Saturday Splash Page #140

 

"Meet Me at the Big Green Lady," in Spider-Man/Human Torch #5, by Dan Slott (writer), Ty Templeton (penciler), Drew Geraci and Greg Adams (inkers), J. Rauch (colorist), Dave Lanphear (letterer)

Released in 2005, Spider-Man/Human Torch was a humorous look at the antagonistic friendship between the title characters over the years. Each issue was set at a different point in their history, and involved the two either one-upping or saving each other, if not both at the same time. Critically, Johnny interacts with both Spider-Man and Peter Parker, while not realizing they're one and the same.

Though the fifth issue is set during the JMS/Bendis' New Avengers era, meaning Peter is a schoolteacher and Aunt May knows he's Spider-Man, Slott and Templeton stick mostly to before Peter's marriage to Mary Jane. This plays into the idea that Johnny can't believe Parker is somehow dating a different beautiful woman every time they cross paths, but it involves the creative team distilling the '90s into "clones," as Johnny keeps mentioning certain team-ups which Spidey responds to with "clone."

(Around the time this mini-series would have come out, I had a rough estimate that 4 years in our time equaled one year in Marvel time. Which means the entire Clone Saga would have been about 6 months, Ben Reilly's time as Spider-Man probably not even half that.)

It isn't until issue 3 (of 5) they even get to the '70s, in what is probably the most commonly cited issue online. Spidey, struggling to pull out of a depression brought on by Gwen's death, asks Johnny to give him driving lessons in the Spider-mobile. The Red Ghost and his Super-Apes get involved, and Spidey stops them with the power of fruit pies.

The various supporting casts are around - Spidey accompanies the FF on a trip inside a difficult-to-reach dimension when he and the Torch swap roles for the day; the Black Cat enlists Johnny's help on a heist inside the Wakandan Embassy when Spidey objects - but the focus is on the two leads. How much they envy each other, how much they can get on each other's nerves. But at the end of the day, neither of them really wishes the other ill. Spidey's not going to let Doom kill Johnny, and Johnny will lend an ear when Spidey's depressed.

Sunday Splash Page #178

 

"Those Puns Are the Wurst," in Elongated Man #4, by Gerard Jones (writer), Mike Parobeck (penciler), Ty Templeton (inker), Rick Taylor (colorist), Bob Pinaha (letterer)

I think this might be the one of only two titles in my entire comic collection written by Gerard Jones, and it comes up two weeks after the other one. Well, same warnings apply as mentioned in Sunday Splash Page #176 regarding Jones.

Set during Ralph's time on Justice League Europe, the story involves some mysterious party trying to disrupt a big European Unity conference, through the magic of nation-specific super-villains. Like the sausage-wielding German guys up above. Ralph loves a mystery, leaving Sue increasingly annoyed as he ignores her to, from her perspective, chase phantoms. Which grants an opening for the ruler of Modora, who seems to have a lot of the same weapons as the villain Sonar, to try and woo her.

I've heard Ralph and Sue compared to William Powell and Myrna Loy from the Thin Man movies, and I can sort of see it. Although I think Sue is Powell, where she doesn't really want any part of this crime-solving stuff but keeps finding herself in the middle of it. Ralph, who is ready to jump into action at the hint of anything suspicious, seems more like Loy. Either way, the whole thing is kind of charming and sweet.

Parobeck's art here is far closer to what I think most fans think of. Much more streamlined, fewer and stronger lines than in El Diablo. Some of that might be Templeton as inker. Not having seen Parobeck's pencils on their own, I don't know for sure. Very expressive, and with Taylor's colors, not too grim or serious. It fits with the overall tone of the story, which is ultimately just some second-rate Doctor Doom trying to protect his little kingdom from the dangers of working together for greater economic strength. For its own good, of course.

Sunday Splash Page #73

"Guess Who Invited Himself to Dinner?", in Batman Adventures #3, Kelley Puckett (writer), Ty Templeton (penciler), Rick Burchett (inker), Rick Taylor (colorist), Harkins (letterer)

The series based on the super-awesome '90s cartoon show. Mostly done-in-one stories, although there were some multiple issue arcs. Like this story, where the first two issues the Joker had maneuvered Penguin and Catwoman into committing crimes that actually helped him set up his plans for this issue. Which involve abducting Gordon, then breaking his arms with a baseball bat while broadcasting it across the city. It's extremely effective for just how casually brutal it is, without requiring Joker to kill a small town's worth of people. Imagine that.

Mike Parobeck and Rick Burchett are the two artists most commonly associated with the series, but for this issue, but the first three issues are all Ty Templeton, with Burchett on inks. Regardless, the characters are recognizable, while still being each artists' own style. There are some great panels in these issues with Batman leaping out smoke or punching people.

I'm pretty sure they've collected the entire series, plus the follow-up Batman and Robin Adventures, into a bunch of trade paperbacks in the last 5 years. Which is good since, at least from what I've seen online, the single issues can be surprisingly pricey.