Action Comics #535: Wolfman and Staton have Superman still suffering from the halving of his power (since last issue) and accidentally imperiled in performance of a heroic deed. Luckily, the Omega Men are there to request him and make a guest appearance. They were looking to enlist the help of Green Lantern, but weakened Superman will just have to do, though the Omega Men are dubious. Before he can help them, though he needs their help in saving some buildings in Metropolis from destruction by the Mole and his minions. Forgetting his reduced power, Superman gets injured shielding Primus and winds up in the hospital needing surgery. Kalista hears Superman mention Jimmy and Lois so she brings them to his bedside, but the Mole bursts up through the hospital floor and kidnaps Superman.
The Air wave backup by Rozakis and Saviuk, Air Wave defeats the alien menace he caught on to last issue, neutralizing a bomb that could destroy the Earth.
All-Star Squadron #13: Another "in-between action" character business story from the team of Thomas and Gonzales/DeCarlo. The All-Star's elect their first leader. The JSA members that joined the military make their goodbyes and return to their units. Firebrand learns to rethink her growing prejudice against the Japanese when she finds our her brother's life was saved by a Japanese American soldier.
Other developments aren't as positive. Steel visits his old girlfriend, Gloria, and learns that she has married an Army captain, and her father is dead. He leaves without revealing his secret identity and tells her that Hank Heywood is dead. Robotman rescues his friends Chuck Grayson and Joan Carter from malfunctioning machinery, but then discovers a sleazy lawyer has declared Robotman a public menace as he slaps "Paul Dennis" with a summons.
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #7: The Zoo Crew is in Follywood planning to stay at the home of Byrd Rentals (who is the alter ego of Zoo Crew member Rubberduck). Arriving at his home they meet the writer Ezra Hound who is desperate for help because he believes his creation, Bow-zar the Barkbarian wants to kill him! He had grown tired of writing the series and planned to kill the character off, but since that time he has had vivid nightmares of Bow-zar's revenge and has been unable to sleep. Thinking this is all ridiculous, Pig-Iron agrees to serve as his bodyguard but when Bow-zar really does show up, transported from the distant past, the Crew has to fight him across Follywood. Ultimately, Bow-zar's actions are due to his fears of Hound killing him. The two agree not to harm each other, and Hound winds up being pulled into Bow-zar's time with him.
Detective Comics #518: Batman and Robin are cured of their vampirism by Father Green, using the sample of the vampire's blood and a transfusion. When it's all done, the Father whisks away the vampires, for some mysterious purpose. Batman isn't much concerned.
In our major plot point, Chance is going to dinner this evening as Bruce Wayne with Vicki Vale so that they can prove Bruce isn't Batman. But Thorne has hired Deadshot to kill Bruce Wayne because of Vale's suspicions.
Batman is on Deadshot's trail, though, thanks to some detective work and arrives just in time to stop him from shooting Chance. Deadshot manages to get inside the building leaving Batman behind and he goes straight to Wayne, to complete his contract. "Bruce Wayne" acts fast and takes Vicki away from danger, buying some time until Batman returns and confronts Deadshot. "Bruce Wayne" uses his trademark throwing knife to break Deadshot's weapon, giving Batman enough time to capture the killer.
With Batman and Bruce Wayne in the same room, Vicki apologizes to "Bruce" for having suspected that he was Batman. Meanwhile, Thorne learns of Deadshot's failure and he prepares his next move.
In the Batgirl backup by Burkett and Delbo, Batgirl tangles with the Velvet Tiger, a Catwoman wannabe. The Velvet Tiger has stolen her brother Gilbert's new program that can tap into all of Gotham's computers, stealing information across the entire network. Unaware that Gilbert isn't being totally honest, Batgirl quickly follows the trail of the Velvet Tiger and locates her in his office.
New Adventures of Superboy #33: Continued from last issue, renegade Superboy Revenge Squad member Trohnn is still trying to kill Superboy and is holding Pete captive in a death trap so he can replace him. Pete manages to tip off Superboy to the deception by giving Trohnn false information, and the Revenge Squad lends a hand as well. Next the Squad tries to trick Superboy into changing the color of a star to give them powers, but even without knowing of their treachery, Superboy thwarts them.
In the Dial H for Hero backup, Bridwell and Bender force Chris and Vicki must battle a water-based villainess, the Naiad, who seeks pretty petty revenge on a movie star by trying to disrupt the shooting of a movie.
Tales of the New Teen Titans #4: Wolfman and Perez tell the origin of Starfire. It becomes apparent here that Perez, despite all his other strengths as an artist, is not great at drawing kids--unless Tamaranean children don't resemble earthly ones as closely as adults do human adults. We get more background on the Warlords of Okaara and the first (non-retcon) appearance of the sadistic Psions. The story is a nice bit of space opera but marred a bit by its simplicity in that Blackfire is a irredeemable villain from childhood.
Unknown Soldier #267: Haney and Ayers pit the Unknown Soldier against two German circus performers posing as refugees from the Nazi rise to power, but who are actually terrorists who kidnap six British children from a circus show. The Soldier to track them down the villains and rescue the kids, but a loadmouthed, unflagging patriotic kid helps him a lot by undermining the bad guys.
In the Kanigher/Evans Viking Commando yarn, a near death experience promotes the Commando's over-eager Valkyrie admirer to whisk him away from the MPs who are carrying him in for psych evaluation, giving him the opportunity to destroy the array directing the Nazi killer satellite and proving his worth to the Allied cause.
In the Kanigher/Severin Enemy Ace bit, Steve Savage and von Hammer are still trying to have their duel. even going so far as to have a go at it by pistols on the ground, but the War always intervenes. I like Balloon Buster and Enemy Ace in general, but this whole sequence of them trying to find away to kill each other "honorably" and being unwilling to let it go really undercuts any anti-war message the stories might have and makes the protagonists seem like nuts.
World's Finest Comics #283: This is no longer a dollar book, in fact the dollar book thing may be done except for annuals. If so, it's the end of era, and also it means no Hawkman or Marvel Family this issue due to the reduced page count. There is a one-pager by Rozakis and Novick where the Atom faces...a mugger!
Burkett and Tuska bring back one of the most "what now?" villains in the DC rogue's gallery: the Composite Superman. Xan, the alien who helped the original Composite Superman get his powers back, turns himself into a second Composite Superman and travels to Earth to eliminate his greatest foes. Batman is attacked by his friend, Superman and almost killed. In the same evening, Superman is attacked by Batman in Metropolis and the Man of Steel barely escapes from a Green Kryptonite trap. When the heroes confront each, Composite Superman II reveals himself and the two heroes are unable to defeat him. After failing to catch Composite Superman in a trap, Superman abandons his ally, apparently seeming to turn coward, but really he's traveling to the future to get help from the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In the Barr/Kane Green Arrow/Black Canary story, Mrs. Hollinger seems to have succeeded in tricking GA into killing again (as he did her son) and breaking him--but it's all a ruse. He knew his arrows had been switched by their weight and missed shooting Slingshot directly on purpose. Slingshot is up again and holds the gagged Black Canary and Mrs. Hollinger hostage, intent on a showdown with Green Arrow. Instead of sending another arrow at Slingshot, GA fires a shot that tears loose Black Canary's gag. She uses her canary cry to disable Slingshot. Hollinger acknowledges that Green Arrow saved her but she can never forgive him because hate is all she has left.
"The Velvet Tiger has stolen her brother Gilbert's new program that can tap into all of Gotham's computers, stealing information across the entire network."
ReplyDeleteThis is 1982, right? What network? There were still organizations using punch cards in this era. "Online" meant you dialed in to a BBS. Far-out scifi, for sure.
"Bow-zar the Barkbarian"
Dear gods, the wordplay! It burns!
That said, the fictional character trying to kill his creator in self-defense plot could almost be clever if done well. I recall a Holmes pastiche where Sherlock confronts Doyle during that gap period after Reichenbach Falls and explains that his investigations revealed that Doyle was responsible for driving him and Moriarty into killing each other and that he'd be on his guard against future attempts to do him in, with suitable retribution arranged if Doyle did get away with it somehow. It was kind of cute when you consider Doyle really did actively want Holmes dead so he could stop writing him, only to be forced back into it by public demand - or an angry Holmes? :)
World's Finest Comics #283:
I'm inexplicably fond of the Composite Superman concept, so that sounds like a much cooler story to me than it probably was. I know objectively he's a terrible villain with a ludicrous power set, but subjectively seeing him makes me as happy as a Jimmy Olsen, Giant Turtle-Man sighting.
Nice touch in the backstory with GA knowing his arrows have been switched just by feel. Pretty realistic for such a talented archer who makes his own ammo.
Captain Carrot was a lot of fun when Roy Thomas was writing it. Or at least it was so pun-heavy that I chuckled. Later writers cut back on the verbal humor. I still say "Cheetahs never win" which is used in some issue or another of CCAHAZC.
ReplyDeleteI got CC and the Starfire out of this lot. DC's line-0up looks pretty good this week. The Omega Men seemed exciting prior to their getting their own series. All Star Squadron was fun but Roy's penchant for overwriting irks me there where it did not in CC.
I'd love for DC to reprint all the various Green Arrow backups of the 70's and 80's. And the Mike Barr/Trevor Von Eeden mini-series which I recall being fun.
I had that World's Finest comic. I think it was my introduction to the Legion, not exactly auspicious. Composite Superman had an absurd level of varied powers. How do you use such a character?
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