Lobo Does Comicon: San Diego Reduced to Rubble.

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Alan Grant, Comicon, Keith Giffen, Kevin O'Neill, Lobo, Lobo Convention Special, San Diego

Another San Diego Comicon has come and gone. We chose to avoid the crowds, Twilight bullshit, Hollywood and TV hype, and jaywalking. Instead, we got all the Comicon we needed from the Lobo Convention Special.

Here, the Main Man laughs so hard at the once-hyped-but-now-worthless Death of Superman that he rips his damned comic book to shreds. Lobo hops on his bad motorscooter to find a fresh copy at the 1993 Comicon in San Diego. Mayhem, carnage, and hilarity ensue, brought to life by the inimitable artwork of Martian favorite Kevin O’Neill. Frag all the bastiches!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Lobo Convention Special #1; DC Comics, 1993.
Art by Kevin O’Neill; story by Alan Grant and Keith Giffen.

Super-Villain Team-Up 13: When Walks the Warlord!

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Atlantis, Bill Mantlo, Dr. Doom, Keith Giffen, Krang, Longbox Graveyard, Paul O'Connor, Sub-Mariner, Super-Villain Team-Up 13, When Walks the Warlord

Today we welcome back Paul O’Connor from the Longbox Graveyard. Paul has teamed up with us before for the T-Rex BeatDown and Godzilla Week, and we have some scans from one of his original works called Paranoia. After your head stops spinning from the awesomeness of Super-Villain Team-Up #13, check out his review of the complete series at LongBox Graveyard. Take it away, Paul!

Thanks, Mars, for an opportunity to present Super-Villain Team-Up #13, one of the best issues of this star-crossed series. As I detailed in my full review of the series over at Longbox Graveyard, Super-Villain Team-Up was a dynamite concept: an anti-hero starring vehicle for Dr. Doom and the baddest bad guys of the Marvel Universe. But, the series got derailed time and again by rotating creative teams and confusion over the direction and tone of the book.

By issue #13, the always-dependable Bill Mantlo was aboard. In this issue, along with issues #12 and #14, the series finally comes into its own. When Walks the Warlord features high drama beneath the waves as plot lines running for several years in this bi-monthly book come to a head at last. You’ll watch the Sub-Mariner fight to recover his lost kingdom of Atlantis. You’ll see Doom fulfill his vow to return Namor’s subjects from their nerve-gas induced slumber. Along the way, you’ll see all the stuff that made this series sing: Dr. Doom talking about himself in the third person, evil and noble at the same time! The Sub-Mariner being an Avenging Son and shouting Imperious Rex! A swordfight beneath the sea! A blasphemous horror from the bottomless depths!

If every issue of Super-Villain Team-Up had been this good, the book might still be with us … but alas, years of long neglect would shortly take their toll, and this potentially ground-breaking book would soon succumb to cancellation. But, we will always have that brief, shining moment, when super-villains teamed up to conquer the world (and each other), in a comic that wasn’t afraid to be fun, action-packed, and over-the-top with 1970s-style Marvel goodness. Enjoy!

 

Collector’s Guide:
– From Super-Villain Team-Up #13; Marvel, 1977.
– Reprinted in Essential Super-Villain Team-Up TPB.

 

Your Electrical Powers Cannot Harm Me!

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Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt, Legion of Super-heroes, Lightning Lord, Paul Levitz, Superboy

Welcome to the Legion of Super-Heroes Gallery, where we explore the single legend of the Thirtieth Century — The story of the heroic youths of a galaxy who banded together!

Today’s Legion feature continues the conflict with Lightning Lord that we witnessed yesterday. Lightning Lord. Lame costume, awesome power! All is forgiven when he starts to electrify…

Collector’s Guide:
– From Legion of Super-Heroes #302;
DC Comics, 1983.

Charging the Very Air with a Shock-Field!

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Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt, Legion of Super-heroes, Lightning Lord, Paul Levitz, shock field, Superboy

Welcome to the Legion of Super-Heroes Gallery, where we explore the single legend of the Thirtieth Century — The story of the heroic youths of a galaxy who banded together!

Today’s Legion feature begins a battle with Lightning Lord, who has some crazy-cool electricity powers. This battle continues in outer space. Check back tomorrow for even more Lightning Lord insanity!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Legion of Super-Heroes #302;
DC Comics, 1983.

Reduce Millennia of Civilization to Ashes!

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Darkseid, Great Darkness Saga, Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt, Legion of Super-heroes, Paul Levitz, Superboy

Welcome to the Legion of Super-Heroes Gallery, where we explore the single legend of the Thirtieth Century — The story of the heroic youths of a galaxy who banded together!

Today’s Legion feature comes from a five-part story featuring Darkseid: The Great Darkness Saga. Why would Darkseid bother terraforming a planet when he could turn the populace into super-beings and make them do it for him? If you look closely, you’ll notice Keith Giffen adds Thor into the mix. Blink and you’ll miss it!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Legion of Super-Heroes #293;
DC Comics, 1982.
– The story runs from L.O.S.H. #290-294.

In those Dark Days when only Slime Crawled the Earth!

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Challengers of the Unknown, Keith Giffen, occult, Swamp Thing

Keith Giffen really pulled out all the cosmic stops to draw Challengers of the Unknown in 1977 and 1978. Also featuring Deadman and Swamp Thing. Here are some especially awesome pages to blast your brain!

This issue packs immortal demons from space, muck monsters from the bog, gorgeous gals in distress, sonic ray guns with sweet visual effects – you can’t ask for much more entertainment factor! Giffen’s entire run is a blast, and the art gets even weirder as it goes along.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Challengers of the Unknown.
The entire story runs from #81-87, the final issue.