Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on August 23, 1984.

Fury of Firestorm Annual #2: Conway and Arthur Byron Cover do one of those occasional illustrated text piece stories that I almost always find dull (which is the case here). The art by Kayanan and Colon doesn't seem up to their usual standards, so maybe it bored them too? Anyway, Ronnie plays poorly at a game and worries about letting the team down at the next one because he's hallucinating villains all over the place. To make matters worse, some weird alien, exiled by the Guardians of the Universe, has crashed on earth and decides to use Firestorm as a living power plant to get him into space again. The alien is thwarted, and Ronnie shoots the winning buzzer-beater, redeeming himself. The source of the hallucinations turns out to be the emerging psychic powers of the student manager of the team. The story has real Spider-Man vibes, but of the sort of Spider-Man story you might see in other media. 

Action Comics #561: Despite a cover by Barreto promising something with more, well--action, Kupperberg and Schaffenberger /Jensen provide a silly and mostly stakes-free story of the Toyman setting up a fake quiz show so he can trick a childhood rival into revealing what happened to the very first toy the villain made. The second story by Bridwell and Boring is marginally better with a red kryptonite exposure splitting two Supermen from Clark Kent: one, a Superman of the future with "future powers" and an eight-year-old Superboy from 1963. 

It's not like there haven't been stories done in a more modern storytelling vein or arcs with truly dangerous villains, but we keep coming back to this sort of continuity-free, low action material like it's still the Silver Age. I suspect the blame lies with Schwartz in the editor's seat.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #25: Kupperberg and Sherman-Tereno/Rodriquez open with Arion lost in the Darkworld with no way home after the defeat of Garn Danuuth. Guided by his father, he begins searching through the everchanging landscape for the Nexus, the one place where he might escape. He encounters some alien beings likewise trapped, and they become traveling companions for a time, but they encounter only violence and hardship. Eventually, Arion finds himself at the Nexus. Its elderly guardian demands Arion fight him to the death. Only one of them may leave Darkworld. Arion rejects all the violence and refuses to fight the old man. In being willing to be sacrificed, he frees both himself and the old alien, and they return home.

While the solution to Arion's conundrum was fairly obvious, I thought, this sojourn into Darkworld was a nice change of pace. 

All-Star Squadron #38: I owned this issue as a kid. Any new hero appearance was interesting to me, and I was unaware of Amazing Man prior to this. Thomas and Hoberg/Collins follow-up the events of last issue as a group of All-Stars arrive in Detroit to find Amazing Man. They encounter more racism than they expected and a Phantom Empire (Klan stand-in) rally attempting to drum up support for stopping black migrants to the city from getting housing. In a clash, Amazing Man is defeated by the masked Real American, who is somehow able to drain his powers. Trying to serve the law rather than justice, the All-Stars are spurned by both sides in the conflict. Meanwhile, in Washington, Green Lantern and Hawkman fail to persuade President Roosevelt to lend a hand, so they decide to fly off to aid their comrades.

Detective Comics #544: Nocturna is forced to attack the Thief of Night to save Batman's life, but the Thief gets away. She reveals she knows Batman's secret identity and again suggests they marry and be parents to Jason. Otherwise, she'll keep his secret, but she will still compete with Bruce for custody. Batman is so enchanted by her that he just has to get away rather than give an answer. The trail of the Thief is a dead end, but Batman has better luck pressuring the recently released hitman that tried to kill Bullock. The assassin reveals he's a member of Fang's crew doing the bidding of Mayor Hill. Convinced Hill is also responsible for Bruce's legal troubles, Batman vows to take the Mayor down. Meanwhile, Nocturna turns up the charm on Jason, too.

Omega Men Annual #1: Moench again leans into his very science fantasy interpretation of the Omega Men, as he and Niño/Smith revisit the situation with Harpis' missing wings. They fly through space (telekinetically, not by flapping, if that matters) chased by Hokum and the Citadel and Harpis. The other Omega Men are chasing after her. They come to the planet Sindromeda where a long-ago accident has created a hellworld and a psychically empowered monster. Confronting her on past, and with the help of a balloon-like grafalloon, Harpis reclaims her wings, but refuses to kill the creature that had usurped them. Whether this controversial-among-her-fellows decision leads to good or ill in the future is purposely left unrevealed.

Sun Devils #5: Rik and Anomie are not quite as dead as it appeared last issue, but they are still being attacked by a relentless sauroid warrior. Their friends eventually come to the rescue but not before we get some of Scylla's backstory--and the revelation that there's a traitor among the Sun Devils. The rescue may be too late, though, as Anomie returns to consciousness to see Rik floating away into space, the helmet of his spacesuit shattered.

Super Powers #5: Kirby takes the reigns for this final issue, and the art gets a bit better, but unfortunately Theakston's inks smother a lot of Kirby's detail, so it doesn't look all that great. Despite the failures of Darkseid's emissaries, his invasion of Earth commences, but Metron joins in on the side of the heroes. The seed of Apokolips' armies defeat are in the powers given to Earth's villains. Anyway, I guess this helped sell toys. It was also probably a lot of kids' first introduction to Kirby.

Tales of the Legion #316: Newell works from a plot by Levitz/Giffen as Wildfire finds himself again in the Dream Dimension with the two Invisible Kids. Invisible Kid II has figured something out about these strange evens and reveals that Lyle Norg is actually a demon looking to trap them. The two manage to trick the creature and escape.

In the backup by Levitz/Newell and Tuska/Kesel, the other Heroes of Lallor conspire to help Duplicate Boy regain his confidence and his powers as he mops over Shrinking Violet dumping him.

World's Finest Comics #309: Busiek and a journeyman Texiera with inks by Alcala have Superman made the trustee of wealthy businessman Raymond Arnau's estate. Since Arnau appears to have been murdered, the selection of Superman seems particular significant, so he asks Batman to help him investigate. After some investigative work, the two heroes discover that Arnau's former partner Crane is wearing a powered suit and running a criminal operation as Quantum--and he murdered Arnau when he found out. As seems to happen a lot these days, Quantum's suit is able to emit Kryptonite radiation, but Batman is able to take out the villain while he's gloating. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1984 (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 August 16, 1984.

Legion of Super-Heroes #4: The plan of the Legion of Super-Villains is revealed as they cause Orando to be transported to another universe.  While the Legionnaires back in the main universe are at a loss, Light Lass escapes, regaining her lightning powers once more, and frees her captured comrades. In a life-or-death combat with Nemesis Kid, Karate Kid is pushed to his limited, but assistance from Projectra allows him to destroy the villain's plant-moving device, returning Orando to the mainstream universe--but at the cost of his life. Intense action from Levitz/Giffen and Lightle/Mahlstedt!

Batman and the Outsiders #15: Von Eeden steps in for art duties as Batman and the Outsiders are challenged to a duel against Maxie Zeus and his New Olympians during the 1984 Summer Olympics. Each of the Outsiders is paired off against a different New Olympian for a specified contest, but ultimately it turns to one-on-on combat where the Outsiders are victorious. In the meantime, Batman learns what Maxie is after: all this was so Zeus could provide his daughter, Medea, with a mother figure. He just intended to do it by kidnapping an Olympic athlete. When the truth is revealed, Lacinia agrees to take care of Medea, and Zeus is willingly taken to the authorities.

Blue Devil #6: This is done-in-one that keeps up the humorous tone but doesn't really deal with the ongoing story elements, other than Dan Cassidy getting used to his condition. On the planet Maldor, two ne'er-do-well aliens, Jorji and Lehni (get it?), are running from the robot cops and accidentally go through a transport portal to Earth. There, they mistake Blue Devil for a cop, and get into a brawl at a studio party, until the robot cops arrive and they have to join forces. The Cullins/Colon pairing on art for some reason doesn't work as well in the first few pages, but mid-issue they hit their stride.

Green Lantern #182: In the wake of Hal's resignation from the Corps, he visits the grave of Abin Sur (providing a chance to recap his origin). Meanwhile, the Guardians have no choice but to select a new Green Lantern. It's just in time, too, because Major Disaster attacks a dam, demanding a rematch with Green Lantern. He's angered and confused, and Hal is shocked, when John Stewart arrives as Earth's new protector.

In the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup by Cavalieri and Kevin O'Neil we go to the planet Grenda, where Yron is critical of the planet's fallen Green Lantern, Stel, and when the Krydos invade, also its new protector from another world. Yron thinks he could do it better, so he attacks the Lantern and demands the guy take him to Oa. Surprisingly, Yron's tactics work, and soon he's a new Green Lantern! However, when it uses his power in an attempt to save his people, he winds up harming them. This story is really made interesting by O'Neil's art that brings a 2000AD vibe to it.

Infinity, Inc. #8: We're still seeing everything the JSA members gone ruthless are doing, and the Infinitors and other Society members being unable to stop them. Green Lantern takes over the world's broadcasting airways. The Atom fights Nuklon at a nuclear reactor, and the kid loses and is apparently killed. Wonder Woman slaps around her own offspring as well as Hawkman's son before taking Steve Trevor to Paradise Island to save his life. Meanwhile, Dr. Mid-Nite and Shiera Hall search for the Ultra-Humanite, and Ultra makes a call to the Monitor.

New Talent Showcase #11: Well, there are fewer superhero stories this issue and some early (and amateurish) work by some artists that will be well known in a few years. The first of those is Tom Grindberg who is with Newell on a story of a disabled Native American(ish) boy who overcomes his disability and the prejudice of his tribe to become a great warrior after he befriends the horse of his dreams (literally): a black beauty he names Night Mare. 

The next story is a very 80s tale of a low intellectual functioning Vietnam vet who snaps and goes on a rampage after an ambitious journalist wrongly accuses him of having killed a child. It's got art by Breyfogle, but he hasn't developed his distinctive style yet. Then there's a comedic (I guess) detective piece by Timmons and Schwartz that I couldn't get into enough to tell you what happened. There's Nick O'Tyme (again). Finally, we get the follow-up to last issue's superhero story "Still Only Human," which is just as amateurish as last installment. 

Saga of Swamp Thing #30: Moore and Bissette/Alcala continue a slow build with Arcane taking time to explain to Abbie how he came to be in possession of Matt's body and Matt's reality manipulation power. Then he taunts the Swamp Thing and leads him to Abbie--who is now dead.

The most interesting thing about this story is how tied to the DCU it is. The Monitor makes an appearance. Arcane's magical power level is compared to that of the Spectre or Trigon. The Joker even gets a cameo. 

Sgt. Rock #394: In the main story, Rock and Easy get through a remarkable day without anybody dying, including any of the Germans they are in conflict with, despite Worry Wort being sure his number is up. The other stories are a short about pilot who is convinced he's got gremlins, and a tale set in ancient Rome where a group of rebellious gladiators see how a cruel Emperor likes risk his life in the arena in front of a fickle crowd.

Warlord #87: I reviewed the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and friends face difficulties taking the captured Qlov back to the Sky City when they are pursued by a Qlov vessel. They are rescued by the timely arrival of the flying city of D'roz.

Thriller #12: DuBay/Niño sort of rally here at the end, I think, as things wrap up better than I might have expected from the last couple of issues. Or Dubay does. I don't know what's going on with Niño's art here, but it is just not up to his usual standards. Anyway, Lusk and friends are provoking a nuclear war to actually bring about the enlightenment of humankind and Angie seems to be helping them. There's a race against time element as the Seven Seconds work to stop things--and appear to make the bad decision to launch the U.S.'s missiles. Only they don't, because Angie has a plan and has been working Lusk. As the story closes, everyone is hopeful for a world with nuclear disarmament. 

While it's easy to criticize this rump half of the series, the truth is the first half was kind of rough, too. Thriller was always better in conception than execution. Whether with time and a sympathetic editor it could have become something great or whether Fleming's and von Eeden's reach had exceeded their grasp, we'll never know.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics released the week of August 9, 1984. 

Batman #376: A misleading cover here by Hannigan/Giordano. Maybe it's meant to be symbolic? Natalia Knight (Nocturna) seems to be winning the custody battle for Jason, thanks to Bruce's lack of chill in the courtroom, and perhaps the influence of Mayor Hill on the proceedings. It doesn't help that Jason told the court he wants to live with Natalia, because he thinks she's up to something and wants to go undercover to stop her. As Batman, Bruce is drawn to Nocturna, particularly given her intoxicant perfume, but are interrupted briefly by Anton the Slayer of Night who's even more jealous now that Nocturna has rejected him for committing murder and despoiling the night. Dangeorus interruptions aside, the two finally get their kiss.

Arak, Son of Thunder #38: Valda and Malagigi arrive in Baghdad at the court of Harun Al-Rashid as emissaries of Charlemagne, but don't find it as an enlightened a place as they had thought. While touring the dungeons (as one does) with Vizier Barmak they find Arak under torture. They free him and he explains how he and his companions were captued by Barmak in the desert. Sharizad is in the harem, Alsind is toiling as an alchemist, and Satyricus is in the menagerie. Alsind causes an explosion and escapes, and discovers Satyricus amid strange animals.

Flash #339: Bates and Infantino/McLaughlin plod along with the Trial of the Flash storyline, as Cecile interviews Barry's parents about the events at the wedding, then gets down to jury selection. Meanwhile, the Rogues contrive to make normally gentle Dufus, now armored up as Big Sir, enraged at the Flash. Big Sir attacks with ferocity, knocking out the Flash and flying off with him. The Monitor watches all of this only mild interest. 

G.I. Combat #271: In the Haunted Tank story, Craig is seriously injured on his birthday no less, but the crew are detoured from an attempt to get him to a doctor by the need to help Rock and Easy Company. Ultimately, a captured German physician renders aid and a German soldier with the same blood type agrees to give a blood transfusion.

 In the next story, Kashdan and Tlaloc gives the history of a particular bugle that plays its unlikely "Last Charge" atop a windmill in World War II. Then, Kashdan and Matucenio have a quick-thinking medic leave a map to Japanese tunnels on the back of another soldier in iodine before they are killed. Drake and Felugi have a paratrooper in France find a momento of his father than died in World War I. Finally, the Mercenaries head into the desert of Iran to take on a fanatical terrorist cult.

Jemm, Son of Saturn #3: Potter and Colan/Janson leave Jemm and friends in the sewer so we can get a flashback to Jemm's origin. We learn of the conflict between the polar White Saturnians and the desert-dwelling Red Saturnians and their fight over the only fertile region on the planet. Jemm is a prince of that verdant kingdom, educated in the ways of peace, and believed to be a ruler destined to bring complete peace to his world. Things don't go well though, and he has to flee, but after both races are almost completely wiped out. The robots of the White Martians continue to pursue him. Meanwhile, the government, considering the origins of the spacecraft, consults with an expert on extraterrestrials: Superman.

It's interesting that in 1984 the series goes all-in on a Saturn both with a rocky surface and life-bearing. I understand they hadn't yet retconned the Martian Manhunter's Mars, but that still requires less suspension of disbelief at that point than Saturn. Plus, Potter just replicates the ethnic conflict of DC's Mars to a new planet.

Omega Men #20: Moench and Smith/Magyar finally get Lobo to the asteroid to rescue the Omega Men before the force from Euphorix can destroy it. Tigorr and Primus are gone through a teleporter, though, and in the hands of a Psion who plans to vivisect them. They escape and trap the Psion is his own duplicator device. Lobo and the others figure out where they must be and pick them up to. I haven't mentioned it before, but there have been references to Lobo being the last Velorpian and the duplication process was derived from Velorpian reproduction. We get the story the destruction of his people at the hands of the Psions in this issue. His Czarnian background is a post-Crisis invention.

Star Trek #8: Barr and Sutton/Villagran continue their Saavik story, bridging her appearances in STII and STIII. In the grip of the pon farr blood fever, she threatens the Enterprise her attempt to take her shuttle to her betrothed, Xon. Xon is actually undercover, posing as a Romulan on a research facility near the Galactic Barrier. A Romulan scientist is trying to recreate the empowering of Mitchell and Dehner in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." They partially succeed, but then Saavik shows up with Enterprise close behind. They rescue Xon from interrogation and manage to destroy the Romulan base, then trick a Romulan warbird (which looks like the one in the original series episode "Balance of Terror" and not again).

Superman #401: Bates and SWan/Oksner revert to a more Superman: The Movie version of Luthor after the more vengeful version of recent appearances. They do keep the Lexorian warsuit, though. In fact, Luthor manages to trap Superman within the suit, adding features that make it difficult for the Man of Steel to use his powers to escape or to get help. Ultimately, though, he outsmarts Luthor by using heat vision to leave a Kryptonian message for Jimmy, and he contacts Supergirl, who uses a ruse to get Luthor to release her cousin. Later, however, Luthor muses to himself that the warsuit analyzed Superman's physical being and transmitted the information to him, which he intends to use against the Man of Steel in their next encounter.

Tales of the Teen Titans #48: A group of super-powered synthetic humanoids created in Dayton Laboratories, the RECOMbatants escape to the streets of Las Vegas, and the Titans are called in to help apprehend them. In the midst of their clash, the Titans realize the Recombatants just want to live normal lives and decide to help them. Ultimately, the synthetic beings realize their situation is hopeless and destroy themselves in a way that prevents the lab from making more like them. Meanwhile, back in New York, Gar Logan begins planning Donna Troy and Terry Long's wedding celebration at Dayton Estates, and Terry gets some off-color wedding presents from his students. After the Titans get back from Vegas, Joe Wilson again attempts unsuccessfully to reach out to Raven.

Wolfman and Rude/Gordon must have coordinated this issue with Evanier and Meugniot on Eclipse Comics' DNAgents. This issue with his stand-ins for that title's team comes about 3 weeks after the DNAgents faced a group of Titan stand-ins, Project Youngblood in DNAgents #14.

There's also a Flash Force 2000 bonus this issue by Fleming and Cowan/Trapani. It's based on a Matchbox toyline I didn't remember that DC did mini-comics for. It's about a post-apocalyptic yarn where both sides use vehicles with artificial intelligence.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1984 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands on the week of August 2, 1984. 

Blackhawk #273: Evanier and Spiegle take the Blackhawk's to Mechuoko Province, China, where they team-up with Wu Cheng aka Chop-Chop, to defeat a dragon-shaped war machine. In the aftermath, Chop-Chop rejoins the group. Unfortunately, as the cover announces, this is the last issue.

Evanier's editorial column tells an amusing story of him (as editor) firing himself (as writer), then the editor (him) and the artist (Spiegle) quit in protest. The real story, as he's since related in interviews, is that he and Spiegle had been frustrated by DC's lack of promotion and disinterest in the title, despite its not great but adequate sales. The book's cancellation more reflected it not fitting DC's vision than its performance. A limited series by DuBay and Infantino is announced here, but that never materialized, though pages of it have surfaced, according to the internet. I suspect it was a victim of Crisis. I liked the idea of this book, but it seemed run out of steam some time before the end finally came.

Atari Force #11: The cover by Hannigan/Giordano gives away the big reveal of the issue, but I guess the second page was going to give it away, anyway. Blackjack is taking orders from the Dark Destroyer to sabotage Scanner One. He succeeds before they realize what's going on. Dart confronts the betrayer and fights with him, defeating him before he can kill her. The Destroyer gloats he used Blackjack's fear of death as the key to controlling him. He also taunts Martin with the fact he's going to destroy the human race! Meanwhile, back on New Earth, Chris prepares to stand trial, while still trying to convince the powers that be of the danger they are in.

DC Comics Presents #75: Kupperberg and Mandrake have Arion transported into the future during a battle with Chaon. After the obligatory misunderstanding and brief fight, Arion crafts translation devices from hoop earrings, and he and Superman can effectively team-up. To thwart Chaon's plans before the lunar eclipse, they have to first travel to the ruins of the City of the Golden Gate beneath the ocean. Arion uses the power of the final crystal of Calculha to transport them to the Darkworld. They defeat the godling and Superman thrown back to his own time. As things return to normal, Arion is conveniently left with no memory of the future.

Fury of Firestorm #30: Cavalieri is scripter here again. That 2000 Committee just doesn't want to give up. Having been let down by the Monitor, it hires Breathtaker, who sends his agents after Firestorm. Mindboggler convinces the hero of the existence of a volcano in central park, causing him to act in ways that make him look dangerous and unstable to the public. However, a shadowy flunkie of Breathtaker's is angry he wasn't given a shot at the hero and goes rogue to prove his worth.

Justice League of America #232: I bought this issue by Busiek and Kupperberg off the stands, but I didn't remember much about it other than the splash page. The JLA and JSA are still tangling with the Commander, an alien entity who has possessed a scientist, Joshua Champion, and has attacked the Pentagon. Unfortunately, some of the heroes are now under the Commander's control, and the others have to stop them. We get the Commander's origin: He had been the ruler of his entire universe and now wields the psychic energy of every creature in that dimension. He was looking for new worlds to conquer and Champion offered that. Dr. Fate's magic plus the psychic powers of the combined Champion family manage to open a riff back to the Commander's native dimension. He's holding on to the rim, though, and they can't push him through.

Here we get a unique Monitor and Lyla cameo. The Commander is aware of the Monitor monitoring him--and that distracts him long enough that the heroes can force him through the riff. And that's that for the old Justice League in the pre-Crisis universe. The Detroit League takes over next issue.

Superman Annual #10: This is a weird story from Maggin and Swan/Anderson, that doesn't do its cover justice. In the wake of the creation of the universe, an object is formed that, over the ages, took on the shape of a sword with a stylized "S" symbol on its hilt. It becomes known throughout the universe as the Sword of Superman (why not, I guess?), ages before Superman appeared. In the present, King Kosmos (last seen in DCP Annual #2) has possessed the body of industrialist Oswald Mandias (get it?) and is turning the world against Superman. The only thing that can help Superman is the power of the sword.

New Teen Titans #3: Continuing from the last issue, things go from bad to worse. The Titans return from the devastated Azarath to Earth but find it in the grip of Trigon with Raven as his demonically transformed minion. They do wonder why Earth's other heroes aren't helping, lampshading a common convention of comics, before attacking the father and daughter at what used to be Titan's Tower, but is now a throne. Jericho is put into shock by an attempt to possess Raven, and the other Titans are thrown into individual nightmare realms, where they watch evil shadows of themselves hurt their loved ones or taunt them with failure.  On Earth, Lilith, and Arella see the Titans embedded in a stone column with expressions of despair.

Vigilante #12: Kane steps in to do art this issue and Wolfman gets more philosophical than usual about justice, vengeance, and the toll trying to find either can take. Adrain spends much of the issue, not sleeping haunting by the fact that the man he was got his family killed, and the man he is now got J.J. killed. He decides to take in some target practice but runs across a woman he thinks is fleeing attackers and helps her out. She turns out to be a rape victim turned Ms. 45 who executes the unarmed men in front of him, as he tries to get her to stop. Adrain ends the issue no more certain or less haunted than win he began it.

Wonder Woman #321: Mishkin and Heck continue to heap complications into the story arc. Eros shows up to save Wonder Woman from Dr. Cyber's death trap. He wants revenge against the villain, but she doesn't even know who he is. While they escape and keep Eros from killing Cyber, Steve reveals that Wonder Woman's memories have been tampered with by Hippolyta. When Wonder Woman and Steve ask Eros to explain his desire to kill Cyber, he tells them that he is the real Steve Trevor--and Cyber killed him. Meanwhile, an agent is pretending to be interested in Etta Candy, when he's actually trying to prove that she is Wonder Woman.

In the Huntress backup by Cavalieri and Whigham/Maygar, a handy mirror clues Helena into the therapist's murderous intent. She defeats her in a scuffle before the misogynist cop with the creepy intense interest in Huntress shows up. It turns out the therapist thought Huntress was there to apprehend her as she's one of Tarr's and Fether's (perhaps less than completely willing) accomplices. Where the dangling plot threads were going to go, we'll never know, because this is the last Huntress backup. The editorial promises a follow-up so where but as with so many of these sorts of promises in 1984, this doesn't come to pass.

Wednesday Comics: DC, October 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on July 26, 1984.

World's Finest Comics #308: The Hannigan/Janson cover here is a complete deception as no such scene occurs in the story. Busiek and Tuska/Alexander have Batman and Superman working in parallel, at first, until over dinner discussion, they realize the cases are related. A "ghetto genius" has synthesized a dangerous strong to sell and orchestrating a robbery from STAR Labs all so he can build a powered armor suit to destroy Columbia University, who snubbed his application. What's most interesting to me about this story as it suggests Gotham, Metropolis and New York are very close together. Bruce seems to go watching Clark on the news at home to meeting his friend on the WGBS set before Clark has finished the news cast. Then, then both fly to Columbia University with Superman holding Batman's arms.

Action Comics #560: The first story by Kupperberg and Saviuk/Hunt sees an escape criminal turning super-villain with the use of powered-up handcuffs as a weapon. Somehow, his power causes Superman to have bouts of amnesia, which complicates his capture. I won't reveal the cause of the amnesia on the unlikely chance you might read the story yourself, but really, it's skippable.

The second story is the standout, not because it's great in and of itself, but because it's obviously it's a stealth preview for the Ambush Bug limited series. While his costume has quite reached its final form, Giffen and Fleming's storytelling and scripting is definitely a preview of the almost-sketch comedy storytelling we'll get in that book, as Ambush Bug gets out of Arkham and sets up a detective agency in Metropolis.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #24:   Cara Sherman-Tereno is on art this issue. We pick up where the last issue left off, with Wyynde defeating Arion in the arena, but Garn choosing to spare his brother who he loves dearly. All of these mindgames go on until Arion, discovering Lady Chian is in a relationship with Garn loses his mind and rides out of the city. Or does he? Garn and his mother are certain of victory, but Arion has played a trick. He doubles back into the city and discovers what was obvious all along: this is all being done with magic. He confronts his brother who admits the truth. They fight in the Dark Dimension, and Garn is (again) seemingly defeated and trapped forever. I really hope that's at least closer to being true this time, because this title needs to do something different. 

All-Star Squadron #38: Thomas and Hoberg/Collins have Green Lantern and Hawkman bring their fellow All-Stars a newsreel of a race war in Detroit where the klansmen-esque Phantom Empire try and fail to set Amazing-Man on fire on a cross, Green Lantern says that they must help the black citizens of Detroit to move into their new housing project. Only Commander Steel does go along, as he's learned his old flame's husband is captive behind enemy lines, and he's promised to help.

Detective Comics #543: Moench and Colan/Alcala continue the Nightmare, Inc. story. Nightshade, still trying to impress Nocturna, plans a daring robbery of an event on an island amusement park. Nocturna is unconvinced and plans to find another man to support her expensive tastes. Noting the custody issue plaguing Bruce Wayne, so has her mark.

Nocturna's skepticism about Nightshade's plan proves prophetic as Batman and the police spoil the robbery. Nightshade is killed by Anton Knight, now the Night-Slayer, recently escaped from prison. 

With Mayor Hill trying to ensure Wayne doesn't get custody of Jason as revenge against Gordon, Nocturna has the opening she needs. She files adoption papers for Jason (presumably this is due to Hill-directed corruption.) She tells Bruce they should get married, so Jason has a mother and a father!

Sun Devils #4: In a Rogue One-ish outing, The Sun Devils embark on a daring mission to rescue the scientist responsible for building the Starbreaker super-weapon. We also get Myste's origin, which is tied to the scientist and his work. Unfortunately, he's being held in a facility full of traps--because thanks to a spy, Karvus Khun knows they are coming. The infiltration goes off well, but then the trap is sprung and Rik, Anomie, and Myste are caught in it.

Jonah Hex #87:  Fleisher is still spinning the plates of his various plot threads. Jonah's tired of the soft life in New Orleans as sets off for the trail again. Adrain refuses to go with him but then changes her mind and decides to go after him. The train Hex takes back West is wrecked by bandits with dynamite. Hex is forced to use all his tricks to take out the gang in the swamp near the wreckage. When he gets back to civilization and looks for work, he finds Emmy Lou's face on a wanted poster thanks to the robbery she was forced to participate in.

Super Powers #4: Kirby/Cavalieri and Gonzales/Kupperberg pick up where last issue left off. Green Lantern contains the Kryptonian caveman and finds that his power bubble cuts off the signal, causing Superman to return to normal. They decide to trace the signal to its source. Meanwhile, the Emissaries of Darkseid reveal their mission to conquer Earth and dismiss their former pawns, the Earth villains. Joker, at least, recognizes they've been played, and they should team up with the heroes. They arrive via boom tube on Brainiac's ship shortly before the heroes do. They are only able to to convince the angry heroes of their mutual foe as the ship arrives at Apokolips, and they are faced with their ultimate foes. The Emissaries use the power they once granted the villains, but working together the heroes and villains escape their traps to keep fighting.

Tales of the Legion #316: Levitz/Giffen and Shoemaker/Kesel have Cosmic Boy teaming up with the Legion Subs to tackle crime on Earth. They run into a bit of trouble as a smuggler traps them in a ship and sends them on a one-way trip into deep space. Cosmic Boy rallies the panicking Subs and they manage to escape in a shuttle to be picked up by the Legion Academy. The Levitz/Giffen portrayal of the Subs here is as much more competent than Giffen's treatment will be of them in stories he writes later.

In the backup by Levitz/Newell and Tuska/Kesel, the White Witch completes her story, we see her ultimate triumph over adversity to claim her mantle as both sorceress and Legion member.

Wednesday Comics: DC, October 1984 (week 3)

Inm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on July 19, 1984.

Justice League of America Annual #2: Well, here's the big change editorial has been teasing. In the wake of the Earth-Mars War and the destruction of the satellite, Aquaman officially disbands the JLA (his right as chair and the only founding member present, apparently) saying that the world deserves a more dedicated, full-time group of heroes. Having just had his wife leave him, he's willing to make that commitment, as are Elongated Man and Zatanna. Martian Manhunter also steps up and rejoins. Soon, new heroes Vixen and Steel volunteer. Steel even offers them a new base and training center--in Detroit. Shortly after the move they meet the empowered neighborhood youths, Vibe and Gypsy, and they are recruited for the team. The issue ends with the neighborhood throwing a street party in honor of their new neighbors.

This era of the League isn't well thought of, but I was there at the ground floor in 1984, having bought this issue off the stands. I wouldn't say I liked these characters better than the sort of Superfriends roster, but I did like getting to see a new team forming, and the fact that they would do this meant the title was actually going somewhere. Conway's obvious inspiration here seems to be the "Cap's Kooky Quartet" era of Avengers, but I don't think it works quite as well because some of the characters are a bit too "kooky" (Vibe and Gypsy). Beyond that though, I think was clearly an attempt to grab some of the energy of DC's successful Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes franchises (and X-Men): a close-knit group of often younger characters whose adventures involved a lot of character drama. In fact, the new character's here kind of fill similar niches to the new Titans in NTT: Cyborg (Steel) as the cybernetic hero with parental figure conflict, Starfire (Vixen) as the vivacious warrior woman, Gypsy (Raven) the mystery woman, and Changeling (Vibe) for comedy relief.

Batman and the Outsiders #14: The 1984 Summer Olympics will get under way in Los Angeles on July 28, so Barr and Willingham/Anderson give us a topical story. Maxie Zeus breaks out of Arkham with the goal of trying to make Olympic athlete Lacinia Nitocris his queen. He calls up the Monitor (that guy again!) to outfit his New Olympians. When Maxie and his crew interrupt the Olympic games, Batman and the Outsiders are on hand undercover to challenge them.

In the first part of the issue, we get a peak at the Outsiders in their private lives, which includes a brief bit of romcom where Halo and Geo-Force first interview with each other's dating lives before acting on their feelings for each other.

Blue Devil #5: This is another (and the last to be published) of the stories in Best of DC #61 "Years Best Comics Stories" that I have mentioned several times. And this is a good one! Not an "Anatomy Lesson," perhaps, but Mishkin/Cohn and Cullins/Martin craft story that is both well-done and fun. After the events of last issue, Nebiros is rampaging in Mexico, and Blue Devil and Zatanna have to stop him. The Mexican army takes their shot, but Nebiros is too powerful. They are helpful with the army of lesser demons he calls up. The two magical heroes have to engage him. Blue Devil manages to regain control of his tridents and the two push Nebiros back through a portal to Hell.

For those keeping score, the Monitor and Lyla make a brief cameo this issue, uh--monitoring events in Mexico.

Green Lantern #181: This arc by Wein and Gibbons/DeCarlo might feel more noteworthy if it hadn't come closely on the heels of a long arc where Hal was at points at odds or on the outs with the Guardians. It's one of the inherent problems with serialized media, I suppose, but particularly comics: every new team wants to make sure classic stories are told their way, so you get repeated elements. Here, Jordan flies off to deliver his resignation to the Guardians on Oa so he can be with Carol. A group of his colleagues in the Corps try to get him to reconsider--and Katma Tui is angry because he convinced her to stay in the past, giving up her love to do so, but he won't be dissuaded. So, he goes through with it and returns to Earth a civilian, still wondering if he made the right decision.

While all this is going on, Jason Bloch is killed in his office by someone in shadow who looks suspiciously like the Predator and admonishes him for not listening to Smith from Con-Trol. Bloch manages to stumble out and try to out Jordan as Green Lantern before dying, but unfortunately for him the only person who hears his final words is Diana Prince, and she protects Green Lantern's secret.

In the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup by Kupperberg and Newton a robbed figure walks into a Star Wars cantina-esque bar. It's the Green Lantern Ch'p, and he teaches a group of space pirates not to take any member of the Corps lightly.

Infinity, Inc. #7: The Thomas' and Ordway/Machlan have us still in midstream of this Koehaha River arc. Power Girl is unable to stop Superman in Metropolis and has to escape or be killed. Fury, Northwind, and Silver Scarab try to stop Hawkman and Wonder Woman from stealing an ancient statue of Horus. Wonder Woman snaps out of the magically induced ruthlessness, but only after accidentally injuring her husband, Steve Trevor, ironically in an effort to win the secret of immortality for him.

Legion of Super-Heroes #3: The Legion of Super-Villains have 3 Legionnaires captive on Orando. They draw the other Legionnaires into a trap, attacking them in space as they are rushing to the rescue. A few more Legionnaires arrive, though, and the villains are defeated. Their ultimate goal is revealed: to somehow escape to a universe without heroes. Under good issue from Levitz/Giffen and Lightle/Mahlstedt.

New Talent Showcase #10: There's little to like in this issue, unfortunately. Jenesis is still the leader of the pack, with a story that has her attempting to use empathy and communication, not superhero brawn to win the day when a distraught man takes hostages at a medical facility. The police sort of spoil it though. There there's Astro-Busters by Stradley and Saltares about a group of miners in the Belt who have to put their interpersonal differences aside to deal with pirates.

Besides Nick O'Tyme, the other two stories are amateurish almost supers rpg-level superhero stories. Part 2 of the Progency story does have art by Jeff Dee, though, but he's not done any favors it looks like by Joyce's inks.

Saga of Swamp Thing #29: Moore and Bissette/Totleben have Abigail make the horrific discovery that her husband Matt who appeared to have gotten himself together, bought a house for them and got a job, has been taken over by her evil uncle Anton Arcane. A horror filled issue, but we are definitely in decompression here. The Pasko years would have probably handled all this in a page. I'm not complaining at all, just noting the shift to a more cinematic storytelling style that eventually all comics will embrace. 

Sgt. Rock #393: In the main story, Bulldozer's kid brother joins Easy. With flowers under his helmet netting, he seems to be coded with an anachronistic hippie vibe. Anyway, he proves his worth despite his unusual ways by getting Easy out of a tough spot with a disguise as an old Italian lady selling vegetables, so he can get close enough to lob grenades at a German installation.

The other two stories seem like leftovers from Weird War Tales and are by writers other than Kanigher. In the first, by Andy Kubert and Ron Wagner, a German grenadier discovers that he can't escape war even in death. The second, written by Alan Baker with somewhat amateurish but evocative art from Jim Balent's DC debut, takes the pessimistic that war crimes and attacks on civilians will still be a feature of warfare in the remote future.

Warlord #86: Cool Jurgens cover, though it oversells the "Forever Man" as a thing. I reviewed the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and friend capture their Qlov after an extended struggle. A minor mystery is uncovered as the Qlov proves susceptible to a sedative that works on humans.

Thriller #11: DuBay/Niño limp Thriller toward its conclusion in a way that makes an already complicated title more so. It's an odd approach to use everything that your predecessors did on a title but completely alter the relationships between all the characters and their status quo. I suppose "everything you know is wrong" has a strong pedigree in comics, but usually that entails just dropping some stuff. Not here. Still dealing with the fallout of an aborted Golden Age last issue, we learn that Angie Thriller is apparently thrown in with Lusk as is apparently having an affair with him. And is sort of his daughter, in the sense that he (I guess, it's unclear) created her in a lab. Anyway, one issue to go, per the editorial here.