Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1986 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on November 14, 1985.

Aquaman #1: Pozner and Hamilton/Montano bring Aquaman back for his first substantial (and post-Crisis) appearance since he left the Justice League. He's got a cool new costume, which I loved (and still do) in this, but it will turn out Hamilton seems to be one of the few that can draw it convincingly, so it's probably for the best it didn't last. This is the first series to really incorporate the fantasy elements of Arion in Aquaman's lore, something that continues (as far as I know) to this day. 

Ocean Master attacks New Venice, drawing his brother into action, but Aquaman finds Orm stronger than he ever has been. Before he can solve this mystery, he's summoned to Atlantis by Vulko who tells him that the royal seal has been stolen. There have been mass demonstrations and unrest as the populace is caught up in anti-terrestrial sentiment, as they blame the surface world diplomats Aquaman invited in for the theft. Vulko believes the theft was magical and blames the secret city of Thierna Na Oge. There has been a coup there with King Bres overthrowing her sister, Nuada Silverhand.

Aquaman heads to Thierna Na Oge in a new, camouflage costume but he gets caught entering the city and is imprisoned with Nuada.

Amethyst #13: In this Crisis crossover issue, the series gets a sort of new direction as the exodus of the original writers is complete, and Giffen and Fleming take over. In the service of this direction which ties in more directly with DC's Order and Chaos mythos, Dr. Fate guest stars to reveal (in "Anatomy Lesson"-fashion) that Amethyst doesn't know the truth of her origins, and what we got before included some polite fictions from Citrine. Amethyst is a Lord of Order incarnate in human form, being the child of her mother and a Lord of Order who possessed (and sort of cukolded) her father. Dark Opal's background also gets some retconning to make him an agent of Chaos.

This new background does cleave Amethyst more tightly to established mystical elements of the DCU and it works well enough, but I feel like it's mostly here because it aligns the series more with Giffen's interests (This Order/Chaos stuff comes up again in his Dr. Fate limited series in '87.). It doesn't take away a whole lot, but I find I like what came before better than this twist.

'Mazing Man #2: Rozakis and DeStefano/Kesel continue with 2 more sort of charming, amusing (I wouldn't go so far as to say humorous, but the intent is clear) slice-of-life stories about the cast of regular folks who share their neighborhood with a friendly weirdo who thinks he's a superhero. In the first story, married couple Eddie and Brenda return to the old neighborhood to check in on Denton on their way to a movie but instead get drawn into local meathead Guido's attempts to figure out just where 'Mazing Man gets his money. They don't find out.

In the second story, Denton sells his script for the comic Splendiddog, K.P. and 'Mazing Man relate how they went to the mall to buy shoes and ran into Guido at two different shoe stores (making him imagine K.P. is into him). Throughout this storytelling 'Mazing Man keeps telling people the bathroom is occupied. When everyone compares notes, they confront him on this, and he reveals he's keeping a family of skunks in the bathroom, which Guido mistakes for cats.

Batman #392: Moench and Mandrake/Duursema begin the issue with a caption declaring "the Crisis is over," and also give the extended storylines a break with a done-in-one story. This is a fun issue about Batman and Catwoman trying to have a date night and continuously being interrupted in multiple locations by crimes. There is also a Lady and the Tramp homage (which they acknowledge in dialog) where the owner of an Italian restaurant sets up a table in the alley behind his place for them and serves spaghetti. All of this is interspersed with Bullock trying to convince an uninterested Gordon that Catwoman still has a criminal past, which shouldn't just be forgiven. In the end, the Bat and the Cat present the captured crooks to Gordon and bring him a pizza from the Italian restaurant, and he announces his willingness to forget Catwoman's previous misdeeds.

Legion of Super-Heroes #19: Levitz and LaRocque/Mahlstedt snip off a dangling plot thread. When five Legionnaires just disappear, their teammates can't help but notice that this was the crew formerly lost in Limbo. The group has been taken by a Controller who needs their help to stop the war-world Tyrraz since they destroyed the Sun-Eater he had been building to do just that (see LSH #7 from last year). 

Omega Men #35: Klein and McManus have the Omega Men depart their crossover with the Titans to deal with the menace of X'Hal and Auron. I don't think I've said this before, but I feel like title has gotten better under Klein/McManus, or at least, more interesting. The Silfer/Giffen Omega Men was oddly toned space fantasy, like Starlin's stuff without any of the gravitas. Moench's tenure was more fantastical and lost the space opera narrative drive. What this run delivers is the American comic book space opera epic sort of filtered through 2000AD. However you want to describe it, the difference is clear in the change in character designs, and emblematic of that is X'Hal.

Where the Perez X'Hal was a beautiful young woman, McManus's is a mad cosmic mother like a monstrous Venus of Willendorf. Her transformation makes her backstory seem more genuine tragedy and horror instead of sensationalized exploitation. With a ploy to trick her, the Omega Men end her existence and bring the long-suffering spirit peace at last. They offer the same thing to Auron, but he declines. They have the hope that, freed of X'Hal's influence, he might return to sanity.

In the backup story by Klein and Randall, Harry Hokum ships the Omegans they have come to him for help with Gordanians to Slagg, but they end up (by his design) in the hands of the Spider Guild.

 

Star Trek #23: Isabella and Sutton/Villagran continue the story from last issue with Kirk and friends facing down Bryce who is possessed by Redjac. They manage to keep her distracted long enough for Saavik to knock her out with a hypo, but Redjac boasts it is in control of the whole planet. It sends wave after wave of the Enochians against them, but the crew figures out its power is limited. As it controls multiple people, it's power to control their phasers decreases. Ultimately, they manage to beam back up to Excelsior, where Scotty has devised a plan to reconfigure the shields to keep Redjac out at the price of making them vulnerable to regular attacks. Redjac pummels the ship, but can't get in. Scotty and Saavik devise a plan to open a wormwhole temporarily and get Redjac to follow them in. It works and they close the portal, hopefully trapping Redjac forever inside.

Super Powers #6: Kupperberg and Kirby/Theakston bring this toy tie-in limited series to a conclusion. The Super Friends attack Darkseid's base on the moon and defeat his subordinates, but wind up getting captured by the lord of Apokolips himself. They escape thanks to Martian Manhunter then race to stop Darkseid from destroying the Earth. Ultimately, Darkseid is thwarted by the betrayal of DeSaad in a bid for power, allowing the heroes to take them both down. Darkseid appears to be destroyed, but the final panel casts doubt on that.

Superman #416: I think I may own this issue by Maggin and Swan/Williamson. This is another of those Silver Age throwback, mostly late Bronze Age rejecting stories the Superman titles often have, but Maggin cleverly links the two stories together. In the first, Superman nabs Luthor doing weirdly non-criminal things (even for this anodyne version of Luthor its odd!) around the same time each year, and ultimately, he figures out Luthor is observing the birthday of his hero, Einstein, by re-enacting events of Einstein's life. Superman gives Luthor a little grace after the criminal genius saves a kid from drowning who inadvertently got caught in a distraction he built for Superman.

In the second story, old man Superman of the future is questioned about his relationship with the Luthor after the genius villian reformed. Superman has to take a break from the interview to appear as a hologram to his 20th century self. That Superman, at first, thinks the apparition is some trick by Luthor, but winds up delaying his capture of Luthor on Einstein's birthday as future Superman suggests, anyway. Back in the future, we learn that the boy Luthor saved will be grow up to cure Luthor's criminal monomania, allowing him to use his genius to benefit mankind.

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1985 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of November 7, 1985. 

Hex #6: Fleisher and Texeira/Garzon pickup up with Hex and Stiletta in the hands of the Conglomerate. The Conglomerate agents provide some backstory on Soames, the currency of the future. These tablets are the only thing able to purify the water supply in this post-apocalyptic age. They were developed by a Tanzanian scientist who intended to give them away for free, but the Conglomerate took over the manufacture and distribution, and that's what gives them their power. They are very concerned that Borsten is close to figuring out how to make a substitute and break their monopoly, so they want Hex to kill him, then they'll let him go back to his own time. 

Hex agrees but runs into trouble. First, he wants to leave Stiletta behind and she, surprisingly given Borsten is her father, wants to be a part of the action. He has to run off, leaving her very angry at him. The plan to have him appear to be captured by Borsten's men goes awry when one of the squad of soldiers turns out to have a personal grudge against Hex and just wants to kill him.

DC Comics Presents #90: Though when individual character chronologies are established, there are some issues prior to this one that must be post-Crisis, this is the first issue that is obviously so because Kupperberg and Cowan/Hunt have Captain Atom (the one that appeared in Crisis, not the post-Crisis version that won't appear until the end of '86) on the same Earth as Superman and Firestorm with no hint of dimensional travel. To save an astronaut from the shuttle Atlantis, the three must battle and solve the mystery of a radioactive man called Rayburn. In a Marvel Bronze Age manner, Rayburn is in the end a pitiable character, but doomed. Kupperberg adds and interesting wrinkle to the team-up in that Atom and Firestorm have to keep their distance as their powers weaken the other.

Fury of Firestorm #44: The editorial announces this will be Kayanan's last issue as he moves on to other projects. Firestorm destroys a massive tornado threatening Pittsburgh (unbeknownst to him, created by Typhoon), but the effort causes Ronnie and Stein to spontaneously separate and leaves them unable to reform Firestorm. Luckly for them, after talking with his kids, Typhoon decides not to destroy Firestorm now but instead heads back to New York to deal with the situation with his wife. Meanwhile, Felicity Smoak's lawsuit against the hero proceeds and she and her boyfriend (Ronnie's dad, Ed) decide to go to Pittsburgh for a visit.

Justice League of America #247: Conway and McDonnell/Wray have the JLA head to their old cave Secret Sanctuary to re-open it to serve as their base. The issue doesn't make mention of its location in Happy Harbor, RI. Instead, it only refers to it as "near Metropolis." Anyway, Elongated Man, Vixen, and Gypsy are left to clean up, and they encounter an amorphous alien creature that knocks out everyone but Gypsy. When pushed too far, the young hero easily defeats the alien and has the realization it may only be a baby.

While all this is going on, we see a criminal, their identity obscured, escape from Takron-Galtos.

Outsiders #4: Barr and Aparo continue the story from last issue as the Outsiders and the Force of July separately follow the stolen bank plates to the USSR. The two teams are ultimately forced to team up, but in the end, Gorbachev just hands over the plates, surprising the Bad Samaritan that went to such trouble to steal them. After the two American teams depart, Gorbachev explains that what he was really after was close-up examination of the supers, with the implication with he plans to make his own team.

There's a Metamorpho backup story by Barr and Staton, with art in the cartoony style Staton used for Plastic Man stories back in Adventure Comics. It's also written in a throwback style to the Haney-Fradon 60s. The Thugg brothers try to steal a matter transmutation ray that Dr. Berner is creating for Simon Stagg, but Metamorpho with the help of Sapphire foils their plans.

Vigilante #26: Adrian Chase is still really stressed out by his work and his inability to catch the killer Vigilante who he can't help but feel responsible for. His bailiff, Dave, takes a real interest in Chase's mental health, but Adrian keeps rebuffing him as Dave tries to get him to open up about what's bothering him. Adrain decides to take some time in the country to relax so he heads to the upstate, but that just happens to be where the drug dealer Santiago is, and where Vigilante and the Electrocutioner are hunting him.

Adrian, in fact runs across the Vigilante and two start fighting, only to get interrupted by the Electrocutioner's arrival.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January (week 5)/February 1986

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of October 31, 1985. 

Legionnaires Three #1: This issue is one of three this week that have February 1986 cover dates, rather than January. Giffen/Newell and Colon/Kesel begin the Time Trapper's evolution to a major villain status. The Time Trapper on Takron-Galtos (i.e. the one we've seen in previous issues) was just a lackey who is killed by his boss for failure this issue. The real Time Trapper hatches a plot to defeat the Legion (specifically the 3 original Legionnaires) by kidnapping Lighting Lad's and Saturn Girl's infant son. He succeeds in doing that through trickery, but the three legionnaires know he's responsible and are coming after him.

The Colon/Kesel art looks great on this issue, though I think I see a hint of Giffen at times. Assuming it isn't my imagination, I think Colon is aping his style slightly on some character designs.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #11: Another February dated issue. Creation re-occurs and a single universe is born. In the modern day, Clark Kent of Earth-Two wakes to find himself on an Earth not his own and gradually, with his fellow superheroes, he discovers his Earth doesn't even exist anymore. In various places, other heroes gather and this same truth is discovered. Wolfman's dialogue lampshades the fact they don't have this merged universe quite worked out yet: Why are Huntress and the Earth-Two Robin completely forgotten by the world, but Power Girl remembered? How can Power Girl and Earth-Two Superman be remembered but not their Krypton? While we don't have long to linger on this, the grief the characters feel at erasure or the erasure of their world is addressed to a degree I didn't remember. 

It's addressed but not allowed any emotional resolution. The heroes discover to their dismay that the single Earth has been shifted into the Anti-Matter Universe. The Anti-Monitor still lives and makes one last play for vengeance!

DC Challenge #3: Moench and Infantino/Smith take the baton. We find out part of the Viking Prince's soul was trapped in the tablet Batman has been puzzling over. He gets the help of the archeologists Carter and Sheira Hall. Their attempt to investigate the truth leads Hawkman and Adam Strange back to Rann, while Batman and Hawkgirl face peril on Earth. Jonah Hex manages to get the speeding car from crashing and gets returned to his own time. Meanwhile, Aquaman is saved from dying in the desert by what he believes to be his fellow JLAers, but turn out the be aliens in disguise.

With all the twists and turns, I can't say with any confidence I know what's going on in all of the scenes. I would say this probably rewards reading in a collection, but I think while it would be easier to follow, I'm not sure it's going anywhere in the end. 

MASK #3: Chaykin's second cover this month here. Well, in the release month of October; This issue carries a February cover date, though. The team escapes being entombed alive as a traitor in their midst intended and calls in to their supervisors to complain about the vetting of that guy. The reader knows what they do not: their command structure has been compromised by VENOM. With a couple of new operatives taking over for some others, the team heads to England where most male characters sport elaborate 19th century or older facial hair and wear bowlers. VENOM breaks a guy who believes he's Guy Fawkes out of an asylum and appears to be going after Parliament, but it's a ruse. Instead, the Crown Jewels are their ultimate goal. Good thing MASK is on hand.

Nathaniel Dusk II #4: McGregor and Colan bring the second and final Nathaniel Dusk limited series to a close. At the start, Dusk must escape from a locked steam room in a scene that has definitely showed up in some fashion in detective media before. After tracking down one of the goons that nearly killed him before, Dusk lays out the solution to the mystery: It was Valentine that made the first attempt on Clement's life and tried to frame an employee, and Valentine who got Rothberg to send his goons. The guy with the tommy gun shows up, and after a struggle that ends with both goons dead, Dusk is off to Coney Island to try to stop Valentine from killing his wife, Amanda. He succeeds, though only after climbing up a rollercoaster to shoot at Valentine who's riding in an on-rushing car. The climatic fight is on Valentine's seaplane as he attempts to take off.

This serious was a well-done detective story like the first, differing from its literary models only in how over-the-top the action is at times. It's more reminiscent, in that regard, of contemporary film than older detective fiction.

V #12: Bates and Infantino/DeZuniga continue the story from last issue. In the wake of the rash Visitor assault Lydia ordered on the ranch the Resistance was using as a base, she's called to account by Diana. Meanwhile, Donovan and Juliet escape with Prince Bron, all of them disguised as farm folk. Bron's inhuman comes in handy saving some trapped miners. In the Visitor ship, Diana interrogates Willie and sends another Visitor wearing Willie's human face to infiltrate the Resistance.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1986 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on October 24, 1985.

World's Finest #323: Metropolis is engulfed in perpetual darkness (these events are presumably after Crisis) that Superman figures must be magical. He's correct in that assumption, and soon he falls prey to the eldritch wolves employed by the villain Nightwolf. Nightwolf is really doing the bidding of the mysterious Powerbroker and his cronies (who question their boss's methods in this case), but our heroes never find out about that connection. Batman, meanwhile, is on the case and finds out Nightwolf's origin (an archeologist on a grant from Wayne Enterprises) and the Mesoamerican artifact that gives him his power. Before Nightwolf can have Superman torn apart by his wolves in front of an audience, Batman takes him down using tricks from his utility belt. In the aftermath, Bats is angry with Superman and lectures him about taking unnecessary risks and flying in without planning. In an abrupt turn, Batman suggests he can't work with Superman anymore unless he changes his ways, and the two part company.

The rupture between them, which honestly seems a mere plot point (and a sort of random one), becomes more permanent because this story by Cavalieri and Delbo/Alcala unexpectedly is the last issue of this 41 year-old title. In the editorial, this is announced as a "hiatus," and we're told they are working on retooling the title for a comeback, but that doesn't happen. The heroes' relationship will be different in the early years post-Crisis. 

The Oz-Wonderland Wars #1: The Zoo Crew is back courtesy of Bridwell/Cavalieri and Lay. The Chesire Cat shows up in Roger (Captain Carrot) Rabbit's office to enlist the help of his team. Despite the title, Oz and Wonderland aren't at war. Rather, Roquat the Nome King, has taken over Oz, imprisoning a number of prominent Ozites, and now threatens Wonderland. Bridwell wasn't allowed to use any Oz characters not in public domain (so up to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz), though in the delay between when this was written and when it was published, another Oz book came up for grabs. The story is impressive in regard to depth of the Oz lore employed. Even so, the real star is Lay who mimics Tennel, Denslow, and Neill quite effectively, given she's also putting them with Shaw's character designs.

I do wonder why this series came out in the time of Crisis. My theory (related to my feelings on all the Silver Age-y one-shots in Superman titles) is that DC is clearing their files, getting old stuff that has been completed or paid for out that might not fit with the post-Crisis universe.

Action Comics #575: While Batman and the Earth-Two characters have multi-issue (and multi-title) arcs relating to Crisis, the Superman books seem to spend most of their time in pre-Crisis one-offs. Case in point, this first story here by Cavalieri and Schaffenberger/Hunt that brings back the villain Intellex from Superman #396. He steals the brain of Einstein to employ it to develop a plan to capture and harness Superman's Kryptonian brain power, all while a meteor threatens Metropolis.

The second story by Boldman and Bender/Hunt has Superman dealing with a runaway rodent he plans to add to his interplanetary zoo, who turns out to be a sophont space-traveler. That should teach Superman to stop grabbing beings and throwing them in a zoo, but it probably won't. 

All-Star Squadron #53: Another Crisis crossover and a companion to this month's Infinity, Inc., as we get the Golden Age Earth-Two heroes' perspective on the meetup at the Monitor's satellite. First though, the Monster Society of Evil breaks up. Superman isn't able to defeat them, but they turn on each other, kicking out Mr. Mind who accidentally goes back to Earth-S. Oom takes over, however, and will still be trouble. 

Detective Comics #558: Even with Nocturna gone and Night-Slayer in custody, Moench and Colan/Smith have the melodrama under red skies claim one more victim. The night watchman, recruited and beguiled by Nocturna, tries in vain to find the woman he has fallen in love with. He gets in conflict with Robin and is pursued by the Dynamic Duo as he goes to the top of a skyscraper where the remnants of Nocturna's balloon have snagged on its spire. Finding the basket empty and blood inside, the man decides to commit suicide. Batman and Robin try to dissuade him and get him to return to his wife, but the storm sweeps him from the tower. His body, like Nocturna's, isn't found; they both disappear into the pre-Crisis storm. Batman is notified that the Joker escaped and heads off to his scenes in COIE #2. Bullock has the unenviable task of giving the watchman's wife the bad news.

In the Green Arrow backup by Travern and von Eeden/Barras, Green Arrow runs into trouble when an informant is struck down before he can tell the hero about an impending big drug deal. The only words he gets out seem to be "sure...bet". After some hassle, GA figures out that the clue is actually "sherbet," which leads him to a cargo of imported ice cream with the drugs concealed inside. Ollie gets the best line of the month with: "Does Ambush Bug ever have days like this?"

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1986 (week 3)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on October 17, 1985.

Green Lantern #196: Nice Chaykin cover here. I think this issue is the real beginning of the jerk version of Guy Gardner as Englehart and Staton/Patterson have his first official act as Green Lantern be returning to his hometown of Baltimore and telling the people there how much he hates the city and how all it ever did was keep him down. Then, he goes to resurrect the Shark as commanded by the Guardians and winds up being beaten by the villain. Meanwhile, Hal returns to Earth and goes to offer his help to John Stewart should his replacement ever need it (his magnanimous characterization here is particularly notable after his portrayal in HBO's Lanterns). 

While Stewart and Jordan are talking, with Stewart telling Jordan the Crisis is ended, the Shark attacks. Stewart defeats him owing to the experience he has gained.  Guy Gardner shows up and reveals that his mission is to assemble a supervillain assault on the Anti-Monitor's base on Qward. The two Lanterns don't see eye to eye and appear ready to fight.

Batman and the Outsiders #29: Barr and Davis continue the story with a rather pulpy turn, as the team finds an entrance to an underground world. They are attacked by the mind-controlled Metamorpho, and Halo and Geo-Force wind up captured by a Princess Tamira, while Batman, Katana, and taken by her rival Prince Mardo of Abyssia. Davis gives us some very fanciful costume designs for the Abyssians, in some ways reminiscent of work he'll do later on Excalibur. They also meet Emily Briggs again and we see now that Looker's costume is a variant on the standard Abyssian outfit.

Blue Devil #20: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Collins present what is apparently in-continuity Blue Devil's first post-Crisis appearance. Dan is looking at houses to rent when, checking out a closet, he accidentally opens a portal to the House of Weirdness and lets out a powerful demon that looks like pinkish Cousin It. Cain of House of Mystery and Blue Devil have to work together to track the creature who (after trick or treating with Kid Devil) is drawn to a concert where an undead rock star plans to stage a ritual and make his comeback in more ways than one. With the bad guy defeated and the demon banished, Cain offers Blue Devil the room in the House of Weirdness.

Infinity, Inc. #22: The Thomases and McFarlane/Montano/DeZuniga serve up another Crisis crossover. In South Carolina, Hourman II and the new Dr. Midnight battle Union deserters/renegades from the Civil War and a dinosaur. Meanwhile, we get an expanded view of events on the Monitor's satellite as the other Infinitors join the heroes there. 

It's interesting comparing these crossovers with those for events that will follow. In the future, it feels like writers of various books try to dispense with the crossover as quickly as possible. Here, there is a variety of approaches. Some writers have expanded the lead up, others detailed and elaborated events that got only a few panels or part of an issue in the event, while others have told stories adjacent to it. It really seems like all hands are on deck in a way we won't see later.

New Teen Titans #16: Wolfman and Patton/Tanghal pick up right after last week's Omega Men with the two teams manipulated by Auron into fighting each other. Jericho senses something amiss, and he's able to give Kalista a chance to use her power on Auron. Once he's distracted, both groups are able to cool down and quickly discover how they have been fooled. Auron gets away, but they learn he has a hidden confederate in whatever is going on. As prep continues for the wedding, Nightwing is pushing Starfire away, refusing to see the position that she's in. Out in the forest with Jericho and Ryand'r the three happen upon Blackfire and her advancing army and are captured.

Saga of Swamp Thing #44: Moore and Bissette/Randal bring Crisis to the book as Constantine meets with Steve "Mento" Dayton in a Gotham under red skies. Constantine is recruiting Dayton for something which will come after the Crisis. We get a brief Batman cameo with him acting oddly like a police officer. 

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, a serial killer who calls himself the Bogeyman makes the mistake of killing his last victim in the swamp and getting the justice coming to him courtesy of the Swamp Thing. At her home, Abby gets a call from Constantine telling her to send Swamp Thing to San Miguel, California, for the "last stop before the finale."

Warlord #101: Another Grell cover on this issue. I reviewed it here.

Who's Who #11: I's and J's are covered this issue. Immortal Man and Infinite Man are covered, just in time for their appearances this month. Both of the Legion's Invisible Kids are here, the latest courtesy of Arthur Adams. "I...Vampire" who with last saw in May 1983 rises again courtesy of Tom Sutton. Ironwolf is presented by creator Howard Chaykin. Jennifer Morgan from Warlord is here with art by Dan Jurgens. Jemm appears, and it turns out he's also in this weeks Infinity, Inc. Jonah Hex appears in his new Hex duds with art by Texeira/DeZuniga. Jonni Thunder also shows up and she's also in this week's Infinity, Inc. The biggest character this issue is likely the Joker who is rendered by Marshall Rogers.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1986 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on October 10, 1985.

Elvira's House of Mystery #1: The horror anthology returns to the DC lineup with this tie-in with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Elvira (played by Cassandra Peterson) debuted as a horror host in 1981 on a Los Angeles TV station but had begun to reach national popularity with an MTV Halloween special in 1984 and some Rhino record releases. In 1986, she'd be in a beer commercial and in 1988, she'd star in a feature film. This comic is, I suppose, another step in that rise.

Outside of the framing sequence by Cavalieri and Wagner/Oksner that has Elvira (running from an angry mob) arriving at the House of Mystery, the stories feel like they were likely left in inventory after the demise of the anthology books rather than newly written for this. Some have narrators (including Cain) that aren't Elvira, suggesting she was a later addition. 

In the first, by Clarke, Grindberg, and Hasen, a sort of fantasy LARPing family of witches faces real dangers when a pouting youngster tries to get even for his early elimination. In the next story by Kanigher/Geroche, a kidnapper who tries to make good his escape by burying his victim alive is haunted to death by the children's lullaby she kept singing to self-soothe. Yee's and Fern's fantasy story set (I guess) in ancient China about a young man and his wizardly sage advisor saving his girl from a sorcerer seems like it might have once been destined for Talent Showcase. Finally, Harris/Spiegle present a tale of young amateur filmmakers where the mistreated boy forced to play the monster somehow makes the monster real, getting revenge on his tormentors and winning a prize.

'Mazing Man #1: As darker superheroics are beginning their rise in comics, and certainly very serious works are garnering the most attention, this book by Rozakis and DeStefano (graduate of New Talent Showcase) is an odd one. It's a mildly humorous, charming enough, I suppose, story about a guy in Queens who dresses in a homemade superhero costume and does good deeds and his friends and neighbors. I don't know who they thought the market was for this, and the only thing I can figure is that they didn't know, they just knew mainstream comic sales were declining. This was just as much an experimental shot in the dark as a lot of others in the DC graveyard: Thriller, Night Force, Captain Carrot, etc. It definitely shows DC's willingness to try new stuff, as it seems to me like something one might have seen as a comic from Eclipse or another small publisher. It likely wouldn't have lasted long or garnered much attention there either, but the sort of creative freedom that gets you books like this is much more common in at those publishers than at the Big Two.

Batman #391: Moench and Mandrake bring this arc to a conclusion. A frantic Robin calls Batman to tell him that Night Slayer has got past him and is planning to kill Nocturna. Batman leaves off trying to convince Catwoman he loves her and not Nocturna (because Nocturna is "a thief") to try and recuse her. He arrives just in time to take Night Slayer's second knife stab himself. Robin helps the already wounded Nocturna escape into the red skies in her balloon. The injured Batman seems likely to lose to Night Slayer, but then Catwoman shows up. Another earthquake puts an end to this conflict. Night Slayer falls, but he grabs Catwoman's cap and drags her down, too. Batman and Robin later locate those two, unconscious on the riverbank. They also sight wreckage of Nocturna's balloon still being tossed by the storm. She is presumed dead, and for all practical purposes, she is, as this is her last pre-(technically intra-)Crisis appearance. There have been other versions of the character, though, but the next won't appear until 2002. 

G.I. Combat #281: The Mercenaries ought to change their name to "The Philanthropists" because they do a lot of good deeds for free, it seems like. After overhearing an old man lamenting that he can't get his son's body back from a covert operation in Cambodia, the trio agree to go and retrieve it. Posing as filmmakers they get help from a Khmer Rouge general (who of course tries to betray them). They fail to find the body they are looking for, but do find a G.I.'s remains, so they bring it back figuring the parents won't know the difference. The father does know but keeps it from the mother, rationalizing it as some soldier son.

The main Haunted Tank story puts Stuart's Raiders up against kids trained as ruthless Nazi assassins. By poisoning Jeb, they force the crew to get them close enough to kill Eisenhower. The U.S. forces open fire on the tank, spoiling their plans, that's to the substitute of a Nazi flag for the Confederate one they typically sport. In the "Bravos of Vietnam" feature, Bravo 7-8 tries to make a landing to save a Green Beret staked out by the VC, but it's a trap. The pilot and gunners are killed, but the Marines make it to another LZ and get out, making a detour to rescue the Green Beret.

Legion of Super-Heroes #18: Levitz and LaRocque/Mahlstedt address why the Legion's 30th Century hasn't been in more turmoil due to the Crisis, and perhaps why they have little history of the event occurring in earlier historic eras. Turns out, it's "the Infinite Man did it," though I'm not entirely clear on how. Somehow, his presence has been stifling, if not entirely removing, their everyone's memories regarding the Crisis and their participation in it. In dealing with the aftermath of the anti-matter wave's disruption of Takron-Galtos the Legionnaires also have to defeat and depower the Infinite Man. Validus escapes recapture here, which is likely going to pay off in the future.

Omega Men #34: Crossover with the Teen Titans by Klein and Buckler/Marcos. The Omegans are attacked by Auron who reveals he is helping his mother with her plan to destroy Vega. When the freedom fighters get to Tamaran, they are unaware that Auron has gotten their beforehand and convinced the Titans and the royal family that the Omegans have had their minds altered by the Psions and are not to be believed. Unbeknowst to either group, Auron is also working with Blackfire.

Parkhouse concludes his Tales of Vega story, where the android is revealed to be the very torturer he supposedly escaped from, though he had originally been a healing android reprogrammed by the Citadel. His identity revealed, he goes out in a blaze of glory taking out badguys.

 

Star Trek #22: Isabella and Sutton/Villagran start with Excelsior receiving a message from Starfleet detailing a first contact mission to Enoch IV that discovered an evil-worshipping civilization where Kirk is the mythological antagonist. The Admiral threatens Kirk with charges for violating the Prime Directive if he doesn't sort this out. The "god" of the Enochians is named Redjac (from the TOS episode "Wolf in the Fold" by Robert Bloch). This weird message turns out to have been faked by Redjac, but Excelsior heads to Enoch IV anyway. Some mysterious murders occur on the ship in route the killer stays one step ahead, but the survivor of the first attack, Konom, should be able to help when he recovers consciousness. Arriving at Enoch IV, Kirk discovers (naturally, just as Konom wakes up on the ship) that Bryce is inhabited by Redjac as she raises her knife to strike.

Super Powers #5: The art is kind of rough in places in this issue, on par with a few spots in the Fourth World series of the 70s when I think Kirby was rushed. Anyway, the Super Friends continue to fall for Darkseid's Seeds of Doom trap (which Darkseid soliloquies to the reader about at the start), as Batman and Robin travel to the future dominated by Apokolips. Luckily, the Flash is there too, and when the heroes reunite, they are able to return to their own time. But Darkseid has enough seeds in place to bring about Apokolips on Earth,

Superman #415: Bates and Swan/Williamson bring us another story dealing with the aftermath of Supergirl's death. An alien, Salkor, arrives on Earth and takes a strange object from Supergirl's quarters. Ultimately, Superman discovers that Supergirl had met Salkor when she was dying an amnesiac thanks to exposure to Kryptonite. Salkor nursed her back to health and the two had a whirlwind romance, even marrying. Then, a powerful invader, Naxx, attacked. After he was defeated, Supergirl left without explanation. Naxx, in fact, has traced Salkor to Earth out for a rematch, but with Superman's help it is defeated. In the hokku, the device she took from Salkor's homeworld, Supergirl left a message for Superman and Salkor. She reveals Naxx's blast restored her memory but wiped out her recent memories of life with Salkor. Her encounter with Blackstarr restored those, so she had rigged the hokku to signal Salkor and well as Superman if she died.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1986 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of October 3, 1985. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths #10: It turns out Brainiac is not so dead as Psimon thought. As the Titan foe prepares to kill a startled Luthor, Brainiac blasts away Psimon's brain-in-a-glass from behind. On various Earths, the tide begins to turn against their villain army, though, as the heroes start fighting back, sometimes brutally. The Spectre appears, though, and puts an end to this conflict. He tells both sides that the Anti-Monitor still lives and is at the dawn of time preparing to wipe out the matter universes entirely. The Spectre and the toughest heroes of all the Earths (including Superboy of the now-destroyed Earth-Prime) journey back in time thanks to the running powers of Kid Flash and Jay Garrick to battle him directly, while the villains are tasked with traveling in time to the past of Oa and stopping Krona from opening up a conduit. The villains fail, and the heroes can't seem to hurt the Anti-Monitor, but the Spectre, channeling the power several of Earth's mystic masters, closes the conduit and engages the Anti-Monitor in combat. An explosion is unleashed and it looks as if everything might have been destroyed!

Running in every page of this issue, we have Harbinger's narration of the Monitor's records, which is sort of a proto-History of the DC Universe. Here we get some updates on places beyond Earth and other eras. We find out Starman (Prince Gavyn) and Immortal Man were both Crisis casualties. 

DC Comics Presents #89: ARozakis/Klein and Saviuk/Villagrain have Tigorr, Harpis, and the Changralynian bard, Oho-Besh, of the Omega Men vacationing on the planet Kuraq, only to discover a city of stone in duplicating Metropolis on Earth is being built there by a being who appears to be a brain-addled Superman. It turns out it isn't Superman but a deep-cut creature from a 1954 story, who sacrifices himself to save the Omega Men, acting like Superman, at least. Superman only shows up at the end to give some exposition.

Fury of Firestorm #43: Conway and Kayanan/Machlan have Typhoon awaken from the coma he's been in since last time he fought Firestorm, then confront his ex-wife and abduct his children, apparently with the intention of heading to Pittsburgh for a confrontation with Firestorm. Meanwhile, Ronnie tries out form college football since he thinks he's too short to play college basketball and makes the team. Also, Smoak's lawsuit against Firestorm moves forward.

Hex #5: Texeira/Garzon is back on art as we pick up where last issue left off. Hex and Stiletta manage get the better of the Conglomerate goons and steal their flier. Meanwhile, Borsten is still making trips to the past to try to harvest technological secrets to give him the upper hand over his rivals, but the process is taking its toll on his health. While he's recovering from his latest trip, a bit of industrial espionage by a Conglomerate agents inform them that Hex is loose in 21st Century. Given Hex's anti-Conglomerate actions, the group wrongly assumes he's working for Borsten. They send an armored hitman with a chainsaw weapon named Chain Gowan after him.

Gowan catches up with Hex soon enough, and his armor and weapons make him impossible to shake, until their fight takes them to an old junkyard where Stiletta shows Hex how to use the giant magnet and compactor to take care of the assassin. Unfortunately, the two find themselves surrounded by a gang. 

Justice League of America #246: Conway and McDonnell/Wray take the JLA out of Detroit, as old man Heywood evicts them. It makes sense in a story context, but I feel like it happened because the Detroit location just wasn't being a source of stories (or at least not stories that provided what JLA readers were looking for) in the way Conway had hoped when he put them there to begin with. The team winds up in New York City, and we follow various members as they look for work or places to live. J'onn tries for a job on the police force but seems to land himself a PI job. Steel becomes a personal trainer but perhaps has a shot at the movies. Zatanna returns to her apartment she was subletting to a friend. The friend's absence seems a bit ominous. We'll see if that pays off later. 

MASK #2: My brother or I had this issue when we were kids. Chen's art remains pleasing, while Fleisher's script is, well, up to the task of a kid's cartoon tie in. Following last issue, Matt Trakker and friends are still looking for Scott and T-Bob who have been kidnapped with only some Egyptian symbols left behind as a clue. When some Egyptologists have disappeared exploring a newly discovered tomb, Trakker goes to investigate. Soon, they are battling mummies and jackal headed Anubis who shave magical powers and are trying to get ahold of antiquities. Of course, it's Mayhem and the VENOM guys in disguise. There's an all-out battle at the pyramids with new vehicles called in and the powers of the masks employed in all their toyetic glory. I would say VENOM's plan makes no sense and is overly elaborate but that's beside the point.

In passing, we see a TV broadcast about how nuclear weapons are obsolete thanks to the new orbital missile defense system.

Outsiders #3: Gorbachev's American comic portrayal, like I think, the view of him in the American consciousness, is mostly positive, but in '85 when he had just come to power, we get stories like this where he is just the "leader of the enemy nation." The shadowy Bad Samaritan offers to help Gorbachev with his country's economic woes, and Gorbachev accepts. In disguise, the Bad Samaritan steals the printing plates for Markovian money, which the U.S. has helpfully been handling for Markovia. The Force of July is on the case for the U.S. government, but Brion feels like the Outsiders should be too, which of course, leads to the two groups fighting each other, allowing the Bad Samaritan to escape. 

In between these events, Black Lightning visits his ex, Lynn, who is involved with the recent F.A.M.I.N.E. record for humanitarian relief when she gets a visit from Edward Bentama, head of the EurAfrican Nations Council. The import of this subplot, I'm sure will become clear.

We also get the finale of the Looker solo outing by Barr and Lightle. Looker easily defeats the Untouchable gang once she figures out other intangible objects can touch them.

Vigilante #25: Kupperberg and Smith/Maygar have the Vigilante going after cops who are revealed to have tortured an innocent man to get him to confess. From the moment the event hits the news, Chase is angry about the cops' behavior, but the Vigilante is essentially supportive of them until he finds out the victim was innocent. Then, he hunts the cops down and kills them, though he appears to be severely wounded himself. Meanwhile, Marcia's psychiatrist has figured out Chase was the Vigilante. Trinidad Santiago is still in hiding, but both the Electrocutioner and the Vigilante are still after him.