Wednesday Comics: DC, August 1983 (week 1)

My ongoing mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! Today, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of May 5, 1983. 

Wonder Woman #306: Great (if utterly unrelated to the issue's contents) cover by José Luis García-López. Inside, Heck is now on art. Senator Abernathy, Diana's and Etta's landlord, suffers a heart attack and is whisked away by Steve Trevor and a military team. Unsure what's going on, Wonder Woman follows them, and helps nab a team of terrorists who try to kill him. She's angry at Trevor for being secretive, but it turns out Abernathy had given some information to an enemy nation in an attempt to save his wife, which led to him being kept under surveillance. Trevor just didn't tell Diana because he knew she liked Abernathy and wanted to preserve her impression of the old man. At the end of the issue, Aegeus abruptly appears and stabs Trevor.

In the Cavalieri and Bair/Bryant Huntress backup, the Huntress manages to fight her way of the Tarr and Fether's criminal psych ward, making common cause with one of the "violent cases" to do so. Unfortunately, something happens to Huntress shortly after their escape.

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #4: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon pack a lot of story into these pages. Granch enters another dimension in a belly of a giant reptile to free Dark Opal’s other sons, but they don't believe he's there to help them and try to kill him. Dark Opal lures Amethyst into a trap with Citrina's soul as a lure, but the Princess and her mentor are able to outsmart him. Meanwhile, Lady Emerald is forced to turn over her eldest daughter to Dark Opal. and on Earth, Amy's parents deal with her latest disappearance.

Arak Son of Thunder #24: The Thomases and Gonzales/Alcala reach the two-year mark with this title, and they provide a map of Arak's travels, which is a touch I always appreciate. A lot is going on in this one! Arak and Angelica are still in Hell with Baphomet. Malagigi and Johannes are in Albracca desperately trying to find a way to stop Gog and Magog, rival armies fated to destroy the world. Satyricus and Brunello are trying to rescue Valda from Haakon. Arak arrives just in time to help those two (his and Angelica's escape from Hell having weirdly occurred off-screen), but when Gog and Magog arrive as giants made from the bodies of each army, everybody (but Angelica) works together to halt their rampage with Greek fire. In the aftermath, Angelica tries to reclaim what's left of Albracca, but Malagigi's magic stops her. 

Johannes becomes Prester John like we knew he was going to, and Albracca does a Brigadoon. Our heroes head out, presumably to return to France.

  

Blackhawk #261: Nice Cockrum cover on this one. Evanier and Spiegle get back to more interesting stuff with the return of Domino and the War Wheel. After stealing a German code book, the Blackhawks intercept messages that reveal the German's have the British blue code book. This is due Domino, who has been seducing and murdering a series of British generals. The rest of the Blackhawks try and fail to stop the new War Wheel, which gets away, while Blackhawk goes after Domino and ultimately captures her. Hearing of Domino's capture, Hitler dispatches 4 mean that look just like him, the four Zwillings, to kill the leaders of the Allies. We also get in extended flashback to Domino's origin this issue, and I suspect Evanier modeled the stern Frau Bulle who trained her on Granny Goodness.

Camelot 3000 #7: Arthur and his knights win some victories, but the good feelings are short-lived. The untimely but inevitable betrayal occurs, and Arthur banishes Lancelot and Guinevere after catching them in the act. Then, the issue ends with Tristan contacting Morgan Le Fay and agreeing to betray the knights in exchange for being turned back into a man. One of the things most interesting to me about the series is Bolland's futuristic 80s designs, and they are really on display here.

DC Comics Presents #60: Burkett and Novick team Superman with the Guardians of the Universe. The Weapon-Master (the villain from a recent arc in World's Finest) steals the power of the Central Power Battery of Oa which enables him to control the minds of many of the Green Lanterns, so the Guardians send Superman out with the wannabe poet who was supposed to have been monitoring the power levels on the Battery. Pretty standard stuff after last issues Ambush Bug zaniness.

Fury of Firestorm #15: While Multiplex and Enforcer engage in some exposition-delivering discussion, Firestorm manages to break free from containment. He briefly defeats Enforcer, but Multiplex outsmarts him, and eventually both villains escape. Clarissa, Stein's ex, continues to try to drive a wedge between them and gain Ronnie's confidence. Senator Riley is forced to accede to the demands of the ultra-wealthy industrialist who is employing Multiplex and Enforcer, voting to grant him some sort of atomic energy monopoly lest his kidnapped daughter come to harm.

Justice League #217: Kupperberg and Patton/Tanghal are on board as the new team, and we get a story linked to Kupperberg's Arion: Lord of Atlantis mythos. When an energy-beam emanating from an undersea crevice (where old Atlantis lies in ruins) causes seaquakes in the undersea city of Atlantis and transforms three surface humans into elemental beings who attack other cities, the Justice League goes into action in their usually "divide and conquer" fashion. The villain turns out to be the ancient, Atlantean sorcerer, Daanuth. Now, this guy shares a name and a home base with the villain in Arion, but he looks nothing like him, but less Elric-y and more wizened bald guy. I wonder if Kupperberg wanted to use the concept, but they weren't sure if Arion was actually in DC continuity as yet? Anyway, this issue for some reason feels a bit more of a throwback to the middle of the Bronze Age than some recent issues that preceded it (though not really the immediately previous arc).

Sgt. Rock Annual #3: Kanigher is joined by Spiegle on art for "No Time for Graves," which like the last annual, is a notch above the standard Sgt. Rock tale, aided by the increased length and Spiegle's art. Easy is headed to R&R, but when a new standoffish Polish American soldier steals a truck, Rock and crew figure it's to sell the contents to the black market. It isn't, as they discovered as they chase him across German lines. Instead, it's full of Polish kids whose parents were various sorts of "undersirables" the Germans sent to camps, and a priest trying to get them to the coast to meet a boat bound for Haifa. When the soldier gives his life to destroy a machine gun nest, Rock and the others take up the transport. The trip sees some of the kids that get introduced lose their lives and the priest too, but the rest make the ship. Rock and the others leave the bodies of both refugees and Wehrmacht on the beach where they fell because they have places to be and there is "no time for graves."

The Age of the Wizard-Kings

During the Titan War, the gods empowered human worshippers to serve their cause, and in response, so did some of the titans. The techniques they taught mortals are still employed by adventurers today. When the war was won, some of these champions were able to seize scraps of knowledge and fragments technology from salvaged weapons of the gods and from plundered titan strongholds, even from the outer precincts of Heaven itself. 

One wily titan, eager for revenge against the traitorous gods, gave mortals the secret of the paths of Immortality--a means to make themselves near equal to the gods. When the gods shut the gates of the Overworld, barring mortals from Heaven, their former champions began seeking their own apotheosis. What wouldn't be shared, they reasoned, they would take.

Connecting with the pillars that supported the cosmos--the so-called Spheres of Matter, Energy, Thought, and Time--mortals began to walk the paths to Immortality. In the process, they discovered more secrets of the Cosmos's creators. They developed technology that allowed them to conquer the world and usher in an age of advancement and wonder with flying cities, automata, and sagacious, living libraries. It was also an age of excess and violence with strange monsters crawling from the subterranean laboratories and towering war machines wielding eldritch weapons to lay waste to cities. This time was known as the Age of High Magic or the Age of the Wizard-Kings.

The end of the Age came when internecine fighting had weakened the Wizard-Kings such that they could not defend against a succession of threats: the forces of Chaos launching sorties into the Cosmos, and irruptions of the Underworld caused by the Lich Lords, and continued subversion by the fiends from Hell. In the end, a coup by chromatic dragons toppled the most powerful surviving Wizard-Kings.

The remnants of their power remain, though. In the ruins of sky cities or in the depths of the dungeons they built adventurers still encounter they creations, technology and servitors. Perhaps somewhere the secrets of Immortality await the lucky delver?

The Undying Kings of the Underworld

In the aftermath of the Titan War, with the withdrawal of the gods left from the world, humans were able to seize divine knowledge and tools as spoils of war. This theft would reverberate even far, even to the gloomy halls of the Underworld. 

There were the recently arrived souls of great mages and heroes, fallen in the war either fighting for the titans or the gods. These personalities burning with power and rage at the perceived injustice of the universe, resisted the pull of dissolution. Their souls would not enter the cycle of reincarnation. Without the Unseen Lord, God of the Underworld, to quell their rebellion, they ransacked the cities and forests of the lands of the dead to find a way out. Their frenzy cracked the Underworld itself, and they found themselves on the event horizon of the Negative Energy Plane. 

They stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back. And then, perhaps, something within it spoke. The great mages and heroes discovered a way for their intellects to live beyond death, and even to be returned to their physical bodies. To power these miracles, they would need to build receptacles to house the negative energy. The only accommodation necessary to utilize this new and seemingly endless replacement for their life force was a small one. They would just have to give up their souls.

These nine (so it is believed) Undying Kings, or Lich Lords as they are sometimes called, became the new rulers of the Underworld. When that was accomplished, they sought to extend their reach to the world of the living. They sent tendrils of Underworld rising up, and the swirling mists formed cysts of the land of the dead, the Shadowfells. From these bridgeheads, the lich lords raised armies of undead, led by mighty warriors, called Death Knights.

Their conquest of the world of the living isn't driven merely by a desire for territory. Their goad is the Negative Energy Plane, and its hunger for unmaking and entropy. Their own fates are tied to its eternal appetite, so it's needs are their necessity. The self-centered nature of the Lich Lords has hampered their cooperation, and that combined with the weakening of the Shadowfells in daylight hours has slowed their advancement, but the Undying Kings are not hurried as time is something they have in abundance.

This is part of this setting.

Wednesday Comics: DC, July 1983 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I look at the comics hitting the newsstand on April 28, 1983.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #9: Nice cover by Duursema. The conflict Moench foreshadowed last issue comes to pass as General Balar returns to Atlantis with an army only to discover that Arion and his companions have already liberated the city. Balar is angered when he finds the people erecting a statue of Arion and the technological defenses of the city destroyed. Arion is forced to intervene when Balar takes out his frustrations on some of the citizenry, so Balar orders his arrest. He doesn't have the power to make that happen, so he's forced to retreat and instead works to undermine Arion with the newly returned king.

Fed up with politics, Arion heads north to help save Atlantis from the approaching ice age. Chian goes with him on the quest which leads to a palace of emerald ice. Inside a seductive sorceress named Icestarr puts some sort of spell on Arion.

Ronin #1: This, like Camelot 3000, is another prestige product for DC and shows their editorial risk-taking in this era. Miller tells the story of a samurai from Feudal Japan whose battle with a demon over a magical sword causes them both to be reborn in a dystopian future (not unlike Camelot 3000!). What's different is, C3000 is basically a good comic of its era, where Ronin looks like it could have been published today with Miller's use of "widescreen" panels and other modern layout techniques. His art here isn't like his work in Dark Knight Returns a few years in the future. There are strong influences of both Moebius and (I think) Enki Bilal as well as Goseki Kojima. Modern as it is in some ways, it's also pure distillate of the 80s: all dark future and samurai swords.

Green Arrow #3: Nice cover by von Eeden and Giordano. After a little "harsh interrogation" of Count Vertigo, Green Arrow finds out the Russians sent him to keep an eye on the chemical company, but he doesn't know why. Ollie's next attempt to bluff a CIA agent and then the company's board to find out more, gets him nothing but embarrassment. So next, he tries playing the rich playboy buffoon to lull his hidden enemies into believing him defeated. Maybe that works? Anyway, he realizes what the dying Ted Horton was trying to tell him: he was drawing a benzene ring. With that knowledge he guesses Abby's password and learns the secret Horton project is a synthetic oil substitute. Unfortunately, his enemies know he knows and that marks him for death. Only the intervention of the CIA agent, Jones, saves him from an ambush. Green Arrow and Jones set out to reveal Abby's killer and bring them to justice.

This limited is underappreciated I think only because of the embarrassment of riches that 80s DC was to soon become.

Action Comics #545: Wolfman and Kane continued the Brainiac story from last issue. Brainiac captures Superman and keeps him alive only to analyze him, attempt to learn how to counter the Master Programmer. This, as seen last issue, seems to be Brainiac's conception of God--a god who has sent Superman to destroy him! Superman manages to escape, barely, but Brainiac is in pursuit. Supes knows he's going to need help to deal with this one.

Meanwhile, Cave Carson, Rip Hunter, Rick Flag, Dolphin, and Dane Dorrance--a group of "Forgotten Heroes" if there ever was one--comes together.

With this and the Lex Luthor story early in the month, the villain makeovers have certainly led to more interesting stories.

All-Star Squadron #23: Thomas and Ordway/Machlan introduce the first really new character in this book (though even he borrows the name of an actual Golden Age character). With some of the All-Stars and JSA in the hands of Ultra and his cronies, the remaining heroes sort of go various ways and pursue means to find their friends. Dr. Fate and the Atom headed for Fate's Salem tower, intent on finding the missing Spectre. The tower has been invaded, and Fate's powerful old full-face helmet in the hands of Amazing-Man, who has absorption powers. We get Amazing-Man's origin and understand why the former Olympic champion is working with Ultra.

Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #17: Thomas writes a prologue, but Bridwell is the writer working with a team of artists on this "solo adventures" issue that appears to be a filler. We get a Cannonball Run riff with a disgruntled stunt-platypus in a Rubberduck story. Fastback tangles with a jackrabbit thief whose real skill is being still, and Pig Iron visits Ewerope and fights a monster in "The House of Frankenswine." 

Detective Comics #528: Moench with Colon/Janson continue the misery for Gordon, as his newly appointed assistant (or underminer) Bullock re-opens the Savage Skull case when another cop is killed. Bullock manages to track the Skull to an abandoned building that was formerly used by the GCPD for officer training, but he is unable to reason we him despite their former friendship. Gordon shows up just in time to save Bullock's life, and Batman to save Gordon's. The Skull is defeated, and Bullock wants to have a press conference to say how wrong he was about Gordon and give the commissioner credit--but instead uses it as a platform to attack Gordon again. Moench's Batman is more "street level," a portrayal aided by the gritty Colon/Janson art. It's a harbinger, perhaps, of the "Iron Age" Batman that will emerge from the end of the Bronze Age.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and Cullins/Marcos, GA saves himself from last issues cliffhanger by aiming the spray can at the ground and propelling himself back through the window. It turns out Ozone has accidentally stolen a cannister of a bioweapon, now even badder guys are after him.

Jonah Hex #74: Fleisher and Ayers/DeZuniga present a bounty hunting adventure of Hex's that drops the relatively close continuity of the previous few issues. Jonah is hired by a railroad to bring in a former Confederate turned bandit dubbed Railroad Bill. The situation is complicated by the Pinkertons already being on the case. There's a botched ambush not dissimilar to the opening of The Wild Bunch, to show us the Pinkertons aren't exactly the heroes as they are callous to civilian casualties. Hex catches up to them as they have Railroad Bill and are about to hang him. Hex's presence gives Bill the opportunity to escape, which makes it look as if they are working together--a misperception that gets Hex shot. The bounty hunter and the bandit do make common cause after that with the Pinkertons after them both. 

New Adventures of Superboy #43: Nice cover by Kane. Kupperberg and Schaffenberger continues Superboy's conflict with Dyna-Mind, who is secretly one of Clark's less honorable classmates. Dyna-Mind keeps besting him at every turn, but the Boy of Steel figures out his foe's abilities came from red kryptonite and will wear off soon, which they do, just in time. Ever Duplicitous Johnny Webber plays like he has no memory of what he did, and Superboy buys it was all the red kryptonite altering his personality. Also, Clark goes on a date to see True Grit, suggesting this story takes place in 1969,

In the Dial H backup by Bridwell and Bender/McLaughlin, comic artist Nick Stevens is kidnapped by the Master, who wants somehow harness the power that has been leading to Stevens' characters coming to life in Fairfax. Chris and Vicki attempt to intervene as (respectively) Spheror and Fuzz-Ball and Turnabout and Raggedy Doll.

World's Finest Comics #293: We've got David Anthony Kraft writing this issue, whose work I really only know at Marvel. Art is supplied by Gonzales and DeZuniga. It's not particularly distinguishable from what has come before with an emphasis on the "bro-dom" of Batman and Superman, though this issue does have the added twist of a villain bro team, as well. It's also interesting in Null and Void aren't defeated by Marvel-style punch 'em up, but they are more inclined to escape than fight as they really don't want to hurt anyone--they're just old guys with debts they are resorting to crime to pay off. The heroes capture Void after he transforms back into his civilian identity, but he refuses to give away his friend Null's identity. Null later faces his reckoning with the IRS. 

There also an amusing opener to this issue where the Daily Planet is under siege by a garish villain calling herself the Expropriator who wants to rob from the owner and give to the workers, who is revealed to be sham without powers, and really a Planet employee--a working mom angry about not getting a bonus.

Larry MacDougall's Gwelf

 

Gwelf: The Survival Guide (2021) is a gorgeous art book by Larry MacDougall who once upon a time did art for Palladium and Magic: The Gathering. I say it's an art book, because that's what Amazon likely calls it, but in the rpg world it could credibly be called a systemless setting book.

Gwelf is a Medieval(ish) land of anthropomorphic animals. Its author says it's like a cross between Wind in the Willows and Lord of the Rings and that's not just high concept, but pretty much literally the case. Gwelf is the last bit of civilization of the border. It's a place where Otters, Foxes, Badgers, and the sage Sparrows come together peacefully, but beyond the frontier are the Hinterlands where the Ravenfolk hold sway. They're practitioners of dark magic.

This book details the peoples and cultures of Gwelf. There's another book on the way in June, which promises to reveal more about the Hinterlands.

The Houses of the Dragons

The home provinces of the Draconic Empire are ruled by noble houses with a chromatic dragon progenitor. While not all nobles are sorcerers, few without magical aptitude ascend to real power. Those most often undergo the Ritual of Rebirth to be transformed into Dragonborn, a privilege accorded to the draconic-blooded sorcerers as well. 

The great dragons seldom involve themselves in mere human politics; they are mostly content to rest in their lairs and receive what tribute is brought to them--though occasionally they may roam the countryside and take it from the common folk directly. Only the most senior members of the Houses consult with them, and even for that elite, it is a fearful summons to receive.

These are the eleven Great Houses currently. Two houses are in immediate contention for the throne as they are descended from the Empress herself:

• House Argaman: A conservative house in control of the much of the Spine mountains. They field an elite corps of Dragonborn trooped who where a personal guard to the Empress Pyrekhis.
• House Vyssinis: Less martial than many others, Vyssinis controls the fertile lands of the central islands. The wine of their vineyards is prized.  They are stereotyped as politicians, sometimes schemers, rather than fighters.

A third red House is descended from the Empress' slain consort, Angrazar:

• House Porphyrion: Nakedly ambitious, this House both plays to the people and touts its accomplishments on the field of battle. Its formal connections with the other houses are fewer than its Red rivals and it is seen as an upstart.

The other houses, descended from other chromatic dragons, are not directly in contention for the throne, but may support or hinder the three that are:

• The Houses whose progenitor is the green dragon, Esmaragd, 
•     House Harilak: Mystics known for their might at magic and divination. They seek stability within the Empire.
•     House Gwyrth: Holders of rich timberlands and farms. They are ever on the lookout for an opening to advance their own fortunes.
• The House whose progenitor is the black dragon, Mordax,
•     House Melacanthus: Genteel schemers whose swamplands provide the ingredients for the infamous black lotus poisons employed by their assassins.
•     House Karas: Merchants and smugglers, certainly, pirates, possibly, their lands are in the eastern marshes. They care little for who sits on the throne, so long as their operations are not disrupted.
• The houses whose progenitor is the white dragon, Isaz,
•     House Valko: Known for its remote holdings in the northern forests and its powerful sisterhood of sorceresses known as the Snow Witches.
•     House Brimir: Descendants of a tribe of barbarian reavers that worshipped the white wyrm, they hold fortresses along the Northern coast.
• The Houses whose progenitor is the blue dragon, Azarakh,
•     House Lazuran: A House in the arid southern regions with a strong martial heritage. They are scrupulous to appearances and fastidious about honor. They have no favorite among the Red Houses.
•     House Takilt: Strong in the magical arts. They are inclined to house Argaman because of a fondness of tradition.

There are persistent rumors of a hidden twelfth house, Typhon, who are adherents and priests of the Cult of Tiamat and work for her return. If such a group exists, its members live in secret among the other nobles and even common folk.

Wednesday Comics: DC, July 1983 (week 3)

My mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands around April 21, 1983.

Brave and the Bold #200: This is the final issue of Brave and the Bold, ending a 28-year run. It also happens to be a comic I bought off the stands (one of three this month, it turns out! The first time that's happened in this review.) so I have a lot of nostalgia for it. It perhaps doesn't read as well to be today as it did at 10, but I still think its a good Bronze Age comic, starting with a great Aparo cover. 

The main story by Barr and Gibbons/Martin is billed as a team-up between Earth-One and Two Batmen, but is really a sort of team-up between parallel world counterparts of a new villain, Brimstone. On Earth-Two (rendered in Jerry Robinson-esque style by Gibbons), Nicholas Lucien is a B-grade villain with a devil gimmick who is defeated by Batman and Robin and accidentally put in a long coma by a head injury. He is revived 28 years later in Arkham to find himself an old man, and Batman dead and thus beyond his vengeance.  Unwilling to accept this, he mentally reaches out to that other him he always sensed existed who is a respectable businessman on Earth-One. He essentially possesses that version of himself to execute a terroristic plan to lure Earth-One Batman into a trap and kill him. The Earth-One portions of the story are, of course, rendered in more gritty, modern style. It's a nice gimmick that leads to a good story, if not necessarily a memorable one beyond its high concept. Gibbons changing art styles are a large part of its success.

This issue also as a preview of the comic that is to replace Brave and the Bold: Batman and the Outsiders. In the continuity of that title, I am told, this story comes after the third issue. Anyway, it's a nice introduction by Barr and Aparo and left me wondering as a kid who these characters were. A group cultish terrorists seek to liberate their leader Miklos from the hospital where he is being held in police custody. When they attack the hospital, they run up against Batman and the Outsiders.

Legion of Super-Heroes #301: This is another issue why brother and I had as a kid. Despite it's very Silver Age-y cover by Giffen and Mahlstedt it's a very modern comic for the era. In fact, this title is one of the ones really closing the book on the Bronze Age 70s style, I think. Anyway, Chameleon Boy and his father, RJ Brande, are on Durla trying to regain Chameleon Boys powers which involve trials, including a fight with the Durlan elders. Meanwhile, there's a lot of character drama stuff, including Proty II making space for himself as a newly recognized sophont being, and the announcement of Karate Kid's and Princess Projectra's wedding. 

Night Force #11: In the 1930s, Winters and Vanessa get more than they bargain for when they meet with the cabal financially supporting Hitler whose members are all malign ghosts in 1983. Turns out the group is able to summon (or maybe form Voltron-style, it's unclear) the Beast of Revelations. After Fleeing back to the present, Winters blunders again by sending Jack and Vanessa to the house, where for some reason he didn't think the ghosts would attack them (but they do). He's forced to call in allies: Katina, with which he has personal history.

Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #9: Kupperberg and Infantino/Oksner continue the team-up with the Doom Patrol. We get the origin of Reactor, who Tempest knew in Vietnam as Krullen. Tempest first manifested his mutant powers to stop Krullen from massacring a village of civilians. Krullen had been irradiated during atom bomb tests in the 1950's and was later turned into Reactron by the Council. Reactron attempts to absorb all the radiation from an experimental reactor and blasts Supergirl. She manages to create a wind-funnel that draws him into the upper atmosphere, where he explodes from radiation overload. Unfortunately, in the aftermath, Robotman tells his teammates that his sensors detect an unknown radiation Supergirl has absorbed from Reactron--which is killing her.

Halloween (1978) must be really in the Zeitgeist in 1983, because it is referenced in two comics this week. In this Cavalieri and Oksner/Hunt Lois Lane backup, Lois spends the day with film scream queen Jenny Lind Keaton, but then she is mistaken for a disguised Keaton by a nutty gunman who thinks she's really a witch.

Green Lantern #166: The story that's been building in the background comes to the fore, as we get a new creative team with Cavalieri and Tuska/McLaughlin, and a promising start. Krista, the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, gets stranded in the yellow desert planet of Sikarra, where a ring can't protector. She is rescued by Jordan, but she is badly injured.

On Oa, Lanterns Eddore, Kaylark, and Galius-Zed accuse the Guardians of betraying them by hiding an advanced model of the Power Ring that is effective against the color yellow, and thus endangering the lives of the Corps members. When Jordan arrives with Krista, who then dies of her injuries, the situation turns violent. Jordan fights on the side of the Guardians, but the rogue Lanterns find the advanced rings inside the Central Power Battery. Two of them escape from Oa, leaving Galius Zed to fight Hal Jordan with the advantage of the improved ring. Jordan is overpowered and Galius vows never to be dictated by the Guardians again.

House of Mystery #317: We're at the penultimate installment of the "I...Vampire" saga. Bennett and Deborah track Mary to Paris. Bennett decides to take the untested Rashnikov Formula, that's supposed to remove vampire weaknesses. It seems to work, leaving him with vampire powers but removing the weaknesses and need for blood. He is able to start a romantic relationship with Deborah. He's keep hunting the Blood Red Moon, and under cover, follows several vampires back to their hideout where he hides in a coffin. When day comes, he's unable to move. When Mary wakes him from the coffin the next night. She tells him rigor mortis has set in. The experimental formula apparently wasn't meant to be taken by existing vampires, but by people who would be turned into vampires. Looks like it's the end for Bennett, but we'll find out next issue.

There are two additional stories this issue. The first is a post-apocalyptic yarn by Kashdan and Matucenio where a couple repairs a robot to be a servant, but instead gets a killing machine. The last story, by Kelly and Trinidad has a serial killer who uses various weapons with occult significance. Only one reporter realizes what's going on, but when the killings stop, he's ridiculed so he commits a murder himself to keep interest up. That of course brings him to the attention of the serial killer.  

Sgt. Rock #379: The main story has Easy getting their mail months overdue, and then deciding to play Santa Claus to the German kids in an orphanage, complete with Jackie going down the chimney dressed as Santa. Since nothing is ever easy in Easy, there's the Wehrmacht to fight, too.

There's a story credited to "the Kubert School" about a G.I. eager for a war souvenir, a French kid playing with a German helmet he found, and a tragic accident. Finally, Harris and DeMulder deliver a schmaltzy story of a soldier who keeps talking about his gal back home, who we discover (after his death) was his mother.

Warlord #71:   I reviewed the main story in this issue here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and friends infiltrate the Mulge guardian to get back their captured friends, encountering dangerous plants and fungi, and breaking up a creepy Mulge ritual to cause fungi to grow threw the bodies of sacrificed humans. This is probably the most interesting installment of this series so far.

Preparing for a New Campaign

I think my group will finish up our current campaign in the Land of Azurth this year, and though with months to go some plenty of time to change my mind, I'm in the mood for something different. With a semi-new edition of D&D arriving around that time and other, similar options available (Shadow of the Weird Wizard, 13th Age--possibly with a 2nd edition) it will be a good time to do it, too. My prerequisites are that the system be close enough to D&D so as not to cause undue angst for my players who don't always appreciate new systems and so I have an easy time finding/adapting published material. My experience running at a regular clip for 10 years now is that I need to use premade material a lot to keep it going.

Right now, I'm thinking about expanding on the world introduced in my recent "Draconic Empire" post. Inspired by my recent consumption of some anime with the Japanese version of "generic D&D fantasy" I think that's what it will be with influence from the two settings of various editions of the Sword World rpg and Uresia, as well as hints of more console game-inspired settings like BREAK!!, Fabula Ultima, Exalted, and Icon (though more "standard D&D" than any of those). I also want to utilize as much official D&D "lore" and character options as possible to keep it familiar, though they may be given a slight twist.

Additionally, I'd like to try to capture the passage of time better, something like Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, so I think I'll try to use the Fellowship and Journey rules from One Ring (or it's 5e adaptation).

Solar Queen

Our Action Tales system sci-fi game continued last Sunday with the group going aboard the spaceliner, Solar Queen to get the untraceable credit stick to pay a group of pirates for a captured Martian vessel which supposedly contained classified data potentially useful to the Earth freedom fighters. Things didn't exactly go smooth, though, as there were more Ares Corp agents waiting in Chandra Roberts' stateroom.

The battle was in a confined spaced and unorthodox. Zarek and Rusty pushed one agent into the bathroom and beat him unconscious. Ryne flipped a mattress over on another and Ariana stunned him with an electrolaser blast through it. In the end, the agents were defeated and stolen keycards and some fast talking convinced ship security that they party were in law enforcement.

Out at the edge of the spaceport, they found the newly repainted and repaired "salvage" in Bay 11. They turned over the credit stick and took possession of the Rowdy Yates. They did some quick, preflight checks, then blasted off for a 10 hour flight to their rendezvous station. 

They were only a few hours out of Luna when they were hailed by the Martian cruiser Yangwei. Captain Willard Tang demanded they prepare for boarding. 

They party elected not to do that. Hesperos did some fancy flying, aided by the ship's powerful drive, and manged to race out ahead of the other vessel, but the high G maneuvers caused several of the party to lose consciousness. Quickly everyone had had time to strap in.

Wednesday Comics: DC. July 1983 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! Today, I've got the comics at newsstands the week of April 14, 1983. 

DC Comics Presents Annual #2: Elliott S. Maggin brings Kristin Wells, a history student from the 29th Century, who appeared in his novel Superman: Miracle Monday, into official DC continuity in this story with art by Pollard/De Carlo. In the 29th Century, Wells, now a history professor, is discussing the enigmatic Superwoman with her class and they debate how many of the heroine's powers could be replicated with "modern" technology. Foreshadowing! Anyway, Wells decides to go back in time to investigate because, I guess, in the 29th Century any history professor is allowed to do that.

Superwoman has appeared yet and Superman doesn't know who she is, but Wells (in a cover identity as a new Daily Planet employee) knows the heroine will show up soon and she has theories. When King Kosmos attacks from space and Superman can't handle him alone, Wells is forced to become Superwoman to help save the Earth, in a twist that might have surprised DC's putative tweener audience, but likely no one else. That isn't to say the story is without a certain charm. 

 

Saga of the Swamp Thing #15: Mishkin and Hampton continue the story from last issue. This may have marked the first time I bought 2 consecutive issues of a series off the spinner rack. Pretty sure I got it at the Suwannee Swifty store in Blakely. After being crystallized last issue, Swamp Thing's regenerative powers restore him to normal, and the Phantom Stranger just reappears, mysteriously back to his old form, playing a synthesizer. The silicon-crystal Nathan Broder plans to take over all the computer networks in the world and as his friends and colleagues discover his plans, he kills them. Swampie helps his wife escape, but they don't know how to stop him until Sally remembers he may be vulnerable to vibration at his resonance frequency and rushes back to her keyboard the Stranger was noodling on earlier. Broder shatters, and Swamp Thing returns to the Swamp.

Batman #361:  Moench and Newton bring us more Man-Bat. He's kidnapped Jason Todd and wants him to be a replacement son for the daughter he thinks (wrongly) that Batman killed. Neither the police or Batman appear able to contain him. Ultimately, Batman tracks him to the Gotham Natural History Museum and uses trickery (with some life-size photos of Langstrom's family, courtesy of Vicki Vale) to get the Man-Bat, but it's help from Jason that allows him to administer the antidote to his condition at last. Also, a new assistant is foisted on Gordon by Mayor Hill: Harvey Bullock.

Flash #323: Barry's and Fiona's rather rushed wedding day is here, by Bates and Infantino sort of tip their hand there, because their focus is on Barry (now tipped off to Zoom's return by the Guardians) frantically plays cat and mouse with the villain. I think I can guess how this one will turn out, but maybe Bates has a surprise up his sleeve.

The Creeper backup by Cuti and Patton/ reaches its conclusion none too soon with the Creeper having a showdown with Cris Kraken, the monstrously mutated drug supplier. There's a coda with art by Giffen that promising the Creeper's return, but I don't know if what was teased here ever actually happened.

 

G.I. Combat #255: The first Haunted Tank piece is a focus on Rick, who's feeling isolated until he has a whirlwind romance with a young Italian woman. After a German sneak attack badly scars her face, Rick decides to marry her, but the woman, fearing he's doing it out of pity, jilts him on their wedding day. The second story, the captain in charge of the tank group is in the spotlight. He resents having to right vague condolences to the families of the men he loses in battle, but after being forced to go into the field himself, he finds the vague condolences better that the gritty reality of war.

There's Kana story which has him doing the sort of thing he does while being the victim of prejudice. In the final story by Drake and Patricio, an infantryman reassigned to supply resents not being involved in the war, oblivious to the harrowing situations he gets into having to deliver supplies under fire.

New Teen Titans #33: When the new villain Trident is found down, the Titans (minus their resident detective, Robin) must find his murderer. Meanwhile, Adrian Chase and Robin break into the home of a crime lord. This issue is well put together, but the key to discovering the clears' identity isn't so much as hinted at early in the story but blared from a loudspeaker. It's probably more surprising to kids, I guess.

Omega Men #4: Slifer, Giffen, and DeCarlo serve up a pretty visceral issue, making use of their direct only status. There's some body horror as the Greeshagurt absorbs Kallista's body and mind, turning into her and transforming her into protoplasm. Meanwhile, tensions between Primus and Tigorr over leadership (stoked by Demonia) come to a head, and they engage in a struggle that turns savage, again thanks to Demonia's manipulation.

In the end, Kallista is saved by her people and Euphorix's force shield stays intake. Tigorr realizes he's being played before he kills Primus, and confronts Demonia, then kills her in combat. While Primus' wounds are tended to, he leads an assault against the Citadelians.

Superman #385: Bates and Swan/Hunt continue the revitalization of Luthor as a villain, started in Action #544. Luthor is out for revenge for the destruction of Lexor and builds himself an island base and starts recruiting. Superman, meanwhile, is unaware that Luthor survived. He's pre-occupied with guilty over his role in the death of a whole world's inhabitants. He starts hallucinating and sees images of Luthor everywhere. He causes damage at a local suspension bridge and the Superman Museum because he thinks he sees Luthor. Is this madness or some cunning revenge plan of Luthor's? This is a good follow-up to the Action anniversary issue.

The Draconic Empire

To its foes, the Draconic Empire is perhaps the greatest threat to the peace. Rapacious and destructive as the chromatic dragons that founded it, it will enslave the free peoples of the world, burning what it cannot hold, either wittingly or unwittingly enacting the vengeance of the chromatic dragon's mother, the elder god, Tiamat. 

In the minds of most of the empires people, the liturgies of its priesthoods and the assurances of its diplomats, the Draconic Empire is the best hope for order and safety in a world beset by Chaos from without and enemies from within. If the Empire's hand must be firm, they contend, it is only because the stakes are so high.

What is not in dispute is that the Empire is the largest and mightiest state in the world. It was born from the rebellion against the Wizard-Kings and their allies whose sins in their pursuit of Immortality led the gods to withdraw their favor, leaving the world to its fate. After a period of war and unrest, a red dragon, mighty and cunning as any of her kind but more ambitious by far, seized a throne for herself and declared her empire. Many other chromatic dragons bowed to her, as did their kin and faithful minions, the hybrid Dragonborn. The Empress and her closest dragon supporters interbred with humans, creating sorcerous bloodlines, the Great Houses, who administer the Empire to this day.

The dread, red Empress has not been seen in some time. Officially, she has gone into seclusion to better focus her efforts on some great endeavor or another, but there are rumors that she simply disappeared and no one knows whither or why.