Thursday Night Thinking

Groo has no plan for leading his troops -- so the troops devise a plan to distract Groo.

Of course, it's always dangerous to try and remove Groo from a fray, but at least this hapless soul is THINKING before he acts....


Over to you, General Diamondrock!

[From Groo: Hell On Earth #4, April 2008. By Sergio Aragones; with wordsmith Mark Evanier, colorist Tom Luth, and letterer Stan Sakai.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

One of the great joys of being married is finding out new things to love about your spouse. For instance, I never knew (until she unpacked her office papers last weekend) that the Best Wife Ever had a copy of Marvel's all-star Raiders of the Lost Ark adaptation. Heck, I never knew there was a Raiders adaptation....

Anyway, because it's a comic book, writer Walt Simonson lets us see Indy THINKING--!


If adventure has a name, it must be Diamondrock!

[From Marvel Super Special No. 18, adapting Raiders of the Lost Ark. Adaptation written by Walt Simonson, pencilled by John Buscema, inked by Klaus Janson, lettered by Rick Parker, and colored by Michele Wolfman.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

The thought balloon has many uses. Here, Saturn Girl illustrates that THINKING in a splash panel can set up dramatic conflict!



Diamondrock, I, uh, think that's my red stapler....

[From "Legion.Com," one of the many fine stories in 2005's Bizarro World. Written by Ariel Bordeaux and drawn, lettered, and colored by Rick Altergott.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

I'm not going to argue that the "Spidey refuses to give up and lifts the heavy machinery" sequence isn't a classic of superhero comics...



... but these two pages with Thor-Frog are pretty effective too.



And, of course, it wouldn't work if Thor-Frog weren't THINKING!

[From "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner; or, It's Not Easy Being Green!" in The Mighty Thor #365, March 1986. Written and drawn by Walt Simonson, lettered by John Workman, colored by Max Scheele.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

There's all kinds of THINKING ... quick thinking, forward thinking, thinking on one's feet ...



... and then there's "thinking in a constantly shifting, Escher-inspired environment," which apparently takes some getting used to.

[From "Different Worlds," the lead story in Action Comics #600, May 1988. Written and pencilled by John Byrne, with at least some assists (I think) on both from George Perez, inked by Mr. Perez, colored by Tom Ziuko, lettered by John Costanza.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Hal Jordan gets a lot of grief for all the head injuries he's sustained, but as this sequence shows, he still gets some productive use out of the ol' noggin.



I call that THINKING, Diamondrock!

[From "He Who Slaughters!" in 5-Star Super-Hero Spectacular, a/k/a DC Special Series vol. 1 #1, 1977. Written by Denny O'Neil, drawn by Joe Staton, colored by Liz Berube, lettered by Ben Oda.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

You're a rookie crimefighter looking for a big credibility boost. Suddenly the opportunity literally falls into your lap.

Time for some serious THINKING--!



If the same scene were to play out today, I'd put even money on a) Batwoman taking a peek under the mask and b) getting a good dose of one of the costume's countermeasures.

That's in a mainstream Batman comic, mind you. The Frank Miller version would definitely be NSFW.

Diamondrock is deep in thought!

[From "The Batwoman," Detective Comics #233, July 1956. Written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Sheldon Moldoff, inked by Charles Paris. Color reconstruction for Batman in the Fifties by Lee Loughridge.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

You're not sure Green Lantern is on the up-and-up, but his temples aren't grey. How can you know he's gone bad?

THINKING, of course!


Special bonus panel: willpower knows no height!



Short and sweet this week, Diamondrock!

[From "Decoy Missions Of The Justice League!" in Justice League of America vol. 1 #24, December 1963. Written by Gardner Fox, pencilled by Mike Sekowsky, inked by Bernard Sachs, lettered by Gaspar Saladino, color reconstruction for Justice League Archives Vol. 4 by Tom McCraw and Rick Taylor.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Halloween in Rutland, Vermont, means superheroes, murder ... and THINKING!



But what could startle this seasoned crimefighter...?



Yep, I imagine that'd do it.

Trick or treat, Diamondrock!

[From the classic "Night of the Reaper!" in Batman #237, December 1971. Written by Denny O'Neil (from an idea by Berni Wrightson with an assist by Harlan Ellison), pencilled by Neal Adams, inked by Dick Giordano, lettered by John Costanza; and touched-up for its reprinting in Batman Illustrated By Neal Adams Volume 3.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

First, a page's worth of context.



See, because Clark "thinking" with his ... well, never mind ... probably wouldn't have counted with Diamondrock.



Good thing he woke up ready for some regular good ol' wholesome THINKING!

[From "The Mummy Strikes," Superman vol. 2 #5, May 1987. Written and pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Karl Kesel, colored by Tom Zuiko, lettered by John Costanza.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

How fast was Barry Allen?



Well, 7,000 miles in about a minute works out to a pokey 116.667 miles per second, nowhere near the speed of light. Small wonder, then, that Flash has enough time for all that THINKING!

Fast enough for you, Diamondrock?

[From "Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier!", DC Special Series Vol. 2 #11 (1978), a/k/a the Flash Spectacular. Written by Cary Bates, with this sequence pencilled by Irv Novick and inked by Joe Giella.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

The 20th anniversary of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is upon us, so here's a sample of DC's comic-book version.

This alt-universe Wesley Crusher and his shipmates failed to rescue Picard from the Borg. Now Alt-Shelby has hijacked "our" Enterprise, abandoning our crew to attack the Borgified Earth, and Alt-Wesley is doing some serious THINKING--!



We've been assimilated by Diamondrock!

[From "And Death Shall Have No Dominion," Part 4 of "The Worst Of Both Worlds," Star Trek: The Next Generation vol. 2 #50, September 1993. Written by Michael Jan Friedman, pencilled by Peter Krause, inked by Pablo Marcos and Romeo Tanghal.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Green Lantern gets the thought balloons, but Green Arrow must still THINK quickly:



In fact (if we're being charitable), it might look like both men are a bit reckless -- no! you don't mean it! -- but actually, they're each thinking a couple of steps ahead! Hal knows Ollie has enough time to shatter the hourglass, despite it hurtling towards Earth at 32 feet per second per second; and Ollie knows Hal is ready to catch them in a power-beam construct.

See? Strategy!

Yeah ... strategy....

(You're freakin-A right this is for Diamondrock!)

[Yes, it's another scan from "Crisis In Triplicate!", Justice League of America #148, November 1977. Written by Paul Levitz & Martin Pasko, pencilled by Dick Dillin, inked by Frank McLaughlin.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Our story so far: Being attacked by bikers has left Black Canary dazed, confused, and open to the cult-style brainwashings of Joshua, the so-called "Prophet of Universal Tranquility."

When Green Lantern and Green Arrow catch up to her, of course it starts her THINKING--!



(By the way, It predates the show by a few years, but I still think of this as the "Bionic Woman Splash Panel.")

I'll try to find a comparable shot of Ollie thinking happy thoughts about Dinah, but somehow I think that'll be harder....

Prophesy, Diamondrock!

[From "A Kind Of Loving, A Way Of Death!" in Green Lantern vol. 1 #78, July 1970. Written by Denny O'Neil, pencilled by Neal Adams, inked by Frank Giacoia.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Carl "Deathtrap" Draper proves the old adage: send a Thinker to catch a Thinker!



(Psst -- the password is Diamondrock....)

[From "Firewall," Checkmate vol. 2 #17, October 2007. Written by Greg Rucka and Eric S. Trautmann, pencilled by Chris Samnee, inked by Steve Bird.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Even in the late '50s, when she was known more for chasing Superman, Lois Lane did some formidable THINKING!



The mystery man is a familiar Silver Age hero -- have you figured out his identity, dear reader?

(We're flashing back with Diamondrock tonight!)

[From "The Origin Of The Justice League -- Minus One!," Justice League of America #144, July 1977. Written by Steve Englehart, pencilled by Dick Dillin, inked by Frank McLaughlin.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

My Thursday Night Thinking and Friday Night Fights for this week spotlight the late Mike Wieringo.


Good thing Diamondrock wants something a little different this time. It's not the typical THINKING! post, but it's the first 'Ringo scene that came to mind. After all, Older Wally does give Young Wally a lot to think about....

[From "Flashing Back," Flash vol. 2 #0, October 1994. Written by Mark Waid, pencilled by Mike Wieringo, inked by Jose Marzan Jr.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Hal's all emo because he stopped a robber, but destroyed the stolen cash...

... Or did he...?



THINKING saves the day!

(How now, blue Diamondrock cow?)

[From "Yellow Is A Dirty Little Color," the backup story in The Flash #224, November-December 1973. Written by Denny O'Neil, drawn by Dick Giordano.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

Forbush-Man is all about THINKING -- but any mind control requires at least some raw material:



Diamondrock is love!

[From Nextwave #10, January 2007, written by Warren Ellis, pencilled by Stuart Immonen, inked by Wade von Grawbadger.]

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Thursday Night Thinking

You're the World's Greatest Detective, the Most Dangerous Man On Earth, and you've just visited Bruce Wayne's towel-clad girlfriend -- but you're unsettled and frustrated. Do you

a) take a cold shower;
b) beat up some skels; or
c) start THINKING!



As always, Diamondrock has the last laugh!

[From the immortal "The Laughing Fish!", Detective Comics #475, February 1978. Written by Steve Englehart, pencilled by Marshall Rogers (R.I.P.), inked by Terry Austin.]

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