My ongoing mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands on the week of September 6, 1983.
Atari Force #1: Conway and artistic team Garcia-Lopez and Villagran present the story of the next generation, following the events of the first volume of the Atari Force comics that were packaged with Atari cartridges. It's about twenty years later, and we're introduced to a new status quo and a host of new characters: Chris Champion aka Tempest who's got teleportation powers, Morphea, an alien empath recently arrived at the Atari Institute, Dart (like Chris, a child of original Atari Force characters) and Blackjack, two badass mercenaries out to get the employer who betrayed them; Babe a giant, alien child who will one day grow into a mountain, and Pakrat, a rodentoid master thief. We also meet the Darth Vader-esque antagonist, Dark Destroyer. This issue really moves and is full of well-defined characters and interesting concepts, but the real star is the art. I loved this issue as a kid, and it holds up today.
Wonder Woman #311: Mishkin and Heck have Wonder Woman's jet hijacked by mischievous, little creatures Trevor and Wonder Woman term Gremlins. They follow the creatures to a partially solidified sky island where there is a graveyard of planes from different eras. There are some larger beings here too, but their relationship to the gremlins isn't clear before the series end. This issue is a bit of whimsical detour compared to what Mishkin has done in previous issues.
In the Cavalieri and Burgard/DeCarlo Huntress backup, our heroine is confronted by two sewer alligators, guard animals of Earthworm, after being sent into a trap by an informant. Meanwhile, the Earthworm leaves a baby on the doorstep of anti-vigilante politician Terry Marsh.
Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #9: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon continue the story from last issue with Amethyst and her allies fighting to defend the House of Ruby from the Emissaries of Varn. A surviving member of House Diamond showed up at the end of last issue like he was going to kick the Emissaries collective butt, but know they take him out too with their ability to absorb any attack then send it back. The head of Ruby falls before them too, but then Amethyst realizes that each of the 3 Emissaries has a different function. They concentrate their attacks on the middle guy--the conduit--and force them all to retreat from Gemworld.
Blackhawk #265: The Blackhawks get a replacement for Chop-Chop, Ted Gaynor, who's skilled but a bit too humorless and cold-blooded for the rest of the team. The Blackhawk doppelganger returns and frees Professor Merson. The team recaptures Merson and prevents the double from assassinating Churchill.
In the backup by Evanier and Newton/Jensen, Olaf has a meeting with a courier at the circus where he used to perform, but masquerades as a clown when the circus is forced to perform for a Nazi field marshal. In the end, Olaf gets to the courier and the other performers hold off the Germans.
DC Comics Presents #65: Kupperberg and Morrow bring in Madame Xanadu for a team-up. This is her first appearance since the multiple part Wonder Woman story back in'82 and the last time she'll be seen before her appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12. Superman is having nightmares where he destroys Metropolis. Meanwhile, two other people are also having their dreams invaded by an evil force. They feel compelled to visit Madame Xanadu for help. Together, they figure out they are all being psychically attacked by Maaldor, who we last saw in issue 56. Maaldor wants to destroy Superman or at least convert him to evil, but with the help of Xanadu he's able to put Maaldor out with a super-punch.
Fury of Firestorm #19: Conway is joined by co-writer Carla Conway, his then wife. Art this issue is from Colan and Magyar. The story feels like it could have been in a Bronze Age Spider-Man villain, complete with ill-conceived, one appearance villain, which makes since given Firestorm sort of follows a Spider-Man blueprint, and Conway is writing. The villain in this case is Goldenrod, a plant humaoid, with the power to cause extreme allergies! He's out for revenge against the unethical researcher who made him this way and he appears to die at the end, but of course, no body is recovered, so he could have emerged next spring allergy season or whenever, but he didn't.
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Justice League of America #222: Conway and Patton/Tanghal continue the story from last issue. The cat woman Reena reveals the origin and identity of the animal people the JLA have been encountering. They were the board of Repli-Tech who, fearing financial ruin and potential prosecution as Repli-Tech was going bankrupt, submitted to an experimental process by Dr. Lovecraft to give them animal powers. They used these powers to commit robberies and fight in gladiatorial combats for jaded, wealthy patrons. Seems like it would have been easier and safer to financially exploit Lovecraft's process to me, but I guess that's why I'm not a business executive. When Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman fly to the side of Hawkman who had been poisoned by a scorpion guy and is in the hospital, they are captured.
The lion man. Maximus Rex broadcasts a message to the Justice League Satellite, revealing his captives and boasting that he is leader of a new order.
Vigilante #2: Wolfman and Pollard/Marcos have Adrain Chase learn that those things he usually calls "technicalities" might just be justice being done, as he attacks and beats the hell out of a guy who winds up being innocent after all. He gets disillusioned and gives up he vigilante life to work for his father's prestigious but legal firm but gets disillusioned again seeing guilty men evaded justice. In the end, he takes up the Vigilante mantle a second time with the promise to do things differently, but I'm not sure in what way.
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