Sidetrack From The Saga

Whipping Boy
Dell/Abyss
John Byrne, writer
***mature content warning***

There is still one final tangent to explore along my journey through both volumes of John Byrne's Next Men and their prequel comic, John Byrne's 2112.

As discussed last time, I don't always read all of the fan mail or cross-reference notes in an older comic I'm reading for the first time. Sometimes I do, but other times I just breeze right past them. When I discovered that the link between JBNM and 2112 was much stronger than I at first realized, I decided to go back and check out another editor's note from JBNM Volume 1 a little closer.


In JBNM No. 16, the final issue in the "Fame" story arc, Dollar Comics executive Ben Horowitz has introduced the Next Men to the world as real-life superheroes. A Chicago-based newspaper reporter and her editor, simply named Donna and Walker, respectively, take note of the story and are curious about it. The pair have a brief conversation about the Next Men and wonder about their link to someone named Paul Trayne and some events from five years in the past in a place called Faulkner, Ill. Donna and Walker show up again briefly in a later issue of Volume 1 while the Next Men are being hunted by the authorities but not at all in JBNM Volume 2, so their contributions to the overall narrative are slight. But that first conversation between them that references Paul Trayne and Faulkner, Ill., includes an editor's note: "For complete details, pick up a copy of 'Whipping Boy,' available from Dell/Abyss."

So off I went in search of this title to see how it tied in with the rest of JBNM.

I searched several back issue sites online, as well as eBay, but could not find a single comic going by this name. I wasn't familiar with an Abyss comic publisher, but Dell published a number of comics several decades ago. Still, I was coming up empty everywhere I searched. By chance one day, I decided to try a search on Amazon.com. Amazon is not a great site for finding single-issue comics, but maybe, just maybe, I thought, there might be a trade of Whipping Boy available. I did find the book on Amazon, also learning why I'd had so much trouble locating it before. Whipping Boy is NOT a comic, but a prose novel written by Byrne and published in 1992, the same time 2112 and JBNM got started.

In hindsight, this novel really doesn't tie into JBNM much at all. I think Byrne merely chose to include Donna and Walker, two of the characters from his novel, in JBNM as a way to cross-promote the paperback. But if you happen to be curious, it isn't a bad read, although a tad long at 498 pages. (I personally think the narrative could have been edited down from that length somewhat as the action seems to bog down a bit in places, but I was interested enough to finish the entire thing.)

The title Whipping Boy refers to Paul Trayne, a 15-year-old mutant with the ability to look into people's souls and remove their guilt and shame, taking those things into himself. On the surface, this might seem like a wonderful thing, even a gift, as many in the novel first describe it. But keep in mind that as much as JBNM is a science fiction story, Whipping Boy is a horror story with an emphasis on religion and morality. Paul, guided by his father, the Rev. Robert Trayne, reaches out to the residents of Faulkner, Ill., offering his gift. The phenomenon comes to the attention of Chicago newspaper editor Walker Stone, who decides to send one of his reporters, Donna Wojciechowski, to see if Trayne is real or a charlatan. Donna finds more than she bargained for when she arrives, first finding many of the residents of Faulkner greatly changed by the power of Paul Trayne, and later feeling the effects of his "gift" firsthand. And Faulkner is just the beginning of the plans Paul and his father have for bringing this "gift" to the world.

Genesis Of A Saga

John Byrne's 2112
Dark Horse Comics
John Byrne, writer and artist
***mature content warning***

I completely missed the references the first time through.

The previous two posts to this blog have been about John Byrne's Next Men. I don't always read the letters pages when I go back and read an old comic I've recently purchased. I typically scan the letters for familiar names or things that might catch my eye, but seldom do I read them all. Such was the case when I read my first dozen-and-a-half issues of JBNM for the very first time. But in this most recent reading of the books, I stumbled across several mentions of another Byrne/Dark Horse book, a one-shot, titled John Byrne's 2112. I gathered from those letters that this was a book published before JBNM and that the big bad from that title, Sathanas, had first appeared in 2112.

I decided to make my reading experience of JBNM complete by trying to include this book, too, if possible. But to be honest, I expected the link between 2112 and JBNM to be very slight. My expectation was that 2112 was written as a self-contained, standalone, done-in-one story, possibly having been written a few years before JBNM. Then later, while crafting the story that would become JBNM, Byrne had decided to reuse an old character from a previous story.

I was successful in my attempt to find a reasonably priced copy of John Byrne's 2112, and it arrived in time for me to read it immediately after I finished Next Men: Aftermath. I wish I had known about the book earlier and had ordered it and read it BEFORE reading JBNM because it truly is a prequel to the JBNM saga.

The book was published in November 1991, just two months prior to the publication of JBNM No. 1, likely just allowing enough time for the four Dark Horse Comics Presents vignettes later collected into JBNM No. 0. Sathanas is the evil mastermind behind a mutate uprising in the year 2112. Think of mutates as similar to mutants. And the events of the 2112 one-shot lead directly into Sathanas' appearance in the pages of JBNM. But the connections do not stop there.

The point of view character in 2112 is a young law enforcement cadet named Thomas Kirkland who also plays a key role in the JBNM series. Kirkland learns in 2112 that his superiors have kept secret the origins of the mutates from the general populace -- that they stemmed from a government genetics project gone wrong in the 20th century, a project codenamed Next Men. There are other names and characters in 2112 which reappear in JBNM, so there can be no question that Byrne fully intended this book to lead into the Next Men saga. For completists, this book is indispensable when trying to read JBNM, and well worth a look.

The Saga Continues

John Byrne's Next Men (Volume 2) 1-9 (or issues 31-39 if you continue with the original numbering)
and Next Men: Aftermath 40-44
IDW Publishing
John Byrne, writer and artist
***mature content warning***

Last time, we talked about a creator-owned series from Dark Horse Comics titled John Byrne's Next Men, which ran for 31 issues (0-30) in the mid-1990s. I wasn't aware of the series when it debuted, instead learning of it later and tracking down the full run in back issues and trade. But then I put off reading the series for a while. That delay proved to work to my advantage as the initial run of the title ended on a cliffhanger that would not be resolved until the past couple years.

Byrne had promised readers that he had an ending in mind for the science fiction tale centered around five exceptional young people -- Jasmine, Nathan, Bethany, Jack and Danny -- who were grown and raised in a controlled lab environment, and the special government agent, Tony Murcheson, who worked alongside them. But it took 15 years for the next chapter of their story to finally see print.

John Byrne's Next Men  volume 2, No. 1, debuted from IDW in December 2010. While the cover clearly is marked "#1," another box next to the cover logo has a small number "3" inserted before the "1" -- a nod to the first volume of the series to let unfamiliar readers know that this was really issue No. 31.

In that first volume of JBNM, our heroes had been subjected on more than one occasion to alternate realities that would ultimately prove to be a ruse meant to deceive one or more of them. The Next Men and Murcheson were also no strangers to the concept of time travel. The conclusion of Byrne's series relies heavily on both those concepts. Various members of the team find themselves in prehistoric jungles, amid Roman centurions, deposited in the middle of America's Civil War or captured by Nazi concentration camp guards, not to mention a number of varying future scenarios. Either individually or in small groups, the protagonists of our story seem to just get their bearings when they are whisked away yet again. In some of these adventures, the Next Men's true history remains intact, and they continue to try to thwart the machinations of Sen. Aldus Hilltop and the evil Sathanas. But in other realities, the heroes seem to have lost their identities completely.

As with all of the best stories, the seeds of the final resolution were planted long ago in the pages of the first volume of this series. Seemingly random, new characters turn out later to be familiar faces. The internal logic of the story is maintained while arriving at an ending that seems both fitting and rewarding. Just when I thought Byrne had forgotten a particular plot thread or off-hand comment by a character I wanted explained, there was the explanation. And most of the explanations, while not what I was anticipating, were nonetheless, rational for the context.

In case it hasn't been obvious enough yet, I recommend John Byrne's Next Men to anyone who hasn't tried it. I might not have endorsed the tale as strongly without this new conclusion, as it can be very disheartening to have a good story stopped in the middle. But this conclusion makes this tale well worth a read.

The Saga Begins

John Byrne's Next Men 0-30
Dark Horse Comics
John Byrne, writer and artist
***mature content warning***

John Byrne's Next Men initially saw print as four short vignettes in the pages of Dark Horse Presents in the early 1990s. The anthology title offered Byrne the chance to slowly introduce some of the players who would be key to his series, and the four pieces were collected together in a JBNM 0 issue for those who had missed the initial printings. Many readers expected a typical superhero story (if one can gauge by the letters printed in the first few issues of the title), but Byrne was telling a story that fit more comfortably into the science fiction realm. To be sure, JBNM makes use of many superhero themes; in fact, I would be willing to say that the series could not exist in this form without story-telling tools familiar to superhero fans. But to call JBNM a superhero comic is to ignore so much more of what is going on.

The first issue of JBNM came out in January 1992 and obviously had some readers scratching their heads as the action clearly starts "already in progress" and even an inside-front-cover "The story so far" synopsis leaves many questions unanswered. In a move of brilliance, Byrne and/or Dark Horse must have anticipated the confusion as the 0 issue was published the very next month.

The title characters in JBNM are five young people ranging in age from mid-teens to early-20s. Jasmine, Bethany, Nathan, Jack and Danny all live in an idyllic environment they call "the Greenery." Occasionally, newborns appear in the Greenery, so there are younger children present, but they aren't the focus of the story. There have also been older youths before these central five. At random times, older children in the Greenery might start to display special abilities. Not long after that happens, each in turn has "faded" from the Greenery to be replaced by a stone marker in a field. This is the only life these five young people have ever known until Jack unexpectedly "wakes up" to find himself and the others hooked into some kind of machinery in the "real" world.

Before we ever meet these five youths, readers are introduced to U.S. Sen. Aldus Hilltop, the financial backer behind the secretive Project Next Men. Hilltop and his lead scientists are trying to end the genetics project and destroy all evidence of its existence before they are discovered by federal investigators. We also meet one of those investigators, Tony (short for Antonia) Murcheson, who already knows some of Hilltop's secrets and is determined to expose his crimes. Murcheson finds the five awakened youths, and she tries to help them escape before Hilltop can have his research facility destroyed.

Along the way, Murcheson's charges discover they have some fantastic new mutations here in the real world. Danny can run at incredible speeds, but in the course of a day, his legs bulk up to look like those of a bodybuilder, not a 15-year-old like the rest of his body. Jack is incredibly strong, but finds he has lost the ability to control that strength; he can't touch anything without crushing it. Nathan can see long distances and wavelengths of light others cannot, but his eyes take on a hideous, large, blackened appearance. Bethany is invulnerable to any harm to the point that a single strand of her hair can slice through iron, but she has lost the sense of touch. Only Jasmine has no visible side effect to go along with her new acrobatic prowess. But despite being identified in the story as the oldest of the Next Men, she seems to be the most naive and child-like in her behavior. Maybe that's just my interpretation and not something Byrne intended, but otherwise, it seems odd that she would have no "curse" to go along with her "gifts."

Other characters figure prominently in the Next Men story as it progresses through these first issues. Willis Ducummen, or "Control," is the leader of the federal investigators trying to expose Hilltop's misdeeds. Sathanas is the true brains behind Hilltop's schemes. Ben Horowitz is the publisher of Dollar Comics, a master showman who introduces the Next Men to the world as real-life superheroes. Sandy Tolliver is a young artist at Dollar Comics who takes an interest in the Next Men's plight as they are hunted and reviled by the public.

A number of subplots are also introduced along the way and later brought into the story proper. JBNM No. 7 introduces a backup story titled M4, which continues until issue No. 23 when that storyline is brought into the overall narrative. M4 refers to an android designated M-IV or Mark Ivey. Mark and Hilltop's former secretary and lover, Amanda Watson, run into each other and try to figure out who or what Mark must "get away" from. Later, a time traveler named Thomas Kirkland shows up and claims he has come back from the year 2115 to prevent an attack on the president of the United States that will set in motion a chain of events centered on the Next Men that will lead to the extinction of most of humanity.

Believe it or not, all of these various plot threads tie together into a climax in JBNM No. 30 which looks to have dire consequences for our heroes. Except the series ended on that cliffhanger. The book was released more or less monthly at first. After a point, each new story arc was released monthly, with small breaks in publishing between arcs. The letters page in issue No. 30 starts off with an explanation by Byrne that he will be taking a hiatus and that he has a definite end game in mind for the series. But fans would end up having to wait quite some time before being offered an ending to this series.

I did not read this initial run of JBNM when it was originally published. I don't even remember being aware of the series in the early '90s, despite the fact that I was in college and paying regular visits to my then-local comic book shop. Some time after all 31 issues had been released, however, I became aware of the series and was curious about it. So, I managed to get my hands on the first 19 issues of the series (0-18) read them and enjoyed them. So I kept watch for more issues to continue the tale.

Fast forward several years. The four-issue Faith arc beginning in issue No. 19 was one I could never find in single issues, but I'd finally managed to get the Faith trade collection and single issues for Nos. 23-30. At about the same time, I'd managed to fill in holes from several other series in my collection and had decided I wanted to go back and re-read every comic in my collection in order of publication. (I was crazy to attempt it, I now realize, and I did not complete the task, although I stuck with the effort for several years.) The important point here is, I opted to wait to read the rest of these JBNM issues until I reached the 1990s in my collection. So, this is the first time I have read the second half of JBNM Volume 1.

All in all, I have to say this is a very entertaining and satisfying narrative, although Byrne's deliberately slow pacing would have been maddening on a monthly -- and later less than monthly -- basis. This story is built with secrets within secrets -- many kept from the readers as well as the characters -- and quite a few twists and surprises, even for the writer. For instance, it is clear from the letters pages that many followers of the series guessed at a secret relationship between Sathanas and one of the other characters in the story. It seemed an obvious connection to me early on as well. But then the text piece in issue No. 30 explains that the readers' guesses were a surprise to Byrne. He had not intended the relationship readers were so certain of, but it made so much sense to Byrne after the fact, that he incorporated that into the story.

Come back next time for the (eventual) return of JBNM.

Finally A Chance For Peace

The Walking Dead tpb Vol. 16: A Larger World (Collects issue Nos. 91-96)
Image Comics
Robert Kirkman, writer
Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, artists

Things are settling down somewhat in the walled community just outside of Washington, D.C., as the residents there come to accept Rick Grimes as their new leader. However, another winter has set in and supplies are running dangerously low. Larger groups are being sent farther and farther away in an attempt to find food, medicines and other necessities. In their world, it has now been two years since the zombie apocalypse began, so even canned foods are becoming scarce, and what does still remain is fast approaching or already past its intended expiration date.

While confronting these challenges, the community must face another surprise: a lone scout approaching their enclave. The newcomer, Paul "Jesus" Monroe, is armed and a very capable fighter. He claims to represent a community of more than 200 survivors on the other side of Washington who are interested in establishing trade with other communities, but Rick and company have learned not to take such scouts at face value. Eventually, Jesus manages to convince Rick to come back with him, talk to their leader, and see what is what in the Hilltop community.

Of course, once Rick gets to Hilltop, things are not exactly as Jesus said they would be, but Rick still sees potential in forming an odd sort of partnership with this new group. Now he just has to convince his people to go along with the bargain.

Another great installment in this ongoing series. One almost believes that a true, new beginning might just be possible for these people. Of course, having said that, this IS still an ongoing series and as we near issue No. 100, you just know something major has got to be waiting in the wings to mess that dream up.

The Divergences Begin To Grow

Star Trek Ongoing 9-10
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Stephen Molinar, artist
Roberto Orci, creative consultant

Previous issues of this series set in the rebooted "Star Trek" film universe have given readers mostly familiar retellings of adventures from the original television show. For instance, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the original series' second pilot episode wherein a crew member and close friend of Captain Kirk's mysteriously develops god-like powers and tries to take over the starship. An entire character critical to the plot of the original series episode was completely removed for the comic version set in the rebooted universe, but much of the rest of story plays out the same. Another story arc from the comic is based on the episode "The Galileo Seven," and similarly, events unfold in the comic a bit differently than in the television episode, but the overall story progresses much the same.

These two issues of the comic series, however, present a drastically different version of the original series episode "The Return of the Archons." And beginning with these two issues, advanced solicitation information began playing up the fact that this series is not only considered canon within the rebooted movie universe, but the comic series is being created with input and oversight from Roberto Orci, connected with the film franchise.

The Archons from the title of the episode and the comic arc refers to the crew of the Federation starship Archon, which disappeared near Beta III 100 years in the past. In the episode, the Enterprise is on a mission to discover what happened to that crew. In the comic, the very existence of the Archon is believed to be just a rumor told to cadets at Starfleet Academy, and Kirk, coincidentally finding his crew in the vicinity of Beta III, decides to snoop a little to satisfy his own curiosity. What the crew finds on Beta III in the comic is very similar to the conditions from the television show, but the source of those conditions and the Enterprise crew's response to them is very different. Both a prologue, which seems to have little connection at first to the overall story presented in these two issues, and an epilogue, which is the direct result of the events in these issues, seem to point to a clandestine group within Starfleet Command. That is a plot point which may or may not play a factor in the upcoming sequel to the first J.J. Abrams Trek film.

Who Are The Others And Why Do They Make Arthur So Angry?

Aquaman 7-9
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

We're back around to this wonderful title today for the first three chapters of The Others arc. As "off" as Johns' portrayal of the Justice League feels to me right now, he is firing on all thrusters on this title, and Reis and Prado are turning in some truly marvelous artwork that just makes me smile. I will be sad to see this art team leave this title in a few months, but they definitely deserve to go on to bigger and better things if they can't stay here.

About the story: We start off seeing the vile evilness that is Black Manta hunting down and killing people, especially an Iranian woman who has visions of the future. After those brutal scenes, we switch to Aquaman and Mera going to consult with Dr. Shin about the Atlantean relic Aquaman found during the Trench story arc. Shin is the world's foremost authority on myths and lore concerning Atlantis, but he also has some ties to Manta that make Shin's and Aquaman's relationship strained. Talk of the Atlantean relic is interrupted, however, with the sudden arrival of a panther and its mistress, Ya'Wara, bringing news to Aquaman of the Seer's death at the hands of Black Manta.

It seems that both of these two women, the Seer and Ya'Wara, along with Aquaman and three others formed a team of sorts named the Others before the formation of the Justice League. (On a side note, it seems that some of the DCnU timeline is very muddled, even for chief creative officer Johns. Some of the flashback information provided in this arc takes place six years ago, which would place those events just one year before the formation of the League. Yet other events, chiefly Aquaman's time with the Others, are revealed to have happened one year after the events which were six years ago. Unless Aquaman helped form the League almost immediately after spending a fairly short amount of time as one of the Others, these time clues are not going to line up correctly.)

Getting back to the story, Manta is hunting down and slaying all of the members of the Others, presumably ending with a final confrontation between himself and Aquaman. While Ya'Wara and Aquaman go off in search of the other members and Manta, Mera stays with Shin and learns what she can about these events in Aquaman's life before her arrival. The reader, along with Mera, learns that when Aquaman began displaying signs of his powers, his human father, Tom Curry, took him to Dr. Shin, who helped the boy master his abilities. Shin also learned what he could from the pair about Atlantis and tried to cash in on that knowledge. We also learn that Aquaman blames Black Manta for his father's death. Tom Curry died of a heart attack while intervening on his son's behalf during a fight between Manta and Aquaman. Out of revenge, Aquaman killed Manta's father!

We are getting quite a grisly picture of the younger Aquaman through the course of this arc, which is an interesting contrast with the more calm man he was depicted as in the first issue of this series, walking away silently as he did from the taunts and jeers of some of the people in the crowd. There has also been no mention so far in this series about Aquaman and Mera's son, Arthur Jr., who was slain as a child by Black Manta in the previous DC Universe. We're not yet sure if that is still a part of the character's continuity in the DCnU, but the part about the deaths of both men's fathers certainly adds deep roots to the animosity these two antagonists have always felt for each other.

It Feels Like The Curtain Is Already Coming Down

Winter Soldier 5-6
Marvel Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Butch Guice and Michael Lark, artists

I talked about the first couple issues of this series here. That first issue especially made this seem like a great series continuing on the best from Brubaker's Captain America run. While the first arc, which continued through issue No. 5, was good, it wasn't quite as great as I'd hoped overall. The first arc revolves around some contemporary Marvel villains -- including the Red Ghost and his super gorillas -- reviving three Soviet sleeper agents trained during the Cold War by the Winter Soldier and using them to attack Victor von Doom. Naturally, S.H.I.E.L.D. pairs the Winter Soldier with the Black Widow to shut the scheme down.

As this first arc is winding down, we are reminded that there were three former Soviet sleeper agents, but only two are taking part in the Dr. Doom plot. Issue No. 6 answers the question of what happened to the third sleeper agent for both the readers and our heroes, while nicely setting up the next arc.

This title seems like it will end with issue No. 13, the conclusion of its third upcoming arc, and the departure of Brubaker from both Captain America and this book. As I said at the start of this post, the first arc wasn't bad -- it brought back some of the espionage elements that I very much enjoyed from the pages of Captain America and uses characters I enjoy reading about. But it is almost like Brubaker's enthusiasm for the title is already winding down. As great as his contributions to the legacy of these characters, maybe the time is right for Brubaker to be leaving these titles now.

World-Hopping Ladies

Worlds' Finest 1-2
DC Comics
Paul Levitz, writer
George Perez and Kevin Maguire, artists

This is a companion book, of sorts, to Earth 2, which we discussed last time. On Earth 2 five years ago, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman died repelling an invasion from the forces of Darkseid. Supergirl, Superman's younger cousin, and Robin, Batman's daughter, are powerless to prevent their mentors' deaths, and in the aftermath of that epic battle, they pursue what they believe to be one of Darkseid's minions, being swept into what may or may not have been a Boom tube, the means of traveling between dimensions for those from Apokolips.

The two teenage girls awaken on the main DCnU Earth shortly after the newly formed Justice League fights back a similar invasion, and the pair has no idea how to return to their own world. Robin, Helena Wayne, uses her training to secure the pair some money through Wayne Enterprise funding, and the two decide to keep their true identities secret, not knowing who on this new world they can trust. Supergirl takes on the civilian name Karen Starr and secretly uses her powers and smarts to amass a small fortune, which she is using to back scientists with theories about alternate dimensions and how to travel between them. Helena uses a variety of aliases as a civilian and continues to fight crime under the name Huntress.

Keeping with the other DCnU titles, it is now five years after the pair's arrival on this world. Karen and Helena are dining together, catching up as they frequently do, at a restaurant in Tokyo. They are in this city at Karen's request, as she has a promising piece of trans-dimensional tech she wants to show Helena, but the meal is interrupted when the research facility is attacked. Karen and Helena arrive to find the tech destroyed and an irradiated man wrecking what is left of the facility. Helena changes to Huntress, and Karen reveals her new costumed identity of Power Girl, and the two women pursue their quarry, whose attire Helena notices bears a striking resemblance to that of the Apokoliptian uniforms the invading parademons wore back on Earth 2.

As with the Earth 2 title, I'm liking this story so far, and I'm along for the ride for at least a little while. Keep up the great work, all!

Speaking Of Alternate Earths

Earth 2 1-2
DC Comics
James Robinson, writer
Nicola Scott, artist

Just a few days ago I discussed Action Comics No. 9, which took place entirely on a parallel Earth -- specifically Earth 23. Yes, longtime DC fans, the multiverse is back, and with this title, we have the return of Earth 2. But don't look herein for a rehash of the exploits of the Justice Society or other Golden-Age heroes, at least not like you might expect if you are familiar with their original tales. Don't forget, this is still the DCnU.

Teases before this series debut let readers know that some catastrophe befell this Earth in the past, robbing it of its greatest heroes. Just as the main DCnU's age of heroes began with the formation of the Justice League to fight off an invasion from Apokolips five years ago, this universe suffered from a similar invasion by the forces of Darkseid. While in the main DCnU, several heroes had been secretly operating for some time independently and came together to successfully oppose the invasion, on Earth 2, only five heroes that we know of existed: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin and Superman's cousin, Supergirl. The three older heroes did what they could while trying to keep the junior pair out of harm's way, for the most part. But this "Trinity of Wonders" was not as effective in repelling the invasion as the larger group in the main universe. The world's human armies came together and fought as a single unit, and the brilliant tactical mind of Batman eventually devised a plan that stood a chance of success, but the three adult heroes died in the execution of that plan. (For more on the fate of Supergirl and Robin, come back next time.)

The ravaged Earth 2 tried to rebuild over the next five years without its heroes, always watchful that the forces of Apokolips might return to try again. A new, even darker threat to humanity is predicted, thus creating a need for a new age of heroes. Robinson seems to be taking his time establishing this new age of heroes as by the end of the second issue, we only have two definite heroes making their first appearances. The last of the old gods, the dying Mercury, appears to bestow his speed on a directionless young man named Jay Garrick. Jay doesn't so much take on the name of the Flash once he has his powers as the name is given to him by the first people he saves, a pair of civilians being attacked by rats mutated into monsters as an after-effect of the Apokolips invasion. Toward the end of this second issue, the new Flash literally runs into a winged woman I assume will be Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman. She is not named in this brief appearance nor are we given any history of the character, but she seems to have been expecting Flash's arrival.

A great deal of time has also been spent on developing the character of Alan Scott, a newsman who will become this world's Green Lantern, but as yet, he has no powers. The only other appearances by anyone with any powers in the present day scenes are Michael Holt and Terry Sloane. Michael Holt was the modern-day Mr. Terrific before the New 52 reboot. I did not pick up the title prior to this, but Mr. Terrific, starring Michael Holt, was also one of the initial 52 series that launched the DCnU in late 2011. That series ended after eight issues, but I'm guessing it ended with Holt mysteriously disappearing from the main DCnU Earth, since he mysteriously appears in the middle of Earth 2's Manhattan and isn't quite sure where he is. Upon his appearance, he is confronted by a man, again someone who seemed to expect his arrival, who introduces himself as Terry Sloane. Terry Sloane was the secret identity of the Golden-Age Mr. Terrific in the old DCU, but rather than being an ally as I expected, Sloane quickly attacks Holt, saying that Mr. Terrific is the only person who could stop his plans.

I'm trying to keep my pull list considerably shorter these days and be more picky about what I spend my money on now that I'm a father, but I'm going to stick around and see how this title plays out for at least a few months. I'm definitely intrigued right now. Oh, and I just love that Nicola Scott art!

Perhaps I Spoke Too Soon

Green Arrow 9
DC Comics
Ann Nocenti, writer
Harvey Tolibao, artist

I defended the DCnU version of Green Arrow here based on the first story arc; I thought it was a different but still good take on the character and especially enjoyed the technology-junkie, celebrity-craving villains. The next arc had some slight changes in the creative department, and those changes seemed a little for the worse because the story seemed a little lacking, as discussed here. But further creative changes were coming, I said with hope in my heart.

Frequent readers on this blog may have noticed that I haven't reviewed the title since. I'm still buying and reading the title as I enjoy the character, but I'm not liking the latest creative changes at all. The art used to be crisp and clean, and the covers, like the one from this issue by Howard Porter, still are. But the interior artwork on this title is less crisp, very sketchy and often hard to follow. Mostly the art is inconsistent as in one panel Green Arrow will seem to be standing on his feet like a normal human being, but then the next panel will make him look like maybe his knees are double-jointed and he's actually standing on his calves -- either that or his feet and/or boots have inexplicably stretched beyond recognition.

And the plot isn't much better, IMHO. I get that a new writer might mean a change in direction, but a wholesale change in characterization is a bit much. Green Arrow likes the ladies, I get that. Sometimes he even likes ladies who are dangerous. But this plot has him attacked by and then shacking up with three blondes, ending up in Alaska and presumed dead, losing control of his companies as a result of his disappearance, meeting the blondes' whacked-out dad, the mastermind behind the genetic engineering plot that spawned the three blondes and several animal-monstrosity hybrids, and the plot meanders between fight scenes and bedroom scenes for four issues, all the while making the supposed hero of the tale out to be a stupid, careless jerk.

As I said, I've still been buying and reading this title, and I already have the next few issues ordered, but I am NOT enjoying this title. So I'm not going to order this one in the future unless there is yet another creative change. The cost just isn't worth it for a book I'm not enjoying in the HOPE that it might get better.

It's Completely Out Of Left Field -- Yet It Works

Action Comics 9
DC Comics
Grant Morrison, writer
Gene Ha, artist

The history of Krypton from Action Comics No. 5 seemed a little out of place on my first read until I realized the entire thing was being narrated by the rocket in which baby Kal-el arrived on Earth, and that the rocket is "speaking" to Superman when he discovers it while he's escaping from military custody. The story presented in Action Comics No. 9, "The Curse of Superman," seems to have no connection to the unfolding events early in Superman's public life. In fact, the entire tale takes place in another dimension on another Earth -- Earth 23 of the multiverse.

On Earth 23, Superman is a black man. Through flashbacks, we learn that his biological parents, Jorel (no hyphen) and Lara save him from Krypton's destruction by rocketing him to Earth. This Superman's Kryptonian name is Kalel, also without a hyphen, and his secret identity, the name his adoptive Earth parents give him is Calvin Ellis, and that he has recently been elected president of the United States without revealing his dual identity to his Earth's denizens.

The issue opens with Superman in the middle of a battle with Lex Luthor (no obvious differences here from the Lex readers are more familiar with) when they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of three dimensional travelers.

Two of the three travelers are struck down as they appear and the third is left to explain that their pursuer is an evil version of Superman. In their own universe, these three people thought up the idea of a Superman and wanted to make the concept a reality using a machine they had created that could temporarily give ideas solid form. They needed financial backing to improve upon their device, giving their creations permanence, but the ideals of Superman were corrupted along the way by their financial backers. It is this corrupted version of Superman that is tracking them through various alternate universes, slaying other versions of Superman along the way.

It isn't hard to see how Morrison has used this story to introduce the idea of alternate universes to Earth 23's Superman, and how that might be used in the future to bring this Superman into the main DC Universe where most of "our" Superman's stories take place. But there is not a single trace of anyone from that main DCU in this issue. There are also several interesting questions raised about this universe's Superman also being the leader of the U.S. For instance, he is an alien, not even human, therefore not legally able to hold the office of president without committing fraud. But also, any actions he takes in a foreign nation as a superhero also involve covert U.S. action by nature of his being the president. Many of these questions are raised by the Earth 23 version of Wonder Woman, who makes a brief appearance in this issue along with other members of this Earth's Justice League. Whether these questions and characters will be explored again in these pages or perhaps the long promised Multiversity saga from Morrison and DC, or even if they will be addressed again at all, remains to be seen.

Despite that uncertainty, this was another solid issue of this title.

Showing Some Golden Age Love

Showcase Presents All-Star Squadron tpb
(Collects the first 18 issues of the 1980s series, the first annual
and the preview story from Justice League of America 193 which started things off)
DC Comics
Roy Thomas, writer
various artists

The All-Star Squadron is a group of heroes brought together by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the days before the United States entered what would become known as World War II. According to the story Roy Thomas crafted, the U.S. government had heard rumors of some kind of sneak attack planned for Dec. 7, 1941. FDR wanted to gather all of the members of the Justice Society of America (a roster made up of most of the A-list heroes DC published at the time, and a group formed in part at the suggestion of FDR himself), as well as any other masked mystery men (and women) of the time who were not part of the JSA, and have them help defend the nation against the threat of attack.

Unfortunately, most of the heroes of the JSA are unavailable to answer FDR's call. The villainous Degaton, a time-traveling villain from 1947, has chosen the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor as cover for one of his own schemes, and has captured most of the JSA -- Superman, Batman and Robin, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, the Flash, Sandman, Johnny Thunder, Starman and even the future member-to-be, Wonder Woman.

Only Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite and the Atom evaded capture by Degaton, but the trio also received FDR's summons too late to prevent the Pearl Harbor attack. The three are joined by Robotman, the Shining Knight, Plastic Man, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and later Hawkgirl and Firebrand to form the All-Star Squadron, rescue the trapped JSA and defend the home front during the bulk of the war.

Roy Thomas is a master at crafting stories that expand upon past continuity without wiping away anything from previously published stories. The original tales of the Justice Society were published in the 1940s when World War II was unfolding for real. These tales of the All-Star Squadron, written in the 1980s occur between the adventures published prior.

And I absolutely love these Showcase collections. They are an economical way to experience older series without the time and expense of hunting down countless back issues. To keep the costs low, these reprints are on (relatively) cheaper newsprint rather than the more expensive papers used in today's comics and trades, and they are printed in black and white, much like Marvel Comics' Essentials reprint series. To offset the absence of color, they collect many more issues per volume for a huge, 500-plus page phone-book sized amount of comics greatness. I hope the format sticks around although neither DC nor Marvel have been producing as many of these volumes of late.