ASK... THE QUESTION! Column Submission Thread

The image from that old Sub-Mariner comic a week ago, gave me an excuse to rummage through my Golden Age collection. I’ve been a Sub-Mariner “junkie” ever since I was a kid, and was first introduced to him back in Fantastic Four #4, vol.1. This underwater hybrid with little mutant wings on his ankles, was just to cool. His backstory, about loosing his homeland and seeing his people scattered around the ocean depths (due to the blind actions of surface dwellers) made for comics first anti-hero. And I loved it! Having no idea then, of his off 'n on war with the surface world, going all the way backs to the 40s!

As Stan Lee began to build the Marvel universe, he realized that making a single world for his characters to exist in, hadn’t been done (on a company wide scale) before. So he set about having them interact, quite often. Like connecting puzzle pieces which created a marvelous (pun intended) new landscape. This included merging much of the Golden Age into his new Marvel one.

Prince Namor was the first to be suited for a “refit.” That meant that chunks of his past had to be rewritten for Stan’s new vision. I only have one G.A. Sub-Mariner comic. Issue #32, both written and drawn by his creator Bill Everett. It’s an origin recap, and has a meeting between Namor and his father (now a naval officer) who tries to stop his son’s rampage through New York City. This story, like many others (along with “the Lost Land” from issue #31) were simply jettisoned, as Stan rewrote Namor’s origin (and that of Atlantis) to fit a better narrative for his first Fantastic Four Annual. And even that, would be revised by other writers later on.

The latest revision appears to be the biggest one yet yet. Coming in the new Black Panther 2 - Wakanda Forever! But the MCU, while relying heavenly on it’s source material, is very much it’s own “brand.” The Sub-Mariner we get from them, will be unique to that cinematic world. And I for one, can’t wait to see it!

Thus endth the Marvel plug. We now return you to the DCU. home of thoughtful readers and insightful commentators! :grinning:

Stay safe, be well.

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Over on Have We Met?, I asked a question about Marvin the Martian. @KookieSuperApe was nice enough to provide a wonderfully visual answer, a few weeks ago. It shows J’onn J’onzz on the cover of a crossover comic, with the WB Lonnie Tuner. It also showed him in a new (for me anyway) costume. That got me to wondering about J.J.'s transformative, chameleon-like powers. Able to become almost anything (large or small), all the while retaining his true mind and identity. But all that aside, my query has to do with his ability to create external items, like clothing.

This stuff is also a part of him, isn’t it? From his very first appearance, as police detective John Jones, he has shown himself able to take off his fedora and trench-coat. Physically remove them, and hang them on a coat rack. How is he able to do that, exactly? Or if an enemy lasers off a piece of his cape, in a failed attempt to kill him. Would he “feel” the pain associated with being “cut” in that fashion?

Crazy, I know right. But that’s just how my mind works sometimes. Still, I know I’ve come to the right source for an answer, if there is one. Haven’t I :slightly_smiling_face: Or did John Ostrander already provide one on this somewhere, and I just missed it?

Stay safe, be well.

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Recently @wrightline1.42741 commented on one of my posts by asking about the status of Paul Gambi the Tailor. His question actually got me curious so I did some research on him. I remembered that his brother Peter was a supporting character in Black Lightning but forgot that he sacrificed his life for him in an effort to atone for the fact that he was actually the hitman who killed his father. I actually thought Paul was the one who was dead.

What I didn’t know was that he had a son who was adopted by his uncle and grew up in Central City under the protective umbrella of Gambi and the Rogues. A son who attempted to unsuccessfully defeat Flash after The Flash had injured one of the Rogues whom Tony considered his extended family.

Over in Gotham various members of the Falcone clan raised their hand against the Dark Knight and his protégés. Now that made me curious; what other major crime families exist in the DCU to plague our stalworth heroes?

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Did Hal Jordan still serve in the Air Force after he got his ring?

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Hal’s tour in the Air Force was finished by the time he got his ring. At that point he was working privately for Ferris Air as a test pilot.

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Ah ok thanks, I’m not too well versed in Hal’s Origin so I just thought he was a test pilot for the Air Force.

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He sometimes has PTSD from killing in war

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I believe it was on another forum somebody asked if Krypto was the only dog from Krypton to survive its explosion. The author pointed out that there was only one other time that they knew of that another canine showed up. This was during the Silver Age during one of Superman and Jimmy Olsens trips to the bottle city of Kandor. Once again they were acting as Nightwing and Flamebird where Jimmy borrowed the pet dog of his host as his mascot and called him Nighthound, I believe. The story ended when Jimmy told his new friend he would be back to visit him soon. I believe he was never seen again.
That started me wondering just how much of Kandor was shrunken by Brainiac? The buildings and people of course but i don’t know if it was ever described how much of the surrounding terrain was also included. Do we know if there was any plant or animal life that was included or did the writers just decide it wasn’t important enough to matter?

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The demonic nature of SABBAC’s origin from the Golden Age, has clearly had modern revisions. I admit to not knowing much about the character. His upcoming first live action appearance in Black Adam, got me to wondering about him, though. A being who’s come to represent some of the very worst elements of Hell, should prove quite formidable for anybody in the DCU. Hero or otherwise!

For instance, are his powers bound to the mortal coil on which man resides? To put that another way, would (or does) he still possess them in the realm of Hell itself? Or, would they revert back to the demons who allowed there use? If still empowered, how much interaction with other demonic entities has he had over the years? Blaze, Satanus, Etrigan and a host of others, all vie for positions of power there. Surly SABBAC is no different.

And where exactly has he turned up, outside of SHAZAM! good sir? Finally, has he ever been drawn into Darkseid’s webs of manipulation? Seems like he’d make a pretty powerful “pawn,” for the ruler of Apokolips. I’ve yet to read “Reign in Hell,” so perhaps some of my queries are already answered there. Thanks again for your time, on matters of small interest to anyone other than myself. :slightly_smiling_face:

Stay safe, be well.

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Hello @HubCityQuestion :0_the_question_jlu:,
It’s your friendly neighborhood Reaganfan78, I was just reading Detective comic #510, I’m curious, what’s the history on Arthur Reeve? I know he was in Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm, and was a good character in it. Thankyou for your time. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I was reading an interview with Jai Nitz and Phil Hester (link below) where Jai Nitz mentions that their El Diablo was one of the worst selling comics in DC history. That made me wonder, is there a list of worst selling comics? If there is, what are they so I can read them as I have a feeling many of us didn’t buy them at the time of release.

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Hello @HubCityQuestion :0_the_question_jlu:,
It’s your friendly neighborhood Reaganfan78, I was wondering, like with DC comics, are you also a expert on Mad Magazine? If I have any questions about their history, do I ask you also on them? Thankyou. :disguised_face::upside_down_face:

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I’ve answered a question or two about MAD in the past. It never hurts to ask!

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Ok, thankyou, and Thankyou for not getting ‘Mad’ at me for asking.:grin:

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Unfortunately, no such list exists. Comic retailers and publishers are reticent to make their failures available to the public. Even accounting for the fact that almost no reliable comic sales data exists before 1997, even figures since then only account for the top few hundred best-sellers each month. Even those records have enough holes in them that one can’t be certain just how many copies an unaccounted for series sold.

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Hello @HubCityQuestion :0_the_question_jlu:,

Has Mad Magazine ever did a special edition for President Of United States, like they did with Batman (By far my favorite)?:slightly_smiling_face:

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There’s never been a Mad special edition about the US presidents, but there was a special in 2017 about one president in particular:

Like most MAD specials, the volume consists of reprinted articles and features from the regular publication, collected together into one thematic volume.

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Interesting, thought I’d ask, Thankyou.:slightly_smiling_face:

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Follow-up: it seems MAD also had a special on George Bush, in 2007:

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I know that different versions of the JLA have been created (by individual members) at different times. Captain Atom created the Extreme Justice team, Aquaman brought in new members and gave us JLA Detroit. And Batman’s version was so unique, he called them his Outsiders. But other than the JLA series of Aliens, Amazons etc., that ran in 2001, who else (excluding Maxwell Lord of course), has done it?

And just a little history (for those of you unfamiliar), about a couple of members of the original Outsiders. Both Metamorpho and Black Lightning turned down League membership, when first offered to them. In the final issue of Brave and the Bold #200, DC included a special insert of a new title, that would be replacing it. Thus, we got our first adventure of Batman and the Outsiders.

After convincing B.L. to join him on a rescue mission overseas, he ran into Metamorpho, and eventually the others there. They would go on to join him and create the first iteration of these international, border busting, vigilantes. How many versions have there been now, anyway? At least a 1/2 dozen I’m sure. If already asked and answered, I apologize. Hard for us “mortals” to keep track of these thing you know. :smile:

Well, 'til King Faraday meets Maxwell Smart …

Stay safe, be well.

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