Wizards and troll kings roaring along, delighted with their late-model 1950s American convertibles — an image…
Just Imagine!
JUST IMAGINE! July 1962: Fairy Tales and Flying Saucers
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s monster comics were visually similar to and yet thematically opposite of…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1972: Iron Man and Kent State
In 1972, four unarmed student protestors were killed — by repulsor rays. No, it wasn’t Iron…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1962: Hogging the Underground Spotlight
Early on, some comic strip artists spotted what a handy vehicle for subversive satire the superhero…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1959: The Fox So Cunning and Free…
Few characters have been more influential on the comics’ superhero genre than Johnston McCulley’s pulp hero Zorro,…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1962: The First Time I Saw the Fantastic Four
The first time I saw Fantastic Four, I was 7 years old, at a newsstand in…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1962: The Sorcerer Who Vanished
Cover-dated at the same time as the third issue of Fantastic Four, The Sorcerer was another…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1942: Rage Against Crime
In 1942, Charles Biro’s Crimebuster anticipated a question that would help propel Stan Lee and Steve…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1967: That’s Mightor, as in “Might Be Thor”
Cross DC Comics’ Super Chief with Marvel’s Thor and the result might be something like Hanna-Barbera’s…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1967: From Sunday Sermons to Saturday Morning Cartoons
Samson, the Bible’s closest pass at a superhero, has had several such incarnations. The mighty Nazirite…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1951: The Case of the Kong-Sized Corsair
You had to admire the Black Cat’s sheer pluck. Going up against a mass-murdering pirate the…
JUST IMAGINE! June 1948: The Man of Metal Meets His Match
In Star Spangled Comics 81 (June 1948), DC’s Robotman faced the inevitable mirror-image foe, an evil…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1967: All This and Captain Communist, Too
When Avengers Masterworks Vol. 5 arrived from Edward R. Hamilton, what a pleasure it was to…
JUST IMAGINE! January 1963: The Price of Dr. Strange?
Even back then, I suspected that this new Marvel character Dr. Strange might have something to…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1941: Nor Iron Bars a Cage…
Most secret identities wouldn’t last long in the real world, of course, but Daniel Dyce’s might.…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1967: Incineration and Invincibility
Destruction and resurrection are a running theme in superhero stories. I think our unconscious minds are…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1961: Mayhem in Miniature
In order to tell a good superhero story, writers must constantly come up with ways to…
JUST IMAGINE! May 1954: Amid the Alien Corn
A Cold War “enemy within” vibe continues in Strange Adventures 44 (May 1954), when evil, intelligent…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1957: My Fair Super-Girl
Although the Superman comic books were aimed at kids, the Superman newspaper strip necessarily included…
JUST IMAGINE! February 1955: Fighting Red with Red
Odd that such a red-baiting character would dress all in red. A sort of anticommunist Batman,…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1947: The Shadow of Hawkman’s Ghost
The Gentleman Ghost, a character created by Robert Kanigher who first appeared in Flash Comics 88…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1950: King for a Brief Day
If superheroes were fading in 1950, maybe secret agents were the coming thing? During the spring…
JUST IMAGINE! November 1961: The Stranger in the Swamp
Just as cruelty was punished in Marvel’s short fantasy stories, kindness, and decency were always rewarded.…
JUST IMAGINE! January 1962: Flubber’s Strange Adventure
In 1961, jalopies took to the skies — first in the hit Disney comedy The Absent-Minded…
JUST IMAGINE! March 1963: When Titans Tangle!
Fantastic Four 12 (March 1963) offered something rare then — a superhero battle that enabled readers…
JUST IMAGINE! January 1929: Optimism and Armageddon
The art may seem a little crude, but the sense of wonder is palpable in the…
JUST IMAGINE! June 1966: Finding the First Fortress
Supermen seek solitude. After all, being inundated by ordinary people’s needs and demands would be draining,…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1965: The Perfidious Premiere of Power Man
Even at first glance, I recognized Power Man as a nod to that one-issue wonder, Wonder…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1944: Siblings Shamble Out of the Swamp
One of the greatest foes ever faced by Green Lantern and the Justice Society of America…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1958: A Venusian Eye in the Sky
Admittedly, The First Satellite (Space Adventures 25, Sept. 1958) was a pretty predictable piece. Bellicose Earthmen…
JUST IMAGINE! April 1941: Zatara in Action
Although he always lived in Superman’s shadow, Zatara the Magician was at least as powerful as…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1963: FF Shrinks as Marvel Universe Grows
I must have reread Fantastic Four 16 (July 1963) more often than any other issue, and…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1987: Wonder Drugs to the Rescue
Superheroes may be fiction, but wonder if drugs are real. Originally, in his first appearance in…