Day Three, #10: She-Hulk and US-1 (Sensational She-Hulk #39-48, 1992, John Byrne)

Fads can come and go in the mind of the public before promulgating through all forms of media. Disco was dead, and roller rinks were dying, by the time Marvel introduced their disco-singing, roller-skating heroine Dazzler. Trucker series US-1 (1983) was even further out of date by the time it rolled off the lines long after the heyday of Convoy, Smokey and the Bandit, and B.J. and the Bear. It struggled along for twelve issues before being euthanized.

But John Byrne was never one to pass up a silly idea in his tongue-in-cheek series Sensational She-Hulk. Having already revived monster-mag era creature “Spragg the Living Hill,” Byrne cheerfully brought on board Ulysses S. Archer (now a space trucker!) for nine issues, nearly as many as his own failed series. Some might argue that this crosses the line from “team-up” into “supporting cast,” and I won’t argue the point; US-1 just sort of never went away once the team-up began. Either way, it was goofy fun that went against the grain of the grim early 90s.

I always considered Red Sonja as part of the cast for the Conan book.

I'm not sure it's ever named. I think it's just "Acme Latin American Country".









Errrr....

10. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man
"The Battle of the Century!"
(DC/Marvel, 1976)

by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Dick Giordano



When the word "crossover" was said, crossovers between DC and Marvel immediately sprung to mind. I do love so many of them. And I know exactly what my favorite is, which was set to be #1 on my list, until I read the fine print of this year's rules and realized I couldn't have a meeting of their two flagship teams.

So I settled with the classic. The first time Superman meets Spider-Man.

You could tell it was an event. A gigantic comic. So big, that it's hard to hold. I feel like I need to lay it across my desk to sit on it. But if I do that, the cats try to sit on it. I could shut the door, but then they get angry. Maybe I can sit on the couch with my knee bent to rest it on my leg... look, you try to read this massive comic with two cats who want to sit on your lap and swat at it.

Andru recognizes it's time for iconic characters to look iconic and draws them as such.

And it's time for iconic villains. Superman's archnemesis is pretty universally recognized as Lex Luthor. There is a little more confusion about who Spider-Man's most iconic villain is. But this comic gets it right: it's Dr. Octopus.

One less-than-iconic detail that sticks out is the line that Superman fights for "truth, justice, and the Terran way". It's an odd phrase. Born out of controversy. The old Superman cartoons had it that Superman fought for "truth and justice". A good phrase they should have stuck with. But then came the 1950s and McCarthy's attempts at fascism that led to an epidemic of public displays of patriotism, and the phrase was altered to "truth, justice and the American way". Out of place for a superhero who should defend all humanity. They seem to be attempting some course-correction here, but they should have just one back to the original. "Truth and justice" was a good phrase.

It's also a bit unfortunate that Morgan Edge was Clark's boss at the time. It would have stood the test of time better if it was Perry White at the bar complaining about his reporters to J. Jonah Jameson. I also wish Peter had met Jimmy, since they're both photographers. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

It's on my list very soon!

This was not an entry I was expecting to very unique.