Quarter Bin #21 "Chronos, Hourman, and Enginehead"

This edition we’ll be discussing a few deliberate back issue discoveries, from series I only wish I’d read regularly, but absolutely do not deserve to be forgotten.

CHRONOS #11 (DC)
From February 1999.

Almost like James Robinson’s STARMAN, this was a series that took a completely different look at an established property. Chronos was originally a villain, but in this incarnation a time-traveling hero with his own complex mythology, which this particular issue, the final of the series, amply demonstrates. Writer John Francis Moore and artist Paul Guinan put together a comic that could have easily been a part of the Vertigo line in the modern era, but at the time was included in the regular DC universe, a mistake for a series that seemed to flaunt expectations and instead opt for style and substance. It would make a handsome addition to anyone’s trade paperback collection, if it were ever collected. Instead it remains a gem waiting to be discovered.

HOURMAN #24 (DC)
From March 2001.

Tom Peyer and Rags Morales were charged with another book that would have perfectly suited the tastes of STARMAN readers; I have the feeling that it didn’t because it featured a more traditional take on superheroes than Jack Knight was ever interesting in fulfilling. The Hourman featured in this issue is the human Rex Tyler, the traditional representation, but the one of the series was the short-lived robotic replacement from Grant Morrison’s DC ONE MILLION, who co-starred in JSA before its relaunch. This is one issue removed from the conclusion of the series, which the creators are careful to say in the letters column as being natural rather than strictly sales-mandated. Like CHRONOS, HOURMAN would make a fantastic series of trade collections if demand were strong enough to warrant it, but can instead remain a worthy find in the back issue bins.

ENGINEHEAD #5 (DC)
From October 2004.

Joe Kelly and Ted McKeever deliver one of the stronger mainstream superhero comics, which would probably suit the modern Image line far better than it could possibly ever have the audience it did have at the time. Six issues, possibly always intended to be a mini-series, and that was it, but ENGINEHEAD was just one of those books I knew as soon as I heard about it was worth checking out, and this was from just about the time I was starting to get back into comics, so it’s remarkable that I even heard about this one, and probably the only reason I ever heard about it. Otherwise, it’s a lost peculiarity at worst, and another buried treasure of the back issue bin at best.

DC has regularly attempted launches for unusual characters, new versions of old characters, and most of them will never have a shot at longevity. YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE is another one of these books, and there are so many out there. I don’t mean to suggest, as many commentators do, that these fringe titles are better than their mainstream counterparts, but that they’re worth supporting, even well after they’ve gone out of print. As far as comic books go, it’s almost more interesting that way.