I’m back, these creators are back and these villains are bad

Dear Super-Villains 
DC Comics 
Creators: Michael Northrop and Gustavo Duarte 
Release date: April 2021 

Hello, Kiddie Cops, and welcome back to the first new blog post in a spell.

I initially stopped posting here for two reasons. First, I’d recently started a new job that was taking up more of my time. Second, my comics buying was dropping to very few titles at the time, and I was getting a little worried that I might be just talking about the same handful of titles over and over again. I didn’t want the blog to suffer because of that.

Jump ahead almost two years, and I’m still not really buying that many new monthly comics. But I am still buying and enjoying a handful of new titles every month. My decreased regular pull list has allowed me to try some new things. And buying fewer new comics each month has allowed me time to read some of the many, many comics, trades and more that I’ve purchased over the years but never had a chance to read before and to finally re-read some favorites I haven’t explored again in several years.

Now, this blog has always been about celebrating comics that I love. You try some new things and not every one of them is going to be to your liking. But I don’t want to dwell on comics I don’t like. If I didn’t like it, why spend more time with it and make myself continue to feel bad about it? I’d much rather give a shout out to creators, characters and projects I enjoyed in an attempt to help others discover the same delight for themselves.

And I’ve found myself doing just that over the last several months again. I just wasn’t doing the celebrating here. I was writing much shorter bits of praise for some recently read comics, then sharing those thoughts on other platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In the past few months, I’ve shared praise for books like The Marvels Project by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting; Batman Universe by Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington; Point of Impact by Jay Faerber, Koray Kuranel and Charles Pritchett; The Booster Gold hardcovers – The Big Fall and Future Lost – by Dan Jurgens; Pulp by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips; the two Robin Archives from DC Comics; Infinite Frontier Nightwing by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo and Adriano Lucas; and Somerset Holmes by Bruce Jones, Brent Anderson, April Campbell and Ed King.

There’s nothing really wrong with posting about comics on those platforms. I’m sure I will continue to do so. But my comics-related posts on those platforms were mixed in with other kinds of posts – politics and job and family and real life, those kinds of things – and not likely to be seen by too many people outside my immediate circle of followers and friends.

At one point, this blog had a decent following, and if I start posting regularly again, it may have more of an audience again, giving my attempts to promote good comics a potentially wider audience.

Which brings us to this digest-sized modern original graphic novel, a sequel to the popular book I reviewed in my last post here nearly two years ago. Once again, the book focuses on some inquisitive youngsters who email their questions to super-villains this time instead of the members of the Justice League. As you can likely tell from the image above, the villains featured include Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, Grodd, Giganta, Sinestro, Black Manta, and for some reason, Katana.

Michael Northrop’s words and Gustavo Duarte’s illustrations make for a whimsical, fun follow-up tale to Dear Justice League that I heartily recommend. To my taste, this volume was a little more loose than the first volume, but what do you expect from a group of villains all vying for the top spot? They’re not going to act the same as the heroes, obviously.

Dear Super-Villains is absolutely another fun read. Check back soon for something else from the realm of comics that I’ve recently read and believe might be worth your time to check out.

OK, He's Evil, But How Does He Breathe

Villains Month
DC Collectibles/DC Comics
various writers
various artists

We're going to do something slightly different today. I bought and read Forever Evil No. 1 and some of the various Villains Month special issues where the bad guys take over the existing titles for the month. I enjoyed most of what I read, but I feel like it is too early to say much about the seven-issue Forever Evil story as it is just getting started.

So, our primary focus today is going to be another release timed to coincide with Villains Month: one of the first action figures dedicated to villains since the launch of The New 52! Overall, I like the design of the new Black Manta figure offered by DC Collectibles. The old smooth black costume Manta used to wear seems more like a diving suit, but some of the new details added to his New 52 suit are interesting additions.

He looks even more lethal with a wrist-mounted device that shoots something (a grapple line, if memory serves), his familiar energy "gun" and two short swords/long daggers. The bulkier, raised collar on his suit also makes his helmet look that much more otherworldly. And this figure has textured lenses for the helmet's eye pieces -- another nice touch.

But the figure is not perfect. The hoses that run from the tank on his back to his helmet are much stiffer in construction than previous Black Manta figures. They are cramped into a smaller space because this Manta's helmet is smaller and there needs to be room for those swords/daggers on his back as well. All of that means you can't really turn the figure's head from side to side for posing purposes. This Manta looks straight ahead, never to the sides.

And there's another thing about this figure I noticed. Previous Black Manta figures in the 6-inch scale include the DC Direct Alex Ross Justice series and Mattel's DC Universe Classics series figures. Both have a tank on Manta's back that closely resembles the way the figure is typically drawn in the comics. I've always thought of this tank as simply an oxygen tank like any diver would wear, but really, Manta tends to spend a great deal of time underwater, often much longer than the average diver might spend, yet his air tank seems smallish in comparison to the kinds of tanks I've seen actual divers wear.

This new DC Collectibles figure takes that size issue a step further. This figure's tank is flat, not bulbous as past figures' tanks have been, greatly reducing the amount of space available inside. Further cutting into any air capacity the tank might offer is the fact that Manta's swords/daggers are carried on his back, sliding into compartments on the tank. The tank also serves as a holster for Manta's energy weapon. The thing on this Manta's back seems much more like a utility belt or weapons pouch, except for those hoses.

In my own mind, I've decided to reconcile this problem by acknowledging that this device can't possibly be an adequate air supply in and of itself. Rather than being an air tank, it must be a machine that helps Manta extract the oxygen he needs directly from the ocean water. It's like one of Batman's re-breathers, a device so small he can store it in his utility belt. Manta's version is not as compact because he doesn't have the resources Bruce Wayne can tap.

Anyway, back to the comics for some thoughts and recaps, starting off with Forever Evil No. 1: The evil doppelgangers of the Justice League -- the Crime Syndicate from an alternate Earth -- have come to the main DC Universe Earth. They've announced their intentions to be the new masters of this world via all electronic devices across the globe displaying the message "This World Is Ours" upon their arrival as seen at the end of lead-in series Trinity War.

Forever Evil shows the destruction of Belle Reve prison and the subsequent escape of the various super-powered inmates incarcerated there. Several of these villains were given communications devices and sent to rendezvous with the Crime Syndicate, where they are told to do whatever they want to do as long as they don't stand in the Crime Syndicate's way. Of course, Lex Luthor immediately takes a dislike to anyone assuming they are in charge of what he sees as rightfully his. As far as heroes go, the Justice League is gone; the Syndicate members claim to have killed them. Other heroes, like the Teen Titans, are trying to organize a counter attack, but Nightwing tries a more direct approach and is captured for his boldness. Other Syndicate members want to kill Nightwing, but Owlman won't let them. Instead, the Syndicate publicly exposes Nightwing's secret identity and threatens everyone close to him.

For the Villains Month issues, I stuck mostly to the characters featured in titles I usually get anyway. Those seemed to be the villains I would have the most interest in reading more about anyway. Of course I got the Black Manta and Ocean Master issues of Aquaman, both of which were good reads. Both men were incarcerated at Belle Reve before the Crime Syndicate attack, and both have no interest in what the Syndicate members have to offer at first. Manta claims Aquaman's trident from the spoils the Crime Syndicate offers as proof that the Justice League is dead, then goes to visit his father's grave. Though it wasn't by his hand, Manta believes that Aquaman is dead and his father's death has been avenged until Ultraman, seeking buried kryptonite, causes a tidal wave that destroys Manta's father's grave. Manta's hatred of Aquaman has found a new outlet, Ultraman, so it seems likely Manta will be joining Luthor in opposing the Crime Syndicate soon. Ocean Master is harder to predict. His first instinct upon being freed is to seek the ocean, but he isn't sure which direction to head at first. His interactions with the people he meets while trying to return home to Atlantis are often brutal, but it is more from his opinion that humanity is beneath him than any real malice. Unless someone shows they intend to do him harm first.

The other Villains Month books were a mixed bag. Black Adam's history is explored in the pages of Justice League of America and makes for a nice read, but the information presented is similar to his history as seen in the maxi-series 52 from a few years ago. Oh, and he got better after being turned to dust prior to Trinity War. The Secret Society issue in the pages of Justice League shows readers some of the history of Owlman and the Crime Syndicate's version of Alfred Pennyworth, the Outsider. We learn how Alfred became the Outsider and why Owlman seeks to protect the life of Nightwing. I also read the Count Vertigo back story presented in Green Arrow and the DeSaad issue of Earth 2 and decided to give the Cheetah issue of Wonder Woman a try; all three books were OK but not outstanding.

I'm looking forward to the story unfolding in Forever Evil. It's started off pretty good.

Sowing The Seeds Of More War

Justice League 17
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier, artists

For anyone who hasn't already read the "Throne of Atlantis" story arc crossing over between Justice League and Aquaman the past couple issues, things wrap up here and the conflict among all three sides in this battle is mostly resolved.

I don't want to reveal the identity of the mastermind behind the battle for anyone who hasn't read the issues yet, but it wasn't Ocean Master as past incarnations led me to first believe. In fact, I honestly feel a little bit of sympathy for Aquaman's half-brother as he was duped just as much as the heroes were, and he was only trying to protect and defend his people. When Orm surrenders to Aquaman, you almost expect a degree of leniency for him despite the many deaths Orm has caused on the surface. The real culprit here is the individual who caused just as many Atlantean deaths as human ones.

But these stories don't exist in a vacuum, so while the attack on the surface by the Atlanteans is halted and the Trench are sent back to their underwater domain, this isn't exactly the end of the story. Aquaman is set up to be the new ruler of Atlantis, but they rejected his leadership in the past, so they likely don't really want him now. Also, Mera refuses to go with Aquaman to Atlantis because of her people's history with the undersea kingdom, so they are at least temporarily separated over this issue.

Orm has been imprisoned on the surface for his role in the attacks on Boston, Gotham and Metropolis. As I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see he wasn't the mastermind behind all this, and was kind of looking forward to a reality where Orm and Arthur could be on good terms with each other, but I'm not sure that sentiment will last after his imprisonment. Likely, he will come out of prison with the hatred for his brother readers are used to from before The New 52.

And to top it all off, the general public is unsure of exactly what Aquaman's role was in the Atlanteans' attacks. His attempts to prevent Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman from retaliating against the Atlanteans when he was still trying to get those two sides to talk rather than fight were televised by surface media outlets. Many people fear Aquaman was behind the Atlanteans' attacks. And this comes at a time when some of the general public are uncertain if they can trust any members of the Justice League. All that distrust and fear is furthering the moves by Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller to form their own alternate version of the League.

And lastly, we get more hints that someone is forming a third team, this one composed of villains. We saw the first hints of this in the Cheetah Justice League arc, and saw more evidence of it when Cheetah spoke of recruiting Black Manta. It looks like the next name on the villains wish list is going to be Scarecrow. Could this be the formation of this incarnation's Legion of Doom?

The war with Atlantis is over, at least for now, but tensions are continuing to build.

Whetting Our Appetites A Bit More

Aquaman 14
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Pete Woods and Pere Perez, artists

This is the prologue to "Throne of Atlantis," the big Aquaman/Justice League crossover, but we go waaaaaaay back for our beginning. All the way back to 1820, where we see an Atlantean who looks a lot like Aquaman harpooned and captured by a sailing vessel's captain and crew. The captain of the ship taunts the wounded mer-man, describing how he had earlier captured and slain the Atlantean's mate. But the final, killing blow from the captain is interrupted by the arrival of many more Atlanteans.

From there we jump to the present day with a brief bit of detail about another Atlantean famous in the old DC Universe. The current king of Atlantis is sitting on his throne issuing his decision in the case of a young, purple-eyed boy named Garth, who has caused some fear among the more superstitious Atlanteans. In the old DCU, Garth was taken from his parents because of his purple eyes and legends that they were an evil omen. Garth's parents, lesser rulers in a kingdom of Atlantis, were killed and the child left to die alone. Instead, the young boy was found and raised by Aquaman. He grew to join Aquaman's adventures as Aqualad, helped found the original Teen Titans group, and later, like many of his original Titans peers, adopted a new identity as he neared adulthood, Tempest.

Here in the DCnU, the current king of Atlantis, Aquaman's half-brother, Orm, decrees that the child be returned to his mother, unharmed, and those who threatened him be held for trial. A small gathering of fish interrupts further court duties, bringing a message that Aquaman wishes to meet with Orm.

Next, we have a small interlude to check in on Black Manta, newly incarcerated at Belle Reve prison. Manta is offered a chance to have his sentence commuted by joining Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, a team of former villains used in suicide missions in exchange for their eventual freedom, if they survive. Manta turns Waller's offer down by slaying one of the guards while still shackled and with one wrist and the other forearm in casts.

Much of the remainder of the issue is the meeting between Orm and Aquaman at the site of the sunken remains of the sailing vessel from the opening segment. It seems the mer-man captured in that segment was Arthur and Orm's great-grandfather. Both he and their great-grandmother were killed by the men of the vessel, and the ancient Atlanteans exacted a stiff revenge for those acts.

Aquaman asks Orm directly if he was in league with Black Manta's recent activities and if Orm is planning to attack the surface world. Orm denies both charges, but there is definitely something sinister in his bearing and the fact that he is almost always depicted in shadow. Obviously, more is afoot here.

Oh, THOSE Are The Secrets

Justice League 14
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Tony S. Daniel, artist

I was a little disappointed with the last issue of Justice League; the art was nice, but the story didn't seem to hold much new. Having said that, though, I allowed that it was only the first half of a story.

This second half of "The Secret of the Cheetah" did not disappoint.

There really is a secret to the nature of the DCnU version of the Cheetah, one that is different from her previous incarnations, and that secret is revealed by the tribe of natives Cheetah is trying to slay while she is also fighting the Justice League. The secret isn't all that shocking, exactly, but it is different, as I said, and Johns handles the reveal in such a way that incorporates aspects of the past incarnations of the Cheetah character. That's always a nice touch.

We also begin to see some teamwork among the Leaguers in this issue. Superman was bitten by the Cheetah and transformed into a were-creature in the previous issue. Batman is concerned about his friend and needs Cyborg's help to restore the Man of Steel before Cheetah's bite kills him. Aquaman formulates a plan of attack for capturing Cheetah, and Batman willingly abdicates this chore to the Sea King, something the Dark Knight does not typically do with ease. Aquaman's plan makes use of both Wonder Woman's and the Flash's skills. Both teams are successful in achieving their goals. Nicely done, team!

Or maybe not. Unbeknownst to the Leaguers, Cheetah wanted to be captured. After she is left alone in her cell at Belle Reve Prison, she contacts someone we can neither see nor hear. She confirms that she is in place and will await the arrival of Black Manta, yet another secret.

However, there are more secrets in this issue than just the "Secret(s) of the Cheetah." At the end of the mission, Superman takes Wonder Woman to visit Smallville. The couple's "date" helps them both heal, recoup and get to know each other better. The issue ends with the pair's second kiss and the reveal that they are being spied on by someone.

I wish sometimes that Johns would get there faster, but this is becoming the team I want to read about.

She's A Calming Influence

Aquaman 13
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Julio Ferreira, artists

After the detour of this title's Zero issue, discussed here, we return to the action of "The Others." Black Manta has stolen all of the Atlantean relics from the members of the Others team Aquaman used to be a part of -- all of them, that is, except for Aquaman's trident. Along the way, Manta has brutally murdered two members of the Others, Vostok and Kahina. Understandably, Aquaman is out for blood, and none of the surviving members of the Others is able to dissuade him from pursuing and exacting revenge on Manta. Aquaman's wife, Mera, however, is another story.

Mera has been learning about Arthur's past with the Others for the first time as the events of this arc unfold. She has also seen Aquaman grow more and more enraged with each clash. She forces Arthur to acknowledge that he really doesn't blame Manta for his father's death anymore. With time has come the clarity that the heart attack that killed his father would likely have happened even without Manta's attack. That realization only makes Arthur feel worse about his subsequently, mistakenly, taking the life of Manta's father. Mera gets Arthur to admit his shame, then reassures him that he is no longer the man he was six years ago when these events took place. Mera talks Aquaman down so that the final confrontation is not a one-on-one bloodfest, but rather a decisive but non-lethal take down of Black Manta by Aquaman, with Mera and the Others as backup.

On the negative side, this issue also reveals that Manta did not steal the Atlantean artifacts for himself. He was working for someone else who, at this point, remains in the shadows. Nice wrap-up to "The Others" saga, but Aquaman's story is far from over.

Now That's An Interesting Change

Aquaman 0
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This Zero Issue falls in the middle of "The Others" story arc currently playing out in this title. But since that story arc is serving to give readers a glimpse of Aquaman's past in the DCnU, a Zero Issue doing more of the same seems to fit nicely. So far, "The Others" story arc has shown readers how the dynamics of the bitter feud between Aquaman and Black Manta have changed with this new reality. This Zero Issue focuses on another Aqua-villain, also setting up things to come in the next story arc.

The issue begins six years ago with a younger Arthur sitting by his dying father's bedside. This is before the Justice League, even before the Others. As Tom Curry pushes his son to seek out his mother, the lighthouse keeper's home is surrounded by reporters and curious onlookers. The mob has been drawn to the Curry home seeking confirmation of the public statements about Atlantis and Arthur's origins made by Dr. Stephen Shin, as revealed elsewhere in "The Others."

Tom Curry dies, and a deeply distraught Arthur storms out of the house, past the mob and dives into the ocean. Months pass as the young man searches in vain for the lost continent of Atlantis. Until one (forgive me) dark and stormy night when he happens upon a small two-person vessel in trouble. Arthur saves the father and daughter from crashing onto a reef in the storm, and the next morning, after sharing with them the details of his futile search, the father tells Arthur of someone else who claims Atlantis is a real place -- a man named Vulko.

Arthur seeks out Vulko, and to his astonishment, learns that Vulko has been looking for him. Arthur's mother, Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis, is dead. Vulko explains that she had fled Atlantis when Arthur was born so she could take him to his father, Tom Curry. But then Atlanna had to return to Atlantis to prevent Tom and Arthur from being discovered. Upon her return to Atlantis, Atlanna was forced to marry and later conceived a second son, Arthur's half-brother, Orm. On Orm's 12th birthday, his father was killed, and shortly after, Atlanna died as well. Vulko believed that Atlanna died at the hands of her son, Orm, and when he spoke up, he was driven from Atlantis by loyalists of the new king. After sharing all of this, Vulko is insistent that Arthur return to Atlantis with him as the rightful heir to the throne of the undersea kingdom, a not so subtle nod to the upcoming Aquaman/Justice League crossover "The Throne of Atlantis."

Vulko has been a part of Aquaman's story for a long time as a friend and adviser to the throne. This version of Vulko appears considerably younger than the white-haired man often depicted in old DC continuity, but among his confessions to Arthur is the fact that he has been adviser to the ruler of Atlantis since the reign of Arthur's grandfather, so he must be older than he looks.

The big change is the introduction and origin of Orm, Aquaman's half-brother. In the DCnU, Arthur and Orm have the same mother, and being a full-blooded Atlantean, Orm has taken over the throne of Atlantis, quite possibly through the heinous act of patricide. In the old DCU, Orm Marius and Arthur Curry are still half-brothers but because they have the same father, Tom Curry. Some time after Arthur was born and Atlanna died, Tom Curry had another son with an Eskimo woman. Orm was always jealous that his mother was not his father's first love as well as envious of his half-brother's Atlantean heritage and abilities. That jealousy drove Orm to adopt the villainous identity of the Ocean Master, one of Aquaman's deadliest foes, second only to Black Manta.

It's not hard to imagine these two coming to blows in this reality over the right to rule Atlantis, especially if Orm is responsible for the death of their mother. I am curious to see how Vulko and Arthur's trip to Atlantis will factor into the formation of the Others. Obviously, since Arthur did not stay in Atlantis, one can assume things do not go well there. And surely Orm will play a role in the upcoming crossover between Aquaman and Justice League.

To The Death

Aquaman 10-12
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis, artist

This book is getting intense as one might expect from the subject matter.

Previously we have learned that Aquaman was part of a group called The Others before joining the Justice League. We also learned that all of these heroes had run-ins with Black Manta and that much of the Aquaman-Black Manta antagonism stems from the fact that these two men each killed the other's father. That's all pretty grim.

Aquaman gets some small measure of redemption in these issues as we learn that he did not mean to kill Manta's father -- he thought it was Manta he was lashing out at. The Marine Marvel was enraged at the death of his own father at the time. His father died of a heart attack during a previous assault on the pair by Manta. In a rage, Aquaman tracked Manta to a vessel at sea and lashed out at the vessel's sole occupant. Unbeknownst to Aquaman at the time, Black Manta was diving below the boat, and it was his father who remained aboard.

We also learn the "secret origin" of Aquaman's trident. It is one of six Atlantean relics discovered by The Others. Each member of the team took one of the artifacts, which once belonged to the first king of Atlantis, the individual responsible for the sinking of that ancient continent. We learn that there was actually a seventh relic and that this piece is what Black Manta is now hunting, along with Aquaman and his Others comrades. That seventh item is the Dead King's scepter, the very device that was used to sink Atlantis, and thus more powerful than the other six items. And Manta manages to uncover the scepter before Aquaman, Mera and the remaining Others can stop him. Along the way, Manta manages to slay another member of that team, Vostok.

Also, I'm certain it is no coincidence that the Dead King's scepter looks identical to the weapon Aquaman's half-brother, Ocean Master, used to wield in the old DC Universe. I think it very possible that we will see the debut of the DCnU version of Ocean Master before this arc is concluded in issue No. 13.

But before we get to that issue, it is time for DC's Zero Month. We'll have the first of those books to look at next time.