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.

The Best Of The Bunch

My World And Welcome To It
Baboon Books
Richard John Marcej, writer and artist

This little gem was a free bonus sent along with an order from Baboon Books. The other items I'd ordered weren't bad, I'd even be interested in reading more from some of the creators, but the other books just didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped. This book, however, contains 22 examples of Richard Marcej's daily illustrated blog where he draws a comic about something from that day in his life. Some of the subjects involve his daily routine. Others involve strange things he witnessed or overheard or did. It was a fun read filled with humor and a lot of dedication if Marcej really produces one of these illustrated journal entries each and every day. Kudos to him for that dedication, and more kudos for the fact that the cartoons are very readable and entertaining. I plan to start checking out his blog.

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Short post today, but I also have a brief bit of housekeeping. Today's will be the last Sunday post, at least for a while. My family has undergone some changes in the past few weeks which have made it a bit harder to find time to generate posts three times a week. I'm hoping that will be temporary; but for now, I'm returning to the original Tuesday/Friday schedule for new posts. Not a major change, but wanted to let the faithful know up front.

See ya on Tuesday, Kiddie Cops!

I'm Back!

Hey, Kiddie Cops! I'm back!

Did you miss me?

Probably not. If I had any regular readers before, they've probably long since given up waiting for updates, and since my previous round of posts never generated any comments (at least none about the actual content of the posts), I doubt too many people were reading my musings back then anyway.

Not that I don't welcome readers; far from it. If you've stumbled across this blog, then welcome. Feel free to just browse, or to comment or whatever. Maybe some of my thoughts on the titles I'm reading or have read may spark an interest in someone else, or give them incentive to try something new. That would be fantastic!

But in all honesty, the first round of posts ended up helping me in unintended ways, and I'm back in an effort to recapture a bit of that "magic" I experienced the first time around.

Like most folks out there, I'm not made of money despite my collecting hobby — or maybe because of it. (I'm not made of unlimited time, either, which also proves to often be a hinderance, but that's another post.) Anyway, every so often, I find myself for economic reasons needing to trim the number of comics I buy each month. I know which books I'm still enjoying and which are maybe dropping on the interest-scale, at least in a basic sense. But it can get very easy each month when it comes time to order, to fall back on the habits of previous months without really thinking. Or to give a slacking book "one more month" to get good again for five months without realizing you've been disappointed for that long.

Writing this blog and these little reviews forced me to spend more time thinking about what I liked and why, as well as what I didn't care for anymore and how far some titles had fallen. That, in turn, made it a little easier to make cuts when it came time to order each month. Often I'd remember my reactions better after posting them, but even if my memory was somewhat vague, I could quickly revisit my thoughts in the blog.

Well, I find myself in need of that assistance once again. I'm trying to trim some dead weight from my "pull list." So why not resume putting my thoughts down here? I had no good answer for that question, so here I am, giving the blog another whirl.

Don't think that means this will be all comic-bashing. Far from it. Trying new things means once in a while having to spit something back out. A person can get tired of a steady diet of even something great that has become somewhat stale. But by and large, I love comics as an entertainment medium. I guarantee there'll be loads of good here to counter the bad.

Next time we'll dive right in to some recent reads, but until then, Happy Collecting!!

Guest-Starring The Batman

I’m both excited about the upcoming return of The Brave and the Bold, and more than a couple of today’s comics, while not strictly Bat-books, do, in fact, guest-star a certain Dark Knight Detective. What can I say? Sometimes a theme just comes to you; other times, you have to make one up as you go along.

Tales of the Unexpected 4 (DC Comics) — Former Gotham City police det. Crispus Allen, now joined with the spirit of vengeance as the Spectre, has been keeping pretty close to his old stomping grounds. So, it’s only surprising that it has taken Batman this long to show up. And he’s none to happy about the Spectre claiming lives in his town. The lead story in this book just keeps holding my interest as a well-written, down-right creepy detective story. The Dr. 13 backup — the less said, the better.

Green Arrow 70 (DC Comics) — The Red Hood has traveled to Star City for an arms deal with the Brick. Batman has followed him. So we have GA and Bats against Brick and a former Robin. Two issues in and this story is still in the opening acts, but next issue promises to be a little more action-oriented. And writer Judd Winick is doing some nice characterization in this story.

Justice Society of America 2 (DC Comics) — I love this book right now. The sense of history. The feeling of family and legacy. I wish they would tone down Damage’s attitude just a bit as he seems a bit more angry than I remember him from previous appearances in the DCU. And, at least so far, Starman is just too crazy to safely keep around young heroes in training, in my opinion. But otherwise, this book, with just the right mix of new characters and ones picked up from other books in continuity, is a great read.

Outsiders 44 (DC Comics) — OK, no Batman in the last book. None here, either. But not just one, but two former Robins. This issue of Outsiders begins explaining where the Outsiders were during 52, and how they went from a divided super-team to everyone believing they were dead. Obviously Nightwing is part of the group, although at the beginning of the flashback, he’d be with Batman somewhere, and the Red Hood is to figure prominently in the story. I’m curious to see where this one goes.

Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs. Nighthawk 1 (Marvel Comics) — OK, not really Batman in this one, either, but Nighthawk is obviously an “elseworlds” version of Bats. This limited series pits the two heroes against each other as expected, but uses the real-world events in the Sudan as a backdrop.

52 Weeks 37 and 38 (DC Comics) — The bulk of the first issue is taken up by the explanations about Supernova — who, how and why. Rip Hunter, Booster Gold and Skeets all figure into that mix. Plus, a quick check-in with the space heroes reveals that Animal Man is, in fact, not dead, but still in trouble. Next comes the unveiling of the monstrosities the mad scientists have been concocting and more on Montoya’s efforts to get the Question to Nanda Parbat before he dies.

Green Lantern 16 (DC Comics) — We really are back to Batman guest-starring this time as the entire Justice League descends on Russia to assist Hal. Doesn’t mean things are going well for the ring-slinger, though. In fact, the son of the late Abin Sur, the “villain” of this story, is quite happy at the end of this issue. On a personal continuity note: the League members depicted in this issue are not generic Leaguers, but rather the exact members from the new book. So obviously, this GL tale must “take place” after the new team is officially formed.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 48 (DC Comics) — The new Aquaman, King Shark and the Dweller in the Depths are on the “road” seeking injustices for Arthur to right when they run afoul of the Fisherman gone just a tad freaky. Y’know that goofy-looking hood he always wears? It ain’t just a hood!

Birds of Prey 102 (DC Comics) — I’m really wondering what Manhunter’s secret agenda is here. The other agents coped quite nicely without Oracle’s help. And all I can say about Lois Lane is — classy. I really think she enjoyed baiting Barbara just a little bit, but I should’ve known she’d never betray a friend.

Checkmate 10 (DC Comics) — Pawn 502 gets lucky, or does he? This story arc concludes and I have to say: This is what this comic should be about. The heroes of Shadowpact were involved in this story line. That’s OK. Checkmate operates in a world filled with superheroes and supervillains; that fact should be acknowledged. But by and large, this should be a spy series. This story was. Kudos.

Fables 57 (DC Vertigo) — Snow and Bigby take the cubs to visit their grandfather, the North Wind, and the children promptly get into trouble — very dangerous trouble. Plus, a peek in on Pinnochio and Gepetto reveals a rather nasty temper on the part of the Adversary. Have I mentioned that I like this book? A lot.

That’s all we have for today, Kiddie Cops, because that closes out the comics I have until the next box arrives in a week or two. That means I’m caught up, which means next time we’ll have some more retro-reviews from 1987. However, that may or may not be next Tuesday as I will be out of town for a few days. See ya next time.

Moving Into January

Lot of ground to cover today, Kiddie Cops. I’ve managed to finish reading the last of the December-releases and start on January, if only a little bit, so let’s dive right in.

Powers 22 (Marvel Icon) — I read the entire Image run of this title as trade paperback collections. There is definitely an advantage to waiting for the trade on a title like Powers because it has a tendency to come out on such a slow, irregular basis; reading one entire arc all the way through leaves less opportunity to forget what's going on in the series between individual issues. And, of course, since I came to the Powers party late, I didn’t really have to wait that long between most of the trades, either.

Since the title switched to Marvel Icon, however, I’ve been buying the individual issues as they are released. One benefit to the pamphlet-style books is the infamous Powers “letter column.” It amazes me the number of people who don’t even seem able to string a group of words together and make a coherent sentence. If you’re e-mailing a friend or simply chatting online, slang and abbreviations are just fine, but when you’re sending something to a stranger, something you think might be printed — and especially for the seemingly never-ending supply of people soliciting writing advice from Bendis — you really should be able to compose a rational thought in print.

Maybe some of these people write what they do deliberately trying to provoke a certain response. In fact, I’m certain some of them do. But some of the “writers” featured there each issue have got to be legitimately clueless, and it worries me about the future of the industry when the most vocal “fans” are — I’m sorry to say — such morons.

Jack of Fables 6 (DC Vertigo) — New two-issue story arc begins. Jack and his fellows escapees are all in hiding. To wile away the time, jack regales his current traveling companions with a tale from his past, specifically, how he received winter powers and became Jack Frost. Another nice Willingham fable.

Daredevil 92 (Marvel Comics) — Penultimate chapter of Devil Takes a Ride wherein we learn the identity of the mastermind behind DD’s recent woes. The beginning of this arc was starting to lose my interest, but I am intrigued by the revelation that Vanessa Fisk is behind it all. Of course, since there is still one chapter to go, there may yet be more to the story.

Winter Soldier: Winter Kills (Marvel Comics) — This one-shot comic is everything a mega-crossover tie-in should be. It provides a nice, done-in-one story which adds to the overall tapestry of the crossover if you have an interest in picking it up without being so essential to the plot that the crossover won’t make sense without it. This tale by Ed Brubaker and Lee Weeks also relies heavily on flashbacks from World War II, and does this quite effectively, providing some nice scenes from the past which truly enhance the current drama being played out without changing everything you thought you knew from that time period. Highly recommended.

52 Weeks 35 and 36 (DC Comics) — Rain of the Supermen was very dramatic, but after a while, one has to start to question why Luthor gets away with everything so easily. Despite all of his denials, some of the general populace of the DC Universe beyond the heroes have to suspect he knows more than he is letting on. We also learn that the Question is not yet dead as I’d suspected a few issues ago. Does that mean there’s hope that this issue wasn’t really the death of Buddy Baker? I hope so.

New Universal 2 (Marvel Comics) — More questions and still no answers that make much sense in this series so far, but I still get the vibe from this story that we readers are in the dark intentionally while the author of our confusion knows exactly what is going on. Under those circumstances, I can be patient for answers.

Superman 658 (DC Comics) — On-time issues growing with this title right now, which aren’t helping my overall enjoyment much. I just can’t make up my mind on this arc from Kurt Busiek. The first issue, 653, I believe, was excellent. The next two introduce a new alien named Subjekt, whose interaction with Superman was also great. Then this great character is suddenly and anti-climactically dispatched in favor of the alternate future shown to our hero and his friends by the insufferably egocentric Arion. I cannot stand this incarnation of the Atlantean mage. I’ve never really followed his adventures before, but I’m surprised he could carry a title if Arion’s character has always been like it is portrayed here. I could maybe like Khyber if he is developed more over time. And the alternate future and the ever-growing threat of man’s downfall are intriguing. But I can’t get past the boor presenting it all to Superman.

Manhunter 27 (DC Comics) — What th--?! I can hardly wait for the next issue of this book so Marc Andreyko can explain this one.

Nightwing 128 (DC Comics) — In all honesty, the ending of this first arc by Marv Wolfman was a tad disappointing, but the overall arc is still head and shoulders above the dreck that preceded it. Now that Marv is on the title to stay for a while instead of just filling in for a few issues, I look for things to get even better.

Civil War 6 (Marvel Comics) — Double-agents and double-crosses abound in this issue, and I’m truly anxious to see what happens in the final chapter and where the Marvel Universe is going from here as the powers-that-be keep promising real change in the aftermath of this “event.”

Civil War: Front Line 10 (Marvel Comics) — Not sad, but surprised to see Sleeper Cell and the usual text piece gone from this issue, but then I’ve always said I feel Embedded and The Accused are the strongest two components in this title. Nice to see the entire issue devoted to these stories this time. I kept hoping for a reveal from Sally and Ben that I knew the writers wouldn’t share with us and spoil things, and I genuinely feel the pain and torment Robbie Baldwin is suffering through.

Boneyard 23 (NBM) — Another title that doesn’t come out nearly often enough, but this one is designed to be a quarterly comic anyway, so I can’t complain. Interesting solution to Abbie’s current problem, but I have to wait three whole months to see how it plays out.

Justice League Unlimited 29 (DC Comics) — This issue focuses on B’Wana Beast and Animal Man and their respective differences as the League takes on first the denizens of Gorilla City, then Queen Bee.

Batman 662 (DC Comics) — The end of the Grotesk story line. I really kind of thought that Grotesk was going to turn out to be the sister rather than the brother, even though the story indicated otherwise. Overall, this arc was OK, but unspectacular.

JLA Classified 26-31 (DC Comics) — This story line by Howard Chaykin was disappointing. Several other writers of late have done stories pitting the Justice League against a “real world” dictator, forcing them to debate whether or not to interfere in the politics of a sovereign nation. But what disappointed me the most with this arc was the characterizations of the Leaguers themselves. I realize this story is “out of continuity” and takes place much earlier than the events of Infinite Crisis, so the Batman here should be the paranoid, non-trusting one. He and Superman aren’t friends. But this group is like a twisted parody of even that League. My ideal Justice League is made up of a group of individuals who work with each other for the greater good because they respect each other’s dedication to the same ideals. They may not always trust each other. They may not always see eye to eye with each other. They will have internal conflicts from time to time. But deep down, they remain a group. The “heroes” in this tale don’t even like each other a little bit. There’s no reason for them to cooperate.

Well, that was a lot. So let's call it a wrap, and see ya next time.

More Quickie Reviews

I still haven’t made it quite all of the way through the December-release comics in my stack, and I’ve already received the January releases. Needless to say, I’m running a little behind where we usually are at this time of the month, so here are some more short and sweet reviews as I try to catch up just a bit.

Checkmate 9 (DC Comics) — Sarge Steel and Sasha Bordeaux verbally spar in this issue over who can best take down the terrorist organization Cobra, and over who most screwed things up last issue. I’ve heard rumors that this book may not have much longer to live, which would be sad, but so far, it hasn’t really lived up to its potential.

Teen Titans 42 (DC Comics) — This issue is a nice recap of the history of Kid Devil. I knew most of Blue Devil’s story, but not Eddie’s, so this was nice.

Civil War Front Line 9 (Marvel Comics) — Sally slaps down Captain America during an exclusive interview as she points out that both sides of the war see themselves as right and will stoop to any low in order to bring down the other side. Morally, I’m on Cap’s side, but as we’ll see in a bit, Cap has a parallel with Iron Man’s side using bad guys.

Civil War: War Crimes (Marvel Comics) — Captain America’s rogue heroes make a deal with the Kingpin in an effort to doublecross Iron Man’s band of zealots. I think I would have liked this better if Captain America himself had not made the decision to work with Kingpin. Other heores can make an occasional mistake: Spidey was on the wrong side of things for a bit, then wised up, for example. But Cap should be above reproach in his actions.

The Lone Ranger 3 (Dynamite Entertainment) — A few more changes to the story I’m familiar with, but nothing that really detracts or lessens the overall origin of the masked man. This is a good comic.

Fables 56 (DC Vertigo) — Very nicely done Christmas tale introducing us to holiday-themed Fables while also providing hints of things yet to come involving not only Snow, Bigby and the cubs, but also Flycatcher.

Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War (Marvel Comics) — The two heroes meet on neutral ground in an effort to talk things through. Captain America states that such a thing would’ve been much easier before the Thor clone killed Goliath, which is true, but no less tragic. These two heroes have fought before, but will this be the last time?

New Avengers: Illuminati 1 (Marvel Comics) — This series is starting off to be a little disappointing for me. This first issue takes us back to the time of the Kree-Skrull war and shows exactly how the six members of this secret cabal tried to persuade the Skrulls to leave earth alone rather than retaliate. The plan is disastrous at first, but the newly formed group manages to succeed in the end. If each issue of this limited series is going to look at a specific event from Marvel history, then this series is nothing more than an expanded version of the Illuminati one-shot from a few months ago.

Athena Voltaire: The Collected Web Comics (Ape Entertainment) — This trade collects the first two story arcs introducing 1930s aviatrix Athena Voltaire as she takes on Nazi plots, mysterious yetis and vampiric descendants of Dracula. The stories in this collection are a little more raw than the current miniseries starring the same heroine, but they depict the origins of the character and her creators.

52 Week 34 (DC Comics) — This was a sad installment of the weekly comic as we see not only the death of the Question, but also the betrayal of the Black Marvel family, some of the best characters in this series. And Luthor decides to literally pull the plug on his Everyman project.

Batman 661 (DC Comics) — I am seriously losing interest in the Grotesk story line. Why couldn’t this tale have been done in two issue instead of four? John Ostrander can be an exceptional writer, but this is a case where writing for the trades truly hurts the medium. As a fill-in story, this arc wouldn’t fit into a trade collection with either the Grant Morrison story before it or the one after, so it has to be long enough to support its own trade collection, but the story feels artificially padded by being four issues.

Detective Comics 827 (DC Comics) — This Batman tale, on the other hand, kept me guessing. Paul Dini brings back Scarface, but who is in control and who is pulling the strings, the dummy or the brand-new Ventriloquist?

Justice League of America 5 (DC Comics) — Finally, this story is starting to make a shred of sense and flow in a somewhat linear fashion. All of the various players have been brought together more by chance than by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman’s selection process. But they’ve all agreed to work with Solomon Grundy in an effort to stop the latest incarnation of Amazo in Red Tornado’s body. I’m hoping things continue to get better to the point where this all makes sense at some point.

Lastly, here’s another book from that stack of out-of-continuity trades and graphic novels I read from occasionally. This time out, we have Neal Adams’ Monsters (Vanguard Productions) — This beautifully illustrated graphic novel presents an original tale featuring the three most popular movie monsters — Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the werewolf — together in one story. In addition, the book offers notes and sketches from Adams, a truly revolutionary comic artist and story-teller.

That’s it for today, Kiddie Cops. Next time we’ll hopefully finish up the last holdouts from December and move into January. Until then, happy collecting.

Winter Colds Suck

Been down with a cold most of the weekend, unfortunately, so I’ve spent most of my days off asleep. I hate that when your weekend is taken from you like that. But any readers I have on this blog probably don’t much care that I’ve had a cold; they’re just wondering what I thought of the most recent comics I’ve read. So, let’s jump right in with some lightning reviews:

Batman 660 (DC Comics) — The second part of Grotesk by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake. I still like this story so far, but this issue seemed a bit slower in the pacing than the first.

Tales of the Unexpected 3 (DC Comics) — I’ve heard some online dissatisfaction with this series, so far, mainly because of the ascension of Crispus Allen to the role of the Spectre. Allen was not a well-known enough character for this role for some, apparently. I haven’t read every appearance of Det. Allen, but I am familiar with him from Gotham Central and the Bat books before that, and I like the series, although I don’t know if he could support an ongoing title. This issue’s Spectre entry was a little darker than the previous two, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Dr. 13 backup feature, however, is just ridiculous.

Justice League of America 4 (DC Comics) — As I’ve stated before, I’m very disappointed in the pacing and flow of this story. But there are interesting bits here and there — so the Starro’s we’ve seen aren’t real, huh? How does that tie in with the reveal at the end of this issue? Is he real? — and I hold out hopes that things will improve in what should be DC’s best and brightest.

Fallen Angel 11 (IDW Publishing) — A new story line begins with this issue as we see Jude fall increasingly more into his role as magistrate of Bete Noire.

Secret Six 6 (DC Comics) — Now that this series is over I can state for the entire six-issue run: Not nearly as good as the initial Villains United miniseries. These characters have potential, and Gail Simone is usually an incredible writer, but this follow-up just fell flat for me.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 47 (DC Comics) — The second half of a classic Aquaman tale by Kurt Busiek, Phil Winslade, Karl Kesel and Butch Guice, this was a solid flashback story.

Birds of Prey 101 (DC Comics) — Spy Smasher seems to have a history with Oracle with which I am unfamiliar, possibly stemming from an earlier incarnation of Suicide Squad. But man, does she have a mad-on for Barbara and seems to be giving the Birds a genuine threat.

That’s it for today, Kiddie Cops. Short and sweet. Se ya next time.

Welcoming A New All-Ages Comic

Most comics really aren’t written for kids anymore. As the average age of comics readers has gone up, stories have gained in sophistication and use of continuity. It’s gotten to the point where the big two comics publishers have created specific all-ages lines in recent years, catering to a younger audience.

All-ages comics are a necessary idea. Most current readers didn’t become readers as adults; they began reading as youngsters and either continued the habit or went back to it after “growing out of” it at some point. The way to keep interest in comics growing is to attract new readers, preferably younger ones who will be around for a while.

Enter the Guardian Line of comics which debuted in December. I have not yet received the first issue of The Seekers or Genesis 5, but two other titles have definitely debuted. Code seems to be a little darker in tone, certainly more cryptic in its first issue, and thus might appeal to a slightly older audience, but Joe and Max is a quintessential all-ages comic.

All of the Guardian comics have a basis in Judeo-Christian beliefs, but at least in the first issue of these two books, there is little that would specify denomination or exclude other mono-theistic religions. A belief in God, the battle between good and evil and the concept of angels is all that is required. I highly recommend both Joe and Max and Code, and look forward to reading The Seekers and Genesis 5.

Joe and Max 1 (Guardian Line) — Max is an angel charged with protecting elementary schooler Joe so that Joe will be able to grow up and defeat the evil Steven Dark. Only Joe can see Max, and after their initial introduction, Max can only speak in biblical quotes. This first issue sets all of that up by having Dark confront Joe one day after school with a vision and an offer. Dark shows Joe the future where an adult Joe brings an end to Dark’s evil, then vows to kill the boy if he does not renounce God and agree to work with Dark. Max shows up to save Joe after the boy refuses to renounce God and this pair is off and running for some exciting adventures.

Code 1 (Guardian Line) — Code is a mysterious man without a past. All he knows when he wakes up in the morning is that he is a soldier of God with a mission to fulfill. As he begins his day, he meets other denizens of New Hope City who say he has been around for six weeks. He also knows that a man named Steven Dark is evil and must be defeated. That’s when the demons start coming after him. None of the demons are killed, but they are dispatched by Code using a variety of fighting techniques. That is, until the final scene when three specific agents of Dark gain the upper hand and threaten to behead Code.

Justice Society of America 1 (DC Comics) — Wow! This book’s relaunch is everything Brad Meltzer’s Justice League is not. It’s a coherent story that builds on the past while justifying the new first issue by providing a new beginning for the team. There are several cameos and great little character moments without the story seeming disjointed and confusing.

Martian Manhunter 5 (DC Comics) — Why do friends/teammates never trust each other when one of them is featured in a miniseries? In this issue, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Vixen and Zatanna confront J’Onn about his recent actions. I give writer A.J. Lieberman some credit in that he has the heroes start out talking instead of just swinging fists, but the conversation all too quickly degenerates, nonetheless.

Green Arrow 69 (DC Comics) — Batman visits Star City follwoing the trail of the Red Hood. Too soon to comment on this arc, although there were some nice character bits included in this first chapter.

JSA Classified 20 (DC Comics) — Scott Beatty, Rags Morales and Michael Bair turn in a grissly finale to their two-part Dr. Mid-Nite/Ultra-Humanite storyline.

Short entry today, its true; but at least the last entry wasn’t weeks ago, right?

See ya next time, Kiddie Cops.

Welcome To The First Entry Of 2007

Sorry for the delay since the last post; between real life and the holiday season, life has been somewhat grueling of late. But I’m back now with another batch of Retro-Reviews before we delve into the recently received December releases. But first, a thought which has occurred to me of late.

I’ve been switching back and forth for several months now between reading dozens of current comics, then reading some from two decades ago for a few weeks. There are some marked differences in the comics from the two settings. I don’t mean plot or characterization differences, although those exist, as well. This is something far more basic — pacing.

Most books now, even continuing books are written as story arcs. They typically run four to six issues, sometimes more, but very rarely more than 12. Each monthly book is intended to be only one chapter of that overall arc, sometimes containing only one piece of the story-telling triumvirate of beginning, middle and end. And they tend to read rather quickly. I average about 10 to 20 minutes reading most current comics.

Many of the books featured in these Retro-Reviews can take me nearly an hour to finish, front-to-back, with no more pages. The older issues have more words, to be sure. The writers of the period tended to be more verbose. But the creators also packed each issue with much more, I think. Not every comic book from the 1980s was a stand-alone story. But even when an issue was part of a larger story arc, each issue had its own beginning, middle and end; its own climax and breathers; its own little resolutions and setbacks, no matter how small, along the way to the larger finale.

I’m not saying every story then was better than every story now. Certainly not. But the stories were often more full, more developed. Richer, in a way.

Anyway, just a thought I’ve had.

Last time, we caught up with a few issues of The Warlord and DC’s first post-Crisis crossover event, Legends. These books fall around that same time and shortly after.

Batman 402 (DC Comics, 1986) — The story in this issue is written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Jim Starlin. Robin Jason Todd appears in the issue, both in and out of costume, but has a fairly small role, so we can assume he is still recovering from the injuries he received in Legends. The story centers on a former police officer driven by the loss of his wife and child into thinking he is Batman. His actions are much more savage than the real Dark Knight’s, resulting in the deaths of several small-time criminals and prompting a confrontation with the real Batman. But the identity crisis is the impetus for a number of discussions on what the Batman does, how he operates, why he does what he does, and whether or not he should employ lethal force. The story winds up with an interesting musing from Batman. Robin, who has witnessed the final take-down, says, “Broke some ribs, huh? That why you didn’t hit that guy sooner?” Batman replies, “Robin, somehow it was hard to swing at him. After all, who am I but just another guy who thinks he’s the Batman?” Certainly not the always-confident version of today, but this is a good Batman nonetheless.

The New Teen Titans 26-27 (DC Comics, 1986-87) — When last we saw the Titans as a whole, Nightwing and Raven were being held by the Church of Blood, and the others had just fought Mento’s Hybrid creations, resulting in the kidnapping of Aqualad. Then Flash (Wally West) and Changling played prominent roles in the Legends miniseries. These issues pick up with the return of Starfire after her African adventure in Teen Titans Spotlight #1-2.She wants the team to immediately rescue Nightwing and Raven, while Changling insists that the team must go after and help Mento and rescue Aqualad. After some debate, the team opts to build their numbers by first going after Nightwing and Raven. They travel to Zandia, home base for the Church of Blood, and are joined once again by Robin Jason Todd. In Zandia, the Titans meet Twister, a young girl corrupted by Brother Blood and confront the Brotherhood of Evil.

The New Teen Titans annual 2 (DC Comics, 1987) — The annual contains two stories. The first is a somewhat timeless tale of a team-up between the Titans and the new Dr. Light confronting giant robot dinosaurs built by aliens. The story is every bit as fantastical as that description sounds, and is framed by Wonder Girl Donna Troy telling her step-daughter a bedtime story. The second but main feature of the book is the history of Brother Blood. The entire 700-year history of the character is related by Mother Mayhem, and falls where it does because it details the Titans finally gaining access to the main Church of Blood in Zandia. Mother Mayhem tells the Titans the history of Brother Blood before his planned “resurrection” in hopes of convincing them to leave him alone.

The New Teen Titans 28-29 (DC Comics, 1987) — Obviously, the Titans aren’t going to leave Blood alone. They’ve learned that Nightwing and Raven are being held at the New York church where Blood’s “resurrection” is to be staged. Making use of the duped Azrael and the brainwashed Raven and Nightwing, the Church of Blood whips the world into a frenzy of spiritual need, then present their resurrection event in front of the world. When the Titans attack, things have been manipulated so that they appear to be attacking a benevolent entity with mankind’s best interests at heart. And the combined powers of Raven and Brother Blood truly seem to be defeating and destroying the Titans.

Jon Sable, Freelance 44-45 (First Comics, 1987) — These two issues present the two-issue tale, The Hard Way. Sable is hired to protect the only copy of a never-released six-year-old film as it finally makes its way to its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. The story itself, especially the resolution, seems a bit overly convoluted and disappointing considering the title’s usual level of quality. But these books are noteworthy as the beginning of the end of the series.

Mike Grell wrote the story and illustrated the cover, but he did not do the interior art. That chore was completed on these two issues by Judith Hunt. The art isn’t bad, but as happened when Grell started giving up duties on the Warlord, the trend here would continue. The letters page in issue 45, tells readers that with the next issue, Grell will give up all interior art duties to new artist Mike Manley. The reason for this is so that Grell can devote more time to a Sable graphic novel, but as far as I know, one never materialized. And this series only continued through issue 56, so the writing was apparently on the wall a year before Grell’s departure.

Teen Titans Spotlight 7-8 (DC Comics, 1987) — Both of these issues of the Spotlight series focus on Hawk by Mike Baron, Jackson Guice and Larry Mahlstedt. When last seen in New Teen Titans, Hawk was even more angry and prone to violence than ever before. That’s the Hank Hall presented here, although he’s still effective enough to defeat a group of very small terrorists who first take over a Colorado nuclear power plant, then lead Hawk to their home base in South America where their hive is being threatened.

Wonder Woman 1-2 (DC Comics, 1987) — This is the re-launch of the Amazon princess by George Perez and others. First there was Superman in John Byrne’s Man of Steel. Then Batman by Frank Miller. Now it’s Diana’s turn. And when DC re-starts Wonder Woman, they go all the way back to the beginning of time, re-telling motivations of the Olympian gods, the full history of the Amazons and the creation of Diana to thwart a mad plot orchestrated by the god of war, Ares. This is a very dramatic recreation of the Wonder Woman story.

That’s it for today. Again, next time we’ll dive into some of those more current December-released titles. See ya next time, Kiddie Cops. Happy collecting.

More Post Crisis Retro-Reviews

Welcome back, Kiddie Cops. As promised, here are some more retro-reviews from my personal comic book collection. Now, we’ve already covered a large number of comics since discussing the mega-crossover event of 1985, Crisis On Infinite Earths, but many of those comics were produced later and only happen to “occur” chronologically in my collection immediately after the Crisis as history is being re-written. But in the real world, the Crisis lasted into 1986, eliminating a number of characters and titles from the DC Universe. Just like DC is doing now, creating several new titles in the wake of Infinite Crisis, back in 1986 and early 1987, the company began to launch several new titles or tweak the premise of existing titles. And what better way to accomplish that task than to launch yet another, albeit smaller, crossover.

Legends 1-6 (DC Comics, 1986-87) — Darkseid launches a gambit to turn the populace of Earth against its heroes using the persuasive powers of Glorious Godfrey. The plot focuses heavily of the legends surrounding the heroes, hence the name, and includes a running verbal battle between Darkseid and the Phantom Stranger as they watch events unfold from Apokolips. Darkseid has some initial success crushing the spirit and even lives of some heroes, and does indeed turn much of the populace against the heroes. In a parallel to Marvel Comics’ current Civil War, the growing outrage against superheroes even prompts in-story President of the United States Ronald Reagan to declare all heroes who do not cease their activities outlaws. Superman is sidelined; Captain Marvel is demoralized; the Detroit-era Justice League is decimated. But the Phantom Stranger points out that Darkseid has failed to account for one segment of the population who will always believe in heroes and their legends — children.

The series brought about real change in the DC Universe on the heels of the Crisis, change as permanent as any in comics. The series served as a springboard for a new Cosmic Boy miniseries, as the time-traveling Legionnaire was in the past when Darkseid’s assault began. It launched the beginning of a new era for Captain Marvel and the Flash as Wally West assumed the costumed identity of the late Barry Allen. It ushered out the Detroit-era Justice League and relaunched the team with many principle characters from Legends — Dr. Fate, Batman, Captan Marvel, Guy Gardner, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and Blue Beetle. And it provided an early glimpse of the soon-to-be-relaunched Wonder Woman.

Detective Comics 569-70 (DC Comics, 1986-87) — This two-parter came out at the same time as the Legends miniseries, but actually has to “occur” slightly before. In Legends #4, one scene has Batman in battle with the Joker and declaring, “After what you did to the Catwoman, I ought to kill you, Joker ——” referring to Detective Comics #570. However, Robin appears prominently in the Detective story arc, but is hospitalized throughout most of the Legends series for injuries sustained in Legends #2.

So, what did Joker do to Catwoman? Contemporary issues of Batman and Detective Comics had Catwoman semi-reformed and working alongside Batman and Robin in their nightly crime-fighting activities. Additionally, Batman had revealed his dual identity to Catwoman, and Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle were dating out of costume. In this arc, the Joker is out of sorts, lacking the creative spark that will inspire a challenge with Batman until he is reminded by one of his henchmen that Catwoman is now working with the Dark Knight. Joker flashes on the idea of taking Catwoman away from Batman, both literally by kidnapping her, and figuratively by then brainwashing her into returning to a life of crime. In this, the Joker succeeds, with the help of Dr. Moon.

Along the way, Joker demands that the recently brainwashed Catwoman reveal to him Batman’s secret identity. What she tells him is lettered very small, indicating a faint whisper, and leads Joker to an innocent family named Benson where the story’s final showdown takes place. But the panel where Catwoman tells Joker Batman’s secret identity clearly says “Robert Redford.”

The Warlord 114-15 (DC Comics, 1987) — These two issues of Warlord continue the quest storyline, but also tie in with the Legends miniseries of the time. DeSaad is dispatched to Skartaris by Darkseid to attack the legend of Travis Morgan, the Warlord. In the end, DeSaad is dispatched, but not before Morgan’s reputation has taken a severe hit among the denizens of the inner world.

That's it for today, Kiddie Cops. Happy collecting.

Hitting Some November Highlights

Hello again, Kiddie Cops. Sorry for the delay between posts. Work craziness abounds this month. So, without further ado, here are some quick thoughts on a number of the November releases — I haven’t read everything yet, but most of it.

Werewolves: Call of the Wild 1-3 (Moonstone) — This three-issue series is written by Mike Oliveri and illustrated by Joe Bucco. It’s a werewolf tale, a murder mystery and darn fine comics all rolled up in one package. A few of the plot twists seem predictable, but the greatest strength of this series is its treatment of the werewolves as regular people — some good, some bad, some honorable and decent, some not-so-much. It’s a moody little series that I highly recommend, and feels as if it could be part of a larger story. If it is, I’ll be seeking out other chapters, to be sure.

52 Weeks 26-28 (DC Comics) — We’ve reached the halfway point in this series and so far, I have to say, I’m mildly curious about where the story lines with Ralph, the mad scientists and the space heroes are going; Steel just seems wasted in the series, and the break-out stars are the Question and Renee Montoya and the totally awesome Black Marvel family.

Justice League of America 3 (DC Comics) — I thought Brad Meltzer did an incredible writing job on Identity Crisis and his previous Archer’s Quest arc in Green Arrow, but so far, he’s just disappointing me in this book. The big three are sitting and talking, not fighting; the time frame is jumbled; and the repetition shows that even Meltzer is confused about what is going on.

Nightwing 126 (DC Comics) — More greatness from Marv Wolfman and Dan Jurgens. This is the second part of what, at the time, was going to be only a four-issue arc. Yet Wolfman has introduced several interesting supporting characters, adding a richness that should have always been a part of this title.

Batman 658 (DC Comics) — Grant Morrison’s four-part Batman & Son concludes in this issue. It’s a nice story, one I’ll likely keep in my collection, but it suffers from the ongoing nature of comics. Iconic characters like Batman must stay somewhat static and recognizable, therefore, real, lasting change cannot occur. So when Talia drops off their son with his father, you know the boy cannot remain in Batman’s world indefinitely. Sure enough, the story ends with him maybe dead, but with enough doubt planted to allow the boy to return at some point. So, the story changes nothing.

Teen Titans 40 (DC Comics) — So Bombshell is the latest Titans traitor — a character we’ve never seen before this arc. That always negates any emotional impact from the story, even if the characters know each other for years. The reader doesn’t.

Fables 55 (DC Vertigo) — I love how Willingham introduces this chilling plan to wipe out the exiled Fables and the rest of our world, only to provide a simple, logical reason, in story, why it can’t happen and makes the whole thing WORK.

New Avengers 25 (Marvel Comics) — Tony Stark’s perspective on the events of Civil War, but it’s really not. This issue was a little disappointing because I was expecting more of Stark’s insights.

Birds of Prey 100 (DC Comics) — Nice jumping on point for a consistently good, well-written and illustrated comic showcasing strong female leads. Nice.

Checkmate 8 (DC Comics) — This arc looks to be what I want from this title. Checkmate operates in a world filled with metahumans, that can’t be escaped nor should it be overlooked, but while acknowledging that fact, this should be primarily a spy story filled with espionage. I hope it continues.

Civil War 5 (Marvel Comics) — Spider-Man takes a major pounding as he decides to leave Iron Man’s side and Cap considers help from the Punisher. I like the ideas in this series, but I’m still worried about the direction of the Marvel Universe after it's over.

Those are the books I’ve read so far this month that evoked the strongest reactions. Check back next time for more.

Happy collecting.

Comics As Holiday Gifts

Something a little different today, kiddie cops. I’ve read a couple books since the last post, but instead of more reviews, today I’m gonna tell you a little about giving comics as presents, specifically at Christmas, but birthdays or just whenever work as well.

The idea isn’t a new one. I’ve been reading the suggestion and discussions about the pros and cons online for a couple years now. Handing out single issues of kid-friendly titles as Halloween treats is another variation. Especially when kids are involved, the giver might just be helping to create another generation of comics readers.

I don’t know any young children I can give comics to at the moment, but I do know some friends and family members who have expressed mild interest in comics before or who I feel might be willing to try them if the subject matter was of interest. Most of these intended recipients aren’t going to care much for superhero stories unless there was something else to it, but that’s not all I read either.

I’ve selected four titles I think these people might have an interest in (I can’t tell you who is getting what, they might be reading) and decided to go with the first trade paperback collection from each series. And I decided to post about them in case someone out there might also be inspired to try one of these books, if he/she hasn’t already.

Transmetropolitan
The first title is one we haven’t talked about here before because I don’t actually own a single copy of the book. Transmetropolitan was a series created and written by Warren Ellis. Most often, the artist was Darick Robertson. The series lasted for 60 issues between 1997 and 2002 and has been collected into, I believe, 11 trades. I’d always been curious about it, and finally had a chance to borrow the entire series from a co-worker. I was both surprised and revolted by what I found, enough so that I plan to buy myself copies of the trades, and figured a few of my more twisted friends might enjoy sampling the series.

The Comics Buyers Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books describes the series thus: “Taking its title from a rowdy song by Irish rockers, the Pogues, and basing its main character on legendary “gonzo journalist” Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the model for another famous comic strip character, Doonesbury’s Uncle Duke), Transmetropolitan positions itself squarely at the acid-etched edge of 1990s hip culture. Transmetropolitan follows the adventures of psychotic writer Spider Jerusalem in a nightmarish near-future, cyber-nightmare world of drugs, aliens, androids, mutants, technology gone mad, and lots more drugs.” I’d add that my favorite character, next to Spider himself, is the two-headed, chain-smoking cat he adopts in the series.

Fallen Angel
This next book has had an interesting life. Fallen Angel, written by Peter David and originally illustrated by David Lopez and Ferdinand Blanco, was never part of the mainstream DC Universe, but it was not published by DC’s more mature Vertigo imprint, either. That made it hard for the series to find an audience, and DC finally called it quits after 20 issues between 2003 and 2005. But just this last year, IDW Publishing picked up the series. To date, they have published 10 issues from David and new artist David Woodward.

Here’s how DC described the series: “Welcome to Bete Noire ... where dreams come to die. Quiet, almost mundane by day, Bete Noire’s shadows seem imbued with life by night. Criminals conduct their business unafraid, and the uncommon is commonplace. And moving through it all like broken glass — smooth, yet cunning — is the woman called the Fallen Angel, who helps people in need when they find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. But the Fallen Angel’s help isn’t always what it seems. If she deems you worthy, she can be your savior. If not, you’ll walk away from her worse off than you were before ... if at all.” The series explores just who and what the Fallen Angel is, and while she isn’t the typical “hero,” her exploits in Bete Noire are quite entertaining.

Fables
This DC Vertigo series, of course, came from the mind of Bill Willingham, and involves many of those famous fairy tale characters secretly living in New York among the rest of us Mundanes. Familiar faces are given added dimensions in these modern tales of the Fable folk, and readers learn that their lives really aren’t always “happily ever after,” especially when you consider most of these Fables have been around for centuries. And there’s also the little matter of why they are living here, having been driven from their Homelands by the mysterious Adversary.

The first arc of this ongoing comic book introduces us to the hierarchy of Fabletown with the capable administrator Snow White, constable Bigby Wolf, lothario Prince Charming, perennial con-man Jack Horner and a host of others as they are confronted by the disappearance, and probably murder, of Snow’s sister, Rose Red.

Boneyard
And lastly we have the first collected volume of Richard Moore’s great monster tale, Boneyard, from NBM. This quarterly comic started in 2001 and explains how everyman Michael Paris comes to inherit a cemetery which just happens to be filled with talking gargoyles, a biker werewolf, a card-playing skeleton, a bumbling witch, a wise-cracking raven, a vampish sea creature and a thoroughly enchanting vampiress. The denizens of the cemetery — or boneyard — try to convince Paris to save their home, while the townsfolk hope to buy the property and bulldoze it under.

So, there’s some of the comics-themed presents I’ll be giving this year. Maybe there’s something for you in there, too.

Lightning Round

Hey, kiddie cops. I know it’s been over a week since I had a chance to post something. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading. In fact, since last time, I’ve finished the rest of the books received in my last shipment. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in and catch up a bit.

52 Weeks 24 and 25 (DC Comics) — I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. Individual issues are not always great, but the overall story line this series was designed to tell is interesting. I’m curious where Ralph is headed. I like the story line with Montoya, Question and the Black Marvel family. The Steel/Luthor story seems to be old news, but is maybe going somewhere interesting. Green Arrow’s cameo was nice. Super Chief didn’t last long, did he?

Action Comics 844 (DC Comics) — This wasn’t a bad beginning, but it almost seems more a sequel to the Donner films so far more than a continuing story of the comic book Superman. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is this story gonna “fit” in continuity? I mean, Jimmy isn’t an inexperienced photographer anymore.

Birds of Prey 99 (DC Comics) — Black Canary’s departure. I agree with scribe Simone that it feels right for Dinah to leave now, even though I’ll miss her. As far back as Longbow Hunters we’ve seen that Dinah wants children but wrestled with the issue of raising one while adventuring. Now she has one. It makes sense for her to step back now.

Captain America 23 (Marvel Comics) — A nice interlude with Winter Soldier/Bucky and Nick Fury in the middle of the Civil War tie-in. It updates us on the ongoing story line with Bucky, but doesn’t interupt the flow of the Cap Civil War events. Very nice.

Checkmate 7 (DC Comics) — I wanna like this title, but it just doesn’t seem to be as good as it should be. I know the Suicide Squad has its fans, but I can take it or leave it. I think this title should include some superheroes on the periphery, but for the most part, avoid overt superhero action and costumes.

Civil War: Front Line 7 (Marvel Comics) — Typical stuff here. The first two stories following the reporters and the former Speedball are excellent storytelling, while the Sleeper Cell bit does little for me, and the final bit just seems pretentious. I think one of the reasons Sleeper Cell is uninteresting to me is there is no tie-in to the Civil War. I assume this Atlantean faction is merely trying to take advantage of the strife above for their own ends, but that is just a guess on my part, not something we’ve been told.

Criminal 1 (Marvel Icon) — Not sure if this is a mini or an ongoing. Not even sure if I like it yet or not. But it was an OK beginning from I writer I really like, so I’ll hang around.

Daredevil 90 (Marvel Comics) — This issue seemed to slip just a bit. Matt is trying to track down who had Foggy killed because he doesn’t know Foggy isn’t really dead. Forget that Matt would be very hard to fool on that point, but I don’t like how easily he’s gotten sidetracked by this woman, even if she does have a power that explains why.

Donald Duck & Friends 345 (Gemstone Publishing) — Just good Disney fun. I’ve always liked Donald, and the mix of classic and newer tales is great. Plus, there’s always one story featuring someone else, this titme a great Goofy tale. Shouldn’t we all laugh more?

Fables 54 (DC Vertigo) — Sons of Empire continues. I didn’t think things could get much creepier than the Snow Queen’s plan for destroying both Mundies and Fables. I was wrong. Hansel is so far beyond creepy that he belongs in his own Mundie slasher series.

Jack of Fables 4 (DC Vertigo) — The promos for next issue seem to indicate this won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be too funny if after all this planning and helping all of the other escapees, Jack himself doesn’t make it out?

JSA Classified 18 (DC Comics) — The back half of a two-parter featuring Hourman, both the modern version and the Golden Age one. A solid tale from Tony Bedard, as usual. And besides, it isn’t necessarily that hard, but its always fun to watch someone out-think Bane.

The Lone Ranger 2 (Dynamite Entertainment) — I stand corrected from my criticism of last issue. Black Bart is an enforcer, not the criminal mastermind. This issue hints that the individual who pulls Bart’s vicious strings is none other than Butch Cavendish, the villain from Ranger lore. Brett Matthews, you have my apologies for doubting you. Carry on.

Martian Manhunter 3 (DC Comics) — Enter the Justice League, which was good to see. After all the divisiveness stemming from Identity Crisis and leading into Infinite Crisis, it’s nice to see these heroes acting like colleagues and friends once again. Oh, wait. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman don’t seem to want to listen to J’Onn about what is going on. Right now, I’m willing to assume that maybe this wasn’t really the three heroes it appeared to be. So much subterfuge has been going on in this story dealing with shape-shifting Martians, that’s what I’m hoping anyway. Otherwise, this story might’ve worked better before IC.

New Avengers 24 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in is the Sentry entry, but seems to be more about fallout from the House of M and the Inhumans than Civil War. It’s sad that the interaction between books that I love from DC is one of the things I don’t like about Marvel because I buy fewer of those books and am less interested in the intermingling there.

Omega Men 1 (DC Comics) — My knowledge of this team is limited to their interaction with the Titans in the “olden” days, but I liked their recent cameos in Adam Strange and Infinite Crisis, so I decided to give this a try. Andersen Gabrych’s usually great writing didn’t hurt either. But I have no clue what is going on in this title right now. That’s not good.

The Perhapanauts: Second Chances 1 (Dark Horse) — OK, this mini DOES seem to pick up right after the trade I just read, as I assumed it should. But the letters column has a bunch of people commenting on issue #104. Now, I could just assume the first mini was numbered funky and move on, but the letters also mention a story titled “The 28th Anomaly.” There’s no story with that name in the trade. Am I missing something here?

Secret Six 5 (DC Comics) — Did they really just kill the Mad Hatter?!?

Stan Lee Meets the Thing 1 (Marvel Comics) — Much better than the Spidey one-shot, the only other one of these I read. It’s been long enough now that Ben has come to grips with his appearance. Heck, most New Yorkers have, too. He’s a celebrity, not a monster now. Good to see that reflected here.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 23 (DC Comics) — Cosmic Boy decides the Legion needs to deal with the superpowered delusional in their midst. So, does that mean Supergirl is going to be going away soon? Dunno if I trust these “Kryptonians.”

Superman/Batman annual 1 (DC Comics) — This is a totally bizarre story, but it’s a fun one. Accept it for that and it works. Look for more and it falls apart.

Tales of the Unexpected 1 (DC Comics) — I’ve heard this mini isn’t getting much interest online. Truthfully, it wasn’t great. But it was intriguing, and I liked Crispus when he was alive, so I’m intrested enough to hang with this one a bit longer. The Dr. 13 story left me cold, but then I’m not as familiar with the character.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters 4 (DC Comics) — I thought this might be the exception to the mostly so-so minis DC is spitting out right now, but I’m starting to lose interest in this one big time, too. This is supposed to be an alien suddenly sitting in the White House and part of a shady government operation spitting out new metahumans like they’re no big deal, and no other teams notice? No Titans, no JSA, no Superman, no GLs. Just doesn’t ring true.

Whew! That was a bunch, but that’s all of the October releases I have. See ya next time.

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.

Combo Platter

OK, we’ve covered several months’ worth of all the regular titles I have from 1986. Today we’re gonna look at a few “odds ‘n’ ends” books I have mixed in here, such as ...

Batman annual 10 (DC Comics, 1986) — This story is a classic Hugo Strange tale, at least for me. The evil genius sets about not so much defeating Batman nor Bruce Wayne, but almost erasing them from existence as he slowly takes everything away from the Wayne Foundation to the manor to freezing all bank accounts and assets, making Batman realize how much he depends on the wealth of Bruce Wayne to function. Then things get even more personal when Strange takes away Alfred and Jason.

Aquaman 1-4 (DC Comics, 1986) — Now this story is a little bit different. I was a little disappointed with this miniseries when it first came out in 1986. At that time, I liked Aquaman, but wasn’t as familiar with the character. I didn’t know about his fiery temper as that wasn’t how he was depicted on the Superfriends or in the issues of Justice League of America which I’d read. And I didn’t much care for the new blue camouflage costume. And I didn’t know who these other underwater races were. I didn’t even know who Ocean Master was at that time. So, I just didn’t care for this series much initially. In fact, I even committed the horrible sin of parting with my original copies of this series at some point, only to have to hunt down the back issues when I decided to give the series another try a few years later.

Series writer Neal Pozner takes some factual information about Atlantis, combines it with supposition and various other fictional depictions of Atlantis and combines them all into the back story that forms the basis for this series. Then he uses that tapestry of information and previous story-telling to completly destroy Aquaman’s current status quo. New Venice is destroyed. Aquaman is despised in Poseidonis. And his half-brother, Orm, is collecting mystical artifacts in an effort to finally best Arthur. In trying to hunt down Ocean Master, Aquaman comes across some savage underwater races, some mystical ones, and even learns some new things himself along the way. How could I do any less? This still isn’t my favorite Aquaman story, but it is an important part of the history of both Atlantis and the King of the Seven Seas.

And that brings us to the fall of 1986 with our retro-reviews, but in case you haven’t noticed, in the real world, we’re almost halfway through the month of November. Most recent batch of new comics has arrived, and I have started digging into those, although not as far as I’d like to be. So, here’s a few quick thoughts on some more timely books:

52 Week Twenty-Two (DC Comics) — OK, I just gotta ask: Who the hell is Super-Chief? I remember an Apache Chief from the Super Friends show, but no Super-Chief or any other American Indian super characters, not in DC’s stable, anyway. The evil versions of the Metal Men were kinda interesting. Has that been done before? All the evil genius robotics experts, seems like someone would’ve thought of it before ...

Jalila 5 (AK Comics) — Overall, I was a little disappointed in the AK Comics this month after giving them some hype last time around. The writing seemed slightly more disjointed in this title compared to last month.

Rakan 5 (AK Comics) — This title still holds a little promise. This was the first of a two-part story where the lone warrior joins a gang of thieves. It isn’t explicitly stated, but I assume he infiltrated them to break the ring up.

Zein 5 (AK Comics) — The writing in this title also suffered somewhat, which makes sense since the writer of this title and Jalila are the same. But Zein is even worse than Jalila was. Early in the book, a villain previously captured escapes. Zein is there in his secret identity, but spends almost 4 1/2 pages doing little other than talking to himself. Part way through the fight, he makes the decision to not change to Zein but let the villain escape and follow him. Two panels later, he thinks to himself, “If I could just change into Zein, I’d stop him!” So, why can’t he change, other than his own decision not to. I hear that this line of books is going to graphic novel form in a few months. Maybe bigger will be better, but this month was not a good showing for AK.

Mystery In Space 2 (DC Comics) — Or maybe I’m just being overly critical, because the first issue of this series was good, but this one just left me feeling ... I don’t know what, but not much of it.

Outsiders 41 (DC Comics) — This book was a little better. We’re still moving veeeeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyy slowly, but we do seem to be moving toward some resolutions to how and why the Outsiders were believed dead? how this book interacts with the rest of the DCU? just what is Grace’s secret that they keep alluding to? how and why Sivana has been manipulating the group since Day 1? just what Winick is thinking?

Agents of Atlas 3 (Marvel Comics) — And finally, we end on a high note. This comic remains fun. Maybe I’d feel differently if I was familiar with any of these characters from before, but I’m not. So I don’t care as some history is likely rewritten. I’m just enjoying the modern story of a group of one-time heroes re-uniting to save the world once again.

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by, and see ya next time, kiddie-cops.

And A Blind Man Shall Lead ...

Let’s talk some Daredevil for a bit today. I’ve seen some Daredevil comics from the previous Bendis/Maleev run, and I’m familiar with the overall story line: Daredevil has been outed as Matt Murdock by a tabloid, and the feds are pursuing possible charges against him for that; at the same time, DD has defeated Kingpin and set himself up as the replacement. But I haven’t followed every issue of the title until Ed Brubaker took over the writing chores. I liked what Brubaker had done with Gotham Central at DC and, more recently, Captain America at Marvel.

So, I’ve read the individual issues of The Devil in Cell Block D starting with #82 to now. These issues were very good, as we’ve discussed in some previous posts. And they served to make me curious about what came immediately before. So I recently purchased, and just read (all in one afternoon), the previous three Daredevil trades to catch up a bit. In all honesty, only one of these trades, the most recent one, really serves as a prequel to how Matt Murdock ended up in jail. The other two trades could almost occur at any time in DD’s past, but they were damn good stories.

Daredevil tpb 11: Golden Age (Marvel Comics) — This is a historical tale about the Kingpin of Crime who came to power before Wilson Fisk. The small-time hood rose to the big-time after killing a costumed hero, then was later brought down by a novice Daredevil. The current part of the story is this hood, Alexander Bont, as he is finally released from prison and goes about exacting his revenge on the man who put him away. It’s a very nice story with a lot of parallels between past and present events.

Daredevil tpb 12: Decalogue (Marvel Comics) — This collection is a very dark, demonic little tale that takes place entirely during an evening support group meeting where residents of Hell’s Kitchen have gathered to talk and share their common Daredevil experiences in light of recent events. What becomes clear as different people share their tales is that all these various people are linked to a common event which has put the red-garbed vigilante on the trail of one of them.

Daredevil tpb 13: The Murdock Papers (Marvel Comics) — This last collection depicts the actual capture and arrest of Matt Murdock as the incarcerated Wilson Fisk tries to make a deal with federal authorities for his own release in exchange for handing Daredevil over to them. The tale brings in various DD alums such as Black Widow, Elektra, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Bullseye, among others.

Daredevil 89 (Marvel Comics) — And then this is the current issue. At the end of the Cell Block D arc, Matt escaped from prison with the help of Frank Castle, the Punisher. Matt is now on the run from authorities and trying to track down the killers of his friend, Foggy Nelson, who DD doesn’t know isn’t really dead. This issue takes him to Monaco.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters 3 (DC Comics) — The new Black Condor debuts as do a whole new team of characters with political jargon names. Father Time is still after Sam and the Freedom Fighters who left S.H.A.D.E. to assist Sam — the new versions of Doll Man, Human Bomb, Phantom Lady and Ray. And Firebrand, although he wasn’t part of S.H.A.D.E. First up is Chief Justice, Spin Doctor, Propaganda and First Strike. When they don’t fare so well, Father Time himself shows up. I want to like this series and these characters, but I find myself not caring that much about them.

The Trials of Shazam! 2 (DC Comics) — This book is going downhill fast for me, and I don’t think it will survive for all 12 issues. I’m not sure I really understand Billy’s new role or why it took over a year for this new manifestation of his powers to show itself — after all, in story, this is a One Year Later tale and Billy’s been in charge at the Rock of Eternity for that entire year. About the only thing I do understand is that he can no longer be Captain Marvel like he was, and that Freddy Freeman now must prove himself worthy of assuming that mantle.

Action Comics 843 (DC Comics) — Another great story; another placement headache. Story lines with lots of characters interacting usually are. This concludes the story line where an intergalactic “auctioneer” snags a whole bunch of Earth’s heroes. Superman, Nightwing, the new Aquaman, Firestorm, Skyrocket, Bluejay, the Veteran and Livewire lead the charge to free the others and stop the acquisitions. Very nice work.

Civil War: Front Line 6 (Marvel Comics) — This title continues to thrill and bore me. The Embedded and Accused story lines are incredible. The Sleeper Cell story added late in the series is OK, but not up to the standards of the other two. And the final installment in each issue just strikes me as pretentious. I get the symbolisms. Don’t beat me over the head with it so much.

Batman 657 (DC Comics) — This is the third installment of Batman and Son. Bruce brings Damian home to Gotham where the boy proceeds to use his assassin’s training on his rivals for his father’s affections. By the end of the issue, Damian has done something off-panel with Alfred and left Tim injured and bleeding in the cave while adopting parts of Jason’s enshrined costume and pronouncing himself the new Robin. Could he be any more his mother’s son?

Secret Six 4 (DC Comics) — This issue proves once again that this comic is a good one, but not nearly as good as its predecessor, Villains United. I can’t quite put my finger on what, but something is missing.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 22 (DC Comics) — What to say about this title? I’ve tried Legion titles before, stay with them awhile, then lose interest. The concept of this latest incarnation sounded quite good. Then they added Supergirl and it seemed to flounder a bit. Then it got good again. This issue wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great.

Captain America 22 (Marvel Comics) — With this issue, Cap’s own title catches up with the events in Civil War. Cap is in hiding, and S.H.I.E.L.D. has decided to use Agent 13, Sharon Carter, Cap’s liaison and girlfriend, to trap him. And Sharon is torn: she truly believes Cap is wrong and that superhero registration, as the current law of the land, should be upheld, yet she doesn’t want to betray her lover. And hey, one of the villains, according to the last page, is Dr. Faustus; I don’t follow that many Marvel Comics on a regular basis, but I don’t think he’s been seen in quite a while. Good stuff.

JSA Classified 17 (DC Comics) — This first part of two focuses on Hourman, the original and his son, as they are forced to work side-by-side with Bane. This story posits that the basis of Bane’s former drug-of-choice, Venom, is originally based on Rex Tyler’s formula for Miraclo, the source of Hourman’s power. I’m not certain, but I think that idea has been used before, but this isn’t a bad tale, so far.

Jack of Fables 3 (DC Vertigo) — This book is just as funny as the original Fables, but decidedly wickedly so.

Justice League of America 3 (DC Comics) — OK, this book is starting to worry me. I want to like it. I really do. But the story is starting to seem severely disjointed. The triumvirate of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are shown still voting on the roster for the latest incarnation of the League, but they’re rehashing the same candidates as before. They vote on Nightwing in this issue after Batman and Wonder Woman shared a humorous exchange about Dick in the last issue. The first issue made it seem like the team had been formed and the voting was mere flashback, but this issue makes it seem like the current mission of Arsenal, Black Canary and Green Lantern know nothing about a new League. And the pacing seems to indicate that 12 issues is going to be waaaaay too long for this arc.

Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man 1 (Marvel Comics) — I was a little disappointed in this comic. It was a tad humorous, and I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but this was just not quite as good as I’d hoped. I’ve also ordered the Thing comic in this series. Maybe I’ll like it better.

Next post, we’re back to the past as this was the last of my current comics from my last shipment and the next hasn’t yet arrived. Until then, happy collecting, kiddie cops.