Other comic companies continue to troll Marvel for their lack of a Fantastic Four book:

That's the splash page of this week's Green Hornet '66 Meets The Spirit #3.

That's right, a Dynamite comic about two separate licensed properties is giving us more Fantastic Four than Marvel.

Special kudos to writer Fred Van Lente for using Spirit's Central City as the launching point. Deep knowledge, and deeeeeep trolling.

First DC, and now Dynamite. Keep it coming, other comic companies--maybe public shaming from within the industry will prove more effective than my constant whining.

No, I will never shut up about this.

You know, our imaginations can be pretty broad and vast.

So, really, there's no reason that Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter Of Mars has to always be seen as half-naked leftovers from Frazetta covers wandering around the Red Planet, despite what a generation of cheap paperback covers have taught us.



No, there is another way. For example...

In 1952 & 1953, Dell's Four Color did three issues of John Carter stories, all art (including covers) by Jesse March.

See, John can dress more like a Flash Gordon type...no loincloth or "battle harness" necessary (OK, that Thark is wearing a loincloth...but he has a cape!!)

Another huge surprise:


Deja Thoris can actually wear real clothing!! She doesn't have to parade around as transparent wank fodder by imagination-less illustrators who can't think of any other way to make her attractive than by having her parade around in a way that would make a porn star blush.

I'm not sure about that hair, though...

Hey, I'm not saying that this interpretation is necessarily the best one, the preferred one, the most correct one, the only acceptable one.

But good gosh, we (and by we, I mean you, Dynamite Comics) sure seem to have settled into a rut, a group-think that suggests that the only possible interpretation of John Carter is to get Dejah Thoris as naked as possible as often as possible and to make John himself straight barbarian, rather than interplanetary swashbuckler. 

But they can wear clothes, guys, even if only once in awhile...

From Dell Four Color #375, #437 & #488 (1952-53)

A full-page ad for Gail Simone's upcoming run on Red Sonja for Dynamite:

Wait, what did that say?

"Sonja is forced to do the inconceivable!"???

What, she's going to put on some clothes for once? That would be pretty inconceivable, all right.

Speaking of which, it will be fun see if all the folks who complain about other female heroes being forced to dress inappropriately (e.g., the people complaining about Teela's gratuitous undressing in this week's Masters Of The Universe) give Sonja cheesecake a free pass because Simone's writing it. Prepare for massive cognitive dissonance and desperate rationalization!!

Dear Ron Marz and Dynamite...

...just because you currently publish all these characters, doesn't mean you have to use them ALL AT ONCE IN THE SAME STORY. I'm just sayin.'

Then again, if you manage to put together a Lone Ranger/Zorro/Green Hornet/Shadow crossover, I'm probably all over that, so I really don't have talking room here...

From a house ad for Dynamite's upcoming 7-issue, "self-contained" crossover event The Prophecy.

Well, the big announcement out of WonderCon (at least for me) was that Dynamite has picked up the rights to do a Judge Dredd ongoing and reprints of the classics.

So congratulations to Dynamite on...

Wait, what??

Oh, geez, I'm sorry. That was an old item, from 2008!! Silly me!!

The Dynamite deal never went anywhere, was never even mentioned again for 4 years....4 looooong Dreddless years.

But of course, that is no reason to doubt this brand-spanking new announcement!!

Yup, just like Neville Chamberlain returning from Berlin waving his piece of paper, IDW insists that they have achieved Judge Dredd in our time.

Just like Dynamite's premature celebration 4 years ago, we have the promise of an all-new ongoing and reprints of the British stuff. Unlike Dynamite's announcement, IDW has even less specifics--no creators announced, no time frame, no real details at all (not that those details helped Dynamite at all in 2008...)

Hey, don't get me wrong. No one wants a Judge Dredd series over here more than I do. So I'm rooting for this to actually happen. And if IDW does succeed in actually getting the project launched, well, how far away can a Judge Dredd/Godzilla crossover be? And that, my friends, is a consummation devoutly to be wished!!

And it should be noted that the forthcoming Dredd movie may--may--provide enough incentive to get the project going in time to ride those coattails.

Still, given the recent track record, we probably want to avoid jubilation--at least until we actually get something more concrete. So let's meet back here in 2016 and see if anything's been published yet...