Hex #1: Here at last is the series that's been teased (in the pages of Jonah Hex, at least) for the past few months. Fleisher and Texeira have Jonah Hex plucked from the 19th century and brought to some unspecified, post-apocalyptic near future (far enough away that capes and big metallic shoulder pieces have come into fashion, though). Hex was brought to the future by rich geezer, Borsten, who collects historical warriors--quite literally. He promptly escapes, though, and winds up teamed with a woman wasteland raider named Stilletta. He falls in with her gang of Road Reapers, who raid settlements to steal water in the radioactive deserts in the vicinity of Seattle. Hex has his doubts about the morality of all this, but before he can formulate a plan, fate steps in. Someone has tipped off the next target, and there's an ambush, and the gang's leader Falcon takes a dislike to him, so Hex winds up on his own with a stolen hover cycle and a costume out of Road Warrior. Then he almost has a head on collision with a Vietnam-era military helicopter!
Westerns were at an ebb in the early 80s and sales were apparently poor on Jonah Hex, so with post-apocalyptic films a fad in the wake of Mad Max, this new direction makes some sense. As a kid, I hadn't been a regular reader of Jonah Hex, but this title got my attention for its subject matter and the dynamic art of Mark Texeira.
Batman and the Outsiders #25: Barr and Davis have most of the Outsiders out of costume this issue as they go about the arrangements for the wedding of Metamorpho and Sapphire Stagg. Meanwhile, Halo is becoming part of the religious cult community she had stumbled into and doesn't notice anything sinister at first. She misses when the father of Brother David visits the community to try get his son to return home, and he's surreptitiously drugged by "Brother Abraham's" second in command. We learn later that he's a general working with "Star Wars," but I'm sure that's a coincidence.
Ultimately, David asks Halo to marry him, and he plans for them to leave the community. The cult leaders catch them, and Brother Abraham is revealed as Kobra. He recognizes Halo as a member of the Outsiders. Under threat of David's death, Kobra forces her to reveal Batman's secret identity.
Blue Devil #16: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Maygar continue the Vanquisher story from last issue. Marla,in the hands of the Vanquisher, Verner's chauffeur, Vance, whose brain is being affected by his super-suit, has to figure out a way to get him to calm down and keep herself out of danger. When the Vanquisher isn't reacting to unreal enemies, he starts to get rational. Then Dan shows up and almost blows things, but Marla quickly clues him in, and they've got things settled down when Kid Devil shows up and again stirs things up. Ultimately, Vance returns to his normal self, and Marla agrees to a date with him.
Green Lantern #192: Engelhart and Staton/Patterson spend most of this issue giving some background on Star Sapphire and her relationship to Carol, explaining how we got to this point. I don't know Star Sapphire's history well enough to know if any of this is retcon or not. After Star Sapphire tells her story, she leaves Hal and travels to Zamaron. Green Lanterns John Stewart, Katma Tui, and Dalor, following some Zamaron raiders, arrive on Zamaron in time to witness Star Sapphire's coronation as the new queen.
Infinity, Inc. #18: Either the Thomases are trying to make the Helix into a big deal or this issue is padded, because in addition to getting the Helix's origin (as victims of illegal in utero experimentation) and a fight between them and Infinity, Inc., we get a whole sequence of them robbing a store for "humor" and to showcase their powers and personalities. There's also a pin-up of them in the back of the issue. McFarlane is still leaving a lot of space in the layout that he's filling with character logos instead of just making the story panels bigger. Anyway, the issue ends on a cliffhanger or two with Jade poisoned with Mr. Bones's cyanide and the Harlequin confronting Thorn.
New Teen Titans #12: Wolfman and Woch/Tanghal give us a ghost story as Nightwing's and Cyborg's encounters with a ghostly little girl lead the team on an investigation that uncovers a murder of a family by the mob 50 years ago in Dick's apartment. It's not a bad bit of investigative storytelling, but it seems sort of out of place in a superhero team book. It would have worked better as a solo Nightwing story.
Sgt. Rock #404: Kanigher and Kubert bring us a reprint from Our Army at War #158 in 1965 repackaged with cool new Kubert cover. It tells the story of Rock's first meeting with the Iron Major, who's a bit of a different character here (commandant of a prison camp thanks to his injury and prosthetic) and pretty clearly intended to be a one-off. We also get an interesting detail about Rock's past: He and his brother were originally paratroopers involved in a test of gliding techniques to reduce mortality in cases of parachute failure over water. In a test of these techniques in a jump from the Golden Gate bridge, his brother Josh (Josh Rock?) is killed. Strangely, Josh calls his brother "Rock" throughout the flashback instead of "Frank." I wonder if Kanigher envisioned Rock as the Sargeant's first name in 1965?
Saga of Swamp Thing #40: Moore and Bissette/Totleben bring us a feminist werewolf story. Swamp Thing follows Constantine's direction and goes to Maine where a woman named Phoebe has been transformed into a wolf creature under the moon by the lingering anger of the Pennamaquot Indian women who were forced to stay in a lodge while menstruating on the site where Phoebe's house is now located. Swamp Thing speaks with her but is no match for her rage. Ultimately, she kills herself on a knife display in a supermarket. Constantine shows up again, and Swamp Thing angrily tells him he's going home to Louisiana, but that's exactly where Constantine wants him to go.
Warlord #97: I reviewed this issue here.
Superman Annual #11: This is the second Moore scripted Superman story this month, this one with art by Gibbons. It's certainly the more famous of the two, having been adapted to an episode in the first season of Justice League Unlimited, and being reprinted as soon as 1988 in Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told. Interestingly, like the DC Comics Presents story, it involves Superman being taken over by an alien, non-animal organism.
Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman arrive at the Fortress of Solitude for Superman's birthday to find the Man of Steel seemingly insensate with an alien plant attached to his chest. This is the work of Mongul, who steps up to explain that the plant can psychically project a person's heart's desire, trapping them in a dream. While Wonder Woman fights Mongul, Batman and Robin try to remove the plant. Meanwhile, Superman experiences a world where Krypton survived, and he has a wife and child there.
With help from his friend's and his own force of will, Superman escapes the dream, though losing his son is emotional wrenching. Batman is briefly caught in his own dreamworld, but Robin saves the day, throwing the plant on Mongul before the alien can defeat Superman in a fight.
Who's Who #7: We finish off the D's here with a number of characters that haven't appeared a lot. Dr. Regulus last appeared in 1982 in Legion of Super-Heroes #286, while Dr. Psycho appeared in an arc in'82, but last showed up in Wonder Woman #325 earlier in '85. Dr. Thirteen had a run in Ghosts in 1981 and was last seen in a bit part in Batman #354 in '82. The others are more obscure, except for Dolphin who gets a sultry illustration by Dave Stevens and did appear as one of the Forgotten Heroes.
Then, we're into the E's. There are bit players from now-ended titles: Earthworm from the never-satisfactorily solved storyline in the Huntress backup stories, and Eradicator from Supergirl. Then, Easy Company gets a 2-page spread by Kubert. The Eclipso entry has art by Gibbons, presumably because he drew him recently in Green Lantern. Elongated Man shows up in a costume he hadn't yet worn in the comics ny Infantino. With end the issue with two F's, one of which is Fastback from the Zoo Crew.
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