Wednesday Comics: DC, May 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 February 21, 1985.

Infinity, Inc. #14: Member last month when I said we were promised we would see more form young Todd McFarlane soon? Well, here it is as he becomes the regular penciler on the book with DeZuniga inking. McFarlane's layouts are interesting with a lot of sort of illumination flourish around the panels, but also a lot of white space to no good effect. Soon after the crew returns from the tropical island getaway, Infinity, Inc. is asked to provide security at a concert, where an alien being called Chroma appears and sings an enrapturing song of birth, life, and death. Only Obsidian, shrouded in his shadows, is unaffected, and he's able to cause Chroma to leave somehow. Unfortunately, Chroma's song was recorded and may spread.

Batman and the Outsiders #21: This was an issue I bought as a kid. Barr is joined by 3 different artists for 3 Outsider solo stories. One has a good gimmick and the other two are decent. The best one will turn up in the Best of DC anthology and is a Katana story with art by Jerome Moore. Katana thwarts a gang trying to snatch an artifact (a vase or urn) being delivered to a museum. The gimmick here is that there is no dialogue, but the action is commented on loosely by the radio commentary on a football game.

The Geo-Force story has art by Trevor Von Eeden and has the hero taking on a mechanical shark at an aquarium park. The final story, with art by Randall, sees Black Lightning squaring off with Ghetto-Blaster a villain who has positioned himself as vigilante, knocking down the tenets of slum lords to the approval of the community, but he's really only doing it as a cover for a search for stashed loot from a heist.

Blue Devil #11: It's time for the Blue Devil movie's Hollywood premiere, but despite the superhero celebrity Cassidy has been catapulted into, Werner still isn't happy. What's worse, Blue Devil's trident seems to have a mind of its own, and Shockwave returns for revenge. He and his henchmen attack the theater at the screening. Meanwhile, Jason Blood has sensed a mystic evil rising and turns into Etrigan to track it down. Blue Devil finally defeats Shockwave with the aid of the trident, but after he does so he starts behaving strangely and announces that he is ready to "destroy the world of mortal men."

Conqueror of the Barren Earth #4: Cohn and Randall come to the conclusion of the series. Zhengla's army, with Jinal is primary strategist gets the business of moving against D'Roz, but only after a ritual with psychedelic Mulge mushrooms reveals Yisrah as one of the Old One's of that flying city and a spy. Through trickery and the Old Ones' overconfidence, they take the city, and as soon as they do Jinal betrays her lord and consort, shooting him in the back with the last shot of her blaster, paying him back for the humiliation and abuse she suffered initially. Her duplicity had been telegraphed, but only lightly, so it's a nice dramatic turn. The dying Zhengla remarks that the oracle had said only that he would conquer not that he would rule. He charges Jinal with taking up his dream of creating a new civilization on The Barren Earth. That's exactly what she intends do.

Now as ruler, she takes the Mugle mushrooms again and sees a vision of her forging the united Earth into a force to take into the stars and against the Qlov, but at that point Yisrah seems to speak with her and reveal a hidden truth: the Harashashan, Mulge, and Qlov are all human genetic variants created by the Old Ones to create groups that could survive on the changed earth. When the Old Ones showed the spacefaring humans what they had done, they rejected them, and when the Qlov achieved space travel on their own, a war broke out between the branches of humanity. Jinal realizes she must repair this rift.

Jinal goes looking for Renna and Skinner, only to find that a massive human starship has appeared in the skies over D'Roz. Her rescuers, if that is what they are now, have come at last. Unfortunately, this sort of "season finale" is the last we get of the Barren Earth. 

G.I. Combat #277: The Haunted Tank story by Kanigher/Glanzman turns on Stuart's wrestling with his decision to spare civilian casualties that leads the infantry to take heavy losses. As usual, he puts himself and his men in the thick of it, infiltrating and Italian town to get the element of surprise on the occupying Germans, earning him and his men commemoration in the town's church stain glass windows.

There are two World War II stories. One is about a PT boat captain and is by Kanigher and Catan. The other is about Bedouins turning on their supposed German allies and is by Kashdan/Infante. Finally, there's a "Bravos of Vietnam" story with the group captured and put in a Viet Cong P.O.W. camp, until they manage to make an escape. 

Green Lantern #187: Well, the Wein and Gibbons run didn't amount to much, though they did introduce some new elements (namely the Predator and Hal giving up the ring) later teams will have to deal with. This issue is a fill-in by Kupperberg and Willingham before the new, regular team starts. After Rich's funeral, Carol and Hal both note the distance in their relationship, but neither knows the cause. It isn't helped when Carol finds the Predator in her house. He again declares his love, and Hal shows up to fight him, but gets beaten up. Meanwhile, Bruce Gordon decides to leave Ferris Aircraft, and Stewart as Green Lantern flubs the rescue of a space shuttle (though it turns out all right, no thanks to him). Frustrated by his mistakes, he goes to the Oans to request training, and they assign Katma Tui to help out.

There's a backup Tales of the Green Lantern Corps by Baron with atypically cartoony art from Rogers. It's the story of a mom Green Lantern that uses a bubble blown with her kid's toy to escape a yellow energy bubble.

New Teen Titans #8: Wolfman and García-López/Tanghal open with Thia having pretty much conquered Olympus. She takes a break then to explain to Lilith how she met her father (the former head of Sun Publishing) then killed him once Lilith was conceived and took over the business. Lilith was spirited away by a nurse, and for a long time, Thia thought she was dead until her powers activated. 

Meanwhile, the Titans find out about Thia, then travel to Tartarus to enlist the aid of the Titan gods and team up with them to defeat some giants allied to Thia. They vow to help their teen namesakes against the renegade titaness.

Sgt. Rock #400: In the main story by Kanigher and Gonzales, Rock takes shelter in a cave from a fire started by a group of SS out to kill him. He thinks about the individual (named) members of Easy, how they each have beaten the odds and get on going at one time or another. He feels like he can't do any less. Of course, he makes it out alive and reunites with his unit.

The second story by Harris/Wagner has a GI taking inspiration from the Superman comic he's derided by his sergeant for reading. A humor strip by Eric Vincent winds out the issue.

Saga of Swamp Thing #36: It's interesting contrasting this title with Flash, both of which are decompressed in their storytelling relative to the other titles of the era, but in different ways. Bates/Infantino take a rather soap opera approach where important moments are delayed by intervening incidents and cliffhanger endings. Moore and Bissette move the story along in more of a modern streaming drama sort of way. It's mostly character stuff that delays plot points and the cliffhangers tend to come after something is revealed, not just before. Swamp Thing's is the style of serial storytelling that tends to work well in compilation.

Anyway, as Swamp Thing is dying from his exposure to Nukeface and calling out to Abby for help, we spend most of the issue with a former employee with some complicity with the dumping that led to Nukeface who has also improbably come to Louisiana. His pregnant wife is inadvertently exposed to Nukeface while the police search the toxic man. Meanwhile, Abby arrives to have Swamp Thing tell her he loves her and that this body is dying, but he's going to try to enter the Green and then make a new one.

Warlord #93: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #3: This issue features Blue Beetle who has yet to actually appear in the DC Universe. We get a few Firestorm characters: Breathtaker, Bug, and Byte. There's Blue Devil and his foe, Bolt. Blackstarr is here from her story arc in the short-lived Supergirl series, but the internet informs me she's got a couple more appearances before the end of Crisis.

Swords (and Spells) Against

Paul Wolfe of Mystic Bull Games is starting up a Sword & Sorcery fiction magazine called Swords Against! The first issue is being crowdfunded now. It features stories by familiar names including Michael Stackpole and Dariel R. A. Quiogue, and interior art by Jason Sholtis (presumably among others).

If that alone isn't enough to convince to you, Jason and I have short comic that will appear in the issue now that that stretch goal has been surpassed. It's called Spells Against Civility. Here's the pitch:

Harken to this tale of two rival wizards, apprenticed together, now alike in Art, pettiness, and vainglory...

Marzomon, once the Golden, former hero whose reputation fell under shadow of cowardice and party abandonment. He now ekes out a living trading on his former glories and hawking dubious male enhancement magics.

Hokus the Black, who sold his soul and other vital constituencies piecemeal to various diabolic entities and must stay ahead of his creditors as he seeks to overcome his rival. 

If any of the above sounds cool to you--and particularly if all of it does--then head over to backerkit and give some support!

Wednesday Comics: DC, May 1985 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) through Crisis! This week, I read the comics released the week of February 14, 1985, just before my 12th birthday.

Omega Men #25: Klein and McManus/Smith are in place as the new creative team, and they start the story so in media res I had to check to make sure I hadn't missed an issue. Nimbus contends with an insane X'hal and her son Auron, while the Omega Men, now led by Kalista and Tigorr, and contending with spider-themed invaders to Vega who aren't identified in this issue, but I assume are the Spider Guild, who also appear in the back-up.

In "Tales of Vega" by Moore and O'Neil, the Spider Guilds invasion of a world is thwarted by the giant inhabitants moving too slowly to take notice of them.

Amethyst #5: Estrada is back on pencils this issue. We pick up where we left off with Amy and Emmy in the hands of a headless robot made. With the help of Taffy the dog, they managed to destroy the robot. They start investigating the device Carnelian has apparently been building, visiting an alternate Plantworld where Princess Amaryllis battles the Dark Maple. Carnelian finds them and tells them he got stuck here and has been looking for a way back to Gemworld. Carnelian and Amethyst take the path he discovered, but it's not without dangers.

Arak Son of Thunder #44: This is another issue I bought off the spinner rack back in 1985. The Thomases and DeZuniga continue Arak's and friends' voyage to North America with Captain Re-Iz Hazz. They are sailing east to circumnavigate the globe (or go under the great turtle, as Arak explains it). They make a stop at the island of al-Hind, whether they are waylaid by a pirate with a grudge against their captain. He sales them to the island's corrupt priest as sacrifices for "Shiva." The priest transforms into a multi-armed monster in a ritual, but Arak manages to defeat him. 

Batman #383: Moench and Colan/Alcala present a somewhat humorous story of Bruce Wayne just needing to get some sleep after several busy days for both him and his alter ego. Unfortunately, responsibilities to his home, business, ward, and romantic life keep getting in the way. Finally, after an unplanned night out as Batman, he leans up against a gargoyle on the side of building to at least catch a nap, forgetting he had made dates with both Julia and Vicki the following night.

Flash #345: This issue erodes what little faith I had in the Flash's lawyer, Cecile Horton, and perhaps the entirety of the legal system in Central City. The prosecutor brings a surprise witness to the stand, Kid Flash, who testifies to a number of ways the Flash could have stopped Reverse Flash without killing him. Apparently, there isn't mandatory discovery in the DCU. Cecile handles that reasonably well but treats it like some devastating blow that I just don't see it as being. Then she does something real dumb. After spying on the Allens and discovering the Flash's secret ID, she plans to reveal it in open court--without telling the Flash what she's going to do. Somehow convincing the jury he had a strong motive to kill the Reverse Flash is going to get him found innocent? Anyway, she pulls off his mask in court but he doesn't look like Barry Allen! 

Jemm, Son of Saturn #9: Synn and Tull are both confident they duped the other in their recent deal, but we don't find out this issue which of either may be right. With knowledge of New Bhok, the White Saturnians make an attack. The Bhokian military has a super-weapon it has been eager to employ to wipe out the White Saturnians once and for all. Jemm, though, views himself as having responsibility to all Saturnians and destroyed the weapon. A renegade priest inflames a mob against and soon he is strung up for execution.  

Legion of Super-Heroes #10: The candidates for President of Earth have been drafted, and the Legion has assigned one of their members to guard them which proves a prudent move as Khundian agents try to assassinate them. In the process of defending a candidate, Invisible Kid reviews new powers--maybe teleportation? It turns out though, the Khunds have also target the current President Marte Allon, who locally has her son, Colossal Boy on hand to save the day. Meanwhile, Cosmic Boy announces a leave of absence to the Legion.

Star Trek #14: Barr and Sutton/Villagran pick up where they left off last issue, with Excelsior surrounded and about to be destroyed. Kirk and crew have another trick up their sleeve, though, and that involves the two Spocks in the cloaked Klingon bird of prey causing chaos while Excelsior gets her engines ready for a transwarp dash to safety. It works, then Kirk sends the Spocks and Konom as emissaries to the Klingon Emperor, offering them the means the check the Empire. Konom has to go through a painful interrogation to prove their information is legitimate, but in the end, it works.

Superman #406: This is a done-in-one by the Conways and Novick/Hunt, and like last month's Action Comics with Captain Strong, it sort of has the feel of an inventory story. The Daily Planet crew (including Lois) is featured prominently, and no mention is made of Galaxy Broadcasting or Lana. Mr. Mxyzptlk is up to hijinks and causes a crisis with a biomechanical worm designed to aid digging that the imp enlarges into a monster. With Metropolis threatened from underground, Mxy whammies Superman so that he passes his powers to others via touch. Once they figure out what's going on, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry, have to team-up with Superman to defeat the creature, but only after Mxy gets afraid the weakened Superman will be killed and calls the others in to help.

Wednesday Comics: DC, May 1985 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of February 7, 1985. 

This first week marks a milestone, with my brother and I owning 5 of these 7 issues, and three of them we definitely bought off the stands. The others were maybe acquired a year or two later from dollar bins.

Deadman #1: The stunning Neal Adams cover got my brother or me to pick up this one, despite no knowledge of the character. The issue reprints the earliest Deadman stories from Strange Adventures #205, 206, and House of Mystery #178. I wonder if the timing of this reprint series was meant to raise the profile of the new limited series that would be coming along in '86?

Crisis on Infinite Earths #2: This was my introduction to Crisis. I bought it off the stands at my local grocery store. The sense of impending...well, crisis begins to build as time is disrupted with a mammoth herd leaving Anthro's era and winding up in the Legion's 30th Century. In the modern day on Earth-One, Batman is going after the Joker when and image of a frantic and decaying Flash appears before him, begging for help and warning of disaster. The heroes and villains gathered by the Monitor are sent to Kamandi's Earth After Disaster and ancient Atlantis to defend tower-like devices erected by the Monitor for something, I guess, from shadow demons. Psycho-Pirate is the first villain to show his colors and turn on the heroes; he's defeated but them but whisked away to serve the same shadowy force that commands Harbinger.

Things are moving fast, and the narrative reasons for things are sometimes poorly explained, but on balance the script and visual storytelling work to tell a compelling story.

Atari Force #17: This was only issue I bought off the spinner rack after issue one. Barreto is back on pencils. Taz's Tazlings reveal their pretty much magical repair ability by fixing Backjak's missing eye and taking the bit of the Destroyer out of his brain. Then, the same thing gets done for Kragg after Morphea has a psychic battle with the Dark Destroyer, and Rident gets to witness the psychic projects. Dart manages to make contact with Chris again, confirming Atari and New Earth are still around. 

DC Comics Presents #81: Another story that's effectively a plug for the upcoming Giffen/Fleming Ambush Bug limited series, but I like the Bug and that series, so it's cool with me. Ambush Bug finds a hunk of red kryptonite and gives it to his "pal" Superman but knowing what it is. Its effects cause the two to switch bodies, and at a time when Kobra makes a move to steal Ambush Bug's teleportation tech.

Fury of Firestorm #35: In a moment I'm sure inspired by the iconic Amazing Spider-Man #33, Firestorm tap reserves of street to escape a mass of ice threatening to crush him. While the Stein/Ronnie team is dealing with Stein's decision to move to another city, potentially ending Firestorm, Plastique gains new explosion powers and Killer Frost lays a trap for our hero. In the end, Firestorm is at the mercy of the two villains united.

Justice League of America #238: This is another issue I owned, but I didn't remember much beyond the cover. Conway and Patton/Machlan give Conway's new team their first direct interaction with some of the members of the League's most famous incarnation.  The New League flies into the Soviet Union to rescue Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash who are being held captive by a crazy general and his keytar playing super-villain henchman, Maestro. The new kids win the day, in part due to the element of surprise, but they also get help from the Anton Allegro, long imprisoned by Gorki, who shoots Maestro in revenge. Gypsy reveals a previously unknown illusion power which seems to shatter Gorki's mind, at least temporarily. The heroes leave the USSR with a final panel oddly showing Martian Manhunter still on the ground as the League plane takes off, holding Allegro's body.

Tales of the Teen Titans #53: Lilith is attacked outside Titans Tower by someone who looks like the Terminator, but supposedly the real one is in jail, awaiting trial. Lilith isn't acting herself and goes back to STAR Labs where she uses newly revealed heat powers to free the amnesiac winged alien from ice. The Titans try to stop her, but holding off her teammates with her new powers, she lets the winged man escape. The Titans, thinking the alien is to blame for Lilith's new powers and weird behavior, give chase but lose him. Then the trial of Slade Wilson gets underway, with Adrian "Vigilante" Chase as judge. 

I wonder how these 2 asynchronous Titans books were received at the time? It's nice that Wolfman weaves two stories of Lilith with weird powers and Azrael into both books that are supposed to take place months apart, but reading last month's NTT would have spoiled any mystery regarding Lilith's new powers or Azrael's intentions.

Shadow War of Hawkman #1: Isabella and Howell/Alcala bring back Hawkman and Hawkgirl who haven't had any solo appearances since the strip in World's Finest ended in '82. A group of Thanagarians arrive in Midway City and recruit a cat burglar to steal the Hawks' anti-gravity belts. Katar thwarts the robbery at their home, though Mousy is killed and the Thanagarians escape, teleporting to the museum. With Shayera still at the museum, Hawkman frantically flies back, but when he arrives, he finds the police outside and a scorch mark on the wall in the shape of his wife!

Superman: The Secret Years #4: Rozakis and Swan/Schaffenberger bring this limited series to a close. While Superboy grieves over his failure to save his parents, his foster parents, or Billy Cramer, Lex Luthor threatens all life on Earth unless his old foe meets him for a one-on-one fight. Perry White discovers Billy's whistle and figures out that it might be a way to summon Superboy back. Superboy heeds the call, and after defeating Luthor, who has found a way to give himself super-strength, he's found new confidence. He changes his name to Superman. As Clark Kent he graduates from Metropolis U with his friends. Then, he applies for a reporting job with the Daily Planet under its new editor, Perry.

This isn't a bad series, but I feel like it's let down a bit by the very Bronze Age style its creators are working in. Rozakis' plot is interesting but isn't as impactful as it could be due to its focus on done-in-one superhero storytelling. The Swan/Schaffenberger art isn't in layout or style positioned to wring the emotion from the material the plot suggests.

Vigilante 17: Alan Moore and Jim Baikie come on board for a late 70s-early 80s style neo-noir thriller. It's more the sort of story Miller did over at Daredevil than the more 80's action stuff Wolfman has done here (or would be done with the Punisher in the next few years). Chase gets a frantic call from Joanne Linnaker telling him her ex-husband Carl (who Chase prosecuted for abusing their daughter) is out on "good behavior" and possibly heading their way. By the time Vigilante arrives at her apartment, Joanne has been brutally murdered and her daughter, Jodie, has fled. 

She's found on the streets by a friendly drug-dealer named Fever and her prostitute roommate Louise. While Fever tries to negotiate Jodie's return to Chase without having her illegal activities exposed, Carl kills Louise and takes Jodie. Fever vows revenge and Vigilante acquiesces to her helping him track down Carl.

Wednesday Comics: DC, April 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 January 24, 1984.

Detective Comics #549: Moench and Broderick/Smith complete Harvey Bullock's journey from villain to buffoonish minor character to secondary protagonist. Moench reveals that Bullock's slovenly appearance and gruff demeanor are a bit of a put on. The inner Bullock is really a more introspect fan of classic Hollywood with a very tidy apartment. When a gang trashes that apartment and movie memorabilia in revenge, Bullock proves himself a capable fighter as well. 

The Green Arrow and Black Canary backup, "Night Olympics" is a rare superhero story by Moore with art by Janson. It's a humorous piece where Green Arrow's opponent has a breakdown thanks to the number of times he's been unlucky enough to get caught by superheroes (and the last was Metamorpho!) while Canary confronts a couple of thugs who think she's Wonder Woman and surrender immediately to avoid being beat-up by a woman. Things turn serious when they're attacked by a crook who's gotten a bow and arrow from a super-villain armor.

Action Comics #566: Boldman and Randall bring back Captain Strong (DC's take on Popeye), not seen since 1981, for his last appearance. Clark Kent and Lois Lane go on a cruise with Strong and his wife Olivia and run into trouble on an island inhabited by the sorcerous Old Woman of the Sea (a Sea Hag stand-in) and Strong's long-lost Pappy.

The second story by Newell and Bender/Oksner has a young girl trying to get into an Autograph Hounds club by getting Superman's autograph. The Man of Steel discovers the girl is an orphan raised by an older couple like himself and helps her out.

America vs. the Justice Society #4: The committee hearing draws to a close, and I really can't see what they would have gotten out of hearing the JSA related their adventures, but a few character witness testify for them. One person who does get something out of the history lesson is Dick Grayson. He realizes the stories and the diaries seem to circle around the disappearance of Professor Zee. He goes to his residence and finds Per Degaton there, waiting for the return of the time machine so he can again make a bid for conquest. This was apparently what Batman's false account was meant to point at: the periodic return of the time machine and Per Degaton. Why Batman didn't just tell somebody is put down to the mental effects of his cancer and his distance from the JSA. Anyway, the whole team and the committee show up to rescue Grayson and capture Degaton.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #30: Duursema returns for this arc. Atlantis is beset by unnatural storms that Arion traces to mysterious ancient tower than looks like a nuclear plant cooling tower on the edge of the city. Arion and Chian go inside through an underground passageway and are attacked by a group of beast-men, who of whom is a transformed Wyynde. The scientist who created them then sends drones after our heroes. Arion's magic causes the drones to explode, and the feedback destroys the computers guiding them, killing the scientist. Now they must find a way to restore Wyynde. 

All-Star Squadron #44: Thomas/Kupperberg and Jones/Marcos have Hourman and Firebrand and Phantom Lady and Tarantula go on a double date to a costume party thrown by Firebrand's father, a steel magnet. Nazi supervillains Night and Fog crash the party because prior to Pearl Harbor Ed Reilly was helping the Germans against the Russians and the British (who, as an Irishman, he hated). The two threaten him to get him back on their side. When he refuses, they throw him out a window. Our heroes battle the villains, ultimately forcing them to flee, but Ed Reilly is killed.

Jonah Hex #90: Morrow comes aboard on art duties as it seems like Fleisher may be moving the disparate strands of his story to some sort of conclusion. Silver Ames, a woman out to prove herself the fastest gunfighter in misguided grief over her father's death, shoots Hart in the back after he refuses to duel her. Mei Ling identifies the body at the mortuary. 

Ames sets out to find Hex, who has left Mrs. Crowley's boarding house to find Emmylou. He has a run of bad luck, though, getting caught in a rockslide that kills his horse. Then he's attacked by a cougar. Meanwhile, Emmylou, in grief over believing she killed Hex, finally gets up the courage to make a break from the gang of robbers. She slashes Brett with a knife and escapes the house.

Hex visits the doc in Red Dog before he's accosted by Ames who admits to Hart's murder and demands Hex fight her. Hex tells her she'd lose and gives her some constructive criticism on her technique. When she draws on him, he shoots her in the chest twice and walks away, leaving her body in the street.

Spanner's Galaxy #5: Spanner and Gadj castle into a factory town on an alien world beset by a serial killer. Spanner is sort of drafted into the position of sheriff but also gets reunited with his family. Spanner and his sister (whose on the force, herself) discover the identity of the killer, and that he's being using robots to do the job. Baka and the intergalactic cops arrive, and we are finally given a reason why they are after Spanner: he's a carrier for a contagious illness. Seems odd that they couldn't have said this previously, but anyway, he turns himself in and is put on solitary quarantine on an asteroid.

Sun Devils #10: Jurgens takes over as writer and artist with this issue. After their defeat and betrayal last issue, the Sun Devils are disgraced, grounded, and soon to be disbanded. With the Sauroid fleet heading toward Centauri, Rik goes rogue and lies to the team to get them to go on a daring infiltration mission to recapture the Starcrusher weapon. He also gets a new look too, with stubble and a sleeveless vest with no shirt. Anyway, they manage to get onto the Sauroid cruiser but head the wrong direction and stumble upon Anomie.

Tales of the Legion #322: Dawnstar seems to be falling for the priest Jhodan and him for her even as the high priestess Awian orders them both brought in for apostasy. Jhodan's novitiate, jealous of the relationship, leaves vowing to bring her form superior down. Meanwhile, Brainy is taken by the apparently mentally ill guy he's fallen in with to a village where he is (surprisingly) accepted. Digging around, he finds the hint of a mystery and some ancient Earth recording tapes. 

The Newell/Levitz story here feels very Star Trek, but I'm not sure that's what the Legion needs. 

V #3: Bates and Infantino/DeZuniga complete the story of Sparkle Springs. Captain Devon and his troops arrive and manage to capture some of the resistance fighters. When the kid, Billy Lee, takes a shot at the Visitors to help the captives escape, he's killed by the soldiers. Donovan tries to get the townsfolk to rise up at Billy's funeral, but they don't seem to listen. Later though, after the resistance sabotages the aliens' extraction of the spring water with explosives, the townspeople finally join the fight and help drive the Visitors out.

World's Finest Comics #312: Cavalieri and Woch/Alcala reveal an unscrupulous company using substandard steel in a newly constructed bridge in Gotham. Superman works to stop its collapse while Batman saves a whistleblower from an assassin. Interesting, the Monitor shows up still testing the two heroes for weaknesses to sell. Apparently Cavalieri didn't know this issue would hit after Crisis #1 changed our view of the Monitor.

Wednesday Comics: DC, April 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 January 17, 1985.

New Teen Titans #7: José Luis García-López arrives as new penciler so this issue looks gorgeous, whatever else. We get the return of Azrael (though he isn't given that name in this issue). I appreciate that, even though this book and Tales aren't taking place at the same time, similar topics (like this winged alien) come up concurrently in both. It does make it difficult keeping recent events in each title straight, though. Anyway, not long after Azrael shows up, again declaring his love for Lilith, she's kidnapped by her mother, who turns out not only to be a ruthless businesswoman also the Titan of myth, Thia. The (Teen) Titans go to the Amazons for help with this Greek mythology stuff, but they find Paradise Island in ruins and all the Amazons gone.

Batman and the Outsiders #20: Aided by Jane Denniger, the whip-wielding Syonide and some goons go to kidnap Halo and her parents. They are working for Black Lightning foe Tobias Whale, who believes Violet Harper is feigning her amnesia and still has in her "photographic memory" a formula her and her deceased boyfriend stole. Halo manages to summon the Outsiders, but her parents still wind up getting killed by Syonide. As they are dying, she tells them she has regained her memory, and she loves them. At their graveside, she reveals to Katana that she still doesn't remember her past life at all and the lie was to comfort them.

While Jane Denniger is likely unreliable, her version of events paints the previous Violet Harper as more than the delinquent I had taken her for but a full-on sociopath. Nothing in the issue contradicts this narrative, though obviously as we still don't know how she was resurrected, there is more to be revealed. 

Blue Devil #11: Klein and Smith/Gustovich sub in with this even more humor-oriented that usual story. The Blue Devil movie is over-budget, Werner is breathing down Marla's neck to wrap things up, and Dan is sick. When Werner's auditor comes for a visit, an unconscious Dan dreams a series of surreal sequences where he is pursued by the super-villainous Auditor. In the end, though, the real auditor proves a nice guy, the movie is completed, and Dan gets medical attention. 

These recent issues make it seem like they book doesn't really have a direction.

Conqueror of the Barren Earth #3: Cohn and Randall pick up where last issue left off with the armies of Zhengla confronting the Harashashan. Jinal maneuvers the situation so that the Harashashan join Zhengla's army of conquest. In all public ways she appears the loyal consort of the conqueror, but their all hints she may be playing bigger game. The rulers of D'Roz think so, as they fear Jinal will manipulate Zhengla into attacking them. They lay a trap with a community of stranded Qlov, but it backfires, and Jinal has to do little convincing to get Zhengla to turn his sights on the city.

Green Lantern #187: Well, the Wein and Gibbons run didn't amount to much, though they did introduce some new elements (namely the Predator and Hal giving up the ring) later teams will have to deal with. This issue is a fill-in by Kupperberg and Willingham before the new, regular team starts. After Rich's funeral, Carol and Hal both note the distance in their relationship, but neither knows the cause. It isn't helped when Carol finds the Predator in her house. He again declares his love, and Hal shows up to fight him, but gets beaten up. Meanwhile, Bruce Gordon decides to leave Ferris Aircraft, and Stewart as Green Lantern flubs the rescue of a space shuttle (though it turns out all right, no thanks to him). Frustrated by his mistakes, he goes to the Oans to request training, and they assign Katma Tui to help out.

There's a backup Tales of the Green Lantern Corps by Baron with atypically cartoony art from Rogers. It's the story of a mom Green Lantern that uses a bubble blown with her kid's toy to escape a yellow energy bubble.

Infinity, Inc. #13: This is the last issue penciled by Newton before his death. Shooter allowed Joe Rubinstein to temporarily waive his exclusive contract with Marvel to ink it.  Silver Scarab, Fury, Jade, and Nuke Four take a vacation on a secluded tropical island and do some skinny-dipping. They meet up with a woman named Rose who has been alone on the island sometime, studying its flora. That night they are attacked by Thorn who claims to be Rose's sister and wields plant control powers. They defeat her and leave, taking Rose with them, unaware that she and Thorn are actually the same person. 

There's a pinup at the end of this issue by a young artist named Todd McFarlane who we are told will be doing more work for Infinity, Inc. in the future.

Superman Special #3: The writing credit is Bridwell/Wein, and it definitely seems like a Bridwell story as part of it deals with tying up the loose end of a previous story establishing that a Daily Planet employee inadvertently discovered Superman's secret identity. After getting hypnotized by his nephew (a stage magician), he spills the secret. The nephew uses it to harass Clask briefly, all in good fun of course. Meanwhile, Superman is trying to deal with a reconstructed Amazo and bring in Professor Ivo. Superman manages to accomplish all this, then super-hypnotizes (with their consent) both the Planet employee and the magician to make then forget his identity.

Sgt. Rock #399: In the main story by Kanigher and Gonzales, Rock is with the remnant of Baker Company when they are ambushed by the SS and killed after surrendering. Easy finds the site of the massacre and Rock's dog tags, so they assume he is dead. But then who is pursuing and picking off the SS soldiers? Spoilers: Rock isn't dead.

The second story, written and drawn by Darren Auck is a futuristic story of two highly trained soldiers representing the two power blocs going at it one on one. The loser is surprised to find out he's being facing a robot.

Saga of Swamp Thing #35: Moore and Bissette/Totleben return to a bit of an environmentalist message as a toxic and deranged homeless man ("Nukeface") from a Pennsylvania town abandoned due to a coal seam fire and turned into a nuclear waste dump arrives at the swamps around Houma. He kills one man by sharing his deadly hootch, then poisons Swamp Thing. I had thought perhaps this issue was inspired by the 80s horror film Street Trash, but it predates it by over 2 years.

Warlord #92: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #2: This issue has a lot of bat characters. Earth-One Batman's text crowds his picture into a small size. They'll be more willing to give major characters two pages in later issues. Interesting, Azrael gets a half-page here, though he's only really had teaser appearances so far, it doesn't give the entry much to go on. Also, Black Canary is shown in a new costume--one that hasn't appeared in a story yet!