Super Sunday Special: Marvel's Best Battle Cries

Battle cries are a cornerstone of superhero comics. Today let's have a look at seven of the best cries Marvel heroes have uttered over the decades.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

The famous rallying cry used by Earth's Mightiest Heroes is also one of the best-known exclamations of the entire Marvel Universe, and has even been used by Superman and the Justice League during the Avengers/JLA crossover. It was first shouted by Thor in Avengers #10 and used regularly ever since, more often than not when the team was already assembled and ready for action. It's so popular in the Marvel Universe that even the press has occasionally asked the team to shout it at conferences. Little known fact: before settling on "Avengers Assemble!", Stan had Iron Man cry "Avengers Attack!" in #12 and Captain America use "Avengers Away!" in #11, suggesting he was testing things out. Like the names of several Marvel characters, all three cries are alliterative.

IMPERIUS REX!

Namor's famous battle cry is the most regal-sounding of this list. Imperius Rex is Latin for "Imperial King", which doesn't really mean anything but points out Namor's royal and cultured background. Namor was created back in the Golden Age of comics, but the battle cry is a later addition, first seen in Tales to Astonish #70, which for a while became Namor's book shared with other characters. As it can be expected, the cry is an idea of Stan Lee, who liked the way it sounded.

IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!

Probably even more famous than Avengers Assemble! until the Avengers were popularized by movies and cartoons, "it's clobberin' time!" is the battle cry of the Thing and highlights his gruff and colloquial tone. Like many other sentences in this list, it was created by Stan Lee and first used in Fantastic Four #22 against the Moloids of the Mole Man. Considering the FF were a bi-monthly title to begin with, over two years went by before the famous cry was created, but this isn't too surprising as the Thing was a character that evolved and changed a lot in the early issues of the title. Due to the colloquial nature of "clobberin'", in Italy the cry has always been rendered into "è tempo di distruzione!" ("it's destruction time!").

HULK SMASH!

The famous cry of the Incredible Hulk originated in Tales to Astonish #88 by (you guessed it) Stan Lee and Gil Kane. Most readers think the Hulk was a dumb brute from the start, but actually in his first several appearances his intellect wasn't too bad. It was only some time later that he started using a more simplified speech pattern.

FOR ASGARD!

Thor uses a lot of battle cries, more than any other Marvel character, including "For the Realm Eternal!", "For the All-Father!", "For Odin!", and "For Honor and Glory!". His most famous one, "For Asgard!" was first used in the Tales of Asgard backup feature of Journey Into Mystery #110. In more recent times, Thor's attachment to Earth has resulted in him also using the battle cry "For Midgard!". The choice would usually depend on the situation, with Thor favouring the former against the enemies of the Golden Realm and the latter against mortal foes. However, he could also shout "For Midgard!" in Asgard against certain large-scale threats to show where his true loyalties lie, as seen for example during the Simonson run.

By THE HOARY HOSTS OF HOGGOTH!

Doctor Strange is another character with more than a few battle cries, usually coinciding with the deities he invokes for his spells. This one more or less means "In the name of the ancient Hoggoth", the latter possibly being the oldest magical being in existence. The sentence dates back to the Lee-Ditko years and was first used in Strange Tales #120, but the deity was first mentioned in Strange Tales #116. 

FLAME ON!

The last entry is also the oldest. The Human Torch's famous battle cry predates all the others, first appearing in Fantastic Four #4 by Lee and Kirby. Funny enough, in #3 an angry Thing orders Johnny to flame off, perhaps suggesting Stan already had the sentence in mind.

And this is it, mostly because researching when each cry was first used takes forever. A few honorable mentions - not included because they aren't really battle cries - are "Oh My Stars and Garters!" (the Beast), "Nothing can stop the Juggernaut!" (Juggernaut) and "To me, my X-Men!" (professor Xavier). 

Super Sunday Special: The Big Three - History Of a Friendship

The following essay was originally written by me for Assembled! 2, a book by Van Allen Plexico and the rest of the AA Boards published in 2009. I was moderator of the boards back then, and we were all offered the chance to contribute to this and the unfortunately unpublished Assembled! 3. I decided to chronicle the 45+ years of friendship between Cap, Thor and Iron Man, from the early days until the original Civil War. For various reasons, it took a while for the book to be printed, by which time it wasn't completely up to date anymore and some changes were necessary, but the following is the essay as it was originally written. Incidentally, two more contributors - Doug and Karen - have gone on to create the Bronze Age Babies blog. I recommend you check it out. 

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“When I awoke, decades later, the first thing I heard was a deep, jovial howl. Thor’s laughter. And then another voice. Educated. Proper. But hollow – as if it was spoken through a metal pipe… They were the future. The Avengers.” (Captain America @ Avengers V3 #63).

Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, often referred to by readers as “The Big Three”. The history of the group owes a lot to them: they are founders – retroactively in Captain America’s case – have been team leaders and served some of the longest stints of membership, and when you see them interacting with each other, using their real names, asking or giving advice, or discussing private matters that they hide from everybody else, you can almost feel how close they are.

But it was not always this way: like every real relationship, the friendship between Captain America, Thor and Iron-Man has evolved through the years, starting as simple respect between “colleagues” and going through good and bad times, moments of confidence and of betrayal, of support and of hostility. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how this evolution occurred throughout the 500+ Avengers issues, and to try to understand what makes the Big Three essentially like each other, and where their disagreements stem from.

Super Sunday Special: The Costumes Of The Black Widow

(because listing all the costumes of the Wasp would have taken forever)

Nowadays, Natalia "Natasha" Alianovna Romanova owes a lot of her popularity to her portrayal by Scarlett Johansson in the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, she's actually one of Marvel's oldest characters, dating all the way back to the Silver Age and debuting in Tales of Suspense #52 (1964).

Originally, the Black Widow was a Soviet spy with very little combat training. More of a femme fatale than a fighter, she would rely on her beauty to steal state secrets or manipulate others into doing so. For this reason, her original outfits were regular dresses, albeit glamorous and elegant, complete with jewellery and accessories. She was also a smoker, occasionally seen with a cigarette holder, and her hair was black instead of red.

Super Sunday Special: The Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes - Breakout

Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes Episode 01... di jamal_yusufi

Background: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an animated series spanning two seasons and 57 episodes (including five introduction episodes, each formed by four micro-episodes) written by Chris Yost and Joshua Fine. Despite using material from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as black Nick Fury, Jarvis as an AI or Hawkeye and Black Widow as two special agents of SHIELD, the series is not set in that continuity, instead being mostly based on the classic comics by Lee and Kirby. Most Avengers are introduced gradually over the course of the seasons and wear their classic costumes.

So, What Happens? Don't ask me, watch the episode embedded up here :) "Breakout - Part 1" is the first full episode, or episode 6 after the introductory micro-episodes.

Super Sunday Special: Marvel's Wackiest Ads

We all remember the stories, but they weren't (or still aren't, for that matter) the only thing Marvel was publishing back in the day. A standard comic book would count 36 pages, only 20-22 of which depicted a story. The rest were ads. Some very, very strange ads at times. Let's have a look at some of the wackiest ads from Marvel's Silver Age.

Note: A special thanks for inspiring the idea goes to the amazing blog of Dr.Manhattan (all in Italian, but well worth learning the language if you can).

Ready? Off we go!

Super Sunday Special: "Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man"

The Battle of the Century (1976)

By Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Dick Giordano

So, What Happens? In Metropolis, Superman fights and defeats a giant robot piloted by Lex Luthor, but not before Lex can steal and stash away a small programming circuit for space satellites. Eventually, Superman finds Lex's undersea lab and captures the mad scientist, but once again not before Lex can safely hide his stolen circuit. Soon afterwards, Clark leaves for a conference in New York together with Lois Lane and the rest of his colleagues. In Manhattan, Spider-Man stops two thieves associated with Dr. Octopus and has a run-in with the supervillain himself. Initially defeated, Spidey nevertheless manages to find Ock's secret base and capture him in the end, shortly before leaving for the same conference Clark is going to. Unbeknown to both heroes, Doc Ock and Lex are imprisoned in the same penitentiary and become fast friends before escaping together thanks to Luthor's hidden devices. At the World News Conference, Peter Parker has an angry argument with J.J. Jameson and quits, before deciding to take a few pictures for himself. By doing so he meets Lois Lane, who in turn is angry at Clark for his meek personality. Lois and Peter have both heard of each other and immediately get along, much to Mary Jane Watson's annoyance, but before things can develop any further a fake Superman arrives and makes both women disappear in front of Peter and Clark. The heroes separately pur their costumes on and get on the scene, where Spidey thinks the fake Superman was the real deal, and Superman thinks Spider-Man is involved due to his dubious reputation. Clark quickly understands Spidey is not involved, but the frustrated younger hero is much more aggressive and volatile, refusing to listen to reason. Spying from a safe distance, Lex hits Spider-Man with a red sun ray, briefly making him capable of going toe to toe with a dumbfounded Superman and even gain the upper hand. Eventually the Kryptonian starts fighting back just enough to push Spidey away, and when the red radiation ray wears off a now severely overpowered Spider-Man is forced to stop and listen long enough to understand they have both been tricked. The heroes agree to join forces and follow the energy residue to an abandoned rail station, where they survive a number of death traps and discover the identity of their foes, as well as the coordinates for Mount Kilimanjaro. There, with some help from the locals, they find an empty rocket silo pointing Superman towards the satellite headquarters of the Injustice Gang, where Lex is using the stolen circuit to gain control of Comlab, a satellite equipped with a special laser gun. Superman stops the first laser ray from critically affecting Earth's atmosphere but is knocked out in the process, and Spider-Man - arriving on a space shuttle - is quickly captured too. Inside the Injustice Gang satellite, Lex explains his plan to blackmail the planet with a newly created giant tidal wave, but the heroes recover and, working together, start a counterattack. Eventually, Octopus realizes he doesn't want the planet destroyed and rebels against Luthor, tipping the scales enough for Spider-Man to capture them both while Superman flies back to Earth and stops Lex's tidal wave. The battle won, Superman and Spider-Man depart as friends, having also got enough of the battle on film to get back in the good graces of their respective bosses.

Super Sunday Special: Black Panther Epic Collection "Panther's Rage"

Black Panther Epic Collection #1

By Don McGregor, Rick Buckler, Billy Graham

This review is a bit different because it won't cover an individual story but an entire book from the Epic Collection line. Most of the stories included in this book are too interconnected to make sense in individual reviews, and there are just too many of them to review them all. For the same reasons, I won't go in a detailed synopsis. The book is #1 of the Black Panther Epic Collection series, collecting Fantastic Four #52-53 (1966) and Jungle Action #6-24 (1973-1976).

Broadly speaking, this volume covers three storylines. First, there are two Fantastic Four issues by Lee and Kirby, introducing the Black Panther and telling his origin story; then there is the main dish giving the volume its title: a massive 12-part Panther's Rage saga, by McGregor, Buckler and Graham; and finally a shorter arc pitting the Panther against the Ku Klux Klan, again by the same team. I have already reviewed the first Fantastic Four story, and I'll eventually get to the second too, so we can skip them for now. 

Entirely set in Wakanda, the Panther's Rage saga tells of the war between the Panther and wannabe usurper Erik Killmonger, with his group of mutates and army of soldiers. Against this backdrop, McGregor develops a number of character-driven stories, broadly discussing racism, inclusion, technology, tradition, peace and religion. Enemies aside, the four main characters are the Panther, his American girlfriend Monica, his second in command W'Kabi and his trusted advisor Taku, each dealing with their own personal demons and subplots. The Panther struggles with self-doubt, especially over his decision to modernize Wakanda; W'Kabi angrily rues the loss of the old ways and can't patch up his failing marriage; poetic and pacifist Taku has to deal with the consequences of a war he doesn't really see the need for; and Monica finds herself a foreigner in a foreign land, hated and despised by most both as a person and as the symbol of the Panther's newfound attachment for the Western world. In the background, there are war, tragedy and a long long epic journey through Wakanda as the Panther chases Killmonger to put a stop to his plans.

Super Sunday Special: The Marvel Vault

Published by Running Press, 1st ed (2007)

Hardcover, 192 pages

Today's special is about "The Marvel Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the World of Marvel" (whew, that's a long title for a book!) by Peter Sanderson and the living legend that is Roy Thomas.

What Is It? The Vault is a hardcover ring binder book detailing the history of Marvel Comics, from its early days in 1939 to 2007. An updated version published in December 2016 covers the current decade too. The format is a little strange: 30 x 2.3 x 26.9 cm (or 10.7 x 13 x 1.8 inches) mean it's shorter and deeper than a regular book, meaning it doesn't fit well on a book-shelf unless placed resting on its binding.

Super Sunday Special: In Search of Steve Ditko

Today, let's take a break from reviews and break the mold with something special for the first Special Sunday Study. In Search of Steve Ditko is a 2007 documentary by the BBC hosted by Jonathan Ross. It follows the career of the legendary Spider-Man co-creator and features many comic talents and their thoughts, including Stan Lee, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Due to Youtube length constraints, the documentary has been split into seven videos. They are all embedded down below and come from the channel of TheSteveDitko.