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…
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