30 Day Comic Challenge Day 17

Day 17 - Most Useless Villain

One of the major advantages of Batman comics over Superman comics has always been the quality of the Batman rogues gallery. Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bane, Scarecrow, Penguin. The list goes on and on and it includes a ton of interesting villains.

With Superman, you've got two of the all-time great villains in Lex Luthor and Brainiac.

And at the third tier, you've got this:


Seriously, folks? The Toyman? Against Superman? Give me a break. This guy is a joke most of the time and when he's not a joke he's a creepy old guy Who's obsessed with children. Ew.

From My Creations

Well, he is intentionally useless, but the prize definitely goes to our icy-dispositioned would-be world conqueror Cold Shoulder, who was the minions' employer in the debut issue of Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire.


The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 10

Day 10 - Dream Versus Match.

When I thought about this topic, I realized that I really wasn't interested in who hits harder or who can blow more stuff up. Those types of battles can really be written any way, and so it's pretty much the whim of the writer as far as whether, say Electra could beat the Batman or Galactus would triumph over Darkseid or whatever.

What I was more interested in was a clash of philosophies. I'd like to see who wins in a battle of outlooks on humanity.

Here are the contestants:











Superman represents pretty much the most optimistic view of humanity in comics. Rorschach represents the one of the most pessimistic views of human nature I've encountered in comics. I think there is a ton of potential in the conflict that would result from these opposing views.

From My Creations

I'm also going for a philosophical debate matchup here. I would love to see a confrontation, or even a conversation between my priestess of Death, Kaeli from Kaeli & Rebecca, and Picorna's priestess mentor Talavaria from Perils of Picorna.













These two don't have as good a ready-made conflict as do Superman and Rorschach, but they are both thinkers and religious figures, with Tala leaning more toward practicality and Kaeli taking a more idealistic and possibly unrealistic view. I think they could have a very interesting conversation.

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

The Adventures of Superman #510

Some stores and vendors sweeten the Free Comic Book Day pot by adding a few free picks from their stock of "quarter books". It's a good way to add some more choices to the freebies available and it gets rid of some of the low end books that every dealer seems to have boxes and boxes of. This was one such book that I picked up at this year's FCBD.

Title: The Adventures of Superman
Issue: #510
Date: March 1994
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciler: Barry Kitson
Inker: Ray McCarthy
Letterer: Albert DeGuzman
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Editor: Frank Pittarese, Chris Duffy, Mike Carlin

This is part of a reboot of the Bizarro character. Bizarro has abducted Lois Lane and constructed a model of Metropolis out of scrap lumber in a warehouse. Bizarro intends to keep Lois on hand in his Bizarro-world, where he can be her Superman, constantly saving her from peril that he creates himself.

Lois keeps her cool and eventually manages to distract Bizarro (not too difficult) and give herself a chance to escape (a bit more easily said than done).

There's some other stuff going on, including even a brief appearance by Superman, but most of the rest is all setup for ongoing plot points in the continuity. The one other really significant plot point is Cat Grant finally standing up to sexually harassing boss Morgan Edge, which is a pretty well handled scene.

Lois starts out as the hapless-if-feisty victim, having her early attempts to escape pretty handily foiled, but she gets better as this goes on, and I thought most of the handling of her character was quite good. Bizarro is also pretty well handled. He is, well, bizarre, but in a way that plays to his motivation to truly be Superman.

Rating: 7/10