End That War!

You have to admire the golden-age Superman for his clear-headed thinking on the best way to end a war. If only he were here now to pick up a few people and put them in a ring together.

Wonder Wednesday

Off The Rails

If you're one of the big three heroes of DC's Trinity, then speeding locomotives can hardly make you break a sweat.

(And can I just point out: "64 pages of thrills"...for a f*cking dime!!)













But if you're the Golden Age Sandman and Sandy, even a loud truck can be a challenge!

Long Live The JLA!!

Check out this hot preview page from the upcoming DC Universe #0!!

I freely admit, I'm not quite up on my current artists in the DC stable. Is this Benes? I'm not sure. One way or another, I'm grooving on this image, which was released by DC this weekend, just in time for the NY Comic Con. If it is Benes, then I'm impressed at how everyone's bodies seem well proportioned, especially the women.

But I'm not here to be an art critic, only to drool over this image of what must be, again, retroactively...the original seven members of the JLA, along with the early Silver Age additions to that classic team. Looks like there'll be a history lesson for us in DC Universe #0. About time.

I'm not at the convention, and it'll probably be two years before I get my hands on the trade paperback for this and Final Crisis. But at least I have places to let my imagination run as I head back out to work in the garden.

Happy Earth Day! (Oh, and Happy Earth 2 Day, and Earth 3, and 4 and so on...!)

Fortress of Servitude, Maybe...

...


I don't even know what to say about this cover, except maybe that I'm sorry it doesn't appear in my collection.

; )

Great Krypton: Action #1 on Ebay!!

Here it is, the "mac-daddy" of all comic books right here...or maybe that's the great-grand-daddy...

Anyway, thought you'd like to know there's copy of Action Comics #1 currently inspiring bidding battle over at Ebay. For those of you who've been sleeping through all your lives, this 1938 comic book is the one that launched the famous Man of Steel himself, Superman.

The bidding started back on March 27th, so there's no danger of this being a sad April Fool's joke. The first bid was for $25, and I have no doubt that person wasn't passing out the bid URL. As of this morning, the high bid is $90,100 and there's still a day left before the auction closes.

So kids, grab your checkbooks and call your credit card companies to see just how much available credit you've got. Me, I don't think I could handle the responsibility...and plus, how much gasoline could this buy?

I can't help but wonder, do the Seigels have a copy of this already?

Super Fool!!

The Joker takes over Metropolis in Action Comics #714, from October 1995.

Extra!! Extra!! Seigel Family Regains Rights to Man of Steel

A federal judge in Los Angeles this week has ruled that the heirs of Jerome Seigel, one of the creators of our beloved Superman, have the right to claim a share of the United States copyright on the Superman character.

The New York Times has the story here, and you can be sure that Newsarama will have more of the details as they become available, particularly as to how this news may impact the Metropolis Marvel.

Thanks to Lili for the heads-up!!

***

I'll be back with a new post real soon!!

Trinity

I'm very excited to hear that the next weekly comic from DC will feature the heroic trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It's always so great to see these three working together...or trying to, anyway.

I lifted this image from Newsarama a couple of weeks back, but waited to post it here. I'm a little unsure of what I think of Mark Bagley's art: Superman seems to have the J. Jonah Jameson hair horns and Diana's got that uncomfortable Wonder Thong we've discussed at length.

I'm not even sure what's going on with Batman. Some say he looks constipated...but I suppose he might just be infuriated that the other two are insisting they pose for an artist's rendition.

Delighted as I may be that these three will be the focus of a weekly, I will still be going the "budget route", which is to say, I'll spend a year chasing reviews and scans around the internet and anticipating being able to finally read the whole story when it's released in trades.

For fun, check out this bit of advice to the creative team from Keith Giffen, who's been involved in both 52 and Countdown.

Wanted

Action Comics 717, January 1996:

Jeez, who knew Superman had a driver's license photo??

Don't worry, Kal, nobody ever looks good on their Wanted poster. Nobody.

Oh. Well, nobody except Diana.

On The Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Hey, everyone: Happy New Year!

I know, I've been dormant for a while. I'm still sort of in recovery mode from the insane holiday season at work and the Great Migration which occurred in our home lives at the same time. But I thought this twelfth day of Christmas was the right time to address some thanks for two more bits of comic book holiday bling that came my way.

First up is this "JUSTICE" box set of action figures, which also includes the first issue of the recent Alex Ross limited series. I've not followed the series, except through online reviews and synopsi (is that the plural?!), but it sounds interesting. I did grow up with the Silver Age Justice League he's riffing on, after all.

I'm of two minds about Ross's art...sometimes it just takes my breath away. Other times, it seems it is too realistic. Anyway, I think I love it more than I hate it, and in any case, these action figures are tres cool...and I look forward to getting my new bedroom repainted and set to rights so I can get shelves up to properly display these and other comic book related stuff. After all, the Collection lives in there with me, too.

I've hesitated checking out the issue inside the set, since I want to keep everything safely in the box until I'm ready for displaying. I can imagine nothing more frustrating than being all ready and having misplaced a tiny golden lasso or green lantern power battery. So I can thumb through the issue and see if I'll end up being interested in the trade of that (I see the hard cover editions are out, but hey DC, any chance you'll collect it all in one nice, affordable soft cover for your less wealthy fans?).

Thanks to my good pal Kelly for gifting this in my direction!

And gratitude is offered, too, in the direction of my good friend Vickie, who gave me this cool Superman/Telephone booth Hallmark ornament. (Does anyone under thirty still know what a telephone booth is?)

This is a fun ornament, since it features a little "action", with Clark running in one side...

...and the Man of Steel emerging on the other!

I know this will look great on next year's Christmas tree, a fun addition to a growing assortment of hero-themed ornaments.

Odds are good, people, that I'll continue this delightful streak of laziness through January...but I'll try to pull my act together soon.

There are big things afoot, after all. Not only does it sound as though Countdown is getting more interesting as stories grow closer to their ultimate conclusions. I really enjoyed the 52 series (I finished the last trade during the height of the Moving, somehow...frankly, it may have kept me sane...), and look forward to seeing Countdown collected, as well. Meanwhile, DC's got lots of other stuff coming down the pike at us: Final Crisis and all the stories that will be a part of that.

Oh, and perhaps you've heard some internetal rumblings: something's brewing over at Major Spoilers. The forum has remained active during Stephen's hiatus, and you can visit there, so you'll be in the know when the big news breaks.

Super Birthday Bling!!

Great Caesar's Ghost, it's official.

Just moments ago, I turned forty-three. While the last couple weeks getting here have not been especially fun, today was a great day. More things moved to the new house. I can happily report some serious improvement with my back and it was a relatively delightful evening at work!

I have to add this latest gift to the list of blog-appropriate bling: "Superman: The Dailies, 1939 - 1942" from my dear friends Dana and Sara! I cannot wait to be settled into the new place so I can sit in front of the fire some snowy afternoon and page through this collection of newspaper strips.


I've read many of the comic book stories from this era, but haven't had as much exposure to what ran in the papers and I look forward to being educated.

And check out this back cover, with the second half of such a dynamic cover scene: More powerful than a locomotive!!

Super Sons

Here's a little more time travel for you, with a flashback to July of 1975, and Worlds Finest #231. The art is by Dillin and Blaisedell and the story, natch, is by Bob Haney.

This is one of the issues that presented what were, at the time, imaginary stories of the sons of Superman and Batman, aka Clark Kent, Jr. and Bruce Wayne Jr. They were supposedly created...or their premise was...by some super computer, though none of the issues featuring them which I read ever mentioned that. As I understand it, the Super Sons now share an earth in the New Multiverse with the Kathy Lee Crosby version of Wonder Woman and the Debra Winger version of Wonder Girl. And that makes as much sense as anything.

Here, the "boys" decided that their Dads are too establishment and really only being heroes for the grandstanding and public adulation and they call for the heroes to be put on trial...and oddly, the jury comes back in favor of a conviction (of what charge is never really made clear...tho apparently it would be Grandstanding in the First Degree). The Super-Dads agree to stay within a barbed wire fence enclosure.

As luck would have it, the Super Sons are suddenly called on to work with other heroes - Green Arrow, Flash and Aquaman - in response to a series of natural disasters and other similar events, each time returning to the pen to be sure their Dads haven't escaped. (I guess this was part of the Don't Trust Anyone Over 30 mentality of the times.)

Eventually, the Sons realize, through working with the other heroes, that their Dads aren't bad people and really have been working to save lives and since they've been so good about not escaping, decide to let them out early. Of course, we readers learn that the Super-Dads have actually left their androids in the holding pen (everyone had an android double in the 70s--it was the way you disproved anyone who thought they'd guessed your secret identity, after all!) and impersonated the other heroes to prove a point. Seventies silliness at its finest.

[And a big Yes to the eagle-eyed amongst you, both Superman and Batman on the cover are sporting moustaches. What can I say? I guess I liked facial hair, even way back then.]

Wedding Bell Blues...and Greens

With the exception of Lois and Clark, when has a superhero's wedding ever gone well? Okay, Donna Troy's wedding to Terry went well, even if their marriage went down the toilet...but generally, happiness of this sort eludes our heroes.

Tonight's spotlight issue is not my first issue of Green Lantern-Green Arrow, but since my first four issues (this is the fourth of those) of this title are non-consecutive and part of longer stories, this was the first one that started to make some sense to me. I also chose to focus on this one, because it was my first introduction to a character we would see much more of years later.

So, here we are, Green Lantern-Green Arrow #122, from November of 1979 and it's Hal Jordan's wedding day. His bride-to-be, we learn, is Kari Limbo, a gypsy woman/mystic. They are greeted outside the church when they arrive together (it IS bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, wait and see...)by assorted Justice League friends who are there for the occasion.

This is one more time when clearly these guys are thinking of their costumes/uniforms as formal attire. Seriously, and the priest had no problem with this? Dinah (Black Canary) is the only one of them showing any discretion, though describing that shade of pink she's wearing as "discreet" might be a bit of a stretch.

The problem the preacher refers to here is NOT the costumes, but a broken bell rope, meaning there'll be no ringing to celebrate the joyous occasion. Green Arrow saves the day with one of his bolo arrows, but then Kari goes into some kind of trance thing, and kneels to draw in the sand the image of a Phantom Zone projector. Superman takes this omen to heart and dashes off to the Fortress of Solitude to ensure that all's well, promising he'll try to return before the ceremony.

Of course, all is NOT well and a strange glowing green tendril snakes out of the PZ and grabs Superman, dragging him into the Zone. Meanwhile, back at the church, the ceremony begins, but Kari falls into another trance and begins describing the Phantom Zone and mentioning Superman by name. Hal dashes off to the Fortress, leaving everyone behind and fortunately missing hearing Kari murmur "my beloved Guy", though Dinah and Ollie both take unhappy note of this.

Hal goes into the Phantom Zone and comes face to face with Green Lantern Guy Gardner, who had apparently been thought dead by everyone. Somehow, the power battery that exploded and supposedly caused his death in some previous issue actually threw him into the Phantom Zone, where General Zod and the other villians sentenced there have taken control of Guy and his power ring and managed to make it stronger than the others. They've also beaten the snot out of Superman, who has no extraordinary powers in the Phantom Zone.

Guy explains, "We can see into the other world. I've watched you..."

Superman, it turns out, was not unconscious and comes to Hal's rescue, distracting Gardner long enough for Hal to escape from his attack...but Hal realizes that Zod is now strangling Supes and he leaves Guy to rescue Superman, dragging him to safety outside the Phantom Zone, and leaving confrontation with Guy Gardner for another day.

Of course, with the news of Guy being alive comes the realization that Hal and Kari cannot marry and they tearfully agree. Hal vows to rescue Guy and says he'll see how Kari feels in a month or two. What a thoughtful guy, that Hal.

This is a fun issue, partly because of the guest stars amongst the wedding guests, and since I already had some familiarity with the Phantom Zone at this early point, I was able to follow the story all right, though I certainly had no idea of any of the previous Guy Gardner storyline...and would have to piece that together from future issues. Still, who doesn't love an ill-fated wedding?

****

As an extra bonus, in the back of the issue, near the letter column was featured one of those great Fred Hembeck cartoons, which ran as part of the "Daily Planet" news feature at the back of most DC issues at the time. I include it here for your amusement...

...and encourage you to check out Fred's website Hembeck's Comic Strips for more!

(If you're noticing an improvement in my accompanying photos, you're not imagining things. Being at Mom and Dad's for a Thanksgiving visit brings the additional pleasure of a nice scanner to play with--I'm gonna have to get me one of these things after Christmas!)

Red Tornado

The sorting has brought to the surface any variety of mini-series, including this one shining a spotlight on the Red Tornado in 1985. As the Crisis on Infinite Earths loomed, writer Kurt Busiek joined forces with legendary artist Carmine Infantino to tell us a story of the JLA's often-sidelined android member.

The thing about this android, though, is that he was created as the weapon of perennial mad scientist T.O. Morrow, but somehow managed to garner something like a human soul and contradict Morrow's evil programming. The long and complicated saga of Red Tornado, before and since this mini, is found here.

As this series opens, Reddy does battle against a rogue tornado tearing through the New Jersey countryside, saving many people in the process. However, the news coverage of the event cast him unfavorably, and then the android is confronted by the membership of the Justice League, who say they are tired of his screw-up and revoke his membership. Confused and uncertain, the Red Tornado considers his place in the world as the first issue concludes, unaware that all this has been carefully orchestrated by long-time JLA foe The Construct.




Not being able to fathom what he's supposedly done wrong, Red Tornado carries on as issue 2 opens. He is confronted by a Construct-controlled Superman, who tauntingly literally tears Reddy limb from limb for disregarding the League's suggestion, and throws Reddy's parts into the East River.







It's so sad. They always do this to Reddy. It's like the one thing writers can think to do with the robot: dismantle him. Ho hum. Think I'm kidding, check out what they did to RT in last year's 52, twenty-one years later.

Fortunately, his self-repairing circuits bring him back together only minutes later, but this latest confrontation with a so-called friend has him doubting everything. His lack of confidence drives him away from his girlfriend, Kathy Sutton and the negative public perceptions of him causes problems in his friendship with Traya the orphan.

All the while, the Construct gloats. The Red Tornado is the only member of the JLA, we learn, who is immune to the Construct's mind control, thus explaining his targetting for this special torment.



Issue 3 of the series finds most of the world under the Construct's controls, and Red Tornado has abandoned humanity, to sulk in fine emo hero fashion atop a windy mountain top, as befits his name. Kathy Sutton still believes in him, and is finding that she is the only person who has not succumbed to the Constructs controls. The Construct seems to underestimate her ability to sway Reddy, though, and apparently prefers gloating to her about how he could take her mind away through any piece of communications technology. Talk about your computer with an attitude.

Finally Kathy reaches Tornado and tells him about the Construct's plans and entreats him not to abandon mankind. He's playing all cold logical machine here, but she touches him by suggesting that if he ever suspected that he might be human, then the answer had to be yes. Suddenly, the memories of his other lives are restored to him and he can feel his soul and he races off to confront The Construct and save the World.



In the final issue, Red Tornado takes on the Construct head-to-head and they battle to a draw. Entreating the assistance of his creator, T.O. Morrow, Reddy manages to infiltrate The Construct's operating system, where he systematically disconnects the Construct's control over the telephone networks, the radio frequencies and so on, breaking his hold on humanity.

Its sort of a leap, since we've not seen Reddy do this sort of thing before...sort of an "inside the video game" thing, I guess, in keeping with the times. Of course, Red Tornado is victorious and saves the world. It bums me out a little that we never see a scene with the League where they disavow the things they'd said earlier...but I suppose the page count was running out.

On the whole, I really enjoyed re-reading this series. Reddy's a character I've always enjoyed, but not known too much about. I'd forgotten, actually, that he was one of a series of characters who began on Earth Two and migrated to Earth One and served as a member of both the JSA and the JLA.

Carmine Infantino's art is a pleasure here (though I still chuckle looking at that first cover image of the Justice League. Notice how Batman's height matches the tapering perspective of the others, but his legs disappear just above the boot, as though he were standing in a hole.).

It interested me to read in one of the letter columns (remember those?)the comments of a reader who didn't favor Infantino as an artist, stating that all his characters look alike (true enough). And I realized, having read this same opinion from other fans on the internet about contemporary artists, that some things just don't change.

League Dickery?

The Adventures of Superman #475, February 1991.

It looks worse than it is, of course. The Toyman, Intergang and the New God Sleeze wreak havoc at a new amusement park in Metropolis. Superman gets himself attacked by the animatrons from the park's Hall of Heroes. Also the issue where Jimmy Olsen decides to start wearing his Superman signal watch again.

Some Random Halloweeny-ness

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #41, January 1993.

(Okay, all you English majors can go ahead and take a breath: if "truthiness", than "Halloweeny-ness". Let. it. go.)

To celebrate All Hallows Eve, I thought I'd randomly dip through some of the titles I'm currently sorting from the Collection. Sure, The Spectre, or Sandman, or any one of DC/Vertigo's creepier titles might have offered some Halloween goodness, but those are already filed and would be more work than I've time for today.

Yah, Batman's an easy sell for this holiday with the whole Bat-motif he's got going on. But I was happy to find some Halloweeny-ness on some Wonder Woman and Superman issues, as well.

So, with no further adieu: a brief ragamuffin parade of Creepy Covers.

Wonder Woman (original series) #298, December 1982.


Superman: The Man of Steel #41, November 1994.

Detective Comics #662, Late June 1993.


Superman #66, April 1992.

Super Moms

Some moms are nurturers, taking children to their heart and doing everything they can to help their child fit into the world. They try to teach goodness and fairness and encourage their children to be a good example themselves.

Other mom's sacrifice the joy of having their children near them, for the sake of the world at large. They worry about their children and wonder if they've made the right decisions.

And no matter the length of each mom's life, they are always taken too soon. They can only hope that the examples they have set in the time they had are taken to heart by their mourning children.

Moms come in all shapes, sizes, colors and temperments. Today, I salute them all, but especially my own Super Mom. She comes to the title with qualifications quite diverse and I wish her a Super Mother's Day!!

I Meet The Justice League

Ah, 1976. It was our country's bicentennial. There were tall ships and parades and fireworks and celebrations galore. I wore a tri-corn hat and knickers myself on more than one occasion. It was quite a lot of fun.

By then the Super Friends were on Saturday morning TV, so I kind of knew who the Justice League was. That summer, DC released a number of over-sized comic books, all reprints of earlier stories.

Here were all the world's greatest heroes (well, most of them), coming together to save the world one way or another. 1963's "Decoy Missions of the Justice League" starts things off, featuring (alphabetically from the Roll Call) Aquaman, Atom, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, J'onn J'onzz (the Martian Manhunter) Superman and Wonder Woman (with a special guest appearance from Adam Strange) in a tight little encounter with the bug-eyed alien Kanjar Ro, story by Gardener Fox, with art by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

The second tale (from 1965)related "The Deadly Dreams of Dr. Destiny", featuring another great JLA villian, who went on to some fame in a few memorable issues of Sandman at the end of the last century. The roll call this time out included Atom, Batman, Hawkman, Snapper Carr, Superman and Wonder Woman.

What a classic pair of stories...and such a great introduction to the Justice League. DC really knew what they were doing when they released these. There were four pages of character sketchs from Super Friends, as well as a double-page centerfold featuring the entire 18 person full roster of the JLA in their satellite headquarters. This stuff was like crack to me.

From knowing just a few heroes, I'd known been introduced to all the world's greatest super heroes...and now I was hooked and interested in all of their adventures. With this one over-sized edition, DC had created an addict...uh, that is to say...a fan for life.


Even better, the back cover of the magazine offered the mirror image of the front cover shot...only featuring the parallel versions of our heroes from World War II...though it would probably be another couple of years before I learned that they now lived on something called Earth Two. (Please, give a kid a couple years to get through puberty before you break out that complicated sh*t...)



Childhood finances being what they were (and other comics to be collected), it was a year before I picked up my first "in-continuity" issue of JLA, that being #143 in June of 1977.

I'm glad to say it was a Giant-sized issue, with 80 pages for sixty cents! This was "A Tale of Two Satellites", featuring a particularly large roll call, adding Black Canary and Elongated Man, with special guest appearances from Hawkgirl and Mark Shaw, Manhunter, who by then was calling himself the Privateer.

Our story, by Steve Englehart, with art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, begins with a blowout between Superman and Wonder Woman, since her performance is being a little heavily monitored and critiqued by other Leaguers.

I always thought they portrayed her here a little...shall we say...premenstrual (and who's to say she wasn't? Not that there's anything wrong with that.)...but she's still Wonder Woman. Just listen to her roar. She actually quits the team!

Diana teleports to Earth and all too quickly finds herself in the midst of a bank heist by Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, in which she and Mark Shaw cross paths. After the villians escape, he takes her out for dinner and she pours out her heart about about the JLA but when he doesn't say quite the right thing in response, she goes nuts and starts flipping tables over in the restaurant. It actually sounds more like menopause, doesn't it? It's always the waitstaff who suffer.

Anyway, the portrayal seems a little one-note and stereotypically female, until we learn that an alien construct...called Construct II, has recently taken over the satellite headquarters of the Injustice Gang, and has all of them (Ivy, Scarecrow, Mirror Master, Chronos, and the Tattooed Man) under mind control...and now add the Amazon to the unwilling army, which (say it with me, people) Construct II will use to rule the earth.

The JLA breaks down after Diana leaves and the heroes break off into smaller groups...and are eventually attacked by one of these villians. And of course, Mind Control Wonder Woman returns to the satellite and gets to kick some kryptonian ass. It's amazing that she and Superman didn't destroy the satellite, considering the damage the two did in the much more recent "Sacrifice" storyline, but Supes does realize that she's not herself, so he's holding back. In fact, he's concerned that her condition may kill her.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team have regrouped, compared notes and realize that they are being lured into a trap at the IG satellite, and so arrive by the backdoor, using GL's trademark green bubble to make a surprise entrance, and then...

...Fight Scene!!


The bad guys actually do pretty well with their sneak attacks, but clearly they're outnumbered by the full roster of the JLA.

Their defeat takes about a full page and then they've destroyed the infested IG satellite and Wonder Woman is freed of mind control: "a suddenly liberated lady is sobbing softly in Superman's comforting arms." and just in time, we run out of pages.

Signs

I know, it's been a little while. Sorry about that. That JLA post will come along shortly. Tonight, though, i just wanted to say that when you put the right random pieces of the puzzle together, life can be pretty surreal.

Today, a Serbian scientist announced his recent discovery of kryptonite, although he's decided to call it something else.


Which is probably because the astronomers who discovered this planet in 2005 didn't recognize it as Krypton, at least partly due to its not having exploded and sent its last son our way...yet.

Further proof of the return of the Multiverse.

UPDATING, 4/30/07:

Okay, and now this whole business is getting just a little creepy, now that they've discovered the Fortress of Solitude in Mexico.