Retracing even more of Robin’s roots

Robin: The Bronze Age Omnibus hardcover
DC Comics
Creators: Gardner Fox, Mike Friedrich, E. Nelson Bridwell, Frank Robbins, Denny O’Neil, Elliot S. Maggin, Bob Rozakis, Cary Bates, Gerry Conway, Jack C. Harris, Paul Kupperberg, Marv Wolfman, Mike W. Barr, Ernie Chan, Sheldon Moldoff, Chich Stone, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Irv, Novick, Dick Dillin, Rich Buckler, Bob Brown, Mike Grell, A. Martinez, Al Milgrom, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Praise Be His Name), Jose Delbo, Curt Swan, Don Newton, Marshall Rogers, Don Heck, Lee Elias, Jim Aparo, Juan Ortiz, Kurt Schaffenberger, Alex Saviuk, Charles Nicholas, Trevor von Eeden, Joe Giella, Mike Esposito, Murphy Anderson, Vince Colletta, Frank Giacoia, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, Jose Massaroli, Terry Austin, Bob Wiacek, John Celardo, Dave Hunt, Bruce Patterson, Dan Adkins, Frank Chiaramonte, Jack Abel, John Calnan, Larry Mahlstedt, Steve Mitchell, Mike DeCarlo and Rodin Rodriguez
Publication date: March 20, 2020

This is the latest volume I’ve read in tracing the history of one of my favorite characters – Dick Grayson, the original Robin and later Nightwing. Last spring, I read the two-volume Robin Archives, which collect Robin solo stories from Star-Spangled Comics in the 1940s and 1950s, which I talked briefly about on Facebook. A few months ago, I discussed the massive Showcase Presents Robin trade collection, which reprints a number of stories featuring Robin from 1969 to 1975.

Now I’ve finished reading through this even more massive Bronze Age Omnibus of Robin reprints. This volume collects stories featuring Robin from Batman, Batman Family, Detective Comics, DC Comics Presents and World’s Finest Comics originally printed between 1967 and 1983. As one might expect from comparing those original publication dates, there are a number of duplicate stories reprinted in both the Showcase and the Omnibus. In fact, out of the 49 stories in the Showcase volume and 79 in the Omnibus, 35 stories are reprinted in both. I admit that’s quite a bit of overlap, but there are still enough stories unique to each volume that it is worth it to own both, at least to me.

The stories reprinted in the Robin Omnibus take the character from being The Boy Wonder, fighting alongside Batman and in solo adventures across Gotham City, to becoming The Teen Wonder, first at Gotham High School, then later at Hudson University in New Carthage, and beyond. Robin teams up less and less with the Dark Knight in these stories, but he goes through a period of frequent pairings with his Dynamite Duo co-star, Batgirl. And later stories in the Omnibus collection coincide with the formation and early years of The New Teen Titans.

In fact, if there is a failing in this Omnibus collection, it is in the scattershot inclusion of some of these later stories. For instance, Dick Grayson and Robin spend a great deal of time in New Carthage on the campus of Hudson University in these tales. Dick attends classes and works at the campus newspaper while also solving crimes alongside the campus police.

In the very first preview appearance of The New Teen Titans — first printed in DC Comics Presents No. 26 (released on July 10, 1980, according to Mike’s Amazing World of Comics) and not reprinted in this volume, by the way — it is mentioned that Robin has left college. In “The Gotham Connection,” reprinted from Detective Comics No. 495, which came out shortly before The New Teen Titans debuted with their own first issue, Dick is threatened with expulsion for missing classes and opts to leave campus to pursue a ring of drug runners instead of dealing with the academic troubles. But that storyline goes nowhere. Other plot threads from Dick’s time at Hudson U are simply dropped, never to be addressed again, including a new romance with a girl named Jennifer Anne. The end of “The Gotham Connection” story seems to indicate the tale will be picked up again next issue, but it doesn’t appear that it ever was resolved in any story. At least not one I could find reference to anywhere.

I guess you can’t really fault this volume for not reprinting a story that was never printed anywhere to begin with. But other choices for what is included are not as easily ignored. The very next story in the Omnibus, “Shanghaied” from Batman No. 333, teams Robin with Catwoman in search of a missing Batman. I assume this story was selected for inclusion as it features Robin heavily and teams The Teen Wonder with someone he’s not usually paired with. But “Shanghaied” is a middle chapter of a multi-part story that begins and ends with cliffhangers, but no other chapters of this multi-part epic are reprinted here. Readers of this volume are simply dropped into the middle of the action and given no resolution.

Despite a few odd choices like that here and there in this hardcover volume, I can still heartily recommend it to any fan of Robin’s. Many of these stories show the beginnings of both Robin’s and Dick Grayson’s character development that later creators like Marv Wolfman, George Perez and Chuck Dixon would build upon to great effect. For instance, Gerry Conway pens an arc that begins in DC Comics Presents and continues in backup stories in five issues of Batman from 1981. First Robin runs into Superman and an old circus performer friend while visiting the Sterling Circus appearing in Gotham City. Later, Dick Grayson follows the circus clown, the old friend, to Hill’s Circus, where the young aerialist stays for a time, performing and rediscovering his circus roots. No mention of the Titans is made in these stories, but they all coincide with the issues early in the second year of The New Teen Titans comic.

As evidenced by the extensive list of creators above, this volume is an excellent showcase for a number of fine writers and artists, each lending their talents to shaping the character Dick Grayson and Robin would become and making it possible for other characters to take on the name Robin while Grayson moved on to become Nightwing. Some of these stories I’d read before in single issue form, either when they were first published or later after buying them as back issues. But many of these stories were new to me with this reading.

If you share my love of the character of Dick Grayson, you might also enjoy a podcast I discovered not long ago. “Taking Flight: A Robin and Nightwing Podcast” is by a gentleman named Tom Panarese. The podcast covers a lot of the stories and history included in this volume as well as other stories about The New Teen Titans and fellow Robins Jason Todd and Tim Drake. I heartily recommend you check out both Robin: The Bronze Age Omnibus hardcover and “Taking Flight.”

Enjoying being in the moment

Infinite Frontier Nos. 2-4
DC Comics
Creators: Joshua Williamson, Paul Pelletier, Jesus Merino, Xermanico, Norm Rapmund, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Tom Derenick, Raul Fernandez and Hi-Fi
Release date: July and August 2021

I’m a big proponent of not judging a story based solely on a single chapter or collection of chapters. I’ve said that before, and I stand behind it. Don’t decide a story is crap based on something not making sense in the first or even second part when the author might have a perfectly valid rationale waiting for a reveal in the fifth or sixth installment.

With that said, I read these three middle issues of a six-part series in one sitting the other evening, and I had a definite reaction to them that I wanted to share.

To be fair, this story isn’t finished yet. I know at this point that the story won’t even be wrapped up after I read the sixth issue of this six-issue series because advance solicits have already revealed that it will lead directly into another limited series, a modern comics trend I tend to find very frustrating.

But I wanted to go ahead and share this particular reaction because at this precise point in time, I am enjoying this story as it unfolds.

The 2021 limited series Infinite Frontier is a follow-up to the standalone Infinite Frontier No. 0, which was released back in March 2021 in the wake of Dark Nights: Death Metal. It introduced the new DC concept of an Omniverse. After it ends in Infinite Frontier No. 6, the story threads will be picked up by another limited series, Justice Incarnate.

Now I don’t read all of DC’s titles each month. In fact, I don’t read most of them. But I read several on a monthly basis and have for a very long time. So it is safe to say that I am fairly familiar with the main DC continuity. And that is what had me enjoying this title when I sat down to read this middle chunk of story. I feel like I’m in on the overall story. I’m invested in the universe and its characters. I’ve been along for the ride through most of the Crises and reboots through the years.

I enjoy seeing Roy Harper in this title, and I’m invested in his safe return. I’ve read of his adventures alongside Green Arrow and the Titans for several decades. And I know who Lian Harper is to him, and would be happy to see her safe return, too.

I remember when D.E.O. Agent Cameron Chase had her own short-lived series, and it was nice to see her brought back for this series.

I didn’t read about Jade and Obsidian when they were first introduced in Infinity Inc., but I did read a lot of their adventures as part of Green Lantern, the Titans, Manhunter and the JSA. So they, too, are welcome returnees to my reading matter.

It was even nice to see old characters in a new light, like the re-imagined Hector Hammond in this story. I recognized the name before the in-story reveal that this was an old character being used in a new way.

I have concerns, too, to be sure. Everything seems to be headed toward a big Darkseid confrontation, and I’m not a huge Darkseid fan. But like I said, I just really enjoyed reading this story chunk the other night. I felt a little moreso than normal that this story was written with me and my sensibilities in mind. That’s not always the case, but for this brief bit of time, it was. And it was nice.

I hope that feeling continues. That’s what I read comics for — the enjoyment, after all.

Something a little different — snippets from my pull list

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everything old is new again

Deathstroke the Terminator Nos. 6-9
DC Comics
Creators: Marv Wolfman, Steve Erwin and Will Blyberg
Cover date: January-April 1992

Among the April 2018 solicitations for DC Comics is this blurb for Deathstroke No. 30: "'Deathstroke vs. Batman' part one! Beginning this month, a six-issue series-within-a-series featuring the ultimate showdown between DC’s fiercest rivals!"

I've read some issues of the current Deathstroke series and enjoyed them, so I mean no disrespect to writer Christopher Priest or artist Carlo Pagulayan when I raise the question: Are fans really clamoring for this face-off? Isn't this a bit of old news? These two characters squared off long ago in a truly excellent tale that avoided a number of potential pitfalls. Go check it out; it's well worth your time!

Let's give this tale a little bit of context. Deathstroke debuted alongside Marv Wolfman's and George Perez's The New Teen Titans in 1980. Longtime Titans foes the H.I.V.E. tried to hire the mercenary, Slade Wilson, to slay the teenage heroes, but he refused, preferring to avoid conflict with costumed vigilantes. So the H.I.V.E. set about engaging Deathstroke's services by involving his estranged son, Grant. Grant accepted the contract, but died while attacking the Titans, and Deathstroke, a man of honor, felt bound to complete his son's contract against his own better judgment.

This touched off a long antagonistic relationship between the Titans and Deathstroke that reached its conclusion in "The Judas Contract" storyline in 1984. Deathstroke finally fulfilled the terms of that original contract by successfully capturing all of the Titans and turning them over to the H.I.V.E. The heroes survived and escaped, but Deathstroke saw his obligation as fulfilled when he turned the Titans over. That wasn't the end of the character's history, however.

Deathstroke proved popular and was used as a villain in many other DC Comics. Some of those appearances made for good stories; some were less well conceived, especially in light of the character's ongoing appearances in the New Teen Titans title. Deathstroke made amends with the various Titans characters following "The Judas Contract" and even served as an ally to the team in the "Titans Hunt" storyline several years later. The character was still a mercenary for hire, but one with a rigid code of honor and ethics. Not everyone, especially a superhero, would agree with all of Deathstroke's decisions and actions, but the character was given more depth by Wolfman's continued use of him. He certainly wasn't a hero, but he could be someone readers could root for in a number of situations.

Following the "Titans Hunt" storyline, Deathstroke was given his own title. Many of the stories in this book took Wilson to foreign countries, often ones at war, where killing and mercenaries could be viewed outside the moral absolutes of most superhero stories. Wolfman's continued great writing and characterization made Deathstroke a more multi-faceted character, and Steve Erwin and Will Blyberg gave the art a crisp, clean, dynamic appearance.

The first story arc of the title re-examined Deathstroke's origin and added details to it while taking Wilson on an emotional journey through all of the tragedies of his life. I'm sure the addition of Batman in the second story arc was an attempt to pull in more readers with a more superhero-centric tale. But including a character like Batman could have backfired for the book.

Deathstroke is the title character of the book, which is also a new book to comic stands. It wouldn't be good to have the title character losing a fight. But neither is Batman a character DC would want to see put to shame in a matchup. Remember, the height of Batmania began in 1989 and is still going very strong in 1992. So they could fight to a draw? That wouldn't be satisfying for fans.

Instead, Wolfman smartly avoids having the characters go head-to-head. Remember, this Batman was very different from the Batman of today in one key regard. He's the world's best detective, an excellent combatant and a brilliant tactician. That has been — and always should be — a part of the Batman mythos. But in the early 1990s, Batman was still willing to work alongside other heroes, to trust other heroes and to listen to what other people had to say. Also, remember that Deathstroke at this point had very recently been an ally of the Titans.

In the "City of Assassins" storyline, Wolfman has Batman and Deathstroke working toward a common goal rather than at odds. There is an initial confrontation, and Deathstroke, an enhanced human, does have the upper hand against the Dark Knight, who while in peak form, is still human. But from the outset, Batman suspects that Deathstroke might be on the side of the angels after consulting with Nightwing for information about the mercenary. When others are quick to assume Deathstroke to be one of many bad guys in the scenario, Batman looks at the evidence of what has happened and rightly concludes that assumption is incorrect.

As an added bonus, this storyline also is the one that introduces the third character to bear the name Vigilante in the DC Universe. I strongly recommend it if you've never read it before. And even if you have, it is well worth another look if you haven't read it in a while!

I Admit I Continue To Be Curious

Teen Titans 1
DC Comics
Will Pfeifer, writer
Kenneth Rocafort, artist

I grew up with the members of The New Teen Titans in the 1980s. I don't pretend that I followed the team in their Silver Age incarnation (1966-1978), although I have since read and enjoyed most of those issues. I wasn't even on board in 1980 when the New team debuted in DC Comics Presents No. 26 between the pages of a Superman/Green Lantern tale. But I discovered the title in 1983 in a story I've told here before and followed the title going both forward and backward, eventually collecting the entire run.

I decided to try the next incarnation of the team (1996-98) led by a de-aged Ray Palmer Atom when Dan Jurgens relaunched the title shortly after Zero Hour, and I enjoyed the new characters he introduced to the team name, although in all honesty, my favorite issues were the later ones when the original team members came back into the narrative.

I liked even more when Geoff Johns relaunched the title (2003-2011) with the next generation of Teen Titans. A big part of the appeal of that version was the continuity that was established with the formation of Young Justice, and then those characters' "graduation" to the name Teen Titans, while the original group members dropped the no-longer-accurate modifier and became just the Titans for a couple more iterations.

But I dropped out when the New 52 came along. One of the goals of the relaunch was to shake things up and draw in new readers. Teen Titans was one of the titles that changed the most. Despite some early confusion, the entire history of the group was jettisoned, and the personalities of the existing characters were changed pretty drastically along with bringing in a number of newer characters. I'm not going to say the title after the makeover was bad, but I'd lost my connection to the characters and thus, the title.

Then, a few months ago, I reread the H.E.R.O. series from DC written by Will Pfeifer. Not long before that, I'd reread his fantastic run on Catwoman. After both those titles, I decided to give the fresh relaunch of the New 52 version of Teen Titans a try with Pfeifer at the helm. It's too soon to know much about the direction of Pfeifer's run with only one issue under my belt, but he does have me curious.

As far as I know, not having read more than an issue or two of the previous series, it seems that Pfeifer has elected not to drastically reboot the team again to start his run. I know some of the names, but that is about it with the members of the team so far. But in this age where real teens' lives are consumed by electronic devices, Pfeifer has chosen to make said devices a commanding presence in his story — the Titans use social media and electronic gadgetry to communicate with each other as they take down a group of terrorists holding a school bus of students hostage. Bystanders on the street also record many of the events using their own cellphones and tablets. It even seems that the leader of the terror group is using tech-savvy to lead and control his or her own minions (the lead villain's gender wasn't clear to me from the art, but I think the character was referred to as "she" once).

While I'm not familiar with the revamped history of older characters like Beast Boy, Red Robin, Raven and Wonder Girl or the back story for New 52 newcomer Bunker, I liked what I read in this issue. And Kenneth Rocafort's art, while not always to my liking, works in many scenes of this book. I'm sticking around for more before passing any kind of final judgment, but I'm sticking around.

Young Love, Forever Destined To Fail?

Nightwing annual 1
DC Comics
Kyle Higgins, writer
Jason Masters, Daniel Sampere and Vicente Cifuentes, artists
Special shout-out to the creator of The History of Dick/Babs (So Far) site for helping refresh and/or double-check my memory on some of the books I've read but was too lazy to dig out for reference this time around.

This was a great done-in-one issue by regular Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins, but then I'm partial to the subject matter.

I've long been a fan of Dick Grayson, first as Robin and later as Nightwing. I didn't read that many of the 1970s and early-80s Batman Family and Detective Comics stories that featured Robin and Batgirl in both solo stories and team-ups when they were new. But I've always liked the Barbara Gordon Batgirl character, too.

Now, as many of my longtime readers know, I'm a huge fan of the Titans, absolutely loving the Wolfman/Perez reboot from 1980 onward (as well as discovering and liking the earlier incarnations of the team much after the fact). As a fan of that series, I confess, I loved the Robin/Starfire relationship. Dick and Koriand'r of Tamaran made a great couple readers hoped would endure.

But before that run of Titans came to an end, so too did the relationship between Dick and Kory. Later writers hinted at the couple's feelings for each other remaining in the various Titans relaunches since then, but those hints and suggestions never went anywhere.

Jump ahead a few years and Nightwing is given his own series, and Barbara Gordon gives up being Batgirl shortly before being crippled by the Joker. That was a tragic story, but out of those events came Barbara's new identity as Oracle, a much stronger personality and just as heroic as Batgirl had ever been portrayed. And writers began hinting back to the early careers of Dick and Barbara and a possible budding attraction that never reached full potential. Adding to that retconned romance was the de-aging of Batgirl. When she debuted, Barbara Gordon was easily 10 years older than the Boy Wonder; but nowadays, the pair are very close to the same age and always have been.

Around that same time, I finally caught up on a number of those old Batman Family and Detective Comics stories mentioned before. A mutual attraction and possible relationship between Robin and Batgirl was not a wholly new idea. The current stories played it up as more than it had been at the time of those earlier stories, but there were definite hints at affection on the part of Robin, at least, even back in the 70s and 80s. Adding to the current portrayal of the pair being interested in each other in the past were re-tellings of each of their origins -- including Robin: Year One and Batgirl: Year One.

In time, the two began a relationship facilitated by the fact that writer Chuck Dixon was crafting both their respective adventures in Nightwing and Birds of Prey. All of that culminated in the pre-New 52 DC continuity in the controversial Nightwing annual No. 2 (January 2007) when Dick proposes to Barbara, but alas, a wedding does NOT follow. The book was controversial for some of its retconned history. For example, the scenes where Dick Grayson stops to see Barbara Gordon for the first time after she was crippled by the Joker. The pair end up spending the night together, but Dick is not just there to check on his old friend -- he's also there to invite Barbara to his and Kory's wedding. Ouch! That's a bit of retconning I could have done without.

I was a fan of a relationship between Dick and Barbara. Through the great writing of the various stories that built their relationship, I came to see Barbara as the great love of Dick's life. These two characters seem to genuinely care about and for each other, and I have often hoped they would find a way to get together -- not for a hook-up, but for a real, lasting relationship.

Fast forward another few years to The New 52, DC's reboot of its superhero universe continuity. Many characters' histories were changed, but one of the things I was glad to see survived the reboot was the mutual attraction between Dick and Barbara early in their careers. It was hinted at in the very first New 52 Nightwing story arc when Dick is reunited with several of his friends from Haly's Circus, including Raya, a girl Dick's own age whom he'd had feelings for long before the circus came to Gotham, Dick's parents were killed and he started down the road that would lead to his becoming Robin. In one issue of that arc, Barbara guest-starred, and (spoilers) she seemed to distrust Raya. Dick writes Barbara's reaction off to jealousy because he and Barbara have flirted before. The past mutual attraction was also a part of the action in The New 52's Batgirl No. 3.

This issue, the first New 52 annual for Nightwing, takes that suggestion even further, bringing back the idea that Dick and Barbara have long had feelings for one another but could never quite make things work out to actually date before. During the course of a current case the pair are working together, they spend a lot of time reminiscing about their first meeting and first kiss. It is nice to see this favorite concept from the old continuity creep back into the new. And, since the original Teen Titans' history seems to have been wiped out with the New 52, there goes that whole thing between Dick and Babs after he and Kory are engaged.

Oh, and this annual also introduces The New 52 version of the Bat-villain Firefly, playing a bit with readers' expectations. It's a good read; you should check it out!

Interesting, But It Won't Hold My Interest Long

Phantom Stranger 1
DC Comics
Dan Didio, writer
Brent Anderson, artist

The first issue of this title opens with the Phantom Stranger appearing in a New York City park in time to briefly interact with a young boy chasing a ball. The Stranger scares the boy, and while he is not directly responsible, he also does nothing to prevent the tragedy that follows. All of this leads to a gathering of people, one of whom being the Stranger's latest target for betrayal. If that all sounds rather unsympathetic, it was intentional.

I don't much care for this new version of the Phantom Stranger if all he's going to do is cause others pain, even if, as theorized in the pages of this issue, it is all for the greater good. The closing scene of the issue, showing that the Stranger does seem to have a family and a home that he goes to at the end of the day, doesn't even make me feel sympathy or find likability in this character. It just makes me fearful that his family is at best an illusion, or at worst, pawns he uses to make himself feel better about his situation without regard to what that will eventually do to them when they learn his true nature.

There are two saving graces in this issue that will keep me reading a bit longer in hopes that things are not quite what they seem. One is the promise in the last panel and teaser copy for the next issue that indicate an appearance by Pandora. The other is the meat of this issue. The person the Stranger betrays in order to lose another one of his pieces of silver is a teenage empath named Rachel who is trying to help people as best she can while remaining hidden from her other-dimensional demon father, Trigon.

For those to whom that doesn't sound familiar, in the old DC Universe, the New Teen Titans member Raven sometimes used a civilian name Rachel. Raven, both her superhero codename and her given name as far as we know, was born of a human mother, Arella, and an other-dimensional demon named Trigon the Terrible. After the child was conceived, Arella was taken to a place called Azarath by the pacifists who lived there. This is where Raven was born, and under the tutelage of these people of Azarath, Raven grew up, learning to use her empathic abilities to heal and help others, but to shun emotions, lest her father find and possess her, using her as a doorway to conquer our dimension. In fact, the formation of the New Teen Titans in the old DCU was at Raven's urging in an effort to combat her father after she first failed to enlist the aid of the Justice League of America.

While I don't much like this current incarnation of the Phantom Stranger, it was interesting to see this slightly altered version of an old favorite character, even if she was poorly mistreated.

There's Promise, But Just Not Quite Enough

Teen Titans 1-4
DC Comics
Scott Lobdell, writer
Brett Booth, artist

This was another title that DC made pretty easy for me to drop.

The New 52 version of Red Robin/Tim Drake isn't too far removed from his characterization from before Flashpoint, but then, I think Tim/Red Robin was being written a little too dark, brooding and bossy -- a little too Batman at his worst portrayals -- for my tastes both in his own book and some of those later pre-New 52 Teen Titans issues. The new Wonder Girl/Cassie Sandsmark is just not likable at all, and the new Bart Allen/Kid Flash is Impulse-annoying at his worst. Add a Superboy regressed back into being a footsoldier for the bad guys, and the existing characters in this team aren't much of a draw for me.

The new characters introduced with the reboot show promise. Bunker is the only character who seems to have a sense of humor about anything, but he's also a bit too flamboyant for my tastes. I'm intrigued by Skitter and Solstice, but they're deliberately being kept mysterious at this point, so there's really not much draw in their promise, either.

Add to that the announcements (current at the time I read these four issues) of a major crossover between this book and two other existing titles I don't normally get which would lead into the creation of yet another tie-in title, and Teen Titans just seemed too expensive to follow for the very little bit of enjoyment the title was bringing me. This title got dropped before the pending crossover could begin. And if sales figures are an indicator, the new title springing out of the crossover, The Ravagers, is not doing so well.

You Can Go Home Again

New Teen Titans: Games
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
George Perez, artist

I've been thinking about getting back into the habit of posting reviews, and I have a number of them lined up in the coming weeks. But when I decided I definitely wanted to resume the blog, I wanted to wait until I'd had a chance to read this book and review it as my first entry back.

It was the New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez that got me into serious comic collecting, so it seemed appropriate. After all, this book was begun in the mid 1980s when the Titans popularity was at its height and finally saw completion and release in time for the group's 30th anniversary celebration. I'll let you look elsewhere on the web (or even in the foreword and afterword of the book itself) for the details behind that long creation process, but this book has been rumored and promised many times and very anxiously awaited by fans of the series.

And it does not disappoint.

These two creators who have worked on so many characters over their respective careers have flawlessly returned to these characters, bringing them to readers in a way that feels like visiting old friends. Much has happened in the intervening years in the fictional lives of Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Troia, Changeling, Raven, Jericho and Danny Chase. They are all very different characters today, the ones still around, but this is not meant to be a contemporary story, and these are YESTERDAY'S Titans.

The story doesn't fit quite perfectly into the existing continuity of the time; fans so inclined would have difficulty trying to place the events of Games firmly between two issues of the regular Titans series of the time. It obviously would have to happen before the tragedies involved in the Titans Hunt story line yet after Raven's redemption and adoption of her white costume, and after the arrival of Danny Chase. Much pinpointing beyond that would be difficult, but should not diminish what is a wonderful story.

If you were a fan of the Wolfman/Perez Titans in the past, do yourself a favor and seek out this book. If you've never read a Titans story from that era, but enjoy more recent incarnations of the team, I imagine you'd still like this glimpse of what came before. And even if you've never read a Titans story before, but enjoy a good superhero thriller with elements of espionage and mystery thrown in for good measure, you could do a lot worse than this tale.

This is one of the great ones, Kiddie Cops!

Be back next Tuesday for more.

Unsung Heroes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Time To Play A Little Catch Up

January is better than half over, and I’ve yet to post a single tidbit about the December releases. Let’s rectify that just a little bit right now.

52 Weeks 30 and 31 (DC Comics) — Not sure I enjoyed the glimpse of Batman’s activities as much as I expected. This issue almost seems as if Dick and Tim are abandoning Bruce to his demons. We also get some glimpses into the beginnings of plots from the Mystery in Space and the Omega Men miniseries. We also learn that while Supernova is not a reincarnated Superboy (no surprise there), he is someone we are familiar with under an assumed name. Right now I’m figuring the safe guess is Booster Gold trying to start over.

Captain America 24 (Marvel Comics) — I was a little disappointed in this issue, the last of the Civil War tie-ins for this title. This comic read more like a fill-in issue to me. There was the big reveal of Arnim Zola at the end, but I’m not that familiar with this WWII villain, so that wasn’t an emotional moment for me, really.

Green Lantern 15 (DC Comics) — This book was also a little disappointing. This Wanted: Hal Jordan story arc was supposed to include guest appearance by Green Arrow, Batman and others who have yet to make an appearance.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 46 (DC Comics) — This issue, on the other hand, was a nice surprise. I don’t dislike Kurt Busiek’s run as writer on this title or his “new” Aquaman, but I like the classic hero better. This is the first of a two-part tale featuring the classic Artie, which is A-OK with me.

Powers 21 (Marvel Icon) — I read the image issues of this series in trade paperback form, reading complete story arcs in one sitting. It’s a bit of a change reading these single issues as they come out. I still like the story lines Bendis and Oeming are creating, but things seem to drag a lot more by comparison. It’s also sad how the only remaining letter column in comics today has so many inarticulate idiots who give fans a really bad name.

Teen Titans 41 (DC Comics) — I like Geoff Johns’ writing. I like the Titans and the legacy the team has. So why don’t I like this title so much of late? Maybe Bombshell hit it with her taunts to the newly revived Joseph Wilson, “The glory days are over, Jericho. The Teen Titans will never be the family they once were. ... No one trusts anyone. Hell, they don’t even like each other.” Hopefully, now that this arc is winding down, that will change.

Batman 659 (DC Comics) — Grotesk from John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake begins, and it gets off to a good start. Classic Batman comics here.

new universal 1 (DC Comics) — I have never read any of the original New Universe comics in the concept’s first go ’round, so I’m coming into this series with no knowledge of how things were done before, no insight about in-jokes and special tribute moments. But I also have no preconceived biases about the series. After this first issue, it looks promising.

Agents of Atlas 5 (Marvel Comics) — This series surprised me. I fell for the teaser of a double agent last issue pointing to Venus. That is what I was supposed to think so I’d be surprised when the double agent was revealed to actually be M-11, sort of.

Detective Comics 826 (DC Comics) — Dini is having a wonderful run on this book; this one is another done-in-one great.

Outsiders 43 (DC Comics) — I’m not quite sure what it is, but this story arc that ends with this issue just feels like a final story line of a title. Maybe just because I’m losing interest, although I am curious about the flashback story beginning next time.

Manhunter 26 (DC Comics) — Excellent return to a great comic. Glad to have Manhunter, Andreyko and Pina back.

Nightwing 127 (DC Comics) — This issue was a little confusing and jarring, not quite as good as Wolfman’s first two. I like Nightwing’s focus as he struggles to free himself from the deathtrap, but some of the recap/backtracking took a couple reads to figure out.

Welcome To tranquility 1 (Wildstorm) — Another promising start to a new series, but this one is almost a little too cartoony. I’m not ruling it out yet, but I’m hoping for great things from Gail Simone.

Special Bonus Review
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (DC Comics) — This trade collects the first four issues of the 1993 series by Matt Wagner and Guy Davis re-imagining Wesley Dodds’ Sandman character from the WWII era. While these stories are set in the late 1930s, they include a darker, more modern storytelling style which makes these books not for the faint of heart. But the book is well worth a read if you like noirish, gritty crime drama.

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.

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.

Redefining Heroes

We’re going to begin this batch of retro-reviews with a misplaced annual. If you’ll recall, one of the many reasons for going back through the entirety of my comic book collection a book at a time is to correct any continuity errors I have created by the placement of specific books. Well, Green Arrow annual #7, published by DC Comics in 1995, presents a number of surprises and requires a number of decisions. And some of the decisions I made before can now be “adjusted.”

Let’s begin first by making a distinction in terms. I once read a brilliant entry online (I’m sad to say I no longer remember exactly where, although I am reasonably certain that it came from a discussion thread on the wonderful Captain Comics site, which explained the differences in several similar comics-related terms. Two of those terms, which apply to this situation, were retcon and revision. By this person’s definition, a revision is adding something previously unknown to a well-known story. The addition or change doesn’t so much change the overall story, but maybe adds a new aspect or significance. A retcon, on the other hand, a term short for retroactive continuity, changes the original story into something completely new, often taking the form of an “everyhting-you-know-is-wrong” type of revelation. Now either of these devices can be wonderful story-telling tools if used properly, and each can be disastrous in the wrong hands. But in general, it is accurate to say a revision builds upon what has gone before, while a retcon brushes aside as meaningless what has gone before in favor of something new.

The story in Green Arrow annual 7 is definitely a revision. All of the DC Comics annuals of 1995 shared a Year One theme, so naturally, this tale deals heavily with the secret origin of Green Arrow. All of the familiar elements are there: Ollie falling overboard from his own yacht and washing ashore on a seemingly deserted island where he has to use his wits to survive; along the way, he perfects his skills with a bow and arrow, and finally secures a ride back to civilization when he discovers a small band of drug smugglers on the island and captures them. This specific tale — created by Chuck Dixon, Rick Burchett, Eduardo Barreto, Chris Renaud, Gerry Fernandez, Lee Loughridge, Albert de Guzman, Darren Vincenzo and Scott Peterson — adds a “contemporary” (more on this in a minute) framing sequence and a few additional details between Ollie’s washing ashore on an island and discovering the band of drug smugglers. The addition does very little, if anything, to change those familiar elements, but adds some new ones into the mix, nonetheless.

In this tale, Ollie washes up on one island, develops his skills with a bow, etc., then learns he is not alone on the island. A shipwreck victim has been on the island for almost a year. He and Ollie, working together, manage to fashion a crude raft in an effort to escape the island. During the construction of the raft, Ollie learns something about his companion, which causes Ollie to leave the island alone. Being an inexperienced sailor, Ollie only makes it to another nearby island on his own. This second island is where Ollie discovers and captures the drug runners, and Green Arrow is born. However, what happened on that first island that led to Ollie leaving alone comes back to haunt him in the “contemporary” sequence of the story. It’s a great read, doesn’t change the essential origin story, but adds in the motivations for the current tale, while also explaining, in story, why some of the details of GA’s origin aren’t always repeated when this tale is retold. In short, it works wonderfully. I highly recommend it.

Now, as this story is part of the Year One theme, even the “contemporary” framing sequence of the tale is supposed to have happened within that first year of Green Arrow’s existence. However, that presents a problem. The only costume Green Arrow wears in this story is the one designed by Neal Adams in the late 60s/early 70s — the all-green version. However, the Silver Age GA, even post Crisis, has been shown to wear the green tunic and leggings with the red boots and gloves.

Sometimes I’ll “fix” such a costuming problem by assuming that the character’s memory is just a tad off. Hey, it happens to all of us sometimes. Do you remember exactly what you were wearing in all of your memories? This “fix” works best when someone else is doing the “remembering.” But since the framing sequence is the part with the wrong costume, this particular “fix” doesn’t work as well for this story.

So instead, I chose to ignore the Year One designation on the cover and simply assume that in my universe, the framing sequence actually happens a few years after GA’s public debut, after he has switched to the Neal Adams costume.

Now, however, another “fix” is open to me, allowing me to place this story a little farther back in time. Now that we’ve seen the events of Infinite Crisis and know about the reality-altering effects of Superboy-Prime’s efforts to break out of the dimension he’s “imprisoned” in, this can be a Year One story, and the different costume can be explained by a super-punch. Aren’t comics fun?

OK, moving on ...

The Warlord 108-113 (DC Comics, 1986-87) — Most of these issues are standard one- or two-part tales of Travis Morgan traveling through the hidden world of Skartaris in search of the wizard who may be able to cure his daughter, Jennifer, who has been afflicted with rapid-aging since #100. Traveling with Morgan is Shakira, an occasional ally of the Warlord who can transform herself into a cat, and Daimon, an old friend of Shakira’s who the reader has just met a few issues ago.

In the first arc, the trio comes to a frozen wasteland where the people are threatened by a vampiress. Eventually she is dispatched, but not before Daimon falls in battle. Issue #111 takes Morgan and Shakira to an underwater village, but the most important details of the issue are revealed on the letters pages. First is the announcement that new editor Bob Greenberger will be taking over with the next issue. The second is a response to growing criticism from readers that Morgan doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to find the cure for Jennifer. Greenberger promises that the quest story line will be wrapped up in the next few issues, and that big changes are coming in the direction of the title.

Then in issue #113, we start to see some subplot elements being introduced that involve the surface world and fallout from the tale in Warlord annual #5, which also heavily involved the surface world. All of these issues of Warlord are new to me, but I suspect the surface world is going to begin playing a much heavier role in the events of Skartaris, and I feel that is a mistake. Morgan has been seen on the surface with other heroes during the Crisis, as well as a time or two during the late 1980s relaunch of Green Arrow by Mike Grell, also the creator of the Warlord. I have no problem with such occasional, mostly secret interactions. But on the whole, I like my Skartaris well-removed from the surface world Morgan comes from. I’m not sure if I’ll like these changes once they arrive.

Teen Titans Spotlight 1-2 (DC Comics, 1986) — When last we saw Starfire in the pages of New Teen Titans, she was leaving Tamaran for Earth, disgusted that her people had embraced the rule of her sister, Blackfire. The premiere issues of this new title depict her arrival back on Earth in a fashion too often neglected in science fiction stories. Starfire has been a Titan for several years by this point, but by and large, her experience of Earth is limited to New York City. When she arrives back on Earth, mistakenly landing in South Africa, she has no idea where she is, nor how to return to New York from her current location. Being a stranger in a strange land is complicated further when Starfire is confronted by the people of the region and the rule of the land, Apartheid. The young alien is manipulated by the South Africa government, and led to believe she has killed someone before she is able to sort out the seemingly insane behavior of the citizens of the land.

Jon Sable, Freelance 40-43 (First Comics, 1986) — These two two-issue arcs are straight-forward action-adventure fare. The first takes Sable to a marksmanship competition where a fan feels snubbed by Jon and sets about to gain revenge by setting up Jon for execution. The second issue involves Jon stumbling onto a terrorist plot and an “old” friend he thought was murdered. All four issues are recommended.

The New Teen Titans 24-25 (DC Comics, 1986) — The re-formed Titans return from the disastrous mission against Cheshire. Robin Jason Todd, Hawk and Speedy each decide to leave for his own reasons, leaving Wonder Girl, Jericho, Aqualad and the new Flash, Wally West. These four are reunited with Changling and Cyborg who relate their battles with Changling's step-father Steve Dayton, now driven insane by his Mento helmet. Meanwhile, Mento has decided that he should follow in the footsteps of the late Niles Caulder and create his own version of the Doom Patrol to help him kill his step-son and the other Titans. To achieve this end, Mento creates accidents, then saves the victims by turning them into monstrous members of his new Hybrid. Thus a pair of Greek archaeologists are transformed into Harpi and Gorgon, and a former Israeli soldier becomes Pteradon. In an initial attack, the three reluctant creatures are captured by the Titans and offer to help defeat their “creator.” But Mento sends a fourth member of the Hybrid, this one a willing participant in the experiment which transforms him, to free the others. This Behemoth, a former sumo wrestler, “rescues” Gorgon, Harpi and Pteradon, taking Aqualad captive in the process.

Action Comics 584 (DC Comics, 1987) — This is the first post-Crisis issue of Action Comics published. This incarnation of the book focused on team-ups between Superman and various guest-stars, this time the Titans. Apparently before they can attempt to rescue the captured Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Changling and Jericho must confronted a demented Superman, apparently drunk on his own power and destroying everything in sight. It takes a while, but the Titans are finally able to figure out that things are not quite what they seem.

And those are the retro-reviews for today.

Titans Together!!!

In the last couple days, we’ve discussed several month’s worth of The Warlord and Jon Sable, Freelance. As far as the regular titles I have from 1986, that just leaves us the Titans. Things were not looking good when last we checked in with this band of young heroes, and 1986 was not a great year for the group, as they were put ever more through the wringer. Today’s wringers involve The New Teen Titans #18-23 (DC Comics, 1986) and Teen Titans Spotlight #3-6 (DC Comics, 1986-87).

NTT 18 begins with the revelation that Starfire, her parents and her brother did NOT die in the explosion of their starship. Loyalists on board knew of Blackfire’s plan to kill them, and secretly transported the royal family to Okaara, a nearby moon, where they will train and regroup. Dick is emotionally distraught after Kory’s wedding, then thinking, however briefly, that she had been slain, that he and Joey decide to return to Earth. Checking in with the other Titans, Raven is still missing; Donna and Terry are fighting because Donna has been too busy of late to help Terry with a writing assignment he must finish or lose his job; and Victor and Garfield discover that Steve Dayton, Gar’s step-father, has gone slightly crazy once again from the use of his Mento helmet. Sounds like a soap opera when you boil it down like that, huh? But then, having lives and problems outside of superheroing is one of the things that made me love Marv Wolfman’s take on the Titans. It made them seem more like real, complex, three-dimensional people.

Issue 19 takes these growing problems team members are experiencing and uses them to drive wedges between the Titans and force them in separate directions. The group’s new tower headquarters is built, but is there still a group to use it? Dick returns to Earth angry and hurt over what he sees as Kory’s betrayal of him. He goes to Wayne Manor and finds Batman and new Robin Jason Todd in the middle of a case and too busy to talk with him. Joey learns that Kole died in the Crisis while he and Dick were away. Donna and Terry’s problems grow, prompting her to turn down Vic and Gar when they come to her seeking help in subduing Mento. Instead, she feels she must go and comfort Dick, which leaves Terry, Vic and Gar all feeling abandoned. When she arrives at Dick’s apartment, Donna finds him ready to lash out at anyone because of his own hurt. Donna makes a prime target when Dick starts to berate her leadership of the team in his absence. Meanwhile, Kory is still on Okaara, forming a small army of loyalists ready to take the planet Tamaran back from her sister, Blackfire.

So Kory’s alone in space, Dick sets off alone to find Raven and Gar and Vic are left alone to deal with Mento. So who is left for Donna to call when the government needs the help of the Titans? The “original” team — Speedy, Aqualad, Hawk, Flash and Robin. But they aren’t exactly a great team either, as each has his own issues to deal with. While Robin has always been the leader of the group, this Robin is new hero Jason Todd, not experienced Dick Grayson. Flash is now Wally West, trying to honor the memory of his uncle, Barry Allen, who died in the Crisis; but Wally’s powers are reduced from what they once were, and he is afraid of failing to live up to Barry’s ideal. Hawk, always the more militant half of the brother duo, no longer has Dove to temper his violence; Dove was another casualty of the Crisis. As was Aquagirl, lover of Aqualad. So, he is pretty dispondent, as well.

That leaves Speedy. We find out in issue 20 that the reason the government called the Titans specifically is because the assassin the group is trying to stop is Cheshire. We also learn that in his off-panel relationship with the goverment, Speedy had a heretofore undisclosed relationship with Cheshire — an actual relationship. An intimate one. In fact, we learn in this issue that Roy has fathered a daughter, Lian, with Cheshire.

Further complicating matters, Cheshire tries to drop a few hints that things are not what they seem. She is not really there to kill anyone; she is being paid to make it seem like she is targeting ambassadors and force the Titans to act. This will expose the heroes’ presence at a secret summit that was supposed to have no security whatsoever. The revelation that the Titans are there makes it look like the U.S. has not complied with the rules of the summit and forces the talks to break up, all of which means the Titans are now in trouble with the government.

So where’s Joey during all of this? He’s on a solo adventure of his own in the pages of Teen Titans Spotlight #3-6. While waiting to see what will become of the Titans, Joey has been working with his mother, Adeline Wilson, and her company, Searchers Inc. In this story, we learn that shortly before joining the Titans, Joey had met a girl, fallen in love with her, become engaged, then lost her when she died in a boating accident. Unbeknownst to Joey, the girl’s father was actually one of the main council behind the H.I.V.E., a criminal cabal from early Titans issues. The man wanted to leave the H.I.V.E. and had hired Searchers Inc. to fake his and his daughter’s deaths so they would be safe from the H.I.V.E. So, Penny, Joey’s fiancee, isn’t really dead. Joey learns this when Penny shows up on his doorstep, asking for help from Joey and Searchers Inc. She explains what happened before and reveals that the H.I.V.E. has found her and her father again.

This is a good story, but be warned, it is very convoluted and detailed. There are a number of twists and turns, some predictable, some unexpected, that make this story hard to break down without revealing too much. It might have been better as a slightly shorter story. At the time, I thought four-issues was a bit long. But again, it is a good story.

Back to making the other Titans’ live miserable, NTT #22 presents three separate stories following Dick, Vic and Gar, and Kory, as well as a wrap-around that serves as a nice epiogue to the Jericho story from Spotlight. Dick has found Raven: she, Arella and Azrael are all at the Church of Blood. Mirroring his plan from the earlier Teen Titans book, Dick disguises himself to gain entry into the Church of Blood. Unbeknownst to him, Mother Mayhem knows he is there from the start, and sets about capturing and brainwashing Dick again. Vic and Gar, still trying to find a way to help Steve Dayton, are assaulted by Mento in the form of him assuming mental command of Victor’s metal body and pitting the two heroes against each other. And Kory, her family and the loyalists with them launch an assault on Blackfire in a bid to reclaim Tamaran.

These stories culminate in NTT #23, which focuses on the civil war on Tamaran. Kory is fighting to restore her parents as the rightful rulers of the planet. Blackfire is fighting to retain control of the planet she now rules. Odd thing is, many of the Tamaranean people support Blackfire. They had grown tired of King Myand’r’s tendency to keep peace by making concession to their enemies. Blackfire is cold and ruthless, but she is also an excellent administrator, and in her short rule has done much to improve the lives of her people and strengthen political ties with other races to benefit Tamaran. In the end, the people chose to follow Blackfire, with her parents held as esteemed advisors. Kory cannot believe that the people would embrace Blackfire and leaves the planet in disgust, heading for Earth in the hopes of putting her life back together there.

Most definitely not happy days for the Titans right now.