The Four-Color Spice Rack

A few elements that, applied in spare, careful amounts, make any comic better, more satisfying, more pleasing. The spice rack, if you will, of the four-color world.

• Wonder Dogs.
  
• The Generation X Quadrivium: Ninjas, Robots, Monkeys, Pirates.
  
• Big-headed aliens.
  
• Ads for selling “Grit.”
  
• Octopi, earthly and otherwise.
  
• Jimmy Olsen getting hit in the head and thinking he’s a viking.
  
• Elves with guns.
  
• Time-travelling gorillas.

Should they be overapplied, ruin is certain. But ah! Careful application of these provide a vigorous zest to any story, be it a Silver Age tale of Communist spies out to subvert capitalism or a modern alterno-indy comic about how the foolish, myopic world fails to understand the genius of the tormented nerd.