Jack Kirby’s birthday on the Marvel Appendix!

It's the anniversary of Jack Kirby's birth and I celebrated by writing these profiles about some of his creations for the Marvel Appendix!

Number One (Secret Empire leader)

Agent C (Hydra operative)

Bazooka Drill (S.H.I.E.L.D. device)

John Bronson (agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Senator Dudley (S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Council)

Hover-Limousine (Hydra vehicle)

Metronome Unit (S.H.I.E.L.D. devices)

Morpheus Grenade (S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon)

N.A.P. (S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle)

Porsche 904 (the original S.H.I.E.L.D. flying car)

S.H.I.E.L.D. Marine Division (sea-based S.H.I.E.L.D. squad)

Swamp Buggy (S.H.I.E.L.D. swamp vehicle)

Hydra Undersea Assault Force (Hydra frogman team)

Avengers Helicopter (Avengers aircraft)

Ben Clark (Korean War hero)

Delta Missile (King Arrkam's weapon)

Dreadnought Air-Yacht (Maximus' flagship)

Sea Sled (Inhumans vehicle)

Escape Sub (A.I.M. vehicle)

Hammer Hogan (Rawhide Kid foe)

Magneto's Giant Magnet (I can't wait to tell all my friends; they don't have a magnet this big)

X-Men Jetcopter (X-Men's aircraft)

M'Wabu (Wakandan servant)

The Phantom Whose Touch Means Death (Balder foe; have I mentioned his touch means death?)

Rhamu Rondi (Vision/Aarkus foe)

Shock-Roller (Avengers workout device)

Glenn Stuart (college football star, romance hero)

General von Ritzik (Howling Commandos foe)

X-13 (giant robot)

X-34 (intergalactic starship)

X-35 (X-Model robot)

X-29 (X-Model robot)

X-3 (X-Model robot)

Zarin (Polar Eternals)

Lifters (Makkari's device)

General Greshkov (Eternals character, Celestials foe)

Energy Bomb (Deviant anti-Celestial weapon)

The Delphan Brothers (Eternals, brawlers)

Brain-Mines (Deviant device/weapon)

Mr. Bradford (U.S. government, Eternals ally)

Air Shuttle (Deviant vehicle)

Aginar (Polar Eternal)

It's a Happy Canada Day on the Marvel Appendix!

Hapy Canada Day! To celebrate, I wrote a number of Canadian profiles based on characters from disparite corners of the Marvel Universe; there's Kerry Patrick (Canadian government liaison to Alpha Flight), Sea Gull Isle (Red Skull's Canadian base), James Matthews (Canadian vacationer, Marvel-Two-in-One character), Slug Gundy (Canadian Sub-Mariner foe), Lt. Clyde Favor (Canadian World War I hero), The Frozen Ghost (Canadian horror monster), Claude Dijon (Canadian Rawhide Kid foe), Marcel D'Ermonville (French-Canadian romance hero), Patrick Carter (Canadian RCMP officer) and Alberta Icecutters (Canadian hockey team, Kickers, Inc. foes).

Mark Gruenwald tribute on the Marvel Appendix

Yesterday was the anniversary of Mark Gruenwald's birthday; Gruenwald passed away 30 years ago this year. He was the single most influential writer on me - his editorials in Marvel Age opened up what writing in the comic book business was about and he gave practical behind-the-scenes descriptions of the considerations he put into his stories.

Of course, Gruenwald was also the originator of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, that beloved trove of character profiles. I began contributing to the Marvel Appendix during the website's first year and it was that association that led to my becoming a writer at Marvel Comics and contributing to the new version of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (among other comics) from 2004-2012. Although I quit working for Marvel, I've gradually resumed writing for the Appendix. To celebrate Gruenwald's life, yesterday I posted a character profile for each of Gruenwald's 5 best-known works: Dr. Jeannine O'Connell of Project: PEGASUS who appeared in Gruenwald's Marvel Two-in-One; Watchdog Prime, the supreme leader of the Watchdogs from Gruenwald's Captain America; The Institute of Evil, the rival faction of the Squadron Supreme in Gruenwald's well-loved mini-series; the Clinic for Paranormal Research, where most of Gruenwald's D.P.7 stories were set; and Master Elo an Eternal from Gruenwald's Quasar.

Rest in peace, Mr. Gruenwald.

Angola in the Comics #24: Jann of the Jungle

Well, here's a comic book story set in Angola - but it's not actually a comic! Jann of the Jungle #9 (1956) had a 2-page text story called "Law of the Jungle." Unfortunately, it had no images and the writer was not credited. But this is reasonably good use of Angola as it was evidently written by someone who knew a bit about the country, basing it in Chá Columba and demonstrating some knowledge of Portuguese. I've written a profile for the lead character, Eudardo Labarca on the Marvel Appendix!

Joseph of Arimathea at the Marvel Appendix

I decided to observe the Easter season this year by writing a profile about Joseph of Arimathea for the Marvel Appendix. He has an interesting history to write about because as a Biblical character (with a lot of Apocrypha written on him) and a major figure in Arthurian lore (because he's supposed to be the one who brought the Holy Grail to Britain), he tends to pop up in interesting places -- even in Marvel comics!

Christmas at the Marvel Appendix!

I wrote up a few new character profiles with a Christmas theme at the Unofficial Appendix to the Marvel Universe, my old stomping grounds. It includes Cool, a Psi-Force foe who fought them on Christmas; Elias Hodge, an Atlas horror character who was visited by the three Christmas ghosts yet refused to change; Shorty, an Atlas war hero who lived through a fight on Christmas Eve; Corporal Ryan, an Atlas crime character, a Mountie who solved a crime on Christmas; Mary Jane Bromley, an Atlas romance heroine who sought love at Christmas; and Marley, a Luke Cage foe with one Dickens of a gimmick. Merry Christmas!

Mark Gruenwald's birthday at the Marvel Appendix!

My friends at the Marvel Appendix are celebrating Mark Gruenwald's birthday today; he was the writer whose efforts behind projects such as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe were the single greatest inspiration on what we fans have enjoyed writing on Marvel characters (and, of course, inspired my career as Marvel Comics freelancer from 2004-2012).

To celebrate, I've written up a few profiles on characters from DP7, my personal favourite work of Gruenwald's; the profiles are: Receptor, Naslund and Thrust.

All all new profiles celebrating Gruenwald's birthday can be seen at the top of the update page right here!

Snoodiversary on the Marvel Appendix!

Today my friend Snood of the Marvel Appendix is celebrating his birthday so I decided to create an event to celebrate by featuring animal-themed profiles in lieu of his career in veterinary medicine. Check out Battle the dog, Combat Cat the cat, Flame the alien who posed as a dog, Frisky the dog, Gyrene the dog and Krauss the parrot owner. This impromptu plethora of profiles inspired my friend Proto-Man to contribute a few new profiles today too, you can see them all on the update page. Happy Snoodiversary, Snood!

Not of This World! event at the Marvel Appendix

We're hosting a special event this week at the Marvel Appendix - lots of new profiles about extraterrestrials of the Marvel Universe. So far a couple of mine have appeared: Kraggoom and Zo! You can see all of the event profiles on the update page!

Valentine's Day at the Marvel Appendix!

I hope you had a fine Valentine's Day! I've been stepping up my involvement at the Marvel Appendix website again and for the first time, I decided to contribute special Valentine's Day themed character profiles to the site. I chose four different Atlas comics characters because, for all that's changed in how I feel about Marvel, my love for Atlas never diminishes. The four represent different aspects of the Marvel universe; one is Zelda Coyne, the first romance comics character I've added to the site; another is Gwen Saunders, the first western romance character I've added to the site; third, I covered a horror character who happened to be a great romanic, Boris Zorrel; finally, I covered the main man himself, St. Valentine!

I hope you enjoy them!

New Marvel Appendix profiles!

I don't often update at the Marvel Appendix but here's a couple of new ones: Linda Donaldson and Number Nine, two members of the Secret Empire from very different incarnations. These were fun to write!

Marvel Appendix update: Xemnu the Titan!

I'm very happy to say that the Marvel Appendix has just updated its profile of Xemnu the Titan with his appearances from Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk, written up by yours truly. I truly enjoyed Immortal Hulk so I was happy to render an account of Xemnu's appearances in those stories. Xemnu has often been treated as a comedic villain, which makes Ewing's successful horror take on him all the more impressive.

New Appendix profiles

It has been a little while but I'm contributing a few profiles to the Appendix now and then. Here's three new entries I created: 3-21 (a Captain America foe); Viking (a Hulk foe); and Mark 12 Sonic Depressor (a Hulk device). I'm always happy to continue my involvement with the Appendix and hope I'll have more to share in the future!

Marvel Appendix 20th Anniversary Wrap-Up!

Today is the final day of the month-long celebration of the Marvel Appendix's 20th year! All of the profiles I created to celebrate this occasion are now available online. Here's what I created for the event:

• AIDA (of Earth-712)
• AIDA (of Earth-199999)
• Arizona Kid
• Belag
• Clete Brandon
• Creighton H. Craven
• Major Cullen
• King David
• Dean "Deadman" Donnelly
• Gargantus
• Goliath
• Happy Hicks
• Hugo
• 'Lash' Larribee
• Laser-cannon
• Bobby Lathrop
• Jim Lathrop
• Marie Lathrop
• Cliff Macklin
• Nan Macklin
• Marak
• Mobius M. Mobius
• Private Tim O'Toole
• Omoro
• Packrat Pete
• Phil Parker
• Regulator
• Sigmar
• Spy Fighters
• Ted Stark
• Professor Stromm
• Lu Sun
• Freddy Sykes
• Adam Tyler
• Zadixx
• Zakka

Again, happy 20th Appendix!

Happy 20th Anniversary, Marvel Appendix!

Everyone at the Marvel Appendix is celebrating the website's 20th anniversary! As one of the site's earliest contributors I was certainly happy to take part in the event. I wrote a few dozen profiles which you'll see over the next few days on the new stuff page! For now you'll notice my profiles on Headline Hunter, Lash Larribee and Jim Lathrop! More will come over the next week as the celebrations continue!

RIP: David Anthony Kraft

Last week on May 19th, David Anthony Kraft passed away. He was a comic book writer who worked primarily for Marvel Comics in the 1970s and 80s.

My school and public libraries had copies of a 4-volume set he wrote - books about Spider-Man, Captain America, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk - which reprinted classic stories featuring those characters alongside Kraft's histories. In those days libraries carried precious few books about comic books, so those four were books I treasured.

Kraft is likely going to be best-remembered for his work on Defenders, particularly for the span of issues drawn by Keith Giffen (back in his faux Kirby days) which included an epic story with the Zodiac as its villains. It's an offbeat story - certainly following in the footsteps of Steve Gerber's work - and maybe the peak of Kraft's quality. His very goofy 'Defenders for a Day' was another memorable tale.

He also co-created Devil-Slayer, the character so nice, they created him thrice! I wrote about the oddity behind Devil-Slayer's many recreations here.

Kraft also ran the magazine Comics Interview, which ran lengthy interviews with major comic book personalities. They've become invaluable as a historical record and insight into comic book creators.

As a quick tribute for the Marvel Appendix, I wrote up a profile on a minor character from Kraft's Savage She-Hulk: Jill Stevens.

Rest in peace, Mr. Kraft.

Black Panther character profiles at the Marvel Appendix

The Marvel Appendix recently published two new profiles of a pair of supporting characters from Black Panther: Ogun and Kunta, written by yours truly. I hope to write up a few more interesting Wakandans in the weeks and months to come.

Day of the Spider

There's a mini-event going on at the Marvel Appendix today because it's the "Day of the Spider." To that end, I've submitted a profile on one of the Black Rider's enemies, The Spider. I'll be posting entries on the Appendix a little more frequently now. It's good to be back!

Humor profiles at the Marvel Appendix!

My friends at the Marvel Appendix are currently hosting a special humor event, featuring profiles of characters from various humorous titles throughout Marvel Comics history.

My own contributions went up today: The Imp, Little Hercules, Stuporman and Super Baby! It's a fun little event and I hope you enjoy the profiles!

A certain tribute to Joe Sinnott

I missed that this had gone up -- back on the day of Joe Sinnott's death I wrote a new profile for the Marvel Appendix, and they got it up right away but I didn't notice it until just now. It's a profile of a one-shot character, Papa Roberti. I hope you enjoy the tribute.