Wednesday Comics: DC, January 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 October 13, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #38: I was 12 years old when I first read this story in Best of DC #61, The Years Best Comic Stories. "Who is Donna Troy?" was in there beside other famous tales like "The Anatomy Lesson." At the time I had not read any New Teen Titans, but I was blown away by what Wolfman and Perez did here. It's a superhero story without any real superheroics: Terry Long asks Robin to do some detective work and try to find out about Donna Troy's past. All she remembers is being saved from a fire as a toddler by Wonder Woman. Robin does his mentor proud in use of the skills of investigation to uncover the twisting path that led Donna to be in that fire and the two loving families she had prior to being adopted by the Amazons.

Thirty-nine years later, I think it still holds up. Sure, Robin's investigation of a nearly twenty year-old mystery is a bit too easy. It differs from what might have seen in a detective drama of the era in that Robin has to do everything himself with little information from surrogate investigators. It also relies on a fair bit of coincidence. The pacing of a 23-page comic makes the poignancy and drama the story is going for perhaps a little more performative than earned. But all of those are the criticisms of a 51 year-old who has had many more years consuming media and has seen comics grow up. This is a very cinematically told story (just look at the opening and closing pages), that really centers the character drama, not punch 'em ups, at a time when comics were still on newsstands and had a preteen target audience.

Superman #391: Interesting Garcia-Lopez/Giordano cover on this one. Bates/Maggin and Swan/Hunt continue the story from last month with Vartox manhandling Clark then kidnapping Lana and holding her for a time in a volcano. Vartox is acting weird, and it turns out that's because he's possessed by an alien entity called Srakka. Srakka is going to have use up Vartox soon and wants to move on to Superman. Meanwhile, Lana's stalker is upset that Superman isn't doing enough to rescue her. He's also holding a woman captive who looks just like Lana.

Arak Son of Thunder #29: The Thomases and Randall/Forton pick up some time after last issue, with Arak apparently accepting his role as new high priest of Artemis, likely due to some ensorcellment. Arak renounces his name and gives up his quest to return home. After a ceremony with the Amazons, he also gets to take the beauteous Dyanna as his bride. Meanwhile, Satyricus has been living it up playing captured devil for credulous rubes at the home of the man Delan that Arak gave the arrow to. That's all blown, when an evil wizard, Maximus, shows up to claim the arrow and Satyricus' hide for a spell. Satyricus is chained and brought into the woods. He soon sees Arak, but his old friend doesn't recognize him. Instead, Arak raises his axe to deliver a killing blow.

In the Valda backup by the Thomases and Randall/Yeates, Valda makes it to castle of Baledor, where there's a magical combat going on between Malagigi and Baledor, allowing her to escape her distracted captors. Her arrival dsrupts the battle, allowing Baledor to get the upper hand. The evil sorcerer sends an enchanted suit of armor to attack Valda. To save her life, Malagigi surrenders.

Batman #367:  Swamp Thing-looking creatures are causing trouble in Gotham. Coincidentally, I'm sure, Poison Ivy has set up an executive stress relieve business in an abandoned house in Crime Alley with the help of a botanist-geneticist accomplice. Everyone gets sent home with a plant after a treatment. Several Wayne Foundation Board members have been gotten treatment, and now are acting strangely. Batman and Jason Todd (in a costume, but not Robin yet) sneak into Ivy's place after hours, but one of the monsters attacks them, and Ivy escapes, but not before starting a fire. 

Flash 329: Despite the cover, there is no actual confrontation between Grodd and the Flash this issue. Bates and Infantino/McLaughlin continue to keep the story at a slow boil. The Flash gets a lawyer who's Barry's old college roommate. Fiona Webb gets committed due to self-injurious behavior, and I can't help but think her mental state is partial Barry's fault for choosing to disappear while the Flash faces charges. Gorilla Grodd continues with his plans, having his gang do stuff, and getting a new human pawn in the form of Flash-loving teen, Angelo Torres.

G.I. Combat #261: The Mercenaries get a rare (thus far) cover appearance. In that story by Kanigher/Vicatan, the trio of soldiers of fortune are in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where they are forced to hastily take a job working as bodyguards for a guy running guns for the "Meiner-Badoff" Gang, the "Red Front" in Italy, and the Nicaraguan rebels. Unfortunately, he also runs cocaine, which is a no-go for our Mercenaries, so things take a violent turn and they wind up on a river in Cambodia where they wind up agreeing to protect a Temple of Angkor Thom from drug-running invaders for the vague promise of a reward.

The first Haunted Tank story is a flashback to an earlier part of the war when Arch and Slim were still alive. Jeb is forced to play Russian roulette with a sadistic German Colonel, but luck is on our heroes' side. The second story is a sort of humorous one that sees the each of the crew dreaming of just what exploit won it for them as they are transported a quartet of medals. It turns out they were just the delivery boys.

In a story that seems a bit Hogan's Heroes inspired, a German commandant of a stalag finds out one of his prisoners is a former chef. He puts him to fixing fancy meals but barely lives long enough to regret it when Frenchie substitutes poison mushrooms in a recipe.

Omega Men #10: Slifer and Smith/DeCarlo follow the remaining Omega Men as Lobo turns Primus and crew over to the resurgent Citadel. It winds up being a trick, though, and from within their fortress the Omega Men turn the tables, leading to a standoff with Harry Hokum. They're fooled by his believe and agree to a summit where both sides can gather allies for a partitioning of the Vega System. The deplorables side with Hokum, but so does pacifist Changralyn. And there's another surprise as Kallista plans to go isolationist, and Primus is left with a choice: Stay and help rebuild the coalition of free Vegan worlds or return to the world of his birth and his wife.