Team-Up!

Kablam! That’s the sucker punch when comic book creative team creates a knockout panel that hits your senses. In this arena of geekdom, the dynamic duo of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale is a heavyweight. Their work has gone beyond paper and is now found on the supreme hit TV show Heroes. Loeb is co-executive producer and writer for the show, while Tim Sale vividly illustrates the paintings of prophet Isaac Mendez. Yet, before tackling present-day heroes, this team started drawing super men from modern pop yore, namely the likes of Superman and Spiderman.

As if handling these icons wasn’t daunting enough, this awesome twosome has embarked on a reinvention of the past — not just once, but several times. This, you might be thinking, is career suicide because tweaking the classics just a bit can prove to be disastrous. Just think of all the recent post-millennium versions of your cherished ‘80s cartoons such as GI Joe, Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In their newfound grit glory, these Saturday morning favorites have become parodies of themselves. The only grit they got is the type that deserves to be flushed away.

Saving the Day!

However, the super team of Loeb-Sale saves the day by clonking us in the head in true comic-book fashion about what makes these characters great — the characters around them, without the baggage of comic history jargon. Superman wouldn’t be the champion of his day without Lois Lane falling from the 50-story Daily Planet building or villain Lex Luthor there to cause the fall. More importantly, these storytellers remind us that what makes these heroes super is the sacrifice they make for others. It is the loss suffered by Batman that drives him to prowl the streets at night and makes heroes such as the Hulk transform his skin color from flesh to green. This lesson about sacrifice can change ordinary men into supreme beings, and it’s essentially what make these reimagined classics classic in their own right.

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Batman Long Halloween:

Plot: Set during Batman’s first year of crime-fighting, the Dark Knight is on the trail of Holiday, a serial killer who is making the Gotham mob sleep with the fishes every big holiday of the month. Every crime scene is left with a holiday gift.

What makes it a classic: It goes back to Batman’s roots as a detective, as readers try to figure out who Holiday is before their beloved bat does. This is Batman’s long Halloween as he scrambles to prevent another death before it happens. His friends from Arkham Asylum (Joker, Penguin, Poison Ivy, etc.) also appear as guest stars just to rack his brain some more.

Classic quote: “Everything around me is A LIE. Carmine ‘The Roman’ Falcone, Gotham City’s untouchable Crime Lord, is throwing a society wedding for his nephew Johnny Viti. It seems like only yesterday when The Roman tried to get a hired knife slid between his nephew’s ribs.” — Batman

Superman For All Seasons

Plot: Paralleling the four seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, smallville Clark Kent is undergoing drastic changes within his life, such as gaining superpowers and moving to the metropolis that will make him bloom into the hero we all know and love.

What makes it a classic: Essentially, Superman is more human than his Gotham teammate. Loeb-Sale takes us back to the time when Clark learns that his hair is sturdier than the barber’s scissors and discovers the grime of metropolitan life in the figure of Lex Luthor. Yet, the twist is that each issue is told from the perspective of mere mortals (Pa Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang) to piece together the colorful facets of this superman as son, savior, foreign invader, and beacon of hope.

Classic quote: “You know what I really wanted to call him? ‘Too Good To Be True.’”— Lois Lane on Superman

Daredevil Yellow

Plot: Traumatized by the murder of his love interest and secretary Karen Page by Bullseye, Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil) reevaluates his role as a crusader by writing a letter to Karen about his past.

What makes it a classic: Loeb’s words truly capture Daredevil as a blind man with heightened senses; every word from Matt Murdock overflows with emotion, from the homicide of his father to his reaction on learning his best friend Foggy intends to propose marriage to Karen Page.

Classic quote: “The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked down to the mat; it is how he gets up!” — Daredevil on his boxer dad Jack Murdock’s motto in the ring.

Batman Dark Victory

Plot: Long Halloween’s sequel has Batman faced with a new villain named Hangman who is killing off cops every month and leaving hangman messages as clues.

What makes it a classic: It’s another murder mystery with all new suspects to accuse. It also shows the fall of the mob and the rise of super-psycho freaks in Gotham. Yet Batman doesn’t do it alone, as the origin of Robin is also retold.

Classic quote: “Look at me, Ma! Top of the world!” — Joker ambushing the mob on Mother’s Day (itself a quote from the Jimmy Cagney mob film, White Heat).

Hulk Grey

Plot: Bruce Banner is on the run and trying to make sense of his green alter-ego by talking to his psychiatrist friend Dr. Samson about why the Hulk changes his skin color and the common interest he shares with his inner monster, which is Betty Ross.

What makes it a classic: Hulk is given more depth by being portrayed as a pathetic Frankenstein monster who cannot figure out “Why Betty No Love Hulk?” If you are looking for action, the tussle between Tin Man-era Iron Man and Hulk is simply smashing.

Classic quote: “Don’t excuse the Hulk’s behavior as ‘an accident.’ Don’t excuse the Hulk for anything.” — Bruce Banner

Spider-Man Blue

Plot: Peter Parker reminiscing about the late Gwen Stacy who originally rocked his world before Mary Jane Watson through a personal monologue via tape recorder.

What makes it a classic: cat fight! As dangerous as Spider-Man’s menagerie of villains (Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Scorpion, etc.) are those things that keep our hero’s heart racing throughout this miniseries — such as what to do about his feelings for Gwen and MJ.

Classic quote: “Just because I had ‘spider’ sense didn’t mean I had common sense.” — Spider-Man on having trouble smooth talking Gwen Stacy