Wednesday Comics: DC, December 1982 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! Today, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of September 9, 1982. 

Batman #354: Batman has been declared a public menace by Mayor Hill and Commissioner Pauling, but despite a heightened police presence, the Dark Knight still manages to break into their office, and put them on notice that Deadshot spilled what he knows about them (which he hasn't). When Batman leaves the building, Pauling activates an alarm that alerts the officers about his presence and the police start shooting at Batman and hitting him. Still, Batman escapes.

Meanwhile, Dr. Thirteen shows Rupert Thorne the Hugo Strange haunting is a fake, done with holograms. Thorne jumps to the conclusion the responsible parties for this charade are his own pawns, Pauling and Hill.

Later, Alfred has to juggle an annoying Deadshot, who is being held prisoner and blindfolded in the Batcave, and tending Batman's wounds. Vicki Vale gets a phone call from a mysterious (cat) woman, who warns her to stay away from Bruce Wayne.

Thorne is drinking at his home and planning his revenge against his subordinates, when Batman appears and stands there is silence as Thorne rants. Unnerved, Thorne accidentally sets his house on fire. While Batman fights the blaze, Rupert Thorne gets away. Thorne goes to City Hall with a gun, ready to kill his lackeys. Batman arrives just in time to witness Thorne's murder of Pauling and the shooting of Thorne by one of Pauling's loyal cops. Batman disarms the cop and a fearful Mayor Hill promises he will reinstate Batman's special deputy status, but he won't be able to prove that he was ever involved with Thorne.

This Batman is, of course, Dick Grayson, as Bruce is still recovering. After a successful mission, Dick returns home, but someone else is watching Thorne get taken away to the hospital. The person is none other than Hugo Strange, who is very much alive!

This was a satisfying end to this arc by Conway and Newton.

Flash #316: Bates and Infantino continue the Goldface story with the Eradicator lurking in the background. The Flash tangles with Goldface twice and gets defeated. Goldface demands Flash leave town or he'll continue murdering people in Central City.. The Flash isn't about to leave, but he recruits the reformed Heatwave to help him try to take down the villain. They get closer, but again Goldface escapes, and Flash is left in peril of drowning. Meanwhile, the Eradicator makes short work of Goldface's goons that come after him, and Creed Philips discovers that the Eradicator killed his physician (he doesn't appear to know that he's the Eradicator).

G.I. Combat #248: No Mercenaries this month, but hey, more Haunted Tank! Joy. The first Tank story has an interesting high concept, if utterly predictable development in Kanigher style. The crew is leading 3 condemned soldiers to their execution. The three learn something of heroism from Jeb and his men, and then show it themselves by dying in battle giving our heroes a chance to escape the Germans. In the second story, the Haunted Tank manages to capture General Kuntz, "Rommel's right-hand man" and have to transport the injured general across the dangerous desert to command. 

The O.S.S. story is better than average. There is a traitor among four agents sent on a mission, and the still loyal agents have to discover who the turncoat is and complete the mission before the he takes them out. Drake and Trinidad round out the issue with a story about the lives of three individuals in different places and on different sides who wind up intersecting with the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

Masters of the Universe #1: I reviewed this issue here back in 2015. One of the mysteries here is why Tuska is doing the art with Alcala only inking when Alcala did much cooler work in the mini-comics? Maybe a question of speed?

 

Saga of the Swamp Thing #8: Swamp Thing, Dennis and Liz are stranded on an island where they encounter dream-like scenes out of movies. They have to deal with dinosaurs, hostile tribesmen, and King Kong and wander through Rick's Cafe American.

Abruptly we get an interlude. In New Jersey Karen "Casey" Clancy" looks much older and is more sure of her powers. Paul Feldner tells her he won't be a part of her plan. He slaps her and tries to run away before Karen uses her mind power to make him burst into flames. 

Back on the island, Dennis and Liz are finally able to confront dreamers and it is discovered they are Vietnam vets that came into contact with the defoliant, Agent Blue. Traumatized and unable to reintegrate into society, they re-enlisted. They were transferred on the USS New Hampshire, which exploded and sank, leaving them as the only survivors. It was then that the soldiers realized they could "create stuff outta thin air" just by thinking about it and decided to live out the fantasies of their imagination instead of returning to reality. Liz then scolds one of the vets for hiding from reality, essentially calling them all cowards unworthy of sympathy. The vets have a falling out over this, and their fantasies begins to fall apart along with the entire island dissolving. One of the soldiers creates a helicopter and he, Swamp Thing, Liz and Dennis escape while the other dreamers drown.

In the Barr/Carrillo Phantom Stranger backup, the Stranger takes Amanda Dove (the woman from last issue) to see the latest incarnation of her lover, a general, and tries to stop the war he is currently involved in.

New Teen Titans #26: Wolfman and Perez prove social relevance in comics wasn't just a 70s fad. The New Teen Titans return to Earth from Vega, and Robin, having revealed his true feelings during the battle, begins a tentative, romantic relationship with Starfire, and the other Titans get back to their civilian lives. Several weeks pass in a couple of captions. Then, Raven meets a young girl who has been the victim of domesticate abuse, presumably by a pimp. Dick and Kory, on a movie date, witness the accidental death of a drug-crazed youth who attacks D.A. Adrian Chase (who seems a bit to the right of Bronson's character in the Deathwish movies) and his wife before running into the path of a car. Cyborg and the others visit a home for runaways and basically get a PSA on the problem. The other The next day, at the site of the Statue of Liberty, Changeling battles a young costumed girl, who calls herself Terra. 

It's easy to view this kind message comic as sort of heavy-handed. I feel like it would have seemed hard-hitting and gritty had I read it as a young teen. In a way, I feel like this is better than the Vega arc before, though probably a little of it is going to go a long way.

Superman #378: Kupperberg and Swan introduce a character I only know from the Who's Who: Colonel Future. NASA scientist Edmond Hamilton (a name borrowed from the sci-fi writer) accidentally gains prophetic powers that warn him of a doom the Earth faces in the near future. He adopts the secret identity of Colonel Future and begins stealing devices to help him build a defense against it, but runs afoul of Superman. It turns out, interpreting visions is a tricky thing and Future actually causes a problem Superman has to prevent.