Wednesday Comics: DC, April 1984 (week 2)

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

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

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

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

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

Arak Son of Thunder #31: The Thomases and Randall.Maygar get up to some old-fashion comic book Sword & Sorcery big monster fighting. Arak and Satyricus are in the Lebanon Mountains and come upon an abandoned village that would remind the reader of Jurassic Park if that were around a decade away. The villagers are hiding in a cave an about to sacrifice a traveling alchemist's daughters to the saurian beast. Arak vows to fight it instead. Ultimately, the alchemist is eaten but turned to gold by his formula mixing with the "dragon's" saliva, but Arak manages to kill the beast. However, he is thrown off it's back and appears to have died in the fall.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Star Trek #4: Barr calls this one "Errand of War" which echoes the ST:TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" and foreshadows where the plot is going. Both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire are pushing to war and we discover (though our heroes don't know it yet) that some sort of rock monster alien(s) are behind it (Excalibans if you know your ST lore). There's even a jingoistic Federation propaganda broadcast. Kirk and his crew, realizing something isn't right, disobey orders and head for Organia rather than the Romulan Neutral Zone where they have been sent. Why Kirk thinks going to Organia is so important isn't really well laid out in the story, but it appears he believes the Organians would be actively enforcing their treaty on the Empire and the Federation unless something had happened. 

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

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

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