Reading Comics 239 "My Fourth Forbidden Geen Mystery Box"

My fourth Forbidden Geek mystery box actually is sort of my fifth.  The fourth got lost in transit.  Realizing it was not going to come when Forbidden Geek was setting up the next shipment, I contacted the company, which responded promptly and shipped a replacement box immediately.  That was cool of them!

The resulting box had a Funko statue from Shazam! (I think it was Eugene), a copy of the Batman/Superman: Their Greatest Battles trade collection (a duplicate for me, so I earmarked it as another eventual gift for one of my nephews in Maine, whenever I get to see them and/or ship off the stuff I've been collecting for them), and the following comics:

(Nothing older than 2011 this time, but that's okay.)

Ame-Comi Girls #1 (DC)
from December 2012

The bulk of this is the Palmiotti/Gray/Palmer version of Wonder Woman's origin, with Amanda Palmer happily on art.  Until, for whatever reason, a far inferior artist fills out the issue.  I've mentioned before how inexplicably terrible I find the title of this series, but the contents are good.

Batman: Arkham Knight #8 (DC)
From November 2015

One of several Howard Porter covers in this selection.  Even though Tomasi is writing, I don't really care about this one.

Before Watchmen: Moloch #1 (DC)
from January 2013

I love being a fan who isn't pissed off that Before Watchmen happened.  I have a theory that the New 52 wasn't officially written off by fans until Before Watchmen happened.  Anyway, I was very happy to see this comic in the selection, as I'm pretty sure I didn't read either issue of Moloch on original release.  The creative team is J. Michael Straczynski and Eduardo Risso (a typically strong team for Before Watchmen, typically performing at peak capacity).  This first issue explains Moloch's origins, how being treated as a freak (because of those ears, chiefly) led him astray, and how he entered a path of redemption.  Until, y'know.  At its best, Before Watchmen brilliantly expanded (rather than needlessly duplicated) Watchmen lore (here I'm thinking of Comedian, which I recently reread), and Moloch, it seems, was Before Watchmen at its best.  I'm not always Straczynski's biggest fan, but this really is him functioning at peak potential.

Birds of Prey #12 (DC)
from July 2011

One of the 2011s!  I'll get back to the significance of this a little later, but as for this comic: Gail Simone.  I'm just not a fan.

Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #4 (DC)
from April 2018

Because blogging, I somehow ended up following Tony Isabella's blog.  Isabella is Black Lightning's creator, and is still basically all he's known for, including his periodic revisits of the character (including a great-looking '90s run that I still want to check out).  If not this issue specifically, then this mini-series was featured on his blog just before I got the box, so it was pretty fortuitous when I opened it up and found this comic.  But, alas, I didn't much care about its contents.  Sort of like the CW series (although it was still great to see the character finally show up in the Arrowverse during Crisis).

Earth 2 #24 (DC)
from August 2014

Still one of my favorite things from the New 52, this issue is from the Tom Taylor period (years before he wowed readers with DCeased), already proving his dynamic understanding of DC lore.  This issue is pretty neat, as it features both the new Earth 2 Batman (Thomas Wayne) and Superman (Val-Zod), which sort of stole the thunder from the quasi-Justice Society but still made for fantastic developments in that continuity.

The Flash #55 (DC)
from November 2018

The other Howard Porter cover in the selection (this time a variant), featuring the budding expanded "forces" concept Josh Williamson brought to the Scarlet Speedster, sort of his version of the emotional spectrum in Green Lantern lore.

Green Lantern Corps #19 (DC)
from June 2013

The final issue in the Green Lantern family of titles before Geoff Johns' final issue of Green Lantern, as "Wrath of the First Lantern" weaves its way through them.  Volthoom!  Still a great name, right up there with Larfleeze.  I'm not kidding!  (I still want another Larfleeze series!)

Red Robin #21 (DC)
from May 2011

Tim Drake borrowing the name and costume from Dick Grayson's Kingdome Come future, but it's not all one-way, as the issue also features an appearance of a version of the red variant of his own costume Nightwing was going to sport in the New 52.  Don't think I didn't notice, DC!

Superman #20 (DC)
from July 2013

Clearly DC thought this issue was going to leave a far bigger impact than it did (hyped in the "News Channel 52" feature as it was, a war between Wonder Woman's "two suitors"), as the Man of Steel clashes with Orion!  But it's a fun story all the same, which makes the New Gods' lackluster presence in the New 52 all the more painful.  There was such potential! 

The Unwritten #29 (Vertigo)
from November 2011

I just read the two collections from The Unwritten: Apocalypse, the sequel series that ended this saga, so it was great to get a further glimpse into more of what happened previously (someday I will probably read the whole thing).  But more importantly: 2011!  So here it is.  Just before the New 52 era, DC tried a few things to lure fans back, including "drawing the line at $2.99" and...bringing back letters columns!  Which means, all three comics from 2011 featured...letters columns!  DC quickly dropped them again with the New 52, which was kind of disappointing, but not before making it clear that they did have their value, a concentrated forum for fans (not angry internet people) to share knowledge and appreciation (which again, not angry internet people).  I remember visiting DC's official message boards when they had switched from letters columns to the belief that the internet somehow replaced them, and that's where I found the fans hopelessly devoted the return of Hal Jordan as a clear-cut good guy (I think there was even a dorky name for the movement, but I don't remember what it would have been).  I just don't think anyone realizes what's lost when there are big shifts in how things are done, that it matters that some things are lost even while other things are gained.  I never understand the rush to shuck off old things, things that can't be replaced, no matter how much change improves things.  On the other hand, we now live in an era where the margin for success is wider than ever, that things with a smaller audience can still thrive for years, where they would've been aborted quickly before.  So the more things change, the more they stay...interesting.  I bet DC brings letters columns back, again, at some point.  After all, the more things change, the more they stay the same, too.  Sometimes you just have to wait.  Like those Hal Jordan fans.

Watching the Walmart Giants 5 "December 2019"

The distributor apparently woke up sooner than normal, so I got December's selections sooner than what's been the norm lately. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1

• new story from Marv Wolfman & Marc Guggenheim, with art from Tom Derenick.  Right from the start it's clear this is a riff on the TV Arrowverse Crisis, same as:
• new story from Marv Wolfman & Marc Guggenheim, with art from Tom Grummett.
• reprint of Crisis #1
• reprint of Crisis #7 (death of Supergirl)

Now, some expanded thought.

The two new tales are actually pretty worthwhile to the whole Arrowverse Crisis experience.  The first gives a little more spotlight to Nash Wells/Pariah.  Nash is the latest multiverse variant of Harrison Wells in The Flash, the only Arrowverse series I've watched regularly (and soundly enjoyed).  Wells, in the first season, turned out to not even be Harrison Wells, but Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, who'd taken over Wells' body.  All of the Wells variants are played by Tom Cavanagh, for whom I developed a deep affection when he was playing a bowling alley lawyer in Ed.  His quirky Wells turns have been just one of the many things I love about Flash.

The second expands on Jon Cryer's Lex Luthor, who has appeared in Supergirl.  Cryer is known for many things at this point, including Ducky, Two and a Half Men, and his appearance in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.  His Luthor is almost an apology for that one, and he plays the role quite effectively, complete with a distinct look for the character, which is easily distinguished by Grummett in the new story.

(It's great seeing Grummett working on a Superman comic again.  Ah, the '90s!)

I watched, quite eagerly, the first three TV installments of Crisis, between Supergirl, Batwoman, and Flash.  Naturally, I liked the Flash installment best, not just because of the fateful final run of John Wesley Shipp, but because the production values, as they usually are, were so much better.  I don't belong to the cult of Kevin Conroy (even though in the '90s I was a big fan of his Batman cartoon), so his appearance as the mock Dark Knight Returns Bruce Wayne did nothing for me.  I loved the Smallville coda!  Just perfect.  Arrowverse was riffing as much on Crisis as it was Avengers: Endgame and Justice League (complete with a hero resurrection).  Constantine played very well!  I realize the guy had his own series for a split second, but this portrayal works really well however it ends up onscreen.  I missed a few of the cameos for one reason or another, but it was pretty funny when spastic Kevin Smith cut off Robert Wuhl just as he was about to bash the Snyder movies.  Smooth!  It was nice that the CW sprang for the aftershow thing that's become a staple of cable genre shows, helped make it that much bigger a deal.

Can't wait for the final installments next month!

Superman Giant #1

• new story from Robert Venditti & Paul Pelletier.  It's a Parasite story, a villain I find particularly tiresome, but by the end of it Venditti has found something useful to say.  I always like seeing Pelletier art! 
• reprint of Supergirl #54 (2010)
• reprint of Action Comics #866 (2008, the start of Geoff Johns, Richard Donner & Gary Frank's excellent "Brainiac" arc)
• reprint of Superman #8 (2016, from Tomasi, Gleason & Mahnke)

Back Issue Bin 125 "Exit Stage Left, Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown, and other comics"

A clerk walked up to me and whispered into my ear, "You know, they're five for a dollar at the moment," and that's why I got a bunch of old comics recently.

Air #1 (Vertigo)
from October 2008

I still fondly remember getting into G. Willow Wilson's Air.  My interest at first was tentative, but then it became one of my favorite comics.  I still think it's Wilson's best comics work, which she doesn't seem to have been in too much of a rush to replicate, even after finding popular success years later with Ms. Marvel.  I've never added it to my graphic novel collection, though, so revisiting it was a long time coming, so it was great to find the first issue itself.  And I still enjoyed it.

Azrael #40 (DC)
from April 1998

I always find it funny to be reminded of comics I decided not to read, and there were some in the '90s that in retrospect really leave me scratching my head.  Even if I had no interest in Azrael itself, it's still strange to think there were rematches between the one-time Batman and Bane that didn't feel important enough to catch. About seven years back I read other encounters in the series between them (and maybe even this one?), so it was fun to do it again.  That the series lasted a hundred issues seems incomprehensible today, whether or not I was reading it myself.  But then, companies back then didn't have as itchy a trigger finger as they do now, constantly rebooting the big ones much less being patient with the smaller ones.  You can see how Azrael's lack of appearances in recent years would bode for any new attempt at a solo book.  The best of this issue is being reminded how long the original depiction of Bane managed to stick around, before subsequent generations screwed him up (well after the clownish version in Batman & Robin).  Thank goodness Christopher Nolan and Tom King came around!  This is a legitimately great character, with even greater potential still possible, which seems even more unlikely for a villain seemingly created just to provoke one of those endless '90s crises.

Batman and the Signal #3 (DC)
from June 2018

Duke Thomas was at one time pegged to be the next Robin, at least as far as fans expected, but eventually he assumed his own heroic identity, the Signal (Scott Snyder can be remarkably insular in his imaginative thought).  This was his first spotlight with the new handle.  Cully Hamner seems somehow less assured than usual on art, which was kind of strange.

DC Sampler (um, DC?)
from 1983

Ha!  A few years before Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC seemed pretty assured of its comics line.  This was a freebie they sent out with creative teams giving a small taste of what to expect from most of the titles at the time.  For flimsy reasons, it omits some pretty significant titles: Justice League of America, Green Lantern, and Camelot 3000 (one of the projects the company used to heavily promote alongside Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, and the slightly less forgotten Ronin).

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #5 (DC)
from July 2018

I've been talking about Mark Russell quite a bit here lately, and with good reason: He's struck me as one of the most significant creators to emerge in recent years, and in recent years, he's finally started cementing his reputation.  And for intents and purposes, that reputation begins with Exit Stage Left.

Using as its central conflict the familiar McCarthy Red Scare witch trials of the '50s, Russell reimagines a familiar Hanna-Barbera cartoon property as an allegory for the struggles of the LBGTQ community to find mainstream acceptance.  It was immediately picked up on by observers that Russell had struck upon a compelling concept.  I never had a chance to read it myself, having fallen into a black hole of sporadic comics reading at the time, and the later collection has been impossible to find in places other than the interwebs.  Now I think I may have to finally go that route, because more than Prez, more than Flintstones, it seems Exit Stage Left pushes Russell beyond the concept of social commentary into truly great writing, and finds him at his very best, just as the reports have had it.

The Red Scare is always going to be a fascinating concept in and of itself, what it was, what it provoked, and the general response to it, whether or not we learned anything from it, or might still have a chance to.  Clearly Russell believes it still has things to teach us, and as far as I'm concerned, he was absolutely right.  What emerges is at least the perception of an effect on society similar to the Nazis in Germany, which is an interpretation that history normally flattens into "naming names," something that seemingly only affected Hollywood.  DC itself has used the trials to explain what happened to the Justice Society after WWII, which the same flat interpretation.

Bottom line is, Russell created something that far exceeded a simple Hanna-Barbera nostalgia comic, into something that's valuable in a truly transcendent manner.  It should be a lot easier to find.

Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1 (Marvel)
from 1988

What I really like discovering are comics I didn't even know existed but turn out to be far more interesting than such a fate suggests.  This is obviously one of those.

From the husband-and-wife writing team of Walt and Louise Simonson (the latter of which I'd really only previously seen in the pages of Superman: The Man of Steel) and featuring art from Jon J. Muth (whom I'd previously seen in Grant Morrison's Mystery Play), this seems like another of Marvel's inexplicably lost evergreens.  The biggest difference between Marvel and DC that I've seen is that where DC actively celebrates its best stories, Marvel is most content basking in its great legacy.  Even the X-Men have gradually lost their once-celebrated memory for their '80s heyday. 

And this is part of it, perhaps the best part of it.  Wolverine, the poster child for breakout '80s X-Men success, and Havok (you know, Cyclops' brother).  (Oh, wait, you probably don't.  Because Havok has a tiny legacy.)

The Simonsons spend part of the story recounting the then-recent Chernobyl disaster (as recently depicted in a much-celebrated TV mini-series, called Chernobyl).  That was itself fun to read, real history unfolding in the pages of a comic that subsequently has great historic value.

Of course, Muth's art is spectacular in and of itself.  I have no idea, without researching, why Muth didn't make a much bigger name for himself, but it's not for lack of breathtaking talent.

Of course, at its heart Meltdown is a buddy adventure, and Wolverine & Havok play well off each other, in a story that's far removed from typical superhero comics material.

Marvel obviously knew it was a worthwhile project at some point: it was published in the prestige format.  It would be nice for Marvel to remember at some point, so fans can, too.  But thanks to whatever idiot gave up a treasure like this so I could discover it.

Justice League United #16 (DC)
from February 2016

I got this as much to see where the series had gone as astonishment that it had actually lasted that long, because it melted pretty much into oblivion, and I was just interested to see an issue from that late in the game (really only a few months before Rebirth).

JSA Classified #25 (DC)
from June 2007

I loved that DC expanded its Legends of the Dark Knight concept for a number of titles, between this, the JLA (Classified) and Batman and Superman (both Confidential), giving the company some anthology platforms.  This issue has the spotlight on the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott.

Legends of the DC Universe #9 (DC)
from October 1998

This is another '90s series I'm surprised I mostly skipped completely over, and of course it's a precursor to what I was just talking about, with this issue revisiting the classic team-up of Green Lantern (in this instance, Hal Jordan) and Green Arrow, with a tale of how they first met.

Legion of Super-Heroes #88 (DC)
from January 1997

I'm really sure I didn't read this issue when it was originally published, even though 2019 Tony thought it was an immediate necessity, as it features Impulse on the cover, and obviously a guest appearance by him inside, which 1997 should have been far more interested in, as I was a big fan of Bart Allen, and have since begun considering Mark Waid's Impulse perhaps a better overall experience than his Flash, which was itself one of my favorite '90s comics.  And I was happy to discover, even at the late date of 2019, that Impulse still amuses me.  This was a great spotlight for the character.

Marvel Boy: The Plutonian #1 (Marvel)
from March 2010

I thought this was another great discovery.  And I mean, it's interesting, but...Not as much as Havok & Wolverine.  I demand a Havok & Wolverine movie.  Or TV mini-series!  Starring Jared Harris!  As, I don't know, Wolverine!

Millennium #2, 3, 4, 6 & 8 (DC)
from 1987

Yey gods...I had never read Millennium, one of the event comics DC did after the great success of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but was pretty familiar with the concept, the Manhunters story where various characters were revealed to be infiltrators of the nefarious robot predecessors to the Guardians' Green Lantern Corps.  Now I wish I still had never read Millennium, because it's...dreck.  A totally botched event comic.  By the end, it feels like one of DC's perennial excuses to try and introduce a new generation of superheroes.  And absolutely none of them made it past Millennium itself.  At least as far as I can tell.  I had never heard of any of them until I saw their would-be spectacular debuts in the final issue.  And even I, who pride myself in being able to see great potential where others usually can't, couldn't imagine rehabilitating.  Any of them...

Mister X #1 (Vortex)
from June 1984

Mister X: Razed #4 (Dark Horse)
from May 2015

I had a great affinity for Dean Motter's Mister X.  I didn't discover it in that first issue from 1984, but rather years later, in a reprint collection, when interest was just beginning to surface again, leading to the Dark Horse revivals.  I got into Dean Motter comics, including finally reading Terminal City, which Motter had done for DC, and became a pretty big fan.  But Mister X itself is a somewhat peculiar beast.  The whole concept is almost only a concept, in which a character who's never really anything but a background character in his own comic exists mostly for a backstory, in a comic that looks spectacularly designed, regardless of who's drawing it (the original wasn't even written or drawn by Motter).  Yet strangely, I remain attached to it, even as I grow detached from my original excitement.  Seems almost like a secret handshake for true comics aficionados.  One I'm proud to be a part of.

Primal Force #12 (DC)
from October 1995

DC made the curious decision to publish a lot of titles that would've fit nicely with the original Vertigo conceit (an offbeat look at superheroes) under the regular DC label, and I think a lot of great material got buried as a result.  It only occurred to me that Primal Force is a part of that strange distinction upon this latest revisiting.  I didn't read this one at the time, either, of course, but I discovered and devoured it years later, and am always happy to be reminded of it.  I wish more fans understood what it accomplished, too, so that DC could add it to the trade collections always in-print.

The Sandman #4 (DC) 
from September 1975

As you can see from its publication stamp above, not the Neil Gaiman comic!  (Which of course I didn't read in the '90s!)  This is the earlier one, which at least as of this issue featured Jack Kirby art!  And exclamation points!  After!  Every!  Utterance!  Interestingly, features an add for a DC line expansion that includes Warlord (who endures in random appearances to this day) and Claw (who resurfaced in Primal Force and...doesn't endure to this day).

Seaguy#2 (Vertigo)
from August 2004

A lie!  A vicious lie!  Some jerk slipped this cover onto an issue of Fables.  I didn't discover this until I had already brought it home.  Some customers would probably bring it back and demand satisfaction.  I am not one of those costumers.  Makes for a better write-up here, anyway.

Starman #30 (DC)
from May 1997

Of course I didn't read Starman in the '90s.  What were you thinking, even wondering?  But I like to revisit it every now and then. 

Titans #30 (DC)
from August 2001

Hard to think of any date immediately preceding 9/11 without thinking of 9/11 (even though, as time stamps in comics go, this was actually released probably in June 2001, well ahead of that day).  Anyway, as Roy Harper comics go, at this point he was pretty much exclusively associated with Cheshire, the Elektra to his Daredevil, and this tale actually pivots more accurately on Cheshire herself, as she awaits the verdict for a trial concerning her villainous ways.  And then Roy Harper dies in Heroes in Crisis, and all anyone can fixate on is what Tom King did to poor Wally West.  What about Roy, fans.  What about Roy?

Reading Comics 238 "Flashpoint Batman, Far Sector, Second Coming, & more"

I haven't been to an actual comic book store in about half a year, so I decided it was time to visit one, given the opportunity, and found some good stuff:

Batman #84 (DC)
And now there's one issue to go.  Ironically or not, but the longer Tom King's run went, the less fans really cared.  The obvious tipping point was when the wedding didn't actually happen.  Fans felt cheated.  They wanted something truly big to happen, and King seemed to promise exactly that.  Instead the reaction has solidified on...pretty much how all of King's DC material has been received, as so much awkward navel-gazing.  The irony here is that when he did it for Marvel (The Vision), everyone lauded him as a new genius, perhaps because Marvel so seldom publishes reflective material, let alone seems to realize that it has, and that it's worth celebrating. 

I still can't think of any comic book writer I've so consistently admired, who has so often grasped the potential of DC's landscape.  His accomplishments go far beyond anyone else's for the fact of delivering on nearly everything he's done, dating back to Omega Men, when he was entrusted with his first spotlight work.  That goes back to 2015.  Half a decade of excellence, and one long stellar run on a major title.

This particular issue harkens back to his first standout mainstream accomplishment, Grayson: Futures End, where I first came to discover King's remarkable talents.  Grayson was a series he typically wrote in conjunction with Tim Seeley, but for the Futures End one-shot, he wrote solo, and even beyond the clever coding gimmick, it was brilliant character-based storytelling. 

So in the issue, he basically extrapolates the Flashpoint Batman's complete story, which is all the more remarkable because that story was already brilliantly told in Flashpoint itself and the acknowledged best mini-series that spun out of it.  And in doing so, explains his whole purpose for the Batman run he's been doing all along.  This is a master class, not only in itself but in the fruitful extension of someone else's ideas.  When all is said and done, it's something that will need to be included not only in the legacy of Batman, but Flashpoint, and superhero comics in general.

Collapser #5 (DC/Young Animal)
I like to try and discover interesting new material, too, when I visit a comics shop.  Granted, this was far easier when I used to spend far more money on comics (money that I, ah, didn't technically...have?), but now I have to use the old "it looks interesting" approach, or even risk taking recommendations (these don't always pan out, naturally, but then, it's how I discovered Young Avengers).  And Collapser #5 had an interesting cover, and it was a Young Animal comic.  I love the Young Animal imprint, even if fans in general seem strangely apathetic about it.  Such is life.  The results this time were adequate, if not sensational.  I didn't regret buying and/or reading it.  Yay!

Copra #3 (Image)
Ah!  So Copra is being published by Image now!  The last time I can think of that Image picked up a popular self-published comic was Bone.  Probably not the only example, but the only one I really care about.  And Copra is another great acquisition!  It may look crude, compared to the slick packages of virtually every other Image comic (but that goes with the name, right?), but Copra remains a good read.

Doctor Mirage #4 (Valiant)
I've sort of let Valiant's comics slip from my radar in recent years, but I like to keep tabs.  Apparently they finally continued Doctor Mirage's adventures!  Sadly, not under the title The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage, much less written by Jen Van Meter, but it's still nice to see!

Far Sector #1 (DC/Young Animal)
Ah!  It's almost like reading King's Omega Men all over again!  Insofar as it's another Green Lantern tale, without "Green Lantern" in the title, that turns out to be a brilliant new interpretation of what a Green Lantern comic can be!  Far Sector features yet another new human Green Lantern, but N.K. Jemisin doesn't linger (at least in this debut issue) on that aspect so much as the murder mystery she's tossed into, in about as grand a miasma as King's Omega Men featured.  Some readers might complain that Jemisin tries to be too hip, but I think it works, and it makes me want to not only keep tabs on Far Sector, but read some of Jemisin's books.  It doesn't always work, but finding talent outside the usual comic book circles has the potential to find a Jemisin or a Tom King.  And apparently awesome new Green Lantern comics.  Love it!

Flash Forward #1 (DC)
After all the complaints about Heroes in Crisis, I loved when DC announced Flash Forward, a new Wally West tale.  Several issues have been released at this point, but I figured I should see how it began.  And I love it.  Scott Lobdell, who has quietly become one of DC's one reliable character writers, captures a Wally who's even more traumatized than readers by his actions, but thrust all the same into a wild new adventure.  Juxtaposing Wally's arc with another wild ride into the multiverse is itself another interesting choice, but I think Lobdell can avoid duplicating what ultimately happened to Booster Gold when he attempted a career revision in similar fashion (and in the process helped form the foundation of the TV series Legends of Tomorrow, which he inexplicably has never factored into).

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (DC)
I've never been a devoted Legion fan, but I've read enough Legion comics to have built up an interest, and this is Brian Michael Bendis, still firing on all cylinders in his new DC digs, so of course I dig it.

Second Coming #5 (Ahoy)
Wow.  So I haven't read anything but this issue, but I'm glad this comic exists.  It's exactly what Mark Russell should be writing.  The guy made his name writing stuff like this, so I'm glad he returned to the well.  This particular issue is God and Satan having an awkward attempt at reconciliation, which is itself brilliant, plus the Second Coming Superman analog struggling at another kind of reconciliation, whether or not he'll ever have a child, which '90s Superman (in the comics and Lois & Clark on TV wondered about, too) was also concerned about, although since then we've gotten two versions of Superman's son.  I'm in love with Russell again.  I continue to hope that, even as his profile has risen greatly in recent years, it can go higher still.

X-Men #1 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman, riding high from great acclaim for his X-Men universe relaunch, begins to settle in, and I still enjoy the results.

Young Justice #11 (DC/Wonder Comics)
Here's Bendis again, integrating Naomi into the greater landscape.  I love that he's helped Tim Drake finally follow in Dick Grayson (and Jason Todd's! and even Stephanie Brown's!) footsteps and assume an identity that doesn't have "Robin" in it.  I know some fans complain that it's...Drake, which is...already his last name.  But realistically, his secret identity is still firmly intact.  And at the moment, his adventures are so wild, he's far removed from the common element, so it hardly matters.  But I want it to stick.  I want a Drake comic.  (And a comic for everyone in this book!  I wasn't totally committed to the Peter David version of the team.  But I'm glad it's made a comeback.)  And I'm glad Naomi is getting a chance to expand her emerging legacy.  I hope she sticks around for years.

Watching the Walmart Giants 4 "November 2019"

I see that there's very little interest in finding out what's in these things, but I'll continue plugging away anyway.  It's the internet!  Nobody cares!  Until they do!  Passionately!

And to compound things, my closest Walmart didn't seem to actually get any of the November releases, but I happened to be across town and visited the other one, and that's how I got these:

Batman Giant #2

• New from Michael Grey & Ryan Benjamin, featuring Poison Ivy.  Best appreciated for the Ryan Benjamin art.
• New from Andrea Shea & Neil Edwards, featuring the Signal (Duke Thomas).  I love that Signal gets a spotlight, which is basically only his second ever (after the three-issue mini-series), following Duke's earlier incarnation as a quasi-Boy Wonder in We Are Robin. 
• Batman #2 from the New 52 Snyder era.  Coincidentally I recently got a copy of the first collection in that run, Court of Owls, marking the first time I've read the complete opening arc.  I wasn't overly impressed.
• Detective Comics #854, featuring the continuation of the first extended Batwoman spotlight.
• Nightwing #2 from Rebirth, featuring the continued Raptor arc (as referenced in the title of the later collected edition, Better Than Batman, naturally).

Batwoman/Supergirl: World's Finest Giant #1

• New from Margaret Stohl & Laura Braga, featuring the first team-up of the duo.  Since I haven't actually read a lot of Batwoman comics, this was my introduction to her twin sister & archnemesis Alice (a sort of Lisbeth Salander vibe going on there, or Data/Lore, if you're a Star Trek fan).
• New from Sanya Anwar & Giant favorite Chad Hardin, featuring Batwoman.  It's great to see Hardin in a new context, and he's a complete natural, probably a better overall experience.
• New from Andrea Shea & Mike Norton, featuring Supergirl, trading heavily on the Supergirl TV show continuity.  I don't know if the comics have been doing that, too (I guess I don't read a lot of Supergirl comics, either...), but clearly this particular giant is being directed at fans of the TV shows, anyway, so it makes sense.
• Batwoman: Rebirth #1
• Supergirl: Rebirth #1
• Batwoman #0, the series that began just before the New 52, but experienced enough delays that it sort of was drafted into the New 52.  It's sort of amazing to think that the character has now had three spotlight runs (thanks to linewide relaunches), all of which are being reflected in these giants.  She's clearly the most successful and lasting element of my much-beloved 52, and that's nice to see. 

Reading Comics 237 "My third Forbidden Geek mystery box"

My third shipment from Forbidden Geek included a Lobo statue, Snyder & Capullo’s Batman Vol. 1 The Court of Owls, and the following comics:

Astro City #25 (Vertigo)

Kurt Busiek’s familiar act continues for another issue.  It’s the kind of storytelling that perhaps feels more impressive if you catch it when you’re younger, but begins to seem regressive the more experience you have.  Interestingly, the only time readers have really revolted was when Busiek was telling an extended Dark Age tale that was the only time he was building on the Marvels method that inspired the whole thing, the sequel he never got to write, which to my mind was perhaps the best Astro City ever got.  Perhaps most recommended to unsophisticated budding comic book writers who have no idea how character storytelling works.

Detective Comics #14 (DC)

The John Layman (Chew) era, little celebrated at the time but an excellent Batman experience all the same (I get that Snyder’s was sensational, but it wasn’t the only or even best example of the New 52), with Poison Ivy in the spotlight.  Layman’s Batman is the analytical mind you’d expect in a title called Detective Comics, and he’s constantly challenged by familiar foes in interesting ways.  Perhaps best represented by the “Gothtopia” arc that went unobserved as a crossover.  Also features early but typically sensational Jason Fabok art, before he got the plush Justice League assignment.

Blue Beetle #1 (DC)

From the Rebirth era, which until now I’d never read.  In fact I skipped the New 52 series, too, and in both cases it’s entirely down to simply not having the funds.  When the New 52 launched I’d just lost my job of five years and went unemployed the rest of that year (then got a terrible job and then got a slightly less terrible job that compensated for that slight increase by paying far less and giving me far fewer hours…).  Anyway, both series were based on an excellent pre-Flashpoint series I did read enthusiastically, spinning out of Infinite Crisis, in which the legacy is passed on to Jaime Reyes in the form of a magical alien scarab with a fairly unexplored link to the Green Lantern Corps.  In this Rebirth relaunch Jaime’s friends from the first series are still present with the same witty banter, but Ted Kord gets to be part of the narrative this time (remember: Ted famously was murdered by Max Lord just prior to Infinite Crisis; the best thing about the current Snyder act is the recent Dark Multiverse one-shot that posits a scenario where Ted shot Max instead).  At some point I’ll really have to catch up with all this Blue Beetle material.

Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #6 (DC)

Another series I was sorry to have to skip in the early New 52 was this one, as it, too, was a follow-up to an excellent pre-Flashpoint series I enjoyed immensely.  So of course I enjoyed this issue.  Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch apparently each have their own Firestorm bodies (one of the familiar gimmicks of the concept is that Firestorm combines two people, with one providing the body and the other becoming a mental sidekick).  In this tale they’re confronted by the Russian Firestorm, Pozhar.  I’m still pretty convinced that if handled correctly, Firestorm could handle a Geoff Johns level renaissance.

The Flash #19 (DC)

Featuring the tease for the debut of the New 52 Reverse-Flash.  The issue features pretty much the bare minimum input from Francis Manapul, who was responsible (with Brian Buccellato) for the best Flash New 52 material, which itself also influenced much of the current TV series.

Green Arrow #31 (DC)

From the Rebirth era, in which DC finally figured out that Ollie ought to be allowed to be awesome again, aligning more with what he was best known for, including associations with Black Canary, Hal Jordan, and the Justice League, all of whom prominently appear in the issue.  I just don’t get how the much-influential TV series never seemed to convince the company, previously, that they should pay a little attention to the comic, help it shine when not written by Jeff Lemire, misguidedly believing instead that Green Arrow should be a younger punk.  This is a character defined by being world weary!  One of the main beneficiaries of Rebirth.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #35 (DC)

The Robert Venditti era continued in Rebirth with this series, which because I became disinterested in his New 52 comics I never really made an attempt to get into.  This issue is mainly Venditti deciding that Hal, John, Kyle & Guy are the Green Lantern equivalent of wrestling’s Four Horsemen.  For…reasons.  Although it ends on a pretty amusing note, as Ganthet taunts the Controllers, by pointing out they want to, well, control these Lanterns, which, certainly with Hal, has famously been pretty impossible.  The main difference between Venditti and Geoff Johns, whom he succeeded, is that while Johns tossed in a lot of bold new concepts, he did so in a manner that built on existing ones.  He seemed like a fan.  Venditti never really seemed to understand any of it.  He tossed in a lot of bold new concepts, too, but without ever really seeming to understand that there were existing ones.  He never felt like he connected with the material.  It’s just incredibly bizarre.  Now you’ve got Grant Morrison writing Green Lantern, and he admitted he was reluctant to do so because he never understood the concept, and yet to read the results is to see that he got past that.  A lot of readers are confused, they see nothing but 2001 AD, but I see storytelling that comes alive with possibility, grounded in tradition.  Charles Soule, when he was writing Guy in Red Lanterns, was much the same, and so too Ron Marz in the uncomfortable position of writing Kyle ostensibly when the tradition had been exploded.  Maybe not everyone will see it, but when you do see it, it’s hard to look past.  That’s me and Venditti’s Green Lantern in a nutshell.  Ironically readers rejected the New 52 era because that’s what they thought they saw everywhere.  As far as I’m concerned, Venditti was ground zero, if nothing else, of the perceived phenomenon.

Infinite Inc. #27 (DC)

Ah!  Irony!  This is a whole issue dedicated to the Crisis on Infinite Earths effect, helpfully further spelled out in the letters column, in which a reader bemoans the cruel dismantling of continuity in the form of Huntress being “murdered” because she couldn’t exist outside of her context (Batman and Catwoman being her parents ‘n’ all, on Earth 2).  And this was a whole series about the offspring of the Justice Society.  So eventually, Brainwave Jr. removes Fury’s memories of her parents (y’know, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor).  Ironically, the reconciliation of canon effectively obliterated the Infinity Inc. concept, and Fury ended up a curious footnote, never to be revisited (at least as of now!), a curious appearance or two in the pages of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman that feel the more elegiac the more you’re aware of her publishing history.  A version of Huntress did return, eventually, an independent one with no background ties to Batman or Catwoman, although in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series, she did.  Even better, this issue features a pre-Spider-Man, pre-Spawn Todd McFarlane, whose work is totally unrecognizable, if anything familiar to the Sandman style (just imagine!) with a few panels emphasizing shadow on facial features but otherwise looking fairly generic…

Red Hood and the Outlaws #11 (DC)

The Rebirth era, featuring Artemis & Bizarro, with the spotlight on Artemis (the Azrael of Wonder Woman lore) as she squares off with an Amazon of a spin-off tribe.  Lobdell’s Red Hood comics are another I want to catch up on at some point.

Suicide Squad #45 (DC)

From Rebirth, this issue features an apparent attempt to revisit the exact concept behind the team, as famously featured in the apparent infamous movie, villains being recruited by Amanda Waller for missions where their lawful participation will be disavowed, and if they go rogue the bomb in their heads goes boom.  So I guess if you need a random issue to remind you of all that, this one’s a good one to catch.

Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2 (DC)

The second of three issues, the prestige format follow-up to the more famous death-and-return saga, Dan Jurgens goes bold, explaining Doomsday’s origin!  I’m glad this was the random issue I got, because I’d never officially read any of it, but had heard of the origin concept.  In hindsight it’s somewhat convoluted.  A better version would be something like Wolverine, a monster with a healing factor who constantly evolves from the horrible deaths it endures, reviving on its own rather than being constantly cloned.  I mean, how would a clone adapt to whatever happened to the previous body?  It’s new material.  Bad science, Dan.  But typical Dan Jurgens art, which sadly lost pretty much all of its impact and appeal after the sensational work of Superman #75, famously depicted entirely in splash pages.  No comic could ever justify that format again, and Jurgens himself really had nowhere to go but down.  This issue also saddles us with Cyborg Superman, who didn’t die in Superman #82, and so he just keeps coming back.  Geoff Johns later used him, too, but I’ve never been convinced that it’s a concept worth revisiting.  If he’s no longer pretending to be Superman, what’s the point? 

Watching the Walmart Giants 3 "October 2019"

Now, the title of this feature is obviously becoming an anachronism (and it was from the moment I decided on it), since these giants are going to begin appearing in the direct market (comic book shops), but I will continue to pick them up at Walmart.  October's releases were late in my local store, and I guess the release schedule has changed, with apparently a bimonthly scheduled in effect, which means three titles I didn't see last month finally appeared this month, and the final installment of Superman Giant, and King & Kubert's arc.

So here's what I'm talking about:

Aquaman Giant #1

• Original story from Steve Orlando & Daniel Sampere featuring Aquaman battling Black Manta.  Somewhat standard material here, though Orlando introduces the "tether of Amphitrite," and possibly the concept of the mermazons, which alone was worth reading.
• Original story from Marv Wolfman & Pop Mhan featuring Aquaman battling an organization called Scorpio (unrelated to the pseudo Bond villain from The Simpsons, probably, and thus featuring far fewer hammocks).
• Prologue to "Throne of Atlantis" from Aquaman #14 by Geoff Johns.
• Mera: Queen of Atlantis #1.
• Teen Titans #14, featuring the new Aqualad.

DC Super Hero Girls Giant #1

• Original story from Amanda Deibert & Erich Owen.
• Original story from Amy Wolfram & Agnes Garbowska.
• Excerpts from Hits and Myths, Summer Olympus, and Past Times at Super Hero High.

I originally wasn't going to get this one, but I figured I could later give it to my niece. 

Superman Giant #16

• "Up in the Sky, Part 12" from Tom King and Andy Kubert, the conclusion, featuring Superman and the little girl on their eventual journey home, depicted as a conversation they have along the way.  It may not be the flashiest installment of the epic tale (which, as I think I've emphasized previously, has become another of King's many, many highlights for me), but it's a nice way to ground the Man of Steel, as the story has done all along, in his more human qualities, even as he's constantly asked to use his superhuman skills.  This is a far trickier task than it seems, and King has just provided a master class.
• Superman/Batman #50, featuring the improbably team-up of Jor-El and Thomas Wayne (it works, although I wish more of the story focused on them and less on the present-day and extraneous Justice League activities).
• A Superboy tale from Superman80-Page Giant 2011.
• The Terrifics Annual #1, featauring a Tom Strong tale but more importantly a Java flashback written by Mark Russell.  You may remember me talking about Russell's work in the September giants.  He seems to have effortlessly refuted me in advance, because this one's a wonderful narrative that somewhat knowingly takes a note from Russell's own Flintstones but imbues real poignancy in its observations.  It's the best thing I've read from him, personally, since my original impressions of him in Prez. 

This was also the final issue. 

Teen Titans Go! Giant #1

• Original story from Sholly Fish & Marcelo DiChiara featuring Tamaranian hiccups.
• Original story from Ivan Cohen & Sarah Leuver.
• Reprints from Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans Go! Digital, featuring far more art from Jorge Corona (whom I previously encountered in the pages of We Are Robin) than I expected.

Reading Comics 236 "Marvel Comics #1000, The Vigilant Legacy"

Marvel Comics #1000 (Marvel)
(Review copied from Goodreads)

I'm not a Marvel guy. I'm a DC guy. Generally speaking, I think Marvel is what fans in general think of when they think of superhero comics, what they expect. DC tends to be where the more interesting things actually happen. I think it's true of the movies, too, by the way. But I'm not averse to enjoying Marvel when there's something really worth enjoying. Marvel Comics #1000 is one of those things.

Strictly speaking, this is a gimmick book that's playing off the legitimate, historic thousandth issues of Action Comics (last year) and Detective Comics (earlier this year). Marvel likes the do that sort of thing, sort of fake a milestone just because it's been good business at the competition. But this one is not just a gimmick. Marvel put real effort into it, and it's probably somewhat instantly one of the best things it ever did.

The main writer is Al Ewing, part of the more or less uncelebrated modern creative generation at Marvel. He weaves a sporadic narrative introducing the concept of the Eternity Mask, which goes all the way back to the beginning, linked to the debut of the original Human Torch (who along with Namor established Marvel's superhero credentials). Marvel's periodically mined its early years for new material, most famously when Captain America was defrosted in the '60s to help assemble the Avengers, but more recently in the underrated Twelve that was sort of half Captain America and half Watchmen. But this time I think the trick was really nailed in an ingenious way. Ewing weaves a secret history while bringing up a series of forgotten heroes, all while discussing the idea that it's the rebels who've forged American history, free from the tyranny of kings.

Every page revisits a milestone for all eighty years of Marvel lore, and each is a master class in creativity, from a host of famous writers and showcasing the stellar art the company is still capable of even in an era that has more often been derided on that score than celebrated (seriously; known and unknown artists alike combine to fill every page with works of technical achievement).

Since there are so many creators, each working a single page (with a few exceptions, including Ewing), I don't want to bog down the review referencing individual talent (though there are some surprises, such as Patrick Gleason, who until this celebration has long been associated with DC). Suffice to say, you won't be disappointed with the turnout.

The whole thing is a playful examination of the mounting legacy of the company, without leaning heavily on anything (which is something Marvel, or its fans, often can be guilty of), letting the characters speak for themselves. Maybe it's that very element that's lets a DC guy appreciate a Marvel comic, since as far as I'm concerned, Marvel doesn't stop and smell the roses nearly often enough, too busy throwing itself into another wild adventure to let things sink in a little, or conversely, taking itself too seriously (as I noted above; that's part of why I never got into Marvels and instead admired that other Alex Ross-painted epic, Kingdom Come).

This is a comic that'll be very easy to revisit in years to come, regardless of how significant the Eternity Mask thing becomes. It's also something that would be very easy to recommend to fans who really only know Marvel from the movies. Not only will they get an idea or two about what could come next to the big screen, they'll see just how much there has always been, and will be for a long time to come.

That's the end of the review as previously written.  Here I'll mention that I loved seeing Stuart Immonen (with wife Kathryn) showing up for one of the spotlights.  Jeff Lemire was another welcome sight (a full-blown Cable project would be fun; although I almost would want to see Matt Kindt's interpretation even more).  Loved Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale reprising their act in a lighthearted entry.

Also read:

The Vigilant Legacy #2 (Rebellion)
Simon Furman, although more specifically the various house ads concerning reprint material, leans pretty heavily on how this is a legacy comic, too, revisiting various British superheroes who are virtually unknown across the pond, creating a kind of integrated landscape and, eventually, a team, that reads like Valiant's best comics from recent years.  Glad I stumbled across it during a recent trip to Barnes & Noble, where it was the lone actual comic in the magazine section, nestled in with the genre stuff (the bookstore chain quit selling individual issues of comics, in general, several years back).  In today's age it can sometimes seem impossible to showcase new characters, or at least ones that can be presented as such, but it's things like this that prove what nonsense that really is.  All you need are competent creators willing to work with them, and each other, to pull it off.

Reading Comics 235 "Second Forbidden Geek Mystery Box"

I got my second Forbidden Geek mystery box, including a Supergirl statue, a copy of Justice League Vol. 2: The Villain's Journey (which was a very pleasant surprise; eventually I'll have the complete Johns collection), and the following comics:

All Star Batman #3 (DC)
Snyder once again in his nutshell, blowing everything up into possibly misguided epic proportions.  This time it's how Batman and Two-Face were actually childhood friends.  But, also features the KGBeast!  Alas, without his '90s Russian accent.

Captain Atom #7 (DC)
This is what I love about Forbidden Geek's mystery boxes, getting stuff I've always wanted to read but for whatever reason haven't gotten around to yet.  Captain Atom was one of those short-lived New 52 titles at launch.  I never had a clue what the series was like.  Now I finally do!  J.T. Krul, one of the dependable writers of that era who kind of disappeared without good reason, depicts his version of the character as Captain Atom has ever since DC gave in and acknowledged that Doctor Manhattan was based on him.  I first became acquainted with the character (whose main claim to fame is being but not really being the secret origin of Monarch in Armageddon 2001) in the pages of Justice League America and Extreme Justice, where he was depicted as more a Superman type, but a more aggressive version (just not to the degree that the original version of Supreme was, before Alan Moore made him a Silver Age Superman pastiche).  The art is from Freddie Williams II, who in recent years has come to be defined by the improbable Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics.  I've got plenty of experience with his work, which I often find too cartoonish but not cartoonish enough to be accepted as such.  Here he's got better line work, though he apparently has no idea what riding a bike looks like (the legs, particularly).  I would absolutely love to read a collected edition of this material.

Constantine #5 (DC)
The New 52 attempt to mainstream John Constantine (a concept begun in Brightest Day) may have been somewhat misguided (at any rate, DC has yet to figure it out) works pretty well in this issue, with John temporarily stealing Shazam's powers (for his own good!), thereby setting a template other tales would do well to follow.  You can't really have the guy (even if he pops up in other books and/or teams) attempting to replicate his Vertigo experiences without recontextualizing him properly.  Ideally, he needs a central story, the way Zatanna is forever associated with her father's career, which increasingly is itself irrelevant but nonetheless provides a springboard to ground her.  The writer, of course, is Ray Fawkes, another great writer in that era who somehow failed to garner due respect.

Deathstroke #20 (DC)
A late New 52 series still running in the early Rebirth era (one of several, including Earth 2: Society and Doctor Fate, given a chance to wind down naturally), Slade (the youthful Slade, sans white hair!) blows up a partnership with Ra's al Ghul to reclaim his children. 

Hinterkind #10 (Vertigo)
A vampire series.  That is all.

Justice League #18 (DC)
A trademark of League comics is the membership drive (something Snyder ignored in pushing a huge lineup with multiple titles right from the start, so that everyone and their mother is instantly included).  That's what happens this issue.  Some new characters (Goldrush is sort of a revision of Bulleteer; sadly neither character has had much of a shelf life to date) and even a tease for the Crime Syndicate saga called Forever Evil makes this a fine character piece in a series with far more character work than you'd think.

Justice League #32 (DC)
Element Woman (a riff on Metamorpho), also featured in the membership drive, and the Doom Patrol(with a vicious Chief whose rival is Lex Luthor), try to tackle Jessica Cruz in the aftermath of her obtaining the power ring of, ah, Power Ring, the Crime Syndicate's Green Lantern.  Cruz later flattened into a character who sort of hid away in her room for...reasons, but it seems Johns originally had a deeper portrait in mind. 

Legion of Super-Heroes #283 (DC)
The token Older Issue in the box, this is an early '80s Legion comic featuring the secret origin of Wildfire.  I actually became more interested in the potential of at least one of the recruits he was testing.  Did anything ever end up happening with Lamprey?   Some quick research says no.  If I ever do get to write comics, I will include her in my Legion!

The New 52: Futures End #39 (DC)
This and Batman Eternal seem destined to show up in mystery selections.  At least I don't seem to get duplicate copies of this one. 

Richard Dragon #12 (DC)
The Chuck Dixon/Scott McDaniel series that reprised their Nightwing act.  Somewhat handily, the final issue.  God, I still want to know why McDaniel ended up blackballed from any significant work following Static Shock.  The dude was a staple at DC for a decade in high profile projects, and then criminally overlooked material like The Great Ten.  He's a treasure.  I doubt he was that awful to handle creatively when given a chance to write as well as draw.  He still shows up randomly here and there.  But, someone, anyone, give him a significant new project.

Superman #5 (DC)
The Tomasi/Gleason Rebirth series (seriously; McDaniel is like Gleason before Gleason was finally recognized), featuring the Eradicator targeting Jon Kent as a human/Kryptonian "abomination."  I don't think Tomasi/Gleason quite nailed Superman the way they did Batman and Robin.  I just saw Gleason popped up in Marvel Comics #1000 (which I'll be reading this week and have thoughts on next weekend).  Give these two a new project together before either considers really jumping ship.

Reading Comics 234 "Mark Russell's Giants"

Reading through the rest of the September Walmart giants this morning, I reached the Mark Russell material from Swamp Thing Giant #1 and Villains Giant #1, and...

Look, I loved discovering Russell in the pages of Prez.  Prez was a wicked political satire.  Russell slowly developed a favorable reputation among fans thanks to his Flintstones, which was less about the classic cartoon and more social satire.  He scored again with Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles.  I've still yet to read any of Snagglepuss Chronicles.  Despite my increased misgivings about being a full-on fan of Russell, I'd still like to.  Recently he's begun branching more into the mainstream, although noting he's the writer of the first-ever Wonder Twins comic may not seem to help make that case.

At any rate, I initially viewed discovering him in the latest round of Walmart giants as another sign of DC's increasing trust in his career.  You don't have to have a career trending upward to get into these pages, but I figured Russell was this round's version of including Brian Michael Bendis and Tom King in the last round. 

And maybe that's still the case, but unlike what I thought of Bendis and King's work, I wasn't overly thrilled with Russell's.

In Swamp Thing Giant #1, Russell writes one of several new features with Swamp Thing himself (a perennial favorite of DC's when considering TV adaptations, although I guess the most recent one was cancelled after a single season; I think the idea would work much better as a movie).  His involves Swamp Thing agonizing over his place in the world, and periodically purging all his negative thoughts into a kind of "beet" he discards.  Then along comes an evil agricultural conglomerate that's been choking the environment in the name of profit.  Swamp Thing turns to an old friend to find answers about what's happening.  The old friend turns out to have betrayed him.  But the joke ends up on her, because she unwittingly eats one of his poison "beets" and ends up paralyzed and buried alive.  The company gets ahold of the poison "beets," too.  And Swamp Thing is basically none the wiser about what's happened.

In Villains Giant #1, Russell writes a Joker story in which he uses viral marketing to trick people into performing outrageous stunts in order to win free money to cover healthcare costs because although Gotham has finally been cleaned up, the budget has to cut healthcare in order to fund the expanded prison system.  And then the solution the city reaches to end Joker's latest reign of terror, ingeniously free of any overt criminal intent, is to reinstate the healthcare budget...this time at the cost of funds intended for higher education.

My problem with both stories is Russell's cynical conclusions, and asking the reader to accept them with characters of higher and higher profile.  Imagine him writing Batman directly with this approach.  It would become less about the character and more about Russell's conclusions, and that's the problem.  This sort of thing works when you're handling minor or obscure characters, but less so when the reader theoretically actually cares about the ones being used.  And it exposes Russell's narrative limitations.  He doesn't really tell stories at all, it can sometimes seem, but a threadbare account of what you read on social media. 

Infamously or not, but Russell's attempted launch for the last wave of Vertigo comics, Second Coming, was cancelled by DC before it ever saw print.  I can begin to understand the company's trepidation.  (It was later picked up by another publisher.)  Russell made his name lampooning the Bible in God Is Disappointed In You and Apocrypha Now, neither of which is actually well-known even now.  The idea that nothing is sacred to Russell is hardly a new phenomenon, then, but he might have finally found territory he couldn't, or couldn't any longer, cross, at least with a major publisher with an increased profile. 

(It's sort of what Alan Moore discovered, too, but that's a different story.)

I have no idea what Russell's future with DC looks like.  Does he eventually get a truly significant assignment?  Does he learn how to really tell a story?  Time will tell...

Reading Comics 233 "Superman Giant #15"

Having now read Superman Giant #15, I actually ended up getting another copy so I can hopefully include it among the stuff I'm bringing to my sister's wedding in December, which will hopefully include most of my family (I already know my oldest brother won't be able to make it), including my two nephews based in Maine.  I had already planned on giving them duplicate copies of other Walmart giants I'd gotten, but this one's an opportunity to give them something truly special.

The penultimate (eleventh) installment of Tom King and Andy Kubert's "Up in the Sky" is yet another excellent example from the pair of Superman's unwillingness to give up (as is the whole story) despite unrelenting odds.  In a lot of ways, this is the conclusion of the story (he even finally finds the girl he went into space to save).

Among the other material is a reprint of a Lex Luthor story from 2018's Beach Blanket Bad Guys Special.  Without having read it, I initially thought it would be a throwaway story, but it's actually really excellent, from writer Jeff Loveness and David Williams.  In it, Lex's car has broken down on the side of the road (this version of the character seems inspired by Elon Musk), and a kindly stranger stops to help.  (No, it's not Superman.)  Lex of course rants about Superman in his traditional fashion, as the embodiment of everything that prevents someone from reaching their full potential.  The kindly stranger, though, gives Lex a different impression, of Superman's selfless heroism, and even a portrait of just another guy with regular problems, who'll stop and share s chat and even a burrito with you. 

You'd probably expect at this point for Loveness to have Lex at least consider changing his tune about Superman, but the great thing he does is pivot away from Lex, and just let regular joe, and Superman, end the story.  We glimpse Lex, but he's no longer really relevant.  It's a great bit of storytelling.

Between them, King's and Loveness's takes on what being Superman means encompass not only his abilities but his humanity.  They're a perfect way to explain the character.  Which makes the comic itself a great way to introduce the character. 

I really hope my nephews can make it.  I know I want to see them again, but it would also be nice to be able to give them some interesting gifts.

Reading Comics 232 "Titans Season One"

I finally caught up with the first season of Titans from late last year.  It was pretty great.  Titans is one of those online streaming series, in this instance available via DC Universe.  This release method probably explains why the "f" word is spoken roughly every other line of dialogue (I wasn't overly bothered by it).

Eleven episodes explain how Dick Grayson (Robin), Rachel Roth (Raven), Kory Anders (Starfire) and Gar Logan (Beast Boy) end up becoming a team.  The arc is similar to the first season of Heroes, following each character as their journeys converge, with a central problem being Rachel's powers and where they come from (her dad, the demon Trigan), and Kory's mysterious past, not to mention her powers.  Most of it, though, is following Dick as he reconciles life post-Batman.  He's become concerned about his increasingly violent tendencies, believing that he's become too much like the Dark Knight, so he's gone off on his own.  We meet him as a detective in Detroit, where he meets Rachel after she's been brought in following the mysterious death of the woman who turns out to be her foster mother.  She's being hunted by agents of a shadowy conspiracy, and Dick turns out to be her best option for safety and sympathy, though at first Dick is reluctant to commit.  Kory has amnesia, but feels she's better than the circumstances in which she finds herself, and eventually she joins up with Dick and Rachel, and is the first person who really seems to understand the latter.  They find shelter with Gar's family, the Doom Patrol, but then strike out on their own, hoping to find Rachel's birth mother, who turns out to be secretly in cahoots with Trigon.  Then Kory gets her memory back and briefly tries to kill Rachel, but eventually realizes that Trigon's the real problem.  The season actually ends on a cliffhanger, Trigon left undefeated.

Part of the journey also incorporates tangents with Hawk & Dove, who in this iteration have no superpowers but are rather vigilantes inspired by Batman and Robin.  Dove was an old flame of Dick's, but now is committed to Hawk, and both are anticipating retiring from the superhero game.  Dick also reunites with Donna Troy, who likewise has stepped away from her role as Wonder Girl, and unexpectedly meets Jason Todd, who has inherited the role of Robin since Dick left Gotham.  Honestly, this is probably the best material of the season, with Donna Troy and Dove providing standout performances from Conor Leslie (Donna Troy) and Minka Kelly (Dove).  Alan Ritchson's Hawk is likewise inspired acting.

The show's depiction of Batman (never seen directly) is significantly less sympathetic than other depictions, which makes things all the more interesting.  The focus on Robin, meanwhile, is the character's biggest live action spotlight ever, putting the focus almost totally on him even in a team setting (the season's final episode depicts Trigon's efforts to traumatize him by giving him a perfect life and then viciously taking it away), which trumps his appearances in the later Burton/Schumacher films, in which he has prominent roles.  This version effectively exists on his own and is not reliant on Batman to explain his significance. 

The second season has already gotten underway, so I look forward to catching it later (likely on home video, like I did with this one).

Watching the Walmart Giants 2 "September 2019"

This month saw the latest revision of the Walmart DC 100-Page Giants line.  I haven't had a chance to read them yet (and it's worth noting that my store apparently wasn't carrying the Aquman, Teen Titans Go or Super Hero Girls Giants), but I figured it was worth outlining the contents:

Batman Giant #1

• A new story from Michael Grey & Ryan Benjamin featuring Clayface.
• A new story from Steve Orlando & Tom Mandrake featuring Batwoman.
• Batman #1 from the New 52 (Snyder & Capullo).
• Detective Comics #23.2 from the New 52 featuring Matt Kindt's brilliant Harley Quinn origin.
• Nightwing #1 from Rebirth.

The Flash Giant #1

• A new story from Gail Simone & Clayton Henry.
• A new story from Jeff Parker & Miguel Mendonca.
• The Flash #13 from the New 52 (still featuring the sweet art of Francis Manapul.
• Green Arrow: Rebirth #1.
• Blue Beetle #1 from 2006, the first of several ongoing series featuring the Jaime Reyes version of the character  Still ashamed to admit I stopped reading after this series ended.

Ghosts Giant #1

• A new story from Dan Jurgens & Scott Eaton featuring the Spectre.
• A new story from Keith Giffen & Priscilla Petraites featuring Gentleman Ghost.
• A new story from John Layman & Andy Clarke featuring John Constantine.
• Various shorts from Cursed Comics Cavalcade, DC House of Horror, DCU Halloween Special 2010, and Justice League #35.

Superman Giant #15

• The penultimate chapter of Tom King & Andy Kubert's twelve-part "Up in the Sky" series.
• Superman/Batman Annual #2.
• Beach Blanket Bad Guys, featuring Lex Luthor.
• The Terrifics Annual #1 featuring new writer Gene Luen Yang.

Swamp Thing Giant #1

• A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Marco Santucci featuring Swamp Thing.
• A new story from Andrew Constant & Tom Mandrake.
• Swamp Thing #1, the 2016 miniseries from Len Wein & Kelley Jones.
• The Hellblazer #1 from Rebirth.
• Zatanna #1, a Paul Dini miniseries from 2010.

Villains Giant #1

• A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Victor Bogdanovic featuring Batman and Joker.  Russell's involvement in these things is a further example of DC's expansion of his visibility, and a good thing, in my mind, in establishing him as a future lead writer for the company.
• A new story from Tom Taylor & Daniel Sampere featuring Deathstroke.  Taylor's profile has risen considerably thanks to DCeased, so his presence in these things is also a sign of confidence from the company.
• A new story from Gail Simone & Priscilla Petraites featuring Harley Quinn.
• Justice League #23.1 featuring the New 52 version of Darkseid's origin from Greg Pak.
• The Flash #8 from the New 52, featuring the origin of the Reverse-Flash.
• Secret Origins #10 featuring Poison Ivy.

Wonder Woman Giant #1

• A new story from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti & Inaki Miranda featuring Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn.  (Knew Conner & Palmiotti would turn up somewhere.)
• Wonder Woman #2 from Rebirth, the Year One arc.
• Green Lantern #29, skipping the Sinestro Corps War to "Secret Origin."
• Sword of Sorcery #0 from the New 52 featuring Amethyst.

Reading Comics 231 "Midtown Comics"

I had a bad habit of spending money I didn’t have, a decade ago, ordering comics from Midtown.  When I placed my most recent order, it was money I did have, so it was a fine thing to revisit the old habit.  Here’s what I got:

Doomsday Clock #11 (DC)

The penultimate issue, leading to the much-anticipated encounter between Superman and Doctor Manhattan, lays out what exactly Geoff Johns was doing all along, including finally explaining what Saturn Girl has been doing in the Rebirth era (somewhat ironically, for her).  This is probably some of the best stuff Johns has ever written.

The Green Lantern #11 (DC)

Back when I was at my blogging height, I collected a number of blogs I thought would be worth reading on a regular basis, but more often than not I was wrong.  One of them is a comics blog that has continued to review new comics every week, and…I just don’t give a wit about the guy’s opinions.  He seems positively allergic to any real ambition in comics.  So: he doesn’t like Grant Morrison’s Green Lantern.  I think you have to be an idiot not to like a Morrison comic, especially when he’s obviously applying himself and having a great old time.  And he’s clearly doing exactly that in this comic.  And in this issue alone, he does what no one since Geoff Johns has really been able to nail and that’s introduce another forgotten element of Green Lantern lore, and it doesn’t hurt that he deliberately draws on Don Quixote to do it (this has sort of been my Year of Don Quixote).  Anyway, while I don’t love everything Grant Morrison has ever done, this whole run is going to sit very proudly alongside my collection of his works.

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 (DC)

Wow.  So, Brian Michael Bendis, folks.  The dude has been a tireless creative dynamo since coming to work for DC, not just with the creator-owned material he either brought with him or began, but the stuff he’s been imagining with familiar characters, and everything fans expected him to do, he just keeps coming up with curveballs.  This comic, for instance, actually centers on Rose & Thorn, a concept I came across in ‘90s Superman comics, but which Bendis makes his own, brilliantly.  Now I want to read a comic based on her, forget about the returning Legion!  But I’ll take the Legion, too, because I’m pretty convinced that if anyone can pull off a relevant new Legion, it’s Bendis.  I’ve never enjoyed him as much as I am now.  I haven’t always been a fan, per say, but I’ve enjoyed him in the past.  But he’s operating on an entirely new level now.  It’s, dare I say, amazing…

Section Zero #6 (Image)

Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett are basically reprising their old Superboy comics, which to my mind is a very good thing, with this one.  I bought the Stuart Immonen variant cover, naturally.

Spawn #300 (Image)

I’m pretty sure the creator-owned landmark Spawn is matching this issue and passing with the next one is Cerebus, which was much-celebrated in times past but much-criticized today.  Now, given that there’re 300 issues of Spawn to be accounted for and maybe the first few years that most fans are actually going to remember, someone had the bright idea to reboot back to the continuity, basically, of those early years for this occasion.  It’s only just occurred to me that Spawn as a concept seems to have copy-and-posted almost directly from Venom, as far as being a symbiotic costume thing.  Todd McFarlane explains how he came up with the character in the ‘70s, obviously before Venom or the black Spider-Man costume ever existed, but I wonder how much of what ended up being Spawn was envisioned back in the day and how much when McFarlane went off to help found Image on the back of all the money he and his fellow pirate artists were making at the time.  In fact, reading (or sort of reading) those Demon Etrigan comics from Forbidden Geek sort of put Spawn further in perspective: He’s sort of exactly Venom, but envisioned by DC. 

Star Trek: Discovery – Aftermath #1 (IDW)

I’m a fan of the series itself, so I didn’t mind revisiting it in comics form, and this comic is a good way to do so, and even harkens back to the best of IDW’s Star Trek comics.

Superman: Up in the Sky #3 (DC)

This is the comic book store reprint series of the Walmart Superman Giant material from Tom King and Andy Kubert, which I thought I’d get at least one issue of, calculating (correctly, as it happily turned out), that this one would feature the “controversial” installment featuring the many deaths of Lois Lane.  And rereading this material was as equally pleasurable as the first time, as I hoped, so that was also good to see.

Reading Comics 230 "First Forbidden Geek Mystery Box"

Recently I delved back into the crate phenomenon, the mystery box thing that’s become a whole cottage industry, even finding its way into Walmart and Target (plus kids toys! of course!), with Forbidden Geek.  At the moment, I’m officially a subscriber, so I will be getting a new box every month.  I got my first one recently.  I opted for a bonus pack of comics, which apparently, unlike the more official set, don’t come with bags and boards (which is fine by me), and those will be the first batch I write about:

Black Science #1 (Image)

This was the Image Firsts $1 reprint edition of the Rick Remender series.  Remender became one of those one-man creative industries (Fraction, Lemire, Millar) that’s been happening in recent years, and as the trend has been, helped make his name at the Big Two.  Black Science, as it turns out, is sort of his creator-owned version of Fantastic Four, not in the way Image was doing this sort of thing at the beginning, shamelessly and little creative spark, but the full-blown modern imaginative revamp.  So that was nice to see.

The Demon #37 (DC)

It’s funny that Forbidden Geek ended up sending me two issues of The Demon, and only a few issues apart.  But the results, for me, ended up being pretty much the same.  This was an era in which DC was still trying to hold onto the early Vertigo vibe of using familiar characters in a more edgy manner (which itself was an impulse from the horror comics of the ‘70s, where the Vertigo instinct originated, not from the British Invasion, as is popularly assumed).  But a little more on this in the second batch.

Infinity Inc. #12 (DC)

One of my earliest comics was actually an issue of All-Star Squadron, which was sort of an Earth 2 Justice Society.  Infinity Inc. is a spin-off featuring the offspring of the original guard, which in Earth 2 continuity means Batman is included (in that continuity he not only actually married Catwoman but died) and his daughter is the Huntress (which is where, basically, that version of the character depicted in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series came from).  It’s funny to read a version of Jade and Obsidian who aren’t automatically associated with Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott, because later, when they were absorbed into DC proper, they’re accepted as his kids.  There’s also Fury, Wonder Woman’s daughter.  I had an idea once of making that part of continuity again.  Just imagine…!

Uncanny Inhumans #7 (Marvel)

Marvel fans became maniacally opposed to the whole idea of the Inhumans once they decided Marvel was trying to use them to replace the X-Men in a bid to devalue the mutant property until the movies could be brought into the studio fold.  In the end, it doesn’t really matter if that was the intention or not (the X-Men did get acquired, and the fans were so happy they gleefully decided the last Fox movie, Dark Phoenix, was a bomb before they ever saw it), they missed out on a lot of great comics.  (Forget about appearances in Agents of SHIELD or an aborted show of their own.)  And Charles Soule was the biggest loser.  Here was a major writing talent given what seemed like a plush assignment: a major title with a big push.  So it’s always funny to read Soule’s comics and enjoy them so much and imagine fans seething at the very thought of them existing, regardless of the actual quality. 

Kingpin #1 (Marvel)

Speaking of irrational hatred for Inhumans, this comic spun out of Civil War II, an excellent event comic that not only cleverly revolved around them, but was written by Brian Michael Bendis when Marvel fans apparently suddenly decided he didn’t matter anymore (the joke turned out to be on them).  Charles Soule later used Wilson Fisk as a kind of Trump stand-in when he wrote Daredevil, but here he’s in his classic role, apparently returning to his old New York haunts after adventures on the west coast (West Coast Kingpin), in one of those crime comics that some fans like so much.

Leave It to Chance #6 (Image)

James Robinson, at the time basking in the critical success of Starman, was also writing a creator-owned comic, which I never got around to reading, although its name was familiar enough to me.  Maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more, then (although I didn’t get into Starman then, either), but now it just reads like a generic all-ages kind of comic. 

Mae #1 (Dark Horse)

Gene Ha signs all his covers as, “ha!” which along with his actual artwork tends to help identify his work.  This was an attempt to draw and write his own work.  But not all artists can write, too, and I think, as far as I’m concerned, Gene Ha is one of those. 

Sisters of Mercy #2 (Maximum Press)

Maximum was one of several attempts by Rob Liefeld for a spin-off company from his early Image days.  All of them were basically the same (probably the best material was published when he had dubbed the company Awesome, which is pretty appropriate), and none particularly permanent, obviously, since Liefeld seems to be somewhat allergic to commitment.  As far as Sisters of Mercy is concerned, that was probably a good thing.  This was apparently its second and last issue with Maximum, but I don’t know how or why it had even one.  Basically one of the many, many “bad girl” comics of the ‘90s, gratuitously featuring women in as little costuming as possible (in this issue, with strategic covering, one girl is nude for…reasons).  But the art is terrible.  Forget the writing.  Writing in this era of Image(ish) comics was notoriously weak.  But the whole point of the Image era was extreme emphasis on art (to the point where Image had defined a whole style of art, the most exaggerated figures, male and female, imaginable).  So to feature bad art….?  Again, why was this even accepted by Liefeld to begin with?

The Adventures of Superman #484 (DC)

Happily, I had far less of a problem with the art in this comic, as it’s early Tom Grummett, about a year before “Death of Superman” made this Superman era famous, before Grummett fell upon his signature work with the new Superboy.  Funny enough, it’s tough to identify Grummett as artist, since he hadn’t yet streamlined his style, so it’s really just the few appearances of Superman before he sticks a ridiculous contraption onto his head, created by Emil Hamilton (a defining supporting character from the era who later made an appearance in Man of Steel), that leads to a forgotten Superman crossover event called “Blackout.”  Grummett didn’t get to contribute the cover; that honor went to Jerry Ordway, who is otherwise the writer of the issue.

Weirdworld #2 (Marvel)

I honestly don’t know who came up with the idea first at this point, but I always perceived it as Marvel shamelessly jumping on something DC was doing at the time: DC’s Convergence event led to a series of comics that revisited various eras, and then Marvel’s Secret Wars…led to a series of comics that revisited various eras (or more accurately, famous storylines).  DC’s was an excuse to use fill-in creators while it moved offices from New York to California, and its nostalgia comics lasted two months.  Marvel’s ran longer.  Anyway, Secret Wars was basically Jonathan Hickman’s big blow-off to his Fantastic Four saga, with Doctor Doom getting his big triumph and remaking the world in his image, so theoretically its spin-off features that Doom reality in some way (although my favorite was the Charles Soule version of a Civil War follow-up that could easily be enjoyed for its own merits).  Weirdworld was written by Jason Aaron.  I have no particular knowledge of whatever it was supposed to be drawing on, but it’s another instance where post-Scalped Aaron has never really clicked with me.  Although, in the final pages Crystar, the Crystal Warrior, shows up. I had a Crystar action figure as a kid.  So there’s that.

Before I jump into the second batch, here’s an excerpt from an editorial written by Dick Giordano found within the pages of Infinity Inc. #12, originally published in 1984 (which also features an ad for “DC Universe: Crisis On Infinite Earths"):

“I take some series proposal scripts from my bulging portfolio and settle back to read.  I read two…and they’re mind-bogglers!  I rarely find two proposals a month that are interesting enough to consider publishing.  To find two in the same morning that I like so much is a rare bonanza […] The first is a proposal from Alan Moore, Swamp Thing scripter, for a maxi-series starring the super-heroes we recently obtained from Charlton.  The idea is gutsy, grittily realistic, and explores aspects of the super-hero never really dealt with before.  Unfortunately, I can’t really consider it for the Charlton heroes.  For one thing, certain aspects of the plotline do things with and to these characters that would make it difficult for us to use some, if not all, of them after the series was over.  Secondly, I’d already made plans, now pretty far along, to publish Charlton heroes in tandem with some current and past DC favorites in a weekly comic book format.  I like the idea so much, though, that I’m going to suggest that Alan create new characters for this maxi-series (in place of the Charlton heroes) and tell his story! … It’s a wonderful concept!  (Note: since this was written, Alan has enthusiastically agreed with my scheme and is hard at work.  Dave Gibbons is slated to illustrate.  With luck, it will be a 1985 release tentatively titled “Watchman.”)  Incidentally, Alan is a pleasure.  His scripts are liberally dotted with asides, bits of humor, relevant background information, and clever insights into his feelings about pivotal sequences or events that make it easy for the artist(s) to share his vision.  Alan Moore is one of the more creative writers in comics.  The ideas fairly bubble forth from his fertile imagination, and I am delighted that at least some of his unbelievable production will be for DC Comics.  The other series proposal is no less exciting.  It’s the outline for book #1 of a proposed 48-page, deluxe-format limited series.  We’ve talked about this idea and the talks excited me, but nowhere near the excitement engendered by the script.  It is written by Frank Miller.  And I love it!  And I can’t say much more until Mr. Miller puts his John Hancock on a contract.  I can say that it is a very special story about one of the most popular super-heroes ever!”

Ah, you may’ve heard of the comics that resulted.

Anyway, here’s the stuff Forbidden Geek included in the official mystery box (aside from a Kid Flash, by way of the Flash TV series, Funko statue and a softcover copy of Teen Titans Earth One Vol. 1, which coincidentally I finally read for the first time earlier this year):

Ame-Comi Girls #6 (DC)

The name of the comic is somewhat unnecessarily convoluted, but it’s basically an all-girls comic and actually a pretty good read.   

All-Star Batman #4 (DC)

Scott Snyder continued writing Batman comics in the early days of Tom King’s Batman, but they weren’t treated with as much fanfare as his New 52 run.  Two-Face (who, if the series did continue Snyder’s New 52 comics, was technically probably actually dead, at least as far as Tomasi & Gleason’s Batman & Robin was concerned) is the villain.  John Romita Jr., whose work has never been as embraced by DC fans as it was at Marvel or Kick-Ass, is on art.

Batman Eternal #11 (DC)

This was a series that frequently showed up in the Walmart mystery packs, so it was amusing to find in this collection, too, but at least there was far greater variety otherwise.  This issue spotlights Stephanie Brown, one of my favorite supporting characters from Batman comics.

Booster Gold #26 (DC)

Ted Kord!  Him and Elongated Man still seem to have been buried in the post-Flashpoint comics, but at least Ted gets to show up now and then.  He got a new incarnation in the New 52 (who never really went anywhere), at least.  This Blackest Night tie-in zombie appearance is pre-Flashpoint.  It’s still funny to think that Booster Gold, despite getting as big a spotlight as he ever had in 52, ended up back in obscurity despite this relatively long-running spotlight, which theoretically led to the Legends of Tomorrow TV show, which…decided, inexplicably, not to feature him.  For…reasons.

The Demon #42 (DC)

Oh, here’s Demon again!  But this time, it’s from Garth Ennis and John McCrea.  I was never an Ennis guy.  He’s sort of Alan Moore if he never had a Silver Age fetish, just a guy who wrote superhero comics because at the time it was the best way to make a name for himself, who later wrote The Boys as if to prove how much he hated them, despite not understanding them a single wit.  (But I guess that’s generally why you hate something.)  But Demon, amazingly, reads exactly the same under Ennis as Alan Grant in the previous issue.  I hate when letterers use cursive.  It’s virtually impossible to read.  Yet both issues feature angels speaking in cursive (like Thor, the special lettering is supposed to help them stand out as Not Human).  And I just gave up trying to care.  The Demon Etrigan famously speaks in rhymes, which is fun to read in a limited capacity, but incredibly difficult to care about reading for longer stretches.  So I don’t know why there was an audience who put up with it for so long.  But not so hard to figure out why he hasn’t carried a series since.

Fate #8 (DC)

This was one of the series that debuted during DC’s original Zero Month, following the Zero Hour soft reboot.  And some of the series launched at that time looked like shameless Image rip-offs (looking at you, Manhunter), but it also seemed to be another attempt by DC to reintegrate the original Vertigo vibe back into the fold.  Fate is one such example, as it turns out.  (Starman, meanwhile, seemed to lead directly to what Vertigo became later.)  This was a reinvention of Doctor Fate to make him more edgy (the ‘90s were big on “edgy”), but with more credible creative results than its short run may have suggested.  I think part of it was that the whole Vertigo phenomenon was misunderstood from the start, that it diverged from its roots so rapidly that any attempt to replicate them have invariably met with, at best, fan apathy, including the more recent Young Animal imprint.  Part of that was because Sandman, which actually had some superhero connections early on, so dramatically departed from them that fans no longer thought of superheroes as relevant to the idea, so any further attempts to present superheroes in a more complex manner seemed to be asking too much. 

Green Arrow Annual #6 (DC)

Part of the “Eclipso: The Darkness Within” crossover from the 1992 annuals, this issue eventually puts the spotlight on Black Canary, but also features a guest appearance from Batman.  I have a particular nostalgia for these annuals, since they were happening just as I was beginning to read comics regularly for the first time.  Given the opportunity, I’d probably collect them in the same fashion as I have been with the theme months from the New 52, which were tremendous creative successes too little celebrated (or not at all) by fans. 

Justice League #23 (DC)

Ah, but which version of the title?  The Rebirth era, the first series from the Rebirth era…The League is probably the worst example within DC of endless reboots, which at Marvel happens to every series just about every six months or so.  And it’s funny that beginning with the New 52, any title attempting to supplement the main series is even more prone to a short shelf life…Anyway, the post-Johns League has been particularly hard hit.  This issue, featuring a cover with characters not even featured in the issue, much less the one in the spotlight, revolves around Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, which like all Jessica Cruz tales revolves around her inability to avoid fear (funny, for a Green Lantern).  I liked the act in the pages of Green Lanterns, as it and she were paired with Simon Baz, but to have it once again being the only defining quality worth writing about…Anyway, it’s clear why DC once again rebooted the series this time, since the concept was spiraling the drain until Scott Snyder revisited the widescreen concept from the old Grant Morrison days.  (Of course, I think, as with most Snyder stories, he attempts to go too big too soon too often…)

Legion of Super-Heroes #291 (DC)

It’s forgotten today, but the New Teen Titans and the X-Men had a rival in popular during the ‘80s with the Legion, and this issue, luckily enough for me, comes from its most famous story arc, “The Great Darkness Saga,” which until this I’d never actually read anything from (alas, unlike the Titans and X-Men, reprints haven’t been anymore kind to the Legion than fan memory).  This second installment makes it clear that the villain of the arc was kept hidden early on, but: Darkseid.  And since it’s a Legion story, everyone’s worried about who’s going to be elected next leader of the team. 

Northlanders #1 (Vertigo)

From Brian Wood.  I’m not a Brian Wood guy.  This is his Viking comic.  The write-up for the concept was more interesting than what I skimmed in the comic itself.

Swamp Thing #3 (DC)

Scott Snyder’s series from the New 52, y’know, the one fans didn’t really care about, ultimately, even though they remained gaga over Snyder’s Batman.  I got into the series later when it was being written by Charles Soule (part of how I became such a fan of his), but never got around to reading Snyder’s run.  The Walmart Swamp Thing Giant was serializing it, but I wasn’t interested in reading that particular giant regularly.  So it was interesting to read a little more.  I think Snyder actually did more relevant character work here than with Batman.  But what do I know?

Until the next box…