Is the Cover to Action Comics #1 a Swipe?

It is the single most iconic image in the history of comic books. But was it swiped?It is the single most iconic image in the history of comic books. 

But was it swiped? 

Superman's Girlfriend, Eloah-Isis Lane

Here's the remarkable cover to the first issue of Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, published in 1958. Lois is yet another of these early Christian names of "uncertain" origin. Me, I always look a little west of the Holy Land for clues when trying to figure these names out. 

Freudian Funnybooks: Bizarre Love Triangle

In the 1950s, the gruesome excesses of horror and crime comics provoked a public outcry, resulting in the suffocating strictures of the Comics Code Authority. In point of fact, most publishers were already pumping out comics that were completely inoffensive, but the threat of censorship seemed to have a bizarre effect on comic creators.

Boulevard of Broken Memes

 

This is so brilliant yet so insanely disturbing it makes me think we need a new adjective for something as brilliant and disturbing as this. Until then, we can use "screaming sneaker meme."

Example: "Did you see that new French horror flick? It's totally screaming sneaker meme."

The Age of Horus: Hancock, Part III

The original intent of the screenplay that Hancock is based on is that Hancock is Superman. Although the Jason Bateman character was originally named Horus, somewhere along the line he became Ray (Re, Ra). 

His character's son was a major character in the original screenplay but was not in the film, since the thrust of the script (no pun intended) became about Ray and Hancock's relationship.

Hercules/Superman redux

Part one of the Superman/Hercules presentation is up on Comic Book Resources. I was hoping to hand this off and move on but that's the way it always goes. It's been fascinating watching some of the reaction on the message boards. 

It really reminds me of the old debates in the AOL religion section, particularly when it came to polarized topics like biblical inerrancy. It's all clarified things in my mind and helped solidify ideas I've been mulling over. Part two should be up today. 

Quote for the Day: But the coming Superman is of the type of the Masters: They are Masters of Compassion; not only Masters of Knowledge, but of love and knowledge together, which make Wisdom, and it is Wisdom which shall be the characteristic of "the Coming Race". - Annie Besant, 1917

PostGnosis: GI Joe vs. Apophis

So GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra makes its debut today, and the critics have their knives out for it. Doubly so since Paramount didn't offer screenings for them.

The Shattered Psyches Behind Superman

Join us tomorrow night, July 12, at 9:30 PM EDT for an in-depth look at the tragic, troubled lives — and broken brains — of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman.

Kevin Spacey, Super-Villain at Large

Like great theatre and fiction, real life would be a lot less interesting without grand villains. And who better to fill that role than a master thespian like Kevin Spacey Fowler? Especially seeing how he once filled the shoes of one of the great super-villains of modern pop culture. 

No, not Keyser Soze, the other one. But Keyser Soze too, now that you mention it.

Gods and Geeks in the Endless American Twilight

The interfaith website Patheos asked me to write a piece about the new gods of pop culture. I discuss the various memes relating to superheroes, Avatar, Twilight, Dragon*Con and much, much more. 

"Children of the Flaming Wheel"

I could try to preface or frame this photocomic somehow, but there's no way I could make it any less strange and wacked out than it already is. 

Longtime Secret Sun readers know all about Jack Kirby and the absolute incongruity of his obsessions with the highest weirdness imaginable contrasted with his almost stultifying suburbanite life. I'd argue that the latter not only enabled but fueled the former.

Children of the Flaming Wheel, Part 2: The Solar Phone

In the previous post, we looked at what reads like the minutes from an technoccult ritual in which young hippies contact alien artificial intelligences over the vast reaches of space using psychic projection. Jack Kirby seemed to like the idea so much that it included it in a contemporaneous story, starring none other than our old friend, Jimmy Olsen.

 

That Joker Isn't Funny Anymore

Well, Secret Sun September may be winding down now but it seems it still has a few surprises left for us. The latest is the release of makeup tests for the new Joker standalone movie, which will be starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role.

Superheroes Enter Their Super Death-Throes

Back in February I wrote a piece on how the superheroes' moment had passed and an irreversible decline was setting in. I guess I hadn't anticipated how accelerated that decline would be, or how a very weak slate of upcoming superhero movies would only put the pedal to the collapsitarian metal. 

Heru- Heros- Hera- Heracles

My friend David Dodd is currently pursuing his degree in Intellectual Property law, but was previously a Latin teacher at prestigious Newark Academy. Dave is also a serious student of the Classical world and as such is my go-to guy for deep history from that period. 

Mindbomb: The Source of the Force

We've talked about the spiritual sources of the Force before, and I've touched upon Jack Kirby's influence as well, but I thought it deserves a much closer look. 

Secret Sun Best of the Zeros: Books and Graphic Novels

The 90s were the decade of my great romance with books. There were so many life-changing titles that came out I can't begin to name them all. 

The Eternals: And All Challengers Will Be Destroyed

I've written a lot about some of the more apparent connections and prophecies made in Jack Kirby's comics, and in our last installment we looked at an issue of Black Cat Mystic that essentially contained the basic building blocks of Jack Kirby's AstroGnostic opus, The Eternals. 

Much Stranger Things: Little Spacey

Stranger Things 2 went live on Friday, and much to my surprise, the Duffer Brothers pulled back from the tale-telling of the first season, seeking safe harbor from the superstorm by immersing themselves in the warm glow of other people's nostalgia.

Sorry, Eternals. The Spell's Already Been Broken.

 

I haven't seen the Eternals movie yet, meaning I haven't yet seen the movie coming out today called Eternals. But I've seen The Eternals onscreen time and time and time again, and so have you.