5. Star Trek: Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor
(4 issues, IDW 2010)
This essentially counts as a spin-off of the many Star Trek comics (including those published earlier by IDW) in which Dr. McCoy has appeared. In it, writer and artist John Byrne tells some tales of Dr. McCoy in the years immediately preceding the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, when he participated in the Frontier Medics Program, which entailed touring the more remote outposts of Federation space and taking care of any medical emergencies or medically-related problems that are beyond the capabilities of any local medical staff. His traveling companion and pilot of their small, ‘antique’ of a ship is Jon Duncan, a much younger fellow physician. Their crew complement gets extended by one in the first issue, as they find a young Andorian stowaway on their ship named Theela who ends up staying because she proves crucially helpful in an emergency situation in that story.

Like all of the Star Trek mini-series that Byrne did for IDW, this is just a fun, light read that really captures the spirit and feel of the original Star Trek series. He nails McCoy’s personality and ‘voice’ quite well, and also involves him in interesting and occasionally thought-provoking medical conundrums.
And besides telling good stories, Byrne also includes a number of little touches for the hard-core Trek fans, as he mentions or features characters and places that appeared in the original series, including some who (also) appeared in his other IDW Star Trek series. My favorite of these comes in the first of two stories in the final issue, wherein we see that the former nurse and now Dr. Chapel is the chief medical officer aboard the USS Yorktown, which is commanded by an admiral who used to be the Enterprise’s first officer, a woman only ever known as “No. 1” in the original series’ unaired pilot (and in the season 1 two-part episode “The Menagerie” – both characters played, of course, by Majel Barrett).

For those who may be interested, Byrne did another mini-series, Star Trek: Crew, which follows her through various phases of her career (more details here). She also appears, with the rank of commodore, in yet another Byrne mini-series, Star Trek Romulans: Schism (more details here).

#5 Catwoman


First appearance: Batman # 1 ( 1940)
Creators: Bill Finger/ Bob Kane
Series covered : Catwoman ( 1993) 1-77
Series Team: Mary Jo Duffy/ Chuck Dixon /Jim Balent





This is another Batman family title that was far enough away from Batman’s storylines to keep it independent. It follows Selina Kyle in her life of crime and adds a lot of globe trotting adventure which made the book something I looked forward to every month. Of course a few Batman crossovers were jammed in during the 77 issues but, hey, DC has a business to run. Aside from a mini series in 1989, this was her first ongoing book and it really sold , I believe because of the great Jim Balent artwork. He had quite a talent for the female form. 

5. The Beast in AMAZING ADVENTURES #11-17 (March 1972-March 1973), Marvel Comics

Spun off from X-MEN (1963)



It’s 1972, and the X-Men are languishing as a bi-monthly reprint. Marvel still has some hopes of getting additional mileage out of the characters—perhaps as solo features? Iceman makes a guest appearance with Spider-Man, and the Bullpen Bulletins tease a potential solo series for him. Havoc makes a prominent appearance with the Hulk, testing the waters on a character with a unique visual but a boring, ill-defined super-power. Then, as the monster craze hits hard, someone realizes they’ve got a strong trademark in “The Beast”, but their Beast is no monster, just an agile mutant with big hands and bare feet…

But inherent in their “mutant” conceit is the idea of change, so why not mutate Hank McCoy even further?

In years to come, I would find I much prefer the humanoid approach, with the modestly exaggerated physique ultimately turning out to be a more novel idea than yet another monster man, but in 1972, a hairy hulk with an awesome logo would appeal much more to preteen MW when I snapped up the third installment, issue 13’s “Evil Is All In Your Mind” by Steve Englehart, Tom Sutton, and Frank Giacoia, pitting Hank against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: The Blob, Unus the Untouchable, and Mastermind.

This first sample of the feature didn’t do much to orient me to the premise, but it hooked me, as the Beast is temporarily mind-controlled into assisting the villains. Mysterious supporting characters are introduced, a previous incarnation as a more humanoid member of the X-Men is hinted at, but it would take another few issues for me to pick up on the tragic situation Hank had gotten himself into. I happily bought into the unlikely idea that he could disguise himself with back braces and rubber masks to pass for human--the concept of having to endure suffering to mingle in normal society was something I found touching. Stubbornly refusing his mentor’s aid, tinged with embarrassment at having done this to himself also delivered some emotional impact to me.


The feature didn’t last, running only a year at bi-monthly frequency, capped with a reprint issue that had a sad and haunting exit:



Little did I suspect as I watched Jim Starlin usher him off into the darkness that this character would soon become a popular fan favorite, after a personality transplant that transformed him from the tragic and, admittedly, Hulk-like figure he was in this series. And while I appreciated the happy-go-lucky Hank McCoy for what it was, it’s the tragic genius who messed up big-time from AMAZING ADVENTURES that continued to resonate with me.

5. Jughead's Diner



First appeared in: Pep Comics #22, 1941 (Jughead)
Spin-Off: Jughead's Diner, 1990


Ask anyone born between 1940 and 1980 who "Archie" is, and they instantly know. The character was that universal. Ask any of those same people who their favorite "Archie" character is, and the vast majority will tell you it's Jughead, the strange, stoic contrast that invigorates Archie's ordinary world with a taste of the surreal and unexpected. And yet, when Jughead finally got his own title in 1949, instead of being a fresh opportunity for the beloved character to really strut his stuff, it felt like a lot more of the same. Jughead played the wildcard to Archie in most of these stories as if it was just another issue of Archie because, when Jughead took the lead, it just didn't work. If Jughead had no one to confuse or throw-off, he was nothing more than a one-note character who wanted burgers and hated girls.

It took until 1990 for someone to find a different approach, and while this different approach was far less commercially successful than the far safer Jughead title, it did a lot more for the character. Jughead's Diner did exactly for Jughead what Jughead did for Archie. The premise was weird enough (and yet took itself thoroughly seriously) to utterly throw Jughead and shake him out of his ordinary reality. In an inter-dimensional diner that celebrates vegetable of the month like it's American Idol, Jughead was just crazy enough to be the one to bring sanity and leadership to the absurdity, guiding a supporting cast that seemed just as strange and endearing to him as he ever did to Archie. For me, it was probably the best use of the character in his 82 year existence, though I'll readily admit that's got to be at least partly due to adolescent nostalgia. Still, I adore this one and wish it were a better known title than it is.

In fact, I'm still so thankful to Crimebuster for helping me to track down some of the incredibly scarce six issue run so many years back because absolutely nobody seemed to collect or save it. Apparently, there's a collected edition now, so I'm at least glad to hear of that!

Meowy Christmas, from a fat ol' cat

#5- The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat (1977-1993)




I didn't start collecting underground comics until I was in my late 20s. While I was collecting the other companies, the undergrounds were cooler to me as not many dealers at shows were selling them so they made them a little harder to purchase. I picked up the big names; Crumb, Spain, Wilson, and of course Gilbert Shelton. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were the funniest of the books I was getting. It was a great satire of the counterculture and the politics of the time. While Frank, Phineas and Fat Freddy were the stars of the show, it was dear dimwitted Fat Freddy Freekowtski's cat was my favorite part of the comic. 

Fat Freddy's Cat appeared in all the issues, in the main story but also had his strip at the bottom of the page, usually having a parallel storyline with the brothers. Honestly the brains of the Brothers' operation but silently looked on, taking the occasional dump in the litterbox and leading a devoted army of cockroaches in Fat Freddy's apartment. He was popular enough to have his own series by Shelton. Using Fat Freddy's Cat as a silent voice against the establishment, the humor of Fat Freddy was funny. 

All of Gilbert Shelton's Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers books as well as Wonder Wart-hog, Feds N' Heads are all great reads.

#5 – Daughters of the Dragon #1–6 (2006)





Starring Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, the 2006 Daughters of the Dragon mini-series was the first time that this pair of private investigators had starred in their own series. The pair debuted separately in the Iron Fist strip in the pages of Marvel Premiere and then appeared as a team for the first time in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #32. This mini sees the duo working as bail-bond agents who apprehend minor supervillains to make sure they appear in court.

Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, the plot of Daughters of the Dragon is well structured, with plenty of humour and action, and some rather cool appearances from Marvel's wackier and lesser-known supervillains. Artist Khari Evans does a pretty good job for the most part, but his depiction of Knight and Wing is rather "ogling", almost to the point of feeling a little sexist in its obvious objectification of the comic's two leads – but then this is supposed to be something of a pastiche of those old '70s exploitation flicks, I guess.

Knight and Wing have long been two of my favourite Marvel supporting characters and I really like this mini-series just for focusing on them alone for the first time. Overall, it's a fun read and not a comic that is to be taken entirely seriously.