Saturday, December 26, 2009

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 360

MCP #18
Panel from Marvel Comics Presents #18 (Early May 1989), script by Glenn Herdling, pencils and colors by Richard Howell, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Jack Morelli



Saturday Morning Cartoon: Merrie Melodies "The Shanty Where Santy Lives"


Merrie Melodies "The Shanty Where Santy Lives" (1933), directed by Rudolf Isling



Friday, December 25, 2009

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 359

FF #361
Panel from Fantastic Four #8 (February 1992), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Danny Bulanadi, colors by Ed Lazellari and Christie Scheele, letters by Bill Oakley



And may you not only get what you want and you need, but discover the joy in what you already have.

"Every time a bell rings,
an angel gets his wings.
"—ZuZu Bailey

X-Men First Class #12
X-Men First Class #12
X-Men First Class #12
Panels from X-Men: First Class v.2 #12 (July 2008), script by Jeff Parker;
pencils, inks, colors and letters by Colleen Coover



Today in Comics History, December 24, 1967 and 1944: How Hitler Tried to Steal Christmas, or, Have Yourself a Furious Little Christmas

Sgt. Fury Annual #4


Every Belgian in St. Vith liked freedom a lot...
But Herr Hitler, up in Berchtesgaden did not!

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

And especially at Christmas he'd turn extra brutal
And vow to make holiday joy and hope futile.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

He'd shout and he'd curse and he'd cause lots of mayhem
And order the Nazis to round up and slay 'em.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

But why did he hate Christmas, A. Schicklgruber?
I'm not sure, but maybe his brain was a tuber.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

I didn't do research, so don't call me lazy
But he was that mixture of evil and crazy

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

He hated the Roma! He hated the Jews!
If he lived above Whoville he'd hate all the Whos

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

He hated the Slavs and he hated the Poles!
Total mass extinction was his final goals.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

The gays and the Soviets, he hated them all
But mostly the Belgians with their soccer balls

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

(Because legend has told it, if you listen close,
Herr Hitler was jealous, he had just one of those.)

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

So he met with Herr Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
And plotted to wipe St. Vith out, cold stone dead.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

In the snowy forests of Belgium's Ardenne
Invaded a half million German armed men

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

And Hitler's plan might have been a great prize
Were it not for the valor of all the Allies.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Those thousands of soldiers who marched through the snow
US grunts like Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

And among them parachuting down through the flurry
Were the Howling Commandoes and Sergeant Nick Fury.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They landed on Nazis, attacked with a yell
And sent every one of those Germans to hell.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4


(Cause war isn't pretty and war isn't kind.
I'll expect you have to keep that fact well in mind.)

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They snuck through the woods with orders to shoot
But sometimes you have to give Jerry a boot.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Snuck up on a tank, commandeered it. Voila!
With Gabe Jones's trumpet playing tah-rah! Tah-rah!

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Drove it into the woods and across German flanks
And proceeded to blast the hell out of their tanks

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Till the stolen tank finally ran out of fuel
Fury said "March!" (Mom Fury raised no fool.)

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

"Keep 'em movin'!" Nick grunted, and then soon forthwith
They were moving down into the town of St. Vith.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

But the Howling Commandos had run out of luck
There were Nazis up on the road ahead. "Oh &#@%!"

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

And among the snow-covered Ardenne firs
Rounded up with a pack of American prisoners

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Each one of the soldiers was condemned to death
How would they escape? Are you holding your breath?

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Sergeant Fury came up with a plan that was awesome
And commanded the Howlers to lie down and play possum.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They survived to battle through the long winter night
Sgt. Fury wasn't leaving St. Vith with no fight.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Til the orders came down to stop the attack
St. Vith was lost, it was time to fall back

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They marched through the snow, and can you believe
They'd nearly forgotten it was Christmas Eve.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

All the Belgian kids came o'er the hills with a grin
There was Bernard, and Dieter, and Max, and Tintin

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Each one was an orphan, without mom, without dad
Howlers determined to give them Christmas like they had

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

When up in the sky there arose such a clatter
The Germans were bombing! Duck, cover and scatter!

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They blew up the chocolate! Blew up the coffee!
Why, those Ratzis even bombed Nick's Christmas tree.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

The Howlers shot back on that cold Christmas Eve
(As Nick Fury says, 'Better to give than receive!')

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They fought them with rifles! They fought with grenades!
They slammed 'em with weapons to stop the blockades

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

They each had a weapon or two, ev'ry fella
Dum-Dum's cannon turret! Percy's black umbrella!

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

On the cold winds the sound of jazz trumpet was borne
It's not really a fight 'til you hear Gabriel's horn.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

When you fight against Fury, nothing goes just as planned
And the last battle's with Nick himself, just hand-to-hand.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

With a boot in the crotch and a face full of snow
Fury struck at the Nazi with blow after blow

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

There's no law book to warfare, no Queensbury rules
And a soldier learns to use each of his tools

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

The Nazi grabbed for a grenade with a grin
"Was ist? Meine Güte!" Fury'd pulled out the pin!

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

His bones blew to bits and fell down with a rattle.
(He probably shouldn't have narrated his own battle.)

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

On a snowcovered hill in the chill Ardenne
At last it was Christmas for Nick and his men.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

Fury survived the war, years later to divulge
This one heroic tale of the Battle of the Bulge

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

(What of Hitler, you ask? Well, he died four months later.
The Human Torch flame-broiled to death the dictator.)

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

So as you enjoy your Christmas with your tree
Just remember the men who kept your country free.

Sgt. Fury Annual #4

As Nick Fury was heard to yell "Hitler! $@%# you!
"Merry Christmas to all, and a howling WAHOO!"

Sgt. Fury Annual #4