Wednesday Comics: DC, March 1984 (week 4)

Happy New Year! 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 December 29, 1983.

Action Comics #553: Kane sends the Forgotten Heroes charging out of the cover, at least. As Vandal Savage tries to deceive the people of Metropolis into thinking Superman as turned against them, the Man of Steel and Rip Hunter's team go back to the dawn of time to try and stop the villain from harnessing the powers of Creation. The Forgotten Heroes get some screentime investigating the alien pyramids, but really it mostly comes down to Superman, so it's effectively glorified cameos for them.

Camelot 3000 #10: Barr, Bolland, and Austin have Mordred, Morgan Le Fay, and their alien allies take out the buffoonish leaders of the Earth's world powers. Tensions are beginning to appear between Mordred and Morgan. Meanwhile, Arthur and his knights break into a spaceport and steal a spacecraft. Their destination is the 10th planet and Castle Le Fay.

I feel like this series has dragged on a bit two long, but it still looks really good.

Detective Comics #535: Nice Cullins/Giordano cover. Moench and Colon/Smith continue the story from the last couple of issues. After Deadshot's claim that Jacques Remarque hired him, Julia is convinced the man who has been a father to her is still alive, and Alfred's urging of caution cause friction between them. Batman learns from the Montreal Police that Deadshot was somehow connected to terrorist and a scheme involving stolen art from France, which would explain how Jacques Remarquebecame involved. In transport, Deadshot escapes but winds up leading our heroes to the terrorists' hideout. Julia brashly rushes in but is rescued by Alfred and Batman. The criminals as apprehended, and Julia accepts that her adoptive father is dead.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, the new crime lord, Dr. Fang, prepares for a meeting with Bullock.

In the Green Arrow backup, Oliver is taken down by the Detonator, who discovers that the archer doesn't have the black box (he stashed it). Ollie awakens in a hospital, surrounded by Rick and Ozone, who has picked the box up. Turns out, there is no pilot voice recording on it. Green Arrow calls in the suspects so he can play detective and reveal which one is the Detonator: Coopersmith, the pilot, who gave himself away by not calling for help. 

Arion Lord of Atlantis #17:  Kupperberg and Duursema send Arion and crew back to the land of the Khe-Wannantu so Arion can get the aid of the shaman Moonstalker to help rid him of Garn Daanuth. They arrive just in time to see Wyynde's wedding which causes Mara to get upset and run off. 

Not only can't the shaman help, but Garn's power is able to penetrate into the physical world causing madness in the village. Arion tries to use illusions to help but that only weakens him, and Garn is able to gain control and free himself from Arion's body.

All-Star Squadron #30: Thomas and Hoberg/Machlan re-introduce a number of characters that DC acquired from Quality comics. At the first meeting of the massively expanded roster of the All-Star Squadron at the Perisphere,  Uncle Sam appears to request help to rescue Earth-X, a parallel world in peril. He reveals that he took several heroes from Earth-2 to Earth-X already, but they all died, including former JSA member, Hourman.

Just as the Squadron prepares to vote on assisting Uncle Sam, Midnight busts in, having escaped from some Nazis. He passes out, and the All-Star’s discover he's carrying an injured Doll Man with him in a shoebox.

Nathaniel Dusk #2: Still not a fan of the decision not to ink this. It makes it look like there's some sort of book-long printing error. That aside, McGregor and Colan continue to deliver a satisfying detective story. Dusk manages to avoid falling to his death off the building and escapes the two goons trying to kill him. He goes to Joyce's apartment and finds the police are there. His friend, Lt. Abrahams tells him Joyce has been murdered.

After attending Joyce's funeral, Dusk begins to suspect the attempt was made on his life because he was dating Joyce, but he doesn't know enough about her to know why. Arthur Squire calls Dusk and offers to feel in some of the blanks, but when Dusk gets to his house, Squire has been murdered, and the goons are there. They chase him on to a train and appear to have him dead to rights as he's trying to climb onto the roof.

New Adventures of Superboy #51: With a Frank Miller cover depicting Superboy walking out of Smallville, this one gives "new direction" vibes, but actually it's a reprint collation of the "Superman: The In-Between Years" backups by written by Rozakis with various artists from Superman #359, 362, and 366. I didn't compare them to see if they are complete reprints or whether they might have been re-edited like a TV clip show, but they are definitely the same stories. I can't fault them too much for this though. Many of their current readers likely missed some or all of those stories from 1981. I would think it was even better if this was placing them where they should go in Superboy's life chronologically, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case.

Jonah Hex #82: Fleisher and Ayers/DeZuniga handle the carriage laden with explosives cliffhanger at the end of last issue in the manner of movie serials. They back up and show us Hex and Turnbull escaping before it exploded. Papagayo realizes they got away, but he's having too much fun to bother going after them. Eventually, Turnbull and Hex make it to down and Turnbull, in recognition of the multiple times Hex saved his life, agrees to clear Jonah's name-- but after that, they will be enemies again.

The new couple of Hart and Mei Ling are in town, but Hart is shot, and Mei Ling is kidnapped by men with a grudge against Hex. Hart and Hex track the men down and rescue her, but when Jonah catches the two embracing, he punches Hart out and storms off.

Meanwhile, Emmy Lou has left town on a stagecoach gets to think back on how she came to be among the Crow and how she met Jonah. Then the stage is robbed, but the robbers choose to take Emmy Lou as well as the valuables. 

World's Finest Comics #301: This story by Mishkin/Cohn and Chen/Marcos takes place before the arc that concluded in last issue. The cover of this issue is misleading in that it suggests a giant Superman is menacing Batman and the villain, Siphon. In the actual issue, Siphon's attempt to...well, siphon Superman's power has left him a raging being of pure energy. Batman makes common cause with Siphon to restore Superman to normal and keep him from killing the villain, which he knows his friend will forever regret. Siphon still plans to siphon all of Superman's power for himself. In the end, Superman is restored to corporeal form, and it's his powers that defeat Siphon as the villain is overwhelmed by super-senses.

Thursday Comics: DC, March 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 December 22, 1983.

Infinity, Inc. #1: The Thomases with Ordway/Machlan sort of revive the "Super Squad" concept of the mid-70s, in the sense that they give us a younger generation of Earth-Two characters, most of them legacies. Here they are in their own book after the backdoor pilot in the All-Star Squadron. Nuklon, Fury, Northwind, and Silver Scarab, crash a Christmas Eve meeting of the Justice Society of America and petition to be allowed membership. Before the JSA can render their opinion, Jade and Obsidian show up. After a brief scuffle (this is a late Bronze Age supers comic, after all), the Society members have discovered they have familial connections to the youths (though in the case of Jade and Obsidian, Green Lantern does know how) and decided that the newcomers are too inexperienced as yet. The kids leave in a huff. Minutes later, another party-crasher barges in: Brain Wave.

For someone that has been enjoying All-Star Squadron this was no doubt a promising start. For those that weren't, well, maybe the new characters had some allure. I have to say I have frequently appreciated legacy characters such as these without necessarily wanted to read their adventures.

Batman and the Outsiders #8: As Christmas nears in Gotham and the Outsiders train, Batman investigates the abduction of an infant. It's a strange case, since the only physical evidence (a fingerprint) points to the infant himself! Infants all over the city begin rapidly aging to old age, and the Phantom Stranger shows up to make cryptic statements. Geo-Force brings an expectancy couple with car trouble to the hospital, and their newborn reveals himself to be Tannarak (last seen in the backup written by Barr in Saga of the Swamp Thing #5), who has been stealing energy from the other infants. The Outsiders show up to watch Phantom Stranger defeat him and restore the other infants to normal. The family Geo-Force brought in have a second, miracle child, so we get a happy Christmas ending.

Green Lantern #174: Wein and Gibbons continue the story from last issue with Hal falling to his death, encased in yellow plastic. He uses the air he exhales to push out against the plastic with his power, breaking it at the last second. He traces Javelin to a junkyard, but there's just one of his weapons there, so Hal believes he's been given the slip. He find out Jason Bloch is behind this, still out for revenge on the Ferris family. 

After been given an accidental pep talk by Clay Kendall, Hal again tries to find Javelin and the stolen engine. He realizes that the villain's secret lair was right in front of him: under the junkyard. He gets defeats Javelin's goon and confronts the man himself. Just as Hal is about to claim victory, He sees the yellow rocket, powered by Ferris' solar engine, shooting off toward Ferris Aircraft. It's tricky redirecting the rocket and rescuing the engine as it's been painted yellow, but Hal figures it out.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, a drops some toxic waste into the water, causing the Shark to return to his mutated form.

Legion of Super-Heroes #309: Levitz, Giffen, and Mahlstedt have the Legion confront the Prophet in force, setting political considerations aside, but he seems more than a match for all of them, until Invisible Kid seems to notice a tell for the source of his power: his eyes are absorbing solar energy. Shadow Lass blocks his eyes with her power, allowing them to defeat him--but that only seems to open the way for Omen.

There's again a backup by Levitz/Giffen and Broderick/DeCarlo. Karate Kid and Princess Projectra have their beachside honeymoon interrupted by an attack by the would-be usurper, Prince Pharoxx. 

Sgt. Rock #386: The Kanigher/Redondo main story is a solo take for Jackie Johnson, Easy Company's only (ahistorical) black member. Jackie winds up helping liberate a French village being terrorized by the Germans. Next up is a grim tale of the storming of a beach where a hero finds an early death.  The final story is a reprint from 1972 by Kanigher and Thorne about two West Point rivals who meet in real battle during the Civil War and the place and limits of "honor."

Supergirl #17: Some thugs kidnap Dr. Metzner for the manuscript of an unpublished biography he's written about Jackson Burroughs, an international businessman with a criminal reputation. Since Linda Danvers has the manuscript, she's also a target. Burroughs later explains that Metzner has discovered he is working with two rival criminal gangs, and he doesn't want them to know that, so he gives Metzner the choice: revise the biography to hide this detail or be killed and he'll revise it. Supergirl trails Metzner and the thugs and has to fight Matrix-Prime who is working with Burroughs. She rescues her boss, captures Burroughs, and also comes up with a higher tech way to hide her identity instead of a brunette wig.

There is at least on panel in this issue where the art is really bad. Supergirl's hand is strangely elongated. In general, I think the Oksner inks over Infantino is more pleasing that Infantino's work in Flash, but that panel managed to get by them both. On another art related note, Supergirl adds a headband to her costume at the end of this issue. This was supposedly done to match the then-upcoming film, but the film wound up not using the headband after all.

Superman Special #2: This story by Bates and Kane bills itself as an "imaginary tale." It presents an alternate timeline branching from Action Comics #530 and in conflict with the debut of the "new look" Brainiac in Action Comics #544. It does make me wonder how this story came to be. Was it written before #544, but not completed until later, so rendered "imaginary?" Were they competing proposals for Kane's time and editorial liked them both? It just seems less likely to me that they commissioned a special imaginary story in 1983. 

Anyway, Brainiac escapes the certainly doom of #530 and arrives at a planet that ignorantly worships a computer made by their ancestors and sets himself up as it's oracle. Like Luthor he can't just let a good thing be, so he sets about demonizing Superman then lures the Man of Steel to the planet to spring a trap. A telepath among the people senses something is off and comes to believe Superman's story, helping him escape execution. Brainiac is defeated and the world is liberated.

Swamp Thing #22: Moore and Bissette/Totleben spend this issue dealing with the fallout of last issue's bombshells. Swamp Thing, now knowing he is only a plant, has taken root in the swamp, ruminating on his life and quixotic search for a return to humanity, and is unresponsive to Abby and Matt. Woodrue performs experiments on him, hoping to connect to the Green through Swampy and eats one of his tubers. Eventually, he succeeds and is stripped of humanity and transformed into the Floronic Man.

This issue really cements that Moore is going someplace interesting with Swamp Thing. Even with last issues surprises, he could have returned to telling the same sort of horror stories the series was doing before. This is where makes it clear, I think, that his run is going to be special.

Thriller #5: Fleming's and von Eeden's approach storytelling continues to be confusing. We're introduced to Kane Creole who is (apparently) a famous Elvis-esque musician and also potentially a bank robber. He runs afoul of the Seven Seconds, and shoots Crackerjack with an anesthetic bullet, but for a moment Data thinks his friend is dead and pins Creole against a wall with his car. Marietta learns the truth about Angie and also uses the power of Malocchia's eyes to make Tony eat a lot of Italian food. Angie and Edward reconcile, and Angie fixes all of Dan's torn photographs.

Warlord #79: My brother and I bought this issue of the stands. I have always liked this Jurgens cover. I talked about the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and her friends are transported to a slave market in a distant city. Their Harashashan allies show up ostensibly to purchase them, but actually just to set them free. They flee the city together with the cheated slavers on their tail.

New Talent Showcase #3: Sky Dogs is absent this issue and the Klein/Hampton Class of 2064 and theMargopoulos/Woch Forever Amber come to lackluster conclusions. I think 2064 is the better of the two, in that it pretty much ends in a way consistent with the story up until this point with our young heroes discovering the Free Earthers aren't really the bad guys, merely desperate to get a medical advancement that could help them. Chryse turns it over willing. And in the end, sidekick Tycho gets the girl instead of Pern.

Forever Amber detours into a "ripped from the headlines" condemnation of Agent Orange and government coverup and indifference after Amber finds her Dad and doesn't kill him after hearing his side of things.

The other two stories are oneshots. Sabatini and Day present a Medieval fantasy story of a king close to losing his throne thanks to a magical contract with another ruler because he doesn't have an heir, but in the midst of a siege, his queen gives birth to a son. Jacobs and Isherwood present the strange tale of Ticker Blood, a U.S. army soldier in prison in 1892 for supposedly going mad and massacring a town and his fellow soldiers. He's brought before a commanding officer who seems to believe his incredible story that it wasn't actually him that killed the town but monsters, and he had fled in terror, abandoning the others to their fates. He's given a chance to set things right and destroy the monsters who now have the semblance of the townsfolk, but when he thinks that is done, he wakes up back in his jail cell. We're left to wonder at the reality of what we have been told.

Classic D&D Adventures in Real World Settings

 Lately I've been thinking about how well some classic adventures might adapted to real world settings. By real world, I mean historical fantasy--I'm not thinking of throwing out magic. Some monsters or at least, their abundance might be sacrificed, though. Harryhausen fil-esque beasts would be fine; tribes of orcs or goblins would likely be reskinned.

There are, of course, a number of dungeoncrawls which could take place pretty much anywhere with a little work. Here are a few that I recall with more distinct locations:

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh: Given that we're told the setting of this one is meant to evoke a south-coast English town, the obvious placement for me (inspired by Captain Clegg) would be the set on the southeast coast of England in the area of Romney Marsh. Of course, that's not the only option. The Low Country would work, too. The significant presence of lizard men in the area might need to be reskinned as something else, but maybe having this have to do with Deep Ones off the coast would work?

Beyond the Crystal Cave: This one reminds me of The Tempest (though it's probably the similarity of the name Porpherio to Prospero and the island location that does that) so I would place it on Prospero's Island in the Mediterranean, which could be Pantelleria as some have suggested or a completely fictional Mediterranean isle.

Aerie of the Slave Lords: My initial thought on this one was the Barbary Pirates, but that name is usual reserve for pirates that are a bit later era than might be the sweet spot. Fortunately (in this context only!), slave trading in the Mediterranean was quite common in the Middle Ages. You don't have to go to an "evil" nation like a Pomarj, you just have to go to Venice.  Some Mediterranean port could be a stand-in for Highport, and a fictional mediterranean volcanic island in the Companian volcanic arc would be the sight of the slaver's secret base.

Anyway, you get the idea. 

Single Axis Outer Planes

There are a lot of very reasonable criticisms regarding the Gygaxian Great Wheel of Outer Planes, though I also like a lot about it. I've spent a fair number of posts on this blog trying to make it truly it some sort of coherent set of competing paradigms as Planescape promises but doesn't really deliver.

This post, I want to go in another direction entirely and see if the Outer Planes can be configured in such a way as to have a bit more Medieval flavor, a possible monotheistic bend, and potentially mostly be about the afterlife.

Take a look at the cosmology presented in the works of Dante:

Dante (like OD&D) imagines an order where what in latter day D&D terms we would call Lawful Good. So the Empyrean, the realm outside the cosmos where the Godhead or whatever supreme principle of goodness resides is the equivalent of the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia in the Great Wheel.

"Beneath" that we enter the cosm and the spheres of the heavens. Here mystical cosmology mixes with physical cosmology and we have the Aristotlean celestial spheres of the classic planets. Dante makes of them "not-quite-good-enough heavens, and I would too, but with a twist. These would be the afterlives or mystic realms of "pagan" deities (using the term here to mean deities other than our Supreme Godhead mention above). Something similar to how the cosmology of the Sandman comics series works or Jurgen by James Branch Cabell, but more systematized as Gary would have wanted it. I would probably nix specific alignments in this sort of setup, focusing on interesting themes and correspondences.

Frank C. Papé

Above the planets is the sphere of the Primum Mobile or Prime Mover. This will be the mindless demiurge or ghost in the machine that makes the physical and near physical universe run. This is Mechanus of the Great Wheel.

 

Arriving at the Earth, we find Elysium/Elysian Fields, the Terrestrial Paradise. It can be found by the living, but it's difficult. Beneath the Earth is the gloomy, gray realm of Hades. 

In the caverns beneath Hades we begin to slip into the realm of truly evil souls, places where monsters have been cast down. There realms are probably all tied to a Deadly Sin. No doubt there are several infernal realms before we get to Hell (represented the sin of Pride) proper, where the rebellious angels have built their resentful kingdom in exile.

Immediately beneath Hell would be Tartarus, where the Godhead has locked up frightening beings. Rival gods? The mistakes of former creation? Who knows?

Beneath Tartarus is the Abyss. The deep waters mentioned in Genesis, though this may not literally be water but some fluid. Liquid Tiamat (from Babylonian myth, not the the Dungeon & Dragons cartoon). Malign chaos incarnate.

Robert Crumb

Wednesday Comics: DC, March 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 December 15, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #40: Perez delivers a great cover, but on the inside, he and Wolfman are back with the Brother Blood stuff I don't really like. The Titans are guests on Bethany Snow's TV show in a segment regarding proposed arms shipments to Zandia. The Titans, led by Wonder Girl, are unable to convince the other guests or the audience of the true evil intentions of the guy named Brother Blood whose live via satellite in a blood red outfit with a horned and fanged mask. He's just too darn charismatic! Dick figures out that the congressmen appearing on the program in support of Blood are actually his followers. Later, disguised as newsman Joe Walsh, Dick accompanies Bethany Snow and the three politicians on a fact-finding tour to Zandia, only to have his true identity uncovered by Blood's cult. Getting an emergency signal from Dick, the other Titans crash Blood's temple in their T-sub but get knocked out by gas. They awaken to find themselves about to be lowered into his weird pool of blood--and Dick in Brother Blood's thrall.

Superman #393: Rozakis/Cavalieri and Novick/Giordano discover yet another creep kind of obsessed with Lana: the super-villain called the Master Jailer. We last saw him back was in Superman Family #221 back in '82. He has a pretty ingenious plot, marred by his nuttiness. He targets Superman with missiles that fuse Green Kryptonite to his costume, and his costume to his skin. Superman appears to have succumb to the poisoning in the Fortress of Solitude. Next, the Jailer goes after Clark Kent. He looks all over town but has a tough time tracking him down. When he finally confronts him, Clark is revealed to be Superman--wearing a Clark Kent mask. He defeats the Master Jailer and reveals who he used a Bizarro device to make Bizarro copies of the Jailer's missiles that then exploded and de-Kryptonited him.

Arak Son of Thunder #31: Colon is back on art, though much of this story is a reprint of the Thomas/Colon/DeZuniga preview of Arak in Warlord #48 (1981). Arak relates that incident to Satyricus in context of a story about about a girl named Amber who was a slave to the viking jarl, Ottar. He contests with Sigvald for her, with Ottar planning to give the girl to whoever brings him the biggest piece of amber. Although, Arak successfully retrieved a larger piece of amber, he returned too late. Ottar died while he was away and, in the Viking tradition, his slave girl was killed with him. Arak began to think of leaving the company of the vikings as a result, which he soon would. 

Batman #369:  Moench and Newton/Alcala return to Alfred and his daughter, Julia. They're in Montreal investigating Jacques' murder. They must be on to something, because someone keeps trying to kill them. After more than one close call, Alfred calls in Batman for help. It turns out the assassin is Deadshot, who is so eager for revenge on Batman, he starts making blunders regarding the job he's supposed to be doing. Julia is desperate to avenger her father and is getting reckless, too. A well-timed Batarang at Julia's gun, keeps Deadshot from killing her and her from killing Deadshot. Batman interrogates Deadshot and the assassin reveals to their surprise that it was Jacques Remarque who hired him!

Flash #331: Bates/Cavalieri and Infantino/McLaughlin conclude the story from last issue. Flash lets Grodd think he's finished him, so the ape lets his guard down and let's Angelo go. Flash springs into action and uses his speed to actually move Grodd in front of his own mental blast. Solovar and the Gorilla City crew show up to bring the Flash home and take Grodd into custody. Meanwhile, the police are looking for the missing Barry Allen and somebody plants a bomb in the office of the Flash's lawyer. Hearing the explosion over the phone, the Flash races to save him, but will he be in time?

G.I. Combat #263: Continuing the story from previous issues, the Mercenaries managed to best the Yeti creature and grab the cobra statue--which doesn't appear to be made of anything like the gold and jewels they were promised. Still, the women with them are going to take it back to the temple, so the Mercenaries follow along to keep them out of harm. Good plan, because they do get attacked. Back at the temple, the old man uses some liquid to reveal it's true, golden, jewel encrusted form. He gives the Mercenaries a ruby each. They leave, but then Gordon decides he wants to go back for the woman he's sweet on, but the temple and its inhabitants have disappeared.

The two Haunted Tank stories continue to get mileage out of Craig's son, Eddie, now being a member of the crew. This particularly comes to the fore in the second story which has a frame story of Eddie writing a letter to his mother (Craig's estranged wife) regarding recent events where a fuel shortage for both sides starts as problem but ultimately becomes an advantage for Stuart's Raiders as they're able to take out a group of immobile Panzers solo after that fill up courtesy of captured German vehicles. In the first, Gus' background as a minster is highlighted as he struggles with the commandments of his faith and his duty as a soldier. In the end, though, Kanigher doesn't really have anything profound to say about that, but it's good to see Gus get the spotlight.

The nonseries story is about a bomb disposal team dealing with a bomb made with a particularly tricky fuse. It no doubt carries an additional air of verisimilitude as the writer, Paul S. Newman, served as a tech with a bomb disposal unit.

Omega Men #12: Broot and Shlagen part company with the rest of the Omega Men on Rashashoon. Broot feels he has delayed too long finding his wife. They follow coordinates stolen from the Citadel to a near-lifeless planetoid. There they discover radiation-poisoned Changralynian youth toiling away. They have never met their captors or heard of the Citadel. They work in the name of their religion. At their temple, Broot is horrified to discover that the blind priestess is his wife, Kattayan-Bish.

Meanwhile, the other Omega Men led by Primus race back to Euphorix. They arrive only moments too late. Kalista has re-activated the energy shield and destroyed the controls so that it can't be lowered again.

Star Trek #2: Barr and Sutton/Villagran continue from where last each left off with another almost pitch perfect evocation of Trek. Kirk and Lt. Bryce are in spacesuits attempting to get into the Klingon station hidden in wormhole space while Saavik in a shuttlecraft attracts the Klingon's attention. Captain Koloth (presumably not the same as the one in TOS) is smart though and suspects the shuttle may be a ruse. He orders extra guards and also has guys watch his helmsman Konom, who was the one who secretly signaled the Federation. After some fights and quick thinking, Kirk, Bryce, Saavik and Konom escape via the transporter--but only after Kirk leaves a bomb whose detonation causes the base to return to normal space. Koloth chooses to blow his crew up rather than be captured.

Interestingly, there is foreshadowing of STIII here in some of McCoy's thought balloons. The Klingons are very much of the ST:TMP mold, not the version with less elaborate makeup we'll get in STIII and later. The only detail that seemed off to me is Bryce opening fire on disintegration setting on a group of Klingon guards. It seems like the Starfleet way might have been to stun them, but I can't think of a completely analogous scene in a TOS episode to compare. 

Greyhawk: Medegia

The See of Medegia is a territory ostensibly within the Great Kingdom of Aerdy that is under direct sovereign rule of the Holy Censor of the Aerdian Church of Law. Though the reach of the Censor's ecclesiastical authority has diminished with the decline of the Great Kingdom, he remains one of the most powerful and wealthy rulers in the eastern Flanaess.

The Church of Law has ever tied to the Aerdi, their kings, and kingdom. While the various Hierarchs of Law of the Flanaess were independent, they were in communion, and the Hierarch of Medegia was invested as Holy Censor, guardian over the doctrine of Law and moral guide to the Malachite Throne and the entire Kingdom.

Most Medegian church houses, including its great basilica, were originally dedicated to Pholtus, the Blinding Light, though Legalism being a transtheistic faith, this was not true of other churches in other lands. Today, the iconography of Pholtus persists, but the stern-faced deity is little favored by the current Holy Censor, his most senior clergy, or the other highfolk of the land. The Divine Law has varied manifestations and champions, so why should they not pray to Zilchus, whose doctrine of material prosperity for the faithful is more amiable to their wealth and privilege?

Despite the Holy Censor's roll as advisor to the Overking, neither the indolent Hierarch nor his flattering and generous orthodoxy are favored at court. Ivid is rumored to have become enamored of an antinomian heresy wherein, as a divinely favored monarch, he is above the precepts that bind others. The Censor is, of course, concerned, but not overmuch, so that his enjoyment of his position isn't soured.

The Hidden Religions of D&D: Druidism

This one isn't so much hidden, but hey, when you've got a series title, you gotta stick with it. Unlike with the Church of Law which has been obscured by tme, I think people have a good idea of what Druidism in D&D is: it's neutral and associated with Nature. In the Greyhawk setting and other places it's the "Old Faith" standing in perhaps for pre-Christian beliefs of Europe but without the Christianity.

I think there's another way to go, though, completely consistent with what the original works tell us about druids.

Druids first show up as monsters in the Greyhawk supplement. We are told they are "priests of a neutral-type religion." They can shape change and attractive barbarian followers.

They become a class in Eldritch Wizardry where they are described again as Neutral and "are more closely attuned to Nature, serving as its priests rather than serving some other deity." Mistletoe is holy to them, and they protect plants and animals.

Neutral may well just have been meant to imply unaligned here--not taking a side in the conflict between the civilizing force of law and the destructive forces of chaos: "I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them," as Treebeard would have it. But maybe it's not just the woods the druid cares about?

Unlike Law and Chaos which seem to be transcendent and come from extraplanar forces, maybe Nature in this context is the cycles and balance of the material world? Given the description in Eldritch Wizardry, it seems likely to me that the religion of the druids is pantheistic with Nature (or the material plane) being an immanent divine force or deity. It could be animistic with everything in the natural world having a separate spirit, but it might also be monist, where divine Nature is the only true reality.

I think then that the druid's neutrality is a somewhat militant sort. The dualism of Law vs. Chaos is contrary to their understanding of the unity of all things; the strong, opposing polarities are nonsensical if existence is governed by cycles. Worse, these ideas from the Outer Planes would be alien intrusions on the harmony of the world.