Oops! Call In the Time Repair Specialists

I’m back with a few more reviews, but first, this little jaunt down comic book memory lane has paid off as it was intended to do. Recently, I talked about how I store my comics chronologically, as if the characters lives were real, linear spans, so not all of the books are in numerical order. For more on that discussion, see the March 2, 2006, post "Meanwhile, back in the Comics Den ..."

Well, in 2000, Ben Raab and Michael Lark did a three-issue, prestige format Legend of the Hawkman miniseries. Now, the events in this story clearly deal with the pre-Crisis Katar and Shayera Hol from the planet Thanagar. So, sometime after reading the story for the first time, I filed the story just before the events of the Crisis, along with other books from 1985. I don’t remember exactly why I chose to place the series so close to the Crisis, maybe it was just easier to find at the time.

Now, in 2006, I’m re-visiting this portion of my collection, and I come across this series, still quite good, dealing with not only heroics, but also issues of faith and bonding. It’s really quite good. But, as I re-read the story, it has the feel of something that should have come earlier. The Hawks still seem somewhat new and unfamiliar to the earth in this tale. The clincher is a cameo by Superman in the second issue. It is clear from the brief exchange between the Hawks and the Man of Steel that this meeting takes place before most of the members of the Justice League have decided to trust one another with their respective secret identities. Superman seems to have no idea that the Hols are also museum curators Carter and Shayera Hall (why is it that only the male had to change his name?). Obviously, this series needs to “occur” much earlier in the history of the DC Universe. Finding and correcting little continuity errors such as this one is one of the reasons I’m revisiting these older tales.

Other books I’ve read in the last few days:

Jon Sable, Freelance 28-30 (First Comics) — These three issues revolve around a charity auction of Hollywood memorabilia and the disappearance of the famous statue from “The Maltese Falcon.” Sable’s friend, Sonny Pratt, gets the mercenary involved in the case, which nicely adds character bits to the relationship between Sable and Police Capt. Josh Winters.

Red Tornado 1-4 (DC Comics) — This was a four-issue series from mid-1985 by Kurt Busiek and Carmine Infantino which explores the android hero’s desire to be more human. I’m not a big fan of Infantino’s artwork, especially during the mid-1980s when everything he drew was so angular (see his work on The Flash during this time), but this book isn’t so bad. Busiek chooses to pit the Tornado against an old JLA foe, The Construct, another mechanical entity. The story has some nice character development for Reddy, as well as his surrogate family, Kathy Sutton and Traya.

Nightcrawler 1-4 (Marvel Comics) — This is another four-issue series, this time both written and illustrated by Nightcrawler creator, Dave Cockrum. A mishap in the Danger Room sends the swashbuckling X-Man to a series of ever-increasingly bizarre alternate universes, finally ending up in one based on a fairy tale imagined by Kitty Pryde and inhabited by cartoonish versions of the X-Men. This series doesn’t do much to change Kurt Wagner’s character or bring about any major changes in his continuity; it’s just a fun romp through some strange adventures, a tale befitting the devilish mutant.

The Thing 27 (Marvel Comics) — Ben Grimm is still on the road, this time running across the Fabulous Thunderiders, a motorcycle group. I don’t know much about the Thunderiders, but from the dialogue within the story, this group has apparently either starred in a title of their own or at least shown up in other titles. They obviously have some history, including some kind of mystical link which can manifest as the Black Marauder, a daredevil cyclist hero, or is he?

The New Teen Titans (second series) annual 1 (DC Comics) — The main story in this book features Tara Markov (Terra) as member of the Titans, which places it before the events told in the Judas Contract storyline from a couple years earlier. But there is a modern framing sequence which shows new Titans Joe Wilson (Jericho) reading through files of the team’s past cases that keeps the story placed with other 1985 tales. In this adventure, the Titans meet a group of representatives from yet another intergalactic police force, The Vanguard, and is obviously an attempt to launch an off-shoot title which never came to be. This is one of the weaker Titans annuals during the Marv Wolfman era (George Perez had left the title by this point), but since I have everything else in this run of the group, I keep this book as well.

And lastly, The New Teen Titans (second series) 12 (DC Comics) — This story wraps up some loose ends from the group’s recent past in a rollicking “Ghost Story.” An occasional recurring foil for the team since it’s 1980 relaunch was a crime family headed by Donna Omicidio. Among other storylines, she played an important part in The New Teen Titans (first series) annual 2, the first comic of this series I ever purchased, and the book responsible for getting me interested in comics again. (For more on this annual, see the February 2, 2006, post "What the hell are 'kiddie cops'?") With the help of an eight-year-old apparition, the Titans are able to solve a 50-year-old murder mystery. A very good read.

And that brings us to the doorstep of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. If you recall from last time, Warlord #97 showed some early effects of the anti-matter wave on Skartaris. The New Teen Titans #13 and #14 both take place in the midst of the Crisis. That’s the next thing in the chronology to read through. I may not offer reviews of every single one of those issues. I think, for a time, I will try offering reviews only of select books for which I have something significant to say instead of saying something about each and every one. Plus, it may be just a bit before I get to the Crisis books. My July shipment of new comics has been sent and should arrive in a few days, so we’ll be back to reading current comics within a week.

See ya next time.

Back to the Future

OK, short post this time. Got my current month’s worth of comics over the weekend, got ’em added to the database and read just a couple over the weekend. Since I get the bulk of my books once a month when so many folks get theirs on a weekly basis when they’re released, I’m always behind when I get a shipment. But I keep track of which books arrive in the stores each week, and that’s the order I read my new ones in, oldest first. Since I’ve been talking about some of the storylines I’m reading or re-reading as I go back through my older comics, I figured I’d just continue that motiff with the new ones, too. So, here’s some mini-reviews/thoughts on the first three books I read from this latest shipment.

52: Week Four (DC Comics) - This series is starting kind of slow, but I’m intrigued by a number of the storylines. For instance, I’m not sure where the whole thing with the Question and Renee Montoya is going but I’m definitely willing to come along for the ride and find out. I also like the emotional ploy of using Ralph “Elongated Man” Dibny as a central character. And speaking of Ralph’s story, what the hell’s going on with Wonder Girl and this cult of Superboy? I’m not as interested in the Booster storyline right now; I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. Same with the Steel storyline as I haven’t followed the charcter much of late. And holy crap, what’s up with the return of the space heroes? Especially the enormous Hawkgirl and the apparently now one-eyed Alan Scott? I know Scott is shown in Checkmate as wearing an eyepatch, but he doesn’t have it in current issues of JSA so I figured maybe something happened between those two stories, maybe something in the current JSA Classified storyline with Vandal Savage. Now, I’m not so sure.

Action Comics 839 (DC Comics) - The Up, Up and Away story reintroducing Superman has been pretty good so far. Writers Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek brought me to this storyline but I don’t normally stay with the Super titles very long. I like Superman, but his stories just aren’t my cup o’ chocolate milk most of the time. Maybe this round will be different.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 1 (DC Comics) - I was looking forward to this one. I’ve always like the occasional appearances of Det. Crispus Allen in the Bat-titles. He’s one of the reasons I first gave Gotham Central a try when that title debuted. I was shocked when he was gunned down in the final issue of that series just before Infinite Crisis. His death made more sense when the Crisis aluded to his reincarnation as the new Spectre. I’m looking forward to this journey, and this first issue seems to hold a lot of promise.

And that’s all I’ve had a chance to read so far. Look for more soon.