Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1985 (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 in the week of November 1, 1984. 

The "Meanwhile..." column in this month's comics eulogizes Don Newton who had died August 19.

Superman: The Secret Years #1: Nice Frank Miller cover on this one, though the interiors by Swan/Schaffenberger mark this series as part of this era's "stuck in the Silver Age" version of Superman. It's a continuation of the "In-between Years" backups that ran in Superboy. Rozakis' story, though, has some surprises. Sure, Clark is mostly acting like Superboy Clark, and Lex has just escaped reform school for the last time using bedsprings on his feet, but in-between all of that Clark is still dealing with his grief over the loss of his adopted parents, and his roommate Ducky has developed a drinking problem, culminating in a drunk driving accident that leaves him seriously injured.

It's an odd mix! One foot in the more Teen Titans-style character drama, and one foot in the old Superboy schtick. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Jonni Thunder #1: The Thomases and Giordano develop an idea initially conceived by Thomas and Conway. The brand-new character utilizing the name of an old one is a long-used tactic in comics (it's the root of the Silver Age, after all), but it's really going to take off post-Crisis. This Jonni Thunder is a hard-boiled P.I. in Los Angeles. She returns from her father's funeral to find a dead man in her office and then an insectoid robot out to kill her. It all seems to relate in some way to statue of a woman, apparently looted from South America, that her father had received and had had turned into a lamp. What's so important about the statue isn't clear, but it does impart the power to Jonni to generate a being of energy out of herself, which comes in handy stopping a guy trying to kill her.

Atari Force #14: The Scanner One is out in the multiverse, trying to figure out if there's some place they can return too. Dart has been convinced by a dream that she has to give Blackjack another chance, though she is being cautious about it. Pakrat discovers Taz has been beat-up by a stowaway: Kaarg. He runs for his life and escapes to an airless planetoid in a shuttle, only to be rescued by his brother Rident who has been (I guess) hidden in the landing bay all this time? I suspect Conway forgot about him, and Baron is tying up that loose end. Anyway, Rident announces his intention to take them all in to face justice while Martin tries to convince him New Earth was destroyed.

In the backup by Manak and Klaus Janson, we get a solo Babe story from before he left Egg. He wonders away from Mama briefly and gets involved in a conflict with an alien and the alien's diminutive foes intent on eating him.

DC Comics Presents #78: This is an issue my brother and I had as kids. The obscure (in real world terms) villains from last issue unite to form the Forgotten Villains, though they don't really use that name in story. Superman beats the Faceless Hunter, but Immortal Man is killed saving Dolphin. It's ok, though, because he just returns for another life in a kid's body. Kraklow and the Enchantress have a third member of their sorcerous cabal on a distant world, and the Heroes must travel their to defeat them. Space Cabbie gives them a ride, but the magical villains make them crash on an unstable world, necessitating another helping hand from Chris KL-99 and friends. Now, both of these characters are technically from the future, but Wolfman and Swan don't let that stop them.

When the Heroes arrive at their destination, they find the planet is the third sorcerer--Yggardis. Things aren't going well for the good guys, until Atom-Master and Mister Poseidon realize the Enchantress' plans don't leave much run for them, and use Ultivac to attack her, providing room for the Forgotten Heroes to save Superman and the day.

In the coda, the Monitor says he can't find Kraklow or the Enchantress, but he can't waste time on that now. There's something happening on Earth-Three that needs his attention. He informs Lyla that he's dropping his connection to the villains; he's studied them enough in the guise of helping them. The blurb promises this will be continued in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Fury of Firestorm #32: Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier step into writing duties this issue, and Alan Kupperberg is on art. The ghost of "Shoe" Shine, the gangster that tried to kill Ed Raymond, ousts Stein from Firestorm so he can live again in Stein's body. When the Phantom Stranger shows up and explains to Ronnie what's going on, Ronnie again forms Firestorm, but that allows Shine to take over their hero-form. Phantom Stranger has to take more direct action to help the young hero out. I guess this was a seasonally appropriate story, but not much to recommend it otherwise.

Justice League of America #235: Conway and Patton continue from last issue with Vixen sought by the police, and Aquaman and the new members of his team at odds about what to do about it. After a couple of panels that make it look like Aquaman somehow used his aquatic telepathy to de-escalate Steel, the young hero storms off. He meets up with Gypsy outside, and they are attacked by Fastball of the cadre. The villain disappears as quickly as he came, and the team heads off to New York where they hope to stop Vixen at the M'Changan Embassy. They show up in time to save Vixen from her uncle and his men. The cops arrive, but Maksai refuses to press charges, and Aquaman won't let the cops take Vixen in for what happened in Detroit. That move, Zatanna tells Steel, was likely the wrong one and will have consequences. On the flight back to Detroit, their transport plane is teleported to a mountain in the Arctic, where the team encounters the Overmaster and his Cadre.

Wonder Woman #323: Feels like after putting off the mandated inclusion of the Monitor (mentioned in the editorial column this issue), Mishkin and Heck go all in because that mysterious observer is all over this issue. Dr. Psycho calls him to get a new ectoplasmic extractor, which the Monitor asks Cheetah to steal. Silver Swan calls him wanting to find Captain Wonder, and the Monitor directs her to Dr. Psycho's hideout. Etta Candy and Howard Huckaby are caught in the middle of this villain drama, as Cheetah happens to capture them, then they are at Psycho's hideout when Silver Swan shows up and thinks Captain Wonder is cheating on her with Cheetah. Then, Angle Man is calling the Monitor wanting to power up a new Angler. These Wonder Woman villains are a needy group!

Anyway, thanks to Howard's crazy idea, they are all convinced Etta is Wonder Woman which puts the two in even more danger. Etta uses Psycho's ectoplasmic device to power herself up into an ersatz Wonder Woman. She fights the good fight, but it's the arrival of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor that sees the villains defeated. Howard proclaims his love for Etta, Steve and Wonder Woman are back together--and Griggs is interested in exploring his and Diana's connection, with drama sure to ensue.

Vigilante 14: Von Eeden is on art this issue. While Adrian Chase waits to see if he is appointed a judge and what that will do to Vigilante's career, the businessmen Hammer and Hammett, actually brothers, have been engaged in an escalated game of one-upsmanship. Hammer, with the aid of a high-tech shadow suit, is about to commit murder to win. Vigilante tries to get in the man of his plans, but the new tech gives Hammer such an advantage that Vigilante is forced to kill him. Later, Hammett reveals that he had orchestrated the situation to lead to Hammer's death by his own hand, but Vigilante proved a convenient substitute. 

New Teen Titans #5: Wolfman and Perez come to the end of Trigon/Raven storyline, but as this issue opens, things look bleak for the Titans. They are all that's left of a transformed Earth and staring down a giant Trigon. They attack but are swatted like gnats and appear to be killed. Lilith is all the while making portentous but vague statements and trying to get Arella, grieving over her dead daughter, to help her with Raven's rings. As Trigon opens a portal to his home dimension, and the Titans mount a desperate delaying action, the power of Azar manifests through Raven's soul-self and grows large enough to envelope and destroy Trigon. Everything returns to the way it was, with only the Titans, Lilith, and Arella remembering what happened.  This was kind of Wolfman/Perez's "Dark Phoenix" story, so it will be interesting to see what comes after.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 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 October 25, 1984.

America vs. the Justice Society #1: This feels like the title Thomas was born to write: It combines the Golden Age characters he loves with extensive continuity patches and retcons. There are even notes about where things are drawn from. He's joined by his wife in plotting, and by multiple artists (Kayanan, Buckler, and Ordway) and inkers (Alcala and Collins). In the story, the discovery (and subsequent publication by Clark Kent's Daily Star) of a diary written in Batman's own hand naming the Justice Society as conspirators with Adolf Hitler causes Congress to summon the team for a hearing, and Robin and the Huntress find themselves working as legal counsel on opposing sides. While of course they aren't going to turn out to be guilty, it isn't immediately apparent where the story might be going, so that's kind of interesting.

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Arion Lord of Atlantis #26: The demon god Kr'Rth is marauding through the city, and Arion is in the thrall of his high priestess who plans to make the mage her consort. Arion is just faking though. As soon as he can, he slips out to borrow magic from his deceased dad to send Kr'Rth back into darkness. Even though he probably saved Mara's life, she is in no way greatful, still holding a grudge for what happened in his absence.

Kupperberg and Duursema give us a Chian solo story. After being nearly hit by an arrow while riding through a forest, she meets a girl named Lyla who has run away from her responsibility to fulfill her people's obligation by being placed in a temple. Lyla's story reminds Chian bitterly of her own childhood. Soon, Lyla's father and other hunters catch up, and both Chian and the girl are taken prisoner.

All-Star Squadron #41: Firebrand, Green Lantern and Hawkman save an unconscious Starman from falling to his death, giving Thomas/Kupperberg and Jones/Collins the excuse they need to tell his origin, courtesy of Tarantula's book on super-heroes. After giving Batman and Robin a bit of help at a robbery and acquiring the nonfunctional gravity rod designed by Professor Davis from his cousin Sandra, Ted Knight powers Davis's rod with "unknown cosmic rays", makes a costume, and offers his services to the FBI as Starman.

Detective Comics #546: Moench and Colan/Smith are still plugging along. Anton Knight is still recovering with the blind woman. Jason is settling in to living with Natalia, though he doesn't buy for a minute she just wants to be his mom. After Batman's last issue, Hill retaliates by framing him for a crime, suspending Gordon, and sending Gotham PD after Batman. Gordon tells Batman to look out for Gordon, who needs looking out for, because another assassin takes a shot at him. Fed up, Bullock heads over to Hill's mansion to confront his former boss. After Bullock delivers his threat, Hill pulls out a gun and shoots him, claiming self-defense.

Spanner's Galaxy #2: Cuti and Mandrake have Spanner castling (teleporting) onto a ship that's just been overrun by pirates. He helps the crew retake the ship, then agrees to help a young woman he calls "Icy Rivers" get to her fiancé at port. Apparently, they are both specially engineered perfect specimens of their race on their way to a new planet called Paradise. Spanner helps the couple and meets a diminutive alien with a knack for engineering. After various trials, including saving the girl from a premature autopsy and escaping the hunters pursuing him, Spanner castles off-world, one step ahead of the law.

Sun Devils #7: Conway and Jurgens/Mitchell continue this space opera saga with the revelation that the scientist the team recently liberated from the Sauroids has know-how to build a super-weapon that could end the war. The weapon, by disrupting a sun, would kill millions, and that sits uneasily with some of the team, including Anomie. Rik feels like obtaining this weapon for Earth and her allies is the only way. The team flies off to harvest the necessary neutronium from a nebula, but command intercepts a message and realizes there's a traitor among them. The Sun Devils run into an ambush, and Rik and Anomie must escape their destroyed ship by donning spacesuits. They run right into Drakon, the elite sauroid warrior leading the assault.

Tales of the Legion #319: Levitz and Shoemaker/Kesel follow up on last issue with group of Legionnaires dealing with a frenzied Mon-El dealing with the memories of Phantom Zone confinement. Meanwhile, Shadow Lass is forced to fight for her life against Lady Memory. She wins that battle, then the cavalry arrives to defeat the Persuader and Lady Memory's rebel army. The solution to Mon-El's mental state proved to be snapping him out of it by recalling his greatest trauma, so Superboy brought out the Phantom Zone Projector for that purpose.

World's Finest Comics #311: Nice cover by Cullins and Janson. Cavalieri and Woch have the Monitor (this guy again!) testing Superman's and Batman's abilities, by giving a teenage computer hacker (previously attempting to hack into Phil Foxman's computer and read as yet unpublished New Teen Tyros stories) access to the Fortress of Solitude, where he unleashes monsters from Superman's zoo and giant combat robots carrying kryptonite. Working together Batman and Superman manage to contain the emergency as Superman deals with the monsters and robots and Batman finds the source of the problem and presumably gives the kid a stern talking to. The Monitor, not satisfied with the results, contacts a group of villains called The Network (who got teased in the DC Sampler) for a go against the heroes.

Action Comics #563: This issue is a bit of a departure from the norm, having 3 humorous short stories. The first brings back Ambush Bug and unites the team of Fleming and Giffen that will be responsible for his limited series. It's really the first appearance of the character as he'll appear there: fourth wall breaking, referencing of comic book events (in this case, Secret Wars and Spider-Man's symbiote suit) and very silly. He plays a short of Daffy Duck character, though that would make Superman his Porky Pig straight man. Thankfully, the story doesn't overstay its welcome by going on too long.

The second story features Mr. Mxyzptlk and is by Bridwell and Saviuk/Jensen. Mxy demands Morgan Edge make him a media star, and foils plans to send him home by making it impossible for people to write or say any name backwards. Superman eventually figures out a way to send the imp home and it's a bit of a cheat, referencing for no real reason Bizarro Kltpzyxm, but it works. 

The last story by Boldman and Bender/Marcos harkens back to those classic Silver Age Jimmy Olsen yarns. Needing to rescue a young girl, Jimmy drinks his Elasti-Lad formula but becomes a blob instead of merely stretchy. Unable to communicate, most people think he's a monster, but Superman comes to his rescue (eventually).

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 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 October 18, 1984.

Robotech Defenders #1: This is not the Robotech you might remember from the Harmony Gold cartoon, which won't appear until sometime in 1985. Instead, this series is a tie-in with an unrelated line of scale model kits released by Revell with whom the more famous Robotech shares a name and logo. Read more about that here.

The story by Helfer and Hunt/Anderson involves a group of pilots representing various alien species and worlds fighting against the invading Grelons, a formerly less technologically advanced species that have somehow gained much more advanced and powerful weapons of war. Things are looking grim for the defenders until one of them discovers an ancient mech disguised as a statue amid the ruins of a city on her homeworld. Activating it, allows her to find the location of other such giant robots on all the resistance fighters' worlds. Each pilot goes and retrieving a mech: deep in the ocean, in the remote mountains, etc. When they're assembled, they win victories against the Grelons, until their mysterious benefactors supply them with titanic war machines of their own!

I owned this issue as a kid, and I really enjoyed it. The alien species, though all humanoid, are distinct, and the mech-acquiring portion of the story has some good set-pieces, even if they go by pretty quick.

Batman and the Outsiders #17: Barr/Aparo take the story in an unexpected direction by sending the team to ancient Egypt. Somehow, restoring Metamorpho did that. They're expected because a prophecy told Ramses IV people that look like them would show up to secure his throne. He needs all the help he can get, because Metamorpho is now in the thrall of the would-be usurper Ahk-Ton. 

Meanwhile, the past Halo doesn't remember is catching up with her. It seems she was a bit of a bad girl, and it's making it hard for her family to trust her. Then there's the matter of her old boyfriend found dead in Europe!

Again, this issue makes me think that this title is what Conway wanted to do with the New Justice League. Some well-known heroes mixing with new characters. Some character drama mixing with superhero stuff. Maybe this book should have been the new Justice Legue?

Blue Devil #8: Giffen is guest artist this issue, and he works better than Kane did. Dan and Sharon are still traveling with the Trickster. Dan is trying to keep the villain safe, but that guy isn't making it easy. After a message convinces him that the Organization is still on his tail, the Trickster runs, then tries to rob a back being transported via helicopter. The Trickster gives Blue Devil a hard time, but with Sharon's help, our hero both thwarts the bank robbery and reins in the rogue again.

Green Lantern #184: The current storyline takes a break (except for a frame) so that we can get a reprint of Green Lantern (Vol 2) #59 by Broome and Kane, which introduces Guy Gardner, via a "what if" sort of story, where Gardner becomes Earth's Green Lantern but after a mission on a very Star Trek sort of planet where ageless kids fight an unending war with robots, he contracts the same plague that previously killed the adults. Dying, he bequeaths the ring of Jordan. Of course, all that was hypothetical and Gardner never became Green Lantern. Hal's wink at the audience at the end, suggests another potential Lantern out there might soon be relevant.

Infinity, Inc. #10: At last, we come to the end of the "Generations" saga with The Justice Society and Infinity, Inc. having a showdown in the lair of the Ultra-Humanite. The kids initially have a tough time with their more experienced and ruthless elders, but eventually teamwork turns the tide and the JSA is defeated. Brainwave, Jr. must team-up with his father to defeat Ultra, though at the cost of his father's life. She is also Ordway's and Machlan's last issue on the series, and we are told Newton and Alcala will be coming on board.

Legion of Super-Heroes #6: Levitz and Orlando/Mahlstedt revisit Alya Ranzz's history and the origin of the lighting-powered Ranzz-siblings as the alien Zymyr takes Lightning Lord and Lightning Lass captive and carries them to his installation. Working together, the siblings defeat him, then back on Winath, Ayla defeats her brother in one-on-one combat. Afterwards, she decides she needs to return to the Legion. Meanwhile, the five Legionnaires lost in Limbo try to find a way home.

New Talent Showcase #13: This issue's cover story is unusual in that it's domestic drama rather than the usual genre fair. Newell and Eric Shanower present a Mid-Century tale of a young girl who falls for a race car driver, that finds the reality of her situation not matching the fantasies of teen love. After disguising herself as a man and beating her philandering and drunk husband in a race, she leaves their young son with him and sets out to find herself. 

The next story is a number superhero piece, though not an origin story, interestingly. It's got amateurish artwork by Norm Breyfogle. After that, Bobcat is back, courtesy of Tiefenbacher and Woch/Kessel. He and another kid have to recover a signed baseball that got hit into a crotchety old neighbor's yard. Finally, Juaire and Palmer deliver another installment of "Sentry A.D." where our hero defeats the oni physically, but then learns the bigger challenge is defeating the demon spiritually.

Saga of Swamp Thing #32: McManus is fill-in artist for a done-in-one story, a tribute to Walt Kelly's "Pogo." It's concerns with animal rights and environmentalism remind me a lot of Morrison's later work in Animal Man, now that I think about it. Anthropomorphic animal-appearing aliens land on Earth looking for a place to live in peace after being driven from their homeworld. Unfortunately, they find out this world would be no safer for their kind than the one they left.

Sgt. Rock #396: Like last issue, this is a reprint issue devoted to one artist, in this case, Russ Heath. It has an additional theme of reprinting stories about kids. In the first one from Our Army at War #208 (1969), Easy finds a ragdoll in a bombed out French town, and Rock feels compelled to find the doll's owner and return it. In the second from Our Army at War #215 (1970), Easy is guarding a prisoner, an SS officer, who begins to exert a strange influence over the children in a French town. After the kids still Easy's weapons, Rock has to battle the Nazi hand-to-hand. In the end, it's revealed that he was threatening to have the children's parents killed if they didn't help him.

Warlord #88: I reviewed the main story here. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1985 (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 October 11, 1984. 

Immortal Dr. Fate #1: In keeping with my standing policy, I won't review this issue as it is a collection of reprints of two Dr. Fate stories from the 70s (one of them being the one from 1st Issue Special #9) and one from the 40s, but I did want to mention it as I think it was likely my first encounter with Dr. Fate as a solo character--and it has a cool Simonson cover.

Amethyst #1: Mishkin/Cohn and Estrada/Colon take us back to Gemworld. Amy and Emmy (the Princess Emerald) aren't there, though, because they are stuck on Earth and can't seem to find a way back. What's more, there are new neighbors next door that appear to be Dark Opal and Prince Carnelian in 80s suburbanite disguise. In Gemworld, an evil is building while the houses squabble without Amethyst to lead them. That evil appears to be Fire Jade, who already has Sardonyx working for her. Thanks to a magical call from the ailing Citrina, Amethyst finally returns to Gemworld, but somehow without her body, leaving Amy Winston in a dangerous sleep.

Flash #341: The Flash's trial gets underway in earnest, and we find out Central City must not be in a state that requires grand jury indictments, because the prosecutor just announces in court he's changing the charge from manslaughter to second degree murder.  Meanwhile, the Rogues again capture and brainwash Big Sir who has been busy freeing dogs from animal control. He attacks the Flash just after court adjourns for the day and smashes his face to a pulp with his morning star. Flash is left unconscious and unmasked but unrecognizable.

Arak Son of Thunder #40: Interesting that Valda gets a special "co-starring" billing on the cover here. The Thomases and DeZuniga have Arak and friends participate in a living game of "Shah" (chess) for the life of the impetuous Alsind. This comes after Arak already used a ritual to save his life from his stab injury. The letter column contains some additional details about the Persian version of the game that became chess, so it's educational!

Batman #379: Moench and Newton/Alcala aren't done with the Mad Hatter as the villain pivots to a scheme to use crooks mind-controlled and given enhanced strength by special hats to set a trap for Batman. A trap the Caped Crusader and Robin fall into and would have been killed by had Nocturna not come to the rescue. She's keeping up her press to when the affections of the dynamic duo after the court awarded her custody of Jason Todd.

There are other plates spinning: Julia gets a job as a writer for the picture news. Vicki Vale is still interested in Bruce Wayne though she's trying to keep her distance. The blind girl and her dog have nursed Night Slayer back to health, convinced he is the Batman.

G.I. Combat #273: In the Haunted Tank story, Stuart's Raiders are sent to rescue two concentration camp escapees, a German stage memory expert and his Jewish wife, because the expert has memorized the names and contacts for the Nazi leadership's escape plans if the war should go badly. Briefly, it seems things are a bust because he has amnesia following a head injury, but an electric shock triggers his memory of the torture he suffered and everything else returns with it.

There are two more World War II shorts by Newman/Patricio and Drake/Gonzales. The Drake story has two G.I.'s escaping a German P.O.W. camp dressed as women. The final story is the "Bravos of Vietnam" with Trinidad on art. Kiley and crew are following an ARVN soldier to a supposed VC weapon cache, but they suspect he's a traitor leading them into a trap. That turns out to be the case, but the Bravos manage to beat the odds and make it out alive.

Jemm, Son of Saturn #5: Jemm is prisoner aboard the White Saturnian vessel, and that gives Potter and Colan/Janson time to catch us up on how there happen to be any White Saturnians still around since we were told they were all dead. Turns out this bunch was an exploratory expedition and all off-planet when the nuclear war happened. They've turned pirate since under Synn's leadership, and the soldier women have enslaved the scientist men aboard. Hearing that the hidden Red Saturnian city of Bhok was still around, they headed back home to check it out. Jemm and friends manage to escape with the help of Synn's concubine. Meanwhile, Superman has made his way to Bhok and tells them about Jemm, only to hear the leader say he despises the Saturnian Prince.

Omega Men #22: The letter column tells us this is Moench's and Smith's/Maygar's last issue, but the new creative team isn't announced yet. The Omega Men are on the planet Dreadfahl. After a bar fight, Nimbus tries the bring a wounded man peace but instead turns him briefly into an angry ghost. Losing the will to live over the horror he inadvertently committed, he goes into a catatonic state and Primus, Broot, and Doc enter his soul, facing perils there, to try and bring him back.

Star Trek #10: Captain Styles and Excelsior arrive at Regula Station to retrieve Kirk and his crew. The pompous Styles has no love for any of them and seems determined to make things as difficult as possible. When confronted by the Mirror Enterprise and its crew, though, he's quickly off maneuvered and his ship boarded. The Kirks of two universes come face to face on Excelsior's bridges.

Superman #403: Kupperberg writes both stories this month. In the main one, he's joined by Swan/Oksner and they reveal that Superman is potentially far too trusting. An alien master thief from the planet Ramox gets intel from the Monitor to start a crime spree on Earth. After a couple of clashes, Superman finally stops him, then the thief seems to change personality and claims he was suffering from a genetic compulsion to theft, but being caught broke the compulsion and now he'll never do it again. Superman buys it without any real evidence. 

In the backup art is by Saviuk and Marcos. It's got an interesting conceit, I guess, but it doesn't make for a riveting story. Johnny Webber, Clark Kent's old classmate and the reformed villain Dyna-Mind, invites Clark to come to a Smallville High School reunion, but keeps calling him "Superman" and calls Superman "Clark Kent." Webber seems unaware he's got this mixed up, but it causes Clark a great deal of consternation as he scrambles to cover this up and figure out how it happened. In the end, super-hypnosis comes to the rescue, to make Webber forget what he must have accidentally picked up as Dyna-Mind. It was nice to see the Superboy series not forgotten, though.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1985 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis. This week, I start a new year in cover dates. I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands in the week of October 4, 1984. 

In the "Meanwhile..." column this month, Giordano announces that Justice League/Avengers isn't happening and gives his side of the story as to why this is, taking issue specifically with comments by Shooter in Marvel Age that he feels mischaracterized the situation.

Swamp Thing Annual #2: As a kid I thought this issue was amazing, a real tour de force. It sees Swamp Thing journey into the afterlife, first Heaven and then Hell, to recover the soul of Abbie. Along the way he meets some DC supernatural stars: Deadman, Phantom Stranger, the Demon, and the Spectre. Seeing these guys spouting (semi-)profundities and presented in a more mystical than superheroic context gave then a gravitas they didn't seem to possess before. 

It's a good issue, undeniably. One that pretty much lays the blueprint for a lot of what we'll see in Sandman, both in content and style. Reading it as an adult, though, it isn't perfect. It seems really more a standard issue amount of story expanded to annual length just to give us a chance to have all these guest stars. It feels like there could have been a little more to it, and it comes off as a bit slight, beyond the worldbuilding.

Atari Force #13: The editorial column announces this is Conway's last issue; Mike Baron will be taking over as scripter. Conway and Barreto/Villagran definitely do a lot to bring this long arc to a resolution. The Dark Destroyer takes a few minutes to gloat and reveal how he came to be in a copy of Martin's body. All this taunting, though, just enrages Martin who attacks the Destroyer, and the surprise of that allows the other Atari Force members to break free. They can't stop the antimatter bomb though, so they are forced to escape, leaving a beaten Destroyer behind. The bomb explodes, seemingly killing him and destroying the world.

There's another "humorous" Hukka backup by Kupperberg and Manak/Giffen.

DC Comics Presents #77: Wolfman and Swan/Hunt bring back the Forgotten Heroes who we last saw in Action Comics #553, some 9 months ago. Mr. Posiedon frees Ultivac, and the robot's rampage attracts the attention of the Forgotten Heroes who are giving a press conference nearby. Poseidon is partnered with the Enchantress (still a villain, but now blonde for some reason) who is trying to free the sorcerer, Kraklow. The b-list Superman villain Atom-Master allies with them and we've got the Forgotten Villains, though they don't get that name this issue. The Forgotten Heroes have to contend with Superman who gets turned into a dragon by Kraklow's magic. Thankfully, Animal Man's powers to copy animal abilities apparently extend to mythical creatures as well. In the last panel, the villains are bolstered by the arrival of the Faceless Hunter from Saturn.

Fury of Firestorm #31: Tuska's guesting on art so there's a pretty big stylistic shift, and some characters are off model. Conway's back to tie up the story, in a way that feels like a season-ending TV episode rushing to tie up all the loose ends. Firestorm reveals he was sort of baiting Mindboggler this time. She leads him to Breathtaker, who he deals with pretty easily, having figured out that he also is about mind games. Mindboggler then offers to help Firestorm and Firehawk against the 2000 Committee, who likely have Lorraine's father captive. The assault against the Committee is over pretty quick (some of the fight is even handled off-panel!) and Clarissa's perfidy is also revealed. That's that, everybody goes back to their lives, with the bad guys going to jail--except for Mindboggler who the heroes let go.

Justice League of America #234: Conway and Patton continue the New Teen Titans inspired character stuff as Steel goes out with Vibe's sister, Zatanna chastises Aquaman for being too hard on the new guys, but most of the story goes to Vixen who finds out a terrorist organization is working for her uncle, the dictator of M'Changa and the man who killed her father. She goes after his men to learn his whereabouts but tries to keep the rest of the League out of it. Meanwhile, the Monitor and Lyla watch as a being known as the Overmaster recruits and trains the Cadre, which includes Crowbar from last issue.

New Teen Titans #4: This is an odd issue to me because Wolfman and Perez don't play things the usual way. Trigon and Raven seem to have achieved victory. The Titans (among other heroes) are physically embedded in a column and Lilith can only observe as her friends, trapped in nightmares of their own worst fears and taunted by sinister doubles, one by one give in to anger and kill their tormenting duplicates. Often in comics, overcoming one's evil doppelganger rather than cowering or giving in is the correct solution, but here besting them gives Trigon his victory. Then the evil Titans, freed from their softer emotions, attack and kill Raven! They return to their normal selves, but Lilith reassures her horrified friends that that was what needed to happen, which again, is certainly a zag instead of a zig for this sort of story.  Trigon awakens to take vengeance for the death of his daughter, but I have to wonder: Didn't he realize something like this might happen when he turned the Titans evil?

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #1: Kupperberg is still trying to make Maaldor a thing. Having him as a Superman foe must not have been getting him there, so now he gets to menace the Green Lantern Corps, with Kane giving him a whole new, more orcish appearance. Something has drained the power of the Main Battery on Oa and kidnapped three Guardians. A group of well-known lanterns (but not one from Earth) set out to find them. It's a trap to drain yet more energy by Maaldor, whose breaking out of his other-dimensional prison. Arkkis Chummuck bravely goes hand-to-hand with the villain, as the other lanterns back him up. Arkkis and Maaldor appear to die together. Well, except Maaldor will appear in Crisis. But he's defeated for now!

Wednesday Comics: DC, December 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 September 27, 1984.

All-Star Squadron #40: We continue on from the events of last issue with Green Lantern and Hawkman showing up to end the riot--and mostly, unfortunately, looking like they are taking the side of the white bigots. Hawkman even seems swayed for a moment by the Real Americans rhetoric, suggesting some kind of influence is at play. The two meet up with the other All-Stars, and they all head down to the jail to try to protect Amazing Man and his father from being lynched by an angry mob fired up by hate and the words of the Real American. When Robot Man sees the other All-Stars starting to fall for the message, he frees Amazing Man and broadcasts loudly to the crowd to drown out the Real American. Amazing Man battles the masked racist and reveals him to be a robot! So, it turns out the Phantom Empire was provided the Real American android with mesmerizing voice by the Monitor. That seems pretty strange. So, the Monitor has been active in multiple time periods all at once (to the extent that means anything with time travel involved)? Is he going to show up in Jonah Hex next? Sgt. Rock?

Action Comics #562: The team-up no one demanded! Rozakis and Schaffenberger/Hunt bring back the Planeteer (the guy who thinks he's a reincarnation of Alexander) and ally him with Queen Bee (whose last appearance was in Super Friends #45). They've got some plot involved super-magnetism, and they would probably have succeeded in capturing Superman had they not turned on each other. In the B plot, the Daily Planet staff gets invited to see their old co-worker Steve Lombard in Damn Yankees.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #26: Kupperberg and Sherman-Tereno/Rodriquez get Arion back to Atlantis, but he finds things in a bad state. The king is in seclusion and hasn't been seen for some time, leading to unrest in the streets. Lady Chian is gone, and Wyynde is in some sort of catatonic state. To make matters worse, the cult of a malign deity, Kr'Rth, has secretly returned to town, looking to use the rising chaos to summon their lord. Arion makes an attack on their church but winds up getting captured.

Detective Comics #545: Moench and Colan are still going "decompressed" with this storyline. Here with catch up with the Night Slayer as he crawls away following being shot by Nocturna. He escapes through the sewers and winds up on a beach where he is found by a blind woman and her service dog. Believing he is Batman, she takes him back to her shanty and nurses him back to health, developing a crush on him. Knight begins to play on her affections, but the real Batman is now on his trail.

Jonah Hex #88: At the end of last issue, Jonah discovered Emmy Lou's wanted poster painting her as the "Blonde Bandit," but he knows somethings fishy. He spends most of the issue trying to find her, first encountered a gang dressing a male member up like her and bringing those guys in. Then, he tracks down the real deal only to burst in the door to save her and have her accidentally shoot him. Meanwhile, poor Adrian is on the drain robbed by the copycats and gets hit on the head and gets amnesia. She winds up believing she is another young woman (who was actually killed on the train) and takes work as a saloon girl.

Spanner's Galaxy #1: A space opera from Cuti and Mandrake. They are so focused on worldbuilding this issue, they don't really make a compelling story. An unseen and context-free interrogation narrate the events. We follow Polaris Spanner from boyhood, where a visit to a market planet introduces him to individuals that will play a big role in in his life. His father buys a fancy alien weapon for the power stone in it but then gets into conflict with knights of an equanoid alien race that want their fallen comrade's weapon back. Later, these Kaborians show up on the Spanners' giant ameba farm to buy the item just in time to rescue Polaris from getting engulfed by one of the stock. They take him back to their homeworld and decide to train him as the first human Kaborian Knight. He's father is all good with this and gifts him the weapon (a shek) that started this whole thing on graduation. Polaris also learns how to "castle" which is teleporting via exchanging places with a willing castling-capable individual through some advanced alien tech. For unclear reasons, Polaris is branded a criminal and goes on the run from various forces. It's a lot for one issue, and it's a bit of a slog.

Sun Devils #6: Rik, Anomie, and Shikun meet up with a group of escaped slave sauroids who agree to get them out of the tunnels beneath the city. They meet up with the other Sun Devils, which is a good thing, because the way is blocked by soldiers. They manage to fight their way out, but not before Pook, Anomie's pet, is killed.

Tales of the Legion #318: Levitz and Shoemaker/Kesel have the remaining Legionnaires debating what to do about their diminished strength with some of their members on leave and others missing. Meanwhile, Shadow Kid, brother of Shadow Lass, infiltrates the camp of some rebels on Talok VIII and gets captured by the Persuader, the right-hand man to the rebel leader, Lady Memory. When Shadow Lass find out, she and Mon-El rush to help. They deal with the rebels and the Persuader easily, but Lady Memory reveals her power and brings Mon-El to his knees.

 

World's Finest Comics #310: This is a bit of standard Bronze Age, done-in-one fare, but I like it better than the extended arcs we were having before. Cavelieri and Woch/Maygar provide a story similarly structured to the last couple of issues, where Batman and Superman are pursuing separate cases but come together in the end. In the main story, the guy running a boy's club in a Metropolis slum is disappointed that the kids idolize a neighborhood petty criminal over Batman and Superman, who they see as square. The decides to give then a new role model, and using his engineering knowledge, he becomes the budget costumed-hero Sonik. On his first outing, he meets Batman, but they both run afoul of the mod assassination group Batman has been tracking. They escape through Batman's know-how, but Sonik accounts himself well in the next encounter, one that the kids' witness. 

Meanwhile, Superman has thwarted an assassination attempt against an Arab terrorist in Metropolis for a peace meeting. He catches up with Batman and meets Sonik and the kids. Sonik reveals his identity which makes the boys really interested in the club. Later Bruce Wayne shows up to announce he is funding the club, and Clark Kent comes by to do a news feature on it.

DC Sampler #3: This final issue of the DC Sampler looks toward 1985. It opens with a Swamp Thing teaser, then has two pages each plugging the limited series Robotech Defenders and Conquerors of the Barren Earth. Next up are single pages on Hunger Dogs and America vs. The Justice Society. There's two pages on the shakeup doing done with Green Lantern, then two pages on the Who's Who. Spanner's Galaxy gets 2 pages. Then, we see the silhouette of the enigmatic Monitor that has been appearing so much, and we are told all will be revealed in a title called DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths, though in the opening "Meanwhile..". column of this issue Dick just calls it Crisis on Infinite Earths. We get a hint of what's in store for Atari Force, and a primer on Batman and the Outsiders. The upcoming Superman: The Secret Years gets teased, as does the return of Amethyst. Blue Devil, World's Finest (which mentions Sonik), and the twice monthly Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes are featured. The issue closes with teases for DC Challenge and Jonni Thunder aka Thunderbolt.