Comic books and sports have had a relationship for years, in which readers of one were shoved into lockers and given swirlies by the participants of the other. However, that doesn’t mean the two can’t join forces in an unholy abomination that makes both parties look absolutely ridiculous. Like if ESPN the Magazine hired Marvel artists to draw fictitious comic book covers for every NBA team, for example. That would be completely insane and stupid.

These events and other highlights are depicted in the November edition of ESPN The Magazine by Marvel artists including Olivier Coipel, Leinil Francis Yu, J. Scott Campbell, Terry Dodson, Kaare Andrews, John Romita Sr., and Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada. Quesada did the honors on the cover of this issue for ESPN. Perhaps not so coincidently, elements of Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, all stars of the upcoming Avengers film as well as their own, appear on the cover. –Comics Alliance

You can find screen caps of all the covers over at Comics Alliance and, to be fair, the artwork is impressive. That being said, the last thing in the world the NBA needs is to have its players likened to superheroes. I’m already sick of LeBron’s enormous ego. If Nike puts out a commercial of him leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, I’ll be hard pressed not to find the closest sharp thing I can find and gouge out my eyes.

Some of you may recall that Whitlock has either condoned (or possibly suggested) such image-related shenanigans before, when a smiling Whitlock was seen perversely peering through a keyhole at Erin Andrews that was used as the image for a column where he suggested that big time, mainstream sportswriters were jealous of Erin Andrews and proceeded to take vitriolic potshots at some of his colleagues, from Mike Lupica to Jay Mariotti. Whitlock has even softened his stance on one of his favorite targets, ham-fisted bloggers (if bloggers were ham-fisted, would Whitlock eat them? Huh), appearing on The Dan Patrick Show with Will Leitch and A.J. Daulerio.

Nevertheless, the above image is as disturbing as it is hilarious. The portly scribe has never looked better. Or worse. But either way, as long as he continues taking shots at arrogant, self-righteous windbags like Lupica and keeps bringing the self-deprecating humor about his weight and appearance, I’m willing to give him a pass – for now.

To be honest, I’m not sure what is more terrifying: the thought of Whitlock appearing partially-nude in “The Body Issue” (as opposed to his bulbous head getting photoshopped on top of Adrian Peterson’s body) or picturing Whitlock and Serena Williams comparing the size of their asses. Chilling.