I Didn't Get That

Phantom Stranger 0
DC Comics
Dan Didio, writer
Brent Anderson, artist

This was an interesting book, both for what it included and what (in my opinion) it didn't.

The DCnU version of the Phantom Stranger was first seen in the 2012 Free Comic Book Day special as part of the Trinity of Sin alongside the new Question and Pandora, apparently the architect of the DCnU. In the past, the Stranger did not have a definitive origin. That is not the case here. Though the names Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ are never actually mentioned, there is little doubt that the Stranger used to be Judas before his judgment at the hands of the Council of Wizards for his betrayal of Jesus. He wears a necklace made up of the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid for betraying Christ, according to the Bible. While the Stranger never had a definitive origin before, the idea of his being Judas is not a new concept. I first read it as one of four possible origins for the Stranger in the 10th issue of Secret Origins published by DC in January 1987. I can't say for certain if the version predates that book.

This book starts out replaying the judgment scenes from the Free Comic Book Day special, albeit from the Stranger's point of view this time. He acknowledges his guilt and begs for mercy from the wizards before being banished back to Earth to wander endlessly until he has atoned for his crime. The cloak he is given to wear is the one formerly worn by the one he betrayed, he tells us, and it seems that the cloak itself is what disguises his true appearance.

The Stranger is left to wander alone with his thoughts from ancient times to what appears to be the modern era but no date is actually given. Finally, a voice guides him to hot-headed police officer Jim Corrigan and we see the Stranger play a significant role in Corrigan's death and transformation into the Spectre, another classic DC hero being introduced to the DCnU for the first time. As the Spectre disappears to begin his own mission as God's spirit of vengeance, a single silver coin drops off from the Stranger's necklace and turns to dust. At this, the Stranger tells us he has learned the way he must earn his redemption, then wanders off to wait to be called again.

Here's my only major problem with this issue: There's no denying that the Stranger played a role in Corrigan being shot, killed and transformed into the Spectre. However, the Stranger was no more in control than Corrigan was of the situation. Corrigan was following the Stranger's lead and the Stranger was following the voice that led him to act. I get that for each act the Stranger performs at the bidding of this voice, he will lose one piece of silver until all 30 are gone and he is redeemed. But what exactly did he do? What exactly did he learn about what he must do besides follow a mysterious voice? That knowledge came in the form of the Who's Who page at the back of each of these Zero issues. In this issue, we have a Who's Who page on the Stranger that explains: "These callings are a double-edged sword for the Stranger. Although he can remove one of the 30 pieces of silver he wears as a cursed necklace, he is also eventually forced to betray those that he encounters as penance." This is nice information to have, but I don't know that I see this as betrayal when the Stranger doesn't know exactly what is going on either, and it would have been better if the story had made this key point clear, not the text page.

I've read complaints online about the writing on this book being weak, but other than the above, I have no problems with it so far. Plus, the next issue teaser mentions Trigon; as a confirmed Titans fan, I'm curious how Trigon will play into the Stranger's story. We shall see.

Still Playing Catch-Up

Civil War Front Line 2 (Marvel Comics) — The second issue of this Civil War spin-off was good. I’m enjoying following these reporters as they watch and react to events unfolding — must be the journalist in me. But in this second issue, the backup story following Speedball is overshadowing the main one. I’ve never really followed Speedball or much cared one way or the other for the character before, but in light of the registration act, he is the perfect focus character for this story.

Daredevil 86 (Marvel Comics) — I haven’t made up my mind for sure on this title. I’ve followed Daredevil from time to time in the past. Brubaker is a great writer. But this whole Daredevil in prison thing needs to start moving to some kind of resolution as I am starting to loose interest. This issue seems to be moving DD toward an escape, so maybe change is coming.

New Avengers 21 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in issue felt like a fill-in. It was nice to see Captain America between his dramatic escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in Civil War #1 and leading the group of resistance fighters in Civil War #2, but there really isn’t much going on in this issue besides filling in those gaps, which most readers probably assumed happened anyway. The only information revealed in this issue — which side the Falcon and Ant-Man/Giant-Man Hank Pym are on — could be deduced from the pages of Civil War itself.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 19 (DC Comics) — This latest incarnation of the Legion is my third attempt at following the group’s adventures. I always seem to loose interest after a while. This latest approach by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson seem to be quite novel, but with the introduction of Supergirl and her ascent to the lead spot in the title seems to have thrown the rest of the book off its focus. This particular issue doesn’t even have much to do with Supergirl, per se. It is more a solo spotlight for Chameleon. And it’s not a bad story, it just didn’t grab my interest like earlier issues did. This book is also in danger of being dropped like a few others discussed last time.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 2 (DC Comics) — I have high hopes for this series, and so far it hasn’t let me down, unlike its companion title, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven. I really liked Gotham City police detective Crispus Allen when he was alive. I like what writer Will Pfeifer is doing by offering Allen the chance to join with the Spectre and using Allen’s perspective to help us explore the astral avenger. I hope this pairing moves beyond the scheduled miniseries.

Brave New World (DC Comics) — This preview comic offers advance glimpses of several upcoming series and miniseries — at least in theory. The problem is, when a person has to order his comic books several months in advance, he (or she) has to decide which of these books to follow before ever reading the preview. I’ve never cared much for the Creeper so I opted to pass on that series, and nothing in this book changed my mind. Other advanced online information convinced me to give the Shazam, Martian Manhunter and Atom series a try; this book leaves me hopeful that they will be worth the trial. I was curious about Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and still am after reading this comic. And I wasn’t sure about the OMAC series, but figured I’d give it a try based on their role in Infinite Crisis. This preview story looks promising.

Solo 11 Sergio Aragones (DC Comics) — This has been an uneven title as most anthologies are. That’s probably why it has been canceled. I think the concept is sound, the company sponsoring such a project just has to accept and expect uneven sales. Aragones is a funny guy. This issue shows why. I especially liked his true tale of Marty Feldman and the Batman story. The rest was so-so.

Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid (Marvel Comics) — This book is exactly what I expected the Outlaw Files to be: reprints of the first stories to feature Johnny “Rawhide Kid” Bart and Matt “Two-Gun Kid” Hawk. Great classic western fun.

And that was the last of my June new comic purchases. Moving on, we resume reading from the mid-1980s:

The Thing 26 (Marvel Comics) — Recapping, in the aftermath of the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret War, Ben Grimm opted to stay on the Beyonder’s world for a while. When he returned to earth, he found his one-time girlfriend Alicia masters had become involved with the Human Torch. Feeling betrayed, Grimm left Manhattan and the Fantastic Four. This issue finds him wandering the country and stumbling across a sinister circus run by — no, not the Ringmaster, but the Taskmaster. “runaways” isn’t a bad story, but it’s not a remarkable story, either.

Superman annual (1985) 11 (DC Comics) — This is one of the greats. “For the Man Who Has Everything” was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It’s Superman’s birthday. Batman, new Robin Jason Todd and Wonder Woman arrive at the arctic Fortress of Solitude to give Superman birthday gifts and discover the Man of Steel under the thrall of a parasitic organism given to him by the alien conqueror Mongul. This story is so iconic it was adapted into an episode of Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. If you can’t find the original issue, it was recently reprinted in trade paperback form by DC in a collection of Alan Moore DC Universe stories.

The Warlord 97 (DC Comics) — Travis Morgan is leading his band of rebels in an attack to retake the besieged city of Shamballah. But the bad guys know about the “secret” attack plan in advance. Not only is the attack repelled, but the oppressors follow the rebels back to their camp and counter-attack there. All this disaster and the beginnings of the Crisis on Infinite Earths begins to be felt in the inner world of Skartaris.

Wow, if that’s not enough comics for you, come back next time for more.

Back to the Future

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

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

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

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

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