Martinex1: Look up to the sky, but protect your eyes - the solar eclipse is on schedule today across much of the USA. And in conjunction with that theme, let's compare and contrast some moon and sun based characters. Who was the best solar spun entity? And who was the best lunar based legend? Let's discuss heroes and villains whose names are derived from the celestial bodies. Who eclipses whom, in this battle of the light vs the night?
And what about the master of both - Eclipso? Was he a top-tier villain? He did have his own series after all.
I am sure I did not capture all of the celestially symbolic characters - so let us know who we missed. And definitely let us know who is the most worthy of our attention; point out some good stories for us to search for. Without further ado, a total eclipse BitBA style...
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| We have not discussed Solar, Man of the Atom much at BitBA - is he a bright spot? |
What about DC's villainous Dr. Moon or Dracula's nemesis Dr. Sun?
Feel free to discuss Blue Moon and Moon Maiden from modern DC history.
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| And no discussion of the firmament could be complete without the wondrous Moon Knight. |
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| But what of Midnight Sun? The sharp dressed fedora wearing martial artist of the spaceways? |
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| How about Moonstone, the sly whisperer in the ranks of the Thunderbolts and the Masters of Evil? |
Who would you pair with Devil Dinosaur, the ancient Moon Boy or the modern Moon Girl?
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| Don't forget the Legion's Sun Boy! |
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| Or the decades old Sun Girl. |
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| The New Mutants' Sunspot? |
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| Or the New X-Men's brief member Sunfire? |
So take it away - stay in the shade and let us know what you think about the solar and lunar luminaries of the four-color world. And as a side note did anybody follow Eclipse Comics titles.
12 comments:
Well, on the sunny side, you could also add some baddies like Solarr and Blacksun (later the Nth Man). There was also the series called Sun Runners, which started out at Pacific and then, quite apropos for today's post, ended up with Eclipse (I never saw it back in the day, but now I'm very curious about it, since the original creative team included Roger McKenzie and Pat Broderick).
The moon, meanwhile, was also represented by two Moon Men: a 1930s crime-fighting pulp character, similar to the Shadow or the Spider, and a DC villain who gave Superman and Batman some grief in World's Finest. The only reason I know about him is because the story was reprinted in Super-Team Family #4. Don't know if he ever appeared again.
As for Eclipso, I know very little about him. I remember he appeared in an issue of Metal Men that I had, but he never impressed me as a major villain. However, as I understand it, as I understand it he became a major baddie in the DC universe sometime in the early '90s - that was after my time, though.
Anyway, for all of you guys who are stateside, enjoy your pagan eclipse festivities.
Loved Moon Knight by Sienkiewicz and Moench! I liked that he had a girlfriend, as compared to the loner Batman. Assistant Frenchie was much more active than Alfred, flying the helicopter. And they didn't have any Moonboy sidekick for him! Lunar Lad? Crescent Kid?
I'll throw in a couple songs: Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Moondance.
With a screen moniker like Selenarch, I feel compelled to chime in. Quicksilver and Crystal had a daughter named, appropriately enough, Luna. And Spider-Man had a run-in with Sister Sun (and Brother Power).
I read a couple of Eclipse titles. Alien Encounters was always a great read, very risque, but solid, interesting stories. Plus the cover art was fantastic.
Then there was Johnny Nemo. I only have two issues of this, but they are '80's fantastic, in color, art and attitude.
May I contribute Dr Midnight?
Well, if we're throwing songs into the mix, I think Pink Floyd's "Eclipse" is a pretty obvious choice.
Hmmm, the only characters that come to mind are Sunburst (a DC character in the 80s) and Lady Lunar, a Wonder Woman villain.
The only Eclipse comics I've read are Rocketeer, which were great. I've been meaning to check out Ms. Tree, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'll add it to my blogging list when I get to the 80s.
Oh... I do enjoy Solar's stories from Valiant. Don't recall any from Gold Key.
Sunfire wins the costume contest!
I remember Dr. Sun from some Nova issues. What an odd character.
I will add Marvel villain Sunstroke to the fray.
A fascinating astronomical display today! Foe a couple more lunar tunes: "Fly Me to the Moon", by Joe Harnell, "Walking on the Moon" by the Police...
Hmm ....a colleague of mine argued once that Superman was the greatest solar-powered superhero out there - after all, his superpowers are derived from Earth's yellow sun and lower gravity!
- Mike 'looking for a nice spot in the shade' from Trinidad & Tobago.
HOLY INTROSPECTION:
Werewolf By Night 32 was the first comic I bought because of the cover. Werewolf and Moon Knight duking it out on the cover. Bought that one and the follow up issue.
Moon Knight was a merc hired by The Committee to bring in The Beast. When he finds out that they're going to keep him in a cage, releasing him to commit murders, he rebels and fights next to the beast.
We find out later that Moon Knight had been bitten (or scratched) by the Werewolf and some of the traits had pasted to him. The fuller the moon, the more he felt the effects. If they would have left him a mercenary, wandering around fighting for justice for those who can't go anywhere else augmented by his encounter with the wolf, I could have lived with that.
BUT NO!!! They had to make him a millionaire, with secret identities and so on and such as and whatever, it really killed it for me. Then they had to turn him into the Fist of Konshu! The human embodiment of the Ancient Egyptian deity meting out earthly justice, I just walked away from the character.
And as I percolated on that throughout the day, with a break for the Eclipse, I started to wonder if perhaps, these long buried resentments had resurfaced with the MCU reimaging of all the Marvel characters. And I started to see how much I was letting things bother me.... and so on and so for and such as.... and then I had a hunk, A HUNK, of chocolate cake...
(Blinded by the light
Revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
Madman drummer bummers
Indians in the summer
With a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps
As the adolescent pumps
His way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder
Feeling kinda older
I tripped a merry-go-round
With this very unpleasing
Sneezing and wheezing
The calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was blinded by the light.
Revved up like a deuce,
Another runner in the night.
Blinded by the light.
Revved up like a deuce,
Another runner in the night.
Blinded by the light.
Revved up like a deuce,
Another runner in the night.
Some silicone sister
With her manager mister
Told me I got what it takes
She said, I'll turn you on sonny to something strong
Play the song with the funky break
And go-kart Mozart
Was checking out the weather chart
To see if it was safe outside
And little Early Pearly
Came by in his curly-wurly
And asked me if I needed a ride
Asked me if I needed a ride
‘Cause she was blinded by the light.
Revved up like a deuce,
Another runner in the night.
Blinded by the light.
She got down but she never got tight
She's gonna make it to the night
She's gonna make it through the night
But mama, that's where the fun is
But mama, that's where the fun is
Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun
But mama, that's where the fun is....)
Whoever drew the Moon Knight image took great care to make his cape look like the moon in the sky. Would that the artist took some care as to the moon. In this image the moon is a waning crescent. That moon is in the sky in the daytime, and very close to the sun, from our perspective. One of these days I'm going to go through a bunch of George Perez stories and count the full moons. He drew them a lot! And don't get me started on werewolves!
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