Wednesday Comics: DC, March 1984 (week 1)

My continuing 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 December 8, 1983. 

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #11: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon reach their penultimate issue with Amethyst leading the many of the houses of Gemworld in an assault of Dark Opal's castle with Prince Topaz recruiting his sister and Lady Sapphire to their cause and joining them. But Dark Opal now has all the gems and has the armor forge his breastplate, which he puts on before it cools in a bit of Victor von Doom-esque rashness. He gives Sardonyx to the Emissaries of Varn to avoid paying his debts, but Carnelian plots betrayal. The final confrontation between Opal and Amethyst looms!

DC Comics Presents #67: Wein and Swan/Anderson do a holiday-themed issue, teaming Superman up with Santa Claus. I can't quite say that this sort of thing doesn't occur to today, but it is definitely relegated to holiday one shots of dubious continuity reference. In the waning Bronze Age, this sort of reminder that comics are children's media, or meant to appeal to the child in adults, was still allow in mainstream titles, if in small doses. The villain of this one is naturally the Toymaker, who is hypnotizing kids with gimmick toys on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus helps Superman out, then gets help delivering his toys. 

Atari Force #3: Dart has a potentially prophetic nightmare about Blackjack's death. They buy a ship to head back home, but they unknowingly get a vessel sabotaged by the Dark Destroyer's minions. It leaves them stranded in space in a dangerous situation with enemies approaching. Meanwhile, Packrat is caught by his brother and law enforcement only to escape again with his brother on his trail. Morphea rescues Babe from the unscrupulous smugglers. Chris continues to train with his powers and deal with his anger regarding the prejudice that cost him his relationship. Conway and García-López/Villagran are still getting the team together.

Blackhawk #268: Evanier and various artists (Spiegle, Howell/Giacoia, and Wildey) deliver another issue of solo "Detached Service Diary" tales. Blackhawk deals with a skeptical, know-it-all reporter who refuses to see the Nazi threat, even when getting shot at. Andre deals with a German general and a French collaborator stealing art and jewels by manipulating them to have a falling out with each other and German command. Finally in a holiday themed tale, Olaf, after crashing in a rural area, is helped by a Jewish family and gets the Hanukkah spirit.

Fury of Firestorm #21: Killer Frost discovers that the accident that changed her is also killing her, and that doesn't improve her disposition. Firestorm is trying to find her but can't. The police are being unhelpful thanks to one of the detective's understandable distaste for vigilantism. He's trying to close the Goldenrod case. Ultimately, though, Frost's rampage makes her location apparent. Firestorm rushes to confront her but, in the battle, takes an ice spike through the shoulder. Too weakened to fight, Stein suggests they just let Frost attempt to drain them. She does and is apparently melted away, trying to cope with Firestorm's nuclear heat. Firestorm stumbles to Lorraine's house and passes out.

Justice League of America #224: Busiek and Patton/Giordano pits the League against Paragon, a vigilante out to eliminate the inferior 90% of the population and has the power to duplicate the powers or abilities of any anyone. What he can't do is stand up to the coordinated attacks of the Leaguers combined, particularly with those with unduplicatable powers (Red Tornado and Green Lantern leading the way). An interesting thing about this issue is the opening with Ollie, Clark, and Hal getting together like three buds for a meal in Star City. The dialogue suggests that Star City is located somewhere besides the East or West Coasts, perhaps meaning Busiek conceives it as on the Great Lakes?

Vigilante #4: Newton is on pencils this issue. Chase and his team are riveted to news regarding a murder of the leading man, Clark Reynolds, one half of a classic Hollywood couple by wife and co-star, Grace Moore. Chase gets to attend the trial and Moore's testimony generates a lot of sympathy, but then someone assassinates a witness for the prosecution. Vigilante gets involved dealing with a series of identically dressed, masked assassins. Again, Vigilante makes reference to his quick, but intensive training that turned him from a normal guy to nearly superhuman. In the end, it turns out Grace Moore is not as wholesome as her screen image. She was cheating on her husband, and when he found out, she killed him lest he ruin her reputation. She hired the cybernetic shut-in called the Controller to assassinate witnesses against her with his robots. Wolfman again leans into the Reagan era elements of this sort of character highlighted with some moralizing about the lack good role models and cultural decay. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that the fact Moore got caught with another woman is just an incidental detail and not meant to be further indication of her depravity.

Wonder Woman #313: Mishkin and Heck have Diana Prince assigned to track down the missing Major Griggs which leads to a confrontation with Circe and her mysterious ally that manages to bind Wonder Woman's wrists--and of course Circe's man-beasts including Griggs. Meanwhile on Paradise Island, Sofia goes up against the Amazon hierarchy investigating why Hippolyta is hiding things from Diana.

In the Cavalieri and Burgard/Martin Huntress story, Huntress manages to escape the angry mob and capture Terry Marsh who she interrogates with some fists to the face until he spills it regarding Earthworm. She surprises the villain and a goon in his lair, and even Earthworm's rat minions don't slow her down. However, Earthworm avoids capture by somehow passing through narrow bars.

Appendix M: A Weird Medieval Fantasy Reading List

 And the M is for "Medieval." I've read some dark and/or weird fantasy set in the Middle Ages of late, and I figured I'd put them together in a list with some complimentary works for those that might be interested.

12th Century:

Mitchell Lüthi. Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror. A German Knight and his companions agree to smuggle a Holy relic out of Jerusalem for the Pope but wind up transported somewhere else by a gigantic sandstorm and confronting cosmic horror.

Clark Ashton Smith. “The Maker of Gargoyles" (In 1138, gargoyles come to life and terrorize the city of Vyones), “The Holiness of Azédarac” (a priest travels through time from 1175; in the future he discovers a sorcerer as managed to get declared a saint). 

13th Century:

Clark Ashton Smith. "The Colossus of Ylourgne." In 1281, a necromancer and his disciples take revenge on Vyones with an undead giant. 

14th Century:

Christopher Buehlman. Between Two Fires. In 1348, as the Black Death ravages France, a disgraced knight and a young girl may be the ones who can keep Lucifer and his legions from bringing about Hell on Earth.

Jesse Bullington. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. In 1364, A pair of German brothers from a long line of graverobbers embark on quest to make their fortune looting the crypts of Egypt. They encounter monsters, magic, and madmen along the way.

Clark Ashton Smith. “The Beast of Averoigne.”  In the summer of 1369, a comet heralds the arrival of a strange beast to ravage the lands around the Abbey of Périgon.

15th Century:

Jesse Bullington. The Folly of the World. In the aftermath of the St. Elizabeth's Flood, three conspire to take a treasure from a town beneath the water. 

Greyhawk: The Iron League

by Anna Meyer

The Iron League was a separatist alliance formed in 447 CY for mutual defense against the Great Kingdom. While the members made much rhetorically of the demoniac apostasy and madness of the Naelax, the League's greatest concern was economic. None of the trading cities wished to allow the profligate Aerdy nobility to root like pigs in their accumulated wealth.

The association's core members had histories stretching back to ancient, Suloise, maritime city-states. While the Aerdi gained suzerainty over the region, the regional lords were content to allow a great deal of local self-rule (so long as they benefited from the ongoing trade), and in time became intertwined with the Suloise population through marriage and alliance with the local oligarchic families. Intra-region conflict between local nobles, powerful families and guilds was a more pressing concern until the Herzog's heavy-handed treatment prompted the member states to set aside their differences. At least for a time.

Although the League was founded primarily for military purposes, it did possess a confederal civil government. The ruling council, composed of representatives of the individual states, was fairly limited in its power outside of military matters, but was given the ability to control custom duties and adjudicate disputes between regions.

This is a follow-up to this post. I drew inspiration for the Iron League from the Lombard League and communes of North Italian and their relationship with the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors. Given their Suloise history and their climate (Hot summer Mediterranean, according to Anna Meyer's climate map), I felt like their Suloise history might well amount to something like the Phoenician city-states. Visually, the continental states would look something like Sicily, Southern Italy, or parts of the Iberian Peninsula, except the Lordship of the Isles which is more humid and more like Florida.

Wednesday Comics: Comics Related Gift Suggestions

Here are some suggestions for comics related gifts for this holiday season:

Mighty Marvel Calendar Book: All the classic Marvel calendar images from '75-'81 are collected in this hardcover. It features art by Buscema, Miller, Simonson, Perez, Kirby, and more. Who doesn't want to see the Hulk as George Washington at Valley Forge?

Hobtown Mysteries vol 2: The Cursed Hermit: I've been charmed by this quirky series of stories probably most succinctly described as "Twin Peaks meets Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys." Creators Bertin and Forbes present a small, coastal Canadian village with a lot of weird stuff going on under the surface. The Teen Detective Club—a registered after-school program makes it their business to get to the bottom every one of their town's bizarre occurrences unraveling the secret history of their town as they go. You'll want to read volume one first.

World's Finest: Teen Titans vol 1: Spinning out of the Waid's World's Finest we get a tale of the original Teen Titans, that homages the Silver Age while by completely modern. Waid's approach to this these link series brings a lot of warmth and a bit of humor in addition to the superhero action.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End vol 1: I've talked about how good this fantasy manga about what happens after the party completes the epic quest is before (back when #11 came out). Alas, there's no bundle of all 11 (currently) volumes, but this is where you want to jump in.

Duke vol 1: I was skeptical of the Energon Universe re-imaging of Hasbro's toy properties when I first heard about it, but the Duke limited series won me over. Not every limited series has been as good I don't think, but this one and Cobra Commander are well worth your time if you have any interest in the 80s iteration of G.I. Joe.

DC Comics Style Guide: Early this year Standards Manual announced they would be reprinting the fabled DC Style Guide from 1982 with that gorgeous José Luis García-López artwork that set the standard for the look of the DCU for a generation. It ain't cheap, but you can pre-order this hardcover here. 

Thinking Greyhawk

Over the past month, I've been reading some historical fantasy (Between Two Fires and His Black Tongue), some straight historical stuff (rpg supplements from Codex Integrum and the season on Frederick II of the podcast History of the Germans), and most recently, taking a real look at the World of Greyhawk (1980) folio.  All this stuff knocking around in my head led me to believe it might be interested in borrowing an old idea from Miranda Elkins and doing a series of blog posts developing a version of Greyhawk derived from the folio, with a Medieval history sort of feel.

I'll be using the 1980 folio as the only "canon" though I'm not opposed to taking material from the 1983 boxset and the Dragon articles written between and around the time of both publications. I'm trying to avoid more recent Greyhawk material. In keeping with the other recent inspirations, I'm going channel the historical wargamer Gygax over the pulp fan Gygax, and also I'll be using some of the ideas derived from examination of the pre-Greyhawk implied setting of D&D.  

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics hitting the stands on November 22, 1983.

Action Comics #552: Wolfman and Kane get back around to what was going on with the Forgotten Heroes, last seen 7 months ago in issue #545. Dane Dorrance, Cave Carson, and Rick Flag have been brought together with Animal Man, Dolphin, and Congo Bill, by the mysterious Immortal Man. They find they all have one thing in common: they've seen a great, golden temple in their last exploits, knowledge of which was hushed up by the government in many cases. Now Immortal Man tells them that in order to defeat a menace to the entire world, they must destroy Superman! Meanwhile, Vandal Savage has manipulated Superman into a position where dormant plant organisms Savage caused to colonize the Man of Steel to enter an active phase, growing giant vines to menace Metropolis. 

Detective Comics #535: Moench and Colon/Smith reveal that Jason Todd wasn't killed in his very first outing as Robin, but he seems to have a concussion. When he wakes up, he's acting oddly. He sucker-punches Batman and heads out dressed as Robin. He goes to Crazy Quilt's hideout where the villain's goons are waiting in ambush. Batman recovers a few minutes later and follows a clue Jason left him. He arrives in time to take out some thugs, but Crazy Quilt seems to be getting the better of them until Jason realizes he needs his helmet to see. Having hypnotized Crazy Quilt with his own reflected light, he makes him remove his helmet attachments.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and Patton/McManus, Star City beginning to seem a really ridiculous place. Not only are the Werewolves over the top in their Mad Max stylings, but as Green Arrow and Ozone are trying to escape them, their resident inventor reveals he's turned a shack into a flying contraption. In the end, our heroes have the black box snatched from them by the Detonator.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #16: Arion and friends are walking home after leaving the city of Mu. Arion reveals to Chian that in bis battle with Garn, he didn't kill him, but rather absorbed him somehow. Since that time Arion has felt the evil inside of himself. The magic energy sword that Arion found in Garn's tower in Thamuz has amplified the effect urging the mage to bloodlust.

Arion and his companions are then captured by a group of animal men, victims of experiments by Atlantean scientists. (This seems a reference to the animal men of New Atlantis in Warlord, bring closer together DC's never completely in sync views of Atlantis.) Bylgor, the leader of the animal men hates all Atlanteans for the crimes committed against him, and moves to kill Arion, until the disgraced General Balar, who happens to be hiding out with the animal men, intervenes. Balar wants Arion for himself, but though forced to use the magic sword to win, Arion doesn't kill Balar. The animal men allow them to leave in peace.

Meanwhile, kingship isn't pleasing to Wyynde, but once he's introduced to his intended bride Fawndancer, he starts to warm to it a bit.

All-Star Squadron #30: Wonder Woman tells Liberty Belle about the Justice Society's recent, all-out fight against the Black Dragon Society. Most of the issue by Thomas, Howell, Machlan, and de la Rosa, is the usual split the team to squash the various plots of Black Dragon, but the real reason for the story's existence seems to be to address the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans during the War. The story is admittedly softer in its condemnation than a comic would be today. Still, for kid's media in the 80s it does a decent job. 

New Adventures of Superboy #50: Giffen provides the art for the cover and 30th Century framing sequence, and he is moving ever closer to his mid-80s style. Nylor Truggs, a 30th Century criminal, steals the H-Dial from a museum and goes back in time to ally himself with 20th Century criminal Lex Luthor. The 20th Century sequences are by the usual art team of Schaffenberger/Hunt. The Legion of Super-Heroes travels back to team-up with Superboy to help stop them. Krypto also returns from space to help out. Truggs breaks with Luthor but uses the dial to empower a team of villains. As all of the villains are defeated, they transform back into their regular forms--and they turn out to be Bash, Lana, Pete and Lisa. The dial gets destroyed, so it can't get returned to the museum in the 30th Century after all.

Jonah Hex #81: Fleisher and Ayers/DeZuniga have Jonah have a change of heart and rescue Turnbull from his rattlesnake bite. Maybe this is so Turnbull can clear his name, but the issue doesn't make any comment. Anyway, the story purpose is clearly so they can be uneasy allies against a common foe, namely El Papagayo and his band. Not that Turnbull doesn't try to double cross Hex on a couple of occasions, still, at the issue's end they are both in a buggy--when the dynamite Papagayo planted goes off. 

During all this time, Hart and Mei Ling are getting close, and Emmy Lou (dressed as sexy cowgirl this time instead of Indian) decides she needs to leave to get Hex out of her mind.

World's Finest Comics #300: This issue is an all-star jam with segments written by Kraft, Barr, and Wolfman, pencils by Andru, Texeira, and Amendola; and Janson, Smith, Maygar, McLaughlin, and Rodriquez. It primarily features the JLA and the Outsiders teaming up to thwart Zeta who after all is soul-searching has made himself the god of his alien creators and is continuing their mission. The Titans only feature briefly, just to show us they have their hands full in New York. 

A group of the JLA and the Outsiders try to stop the invasive tree on Earth while Superman leads another JLA contingent to rescue Batman. The first group is successful against the tree but is captured and crucified by the aliens to be taken to Zeta, Superman and his bunch also encounter Zeta who easily defeats them, turning all but Superman to stone.

Meanwhile, Batman is bouncing around through time. In a prefiguring of Crisis, the alien assault seems to occur in multiple eras. Batman encounters Sgt. Rock, but more helpfully, manages to free Halo. Making their way to Zeta, Batman and Superman confront him. They final shame him into changing his ways. He restores the JLA and sends them with the Pantheon to save the planet that sent out the Cosmic Tree. 

In the aftermath of all this, Wonder Woman encourages Batman and Superman to give up their disagreement and reconcile, which they do.

L. Sprague de Camp: Most Gygaxian Fantasy Writer?

I don't know Gary Gygax's preferences in regard to authors of fantasy fiction, but I feel pretty strongly that L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) is the closet in sensibility to Gygax himself, at least in the earlier days of D&D. 

De Camp makes several appearances in Appendix N. I haven't read all of these works, but the ones I have read demonstrate some characteristics I get from Gygax's worldbuilding and from his early fiction that I have seen. There is some content similarity (like universe-hopping, crossovers with the works of other authors, and hierarchical planes of existence), sure, but what I'm mainly thinking of is more of a structural or attitudinal alignment. 

For one thing, I think it's fair to say that Gygax's work shows a concern with realism and degree of pedantry around certainly topics: Extensive list of polearms, obscure terminology, etc. De Camp gives us an extensive exegesis of REH's naming in the Conan stories and also an analysis of the same stories' technology. He wrote a series of Sword & Planet stories (the Krishna series) that makes a point of addressing the unrealistic elements of Burroughs' and others' similar stories.

It seems to me there was a logic to Gygax's D&D work. I'm sure this is in part due to it being in a game where you have to be prepared for player action, but it resembles the application of rational consideration of elements in fiction as in the Harold Shea stories or The Carnelian Cube.

Both men also have a fondness for humor in their fantasy. While this isn't an uncommon trait and is found in the work of a number of Appendix N or adjacent authors, I feel like use of anachronism for humorous purpose is something found in Gygax's work that also occurs in the Harold Shea series. Less than totally heroic or unheroic protagonists (often the humorous effect) probably describes a lot of D&D, but also several of de Camp's Krishna novels and his Reluctant King trilogy.

As to Gygax's later work, I've only read a couple of the Gord novels and that was decades ago, but I don't recall them being particularly de Campian. Maybe his sensibilities shifted over time or perhaps they reflect a desire to better compete in the fantasy market that existed in the mid-80s. Still, I think on balance, the similarities are there.

The Hidden Religions of D&D: The Church of Law

Thinking about rationalization of the implied setting of D&D, not in the way of industrial magic or anything like that (though I've done that before) but in the direction of how the implied setting of D&D might point toward its religions or belief systems. Sure, there's the explicit fantasy polytheism, but as others have pointed out, it's undermined by the (at least up through AD&D) presentation of the cleric class as vaguely sort of Medieval Christian and by the fact that historical polytheism didn't work like D&D thinks it does. As Delta puts it:

...D&D claims to have a polytheistic religion, but you've got both the politics and the critical Cleric class set up as in the medieval Christian world, and nowhere else.

Is there a more interesting and perhaps more realistic way weave together the elements presented? I think so.

Note that Clerics of 7th level and greater are either "Law" or "Chaos", and there is a sharp distinction between them.
- Gygax & Arneson, Men & Magic

OD&D mentions Law and Chaos with regard to a cleric's orientation. To me, this suggests a system of belief with a dualist cosmology. (Perhaps this is the actual state of the cosmos, but it doesn't have to be!) This is a moral dualism, as the two opposing forces or principles are in conflict. This could be interpreted (and perhaps is by some sects or particular faiths) as ditheistic with two gods or groups of gods in opposition, but I also think the broader, philosophical tradition could embrace transtheism, where the existence of Law and Chaos is a greater and more important truth than the existence or nonexistence of god-like beings/powers. 

The church of law is syncretic, incorporating deities as it grows as agents, exemplars, or aspects of Law. No doubt there would be historic disagreement (possibly even conflict) over just how much deference and attention these powers are rightly due.

Clerics/priests, given the hierarchical structure presented in OD&D, are important in public rituals and ceremonies of the belief system but are also likely interpreters and scholarly experts on Law. Each of these Patriarchs (and Matriarchs, probably, though OD&D doesn't mention them!) is independent and self-governing but in fellowship with the others (generally). Initially a Patriarch would be a charismatic leader who attracts followers, but presumably the church they founded would have a mechanism of choosing a successor. 

Patriarchs are the final arbiters of the commandments of Law within their area, but the Patriarchs of the various churches might vote to decide points between them, or perhaps different interpretations would reign in different jurisdictions. Another aspect of the high clerical function extremely relevant to adventuring is calling for and supporting crusades/jihad against Chaos. 

Speaking of Chaos, it does seem a bit odd it is presented with a hierarchical clerical structure identical to Law's. One possibility is the "anti-clerics" are sort of Satanists and just performatively mock the church of Law, but another possibility is that "Chaos" only speaks to its ultimate goals or cosmological beliefs, not to its organizing principles. It's also possible (even likely) that the Church of Law applies the name Chaos to a diverse group of belief systems that don't agree with it and often don't agree with each other. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 3)

My mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics on newsstands around November 17, 1983.

Swamp Thing #21: I read this story first in Best of DC #61 (March 1985) along with the NTT story from last month and the LSH backup this month. It blew my mind at 12 years old, and it is still a great story today.  Swamp Thing has been transferred to Sunderland Corp for study and put in the hands of the Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue, who Moore and Bissette give a creepy update in a way that will set the standard for late 80s "more mature" updates. His dissections reveal that the Swamp Things vegetable replicas of human organs are nonfunctional. The bombshell reveal is that Swamp Thing is not, and never was, Alec Holland. He isn't a man transformed into a plant creature but rather unicellular life that mutated into a new organism thanks to the bio-restorative formula that just believed it was Holland after it consumed his remains. Woodrue leaves his notes where the Swamp Thing can find them. When it realizes the truth of its condition--that no cure is possible--it flies into a rage, breaks out of the lab, and kills Sutherland.

Power Lords #3: While there isn't a whole lot to the story here, Fleisher and Texiera/Marcos certainly bring the action. It's pretty much nonstop, and the art looks good. Fighting the forces of the badguys, the Power Lords realize they will soon be overrun and flee so that they can switch tactics. Arkus has called and assembly of worlds so they he can give his terms for their surrender, or they'll face the might of his battle station. Sydot and Shaya infiltrate the proceedings but get captured. Adam manages to defeat the enemy force in deep space and comes to the rescue. He assaults Volcan Rock itself, and defeats Raygoth, Gryptogg, and finally Arkus in one-on-one fights. The galaxy is saved, and the Power Lords disappear from comics for about 42 years.

Batman and the Outsiders #7: Barr and Aparo pick up right at last issue's cliffhanger. It looks like Batman and crew are popsicles, but Halo saw the cryonic attack coming and managed to turn her heat power on. Once she's out, she melts free her teammates. She also figures out Katana's sword is sentient and can lead them to where the Cryonic Man has taken her. They crash his lair and engage in battle before he can harvest Katana's organs. Speaking with the Cryonic Man's "family" telepathically, the team learns that they had put themselves in suspended animation in 1947 in order to survive the nuclear war they were sure was coming. Phillip (the Cryonic Man) was revived at a later date to insure that the threat had passed, but in the name of saving his wife from a progressive and ultimately fatal illness, he's being lying to them about the year and the conditions, playing for time. Learning the truth and that they were betrayed, the Cryonic Man's family strike him down with some sort of psychoelectric blast before allowing themselves to die.

Green Lantern #173: The cover announces the new creative team of Wein and Gibbons, though they started last issue. Hal is still getting reacquainted with life back on Earth and his old job, but all his old friends aren't glad to see him. Even after Hal saves Rich Davis' life, the man thinks to himself that Hal is going to spoil things. Clay Kendall is doing psionic experiments, which I'm sure will be fine. Meanwhile, the villain Javelin has been hired to hijack a truck heading to Ferris Aircraft and steal a new engine. Green Lantern intervenes, but the Javelin surprises him with an exploding javelin that coats Jordan in yellow plastic, cancelling his ring's ability to keep him flying!

Oh, and the Monitor and Lyla show up this issue, up to their (by all appearances) nefarious ends. The Monitor seems to be involved in weapons trafficking.

The Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup by Cavalieri and Gibbons is a silent/wordless story. It shows the events in the "life" of a ring, as a Lantern is killed in battle, but passes the ring on to a member of a primitive species on the planet where he crashed. The new Lantern uses the ring to advance his civilization and defend his people until he too falls in battle and the ring finds a successor.

Legion of Super-Heroes #308: Levitz, Giffen, and Mahlstedt continue the Prophet attack on Khundia. The biggest threat here, though, may be distrust and political division, as the six Legionnaires that followed him to fight him are viewed as someone complicit, and the rest of the Legion is forced to standdown or precipitate a wider diplomatic incident.

The real point of interest in this issue for me, though, is the Colossal Boy backup, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?" by Levitz/Giffen with art by Tuska/Mahlstedt. As mentioned above, it's another one of the stories featured in that seminal (at least for me as a young comics reader) anthology Best of DC #61. This story is a nice bit of character stuff (no action at all) clearly riffing on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). It is slighter on social commentary than the equivalent story would be today, no doubt, but the fact that they did it at all in 1983 shows how comics were evolving. Rereading it in 2024, I was pleased with its humorous touches and the warmth of it that still works after 41 years.

Sgt. Rock #384: The main story is another of Kanigher's "honorable opponent; brutality of war" riffs with a canny Wehrmacht sergeant who seems Rock's match in both warcraft and honor going up against Easy, but ultimately losing, in part because the SS shelled his men and well as Rock's.  After that, there's a one page humor strip by Bilby (2nd of the 3 credits in his DC career), and a reprint from 1971 of a story of Egyptians versus Persians with moody art by Toth.

Supergirl #16: Kupperberg and Infantino/Oksner have Giffen's Ambush Bug guest star, a character whose first appearance Kupperberg scripted. The cover is by Giffen and Oksner. Ambush Bug breaks out of jail and decides to become a superhero instead of a villain. Otherwise, he's up to the same old silliness. He gets in the same of Supergirl trying to track down a Stradivarius violin stolen by the notorious musical instrument thief, the Bandit. After her friend Phil Decker is kidnapped, Supergirl discovers that the Bandit wants him to conduct an orchestra consisting of crooks playing all the various stolen instruments in the hopes of creating the supreme orchestra performance. Supergirl manages to stop him and bring Ambush Bug back into custody, though Ambush Bug sees through her secret I.D.

Thriller #4: This issue has a lot of action, and the visual storytelling light gives it a great feeling a breakneck pace. Unfortunately, beyond that sense of motion it's hard to make sense of what's going on except in broad strokes. Salvo plummets to his confrontation with Scabbard on a speeding train, while the other members of the 7 Seconds race to get in position as well. Salvo rescues Dan from Molly Lusk and knocks her out. Salvo goes to the top of the train where Scabbard is waiting with a detonator in his palm to blow up Salvo's and Angie's mother, Marietta. Dan almost falls to his death, Data gets stuck in the mud and he and Crackerjack may not make it in time. We keep jumping between close shots of the participants, as Salvo shoots off Scabbard's hand apparently (which Crackerjack catches), Beaker Parrish saves Dan, and a helicopter blade cuts off Scabbards head. Molly, shocked, pulls the emergency cord, and the train screeches to a halt, injuring Marietta. Beaker and Angie save her (somehow) by Angie inhabiting Beaker which melts his artificial flesh. The mysterious Quo shows up and switches Molly's and Marietta's eyes (or at least their eye color?), restoring Marietta's sight and making Molly blind. Our heroes go home.

Warlord #78: I covered the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and crew set out across the desert on lizard-back to find the advanced enclave that took down their salvaged starship. Unfortunately, they first run into an ambush by a group of slavers with a tank.

New Talent Showcase #2: The Kellogg/Mandrake Sky Dogs open this issue. It's more fast-paced but not terribly compelling derring-do, with Kidd and his crew trying to acquire the Crown of Siva and the Seven Jewels of Power but having to contend with the sorcerer Melin.

In the Klein/Hampton Class of 2064, Perrin is trying to get close to Chryse, which is trouble because the Free Earth extremists are after Chryse for something she unknowningly carries.  Chryse manages to escape them, but she's left stranded on their hot air balloon with no way to control it. Pern and Tycho still a small ship and race to the rescue.

Gary Kwapisz delivers the done-in-one "Danger Dungeon," a numerous story where a high school kid winds up in the dungeon fantasy setting of his daydreams. The jokes are stale, but there's an indie vibe to this one that gives it some charm.

Last up, Margopoulos/Woch continue Forever Amber. Our heroine manages to book passage to San Francisco, enduring sexual assault to get closer to her vengeance. She does turn their cargo of opium to amber in revenge as she leaves the ship... and immediately gets picked up by the cops!

A More Realistic Middle Earth

Listening to the History of the Germans podcast in episodes about the struggle for power between the Papacy and the Hofenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors, when reading a bit of a MERP supplement started me thinking about righting a post about a grittier, more realistic Middle Earth. Then I discovered I already sort of had written a post like that, back in 2020...

If we take The Silmarillion as Elvish mythology (which it is) promoting a slanted point of view, then most of the doings in Middle Earth are a proxy conflict between two super-powers: Sauron and his minions and the Valar and the Elves. We needn't assume either side is particularly good, In fact, we know the Valar unleashed a devastating weapon of mass destruction against their former allies in Numenor just for getting too cozy with Sauron.

In the modern era, Sauron's forces have been engaged in a protracted occupation of  Eriador. Through the action of the Mordor proxy Angmar, the Western kingdoms of Man were shattered, much of the population fled south, but fanatical bands, the Rangers, structured around the heir to throne of Arnor and Gondor, and supported by the Elves, continued to fight an insurgency against Mordor's Orcish forces and her allies.

Sauron has been a distant and not terribly effective leader for some time. He has been unable to consolidate Angmar's victory over Arnor (a victory that saw Angmar destroyed in the process) and unable to wipe out the remaining Elvish enclaves and human insurgents.

You get the idea. Shorn of much of its epic fantasy trappings, Middle Earth becomes a grittier place, where Men, Orcs, and local Elves, are all dealing with the aftermath of a terrible war wrought by super-powers that they perhaps only have the smallest of stakes in but yet are forced to take most of the risk.

Seems like an interesting place to adventure. It's certainly place where you can get a more interesting mix of adventurers and adventures, perhaps.

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics released on the week of Novenber 10, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #39: Acting on information provided by Bethany Snow, the Teen Titans invade an Alaskan base of Brother Blood's cult and find proof he's got members of Congress and other political figures in his pocket. Terra secretly reports the Titans' activities (complete with video from a contact lens camera) to the Terminator and then engages in a very serious training exercise where he's really impressed with her power.  At the next Titans meeting, Kid Flash formally announces that he is leaving the team to focus on college. After goodbyes are said, Robin drops the bombshell (unless you've read Batman #368) that he's giving up his costumed identity too—not because he is retiring, but because he intends to take on a new one to step out of Batman's shadow. He just doesn't know what that will be yet, so he proposes Donna as field leader until he figures it out. With Terra there when all this is happening, the Terminator now knows Robin's and Kid Flash's identities.

Batman #368:  Moench and Newton/Alcala pick up where last month's issue of Detective left off with Bruce and Jason discussing codenames for him. Dick shows up and solves the problem, but announcing his retirement as Robin, bequeathing the identity to Jason. Weirdly, Jason abandons his updated version of the Robin outfit with long pants, for the shorts and elf-shoes look. Later, Batman and Robin go out on their first patrol and discover that Crazy Quilt is out and must be looking for revenge against Robin. Trying to protect his new sidekick, Batman leaves Robin behind to investigate some multi-colored lights. It's a ruse, though, and once Robin is alone, he's attacked by Crazy Quilt, who can't tell this is a new Robin. When Batman realizes he has been tricked, he returns to Robin, only to find him lying motionless, and he assumes the Boy Wonder has been killed.

Arak Son of Thunder #30: Randall's cover seems to be an homage to Conan the Barbarian #100. The Thomases and Randall/Forton pick up where last issue left off. Arak, having lost his will and become a priest of Artemis, is about to kill his friend Satyricus. Suddenly, a literal bolt of lightning out of the blue strikes the grove containing the Temple of Artemis and restores Arak's mind. Maximus, the wizard who intends to use the satyr blood to grant himself immortality sends his soldiers to attack. While Arak fights them, the sorcerer heads for the golden bough because once he touches it with the axe wet with satyr blood, he'll become immortal.

The Amazons try to stop him, but he overcomes them with magic, transforming them into their lioness forms and sending them to kill Arak. Arak is forced to kill all but Dyanna who was too strong to be controlled. She moves to thwart Maximus, jumping onto the golden bough and breaking it--and its magic. Arak then beheads the raging wizard. Dyanna disappears into the forest, the last survivor of her people.

In the Valda backup by the Thomases and Randall/Yeates, Valda is forced to make a deal with Baledor where she most wear the cursed suit of (ahistorical) armor which will control her mind. However, that gives Malagigi and opening, and he causes a rogue wave to destroy Baledor's castle. Still, he is imprisoned, and Valda remains in thrall leading us to the point where they entered Arak's saga.

Flash #330: Cavalieri joins Bates on scripting. After visiting Fiona in rather over-the-top psychiatric hospital (she's in 4-point restraints in a padded room) and teaching a lesson to a crooked employee planning to sell her story to the tabloids for money, the Flash agrees to look into the disappearance of the kid, Angelo Torres, for the police department. Grodd lures the Flash into another dimension, where the amplified mind-power of Angelo Torres and the the powers Grodd has given the Vultures gang members lead to the Flash's super-speed being slowly siphoned away so he's vulnerable. Infantino's stylization of the environment of the alternate dimension is the most interesting part of the issue.

G.I. Combat #262: The Mercenaries again get the cover. The story by Kanigher/Vicatan, continues and this trip to Cambodia is easily the most fantastic adventure we've seen yet. A room full of cobras is mundane compared to the river monster and yeti that turn out before this thing is done. As we most Mercenaries yarns, they wind up doing good (mostly) and also wind up not getting paid what they thought.

The first Haunted Tank story has the brass deciding to add a fifth crewman to the tank, and they choose Sgt. Craig's son. Craig tries to ride him hard to get him to request a transfer, but the kid sticks with it and wins his place after the two of them help a trapped Maquis leader escape the Nazis. In the second story, Rick is haunted by death of a young man he shot in a hunting accident before the war. The past becomes present, when he finds the older brother of that man also in the vicinity and stalking him for revenge. The two have to team up to escape a shack surrounded by Germans, but the other man still promises vengeance.

In the last story by Kasdan/Cruz an ammo truck driver with a lifelong fear of explosives wins a pyrrhic victory over fear when he gives his life ramming his truck into a German tank.

Nathaniel Dusk #1: MacGregor and Colan present a straightforward detective story. The art is interesting, because it looks as if it wasn't inked, but just colored from Colan's tight pencils. Anyway, it's January 31, 1934. P. I. Nathaniel Dusk has been working a divorce case, and as he heads to his office from a newsstand, two thugs (Gugenheim and Pichano) are watching him from a car. After delivering news of her husband's adultery to his client, Mrs. Grant Morrison (!), he goes out for drinks with his girlfriend Joyce and the thugs follow. Gugenheim goes into the bar, but Dusk had apparently already spotted the tail and confronts him. They fight, but Gugenheim's ferocity surprises Dusk, and the thug gets aways. After spending the rest of the evening with Joyce at her place, Dusk returns to his office to find the thugs waiting. Gugenheim calls "Blondie" telling him to "go to work." The thugs then take Dusk at gunpoint to the top of a building and after all scuffle, knock him over the edge.

Omega Men #11: Slifer and Smith/DeCarlo have Primus and the others bring Harpis to Raggashoon where she used to be employed as a sex worker so her form boss, Mama Madame, can use psychodrama to cure her nervous breakdown. Surprisingly, that seems to work. Before then though, we get to see the origins of Harpis and Demona, and to some degree the Omega Men as a team. Harpis' and Demona's backstory what with forced physical transformation via Blackfire's experimentation, and sexual assault by her troops is pretty dark, but she gets a happy ending (sort of) by being reunited with her lost love who didn't die but just became a cyborg.

Star Trek #1: Barr and Sutton/Villagran bring the maroon uniform era of the Star Trek films to comics. This is the third American comics series for Star Trek, following Gold Key's and Marvel's. It comes between Star Trek II (1982) and III (June 1984). Klingon cruisers surprise and destroy USS Gallant in the Neutral Zone, leading to the death of all the crew, including Captain Bearclaw and Science Officer Bryce.

Kirk (again in command of Enterprise) and his old crew (minus the deceased Spock) are sent to the Neutral Zone. The ship also carries new crew members including Ensigns Bearclaw and Bryce, each of whom blames the other's father for their father's death. At the Neutral Zone, after an engagement with the Klingons, they discover how the cruisers are able to appear and disappear--the Klingon's have found a way to stabilize a wormhole. And at the other end is a Klingon space station.

There's also a subplot with a Klingon Ensign, Konom, who seems uncomfortable with his people's actions and surreptitiously helps Enterprise. All in all, it's a very Trekian story, compared to what we've seen in comics before.

Superman #392: Bates/Maggin and Swan/Hunt bring this storyline to a weird conclusion. Not because Srakka's (the ameboid parasite controlling Vartox) plot to use Lana to draw Superman into a fight where he can become Srakka's new host fails, but because Vartox's spirit? essence? in the body of Lana's stalker is part of saving the day, and Lana declares both Vartox and stalker guy her heroes. She's going to get the stalker guy a job at the TV station! Now, I misinterpreted his actions last issue, so looking back he isn't as malevolent figure as I thought. But he's still a guy she pushed off a balcony (accidentally) and he kept coming! And he's a guy with a Lana manikin in a room in his apartment he talks to as if she's real! Doesn't seem wise to be encouraging him, I don't think.

Over the Garden Wall returns

 In case you missed it, last week was the 10th anniversary of Over the Garden Wall. They released this stop-motion short that was pretty cool:

Early Modern Magic

I read some interesting stuff this week on magical belief in the early modern era. Specifically, magic used for protection from weapons, surely a common interest of soldiers of the era and D&D adventures alike.

A Historical Fencer's Primer on Late Medieval and Early Modern Magic

From the German Wikipedia, the concept of "Gefrorner" which meant to be invulnerable to harm.

And finally, a scholarly article: "Invincible blades and invulnerable bodies: weapons magic in early-modern Germany" from the European Review of History.