Derf's Picks of the Week (August 20, 2025)

 

Welcome to another wonderful day of new comics.

Do you have any titles that have been calling your name yet?

The one I am interested in the most this week is

the one-shot, Marvel All-On-One #1.

I guess it's Clobbering Time.

Speaking of time, let's check out my picks this week.

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DARK HORSE

Resident Alien: The Book of Changes #1

The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #2

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DC COMICS

Absolute Batman #11

Absolute Flash #6

Batman / Superman: World's Finest #42

Justice League Red #1

Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #3

Nightwing #129

Superman Unlimited #4

Titans #26

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IDW

Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1

Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #5

TMNT: Journeys #1

TMNT: Mutant Nation #9

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IMAGE

The Cold Witch: A Tale of the Shrouded College #4

Escape #1

Ghost Pepper #2

G.I. Joe #10

Gunslinger Spawn #46

Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #4

Witchblade #13

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MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #10

Black Cat #1

Exceptional X-Men #12

Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #2

Marvel All-On-One #1

Psylocke #10

All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1

Star Wars #4

Venom: Black, White & Blood #1

Wolverine #12

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Well, that's all I have for this week.

I hope you found something that tickled your fancy.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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Comic Cover of the Week

Black Cat #1

MARVEL

Cover Art by Adam Hughes

Derf's Picks of the Week (June 18, 2025)

 

How is your week going?

Mine is better now because it's New Comic Book Day! 

Is there anything specific you are waiting for?

Well, here re the titles that I am interested in.

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DARK HORSE

Stranger Things & Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire #4

Usagi Yojimbo: Ten Thousand Plums #4

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DC COMICS

Absolute Flash #4

Batman / Superman: World's Finest #40

Detective Comics #1098

Nightwing #127

The New Gods #7

Superman Unlimited #2

Titans #24

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DYNAMITE

Gargoyles: Demona #1

The Herculoids #5

Red Sonja Attacks Mars #3

Red Sonja: Noir #1

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IDW

Star Trek: Omega #1

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IMAGE

Bug Wars #5

G.I. Joe #8

Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2

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MARVEL

Aliens vs. Avengers #4

The Amazing Spider-Man #6

The Avengers #27

Bring on the Bad Guys: Doom #1

Emma Frost: The White Queen #1

Fantastic Four Fanfare #2

Godzilla vs. Avengers #1

Gwenpool #2

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #9

Power Man: Timeless #4

Psylocke #8

Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #2

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra – Chaos Agent #1

Weapon X-Men #5

West Coast Avengers #8

Wolverine #10

X-Men #18

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Well, that's it for this week.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

GWENPOOL #2 (FANTASTIC! VARIANT)

MARVEL

Cover Art by Joshua Cassara 

Derf's Picks of the Week (May 21, 2025)

 

Apologies to all my fellow comic lovers.

While I was going through my drafts, 

I noticed I never posted my picks for the week of May 21.  

So, here they are.  

Better late than never I suppose.

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DARK HORSE

Ghostbusters: Dead Man's Chest #1

RoboWolf #1

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #18

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DC COMICS

Absolute Flash #3

Batman / Superman: World's Finest #39

Batman and Robin: Year One #7

DC x Sonic the Hedgehog #3

Detective Comics #1097

Nightwing #126

Superman Unlimited #1

Wonder Woman #21

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DYNAMITE

The Terminator #7

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IDW

Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #3

Star Trek: Defiant #27

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IMAGE

Bug Wars #4

The Curse of Sherlee Johnson #1

Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger Spawn #6

Medieval Spawn #2

Moonshine Bigfoot #2

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MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #4

Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #5

Doom Academy #4

Exceptional X-Men #9

Fantastic Four #32

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #8

Spider-Man & Wolverine #1

Star Wars: The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #4

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #4

Superior Avengers #2

The Thing #1

Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #5

Weapon X-Men #4

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Well, there you have it.

Apologies for posting this later than usual.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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Comic Cover of the Week

Superman Unlimited #1 (Variant)

DC Comics

Cover Art by Sebastián Fiumara

2025 Free Comic Book Day

 

Free Comic Book Day is May 3, 2025.

This post is to let you know what books are available.

I am sure you will find  something that will bring you joy.

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BOOM!

BOOM! Studios 20th Anniversary Special #1

 Power Rangers / VR Troopers #1

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DARK HORSE

Critical Role / Black Hammer #1

Star Wars – Young Jedi Adventures / Avatar – The Last Airbender #1

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DC COMICS

 DC All In / Absolute Universe Special Edition #1

Superman's Good Guy Gang Special Edition #1

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DYNAMITE

Gargoyles – Demona #0

 ThunderCats / The Powerpuff Girls #0

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IDW

 Godzilla – The New Heroes #1

 IDW Dark – Find Your New Fear #1

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IMAGE

 Energon Universe 2025 Special #1

 Transformers – Worst Bot Ever #1

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MARVEL

Amazing Spider-Man / Ultimate Universe #1

Fantastic Four / Giant-Size X-Men #1

Ironheart / Marvel’s Voices #1

Iron Man & His Awesome Friends / Spidey & His Amazing Friends #1

Star Wars #1

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Derf's Picks of the Week (July 31, 2024)

 

Last Week of Comics for July.

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BOOM!

Firefly 'Verses #1

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1

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DC COMICS

Absolute Power: Task Force VII #3

Red Hood: The Hill #6

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IDW

Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Manda #1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green #3

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IMAGE

Sam and Twitch: Case Files #5

Spawn #355

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MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #54

Annihilation 2099 #5

Black Widow: Venomous #1

Blood Hunt #5

Fantastic Four #22

Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt #3

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #3

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #4

Star Wars: Darth Maul - Black, White & Red #4

Ultimate Spider-Man #7

X-Force #1

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #4

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   That's all for the last week of July.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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Comic Cover of the Week

Fantastic Four #22

MARVEL

Cover Art by Alex Ross

Derf's Picks of the Week (July 5, 2023)

 

It's the first week of July and we have new comics to explore.

I wonder if July will  prove to be a better month for comics?

Let's find out.

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BOOM!

Grim #11

Once Upon a Time at the End of the World #7

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DARK HORSE

Barnstormers #1

Survival #3

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DC COMICS

Knight Terrors: Batman #1

Knight Terrors: Black Adam #1

Knight Terrors: First Blood #1

Knight Terrors: The Joker #1

Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy #1

Knight Terrors: Ravager #1

Peacemaker Tries Hard! #3

Steelworks #2

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IDW

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Dog of War #4

Star Trek: Defiant #5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game #8

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IMAGE

Monstress #45

Spawn #343

Swan Songs #1

Torrent #5

Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland #1

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MARVEL

Captain America #750

Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #1

Clobberin' Time #5

Daredevil #13

Doctor Strange #5

Edge of Spider-Verse #4

Extreme Venomverse #4

Fantastic Four #9

Marvel Zero #1

Spider-Man #10

Star Wars #36

Star Wars: Yoda #9

Thor Annual #1

Venom #22

Venom: Lethal Protector II #5

X-23: Deadly Regenesis #5

X-Men #24

X-Men: Before the Fall - Sinister Four #1

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Phew!  This is one long list, lol.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: D'Spayre

Spooktacular Greetings Ghouls and Goblins,

'Tis time for another Saturday Showcase and I can think of none better than the villain D'Spayre to close out October and celebrate all things Halloween.  The idea for this post came to me when I was looking at future Marvel Legends figures that were announced and I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a D'Spayre figure and here we are.  So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the tale of D'Spayre.

D'Spayre is a creation of the Dweller-in-Darkness, a powerful demon who created him to act as an agent on Earth while the Dweller-in-Darkness is banished from Earth.  D'Spayre tends to prey on victims who are in despair, using their fear and despair to strengthen himself. He terrorizes Scott Summers and Lee Forrester after Lee's father committed suicide, but is defeated by Summers who resists D'Spayre's illusions and finds resolve in the memory of Jean Grey.

This resolve fuels the creature known as Man-Thing who attacks D'Spayre and D'Spayre flees.  He then attacks Doctor Strange when Strange is feeling distraught over separation from his girlfriend Clea, but Strange defeats D'Spayre as well, the first of many battles between the two of them.

Over the years, D'Spayre has tried to bring many heroes to despair, resulting in numerous failures. In one instance, he manipulates the Fear Lords, powerful demons and gods who feed upon humanity's fears into creating the Great Fear. With their powers combined, the Fear Lords believe that they can plunge humanity into a permanent state of terror. Most Fear Lords are defeated by Doctor Strange, but Nightmare and the Dweller-in-Darkness manage to create the Great Fear. They then discover that D'Spayre has been manipulating them, as the Great Fear causes so much terror in humans that they stop fearing and succumb to despair, thereby feeding D'Spayre who becomes more powerful than the two of them. Doctor Strange manages to stop D'Spayre, while the Fear Lords flee.

Powers and Abilities

D'Spayre's demonic nature provides him with superhuman strength and durability and the ability to levitate himself and to travel between dimensions.  He also has the mystical ability to instill fear in human beings and to draw psychic sustenance from the fear, anguish, and despondency suffered by human beings, and other mystical abilities. He has telepathic abilities enabling him to perceive a victim's psychological vulnerabilities and to project illusions into the victim's mind. He has a vulnerability to physical harm when weakened by lack of psychic sustenance, and his powers rely on people hearing his words, allowing the deaf Echo to defeat him.

D'Spayre created Darklight (also known as "D-Lite"), an addictive drug inducing pain in its victims.

Publication Information

• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #68 (April 1978)
• Created by Chris Claremont & John Byrne

Other Information

• Species:  Demon
• Team Affiliations:  Fear Lords
• Notable Aliases:  D'Spayre often masquerades as persons trusted by his victims

Until next time, get your READ on!

Derf's Picks of the Week (May 12, 2021)

 

It's my favorite time of the week, New Comics!  

I hope you see something you will enjoy.

DC Comics:

Batman: The Detective #2

Batman: Urban Legends #3

Future State: Gotham #1

The Joker #3

Justice League: Last Ride #1

Rorschach #8

Superman #31

Wonder Woman #772

MARVEL:

Black Cat #6

Fantastic Four #32

Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom #1

Heroes Reborn #2

Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow #2

Star Wars #13

Star Wars: The High Republic #5

X-Factor #9

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Agatha Harkness

 

    Well for those of you watching WandaVision, it appears the cat is out of the bag.  If you have not been a Marvel fan since the '70's, you maybe a little lost right now. So, let me explain exactly who Agatha Harkness is with my Saturday Showcase.

    Agatha Harkness was first introduced as the governess of Franklin Richards.  She easily fended off the Frightful Four when they came to abduct Franklin Richards, and admitted to the Fantastic Four that she is a witch. She then aided the Fantastic Four in battle against Annihilus. (Fantastic Four#109-110)

    Through the actions of her son Nicholas Scratch, she was revealed as being a member of the previously unknown New Salem, Colorado, a colony of witches of whom she had been the leader. Scratch had taken control of the town and had persuaded its inhabitants that Agatha had betrayed the community's secrets by working for the Fantastic Four. She was abducted and taken back to the community with Franklin so that she might be put on trial. (F4 #185) The Fantastic Four followed and came into conflict with the Salem's Seven, Agatha's grandchildren that were fathered by Scratch. The Fantastic Four defeated them and freed Agatha. In the process, Scratch's evil was revealed to the community of New Salem and he was banished to another dimension. (F4 #186) Agatha became the magical tutor for the Scarlet Witch in the use of witchcraft. (the Avengers #128)

    Scratch and Salem's Seven returned, and Agatha foiled their attempt to conquer the world. (F4 Annual #14) Eventually Salem's Seven took over the New Salem community again. They captured Agatha and killed her by burning her at the stake, though Agatha soon made her presence known to Wanda in what appeared to be a post-death astral form. In an ensuing battle between the Scarlet Witch and Salem's Seven, the entire community's energies were drawn into Vertigo of the Seven, who lost control of them. Wanda managed to capture some of the energy and funnel it away, but the entire town was still decimated. Following hints from Agatha's astral form, Wanda channeled the remaining energy to become pregnant with her husband’s, The Vision, children. (Vision and Scarlet Witch Vol. 2, #3)

    Once again, Agatha resurfaced, again alive and well, when Wanda's infant children began exhibiting odd behavior (disappearing for brief periods of time) and Wanda became unstable after her husband's dismantling; Agatha provided no explanation for her return. (Avengers West Coast #51)   After Mephisto claimed that Scarlet Witch's children were actually fragments of his own soul and reabsorbs them, Agatha briefly mind-wiped Wanda's memory of her children in an attempt to help her deal with the trauma. 

Agatha Harkness

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First appearance: Fantastic Four #94 (January 1970)

Created by: Stan Lee (writer) &Jack Kirby (artist)

Species: Human/Witch

Team affiliations: Daughters of Liberty

Partnerships: Fantastic Four

                         Scarlet Witch

Abilities: Highly skilled magic user

Saturday Showcase: Psycho-Man

 

    For my devoted followers, you know I play the game Marvel: Contest of Champions.  Recently they added one of my favorite villains of all time, Psycho-Man. He was mainly used as a villain to fight the Fantastic Four, but he has had run-ins with the Avengers, Spider-Man, Cable, and the Micronauts to name a few.  Well, when I saw him in the game, I knew I had to make him star in my latest Saturday Showcase.  So, sit back and enjoy reading the origins and abilities of the villain known as Psycho-Man.

    Psycho-Man first appears in the 1967 Fantastic Four Annual #5, as the leader of a technocracy that governs a microscopic system of worlds in the Microverse.  Due to overpopulation on these worlds, the character decides that the macroscopic world will be an ideal new base. Using technology from the mainstream universe, Psycho-Man remains microscopic in size but is able to function by controlling a suit of advanced human-sized armor. Using a portable device capable of influencing people's emotions, Psycho-Man enslaves a number of human subjects to build a larger version of the machine, with the intent of subjugating the world. The plan, however, is thwarted by Fantastic Four members the Human Torch and the Thing, by the Royal Family of the Inhumans and by the Black Panther; Psycho-Man is forced to retreat back to the Microverse.

    He eventually reappears and causes all kinds of havoc in the Macroverse including using his emotions machine to bring forth Malice against the Fantastic Four.  Which, in the long run, he loses and the Fantastic Four remain victorious and the Universe is saved.

    We have also witnessed heroes such as Spider-Man and Cable travel to the Microverse to put an end to the mad man's plans.  My favorite story arc is from issues 38 and39 of the Cable series.  In fact, one of my favorite Cable comic covers is issue 38.  Psycho-Man just looks so bad ass!

Publication Information

• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• First Appearance: Fantastic Four Annual #5 (Nov. 1967)
• Created by: Stan Lee (writer) & Jack Kirby (artist)

Origin and Abilities

• Place of Origin: Traan
• Abilities:  

1.     Genius-level intellect 
2.     Use of powered armor 
3.     Possesses a futuristic space vessel 
4.     Emotion manipulation via emotion-controlling device

Derf's Picks of the Week (August 5, 2020)

Empyre #4 (F4 Variant)

Sorry my picks are coming to you two days late.  This work week for me has been strange.

So, let's just get straight to the point.

BOOM!

JIM HENSON STORYTELLER GHOSTS #4 (OF 4)

DC COMICS

BATMAN #96

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE #3

DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL – LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHTS #1

DC CLASSICS: THE BATMAN ADVENTURES #3

DCeased: DEAD PLANET #2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #50

STRANGE ADVENTURES #4

IDW

USAGI YOJIMBO #11

IMAGE

FIRE POWER #1

MARVEL

ANT-MAN #4 (OF 5)

AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #4 (OF 5)

EMPYRE #4 (OF 6)

EMPYRE HANDBOOK #1

EMPYRE X-MEN #2 (OF 4)

FANTASTIC FOUR #22

GIANT SIZE X-MEN FANTOMEX #1

STAR WARS #5

Well, that's my picks for the Week of August 5, 2020.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Impossible Man

the Impossible Man

    It's a my first showcase of 2020 and I wanted to make it spectacular.  So, I put some thought into who I was going to showcase and I couldn't pick just one.  So, I went to the movies with some friends to clear my head.  Before the movies, we went to a local bookstore and I came across a Marvel trade that was on sale and the light bulb in my head went off and my heart exploded with delight.  This was the answer I was looking for.  The trade was a collection of the one and only Impossible Man.  The Impossible Man is one of my favorite characters every to grace the pages of the Fantastic Four and X-Men.  So, without further rambling, here is my Saturday Showcase of Impossible Man.

the many talents of the Impossible Man

    The Impossible Man is a Poppupian from the planet Poppup and has shape-shifting abilities. The Impossible Man character is mainly used for comedy, portrayed as a lonely, attention seeking alien that often annoys those around him, especially the Fantastic Four. The Impossible Man first appeared in Fantastic Four #11 (February 1963), and was created by writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Jack Kirby. 

1st Appearance: Fantastic Four #11 ('63)

   The Impossible Man's alien physiology gives the character the ability to take on virtually any form via molecular rearrangement, an effect commonly accompanied by a "Pop!" sound effect. He can mirror the properties of objects or super-powered beings he shape-shifts into.   The nickname, the Impossible Man, actually came from the fact that the Thing once called him "impossible".  He also has the ability to teleport across vast interstellar distances and even dimensions.

    The Impossible Man once battled the New Mutants' Warlock to determine whose shape-shifting ability was superior, a contest Warlock won when he showed he was able to change his colors to match those of the forms he mimics, while the Impossible Man could not.  This was not the case when he first appeared, he was able to change his colors but for some reason Marvel thought it would be best if he could not.  Besides shape-shifting, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Earth's popular culture. Which he uses to "bore" is adversaries at times.

Impossible Man Vs Warlock

VITALS:
Publisher: Marvel Comics
First appearance: Fantastic Four #11 (Feb, 1963)
Created by: Stan Lee (writer) & Jack Kirby (artist)
Species: Poppupian
Team affiliations: Lethal Legion
Abilities:  Shape-shifting and super-power mimicry
                 Teleportation

                 Possesses encyclopedic knowledge of Earth's culture

Round 1

    Well, I hope you enjoyed this showcase about the "villain" known as the Impossible Man.  He was one of my childhood favorites and I would love to see him make some kind of appearance in a future Marvel Studios project.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Comic Cover of the Week (12/11/19)

Comic Cover of the Week

Fantastic Four #17 (2020 Variant)

MARVEL

Cover Art by Khoi Pham

Saturday Showcase: Super-Skrull

Super Skrull Vs the Illuminati 

    With all the talk about the release of Captain Marvel this week, I figured now would be a great time to showcase one of my favorite villains from back in the day.  We all know the skrulls will make their debut in the film about Carol Danvers, but their is one Skrull in particular that I am a fan of.  That Skrull's name is Kl'rt, but you may also know him as the Super-Skrull.

    Kl'rt is from Tarnax IV (in the Tarnax system of the Andromeda Galaxy) and was given the combined powers of the Fantastic Four so that he could destroy them once and for all so that the Skrulls could conquer Earth.  Although he was a powerful villain, he has always been conquered only to return to reek havoc on other heroes in his conquest of the Earth.  He has stood toe to toe with the Hulk and Thor and has still lived to talk about it.  He is very powerful, don't get me wrong, he just hasn't gotten the edge on the heroes...yet.

    Kl'rt is a character created by the late Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  He was first introduced to the world back in September of 1963 in issue #18 of the Fantastic Four.  He has been giving Marvel hell ever since.

Super-Skrull first appeared in Fantastic Four #18 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

   Some of Kl'rt's powers and abilities include: shape-shifting (like all Skrulls) but, thanks to his re-engineering by Skrull scientists, he has versions of the Fantastic Four's superpowers. These include greater malleability; superhuman strength, stamina and durability; flight, heat manipulation and energy projection (in the forms of plasma, concussive force and anti-matter blasts); invisibility and the creation of invisible force fields. He has developed his expertise over time. The Super-Skrull also has a unique power: the ability to control the minds of others or paralyze them by emitting hypnotic force from his eyes. 

   Kl'rt may be an impressive specimen, but he isn't the only Super-Skrull as we would later find out in the Secret Invasion story-line from Marvel Comics (2008-2009).  Some of these skrulls included versions of  Dr. Strange, Ghost Rider, Elektra, Spider-Woman, Colossus, and Giant Man to name a few.

Secret Invasion: the new breed of Super-Skrulls 

    Although we know that Kl'rt is no longer the only Super-Skrull, we also know that he was the original.  That is why I will always think of him as the one and only Super-Skrull.  He was the one that I watched battle my favorite heroes as a child so he holds that place in my heart.  I just hoe you can find room in your heart to learn more about Kl'rt, the Super-Skrull.  

Kl'rt Vs The Ultimates

    As I wrap up this week's showcase, I can only think to myself about how the Captain Marvel movie should at least mention him as he was known in the Skrull army, and that is as General Kl'rt.  I can understand if he wasn't super yet since Disney just recently bought back the Fantastic Four rights from Sony.  So there is always the possibility of an F4 film to take on the Skrulls (one can dream).  

Until next time, get your READ on!

Super-Skrull Victorious?