Monday Memes #52

There really was no question of what I was picking for this last Monday Meme:

Merry Christmas everybody!

So that's it - 52 Monday Memes, one a week throughout the year. I hope you've enjoyed them!

Call in next Monday for the start of a new weekly series of posts called Who Was Who Is Who where I try and guess who's going to turn up in the new DCU by the end of next year.

Monday Memes #51

And as we enter the final stretch, I thought I'd once more dip back into the cover meme that sums up one of my favourite eras, when comics were still fun even amongst the serious stories: the Justice League group shot

Ah, the good old days, when Max Lord was still a good guy and Elongated Man was still alive.

And here's the issue that introduced the JLEurope group along with the last issue of Justice League: Generation Lost. I guess it's an indication of how strongly these characters are linked to the JLE/I that everyone on the 2011 JL:GL cover appears (even if as earlier versions) on the cover of the 1989 Justice League International cover.

Monday Memes #50

For the last Friendly Fire covers meme, I figured I'd do something special, something that highlighted one character that I've read in various incarnations over the years that always seems to end up fighting the people he works with.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Guy Gardner Friendly Fire Special:

As we saw in the recent Jurgens League posts, Guy and Superman were pretty much always at odds with each other and it didn't take long for them to come to blows.

And yes, despite the Hal Jordan costume, that is Guy getting punched by Power Girl in an alternate timeline story where he became Green Lantern first and she was still Arion's grand-daughter.

And talking of Jordan, here he is as Parallax having a go at Guy after he became Warrior . . . and then, years later, Guy's strangling Jordan.

Get a room, you pair.

Monday Memes #49

When looking for Face Off covers, I knew I had to include this one from the Justice League of America if only for the sight of an elephant wielding a mace against Wonder Woman not to mention a giraffe lunging a spear at Hal Jordan.

A spear held in its mouth.

Gerry Conway in the 70's everybody.

And look - this cover of Suicide Squad actually uses the term Face Off! Me and John Ostrander, man, we're totally, like, on the same wavelength, you know?

Monday Memes #48

Whether International or Young . . .

whether All-Stars or Society . . .

If there's Justice somewhere in your team's name, at some point you'll be charging towards us.

Monday Memes #47

I've been lucky a few times this year with these Monday Meme posts - Valentine's Day fell on a Monday so I went with Romance; 4th of July got the I Want You posters; and most recently Halloween provided me with a chance to show some appropriate covers.

So today being the 21st November, I thought I'd go with Romance again.

Why? Because it's my wife's birthday!

Here's two titles Ly's enjoyed over the years: the excellent Preacher and the stunning League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

She's a big fan of The Boys as well but the Green Arrow / Black Canary Wedding Special is in here just because I like Amanda Conner's art!

Happy birthday, darling!

Monday Memes #46

J.G. Jones must have known he was tapping into an iconic look when he took Superman's classic flying pose and gave it to Lex Luthor on the cover of 52 #39.

And here's two cracking Green Lantern covers featuring Hal Jordan just for the heck of it.

Monday Memes #45

Villains taking over, or villains saying goodbye . . .

Sneaking a peek at what's inside or finding out what's showing . . .

In each case, the title of the series plays a part in the cover and I like that!

Monday Memes #44

Happy Halloween everybody!

Here's two traditional Halloween style covers:

And here's two that you should hunt down and read today to creep you out:

I do like me some Lovecraft.

Monday Memes #43

Goggles. Seriously, a bad idea, guys.

And if blood's been spilt . . .

You know the culprit's going to be reflected in it.

Monday Memes #42

These covers not only fit into the Friendly Fire category but are also among my favourites in general:

The crossover between Justice League International (as it still was in the early days) and Suicide Squad show the same fight scene from front and back with the stars of the respective titles facing away from the reader.

And you just gotta love Guy Gardner's expression!

And okay, technically Silhouette is a bad guy in Ghost but she's still her sister; and yeah, Terra's mind is that of the Ultra-Humanite but I figured they were close enough to count!

Monday Memes #41

With the recent news that Crisis on Infinite Earths never happened in the new DCU, I thought it apt to showcase one or two (well, four actually) pastiches of the iconic cover to Crisis... #7

First two out and out homages:

and then two with a slightly different spin:

By the way, I picked up the Complete Major Bummer Super Slacktacular trade paperback last week and it's great! Thoroughly recommended to anyone who enjoys fun comics.

Monday Memes #40

I don't care what era you're from or what continent you're on, there's one immutable law in the DCU:

If you're in the Justice League, you're going to get your asses kicked at one point or another.

And if you think bad guys are the only ones you have to worry about . . .

Well there's always Martians and ladies to take into account as well.

Monday Memes #39

Wondering who to invite on to your new team or wondering if you've got the right people already on your team? Grab a bunch of photos and shuffle them round:

Oh, and if you're in the Justice Society, having them upside down from your point of view makes no sense at all!

And if you're advertising something, then a poster or graffiti's the way to go.

Monday Memes #38

As tomorrow sees the start of a new round of Justice League look backs, this time focusing on the Dan Jurgens League of the 90's, I thought I'd do a themed Monday Meme.

Here's the cover of Justice League of America #1 and Justice League America #61, Jurgens's first issue:

I love the character substitution between the covers - Maxima for Wonder Woman, Booster Gold for Martian Manhunter, but nice to see he kept the Green Lanterns in the same place.

And then, first page of his first issue, Jurgens offers up another homage:

On the left, the first page from Justice League #1 which inaugurated the Giffen / DeMatteis run and on the right Jurgens's own first page of Justice League America #61.

When will Guy ever learn, eh?

Monday Memes #37

There's nothing like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, is there? Or, in these cases, between one group of friends and another:

And you know things are coming to a head if you end up . . . er . . . going head to head:

Anyone want to guess at the chances of Green Arrow and Flash going up against each other in this new DCU?

Monday Memes #36

So with the new DCU under way I figured we'd say hello to some New Guys:

Looks like you're only getting in if you've got a big A on your chest, folks.

Looks like the League has its problems with membership as well.

Monday Memes #35

With the DC relaunch fast approaching, one of the titles I'm most looking forward to is Justice League International which, of course, put me in mind of these guys:

Or did I mean these guys?

Who knows!

Monday Memes #34

Want to intimidate the crap out of your enemies?

Charge at them!

It never fails, folks.

Monday Memes #33

Ladies . . .

. . . and gentlemen . . .

They all do it by themselves at one time or another.

Fly, that is.