Episode 095, “Showdown!”
X-Men #113, September 1978
“Showdown!”
Written by Chris Claremont, Pencils by John Byrne, Inks by Terry Austin, Lettered by A. Kawecki, Edited by Roger Stern, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter
Every Mutt Has His Day!
In Which We Discover That Scott Needs To Use His Words When He Makes Boom Boom, That If You Give Storm A Bowl Of Cherries You’ll Get Back A Pile Of Bowline and Hitch Knots, And That With Four Opposable Thumbs No One Should Be Surprised That The Beast Gets So Handsy!
It Is Not The Heat That Gets Magneto It Is The Lack Of Humidity!
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In 1907, Harry Conway “Bud” Fisher began publishing his A. Mutt strip atop the racing page of the San Francisco Chronicle. This recurring character won and lost horse bets (mostly lost) right into the hearts of readers, who soon demanded he appear daily. And thus the daily horizontal strip was born.
In 1908, Fisher was hired away from the Chronicle by William Randolph Hearst for his San Francisco Examiner. Before he left, Bud Fisher retired his character from horse gambling, but more importantly he also managed to sneak his name and copyright into the lower right corner, insuring he would maintain complete control over his character.
The popularity of the daily Mutt and Jeff (Jeff came on board in 1908) led to Hearst distributing it to papers around country. This was such big business that Hearst launched a company just to syndicate comic strips, King Features. Soon all comic strips were distributed by King and similar syndicates, which continue to dominate how comic strips get into newspapers to this day. Bud Fisher’s art and storytelling continue to improve, as can be seen in these strip from the 1910s.
In 1913, Bud created the Bud Fisher Film Corporation and went on to create over 300 Mutt and Jeff film productions. Above is sample from 1926, titled “Dog Gone”. Between his highly lucrative syndication deal and film company, Bud Fisher became an extremely wealthy man. The first comic strip millionaire.
In July 1934, Mutt and Jeff was put into a collection of newspaper strip comics, collected into a four-color newsstand periodical. This was the very first comic book and Mutt and Jeff got the very first cover.
For one brief, shining moment, Magneto became the master of pancake batter.
Is this a 70s X-ploitation movie? Look at that collar and gold chain.
Equine brushes? You should be picking out my nits, woman!
Best not to ask Ororo why her mechanical pencil is always damp.
She thought she could handle Terms of Endearment and Old Yeller back to back. She was wrong.
Magneto’s one man show, The Wonders of Passover, is not to be missed.
And what if I told you the X-men comic is simply the tale of 7 distinct personality manifestations that all takes place inside Jean Grey’s head? Clearly Scott represents her narrow vision and total whineyness.
Magneto asked Wolverine to get that one spot he couldn’t reach. Wolverine scratched everywhere but. Jerk move.
Every time you think how cool it would be to have a tail, think about this panel.
Also, think about pooping, but mostly this panel.
If the Beast makes a beast with two backs, is it a beast with three backs?
