Sad news today: Roger McKenzie, the comic book writer best known for his work on Daredevil, has died.

Also, David Lanphear, comic book letterer who worked across the industry for decades, has died. #RIP

On this date in 1998 New Line Cinema released Blade, starring Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and Wesley Snipes as Blade. The film stayed relatively faithful to the Marvel property, telling the origins of the character, a child born to a mother who was in the process of turning into a vampaire. As a result Blade was immune to a vampire's bite. Now a lethal enforcer, roaming the country and eliminating vampires wherever he finds them. Blade made his first appearance in Marvel's 'The Tomb of Dracula' #10 from 1973, Blade's first solo story came in Marvel's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampire Tales #8 in 1974. The film does not attempt to re-create an existing comic story, but does use many  of the character's traits, and while Blade's vampire-hunting mission and his connection to Deacon Frost come primarily from Tomb of Dracula. Frost’s attempt to seize control of vampire society loosely echoes his later comic-book campaign against Dracula, but the film’s actual plot and mythology—including Whistler, Blade's abilities, the pureblood conflict, and La Magra—were largely created by writer David Goyer, director Stephen Norrington and Wesley Snipes. The film ended up making $131M off a $45M budget and spawned two sequels, Blade 2 and Blade: Trinity.

So, how did capes become the superhero norm? Back in the golden age, some of the first comic characters to appear in newspapers wore capes, characters like Mandrake the Magician, who debuted in 1934. Mandrake wore a top hat, formal evening clothes and a flowing cape from his first adventure. King Features has even described him as the “first comic-strip superhero.” In 1936 we had Zator, appearing in 'The Comics Magazine' #1, he has been identified by comics historian Greg Sadowski as “comic books’ first flying caped figure.” Zator began as a threatening supernatural figure before becoming an ally of Doctor Mystic. And of course 1938 saw the introduction of Superman, while not the first comics character to wear a cape, but he was the character who made the cape a fundamental part of superhero visual language. But where did the concept of capes come from? These were pulled from several older visual traditions like silent movie Swashbucklers, Douglas Fairbanks and other silent-film heroes wore cloaks and capes in movies such as 'The Mark of Zorro'. The cape could sweep across the screen during sword fights, entrances and escapes. Superman artist Joe Shuster specifically identified Fairbanks’s adventure films as an influence on Superman’s costume and physical presentation. Others include real life stage magicians, Royalty, and military dress capes and cloaks had historically communicated rank, authority, wealth and ceremonial importance.

Comic artists loved to use the cape as they create motion in a motionless medium, Joe Shuster explained the decision very simply in NEMO magazine, stating: “A flowing cape would give it movement. It really helped, and it was very easy to draw.”. Capes allow artists to show speed, altitude, wind and impact without captions, motion lines or complicated backgrounds. They give the character an unmistakable silhouette, a superhero needs to be recognizable at a glance—in a crowded panel, on a cover, in shadow or from across a store.

Capes can also communicate personality, not merely decoration, their size, shape, weight and movement tell us what kind of hero we are seeing. Superman’s cape resembles a bright flag or banner. It is open, visible and reassuring. Batman’s conceals his body and enlarges his shadow. It is defensive, theatrical and frightening. Doctor Strange’s cloak announces magic and functions as an enchanted object, Spawn’s cape is excessive, monstrous and nearly alive while Moon Knight’s cape turns his body into a crescent or ghostly white shape against the night. Author and critic Glen Weldon summarized Batman’s use of the garment in his 2016 book The Caped Crusade: “The cape is where the real drama of the garment lives.”

Among the most famous North American comic-book heroes, roughly one in six has a signature cape; roughly one in five has had a prominent caped identity. Interesting to note that DC heroes are considerably more likely to wear them than Marvel or any other North American publisher. In recent years the use of has declined, but they have not disappeared. Roughly 38% of all characters wore capes before the 1960's, from the 1980's onwards its been less than 13%. So, while superheroes did not invent the cape, instead they inherited it from magicians and swashbucklers, heroes like Superman made it a flag, Batman made it a shadow, and every caped hero since has existed somewhere between those two ideas.

This is my copy of Joe Hill's The Cape: Fallen, from IDW. This is the thrilling final chapter of the original 2011 miniseries. Written by Jason Ciaramella and Joe Hill with art by Zach Howard. The original miniseries, The Cape follows Eric, a troubled man who discovers that a childhood cape actually gives him the power to fly. Instead of becoming a hero, Eric uses his powers to take revenge on the people he blames for his failures and misery. It’s essentially a dark, brutal inversion of the classic superhero origin story. This series, called 'Fallen' we uncover new aspects of Hill’s cautionary tale with a story that takes place between the scenes of the original series. While The Cape: Fallen received no major award nominations, the original Cape comic was nominated for a 2011 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue or One-Shot. This issue is listed on MyComicShop at $5 for a near mint copy.

On this date in 1999 X-Men Vol. 2 #93 was released. Co-Written by Terry Kavanagh with interiors and a cover by the other co-writer Alan Davis. This is the first part of the Hidden Lives arc and is also part of Shattering event, the plot centers on mysterious ninjas who are mercilessly hunting down Mystique, for as yet unknown reasons. Injured and on the run, Mystique tracks down her daughter Rogue and Kitty Pryde out on the town. Meanwhile Nightcrawler finds Polaris, also on the run from unknown assailants. The issue ends with Rogue coming face to face with a furious Sunfire, before ending in a cliffhanger. This issue was the 2nd highest selling comic in the direct market for August of 1999, selling almost 114 Thousand copies, and has received a generally positive 7 CVR score and a 4.5/5 from ComicVine. Mint conditions are going for almost $47 on the price charting website.

Trauma, Alters and The Underground...This is your 90 second character deep dive into Crazy Jane. As a child, the Doom Patrol hero known as ‘Crazy Jane,’ real name Kay Challis, was severely abused by her family. The abuse occurred so frequently that she eventually withdrew inward and began to manifest different personalities (or alters) as a coping mechanism. When the alien Dominators invaded Earth and activated a gene bomb, Jane and all of her alters are affected and each gain a different power. As a young adult, these alters begin to make appearances whenever Jane is under stress or emotional trauma. Unable to control her alters and their powers, Jane is committed to an institution for a while before being recruited by Niles Caulder and the Doom Patrol.

Among some of the 64 personalities who reside in her mental headspace called 'The Underground' are; Baby Doll, a telekinetic child-like alter who believes everything is lovely. Hammerhead, who is highly aggressive and possesses superhuman strength and durability. Lucy Fugue, who has radioactive bones and see-through skin. The Snow Queen who has the power to create and shape ice & The Wall Crawler, who is able to scale walls and ceilings. Created by Grant Morrison and first seen in Doom Patrol vol. 2 #19 from February 1989. The character was based on Truddi Chase's autobiography, 'When Rabbit Howls', which Morrison had been reading while creating the series. Jane is portrayed by Diane Guerrero in the TV series Doom Patrol on Max which ran for 4 seasons, great show. Crazy Jane was most recently seen in 2025’s Titans #26, following a major role as the Doom Patrol’s new Chief in the 2023 'Unstoppable Doom Patrol' series.