Batman – Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.
Batman – To the Bat-pole Robin
Beast – Oh my stars and garters
Captain America – Avengers Assemble
Captain Marvel – Shazam
Colossus – Bozhe Moi
Colossus – By the White Wolf
Colossus – Lenin’s Ghost
Conan – By Crom
Deadpool – Ready to die
Doctor Horrible – I have a PhD in Horribleness
Dr. Strange – By the Hoary hosts of Hoggoth
GI Joe – Go Joes
Green Lantern – In brightest day in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight Let those who worship evils might beware my power–Green Lantern’s light
Hulk – Don’t make me angry… You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry
Hulk – Hulk Smash
Human Torch – Flame On
Judge Dredd –I am the law
Juggernaut – I’m Unstoppable
Lilandra – Sharra and Kythri have mercy
Lobo – Bite me fanboy
Lone Ranger – Hi-Yo Silver…away
Luke Cage – Sweet Christmas
Mighty Mouse – Here I come to Save the Day
Mr. Terrific – Fair Play
Nightcrawler – Mein Gott
Robin – Holy _____, Batman
Spider-Man – It’s your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Spider-Man – My Spider-Sense is tingling.
Spider-Man – With great power comes great responsibility
Stan Lee – Excelsior
Storm – By the goddess
Sub Mariner – Imperius Rex
Superman – Great Krypton
Superman – Great Rao
Superman – Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman
Superman – Truth, Justice and the American Way
Superman – Up, up, and away
Superman (Perry White) – Great Caesar’s ghost
Teen Titans – Teen Titans, Go
Teen Titans – Titans Together
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Cowabunga
The Joker – Why so serious?
The Riddler – Riddle me this
The Shadow – Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows
The Thing – Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew
The Tick – Spoon
The Tick (Arthur) – Not the face not the face
Thing – It’s Clobbering Time
Thing – What a revoltin development this is
Thor – Odin’s beard
Underdog – When Polly’s in trouble, I am not slow. It’s hip hip hip, and away I go
I first heard of The 36 Stratagems when I was working on a comic book story with Bruce Lee in 1974. The story was eventually published in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #14 (see cover above). Bruce Lee envisioned a story that revolved around stratagem three of the 36 Statagems “Kill with a Borrowed Knife” that entails using the strength of another to defeat your enemies. Bruce knew me from my cinema work in which I played the role of an evil psychologist turning nice Hong Kong girls, among others, into killing machines or worse in the The Evil Dr. Fox series produced by Shaw Brothers Studios. We had tried again and again to make a “Bruce Lee vs. Dr. Fox” movie in Hong Kong without success.
The comic book was definitely a plan B. There was a metafictional aspect to our comic book collaboration since Bruce Lee would more or less be playing himself in the comic book story. I had played heavies in various B films in Hong Kong before the success of the mad psychologist Dr. Fox series. In hindsight, I realize that using my actual last name as that of the character in that series was probably not a good idea. I actually was a professor working as an English teacher in a Hong Kong university language center. I did some acting on the side to earn extra money and because acting was also a lot of fun. I would like to take this opportunity to separate fact from fiction.
The real Dr. Fox cannot do the incredible kung fu stunts that are seen in my movies. I do have some knowledge of martial arts but I am more a theoretician than a practicioner:
The real Dr. Fox knows absolutely nothing about brainwashing. If you want to learn English then give me a call but if you want to brainwash your ex-girlfriend to fall in love with you again then I am the wrong person for that task. Metaschizophrenia, the Bureau of Intelligence Synthesis and corrective reality are all fictions and not real!
A stratagem is often used as a synonym for the word “strategy” and this is an incorrect use of the term. A stratagem is more correctly defined as a ruse. However, I think the term ruse is simplistic when applied to the term stratagem. Based on the historical usage of the word, I would describe a stratagem as a ruse used for military and/or political purposes. Also, a stratagem is a ruse that has been used for purposes other than mere monetary gain unlike a confidence trick. For example, the Spanish prisoner con is basically the same as “7) Create Something Out of Nothing. – Turn something that is not substantial into reality” stratagem in the list of stratagems below at an operational level but the contextual historical background is totally different. Operational similarities aside, the contextual background of the ruse given to the potential user is important for easy applicability. A con man may have trouble understanding an operation given in a military context. A military officer might have trouble applying a con explained within a monetary context to a military situation. One of the recurring plot lines of modern fiction is having cons that are generally used for criminal purposes for government goals as is the case in the popular franchise Mission Impossible. However, translating operations to a different context may not be as easy as the mentioned franchise suggests.
I would also like to contrast a stratagem with a ruse of war. For example moving landmarks to confuse the enemy is clearly a ruse of war but I would not call it a stratagem. Historically, a stratagem has a larger goal than the mere temporary confusion of the enemy. Perhaps a stratagem is a ruse of war with strategic rather than tactical intent. I would define a stratagem as a ruse of war with strategic intent. In short:
1) A con is a ruse for monetary gain.
2) A ruse of war is a ruse for tactical military gain.
3) A stratagem is a ruse for strategic military and/or political gain.
I would like to apply this system of ruse classification to a particular historical example that would have been difficult to classify prior to this article.
In Operation Bernhard, the Nazis counterfeited British pounds in order to destabilize the British economy. Was Operation Bernhard a con, ruse of war or a stratagem? Certainly Operation Bernhard was a ruse. I would argue that Operation Bernhard was not a con since the objective was political and not monetary. If the goal was to supply Nazi agents with local money in Britain then it would be a ruse of war. Since the goal was strategic then I would say Operation Bernhard was a stratagem and specifically: “2) Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao. – Attack their Achilles heel” in the list below.
Feudal Chinese military strategists suggested the study of stratagems as part of basic military education. The 36 Stratagems is an essay that explains stratagems in detail. This essay shows how the 36 stratagems have been portrayed in comic books. The author of this essay doubts the comic book writers were aware of the Chinese text on this subject but learned about the stratagems indirectly and used them largely for plot purposes rather than edification. An essay of how the 36 stratagems have been used in comic books provides an interesting extension of literary criticism and how theories other than literary theory can help us understand modern media such as comic books.
The 36 stratagems are traditionally broken into six categories with six stratagems per category. I find the categories are largely useless and create logical confusion. The rationale for the six categories probably has more to do with Taoist aesthetics than any operational logic. For example, #31, the honey trap is under the category six of “Desperate Stratagems” but this stratagem could just as easily be classified under category two, “Enemy dealing stratagems”. For the purposes of utility, the categories have been deleted and a simple 1-36 list has been used instead.
The Original 36 Stratagems – Contemporary Maxims
1) Cross the sea by deceiving the sky. Act in the open, but hide your true intentions.
This is the use of a series of false alarms so that when you actually attack then you will have the element of surprise. Supervillains don’t use this stratagem very much since every time they move then they get caught because of the dictates of a media were the good guys always win. However in World’s Finest #88, the Joker and Lex Luthor commit a series of crimes that are actually Mechano-Men stunts and not crimes.
In his first appearance in Action Comics V1, #51, the Prankster gives money to banks in apparent bank robberies until he decides to start robbing banks instead when the guard of the banks is let down.
2) Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao. Attack their Achilles heel.
Lex Luthor has used Green Kryptonite to attack Superman at least a hundred times. At this point the idiom Kryptonite to signify an Achilles heel is probably better known than the original antecedent idiom. This only works if the bad guys know the fatal weakness of the super hero. There can be an irony to the Achilles heel of a superhero as a plot device. For example, Daredevil is more vulnerable to sonic attack due to his enhanced hearing but this has been kept secret by Daredevil.
The Achilles heel of most superheroes is their loved ones. The Injustice: Gods Among Us explores a universe in which the Joker has killed Lois Lane, Superman’s unborn son and most of Metropolis. In the comic book, not the video game, that is ongoing, Superman seems to be on the path of creating a dictatorship. In the comic book, the US government attempts but fails to keep Superman’s adopted family, Jonathan and Martha Kent in a Mirror Master dimension but this attempt fails. Superman emerges angrier than ever due to this attempt by the US government.
The problem of the loved ones Achilles heel is that once you used up loved ones then your enemy is enraged and stronger than ever. This seems to apply to real life to some extent.
Iron Man had his armor hijacked by a Hypersonic Scan Transmitter in the Demon in a Bottle story line. Justin Hammer used the hijacked armor to kill an Ambassador while Iron Man was in the armor and effectively framing Iron Man for murder.
Overall, super villains are constantly looking for the weakness of their favorite super hero and will attack such a weakness without mercy.
Green Lantern has a green Power ring that is one of the most powerful weapons in the DC universe but the Power ring has an Achilles heel and that is that the Power ring is unable to affect objects colored yellow. Sinestro had a yellow Power ring which in turn was ineffective with objects colored green! This is cute use of the Achilles heel plot device but does seem a little too much in a modern context. The Earth 2 Green Lantern, Alan Scott, has a Power ring unable to affect wooden objects. Green Lanterns have a weapon of incredible power so the only way a fight with bank robbers could not be totally one sided and interesting was to introduce a ridiculous Achilles heel.
Mon-El is a Daxamite. Daxamites are about as powerful as a race as Superman who is a Kryptonian. However, the Achilles heel of Daxamites is a vulnerability to even small traces of lead. Presumably this plot device prevents the Daxamites from taking over the DC universe. In a similar manner, the Martian Manhunter is more or less as powerful as Superman but is vulnerable to fire! DC first used Kryptonite to allow interesting plots with a being as powerful as Superman and then continued this practice with Green Lantern, Mon-El, and the Martian Manhunter. This use of a very fine tuned Achilles heel is a hallmark of the DC Silver age and seems forced nowadays.
3) Kill with a borrowed knife. Attack using the strength of another person.
In Avengers, Vol1, #1,Loki tries to trick the Hulk into fighting Thor but instead ends up creating the Avengers. Loki bailed out the Cobra and Mr. Hyde and doubled their powers and aimed them at Thor’s Achilles heel, the current love of his life Jane Foster. Loki has created super villains to fight Thor including the Absorbing Man. Loki tricked the Silver Surfer into fighting Thor (Silver Surfer, V1, #4). Loki in Acts of Vengeance attacked the Avengers by creating a team of super villains who in turn used even other super villains to attack the Avengers. Loki’s true goal was to hurt his half-brother Thor.
Daredevil used HYDRA to destroy the Kingpin’s organization in the Last Rites story arc (Daredevil #297-300). The Kingpin nearly destroyed Daredevil in the Born Again story line earlier via a series of stratagems so there is a plot symmetry in Daredevil striking back against the Kingpin using a stratagem.
Darkseid has supplied advanced weaponry to Intergang in order fight Earth’s superheroes and to track down the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid also created an incarnation of the Secret Society of Supervillains and kept his involvement secret from the supervillains for an extended period of time. Darkseid knew many supervillains are interested in loot rather than the larger strategic goals he had.
Justin Hammer supplied advanced technology to Iron Man’s adversaries in exchange for fifty percent of the loot the supervillains stole. Justin Hammer also used stratagem #2 to attack Iron Man.
4) Relax and wait for the adversary to tire himself out. Exercise patience and wear them down
Doctor Octopus unsuccessfully tried to wear Spider-Man down using the newly formed Sinister Six who attacked Spider-Man one by one in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Doctor Octopus hoped that the exhausted Spider-Man would be defeated when he attacked Spider-Man last.
In The Dark Knight Returns, Batman uses this stratagem to fight Superman. Batman attacks Superman with an otherworldly Batmobile, followed by cruise missiles and finally has Green Arrow shoot Kryptonite tipped arrows to weaken Superman sufficiently so that Batman with his exoskeleton can give Superman a beating before Batman appears to die of a self-induced heart attack.
5) Loot a burning house. Hit them when they are down.
Attack the enemy when they have internal difficulties. The Kingpin literally blew up Daredevil’s house after framing him for bribery, destroying him financially and overall attacking him as Matt in the Born Again story arc. The Kingpin muses that a destroyed Daredevil might serve him! The Born Again story line also illustrates stratagem #2 and the use of interlocking stratagems, stratagem #35.
Comic books need fights and fights between super heroes like Thor and the Hulk are always popular. You see a lot of “temporary misunderstandings” between super heroes but after the mandatory six to ten panel fight, the misunderstanding is patched up and the heroes unite to fight the supervillain that created the conflict in the first place.
6) Make a feint to the east while attacking in the West. Fake to the right; attack to the left.
Ozymandias was defeated by the Comedian during their first fight due to a feint. The Prankster in the Modern Age acts as distraction-for-hire for Superman for a fee while criminals commit crimes. Batman has been known to “miss” with his Batarang because he is actually going for a ricochet shot. Daredevil does the same thing as Batman but with his Billy Club not a Batarang.
7) Create something out of nothing. Turn something that is not substantial into reality.
Vaporware is the modern equivalent of this stratagem. The Prankster copyrights the English language and then charges fees for use of the alphabet! Ozymandias tricks the world with a fake alien in order to unite the world in a war against the aliens and stop WW III from happening.
8) Secretly utilize the Chen Cang passage. Pretend to advance down one path while taking another hidden path. Pretend to care about an issue and later give it up to get what you really want.
This stratagem is a more specific version of “(6) Make a Feint to the East While Attacking in the West. – Fake to the right; attack to the left”. The difference is that beyond misinformation there is the use of physical baits such as a decoy. Iron Man, Loki and Dr. Strange all have the ability to make mirror images of their own image in order to confuse the enemy. If you try to touch the mirror copy then your hand will go through the copy and the copy cannot interact with the enemy so the illusion only creates temporary confusion. This is a type of illusion whether the origin is holographic science in the case of Iron Man or magic in the case of Dr. Strange and Loki. This power is used in an irregular manner with the characters mentioned.
Mirror Master uses the power in a more consistent manner in order to flee from the Flash who has super speed. The Mirror Master will often make multiple holograms of himself that flee in different directions. Flash is fast enough to chase all the holograms so this rarely works but this doesn’t stop the Mirror Master from using this trick again and again.
A slightly different version of this stratagem is the use of robotic copies. When dealing with Doctor Doom, you never know if you are dealing with Doctor Doom or a robotic copy of Doctor Doom. While you are dealing with the Doctor Doom robot, the real Doctor Doom can be watching from afar and coming up with some other counter plan. Robots that are created by Doctor Doom that are exact replicas of Doctor Doom are called Doombots.
S.H.I.E.L.D makes extensive use of Life Model Decoys (LMDs). Nick Fury LMDs serve a similar function for Nick Fury as Doombots for Doctor Doom. In the case of Doombots and LMDs the problem of controlling the robots has been a plot device. Your robotic copy can try to supplant the original! Max Fury is an LMD that has played a prominent role in the Marvel Universe.
Tony Stark (Iron Man’s secret identity) is probably the second greatest user of LMDs after Nick Fury. Tony Stark was paralyzed and used the Neuromimetic Telepresence Unit 150 (NTU-150) to act as a remote controlled version of Iron Man.
In the film X-Men: The Last Stand, Magneto has Multiple Man make multiple copies of himself and the copies act as a decoy while the real Brotherhood escapes.
9) Watch the fire burning from across the river. Allow them to fight your other enemy while you rest and observe. Later, defeat the exhausted survivor.
Ultra Boy, of the Legion of Super-Heroes, used covert means to trick Mordru into attacking Glorith in order to stop Glorith from taking over the universe (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual V4 #1.
10) Conceal a dagger in a smile. Befriend them to get their guard down, then attack their weakest point.
The Batman has some very charming enemies. The Joker often smiles and even laughs as he kills his victims. The Joker also likes to make his victims smile while they die as well with his patented Joker venom. The Riddler is another smooth talking rogue that is an enemy of Batman. Ra’s al Ghul treats Batman as a worthy opponent and calls Batman detective out of respect.
Ra’s al Ghul has a daugher, Talia al Ghul, does more than smile for Batman and has given Batman a son! Talia seemingly becomes an ally of Luthor and runs LexCorp while Luthor is President but secretly sells LexCorp to Wayne Enterprises in order to ruin Lex Luthor. However, Talia is a ruthless criminal that will fight Batman.
Ozymandias is very genial even as he battles Rorschach, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre.
11) Sacrifice a plum tree to save a peach tree. Let the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree. Trade up! Take a small loss for a large gain.
Super villains are more than willing to sacrifice henchmen for any sort of advantage or just kill them for fun. Probably the worst super villain boss is the Joker who gets a kick out of shooting, electrocuting and poisoning henchmen left and right.
12) Take away a goat in passing. Take advantage of every small opportunity.
The Taskmaster is an interesting super villain who decided a lot of small opportunities with small risk is a better idea than the big score. The Taskmaster runs a school for henchmen. In general, super villains do not think small and do pass up small opportunities. The biggest opportunity that super villains pass up is licensing their technology. If the technology is stolen then this makes sense but in the case of criminal masterminds like The Mad Thinker and Egghead, you have to wonder why they don’t focus on being a the next Bill Gates rather than wasting their time on crime.
13) Beat the grass to startle the snake. Stir things up before beginning to negotiate for your true interests.
Ok, this is the application of stratagems to a type of genre that generally relies on fist fights for plot development. No one said this task would be easy. I am going to revise this as distraction as a tactic or even super power in a comic book. Deadpool has officially been classified as a character with the super power of distraction by a major super villain, Taskmaster. Spider-Man consistently keeps up a line of personal to funny chatter while fighting that unnerves opponents.
14) Raise a corpse from the dead. Revive a dead proposal by presenting it again or in a new way.
This stratagem means take something from the past and giving it new relevance. I guess the Chinese knew endless reboots of everything from Spider-Man to Iron Man were going to be part of the future! This may be number #14 in the list of stratagems but in comic terms this stratagems is number #1!
Comic books love updating old weapons! The Atomic Knights use medieval armor after WW III! Hawkman likes to use archaic weaponry. Green Arrow and Hawkeye use trick arrows. Batman uses Batarangs, boomerangs and shurikens, in his utility belt. Captain Boomerang and Boomerang use trick boomerangs. Whiplash uses a technologically enhanced whip. Wonder Woman has her Lasso of Truth. Comic book heroes and villains delight in taking and old weapon and adding new technology to the weapon so a trick version of the weapon is created.
15) Lure the tiger out of the mountain. Seek a neutral location. Negotiate after leading them away from a position of strength.
Super heroes don’t really rely on forts and mazes to take care of their enemies. Batman has the Batcave and Superman has his Fortress of Solitude. However, the last thing super heroes want is supervillains visiting their lairs. Incredibly the opposite happens and super heroes wander into the stronghold of villains all the time. At least once every three years, the Fantastic Four visits Latveria the stronghold of Doctor Doom. This is not just a lair but a whole country that Doctor Doom controls so probably visiting Doctor Doom in Latveria is not a good idea but that doesn’t seem to deter the Fantastic Four in the least.
Doctor Doom may have a nation on his side but Luthor tops that big time by having a whole planet on his side! In the Silver age, In Superman Vol 1, #164, Luthor challenged Superman to a fight on Lexor. Lexor is a planet that has a red sun so Superman has no powers on Lexor! Also, on Lexor, Luthor is a hero and Superman is considered a villain! In Superman, Vol 1, #168, Luthor even manages to find some ancient technology that allows him to temporarily gain super powers on Lexor! Lexor is an extreme example but supervillains are often luring the super heroes into their lairs in order to have them fall into some death trap or another. This is especially the case with Batman.
Deathtraps are a comic book cliché and part of the cliché is the supervillain’s monologue that allows the super hero time to escape. Why doesn’t the supervillain just shoot the captured super hero? The answer is that the super hero needs to escape for plot purposes.
16) Let the adversary off in order to snare him. Do not arouse their spirit to fight back.
In Silver Surfer Vol 1, #5, there is a Tales of the Watcher back story, titled “Run Roco Run”. Roco ends up serving a life sentence in Jupiter but is hypnotized into believing he has escaped and therefore no longer tries to escape! This story is a retelling of “Run, Rocky, Run!” drawn by Bob Forgione in Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series) #26 (December 1961).
17) Toss out a brick to attract a piece of jade. Trade something of minor value for something of major value.
In Irredeemable, the Hornet gives the Vespan aliens a list of other habitable planets that they can conquer in exchange for leaving Earth alone and imprisoning Plutonian, a super hero gone bad. Hornet is ironically a Batman type super hero without super powers but via this stratagem turns an alien invasion around and defeats the Superman type hero Plutonian. With the right stratagem, the weakest member of the team physically can be the most important team member in terms of results.
18) To catch bandits, nab their ringleader first. Convince the leader and the rest will follow.
Supervillains do love to kidnap the President of the US. Occasionally, supervillains take over the UN in order to blackmail the whole world and not just the US. Overall, the comic book world of super heroes and supervillains is very egalitarian and chaotic. For example, Superman isn’t really the leader of the super heroes but kind of a moral guide. Reed Richards is supposed to be the leader of the Fantastic Four but he definitely has to run things by the other members especially his wife the Invisible Woman. The Avengers has a rotating leadership but Captain America generally acts as an informal leader on the battlefield at the tactical level. The X-Men do have a real leader, Professor X and occasionally Professor X is targeted as a leader.
There is no real leadership structure for the supervillain side either. Norman Osborn did create the Cabal which led to the Dark Reign storyline. The Cabal did effectively control most of the supervillains in the Marvel Universe and Hawkeye did try to assassinate Osborn (Dark Reign: The List – Avengers) and hoped that this would bring the Cabal down but failed. Lex Luthor became the President of the US and during that period could call on an army of supervillains in order to take out Superman and Batman but that didn’t last long. Leadership for both the bad guys and good guys in comic books is a network lacking central nodes that can be removed to take down the whole system.
19) Remove the fire from under the cauldron. Eliminate the source of their strength.
The source of power for some super heroes is certain environmental conditions. If you can’t find any Kryptonite then you can always remove the yellow sun which is the source of Superman’s powers. Lex Luthor does this to Superman twice in Superman Vol 1, #164 and #168. In World’s Finest, Vol 1, #163, the villain Jemphis turns the yellow sun of his planet into a red sun via atomic explosions activated by a button on his person.
DC has Aquaman who will lose his strength and die if he is out of water for extended periods of time. So of course super villains are always trying to dry dock Aquaman! Marvel has Namor the Submariner and has a similar weakness to Aquaman but while Namor’s strength will diminish out of water, Namor will not die out of water.
Green Lantern has a Power ring that is one of the most powerful weapons in the DC universe. However, the power ring needs to be recharged every 24 hours from a battery that looks like an old style lantern. Hide the lantern and you can take out the Green Lantern. Problems with the lantern are a central plot device in Green Lantern V1, #9, #20, #32, #74, and #116. If you want to take down the whole Green Lantern Corps then take out the Central Power Battery which charges all the other lanterns. When Hal Jordan went mad temporarily, he destroyed the Central Power Battery and effectively destroyed the Green Lantern Corps.
The best article on the internet about comic book weapons at:
20) Muddle the water to catch the fish. Do something surprising or unexpected to unnerve them, and then take advantage of that situation.
The Joker does crazy stunts that keep Batman and other supervillains off balance. Deadpool is a Marvel supervillain that does similar stunts. Crazy gives supervillains an advantage in the comic book world.
21) The cicada sheds its shells. When you are in trouble, secretly escape.
The idea is to escape but leave the lights on so the enemy still thinks you are home. In the Young Justice TV series, most of the Justice League and all of the heavy hitters have to appear before an off planet court. In episode #33 titled “Depths”, Young Justice impersonates the Justice League at a Mars satellite launch in order to fool any super villains that might be watching into thinking the Justice League is still on Earth.
22) Fasten the door to catch a thief. Completely destroy them by leaving no way for escape.
Prisons are largely ineffective in comic books since jailed supervillains do not make good reading. Arkham Asylum seems to be a place where the Joker rests between bouts with Batman rather than a place of incarceration. An extreme solution to problem of bad guys breaking out of jail in the DC universe was explored in the Salvation Run miniseries. The DC supervillains are imprisoned on a distant planet. The same off planet imprisonment solution was applied to the Hulk but failed spectacularly in the World War Hulk story arc. Over in the Marvel universe, Iron Man decides enough is enough and with Reed Richards creates a prison in the in the Negative Zone labeled Project 42.
23) Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighboring state. Build strategic alliances with others that will give you the upper hand.
In the TV series, Young Justice, The Light is a group of supervillains that ally themselves with the Reach, aliens, that they plan to betray after they destroy the Justice League and Young Justice i.e. superheroes on Earth.
In Irredeemable, the Hornet makes a deal with Vespan aliens to take out, a super hero gone bad, named Plutonian. Hornet also gives the Vespan a list of other habitable planets that they can conquer in exchange for leaving Earth alone and imprisoning Plutonian.
24) Borrow a safe passage to conquer the Kingdom of Guo. Attack Hu by a Borrowed Path. Temporarily join forces with a friend against a common enemy.
Spider-Man has had any number of temporary team ups with any number of superheroes in Marvel Team-Up for plot purposes but generally the rationale if any is offered is stratagem 24. Batman basically does the same thing over at DC albeit not as consistently as Spider-Man in The Brave and the Bold comic book series starting in issue #50, volume 1, and more notably in the TV series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In general, Super heroes are better team players and friends than super villains.
Supervillains are always trying to betray their partner. Marvel had a title named Super-Villain Team-Up and actually generally ended up being the supervillain betrayal of their team member. The Secret Society of Supervillains has always been much more unstable than their counterpart the Justice League. Norman Osborn was very briefly able to unite the Marvel supervillains via the Cabal but that system soon broke down in part due to psychic sabotage of Osborn’s sanity by Loki, a fellow Cabal member. Any favor done by one supervillain to another super villain must be treated with suspicion. For example, in Superman, Vol 1, #167, Luthor increases Brainiac’s intelligence from a 10th level to a 12th level but puts in some hardware in Brainiac’s computer brain that allowed Luthor to control Brainiac!
25) Steal the dragon and replace with the phoenix. Steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timber. Sabotage, incapacitate, or destroy them by removing their key support.
If you take the saying literally which is not necessarily correct then Catwoman has been known to leave a fake jewel in the place of a real jewel she has stolen so the owner doesn’t know they have been robbed. Supervillains love to blow things up. That is kind of what comic book supervillains do and there are too many examples to list here.
26) Point at the mulberry tree but curse the locust tree. Convey your intentions and opinions indirectly.
The Riddler literally talks in riddles. The Etrigan the Demon talks in rhyme and his true message is difficult to understand. These are not so much examples of ruses but aspects of the characters of the villains presumably created to make them more interesting.
27) Feign madness, but keep your balance. Pretend to be a pig in order to eat the tiger. Play Dumb, then surprise them. Let them underestimate you.
Superheroes often have secret identities. Clark Kent is the secret identity of Superman and in order to fool Lois Lane, among others, Clark will play the part of the bumbling idiot. Bruce Wayne is the secret identity of Batman. The role of Bruce Wayne is played in such a way as to convince others that Bruce Wayne cannot possibly be Batman. Bruce Wayne often feigns drunkenness in particular. Bruce Wayne has been known to use models who don’t speak English as alibis. Tony Stark is the secret identity of Iron Man but is not feigning drunkenness but actually has a drinking problem and is probably a sex addict problem as well.
My last name is fox and I am going to translate this stratagem as the idioms “clever as a fox” or “crazy like a fox”. Batman’s enemy, the Joker is probably actually crazy rather than pretending to be crazy but do not underestimate the Joker! Batman has a lot of enemies that appear crazy but are actually pretty effective as super villains. Two-Face has some sort of personality disorder that causes him to flip a coin during crucial moments in the struggle with Batman. The Riddler has a compulsion to leave a riddle about his crime before doing the crime. Announcing your crime however cryptically is probably not a good characteristic of a criminal. The list Batman enemies that suffer from criminal insanity just goes on and on and about half his enemies are housed in the Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane and actually belong there rather than faking madness. What we learn from Batman is that being nuts might actually give you an advantage in martial situations. The Batman nutcase situation differs from this stratagem in that his opponents are really crazy rather than feigning craziness.
28) Remove the ladder after your ascent. Lure the enemy onto the roof, then take away the ladder. Cross the river and destroy the bridge. Lead them into a trap, then cut off their escape.
Luring Batman into death traps is a Batman cliché at this point. The Batman TV series used a death trap cliffhanger in a formulaic manner that became boring over time. The nemesis of Austin Powers, Dr. Evil has a pathological need to use death traps. The son of Dr. Evil, Scott Evil states the reason he never kills Austin Power is “Because you never kill him when you have the chance and you’re a big dope”.
29) Decorate the tree with fake blossoms. Flowers bloom in the tree. Reframe deceitfully. Expand the pie with objects of little value.
When Doctor Doom was a young and fun loving gypsy, he sold luxury goods that appeared to be of great value to the local nobility using sorcery. When the luxury goods disintegrated then the local Baron was not happy (Annual Fantastic Four #2 )!
30) Turn yourself into a hot from being a guest. Host and guest switch roles. Turn your defensive and passive position into an offensive and active one.
This is a bit of a stretch but super hero sidekicks start out as the guest of the super hero and then often become super heroes in their own right. However, the original super hero almost never retires. Robin can become Nightwing but Batman isn’t going anywhere! The best article ever written on the topic of comic book sidekicks at:
31) Use a Beauty to ensnare a man. The honey trap. Beauty Trap. Provide alluring distractions.
Obadiah Stane used Indries Momji as a honey trap to destroy Iron Man. Indries Momji causes Stark to fall in love with her and breaks his heart in order to cause him to resume his alcoholic ways leaving Stark Industries and its Iron Man technology easy prey for Stane (The Invincible Iron Man V1 #167).
Loki used Lorelei in “For the Love of Thor” story line to manipulate Thor. In the 1978 graphic novel by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby titled the Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience, Galactus created a golden clone, Ardina, of his true love Shalla-Bal, with Silver Surfer powers in order to successfully force the Silver Surfer to become his herald again.
32) Open the gate of an undefended city. Deliberately displaying your weakness can conceal your vulnerability.
In The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Batman muses how he has a bright yellow target on his chest so the bad guys will aim at his chest where he has a bullet proof vest rather than his difficult to armor head (Batman-The Dark Knight Book #1).
33) Use adversary’s spies to sow discord in your adversary’s camp. Provide inaccurate information to mislead them, especially through informal channels.
In Fantastic Four #2, Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four pretend to be Skrull spies and trick the Skrull captain with pictures from Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales into believing Earth is defended by monsters (Fantastic Four V1 #2 ).
34) Inflict pain on one’s self in order to infiltrate the adversary’s camp and win the confidence of the enemy. Appear to take some hits. Feign weakness while arming yourself.
In The Dark Knight Returns, Batman pretends to die of a self induced heart attack in order to fake his death and get off the radar. This is the third instance of the use of a stratagem in The Dark Knight Returns and perhaps this is one of the reasons among many this work is a masterpiece in the world of comic books (Batman-The Dark Knight Book #4 ).
n researching this stratagem I found out there is a lot more self-inflicted pain in comic books than I would have imagined! Captain Carnage pretended to be a super villain in order to get beaten up presumably for masochistic reasons in the Watchmen universe. Etrigan the Demon also presumably has masochistic tendencies. Penance has a superpower that requires pain on his part to work! When the flesh of Penance is raked with one of the 612 internal bolts in his suit, he can project explosive blasts from his body! OMG! Who comes up with these characters? Odin sacrificed his right eye to gain wisdom from Mimir as how to stop Ragnarök (Twilight of the Gods) in Thor #274 (August 1978).
35) Lead your adversary to chain together their warships. Stratagem on stratagems. Devise a set of interlocking stratagems to defeat them.
The Kingpin discovered Daredevil’s secret identity (Matt Murdock) in the born Born Again story arc. The Kingpin then launched several lines of attack at the same time. The Kingpin uses his influence to have the IRS freeze Murdock’s accounts. The Kingpin also has the bank foreclose on his apartment. Finally the Kingpin coerces police lieutenant Nicholas Manolis to testify that he saw Murdock pay a witness to perjure himself. The Kingpin overreaches himself when he blows up Daredevil’s house. At that moment Daredevil realizes the Kingpin is behind the attacks on Matt Murdock and must know his secret identity.
36) Retreat is the best option. If all else fails, run away.
Old Man Logan decides that when faced with a world that the super villains have taken over then it’s time to retreat to a little patch of land rather than get killed. Old Man Logan does eventually get around to fighting another day and killing all the villains! Supervillains run away from super heroes all the time but the reverse is rarely true. Even allowing supervillains the option of retreat is considered an unacceptable stratagem for super heroes. In Thunderstrike Vol 1, #2, the hero Thunderstrike allows the Juggernaut to just go away rather than having the city get destroyed in a fight and is later admonished by Captain America (Thunderstrike #4 ).
Conclusion
What is surprising upon the analysis of stratagems in comic books is how rarely stratagems are used by supervillains. If I was a supervillain fighting the likes of Superman and Thor then I would use every trick in the book. Even the criminal masterminds like Luthor, the Kingpin and Loki do not use stratagems all that much. My theory is that comic books are still largely a visual medium and it’s hard to “draw” a stratagem. A fist fight is more interesting visually than a stratagem. Also, the comic book writers may have a limited knowledge of stratagems. A systematic comparison of cons, ruses of war and stratagems might yield interesting and synergic results conceptually which in turn would have practical value in competitive situations.
Mr. Nebula is a planet level decorator with cosmic power! In an alternate Earth, Mr. Nebula decides to change the “drab” and predictable color scheme of the Justice League costumes. Even if the hero changes costumes, the new color scheme goes into effect! Some would argue that Mr. Nebula’s aesthetic sense is essentially kitsch. Only the clothes of the Justice League are changed and not their powers. Each hero has a different opinion about the new color scheme of their costume and their comments have been recorded below.
Kitsch Superman
Well I was getting tired of the red, white and blue at the symbolic level. Especially, since I renounced my US citizenship (Can Superman Renounce his US Citizenship?). The new color scheme does remind me of the Kryptonian flag which was strong on secondary as opposed to primary colors and maybe I should wear a costume that reflects my interplanetary roots.
Kitsch Green Lantern
All the Green Lanterns wear the same basic uniform. If I wanted to wear a uniform then I would have joined the army. I am a superhero for goodness sake. Being a super hero is all about being an individual and I always envied the costumes of the other super heroes but no more! I am not sure I am into the garish color scheme but anything that makes me stand out among the other Green Lanterns is a good thing. I am happy to report that the Guardians of the Universe have had no success in undoing the spell or whatever of Mr. Nebula so I guess I am “stuck” with this outfit, LOL!
Kitsch Aquaman
I have been meaning to change the orange and green outfit for awhile anyway. The new colors are a little too feminine for me if you know what I mean but the good news is that Mera really likes the new color scheme and I guess that’s what really matters.
Kitsch Flash
I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Did I mention I hate it?
Kitsch Batman
How am I supposed to strike fear into the hearts of criminals in this get up? The Joker was practically laughing to death the last time I fought him. Catwoman likes the outfit and that can’t be good given her garish taste in costumes. Normally I don’t condone murder but I think in some cases murder is acceptable. I wonder what sort of cosmic weapon would be needed to destroy Mr. Nebula totally!
Kitsch Martian Manhunter
Clothes are a human affectation. On Mars we only wore clothes for special ceremonial purposes. I neither like nor dislike this outfit although I do think the softer colors bring out the green of my complexion and eyes in a more pleasing manner than my previous costume.
Kitsch Wonder Woman
I am an Amazon not a hooker which is what the current color scheme makes me look like. Even the power of Zeus has not been able to undo the hex of Mr. Nebula but I swear by Almighty Hera that I will find a way to undo this curse!
In an alternate dimension, Brainiac has matrixed the Justice League. A matrixed being is downloaded as pure data into a virtual environment. The matrixed being is the perfect data vessel for simulations involving that being. A matrixed being still contains the x-factor, human unpredictability unlike a computer generated being. The Mad Thinker and Brainiac had struggled to make simulations that took account the x-factor but had failed. Matrixing is the answer to the x-factor problem. Brainiac may want to conquer alternate universes with alternate Justice Leagues and plans to use the matrixed Justice League to test simulated combat scenarios in a environment that is safe and controlled but something goes wrong. The Matrix Justice League is taking over the computer systems of Brainiac and Brainiac is helpless to stop them. Over time in the virtual reality, the powers of the Matrix Justice League change.
Matrix Superman
Superman finds that more and more his super strength is less important than his super intelligence which enables him to infiltrate and control simulated beings sent against the Justice League.
Matrix Green Lantern
Years creating green energy constructs with his power ring mean that Green Lantern can take over the image processing systems of the virtual reality and create not just create simulated beings. In this virtual environment, Green Lantern is by far the most powerful Justice Leaguer.
Matrix Aquaman
Aquaman can swim through data streams unlike his fellow Justice Leaguers.
Matrix Flash
Flash has a super fast mind that allows him to out race any countermeasures created by Brainiac.
Matrix Batman
Matrix Batman can deduce trap doors and back doors Brainiac has in his computer systems due to his keen analytical intellect.
Matrix Martian Manhunter
Matrix Martian Manhunter recognizes bits and pieces of Martian computer systems that have been incorporated into Brainiac’s computer system.
Matrix Wonder Woman
Matrix Wonder Woman hates the virtual reality and finds herself being the weakest member of the team due to her inability to figure out how computer systems work.
You can also download my autobiography of my struggle with a bipolar condition on Am I Kitsune on my Google Drive.
In an alternate dimension, Trigon has conquered Earth. The Justice League has been transformed into demonic beings that have all their former powers and new powers due to their demonic state. As demons all the Demonic Justice League members are virtually indestructible, superhuman endurance, have super strength, generate magical flames in different ways and can travel via dimensional portals within an alternate Earth and to other alternate Earths. Trigon now uses the Demonic Justice League to conquer other Earths in other dimensions. Sooner or later the mainstream universe Justice League will face off against the Demonic Justice League! How can the Justice League defeat a Justice League that has all their powers and abilities and more!
Demonic Superman
The Demonic Superman can use his infernal flame to increase his yellow sun based powers to levels he never could before his transformation. The Demonic Superman has flame breath. The Demonic Superman can project flame breath that resembles the wavelength of a red sun in order to defeat a normal Superman counterpart. The Demonic Superman is immune to magic and Kryptonite and the effects of a red sun.
Demonic Green Lantern
The Demonic Green Lantern can make constructs of flame that are far more powerful than his green energy constructs and also corrupt when they touch an opponent. The Demonic Green Lantern wears a suit made of the blue skin of the Guardians of the Universe. The flame ring also can absorb magical energy and knowledge from almost any source. Whether or not a normal Green Lantern Power ring could do this is not known but this is unlikely since such an instance is not recorded and the Guardians of the Universe were essentially anti-magic.
Demonic Aquaman
The Demonic Aquaman maintains his aquatic powers but can now destroy entire oceans with flames generated from his body in hours. The Demonic Aquaman is invulnerable unlike the normal Aquaman. The Demonic Aquaman is far stronger than the normal Aquaman. The Demonic Aquaman can transport himself from one ocean to another via dimensional portals as can all the members of the Demonic Justice League.
Demonic Flash
The Demonic Flash generates flames of destruction from his feet wherever he runs and can leave entire continents aflame in minutes. The Demonic Flash is invulnerable unlike the normal Flash. The Demonic Flash is far stronger than the normal Flash and essentially does not tire for months. The Demonic Flash and Demonic Aquaman are used to destroy the environment of an attacked planet rather than engaging in combat with superheroes directly.
The other members of the team protect the Demonic Aquaman and Demonic Flash while they pursue their mission of environmental destruction and can easily defeat any alternate Earth Justice Leagues alone due to their augmented state. The Demonic Aquaman and Flash are the bait for superheroes. The Demonic Wonder Woman, Batman and the Martian Manhunter generally defend the Demonic Flash. The Demonic Superman and Green Lantern generally defend the Demonic Aquaman since they can operate underwater without difficulty.
Demonic Batman
The Demonic Batman has added a sword of flame that can cut through anything to his usual arsenal. The sword of flame can also convert into any melee weapon the Demonic Batman requires. The Demonic Batman is virtually indestructible and far stronger than the normal Batman. The normal Batman could fight for hours due to exceptional physical conditioning but the Demonic Batman can fight for months without the need for rest or nutrition.
The Demonic Batman has replaced Robin with an imp that was once the Joker. The Demonic Batman did this out of revenge but also because the Joker as an imp makes an excellent advisor and combatant even if the Joker Imp harbors treasonous thoughts. The Demonic Batman no longer uses bat themed vehicles since like all demons, he can travel within and between dimensions to almost anywhere in the Multiverse.
Demonic Martian Manhunter
The Demonic Martian Manhunter can not only use his telepathy to communicate but to corrupt. The Demonic Martian Manhunter has dealt with his original fear of fire by projecting this fear telepathically to others. The Demonic Martian Manhunter has developed an interest in Martian black magic which is far worse than the black magic of Earth.
Demonic Wonder Woman
The Demonic Wonder Woman is by far the most powerful being of the Demonic Justice League. The powers given to her by the Greek gods are now at Greek god levels since they are magically based and now have a new near infinite source of power. The Lasso of Truth is now a Lasso of Corruption and has developed a separate sentience and can fight autonomously. The Demonic Wonder Woman no longer uses her Invisible plane since like all demons, she can travel within and between dimensions to almost anywhere in the Multiverse.
The Demonic Wonder Woman has mastered many spells rooted in the black magic of Hecate. The Demonic Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman can combine Hecate and Martian black magic to create spells of exceptional power. However, the spells often have volatile and even dangerous side effects. Both the Demonic Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman are wary of the Demonic Green Lantern who may be tempted to absorb their increasing magical knowledge for himself. The Demonic Justice League secretly plots to over throw Trigon and conquer the Multiverse for themselves but Trigon expects such plotting from his exceptional demons and is not worried, yet.
Part I looked at DC Transformations broken down by Superheroes. This is part II and will look at transformations broken down by type of transformation.
Alien Transformations
Alien Collage Key
Action Comics #239, Adventure Comics #270, Aquaman #16, Batman #140, Blackhawk #177 (Alien Blackhawk), Detective Comics #251, Jimmy Olsen #32
Animal Transformations
Animal Collage Key
Action Comics #243 (Lion Headed Superman), Action Comics #296 (Ant Superman), Action Comics #303 (Kryptonian Monster), Adventure Comics #330 (Gorilla Braniac 5), Black Hawk #205 (Dinosaur, Gorilla), Jimmy Olsen #66 (Cat Headed Lois Lane), Lois Lane #13 (Cat Headed Lois Lane), Lois Lane #92 (Lois Lane Centaur), Supergirl #8 (Medusa Hair), Superman #165 (Lion Headed Superman). Is a Sphinx an animal? If so then in Superboy #103 there is one more animal transformation.
Baby Transformations
Baby Collage Key
Action Comics #284 (Baby Superman), Adventure Comics #317 (Baby Legions of Superheroes), Batman #147 (Baby Batman), Jimmy Olsen #66 (Baby Perry White), Lois Lane #10 (Baby Lois Lane)
Action Comics #324 (Devil Supergirl), Jimmy Olsen #68 (Devil Superman), Jimmy Olsen #81 (Devil Superman)
Doppelganger Transformations
Doppelganger Collage Key
Action Comics #312 (Clark Kent vs. King Superman), Adventure Comics #255, Wonder Woman #62 (Triplet), Wonder Woman #90 (Giant Double), Wonder Woman #98, Wonder Woman #102 (Triplet), Wonder Woman#111. Action Comics #341 doesn’t really belong in the collage since the Clark Kent is a Phantom Zone imposter but the decision to include was done for visual aesthetic reasons.
Action Comics #284 (Two Headed Supergirl), Aquaman #21 (Aquaman Giant Freak), Brave & Bold #68 (Bat Hulk), Batman #162 (Batman Creature), Challengers of the Unknown #50 (Giant Green Freak), Jimmy Olsen #53 (Giant Turtle Man), Jimmy Olsen #59 (Fat Freak), Lois Lane #66 (Lois Lane with Green Furry Feet), Rip Hunter Time Master #28 (Giant Blue Fanged Creature)
Gender Transformations
Gender Collage Key
Superboy #101, Superman #349, Superman/Batman #24, Jimmy Olsen #67, Jimmy Olsen #84, Jimmy Olsen #95. Incredibly there are some gender bending transformations is the normally stodgy pages of DC Comics. Jimmy Olsen was a cross-dresser in Jimmy Olsen #67, 84, 95, 159; Bah, Hembeck! #4 and Real Girl #6. Krypto became Kryptonia in Superboy #101. Krypto was not just turned into a female but a female collie! This happened due to red kryptonite. I would say the human equivalent of a breed is race. So if Superman ran into that particular piece of Red Kryptonite then he would become a woman and also change race. This would be a very politically correct Superman. Superman runs into female versions of himself in Superman #349 and Superman/Batman #24. Actually the whole topic of Superwoman versus Supergirl is rather complex but so far Superman has never been transformed into Superwoman and that’s ok with me! However, in Supergirl (vol. 4) #79 (2003) Superman is exposed to Pink Kryptonite and then shows gay tendencies. This was a spoof of the Red Kryptonite transformations of the silver age.
Action Comics #325 (Giant Superboy), Aquaman #2 (Giant Aqualad), Challengers of the Unknown #20 (Giant Rocky), Challengers of the Unknown #36 (Giant Rocky), Detective Comics #243 (Giant Batman), House of Mystery #143 (Giant Zook), Jimmy Olsen #77 (Giant Jimmy Olsen), Superman #226 (Giant Superman), Wonder Woman #136 (Giant Wonder Woman)
Giant Head Transformations
Giant Head Collage Key
Action Comics #256 (Ultra Superman), Adventure Comics #324 (Evolvo Lad), Blackhawk #205 (Giant Headed Blackhawk), Challengers of the Unknown #39 (Giant Headed Rocky), Jimmy Olsen #22 (Super-Brain of Jimmy Olsen), Lois Lane #27 (Lois Lane’s Super-Brain), Superman #224 (Super Baby), World’s Finest #151 (Batman of 800,000 AD)
Actually the Super Baby in Superman #224 should not be included since this is not a transformed Superman but his mutant baby. However, the inclusion makes sense artistically.
Half Body Transformations
Half Body Collage Key
Action Comics #290 (One half body super, one half body not super), Flash #146 (Flash top, Mirror Master bottom), Green Lantern #29 (One half body visible, One half body gone)
Handicap
Handicap Collage Key
Adventure Comics #259 (Blind Superboy), Adventure Comics #332 (Lighting Lad loses arm), Justice League of America, V1 #36
Jungle Transformations
Jungle Collage Key
Batman #72 (Jungle Batman), Jimmy Olsen #10 (Jungle Jimmy Olsen), Jimmy Olsen #98 (Jungle Jimmy), Lois Lane #11 (Leopard Girl), Lois Lane #124 (Jungle Queen)
Flash #124 (Mirror-Flash), Justice League of America #7 (Fun-House Mirror), World’s Finest #121 (Mirror Batman)
Negative Being Transformations
Negative Collage Key
Detective Comics #284 (Negative Batman), Mystery in Space #78, World’s Finest #126 (Negative Superman)
The Negative Superman should not be included since this is not a transformed Superman but another Superman but the decision to include makes sense visually and most of all I needed two covers to justify a category. Possibly, the Negative Superman should also be included in the Doppelganger category. Creating taxonomy of transformations has not been easy!
Old Transformations
Old Collage Key
Action Comics #251 (Oldest Man in Metropolis), Action Comics #270 (Superman’s Old Age), Action Comics #396 (Crippled and Old Superman), Action Comics #397 (Part II), Batman #119 (Rip Van Batman), Flash #157 (Oldest Man Alive), Jimmy Olsen # (Old Jimmy Olsen), Lois Lane # (Lois Lane’s Old Age)
Phantom/Ghost/Invisible Transformations
Ghost Collage Key
Action Comics #595 (Superman Ghost), Adventure Comics #357 (The Ghost of Ferro Lad), Blackhawk #127 (The Ghost of Blackhawk), Superman #186 (Clark Kent Ghost vs. Superman Ghost), World’s Finest #130 (Batman Ghost)
Phantom Collage Key
Action Comics #131(Superman in 4th Dimension), Adventure Comics #283 (The Phantom Superboy), Green Lantern #20 (Phantom Green Lantern), Jimmy Olsen #12 (Invisible Jimmy Olsen – title), Jimmy Olsen #40 (Invisible Jimmy Olsen – title), Lois Lane #33 (Phantom Lois Lane), Lois Lane #101 (Invisible Lois Lane), Superboy #162 (The Super-Phantom of Smallville)
In the Silver Age the words phantom and invisible are used in a sloppy manner. For example, Jimmy Olsen is twice turned into a phantom i.e. an insubstantial and invisible being but the title refers to an invisible Jimmy Olsen rather than a phantom Jimmy Olsen. This is rather strange since the Legion of Superheroes of the Silver Age has a Phantom Girl versus an Invisible Kid and their powers are very well delineated. You can see the Phantom Girl but not touch her. You can touch the Invisible Kid but can’t see him. Only by having both the powers of the Invisible Kid and the Phantom Girl could you have the powers of a ghost!
However, I would say the Phantom Zone precedent means that a being that is both invisible and insubstantial due to scientific means is a Phantom. Silver Age science even established that the Phantom Girl could visit the Phantom Zone and say “hello” to Mon-El but the Invisible Kid could not enter the Phantom Zone. Ghost Boy could have kept Mon-El company 24/7, if he had wanted to and that might have been a nice subplot I had never thought about at the time. Ghosts as opposed to phantoms have supernatural origins and generally control of both their visibility and maybe their insubstantial nature. Are you confused? Well too bad because if you had grown up on Silver Age comic books then this would all make perfect sense. Still the ghosts should be easy enough to label!
However, ghosts in the DC universe often turn out to be phantoms i.e. there is a scientific rather than supernatural explanation. The Ferro Lad ghost turns out to be a controller created phantom but the real Ferro Lad ghost then causes the controller to die of fright. Because of all this terminology confusion, the decision was made to make one category for phantom, ghost and invisible transformations. The visual effect is the same and comic books are all about the visual effect.
Radioactive
Radioactive Collage Key
Detective Comics #17 (Radioactive Batman), Jimmy Olsen #17 (Radioactive Jimmy Olsen)
Robot Transformations
Robot Collage Key
Action Comics #225 (Robot Superman), Action Comics # (Clark Kent Metallo), Adventure Comics #237 (Ma and Pa Kent Robots), Green Lantern #36 (Green Lantern Robot), Jimmy
Small Person Transformations
Small Collage Key
Action Comics #283 (Small Supergirl), Adventure Comics #330 (Small Colossal Boy), Detective Comics #127 (Small Batman and Robin), Detective Comics #148 (Small Batman and Robin), Flash #109 (Small Flash), Justice League of America #10 (Finger Puppet Justice League), Justice League of America #18 (Shrunken Justice League), Justice League of America #60 (Bee Drone Justice League), Superman #245 (Super-Mite)
Tree Being Transformation
Trees Collage Key
Justice League of America #9 (Justice League Trees), Lois Lane #112 (Superman Tree)
Underwater Being Transformations
Underwater Collage Key
Batman #118 (Merman Batman), Superman #244 (Superman’s Undersea Kingdom)
Transformations at DC comics during the Silver Age showed definite patterns. Certain heroes were transformed more than others. Batman and Superman suffered a lot of transformations but this could be function of the fact that both Batman and Superman were in multiple titles that had extremely long runs. Transformations were popular and the transformation of the top superheroes at DC during the Silver Age made marketing sense. Lois Lane did not have as many transformations as Jimmy Olsen but her 12 transformations seems like a high number given that she only starred in one title. The marketing logic might have been to use popular transformations that worked with one of the Superman family members with the other Superman family members that had a comic book title and hope for similar success. Wonder Woman suffered the doppelganger transformation five times and this is an extreme case of the same transformation being used again and again with the same character almost obsessively. Wonder Woman in the Silver Age was a strange little title and someday I am going to write an in depth analysis of what was done to Wonder Woman during this time period. Transformations at DC during the Silver Age are almost always one-shot affairs. The exception is in the Legion of Superheroes were Lightning Lad lost his arm for several issues and Matter Lad was turned into a fat boy for several issues.
Marvel handles transformations in an entirely different manner. Transformation is an ongoing plot device in the case of the Hulk, Iron Man’s many armors, the Thing, the six-armed Spider-Man and X-23’s vampirism. Even the relatively short term transformation of Captain America into a werewolf lasts more than one issue. I will eventually write another DC vs. Marvel article comparing the role of transformation in the comic books of the two companies.
Many comic fans know that Jimmy Olsen suffered any number of transformations during the Silver Age at DC Comics. This article will explore the transformations of the Silver Age first by hero and then by condition. A transformation for the purposes of this article is limited to an outwardly physical transformation rather than an internal psychological transformation.
Transformations involving costumes are more problematic. There are so many one-shot novelty costume changes among Silver Age heroes that this should really be another article. A decision was made to only include categories of costume change that occurred more than once rather than one-shot costumes including: caveman wear, jungle wear, and kingly wear.
The hero titles analyzed include Aquaman, Batman, Challengers of the Unknown, the Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Lois Lane, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Jimmy Olsen is excluded as a character but not from the types section since I have dealt with Jimmy Olsen’s transformations in another article.
The transformations were also broken down by type and this will be dealt with in part II, the follow up post. The types of transformations that occurred more than one time and generally with more than one hero include alien transformation, animal transformation, baby transformation, caveman transformation, devil transformation, doppelganger transformation, fat transformation, freak transformation, genie transformation, giant transformation, giant head transformation, half body transformation, jungle person transformation, king transformation, mirror transformation, negative being transformation, old, phantom/ghost/invisible transformation, radioactive transformation, robot transformation, small person transformation, tree being transformation, underwater being transformation, and werewolf transformation.
Batman #72 (Jungle Batman), Batman #118 (Underwater Batman), Batman #119 (Old Batman), Batman #125 (King Batman), Batman #134 (Two-Dimensional Batman and Robin), Batman #140 (Batman and Robin Aliens), Batman #147 (Batman Baby), Batman #162 (Batman Freak),
Challengers of the Unknown #20 (Giant), Challengers of the Unknown #36 (Giant), Challengers of the Unknown #39 (Big Brain), Challengers of the Unknown #50 (Freak)
Green Lantern #20 (Phantom Green Lantern), Green Lantern #29 (Half Body Green Lantern), Green Lantern #36 (Robot Green Lantern)
Justice League of America Transformations
Justice League of America Collage Key
Justice League of America #7 (Mirror), Justice League of America #9 (Trees), Justice League of America #10 (Finger Puppets), Justice League of America #18 (Small), Justice League of America #60 (Drones)
Lois Lane Transformations
Lois Lane Collage Key
Jimmy Olsen #66 (Cat Headed Lois Lane), Lois Lane #5 (Fat Lois Lane), Lois Lane #10 (Baby Lois Lane), Lois Lane #11 (Jungle Lois Lane), Lois Lane #13 (Cat Headed Lois Lane), Lois Lane #12 (Mermaid Lois Lane), Lois Lane #27 (Giant Head), Lois Lane #33 (Phantom Lois Lane), Lois Lane #40 (Old Lois Lane), Lois Lane #66 (Freak), Lois Lane #92 (Centaur Lois Lane), Lois Lane #101 (Invisible Lois Lane), Lois Lane #106 (Black Lois Lane), Lois Lane #107 (Snow), Lois Lane #124 (Jungle Lois Lane)
Lois Lane is given a cat head not once but twice! I guess this means that Lois was considered catty in the Silver Age. At least the cat heads were different colors and the art wasn’t just recycled even if the concept was recycled.
Ma and Pa Kent Transformations
Ma and Pa Kent Collage Key
Adventure Comics #237 (Robot Ma & Pa Kent), Adventure Comics #270 (Ma and Pa Kent Aliens)
The doppelganger theme dominates the transformation of Wonder Woman that is unique among the heroes of the Silver Age. I did not even include issues in which Wonder Woman is not transformed but fights some sort of robot double. Wonder Woman is also constantly reduced not via transformation but by fighting giant opponents. Wonder Woman is then treated as a toy or trinket, or an object by the giant opponent. Reduction is used to create the objectification of Wonder Woman. In Wonder Woman #122, Wonder Woman fights a giant robotic double and in this issue the reader sees the juxtaposition of the objectification themes of reduction and duplication. The giant doppelganger is clearly not a transformation since this double is clearly a robot. I do include the similar plot of Wonder Woman #90 since the giant double challenges the identity of Wonder Woman and is therefore transformational.
Superboy (Adventure Comics #255) and later Superman (Action #312) face a doppelganger dilemma when red kryptonite splits him into two selves. In both cases, Superman faces a Clark Kent doppelganger. The Superman doppelganger plots also take a very different direction since there are not two Supermans but rather the two sides of Superman are split physically and must see reunification to create a whole Superman identity. In the case of Wonder Woman the doppelganger is not a side of Wonder Woman but a duplicate that challenges Wonder Woman’s unique identity.
The objectification of women as sex objects is recurrent feminist theme. One of the characteristics of an object as opposed to a subject in existential terms is reproducibility. An object is reproducible. A person is unique and not reproducible. Even in a future of clones presumably we have a unique soul even if a physical duplicate could be made. The industrial reproduction of feminine beauty and images is a hallmark of 20th century mass media and consumer culture. Paradoxically women have greater opportunities and education at the precise moment when technological objectification reaches and apex causing a unique post modern historical feminine anxiety. The constant use of doppelganger themes in the Silver Age Wonder Woman title may be an unconscious response to this feminine anxiety and a naïve form of pop culture driven existential exploration.
What is a monster? According to the online version of Merriam-Webster:
“1 a: an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure b: one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character. “
Using definition (b), then just about every super villain would be a monster. If you add (a) then you still have super villains like Doctor Doom who are deformed. IGN already wrote an excellent article about DC versus Marvel super villains and I do not want to go over ground already covered. This article instead will focus on big monsters. The ultimate archetype of the big monster would be Godzilla. There is even a particular word in Japanese for this sort of monster: daikaijū. Monsters generally are big but how big does a monster have to be a daijuku? I think over 20 feet and if the monster can wrap his/her hand around your waist with one hand like King Kong picking up a damsel in distress then that’s the clincher.
DC
The Silver age was all about big monsters and although Kirby’s Silver age monsters over at Marvel get all the attention, you can actually find a ton of big monsters at DC if you know where to look.
Major Heroes
Aquaman faced three major giant sea monsters during the Silver age. The following Aquaman, volume 1, issues have a giant monster: #7- The Creatures from Atlantis, #20 – Two-Headed Beast, and #56 – The Creature that Devoured Detroit. All the monsters are one-shots and not memorable. Aquaman is often fighting a whale, giant jellyfish or giant shark or whatever but these are little two panel exercises not even worth mentioning. The author looked at 61 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 61 / 3 = 20.3
Batman has faced at least 20 giant monsters. In Batman volume 1, Batman fought: #75 – Gorilla Boss, #104 the Creature from 20,000 Fathoms, #134 – Rainbow Creature, #138 – Sea Beast, #142-Tezcatlipoca, #143 – Bat-Hound and the Creature, and #162 – The Batman Creature.
In Detective Comics, Batman fought giant monsters in #252-Creature from the Green Lagoon, #255 – Robot Dinosaurs, #270 – Creature from Planet X, #272 – Menace of the Crystal Creature, #277 – Jigsaw Creature from Space, #278 – Giant, # 279 – Creatures that Stalked Batman, #282 – Cave Eel, #288 – the Multiple Creature, # 291 – Creature of the Bat Cave, # 295 – Secret of the Beast Painting, # 297 – Beast of Koba Bay, and #303 – Murder in Skyland. The author looked at 667 Batman issues and 800 Detective Comics issues for a total of 1,467. The ratio of issues to monsters is 1467 / 20 = 73.35
Green Lantern faced four monsters in the Silver age in Green Lantern, volume 1, in issues: #6 – Giant monster on Xudar, #8 – Giant Gila Monster from the Future, #30 – Dinosaurs, #34 – Giant Iguana, #53 – Giant Alien. All the monsters are one-shots and not memorable. The author looked at 201 issues to find these four giants monsters. The ratio of issues to giant monsters is 201 / 4 = 50.25
The Legion of Super-Heroes deals with several alien and interstellar monsters in volume 1. The Monster Master even created the Legion of Super Monster’s which includes: the earthquake beast that can cause earthquakes, the eye monster can shoot lightning, heat-vision, x-rays, and blinding light, the mirror monster can reflect any energy force off its shiny armor-plated hide, the drill beast can drill through anything. Finally, the omnibeast can travel in space, air, land, or sea. Computo is yet another giant robot conqueror created by Braniac 5 who kills one of the bodies of Triplicate Girl in the Silver age and death in the Silver age is rare and special plot wise. The Sun-Eater is probably the biggest, baddest, giant monster in the DC universe. Galactus is the devourer of worlds but the Sun-Eater is a devourer of suns! The Sun-Eater is a weapon created by the Controllers, a super race in the DC universe and is generally mindless. Lighting Lad loses his arm to the Super-Moby Dick of Space in Action Comics #332. Any sort of permanent injury was almost unheard of in the Silver age so the giant monster is an integral part of an important story.
Superboy faced Validus when he was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Validus is actually stronger than Superboy and it took the combined might of Superboy, Mon-El and Ultraboy to defeat Validus. The Silver age Superman and Superboy are much much stronger than the Modern Age Superman. Validus is probably the second most powerful giant monster in the DC universe after the Sun-Eater which did defeat Validus (Adventure Comics #353). Three important, powerful, giant monsters come out of the Legion of Super-Heroes including Computo, the Sun-Eater and Validus. The Legion of Super-Heroes breaks the pattern of many one-shot monsters that are not memorable in order to create monsters of great power that are memorable and an important part of the DC Universe history.
Superboy faced a few giant monsters as well. In Adventure Comics #30 there is a creature quite similar to Jimmy Olsen’s transformation into a Giant Turtle Man in Jimmy Olsen #53. Superboy fought a giant Thought Monster of Krypton as a baby and a boy in Superboy #87 and #102 respectively. In Adventure Comics #185, Superboy fought a Griffin. In Adventure Comics #196, Superboy fought Kingorilla, a giant ape.
Superman’s most famous giant monster is Titano the Super-Ape who was like King Kong with Green Kryptonite vision. In Adventure #295, the world is introduced to Bizzaro Titano that has Blue Kryptonite vision which is deadly to Bizzaros. Superman has also faced 17 other giant monsters in the pages of Superman including: #78- The Beast from Krypton, #86 – The Dragon from King Arthur’s Court, #110 – Giant Ant, the Flame Dragon of Krypton, #127 – Titano, #138-Titano, # 151-Child of the Beast from Krypton from issue #78, #246 Danger Monster at Work, #324 Titano Returns, #348 Storm God, #357- Cosmic Monster, #379 – Chemo.
In Action Comics, Superman faced monsters in #326 – Legion of Super-Creatures, #343 – Eterno, #502 – Galactic Golem, #516 – Army of Dinosaurs, #519 – Cosmic Creature, #664 – Tyrannosaurus Rex, # 671 – Sea Serpent, and #758 – Rock Lobster. The author looked at 666 Superman issues and 873 Action Comics for a total of 1539 to find the 18 monsters mentioned. The ratio of issues to monsters is 1539 / 18 = 85.5.
Wonder Woman faces 36 giant monsters in Wonder Woman volume 1 during the Silver age including #64 – The 3-D Terror, #66, #87 – Island of Giants, #91 – The Eagle Who Caged People, #97 – Dinosaur, #100 – The Forest of Giants, #105 – The Eagle of Space, #106 – Giants Olympic Contest, #109 – Wonder Girl in Giant Land, #112 – Chest of Monsters, #113 – Invasion of the Sphinx Creatures, #114 – The Monster Express, #116 – Cave of Secret Creatures, #119 – Sea Serpent, #120 – Secret of the Volcano Mt., #121 – The Island-Eater, #123 – Giant Cobra, #128 – Living Seaweed, #135 – The Attack of the Human Iceberg, #138 – Stone Giant, #143 – Fire Breathing Dragon, #145 – Phantom Sea-Beast, #146 – War of the Underwater Giants, #147 – Griffin & Giant Centipede, #148 – Dinosaur in a Department Store, #149 – Giant Flame Creature, #150 – The Phantom Fisher-Bird, #151 – Gooey Monster, #152 – Ice Bird, #154 – Boiling Man, #171 – Trap of the Demon Fish-Man, #233 – Jaws of the Leviathan, #239 – Animated Statue of Liberty, #257 – Dinosaur, #265 – Dinosaurs, and #284 – A Dragon Stalks the Streets. The author looked at 327 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 327 / 36 = 9.083. Wonder woman has the highest number of monsters among major heroes!
The Justice League of America had two memorable giant monsters including Starro and the Shaggy Man. Starro first appeared in Brave and Bold #28 and was the very first super villain that the Justice League of America faced! Starro has reappeared many times since then. The Shaggy Man first appeared in JLA #45 and is another giant monster that reappears several times albeit different persons assume the identity of the Shaggy Man. The Justice League had plenty of one shot monsters as well. The Justice League fought several Dungeons and Dragons type of giant monsters in JLA #2. In JLA #15 the Justice League fights an Easter Island sort of monster. Superman fights a giant purple roman robot in JLA #34. There are also one shot monsters that don’t even rate a proper name in JLA #36, #40, and #52. If you don’t count reappearances of Starro or the Shaggy Man then the Justice League fought eight monsters in 261 issues looked at (261/8 = 32.6).
The Second Tier Heroes
Jack Kirby’s contribution to monsters in the Marvel universe will be discussed in that section of the article but Jack Kirby also created a large number of monsters for the silver age Challengers of the Unknown. The tone was set in one of their earliest adventures in Showcase #7 when they fought a giant robot called Ultivac. In Challengers of the Unknown volume 1 there are giant robots 13 in the following issues: #16 -the Incredible Metal Monster, #18 – Invincible Beast of Tomorrow, #19 Beasts of Tomorrow, #20 Cosmic Powered Creatures, #22 the Creature Challenger Mountain, #26 – Aqua Beast, #27-Volcano Man, # 32 Volcano Man returns, #35 – Moon-Beast, #41 – Quadruple Man, #47 – Sponge Man, #51-Sponge Man returns, and #59-The Petrified Giant. The author looked at 91 issues to find the 13 giant monsters. The ratio of monsters to issues is 91 /13 = 7.
The Silver age Doom Patrol had one giant monster they fought more than once and that was the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. Doom Patrol ,volume 1, had the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man in #89, #93 – Giant Robot, #95 Return of the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, #96 – Giant Jukebox, #97 – Elasti-Girl Transforms to Crystal Giant Menace, #100 – Dinosaur, #103 – Meteor Man, #105 – Mr. 103, #106 – Mr. 103 returns looking like the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, #109 – Mandred the Executioner, #111-Zarox 13 King of the Criminal Cosmos, #113 – Arsenal, #114 – Kor the Conqueror, #115 – The Mutant Master, and #116 – The Galactic Gladiator. The Doom Patrol fought 14 monsters in 39 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 39 / 14 = 2.7.
The Metal Men battled several giant robots that fit the giant monster definition but one of the more famous giant monsters of DC is not a robot: Chemo. Chemo is a collection of chemicals that comes to life. Chemo is vaguely malevolent but mostly mindless. Unlike the giant robots that the Metal Men fought, Chemo survived past the Silver age and made it to the Modern Age. Chemo was a major character in the Infinite Crisis series (2005). Some of the giant robots the Metal Men fought include the Skyscraper Robot, Torgola, the Rebel Robot, Robot Juggernauts, and Volcano Man, who is not a robot. The Doom Patrol and Challengers of the Unknown also fight a Volcano Man but I don’t think this is the same one. The author looked at 56 issues. The Metal Men battled 6 big monsters. The ratio of issues to monster is 56 / 6 = 9.3.
Rip Hunter Time Master in the Silver age is another “B” title that has more than its share of big monsters. Ripe Hunter is a time traveler that seems to find big monsters in every age not just the prehistoric ones. Rip Hunter and his time traveling team fought ten giant monsters. Big monsters are in #1 – 1,000 Year Old Curse, the volcano Creature, #2 – The Alien Beasts from 500 BC, #3 – Giant Octopus sort of creature, #5 – Alien Beast, #7 – Dinosaurs in the past, #8 – Giant Genie, #9 – Alien Flying Creature, #18 – Dinosaur but in the future, 2550 AD, #28 – Rip is turned into a giant monster, and #29 – Giant insects in the present. The author looked at 30 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 30 / 10 = 3.
The Silver age Teen Titans were a second tier super hero team. In the Modern age the Teen Titans became a first tier super hero team and giant monsters disappeared from their pages. In volume 1, the Silver age, Teen Titans giant monsters appeared in the following issues: #1 – The Beast-God of Xochatan, #2 – The Million Year Old Teenager (Giant Caveman), #8 – A Killer Called Honey Bun (Giant Robot), and #32 – A World Gone Mad (Sea Monster). There were four monsters. The author looked at 53 issues of volume 1 of the Teen Titans. The ratio of issues to monsters is 53 / 4 = 13.
Tomahawk is an especially odd Silver age second tier hero in an era of odd heroes. Tomahawk is an American Revolution hero who fights British redcoats and their Native American allies except they are definitely called American Indians in these pre-PC comic books. Tomahawk has the distinction of fighting lots of giant American Indians during the Silver age. Tomahawk fights giant monsters in the following Issues: #46 – The Valley of Giant Warriors (Giant Indians), #58 – The Frontier Dinosaur, #64 – Mystery of the Giant Warrior (Giant Indian), #67 – The Beast from the Deep, #70 – Secret of the Iron Chief (Giant Indian Robot), #73 – Secret of the Indian Sorceress (Giant Sea Serpent), #74 – The Beast from the Labyrinth (Pink Stegosaurus), #75 Master of the Legendary Warrior (Giant Indian with fangs), #78 – Legend of the Sea Beast (Sea Serpent), #82 – Lost Land of the Pale-Face Tribe (Dinosaur), #86 – Tomahawk vs. King Colosso (Giant Ape), #89 – The Terrible Tree Man (Giant Tree Man), #90 – The Ranger vs. the Prisoner in the Pit (Giant Reptile), #91 – The Indian Tribe Below the Earth (Giant Salamander), #92 – The Petrified Sentry of Peaceful Valley (Giant Petrified Indian), The Return of King Colosso (Giant Ape returns), #94 – Rip Van Ranger (Giant Bird), #95 – Tribe Beneath the Sea (Giant Fish), #99 – King Cobweb and his Giant Insects (Giant Insects controlled by Indian), #100 – The Weird Water-Tomahawk (Giant Water Creature), #102 – The Dragon Killers (Dragon), #103 – The Frontier Frankenstein (Giant Frankenstein), #104 – The Fearful Freaks of Dunham’s Dungeon, #105 – Attack of the Gator God (Giant Reptile), #107 – Double-Cross of the Gorilla-Ranger (Giant Ape), #109 – The Caveman Ranger (Dinosaurs), and #115 – The Deadly Flaming Ranger (Giant Flame Creature). The author looked at a 129 issues of Tomahawk. Tomahawk fights giant monsters in 27 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 129 / 27 = 4.7. Tomahawk also has the honor of having fought four giant Indians! I think this has to be some sort of hero record.
Blackhawk had several one-shot monsters including Blackhawk #120 (Metal Cyclops), #140 (Tyrannosaurus Rex), #146 (Giant Mechanical Scorpion), #148 (Flying Serpent), #150 (Giant Eagle), #152 (Octi-Ape, Ape with eight limbs), #154 (Beast that Time Forgot), #164 (Twin Creatures of Blackhawk Island), #193 (Valley of the Angry Giants, Giant Mesoamerican Indians), #198 (Giant Nazi Robot), and #226 (Secret Monster of Blackhawk Island). The author looked at 96 issues and found monsters in 11 of them. The ratio of monsters to issues is 8.7.
Speculative Fiction Anthologies
In the Silver age both DC and Marvel had speculative fiction anthologies and these were the true homes of monsters and big monsters in general. The vast majority of monsters in both the DC and Marvel universes were created in these speculative fiction anthologies.
House of Mystery, volume 1, has big monsters in the following issues: #41 – Brontosaurus, #53 – Forbidden Statues, #70 – The Creatures from Nowhere, #71 – Moon Goddess, #74 – Dragon of Time Square, #79 – Creature of Inner Space, #80 – Earth’s Super Prisoner, #85 – Easter Island Monsters and similar to Marvel’s the Things on Easter Island, #86 – The Beast that Slept 1,000 Years, #87 – The Menacing Pet from Pluto, #89 – Secret of the Cave Light, #90 – The Runaway Bronc from Venus, #91 – The Forbidden Face of Fa-San, #96 – Pirate Brain, #99 – The Beast with Three Lives, #101 – The Magnificent Monster, #102 – Cellmate to a Monster, #104 – The Seeing Eye Man, #107 – Captives of the Alien Fishermen, #109 – Secret of the Hybrid Creatures, #110 – The Beast that Stalked Through Time, #111 – Operation Beast-Slayer, #112 – The Menace of Craven’s Creatures, #113 – Prisoners of Beast Asteroid, #114 – The Movies from Nowhere, #118 – Secret of the Super-Gorillas, #119 – The Deadly Gift from the Stars, #120 – The Cat-Man of Kanga Peak, #123 – Lure of the Decoy Creature, #125 – The Fantastic Camera Creature, #130 – Alien Creature Hunt, #131 – Vengeance of the Geyser God, #132 – Beware the Invisible Master, #133 – The Captive Queen of Beast Island, #134 – The Secret Prisoner of Darkmoor Dungeon, #138 – The Creature Must Die, #140 – Giant Alien, #141 – The Alien Gladiator, #143 Martian Manhunter’s sidekick Zook becomes a giant monster, #149 – Giant Insects, #152 Martian Manhunter fights a giant alien named the Creature King, #153 – Martian Manhunter fights the Giants who slept 1,000 years, and #154 – Prisoner of the Purple Demon. House of Mystery had 46 giant monsters. The author looked at 300 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 300 / 46 = 6.5.
House of Secrets, volume 1, had monsters in the following issues: #1 – House of Doom, #11 – The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Growing, #19 – Lair of the Dragonfly, #24 – Beast from the Box, #25 – Secret of the Sea Monsters, #26 – Menace of the Alien Ape, #27 – Secret of the Fossil Egg, #28 – Horse like Monster, #29 – Queen of the Beasts, #30 – Creature City, #31 – Hybrid Monster, #34 – Puzzle of the Plundering Creatures, #37 – Secret of the Captive Creature, #38 – The Fantastic Flower Creatures, #39 – Alien Bird of Prey, #40 – Master of the Space Beasts, #41 – Dinosaur in Times Square, #44 – Valley of Doomed Creatures, #45 – Destiny of Dooms, #47 – Creatures of Camouflage Forest, #48 – Beware the Guardian Beast, #51 – Mystery of the Stolen Creatures, #53 – Mark Merlin’s Giant Double, #55 – Battle of the Titans, #63 – Cave filled with various giant monsters, #69 – Kill the Giant Cats, #71 – Giant Who Once Ruled Earth, #72 – Revolt of the Morloo, and #73 – Eclipso Battles the Sea Titan. House of Secrets had 29 big monsters. The author looked at 153 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 153 / 29 = 5.2.
Strange Adventures did “spawn” one memorable giant amphibian and that is the giant frogs. The frogs appeared in issues #130 and # 155. The giant frogs are pictured below:
Also the Faceless Hunter from Saturn first appeared in issues #124, #142, and #153. The Faceless Hunter from Saturn has made several appearances in the Modern age and even was in a cartoon episode of Batman: Brave and Bold (Siege of Starro! Part Two, Season 2, Episode 15). Also yellow giants with ears shaped like butterflies who collected humans like humans collect butterflies appeared in issues #119 and #159. Giant monsters that appeared in volume one of Strange Adventures include: #7 – Giant Ants, #11 – Serpent, #21 – The Monster that Fished Men, #28 – Indestructible Giant, #30 – The Great Ant Circus, #41 – Dinosaurs, #44 – Giant Plant, #50 – World Wrecker Robot, #52 – Prisoner of the Parakeets, #72 – The Skyscraper came to Life, #76 – The Tallest Man on Earth, #82 – Giants of the Cosmic Ray, #91 – Giant from Jupiter, #97 – Secret of the Space – Giant, #101 – Giant from Stalk, #104 – World of Doomed Spacemen, #112 – Menace of the Size-Changing Spaceman, #113 – Deluge from Space, #118 – The Turtle Men from Space, #119 – Raiders from the Giant World, #120 – Attack of the Oil Demons, #122 – David and the Space Goliath, #123 – Secret of the Rocket-Destroyer, #124 – The Face-Hunter from Saturn, #125 – The Flying Gorilla Menace, #127 – Menace from the Earth Globe, #129 – The Giant Who Stole Mountains, #130 – War with Giant Frogs, #133 – Invisible Dinosaurs, #139 – The Space Roots of Evil, #142 – Return of the Faceless Creature, #151 – Invasion via Radio-Telescope, #153 – Threat of the Faceless Creature, # 155 – Return of the Giants Frogs, #157 -Plight of the Human Cocoons, #159 – The Maze of Time, #165 – Secret of the Insect Men, #167 – Gorko the Night Creature, #168 – The Hand that Erased Earth, #170 – The Creature from Strange Adventures (Infinity Cover), #193 – Zomzu the Living Colossus, and #194 – The Bracelet of Deadly Charms. Some of the monsters already identified were reprinted in later issues of Strange Adventures. Strange Adventures yields 42 giant monsters! The author looked at 232 issues for this article. The ratio of issues to big monster is 232 / 42 = 5.5.
Tales of the Unexpected had big monsters in issues #17 – Moon Beast, #20 – You Stole Our Planet, #36 – Prisoners’ of the Lighthouse Creatures, #40 – Battle of the Colossal Creatures, #48 – The Beast from the Invisible World, #50 – Sun-Creature, #51 – Mercurian Quill Thrower, #52-Guardian Beasts of the Life Stone, #53 – Creature in the Glass Ball, # 54 – Dinosaurs of Space, #55 – Ghost Creatures of Phobos, #57 – The Jungle Beasts of Jupiter, #59-Org, #60-The Beasts from Space Seeds, #61 – Guardians of the Moon Emperor’s Treasure, #63 – Secret of the Space Circus, #65 – The Alien Brat from Planet Byra, #67 – The Beast that Space Ranger Protected, #68 – Prisoner of the Giant Robot, and #70 – Xorog, #201 – Giant Rabbit! Tales of the Unexpected has 21 big monsters. The author looked at 208 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 208 / 21 = 9.9.
Conclusion
Overall, the secret to finding big monsters in the DC universe is to focus on the Silver age. Also do not to look in the mainstream hero comics like Aquaman, Batman, Green Lantern and Superman. The range of ratios for first tier heroes is 20.3-90.5.
However, every other issue in the second tier comics hero comics like the Doom Patrol, Metal Men, Rip Hunter Time Master, Teen Titans, Tomahawk, Challengers of the Unknown, and the Sea Devils has big monsters. The range of ratios was 2.7-9.3. So a big monster is more or less ten times more likely to show up in a second tier hero adventure than a first tier hero adventure.
My theory is that the editors felt that if the hero could not sell the magazine then maybe a giant monster plastered on the cover could. Also, one of the defining flaws of the second tier heroes is a lack of a roster of strong recurring super villains. Big monsters were used as a substitute for strong villains and this strategy in hindsight was not very successful.
The speculative fiction anthologies: House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Tales of the Unexpected, and Strange Adventures are the place to find the vast majority of DC monsters. The speculative fiction anthologies are generally called science fiction comic books but I think this is a misclassification. These Silver Age anthologies spanned the spectrum of horror to fantasy to science fiction and actually quite a bit of supernatural fiction. They were the comic book equivalent of the Twilight Zone, definitely speculative fiction rather than the Outer Limits, a more narrowly science fiction show. The monsters in these anthologies span the gamut of supernatural to horror to science fiction monsters. The Vertigo Modern Age reboots of the House of Mystery and Strange Adventures stay far away from giant monsters that are still popular but considered cheesy and not up to the artistic standards of the Vertigo press. The range of ratios for the speculative fiction anthologies was from 5.2-9.9. This range of ratios is similar to the range of second tier heroes. However the range is greater for second tier heroes.
Wonder Woman (9.083 ratio) is an exception to the first tier hero rule. In particular, the Silver age, Wonder Woman was fighting giant men in a large number of issues. More detailed analysis shows that these giants often treat Wonder Woman like a plaything or even jewelry of the giants. All the giants in Wonder Woman probably reflect some weird psychosexual dynamic at work as is often the case with the Wonder Woman title from the Golden age all the way the way to the present. Could some sort of role reversal be at work? Young boys who are sick of being pushed around by their giant mothers derive vicarious pleasure from seeing Wonder Woman being played with by giant men? Or did Wonder Woman just attract the weirdos of the comic book industry?
MARVEL
First of all I want to give special thanks to the Monster Blog! This website is the ultimate online resource for anyone who is interested in the vast number of monsters that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created. These monsters are often referred to as Kirby monsters. The blog lists 210 monsters and almost all of them fit the big monster definition. If you remove all human monsters, monsters that are too small, and imaginary monsters, then are still left with the following list of big monsters:
I have not included Godzilla in the list of giant monsters at Marvel! Godzilla is a Toho Studios monster and his foray into the Marvel universe was poor fit. Marvel no longer has the licensing rights to Godzilla and hopefully this sorry episode in the Marvel Universe is dead, dead, dead, forever. Godzilla could lift 20,000 tons with ease. Thor and the Hulk are 100 ton lifters! So this interloper is about 200 times stronger than the heavyweights of the Marvel Universe! How can Marvel superheroes fight this guy at all? Yet they do rather than being squashed like ants! Suspension of belief is a delicate thing that Godzilla in the Marvel Universe practically destroyed. Just a poor fit on every level. Keep in mind I am the author of Hello Kitty vs. Godzilla so when I find a story to be over the top then that’s saying a lot.
There is a misconception that Marvel has more monsters, especially giant monsters, than DC. DC actually created more monsters during the Silver age than Marvel but they were much less memorable and spread across many titles as one-shots and many of the monsters did not even have names. Ironically, Kirby did have a monster comic book at DC, Challengers of the Unknown, but the fact that this comic book was filled with monsters has been totally ignored until now.
Fing Fang Foom is easily the premiere giant monster at Marvel. Fing Fang Foom has appeared in over 20 issues across the spectrum of Marvel titles. Fing Fang Foom appears in toy form in Iron Man 2008. Fing Fang Foom in the only Kirby monster to be made into a HeroClix giant figure! Fing Fang Foom is arguably one of the more interesting Kirby monsters visually as you can see from the HeroClix figure picture below:
Validus faces off against Fing Fang Foom. Fing Fang Foom can sense that Validus has a the mind of a child and tries to communicate with Validus but Validus is immune to telepathy. Validus rips off one of Fing Fang Foom’s arms with ease. Fing Fang Foom is a genius level strategist and decides it.s time to run for the hills. Fing Fang Foom starts to fly away. Validus does not have the power of flight. Validus zaps Fing Fang Foom from the sky with his unique mental lightning which can even knock out the Silver Age Superboy. Fing Fang Foom decides to die ironically, and as Validus cradles the dying Fing Fang Foom, Fing Fang Foom says, “Rosebud” with his dying breath. Validus doesn’t get the joke and looks for something else to smash.
This post will compare sidekicks of the DC and Marvel universes. Which universe has the best sidekicks? First of all, what is a sidekick? Wikipedia provides the following definition “A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies”. Wikipedia in the same article expands on the functions of a sidekick “Sidekicks can provide one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero, an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero doesn’t have. They often function as comic relief, and/or the straight man to the hero’s comedic actions. A sidekick can also act as someone more relatable to the audience than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being (such as teen sidekicks). And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, the sidekick provides an opportunity for the author to provide exposition, thereby filling the same role as a Greek chorus”. A sidekick is not a villain’s henchmen or the romantic interest of a hero which is generally referred to as a companion.
The picture above got me thinking about sidekicks. The picture is from page 199 of the graphic novel Bizzaro Comics (2001). Bizzaro Comics is a hilarious collection of indie writers and artist’s parodies of DC comic titles. This picture is from the story titled Without You I’m Nothing and follows the travails of obscure discarded sidekicks. I am a comic book historian and do get a kick out of stories that use obscure characters like this story does. I was not able to identify all the side kicks in the picture but have a partial answer key at the end of this post. This post also attempts to provide definitive lists of sidekicks in the DC and Marvel universes and the Wikipedia definition was strictly adhered to. Many obscure characters that have not been included in prior lists of this nature have been included in this post. Below is a definitive list of DC sidekicks that will be discussed later.
List of DC Sidekicks
Superhero
Sidekick
First Appearance
Aquaman
Aquagirl 1 (Lisa Morel)
Adventure Comics #266 (November, 1959)
Aquaman
Aquagirl 2 (Tula)
Aquaman (vol. 1) #33 (May-June 1967)
Aquaman
Aqualad (Garth)
Adventure Comics #269 (February 1960)
Aquaman
Topo (Octopus)
Adventure Comics #229 (October 1956)
Aquaman
Qwsp
Aquaman (vol. 1) #1 (January-February 1962)
Batman
Ace the Bat Hound
Batman #92, June 1955
Batman
Alfred Pennyworth (Butler)
Batman #16 (April-May 1943
Batman
Bat-Girl (Bette Kane)
Batman #139 (April 1961)
Batman
Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
Detective Comics #359 (January 1967)
Batman
Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)
Legends of the Dark Knight # 120 (August 1999)
Batman
Robin 1 (Dick Grayson)
Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
Batman
Robin 2 (Jason Todd)
Batman #357 (March 1983)
Batman
Robin 3 (Tim Drake)
Batman #436 (August 1989)
Batman
Robin 4, Spoiler, Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
Detective Comics #647 (August 1992)
Batman
Robin 5 (Damian Wayne)
Batman #655 (September 2006)
Batman
Robin Earth II (Richard Grayson)
Detective Comics #38 (April, 1940)
Blackhawk
Lady Blackhawk (Zinda)
Blackhawk # 133 (February 1959)
Blue Devil
Kid Devil
Blue Devil #14 (July 1985)
Booster Gold
Goldstar
Lobo #5 (May ’94)
Booster Gold
Skeets
Booster Gold (vol. 1) #1 (1986)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel Jr.
Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941)
Captain Marvel
Lieutenant Marvels
Whiz Comics #21 (1941)
Captain Marvel
Mr. Tawky Tawny (Anthropomorphic Tiger)
Captain Marvel Adventures #79
Captain Marvel
Uncle Marvel
Wow Comics #18 (October 1943)
Captain Mid-Nite
Hooty the Owl
All-American Comics #25 (April, 1941)
Chameleon Boy
Proty I
Adventure Comics #308 (May 1963)
Chameleon Boy
Proty II
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72 (October 1963)
Crimson Avenger
Wing How
Detective Comics #20 (October 1938)
Flash
Impulse (Bart Allen)
Flash (vol. 2) #92 (June 1994)
Flash
Kid Flash I (Wally West)
The Flash (vol. 1) #110 (December 1959)
Flash
Kid Flash II (Iris West)
Kingdom Come #3 (July 1996)
Flash
Kid Flash III (Bart Allen)
Teen Titans (vol. 3) #4 (December 2003)
Flash
S’kidd Flash
Flash vol 2 #235 (February, 2008)
General Glory
Ernie the Battling Boy
Justice League America # 46 (January 1991)
Green Arrow
Amber Archer (Connor Hawke)
Green Arrow vol 2 #0 (October, 1994)
Green Arrow
Arrowette
World’s Finest Comics #113 (November 1960)
Green Arrow
Speedy I (Roy Harper)
More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)
Green Arrow
Speedy II (Mia Dearden)
Green Arrow (vol. 3) #44 (January 2005)
Green Lantern
Gen’ma
Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #6
Green Lantern
Doiby Dickles
All-American Comics #27 (June 1941)
Green Lantern
Terry Berg
Green Lantern (vol. 3) #129 (October 2000)
Green Lantern
Thomas Kalmaku (Pieface)
Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #2 (September-October 1960)
Icon
Rocket
Icon #1 (May 1993)
Johnny Thunder
Black Lightning the Horse
Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)
Joker
Harley Quinn
The Batman Adventures #12 (September 1993)
Justice League of America
Snapper Carr
The Brave and the Bold #28 (February-March 1960)
Justice League International
G’nort (Green Lantern, Humanoid Dog)
Justice League International#10 (February, 1988)
Knight
Squire (Cyril)
Batman #62,(December 1950)
Little Boy Blue
Tubby, Toughy
Sensation Comics #1 (January, 1942)
Martian Manhunter
Zook
Detective Comics #311 (January, 1963).
Mr. Scarlet
Pinky the Whiz Kid
Wow Comics #4 (1940)
Owlman
Talon
Teen Titans vol. 3 #38 (September 2006)
Plastic Man
Woozy Winks
Police Comics #13 (November 1942)
Robin
Flamebird (Mary Elizabeth Kane)
Teen Titans #50 (October, 1977)
Tomahawk
Dan Hunter
Star-Spangled Comics #69 (June 1947)
Sandman
Brute
The Sandman #1 (May 1974)
Sandman
Glob
The Sandman #1 (May 1974)
Sandman
Sandy the Golden Boy (Sandy Hawkins)
Adventure Comics # 69 (December 1941)
Space Ranger
Cyrll
Showcase #15, (July 1958)
Star Hawkins
Ilda (Robot)
Strange Adventures #114 (March 1960)
Star-Spangled Kid
Stripsey (Pat Dugan)
Action Comics #40 (September, 1941).
Superboy
Pete Ross
Superboy #86 (January 1961)
Super-Girl
Comet the Super-Horse (Biron)
Action Comics #292 (1962)
Super-Girl
Streaky the Super-Cat
Action Comics #292 (1962)
Superman
Bo “Bibbo” Bibbowski
Adventures of Superman #428 (May 1987)
Superman
Jimmy Olsen
Action Comics #6 (November 1938)
Superman
Krypto
Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955)
Superman
Super-Girl
Superman #123 (August 1958)
TNT
Dan the Dyna-Mite (Daniel Dunbar)
World’s Finest Comics #5 (Spring 1942)
Vigilante
Stuff the Chinatown Kid
Action Comics #45 (February 1942)
Wonder Woman
Etta Candy
Sensation Comics #2 (Feb. 1942)
Wonder Woman
Wonder Girl 1 (Wonder Woman as a teenager)
All-Star Comics #8 (December 1941),
Wonder Woman
Wonder Girl 2 (Donna Troy)
The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #60 (July 1965)
Wonder Woman
Wonder Tot
Wonder Woman #105 (April, 1959)
Robin wins the best DC sidekick prize easily. Robin is the first teenage super hero sidekick and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Robin has been flattered to death. DC went ahead and created an army of teenage sidekicks. Eventually the teenage sidekicks of the major superheroes founded a teenage sidekick version of the Justice League called the Teen Titans. The original Teen Titans included Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Wondergirl. Later still, Young Justice is created. The Teen Titans and Young Justice meet in a giant sidekick crossover between their two groups.
The obvious absurdity of Robin is that crime fighting is dangerous work even for an adult like Batman and introducing a minor to crime fighting makes no sense whatsoever except as a plot device. Batman’s villains were obviously very aware that Robin was the weak link and Two-Face even referred to Robin as the boy hostage. The psychologist Fredric Wertham decided there was a homosexual subtext in the Batman and Robin relationship and wrote about this in Seduction of the Innocent. Batman goes through a whole slew of Robins and eventually one gets killed brutally by the Joker with a crow bar in a Death in the Family. Jason Todd is the lucky Robin to suffer death and the best part is that readers entered a poll to decide if he lived or died. Truly a low point in comic book history but a lot of Batman issues were sold so all in all the project was a success. Later Robin 4 (Stephanie Brown) in the identity of the Spoiler is even more brutally killed by the Black Mask with a power drill.
Of course no one really dies in comic books so Jason Todd return as the Red Hood and wants some payback from Batman for letting him die and secondly, and probably more importantly letting the Joker live. The five Robins all get starring roles after Batman “dies”. The ex-Robins have all become heroes in their own right. I would argue that the Red Hood is an antihero not a villain. Robin 1, Dick Grayson, has become Nightwing. Robin 3, Tim Drake, becomes Red Robin. Stephanie brown is resurrected from her power drill death and becomes Batgirl. The male Robins are all potential impersonators of the dead Batman. The Red Hood gets in the act and kind of forces Dick Grayson to become the new Batman because if he doesn’t then the Red Hood will assume the role. The potential heirs to Batman agree that the death of Batman should be hidden and one of them should pretend to be the original Batman. This is similar to the Phantom, the ghost who walks that has the son of the prior Phantom assume the role of the Phantom so as to give the illusion that the Phantom never dies. The Robins are basically sons of Batman but unfortunately there is more than one son i.e. more than one Robin and succession is not clear. This jockeying between the Robins is largely covered in the Batman miniseries Battle for the Cowl but this power struggle affected all Batman related titles of the last year. Dick Grayson does a good job impersonating Batman but doesn’t fool Commissioner Gordon. The new Batman of course needs a new Robin and gets a psychopath kid, due to being trained by the League of Assassins since childhood. This new Robin is the long lost son of Bruce Wayne and called Damian Wayne. Confused? Everyone is confused so don’t feel bad. I am sure the writers of the Batman lines have cheat cards on their desks. Will the barnacles of Batman history eventually sink the line? Maybe!
Robin and his teenage copies at DC and even Marvel have so dominated the sidekick market in comic books that readers tend not to look at the broader literary concept of a sidekick when looking at comic books. Another Batman sidekick is Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred provides an alternate point of view to the audience as well as the ability to aid Batman when he is hurt. Alfred has surgical skills gained when Alfred was an army medic. Alfred was also in the theater and can pretend to be Batman when needed. This is a rarely used skill of Alfred that is nevertheless crucial when someone is too close to discovering Batman’s identity. Robin is presumably too small to provide a similar function and anyway Robin needs to be by Batman’s side so people don’t think Robin is pretending to be Batman. Alfred Pennyworth can be extremely critical and sarcastic with Batman unlike the army of Robins. Alfred provides an “adult” perspective about Batman to the reader. Alfred has known Batman since he was a child. Alfred is aware of the how the killing of Batman’s parents made Batman a great crime fighter at the expense of a normal life. The Red Hood has argued with Batman that most of his hard core rogues gallery only fear death and the fact that Batman does not kill and the fact that the villains know this limits the effectiveness of Batman as a crime fighter. Batman may be able to instill fear in common criminals but provides more challenge than fear to the likes of the Joker. In Batman #647, Alfred actually agrees with the Red Hood mentally but does not express his views to Batman verbally.
Batman is a serial teenage sidekick mentor and there is something very creepy about this. Any “normal” person would not expose even one minor to extreme violence and certainly would not continue this behavior after the death of Jason Todd much less the subsequent death of Stephanie Brown. Alfred has expressed dismay about the use of teenage sidekicks many times to Batman. However, Alfred in the end is the dutiful butler who does what his master wishes despite any misgivings about such a course of action. Alfred’s subordination to Batman’s wishes despite sarcastic remarks is what makes Alfred a sidekick rather than an equal partner. Batman is not the only member of the Batman story line with a sidekick.
The Joker, Batman’s archenemy, has a sidekick! Villains generally do not have sidekicks but henchmen, minions or lackeys. Villains are generally egomaniacs and incapable of having long lasting meaningful relationships or so the theory goes. Villains see their henchmen as disposable cannon fodder. The Joker generally treats those around him in precisely this manner but there is one exception and that is Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn was a female psychiatrist that treated the Joker at Arkham Asylum and turned to the dark side rather than curing the Joker. Harley Quinn is in love with the Joker but the relationship has clearly never been consummated. The Joker obviously sees Harley Quinn as a capable sidekick even if Harley Quinn wants more. Harley Quinn is a near superhuman gymnast who uses her skill with great combat effectiveness. Harley Quinn wears a Jester outfit and became friends with Poison Ivy at Arkham were she ironically resided after her break down. Harley Quinn provides comic relief to Joker stories that despite the name of the Joker were not very funny before Harley Quinn showed up.
The Joker had been jealous of Batman having Robin as a sidekick in the silver age and got his own one-shot sidekick in Batman #186 called Gaggy. The main function of Gaggy was to provide comic relief to then Joker since such comic relief led to the Joker having great crime ideas. Gaggy rather simplistically hated Robin and managed to knock Robin out with a head butt to the stomach. Gaggy was never heard of after that one issue. I think an issue in which Gaggy, embittered by being discarded by the Joker, targets Harley Quinn for assassination might be interesting. Harley Quinn turns to Batman to figure out who is trying to kill her and clues are left that the culprit is a dwarf with a penchant for practical joke paraphernalia. Since not an awful lot of characters fit that description, Batman deduces that the culprit is Gaggy! Did I mention I like obscure comic book characters? Batman’s sidekicks on the whole do not provide comic relief. This is not the case of Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel also has an army of sidekicks but largely for comic relief. Mr. Tawky Tawny is an anthropomorphic tiger i.e. a funny animal that gets into all sorts of silly trouble Captain Marvel can save the tiger from. Uncle Marvel is an older bumbling version of Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel was always a sillier line than his doppelganger Superman.
Flash is another serial sidekick character that has gone through three Kid Flash characters. Kid Flash was clearly inspired by Robin. Super speed is a major power that is very much underestimated in comic books. Basically you can hit the bad guy a hundred times and dodge whatever the bad guy tosses at you. “Realistically” the foes of the Flash should stand no chance against the Flash. Captain Cold has a freeze gun. The Flash should be able to dodge anything the cold gun can come up with. A teenager with super speed is still incredibly powerful despite being a teenager unlike Robin who has no super powers and even the inferior strength of someone who is younger. Maybe a Kid Flash can only punch with half the power of an adult but a hundred punches later and even the toughest boxer is going down.
Green Arrow has had two teenage sidekicks named Speedy. The first Speedy grows up to become a heroin addict, but recovers, and there is some suggestion that maybe crime fighting as a teenager might not be all that healthy psychologically and contributed to the heroin addiction.
Superman only has one teenage sidekick and that is Jimmy Olsen. In the silver age, Jimmy Olsen was officially Superman’s best pal and again very creepy if you think about it. Superman is perennially in his early thirties and if I saw some thirty year old hanging around a teen rather than a guy his own age then I would wonder exactly what function this teenager serves. Jimmy even has a watch with an ultrasonic signal that allows him to call Superman when he is in danger. Lois Lane does not have such a watch! Teenage guy gets the watch but not the gal? Maybe the silver age Superman had reasons for not marrying Lois Lane that had more to do with subconscious gender preference than any other reason.
Superman has a dog called Krypto. In the silver age, Batman got a dog called Ace but there is no comparison with Krypto and Ace in terms of importance. Superman in the silver age was Superboy and Krypto and Superboy were constant companions. This is one of the healthier sidekick relationships in comic books. Krypto cannot talk but can communicate to the reader via thought balloons that show what Krypto is thinking. Krypto’s attempts to understand Superboy’s behavior using canine logic were pretty cute and comical and one of the few things that made the otherwise lame Superboy title work.
The current Supergirl has no hyphen between “Super” and “Girl” in her name. The current Supergirl is a hot babe in a half shirt who has fled to the 31st century to avoid being a sidekick! The silver age Super-Girl, on the other hand, was very much a sidekick. She was teenager attending high school and was kept as a secret weapon for much of her silver age career. Super-Girl was Superman’s cousin so no fear of hanky-panky that would make her a companion. However, Super-Girl does try to match Superman up with an adult version of her on another planet!
Super-Girl has sidekicks in her own right! Super-Girl has a super cat named Streaky and a super horse named Comet. Somewhere in the Superman family there is a super monkey named Beppo but I am not really sure who he belongs to. All the super animals unite with Proty to create the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century. Years later Marvel will make its own group of superhero animal sidekicks. Proty is the sidekick of Chameleon Boy who is a member of the Legion of Super Heroes of the 31st century. Proty I sacrificed himself to revive the dead Lighting Lad but a Proty II soon shows up. Proty I and II are aliens that look like blobs and can mimic just about any form.
That leaves us with Wonder Women’s sidekicks. The silver age Woman had several sidekicks. Etta Candy was a fat rather stupid college student who was supposed to be used for comic relief but was more obnoxious than funny. The silver age Wonder Woman went through a rather silly phase in which she had adventures with herself as a Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot! Wonder Woman used Amazonian technology to create films of herself that showed “what if” adventures with her younger versions. I have to tell you I was maybe seven when a lot of these adventures came out originally and I was totally confused. I assumed Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot were sisters of Wonder Woman and didn’t find out the “truth” until I was in my thirties. Wonder Woman is probably one of those silver age titles that is really hard for modern readers to digest but the title had a fantasy quality that was very different from the more sci-fi quality of most silver age stuff and appealed to my young imagination. Wonder Woman may go down in literary history as the only character that had two versions of herself as her own sidekicks. The graphic novel Bizzaro Comics (2001) does have a story with Wonder Tot and Wonder Girl racing to sit next to Wonder Woman during lunch and destroying half the Amazon city in the process. Later, a more Robin like Wonder Girl was created as a sidekick.
Below is a list of Marvel sidekicks that will be discussed at the end of this list:
List of Marvel Sidekicks
Superhero
Sidekick
First Appearance
Avengers, Iron Man
Edwin Jarvis (Butler)
Tales of Suspense #59 (Nov 1964)
Captain America
Bucky I
Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)
Captain America
Bucky II (Rick Jones)
Captain America
Free Spirit
Captain America vol. 1 #431 (September 1994)
Captain America
Jack Flag (Jack Harrison)
Captain America #434, (December 1994)
Captain Britain
Jackdaw
The Incredible Hulk Weekly #57 (April 1980)
Captain Marvel
Falcon (Sam “Snap” Wilson)
Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969)
Daredevil
Foggy Nelson
Daredevil v1 #1 (April 1964)
Deadpool
Weasel
Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1 (August 1993)
Deadpool
Blind Al
Deadpool #1 (Jan. 1997)
Deadpool
Bob, Agent of HYDRA
Cable & Deadpool #38 (May 2007)
Doc Samson
Geiger
Captain America vol. 1 #431 (September 1994)
Doctor Strange
Wong
Strange Tales #110 (Jul 1963)
Falcon
Redwing (Hawk)
Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969)
Franklin Richards
H.E.R.B.I.E. (Robot)
Fantastic Four #209 (August 1979)
Hulk
Jim Wilson
Incredible Hulk v1 #131 (September, 1970)
Hulk
Teen Brigade
Incredible Hulk v1 #6 (March 1963)
Hulk, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Avengers
Rick Jones
Incredible Hulk v1 #1 (May 1962)
Human Torch
Toro
Human Torch Comics #2 (Fall 1940)
Inhumans
Lockjaw (Dog)
Fantastic Four #45, (December 1965)
Ka-Zar
Zabu (Sabertooth Tiger)
X-Men #10 (Mar 1965)
Fantastic Four
Franklin Richards (Son of Reed Richards & Susan Storm)
Fantastic Four Annual #6 (November 1968)
Fantastic Four, Franklin Richards
Valeria Richards (Daughter of Reed Richards & Susan Storm)
Fantastic Four vol. 3 #54 (June 2002)
Fantastic Four
Lockjaw Puppy (Dog)
Fantastic Four vol.3 #9.
Nick Fury
Dum Dum Dugan
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963)
Shadowcat
Lockheed (Small Dragon)
Uncanny X-Men #166 (Feb 1983)
Speedball
Niels, Hairball (Cat)
Speedball #1
Spider-Man
Jackpot
Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man: Swing Shift (May 2007)
Spider-Man
Ms. Lion (Dog)
Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends #1
Spider Girl
Scarlet Spider 3 (Felicity Hardy)
Spider-Girl # 46
Taskmaster, Agent X
Sandi Brandenberg
Taskmaster Mini-Series (2002)
Thing, Captain America
Demolition Man aka D-Man
Captain America #328 (April 1987)
Wolverine
Jubilee
Uncanny X-Men #244 (May, 1989)
Young Allies
Whitewash Jones
Young Allies Comics 1941
The first sidekick on the list is Edwin Jarvis who is a butler at Avengers Mansion that in turn is owned and operated by Tony Stark. Tony Stark is of course Iron Man. Jarvis is an obvious clone of Alfred, Batman’s butler, but is much more one dimensional and provides comic relief rather than insight into the super heroes he deals with unlike Alfred. Alfred was a medic during a time of war and may be old but is obviously tough and handles sensitive Batman impersonation missions. Alfred would beat the crap out of Jarvis in any altercation.
Bucky is probably the most famous sidekick in the Marvel universe. Bucky is Captain America’s sidekick from the golden age that was killed in the golden age. In 2010, Bucky was resurrected after more than forty years just to make sure whatever faith readers had in comic book continuity was crushed once and for all so that suspension of disbelief via continuity would be rendered impossible once and for all. Comic sales are down way down. The recession and competition with other media are to blame but decisions like the Bucky resurrection don’t help. Anyway, Captain America is put into suspended animation minutes after Bucky is “blown up” and the guilt Captain America feels upon reawakening in the silver age is a major part of the Captain America story line. Captain America over the last forty years continually demonstrated how the trauma for the death of Bucky affected him mostly in the form of nightmares. Batman has never shown this level of trauma about the deaths of his Robins.
In the first silver age appearance of Captain America (Avengers vol. 1, #1) Captain America runs into a teenager he mistakes for Bucky, Rick Jones. Rick Jones is the side kick of the Hulk but this doesn’t stop him from later becoming Bucky II. The Hulk is not too pleased with this and this leads to altercations between Captain America and the Hulk. The Hulk has a point. Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma ray radiation while saving Rick Jones and became the monster called the Hulk because of Rick Jones. Yeah, Rick Jones owes his life to the Hulk’s alter ego but heck Captain America has wavy blonde hair and also is not a monster, literally, so Rick Jones decides to become Bucky II. Rick Jones is not a very loyal sidekick and becomes Captain Marvel’s sidekick later on. I guess Captain Marvel’s wavy silver hair beat Captain America’s wavy blonde hair. Rick Jones is currently a Hulk type called A-Bomb and is really digging not being a sidekick anymore despite having Hulk monster type problems. Captain America has had other sidekicks beside Bucky I and II including Jack Flag and Jackdraw. Heroes in both the DC and Marvel universe seem to either have slews of sidekicks or no sidekicks. Are sidekicks addictive? For the records there have been several Captain Americas with their Bucky sidekicks but I am only dealing with the Steve Rogers Captain America.
Foggy Nelson is a sidekick of Daredevil. Foggy Nelson is the law partner of Matt Murdock the alter ego of Daredevil. Foggy provided a great deal of comic belief in the beginning but has matured into a more competent brilliant lawyer that is an asset to Matt Murdock. Foggy has an incredible case law memory and might even superior to Matt Murdock as a lawyer but does not have the confidence of Matt and is therefore generally not the lead lawyer. Without Foggy, the law practice of Matt Murdock would have gone down the toilet during his many, Daredevil caused, MIA stints. Foggy Nelson has a paunch and food related jokes are his comic relief contribution.
Deadpool is a hilarious anti-hero that has had several equally hilarious sidekicks including Weasel, Blind Al and Bob, Agent of Hydra. My favorite is Bob, Agent of Hydra. Bob is a parody of henchmen and the number one lesson he learned from Hydra was “hiding behind each other”. Under pressure, Bob tends to shout “Hail Hydra”.
Doctor Strange has and adult Asian manservant from Tibet named Wong. Wong may not know much magic but he is a master martial artist. Wong is fairly subservient compared to other comic book sidekicks. If you do visit Doctor Strange at his Sanctum Santorum in New York then you have to get past Wong first. His role as a literal gatekeeper gives him some power that a lesser servant would not have.
Marvel decided to transform the son Reed Richards and Susan Storm from a typical omega level angst driven mutant to a Calvin type character, as in Calvin and Hobbes, character with great success. Franklin is a side kick to the Fantastic Four that provides a child’s perspective of the Fantastic Four as well as comic relief. Franklin is also a scientific genius who can modify his dad’s super science gadgets but generally his attempts to improve dad’s gadgets lead to disaster. Franklin has his own sidekick, H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot. H.E.R.B.I.E. provides a logical to the point of absurdity perspective to the childish antics of Franklin. H.E.R.B.I.E. constantly tries to convince Franklin H.E.R.B.I.E. to leave his dad’s lab alone but he is ultimately a subordinate that is then forced to try to clean up the mess created by Franklin.
The Hulk got over the loss of Rick Jones and adopted Jim Wilson. Jim Wilson was an inner city, Black teenager that very poignantly died of cancer later. Doctor Strange has an Asian sidekick. The Hulk has an African-American sidekick. The Lone Ranger has a Native American sidekick, Tonto. Does anyone see a pattern here? My next post will be titled DC vs. Marvel: Multicultural Heroes and I will examine the issue of race in the DC and Marvel universes in detail.
In 2009, Marvel untied all the animal sidekicks into a team called the Pet Avengers. The Pet Avengers are a rip off of the Legion of Super Animals over at DC. The Legion of Super Pets was played straight and this was probably a bad decision given the absurdity of the concept. The Pet Avengers is a silly title with lots of comic relief and one of my favorite current titles. I am not sure how far you can go with this concept but so far so good. The members of the Pet Avengers include Redwing a hawk of Falcon, Lockjaw a giant dog that can teleport of the Inhumans, Zabu a saber tooth tiger of Ka-Zar, Lockheed a small dragon that is a sidekick of Shadowcat, Hairball a cat belonging to Speedball and Ms. Lion a dog belonging to Spider-Man. The team includes Throg is a frog with lesser versions of Thor’s powers and is not a sidekick of Thor but a hero among his frog tribe in his own right. The interplay between the animals is what really makes the team work. Krypto and Streaky were a dog and a cat in the same legion but the fact that dogs and cats don’t get along was never really explored. Hairball the cat thinks Ms. Lion is an absolute idiot and worse, a dog! Ms. Lion is the only one on the team that doesn’t have super powers is very much the pampered house dog of Spiderman’s Aunt May. Ms. Lion claims the right to membership based on her sidekick status alone.
The sidekick status of the members is highlighted in one story of Tails of the Pet Avengers: The Dogs of Summer #1. In the story titled“Garbage Grief”, Franklin Richards teams up with the Pet Avengers flanked with his own sidekicks H.E.R.B.I.E. and Puppy. Puppy is a miniature version of Lockjaw complete with his powers of teleportation. In this story Puppy does manage to teleport the Pet Avengers to deal with a giant humanoid garbage creature that Franklin created more or less accidentally. So this is a sidekick crossover albeit on a much smaller scale than the DC Teen Titans/Young Justice crossover. Another treat of this particular issue, is that the origin of Puppy is finally dealt with. Puppy has been a fixture of the Fantastic Four for a while but his origin has not been dealt with until this issue. Turns out Puppy is the grand pup of Lockjaw and is a present of Franklin’s future self to himself in the past. In another issue, Tails of the Pet Avengers #1 has an adventure with Redwing the hawk titled “Birds of a Different Feather”. Redwing the sidekick of Falcon is chased by a pigeon that wants to be a sidekick of Redwing. Redwing refuses this offer at first but the pigeon pulls a masterful guilt trip to change the mind of Redwing.
I also have to mention the Incredible Hercules that ran from 2008 to 2010. Hercules is teamed up with Amadeus Cho. Amadeus Cho is really smart, mutant level smart but Hercules is Hercules! Normally Amadeus Cho, the brainy, sixteen year old, nerdy teenager, would be the sidekick but an argument can be made that Hercules is the sidekick even if Hercules would smash anyone who suggested as much. In one issue Hercules is up against his old enemies the Amazons. Amadeus Cho is captured by the Amazonians. Amadeus Cho is referred to as the eromenos of Hercules (Incredible Hercules #121, 2008) by the Amazons during his captivity. Amadeus Cho is not happy with this appellation at all. This is one of the few issues that points out the obvious, when older men have sixteen year old guys as buddies then there is usually one sort of relationship at work going back to Greek times. This is an intelligent comic book line that turns the sidekick conventions upside down in an extremely funny manner.
The most famous teenage sidekick of Marvel is Bucky but Bucky is not nearly as important to comic book history as Robin. Probably getting killed in the golden age for plus forty years didn’t help the career of Bucky at all. Marvel has other teenage sidekicks like the golden age Toro but all and all Marvel does not have the rooster of well known teenage sidekicks that DC has. DC also wins in terms of teenage sidekick teams. DC has the aforementioned Teen Titans and Young Justice. Marvel has teenage teams including the Young Avengers and the Runaways but they are not sidekick teams but teams of teenage heroes. In many ways Marvel sidestepped the need for teenage sidekicks by making more teenage heroes than DC. Spiderman began his career in high school. The X-Men operate out of Xavier’s Academy which trains teenagers. The New Mutants are teenagers that go to Xavier’s Academy and are not sidekicks. I think overall Marvel may have been smart to make teenage heroes to fulfill many of the teen identification functions of teenage sidekicks.
DC just has a lot more sidekicks than Marvel period. DC has 71 sidekicks on their list. Marvel has 34 sidekicks on their list. Beyond numbers, DC has a rooster of more famous sidekicks especially in the teenage sidekick category. DC and Marvel have pursued different strategic approaches to the use of teenage sidekicks in their respective universes. Marvel, however, is doing great things with animal sidekicks with the Pet Avengers and funny sidekicks like Franklin Richards and H.E.R.B.I.E. Unfortunately, a two year trend does not negate the fact that DC has historically had the most and best sidekicks.
DC wins the sidekick wars!
Answer to DC Sidekick Quiz
1. Stripsey
2. Proty
3. Doiby Dickles
4. ?
5. Streaky?
6. Brute
7. Qwsp
8. Glob
9. Cyrll
10. Mr. Twaky Tawny
11. Zook
12. Ace the Bat Hound
13. Wing
14. ?
15. ?
16. Ilda
17. Skeets
18. ?
19. ?
20. ?
I do wonder if some of the sidekicks I can’t figure out are actual sidekicks in DC comics. Number 5 might be Streaky the Super Cat but looks more like a mouse than a cat.