BRONZE AGE BONANZA completes another year with the best of the best… — Welcome to BRONZE AGE BONANZA — our monthly series that looks at the greatest covers of the Bronze Age — exactly 50 years later. For more info on this feature, click here. — Welcome to our sixth BRONZE AGE BONANZA annual wrap-up! That’s right, BAB has been a 13th Dimension staple for six years now, and for the third year in a row, our TOP 13 COVERS of the year were voted upon by the site’s regular (and recurring) contributors, via weighted ballots. (I used to do it all by my lonesome.) Anyway, here’s how the vote worked: I took the winners of each month and included a couple of wild-card picks, as we do every year. (Gotta have 13, right?) One monthly winner didn’t make the final cut simply because some months were stronger than others. For example, a No. 2 in Month A might be a better pick than a No. 1 in Month B. It’s all subjective but it gives a better survey of the year overall. Here, by the way, is the No. 1 pick that missed the final cut, from February: Great cover, to be sure, with an outstanding pedigree. It’s the just that, to me, the Conan magazine covers start to look samey after a while, so it fell just short. But, hey, 14th out of an entire year of covers is no shame. OK, so who voted, besides me? A Murderer’s Row of comics writers, artists, experts and superfans: Paul “The Celebrated Mr. K” Kupperberg; Mighty Jim Beard; Prolific Peter Bosch; Merry Kerry Callen; the singularly named Franco; Cavortin’ Chris Franklin; Wallopin’ Walt Grogan; Ramblin’ Rob Kelly; Bill “The Thrill” Morrison; Pistol Pete Stone; Dapper Des Taylor, Scrappy Scott Tipton; Fab Freddy Van Lente; and newbies Dakota Alexander and Jason Czernich, who haven’t earned their nicknames yet. Each voter listed their preferences in order, with 13 points going to the top pick, 12 points to the No. 2 pick, and so forth. The max number of points, then, was 208. (There were a record 16 of us this year!) For each entry, you’ll see the point total, overall observations, whether someone picked the cover as No. 1, plus the comments (slightly edited) I made in the monthly BRONZE AGE...
A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: Stan the Man was born Dec. 28, 1922… — UPDATED 12/28/25: Stan Lee was born 103 years ago! Perfect time to reprint this piece, which first ran on the 100th anniversary of his birth, in 2022. Dig it. — Dan — By JIM BEARD What’s in a name? (If that’s not a cliched way to start an article about names, I don’t know what is.) As a fiction writer, the naming of characters is very near and dear to me. I like to put some thought into the event, choosing names that mean something more than just how the characters introduce themselves to each other. I like to come up with memorable names that resonate beyond a superficial label to distinguish “Joe” from “Bob.” In this I take some inspiration from the late, great Stan Lee. Names aren’t something Stan is often recognized for, but he definitely created more than a few that resoundingly resonate and impart a deeper meaning. I like to think names were as important to him as a writer as they are to me. Today, I’m honored to present a list of 13 Stan Lee Marvel character names on the Man’s 100th birthday. So, by Doom, the Destroyer, and the Dread Dormammu, let’s get started… (NOTE: I’m well aware of the ad nauseum debates over attribution of creation when it comes to Stan but suffice to say these are all names he’s at the very least the co-creator of, and besides, there are much better venues for such arguments than here. This is, after all, a birthday celebration for one of the most important figures in the history of comic books. Excelsior!) — The Storm Siblings. When you’re searching for a name for a hot-headed teenager with a zest for action and a penchant for destruction, “Johnny Storm” is just about the most perfect moniker ever. Add to that the punchy alliteration of “Sue Storm” and you have one of the best brother-sister adventure duos in comics. — Ben Grimm. The Thing’s my most favorite Marvel character, and part of that stems from his name. It says “stony” as much as it says, well, “grim,” and borrowing the surname of a famous set of fable-telling brothers don’t hurt none, either. You might say it’s a clobberin’ name… — Skrulls. Short, sweet, and...
… as well as BIG clues to who will factor into the publisher’s major 2020 event, Empyre.
A long time ago, I really, really, really needed this treasury edition…
