It’s almost October, and you know what that means, Mego collectors: Hallmark’s Batman World’s Greatest Super-Heroes ornament is soon to go on sale.

The item, which is priced at $27.99, was announced a while back but images were pretty muddy. Now, at the Hallmark site, there are a bunch of high-res renderings that give you a really clear look at what to expect.

Dig these:

The ornament goes on sale Oct. 10. You know how this goes: If it sells, they’ll in all likelihood make more characters.

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MORE

— THE MEGO BATCAVE AND ME: A Holiday Story. Click here.

— How ADAM WEST, NEAL ADAMS and MEGO Made Me a Lifelong BATMAN Fan. Click here.

Around these parts, our Spider-Man cartoon obsession is the 1967-70 TV series that so many of us Silver and Bronze Age kids grew up with. Not much attention is paid to the 1994 Spider-Man series that was beloved by a later generation (like my son’s).

Anyway, there was a great unresolved plot point when the show ended after five seasons: Mary Jane had disappeared and Madame Web was taking Peter to find her. In the 1997 X-Men cartoon series, we learned that they were reunited, but it was never told how — until now.

John Semper, the producer and primary creative force behind what is also called Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is returning to that world with Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man ’94 Annual #1 — due out Dec. 9 — and will wrap up the storyline.

Dig the official solicitation and the two covers revealed so far:

Main cover by Nick Bradshaw

SPIDER-MAN ’94 ANNUAL #1

JOHN SEMPER (W) • ALESSIO CAMMARDELLA (A)
COVER A BY NICK BRADSHAW COVER B BY WILL ROBSON COVER C BY TBA (1:25)

JOHN SEMPER RETURNS TO REUNITE SPIDER-MAN WITH MARY JANE!

Last year, we brought you a continuation of the acclaimed Spider-Man: The Animated Series — now, a tale thirty years in the making, original showrunner JOHN SEMPER returns to bring his vision for the reunion of Peter and Mary Jane to the page! Joined by artist ALESSIO CAMMARDELLA, the team brings to life the moments directly after the season-six cliffhanger for Spider-Man: The Animated Series and before the SPIDER-MAN ’94 comic series! You’re not going to want to miss this one, Web-Heads! You’ve waited long enough!

32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T… $4.99 (With Digital Code)

Will Robson variant

From what I understand, the five-part 2025 comics miniseries Spider-Man ’94 didn’t address the cliffhanger, much to the consternation of fans. So this should be welcome news to the grown-up kids who used to sit on their parents’ laps while watching the show when they were little, like mine did.

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MORE

— MARY JANE & BLACK CAT: Dig MARK SPEARS’ Fab Variants Coming in December. Click here.

— It’s SPIDER-MAN WEEK Starring THE MANY LOVES OF PETER PARKER. Click here.

From Walt Grogan’s faux Who’s Who feature

Hey, remember ALLLLLLL the way back to July, when we hosted SPIDER-MAN WEEK, featuring THE MANY LOVES OF PETER PARKER?

That was cool.

Well, if they’d been available then, we’d have shown off these two variant covers by Mark Spears:

The top one is for The Amazing Spider-Man #1005, due Dec. 9, and the bottom is for ASM #1006, due Dec. 23. Each will be priced at $4.99, though there will be incentive virgin versions that will go for considerably higher.

And now you know!

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MORE

— SPIDER-MAN ’94 ANNUAL #1 to Reveal What Happened When PETER Reunited With MARY JANE. Click here.

— It’s SPIDER-MAN WEEK Starring THE MANY LOVES OF PETER PARKER. Click here.

There are certain single issues that we come back to time and again at 13th Dimension, and one of them is 1963’s Batman #156, home of the classic Robin Dies at Dawn, by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris:

Bill Morrison once did an Earth-Two version, Jim Beard sang its praises earlier this year, and DC itself released a Facsimile Edition in July.

Now, cartoonist Karl Heitmueller Jr., an old 13th Dimension pal who does the “Prince Street News” feature for Back Issue magazine, has put his own spin on it — commissioned by retired BI editor Michael Eury!

Dig this:

“I commissioned it because I’ve always had a soft spot for the Silver Age Robin, the BOY Wonder (and his grown-up Earth-Two counterpart), since Robin was as omnipresent as Batman during the ’60s Batmania that roped me into this crazy world in the first place,” Michael sez. “Robin Dies at Dawn is a dramatic, iconic cover image, one that deeply affected me when I first saw it as a small boy, when the story was reprinted in the 80-page Giant Batman #185. When DC reprinted Robin Dies At Dawn as a Facsimile, it was their sketch-cover variant that sparked my idea to reverse the heroes’ roles as a gag. I tossed the idea to Karl, whose ‘Prince Street News’ comic strips in Back Issue were great faves of mine, and Karl hit it out of the park!”

That he did.

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MORE

— 1963’s ROBIN DIES AT DAWN: One of the Greatest Boy Wonder Stories Ever. Click here.

— ROBIN DIES AT DAWN: Dig This Homage With an EARTH-TWO Twist! Click here.

— ROBIN DIES AT DAWN: Batman Classic to Be Re-Released as a FACSIMILE EDITION. Click here.

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UPDATED 9/26/26: The first Fleischer Superman theatrical short premiered 85 years ago, on September 26, 1941! Perfect time to reprint this piece from July 2021 celebrating Max Fleischer’s birthday! Swell! — Dan

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By FRED VAN LENTE

The pioneering animator and inventor Max Fleischer’s birthdate is July 19, 1883, and is it any coincidence that on July 20, 2021, the trade paperback of The Comic Book History of Animation – by artist Ryan Dunlavey and me — arrived on store shelves worldwide?

I mean, yes, it absolutely was a coincidence, Ryan and I are not smart enough to plan these things, but you hardly need an excuse to celebrate the achievements of Max Fleischer, a true pioneer in the field. In CBHOA, Ryan and I elaborate on his humble beginnings in the industry:

After working for cartoon studio mogul J.R. Bray, Max and his brothers opened their own studio in Times Square, where they produced classic series like “Out of the Inkwell,” “Betty Boop” and “Popeye the Sailor,” adapted Einstein’s Theory of Relativity into an animated short, and even invented the famous “Follow the Bouncing Ball.”

Unfortunately, labor troubles embittered Max against his own employees, and he moved his studio to more management-friendly Miami. Sadly, this was the beginning of the end for him. Even though he produced a well-received feature, Gulliver’s Travels, to compete with Walt Disney’s output, the studio’s remote (by 1940s standards) location caused constant cost overruns and personnel shortages.

But the worst was yet to come. As Ryan and I explain:

They may have caused huge challenges at the studio, but there’s a lot to love about the Fleischers’ Superman toons. With all due respect to Margot Kidder and Dana Delaney, they have my favorite depiction of Lois Lane, ever. The Fleischers’ Lois has the über-confidence of a cokehead on an all-night bender and the self-preservation skills of a toddler chasing a ball onto an eight-lane highway. How she survived this long before the guy from Smallville arrived is a complete mystery. For some reason she is the character with the fewest lines in her face, just daubs of color, so maybe she’s some kind of invincible pillow person?

The corporate shenanigans behind these cartoons were so FUBAR that they fell into public domain years ago. Various prints and edits have floated around on video forever; fortunately for Amazon Prime subscribers, the streamer has a shockingly deep bench of historically important animation, and you can watch all of the Superman shorts there — here’s the TOP 13 I think you should watch, in chronological order!

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1. “Superman” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). The Daily Planet learns a nut with a death ray is threatening the city. What does Lois Lane do? Do some interviews on deep background? Infiltrate the bad guy’s lair in disguise? HELL no. That’s not how OG Baller Lois rolls. She flies a plane to the guy’s lab, lands at his front door, and starts bombarding him with questions. He of course promptly ties her up and plans to kill her. Once Superman saves her from the exploding lab, she returns to the Planet and scoops Clark Kent on the story. YOU GO, GIRL.

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2. “The Mechanical Monsters” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). Max Fleischer was an incredibly accomplished inventor who held about a zillion patents, most importantly for the rotoscoping process used so liberally in this series. So all the tech in Superman looks great: These automated bank-robbing bots kind of look like they might actually work—when they’re not getting glitch-slapped by Supes, that is. Woman Without Fear Lois Lane stows away inside one of the mechs; while trying to rescue her, Superman is nearly electrocuted by power lines. Find better friends, Clark.

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3. “Billion Dollar Limited” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). Cowled crooks attack a massive gold shipment with proto-punk nihilist Lois “No Future” Lane aboard. Basically a long chase scene between a sedan and a train, then between a train and Superman, it’s pretty rad. Lois, who I just want to make very clear, gives zero fucks, uses a tommy gun to hold off the robbers herself until a destroyed bridge requires Superman’s intervention.

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4. “The Arctic Giant” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). Archeologists discover a frozen dinosaur in Siberia and bring it to display in Metropolis. The minute Lois Lane, Deathtrap Magnet, is assigned the story, you know that refrigeration unit is going to break and we’re going to have a good old-fashioned Godzilla Stomp on our hands. All the monsters and animals in the series look much cartoonier than the meticulously rotoscoped humans (i.e., traced from live-action film), which adds to the series’ charm.

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5. “The Bulleteers” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). Flying bullet cars threaten to destroy Metropolis unless they get the contents of the municipal treasury. These guys may know their way around bullet cars, but they don’t know jack about American cities’ finances. I live in and occasionally work for New York City, and I am pretty sure the entire contents of our treasury are three pizza rats and a “Lindsay ’72” bumper sticker.

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6. “The Magnetic Telescope” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). A guy sticks a giant horseshoe magnet on top of an observatory, and everyone acts surprised when it draws murderous comets to Metropolis. Weirdly, Superman decides to take a cab to the observatory to rescue Lois, voted Most Likely to Be “Deep Impacted” in high school. A comet bit causes his cabbie to flee, inspiring the Man of Steel to change means of transportation and fight back the unwelcome celestial visitor himself.

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7. “Electric Earthquake” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). This one is so daffy it may be my favorite of the bunch. A Native American mad scientist emerges from his undersea lab and threatens the Daily Planet with manmade earthquakes that will destroy the city if his tribe doesn’t get its $24 refund for selling them the land in the first place. Why he delivers this threat to the Planet and not, say, to the Department of the Interior is anyone’s guess. At least this gives Lois Lane, Human Carry-On Item, a chance to hide aboard the bad guy’s pneumatic sub.

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8. “Volcano” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). Mt. Monokoa in the Pacific has been upgraded from dormant to active volcano, giving Lois an excuse to get killed in some other time zone. Unfortunately, Perry White makes her take spineless milksop Clark Kent with her. Ugh! Lois swipes Clark’s press pass to leave him behind so she can travel directly to the mouth of the volcano, which of course erupts within five seconds of her arrival. She almost manages to scale down a cable car line by herself before Superman rescues her. This is our own Dan Greenfield’s favorite of the series, and it’s not hard to see why: Its apocalyptic images are pretty terrific.

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9. “Terror on the Midway” (Dir. Dave Fleischer). The circus is in town, providing Lois Lane with many new and colorful options for self-destruction. Someone lets the giant gorilla loose, and Superman disappoints her once more by saving her. Not exactly the most original tale, but the gorgeous deep-focus animation (I’m guessing via yet another Fleischer invention, the setback camera) looks dynamite.

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At this point in Superman, the Paramount takeover happened. Other than Fleischer Studios becoming “Famous Studios” in the credits, I can’t say there’s a hugely noticeable difference, although the series does become a lot more dependent on racial and/or ethnic stereotypes of varying levels of awfulness. (Particularly in comparison to the respectful treatment of the Native American villain in the Fleischer-produced “Electric Earthquake.”) Though Golden Age comics were hardly paragons of progressivism, they were positively Woke compared to Golden Age cartoons, which were full of offensive caricatures and racist humor. African-Americans were the primary butts of jokes before World War II, but directly after Pearl Harbor the Japanese (and Asians in general) got the worst of it.

That said, many of the Famous Studios entries do continue the high quality of the series:

10. “Showdown” (Dir. I. Sparber). I’m fond of this one because it is one of the few that appears to be lifted directly from the comics, an early Siegel and Shuster effort about a crook who dresses in a Superman costume. Why the mob doesn’t realize this is going to attract the attention of the real Superman I have no idea, but I guess Metropolis isn’t sending its best and brightest to the Mafia. The crooks flee and Superman gives pursuit through and outside the boss’ cliffside mansion in a terrifically animated chase sequence.

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11. “Eleventh Hour” (Dir. Dan Gordon). Compared to the pure Cringe of Warner Bros’ “Tokyo Jokio” and “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” the two World War II anti-Japan Superman entries are relatively mild… though the title of one, “Japoteurs,” should give you some idea of what to expect from this kind of propaganda.

Though DC famously refused to let the Man of Steel get too involved in World War II,  Paramount shows no such compunctions. Clark and Lois are in a Japanese port on assignment, giving Superman the opportunity for some nocturnal maritime sabotage. Not being complete idiots, imperial authorities arrest Lois and threaten to execute her if Supes doesn’t knock it off. Clark accidentally buries himself in a dry dock truss, delaying her rescue until the last second, as implied by the title. It’s a pretty thrilling and suspenseful cartoon, but consider yourself trigger-warned against the stereotyped depiction of a wartime foe.

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12. “The Mummy Strikes” (Dir. I. Sparber). Again, a short that harks back to the earliest of Superman strips—Superman works to free a woman unjustly convicted of murder. She’s been accused of poisoning her boss, a hieroglyphics expert who may have actually been cursed by King Tush (snicker) in the Egyptian wing of the museum. While investigating, Clark accidentally frees two giant, conspicuously unwrapped Nubian mummies.

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13. “The Underground World” (Dir. Seymour Kneitel). Lois and Clark join a scientific expedition into a vast cave system, which, of course, leads to a vast undiscovered civilization of virile, R. Crumb-esque bird people. Why bird people would choose to live under a mountain instead of, I dunno, on top of it, where they could like, spread their wings and stuff, goes undiscovered as Superman buries them in a rockslide to prevent them from dipping Lois in molten gold. The use of color and shade in this cartoon is especially striking.

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MORE by FRED VAN LENTE

— The TOP 13 JOE SHUSTER SUPERMAN Stories — RANKED. Click here.

— The TOP 13 SPACE GHOST Villains — RANKED. Click here.

When you think of Iron Man in the Bronze Age, you probably think of Bob Layton, which makes sense given his lengthy and acclaimed connection to the Armored Avenger.

So how about a 13 COVERS birthday salute — Layton was born 73 years ago, on Sept. 25, 1953 — that doesn’t have anything to do with Tony Stark?

I mean, why not?

Dig it.

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Joe Rubinstein

Inked by Klaus Janson

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Rubinstein

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

Inked by Layton

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MORE

— BOB LAYTON on the Origins of IRON MAN’s Alcoholism. Click here.

— Dig BOB LAYTON’s Fabulous IRON MAN Wraparound Variant Cover. Click here.

By FRANCO

What do Luke Skywalker and Superman have in common? Quite a bit more than you might think!

Aside from the obvious, they both share a birthday. Mark Hamill and Christopher Reeve were both born on this day,  a year apart (Hamill in 1951, Reeve in 1952). Too much of a stretch you say? Well, how about the fact that I’ve met both of them?

So they both share a birthday AND the fact that I’ve met both of them? Now we’re delving into Twilight Zone (or X-Files, depending on your age) territory, and your mind is blown!

OK. You’re into all this stuff and you say to me, “Franco, I already knew all of that!”

WOW! I’d say. You’re good!

But how about that they starred together in John Carpenter’s 1995 remake of Village of the Damned?

Yeah, not so up on your nerd facts now, are you?

Seriously though, a big thrill for me when meeting each of them. The contributions from both of them to pop culture and my own imagination were immeasurable.

One thing I did, but also did not, know about Mark Hamill in particular was his voice work. I know what you’re thinking, “Huh?”

In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo: ‘‘Lemme ‘splain.”

If you’re a geek worth any measure of salt you know that Mark is the ultimate voice of the Joker, in Batman: The Animated Series, video games and so forth. And I knew he did other voices, but two that I had no idea about (more actually) were shows I would watch with my kid (like I needed an excuse of a kid to watch them): He was the voice of Hobgoblin from the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon series and Skips from Regular Show. So cool and awesome to find out. It inspired me to make some quick sketches.

Happy birthday to Mark Hamill and the late Christopher Reeve!

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Want more FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS? Come back next week!

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MORE

— THE RIME OF THE ORANGE MARINER: An Epic 85th Anniversary AQUAMAN Poem. Click here.

— THE HAIR OF STAR TREK: Beam Us to the Space Salon! Click here.

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Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners.

His new books, Action Cat & Adventure Bug: Let’s Do This!, with Art Baltazar, and Ninja Kaiju: Unleashed, with Scoot McMahon, both from Papercutz, are out now.

Marvel has two Facsimile Editions coming in December — the first playing off the recent return of Miracleman and the other reprinting Boba Fett’s (and Yoda’s) kinda-sorta comic-book debut: 2014’s Miracleman #1 and 1980’s Star Wars #42.

You can read more about Star Wars #42 over here, but below is the rundown on Miracleman #1.

Dig the solicitation info, which will be formally released by Marvel later this week:

MIRACLEMAN #1 FACSIMILE EDITION

DON LAWRENCE, GARRY LEACH & MICK ANGLO (A)

COVER BY JOE QUESADA
FOIL VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE

KIMOTA! With one magic word, a long-forgotten legend lives again! Freelance reporter Michael Moran always knew he was meant for something more; now, a strange series of events leads him to reclaim his destiny! Featuring Kid Miracleman and Young Miracleman in a time-spanning battle to thwart invaders from the future! Relive the groundbreaking ’80s adventures that captured lightning in a bottle — or experience them for the first time — in this facimile collection of classic Miracleman comics! Reprinting MIRACLEMAN (2014) #1.

64 PGS./Parental Advisory …$7.99/$10.99 (Foil Variant Only)

On Sale 12/23

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Buncha thoughts:

Coming Oct. 21

— If you haven’t been paying attention, Miracleman (nee Marvelman) made his return in this month’s Avengers: Armageddon #4. The cult-favorite British comics character who was revived to great acclaim in the 1980s by Alan Moore, has been integrated into the Marvel Universe proper and will join the Avengers in the team’s new series starting in November.

— The 2014 series reprinted Moore’s 1980s run, but credited him as “The Original Writer,” because Alan Moore. That’s presumably why he’s not mentioned in the solicitation, either.

— If Marvel and DC plan any more crossovers, teaming Miracleman up with Captain Marvel would be a no-brainer, since the former was borne from the latter.

— Obligatory Price Comparison: An unslabbed, high-grade original Miracleman #1 will only set you back about five bucks. But there’s always the foil to consider!

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MORE

— THE (COMIC) BOOK OF BOBA FETT: 1980’s STAR WARS #42 to Get Facsimile Edition. Click here.

— MARVEL to Publish THREE BRONZE AGE Facsimile Editions and a Special Reprint in November. Click here.

Marvel has two Facsimile Editions coming in December — the first playing off the recent return of Miracleman and the other reprinting Boba Fett’s (and Yoda’s) kinda-sorta comic-book debut: 2014’s Miracleman #1 and 1980’s Star Wars #42.

You can read more about Miracleman #1 over here, but below is the skinny on Star Wars #42.

Dig the solicitation info, which will be formally released by Marvel later this week:

STAR WARS #42 FACSIMILE EDITION

ARCHIE GOODWIN (W) AL WILLIAMSON (A/C)

The classic comic book debut of Boba Fett! The fan-favorite rogue enters the fray — alongside fellow bounty hunters Bossk, Dengar, IG-88 and 4-LOM — in this key chapter of Marvel Comics’ adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back! As Luke Skywalker searches for Jedi Master Yoda in the swamps of Dagobah, sparks fly between Leia and Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon. And in relentless pursuit of the rebel crew, Darth Vader enlists the galaxy’s most proficient bounty hunters. It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting STAR WARS (1977) #42.

48 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

On Sale 12/16

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Buncha thoughts:

— Marvel is currently adapting the TV show The Book of Boba Fett as a miniseries, hence this.

— Why all the “kinda-sorta” equivocation? Well, this was and wasn’t Boba Fett’s and Yoda’s first comic-book appearance. It’s pretty convoluted, so click here for the back story.

— Obligatory Price Comparison: Nevertheless, it’s this issue that collectors generally prize. An unslabbed, NM/MT original recently sold on eBay for about $414.

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MORE

— MIRACLEMAN #1 to Be Published as a Facsimile Edition in December. Click here.

— MARVEL to Publish THREE BRONZE AGE Facsimile Editions and a Special Reprint in November. Click here.

Really well-done homage (or parody) covers always appeal to me, especially when its one of my favorite subjects. So I was pretty tickled when I saw Mitch Gerads’ upcoming variant cover for Deathstroke the Terminator #10, riffing on Neal Adams’ famous 1970 Green Lantern #76.

Here’s the original…

… and here’s Gerads’ take:

Dig the official solicitation, along with the issue’s other covers:

Main cover by Carmine Di Giandomenico

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #10

Written by TONY FLEECS
Art and cover by CARMINE DI GIANDOMENICO

Variant covers by MITCH GERADS and V KEN MARION

Slade Wilson finds himself mixed up in shady underworld criminal business, and he doesn’t mind one bit…Deathstroke the Terminator does some of his best work in the shadows. Bad news for him, though: The whole operation is about to be brought to light… Green Lantern’s light!

$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 12/16/26

V. Ken Marion variant

By the way, seeing this I can’t help but be reminded that once upon a time, a Green Lantern #76 Facsimile Edition was solicited by DC, only to be cancelled because of COVID. I would have bet good money they’d finally publish it to coincide with Lanterns, but no dice. So strange.

Come on, DC! This is a HUGE one with Facsimile collectors! And imagine it in foil!

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MORE

— DC Adds FOUR More FACSIMILE EDITIONS to Its DECEMBER Schedule. Click here.

— Why NEAL ADAMS’ GREEN ARROW Remains the Gold Standard. Click here.