SUPER DELICIOUS INGREDIENT FORCE

Need more proof that superheroes are taking America by storm -- and not just at the box office? Now, they'll be protecting all of us at the drive thru, too.  Taco Bell, our favorite purveyor of la comida rapida has launched their latest ad campaign - and the nation's newest band of superheroes:  Super Delicious Ingredient Force.   

In true team-up fashion, the 'Bell joined forces with advertising giant DraftFCB Chicago and legendary comics artist Neal Adams to develop a Taco team of Super Friends-esque heroes that would have their own online cartoon and appear on Taco Bell menus and signage - very similar to the use of the Hamburgler and Ronald for McDonalds.  The result: Super Delicious Ingredient Force (or SDIF), a nine-member team that includes heroes like the blatantly gay Fantastic Rice and Flex Tortilla - a definite in-joke and spoof on Grant Morrison's own inside spoof-ish creation, Flex Mentallo - and a buzz-worthy video that succeeds at hitching Taco Bell to the superhero choo-choo.

The first of a planned trio of videos hit the internet this month; in over three minutes, the short's more mini-cartoon than commercial, and surprisingly as subversive as it is funny - or ridiculous, depending on your point of view.  With a mission to rid the world of "minuscule meals of mediocrity," an El Camino that stands-in for the Batmobile, and a scene with a pickle that pushes into Family Guy territory, the humor and super hero shout-outs actually over-power the actual product.  But that's likely the intention anyway: establish the brand - especially if the likes of Chicken Woman and Crunch Boy will soon be filling Taco lobbies as super standees.

Super Delicious Ingredient Force -  pure awesome, for one reason or another.  But after the enchirito was invented, who really needed another reason to love Taco Bell anyway?

Understanding The Iconic: Top 75 Covers of DC Comics

If you've spent even ten minutes online during the last few weeks,  you've already learned that somebody's Top 10, Top 50, Worst 100, 25 Most Memorable, or similarly prefixed list will find you, no matter where you hide. Comics aren't spared the 'Top List Torture' any more than movies, celebrities, or bad Britney photos. And while most Lists rehash and debate the same irrelevant material, there's bound to be a few that don't. Abbracadabbling's seen most of them, and we've teased out those rare examples we thought you'd find interesting.  Chances are, one or two might even pop up on the comicsblog this week. 

In addition to today's DC Comics' Top 75 Iconic Comic Book Covers list, that is. For the mischievous purposes of our blog, we won't be telling you - yet - who the Top 75 Iconic Covers list belongs to, but we will share a few details up-front.  Earlier this fall, a popular comics industry news site surveyed its numerous readers to determine which of the great many covers from DC Comics seventy-five years of publishing  they considered the most iconic.  

(We should add that's no easy feat.  DC Comics, which began as National Allied Publications, published its first comic book -- New Fun #1 - in 1935.  A change of ownership and a deal made to fund the 1936 publishing of Detective Comics #1 also prompted the change of the company's name -- to the rather appropriate-for-the-moment name, Detective Comics, Inc. More on the history of DC Comics can be found here.) 

Anyway, aside from the inherent problems the use of iconic  presents,  our still-nameless popular website  ranked the top 75 covers  as identified by readers  and the result is a list that's both comprehensive and quite insightful.

For instance, DC fans and popular culture at large, not to mention many DC Comics creators past and present, playfully debate which hero is more 'super,' Superman or Batman. When we examined just those covers on the list that belonged to superhero comics, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman graced many more covers than Bob Kane's Caped Crusader.  Even taking into account those covers which featured both Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder, Superman still edged out Batman by one.  

DC Comics' most popular superhero teams, which we defined as Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, the Teen Titans, and the Legion of Super Heroes, as a group also appeared on more covers than Batman himself. 

One interesting fact our data-mining manifested was Wonder Woman's surprisingly poor performance as a DC Comics' 'cover girl.'  The publisher has promoted Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to be it's "Holy Trinity" for years, placing them on that high pedestal largely because their three titles endured comics' bleak years post-WWII and thus are the only DC books never to cease publication.  Nevertheless, when it comes to being an icon, Wonder Woman gets her's served on silver platter by both Green Lantern and the Flash.  

Of DC's Top 75 Iconic Covers, only four of that number were non-superhero comics. None of DC's romance or humor comics made the list, nor did any of their licensed property titles.  We noticed only one comic cover less than five years old, and roughly two-thirds of all the covers on the list were published before 1970. A select group of artists and writers were responsible for more than one of the iconic covers  on the list, including, of course, the creators of Superman and Batman.  Notably, Alan Moore topped the writers list with five of his books' covers represented, including Watchmen #1 and his Batman graphic novel, The Killing Joke.  Frank Miller, the writer of the four-issue and now historic series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, made the list twice, as an impressive two of that series four total covers made the Top 75.  Neal Adams came first in the art department; his pencils graced seven covers. 

Of course, the BIG question on every dabbler's mind right now is which comic book cover claimed the Number One spot.  Could it be a Batman comic? Or did Superman finish first? Maybe neither of them got that coveted ranking - who knows?   Well, we do, and we'd tell you, but we decided to make a game of it instead. 

We selected twelve (12) of the Top 75  covers and lined 'em up in completely random order for you below.  

Your job is to arrange the issues in the way you think they were ranked.  Start with the 'least iconic cover' at the top of your list and work your way down to Number One. You can use every bit of your superhero savvy,  human insight, female intuition, or hell, even a lifeline if you've got one - but really, it's all about fun. 

Since we love you, we are going to give you -- in no specific order -- the actual rankings of the comics below. They might not be too much help now, but then again, you never can tell.  And so, in random order, the rankings of the comics below are:  1,2 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 24, 26, 28, and 33. 

Got 'em? We'll be back with Understanding The Iconic: Top 75 Covers of DC Comics - Part II this Tuesday. And we'll have your answers then. 

INCEPTION: In Which We Defend Our Earlier Supposition

It's been one of those weeks where our previous comicsblog ambitions didn't quite get realized as we'd intended them to Sunday. But instead of focusing on our excuses for not hitting the blog, let's jump right in and get back to Christopher Nolan's Inception. The esteemed director of The Dark Knight may just be shopping for a few excuses of his own this Holiday season....

Take it back a few days and you'll remember that we made it rather clear that the first teaser to be released for Nolan's next film, Inception, isn't even a stone's throw from resembling the now iconic Dark Knight teasers featuring the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. From camera perspective to storm-clouded skies, or flooded street to the steel and concrete jungles both promos use as background, the similarities between Nolan's two teasers can't be missed. And if fans aren't oblivious to the posters' parallels, there's no way Nolan and producing studio Warner Bros would have somehow missed the obvious.

Abbracadabbling's brave and bold answer to the nagging Why both posters so closely resemble each other took us out on a limb: the intentional similarity of the Inception and Dark Knight teasers could very likely mean, we concluded, that Nolan will indeed be focusing on the next Batman sequel once Inception's put to bed.

Considering the design of both teaser posters would have been under Nolan's control, for him to sign off on if nothing else, then he certainly knew of the parallels Inception's poster drew to The Dark Knight. More than likely, this had always been the plan. We did consider that perhaps Nolan's posters paralleled each other as a sort of Nolan-esque 'trademark' of sorts, or perhaps that similarities to Dark Knight might boost Inception's box office. The second possibility suggests a lack of confidence on Nolan's part for in his second film, and this doesn't seem very probable. Moreover, drawing even vague comparisons between DiCaprio and Ledger, who posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime, doesn't hit as us something Leonardo would appreciate. Also, as the Inception teaser already states the movie's by the creator of the Dark Knight, anything more seems superfluous, even if subliminally so.

While any of the above might be true, we decided to frame an optimistic argument, one ever faithful to Nolan's prowess as a superhero cinema director. A little over two weeks ago (we know, it seems like two months ago!), we profiled fellow comics blogger Robert Goodin's site, Covered. His comicsblog offers artists of any background to use their own artistic styles and redo an existing and usually iconic comic book cover from the past, not as parody but as an exercise in juxtaposed styles and artistic commentary. Or, phrased another way, as an homage.

Dave Cockrum's X-Men #100, covered by Andy Ristaino

Homage isn't Covered's intent. But more often than not, the site's numerous submissions, usually submitted by artists taking their best shot at portraying one of their own personal comic cover favorites, are true homages nonetheless. (To read up on what Covered's looking for in submissions, click here).

As any dedicated comics reader and certainly any collector will know, cover homages are a mainstay of the comic book industry. Conveniently, over on his comics blog Comics Oughta Be Good, comics blogger Bully has featured several of these cover homages in his recurring blog feature, 'Separated at Birth'. We've re-blogged two of Bully's 'Separated at Birth' sets to save you the click...

Left: Detective Comics #345 (Nov 1965)

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Right: Impulse #62 (July 2000)

Art by Ethan VanSciver & Wayne Faucher

Left: Superman #243 (Oct 1971)

Art by Neal Adams & Dick Giordano

Right: Jonah Hex #91 (June 1985)

Art by Neal Adams & Mark Texeira

Both pairs of DC Comics covers above are just two examples of many, many covers created by industry artists and their editors to pay tribute, poke fun, draw parallels, mark special events or anniversaries, offer a special treat to longtime fans, or even to serve as special incentives for collectors or comic shop retailers. In the examples above, Detective Comics as "covered" by Ethan VanSciver for Impulse #62 is done with tongue well in cheek. While the legendary artist Neal Adams, responsible for both the cover of Superman #243 in 1971 and Jonah Hex #91 fourteen years later, may also have recreated his own cover for the sheer fun of it, chances are there was more to his decision to recreate his own work than just Neal's sense of humor. Collectors probably enjoyed Adam's own nod to one of his earlier covers, both from two of DC's lesser series (at the time they were published) and from which Adams isn't well-associated. There's probably a few good stories there, but then again, there doesn't have to be. The point being, cover homage in comics happens.

The New Teen Titans #30 (1983)

Introducing Terra - by George Perez

A great example of this intertextual comics cover homage was published very recently by another of comicdom's most notable and longtime pencillers, George Perez. Along with writer Marv Wolfman, Perez is arguably best known as co-creator of The New Teen Titans, both the team and the title of the comic series in which they starred. Launched in 1980, Perez and Wolfman's new Titans featured slightly aged versions of the superhero sidekicks from the original 1960's-era Teen Titans, Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Speedy, and introduced new members Changeling, Cyborg, and Raven, among others. Titans excelled through characterization and by pushing thematic envelopes into a mature realm otherwise unbreached by DC's superhero fare. Until Perez departed the series in 1985 to tackle the monumental Crisis on Infinite Earths, The New Teen Titans exemplified dramatic storytelling and became DC Comics answer to Marvel's Uncanny X-Men, also in the midst of perhaps its most historic run to date.

The Titans history course we just gave you doesn't do much to forward our Inception argument, but having an understanding of the series' import and Perez' role in the Titans phenomenon of the early 80's should help to clarify why, like Adams, Perez' recent homage to his own cover art received press attention last October. 'The Judas Contract', a four-part storyline that ran through The New Teen Titans #42-44 and its first Annual, culminated with a reveal that left both characters and readers' heads spinning, and brought to a head plot points that had appeared as early as the series' second issue. Considered the pinnacle of the Wolfman/Perez series, 'Contract' also introduced Terra, who became a member of the team only to betray them before 'Contract was over.

Terra died at the climax of 'The Judas Contract,' but her affect on the team has been felt ever since. Now, thanks to the logic of DC Comics' currently ongoing mega-series Blackest Night, in which dead heroes and villains are re-animated by a malevolent universal power so that they may wage war against their still-living former allies, Terra has returned to The Titans after a 25-year absence. And George Perez, to commemorate this event, recreated his cover of New Teen Titans #30 to appear on the third issue of Blackest Night: Titans.

Blackest Night: Titans #3 (2009) - Variant Cover ed.

Terra, as a zombie, is back - Art by George Perez

We have yet to see similar homages appear in superhero cinema, and perhaps Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros via the newly-formed DC Entertainment, are taking the first stab in that direction. As we've shown, homages in comics may be inter-related, as with Perez' Titans, or merely the self-referential work of the same artist, as in Neal Adams' case. The latter more closely parallels the similarities between Nolan's two teaser posters, while serving the additional purpose of possibly suggesting his next course of action as the director of the Batman franchise.

Were Nolan to embark on Batman 3 following Inception, the next Silver Screen adventure of the Caped Crusader would arrive in theaters in 2013, around the same time as Marvel's 'shared-universe' Avengers motion picture. Warner Bros has yet to announce any projects that could be considered worthy opponents for the Marvel blockbuster, and Nolan's Batman fits the necessary parameters to be just that. We'll be watching closely, and we'll let time prove how close we've come (or not!) to predicting what in all likelihood may be the biggest superhero showdown of the coming decade.

Our thanks to Bully and his wonderful blog, Comics Oughta Be Good, for the assist with the comics book covers 'Separated at Birth'. For an even deeper look into comic book cover art and homage, you'll find all of Bully's entries on the subject just by clicking on the link! [link]