SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

Growing up, I read so many comics that my memories of specific stories and issues — and where I was when I read them — run together. A handful of landmark issues stand out for me, however. One such issue was Ms. Marvel #1.

I was already a fan of the Marvel Comics version of Captain Marvel — a completely different character from the Captain Marvel of whom you’re probably thinking if you’re not a major comics geek — when his distaff surrogate first appeared. What drew me to Ms. Marvel, though, was the fact that she was the first Marvel heroine with A-level superpowers.

Essentially, Carol Danvers (who’d actually been a popular Marvel supporting character for several years before she gained superpowers) was both of DC’s signature heroines, Wonder Woman (the powerful and wise mother figure) and Supergirl (the powerful but cute blonde), rolled into one.

The similarities between Supergirl and Ms. Marvel didn’t end with their strength, invulnerability, disdain for gravity, connection to a prototypical male hero, or flaxen tresses. Supergirl’s civilian identity at one point in her complex history was also Danvers — she used the first name Linda — which couldn’t possibly have been a coincidence, though the facts remain shrouded in mystery.

One other factor that Ms. Marvel and Supergirl have in common is that I collect images of both of them. (You can browse my Supergirl collection here and here, and my Ms. Marvel collection here and here.)

The Ms. Marvel pinup above was drawn by MC Wyman, one of Marvel’s best artists throughout the 1990s. Both the Supergirl solo drawing and the Common Elements commission pairing these two heroines come from the pencil of Christopher Rich-McKelvey, owner of Bald Guy Studios and creator of the independent comic Footman 15.

I don’t often have two artworks featuring the same character by the same artist in my collection, but I’m particularly fond of Supergirl’s costume from the mid-’70s, as seen in the solo pic here. So is Chris, apparently.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

As we noted in a previous Comic Art Friday, archery would appear, on the face of things, to be a poor choice of expertise for a superhero.

Supervillains, after all, tend to be in-your-face types. It seems unlikely that when, say, Dr. Doom is punching you in the face with his armored fists that he will respond politely to your request that he step back about ten yards so that you have room to shoot him with an arrow.

Despite this apparent disadvantage, archers have formed an essential subset of superherodom since its beginnings. In fact, the first masked crimefighter in comics was an archer — The Arrow, who debuted just three months after Superman kick-started the genre in 1938. He was followed in short order by such bow-slinging stalwarts as Golden Arrow, the Spider (not the pulp hero of the same name, but the star of the comic series entitled Alias the Spider), and perhaps the best-known of the bunch, Green Arrow, who stands as one of only five superheroes from the Golden Age of comics to be published continuously from that day to this. (The others are the DC “trinity” of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, plus their Justice League comrade Aquaman — because who doesn’t love a guy who can talk to fish?)

Never one to miss a trend, longtime Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee thought, “Hey, we should have one of those archer types, too.” So, in 1964, with the aid of artist Don Heck, Stan the Man created Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye.

Like the other archer superheroes who preceded him, Hawkeye possessed no paranormal abilities. He was simply a talented fellow who knew how to bend a bow with the best of them. Hawkeye did, however, bring new wrinkles to the party — a surly demeanor and an iconoclastic attitude. (Green Arrow, whose debut predated Hawkeye’s by more than two decades, would later adopt similar personality traits.)

Hawkeye became a member of the second generation of the Avengers, Marvel’s front-line super-team. When founding members Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man and the Wasp simultaneously took leaves of absence, Captain America pulled together a ragtag bunch of Grade B heroes to replace them. Cap’s new Avengers included the Scarlet Witch, her speedster brother Quicksilver, and our man Hawkeye.

In an interesting twist, Clint Barton gave up his bow and arrows for a while to become Goliath, one of numerous identities assumed over the years by Henry Pym, originally known as Ant-Man. Clint used Henry’s infamous Pym Particles to grow himself to giant size. His stint as a super-sized superhero was short-lived (no pun intended), and Clint soon resumed his Hawkeye guise and weaponry.

Today, Clint has yet another fighting code name — Ronin — and he’s back in the ranks of the Avengers. The Hawkeye identity continues on, however. It’s now being used by a young woman named Kate Bishop, who carries on Clint’s bow-bending tradition as a member of the Young Avengers.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

Not long ago on Comic Art Friday, we featured an artwork from my Common Elements commission series entitled “Union Jacks.” This piece showcased an all-British theme: two British heroes (Captain Britain and Marvelman, known here in the U.S. as Miracleman) drawn by a British artist, Mike McKone.

Surely, you didn’t think that was the only such idea your Uncle Swan had up his sleeve? (I know, I know… ideas don’t come from sleeves, and don’t call you Shirley.)

Today, we continue our salute to the English-speaking nations with this all-Canada spectacular.

Comics’ most familiar Canadian superhero, Wolverine, finds himself on a scouting mission with Captain Canuck, the Great White North’s nationalist hero. Bringing this scenario to life is one of Canada’s finest exports, Dave Ross, who burst onto the American comics scene in the 1980s as the artist on Marvel’s Canadian superteam, Alpha Flight, and went on to illustrate such series as Avengers West Coast, Rai and the Future Force, Magnus: Robot Fighter, Birds of Prey, and most recently, Angel.

Befitting the overarching theme, I commissioned this piece from Dave on July 1 — Canada Day.

When Wolverine first popped up as a guest star in a pair of 1974 issues of The Incredible Hulk, no one could have envisioned that the little yellow-clad Canadian with the metal claws would evolve into a franchise superstar. And indeed, he didn’t right away. It wasn’t until the following year, when the character was added to the roster of the “all-new, all-different” X-Men, that his rise to the heroic pantheon began. When Canadian artist John Byrne took over the series, he pushed for Wolverine’s greater prominence. Before long, Wolvie was starring in several series and miniseries of his own, in addition to becoming the pivotal character in the X-Men franchise.

Sometimes, legends are born from the humblest beginnings.

Today, of course, Wolverine is known to millions of people who’ve never cracked open a comic book, thanks to the X-Men films and the recent spin-off, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It seems to me an odd bit of casting that the 6′ 3″ Australian actor Hugh Jackman portrays a superhero who’s supposed to be 5′ 5″ and Canadian, but that’s Hollywood for you.

I’m sure that Captain Canuck would give his maple leaf just to be mentioned in a major motion picture. Or even in a comic book series that sold more than a few thousand copies. Interestingly, the good Captain and his adamantium-clawed countryman exploded on the scene only a few months apart, as the first issue of Captain Canuck appeared in July 1975. In the years since, three different individuals — Tom Evans, Darren Oak, and David Semple — have donned the Captain’s red-and-white fighting togs, in several series mostly published by creator Richard Comely’s flagship label, Comely Comics.

Although both Wolverine and Captain Canuck make their Common Elements debuts in this artwork, it marks Dave Ross’s second entry into my ever-expanding theme series. Dave’s first creation for the Common Elements gallery was “Wagnerian Opera,” this stunning panel featuring one of my favorite heroines, the Valkyrie, alongside Wolverine’s X-Men compatriot Nightcrawler. Legendary inker Joe Rubinstein supplied the finishing touches.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

As even the folks at Google have taken note, San Diego Comic-Con — the world’s largest gathering of comics creators, fans, and related media — is in full swing this weekend.

I’ve never been to SDCC — I already have a major out-of-town trip every July, thanks to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Convention — but I would like to make the trek downstate one of these years. Since that first visit won’t be this year, however, I thought we’d have our own little virtual comic art convention right here at SSTOL. SwanCon, if you will.

We’ve leafed through the archives to select a handful of artworks we’ve acquired at Bay Area comic cons during the past several years. These aren’t necessarily the best of our con commissions, but they represent an interesting cross-section of the pieces we’ve picked up. (You can click on any of the images for a better view.)

WonderCon 2005: Vixen by Buzz

WonderCon 2006: The Black Panther by Ron Lim (inks supplied post-Con by Bob Almond)

WonderCon 2007: Supergirl by Aaron Lopresti

WonderCon 2008: Mary Marvel by David Williams

Super-Con 2006: Ms. Marvel by Buzz

Super-Con 2007: Taarna by Alé Garza

And’s that’s your Virtual SwanCon for 2009. If you happen to be reading this at SDCC, have fun. Oh… and bring me back something, will ya?

As a voice actor — and in particular, a voice actor with a yen to work in animation — I often think about characters that I would enjoy voicing, if given the opportunity.

As a comic book fanatic — and in particular, a comic book fanatic who also happens to be a voice actor — I think especially about comic book characters that I would enjoy voicing, if given the opportunity.

Herewith, then, Uncle Swan’s Top Seven Superheroes He’d Like to Play in an Animated Series or Feature. (Animation directors and casting professionals, kindly take note.)

7. The Rocketeer.

Someone really ought to do an animated version of the late, great Dave Stevens’s signature character that would do justice to Stevens’s memory. Then, that someone should hire me to play Cliff Secord, because no one else would approach the job with as much enthusiasm. And, playing a character requiring different vocal qualities when speaking with and without his helmet would pose an intriguing challenge.

6. Daredevil.

Playing Daredevil would be kind of like playing Batman, only without the added burden of living up to the solidly established vocalization created by Kevin Conroy over the past decade and a half. It would also be interesting to physicalize a blind character — how would I get that aspect across vocally?

5. Booster Gold.

Snarky, smarmy, borderline obnoxious know-it-alls are right up my alley. Some might call it typecasting. Besides which, my natural speaking voice sounds like a hyperactive surfer dude (30 years in California will do that to you), and that’s how I imagine that Booster would talk.

4. Doctor Strange.

I’m actually not a major Doctor Strange buff — he’s a bit outré for my tastes. But I would totally dig on spouting dialogue laced with such juicy epithets as, “By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!” and “Begone, dread Dormammu! I alone possess the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto!”

3. Green Arrow.

Oliver Queen would be a blast to portray. He’s egotistical, passionate, crass, and more than a little bent. He has to be — he’s constantly engaging in close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat using a weapon best used from long distance. What kind of sane individual does that?

2. The Prowler.

One of my all-time favorite characters, the Prowler deserves to be a far bigger star than he is. With my voice emanating from behind his mask, he just might become one.

1. Mr. Terrific.

Technological genius? Check. Third-smartest man in the world? Check. Dashingly handsome behind a stick-on T-shaped facial appliance? I’ll work on it. Don’t you just have to love a guy with the chutzpah to refer to himself as Mr. Terrific? I’ll bet he gets all the ladies.

Some of you may be wondering why my two all-time favorite heroes, the Black Panther and Spider-Man, aren’t on this list. The answer on Spidey should be obvious — he’s been done and overdone by plenty of other actors. I was trying to focus on characters whose voices and personas are less familiar to the general public, thereby offering me more latitude to establish a fresh take.

As for the Panther… I can’t do a credible African accent, and the character demands that. Djimon Hounsou is voicing T’Challa in the upcoming Black Panther animated series, and is an absolutely perfect choice for the role.

If you need Mr. Terrific, though… have your people call my people.

And that’s your Comic Art Friday.

[View the back catalog of Comic Art Friday posts here.]

Sometimes, the least complicated works of art can be the most beautiful.

As an illustration (pun intended) of this principle, take this sketch of Mary Marvel, drawn by Cavewoman artist Devon Massey.

The linework here is a model of simplicity. (I suspect that this was a preliminary draft for a more detailed drawing.) And yet, with just a handful of deft pencil strokes, Massey gives Mary a sweet, charming face, and her figure the appropriate balance of delicacy and strength.

My Mary Marvel galleries contain nearly two dozen stunning renditions of the World’s Mightiest Maiden. Devon Massey’s creation stands out among them for its evocative simplicity.

That’s all that I have to say about that.

And that, in simple terms, is your Comic Art Friday.

[You can view previous Comic Art Friday posts here.]