Tigra vs. Hellcat?

 This does not seem probable,  Why would Tigra react this way at all?  She gave up being The Cat, and there should be some camaraderie, right?

618. Avengers United until these last 4 episodes!

                  I so wish this had been a better cartoon.  It isn't terrible, but...

611. Avengers United etc 07-09

                OK, this show is OK.  That's the best I can do.  It tries too hard to be the X-Men cartoon, and the armor is dumb.

604. Avengers UTS 04-06!

                     I gotta admit, this show is growing on me, despite my dislike of the stupid armor on the heroes.

Avengers UTS- Tigra

 

Well, it is sorta Tigra.  She is named Greer, but she looks like a very young version of the character.  Also, if she wasn't called Tigra by the team, you wouldn't know who this character was at all.  She barely has any stripes.  I get that that would both simplify the character and give her a less revealing costume.  However, they changed her design so much that she's barely tiger related.  I don't hate this design, but this character looks more like Tigra, Jr, rather than the original.  Sure, the series takes place in the slight future, so that could have been an out right there.

597. Avengers: United They Stand 01-03

                     Wow, this isn't an easy series to review.  There is a lot to like, but...

Calvin and Hobbes Monday- 01-09-1986

 Hobbes was always presented as a lot more mature than Calvin, though I don't think this aspect was present for very long.

HOTW- Tigra/The Cat

art by Will Meugnoit

"The Tigra" is the historical defender/champion of the Cat People, a humanoid race created by sorcery during the Dark Ages.  This Tigra is Greer Grant Nelson, who had earlier been fighting crime as The Cat.  She had been given superhuman abilities and a suit that enhanced them.  While battling Hydra (heel Hydra!) she got blasted in the back and was dying.  Dr. Tumolo revealed she was cat person, and they offered to save her life, but she would not be able to look human again.  "Life is precious to me, in any form."  She became the new Tigra!

Xenorama #32

Here's the next cover! This is the biggest issue ever, at least in page count.  It's over two hundred pages and nicely illustrated by comics from my own collection.  Some of the covers show the wear and tear from over 50 years of age.  It features many of my favorite heroes and monster from that same range of time.  I included a few runs of the various books that flowed together, but usually I picked one story from whatever subject I was talking about.  The biggest problem I had was in limiting my selections to just a few stories, and saving some for the next time I want to write about comic books and comic book accessories.  Because I am almost sure that this will happen again.

Blue Beetle #22

One of the greatest things about FaceBook is being able to meet and interact with various professionals you may never have met otherwise.  I'm friends with Will Muegniot who did the artwork for Mavel Chillers #3, Tigra's first four color story, the splash page I have tattooed on my right arm now.  I was kind of afraid to show it to him at first, but he liked it.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought he'd see it, unless it was at Comic Con some year.  To top it off, he's a great guy as well as a great artist, and has worked on so many cartoons it's not funny.  The stories he's told about the projects that could have been are fascinating.  It's been a real pleasure to get to know him.

Batman: Over the Edge

I just watched all four sets of Batman: The Animated Series and again, really enjoyed about 94% of the show.  The few clunkers are still pretty good, too.  Anyway, the final 24 "new look" episodes are some of the funnest, though this one certainly is dark and grim.  I guess I should say there are spoilers ahead, but mostly just some observations about the episode itself.  So you have now been warned, proceed at your own risk if you haven't seen this episode.  One more interesting note before I proceed- I have more Batman DVDs than any other superhero, which is odd, since I do love the Bat (since I was three) at this point he's so overdone that I don't care that much for his current incarnation.   Until they make a Tigra or Vision series, this will do.

Happy Birthday Jack Kirby

yes, that's my issue as well!

anyway, today marks what would have been Jack Kirby's 94th birthday.  there's nothing I can really say about the man that hasn't been said before and better, so here's a cover he did in the fall of '76.

any guesses as to why I chose it?

tyger tyger

I have recently taken a much larger interest in panthera tigris, AKA the tiger.  it's the world's most popular animal.

I think this comic book, "Tiger-Man" had a lot to do with it.  it was a short lived book, only 3 issues, but it was really kind of cool.  the second two issues featured some great art by Steve Ditko, which was the first time I saw the name and realized how good he was. 

now, of course, I seen his spectacular art from the early Spider-man and Doctor Strange stories for Marvel, and he's become one of my favorite artists of all time.  too bad he's not quite as lionized as Jack Kirby, but there are reasons for that.

this is a great cover, though can someone find me a tiger with any blue on it?

now, there are some people out there who might say my interest in tigers stems from a different comic book, but I do believe Tiger-man actually predated that one.  Tiger-man made his debut in April of 1975, a full year before the other tiger based hero made her appearance... Tigra.

this is from Marvel Chillers #3, drawn by Will Meugniot (pronounced "Mini-yo" as told to me by Tony Isabella).

of course, some comic book historians might say she debuted in July of 1974, in "Giant Size Creatures #1" and that's true.  however, I had not read that comic despite it starring one of my other favorites, the Werewolf By Night (when else would he be a werewolf?).

so go figure.  why it took so long for me to actually like real tigers is beyond me, though I have always had a love of smilodon, the so-called saber toothed tiger.   however I do know which one has had a larger influence on my life.  though I would really love to own the rights to Tiger-man and write more stories.