I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! I'm a day later than my usual Wednesday post, but I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of August 6, 1981.
Arak Son of Thunder #3: Thomas and Colon/DeZuniga have Arak and Malagigi trying to help a village under the thumb of an evil sorcerer after granting mercy to a dying brigand and taking him home. The sorcerer sends a knight to kill them, who turns out to be Valda, who will become a regular here. Malagigi frees Valda from ensorcellment, but greedy villagers turn on them, and take them to the sorcerer for reward. They get killed for their initiative, and the sorcerer forces Valda and Arak to fight to the death. Arak resists the sorcerer's control enough to send a tomahawk at Valda which she easily ducks, but the sorcerer takes a blow to the skull. After dispatching the wizard, the trio heads on their way. Valda wears a mail shirt here like it's a mini-dress. She gets pants in later stories.
Batman #341: Conway and Novick bring Terrence Thirteen from the pages of Ghosts to Gotham. Both kids and cop are saying Wayne Manor is haunted. Gordon wants to investigate but Bruce is afraid the entrance to the old Batcave will be discovered and declines to allow it. He heads out to the mansion as Batman to make sure all the Batcave entrances are closed. Gordon shows up anyway with some of his men and Dr. Thirteen. Batman plays "ghost" for a bit, trying to distract them, but that only makes Thirteen more curious. Then, Batman discovers that the Man-Bat is squatting in the batcave. To be continued.
The next story is kind of novel. It invites the reader to try to solve the murder mystery with Batman. It's brought to us by Snyder and Gonzales.
The final story is a Robin solo-feature by Conway and von Eedon/DeCarlo. Grayson leaves the Hill Circus to hitchhike back to Gotham. He tales a ride from a guy with a scarred face who turns out to be involved in a Satanic cult!
DC Comics Presents #39: Pasko and Staton team-up Supes with Plastic Man, and it's very much a continuation of the goofy style of their defunct Plastic Man strip in Adventure Comics. The two heroes bring in the Toyman and two Acme City (I wonder when this homebase for Plas was dropped?) crooks, Dollface and Fliptop, who have stolen one of Toyman's toys, a wind-up fake dog, to help in a bank robbery. I feel like this version of Plastic Man might work better as an adult cartoon on HBOMax.
The "What Ever Happened To..." backup we catch up with Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu. Mainly, this story by Barr and Saviuk seems to be tying up loose story-ends from his previous appearances. I would imagine it certainly sets up Bronze Tiger for further 80s stuff.
Flash #303: Sorry Bates and crew, but this ending of the Henry Allen storyline is silly and underwhelming. It turns out, that Barry's dad briefly died before CPR after the car crash and the Top's spirit just happened to be around to enter his body. The villains' plan is to cause the Flash's heart to stop, so the Top can migrate to his young, toned body. The Flash tricks them, though, and the Top's spirit goes wherever, and Henry Allen is back in control of his own body. Maybe with a magic based villain this plot would have worked better, but with the Top?
In the Firestorm backup by Conway and Broderick, we tread water so the plot doesn't advance much over the reveal regarding Ronnie's girlfriend's sister being the Hyena at the end of last issue. Here, we are left with a cliffhanger with Hyena about to attack her sister.
G.I. Combat #236: The first Haunted Tank story is overstuffed with a sadistic German commander taking prisoners only to execute them and some holdout Germans from World War I hiding out in a French forest. Our heroes lose another tank and learn (again) that war sucks, y'all. O.S.S. operatives go hang-gliding to stop an an experimental u-boat armed with a nuclear warhead about to leave to destroy New York. Then it's back to the Philippines as MacArthur leaves, shadowed by a PT boat trying to make sure he gets to Australia safely. They succeed in their mission, but give their lives to do so. Kashdan gives Kanigher a break as he teams with Vicatan for a story about a spy who fails to keep the French German collaborators from getting a briefcase--which was always the plan since it leads the Allies to their hideout. The last Haunted Tank story has Slim getting to drive something faster and sleeker than a tank--a liberated 1935 Italian Hispano-Suiza. They still manage to take out a German tank.
Ghosts #106: Kanigher and Giffen open the issue with the story of an American fencing champ in Scotland, who duels the ghost of a Scottish hero to win a sword, but winds up freeing the ghost from his punishment. Kelly and Carrillo follow-up with a piece about an archeologist and his Seminole ally against a ghost Conquistador and his magic sword. Then there's a Snyder and Trinidad story that is neither a ghost story, nor a horror story.
The last story, by Gonzales and Sech, tells the tale of a guy who murders a good Samaritan preacher to get the money he gives out to help the homeless, only to find himself haunted by the preacher's ghost and eventually possessed by him (I guess), so that the murderer becomes the new Samaritan.
Jonah Hex #54: After divesting Hex of his wife and kid (at least for a time), Fleisher wastes no time in getting him back to Old West adventuring. He's asked by a Mexican Colonel to infiltrate the hideout of his old enemy El Papagayo. He does, but Papagayo catches him and puts him in a death trap: a well where a rope will slowly tighten and strangle him. Hex escapes with the aid of another of the Colonel's agents, Papagayo's girl, but before he can return to report what he found out, he runs up against some ex-Confederates looking for him for his old enemy, Turnbull.
In the Tejano backup by Mishkin/Cohn and Veitch/Yeates, the Mexican Army plans to hand over Tejano to their Comanche allies. On the way, Tejano realizes a boyhood friend of his is with the Mexican forces, and they reminisce about a Comanche youth who's life they saved after they took back the horses he had stole. It turns out that boy is now the Comanche chief and far from being grateful for what they did, he feels Tejano humiliated him before his tribe. Uh oh.
"Ghosts #106:"
ReplyDeleteThink you duplicated the GI Combat cover instead of this one. Looking it up, they sure do lean into the "Scottish ghost duel" there. Not as pretty as some but eye-catching and probably generated some sales just on curiosity factor alone.
" Our heroes lose another tank..."
Say what you will about Haunted Tank, it was somewhat fair about portraying how fragile US tanks were. Overplays every single other thing about them, but the lads sure do go through a lot of tanks in the series, even with ghost support.
"The last Haunted Tank story has Slim getting to drive something faster and sleeker than a tank--a liberated 1935 Italian Hispano-Suiza. They still manage to take out a German tank."
Of course they do. Virtually certain I remember them killing a "Tiger" while riding bicycles one time. :)
"Maybe with a magic based villain this plot would have worked better, but with the Top?"
That not only seems really outside of his wheelhouse, this is Barry Allen Flash. He knows the Specter, for cripe's sake. One phone call and the whole possession thing's over and Top's off to pay for his sins. Even if Barry somehow forgot to get Mister Wrath O'God's number during one of the JSA team-ups I'm sure he could just ask Zatanna or the Phantom Stranger for it.
"The two heroes bring in the Toyman and two Acme City (I wonder when this homebase for Plas was dropped?) crooks, Dollface and Fliptop"
Those two are so obscure I had to look them up, and I still don't know who Dollface is despite DC having used the name for multiple characters at this point. Fliptop, OTOH - a gimmick toupee for storing tools and weapons as if his head opens into Hammerspace or something? My god, that's so bad it's looped around to amazing.
The database insists this was the only appearance of either character, which seems like a terrible waste in the case of Fliptop, anyway. Also has a great quote from Jimmy Olsen about Toyman being robbed being newsworthy in the same way "man bites dog" is.
"Grayson leaves the Hill Circus to hitchhike back to Gotham. He tales a ride from a guy with a scarred face who turns out to be involved in a Satanic cult!"
Yet more proof that Bruce is a bad parent. Who doesn't teach their kid not to hitchhike?
"Then, Batman discovers that the Man-Bat is squatting in the batcave. To be continued."
To be fair, it *is* the Batcave. Man-Bat's got just as much right to it as Bruce does.
"Valda wears a mail shirt here like it's a mini-dress. She gets pants in later stories."
Still showing way less skin than Red Sonja. And maybe she was just trying to make poor Arak feel at home. The guy spends more time with his shirt off than James T. Kirk.