Dave’s joined by world-renowned Stilt-fan David Harper (Off Panel, Sktchd) to talk about our favorite Stilt-Man stories of all time!
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The Best Stilt-Man Comics Of All Time!
The inclination with a best of Stilt-Man list is to compile literally every single appearance of the Most High villain in Marvel’s pantheon, and assume that they are all equally perfect, for they are equally raised to the heavens. This is a proper response, but I will concede some curation can help us lift up the Stilted One’s most glorious appearances throughout Marvel Comics history, and help us understand what it means to walk a little closer to the sun.
You might think Marvel’s Stilt-Man is basically like DC’s Condiment King or Kite Man, goofy outdated villain gimmicks that play pure comedy in stories now, but Stilt-Man honestly blows them out of the air with quality comics appearances. Yes, there’s an absurdity to the villain’s gimmick, amazingly antiquated even during his first appearance in the Silver Age, and that inherent breathtaking lunacy is simply delightful. Honestly, in many ways Stilt-Man is the perfect examples of what makes comics so joyous, the childlike escape into a world where scorned inventors can stalk the city skylines with really really long legs and commit sky crimes on helicopters. Stilt-Man is action figure rules brought to story.
So no, it’s unlikely that Stilt-Man will ever enter the realm of Marvel’s A-list supervillains (obviously he’s literally above such lists), but he will always have a special place in the publisher’s history as one of the most memorable concepts, up there with Batroc the Leaper, Big Wheel and Paste Pot Pete for the all time great.
Raised Be! ||
Tarot Reading of X-Men: X of Swords Chapter 20 – X-Men #15!
Editor’s Note: Tarot Readings are a major thematic and stylistic component of the 2020 X-Men comics event, X of Swords. Since it’s not a field I know, I’m excited to bring in a specialist to provide unique readings based in the Tarot connections of the story. We’ll be running these Tarot examinations following each of the event’s 22 parts. Enjoy!
We’re almost at the end of the Fool’s Journey and X of Swords, but first we should take a look at the connections between X-Men #15 and major arcana 19, The Sun. [Read more…] about Tarot Reading of X-Men: X of Swords Chapter 20 – X-Men #15!
She-Hulk Origins: Savage She-Hulk (1980-1982) Review!
She-Hulk was allegedly created when Stan Lee started feeling nervous that DC or another comic company might try to cash in on a female version of the Hulk and he decided to rush ahead and do it before another company could get the chance. Inauspicious beginnings to be sure, but from this, the Savage She-Hulk series was born. The first issue of the series was written by Lee, though he quickly departed, having given Jennifer Walters an introduction that was thematically similar to Hulk stories of the time. Taking a format similar to the Hulk TV series, each issue was episodic, building to the story’s eventual conclusion with issue #25.
The Jennifer Walters we’ve come to know and love today is a far cry from her early appearances, which, for the most part, lacked direction and the quippy sense of humor we’ve come to expect from our She-Hulk. Still, there’s something to be said for the unmitigated anger that She-Hulk brought to the page, from the beginning mixing Walters’ intelligence and heart with a healthy dose of justified rage. Women experiencing anger as a good thing is a rarity in the media, and that’s part of what makes the early run of She-Hulk compelling despite its flaws. [Read more…] about She-Hulk Origins: Savage She-Hulk (1980-1982) Review!
Screaming at No One (Lois Lane: Enemy of the State Review!)
When reading Lois Lane
This is the first major series for the character of Lois Lane since 1974. Why is Greg Rucka and not, say, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marguerite Bennett, or Magdalene Visaggio working on this title? It’s quite possible that Rucka really wanted to write a Lois Lane book and, after the kerfuffle surrounding his Wonder Woman: Earth One book, maybe this was a means of making it up to him. Yet, Lois Lane isn’t one of his traditional spy/criminal/soldier/cop protagonists. She’s a reporter who is often at odds with her militaristic family. Why would Rucka gravitate to such a character? [Read more…] about Screaming at No One (Lois Lane: Enemy of the State Review!)