Wednesday Comics: DC, April 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics on January 26, 1984.

World's Finest Comics #302: The cover story here is a reprint from issue 176 (1968) by Bates and Adams where two aliens in conflict from the same species appear to recruit a Batman and Superman to their respective sides, pitting the heroes and their allies against each other. It's all a trick with a twist ending, of course, though Batman does appear to punch Superman with kryptonite gloves, so the cover is only mildly misleading.

The interesting story, though, is the second one by Kraft and Mazzucchelli/Rodriquez which serves as a coda to the Pantheon saga that concluded in issue 300. As the other heroes depart, Batman asks Superman if he'd like to get a drink with him. The two go to a pub full of African colonialist scum and villainy and a couple of them don't believe these funnily dressed strangers who order milk and talk about their feelings are real superheroes and decide to challenge them. Humorously, the two heroes defeat the tough guys without leaving their seats and only barely disrupting their conversation. The strange thing about this story from the modern perspective is seeing Batman talk to his friend about his feelings. He references his loneliness and concern that the two of them seldom get to talk because they are always dealing with some crisis. I can't say Kraft's script completely sells me on it, but it's kind of refreshing to see a time where friendship was important to these characters.

Action Comics #554: This is another story that appeared in that formative comic fan experience for me, Best of DC #61 (1985). While it isn't as memorable as "Anatomy Lesson" or "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?" it is a pretty good story of the "importance of these characters" type that comics fans (and writers) like. Wolfman and Kane pick up where last issue left off with Superman's destruction of the ancient pyramid temple, which we now learn was made by aliens as a tool of conquest, creating an alternate timeline where humans don't have violent tendencies and have been easily conquered by the aliens. Two children (named Jerry and Joe, naturally) imagine a hero, Superman, coming into existence to defend them--and their belief makes him manifest. Superman conquers the aliens and sets things right.

Batman Special #1: I read this one in Best of DC #62 (1985), "The Year's Best Batman Stories," and it's the only one from that volume that stuck with me. In this story by Barr and Golden/DeCarlo we're introduced to the Wrath, sort of a criminal opposite number of Batman's whose origin parallels that of his nemesis. On the same night when Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, he was made an orphan, too, as the police killed his parents in a gun battle after the commission of a crime. He also became a dark avenger of the night, but one that preyed on the representatives of law and order.

As the anniversary of his parents' death approaches, the Wrath is coming for the man who killed them: the now-Commissioner Gordon. As Batman keeps Gordon safe, Wrath investigates his foe and deduces Batman's identity. he destroys the Waynes' grave marker, invades Wayne Manor, and brutally beats Alfred. On the anniversary of the Waynes' (and his parents') murders, the Wrath kidnaps Leslie Thompkins, offering to release her in exchange for Gordon.

They meet on a Crime Alley rooftop. The Wrath shoots Gordon three times, but Batman and the Commissioner have worked out a ruse beforehand and he's protected by a bulletproof vest. Batman and Wrath fight one on one. Eventually, the Wrath is engulfed by a fire he started, leading him to fall from the rooftop and presumably (since he didn't re-appear) die.

The Wrath is definitely a villain designed for one story, and once it's told, he's of limited utility. (Though he does show up in The Batman (2004) animated series and even gets a kid sidekick, Scorn, which I thought was a clever addition.) Still, it's a good single story with nice Golden art.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #18:  Continuing form last issue, Garn Daanuth has successfully broken free free from Arion's body and is terrorizing the land of Khe-Wannantu. Chian and Wyynde leave the palace to look for Mara, who they find, while Garn wracks the village with a powerful storm. Desperately, Arion makes mystic contact with his father's crystal back in Atlantis. He's able to draw on the power Caculha's spirit and use it to fight Garn. However, the villain unleashes a tidal wave that drowns Khe-Wannantu. Arion binds Garn underwater with a magic chain. He returns to the surface to find that his friends may have survived, but nearly all of Wyynde's people are dead.

Batman and the Outsiders #9: Barr and Aparo debut a new villain team, the Masters of Disaster. In their introduction their leader gets to say "Punk is over. I'm New Wave!" so we know it's still the 80s. The Masters are in the hire of the Shelton family (out for revenge on Black Lightning for the accidental death of their daughter) and approach gang boss Morgan Jones offering to kill Black Lightning for him. They attack a Wayne Foundation benefit for a new housing project to draw the Outsiders to them. During the fight, the Masters of Disaster make their goal clear, so Black Lightning surrenders to them to keep anyone else from getting hurt. Batman and the rest of the Outsiders vow to get their friend back.

All-Star Squadron #32: The origin of the Freedom Fighters continues. This issue is a whole lot of characters giving backstory to the All-Stars. First, Uncle Sam, then it's Midnight, and finally Doll Man. Midnight and Doll-Man also went to Earth-X and fought Baron Blitzkrieg. They learned about a new attack being planned on America--one that is supposed to occur at Santa Barbara on two Earths. The Spectre sends Sam and a new group of Freedom Fighters (the one's we know) back to Earth-X, while the Squadron flies to Santa Barbara to protect their own Earth from attack.

Detective Comics #537: Intriguing cover this month. Robin, Bullock, and Gordon try to locate Dr. Fang, but get nowhere. Alfred tries gets some time to bond with Julia, but also has to keep her from uncovering Batman's secrets, Out on patrol, Batman encounters a homeless man from Mexico living in the sewers who tells him about a murder. Batman follows him to his camp. He recognizes the body as a known gang member. Batman helps him against a group of criminals who came looking for the body of the man they killed and ultimately convinces the man to leave the sewers.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and McManus, Ollie sends guys moving his stuff out of his apartment and discovers his landlord is forcing all the tenants out of the building. He organizes the tenants into a protest. The landlords goal in all this is to kill Sammy, one of the tenants who could I.D. him as a hitman when he killed Sammy's parents years before. Green Arrow tricks the former hitman into shooting a dummy, then captures him, revealing that Sammy was institutionalized and had his memories of his mother and the murder destroyed by electroconvulsive therapy.

Jonah Hex #83: Mei Ling rejects Jonah once again after he punches out Hart. He returns to his hotel to find Emmylou gone. All the women in his life having forsaken him, he crawls into a bottle, only pausing to outgun a couple of punks who think they can challenge him while he's drunk. He later throws his guns into a pond, then is taken in by an old woman whose sort of a temperance crusader. He works on her farm and dries out but then has to deal with the usual owl-hoots coming after him for revenge. The old woman, fearing further trouble, asks him to leave her farm.

Nathaniel Dusk #3: It's typical for the gumshoe in detective fiction to endure a lot of hardship in solving a case, put MacGregor and Colan really heap it on Dusk. He manages to escape the cliffhanger at the end of last issue, by sending "Big Mouth" plummeting to his death from the elevated train after a melee. He goes Joyce's apartment to find clues about her murder and discovers Abrahams waiting to arrest him for Squire's murder. He manages to convince his friend to let him go, but now the heat his own. He finds out from her daughter that Joyce's mother (despite what he had been told) is still alive. Before he can investigate that, he gets a call from a woman he will tell him who killed Joyce if he meets her on the Staten Island ferry. He does, and she tells him who did it--"Blondie." She's about to tell him who Blondie works for, but the killer shows up and he and Dusk get into a fight, and we end (again) with Dusk being thrown from a height to likely death.

New Adventures of Superboy #52: Superboy discovers the town hermit who has been around since before his father was a kid, is actually an alien with teleportation powers whose been stranded on Earth. Superboy is unable to help him at the current time, but he promises to find a way. Meanwhile, Lana seems to be jealous of Clark and his new girl.

The interesting thing about this title is, despite the "retro" nature of the stories typically, Kupperberg pays attention to continuity and character stuff in a way that is definitely of the era. Johnny Webber, the former Dyna-Mind, shows up in this issue, and is still facing some (perhaps understandable) ostracization for his former behavior.

Saga of Swamp Thing #23: Swamp Thing is still inert, dreaming within the Green and dealing with the fact he is Alec Holland. Meanwhile, the Floronic Man begins to reign terror through his control over the plant kingdom across Terrebone Parrish. Abbie is caught up by some of his murderous vines, and her cries rouse Swampy from his reverie. We get a full-page illustration by Biessette/Totleben of the new, leafier design of the character. He rescues Abbie, having recognized Woodrue's malign presence in the Green, and goes to confront the Floronic Man.

Greyhawk: The Horned Society

The origin of the so-called humanoids of eastern Oerik is something of a mystery. They first entered history as mercenaries and foederati of the Suloise and Baklunish in their wars. When the conflict toppled both empires, the humanoid groups fell upon their former patrons as well as their enemies as every people scrambled for their own survivable. A confederation of hobgoblin comitatus and various allies of other humanoid groups settled in the steppe north of the Nyr Dyv between the Veng and Ritensa Rivers.

In recent decades, one or more high priests of a diabolic cult have managed to convert the fractious tribes and bring them under their sway, forming the Horned Society. While the name is applied in human lands to the region, only a portion of the humanoid tribes residing there are actually directly in the service of the Horned Society Hierarchs. Though much has been made of the superstitious fanaticism of humanoids, it seems likely that the Hierarchs rule as much by their success in delivering lucrative plunder through banditry and by canny manipulation of rivalries between groups. The theatrics employed by the Hierarchs, to say nothing of the invocation of diabolic power, likely serve as a deterrent against would-be usurpers, however.

Weird Revisited: Magical Revolutions

The original version of this post appeared in December of 2010. I've updated it with some newer thoughts...

We’re all familiar with the advance of technology and the shifting--sometimes radically--of scientific ideas. The ether theory gave way to special relativity; the crossbow gave way to the gun. So why is it we seldom see any advancements in the technology of magic, or magical paradigm shifts, in rpg settings?

Not that magic isn’t shown as changing over time, but it's almost always a fall from a more advanced state, even a Golden Age, to its current one. Mostly, though, this seems to just a change from more magic to less. Sure, this gives a convenient rationale for ancient magical ruins and magical items laying around, but there are other explanations for that stuff, surely.

Why can’t magic missiles be more powerful today than 100 years ago? Maybe old spells have completely fallen by the wayside due to improve defenses (maybe, though, those defenses have been lost too?). Or how about old magical theories giving way to the radical new theories of a Magus Einstein? Different magical schools/styles need not be equally valid views that just add “color”, one could be more true than the other. What would that even mean: more powerful spells? shorter casting times? higher levels attainable? bragging rights in the outer planes?

It turns out the manga (and anime) Frieren: Beyond Journey's End actually does some of this. A powerful demon early on is easily defeated because his formerly unbeatable attack has now become so well understood over the time he was sealed away that even relatively inexperienced mages know how to defend against it. It seems that in general, combat magic has gotten better over Frieren's (extended) lifetime, but a number of minor spells or things for noncombat applications have been forgotten.

 

Still though, that's the only example I think I've come across in the years since I wrote this post initially. I think there's a lot that could be done with the idea in gaming, particularly in a system like modern D&D with so many varieties of magic. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, April 1984 (week 3)

My mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics Santa might have stuffed in a stocking that were published January 19, 1984.

Green Lantern #175: Weirdly, part of this is a replay of the events of last week's Flash that Jordan participated in just from Jordan's perspective. Even the dialogue is the same. Beyond that, the Shark is on a mind-absorbing spree in Coast City. Clay Kendall's Psi-Chair experiments accidentally make contact with the creature, but the contact is fleeting, and the Shark moves in on STAR Labs instead. Green Lantern tries to intervene but in a fight the Shark gets the better of him and leaves him unconscious on the ground. 

Meanwhile, Jason Bloch is stewing over the failure of Javelin to get the revenge for his family on Ferris Aircraft thanks to the action of Green Lantern. gets a visit from the mysterious Mr. Smith from Continental Petroleum (Con-Trol) who asks him to stop cease or at least delay his vendetta until Con-Trol his company can conclude their business. Bloch refuses, and when Smith is gone, reviews his file revealing he knows Green Lantern is Hal Jordan.

Legion of Super-Heroes #310: Levitz, Giffen, and Mahlstedt really up the action this issue. It's made all the more frenetic (and honestly, more than a bit hard to follow) thanks to Giffen's new, ragged art style. On Khundia, the Legion has a showdown with the Omen and the partially controlled Prophet, even as Ambassador Relnic, per the Khunds' demands, orders them off the planet. Ultimately, Omen reveals that the Khunds have constructed a "negaton bomb," a weapon spacetime-puncturing weapon. As Omen easily defeats the combined powers of the strongest Legionnaires, Dream Girl detonates the bomb, sucking Omen and Prophet out of the universe--and disgorging back into it the original Invisible Kid! Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 thinks he's discovered a way to cure Danielle Foccart.

The Prophet and Omen storyline sort of ends abruptly with us never really understanding their conflict or motives. In a way, that's an interesting approach: a cosmic menace that remains an enigma. I think to make that work the story needs to feel like it has a bit more of a payoff, though.

New Talent Showcase #4: Perhaps editorial felt like they have to have more at least superhero adjacent material to sell this title? We get a whole new batch of features and most of them are. Margopoulos and Steve Lightle/Gary Martin introduce Ekko, a hunky, pipe-smoking MD-PhD who developed an ultrasound-powered superhero suit. Just in time, too, because superhuman assassins in employ of the Crimeking are after his no-account older brother. This one reminds me a lot of 80s smaller press/indie stuff. It's clear Margopoulos' knowledge of medicine comes from TV, but I don't hold that against him.

"Who is Feral Man?" by Ringgenberg and Brigman/Magyar is similar but a bit more amateurish. I could have easily seen it being a late 70s/early 80s TV show as it has a Man from Atlantis or Manimal vibe. A Altered States-esque experiment unlocks the primal essence of our hero giving him animalistic heightened abilities. The shadowy government agency wants to make him a weapon, so he's got to escape and fight back.

"Bobcat" by Tiefenbacher and Woch/Kessel gets making me think it's going to turn horror, but nope it's a little hearted tail of a bullied kid with a perhaps unhealthy fixation on big cats who turns homemade costumed vigilante to scare his bully--and winds up befriending him. Similarly, "Full Circle" by Tillman and McManus/Alexander is about an older guy (the story says he's "near retirement" and some characters call him old, but he's only 51!) who feels like his life is effectively over, until a moment to be a hero fighting for an old homeless woman preyed on by street punks. He takes a beating but makes a friend. 

Sgt. Rock #387: This feels like an unusually grim issue. The Kanigher/Redondo main story has Easy getting two new soldiers after a tough battle: one's gung-ho and the other is a conscientious objector. They wind up being able to work together--and dying in the same foxhole. The reprint from '73 by Kanigher and Estrada has George Washington taking the time to talk with a boy who tried to desert at Valley Forge. Washington convinces the boy to be brave--as he meets his end in front of a firing squad. Then, there's a one-page humor strip to round out the issue.

Supergirl #18: Supergirl takes her new headband out on the town for the first time and gets into conflict with a storm-causing alien named Kraken. He entered Earth-One's dimension years ago, tried to conquer Argo City but repulsed and almost killed. When he returned years later, he found Argo City depopulated but vowed get its last survivor in gain revenge. He boasts that is magical powers will easily defeat his target, Supergirl. Turns out his magic is really the product of super-science devices in his belt and bracelets. Supergirl melts those with heat vision, and Kraken is easily subdued. It's interesting just how different Infantino's art looks under Oksner's inks than McLaughlin's.

Warlord #80: I discussed the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, the slavers pursue Jinal and her friends. With the help of their the Harashashan, they set traps for the slavers, destroying their force and allowing Jinal to retrieve her weapons.

Crunch and Complexity

Last week, consideration of the new HârnMaster: Roleplaying in the World of Kèthîra and a blog post I came across in defense of heavy rules sets got me pondering what constitutes complexity and/or crunch in a rpg. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, I feel like it might be worthwhile to differentiate them. 

Complexity I think speaks to the level of detail. Games tend toward greater complexity when they have one or more of the following:

• Multiple rule subsystems/exceptions to standard mechanics
• Multiple rolls required to resolve tasks/events
• Larger numbers of character qualities, particularly when they each have their own mechanics
• Figured/derived characteristics needed in play
• Tracking of multiple characteristics/variables
• Required consultation of charts

So what's crunch? I had initially thought of it essentially as math related: quantization, calculation, use of formulas, etc. Discussion with Ian of Benign Brown Beast made me reconsider. He viewed crunch as "character builds, optimal play, and interaction with the rules on their own terms (as opposed to thru the fiction)."

"Optimal play" and "interaction with rules on their own terms" are about approaches to systems, not the systems themselves, so I think those are separate phenomena. Perhaps they are a signal for the existence of crunch, though? Melding Ian's thoughts and my initial ones, I now think crunch relates to number of mechanical decision points within a system. This would show up on the player-facing side as character creation and tactical options, resulting in the potential for optimal builds in games like 3e D&D or Lancer. It also shows up in games intended to "realistically" (or at least consistently) model a wide range of genres or setting elements, like Hero System or GURPS.

In this way of viewing things, crunch can (and does) lead to complexity, but there are also factors that would lead to lengthier procedures but not necessarily options or decision points.

Two Lawful Neutral Religions

 My "Hidden Religions of D&D" posts got me thinking about a new way to view alignment in D&D, and that is not as personal ethics or even (necessarily) cosmic forces, but rather as placeholders for religions within a campaign setting. Old D&D gives us some detail on the generic "Church of Law" so it would be interesting to expand that idea to other alignments--however many one wants to use. 

A Lawful Neutral church would be one that holds to the supremacy of cosmic order. They would focus on the duties of individuals and society to uphold and harmonize with that cosmic order. Here are Lawful Neutral faiths that would represent these ideas in different ways.

Universal Harmony

This faith believes there is an Eternal Order that has always existed on some idealized plane, but through the process of Law that encompasses both the working of the cosmos and the virtuous behavior of the beings with that cosmos, must be made manifest. The obligations of the humanity in this work are laid out in the religion's holy text, the Formicarium.

The common person is urged to be content with their roll in life and work to make society as whole more orderly and harmonious. The contemplation of greater mysteries is left to ascetics who sometimes provide guidance on important issues to the communities they serve. Those involved in the legal system and the formulation of laws are likewise members of the clergy as law flows from and is a facet of perfect cosmic Order.

The Formicarium mandates that the ruler of a state should be a dispassionate vessel for law. Their job is to insure those under them proceed with honest and transparency, and punishment for transgressing the law is swift and impartial.

Upon death, adherents look forward to an ultimate oneness with the universal process, so that they neither suffer nor desire.

Zurthonism

Zurthon is viewed as the first principal, the transcendent god of time, space, and fate. Zurthon is sometimes called a "machine god"--a being without passion or compassion, and above concepts of good and evil. The faithful seek to divine the path Zurthon has predetermined for them from the beginning of the universe by the study of the Heavens. Zurthonist astrologer-priests plot a child's horoscope from birth. The faithful do not seek to avoid or change ill-fate but rather use this for knowledge to allow them to prepare for the future, the better to display their submission to Zurthon's divine plan. 

There are heretical sects of Zurthonism that view predetermination as an excuse for licentiousness or abandon (and thus become a cult of Chaotic Neutral), but orthodox belief promotes a stoicism in all things.

Wednesday Comics: DC, April 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm reviewing the comics released on the week of January 12, 1984. 

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #12: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon reach the conclusion of this first Amethyst saga. Our heroes are hard pressed against the increased power of Dark Opal, but the villain's treachery and madness cause his former allies Sardonyx and finally Carnelian to turn against him, which seals his fate. Despite her budding romance with Prince Topaz and the rulership offered her, Amethyst feels the need to return to Earth and her life as Amy Winston. She is reunited with her family and resumes life as a normal teen. For now. In Gemworld, Opal's scowling broach lays in debris--and we see it's expression change.

While I didn't give the series any attention in my youth, I found it enjoyable now, and it might have been even more enjoyable if I hadn't read it as one among a stack of 80s comics a month. While Mishkin's and Cohn's story is good, Colon's art is probably what really makes it work.

Tales of the Teen Titans #41: Sorry, Wolfman and Perez, but I find this one a bit silly. We pick up where last issue left off with the Titans (except for the brainwashed Dick) in a deathtrap as Brother Blood gloats. Raven tries psychically to free them, but Blood defeats her. Thanks to Terra, the Titans escape, but then there's another trap, where again they may die, but no, they defeat the monster. At every turn, we have Brother Blood either gloating or thinking that he is sooo powerful that he could kill them any time, but he just doesn't want to.... Then they are captured again and wake up in another (guess!) deathtrap (like the cover) with Dick again supposed to push the button to kill them. They escape, of course, and Brother Blood appears to have died, but there's the hint he's really still doing some Xanatos Gambit. The initial and final deathtraps are even very similar in appearance. Ending and beginning with pretty much the same set piece makes the issue feel like the padded installment of a modern streaming TV series.

In the letter column, Wolfman explains the title's name change--though he states the new title (which he says won't begin until the next issue) is just The Teen Titans. I can only assume they thought better of it and added "Tales of" but didn't think the change was big enough to redo the column. The name "New Teen Titans" will now go to a Baxter paper (though Wolfman doesn't use that term) direct market series.

Arak Son of Thunder #32: The Thomases and Randall.Maygar get up to some old-fashion comic book Sword & Sorcery big monster fighting. Arak and Satyricus are in the Lebanon Mountains and come upon an abandoned village that would remind the reader of Jurassic Park if that were around a decade away. The villagers are hiding in a cave an about to sacrifice a traveling alchemist's daughters to the saurian beast. Arak vows to fight it instead. Ultimately, the alchemist is eaten but turned to gold by his formula mixing with the "dragon's" saliva, but Arak manages to kill the beast. However, he is thrown off it's back and appears to have died in the fall.

Batman #370:  Moench and Newton/Alcala continue the relatively tight plotting between the bat-titles as we open with a solo Robin patrol as Batman is still out of town. He runs afoul of goons working for Dr. Fang and hurries back home to report. Meanwhile, Bullock is pursuing his undercover operation and meets with the eccentric crime lord who is an ex-boxer who dresses like a pro-wrestler with a vampire horror host gimmick. He's sort of Kingpin by way of Zacherley Anyway, he agrees to work with Bullock, but doesn't fully trust him and has him followed. He's aware that Bullock has revealed his plans to rob the Wayne Foundation and plans a trap. Batman and Robin attack Fang's base first and manage to round up the gang, forcing Fang to flee.

Flash #332: Continued from last issue, Flash's super-speed manages to keep his lawyer from dying in a bomb blast, at least immediately. He's at the very least severely injured and will need time to recover. The celebrity lawyer Redik somehow gets word of this quickly as he's immediately working through various means to get the gig as the Flash's attorney. Flash, unaware of these maneuvers meets with Cecile Horton, Peter's law partner. Flash hears Fiona got released from the hospital and gets frustrated with a flyer offering a reward for information on the missing Barry Allen, but then the Rainbow Raider kicks off a crime spree, so he has to deal with that. Ultimately though, it's Green Lantern who happened by the see how his friend was holding up with the whole murder charge thing who takes down the villain.

Bates' story is already beginning to show signs of dragging things out, and it's nowhere near done. This sort of longterm story is probably tough for comics to pull off successfully even today, but in the late Bronze Age where scene decompression isn't employed, you can't just stretch it out with dialogue. It lends a very soap opera effect with scenes always ending on cliffhangers. Infantino's increasingly abstract art (under McLaughlin's inks) probably isn't the best for this sort of story, either. It's ambitious, though, and deserves credit for that.

G.I. Combat #264: No Mercenaries this issue. Instead, we have just one Haunted Tank yarn and a Kana story, plus some nonserial tales. The Haunted Tank story is a bit schmaltzier than most. The Stuart's Raiders are on their way to check out a place called the Grotto of the Saint where there's a German fuel stash, which they need badly. Along the way they (without Jeb's permission) pick up Rick's brother who has been blinded in combat and believes the Saint will heal him. After a fight with some German tanks, it appears the Saint does or at least his vision gets better and also the fuel the Germans were to use is replaced with water--which may have been the saint again or maybe the partisans.

The "AWOL Army" by Drake and Yandoc is a humorous tale of two soldiers fed up with spam who go AWOL to sneak into Paris and have a good meal, run into lots of trouble, but manage to make it out alive, just without a Parisian feast. "Boy in the Bomber" with Talaoc is Kanigher where he is comfortable: gritty heroism. A boy lies about his age to serve on a British bomber run, manning the guns as the crew is whittled down by the mission, refusing to parachute out even when only he and the captain are left. They both die, crashing into the cliffs as the wounded captain can't keep the altitude to get them home.

The Kana story by Kanigher and Cruz is supposed to tell his origin, but so far gives the bit we already know regarding his parents, then detours into time travel to the Japanese feudal era induced by ninja meditation. 

Omega Men #13: Slifer and Smith/DeCarlo deliver an issue more focused on character then events which is atypical for most of the run of this title to date. Much of this issue is devoted to Broot coming to terms with the fact that his wife and the miner Changralynians she ministers to are content with their life of toil for others and early death, preferring its predictability to the unknown. Broot and his wife say their goodbyes with acceptance of each other, if not understanding. Broot is left with at least a little hope for the future as one of the young Changralynians approaches him to say he will at least think on the Omega Man's words.

Meanwhile, Primus gets a new eye, but is still mourning the loss of Kalista, and Shlagen blunders by making an accidental transmission contact with the Gordanians. 

Star Trek #3: Barr calls this one "Errand of War" which echoes the ST:TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" and foreshadows where the plot is going. Both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire are pushing to war and we discover (though our heroes don't know it yet) that some sort of rock monster alien(s) are behind it (Excalibans if you know your ST lore). There's even a jingoistic Federation propaganda broadcast. Kirk and his crew, realizing something isn't right, disobey orders and head for Organia rather than the Romulan Neutral Zone where they have been sent. Why Kirk thinks going to Organia is so important isn't really well laid out in the story, but it appears he believes the Organians would be actively enforcing their treaty on the Empire and the Federation unless something had happened. 

As anti-Klingon sentiment among the crew builds (pertinent because they took on a Klingon defector last issue), Enterprise arrives at Organia to find it enclosed in some sort of black void--and Klingons ready to attack. Kirk manages to convince now-Admiral Kor (the Klingon Captain from "Errand of Mercy," who is now depicted as bumpy-headed) that something's going on and they join forces. Before they can do anything, an Excaliban appears and threatens them.

Superman #394: The thumbnail synopsis of this one on the DC Database conveys its basic weirdness: "Superman and Valdemar clean up some industrial polluters, political humorist Bucky Berns finds that he can predict future events in his column, and Superman endorses Berns for president." This one is by Maggin and Swan/Hunt. If you are wondering who the hell Valdemar is (as was I, even after reading the issue) he's a Viking who hides a giant hawk who lives in some hidden Viking valley. He previously appeared in some Maggin penned stories in the early 70s, but not since. Berns is presented oddly too (and I'm not talking about his super-powers), like we are supposed to know him. The Database helpful supplies that he's a stand-in for Washington Post humor columnist Art Buchwald. Why does Superman support him for President? It doesn't seem like he's completely sure, so perhaps a reveal is coming. Berns' powers are caused by a cabal of wealthy men who wish to destroy America by destroying Superman who they feel symbolizes what Americans see as right and good about their country. No motive is provided here, but it's a continued story. This plot seems an odd one to graft a somewhat didactic story about polluters and how to combat them through media and legislation that happens to feature a magic Viking. 

I have more to say about how Superman is written in this period, but for space reasons I did that over on the Flashback Universe.