*Obie, through his dabbling in arcane magiks mixed with ancient corrupt business practices, has had not just the colors of his fur switched, but a complete overhaul of his work ethic as well…I think I’m kinda okay with the mishap.
Not sure what “Comics Lust” is about? Take a look at the Introduction to “Comics Lust” post or take a look at the static “Comics Lust Table of Contents” page to jump to a topic.
Comics Lust
Chocolate and Peanut Butter: Cross-Company Crossovers (Part 4)
Right before the great comic book implosion of the ’90s, I quit buying comics for a handful of years. I had grown tired of the gimmick covers, the trading cards, the poly bags, the eternally delayed titles, the rising prices, the events that went on and on, and the irritating focus on comics being “extreme” over delivering a solid story with great art. Yeah, I threw in the towel. Thankfully that changed.
One thing I did not realize during the ’90s was that cross-company crossovers were happening left and right. Everyone was everywhere and apparently with little concern for such things as reprinting rights…hence the difficulty in being able to readily find many of these comics outside of the back issue bins. Today, we continue our journey by looking at some more Big Two superheroes (see “Part 1” for previously covered Big Two crossovers) who jumped across legal boundaries to thrill readers and forever cause strife for the poor legal and accounting departments struggling to determine who owns what, how much all parties get paid, and who decides what gets reprinted and when. I will warn that I haven’t read a single one of these, so no accounting for quality, and I have no idea how big of a rabbit hole I’m about to go down, but let’s see what we can unearth.
Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire
(Written by Dennis O’Neill, illustrated by Barry Kitson and James Pascoe, originally published in 1994 by DC Comics)It’s the armored version of the Dark Knight, Azrael, versus the Punisher in a prestige format package. There will be punching and kicking and guns and cutting and all sorts of evil doings. If someone gets a boot to the head in this issue, then I would say tracking it down is worth your effort.
Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights
(Written by Chuck Dixon, illustrated by John Romita Jr and Klaus Janson, originally published in 1994 by Marvel Comics)A few months after Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire, Marvel released this follow up where Batman (the Bruce Wayne flavor) teams with the Punisher to stop Jigsaw and the Joker from bringing about murderous mayhem and mischief.
Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances
(Written by Ron Marz, illustrated by Darryl Banks and Terry Austin, originally published in 1995 by DC/Marvel)What?! Now, THIS has my interest sparked. Green Lantern squares off against Terrax?! The Silver Surfer fights the Cyborg Superman?! And then the two must team up to stop Thanos and Parallax from doing whatever it is they are doing?! I am sooooo onboard for this comic. It also serves as a prelude to the DC vs. Marvel miniseries I mentioned back in “Part 1.” Dammit. Now I really need to track all of these down.
Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds
(Written J.M. DeMatteis, illustrated by Mark Bagley and Scott Hanna and Mark Farmer, originally published in 1995 by Marvel/DC)Batman and Spider-Man team up—probably after an obligatory fight scene—to stop Carnage and the Joker from some sort of diabolical nonsense. But, hey, DeMatteis wrote it, so I’m definitely interested. This was released as a squared bond comic with an embossed cover (marketing shenanigans), which probably accounted for the $5.95 cover price.
Silver Surfer/Superman
(Written by George Perez, illustrated by Ron Lim and Terry Austin, originally published in 1996 by Marvel/DC)Again, this is the first I’m hearing of this comic and given the talent involved I definitely want to read it. The cover tells me nothing about what goes on within the 48 pages, but anytime you have Lim on the Surfer, you’ll find me smiling and eager to check the book out.
Batman and Captain America
(Everythinged by John Byrne, originally published in 1996 by DC/Marvel)Batman and Captain America team up during World War II to punch Nazis and restore order to the free world. Sweet. I don’t know if any of their respective villains show up in this or not, but you honestly don’t need them.
Daredevil and Batman: Eye for an Eye
(Written by D.G. Chichester, illustrated by Scott McDaniel, originally published in 1997 by Marvel/DC)Hmmmm...not finding a whole lot about this one other than the two crime fighters attempt to stop Two-Face and Mr. Hyde. What I wish we got to see was a ’80s Batman and Daredevil one-shot by Frank Miller; now that woulda been somethin’.
Batman and Spider-Man: New Age Dawning
(Written by J.M. DeMatteis, illustrated by Graham Nolan and Karl Kesel, originally published in 1997 by DC/Marvel)Ra’s al Ghul makes the Kingpin an offer he can't refuse: if he wishes for his beloved Vanessa to survive her illness, the Kingpin must kill off most of the world’s population. It’s up to Batman and Spider-Man to stop them. A 48-page follow-up to 1995’s crossover.
The Incredible Hulk vs Superman
(Written by Roger Stern, illustrated by Steve Rude and Al Milgrom, originally published in 1999 by Marvel/DC)Okay, the cover alone had me, but a fateful meeting of each company’s respective powerhouse as illustrated by Steve Rude?! Yeah, this one looks to be pretty fun. I wish I had caught it as it was being released.
Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction
(Written by Dan Jurgens, illustrated by Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert, originally published in 1999 by DC/Marvel)Marvel’s First Family teams up with the Man of Steel to stop Galactus?! In an oversized treasury edition comic?! That makes this 10” x 13”, 64-page beauty something I would very much like to experience for myself.
Batman/Daredevil: King of New York
(Written by Alan Grant, illustrated by Eduardo Barreto, originally published in 2000 by DC/Marvel)Batman and Daredevil must team up with none other than the Kingpin after the crime lord is double-crossed by the Scarecrow who looks to subject New York to unending fear. A 48-page one-shot, this prestige format comic is one that sparked my interest despite it being on the more difficult to find and pricey side of things.
Apologies, Denizens. If this is your first time hearing about some of these series and you got excited for some of them, I regret to inform you that tracking them down is not going to be easy or cheap, but hopefully, Marvel/DC will one day reissue the following four trades:
- Crossover Classics: The Marvel DC Collection Vol. 1 (Contains: Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, Superman and Spider-Man, Batman vs. the Incredible Hulk, The Uncanny X-Men/The New Teen Titans)
- DC/Marvel: The Crossover Classics Vol. 2 (Contains: Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire, Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights, Silver Surfer/Superman, Batman and Captain America)
- Crossover Classics: The Marvel DC Collection Vol. 3 (Contains: The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman, Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye, Spider-Man/Batman: Disordered Minds, Spider-Man/Gen13, Generation X/Gen 13, Team X/Team 7)
- DC/Marvel: The Crossover Classics Vol. 4 (Contains: Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances, Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger, Batman/Spider-Man: New Age Dawning, Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction)
Hmmm...it looks like Batman/Daredevil: King of New York is left out in the cold with no collection to call home, which is a bummer because it actually sounds quite good. For me, though, I’ll be looking for the fourth volume so I can get some cosmic goodness. See you next time.
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