Two For The Price Of One

JSA Classified Nos. 5-7 (2005)
DC Comics
Jen Van Meter, writer
Patrick Olliffe, Ruy Jose and Drew Geraci, artists

Anthology series are often a hard sell, due in part to the rotating characters, stories and creators involved. That can make for very uneven quality from issue to issue in the eyes of some readers and fans. Such was the case with JSA Classified, published by DC between 2005 and 2008, but by and large, there were a number of great stories loosely based around the characters in the Justice Society of America. Today, I'd like to bring two of those to your attention.

In this first three-issue story arc, the members of the Justice Society are mostly background players; the focus of the narrative is on the Injustice Society, the JSA's villainous evil counterparts. And the entire story — quite an interesting read, by the way — plays on the concepts often used in superhero team dynamics and explores them from the perspective of a group of villains.

The narrator for this tale is the Icicle, and this story takes place around the time of Infinite Crisis, so there is some crossover in the setup. Icicle gathers the old Injustice Society back together to help former teammate, the Wizard, explaining that it is not just the heroes who band together out of friendship and loyalty to each other. These two call upon Rag Doll, Solomon Grundy, Gentleman Ghost, the Thinker and a villainess named Tigress — who I believe is an updated version of the Golden-Age villain Huntress, renamed to avoid confusion with the then-current heroine named Huntress.

The action of this story is gripping and could easily hold a reader's interest on the surface plot alone. But it was an ingenious stroke to use this venue to tell a superhero story from the point of view of the villains rather than the heroes. That flip adds another level of interest that almost has the reader rooting for the villains as they try to steal the Cosmic Key from JSA headquarters to free their friend and colleague, the Wizard, from enslavement to another, deadly villain, Johnny Sorrow.

JSA Classified Nos. 26-27 (2007)
DC Comics
Frank Tieri, writer
Matt Haley, Jerome Moore and Gordon Purcell, artists

This second, two-issue arc features Ted Grant, Wildcat of the JSA, in a solo story. I've always liked Wildcat as a non-powered, scrappy hero, but I suspect at least some of my appreciation for the character stems from my earliest exposure to him when I was very young and thought he was just an incorrectly colored Batman.

This story begins with Wildcat handing a beat-down to the classic Golden-Age villain, Sportsmaster. Quickly apprehended, Sportsmaster confesses that he only took on Wildcat in an attempt to pay off his gambling debts by betting others that he could defeat the pugilistic hero. He further explains that there is an entire underground gambling operation based around wagers placed on the outcomes of hero-villain slugfests.

Of course, Wildcat wants to shut down such an operation, but his disgust at the gambling is at least partially due to his father's own gambling problem. I must confess that I am not that familiar with Wildcat's history beyond his being a former boxing champion. But in this story at least, Ted's parents were reportedly killed in a car accident when he was in college. Years later, Ted learned of his father's gambling problem, and that only his mother died in the car crash, which was no accident. It was a warning to Ted's father to pay his debts or else.

The resulting story gets a bit preachy at times, but is still a solid read. And it offers glimpses into the motivations and habits of villains, similar to the story arc discussed earlier.

Both of these and several other story arcs from JSA Classified are worth seeking out and reading! Give 'em a try; I think you'll be glad you did.

Checking In With Our Belgian Friend

The Adventures of Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh
Little, Brown
Hergé, writer and artist

It's been a while since we last checked in with Tintin. This fourth installment in The Adventures of Tintin series — originally serialized between 1932 and 1934 — is much closer in tone to the few later adventures I'd read when I was a kid. It also serves to introduce a few of the recurring characters besides Tintin and his dog, Snowy.

Previous installments in the series have begun with Tintin being assigned by his employers, Le Petit Vingtieme, to explore and report back to his readers about foreign lands — Russia, the Congo and America. Cigars of the Pharaoh, however, begins with Tintin and Snowy embarking on a holiday cruise around parts of the Middle East and Asia. In fact, there are only a few mentions of Tintin being a reporter in this volume. One of the more humorous mentions is when Tintin runs afoul of Sheik Patrash Pasha. Once the sheik learns Tintin's name, his demeanor toward the reporter softens because he is fond of reading about the young man's adventures. As proof, one of his servants holds up a copy of Destination Moon, an anachronistic reference to the 16th volume in the series. Of course, what I have is a much more recent printing of the book that has obviously been modified; I wonder, however, what the servant was holding when this adventure was originally serialized. Maybe not a book at all as I don't think any of the Tintin adventures had been collected into book form in the early '30s; perhaps the servant was originally depicted holding a copy of Le Petit Vingtieme.

Back to the story, on the very first evening aboard the cruise ship, Tintin and Snowy chance to meet a seemingly befuddled professor, Sophocles Sarcophagus, who is endeavoring to be the first explorer to find the lost tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh. Tintin agrees to help the professor only to have the association lead the young reporter from one trouble to the next.

One such peril is being framed as a drug smuggler while still aboard the cruise ship. This brings Tintin to the attention of the Thompsons, two bumbling detectives who are almost identical and who show up in almost all of the subsequent Tintin adventures. By the end of this story, Tintin is cleared of the drug charges, as well as several subsequent charges the Thompsons level against him during their haphazard investigation and pursuit of the young man. The Thompsons part with Tintin on good terms, but they are not yet the friends and allies they will become in future installments.

At another point in the story, Tintin and Snowy are adrift at sea, only to be rescued by a passing ship. Also aboard the vessel is one Oliveira da Figueira, a disheveled but apparently gifted salesman of useless trinkets. I haven't seen da Figueira in the other Tintin stories I have read previously, but according to Wikipedia, he is a frequent, recurring character in the series.

And finally, back at the beginning of this tale — just after Tintin meets Sarcophagus, in fact — he also meets a man named Rastapopoulos. Again, this was a character unfamiliar to me prior to reading Cigars of the Pharaoh, but he pops up repeatedly in this tale, and again according to Wikipedia, Rastapopoulos is another character who will be seen in later volumes of the series.

This is a fun adventure, and as I said before, it more closely resembles the three later tales I'd read in my youth than the three that preceded it in publication order. My one complaint with Cigars of the Pharaoh is that the narrative is a bit disjointed as Tintin moves from one setting to the next, and a number of plot threads seem to be left dangling, or if resolved, that resolution is brought about by pure chance.

The villains in this story are smuggling opium disguised as ordinary cigars. The clues that help Tintin piece that together come in the form of counterfeit cigar bands and a symbol found repeatedly in the strangest of places. For instance, the mysterious symbol is a circle with a wavy, vertical line drawn through it and two dots placed on either side of the line, one near the top but inside the circle and the other at the bottom, outside the circle. At first, Sarcophagus believes this symbol to be the royal cipher of Kih-Oskh because it appears on the map he is using to locate Kih-Oskh's final resting place, and later, once Tintin and Sarcophagus find the tomb, the symbol is displayed in various places there as well. It turns out, however, that the tomb is being used by the smugglers as a base of operations. The symbol marks secret entrances and communications for the villains. Strangely, Tintin also comes across the symbol on random tree trunks in the jungle after crash-landing his plane there in one portion of the story. No explanation is given for the symbols to be in the jungle except to push Tintin onward in his investigations.

One further note about the villain behind everything in this tale: Rastapopoulos is first seen being very rude and gruff to both Sarcophagus and Tintin. He comes across as being very pompous and self-important. Later, he is seen again when Tintin stumbles onto his movie set. Here we learn that he is a movie producer, and he is much more kind and friendly toward Tintin. One character later in the story, the poet Zloty, tries to reveal the name of the mastermind to Tintin before he is poisoned; Tintin does not understand Zloty's final words, and the mastermind's face is never revealed in the art, but it is heavily indicated by what Zloty says that Rastapopoulos is the mastermind behind the smuggling operation. It will be interesting to see if and when Rastapopoulos resurfaces in future volumes of the series, as the mastermind of the smuggling scheme — identity still unrevealed — appears to fall to his death pursuing Tintin in the climax of the story.

One final humorous note: Snowy, Tintin's dog, speaks in every story of the series I've read. I've commented in the past that it is unclear if Snowy's often snarky comments are just humorous asides to the readers or if they are intended as being heard by the other characters. After reading this fourth volume, I'm going to solidly say Snowy's comments are NOT heard by the other characters and are just for the readers' benefit. While sometimes Tintin almost seems to be replying directly to something Snowy says, Cigars of the Pharaoh makes it clear that isn't the case. But also with this volume, Snowy is no longer the only animal to make such comments; while in the jungle mentioned above, Tintn and Snowy run into a very talkative herd of elephants.

Adding A Name To My Favorite Writers List

H.E.R.O. (2003-05)
DC Comics
Will Pfeifer, writer
Kano, Patrick Gleason, Leonard Kirk and Dale Eaglesham, artists

I recently re-read this series, rediscovering all of the enjoyment and wonder that kept me coming back issue after issue when the title was new. Picking it up again now, several years after those initial readings, I recognize the name of the writer where I didn't know him as well before. Will Pfeifer wrote that incredible run on Catwoman between 2005 and 2008, and he did a great job when he was handed the reins to the Aquaman title in 2004 for a brief eight-issue stint. I haven't read everything Pfeifer has written, but I enjoy much of what I have read. OK, he wrote the mess that was Amazons Attack! in 2007, but I can forgive him that if we can all just agree that series never happened.

But getting back to this series, it is an updating of the 1960s Dial H For Hero concept, which debuted in House of Mystery and was later revived in Adventure Comics. In those stories, a kid named Robby Reed finds a mysterious dial with the letters "H," "E," "R," and "O" on it. When Robby punches the letters in sequence, he is transformed into a super-powerful individual. Each time he uses the dial, he is transformed into a different powered being, but instantly with each transformation, Robby instinctively "knows" the hero name and abilities that go along with his new body.

During the initial runs of the feature, readers were encouraged to write in with their own hero suggestions and costumes. Contest winners then had their creations appear in a future issue as the next hero Robby Reed would transform into. The entire thing was based on randomness; Robby never knew what kind of powers he was going to get with each use of the dial, and sometimes had a challenge figuring out how to use what he got to resolve the situation he found himself in.

With this series, Pfeifer upped the randomness factor of the entire thing. Instead of focusing his series on a single dial-user, Pfeifer had the dial changing hands often through various means. For instance, one group of users in Pfeifer's series starts out sharing the dial, taking turns transforming themselves. But later, they begin to fight over who will use the device next and end up losing the device out a moving car window. Some people lose the device when it is stolen from them. Others, like Robby, simply find the device somewhere unexpectedly.

Pfeifer takes things even further. Punching the buttons on the dial results in the person possessing it being transformed into someone with superpowers; it does NOT, however, guarantee that a "hero" will result. Some folks have more selfish aims in mind when they learn the power the device gives them. Some of the people who find the dial are villains even before learning what it can do, and they see it as a means to further their criminal goals.

This series was a bit darker in tone than the other works I've enjoyed from Pfeifer's pen. The first issue starts out with a young man contemplating suicide after his disastrous encounter with the device. And that early issue pales in comparison to later ones when a deranged psychotic killer gains control of the device. But that's part of the appeal of this series; you never know from issue to issue what is going to happen next!

All in all, H.E.R.O. was a good read from a talented writer whose work I've often enjoyed. In fact, rereading this series and looking back at his past work I have enjoyed has inspired me to pick up Pfeifer's forthcoming relaunch of the New 52 version of Teen Titans and give it a try after writing off this incarnation of the team previously.

They're Making Me Do It Again

Superman: Lois Lane one shot
DC Comics
Marguerite Bennett, writer
Emanuela Lupacchino, Meghan Hetrick, Ig Guara and Diogenes Neves, artists

I wasn't going to talk about this book. Like I said last time, I want to spread the word about books I enjoy, not bash the ones that don't measure up to my expectations. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to weigh in on this book because I believe it could have been so much more than it was.

I wanted to be fair. I sat down and read the issue through a second time after leaving it sit a few days. And on the second read, the story isn't a bad one. It's still not what I'd hoped for, not what I think a book featuring Lois Lane could be, but it's not bad.

The headshot of Lois on the cover by artist Kenneth Rocafort is what I hope for in a Lois Lane book. That headshot is of a woman who is beautiful and confident, smart and resourceful, a working girl who's not afraid to get her hands dirty in pursuit of her goals. Yes, all of that is conveyed in this simple head and shoulders shot.

But many of the things I didn't care for in this book are also right there on the cover, if I'd only paid attention. There's a fearsome-looking alien creature indicating an otherworldly slant to this tale. And there's also the name Superman, right there in the title. He gets top billing on a book starring her, but why? I'd be willing to bet that she carries just as much name recognition as he does. And since he's hardly in this issue at all, his name on the cover is almost false advertising. But the powers that be felt they needed to include him to the extent that they did and that they had to slap his name on the cover so the book would sell. But I disagree with that premise; tell a good Lois Lane solo story and there's an audience for that book.

Before we talk too many specifics about this book, full disclosure: I haven't been following the monthly Superman titles, so I'm not up on the current status quo of Lois Lane in those titles. But then, I shouldn't have to be following some other book to understand what is going on in a one-shot. References are made to a Jonathan, and Lois seems to be wearing an engagement ring. There's also mention early on of a coma that someone, presumably Lois, suffered not long ago. No idea what any of that is about.

This story is about a current mystery involving Lois' sister, Lucy. Interspersed with the current plot are flashbacks to Lois and Lucy's childhood. Both the current events and the flashbacks seem to drastically change Lois' family history from her pre-New 52 origins. But the big constant is that Lois is a reporter and is called upon to use her investigative skills to help her little sister. Except all of the parts of the story that would show Lois using those skills to dig for answers — what I want to read in a Lois Lane comic — those parts are glossed over, unimportant. Worse, constant references are made to Lois being unable to spell. And what words is she having trouble spelling correctly? Words like "nostalgia" and "emergency" — not too terribly difficult. So, gloss over her skills, and worse, imply she's not very smart to begin with.

What that leaves us with is this: Lucy shows up at Lois' apartment in the middle of the night. She's just escaped from a group of military-style kidnappers who succeeded in taking Lucy's roommate, Amanda. Drugs are likely involved, so Lucy forbids Lois from going to the police or contacting Superman, but wants her sister's help tracking down and rescuing Amanda. In the process, Lois stumbles onto something involving an alien life form; strange, unpredictable mutations; and said quasi-military group who may or may not be responsible.

At the end of the tale, many answers and connections are provided, but the masked leader of the quasi-military group, "the Agent," is never given another name or other purpose or explanation. Maybe he'll show up again, but just as likely he won't. Will Lois expose the dark secrets she has uncovered? Who knows. There is no information at the end of the issue to indicate the one-shot is continued somewhere else. And the issue ends with "the Agent" and Lucy both urging Lois not to as no good will come of the expose.

Give me a Lois Lane title that features what we know best about the character: her being a no-nonsense, never back down, get to the truth however possible investigative reporter. Sure, she lives in the same city as Superman, an alien being with fantastic powers and abilities. But keep Lois' solo stories more grounded, at least at first, to re-establish her own character and let that stand on its own. Then later, Superman and other-worldly, more fantastic elements can be slowly, occasionally introduced to the title. But definitely don't gloss over what makes the character unique and special.