Superman and Bat Man- well, Tonto and the Lone Ranger- heck, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- friendship's always been part of the appeal of our classic heroes. Even Wolverine benefits from someone on his Six, storywise. Now I want to focus on early Marvel- I was fascinated by the way they built a storyverse, with guest stars and shared villains and footnotes connecting your earlier Marvels to the one in your hands. The Hulk/ Thing rivalry kicked off the very same month (in Fantastic Four #12) that Spider-Man visited and antagonized the Fantastic Four for the first time in Amazing Spider-Man #1 (his second appearance, of course). With Spidey, they had an apparent hit on their hands, so why not mix him up with the teen member of their flagship title, the Fantastic Four? While trying to build their nascent - I'm going to use my own term, Heroverse- they repurposed their weird/mystery/UFO/monster titles as vehicles for the new characters. Torch got three years as the co...

MARVEL VISIONARIES: Jim Steranko, 1999 Whether you’re talking about transforming the sheer optical design of a comics page as a piece of art, pop culture history writing, graphic novel pioneering, or simply raw ideas, there’s no denying the impact of surf guitarist-turned escape artist- turned graphic designer, Jim Steranko. If I have anything critical to say about any of the gentleman’s work, it’s absolutely within the context of his breath-taking contributions. Comics moved on to different styles, sure, but they evolved under the energetic care of the Pennsylvanian wonder. He was so perfectly charming and gracious in person- I can’t overlook that in light of any of his controversial remarks in recent years. I spent an entire afternoon in his company, at a Comic Con before AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. made him so in-demand. I came back to visit awhile the next day, too- he had read the short story I gave him! This experience could shape anyone’s perceptions of a guy. It’s nothing n...