Wednesday Comics: Gift Suggestions 2025

 Looking for a gift for a comic book fan you know (even if that fan is yourself)? Here are my recommendations for you to consider.

Absolute Martian Manhunter vol 1: Martian Vision

In the only one of the Absolute books that really caught me interest, Martian Manhunter is re-envisioned as a sort of memetic lifeform that invades the mind of FBI agent John Jones in a psychedelic story about alien invasion and family, among other things, by Camp and Rodriquez. This is, unfortunately, only the first 6 issues of the series, so not a complete story, but worth it, if only for Rodriquez's artwork.

Avengers: The Veracity Trap

I reviewed this gorgeous volume by Kidd and Cho here. The Avengers brawl with a host of Kirby-style Marvel monsters, courtesy of Loki, but soon develops in an even more metatextual direction as Thor pursues Loki outside the realm of the comic. The Avengers soon must come to terms with the sense-shattering reality of their existence and the fictional counterparts of Kidd and Cho finding the story becoming all too real!

Bug Wars Book One: Lost in the Yard

Teenager Slade Slaymaker, son of an entomologist who died under mysterious circumstances, finds himself shrunk and thrown in among warring tribes of diminutive insect-riding humanoids having epic battles in his unkept backyard!

Ad copy calls this "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Conan," but I feel like Aaron and Asrar are fulfilling the promise of Sword of Atom or the Hulk stories set in Jarella's world in a gritter, modern way. The thought but into the various cultures of the yard is one of my favorite parts.

Drome

This one has got a fair amount of buzz online, and I think with good reason. Check out my review here. Lonergan weaves a creation myth in a world part Kirby's New Gods and part Metal Hurlant in a unique style.

Hobtown Mystery Stories

The release of volume three "The Secret of the Saucer" just this week has given me the only excuse I need to put this series on the list again this year. Bertin and Forbes created a series that is sort of "Twin Peaks meets the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew" as teens in a small, coastal Canadian town uncover weirdness.

Marvel Age of Comics

I wrote about the Mighty Avengers volume in this series here. It's the only one I've read so far of these 33 1⁄3 explorations of Marvel history, but it got me interested in reading more.

The Seasons Vol. 1

Young Spring Seasons is the last hope to save her sisters and parents from the grip of sinister carnival that invades their home town. This series by Remender, Alzaceta and Lopez has been called a "dark fairytale" and "whimsical horror," which seem apt descriptors. Remender has said The Adventures of Tintin and the works of Miyazaki were inspirations, which I can also see, particularly the former as it seems a very "European style" comic to me

Clerics vs. Posthumans

Technology vs. magic, sometimes even to the point of a war, in a feature of a number of fantasy works, though I'm not aware of a published D&D setting that features it. 

Some science fiction settings have cultural/religious limits on technology, either as one facet of the setting or as a means for the author to keep technology in check to tell the sort of story they want to tell. Dune is the primary example, but there are series like the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio that follow its lead, and other settings that make it a feature. A more recent variant is a group or culture that rejects the rapid changes associated with things like cybertechnology and brain uploading. This shows up in Stross' Accelerando.

I think it would be interesting to sort of combine these concepts. Have the action take place within a fantasy world (perhaps a fairly standard one, or maybe a Spelljammer-ish system), but the demons, devils, and other Outsiders trying to get in and corrupt the world (at least from the perspective of the world's clerics and leaders who consuder them anathema) are actually posthuman intelligences that utilize technology, not magic. Presumably, "magic" (whatever it is) was what allowed these simple, unenhanced humanoids to hold on in a universe of much more powerful sophonts. The Outer Planes (as they view) them are really just planets, habitats or networks.

Of course, whether the Outsiders are really baddies would depend on the specifics of the setting--or maybe even be open to interpretation?

Challenge on the Moon

 Our 5e Land of Azurth game continued last Sunday with the party trying to get to the Bright Rabbit Goddess of the Moon to ask her for a particular jewel that might be the key to saving Azurth's princesses from the petrification the evil Wizard had put on them. 

After several weird encounters in the fae lunar gardens, the party encountered one of the Rabbit Folk working in a fissure in the Moon's surface on the vast gearworks beneath.  He told them the gears controlled the movement of the gigantic, black tarpaulin that was drawn across the Moon's surface, causing its phases as observed from Earth, so that the lunar folk could have some privacy.

 He tells them that reaching the primary garden and the Goddess requires not thinking about going there. Sort of unfocus your eyes, he says, and the path will become clear. Only two of the party are able to accomplish this, but they can lead the other members on. 

They are greeted by a major domo in a ruff collar and fancy dress who listens to their concerns and puts their names on a list to see the Goddess. Then he ushers them off to one of the few empty tables in the expansive, side garden to wait.

Trying to figure out a way to get in sooner, they strike up a conversation with a young woman who claims to be from Mercury. She offers them a letter of introduction from the Empire of Mercury, which they accept but are too wary to use. 

They decide to ask the major domo if there might be some sort of inducement they could provide to get in sooner. He happily tells them that the Moon is mad for the more advanced gadgetry of Earth. They give him a stopped pocket watch (right twice a day!) that used to belong to the young Roderick Drue, who eventually became the Wizard. Or some version of him did, anyway.

They are whisked in to see the Goddess who is sympathetic to their plight. Unfortunately, she just granted the sapphire to a Faceless Collector from the Outer Worlds. Maybe they can convince him to give it to them?

The Collector, a cool, emotionless humanoid with knowledge of time, says he will give it them if they can defeat him and his servitor in combat...

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1985 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on November 22, 1984.

America vs. the Justice Society #2: The Thomases and Blair/Alcala start the Justice Society hearing, and it's mostly a recitation of old stories likely harmonized into a (more) cohesive continuity, but without knowing the old stories like Thomas does, it's hard to tell. It does highlight the absurdity of this sort of story where the members of Congress are forced to take the word (or not) of masked individuals regarding time travel, magic, and ghosts. In fact, the Spectre crashes the hearing to offer his old friends sanctuary on another world, and to sort of threaten their accusers. Wonder Woman also does some threatening when they impugn her honesty. 

The first round goes pretty good for the JSA despite that, but there's someone in the background out to get them for the death of his father, and he's got the Wizard set to testify.

V #1: Bates and Infantino/DeZuniga get tapped for the comics tie-in with the series follow-up to the successful TV mini-series. The series premiered on October 26, 1984, so the comic was hot on its heels. I watched some of it, I know, but I don't remember much about the regular series. The comic, with the human rebels fighting a resistance against the Visitors, strikes me as pretty similar to what the series was probably like, though it has a higher special effects budget, as I don't think the Visitors had soldiers with jetpacks on TV. The art really looks like DeZuniga drew it from Infantino breakdowns; his inks hide most of the Infantino-ness, besides poses of the characters maybe.

Action Comics #564: Kupperberg and Saviuk bring back that now obscure but common in the early 80s villain, the Master Jailer. He's got a device from the Monitor that induces amnesia in Superman, making him believe he's a warehouse worker named Mike Benson. The Monitor warns the Jailer that the amnesia may be broken if Superman encounters things that remind him of his real life in the next 48 hours. While Master Jailer commits crimes wearing Superman's costume as armor under his outfit, Mike Benson goes about his day, accidentally avoiding things that would trigger his memories, until he's asked to don a Superman costume for a children's benefit. Superman recovers his memories and captures the Jailer.

In the second story by Boatner and Bender/Hunt, Superman is in Philadelphia and attacked by an other-dimensional slaver (of a species that looks like humanoid geese) searching for his escaped slave on Earth. Superman helps the escapee, who was drawn to Earth after learning of the Underground Railroad, defeat his pursuer, and hopes Earth can become a stop on an interdimensional Underground Railroad. 

Arion Lord of Atlantis #28: Kupperberg and Sherman-Tereno have Arion find a scroll that he thinks might allow him to restore his magic. When he performs the ritual the magical being it summons seeks to trick him, and Arion's life is only saved by the intervention of a kid. In the end, though, Arion does get some magic again.

In the conclusion to the Lady Chian backup, she defends the young girl Lyla from the father the has fled, who intends to give her over to slavery. Chian is reminded of her own childhood in which her own father gave her up as a ritual offering to a warlord. Chian wins the fight, with the girl's father and her own past, and chooses not to kill the man but leaves with the girl.

All-Star Squadron #42: Thomas and Jones/Collins continue the story from last issue. The now-conscious Starman recounts how, the night before, he had an encounter with Japanese planes over the coast that were able to turn invisible. Soon, the All-Stars headquarters is invaded by Prince Daka and his and his invisible minions, Sumo, Tsunami and Kung, who were on those planes. The All-Stars present are defeated, and Daka claims Starman's cosmic rod.

Detective Comics #547: Moench and Broderick/Janson continue the Night-Slayer Batman story. While Bruce Wayne in the Night-Slayer outfit sits on top of a building and makes a pyramid from pebbles, Anton Knight as Batman is on a crime spree. Mayor Hill, who has been trying to frame Batman for attacking him, views Batman committing real crimes as some kind of trap, so he sends his goons to investigate. The blind woman Knight had stayed with finds his buried loot and realizes he wasn't tht real Batman. Robin and Nocturna set out to find Bruce but run into Anton Knight, who Nocturna wounds with a throwing star, but he escapes.

The fake Batman then meets accidentally with the tailor who provided Mayor Hill with the fake bat-glove for his framing attempt. After the encounter, the man starts thinking maybe Hill might be right about Batman. While he's contemplating this, he encounters the "Night-Slayer" who gives him a helping hand. 

Jonah Hex #89: While Jonah is recovering from getting shot by Emmy Lou at the stern Mrs. Crowley's boarding house, the amnesiac Adrian Sterling continues to serve drinks under the name of Temple Starr, and Emmy Lou is still with the outlaw gang, believing she killed Jonah.

Hex has got further problems, because Jeremy Ashford, the son of the Gray Ghost, has just located him, having vowed to fulfill an oath to his father to kill the bounty hunter. The young Ashford begins to have second thoughts have Hex saves his life. He confronts Hex, revealing his identity, but Jonah convinces the boy that murder isn't in his nature. Ashford seems to agree, leaving Hex alive but choosing to commit suicide.

There's a house ad in the letter column proclaiming "Jonah Hex's new horse" showing Hex riding a motorcycle. It's "coming in June."

Spanner's Galaxy #3: This issue, Spanner and his sidekick Gadj arrive on the swampy planet of New Okeefenokee, where a family of researchers are under frequent assault by the native Okees, who have mysteriously turned aggressive recently. Spanner's arrival is the catalyst that allows secrets to be revealed: the daughter of the researchers is actually a native orphan the couple adopted and were using drugs and technology to make appear human with the hope of taking her off world. An Okee ritual reveals the truth, and the daughter chooses to stay with her people but promises to keep in contact with her adoptive parents.

Sun Devils #8: Rik and Annie fight Khun’s prime assassin, Draken, amid the wreckage of their ship. The fight ends with Rik's helmet shattered. Meanwhile, the rest of the team discuss the evidence of a traitor amongst them, before we get a better more of Scylla's backstory, and she and Shikon head out on a mission to retrieve the neutronium they need for the superweapon.

Supergirl Movie Special #1: Cavalieri and Morrow adapt the not well-received movie. We get a José Luis García-López cover which is pretty cool. Though, not of course, in continuity, this winds up being the last appearance of Supergirl before the pages of Crisis. 

Tales of the Legion #320: Levitz plots here with Newell on script and Jurgens/Kesel on art. A master thief called Magpie penetrates the Legion's headquarters to steal some valuable items on behalf of the Monitor--or so he believes. The Monitor has really engaged him in the service of Universo. Magpie is stopped by Dream Girl and Sun Boy. Meanwhile, Colossal Boy, his wife, and Gigi Cusimano, conspired to teach the womanizing Sun Boy a lesson.

World's Finest Comics #312: Cavalieri and Woch/Alcala introduce the previously teased Network. During the opening of a new disco in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is there as the guest of Lilane Stern (and smoking a pipe, which I haven't seen him do in decades), and Clark Kent is reporting on the event, because apparently new clubs in Gotham are newsworthy in Metropolis. The place is attacked by the Network, a group of super-villains who each have a TV or radio related schtick. Despite the intervention of Superman and Batman, the villains warp out the discotheque into another dimension using their combined powers.

While Superman investigates this "white noise" dimension, Batman goes to the record company that had previously employed this group. During his investigation, Batman finds that the Network is blackmailing the president of the company before the Network sends him to the white noise dimension.

Weird Revisited: The Androids' Dungeon

The original version of this post appeared in February of 2014, inspired by "Bit Rot," a short story by Charles Stross.

Neptune's Brood and related works by Charles Stross take place in a posthuman future where the civilization of humankind's android/bioroid creations has spread out into the stars. These androids can look and act pretty much human--including eating and excreting biological material. The difference is that they are made of mechanocytes instead of biological cells that must "learn" to form organs and "tissue" types, and their brains have soulchip backups they can be placed into a new body if their old ones are destroyed. Interestingly, priests (like those of the Church of the Fragile, who seek to disseminate old style "fragile" humanity in the galaxy) have "powers." Special structures and training that allow them to control the mechanocytes of others to heal or alter forms.

All of this sounded like a good way to in-setting rationalize traditional dungeoneering rpg tropes, if you're into that sort of thing. Imagine a future where humankind is extinct and its android descendants live in a pseudo-medieval society--except for things like soulchips (or something of that nature) and clerical healing. The androids (who would just think of themselves as "people," of course) would go down into the underground ruins of old humanity (who they probably wouldn't realize were any different than themselves) to wrest treasures from less socialized posthuman intelligences, i.e. monsters.
What would be the point? Well, it would be an interesting mystery to add in the background of a science fantasy sort of campaign (like a variant Anomalous Subsurface Environment, maybe). Also, the increased durability and easy resurrection of posthumans would explain some things about how D&D works as written but it could also be used to ramp up the carnage (and probably the black humor). Death wouldn't necessarily mean starting with a new character most of the time, it would just mean starting with the same character, poorer than before or owing a debt to somebody.

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1985 (week 3)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on November 15, 1984.

There's a guest "Meanwhile..." in some of these issues by Fabian Nicieza, presumably just a fan at this point, talking about how comics of the day were pushing what some would consider the boundaries of content for kids' books, but that's not bad.

Conqueror of the Barren Earth #1: Cohn and Randall pick up where the Warlord backups left off. Jinal and crew have just been denied help by the mysterious people of the floating city of D'roz. They return to the city of the humans on the surface, only to find it has been burned and its people either killed or carried off by Zhengla Koraz, a biracial conqueror who has created an alliance of subjugated tribes for conquest. The group infiltrates the raiders' camp to get their people back, but Jinal herself is captured and brought to Zhengla, a veritable giant. 

Meanwhile, the space-dwelling humans decide to send a mission to determine what happened to Jinal and her original expedition. Her mentor decides to lead it herself.

Batman and the Outsiders #18: The Barr/Aparo continue the teams adventures in ancient Egypt. They are faced with the task of stopping one of their own, Metamorpho from overthrowing Ramses VII and changing history. The key to doing just that comes when Sapphire Stagg remembers that Rex had adminstered to himself a painkiller or anesthetic (Barr doesn't seem to differentiate between the two) which may have prevented him from coming under Ahk-Ton's control when he was first transformed. Batman improbably sets in a motion a plan that tricks Metamorpho into transforming into an anesthetic gas, and thus freeing himself from the evil priest's control.  Ahk-Ton defeated, he Outsiders are transported back home, where Rex learns from Dr. Jace that his transformation has become permanent. Stuck as Metamorpho he's convinced he has no future, but Sapphire proposes to him, and they agree to marry.

Meanwhile, Halo is still having a tough time at school due to her past. Also, Denise, one of Geo-Force's classmates, is harassed by a professor who wants sexual favors in exchange for her continuing to get her scholarship. She refuses, and he follows through on his threat, so she takes an overdose to commit suicide.

Blue Devil #9: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon/Martin finish the Midnight Run-four-years-before-Midnight Run storyline. Bolt comes after Cassiday and the Trickster again, and this time the fight gets to the shadow organization that's after Trickster. It turns out that they are just three scientists with a crazy plan to make California fly off into the sky, but they need the Trickster's air walker shoe technology to do it. They've just been making their organization look larger and more powerful with goons provided by the Monitor (so, no cameo here, but a mention!), With a shoe by Bolt, the scientists construct a giant shoe which manages to lift their facility and the surrounding land, but not for long. The hunk of land falls but without the other shoe (to make them drop), the scientist will keep rising forever, Blue Devil plays hero and rescues everyone. So far, Blue Devil remains a run title and if we can't have Cullins, Colon is a reasonable substitute.

Green Lantern #185: Stewart has dinner with the reporter Tawny Young, but after reviewing his backstory for the reader, he declines to share it with the reporter, who throws her pasta at him and leaves.

Meanwhile, Bruce Gordon gets a call demanding the new jet and it turns out to be from Eclipso. Rich, feeling this is his last chance with his heart condition, hits Jordan over the head and takes the test flight in his place. Ferris Aircraft loses communication with him, as he is captured by Eclipso.

Infinity, Inc. #12: Two artists on this one, with a section by Tuska and the recently (in 1984) deceased Newton. In the wake of the conflict with the Ultra-Humanite, the Star-Spangled Kid recalls how he recently renewed his acquaintance with his old partner Stripesy and helped him fight a gang of crooks holding Stripesy's son hostage. He expects the young heroes will be asked to join the JSA now, with them having proved themselves, but the group tells him they want to remain Infinity, Inc.

Legion of Super-Heroes #7: Levitz and Lightle/DeCarlo bring the five lost Legionnaires to a planet which is being torn apart to manufacture a Sun-Eater, apparently at the direction of a Controller. Lightning Lass officially rejoins the Legion, and has a confrontation with Timber Wolf, confirming that their relationship is offer after she feels he put the Legion ahead of her.

New Talent Showcase #14: The superhero stuff (or at least focus on superhuman characters) seems pretty much here to stay, though there is one humorous short here by Graham Nolan about an artist dealing with a stereotypical, annoying comics fan. There's also a science fiction piece by Simpson and Clark about a future justice system where a single citizen sits in judgement over the criminal, they killed his wife and chooses to force the man to live with the guilty of his actions rather than execute him.

Dooley and Woch open the issue with a middled-aged, suburban under-achiever who is offered super-powers, but rejects them to be himself rather than a hero. The longest story is the Clarke/Saltares Roosevelt Project, which seems like a graphic piece for a TV pilot. A young man being raised in a lab discovers he's an artificial being and escapes in a quest to find his own place in the world.

Saga of Swamp Thing #31: Moore and Randall do something clever with what is substantially a reprint issue. The use of a frame to make a repeat of an old story a part of the current storyline isn't new (Green Lantern did it just a few months ago), but Moore uses it to give the storyline a new direction, not just catch the reader up on something they may not know. Now that I think about it, Moore made good use of old stories in Marvelman at times, too. Anyway, Abbie dreams and meets Caine and Abel (revisions that will be integral to Sandman) who reveal to her there have been swamp things before, guardians created by the Earth.

Sgt. Rock #397: In the main story, Rock and Easy are taking a brief rest, and Rock recalls or dreams himself the eternal sergeant, appearing in that role in ancient Rome and in the armies of Ivan Grozny, opposing the Teutonic Knights. The second features the second DC work of Jim Balent as writer and artist as he weaves a tale of competing ninja in feudal Japan.

Warlord #90: I reviewed this issue here.

Back from the West

I spent much of last week in San Francisco for a conference. It's a city I've also enjoyed visiting, though I haven't been there very often.

Anyway, it reminded me of my old post from 2011 on the San Francisco analog in the world of Weird Adventures, San Tiburon.