T-shirt 290 - Plain White - A Year of T-shirts

T-shirt 290 - Plain White - A Year of T-shirts

Greetings. Happy Sunday. Welcome to a collection of my shirts so far. I thought that the end of the year would be a good time to recap visually. I considered creating a video, but I wanted the visual impact of the grid. But before I explored how to make a photo grid (more on this in a minute), I had to decide what shirt to feature as today's shirt. Since I did not own any plain white t-shirts, I thought this would make a good choice for today's blog. And since I bought a pack of three, I have two more plain T-shirts to fill in when I need an any subject shirt.

As for the photo grid, I tried collage sites online, but did not find what I was looking for. Then I stumbled on a tutorial video for making contact sheets in Photoshop. This way you get to see my file names! I am bit pleased with the naming conventions I use with the exception of one shirt that snuck through as "picture091.jpg." I have rectified this oversight since.

Because of the way Photoshop makes the contact sheets, the easiest thing was to arrange the files alphabetically by file name. Given that I did not use a naming convention that would order and number them, re-organizing them in ORDER is a much bigger project, but it is possible project. Obviously, you can see where this is going. By the end of my blog year, I may assemble a set of contact sheets with the pictures arranged in order of appearance. Then again, given the scope of such a project, I may not.

Another problem I encountered is the original file I assembled contained 280 files out of 289 shirts published thus far (actually looking ahead a few days), and when I made the file, I included 11 doubles (or in some cases 3-4 images of the same shirt as you see with this first contact sheet). As I write this, as I am working ahead, I am in the process of looking for the nineteen (19) shirts I missed in my original assembly. I have found seven of these shirts so far, but it's a time-consuming, cross checking process. By the time, you read this, I am hoping to include a final contact sheet, making a total of fifteen (at twenty images per sheet that's 300 shirts, which is just right as I posted 289 yesterday and used 11 doubles/triples/quads in my original set).

One drawback to the alphabetical arrangement is the shirts often group together by type based on my naming conventions. There's a great deal of variety, but all the KUDL shirts will be found with the Ks and all the pajama shirts will be found among the Ss for "sleep." Feel free to explore how the naming conventions group some shirts and not others. Then again, this may be one of those things that is only fascinating to me because I am over-enamored of my own process.

Given that I am still playing D&D with my best friend who is visiting, we which means less time to write the blog, I have not finished my exploration of the blog's history and found all the missing t-shirts.

FUN GAME FOR MY READERS: How about this? If you are a faithful reader and interested in spending a snowy day exploring my blog, feel free to participate in a game of What T-shirts are Missing? By my estimation, as explained, NINETEEN (19) shirts are missing from the sets of photos presented below. How many missing shirts can you name? Leave me a comment if you play and we shall see what happens. I do not expect a huge turnout, so if anyone plays at all I may award prizes.

A GALLERY OF SHIRTS FROM THE 365 T-SHIRTS BLOG

SHIRTS 1-289

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 75 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1401.05 - 19:29

T-shirt #289 - 10,000 Maniacs - Our Time in Eden

T-shirt #289 - 10,000 Maniacs - Our Time in Eden

My friend Tom Meyers, better known as the Lord of Chaos, is visiting, and we are playing Dungeons and Dragons, specifically Pathfinder (which is D&D 3.5, modified by Paizo), so these entries during his visit will be brief. See him pictures in this same shirt as we share a love for this band: 10,000 Maniacs, whom I wrote about it originally in T-shirt #257 and featured my tickets.

Here's a short interview with him about his love of 10,000 Maniacs.

Me: Do you remember when you first learned about 10,000 Maniacs?

LOC: I first learned about 10,000 Maniacs walking through the northern end of Trowbridge Hall some time after we graduated with my friend Chris Tower. We heard someone playing the Wishing Chair album and maybe the song "Back of the Moon." I was struck viscerally with the way the main vocalist phrased words and sentences in the lyrics and the sound of her voice. I was captured by it. For me, it became the most meaningful music of the time.

When I listened to 10,000 Maniacs now, the music transports me to those times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It brings me backs to specific times and feelings and emotions to when I first heard the song. Listening to a song today, I can go back to when I first heard it, how I felt then, what was happening.

I really like the fact that they were contrary to the popular music of the time. They were unique, different, and non-commercial.

In My Tribe transformed me more than The Wishing Chair because I really felt that it was a more mature sound. It was better mixed and better produced. I knew a guy who hated that the band sang about things that were important, but I loved that about it. And another thing, the poster, the images, the patch, the symbols, all of the visual elements were important to me. And this album propelled 10,000 Maniacs to my number one favorite musical group, and the album made it imperative that I see them live. It was one of the first albums I actively shared with other people, telling people "you have to listen to this. It's awesome."


I have seen the band six times in concert. The last of which, during the Our Time in Eden tour, I had front row seats, and I felt that Natalie was making eye contact with me, singing to me, and could tell that I was the band's biggest fan. I can't listen to 10,000 Maniacs without being reminded of my feelings during those years for a woman I knew in law school.

Me: What is your favorite 10,000 Maniacs album?

LOC: That is a very difficult question. If I have to choose one album, I would choose their last: Our Time In Eden.

Me: Rank the album in terms of your favorites?

LOC: I don't count albums after Natalie Merchant left the band. They are all very closely ranked but here goes:

1. In My Tribe
2. Our Time in Eden
3. The Wishing Chair
4. MTV Unplugged
5. Campfire Songs
6. Hope Chest
7. Blind Man's Zoo

Me: What are your top ten favorite 10,000 Maniacs song?

LOC: "These Are Days," "What's The Matter Here," "Cotton Alley," "Stockton Gala Days," "The Painted Desert," "Don't Go Back to Rockville," "Let the Mystery Be," "Back of the Moon," "Tension Makes a Tangle," "Verdi Cries."

Back O' The Moon - 10,000 Maniacs

10,000 Maniacs - Stockton Gala Days - Letterman

10000 Maniacs - "Don't Go Back To Rockville"

cover of an REM song.

 

I post songs on THIS IS MY JAM. Here's my jams for the last two years. Enjoy my odysseys.

My Jam Odyssey 2012 from This is My Jam

My Jam Odyssey 2013 from This is My Jam

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 76 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published - 1401.04 - 20:52
final publication - 1401.05 - 14:24

T-shirt #288 - Underdog

T-shirt #288 - Underdog

Today's blog entry is dedicated to my best friend Tom Meyers who arrives today for a visit and a gaming orgy. Fifty year old men playing the same game they played in their youth. Though I started playing D&D at the age of fourteen, Tom discovered it in his twenties. Neither of us had the luxury of playing it in our childhood (as many others will reminisce that they did) since the game was not "invented" until 1974.
(Yeah, yeah, if you want to get TECHNICAL, oh geeky readers, the game of Dungeons and Dragons technically began in some form with the publication of the Chainmail rules for miniature play in 1971, but the first three booklet boxed set came out in 1974; I played it for the first time in 1976.)

But today is about UNDERDOG not Dungeons and Dragons (though Underdog would make a great character in D&D).

Underdog was possibly my first superhero. First seen on NBC in 1964, Underdog predates Atom Ant (1965) whom I wrote about in T-shirt #111, according to the Underdog Wikipedia. Though I did not have a blue cape, I did have a red blanket that my mother would pin on me, so I could run around as Underdog: "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!" But my favorite battle cry is surely:

"When Polly's in trouble I am not slow, for it's hip-hip-hip and away I go!"

Though I did not have a blue cape, I did have a ring with a secret compartment in which to hide my "Underdog Super Energy Pill," which was often a vitamin supplied by my mother, though sometimes, since I may need many energy pills per day, a tiny candy that would fit inside the ring.

Okay, I am probably not being accurate. I just remembered that Mighty Mouse first appeared in the 1940s and was a staple of CBS Saturday morning cartoons from 1955 to 1967. And the mouse had a red cape like mine. I do recall crying out "Here I come to save the day!" (Mighty Mouse's battle cry) often, so surely I played at being Mighty Mouse, but I have more vivid memories of play as Underdog. And though I would like a Mighty Mouse shirt and toy, I do not own either, and given my recent binge-spending on T-shirts and such and sundry, I am cut off (by my own hand and choice).

Underdog ran for 124 episodes until 1967 but continued in syndication until 1973. This is important because I may not have seen all the episodes that began to air when I was two years old. However, with nine years of broadcasting, I surely managed to see them all at least once and usually all of them multiple times by the time I was eleven years old.

Underdog is a good example of how classic cartoons of yesteryear are kept alive. In the pictures, you see me with an Underdog plush toy, an Underdog PVC doll, and an Underdog T-shirt. The shirt is worn and old. It's one of my older shirts, and it's losing its thickness. I need a new one.

The toys demonstrate two very smart marketing ideas. Toy companies and others who hold copyright on the best cartoons of our childhoods have figured out that two things will happen with the release of Underdog gear: adults will buy the stuff for themselves (as I have done) and adults will buy the stuff for their kids. The Underdog PVC sits atop my TV in my office (as seen in the photo above), and though I have not found the perfect place for the Underdog plush, he's here, sitting nearby as seen in my office tour in T-shirt #268. Also, I have more Underdog gear that I did not have easy access to for the photos.


My friend Tom Meyers arrives for a visit today, as I mentioned, and he has bequeathed to me all sorts of Underdog stuff: a lunchbox, a storage bin, and a few other things that I cannot readily recall. And of course, DVDs. With streaming video, DVD, and YouTube, it's easier than ever before for a parent to say to a child, "Hey, do you wanna watch some Underdog with me?" And the love of this great cartoon continues, like  a virus, but a virus of love.

Wednesday, when I took my own Underdog, Satchel, for a walk, I stopped to chat with the neighbor across the street and his little boy, Caleb, who was wearing a Scooby Doo cap. Caleb explained that he is a massive Scooby Doo fan and began extolling the virtues of some movies he had seen. And so, the generation gap is bridged. The love of the old cartoons continues, though unlike Underdog I believe that new Scooby Doo material is currently being produced.

I have circled the subject of growing up and letting go quite a bit. I do not believe we must let go of all things dear to our hearts from childhood as we get older as some pathetic example of being "adult," which, in my mind, is simply a form of self-imposed misery and serves no purpose but producing misery and possibly resentment. Granted, I no longer put on my little red cape and run around taking energy pills from my secret compartment ring and crying out the rallying heroism of Underdog, though I surely would play such a game with a little boy or girl who was still afloat in the deep ocean of the imagination and the animistic universe if I had the chance. But I find it immensely comforting having my Underdog PVC figure watching over me as I work, and when I see Underdog perched on the TV next to the Mystery Machine clock and Robby the Robot, I am placated. I feel secure in knowing that though many things have changed in my life since I was that little boy playing at Underdog, many things have remained the same. With the modern world, we can keep these things from our past in our hearts, we can easily reconnect with these loves of yesteryear, and smart companies new and old market brand new products that we can purchase and enjoy anew and/or share them with the small children in our lives.

I removed the tag. Can you see it?

Great cartoons like Underdog live on in our hearts and in the hearts of those whom we inspire and to which we bequeath this brilliance, kindling a new flame.

I am an adult. I pay bills; I work for a living; I have a mortgage; I shoulder responsibility. But none of that excludes me from enjoying Underdog much as I did when I was two years old, and seven years old, and nine... and anyone who expects adults to divest themselves of childhood loves is an unpleasant and bitter Scrooge, which brings me to my next subject. Ah... streamy connections.

I just finished reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol via audio, narrated by Jim Dale, who brilliantly narrated the HARRY POTTER novels. Much in the same way that Scrooge learns to keep Christmas in his heart and practice goodwill toward his fellow men year around, so too, is this blog a journey of discovery of the things I wish to keep in my heart, those things that--like Christmas--embody the spirits of love, charity, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, and so much more. As I think about what I want to share in content for each shirt, I discover more and more about myself and the things that matter to me. There's more than an affection for popular culture icons here. There's a growing aspect of my greater spiritual connection to others and to the universe, which is a subject for another time. Stay tuned.

Underdog is surely a part of the milieu of my greater journey of identity, individuation, and spiritual awakening. For real. And so the Blog Journey continues...

UNDERDOG Cartoon Intro

Compare this opening intro trailer above for Underdog with the one for Mighty Mouse.

Mighty Mouse (The original cartoon theme intro)

And while I am at it, since I don't have a Mighty Heroes shirt either, I will share the Mighty Heroes theme for your edification, amusement, and as a blast from the past for those who remember.

The Mighty Heroes - theme

BTW, Why is Underdog called Underdog? What I mean is: what's he Under? Is this a reference to "underwear?" Is he down because he's a dog and he's little?

I know, I know: the underdog. The downtrodden. The unfavored. I don't think I got that connection when I was two or five or seven. Underdog was Underdog. Not because that's a comment on those who are the underdogs in our society but because that was his name.

Is Underdog a beagle? Definitely a hound of some kind.

He does look a lot like a beagle. Like my Beagle: Satchel. 

Sidenotes: I am not sure I knew this, at least I think I did, but Underdog's voice was supplied by one of my favorite actors: Wally Cox. It's good to remember what I may or may not have known and forgotten. This is part fo what my blog does for me, refreshes my memory, and what I hope it does for you.

Underdog's two main villains were voiced by Allen Swift. Simon Bar Sinister gets his name from the Bar Sinister, which is a diagonal line in medieval crests indicating a bastard birth. And Riff Raff is just a great name for a villain.

In working on this blog, I found an awesome resource: Don Markstein's Toonopedia: a vast repository of toonological knowledge.

Of course, there's an Underdog entry: UNDERDOG ON TOONOPEDIA.

CARTOON SUPERHEROES or RELATED - comic ones
Excluding traditional heroes like Superman and Spider-man, I am trying to make a list of either anthropomorphic heroes or comedy-focused cartoon heroes, which excludes favorites like Space Ghost or the Herculoids as per my list in T-shirt #101 - THE JETSONS and excluding Looney Tunes, which is an amazing category all of its own.

This is probably an incomplete list. I am always hoping with this work that someone will leave me a comment saying "Hey, you forgot.... blah blah." Like what was that one cartoon with the big robot that sort of looked like the Frankenstein monster but was giant sized and a little boy worked with him?

Mostly, I tried to keep the list to animals but that was very limiting, so there are some excursions, such as the Mighty Heroes Frankenstein, Jr., and Roger Ramjet, who are  awesome!!

THE TOP LIST

• Underdog
• Scooby Doo
• Atom Ant
• Mighty Mouse
• The Mighty Heroes
• Frankenstein, Jr.
• Sherman and Mr. Peabody!!
• Roger Ramjet
• Casper the Friendly Ghost
• Secret Squirrel
• Hong Kong Fooey
• Captain Caveman
• Popeye

THE OTHER BOTTOM LIST, not necessarily super but funny or favorite

• Gumby and Pokey
• Rocky and Bullwinkle
• Tenessee Tuxedo
• Huckleberry Hound
• Quickdraw McGraw
• Woody Woodpecker
• Heckle and Jeckle
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch ( I know she's not an animal but this was a favorite cartoon.)

MORE VIDEOS

I found episode one on You Tube but I cannot access it via Blogger. Check it out if you are interested. Meanwhile, here's two good ones (which ones are not good, after all, I mean, come on, man...).

First, "The Magnet Men" and then "Simon Says Be my Valentine."

The Underdog Show - Episode # 23 1965

The Underdog Show - Episode # 53 - 1966

My Facebook friend and neighbor
had this on his wall, so I copped it, as it seems
to fit the Underdog theme very well.

COVER GALLERY

And at the risk of making this even longer (and I was going to include comic book reviews - geez), I cannot resist including some comic book covers of Underdog Gold Key comics as well as some others I owned, like the one farther above for Frankenstein Jr.

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 77 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1401.03 - 18:20

T-shirt #287 - Daredevil Red Logo

T-shirt #287- Daredevil Red Logo

Good day, mates. Welcome to another all comic book megaplex with reviews, insights, and WAY TOO MUCH cover art.

Brace yourself. You know how I do crazy long posts on holidays? Well, guess what yesterday was?

I wrote about Daredevil for the first time in T-shirt #267. Since I only own two Daredevil shirts, at present, then this is it for my Daredevil content for the year at least as a shirt feature.

I have always loved the Daredevil character and have found the Daredevil comic books to be (almost always) compelling. Because of how he overcomes his blindness with his special powers makes Daredevil a very interesting character.  Of all the powers in Marvel Comics, at least among its Franchise heroes, I like the powers of Daredevil best. If given a choice, I would choose the powers of Daredevil over Spider-Man, the Invisible Woman, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and/or Wolverine. Though I do not like the trade off, and I would hate to lose my sight, Daredevil's radar and enhanced senses are very cool and useful powers. Though it would be difficult to argue for choosing to be Daredevil over characters like the Silver Surfer and the Captain MarVell with their power cosmic; Vision, with his intangibility and diamond hardness; or Doctor Strange with his surgeon sexiness and sorcery supreme. But that's just my opinion.

I have imagined stretching out my radar senses to scan the world around me, opening my enhanced senses to every sound, smell, taste in my radius, sorting through massive amounts of information to zero in on just the right thing. Daredevil's powers are just damn cool. There's no dispute. (If you wanna dispute it, hit me with a comment).

I love the Internet because I knew that searching "Why I love Daredevil" would produce results achieving a greater level of detail and possibly more articulate responses than my brief comments above.

The first comes from WhatCulture.com, a site too rich with ads, like many, but  with a good article on the greatness of old hornhead. Though the fifteen items are thought-provoking, I disagree with the rankings. Author Cameron Carpenter starts with Daredevil's handicap, which in my mind is the NUMBER ONE reason he's so awesome and arguably THE BEST Marvel Franchise hero.










15 REASONS WHY DAREDEVIL IS THE GREATEST SUPERHERO OF ALL TIME

Though I would put this reason as #1, as I stated, let me quote this guy as his reasoning here is sound on Daredevil's handicap.

"We’ll kill off the obvious, first. When the conception of the character rattled through Stan Lee’s mind in the sixties, the “Walt Disney” of Marvel had a major fear, thinking that audiences would find Matthew Murdock’s handicap offensive.

“Strangely enough, I was afraid that there might be a negative reaction to a blind superhero, primarily among blind people. I felt they would feel, you know, ‘What’s this guy trying to do? We can’t do things like that! Is this some sort of a parody?’ And I was nervous about it. And then I was amazed to find that we got more fan mail in the beginning from charities for the blind. They said ‘The people that we’re involved with are so grateful that there is a blind superhero and that they love that idea!’ And, oh man, what a relief that was for me.” – Stan Lee

"Murdock’s handicap isn’t just interesting in design, either, because it provides a plethora of story-telling options for whomever is penning the issue. It’s something Frank Miller realized to a “t,” that because this is a well-versed man who hasn’t seen the world in ages, he has to describe everything to himself to make constant sense of it. And he’s able to do it so poetically, which is a perfect outlet for a writer who is seeking a character and an outlet for beautiful language. Just in handicap, Murdock gives both the writer something new to talk about and the reader something new to read, but in a way that never comes off hammy or pulpy because of the nature of the character and story. It’s utilizing every aspect of the character instead of writing a dime-a-dozen plot and throwing a guy in spandex in the middle."

The rest of this guy's reasons are all right, but he's definitely stretching it to get 15, such as #14 - He Has a Full Time Job. But it's worth a read, even though it's one of those one reason per page, click next and see lots more ads sort of deals. His rankings are completely... subjective, which is the point of this kind of thing after all, right? I do agree with #4 - He Has the Best Love Interests, though, again, I might make this one #2 or #3. His first reason is He Loses. Though this is a key element of why he is great, and his stories are great, I would have made this one #15 and made his handicap #1. This guy separates Karen Page, one of the key love interests, as #2, which I guess is all right, but I may have separated Elektra instead or left all the women in a catch-all item.

Next, there's THE NERD CAVE and Nick's WHY I LOVE DAREDEVIL. This writer does a good job of explaining his connection to Daredevil and why he is such a great hero in a brief essay.

And lastly, THE WOLFMAN COMETH and his WHY I LOVE DAREDEVIL post. This guy's wacky and yet loving tirade about Daredevil seems to have some affection for Ben Affleck's portrayal in the film version. Wolfman's article on Daredevil is as much about Wolfman as about Daredevil, but it is an interesting read.

One thing that none of these writers quite identify is that Daredevil is probably the best superhero in the genre that embodies the tragedy model set forth with Batman in 1939. Bob Kane gave Batman a tragic origin to explain why an ordinary man would be so driven to become a character like The Batman. Though DC did not continue to use this paradigm with its other heroes consistently, it is something Stan Lee used repeatedly in his 1960s relaunch of Marvel Comics and its a trope that other creators continued to use in later characters and their origins, such as the Punisher (family slaughtered by the mob) and Wolverine (lost memory of his childhood or even his real name).

Starting with Spider-Man (atoning for the guilt of not preventing his uncle's death), Stan Lee gave almost every hero in those early years a tragic origin. The Thing was trapped in a hideous body while Mister Fantastic lived with the guilt of how his hubris damaged his friend. Doctor Strange found magic and became a sorcerer after searching the world to find a way to heal nerve damage that would allow him to continue his career as a surgeon. Iron Man could only keep a piece of shrapnel from his heart by wearing his armor. The Hulk makes Bruce Banner's life a living Hell of blackouts, rage, and destruction, much like an alcoholic's existence (thinking of the movie Flight here, which I just watched). The mutants of the X-Men are hated and feared by the world and often must hide frightening elements of their mutation which bring their own handicaps, such as Cyclops' optic blasts and special glasses. Captain America is a man out of time, awakened in a modern world in which he does not feel he belongs. Silver Surfer is trapped on Earth for defying Galactus. Thor is being taught a lesson by his father Odin by sharing his existence with a handicapped mortal.


And then, there's Daredevil.


Matt Murdock is blinded as a young boy when he saves an old man from a truck in the streets of New York. A radioactive cannister burns his eyes, blinding him, but also conveys heightened senses and a special radar sense, which allow him to function better than a sighted person. Though Matt is bullied, Matt's father insists that he not fight  his tormentors but practice forgiveness and devote himself to study, pushing him toward becoming a lawyer rather than a boxer like his old man ("I coulda been a contender"). As if blinding Matt is not enough tragedy, his father is killed by the mob after he refuses to throw a fight. Matt seeks revenge as Daredevil, a costume modeled on his father's boxing outfit.

But that's still not enough tragedy for Matt Murdock, and over the years creators have heaped more tragedy on his life, cultivating rich pathos worthy of the greatest tragic heroes of classic literature, including the Kingpin's destruction of Murdock's life; Bullseye's murder of one of Matt's great loves, Elektra; the death of Karen Page; and more.

Quite arguably, there's no hero in all of comics that has suffered as Daredevil has suffered, and as pointed out by Cameron Carpenter in the article above, Daredevil doesn't always come out victorious: he loses.

In many ways, the entire run of comic books about Daredevil are worth reading, even though this consists of around 549 issues as of this blog writing.

As I explained in one of the Rules of Chris -- T-shirt #273 - U2 -- people often love best what they loved first. So it is with Daredevil. One of the blogger's shared in the previous links cited Brian Michael Bendis' run of Daredevil issues for giving him a love of the character. I am lucky enough to have discovered Daredevil during the Lee/Colan era and starting out with the one issue that Stan Lee has proclaimedthat  he is most proud of from his entire career, not just in Daredevil comics, but all comics (as I wrote about in T-shirt #267).

In T-shirt #267, I shared a short essay from Marvel Comics in the 1960s published by TwoMorrows Publishing on the excellence of an early issue of the Daredevil comic created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. This still ranks among my favorite eras in Daredevil history, though the two runs by Frank Miller and the long run by Brian Michael Bendis are also notable, though not to be outdone by the Brubaker/Lark stories or those drawn by John Romita, Jr. and written by Ann Nocenti. The Kevin Smith/Quesada run was decent, but all of these sets of issues are rivaled by the current incarnation of the comic (Volume Three), which should rank among the best of the best.

FROM DAREDEVIL WIKIPEDIA:

Lee never gave Colan a full script for an issue of Daredevil; instead, he would tell him the plot, and Colan would tape record the conversation to refer to while drawing the issue, leaving Lee to add the script in afterwards. Though Colan is consistently credited as penciller only, Lee would typically give him the freedom to fill in details of the plot as he saw fit. Lee explained "If I would tell Gene who the villain was and what the problem was, how the problem should be resolved and where it would take place, Gene could fill in all the details. Which made it very interesting for me to write because when I got the artwork back and had to put in the copy, I was seeing things that I'd not expected." The 31-issue Lee/Colan run on the series included Daredevil #47, in which Murdock defends a blind Vietnam veteran against a frame-up; Lee has cited it as the story he is most proud of out of his entire career. With issue #51, Lee turned the writing chores over to Roy Thomas (who succeeded him on a number of Marvel's titles), but would remain on board as editor for another 40 issues.

DAREDEVIL RESOURCES (again, originally presented in T-shirt #267).

DAREDEVIL WIKIPEDIA

DAREDEVIL MARVEL WIKIA

DAREDEVIL COMIC VINE

Pages below are the divided up sets of the Comic Vine resources located at the main page above.

DAREDEVIL VOLUME ONE

DAREDEVIL VOLUME TWO

DAREDEVIL VOLUME THREE



THE CURRENT RUN - DAREDEVIL VOLUME THREE

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

FROM T-shirt #267: "Since the new Marvel re-launch, Daredevil written by Mark Waid and with art by Chris Samnee has been one of Marvel's best publications. Currently with thirty-three (now thirty-four) issues released, it is not an insurmountable task to obtain the entire run of the comic in trade paperbacks or even in individual issues."

I may cheat. I have been meaning to pull out all my issues from this run of Daredevil and give an in-depth review as I did with Aquaman in T-shirt #221, but I have not taken the time yet. So if I come back to this post and update it, this is why.

The current set of issues is brilliant and arguably the very best comic being published by Marvel right now. Once again, I strongly urge comic book readers and even though with a passing interest but the desire to read some excellent superhero work to get these issues of Daredevil immediately. Do not stop to pass GO. Do not collect $200. One of the main reasons the comics are so good is that Waid has not forgotten that Daredevil is first and foremost MATTHEW MURDOCK attorney at law. This means he has a full time job besides being Daredevil, he has a business partner, he has past loves and current love interests, and he was outed as Daredevil in the press and so the world pretty much knows that Murdock is Daredevil, though he has tried many things to deflect and subvert this prevailing opinion.

He is a human being. Or as a friend of mine just summarized the Marvel universe: 'real people with real problems."

In the recent issues, Waid and Samnee (originally Marcos Martin or Paolo Manuel Rivera) tell compelling stories of interesting villains and Daredevil's novel means of defeating them, such as the Klaw and The Coyote. Also, Foggy Nelson has cancer, and this is an ongoing story of emotional turmoil, in which Matt may lose the one person who has been consistently a part of his life since his college days. The law practice is not forgotten, though Murdock has been working as a consultant for people who cannot afford legal services rather than practicing law in the court room as a trial lawyer. There was also a story line in which Matt had parts of the corpse of his father in his office, leading Foggy to think he had gone insane. But most notably, the story of Foggy's cancer and Matt's vigil at his bedside evoke new  specific to Murdock given his special abilities: he struggles with the smells of the disease, the treatments, the patient, and the hospital as an intriguing side effect of how Daredevil's powers can Matt Murdock's life as miserable as it is wonderful.

As I wrote before, I may provide updates later. Though I have WAY TOO MANY covers shared at the end of the blog today, I am sneaking in many more as I deliver content because...well, because I can.

I don't know if this works on you
like it does me but a comic with a cover like
this is just begging for me to read it.

REVIEWS OF TWO CURRENT ISSUES.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

DAREDEVIL - VOLUME 3 - #033
(Waid/Samnee/Copland/Rodriguez) "Monster Mash" - In this second part of a two-parter, Matt Murdock/Daredevil has traveled to Stone Hills, Kentucky to track down an ancient book the Darkhold, intended to be used by the Sons of the Serpent in their White Supremacy schemes. As Daredevil investigates, he teams up with Satanna, The Living Mummy, the Frankenstein Monster, Jack Russell/the Werewolf by Night, and "Garth," a zombie.

Meanwhile, Foggy Nelson's battle with cancer continues, but in a cruel joke, someone faked Foggy's death, making it look as if he hanged himself. In the end of the previous issue, Daredevil was shot, and so this issue opens with a dream sequence because DD is unconscious. This is another excellent example of Waid/Samnee's (the latter has writing credits on this issue, too) character development. Matt is at the beach with Foggy, though it's not Foggy. Matt is describing how difficult it is for him to deal with Foggy's illness: "The smells of death. The din of linen bandages scraping your [Foggy's] skin. The taste of rot in the air around you. It's growing unbearable, Foggy." The Foggy who is not Foggy but the neighborhood grocer from Matt's childhood, somehow associated with Foggy by Matt's subconscious mind as he dreams, wades out into the ocean and goes under as Matt screams his name. Matt wakes up as the crew of monsters work to bandage and revive him. Excellent sequence!!

Samnee's art is cartoony yet gothic and moody, like a cross between the art of Francavilla and Pat Oliffe (who made his name with the 1990s Untold Tales of Spider-Man comic written by Kurt Busiek) sprinkled with flavorings of Scott McLeod but all uniquely excellent and original, not really derivative at all.

Fully healed with the help of some magic, Daredevil uses a clever ploy that threatens to burn the Mummy to get information about the Darkhold. Some nifty background on the book, The Darkhold, also known as "The First Book," is delivered, which connects to the current story with the Sons of the Serpent and re-positions the Darkholdbook in Marvel history (as this is not its first appearance).

Once again in an example of smart writing, we readers are reminded that Daredevil is blind and how this works to his advantage when he must navigate a treacherous cave to get to the book without a torch. Daredevil is also able to fight his way through the illusions in the cave much more easily because he does not see. In the end, he is discovered by the keeper of the book, a man named Sinclair, but Daredevil has set the man's library and thus also the Darkhold book ablaze. The monsters rush in, especially Satanna, who can't believe that Daredevil would let something so valuable burn. But in the comic's last panel, we see ancient pages tucked into DD's billy club holder as he walks away! Superb!


DAREDEVIL - VOLUME 3 - #034
(Waid/Rodriguez/Lopez) "The Devil Went Down to ... Kentucky"

Okay, so it's a three-parter. This issue tops the previous one if that's possible. Daredevil is still working to defeat the Sons of the Serpent who have infiltrated all layers of local government to control people and to control the city. Matt has asked Doctor Strange to his office to consult about the pages he took from the DarkHold. Strange explains that the name of the first serpent appears on each page, a name that can be used to persuade people, but Strange will not utter it aloud. He also warns Matt that he will have a problem with Satanna when she finds out that he took these pages "and she will find out." Matt asks Strange if the "spell of restoration" used to help him in the last issue to heal from the gun shot wound can heal Foggy's cancer, but Strange demurs that such things are beyond the reach of spells and magic.

The story then branches out in other directions, further establishing Matt Murdock's life as a lawyer, a person, a potential boyfriend, and Daredevil, which is what makes these comics so excellent. So many creators forget that the heroes are also people. The relationships and the lives these heroes lead as people are immensely important to their stories and their character development, especially for long-term, die hard readers. Sure, there should be battles and adventure and action, but there needs to be quiet moments, such as page five of this issue as Matt stands on the roof of a building reviewing recent events in his life before he tracks down his most recent love interest and fellow lawyer Kirsten McDuffie. There's no drop off from Samnee's art in the last issue to Rodriguez's here. Rodriguez's work is less moody and shadow filled. His lines are clean, and there's some very beautiful work both detailed and romantic as Matt shadows Kirsten as she runs through Central Park and, in his Matt clothes not his Daredevil clothes, foils a mugging.

Matt explains how he needs her help with a plan. DD has borrowed equipment that will allow him to speak through every electronic device to all the people in the city of New York to foil the campaign of hate being sowed by the Sons of the Serpent, and he will use the word, the name of the serpent, to make his plea for the chief villain leading the Sons, the Jester, to be delivered to him or he threatens to torch the manuscript, which they know he has because he let Kristen speak the word (because he cannot see it to read it). As Daredevil goes off to collect the Jester and battle the Sons of the Serpent in their lair, Kirsten takes the opportunity with the equipment to deliver her own message to the city of New York, a message about the hate-mongering being promulgated by the Sons of the Serpent and how New Yorkers should all rise up against it. What it also does is make her a target as the Sons triangulate on her position. Waid and Rodriguez make it seem that Kirsten has been shot, but she is saved, and then Daredevil deals his righteous fury on the shooters.

In the last panels, Kirsten gets a call: "Matt, it's your office. Something about Foggy."

Great cliff hanger!!

Oh yeah, this is my cool special edition Daredevil toy. Yes, I am a geek and a HUGE Daredevil fan.

WEEKLY COMICS LIST 

Look, Ma!! No backlog!! Fancy that. A whole stack of comics and I am caught up on all of those titles, until I fall behind again. In the interests of keeping this entry shorter, not much else to say. Expect some of these to be reviewed in the future.

COMICS FOR 1312.31

Aquaman #26
Guardians of the Galaxy #010
Superman Unchained #5
New Avengers #013
Clone #13
Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril #6 of 6
Fables #136
Legenderry #1
Rocket Girl #3
The Flash #26
Teen Titans #26
Catwoman #26
Superman #26

SPECIAL PURCHASES

The Manhattan Projects - Volume One

COVER GALLERY

Some of the rest of my favorite Daredevil comic book covers. Though I have great covers from many period of Daredevil's comic history here, I shared more in  T-shirt #267.

Art by Wally Wood
Also the comic featured with the toy

Gene Colan
Classic cover tease
in a romance/horror mash of styles

Gil Kane, from the 1970s period
when the comic was
Daredevil and the Black Widow
though this one isn't

Bob Brown inked by Romita
great composition with the figures

Gil Kane interior art
but cover, too?

The next EIGHT covers are all by Frank Miller. I even skip over many issues in between Miller's original run (later issues penciled by Klaus Janson) and his return to the book for a set of issues, and I feature the cover for #230. I think I like Miller's run in his return from issues 227-233 with art by David Mazuchelli, who Miller worked with on the most excellent Batman Year One for DC Comics.

Daredevil comics were mediocre to awful until Ann Nocenti took over writing and John Romita Jr. took over art chores around issue #250 ( I shared some samples previously). The next two covers are from that period.

Others may not, but I really like Scott McDaniel's work. Next two by McDaniel.

Quesada/Palmiotti

Most of the rest have the names on the cover. I love the David Mack work and was select in my choices.

I Love this Romita, Sr.
Guest spot.
He made his name originally in romance comics.

The next two:  Marko Djurdjevic

The next six are from the recent run, volume three.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 78 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1401.02 - 19:31