whilst commiting a crime. Wrath is the antithesis, the polar opposite of Batman. His origin reminds me very much of that of Grant Morrison's Prometheus!

This buy was comprised of

DC = 31

Marvel = 30 

Others = 14

Leaving my new total so far at

DC = 669

Marvel = 53

Others = 27

Come back next week where I'll be going through, talking about, and counting some more of my comics

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Counting Comics - Part 4

So I started today's video/blog count with

DC 164

Marvel 23

Before starting the video though as I braved balancing on a rickety arm chair to grab the biggest, hardest to reach box so far, I found another long box, hidden between armchair and cupboard and covered in various things that I can't seem to find a more sensible home for. So with the extra 275 - 325 comics that makes my likely boxed comics total to be around 5775 - 6800. Which isn't a bad number, I kind of hoped it would come to more but let's just carry on counting and see how many it turns out to be. I had a comment in Facebook group saying that long boxes don't really hold quite as many as Google told me, but we'll see when I get to the 1st box.

I am surprised I remembered some facts this week, like Crispus Allen did become The Spectre and Earth's sector in the Green Lantern Corps, (read this last word to rhyme with door remember), is 2814. On the negative side I got some stuff all mixed up too, I confused Geo-Force's powers with Terra's I think and there's possibly some more stuff I'll point out here... if I remember!!

Batman And The Outsiders (2007)

1 - 40

Special One Shot (2009)

The Outsiders are a bunch of superheroes outside of the mainstream Justice League grouped together by Batman when he had a falling out with the League. The classic line-up of Batman, Black Lightning, Metamorpho, Geo-Force, Katana, Halo and Looker 1st got together in 1983, debuting in their own book in August 1983. It was created and originally written by Mike W. Barr and illustrated by Jim Aparo.

This bunch of comics is from the 4th Batman and The Outsiders run from 2007 - 2011, that was interrupted by the Batman R.I.P. story so they dropped the "Batman and.." from the title for a while before finally resurrecting it when Batman ended up not being so dead after all!

Green Lantern - Larfleeze

Christmas Special

Larfreeze, aka Agent Orange, is the only wielder of the Orange ring from the emotional spectrum, this is the colour for Avarice and he personifies that trait in quite comical fashion mostly but he is dangerous and shouldn't be underestimated. Created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, he 1st appeared in DC Universe #0 in April 2008. Although he is the only true member of the Orange Lanterns he has a host of ring constructs created from souls of those he has killed. He is able to control a small army of these due to his constant proximity to his power battery.

Ion

1 - 12

Created by Judd Winnick and Dale Eaglesham for Green Lantern Vol 3 # 142, the Ion entity lived in the Green Lantern willpower battery along with Parallax the yellow entity of fear. When  crazed Hal Jordan broke the battery it escaped and travelled the cosmos before finally it chooses and fuses with Kyle Rayner imbuing him with tremendous power. He relinquishes the power when he realises the enormity of it is making him lose touch with the people he is trying to protect. He later reacquires the power for this 12 part mini-series by Ron Marz and Glenn Tocchini that ran from June 2006 to May 2007.

He later passes the Ion power onto a fellow Green Lantern Corps member, the Daxamite, Sodam Yat who was originally created by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill

Tales of The Sinestro Corps (2007)

Superman - Prime - 1

Parallax - 1

Cyborg Superman - 1

Ion - 1

Green Lantern

Sinestro Corps Special 1 (2007)

I read the date wrong in the video!! I read it as 97 and was astounded that it was 21 years ago, still 11 years is pretty long ago too!! Dang where is my life disappearing to?

Green Lantern Sinestro Corps

Secret Files and Origins 1 (2008)

The yellow part of the emotional spectrum controls fear. The entity Parallax, the embodiment of fear was trapped inside the Green Lantern power battery, alongside the Ion entity of willpower. The members of the Corps were originally chosen as they were either fearless or able to overcome great fear. The Green rings were also powerless against the colour yellow thanks to Parallax's evil influence. Sinestro an ex-Green Lantern and their long time enemies manages to harness the Parallax entity to create his Sinestro Corps, able and more than happy, to install great fear.

I don't know about you but they scare me!!

Green Lantern Secret Files & Origins 2005

Guy Gardner - Collateral Damage

G'nort the dog-like runt of the Green Lantern Corps litter is looking for a mediator to help quell the Rann-Thanagar war. Like the hopeless dope he is he chooses hot-headed, bull in a china shop, Guy Gardner!! The only thing worse than his temper is his haircut! Oh dear!!

JLA/Hitman

1 - 2

As I mentioned in the video, Hitman, who 1st appeared in The Demon annual # 2 as part of the Bloodlines alien parasite attack on Earth, was the one character from this series that got some respect from DC. He was one of the very few to get his own humorous book that ran for 61 issues. OK like the rest of the Bloodlines created characters he died but it was in a magnificent blaze of glory not the victim of nasty villain of the week, like the rest of them. Created by Garth Ennis and John McCrea, this 2 parter sees the incorrigible anti-hero Hitman team-up with the Justice League.

Justice 1 - 12

This 12 part series was written by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, with iconic art also by Ross and Doug Braithwaite. The Justice League of America confront the Legion of Doom who had been drawn together by shared dreams that the JLA will fail to save the Earth so they seek to get rid of them. Heavilly infuenced by the 1970 Superfriends TV series, this comic is outside of normal DC continuity.

JLApe: Gorilla Warfare (1999)

JLA Annual 3

Batman Annual 23

Aquaman Annual 5

Wonder Woman Annual 8

Flash Annual 12

Superman Annual 11

Green Lantern Annual 8

Martian Manhunter Annual 2

The DC Annuals from 1999 crossed over as the Apes of Gorilla City make war on the humans of Earth, using technology to revert humanity back to apes.

Battleaxes (2000)

1 - 4

This sword and sorcery 4-parter from the Vertigo imprint by Terry LeBan and Alex Horley follows a group of all female mercenaries during the Dark Ages

Body Bags (Dark Horse)

1 - 4

Written and illustrated by Jason Pearson as a launch title for Dark Horse's Blanc Noir line of books, this got promoted as the most controversial comic of the 1990's! The blood splattered pages feature an Hispanic father and daughter team of professional hit-people (Body Baggers) which many found to be quite shocking apparently. The fact that the buxom young Panda is billed as being just 14 added to the furor I should imagine but it never stopped her from creating mayhem and slaughter with her dad Clown Face. Kind of makes me think of them as an early prototype of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl.

Cruel And Unusual

1 - 4

In this mini from 1999 created by Jamie Delano and Tom Peyer (writers), John McCrea (penciller) and Andrew Chiu (inker) the prison system is overrun and short on money so they take to making it into reality television with live executions!!

Capes (Image)

1 - 3

This is pretty much how I described it in the video, written by Robert Kirkman with art by Mark Englert, superheroes are working shifts like cops, doing it for the paycheck rather than any altruistic reason. It's quite a fun read from the mind of the guy who brought us The Walking Dead and Invincible.

Dead Man - Dead Again

1 - 5

Deadman (2002)

1 - 9

Created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino and 1st appearing in Strange Adventures #205 in 1967, Boston Brand was a Circus acrobat in life before he was shot whilst performing on the trapeze. In his act he used the name Deadman,wearing a red costume and white make-up, now as a ghost he is a real dead man given the power by a Hindu goddess named Rama-Kushna to inhabit/possess the bodies of the living to try and seek out his killer and get justice.

Rose & Thorn (2004)

1 - 6

The original Rose & Thorn is a Golden Age character dating right back to 1947 when she appeared in Flash #89. Rose Canton turned into the criminal Thorn by night using plant powers to menace The Flash Jay Garrick. Eventually seemingly cured she married Green Lantern Alan Scott before Thorn reemerges on their honeymoon so Rose flees letting Alan believe her dead. She was however already pregnant by him and has two children Jennie-Lynn aka Jade & Todd aka Obsidian!! I must admit I know those characters but never knew this about their origins. Obviously being comics it's been retconned and there are alternate Earth versions too. In these books by Gail Simone she is Rhosyn Forrest - one woman but two personalities: the sweet, innocent Rose...and the deadly, dangerous Thorn.

Wanted (Top Cow)

1 - 6

So, just in case there are other people with rubbish brains like mine I will tell you Mark Millar who wrote this book also did Kick-Ass and The Kingsmen comics amongst many others, both of which have been made into films which I assume were slightly closer to the comics in style/tone than the movie version of Wanted was! So this is a pretty cool book, with lots of ultra-violence and an unlovable anti-hero. I will change up what I said in the video, Shithead is more a Clay-face parody, plus there is a character called Fuckwit who is a take on Bizarro.

Emperor Joker

Emperor Joker - 1

Superman in Action Comics - 770

Superman - 161

The Adventures of Superman - 583

Superman The Man of Steel - 105

I was again basically correct in my video synopsis about this, the Joker steals Mister Mxyzptlk's reality-altering capabilities and takes control of the world. Every day he kills Batman and resurrects him to slay him all over again. The story ran through the Superman books in 2 story arcs Superman: Arkham and The Reign of Emperor Joker during September/October 2000.

Deadshot (2005)

1 - 5

Apparently this little run about Floyd Lawton, the assassin well known for losing to Batman and being a capable member of the Suicide Squad, is where he first learns that he has a 4 year old daughter. She is living with her mother in a crime infested part of town and he decides to clean it up to improve her life and chances.

Doctor Mid-Nite (1999)

1 - 3

Here is another Golden Age hero and member of the Justice Society of America. He was created by writer Charles Reizenstein and artist Stanley Josephs Aschmeier, he 1st appeared in All-American Comics #25 (April 1941). He is a legacy hero though with 3 people having assumed the name. Charles Mcnider was the original, followed by Beth Chapel, and Pieter Anton Cross, who features in this mini. All 3 versions have used similar costumes and had pretty much the same abilities being able to see perfectly in pitch darkness whilst being almost blind in daylight. They use blackout smoke bombs to give them advantage over their foes. He is widely regarded to have been the 1st physiacally impaired superhero, pre-dating Daredevil by 20 years. All of them have been legitimate medical doctors specialising in meta-humans as well as normal patients. In fact Charles McNider delivered Pieter as a baby after saving his mother. Matt Wagner who did a sterling job on Sandman Mystery Theatre, (see last week's blog), wrote this series.

Beth Chapel the 2nd Doc Mid-nite was another character who died at the hands of Eclipso.

Unknown Soldier (1997)

1 - 4

I think I said Universal Soldier at one point in the video lol, it's a classic movie with Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren but I did mean Unknown Soldier. Named after the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia it's for those who died at war but whose remains were not able to be recognised. That's really grim when you consider it. 

Originally created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, he first appeared with Sgt Rock in Our Army At War #168 (June 1966); the character is symbolic of the nameless soldiers that have fought throughout America's wars. The character proved quite popular running in Star Spangled War stories which was later renamed The Unknown Soldier keeping the numbering from #151 to # 268, 1970 to 1982.

There was a 12 issue series in 88/89 and this 4-parter from 1997 which sees a grittier, darker Soldier with a much less patriotic outlook as told by Garth Ennis with art by Kilian Plunkett. There have been other reimaginings and sightings of the Soldier since this mini.

The Monolith (2004)

1 - 12

Well it seems I remembered correctly that Monolith was a golem, in this book he was created in the 1930's during the depression to protect a group of friends in unsafe and difficult times. Decades later Alice the granddaughter of one of the Monolith's creators, also named Alice, receives a house in their will and discover the golem which assists them with their own present day problems. The comics tell the story of both the 1930's and 2004. It was cancelled due to poor sales and in 2013 the rights reverted to the creators Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmioti with a film by Lionsgate slated to be in the works. Cool, I hope that works out alright.

Ragman (1991)

1, 2, 5 - 8

Ragman Cry of the Dead (1993)

1 - 6

Here's another character created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, Rory Regan The Ragman aka "the Tatterdemalion of Justice" is a Jewish superhero whose continuity is tied to that of the DC comics Golem that is derived from the Golem of Prague of Jewish folklore. He 1st debuted in Ragman #1 in 1976 and was originally Irish Pre-Crisis but was retconned as Jewish after the event. Which explains some of my confusion about the character on the video as I kind of thought he was Irish but then also thought he was Jewish. Originally the Ragman costume was just an ordinary suit but in the 1991 run it was made into a magical costume where each scrap is a soul of an evildoer. 

The Butcher (1990)

1 - 5

Not to be confused with The Butcher, the avatar of The Red Lanterns light of rage born from the first spillage of blood.

The Brave and The Bold

Green Arrow/ The Butcher/ The Question (1991)

1 - 6

The Butcher, real name John Butcher is a native American vigilante created by Mike Baron. He has no super powers but has peak human agility & stamina and proficiency with ax weapons. He never proved that popular but since these books had a few appearances in Green Arrow.

Gunfire (1994)

1 - 13

So here's another Bloodlines character who got a bit of a run before meeting an unfortunate fate, not dead just lost his hands poor thing. Venev one of the parasite aliens from Bloodlines fed off Andrew Van Horn's spinal fluid and triggered his metagene, (not muta-gene as I think I called it in the video oops). This gave him the power to agitate the molecules of objects he holds and focus blasts through them. This happened in Deathstroke Annual #2 in 1993. His book ran from 1 - 13 but has 14 issues as there was a 0 book in there too, which annoyingly I don't seem to have for some reason. I collected the book when it came out so I am wondering if it is elsewhere in my collection! Maybe a bunch of 0's hiding somewhere.

Mister E (1991)

1 - 4

This run was after The Books of Magic it turns out. Mister E was created by Bob Rozakis and Jack C. Harris and appeared 1st in Secrets of Haunted House #31, Dec 1980 but was radically redesigned by Neil Gaiman for Books of Magic. Despite having his eyes scooped out with a spoon by his father he has the ability to see evil. He started off fighting supernatural foes but later thought Tim Hunter was destined to be a cause of great danger to the world so tries to kill him. In the New 52 he was an enemy of John Constantine who described him as one of the most cruel and insane mages in the world.

Angel and the Ape (1991)

1 - 4

These guys debuted in 1968 in Showcase #77 created by E.Nelson Bridwell and then ran in their own book for 7 issues. This unlikely duo are private detectives, Angel O'Day and Sam Simeon he's a talking gorilla and also a comic book artist when he isn't working cases. The book has had a couple of 4 part revivals, this one from 1991 by Phil Foglio and a Vertigo take in 2001.

Peacemaker (1988)

1 - 4

I spoke about Creeper and Wild Cat (Yolanda Montez) getting killed fighting Eclipso, I totally forgot that Peacemaker met his fate there too. The original Peacemaker first appeared in Fightin' 5 #40 (Nov. 1966) from Charlton Comics, and was created by writer Joe Gill and artist Pat Boyette. He was acquired by DC in the mid-80's and they put him in this 4 parter. He goes from using violence to fight wars using non-lethal weapons to becoming a deadly vigilante who kills at the slightest notice and starts believing that the ghosts of the dead inhabit his helmet. He was the basis for The Comedian in Alan Moore's Watchmen, I messed up in the video and said Owl Man instead of Niteowl I think, silly me!

Challengers of The Unknown

Unknown comic (cover and 1st page missing)

8 part mini-series (1991)

1 - 8

Who created these characters is uncertain, it's generally agreed that Jack Kirby had a hand in them but it's not sure if he created them alone or in collaboration with either Dave Wood or Joe Simon. They first appeared in Showcase #6 in 1957 and ran there for a while before getting it's own book that ran till 1971. The story is that after surviving a plane crash "Ace", "Red", "Rocky" & "Prof" decide that they are "living on borrowed time" so they band together to go on hazardous adventures. This 8 parter from 1991 shows them older and semi-retired when a disaster strikes that ruins their reputation and lives, they have to pull themselves together and find out the cause of the disaster.

 The team has been rehashed a number of times in the DC universe.

Night Force (1996)

1 - 5,  7 - 12

There have been 3 runs of this book in DC comics over the years, all of them with Baron Winters manipulating and managing people in missions to battle supernatural menaces. He can not leave his home Wintersgate Manor in Washington D.C. The mansion is located in a special juncture of time and space, allowing him to send his team to different places and times. Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan they debuted in Teen Titans #21 in 1982. The books I have are from the 2nd Night Force run, which was one of 4 books in what was called the Weirdoverse alongside The Books of Fate, Scare Tactics & a later run of Challengers of the Unknown which had a different line-up to the '91 books I mentioned above. The Convergence crossover I mentioned in the video was with these 3 other books.

So that's a pretty bumper set of books there, here's the count
DC comics = 209
Others = 13
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Making the running totals
DC Comics = 373
Marvel = 23
Others = 13

Come back next week for more comic counting folks

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I managed to recover some of the lost footage of this counting and thought I'd put it up for people to check out if they want to.

      

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