ED MCGUINNESS

This Magazine Kills Fascists looks at times that comic books and superheroes have dealt with tyrannical, corrupt and outright fascist world leaders — not because we think we can find a solution, but because art can provide inspiration in the face of oppression. Today, for absolutely no reason at all, we're going to talk about the time a violent and unqualified businessman was raised up to a position of global importance and how he used it to give his unqualified criminal friends jobs, swindle America and was ultimately brought down by his own fragile ego. Like I said... no reason at all.

On December 11th 1990, Marvel Comics published New Mutants #98 by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, which introduced the world to a mercenary in a bright red costume, by the name of Deadpool. Over time, Deadpool would transform from the grim gun-for-hire he was introduced as, to one of the most recognizable characters in all of superhero comics, thanks to his quick mouth and his liberal disregard for the conventions of the genre.

It’s that blessed time of the year where we all try to take stock of what we’ve done with our lives and what other people have created that we enjoyed. That's right, it's time to start putting together our "Best of 2016" lists, and today we're going to take a look at the Best Marvel Covers of 2016.

Before there were heroes, there were monsters. Or at least that's how the story of Marvel Comics goes, with the Jack Kirby-driven success of the publisher's monster comics leading to a superheroic renaissance in the early 1960s. The Monsters Unleashed event, which launches with Monsters Unleashed #1 on January 18 2017, promises to bring back those monsters of primordial Marvel and pit them against the current crop of superheroes. To promote the series, Marvel has just unveiled some of the "Monster Versus Marvel Hero" variant covers that will be available for each issue. Each cover is by a standout artist, and each depicts a single Marvel hero facing off against a Marvel monster.

This week, in the final installment of this column, we take a look back at the legacy of the Electric Blue Era, and decide once and for all if it's as bad as its reputation would lead you to believe.

We've already rounded up the best events for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we've highlighted some of the best exclusive art prints to pick up, but there's so much more at SDCC. As the biggest convention of the year, it's a great way to interact with creators and this year's event has an amazing line-up of spotlight panels on some of the best writers and artists in the business.

The Web-Slinger and the Merc with a Mouth are together again, to the delight of their Tumblr fandom and anyone who wants to see as much of these two characters as possible, in Spider-Man/Deadpool #1, by the classic Deadpool team of Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. Spider-Man (that's the Peter Parker, green-glow-around-his-chest-emblem Spider-Man) is just trying to do his Spider-job, but Deadpool (that's the Deadpool who has a movie coming out soon) can't seem to leave him alone.

Many of comics’ most popular characters have been around for decades, and in the case of the big names from the publisher now known as DC Comics, some have been around for a sizable chunk of a century. As these characters passed through the different historical eras known in comics as the Golden Age (the late 1930s through the early 1950s), the Silver Age (the mid 1950s through the late 1960s), the Bronze Age (the early 1970s through the mid 1980s) and on into modern times, they have experienced considerable changes in tone and portrayal that reflect the zeitgeist of the time. With this feature we’ll help you navigate the very best stories of DC Comics’ most significant characters decade by decade. This week, with the release of Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice just six months away, we’re taking a look at the best Superman/Batman team-up comics.

It's been 18 years (that's right, 18 years) since Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness first teamed up on Deadpool back in 1997. A lot (and I mean a lot) of Deadpool comics have been published since then, but for many fans who read that original run, Kelly and McGuinness are still the definitive Deadpool team. Those fans can now officially rejoice: Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con on Sunday that Kelly and McGuinness are teaming up again to pair Deadpool with another Marvel favorite, Spider-Man, in this fall's Spider-Man/Deadpool.

If either of them ever come back to the squared circle any time soon, former WWE superstars CM Punk (a.k.a. Phil Brooks) and Dave Bautista may have to tussle over ownership of Drax the Destroyer. Marvel announced at C2E2 in Punk's hometown of Chicago this weekend that he is the co-writer of a new Drax ongoing series set to debut late this year. (Bautista played the character in last summer's Guardians of the Galaxy movie.) The publisher unveiled an Ed McGuinness-drawn cover to the first issue, but hasn't yet named the artist for the series, nor Punk's co-writer.