Wednesday Comics: DC, December 1985 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on September 26, 1985.

Action Comics #574: In the first story, Boldman and Schaffenberger/Hunt present one of those Silver Age style stories, but this one has more of a bite than is typical for that genre. Rad Zonon, a native of the world of Ostok in the same star system as Krypton comes to Earth to get Superman to compete against him in a reenactment of the Olympic-style games the Kryptonians and Ostokians used to compete in. Ultimately, Zonon is the victor, but Jimmy, having noticed Superman act strangely around the Ostokian, thinks something is fishy, and figures out there's a surge of energy in the last contest that could mean Zonon cheated. Superman reveals that Ostok is a dead world, devastated by radiation from the destruction of Krypton. Only Zonon survived of his people because he was traveling to Krypton to compete at the time. To be in shape to compete with Superman, the much older Ostokian was forced to fortify his body with energy, but in doing so, he killed himself. Superman knew what Zonon was doing, but also knew what victory meant to him. The last panel is Zonon, dead beneath his victory flag on his dead world.

The second story by Greenberger/Kesel and Bender/Hunt brings back Mr. Mxyzptlk. The imp comes to Earth to celebrate the birth of his son. Not only does he force the festivities, but he keeps making the day repeat. Jimmy tries to trick him into saying his name but fails. Clark reminds him that if tomorrow never comes, his son will never get any older. Realizing his mistake, Mxyzptlk agrees to say his name backwards to go home, but he can't make himself say it voluntarily, so Superman has to "trick" him.

Detective Comics #557: Moench and Colan/Smith follow-up up on the events of last issue. The Crisis related storms continue while Batman waits fretfully at the hospital the injured Catwoman now convinced that he loves her after all. When she awakens, she contradicts him, supporting Nocturna's theory. Bullock fills Gordon in that they are after Night Slayer, not Nocturna or Catwoman. Night Slayer moves in to kill Nocturna at the observatory, first confronting Robin who has appointed himself her guard.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and Moore/Patterson, Lars captures Onyx and nearly gets Green Arrow. He takes the key to the container holding the Book of Ages from her, then leaves her in a deathtrap on the monastery's bell. Green Arrow shows up to rescue her. They go after Lars, but he opens the container before they can stop him. In A Raiders of the Ark-esque turn, he's reduced to a skeleton by the energy from within in.

 

All-Star Squadron #52: Another Crisis crossover. It turns out Captain Marvel rushing at the All-Stars angrily at the end of last issue was a red herring. He was actually aiming for the shadow demons behind them. The group is on Earth-S, but they don't know how they got there. Green Lantern's ring is running out of juice, so he and Captain Marvel go to China to find the twin of the meteor that got carved into the lantern on Earth-Two to recharge it. Meanwhile, Liberty Belle has a dream about Firebrand in the Old West with a black Green Lantern, which is something that is (unbeknownst to her) actually going on. Or did go on. Time travel! 

Captain Marvel introduces the All-Stars to Shazam who is able to send them home via the Rock of Eternity, though presumably for continuity reasons, Cap isn't able to see the Rock yet.

The second story is a solo Hawkman with art by Dellinges, imitating and adapting a Golden Age yarn (All-Star Comics #13) drawn by Kubert. Hawkman gets a Planetary Romance sort of adventure on Saturn 

DC Challenge #2: Wein and Patton take over this issue. First, they briefly recap where Evanier/Colan left things, then move into their own story. Batman stops the bomb from going off at Wayne Manor by cutting lines at the power plant with a batarang, but the mysterious pointed-eared, red man disappears. He does leave a numerical clue, though. Meanwhile, Superman discovers it was Mongul who walloped him on the moon and manages to defeat the villain. Elsewhere, Congo Bill and Bwana Beast have to deal with escaped zoo animals and a manticore released by an earthquake who battles the jinn we saw in the first issue. Jonah Hex takes a blue stone tablet from some robbers and is transported to 1985. He winds up being forced into a car by some crime film lookalike thugs where the red-skinned, pointed ear guy is driving. While Hex scuffles with the thugs, the driver disappears, leaving the car careening toward danger.

Nathaniel Dusk II #3: MacGregor and Colan have Dusk escape getting perforated by a tommy gun by jumping from the top of a moving bus onto the face of a street clock. Dusk finds an employee of Amanda's stepfather has a gun that matches the description of the one first used to shoot at Clement, and recalls the assailant was wearing a Malone uniform. Valentine Cooper supposedly confronts the man, and the man winds up shot in the struggle. Later, Dusk figures out that within the fake apple on his cart, Clement has hidden a clue to where the documents in his possession are. It turns out to be a locker at the train station. Dusk retrieves the folder but has another close escape from the tommy gun wielding gangster. It turns out Clement had photos of Amanda's stepfather meeting with gangster Arthur Rothberg. Nothing criminal, but embarrassing and a potential blow to his reputation. Malone denies hiring the gangsters, but that's when the tommy gun guy shows up and says Rothberg sent them. Dusk manages to escape again.

V #11: Bates and Infantino/DeZuniga get the resistance leaders back to California where they leave L.A. for a base at an old ranch in the desert. Unfortunately, there's a traitor among them, and the Visitors under Diana know their whereabouts and are planning an assault. Around the same time, a young Visitor Prince is inbound to get some military experience. Factional conflict among the Visitors leads to his suspended animation pod crashing in the desert where the Resistance finds it. They treat the young Prince well (knowing it would cause an escalation to harm him) and save his life when Lydia foolishly okays an attack on the Resistance base with the Prince there. Willie is captured in the raid, but the others escape. The Prince is outwardly grateful, but his true intentions are unclear.

World's Finest #322: This issue is a fill-in by Zimmerman and Giffen/Kesel. Superman is seriously injured by some sort of ray gun in the hands of the Mob. As the condition could eventually kill him, Batman comes to Metropolis to track down the source. Meanwhile, a woman named Helena arrives in town to try and find her sister, Astrid, who got involved with the mob and has perhaps been killed. Batman meets Helena and decides to help her find her sister.

Helena stumbles upon where the mobsters are using the ray to attack Superman, while elsewhere, Batman encounters Astrid. She tells him the mob's plan but asks him not to reveal to Helena she is still alive. Helena and Batman, working in toward the same end, if not together, foil the mob's scheme and save Superman. Batman, with some reservation, fulfills his end of the bargain with Astrid and tells Helena that her sister is dead.

Wednesday Comics: DC, December 1985 (week 3)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on September 19, 1985.

Warlord #100: Warlord hits 100 issues and Grell provides the cover. I reviewed it here.

Batman and the Outsiders #27: Barr and Davis have Halo getting a new, short, and very 80s haircut. Meanwhile, Sapphire and Rex are on their honeymoon, and Rex is kidnapped by men who appear to pull his soul or consciousness into a palm-sized sphere. Katana's co-worker Emily Briggs pays her a visit at the Wayne Foundation, but as she's leaving, she's kidnapped by thugs. Batman and the Outsiders think the gangster, Morgan Jones, is responsible, but it turns out not to be the case. The thugs that kidnapped Emily were mind-controlled. Elsewhere, Emily's strange captor with glowing eyes tells her she will be queen of the world.

Blue Devil #19: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Maygar give this issue prominently featuring Kid Devil a retro feel with several short stories alternating protagonists between Kid Devil and Blue Devil. The Blue Devil ones call him "Kid Devil's Pal." The joke wears thin pretty quickly, unfortunately. There's a segment with the Trickster manipulating both Captain Cold and Kid Devil in an attempt to one-up his Roguish rival. My favorite is probably the one where Kid Devil and his pen pal Robin realize they both fought the same bicoastal villain who relies on public air travel to get back and forth. The Blue Devil sequences deal with him bouncing around some alternate realities before getting home.

Green Lantern #194: This is another Crisis crossover by Englehart and Staton. Guy is transported to Oa and as he meets with the Guardians, we get his backstory as well as Krona's history. Hal had followed part way, but then he was deposited on Oa, not in the Guardians' sanctum. He heads off to the Guardians' citadel, finding that since Oa itself has absorbed energy he is able to fly, but there are also monsters released by loss of the Power Battery's energy.

Meanwhile, Katma Tui is fighting natural disasters on Earth, but her ring suddenly shuts off. John Stewart is in the 19th Century fighting Shadow Demons with Cyborg, Jonah Hex, Bat Lash and Scalphunter, and his ring shuts off, as well.

Infinity, Inc. #20: The Thomases and McFarlane/Montano/DeZuniga formally introduce the two new heroes they've been telegraphing were on the way for the past few issues, and they both have pretty bad costumes. After the wedding of Green Lantern and the Harlequin, Harbinger appears to take the JSA and Infinity, Inc. to the Monitor's satellite. Rick Tyler, left behind, has already decided to become the new Hourman. He heads to South Carolina (hitchhiking) to check on Beth Chapel, who lost her sight in the daytime but now, like Dr. Mid-Nite, can see in the dark. After she and the new Hourman are attacked by the Anti-Monitor's shadow-demons, she decides to her adopt her own superhero identity, designs a costume and becomes "Dr. Midnight." The Chapel family home is hit by a cannonball, so Dr. Midnight and Hourman are immediately thrown into action.

New Teen Titans #15: Arella tracks Raven to a Louisiana leper colony that has been holding her captive, but both are abducted and the lepers killed by Mother Mayhem and the Church of Blood. 

Meanwhile, the Titans in space arrive at Tamarran, and discover what Captain Karras hasn't been telling them: the royal family expects Kory to wed to end the civil war, and the person she must wed is the heir of Kalapatt, Karras. Apparently, none of them know that Blackfire is on Tamarran fomenting unrest.

Sgt. Rock #407: Two stories this issue with three shorter, humor pieces. In the main story, Kanigher and Catan have Easy get a new kid (a shiny "new penny"), but after the first engagement the kid is shellshocked into near catatonia. The lieutenant (who never sees the kid's face. This is important!) demands Rock take the kid to the MPs and wants him court martialed for cowardice. On the way to find MPs in a warzone, the new penny finds his courage and saves Rock by firing an artillery piece at the cost of his own life. When the lieutenant arrives, he finds not only that he was wrong about the kid, but the kid is his own son, just 16, who lied about his age to enlist.

The second story involves pie laced with rat poison being fed to German soldiers, saving two captured G.I.s. The interesting thing here is that it was written, drawn, and colored by Scott Madsen, and so far as I can tell, it's his only comics credit anywhere.

Saga of Swamp Thing #43: Hippie naturalist and sometime drug dealer Chester, happens to pick up one of the tubers that dropped from the Swamp Thing. Examining it, he cuts it into 3 parts. One eventually goes to a woman dying of cancer, who experiences psychedelic visions of her oneness with the Earth and cycles of life, and dies free of pain and at peace. Another is stolen by a bully and dealer who has a bad trip wherein he relives the horrific events of the Swamp Thing's life before he's hit by a car. Chester, hearing these stories, decides the plant must reveal a person's true morality. He considers taking the last bit himself, but them decides against it.

Who's Who #9: We are in "G-H" now. Newer characters Gypsy and Halo show up, courtesy of Patton and Aparo. Harbinger is here by Perez, but her first appearance is wrong. She doesn't even appear in in New Teen Titans (1980) #21. We get the Hawks of two Earths with Hawkgirl (Earth-Two) being drawn by Steve Rude. McFarlane provides the art for Infinity, Inc. antagonists, Helix. With the debut of Hourman II this month, both Rex and Rick Tyler appear here, with art by Murphy Anderson and Denys Cowan, respectively. The newly married Harlequin is here by Nodell/Giordano. There's also the Haunted Tank by regular penciler Sam Glanzman.

Wednesday Comics: DC, December 1985 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on September 12, 1985.

Shadow of the Bat #1: This is not, of course, the post-Crisis series. That Batman: Shadow of the Bat doesn't debut until 1992. This is another reprint limited series focusing on the work of Englehart and Rogers, whose late 70s collaboration on bat-titles is celebrated. These first couple of issues, though, are pre-team-up of those creators. Here we have 3 Batman stories with Englehart and Simonson from 1977, and a House of Mystery story with Rogers on art written by DeMatteis. In keeping with my policy on reprints, I won't be reviewing it, but I'm noting it was out there. It runs for 5 issues.

Amethyst #12: Newell and Doran/Kesel fill-in on this issue. Amy is babysitting neighbor kids and tells them a previously unrevealed adventure of Amethyst and Prince Topaz where they must find a way to stop the onyx plague that turns its victims to stone. The solution involves a quest to the Emissaries of Varn. It's a shame Doran didn't draw more Amethyst as her art fits the material well. 

Batman #390: The skies are still red as Moench's and Mandrake's story veers into high melodrama. After their kiss in the Gotham Observatory, Batman and Nocturna have a talk. She feels her theft is justified and won't give it up, but Batman can't just let it slide. Nocturna points out that Batman is attracted to "dark and dangerous" women, but he feels compelled to stop them from being that way. If they change to suit him, he can't love them. Batman, perhaps stung by the truth, leaves. Meanwhile, the Night Slayer is still stalking the night, and Catwoman's quest to clear her name by catching him brings her to the Observatory. Robin intervenes to stop her from taking in Nocturna, and as she is fighting him, Batman shows up. He likewise tells her to stand down. Catwoman realizes Batman has feelings for Nocturna and is hurt, and in her anger, vows again to bring in Night Slayer, whatever it takes. 

Then she's struck by lightning.

Batman in anger and guilt blames Nocturna and carries Catwoman's body (dead or alive, it's unclear) away with Robin coming after him. Another earthquake in the series that has been shaking Gotham creates a rift between the observatory and where they stand. 

All that aside, we get more of the buddy relationship Moench is developing between Bullock and Robin. It's really a shame that that will all go away following Batman: Year One.

Legion of Super-Heroes #17: This is the second issue of Legion (not counting the Subs) I remember reading, though technically I read it in its reprint in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #342 in 1986. LaRocque comes on as penciler this issue. Super-wealthy Leland McCauley wants to get his rival RJ Brande out of the way. Charon, the man he's hired to do that, says that the only way is to get the Legion of Super-Heroes out of way. Then we cut to Dream Girl awaking form one of her precognitive dreams saying RJ Brande is going to die and it's the Legion's fault! 

The Legion rushes to the rescue and deals with the assassin, then confronts McCauley. Brande refuses to press charges, though so they have to let him go. Brande decides to give up his public persona and this petty squabbling and head on into space on his own, anonymously, thus making Dream Girl's prediction sort of true.

Omega Men #33: In the first story, Klein and McManus bring most the Omega Men to a planet Nimbus is imprisoned on where they hope to settle the refugees of the Spider Guild invasion. Meanwhile, the other group that we last saw in Blue Devil has an audience with Harry Hokum.

In the second story by Parkhouse and Gibbons, an escaped, "mad android" hiding among the folk dwelling in the sewer system becomes a healer, but he's still hunted.

 

Star Trek #21: Rozakis Tom Sutton/Villagran give Spock a spotlight story in his new command. The Surak arrives at an unexplored planet. Beaming down with two crewmembers, Spock finds himself alone, and in a dream-like environment. He realizes it is a dream and manages to breakout by force of will. He then has to employ the Vulcan mind meld to help the other crew escape and finds the monster in the mind of Commander Brinks, who isn't fond of her captain, bears a resemblance to him.

Super Powers #4: Superman and Firestorm are investigating one of the "Seeds of Doom" and encounter a Roman gladiator and Steppenwolf. They follow Steppenwolf into the past, Firestorm and the Gladiator having to be wrapped in Superman's somehow expanded cape for the journey.  In the Roman era, our heroes are captured and rendered powerless by Steppenwolf, then forced to fight in the arena. Firestorm manages to save both himself and Superman by separating into his component identities to escape the inhibiting device. The heroes defeat Steppenwolf and return to their own time to find the seed shriveled and dead.

Superman #414: Maggin and Swan/Williamson continue the story from last month's DCP #87. The Man of Steel is the captive of the Superman Revenge Squad. They take him to New Krypton, the home of the Kandorians, and forced to watch their conquest of the planet. Though they aren't able to win militarily, they employ means to mind control the Kryptonian population. They even bring them in to beat up Superman, and the poor guy seems so defeated he winds up sitting in a corner with his cape over his head. That's a ruse though, because when Sylvia (the human wife of Superman's cousin Van-Zee) shows up, she gives Superman a Phantom Zone Projector he had told her a little while ago to carry, predicting just such a Revenge Squad plot. The alien leaders are sent to the Zone. Before leaving New Krypton for what will be the last time thanks to Crisis, Superman retrieves Supergirl's body from space and brings it to her parents, Zor-El and Alura. 

This is the last story where any of those Kryptonian survivors (or the Superman Revenger Squad) appear for some time, though many have ultimately been reintroduced in one form or another.

Wednesday Comics: DC, December 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 September 5, 1985. 

Outsiders #2: Barr and Aparo continue the story from last issue. The Outsiders realize Looker is likely captured and use the Mom android to lure out the rest of the Nuclear Family. The confrontation doesn't go well for them, and the Nuclear Family heads flies off to cause a nuclear explosion in L.A., leaving the Outsiders unconscious. Luckily, our heroes run into the scientist studying fear who had previously helped Shanner but is now getting out of town to escape the nuclear threat. She lets them know what the Nuclear Family is up to. The Outsiders race to stop them. In a fight at the nuclear plant, it looks like the Outsiders will lose again until a desperate but clever attack by a combo of Geo-Force and Metamorpho shorts out the androids.

Infinity, Inc. Annual #1: This Crisis crossover has very little Crisis in it. We get a reference to the red skies, and Obsidian returns to the group, but (unlike everyone else summoned by Harbinger so far) he only has vague memories of what happened while he was gone. The Thomases and McFarlane/Harris spend most of the issue dealing with the villainess Thorn and revealing the mysterious backstory of Jade and Obsidian. This mostly consists of Alan Scott or Harlequin narrating (and retconning, I imagine) the events of past issues. To summarize what we learn: Thorn the other personality of Rose, and both were also Alyx, the supposedly deceased wife of Scott. Obsidian and Jade are indeed their children, whose existence Scott was unaware of. Harlequin is revealed to be his co-worker Molly Mayne who has had a crush on him since forever. Those Mayne and Scott get married at the end of the issue.

DC Comics Presents #88: An editorial comment at the start of this issue by Englehart and Giffen/Kesel says something like "this is how things are going to be here from now on," but I'm not sure what they mean by that. Anyway, the Crisis is more part of the setting for this issue than actually crossing over with the story in any significant way. Because of the Crisis, sensationalist newsman Jack Ryder, is giving airtime to the cranks and crackpots who claim the end of the world is nigh. Stodgy, old mainstream media moguls are worried this is freaking people out and so ask America's most trust newsman, Clark Kent, to have a talk with Ryder and get him to tone it down. Ryder says no. The stodgy old guys seem to have a point here, as Ryder's most recent guest, the Hermit, uses his media exposure to form a psychic link between an ancient demon and Ryder's viewers. Superman and the Creeper have to team-up to defeat the demon.

It's interesting that, even at this point, Engelhart suggests (at a Comics Code approved, kid's comic level) Ryder is sort of a conservative shock jock (he has him call Kent "left" as an insult). I would have thought that characterization came later.

Fury of Firestorm #42: Conway and Kayanan/Akin pick-up Firehawk's and Wonder Girl's quest from this month's COIE #9 except that (much like with the Red Tornado thing) the accounts don't quite match. Here, the two are looking for both Terry and Lorraine's father, who wasn't mentioned before. Also, Firehawk thanks Wonder Girl and the Titans for being there for her as she was freaking out over this whole Crisis thing, but we haven't seen or got mention of any such breakdown in COIE #8 or #9. All that aside, this issue mostly deals with expanding Firehawk's character and shows her working through some uncertainty about being a hero in a very patriotic way: by joining Wonder Girl to play havoc with the British forces that have Washington and his troops pinned down in Brooklyn. Thanks to the Crisis, to travel through the New York City area is the travel through time, so in addition to helping Washington they meet Tomahawk and Dan Hunter. In the end, our heroes still haven't found Terry or Senator Reilly, but Firehawk has found something out about herself.

Hex #4: Wagner fills in for Texeira this issue. Poor Jonah Hex just can't get a moment to stop and catch his breath in this future. He crashes his stolen flier, barely escaping a fall into a canyon, and then he's forced to trek across the wastes without supplies. He's saved from drinking out of a contaminated puddle by the timely re-appearance of Stiletta--the real one. She explains that the Conglomerate has a stranglehold on society (such as it is) by controlling the supply of "Soames," pills used to purify the tainted water supply. She also reveals that she's the daughter of Borsten, who is a time traveler from 2042 who found out a nuclear war was coming in 2045. He jumped into the future two years farther with a cache of technology so he could rule amid the ashes. So far, the criminal Conglomerate has been an impediment to his plans.

Hex and Stiletta have a narrow escape from oversized leech-like worms, but then the guys who supplied the drug dealer Hex killed find them. Meanwhile, Harris is being interrogated in a Vietnam simulation by Bortsen's men to get him to tell them where Hex is.

Justice League of America #245: Luke McDonnell comes onboard as penciler in this Crisis crossover that followed directly from COIE #9 last week. Thanks to Warp, Steel is sent into the far future of the year 1,000,000. There he's helped by a woman named Olanda as they are pursued by the robotic servitors of the mysterious Six. The woman takes Steel to her father who turns out to be the aged Lord of Time, who last fought the Justice League as a younger man in '81 in JLA #199. He also appears in the background of COIE #9-10. The Lord of Time reveals he took refuge in the far future and cloned children from his genetic material to form a family. Eventually, his six sons rebelled, jealous of his favoritism for his daughter, and stole his Chrono-Cube, brought killer robots from the past, and attacked. Only their slow decision-making due to their reliance on consensus among themselves as kept them from overwhelming their father and Olanda. 

Steel helps Olanda and the old man get back the Chrono-Cube. The Lord of Time then uses it to go back and prevent his younger self from making the Six. 

Vigilante #24: Cover by Dan Day this month. Kupperberg and Smith/Maygar have a middle-aged mother whose daughter is killed in Time Square threatening to go Death Wish after Judge Chase lets the men go free that she believes are responsible. Chase, feeling a kinship with the woman, ultimately takes a bullet to stop her. It's revealed that the two men aren't responsible after someone else confesses to the crime. Meanwhile, the Vigilante hunts the drug dealer whose lawyer he killed last issue, and the Electrocutioner is also still on a rampage. Also, Marcia's psychiatrist thinks he knows the identity of "the friend" she told him was the Vigilante.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November/December 1985

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 August 29, 1985. 

DC Challenge #1: Though most comics this week are cover dated December 1985, this one carries a November date. This was one I bought off the stands, but well, despite the heavy advertising this series got, I didn't find it particularly interesting at the time. This is a high concept sort of endeavor: a "round robin" story with a number of ground rules each creative team has to follow. They are outlined here. The tagline "Can You Solve It Before We Do?" makes it sound like there's a mystery, but so far as I am aware, they were making it up as they went along, so what's to solve?

Anyway, Evanier and Colan/Smith introduce the strange happenings where demonic entities seem to be possessing people and there are unexplained appearances by phantom, celebrity lookalikes (Bogart, Groucho Marx). Rereading it, I do find it a bit intriguing, but we'll see where that goes.

Wonder Woman #328: This is our only Crisis crossover this week. Notably, Newell and Heck really evoke the apocalyptic feel of Crisis--and perhaps with good reason. The shadow-demons of the Anti-Monitor imperil the realms of the Greek gods themselves, so they interrupt the political machinations on Paradise Island (ending that subplot) and carelessly reveal Wonder Woman's secret ID to Diana's co-workers as they draft the Amazon's into the war. The forces arrayed against them and the need for all-out war cause Hippolyta to lose hope: She believes the dream of peace that led to Paradise Island's founding is over. She urges the Amazons to join her in pray and appears to withdraw from the battle, leading the Olympians to conclude they may have to go it alone.

Meanwhile, we get a bit of General Darnell's backstory and learn that he's been engaged in some Oliver North-esque behavior in Tropidor. It turns out a jilted ex-lover is the one threatening to reveal his misdeeds. Darnell reveals his crimes to his subordinates, taking full responsibility.

Well, the end approaches for Darnell, the Olympians, and the Amazons, too, as the next issue blurb announces that it will be the final issue of the series!

Action Comics #573: This one also is dated November. We continue with what I remain convinced is the burning through a bunch of inventory stories as the ongoing Crisis shortens their shelf-life. In the first one, Boldman and Schaffenberger/Oksner have that W.C. Fields stand-in J. Wilbur Wolfingham think he's pulling a master scam by selling the Earth to an alien visitor, but instead the alien realtor appears to have scammed Wolfingham, when he comes back and takes possession of the planet, evicting humanity.

In the second story, Campiti (only story for the Big Two)/Juaie (only story for the Big Two outside of New Talent Showcase) and Saviuk/Barreto have a street corner hotdog vendor castigate Clark Kent for ordering ketchup on a hotdog, then fantasize about how he would do all the super-problem-solving he hears Superman doing on the radio, if he were Superman.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #9: As the Crisis appears to be abating, the villains assembled by Brainiac and Lex Luthor strike. There is some dissension at first, though, and Brainiac has to disintegrate Earth-Two Luthor. After that, the villains quickly take Earth-4 and Earth-S and are making a serious assault on Earth-Two when the heroes rally and start to fight back. Brainiac and Luthor didn't necessarily intended that the villains would win; they were using this assault as a means to power for themselves. However, Psimon stayed behind on the station and overhears their plans. He blasts Brainiac to bits and prepares to take down Luthor to claim the rulership for himself.

Meanwhile, the World War II era characters get back to just fighting their usual war as the red skies recede. On modern day Earth-One, though, Wonder Girl and Firehawk prepare to enter an area of Manhattan where time is still confused to try to find Terry.

MASK #1: For a number of years, this 80s toyline would have been utterly forgotten, but I hear the toys are coming back and Skybound's Energon Universe has a MASK comic out now. The version here pretty much works like the cartoon, so far as I can recall, though Fleisher and Chen/DelBeato have a Cold War stand-in element that I don't remember in the animated series. MASK seem to be independent but closely aligned with the PNA (Peaceful Nations Alliance--peaceful but still with aircraft carriers!), and trying to help them construct a laser-powered missile defense system, while VENOM is the "mercenary arm" of Contraworld who are the bad guy alliance, and they're trying to stop MASK and steal the tech. The backgrounds of the MASK members seem weird for their government roles (Sato is listed as toy designer first and engineer second, Brad Turner's primary job is rock singer/guitarist, and Dusty Hayes is listed as pizza chef/delivery man), but then I remember DOGE happened, and it seems more plausible.

Anyway, I assume this appealed to the kids who liked the cartoon. The art nicely bridges an animation style with a standard comic book one.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1985 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on August 22, 1985.

Detective Comics #556: Moench and Colan/Smith continue their story from this month's Batman. It's very much set under the red skies of the Crisis, but it's not labelled as a crossover. We find out, as Night Slayer keeps murdering them, that the False Face Society leftovers hadn't actually been working with Nocturna yet--but as of this issue, she takes command. 

Robin tries to tell her how he feels and lean on her for support, but Nocturna is preoccupied with what's happening to the night skies. However, when Batman tracks her down after an encounter with Night Slayer, she makes time for a kiss. Meanwhile, Bullock reveals to Commissioner Gordon his theory that the current Robin isn't the original (something Gordon had noticed as well) but is actually Nocturna's son!

In the Green Arrow backup, we get back to the story by Cavalieri and Moore that had been left dangling. Ollie agrees to help Onyx battle Lars, a renegade monk at the monastery where Ollie himself once trained, who has killed the Exalted Master and taken over. Ollie recalls a run in he had with Lars when they were both students, where the guy confided that he sought a "wisdom key" that would unlock the power of an ancient book. As soon as Green Arrow and Onyx arrive at the monastery, they are confronted by Lars's goons.

 

All-Star Squadron #51: A Crisis crossover, but that bit only amounts to a cameo, really. The Thomases and Clark/Jones/Coletta have the passing of Harbinger and Firebrand give Mr. Mind a way to find Earth--or at least an Earth. That leads to the events of this issue, where Hourman and Dr. Fate arrive at the JSA brownstone to find most of their team members missing and Hawkgirl a captive of a group of former JSA-member villains banded together as the Monster Society of Evil. This group is the brainchild of Mr. Mind, who came to Earth to meet his hero Charlie McCarthy only to find out he was just a puppet. He then decided to meet his other heroes the JSA, and when he could find them, he decided to be a super-villain. 

Hourman, Dr. Fate, Hawkgirl, and late arriver Sandy battle the likes of Oom the Mighty, Ramulus, Mr. Who and Nyola. Unfortunately, they're going to need more help to defeat them. Elsewhere, Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick have apparently fallen through the reverse of the portal Mr. Mind came through and find themselves facing Captain Marvel.

Nathaniel Dusk II #2: MacGregor and Colan pick up just at last issues cliffhanger. Dusk survives the falling unicorn statue, but the gunman who shot at Cranston gets away. As Dusk continues his job of trying to keep Cranston out of trouble, he gets the idea that the older man knows who is trying to kill him and is playing some dangerous game. Amanda's stepfather leans on Dusk to drop the case, and her husband takes him flying. He gets another piece of the puzzle when he finds out Cranston borrowed a camera from Amanda and that he visited her new family on the one day he slipped Dusk's surveillance. 

Before he can put any of this together, a drive-by with a tommy gun seems to take Cranston's life. This leads to one of those (for me) jarring aspects of the story, where it moves from conventional detective story to 80s action. Dusk pursues the shooter. The getaway car gets wrecked, and the shooter takes a bus. The issue ends with Dusk on top of the bus as the shooter blows holes in the roof trying to ventilate the detective, too.

Omega Men Annual #2: Klein and host of artists (including McManus, Colon, Smith, Giffen, and O'Neil) give us Primus's backstory, the events leading up to his marriage to Kalista and the founding of the Omega Men, his apparent death in the Spider Guild war, and how he came to be bonded with Artin. When she has heard the whole story Kalista accepts that this being is indeed her husband (at least in part) and the two reconcile. This issue pretty much closes the gap between the previous run and the time jump when Klein took over.

V #10: After all the setup and schemes last issue, it resolves pretty quickly. The mayor reveals herself to our heroes as one of the Visitors but tells them she is actually a triple agent and on their side. She gives them a device that can extend the New York winter, keeping the red dust active and at least postponing a renewed invasion. They're overheard, though, and the mayor is captured, interrogated, and executed. Still, the resistance has the device. Big, bad Walter sent to kill Donovan, gets in a fight with him, but before things resolve he's killed by friendly fire from an overzealous Visitor fighter. The device works, spring is forestalled, and our heroes return to L.A., presumably assuming the nascent New York resistance they were starting up can take care of itself. 

World's Finest #321: Cavalieri and Delbo pit our heroes against the Atom villain, Chronos. Coerced by the mysterious Powerbroker, Chronos uses time travel in a plot to destroy Batman. After sending Superman off chasing bombs in the timestream, Chronos forces Batman to journey to the past and watch his parents get murdered--or save them and alter history. Batman resists the temptation to save his parents, using the experience of again reliving their deaths to strengthen his crimefighting resolve, and he's rescued by Superman. Chronos, in a desperate attempt to evade capture, uses his time machine to become one with the timestream.

Wednesday Comics: DC, November 1985 (week 3)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on August 15, 1985.

Batman and the Outsiders #27: I remember seeing this Barr/Davis issue on the spinner rack at the Pac-N-Sac gas station a few blocks from my house. Twelve year-old me found the "We call it WAR STARS! (or we'd get sued!)" cover blurb very clever. Anyway...Continuing from last issue, the U.S. fires missiles at the Star Wars station in defiance of Kobra's extortion, but the missile defense works on the station too, and they are disabled. In a show of glastnost, Gorbachev only pretends to make a deal with Kobra (reasoning rightly that the cult leader will turn on the USSR, too) and instructs his people to contact the U.S. and offer an alliance against the villain.

Meanwhile, our heroes are trying to get to the station to stop Kobra and rescue Halo, but the U.S. government refuses to loan Batman a shuttle. We see a computer screen labelling him "politically incorrect" due to his leaving the JLA and fighting with the Force of July. Harsh! So, the team just has to steal Kobra's own spacecraft and fly it up there. There's a fight in the station and the bad guys are defeated, but Kobra bests Batman in a one-on-one fight and escapes. Batman seems to relish the tough opponent though and looks forward to his next confrontation with the villain.

Halo's beau David decides to take some time to patch things up with his father, so she's free to return to the Outsiders.

Fury of Firestorm Annual #3: Conway and Kayanan/Akin/Garvey rewind to just power Ronnie and Stein left New York. Firestorm notices some fluctuations in his powers. Stein has a theory its due to sunspot activity and the two test it, leading Stein to figure the parameters of their powers. Largely, this seems like a way for Conway to rein in and clarify the limits of what Firestorm can do as we are given Official Handbook level quantifications.

While all this is going on, Frido, a guy in Miami with a drug problem, is having particularly bad time trying to get his fix to deal with his withdrawal. As the sunspot activity increases, Frido is somehow transformed into a being of (I guess) electricity. Still in pain, Frido takes out his frustrations on those who refuse to help him until Firestorm who has heard about this intervenes. He wins the day by short circuiting Frido (or Sparx as Firestorm names him) in the ocean.

Blue Devil #18: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Maygar cheekily present "The Last Parallel World Story!" in this Crisis crossover issue. After the events of COIE #8, Blue Devil finds himself in space with some of the Omega Men. Luckily, they are picked up by a spaceship in the hands of a film crew composed of alternate universe versions of Cassidy and Blue Devil's supporting cast who had been sucked through a black hole into this universe just before theirs was destroyed by anti-matter. This being a somewhat humorous book, the characters take the potential trauma of being the last survivors of their universe and having lost everyone they know completely in stride. However, they soon find they are fading away, going to a Limbo since their universe no longer exists. Both Cassidys have to work to find a way to vibrationally stabilize both the crew and their ship.

The crew decides to go with the Omega Men to Vega via a teleporter as they know their universe's version of Harry Hokum has one. They try to send Blue Devil back to Earth, but he disappears before they can.

Green Lantern #194: Crisis crossovers often reveal that Harbinger had a tougher time than initially depicted assembling the heroes in COIE #1. Engelhart and Staton/Patterson again give us a bit of s scuffle, before Stewart agrees to go with her. This crossover is unusual as it depicts events on the Monitor's station from Stewart's perspective. We also see how the Anti-Monitor strikes a blow at the Guardians so that they can't interfere. A blast through the central Power battery kills many of them.

With everything going on Katma Tui turns to Hal, and the two of them reconcile. Hal seems ready to stop feeling sorry for himself, but feeling in a nostalgic mood, I guess, visits Abin Sur's grave. He finds Guy Gardner out of the nursing room, and misguidedly attempting to dig up a ring and power battery. The two fight, but then a Guardian shows up and gives Gardner exactly what he's looking for, inducting him into the Corps and snubbing Hal.

Infinity, Inc. #20: Another Crisis crossover by the Thomases and McFarlane/Bair, as the Infinitors deal with the weather disruption and natural disaster part of the Crisis. A hospital is threatened by extreme weather and an earthquake, and members of the JSA and the Infinitors must work together to try to save people. In the...well, crisis, a new hero emerges: Previous NEET Rick Tyler decides to follow in his father's footsteps and become a new Hourman, a move that worries both his father and Dr. Mid-Nite. There's another new hero in the making, too. McNider's medical protege, Beth Chapel, is blinded in the disaster and jokes bitterly the only sort of doctor she is fit to be is the next Dr. Midnight. 

Interestingly, a caption in this issue tells us it is "July 1985," which is (as George Olshevsky would have it) a "topical reference" to be ignored, but since this universe is going away anyway, I think it's usual in placing when the "modern day" events of the Crisis are occurring. This timeline goes with that idea. 

New Teen Titans #14: Yet another Crisis crossover from Wolfman and Barreto/Tanghal. Under red skies, Arella searches for her daughter and finds out she was for a time a faith healer in Alabama but has moved on by the time Arella gets there. Meanwhile, Captain Karras convinces Starfire to return to Tamaran, and Nightwing and Jericho choose to accompany her, leaving the others to deal with this whole Crisis thing. At the end of the issue, we find out Blackfire is waiting to greet her sister.

 The Titans that stay on Earth have to deal with Steve Dayton who is dying of cancer. Or at least he was. He may have used his Mento helmet to cure himself, but that seems to have driven him insane. He attacks his butler, then a club of wealthy men that denies him membership, then the Titans when they show up. 

Sgt. Rock #406: We finish Kanigher's and Gonzales's tribute to the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group. In the end, this story seems to have been largely for didactic purposes, which is a reasonable goal I suppose when we think about the assumed kid audience of comics. We get a lot more on the groups exploits and highlights of important members. Then, sometime later, Rock and Easy meet Captain Dennis again briefly. After that, we return to the frame of the civil rights era where the racist lieutenant turned police officer seems to recognize Dennis among the marchers and silent moves aside. Dennis feels Rock is with them in spirit, with the implication being that (as Kanigher as stated, I believe) Rock did not survive the War. 

Saga of Swamp Thing #42: Continuing the story from last issue, as Swamp Thing and Abby are piecing together what is going on, the past takes a greater hold over the present. The extras performing the ritual have caused the dead to rise from the graveyard and walk the Earth. The dead advance on the plantation house to confront the spirit of the former master of that house, now taken over an actor. Swamp Thing does have a whole lot to do as his plant powers can do little to stop a haunting. He's set on fire and accidentally catches the house ablaze too. That seems to break the spell and bring an end to what was going on, though one actor dies in the fire, and another seems unable to break from the traumatic memory of a man skinned alive. One of the zombies gets away and gets a job at a theater, so again the mystical strangeness of the world is rising.

Warlord #99: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #9: Like last issue, the alphabetical span of this issue seems providential, as we get the Jordan and Stewart Green Lanterns (though no Guy Gardner), the Green Lantern Corps, and the Guardians of the Universe. The current artists, Staton, gets to draw Stewart, but Kane is fittingly given the honor of depicting Hal Jordan, and Bolland gets the two-page Corps spread. Gemworld is also in this issue as are both the Earth-Two and Earth-One Green Arrows, the latter depicted by Mike Grell. The Captain Atom foe, the Ghost, gets an entry and he hasn't even appeared in the DCU yet! We also get war comics characters Gravedigger, who we haven't seen since 1979, and G.I. Robot who we haven't seen since the demise of Weird War Tales in 1983.