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.
Showing posts with label Red Tornado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Tornado. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
A Crisis Is Brewing
Just some brief thoughts today on the comics I’ve read over the last few days moving into the year 1985.
For one thing, several of the comics, regardless of publisher, have been running an advertisement listing the results from Amazing Heroes Best 10 Books of 1984 poll, per R.A. Jones in Amazing Heroes #63. The list is first, Swamp Thing; second, Jon Sable; third, American Flagg; fourth, Teen Titans; fifth, Fantastic Four; sixth, X-Men; seventh, Blue Devil; eighth, Atari Force; ninth, Dr. Strange; and tenth, Power Pack. Two out of those top ten are complete runs in my collection.
I’ve also been paying more attention to the letters columns, editorial features and First Notes and such as I read over some of these comics than I used to when I was younger. I still don’t read every letter or comment, but I notice writer’s names and editorial opinions and such a tad more than I used to. I am seeing a lot of letters by “T.M. Maple,” a pseudonym not unfamiliar to a large number of comics collectors. T.M. was a very prolific and insightful writer to many letter cols. I don’t know the entire story of this individual, but I’ve read some things. It is interesting to see the number of books in which his missives appear.
For specific storylines, the Thing has finished up his adventures on the Beyonder’s planet and returned to Earth. I knew there was a point when his long-time girlfriend, the blind Alicia Masters, started dating the Human Torch instead. Now I know more about how and when that event came about in the life of Ben Grimm. One of the reasons Thing stayed behind on the Beyonder’s world was to sort out his feelings for Alicia. He was thinking he should break up with her because he was too dangerous for her to have a relationship with. Ben resolved to go through with the break-up and returned to Earth to find that Alicia had suspected what was coming, and when he didn’t return right away from space, she took the hint and moved on with her life. Johnny Storm was there to help out, and their relationship grew while Ben was away.
In the New Teen Titans, the team recovered from their emotional and psychological battles with Trigon. Then they discover something of the true origin of Lilith, a longtime, on-again-off-again member from the old days. It seems that Lilith is the daughter of Thia, one of the Titans of Myth, parents to the gods of Olympus. The goddess Thia kidnapped Lilith claiming to have been searching for her since she was stolen away as a baby and commenced to usurp control of Mount Olympus with designs on Earth next. Before defeating this menace with some mythical help, the Titans meet Kole, a young crystal-powered teenager whose parents the Titans attempt to track down in their next story arc.
Jon Sable’s title included a three-part story taking him to the Middle East titled, The Contract. A special back-up feature in those three issues was a real-life prose account of Sable creator Mike Grell’s first safari in Africa, complete with photos and sketches to illustrate the tale. Next begins a two-part story about Jon Sable’s mother before her death.
In addition to these regular books, I also have Sword of the Atom Special #2. In late 1983 or early 1984, artist Gil Kane and writer Jan Strnad turned the shrinking hero's world upside-down. In a four-issue miniseries, they took physicist Ray Palmer from his Ivy Town university job, ended his marriage to Jean Loring-Palmer, and plopped him down in the middle of the Amazon rainforest among a hidden civilization of six-inch tall yellow aliens stranded and living in the jungles. It sounds hard to believe, and the Atom probably wouldn’t have been most people’s first choice as the next big sword and sorcery hero, but the story and art in the series were incredible and the characters likable. The series was popular enough to generate two sequels, a 1984 Special and the second one in early 1985, but never an ongoing series of its own.
And then there’s the Warlord. For quite some time in that title, Travis Morgan and his Skartaran mate, Queen Tara of Shamballah, have been in hiding, building their forces and preparing to re-take their kingdom from the New Atlantean usurpers who have been little more than a subplot since they took over the land. But what is most interesting to me about the recent Warlord stories is how often the Monitor has been depicted watching the exploits of the characters. The Monitor is a mysterious figure, always shown in shadow at this point, who appeared in several DC books over the course of 1983 and 1984, usually as just an observer watching events transpire, but sometimes acting as a type of referral agent, connecting bosses with super-powered muscle for a fee. Readers wouldn’t learn who the Monitor was or what his motivations and goals were until the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is my first time reading Warlord stories from this period, so I am curious just how much of a role the Crisis plays in the life of the Warlord and vice-versa. I know Travis Morgan is pictured in the Crisis series in several group shots of heroes, but the number of appearances of the Monitor in the the pages of the Warlord, makes me wonder if the Crisis will play a large role in Skartaris.
Moving forward from here, in addition to Titans, Warlord, Sable and Thing, I also have a four-issue Red Tornado series and a four-issue Nightcrawler series from early 1985 and a three-issue Legend of the Hawkman prestige series from 2000 which I have placed here chronologically because it obviously deals with the pre-Crisis Hawkman from Thanagar. Then, of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which the dates in my collection get really muddy. But more on that when the time comes.
For one thing, several of the comics, regardless of publisher, have been running an advertisement listing the results from Amazing Heroes Best 10 Books of 1984 poll, per R.A. Jones in Amazing Heroes #63. The list is first, Swamp Thing; second, Jon Sable; third, American Flagg; fourth, Teen Titans; fifth, Fantastic Four; sixth, X-Men; seventh, Blue Devil; eighth, Atari Force; ninth, Dr. Strange; and tenth, Power Pack. Two out of those top ten are complete runs in my collection.
I’ve also been paying more attention to the letters columns, editorial features and First Notes and such as I read over some of these comics than I used to when I was younger. I still don’t read every letter or comment, but I notice writer’s names and editorial opinions and such a tad more than I used to. I am seeing a lot of letters by “T.M. Maple,” a pseudonym not unfamiliar to a large number of comics collectors. T.M. was a very prolific and insightful writer to many letter cols. I don’t know the entire story of this individual, but I’ve read some things. It is interesting to see the number of books in which his missives appear.
For specific storylines, the Thing has finished up his adventures on the Beyonder’s planet and returned to Earth. I knew there was a point when his long-time girlfriend, the blind Alicia Masters, started dating the Human Torch instead. Now I know more about how and when that event came about in the life of Ben Grimm. One of the reasons Thing stayed behind on the Beyonder’s world was to sort out his feelings for Alicia. He was thinking he should break up with her because he was too dangerous for her to have a relationship with. Ben resolved to go through with the break-up and returned to Earth to find that Alicia had suspected what was coming, and when he didn’t return right away from space, she took the hint and moved on with her life. Johnny Storm was there to help out, and their relationship grew while Ben was away.
In the New Teen Titans, the team recovered from their emotional and psychological battles with Trigon. Then they discover something of the true origin of Lilith, a longtime, on-again-off-again member from the old days. It seems that Lilith is the daughter of Thia, one of the Titans of Myth, parents to the gods of Olympus. The goddess Thia kidnapped Lilith claiming to have been searching for her since she was stolen away as a baby and commenced to usurp control of Mount Olympus with designs on Earth next. Before defeating this menace with some mythical help, the Titans meet Kole, a young crystal-powered teenager whose parents the Titans attempt to track down in their next story arc.
Jon Sable’s title included a three-part story taking him to the Middle East titled, The Contract. A special back-up feature in those three issues was a real-life prose account of Sable creator Mike Grell’s first safari in Africa, complete with photos and sketches to illustrate the tale. Next begins a two-part story about Jon Sable’s mother before her death.
In addition to these regular books, I also have Sword of the Atom Special #2. In late 1983 or early 1984, artist Gil Kane and writer Jan Strnad turned the shrinking hero's world upside-down. In a four-issue miniseries, they took physicist Ray Palmer from his Ivy Town university job, ended his marriage to Jean Loring-Palmer, and plopped him down in the middle of the Amazon rainforest among a hidden civilization of six-inch tall yellow aliens stranded and living in the jungles. It sounds hard to believe, and the Atom probably wouldn’t have been most people’s first choice as the next big sword and sorcery hero, but the story and art in the series were incredible and the characters likable. The series was popular enough to generate two sequels, a 1984 Special and the second one in early 1985, but never an ongoing series of its own.
And then there’s the Warlord. For quite some time in that title, Travis Morgan and his Skartaran mate, Queen Tara of Shamballah, have been in hiding, building their forces and preparing to re-take their kingdom from the New Atlantean usurpers who have been little more than a subplot since they took over the land. But what is most interesting to me about the recent Warlord stories is how often the Monitor has been depicted watching the exploits of the characters. The Monitor is a mysterious figure, always shown in shadow at this point, who appeared in several DC books over the course of 1983 and 1984, usually as just an observer watching events transpire, but sometimes acting as a type of referral agent, connecting bosses with super-powered muscle for a fee. Readers wouldn’t learn who the Monitor was or what his motivations and goals were until the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is my first time reading Warlord stories from this period, so I am curious just how much of a role the Crisis plays in the life of the Warlord and vice-versa. I know Travis Morgan is pictured in the Crisis series in several group shots of heroes, but the number of appearances of the Monitor in the the pages of the Warlord, makes me wonder if the Crisis will play a large role in Skartaris.
Moving forward from here, in addition to Titans, Warlord, Sable and Thing, I also have a four-issue Red Tornado series and a four-issue Nightcrawler series from early 1985 and a three-issue Legend of the Hawkman prestige series from 2000 which I have placed here chronologically because it obviously deals with the pre-Crisis Hawkman from Thanagar. Then, of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which the dates in my collection get really muddy. But more on that when the time comes.
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