A classic science fiction story, The Day of the Triffids, gets a wink in Strange Adventures…
Dan Hagen
Dan Hagen is a retired newspaper journalist and editor, a former journalism professor, and a mighty comics presence in print and on the web. You can find Dan's work at... danhagengreatcaesar.blogspot.com, justimaginedanhagen.blogspot.com and captaincommentdanhagen.blogspot.com
JUST IMAGINE! February 1952: The Challenge of the Supermen
Whenever Superman had to face off against some other superman, DC Comics earned my dime. Unfortunately,…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1959: Behold Ze Battle Doll
At age 6, my only problem with Mlle. Marie was that I had no idea how…
JUST IMAGINE! December 1929: A Witch on the Water
Her tall, grim shadow fell across America’s newspapers just as the Great Depression arrived. In December…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1948: One Brief Shining Heroine
A wave of superwomen arrived toward the end of the 1940s, just as the tide turned…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1960: A Star is Born
Not all of the many fictional private eyes operating in the 1940s and 1950s were the…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1963: The Misadventures of Captain Sprocket
Precisely because melodrama and farce are merely two sides of the same coin — like opera…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1964: Going Commando
Charlton Comics apparently had a thing against the letter G. The publisher’s titles included Fightin’ Air…
JUST IMAGINE! January 1960: The Invader Who Did Nothing
You might apply many adjectives to Marvel’s early giant monster stories, but “subtle” would rarely be…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1961: Masterman Masters Superman
Just about everybody who knew Superman acquired his powers at one time or another, whether accidentally…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1967: A Plague of Frogs
Daredevil has had a surprising amount of trouble with frog people. Equipped by the Organizer (a/k/a…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1969: Toying with the Counterculture
By 1969, the American counterculture was inescapable, even in popular culture. It slipped obliquely even into…
JUST IMAGINE: September 1961: Another Animal Man
A new superhero soaring through the air? A giant reptilian monster on a rampage? Red-skinned aliens…
JUST IMAGINE! November 1962: The Marvel of the Age
Supercar… Supercar… With beauty and grace, as swift as can be, watch it flying through the…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1962: They Vanished Forever
“The six- and eight-page tales, the populated interchangeable finger-wiggling titles like Journey Into Mystery, Tales of…
April 1953: The Second War of the Worlds
Instead of seeing nonexistent menaces that no one else can see, as he had in his…
JUST IMAGINE! February 1966: The Spook Who Disappeared
In the mid-1960s, DC Comics’ house ads created quite a considerable drumbeat for the Spectre, heralding…
JUST IMAGINE! December 1963: His Name Was Pain
In Tales of Suspense 48, Iron Man battled Mister Doll, a voodoo-vibed villain who always seemed…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1995: Fanfare for the Common Man
One comic book series I can always reread with pleasure is Kurt Busiek’s Astro City. Debuting…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1947: The Other Wonder Woman
She had super strength and the ability to repel bullets, a mother who was a queen,…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1940: The Man of the Hour Back in the Day
Created by writer Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily in Adventure Comics 48 (March 1940), DC…
JUST IMAGINE! December 1963: The Unlikely and the Unlikeable
At the newly christened Marvel Comics, even unlikely and unlikeable characters could become heroes. That was…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1946: Sargon, Take Me Away
His name has always vaguely reminded me of a prescription drug or a bath oil. Nevertheless,…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1960: Like Sands Through the Hourglass
Arrowcar, Arrowplane, Arrowcave, Arrow Signal. For every “Bat-This,” Green Arrow had an “Arrow-That.” Copybat though he…
JUST IMAGINE! The 18th century: Stand and Deliver
Many an historical figure has been transformed into something else to serve the needs of the…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1943: At This Theatre Next Week!
Live action super heroes were pretty thin on the ground when I was a boy. We…
JUST IMAGINE! May 1963: You’ll Never Lay a Glove on Him
“Like all comics readers, I was allergic to sports, but I LIKED Strange Sports Stories!” recalled…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1961: Et Tu, Bruttu?
The outlines of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko’s Marvel age of superheroes could be…
JUST IMAGINE: January 1962: Brainiac By Any Other Name
An alien invader who shrinks and collects your civilization? That would be Brainiac, right? Well, no,…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1967: The Hulk Who Hated Batman
Blockbuster — who was effectively DC’s answer to the Hulk — struck again in Batman 194…
JUST IMAGINE! August 2000: Hello, Cruel World
A boy certainly can change in a half-century. In 1950, Marvel Boy was an idealistic, bare-legged…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1981: Cover Story
This foot race took 39 years to finish. The first issue cover of Comic Cavalcade showed…
JUST IMAGINE! December 1960: They Sprang into Action
I enjoyed it whenever Batman and Robin got Superman’s powers, in part because they were so…