A Tale Of Two Summers

I think I've mentioned before now that I quite like comics, yes? And perhaps I might have dropped a hint from time to time that I've got a reasonably good memory for trivia, as well, right?

Well, back when I was just barely out of my teens, Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin was one of my favourite comics. It seemed to be the pinnacle of comic greatness back then, and maybe it even was. I just know that my tastes have changed over the ensuing decades, and now I find that material overwritten and crudely drawn. I suppose that's to be expected, as so many highly-regarded childhood artifacts fail to hold up when scrutinized from the vantage point of time. That's just one of the many sad realities that goes hand in hand with growing up and getting older.

But that lowered opinion of those old X-Men comics still didn't stop me from getting a big chuckle out of one of the two covers for this week's Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 35, for a reason that should be fairly obvious by now: Yes, it's an homage to Uncanny X-Men # 138's cover, shown above. Interestingly, both of the big figures on the right side of the cover are named Summers: Scott "Cyclops" Summers and Buffy "Vampire Slayer" Summers! I wonder if they planned it that way? (Vicki had the nerve to ask me, "How did you know it was an homage? Did you read it on the Internet?" Please. I immediately spotted it for what it was, sitting on the shelf in the comic store on Wednesday! Mind for trivia, remember?)

Fun stuff like this is sometimes all that's holding my interest in the comics field anymore...