We covered one of the previous SHOWCASE issues featuring the Inferior Five not that long ago--and in fact, here's a link to that piece for anybody who missed it. https://tombrevoort.com/2022/10/15/the-first-hulk-parody/ But the gist is that the Inferior Five were the brainchild of writer E. Nelson Bridwell, originally conceived as a satire of the Fantastic Four … Continue reading The First X-Men Parody
By 1966, there was no way for industry leader DC/National Comics to be unaware of the growing appeal of upstart publisher Marvel--especially given that both companies' output was distributed by an outfit owned by National's owners. Marvel's growth was often scoffed at and decried as a passing fad, but as the firm started making inroads … Continue reading The First Hulk Parody
As the Silver Age of Comics began to wind down, while the fortunes of the assorted super heroes whose careers had helped to define that period were similarly on the wane, it was other genres which were feeling the pinch the most. Among the titles having a bit of a rough go of it was … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: Jerry Lewis Meets the Flash
We've been talking a lot about the unofficial crossovers between characters and the homages that were done. But beyond that, there's a whole other category of instances in which one company either appropriated or parodied or referenced the characters of another. These instances tended to take many different forms--there was one memorable instance, for example, … Continue reading 5BC: Five Times DC Referenced Marvel Characters in Interesting Ways
The Powers-That-Be at DC Comics in the 1960s could see that something was going on over at Stan Lee's new upstart Marvel imprint, but they were ill-equipped to figure out just what. This is largely due to the fact that the editorial and creative staff remained largely unchanged since the halcyon days of the 1940s. … Continue reading Brand Echh – Inferior Five #6
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