Panel Vision - Kickers Inc

Edited by Robert Beach

This Sunday marks the special occasion of Super Bowl 50. All across the nation, the people of America gather round TV sets, bars, and in a stadium to view the epic clash of titans between um…two different sports teams. I’m pretty sure. Okay, obviously I’m a geek and not terribly interested in sports. I know a bit because I grew up in the triple threat area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts where if you don’t support your local sports team, you’re basically screwed. 

So while I know enough to root for the Patriots whenever they make it big, I honestly couldn’t tell you who’s playing at this major event. However, I’ve always maintained a weird affection for the bizarre ephemera of sports, mainly because they’re essentially a pitched battle of physical skill and strategy between two groups in colorful costumes. That’s pretty similar to a superhero set-up and, in 1986, Marvel had that same idea and so the world was gifted Kickers Inc. The greatest gift we could receive. 

Cover Story - Top 13 Strangest Sports Story Covers

So, at the time of writing Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is blowing up theaters with its only major competition the quickly rising star of the boxing film Creed, a spin-off/follow-up to the Rocky franchise.  The fact that November is being essentially dominated by sports films (wasn’t there a James Bond movie this month? Does anyone remember that?) isn’t really a surprise but it does leave me in sort of a rut covers wise.  There are plenty of sports based comics, mainly from the ‘50s when superheroes didn’t dominate the medium, but they’re all pretty generic.  However, in the ‘60s when Marvel comics was born and fundamentally changed the comics landscape forever something strange started happening. 

In an attempt to compete horizontally with Marvel DC started producing stranger iterations of its ’50s comic line.  Now fundamental characters like Flash, Adam Strange, and Martian Manhunter emerged from an attempt to reintegrate superheroes into the weird science books that had been DC’s stock and trade for so long.  DC also applied this idea to the all purpose manly adventures they published like cowboys, war stories, and sports.  So, in 1963 the quasi-brand of Strange Sports Stories was born.  It didn’t last long at the time but DC has always sort of obsessed over it, even resurrecting the brand in the ‘70s and in recent years.