Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Wednesday Comics: DC. August 1982 (week 4)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, we check out the comics hitting the newsstand on May 27, 1982.


Action Comics #534: Wolfman and Swan/Hunt bring back Satanis and Syrene. Superman is pulled into the 14th Century by Satanis, as he's been trapped there by, well the actual Devil, but he still plans to conquer all of time, using Superman's physical might to do it. Satanis and Syrene are still vying for the Runestone of Merlin. Their magical duel somehow splits Superman into two duplicates.

In the Air Wave backup, Air Wave becomes aware of alien invaders with a plan to scour the Earth of life. It turns out one of his teacher's may well be part of the invasion force.


All-Star Squadron #12: Thomas and Gonzales/Ordway have revealed Hastor as the villain behind the fake alien invasion. We're given an extensive retelling of the Golden Age Hawkman's origins to explain it all, which is a bit tedious to me, but was probably necessary for the reading public in 1982.  Hastor comes by his power via a device that channels the brain waves from comatose scientists, the originators of this plan to save mankind, which he's co-opted for evil. He's confident in his ability to best the All-Stars, but acting on a complicated hunch, Hawkman uses the ancient sacrificial knife (his psychic connection to his previous life, Prince Khufu) to battle Hastor, on the astral plane. When Hawkgirl adds her psychic energy to her beau's, they are able to beat their old foe. The captured All-Stars use their mental energies to keep the flying eye from crashing, and the day is saved.


Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #6: No sooner have the Zoo Crew defeated the Yolk Monster from last issue, then they see more of these things attacking the White House. They rush to save the day with Oklahoma Bones Jr. and his snake coming with them. It seems this is also the work of the ambassador from San Salvador who is really Bones' old nemesis Baron von Vermin. He tells the Crew about the Space Bunny who bought the eggs from another world and buried them on Easter Bunny Island. The Space Bunny encased himself in a cocoon and buried himself on the Island, too, in case the eggs were ever awakened.

The Crew goes to revive the Space Bunny to help against the monsters, which once awakened, he does. He also turns von Vermin into a statute and embarks on a mission to subjugate the Earth. He captures all the Zoo Crew easily, but Captain Carrot manages to escape by changing back in Roger Rabbit and slipping his bonds. After eating a cosmic carrot to turn back super-powered, he manages to tie the Space Bunny's ears into a knot, causing the being to blast himself when he tries to use his powers.


Detective Comics #517: Conway/Levitz and Colan have the non-vampiric Batman return to Wayne Manor and struggling to control his unholy urges. He does wind up losing control with a criminal, though. Father Green shows up to provide Alfred the secret origin of "the Monk" (really one Louis Dubois) and his sister Dalia. He also suggests he knows a way to cure Batman.

Meanwhile, Gordon and Bard get closer to uncovering the puppetmaster behind the shady political doings in Gotham. Vicki is still at the party, but she's offered a ride home by Dick--who is still under the control of Dalia.

In the Batgirl backup by Burkett and Delbo, Barbara figures out how do de-snakify her legs by thinking hard. She is forced to adopt a shorts or skort version of her costume for the rest issue. The doctor's tell her she's got to get some venom from the serpent that bit her to save herself. She tracks down Lady Viper and snakewoman to snakewoman, defeats her, leaving her confined and taking the venom. Cured, Batwoman returns to deal with Lady Viper, but the villainess has been in snake form too long and devolves into a snake permanently.


New Adventures of Superboy #32: Bates and Schaffenberger reveal a rift in the Superboy Revenge Squad as s renegade member Trohnn (the extra "n" means extra nefariousness!) tries to destroy Superboy...not at the time the others want to do it, I guess? Anyway, this leads the other members try to secretly work to save the Boy of Steel.

In Dial H for Hero Bridwell and Bender switch up the formula as Vicki has to undial from a superhero identity to save herself as she is trapped on a world where she has super-strength, but the heroic identity doesn't. 


Tales of the New Teen Titans #3: Wolfman and Perez reveal the origin of Changeling. I'm not sure what of this issue is there invention or what has appeared in previous issues. I would guess most of the stuff post his original stint with the Teen Titans (his time on the TV show Space Trek: 2022, the attempt on his life by his former guardian who had taken over the identity of the super-villain, Arsenal) is all new, and likely the stuff before that is greatly expanded. Anyway, this seems less padded than the last issue and the juxtaposition of Gar's self-important narration with actual events is a nice touch. It's interesting how much body hair Perez makes Gar. That kid is as hirsute as Wolverine! 


Unknown Soldier #266: Continued from last issue, the Unknown Soldier's planned execution of the beloved Major he believes murdered the general in charge of "Bannon's Marauders" has to wait as Rommel's forces are attacking. Rommel seems suspiciously aware of their tactics, and it turns out it was the Lieutenant who had recently been captured by the Germans but "escaped," who has betrayed them and killed the General. The exonerated Major carries the day and is appointed General by the Unknown Soldier, who I guess can do that. The mystery here to me is why the Major never mounted any defense when charged with killing the General. Did he think he was covering for his men?

In the Kanigher/Severin Enemy Ace story, a passing French plane injures von Hammer as he is riding along in a car, so he's recovering when Balloon Buster challenges him to another duel. A younger pilot goes up in his place and gets shot down. Von Hammer and Savage plan to meet again, but when they do they are both forced to land on the French side, and von Hammer is taken captive. In the final story, Kanigher/Evans revive the Viking Commando for some reason. The Commando gets arrested and sent for a psychological evaluation as the brass finds it hard to believe he's really a time-displaced warrior from the 12th Century.


World's Finest Comics #282: Burkett and Novick open with Superman and Batman tracking down the Weapon-Master's lost stash of weaponry stolen from the Fortress of Solitude. They find the time-displacer at the hands of some low-level criminals. One of them activates the weapon and sends Batman back in time, forcing Superman to travel back to Earth's prehistory to save him. In the past they discover a civilization of extradimensional, winged-tiger riding wizards, the Eldiran, who are working to prepare the Earth for maturity so it can bring forth it's children (whatever that means). One of wizards tries to sabotage the mission, though, and Superman is threatened by a magically enhanced fire-lizard from a volcano, until Batman makes the malefactor undo the spell. This story is crazy, but not in a particularly interesting way.

Barr teams up with Gil Kane for this issue's Green Arrow/Black Canary story. Canary is kidnapped by Slingshot, and GA is lured into a trap to get her back--a cannier trap than he knows, as Slingshot is in the employ of the mother of a criminal he accidentally killed back in Flash #217. She plans to destroy the archer by tricking him into killing again! Rozakis and Infantino bedevil Hawkman with a precarious situation and annoying alien who hulks out when he feels unwanted in "Doctor Katar and Mister Plert." The ending, if genuine, seems to rush Katar's reuniting with Shayera, but this storyline hasn't been great so that may be okay.

Finally, Bridwell and Kane bring back Kid Eternity foes Her Highness and Silk who are working for Marvel family baddie Aunt Minerva. They plan to get the wealthy to a charity circus starring the Marvels so their houses can be robbed. Kid Eternity's intervention helps the Marvel's quash the plot.

6 comments:

Dick McGee said...

Even after all these years I remain vaguely surprised at how relatively involved the plots in Captain Carrot were. For a book so obviously aimed at a very young audience they weren't just phoning it in with a bit of wordplay and some sight gags. It's no Howard the Duck as far as parodies go, but I guess it deserves credit for the work put into it.

Given the multiple modern revisits to the concept there must be some folks at DC who are really nostalgic about the book.

Trey said...

Yeah, it's true, though a think the stories are a little long for this sort of gag content. It might have been better served by 2 stories per issue.

Dale Houston said...

I thought Captain Carrot was aimed higher than that - more at the average DC or Marvel reader. The plotting/pacing etc is pretty much what you would expect from Roy Thomas. And I think his often verbose dialogue works best here where it's rpetty darn funny.

If I recall correctly, the comic gets worse when Roy Thomas is no longer writing it. I think it gets to be a lot less funny and pun-filled.

It's been roughly 40 years since I read these so my memory might be faulty.

Dick McGee said...

Probably true, a shorter story format would likely have reached the target age group better. The longer stories do seem to have made the thing stick in older readers' memories though, judging by the revivals and amount of (sometimes faux) nostalgia I see.

Looking at the Zoo Crew's overall history (old and new) it's fascinating how much DC has pushed the books, first by having their origin be a crossover with Superman and with insert sections in the extremely well-selling Teen Titans books - not just in the 80s, but again during one of the relaunches. Add in appearances in big crossover events and the Crew's had a lot of internal support over the years.

Dale Houston said...

Have they gotten a lot of reprint love? I remember a Showcase Presents of the original series - which I would have purchased had I ever seen it at a store - but not much else.

Dick McGee said...

@Dale Houston AFIK the Showcase Presents is the only reprint of the original series. Amazon's got a few copies in the $50-60 range, which seems steep to me but then I paid $20 for it new way back when. The later crossover stuff showed up in various trades, not sure if all of it made it in though.