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.

You Look Mahvelous!

What's the difference between the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe? The heroes in the DC Universe are, with few exceptions, bright and cheery god-like beings who have the respect and admiration of the citizenry, whereas the heroes of the Marvel Universe are just as likely to be misunderstood and reviled for their heroic acts as appreciated. Some, most notably mutants and Spider-Man, are even feared by a sizable chuck of the MU populace.

I can't take credit for that observation, but I know a good point when I hear it. Apparently, so does Kurt Busiek. The fear and loathing denizens of the MU often have for their heroes is one of the central themes of his 2009 limited series, Marvels: Eye of the Camera.

This book is a sequel to Busiek's Marvels series which also featured beautiful painted artwork by Alex Ross. Jay Anacleto handles the artwork chores on this new book and does a fantastic job following in Ross's photo-realistic painting style. The artwork alone in these books is simply breath-taking.

The first book, for those who don't know (and shame on you, if you don't; run out and get a copy of the trade right away, if you don't already own this book), centers on photojournalist Phil Sheldon. Sheldon was a celebrated photog during World War II, capturing fantastic images of soldiers in combat, as well as some of that generation's better-known celebrities like the original Human Torch; Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner; and Captain America and Bucky. Sheldon is getting older and feeling less-than satisfied by his life and career when the new age of heroes begins with the advent of the Fantastic Four. Invigorated with a new sense of purpose, Sheldon chronicles the debut of this team and the other Marvels who follow -- Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men and others. Many of the great moments of Marvel Comics history are revisited in the series through the lens of this man's camera as he captures the sense of wonder the average person must have felt with such events going on around him.

Ever since the book was released, fans have clamored for a sequel, and Eye of the Camera is it. This new story re-visits just enough of the previous territory to catch new readers up to speed, enabling this series to stand on it's own. From there, it continues Sheldon's story as he marvels at how quickly the public turns on its heroes, one day embracing them as saviors and the next criticizing them for not doing more, not helping enough, or suspecting them of having less than pure motives.

The heroes of this second tale are the same Marvel heroes readers know and love, reliving more great events from Marvel history, but they are also the victims of rumors and smear campaigns along the way. Sheldon assigns himself the task of defending the heroes and blasting their sometime-worshipers/sometime-critics.

Both books are solid reads with truly inspiring artwork. They work as fantastic, entertaining fiction for the uninitiated, or avenues to revisit favorite scenes in a new light for longtime Marvel fans. Kudos to all involved. These books are great comics!

Great Expectations

I want a director's cut of DC Comics' The Mighty by Peter J. Tomasi, Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee. Well, OK, not a "director's cut" exactly -- I guess in comics we call them an Absolute edition. I want to get inside the creators' heads on this story.

First a little set-up: Tomasi sold me on this book, so I tend to credit/blame him solely for it, and for that, I apologize to co-creator Champagne and artist Samnee. I've seen both their names attatched to other projects I've liked, and feel they do solid work, as a rule. But I bought this book because Tomasi was one of the writers, and I was on a Tomasi high at the time of the book's debut last year.

Peter J. Tomasi was an editor on several DC books who decided he wanted to write and bring forth some of his own ideas first-hand. His first writing gig for me was when he took over the reigns of Green Lantern Corps. I don't hate Green Lanterns, but I also don't seek them out on a whim, but I was getting into the Corps book, as well as the main GL title, in the run-up to Blackest Night. And Tomasi was doing a good job; he had a huge cast of characters but was still telling interesting individual stories. He made me care about some of these alien GLs I'd never even heard about before. Then he blew me away taking over writing for Nightwing after Marv Wolfman. Tomasi got Nightwing, if not in EXACTLY the same way I do, at least in a way that felt right to me. Tomasi's Dick Grayson acted like he had spent a great deal of time learning under the Batman and leading the Titans but was still his own person, capable on his own and capable of being lighter in tone than Batman while still more serious than Changeling/Beast Boy. Tomasi's run on Nightwing was cut way too short by the companywide One Year Later event.

So along comes The Mighty. I don't recall if this is true or not, but when The Mighty was first solicited, I was under the impression that it would be an ongoing series, not the 12-issue limited series it became. Take a Superman-like character and introduce him to a world without superheroes of any kind -- been done before many, many times. But I was willing to give the book a try based on what I'd seen so far from this writer. The first couple issues introduce the main characters. They convey a sense of wonder at this being, Alpha One, with all these abilities and his fantastic origin, all seen through the eyes of the "point-of-view" character, Gabriel Cole, the person all of us kids who grew up reading comics want to be and can identify with.

When the book starts to take a somewhat darker turn, hinting that things may not be all that they seem, I again recognized a familiar plot twist that has been done to death. But even "supposed hero has a hidden, dark agenda" can be done well when handled by a writer (or writers) who really knows his craft. That was the case here. Hints were dropped, tidbits revealed, but in a way that you wanted to know more, you suspected where you were being led but became engrossed in the journey and the way the tale unraveled so that you were hooked for the full ride. I even began to suspect that Alpha One's "dark agenda" might ultimately have a perfectly normal explanation, something which would make all he had done seem perfectly rational in this new light, some knowledge he had that we, like Cole, weren't privy to.

Maybe that's where things got derailed a bit.

I became so invested in this story along the way, I began to project where I thought the story was headed. With each new "bad" action by Alpha One, I began to thrill more at the explanation I became certain was coming but couldn't see how it would make sense. I wanted this book to surprise me at the end with honest justifications for Alpha One's actions that would justify him as a hero once again, in not only my eyes, but Cole's, too. When that didn't come, the actual ending of the story, as nice as it was, left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong: this is a good story, and I recommend it as such. But I can't shake the feeling that the ending doesn't quite live up to the beginning and middle for me. Maybe that's just me because it didn't end how I thought it might. Maybe that's because it ended prematurely if this was intended to be an ongoing series that got canceled. The ending it has certainly could lend itself to sequels or continuation of some sort.

That's why I want an Absolute edition of The Mighty. I want to know what Tomasi and Champagne were intending, if they considered other directions and lengths for the story. I guess I'm still looking for that "more satisfying" ending somewhere in their notes, thoughts or musings. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Thank You, Sir, May I Have Another

Today, I'm going to talk a bit about a series that isn't even being published right now. But there are plenty of trades available, so if what I have to say sparks an interest, rush out and buy some of those, thus maybe signaling to the publishers involved that they should devote some of their budgets to producing more.

The comic in question is Fallen Angel by writer Peter David. This book began its life in 2003 at DC Comics, believe it or not, but it was set apart from the DC Universe proper. We don't get much of the title character's back story at first, but we do know that her "code name" is literal. A former guardian angel, Lee has great strength and a number of other unique abilities. We know a disagreement between her and her former "boss" led to her fall, and that she is basically a good person, but she is not quite happy with life or its circumstances. We see glimpses of Lee's life during the day where she works as a gym instructor for a local girls' school. But most of the stories revolve around Lee's nights in a city know as Bete Noire.

Bete Noire is of vague location and populated by a number of colorful characters. There's Benny, who seems to be a street bum but is in reality the serpent from the original Eden story. There's Dolf, the German bar owner who looks after Lee sometimes and serves as her closest confidant, but also may be one of history's most notorious figures. And there's the Magistrate, the local authority in Bete Noire, who both controls events in the city and is controlled by them.

Lee spends her nights in this desolate city of last resort, often drinking in Dolf's bar. Occasionally, some poor soul will come to Bete Noire seeking the assistance of one called the Fallen Angel. If Lee chooses to listen to the person's story, and if she chooses to care, she might help the person with whatever problem has brought them to Bete Noire.

The existence of superheroes would muddy the waters somewhat in a book like this, where most things are of the real world, with only an occasional intrusion by the spiritual or supernatural. The book was quite a good one but only lasted 20 issues despite the great stories by David and the fantastic art by David Lopez. The problem, I think, was that the book had trouble placing itself. The supernatural aspects of the story line and the more mature themes would have made this an excellent Vertigo title and would have led to the book getting into the hands of more readers who I think would've appreciated it for what it was. Instead, the decision was made to brand this a mainstream DC title instead. But the absence of costumed heroes, even in cameos, killed the book's chances with the superhero crowd. Obviously, I believe there to be overlap between the two audiences, I'm proof of that, but apparently not enough to save this worthwhile title.

Thankfully, when DC canceled the book, it was picked up by IDW Publishing. They relaunched the title under the same name with a new No. 1 in 2005. Wisely, IDW opted not to change much of the format. The book jumped ahead several years in time with the change, but the stories were still in the same vein by the same writer. David Lopez didn't make the switch; if memory serves, he had an exclusive contract with DC at the time. But Peter David and IDW replaced him with J.K. Woodward who provided both painted covers and painted interiors.

This series continued the story of Lee and Bete Noire, adding in a new twist with Lee's adult son, a character who had just been born about the time the DC series ended. We get to see more of Lee's background in this series, including the event which led to her fall. We are also introduced to more characters who have known Lee longer and to whom she is not such a mystery, which helps the reader learn more about her along the way.

This series, too, was canceled, this time after 33 issues, but it didn't go away completely. The final issue promised the series would be back with a new story arc in a limited series. That series, Fallen Angel: Reborn, materialized in 2009. It matched Lee up with a character named Illyria from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" television program and comics. I'm not very familiar with either incarnation of Buffy, so the Fallen Angel series was my first exposure to Illyria, but David does an excellent job incorporating what you need to know about the character into the current story. This latest FA series, because of its dual focus, wasn't quite as good as the earlier FA titles, in my humble opinion, but it was still a good story. It gave a tad more character development to Illyria than to Lee, which might be fine for Buffy fans, but left me wanting more Fallen Angel stories.

At this point, I'm not sure if there are more Fallen Angel stories coming or not. I've heard indications that other limited series will continue, but to date, nothing new has been solicited. I truly hope David is not done with the character as there is still a great deal of story potential in Lee. But the stories presented thus far are solid reads well worth your time. And hey, if my hawking the past trades gets someone to take notice and produce more Fallen Angel comics, we all benefit, right?

Nasty. Raw. Brutal. Excellent.

We've talked here before about characterization and it's importance to story-telling. The characters have to be people the reader cares about for reading and enjoying to occur. The characters that populate Image Comics' Walking Dead series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn literally come alive with their characterizations.

The series, for those unfamiliar with it, involves a cop who wakes up from a coma to find no one around but zombies. He has no idea where the zombies came from or what the heck is going on, but he sets out to track down his family and finds other survivors among the many Walking Dead. But this is more than just a typical zombie horror-fest. Kirkman describes the book as "the zombie movie that never ends," focusing not so much on the zombies themselves, but the living folk trying to stay that way. "I want to explore how people deal with extreme situations and how these events CHANGE them," he adds. "This is a very character driven endeavor."

Is it ever.

I'd heard good things about the book and was curious to try it. When I read rave reviews for something online, it is often hit or miss whether or not I will like it, and I DON'T care so much for zombie movies. So I decided to really give the series a try if I was going to try it at all. I bought the first three trades, collecting all of the first 18 issues of the series. If at the end of that, I still didn't like it, no one could say I hadn't given it a chance. I read all three trades in one weekend.
I could hardly put it down. The drama is intense. The action is exciting. The artwork and the gray tones are brilliant. And, as promised, the writing focuses on strong characters you come to care about as they try to survive in this world they barely understand. There are zombies, but they are more minor characters, almost scenery sometimes, for the main characters to play against.

Those first three trades were so good, I quickly found the fourth and fifth collections. I just read those two in two sittings recently, only pausing in between to go to work, and that only because my wife insisted I must. I have the next six trades -- Nos. 6-11 on order. When they get here, I fully expect to devour them hungrily and then die from waiting the many long months before the 12th collection is released.

This book is awesome! Check it out!!

And do so quickly, before these characters invade your television set in Ocotber. That's right! If you haven't already heard, Kirkman is involved with the production of making The Walking Dead into an hour-long drama series for AMC. The show doesn't even begin shooting until this summer, but AMC has already pledged to debut the show in October during their Halloween-season programming.

We Need MORE Event Comics

Today, I thought I would offer up some thoughts on the Justice League. I like the idea of a Justice League, but I haven't always liked the Justice League comic books.

I like some of the classic tales from the first incarnation of the book -- Justice League of America. The idea of all these heroes banding together to fight the menaces that no one hero could handle alone. Several issues from that 20-year series are great ones.

I didn't care as much for the re-launch after Crisis on Infinite Earths -- Justice League -- or it's subsequent variations Justice League of America, Justice League America (no of), Justice League Europe, Justice League International, etc. I picked up story arcs here and there, but nothign consistently during this time.

I loved Grant Morrison's re-launch -- JLA -- in the 1990s. He returned the book to greatness with his return to the main characters of the DC Universe and his epic adventures.

The most recent relaunch of the title has been somewhat hit-and-miss for me. Back with the original name, Justice League of America, the title has had some truly great arcs, especially those penned by Dwayne McDuffie, whose run as writer of the book was all-too brief and hindered by inter-company crossovers. And I'm curious to see where the newest issues will go with this "replacement" League where Dick Grayson is Batman, and other members include Starfire, Troia and Cyborg. What can I say, the Titans fan in me is a little bit "geeked" to see so many Titans graduating into the League, even if we all know it'll only be temporary.

I'm also kind of liking the different take presented by James Robinson in Cry for Justice. The title has taken a lot of online bashing, and I don't agree with absolutely every scene. For instance, in issue No. 4, the Atom and Green Arrow are arguing over methodology. Green Arrow says, "This isn't you. This isn't the Ray Palmer that was my friend." The Atom responds, "My journey is MY journey. And I've got news for you: we may have been colleagues, but we were never friends."

This is a small example, but I think those words are a little strong for how I see these characters. They ARE friends. They may not always see eye to eye. They may disagree and even argue, but they ARE friends. But I can also live with the Atom saying this in the heat of an argument. How many times have we all said something we didn't mean or even later regretted during an argument. I'm liking this story because it treats these characters like real adults, not stereotypes or goody-goody two-dimensional characters.

And Cry for Justice is my idea of a great Justice league story because Justice League should be an event comic. I don't mean every issue has to be an over-hyped mess or have a zillion crossovers. In fact, these days, it would be more of an event not to have all of that. But Justice League should involve a story or threat so great that it justifies bringing several heroes together.

That doesn't mean you can't tell a small, character-driven story. Look at Morrison's run to dispell that silly notion. Each of his arcs involved huge events that demanded Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and more to all be involved, but he also had great bits of character development and story along the way. But very few of those stories involved a thief or a purse-snatcher. They involved events that called for a Justice League, and that's what made readers take notice of his run. Morrison's run didn't return the League to greatness by bringing the focus back to the big seven; he did it by bringing back a reason for the big seven to be involved.

Robinson doesn't have the big seven in his book, but his tale seems to get the event worthy of the League right. Here's hoping his upcoming run as scribe for the title will live up to the promise Cry for Justice makes.

And Now For Something A Little Different

We're not going to discuss a comic book today, but rather a coffee-table style volume about comic books -- specifically, DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels.

Doing the math will tell you that this book was published in 1995, and it follows the publishing history of the company that today is known as DC Comics. To be sure, there is quite a bit of information about the early days of comic books and men like Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Whitney Ellsworth, Vin Sullivan, Harry Donenfed, Jack Liebowitz, Bob Kane, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Jerry Robinson and many more.

The book details the origins of DC icons Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as the Justice League, Green Lantern, the Flash and Hawkman. It also covers the radio, serial, television, film, stage and merchandising incarnations of those heroes, as well.

The book includes information on comic book genres beyond superheroes such as funny animals, westerns, television and motion picture celebrities, mysteries, science fiction, war and horror.

It covers related topics such as the comics code, relevant comics, the creation of Vertigo and the birth of event comics.

As a coffee-table book, many of these topics are covered in an abbreviated style, so other books might offer a more complete history than this tome does. But what this book lacks in depth it more than makes up for with the hundreds of large full-color illustrations that adorn its pages. From individual comic panels to entire reprinted comic pages and photos gallore of actors and comic-themed memorabilia, the true draw of this book is its art! Check it out if you have the chance.

Audiences May Be Blown Away, But Not In A Good Way

Today, we're going to combine purposes just a bit. We're still going to be looking at a recent comic read, but this one also has the distinction of being made into a movie that will be coming to a theater near you in April. Whether or not that ends up being a good thing remains to be seen.

Let me start off by saying that I'm going to try to keep specific plot spoilers to a minimum. The comic contains many twists and turns that I found genuinely surprising when I read them, and if the movie stays true to the inspiration -- which most accounts credit it for doing -- I don't want to spoil those for anyone seeing the story for the first time. But there is one major "reveal" that I think the general public needs to be let in on ahead of time.

I recently received my copy of the much delayed final issue of Kick-Ass, the Marvel Icon book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. This final book has come out so much later than the first seven issues, in fact, that I re-read the entire series, just to refresh my memory. I enjoyed re-reading the earlier issues just as much the second time around, so make no mistake, I think this is an excellent comic created by two greats in their fields who know how to utilize this medium to great effect. Millar weaves a great story with believable characters that an audience can come to care about quickly. And Romita is perfect to illustrate the gritty tale Millar weaves. And make no mistake, this story is VERY gritty, grisly, almost painful to witness at times for its graphic violence.

That's right, I said graphic violence. Now, this revelation isn't a surprise to anyone who's read the book. Far from it as the graphic nature of the story was disclosed up-front in the solicitations for the book. That's where I fear the movie is going to generate problems and hurt itself, and possibly the medium, as well.

Let's take a minute and review the basic plot for anyone not familiar with it. Kick-Ass is Dave Lizewski, a high school student who frequently describes himself as "not the class jock or the class geek. Not the class clown or class genius or class anything." He is a fan of movies, video games and superhero comic books -- a fan who wonders why no real people ever got the idea to put on a mask and costume and hit the streets looking for wrongs to right. When Dave can't come up with a good answer to that "why not" question, he decides to give it a try.

Things don't go spectacularly well on Dave's first outting, except for the fact that he manages to save someone's life. So he continues to go out in costume, discovering others who are doing the same thing. Sound about like what you'd expect so far? Well, keep in mind that this comic's creators are trying to keep the story firmly grounded in the "real world." So, when someone gets punched or kicked or slammed into a wall, foes fight back, flesh yields, and bones break. Also bear in mind that in the "real world" not everyone has the same values. Not everyone would have a problem employing lethal force for the "greater good." In fact, some folks might thrill at a permanent solution to criminals.

I've seen the trailers for this movie being shown in the theaters right now. They are playing up the "fun" aspects of the book, which are very much present. Dave sets out to be a superhero because he thinks superheroes are cool. I do, too, so who am I to argue? But there's more to this young man's story than fun. Things which might not be appropriate for young children to watch.

Yes, this film has an R rating, and, if the film stays true to the book, that rating will be deserved. But potential viewers don't always pay attention to the ratings. Some parents might find the R rating puzzling if they see the fun superhero trailers being shown. So they bring their children to the film anyway and subject the tykes to some pretty horrible deaths and dismemberments.

There are too many folks still out there in the world who view comic books as only children's fare. These folks fly into a rage of righteous indignation when they encounter adult themes and mistakenly believe such comics are being sold to children instead of realizing that comics -- like almost any other medium -- have many different categories of stories geared for many different audiences.

Can you imagine what these folks will think when this movie, after being marketed as a fun superhero film, turns out to be a bloodbath of mayhem in their eyes?

This is the kind of backlash I fear from the way the Kick-Ass film is being marketed right now. Without any regard for whether the film is good, I'm afraid it is going to be attacked for being unfit. I hope time proves me wrong, but that's my concern.

To Boldly Go ... Somewhere

Gold Key Star Trek collections 2 -- These are just fun collections!

I remember seeing some of these comics when I was younger, but for whatever reason never actually read one. I can't imagine why I wouldn't have tried, were it possible for me to, as I've always been a fan of TOS. (That's The Original Series for any non-Trekkies reading.) Maybe the books I saw were always in places where they weren't actually for sale.

Whatever the reason, I was always curious about them. As I got older and started collecting comics, Gold Key issues were rare and often expensive when copies could be found.

For those who don't know, Gold Key/Dell included some great original comic titles like Turok, Son of Stone, but the publishing company was best known for its licensed characters based off of popular television properties. Many of the early creators who worked on these books were foreigners, however, often painfully unfamiliar with the television shows the comics were supposed to be based on.

American fans of Star Trek's initial three-year run were likely puzzled by these books about a Starship Enterprise that had fire and exhaust shooting out the back end of its warp nacelles and shuttlecraft bay and that could physically land on planets the crew encountered. Inside the Enterprise, Capt. James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy didn't always act exactly "in character," but much worse were the blond-haired engineer Mr. Scott and the often excitable Mr. Spock whose pointed Vulcan ears seemed to have grown to twice — or even three times — their normal size.

Hearing stories about these strange characterizations made me leery of spending too much money on something I might not really care for, but my curiosity for these books remained. Several years ago, Checker Book Publishing collected these stories in some nice trade paperback collections. The nice collected price prompted me to finally decide to give these stories a try, and I'm glad I did.

Many of the early stories, while not quite featuring the starship crew I was familiar with, still were quite engaging and creative. In addition, the learning curve of the creators was faster than one might have expected. Changes began to be made to add other familiar characters like Uhura and Sulu, and Mrs. Spock and Scott slowly began to morph closer to their on-screen portrayals. Also, the popularity of both the show and this comic book series led to American creators more familiar with the franchise being hired to write the stories.

Even by the end of this second collection, these stories seem to be about some parallel dimension or alternate universe version of the familiar characters, but let's face it —- parallel dimensions and alternate universes are not so much of a stretch for anyone who's been reading comics or science fiction for any length of time. And the quality of these stories makes them well worth the cost of these nice trades. Beam aboard; you'll be glad you did.

What Went Wrong?

I tried Bill Willingham's book Fables shorlty after its debut in 2000. I bought the individual issues for the first story arc and read them all in one sitting and fell in love with the characters, their situation and the way Willingham's writing made each one of this huge cast a distinct individual I would either come to care about or despise. There isn't a lot of middle ground with many of the characters in the series. And that's not to say that the characters aren't well-rounded multi-faceted folk; they truly are.

To my knowledge, Fables was my first exposure to Willingham's work, but it made me think that he and his fellow collaborators on the main series and it's spin-offs (including fellow scribe Matthew Sturges) were just incredible.

But as much as I love Willingham's work with the inhabitants of Fabletown, I just can't get behind his writing when it comes to the superhero set.

I was sadly disappointed in Willingham's thankfully short turn at the helm of the now-canceled solo Robin title. Here's a creator whose work I enjoy working on a character I enjoy, I thought at the time. How can I lose? But reading the story, it just didn't ring right for me. I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem until reading an article somewhere online at the time of Willingham's Robin issues. The article said Willingham wanted to write a story about a young, inexperienced hero and the mistakes he made while starting out. Well, even though the Robin we're discussing in Willingham's issues was Tim Drake, the third young man to wear the Robin costume, Drake hadn't been a newbie hero for quite some time. The character debuted in the early 90s and several novice stories had been done at that time. Since, the character has been portrayed as not only a competent partner to such heroes as Batman, Nightwing and Oracle, but an accomplished, inventive hero in his own right and leader of a newer, younger set of Teen Titans. You can't shoe-horn the character into the role of a novice any longer, unless you clearly explain in your story that it is a tale from the character's past when he WAS still new, something Willingham clearly did not do. In fact, Willingham took pains to mention current continuity in his story to firmly place it in the current time. In my opinion, he had an idea and tried to make the character fit the idea, which rarely produces good stories.

That should explain my trepidation when it was announced several months ago that Willingham and Sturges would be taking over the writing chores on the Justice Society. I was worried, but I love this team and the legacies of many of the characters, so I gave the book a try. But once again, Willingham is not writing these characters correctly to my mind. Not only do several of the JSA members seem to be acting out of character for their established personalities, some aren't even being consistent from page to page or panel to panel.

Take Justice Society of America No. 30, Willingham and Sturges' second issue, for example. The Golden-Age Flash has just brought Dr. Fate to help him and Stargirl fight against a large number of super-villains. At the top of page 7, an obviously uncertain Fate turns to Flash and asks, "How am I doing so far?" and Flash replies with an OK sign and says, "Just fine, son. Keep it up." Just a few pages later, after the villains have been routed and the heroes are splitting up, Flash turns to the unmasked Dr. Fate and demands, "What about you, pal? You aren't familiar, but ..."

Flash went and got the guy, so he should know who Fate is. He also seems to know that a new person is wearing the costume when he reassures Dr. Fate during battle. But then at the end of the fight, he has no idea who this person is under the helmet of Dr. Fate and almost seems not to trust the individual. What gives?

I still read Fables every month, and it is truly a fantastic book filled with rich characterization and solid story-telling; I highly recommend it to anyone, from die-hard comic fan to someone who just enjoys a good story. But Willingham's super-hero work just seems to fall short for me.

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

This little gem was re-released in 2008 as Marvel Premiere Classic Hardcover Vol. 9.

It collects Iron Man Nos. 120-128, written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, illustrated by John Romita Jr. and Carmine Infantino and inked by Bob Layton. And it was previously collected in trade paperback form under the title The Power of Iron Man, which was my first exposure to the stories.

These comics, to my mind at least, are Marvel Comics' version of the socially-relevant comics trend most often attributed as starting with DC Comics' Green Lantern/Green Arrow run by Denny O'Neal and Neal Adams. Those DC books had lefty Green Arrow and right-wing Green Lantern butt heads over social issues such as over-population, race relations, class warfare and drug abuse. They are credited with bringing a social conscience to comic-book stories. In Marvel's Iron Man case, the topic was alcoholism, and the writers used the star of the book to tackle the problem head-on in his own life.

But no simple preaching is found in the pages reprinted in this volume. Rather, this is good, compelling story-telling at its finest. Tony Stark (Iron Man to the uninitiated) had been dealing with a number of conflicts in previous issues leading up to No. 120 beyond the usual superhero slugfests. As these stories begin, those problems continue to get worse and grow in number, prompting Stark to turn increasingly to the bottle rather than his friends or his armored alter ego. As one might expect, rather than helping, the alcohol merely adds to Stark's problems. In that regard, there aren't many surprises in this story.

What is unexpected is how the alcoholism is dealt with by these creators. The problem isn't resolved in a matter of panels or even a few pages. Instead, they take the "hero" of the book lower than might have been expected, then allow several issues' worth of time for even the beginnings of a resolution to take shape. In this way, Michelinie and Layton make Stark's problems seem all the more real, and his eventual victory, never in doubt as this is a monthly superhero title, more powerful for its portrayal.

I had never been much of an Iron Man fan prior to reading The Power of Iron Man, and only picked up the book on a whim. This story gave me an appreciation for the character under these creators' care and has been read and re-read to the point that the original trade has almost been worn out. With that in mind, I recently purchased the new hardcover edition and re-read this story for the first time in maybe 10 years. It was well worth the price, and the writing and artwork are still spectacular! I have no hesitation whatsoever about recommending this book for anyone to whom it might be a new read or a refresher on a true comics classic.

I'm Back!

Hey, Kiddie Cops! I'm back!

Did you miss me?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guest-Starring The Batman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moving Into January

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Quickie Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winter Colds Suck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welcoming A New All-Ages Comic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya next time, Kiddie Cops.

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.

More Post Crisis Retro-Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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