His inclusion was a nice bonus

Batman Beyond Vol. 5: The Final Joke
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Jurgens, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Cully Hamner, Marco Santucci, Evan “Doc Shaner, Andrew Dalhouse, Val Staples, Jordie Bellaire, Travis Lanham, Viktor Kalvachev
Release Date: July 2019

My history with “Batman Beyond” has been very bumpy.

I was curious when the concept for the new television show was announced in the later 1990s, and I tuned in for the series debut in January 1999. The opening scenes with an aging Batman were thrilling, and it was a nice nod to continuity that Neo Gotham still had a Police Commissioner Gordon in the future. But I wasn’t completely convinced by Terry McGinnis as the new Batman, and I wasn’t a fan of the techno-influenced music that ran throughout the show and its theme song.

I gave the next few episodes a try. Some of the villains were more interesting than the Jokerz gang from the premiere, and it was nice to see the Royal Flush Gang was still around; they’ve always been a favorite villain team for me. But there just wasn’t enough to hook me full-time on the show. I pronounced it “Not my Batman” and moved on.

I grew curious from time to time when I would read that the show was popular in various comic magazines or online. But I stayed away until after the show ended and it was controversially tied into the animated Justice League continuity. My reaction to that episode was mixed, but it prompted me to buy the entire series on DVD, although I still haven’t watched all of the episodes.

I also had very mixed reactions to the direct-to-video “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” movie in 2000. It was fun to see the Joker back facing an aged Batman and his new protégé, but I did not care for how that film treated Tim Drake or how it mashed together his and Jason Todd’s origins and stories.

With all of that, I don’t think I’ve ever picked up an issue of the comics based on the concept. But I’ve again been curious a time or two. I’d heard interesting things about this arc, focusing as it does once again on the return of the Joker to Neo Gotham. And I know I’ve mentioned before that I am a fan of Dan Jurgens. So I decided to give this trade a try.

I was not disappointed. This was a solid story with some nice added bonuses. For one thing, we got the genuine, real deal Joker this time. We also have Terry’s younger brother, Matt, assuming the role of Robin. All of that I knew going into this trade. The best bonus of all, though, was the inclusion of the mayor of Bludhaven, Dick Grayson, in this story. That was a pleasant surprise.

One of my complaints about “Batman Beyond” on television was that I had always wondered what became of Dick. I believe he was name-dropped in the pilot episode when Commissioner Barbara Gordon fills Terry McGinnis in on her history with Batman. But what she said was vague. I don’t believe Dick ever appeared previously in either the show or one of the comics. He’s one of my favorite characters; I always wanted to know what became of him in this continuity.

There are still questions here regarding the former Nightwing and first Robin. For instance, there is no mention of a spouse, but Dick’s adult daughter, Elainna, also appears. Dick and his daughter are not relegated to mere cameos either. Both play pretty prominent roles in this tale. Enough so that I really do wonder if this is Dick’s first appearance in the world of Batman Beyond, if Jurgens has used him in a previous arc, or if some other creative team first dreamed this up, and this crew is simply building on what has gone before.

Someone please leave a comment if you know more about Dick’s role in Batman Beyond; I’d appreciate the info. But either way, this was a fun read, and this trade has made me seriously think about hunting down more of Jurgens’ run on the title.

A fine sendoff for Ms. Cruz

Green Lanterns Vol. 9: Evil’s Might
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins, Marco Santucci, Scott Hanna, Hi-Fi, Andy Troy, Pete Pantazis, David Sharpe and Wil Quintana
Release date: June 2019

I guess you could say that I’m a Jessica Cruz fan.

My first exposure to the character was her debut in the pages of Justice League (The New 52 version) No. 31 during the “Forever Evil” event. She was created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Now, for the purists among you, I know her true first appearance was in The New 52 Green Lantern series, issue No. 20, a few months earlier. But that was just a closeup on her hand, and I didn’t read that issue. So, I was first exposed to Jessica Cruz in Justice League when she appeared in full view both on the cover and the interior.

Jessica stood out among Earth’s many Green Lanterns for a number of reasons. She had issues before taking possession of a power ring; she was introduced as someone so very agoraphobic that she could no longer leave her apartment. Her natural anxiety was only increased when an alien ring from an alternate universe tried to assume control of her life. That’s right, Jessica’s first ring was from the Crime Syndicate’s Power Ring. The Latina heroine was at first terrified of the power the ring gave her and the control of her life it sought in return.

I continued to follow the character in the pages of Justice League. She gained confidence alongside the other heroes of the League while also briefly dating the Flash. She was a fine addition to the team at that time. When the “Rebirth” era came along after The New 52, Jessica and the other newbie GL, Simon Baz, both became stars of their own title, Green Lanterns, with an “s,” and Jessica was also one of the stars to headline the new title Justice League Odyssey following the “No Justice” story arc. As much as I liked the character, though, neither of these titles held my attention for long.

Enter Dan Jurgens, a writer and artist whose work I very much enjoy. Jurgens was the writer of Green Lanterns when that title recently ended. I’d been curious to try the title again when Jurgens took over the writing chores, but “Evil’s Might” was the first arc to really grab my attention. This storyline featured not only Jurgens’ writing, Mike Perkins’ fine art style and Jessica Cruz as one of the lead characters, but it also promised a story featuring the return of Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, a character created by Jurgens way back in 1990 in Adventures of Superman No. 465.

I’m not really giving away spoilers about the big bad of the story since he appears on the cover of this trade. Cyborg Superman is one of those villains I love to hate. He’s right down there with Black Manta, Solomon Grundy and Gentleman Ghost as one of my “favorite” villains. And he’s a great choice for a villain to face off against the entire GL Corps and the Guardians with his ability to access and manipulate any kind of technology. Cyborg Superman, imprisoned in the Arctic Fortress of Solitude, manages to gain access to the Guardians’ central power battery on Mogo and through it, nearly all of the thousands of GLs across the universe.

This trade did not disappoint. The story features not just Jessica, but the entire GL Corps, in a gripping story that held my attention and kept me turning the pages. Perkins’ art was gorgeous to look at. But the real attention grabber is how this volume ends, nicely showcasing Jessica’s growth since “Forever Evil.” At the end of this story, she announces that she feels she has grown enough and is confident enough to leave Earth and seek other adventures and discoveries among the stars.

Perhaps this was meant to explain how she is alone out in space at the beginning of Justice League Odyssey. I prefer to think of her boldly exploring, overcoming the fears that once held her captive back when she was stuck in her apartment. I wish her Godspeed on her explorations and hope this is not the last we see of this fine character.

Something a little different — snippets from my pull list

I’m going to take brief looks at six titles on my current monthly pull list, all released during this past month of April. While these six titles do not comprise my entire pull list for April, they are the lion’s share of it. My more limited finances of late have taken a definite toll on what I’m willing to plunk down for today’s comics. But I’d rather save my money for books I’m enjoying reading. That makes sense, right?

Titans No. 36 (DC Comics) — This is the final issue of the Rebirth Titans title. While the book has failed to recapture the heights of the Wolfman/Perez era of the Titans characters, I was one of the people who enjoyed Dan Abnett’s take with the relaunch. His version of the characters read true to their respective personalities to me; the stories just weren’t all that riveting, especially as the title was held hostage more and more by the overall DC Universe. The new mission for the Titans in the wake of the team’s forced break-up and then the events of “No Justice” just didn’t seem as strong as focusing on the bond these people share with each other. Add to that the loss of several key characters other writers had plans for, and this title just seemed doomed several months ago.

Fantastic Four No. 9 (Marvel Comics) — I like a lot of Marvel characters, but I’m sure it comes as no shock to regular readers of this blog that I collect a lot more DC titles. But I decided to give the 2018 relaunch of Marvel’s first family a try based on past writings by Dan Slott. So far, he hasn’t disappointed. His first arc was a bit *meh* for me, dealing as it did with where the FF members have been for so long. But the long-anticipated wedding of Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters, quickly followed by the latest face-off between the FF and Dr. Doom, which concludes with this issue, were both great reads. These books prove once again that comics can be fun. More titles should follow this example.

Justice League Nos. 21 and 22 (DC Comics) — This is one of those titles that is killing others like Titans. Believe it or not, I like more issues than not of the sweeping epic Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV are weaving with Justice League since its relaunch in 2018 following “No Justice.” I do. But there have been a few clunkers in the past 22 issues. And the problem with having your sweeping epic take over so many titles and story lines and months of publishing time without a resolution is that at some point, it becomes easier to simply ignore the entire thing than to keep up with it. I haven’t reached that point yet, but I think about it more with each passing month. Comics are an ongoing medium meant to continue ever onward, but individual stories are not.

Star Trek: Year Five No. 1 (IDW Publishing) — I have liked a lot of what IDW has done with its Star Trek license, including the Year Four series they did several years ago. This is only the first issue, so it is pretty early to judge with much accuracy, but this series debut seems like a good one. There are references to previous episodes of the television series to please the die-hard fans. The characterizations seem pretty accurate, and the premise, at least so far, seems well laid out for any newbies. I have high hopes for this title.

Nightwing No. 59 (DC Comics) — The Rebirth Nightwing title has been hit-and-miss with me, and I dropped it some time back. While some of the stories were good, many of them seemed to be re-treading ground already covered in the title’s previous incarnations. The changes to the title character since his being shot in the pages of Tom King’s Batman did not inspire me to pick the title back up. What did was the promise of Dan Jurgens coming onboard as the writer. I like both Jurgens’ writing and his art. I’m buying the next few issues hoping he will bring back the character I enjoy — one of my top three favorite characters, in fact. This is only the first issue and there’s leftover baggage to be dealt with from the previous writers. This issue wasn’t great, but I’ll give Mr. Jurgens a few more to win me back to Nightwing.

Criminal No. 4 (Image Comics) — No surprise here for longtime readers of this blog, I’m sure. I love most everything this creative team — Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips — has collaborated on from Velvet to Kill or Be Killed to Scene of the Crime to previous incarnations of this very title. This latest version of Criminal is more of the same, and I love it.

So those are some of the titles I’m currently buying. What are the rest of you buying? And have you thought about why lately? Sometimes reflecting on your buying habits from time to time can be a good thing.

Happy collecting! And come back in two weeks for some thoughts on a Batman comic from my youth!

More Superman. But well worth checking out!

Action Comics No. 999
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Jurgens, Will Conrad, Ivan Nunes and Rob Leigh
Cover date: March 2018

Most Superman fans are eagerly awaiting next month's Action Comics No. 1,000, a super-milestone, to be sure. But Dan Jurgens and crew made this preceding issue one not to be ignore.

Why?

Because Jurgens shows once again why Superman is the first and one of the greatest heroes ever: his genuine compassion and concern for others, even the villains he faces.

The most recent storyline in Action Comics involved some time travel, both backward and forward from the present. I won't spoil that story either, but information revealed to Superman during the course of that story made him question the humane-ness of sending villains into the Phantom Zone, a dimension discovered by his father, Jor-El. In the Phantom Zone, individuals exist only as disembodied wraiths who can still see and hear events in the real world but never interact or impact those events.

Superman's own experiences within the Phantom Zone have revealed that there is more to it than that, however. That plane of existence actively acts to overwhelm a person's hope and will. That aspect of the Phantom Zone makes exile there a cruel and unusual punishment, Superman decides, and he moves to find another solution for villains too powerful for earthly imprisonment, one that is less punitive, more humane, for the convicted.

Nice job, Superman. You are truly a shining example for us to follow. And kudos to Jurgens and the team for a fine issue!

Requiem For A Series

Aquaman and the Others 6-11
DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, writer
Lan Medina, Allen Martinez and Wayne Faucher, artists

Both work and personal demands have kept me away from the blog of late, but as I alluded to in a previous post, it is not just the time to write blog posts that has been suffering. I haven't had time to read many comics of late either beyond a stray trade or random issue here or there or what little time I have spent in the past few months trying to go through issues from my collection deciding what to sell and what to hang onto. Bottom line: Its been a busy few months, and I am waaaay behind on current issues of the comics I'm buying.

How far behind, you ask. Well, while most of the current comics-reading public is diving head-first into Secret Wars or getting ready for the very near windup to Convergence, the last "current" comics I read were the various Future's End tie-in issues DC did more than six months ago. Yeah, I'm a little behind.

One perk of being so far behind is being able to read several issues of a given series at a time. It's almost like trade-waiting, but not really; trade-waiting would have been cheaper in the long run. It's also kind of a bittersweet perk when what you are reading is the very last arc of a title canceled much too soon.

The Others were first introduced in the second Aquaman story arc in his own New 52 title. The international cast of characters came together with a common purpose before the Justice League was formed, and Aquaman served as their leader in a quest to locate and safeguard several Atlantean relics. The Operative was an American, but Ya'wara hailed from Brazil, Vostok from Russia and Kahina was an Iranian. The final member of the group, Prisoner of War, was also an American, but he contained within his own body the souls of many fallen soldiers, maybe not all of them American. That was just one of the many avenues open for exploration with these characters.

The Others showed up again in Aquaman No. 20 and the first New 52 Aquaman annual, adding new member Sky Alchesay, a Native American, further spicing up the international flavor of the group. It was also no secret that these stand-alone stories were try-out issues meant to gauge interest in the group prior to them getting their own ongoing title, which launched in 2014.

This final story arc of the very short-lived Aquaman and the Others title pits the group against a similarly diverse group of assassins and mercenaries, some of them new creations for this story, as far as I know. Mayhem brings together the New 52 versions of Cheshire and former Soviet spies KGBeast and NKVDemon. Rounding out the cast of villains is a trio of new creations of undetermined nationality — Maelstrom, Stranglehold and Braze.

I'm not saying the "Alignmernt: Earth" story arc is perfect; there are some missteps and plot deficiencies. For example, none of those three new villains is fleshed out beyond a name and a basic character trait displayed in the fighting. The one exception is Maelstrom, whose heart doesn't quite seem in the fight during the final battle, but even that glimpse of something more never goes anywhere. Now, to be fair to Dan Jurgens, a talented writer and artist whose work I quite enjoy most of the time, maybe that is because once the series had been canceled, he didn't see much point in developing the other villains more only to have them fade away.

I also think the conflict between the Operative and Prisoner of War in this arc could have been resolved much more quickly than it was. But again, maybe Jurgens initially had more in mind with some of his moves here that the cancellation cut short.

Obviously, I was a fan of this series and was willing to continue to support the ongoing adventures of the Others. Now that the book has been canceled, however, I am reminded of an oft-repeated refrain on the Internet that some characters just aren't meant to support an ongoing series. Some characters, commentators say, are better suited to a miniseries or series of recurring finite stories.

I hope that at the very least, DC opts to go that route with these characters. They still show much promise, much potential for great storytelling. And I like how they interact with each other and team leader Aquaman. If the Others can't have an ongoing title, I hope Jurgens and company will at least trot them out from time to time with guest appearances or even their own mini, as time and inspiration allow. If I can't have a monthly dose of these characters, I at least want to visit them frequently.

Please DC, make it so.

Will My Green Arrow Please Stand Up

Rather than a specific issue or story line, today I decided to talk about the wandering failure that the New 52 has wrought upon one of my favorite characters, Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen.

I first became aware of Green Arrow in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he participated in Justice League of America stories or his own solo adventures in World's Finest Comics. I missed out on the new "relevant" Green Lantern/Green Arrow series created by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams in the mid-1970s, but the new costume and personality these two creators gave to the Emerald Archer influenced his characterization for the next decade, at least, and the hero I was reading owed much to their work.

Going back and reading reprints of the O'Neil and Adams stories in 1983 is when I grew to really appreciate the character and come to see him as one of my favorites. That affection grew and was nurtured by the Green Arrow miniseries that same year by Mike W. Barr, Trevor von Eeden and Dick Giordano and was cemented by Mike Grell's fantastic Longbow Hunters series in 1987.

Having said that, I don't know why I didn't immediately pick up the Mike Grell ongoing Green Arrow series that followed Longbow Hunters. I swear, I really did love that series right from the start. At this point, I did have a local comic shop I frequented regularly for my comics, but I was not online much and hadn't even heard of Previews at the time, so maybe I simply wasn't aware of the existence of the ongoing for a while. Whatever the reason, I started in on that series about two years into the run reading forward each month as well as backward when I could find copies of the back issues I'd missed.

I was very sad to see Ollie killed off in No. 100 of that series, then being written by Chuck Dixon, and while he was a very different character, I enjoyed the adventures of Ollie's son, Connor Hawke, as the new Green Arrow. I'm not nearly as big a martial arts fan as Dixon seems to be, so some of the Connor GA stories were less to my liking than others, but I stayed with the series until it ended with issue No. 137.

After a few dark nearly-Green Arrow-less years, it was announced that Kevin Smith was going to bring Oliver Queen back from the dead in a relaunched Green Arrow title in 2001. Smith was joined by artist Phil Hester, and while I was less impressed with Hester's more cartoony art at the time, I was glad to have the character back. Smith left the title after 15 solid issues, and we were treated to one of novelist Brad Meltzer's first comics-writing turns with his excellent "The Archer's Quest"  and then after a few issues, Judd Winick took over the writing chores. Winick is one of those hit-or-miss writers to my tastes. I really like some of his books while others just leave me feeling meh. But he did a good job at the helm of Star City's resident bowman and stayed with the title for the remainder of this run and into the 2007 Green Arrow and Black Canary relaunch. That title had the added plus of fantastic art by first Cliff Chiang and then Mike Norton. The Green Arrow and Black Canary series finished its second half with excellent writer Andrew Kreisberg and then J.T. Krul on the final three Blackest Night and Cry For Justice tie-in issues.

All of that background is to show I have a history with the character, reading Green Arrow's adventures, and for the most part, enjoying most of the tales he is featured in. I don't agree with everything that happened in Justice League: Cry For Justice or the subsequent Fall of Green Arrow, but I liked both titles and could see Oliver acting and reacting the way he was portrayed in those stories. Less to my liking was the 15-issue Green Arrow: Brightest Day series where Oliver is all about his forest, but I think most of that series stemmed from editorial dictates and might not be where series writer Krul would have taken Oliver without the whole Brightest Day framework, which I liked with regards to other characters. I base this, in part, on the fact that another writer finished the final three issues of that series. I also haven't read Green Arrow: Brightest Day again since it was new; maybe my opinion of it would improve with a fresh look.

Then along comes the New 52, and everybody and everything is rebooted back to square one. Except Batman and Green Lantern, which were seeing a great deal of popular story lines already, so the rebooting wasn't quite so evenly distributed. But I was all set to accept a new, younger Oliver Queen as Green Arrow. A fresh start didn't have to mean disaster. And the first three issues of the New 52 Green Arrow were good with story by Krul and art by the incredible Dan Jurgens. Oliver has a bit of a team working behind the scenes to assist him, but subtracting a few years and changing up his costume were pretty cosmetic; I could still see this as the hero I liked, just a slightly different guy from a slightly different dimension or something.

The problem was, those three issues didn't last. Issue No. 4 saw a creative change to writer Keith Giffen, who was replaced by Jurgens by issue No. 6. Then we got Ann Nocenti, who's run on the title lasted until issue No. 16. But her run on the book was all about horn-dog Ollie who thought more with his groin than his brains. This guy wasn't really a hero so much as a screw-up. With each creative change, I liked the character less and less. And there seemed to be a lot of creative changes.

Jeff Lemire's run (issue Nos. 17-34) was very dark for my tastes and centered way too much on the mysticism of the various clans he introduced into Oliver's back story. Then elements from the CW television series "Arrow" started to creep into the book. Now, I've watched "Arrow" since the beginning, and I very much enjoy the show and Stephen Amell's portrayal of Oliver Queen. I'm very happy the show has lasted into a third season, and I'll be happy to see it continue for several more years. But it is the television version of Green Arrow. That guy exists in an equally valid, but alternate dimension from the guy I like to read about in the comics. Television and comics are two different media; they have different strengths and weaknesses, and I believe they are best served by different approaches. I love watching the TV show, but I don't want to read the TV show in my monthly Green Arrow comic.

So, why do I keep buying the monthly comic if I don't like what they're doing with the character and haven't for basically the last 30 issues? I guess that means I have more money than sense, but my wife would be quick to remind that we don't have that much money. So maybe I just don't have any sense. But the creative teams change on this title so often, every time I convince myself to just drop what I'm not enjoying, I think, "But wait, a new team and direction are coming next month; maybe it really will get better." Except so far, it hasn't.

I hope the comic will find its niche now that Andrew Kreisberg is back writing the character as I enjoyed his work on the title pre-New 52. But Kreisberg is also one of the producers of the CW televison series. I'm hopeful, but concerned as well. But I'm still buying the title each month hoping for the best. At least, for now ...

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I Was On A Roll And Then I Ruined It

Panic In the Sky trade paperback collection (1993)
DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson and Roger Stern, writers
Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Dan Jurgens, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke and Denis Rodier, artists

Last time, we talked about the Superman: Exile trade collection -- one I read recently for the first time and very much enjoyed. A large part of that story involves Superman running into Warworld, being forced to take part in its gladiatorial-style contests to the death, and the Man of Steel's attempts to change that system. In Exile, Warworld is under the control of the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Mongul.

In this trade collection from a few years later, Warworld, now under the control of Brainiac, is headed for Earth  to enslave the populace. Unlike Exile, I read this story arc in the Superman titles of the time -- Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman and Superman: The Man of Steel. I was drawn to "Panic In the Sky" because Superman assembles a large team of heroes to assist him in fighting off the Warworld invasion. Several of my favorites at the time play roles in the story. The group Superman assembles is a hodge-podge of heroes and anti-heroes because there is no current Justice League team in DC continuity at the time of this story.

One of the nicer things about this trade collection, which I purchased along with the Exile trade, is the inclusion before each chapter of the various writers' and the editor's thoughts on the story and how it came about. Turns out "Panic In the Sky" was initially envisioned as one of those all-consuming crossover stories DC did every year at that time. Only later was that notion turned down and the story moved to being told solely in the various Superman titles for a few months.

I very much enjoyed "Panic In the Sky" when it first appeared in single issues, and it isn't a bad story as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Fire, Ice, Flash, Captain Marvel, Booster Gold, several of the New Gods and more battle to save Earth from the schemes of Brainiac and the forces of Warworld. But honestly, rereading it now in trade format 20 years after I first experienced it, the story doesn't hold up quite as well as I remembered.

In one of his text pieces, writer Dan Jurgens wrote about superheroes -- especially Superman -- merely reacting to threats after someone has been hurt or some crime has been committed. One of the goals of this story was to depict the heroes -- again, especially Superman -- being more proactive. But the Superman depicted here is just as reactive as usual. Sure he assembles a team of heroes to come together and go into space to fight Warworld before it reaches Earth, but only after Brainiac sends his robotic Head-Ship to attack Metropolis, wreaking a great deal of destruction, and announcing to the Man of Steel that Brainiac is now in control of Warworld and bringing the artificial planet to Earth. Superman has no knowledge of the threat before this initial attack, so he's still reacting. To make matters worse, some of the character interaction among the many heroes in this story makes Superman seem like kind of a weak leader. He's constantly being challenged by Guy Gardner and Orion, to name just two examples, and he's also shown as uncertain several times and uneasy leading all of these various heroes.

Another problem in hindsight is the inclusion of Deathstroke the Terminator among Superman's assembled team. Deathstroke had his own comic in the mid-1990s, and while he was still an anti-hero, his strong moral code was emphasized in his own title. The character became a bit more heroic than he was initially depicted and would be written in later comics. In another text piece by Jurgens, the writer expressed his initial concern about including Deathstroke; why would someone like Superman seek out such an individual for help? But Jurgens said he later came to see the value of Deathstroke's tactical contributions. Except, wasn't Batman known as the master strategist of the DCU heroes? With some of the things the character has been used for since "Panic In the Sky," Deathstroke really seems out of place in this story now.

Several other characters are barely used. Wonder Woman is among the heroes Superman assembles, but her role is limited to appearing in a few backgrounds and exposition scenes. She plays no real role in the battle against Warworld. Other heroes get the same treatment, showing up but contributing little. I was happy when these books debuted to see two of my favorites, Aquaman and Nightwing, included in the story. Happily, they get much more panel time and much more dialogue than Wonder Woman in the story, but sadly, neither contributes a vital role to the proceedings, I discovered upon rereading these issues.

That isn't to say that there is nothing of value here; Draaga's story in this trade continues from what was begun for him in Exile. His is a pretty compelling story and easily provides much of the heart of these issues. Supergirl/Matrix also has some interesting developments in this arc. And finally, events at the end of "Panic In the Sky" were directly used to help re-launch the Justice League title for this era. But all of these things also seem to make Superman a supporting character in his own titles for two months. That's really kind of sad for the hero known for inspiring all others.

Talk About Your Uneven Match-Ups

Green Arrow 5
DC Comics
Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens, writers
Dan Jurgens and Ray McCarthy, art

I didn't find fault with this title in the first four issues, reviewed here, but others did. That prompted this first of two recent creative shakeups on the title.

Keith Giffen joins Dan Jurgens to split plotting duties with this issue and the results are a somewhat mismatched mash-up.

A red-clad ninja attacked Oliver Queen in the previous issue and was surprised when Green Arrow showed up and defeated her. This issue finds her returning to her partner to rest up before challenging the Emerald Archer once again. Her partner, a dark hulking figure, is revealed for the first time in this issue as a Swamp Thing-type creature composed entirely of toxic substances. This individual, not named in the issue at all (but I'm guessing he's the "Midas" from the story's title), decides to go after Green Arrow himself to prevent the ninja, Blood Rose, from being defeated again.

This seems like it would be a rather uneven fight, especially in the panels above when Midas strikes Green Arrow in the face with his toxic hand and draws blood. Who knows how many toxic substances entered our hero's blood stream in that moment and the fight likely would be over right there. But no, GA emerges from this and a few other direct contact moments with seemingly few ill effects.

As a friend pointed out, this is superhero comics, which often rely on a healthy suspension of disbelief, but this seems like a glaring inconsistency, and far less than I would expect from two solid creators. Hopefully Giffen and Jurgens come up with better for the next round promised in issue 6. But if not, thankfully, yet another writer is soon to take over the reins of this book.

Back To Basics, And It Feels So Wrong

Justice League International 1-4
DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, writer
Aaron Lopestri and Matt Ryan, artists

I wanted to like this book. It features Booster Gold prominently as team leader and is written by the man who created the character and later helped bring Booster to, in my opinion at least, true greatness following the events of 52 and Geoff Johns' efforts to reshape him into the time-policing "greatest hero you've never heard of." And maybe, given time, Jurgens will bring that feel of competence and confidence back to Booster. But it isn't there yet.

Yeah, the whole point of the DCnU is to restart these heroes' careers, but Booster really feels like he's coming out a loser from this reboot. And while the characters might not remember what has gone before, I read and liked the stories which preceded the DCnU relaunch and feel shortchanged on their behalf.

This title follows the efforts of the United Nations to create an international super-powered group of heroes they control. You know, because the Justice League has only been around for five years according to the set-up and has saved the world how many times in that history, so they have no allegiance to any nation and can't be trusted. Anyway, weak rationale aside, they pick a known pitch man, Booster, to lead the team because he ought to be controllable, right? Then they fill out the team with Ice from Norway, Vixen from Zambesi, Fire from Brazil, Rocket Red from Russia, August General in Iron from China and Godiva from Great Britain. They also select Guy Gardner to include a powerhouse Green Lantern on the team, but Guy balks at first, especially if he has to take orders from Booster. Oh, and they decide they don't want Batman involved, but the Dark Knight, as always, has his own plans. Not a bad roster of characters, many of whom have been on this team during past timelines, so there's a nod to tradition.

The team's first mission does not go well, however, and it takes first Batman's uncharacteristic encouragement to Booster, and then August General's additional support to hold the various heroes together. They are not yet a cohesive team by the end of the fourth issue, but then, neither is the story arc over yet, so there's time.

As I said, I wanted to like this book. And really, it's not bad. It is, in fact, an entertaining read. But in trying to winnow down my pull list and re-assess my current collecting, I'm afraid this title isn't quite good enough to stay. These days, I'm not just looking for good; I'm looking for great. Sadly, this book is falling short of that so far.

Update: After I read these first four issues but before this post was published, it has been announced that JLI is being canceled following its 12th issue. Guess I wasn't the only one who found this title somewhat lacking.

Unsung Heroes

Booster Gold is a loser from the future who stole some technology and inserts himself into the past where he hopes to cash in and strike it rich.

I never really read Booster's adventures much in his first solo book. That lack of familiarity made it easy to just accept the idea that the character was a bit of a joke and move on. Most of what I DID know of him came from the occasional Justice League books I read during the "Bwa-ha-ha" days, or his few guest-appearances in other heroes' books and crossover events. In those cases, Booster's buffoonishness was played up all the more. So, he was a bit of a one-trick pony for me, and not all that much of a trick was ever really expected from him.

My first inkling that there could be more to Booster was his star appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Greatest Story Never Told." In this episode, the entire Justice League is engaged, mostly off-camera, battling the wizard Mordru. The senior members of the League seem to think of Booster much the same as I always had, and thus assign him to handle "crowd control." In the episode, Booster bemoans this assignment as beneath him and longs for the front lines of the battle where he can show-off. Collateral damage from the main battle causes a S.T.A.R. Labs experiment to go awry, and Booster is forced to handle a situation which could prove even more disastrous than Mordru's attack, but of which no one else is even aware.

I have no idea if this episode had any influence on what was to come, but it foreshadowed changes in Booster's mission in the comic books, as he was about to become the "greatest hero the world has never known."

These changes are set-up in the pages of 52, where Time Master Rip Hunter begins to work with Booster, and continues into the 2007 re-launch of Booster's own title. Now, Booster must monitor and correct time anomalies in the past, present and future, policing the DC Universe time stream from threats great and small. And all the while, he must maintain that buffoonish image, so that time villains will not suspect him and move to eliminate the threat he poses to their nefarious plans.

This is the kind of concept that could go horribly off the rails quite easily -- time-travel stories can cause anyone to suffer from headaches and continuity snafus -- but here things are handled by some very talented and capable creators. Geoff Johns was one of the architects of 52, and he and Jeff Katz wonderfully guided the first year's worth of the re-launched Booster series. They were wonderfully assisted by Dan Jurgens, creator of Booster Gold, first on art chores, and later when Jurgens assumed the writing responsibilities shortly after Johns and Katz left the book.

The plots may sound quite complicated and confusing, but wonderfully imaginative tales are told, often touching on events that at least this reader found near and dear to his heart. Initially, Booster only agrees to help Rip Hunter police time if he is first allowed to save his friend, Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, from being gunned down in the run-up to Infinite Crisis. Rip tries to explain to Booster that time can't be changed like that, in fact, this is the very kind of thing Rip wants Booster to help prevent. But Booster won't listen, goes back in time, saves Ted, and returns to a present very much altered.

Other time-correcting jaunts involve the crippling of Batgirl Barbara Gordon at the hands of the Joker and the initial meeting between the New Teen Titans and Deathstroke the Terminator. In the earlier adventure, Booster tries to save Batgirl from her fate, again only to learn that no matter how hard he tries, he is unable to change how things were "meant" to be. In the latter, an evil adversary travels back in time to assist the first Ravager and Deathstroke to defeat the Titans in their first meeting. With the Titans slain, no one was prepared the first time Trigon the Terrible sought to conquer the heroes' dimension, and the Justice League, as well as most solo heroes, all fall to the inter-dimensional demon. These story arcs were presented well and involved characters and events that I enjoyed the first time around. They do nothing to detract from the original tales; in fact, these new stories were like visiting old friends and reliving common memories from new angles.

I'd be very happy to see this kind of story continue, especially from Jurgens and current artist Norm Rapmund. But alas, that is not meant to be. A new creative team and a new direction for the title are set to begin. Possibly the new creators will find an equally successful direction for Booster Gold, but I've grown fond of the time-traveling, unsung hero he became for a few short years.

He’s Back! He’s Back!!!!

Probably a short entry today as time of late — both for reading and posting — has been a little in short supply, but I want to lead off today’s post with the return of Marv Wolfman to the life of Richard “Dick” Grayson, aka Nightwing, formerly the original Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Nightwing 125 (DC Comics) — Wow!

I don’t like some of the things Devin Grayson did with the character near the end of her run, but I can chalk them up to Dick feeling guilt over his role in Blockbuster’s death and, despite what he told other heroes he ran across at the time, that he had not really gone rogue prior to the destruction of Bludhaven but was instead weaving an elaborate trap for Deathstroke and trying to salvage Ravager. C’mon, is all of that any more of a stretch than the “rogue” behavior he is showing over in the Outsiders right now?

But then the Crisis (Infinite Crisis) occurred, and all other plans were abandoned in an effort to save everything from destruction. Then, as depicted, he went off with Bruce and Tim to train and re-dedicate himself.

I’m not overly fond of the confusing storyline Bruce Jones brought Nightwing back with One Year Later, either. I can buy the re-animated and slightly off-kilter Jason Todd/Red Hood confronting Nightwing, but the rest of the story line was just bizarre, including, when did Dick start jumping into bed with every girl he meets?

But all of that is over. Now, the writer who re-imagined the Teen Titans and got me interested in comics again, has taken the reins of one of those characters. This isn’t a return to the character the way he was 20 years ago, nor should it be. Dick has grown and experience much since last he led the Titans. I see those characters as always having emotional ties, bonds, to each other, but these characters are no longer teens or members of the current Titans roster. Life moves on.

But Marv doesn’t settle for “erasing” everything either. Like any true writer should, he takes the work of previous creators and incorporates it with his own as part of the character’s history while still finding his own direction. This Nightwing is still in New York, but still getting to know the city as his encounters with Jason, Cheyenne and the rest in the previous arc didn’t leave him much time to get acclimated. He meets some new people, including one young woman who seems particularly interested in him, yet does not hop into bed with her right away. He’s acting like the well-trained, confident, capable pro he is after all of his years of crime-fighting, and he is showing the detective skills he has displayed in the past as the protoge of the Batman.

This new direction with the new creative team (Dan Jurgens’ art is great, too; too bad he isn’t sticking around) is full of new people and new situations, but a recognizable main character and an overall positive attitude that has been lacking for some time. Kudos.

Fallen Angel 9 (IDW Publishing) — Lee is back in town just in time for the big reveal at the end as this story is suddenly and surprisingly tied into her first adventure as a fallen angel on earth. Along the way, the mystery that is Bete Noir is heightened. This is a fun book to read. So much so, that I think I will be giving some Fallen Angel trades as gifts to people I think might enjoy this series.

Detective Comics 824 (DC Comics) — Another great Paul Dini story, this time featuring Penguin, more from the Riddler, cameos by Lois Lane and Zatanna. I am loving his run on this book, including the touches he brings to the series from the Animated universe.

Justice league Unlimited 26 (DC Comics) — Speaking of the Animated universe, this comic is like having new episodes of the series, this time with Aquaman, Dr. Fate, Superman and Booster Gold confronting Felix Faust and Black Manta.

52 Week 28 (DC Comics) — Black Adam takes another page from the Marvel family by granting a portion of his power to Isis’ brother, Amon, creating Osiris, and we see where all the evil geniuses have ended up as Will Magnus is kidnapped to their island. Each individual issue of this series is giving what seem to be smaller and smaller pieces along the way, but this is truly a great ride.

Green Arrow 67 (DC Comics) — Continuing the look at Ollie’s missing year, we see him training with an assassin to further hone his fighting abilities. We also see the beginnings of his mayoral campaign as news reaches him of events back in Star City. Unfortunately, we also learn that the money he raised to finance his adventuring and campaign were not gained through strictly legitmate means. Not new ground for the character for anyone who has read the Longbow Hunters, but somewhat more disturbing than that event.

Powers 20 (Marvel Icon) — My only complaint about this book is how much time passes between new issues. This book was easier to read in trade form — the way I first discovered it — so you can get a complete arc at once. Otherwise, it is hard to remember what happened last time by the time a new issue arrives.

That’s it for today, kiddie cops. Happy collecting.

1984 Was More Than Just Big Brother

Ain’t technology wonderful? I’m not going to lie and blame the length of my most recent absence entirely on the computer not being available, but that is a valid excuse for a least a portion of the time. But I believe we are back in business now. Keep your fingers crossed.

In previous posts, I’ve talked about how I file my comic books as opposed to the more typical alpha-numeric system. I’ve also mentioned my Web site previously, which lists a number of comic books I’ve cut from my personal collection because of taste and/or duplication. Both of those topics came up in a recent discussion with a friend about what I do with my spare time.

A large portion of my spare time is devoted to my comic book collection. Currently I purchase the bulk of my new comics from a mail-order company which ships me my stash once a month. But, because of money and interest limitations, the new comics I get each month only take me a couple weeks to read and file away. Once that’s done each month, I move back to the beginnings of my collection.

I am currently using that time to go back through my collection from the beginning for a number of reasons. It’s a good way to doublecheck that there are no errors in the way I have the books ordered. I’m also pulling some additional books out for placement on the Web site. And over the last several months, I have purchased a number of back issues which complete runs of some titles or give me a chance to sample series I missed the first time around. So far, I’ve made it to fall 1984. At this point, not counting miscellaneous issues of titles I collected sporadically, there are four main titles I own complete runs of from that time. We’ve already covered my enjoyment of Marv Wolfman’s and George Perez’s revival of the New Teen Titans. Another of those titles is DC’s The Warlord.

The Warlord was created, written and illustrated by Mike Grell beginning with First Issue Special #8 in November 1975. The story centers on Air Force pilot Travis Morgan and the hidden world of Skartaris he accidentally finds inside Earth. The one-shot was popular enough that The Warlord was given his own book almost immediately -- February 1976. Grell stayed with the book until the early 1980s. Cary Burkett took over the writing and the art chores were handled by Dan Jurgens and Rich Buckler.

The title is basically a sword and sorcery tale with elements from science fiction and fantasy thrown in. I first heard of Mike Grell during his work in the 1990s on DC’s revival of Green Arrow. From there, I also followed his work in the late 90s for Image Comics with his creator-owned titles Shaman’s Tears and Bar Sinister, both short-lived but popular series, from my understanding.

The gritty-realism in these later titles -- stories that could almost happen in the real-world, not just ultra-violent as that term has come to mean today -- impressed me enough to seek out other Grell titles. While The Warlord is conciderably more fantastical than realistic, I still enjoyed the story presented in a trade paperback I picked up which collected the first year’s worth of Warlord tales. Other commentators I have read online dismiss Grell as doing work, especially on The Warlord, that others did first and better, most notably Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Martian tales. I will agree that the title isn’t exactly ground-breaking in its use of a man taken out of his usual environment and forced to excell in alien surroundings, but Grell does weave a riveting tale as Morgan explores the hidden world, battles wizrds and monsters, uncovers lost secrets and more.

When Grell left the title and new creators came onboard, the tone of the series changed, emphasizing the science fiction aspects more than others, but the stories were still quite good. The Warlord is a series I highly recommend, at least through 1984. Next time, we’ll look at another title I am discovering from that timeframe.