JL #42 "Universal Heroes" Forward (2)

So let's keep talking about Universal Monsters.....

As I was explaining yesterday, I always wanted to write a JLA vs Universal Monsters story. However, getting into the details of it proved difficult. Clearly, I should use Superman vs Frankenstein, Batman vs Dracula, and Aquaman vs the Creature. Other than those pairings, though, who to use?

I went the other way, and decided to look at which Universal Monsters to use. Besides the big three characters mentioned above, I wanted the Phantom of the Opera, the Mummy, and the Wolf-Man. And The Bride of Frankenstein was always one of my favorites, too. That gave me seven, which was a workable group. As back-ups I pencilled in the Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde.

For a specific plot point which will be made clear when you read the story, I could  not use Green Lantern or Martian Manhunter. So then I started thinking about what they would be doing while their friends are fighting monsters. Eventually I settled on them meeting up with the Royal Flush Gang, and from there I decided to use Wonder Woman, Black Canary, and the Flash in *that* story.

So there were my members, as shown above. I wrote the story, and sent the layout pages to Andy for him to illustrate. He sent them back to me and I did some additional background inks, plus a few pages I illustrated myself.

And I talked to my friends Tim, Corey, and Andy, and I got the following fantastic pieces of art.

cover variant #1 by Andy Kapellusch

cover variant #2 by Tim Wallace

Aquaman vs The Creature by Corey Hodgdon

 Be back tomorrow for the actual story! Hopefully you will find that it was worth the wait!!