Quarter Bin 117 "More DC 3-Pack Comics"

I love these DC 3-packs.  I love that I can find any comics in retail stores, even if they're grab bags, but the consistency of these 3-packs has been a continuous joy for the past few years.  So here's what I got in the last two:

Batman and Robin: Futures End (DC)
from November 2014

I love reading these Futures End issues.  I love that so many writers ignored, and possibly at editorial suggestion, the Futures End event itself and just had a look at whatever was most probably five years down the line in whatever was happening in the titles at the time.  Ray Fawkes was riffing, here, on Damian's death, and Batman's penchant for going gunshy on his new partners because of things like that.  This time he's pulling it on Duke Thomas, who in this Futures End timeline actually did become Robin, as so many fans long anticipated (Snyder has instead opted to give him his own identity: the Signal).  The art is by Dustin Nguyen, with inks by frequent collaborator Derek Fridolfs.  It's funny to see Nguyen presented as a traditional artist again, after getting so used to his Descender water colors look.

What's funny is that it makes his work look like Jorge Corona's.

 



Yeah, Corono drew Duke, too, as a kind of Robin, in the pages of We Are Robin.  Seems appropriate, anyway.

Here's what Nguyen looks like in Descender, by the way:

The story, by the way, involves Batman's showdown with a revived Heretic, most likely a clone, the villain who killed Damian in the pages of Morrison's Batman Incorporated.  I'm sure I've read it before, but it's another of the excellent Futures End specials. 

Green Arrow #1 (DC)
Wal-Mart reprint from July 2017

This is a reprint of the Rebirth debut issue from the ongoing series, and does an excellent job of spotlighting Benjamin Percy's vision for the series, integrating a lot of different elements of Green Arrow's publishing history, including his social views, relationship with Black Canary, and penchant for having a sidekick, except this one...It becomes a wonderful development for the character, having Ollie take on a half-sister, whose mother turns out to be his enemy Shado.  Makes me think I really should've made this series a priority read at some point.  Will have to check back in...

Justice League #36 (DC)
from January 2015

This is the first chapter in the "Amazo Virus," where Geoff Johns started amping the series back up to its "monthly event book" (my designation) status as it geared toward "Darkseid War."  The art of Jason Fabok was an immediate sensation, and certainly helped drive eyeballs back to the title. 

Justice League United #2, 5 (DC)
from August, December 2014

I never did get around to sampling this series at the time, but I'm glad I finally have.  Jeff Lemire (writer of Descender, by the way!) launched it, and these issues make it clear that United helped launch the New 52 version of Adam Strange, which was fun to read, especially for someone who's just finished rereading 52.

Batman and the Justice League: Outbreak #1 (DC)
Wal-Mart reprint from July 2017

This is what's really fascinating about these 3-packs, that the comic in front is always the newest, and often features a custom Wal-Mart cover and even, with some of them, custom titles.  Batman and the Justice League is actually the Rebirth Justice League from Bryan Hitch, and this is actually #10 from the series.  It's kind of funny, too, or maybe calculated, that the issue is related to the above Justice League, as it also features Amazo.

Reading Comics 192 "DC Rebirth Week Five, Astro City"

Covered this edition: Astro City #35, Batman #2, Green Lanterns #2, Justice League: Rebirth #1, and Superman #2.

Astro City #35 (Vertigo)
Kurt Busiek's pocket superhero universe, which literally resides entirely within the boundaries of Astro City, has long been fascinating.  It's one of those self-contained concepts that could easily satiate a given reader's interest in superhero comics, whether they're jaded older readers, or younger ones who aren't particularly interested in tracking down multiple titles to try and catch up with something they've just discovered.  The series has been around, in one incarnation or another, for twenty years, and was clearly inspired by Busiek's interest in following up on his Marvels success, where he was able to look at the full portrait of a given superhero landscape and provide nuanced insight into it.  His Astro City work rotates from character to character.  This particular issues features Jack-in-the-Box, a costumed vigilante with an outlandish gimmick but who Busiek otherwise presents pretty straightforwardly, getting at the heart of the character's human struggles, which in this case mean the legacy the grandson of the original Jack feels increasingly as a burden he can never live up to, with his father and uncle having carried it on but a reckless decision in his youth cost him his chance to do the same.  Jack-in-the-Box joins the league of black superheroes who sport all-covering masks, so that you wouldn't know his race otherwise, but the comic spends probably more time with the mask off of any given Jack than necessarily caring about his costumed exploits, treating that as more a McGuffin than anything.  There's a letters column page featuring the letter of the month (a rarity in a DC title of any extraction these days), and also a preview of Paul Dini's Dark Night: A True Batman Story, which details his experiences recovering from a mugging, and that's part of the reason I bought this comic, because I've seen plenty of hype for the graphic novel, but none of the interior.  But it's always worth checking in with Astro City.

Batman #2 (DC)
Tom King's era continues as Batman introduces Jim Gordon to Gotham and Gotham Girl, the superpowered new heroes who are eager to lend a hand in the ongoing war on crime.  It's Batman's sense of mortality that permeates the issue, however, the lingering aftereffects of his near-sacrifice in trying to prevent a fatal plane crash last issue.  It's King's grasp of character that strikes this material as fresh.  At one point Alfred explains to Duke Thomas how a young Bruce Wayne became disenchanted when Alfred made a prudent judgment call.  For someone like Bruce, there's no such thing as prudence.  He doesn't have the patience for something like that.  The current Bruce abandons a lady mid-dance when he spots the Bat-signal in the sky, and the woman is positively baffled.  You can imagine how it plays out just by the way it's depicted: Bruce doesn't want to attend function; he reluctantly agrees, puts on his best game face; is positively overjoyed when he gets to go back to work.  For him, it doesn't even matter what other people are expecting.  That's Batman in a nutshell.  He lives by his own rules.  It's great when a writer like King comes along and knows the psychology that well.  For those looking for something a little easier to digest, there's the young hero Gotham discovering for himself Batman's classic disappearing act, or Gordon wondering how on earth a mask doesn't become uncomfortable in this line of work (casually sidestepping Scott Snyder's depiction of Commissioner Batman)...

Green Lanterns #2 (DC)
Sam Humphries keeps hitting all the right notes.  His depictions of Simon Baz and especially Jessica Cruz as novice Lanterns is the perfect way to explain all over again what the Green Lantern concept is all about, and how it can be a little hard to comprehend.  Jessica is so neurotic that Simon's confidence makes him seem like a veteran, even though it's just his different personality that's creating the effect, because he's just as lost as she is.  Returning the Red Lanterns to the role of the villain is also a good move.  Readers don't particularly need to know that in their late ongoing series, they became sympathetic heroes.  The idea of them existing to help people cope with powerlessness further underscores Jessica's feelings of inadequacy.  Just good stuff, and very, very good to see for a reader who hasn't had a lot of Green Lantern he found worth reading lately.

Justice League: Rebirth #1 (DC)
The Bryan Hitch era, as the headlining act of the franchise, begins as he brings the "new" Superman back into the fold, showcasing what a significant difference Superman makes both by his absence and presence.  That's something few writers have done, for whatever reason, but Hitch dives right at it, not so much at the cost of every other member, all DC icons in their own right, but in the role of leadership, which Superman embodies not so much because he takes charge but because he's capable of identifying what needs to be done, by example.  The whole issue makes the case for the team in general, as necessary guardians in the turbulent reality DC presents.  It does its job.

Superman #2 (DC)
I can't say too often how brilliant I think it was for DC to let Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason recontextualize their Batman & Robin work in the Rebirth era.  This was a dynamite team working in the shadow of Scott Snyder's work.  If readers sometimes wondered why Tomasi and Gleason were putting their previous charges into outsize adventures not typically associated with them in the modern era, it's completely justified with their new ones.  The young Jonathan has found an intriguing accomplice in Kathy, the figurative girl next door (insofar as adjacent farms can call have such things).  She's like his Lana Lang, knowing his secret and not being interested in anything else but the boy he otherwise is.  She and her grandfather lug Jon back home after he falls from a tree, which gives him a concussion.  His parents are necessarily alarmed, especially Clark.  It's a little odd seeing Lois as anything but a reporter (she writes fiction now; I don't know if it was a slip-up, but she gets a piece of mail under her given name, and it's not addressed, even though the family has been living under assumed names since emerging from Convergence into this reality).  Anyway, the big news occurs at the end of the issue, in which the Eradicator makes his New 52/Rebirth debut (coincidentally, I've just finished reading some of his original appearances).  But I love this series so much, already.  Seeing father and son, in the early pages, engaged in a rescue operation, and then disarming a monster, is everything Tomasi and Gleason couldn't do before, and everything I'd hoped they'd do in Superman.  For me, with just work like this, and King's Batman, and Humphries' Green Lanterns, the Rebirth era has already proven its worth, to a remarkable degree.

Quarter Bin 81 "Starlin's Infinity saga, Loeb's Iron Man, Moench's JLA, Hitch's JLA, Waid's Offspring, Moore's LXG"

Although this is a back issues feature that doesn't necessarily always feature comics literally found in a quarter bin, this time you can once again safely assume that.

The Infinity Entity #1 (Marvel)
From May 2016.
I love that my local shop puts damaged new releases in the discount bins.  It makes it incredibly simple to sample stuff I might have otherwise overlooked, such as Jim Starlin once again revisiting his Infinity saga.  Starlin's the guy who has been guiding this stuff from the beginning.  You have him to thank for Thanos, that guy who's kind of the big bad in the Avengers movies, and basically, the Infinity saga is Starlin's ongoing narrative of the further exploits of Thanos, and other interested parties, such as Adam Warlock.  This mini-series actually takes place between two Starlin graphic novels, Thanos: The Infinity Relativity and Thanos: The Infinity Finale, which was released this past April.  Infinity Entity focuses on Adam Warlock as he reintroduces himself following one of those untidy comic book deaths.  It's amusing, seeing him interact with the original Avengers.  These are Marvel comics I eagerly anticipate reading at some later date, the older and newer stuff.  This is, you understand, not something I usually say about Marvel comics...

Iron Man #9 (Marvel)
From July 1997.
I think so much of what Marvel was doing in the '90s came off as desperately trying to look cool (possibly because, oh, the fate of the entire company was in the air thanks to potential bankruptcy) that it ended up alienating older fans and leaving newer fans with the impression that none of this mattered, once the company shifted focus back to more familiar ground.  I rarely read Iron Man comics (I've just never been interested), but I figured I had to read this one, as it was written by Jeph Loeb, during that whole period where he was writing Marvel comics without anyone realizing it was Jeph Loeb, because being Jeph Loeb didn't matter until fans got excited about him thanks to DC work like Batman: The Long Halloween and Superman/Batman (which is ironic, because he never gets the same respect at Marvel, and yet that's where he's been for about a decade now).  This story features an old Tony Stark colleague who was actually partly responsible for the original set of Iron Man armor, and has since kind of gone off the deep end.  Naturally, the guy is totally unknown in today's lore (didn't see him in 2008's Iron Man, right?), and so he's been lost to the same comic book vagaries and/or '90s amnesia that are so easy to rely on with fans.  I didn't find it to be such a bad read.

JLA: Act of God #3 (DC)
From 2001.
Doug Moench was one of the lead Batman writers in the '90s (among other things, helping spearhead "Knightfall" and the vampire saga with Kelley Jones; he also created Bane and Black Mask, as well as Deathlok and Moon Knight over at Marvel, where he did most of his formative work).  One of his last projects with DC was a prestige format JLA mini-series, Act of God, where he imagined what it would look like if all superpowered heroes suddenly lost their superpowers.  By this finale, several of them had banded under the direction of Batman, while Superman and Wonder Woman struggle with finding new meaning in their lives.  It's not terribly hard, in retrospect, to read it as Moench's swan song statement, and so I'm glad to have read it.

Justice League of America #8 (DC)
From May 2016.
Bryan Hitch's Rao saga continues in this issue, and I suspect the next one finally explains why all those dead Superman bodies kept showing up, as depicted in the first issue of the series.  Hitch's art was once known for its hyper realism, but in this series it's been simplified so that it kind of looks like the work of Stuart Immonen.  As a fan of Immonen, I find this acceptable.  Hitch is the writer of the Rebirth Justice League (along with art from Tony Daniel), and I think this was a good choice.

The Kingdom: Offspring (DC)
From February 1999.
The Kingdom was Mark Waid's follow-up to Kingdom Come insofar as it depicted many of the next generation heroes from the original story, and featured the menace of Gog, who was responsible for next generation hero Magog.  The Kingdom was split up between bookend issues where the overall story was told, and several one-shots.  This may be the first time I've read Offspring, which features the son of Plastic Man.  Both of them are struggling with the idea of being taken seriously, and as such Offspring makes for a good standalone story in and of itself.  It doesn't hurt that Frank Quitely provides the art, because Quitely isn't really capable of doing ho-hum work. 

It's interesting, though, The Kingdom, because it's an example of what DC always wanted to do, and eventually did, with Watchmen.  I've talked far too much recently about Alan Moore (elsewhere), but suffice to say I find it disappointing that he left mainstream work the way he did, and wanted no part in revisiting Watchmen.  For a lot of fans, that's become axiomatic, which strikes me as interesting, because this is the comics medium, the place where storytellers are most free to reinterpret, the basic job of storytellers everywhere, ever.  And yet, there's Waid, doing it with Kingdom Come, not very long after.  I mean, it makes sense from a business standpoint.  DC, and its parent company Warners, would understandably be interested in maximizing the profitability of a proven hit.  That's just basic business sense.  I never thought The Kingdom was or was intended to be the same kind of creative statement as its predecessor, but it still provided room for material like Offspring, which represents excellent material in and of itself.  To assume that this is impossible is, to my mind, to completely misunderstand the art of storytelling.

It's interesting, too, just to reconsider Kingdom Come, thanks to something like Offspring.  This was something that was a major deal twenty years ago.  It's not inconceivable to think that fans really did think this was something akin to Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns.  Yet, twenty years on, you really don't find anyone talking about it like that anymore.  I find that odd.  The more I think about it, the more I wonder, have we just lost the ability to conceive new touchstones as actually existing?  Without Kingdom Come, you wouldn't have Civil War.  I mean, Mark Millar's Civil War, when you strip it down to its essentials, is essentially Kingdom Come, done in regular continuity.  Tragedy strikes, and the superhero community is forced to decide what to do next.  Isn't that argument enough that Kingdom Come is still important?  It's just, we stopped trying to see it as important, when it proved about as important as a superhero comic could get.  DC had Identity Crisis, later, and Marvel finally jumped on the bandwagon.  Civil War was clearly a creative watershed for the company.  And you wouldn't have it without Kingdom Come.  I'll leave it at that for now.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #6 (ABC)
From September 2000.
Alan Moore's last significant creation was LXG, in which he envisioned a unified Victorian literary canon, which infamously was adapted into a 2003 movie that not only proved to be Sean Connery's last, but the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of Moore's ability to interact positively with the mainstream.  (The movie also made it important among fans that movies not treat, to their mind, adapted material with disrespect, which actually had the result of superhero movies after that time being more important in terms of mainstream crossover appeal than appealing directly to fans, which in 2016 seems to have taken on new wrinkles thanks to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which fans have once again sunk their teeth into the debate).  Anyway, reading LXG itself is something of an odd experience.  Creatively it's not much of a statement.  More seems to have been put into the novelty of packaging the comic in vintage ads and, in the letters column, being wonderfully droll than in distinguishing the story experience itself.  At this point Moore had started to retreat into the familiar comforts of home, and yet the comic doesn't read as particularly British (that's why Paul Cornell's Knight & Squire was such a delight to read), and even if that wasn't the intent, just tossing familiar characters together reads like a cheat.  I mean, the old Allan Quatermain makes a fascinating subject, surely, in the same sense that comics with old superheroes (say, The Dark Knight Returns) tend to be, but it's odd to juxtapose him with, say, Moore's somewhat racist impression of Captain Nemo.  Quatermain (best known as the protagonist of King's Solomon's Mines, and as a cultural predecessor of Indiana Jones) and Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) are surrounded by Mina Murray (Dracula), although for what reason, if not a vampire (as in the movie), I have no idea, at least as depicted in this story (more sense would have been Van Helsing, who was the subject of Van Helsing, which like LXG served as a template for Marvel's Avengers), the Invisible Man, and Jekyll/Hyde, plus Professor Moriarty as the antagonist (by the end, as much of a genius as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's Khan), a predecessor to James Bond, and some Chinese characters who perhaps deserve about as much speculation as Moore's Nemo...

I feel I have to reiterate that I don't come by my impression of Alan Moore lightly.  I haven't read everything he's done, and wouldn't particularly care to, even if the best of it is better than the worst that I have read.  I'm just irritated, irrationally, by the notion that to some fans Alan Moore is a god, and that his views and his work can't stand criticism, when to my mind not only is it possible, but necessary for any true reader.  I mean, it's not like I'm not used to people picking on the stuff I like.  I know how it goes.  Maybe some of this logic is best left to fanatics.  We all form strong opinions, and to give voice to them, whether in the privacy of friends or in the wide reaches of the Internet, is to invite contrary opinions.  To dismiss the opposite as an idiot is maybe the easiest response.  But just maybe, it ought to have you reconsider why it is you formed those strong opinions in the first place. 

Well, we all reconsider our thoughts, eventually.  Hopefully.  I guess I really shouldn't worry about it. 

Quarter Bin 75 "Some old, some new"

This is a back issue feature.  The title is not always literal.

Recently I dipped back into the same comics pack source I hit a few weeks back, and came up with some stuff I'd already read, and some new stuff, too (hence, the title).  But let's just dive in, shall we?

Detective Comics #1 (DC)
From 2011.
These packs featured some reprints geared toward the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  You can tell, because the reprints have ads for the movie littered throughout them.  I'm glad this was one of the reprints, because it's a reminder that Tony Daniel was still writing Batman at the start of the New 52.  He's one of the many artists DC has helped transition into writing.  He was Grant Morrison's artist from "Batman, R.I.P.," which led to him writing Batman before the New 52 relaunch.  He brought the same stuff to Detective Comics, including the character responsible for the Joker's grizzly new look ("look ma! no skin on my face!").  But fans by that point hopped on the Scott Snyder bandwagon (Snyder had been writing Detective Comics, so it was a flip flop that worked extremely well for one of them).  Daniel's work on Batman is by no means lousy.  But I guess it couldn't compete with Snyder's.  Like Snyder, he was keenly interested in creating new villains.  But again, I guess Snyder just did it better.

Batman Eternal #2 (DC)
From June 2014.
The weekly series Snyder and sidekick James Tynion IV launched featured some good storytelling, although perhaps it failed to be considered as iconic because its storytelling was less precise (I mean, like Geoff Johns on Green Lantern before him, Snyder managed to make a crossover arc of every story).  This second issue features Jim Gordon in trouble with the law.  The oddest thing is that Eternal really had nothing to do with Snyder's work in Batman itself.  They existed as two separate entities, and weaved visions that really had nothing to do with each other.  Eternal was a gimme to the fans, and Batman was busy making new ones.  I guess it makes sense...

Batman #41 (DC)
From August 2015.
Featuring the debut of Commissioner Batman, this was among the most recent issues included in the packs.  It still strikes me that Snyder basically parodied the whole "Knight Quest"/"Reign of the Supermen"/Doctor Spider-Man concept.  He knew from the start that fans wouldn't really buy Gordon as Batman, and yet went with it anyway.  Took real guts.  But by this point, he literally could get away with anything, and he knew it.

Batman: Arkham Knight #1 (DC)
From 2015.
Based on the series of video games, this is part of a series of mini-series that weave a story around them (like the following title).  Peter J. Tomasi, at his best, is among the best.  But he's not always at his best.  Sometimes, he's merely functional.  That's what he is in this.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two Annual #1 (DC)
From December 2014.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Three #1 (DC)
From December 2014.
These are based on a fighting game, but the reality they pose might as well come from Batman's fever dream in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  They posit a Superman gone wildly out of control, attempting to bring order to Earth as a despot.  The best story in these issues features Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Sinestro, in a dynamic that's reminiscent of how Geoff Johns depicted them.  Also featured: Detective Chimp.  But not nearly enough of him!

Justice League #1 (DC)
From 2011.
This reprint features the beginning of Geoff Johns' seminal introduction of the team at the start of the New 52 era.  I've been an eager champion of this from the beginning, but it was fun to read it again (and incidentally, this is the fourth time I've purchased this story; one time was in the collection).  After rereading Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder recently, it was fun to see how Johns and Lee did a variation on the Batman/Green Lantern confrontation, and how it, and its relation to Miller and Lee's work, helped set the tone of the series.  Some really great stuff.

Justice League of America #1 (DC)
From August 2015.
I read this issue when it was originally released.  Reading it again was to find it better than I remembered.  I mean, I liked it then, too, but to read it from a time when I know Bryan Hitch will be handling the DC Rebirth Justice League is to know the title will be in good hands.  So that was good to find out.

Superman #32 (DC)
From 2014.
The start of the Johns/Romita era is an exceptional as I remember it.  Johns was truly at the top of his Superman game in this run, and he was no slouch the last time.  The Ulysses character apparently plays a role in Tomasi's "Super League" arc that's helping to round out the New 52 era.  He's basically Johns' new Superboy Prime.  That's good, too.

Action Comics #36 (DC)
From January 2015.
Greg Pak's Superman just doesn't do it for me.  Although I love Superman sporting a beard. 

Superman/Wonder Woman #1 (DC)
From December 2013.
I became such a fanboy of Charles Soule's at that time, it's fun revisiting some of that time.  I thought the concept of this relationship was one of the genius moves of the New 52, but I guess it was something DC was just as quick to shut down, because the "Truth" arc wasn't especially kind to it.  Doomsday was a busy monster at that time, too.  Since I didn't read further issues of this story, or the complete "Doomed," I only know so much of what the monster was up to.  I don't even know if the arcs were related!  Oh well...Oh further note is the course of journeyman artist...Tony Daniel!  He ended up bouncing from project to project.  But at least DC kept finding work for him!

Superman Unchained #1 (DC)
From August 2013.
It's funny, because ads for Man of Steel can be found in this issue, and so I guess everything comes full circle.  Snyder and Lee, reporting for duty.  But I'm not sure what either accomplished with this project.  Certainly there's evidence of more important work elsewhere in this edition of Quarter Bin...

Reading Comics 165 "Comics from 6/17/15"

Comics covered: Justice League of America #1, Martian Manhunter #1, MIND MGMT #34, Ms. Marvel #16, Prez #1, and Robin: Son of Batman #1.

Justice League of America #1 (DC)
That image can't help, for me, but evoke Mark Waid's The Kingdom, an attempt at a follow-up to the much more famous Kingdom Come.  Killing off Superman en masse will always have visual impact...Anyway, the rest of Bryan Hitch's debut (he was exclusive over at Marvel for a decade starting in 2002, and has been making a slow return to the DC fold for a few years now) of the latest Justice League title makes it clear that this is not an in-continuity series (although since Convergence, "in-continuity" doesn't mean that much anymore), and as such can be recommended to anyone looking for their DC fix without too much commitment.  The line-up is the same as the original from Geoff Johns' flagship.  That's about it.  Good, competent storytelling.  Nothing wildly exceptional, but then, I guess that doesn't particularly matter.

Martian Manhunter #1 (DC)
I've been waiting for a decent Martian Manhunter story from the New 52 era.  Thankfully, it arrived at the same time the unexpected ongoing series launched.  This is a character ripe with potential because he's never a given for the publishing schedule, which means anytime DC trots him out (for a solo story), chances are good that a creative team came together to tell something decent.  His only other ongoing series was somewhat of an exception for me (spinning out of Grant Morrison's JLA), featuring the creative team of John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake, who somehow made an alien character too alienating.  And this is a character who thrives on that distinction.  The later A.J. Lieberman mini-series was actually the first of the great Martian Manhunter material that I've had the fortune to read, and for me remains the high water mark for the character and his best presentation.

But that might change.  The writer is Rob Williams, whom I've previously encountered in the unremarkable Classwar.  Taking a cue from Ostrander, Morrison, and Lieberman, Williams has focused on how much is really known and/or set in stone in Martian Manhunter mythology, which again is perfect for exploring because while he's iconic his relatively scant publishing history makes him ideal for innovative storytelling (but less ideal for randomly killing, as Morrison discovered in the pages of Final Crisis).

The Eddy Barrows image I included, from the first page of the issue, features "Mr. Biscuits," whom I assume is actually Martian Manhunter.  Again, more of what you can do with a character like this.  The art, especially the depiction of Mr. Biscuits, is a major revelation for a reader like me only familiar with Barrows from the pages of Nightwing, where he was perfectly serviceable if not especially inspired.  Which is to say, he's definitely inspired here, and is a real strength for the series, moreso than Mandrake was in the previous series (nothing against Tom Mandrake, but his art was the major hindrance of that run).  Barrows can convey classic superhero and the rest of the range Williams requires.

It's that range that showcases everything right with this vision.  It's pretty sensational, really, and that's without even mentioning the character Pearl, who is that rarest of superhero characters, someone from the Middle East who isn't at all what you'd expect, but rather a traditional superhero character introducing us to an all-new vision of the Middle East, at least as compared to...everything else you tend to see.  She's the Catwoman of Arabia.  Brilliant.

I look forward to future issues, eagerly.

MIND MGMT #34 (Dark Horse)
I mentioned with the previous issue that Matt Kindt had reached the heist portion of the series, where the plan is explained, and how he exhibited how this story is different because the plan won't go wrong because, well, that's what kind of series this is.  This issue calls to mind Christopher Nolan's Inception.  Which is basically a heist movie.  So I guess this is to say, if you're wondering what kind of story MIND MGMT is, I guess you can say it's like a Christopher Nolan movie.  For me, this counts as a considerable endorsement.  I've been a Nolan fan since Memento.  And now, hopefully, years from now I will be able to say I've been a Kindt fan since MIND MGMT.

Ms. Marvel #16 (Marvel)
For the past few issues, I've been wondering if I should continue reading this series, because more often than not I've found myself disappointed.  Unlike a lot of other readers, I didn't start reading Ms. Marvel for its cultural uniqueness, but because the writer is G. Willow Wilson.  I became a fan of Wilson through work (Air) I considered the best of all the comics I was reading over the course of two consecutive years (2009-2010).  That comes with significant expectations for any future work.  And when this one started, Wilson absolutely lived up to the hype I gave her.  I read Wilson because of her ability to keep things interesting, on a number of levels.  Lately those levels have dropped.

I mention all that because this is one of those issues that reminds me why I like Wilson.  It's part of Marvel's Secret Wars event (hence "Last Days of..." printed over the logo).  I've found that sometimes ongoing comics really can knock out of the park what can otherwise be a cumbersome mandatory tie-in for an "end of the world" story (during DC's The Final Night two decades ago, for instance, this happened, and that's one of the reasons I love that event so much).  For Wilson, it seems to have been a fruitful chance to refocus, bring back some of the sharp observations that've been Ms. Marvel at its best, rather than the lukewarm ones that've been floating around lately.

So that was good to see.

Prez #1 (DC)
DC makes infrequent attempts to candor to the youth vote, as it were.  The last time I found it particularly effective was Final Crisis Aftermatch: Dance (the Super Young Team mini-series).  Prez is kind of like that, but I think it has a better shot at being noticed, so long as there's a willing audience out there.  The creative end certainly does its part.  In that above panel alone there's inspiration from Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and even Jeff Smith to be found, which is not bad company at all.

Writer Mark Russell seems to be pretty new, and he's certainly seized this opportunity.  I will, however, be concentrating my praise on Ben Caldwell.  I've been praising Ben since his exceptional Wonder Woman material from Wednesday Comics, which Prez evokes to a certain degree.  I say "certain degree," because I think part of the reason I seem to be somewhat singular in my devotion to Ben and his Wonder Woman is that he took his creative freedom in that project to a perhaps excessive extreme.  He's dialed in it here, but the work is still uniquely vivid, and that's what I love about him.

I think the big fear everyone had about Prez is that it would be more or less like the previous, decades-old version of this narrative, a precocious "kid president" (although as kid presidents go, you know about Kid President, right? he's awesome) that has no real creative value.  That couldn't be further from the case.  Another big post-Convergence winner right here.

Robin: Son of Batman #1 (DC)
Speaking of great art, here's Patrick Gleason in what's effectively a spin-off from Batman and Robin.  I think most of us fans feared that divorced from Pete Tomasi, Gleason couldn't really pull off the same magic on his own.  But as it turns out, he really, really can.  After the massive detour caused by Grant Morrison's murder of Damian in the pages of Batman, Inc. and various other crossover events, it's perhaps best of all to see Robin back in the mode that made for truly excellent comics in Batman and Robin's earliest days.  And for proof, there's even the return (of a sorts) of Nobody, a character the series thankfully picked up from one of Christopher Nolan's ideas in his Batman movies (even if his Henri Ducard ended up...not being Henri Ducard at all).

Given how DC likes to experiment with artists acting as their own writers, the results are always going to be interesting.  One of the last times was Scott McDaniel in the pages of Static Shock, which was one of the more notorious failures of the early New 52 (alas, McDaniel's career still has yet to show any signs of recovering).  As you can see earlier in this very column, one of the latest is Bryan Hitch.  But I think Gleason makes a better case, possibly because he did have that lead time with Tomasi, but perhaps also because he has proven such an excellent match for Damian.  There's no artist who has done the character better.

And now he's got a Man-Bat (don't call Goliath that, though!) as his new partner.  And that's a story we will get to see unfold in future issues, which should be interesting, just one of many Gleason gets to work with, which is a very good thing, because this is a series that has earned a certain amount of autonomy, and as I've suggested, if there was anything wrong with Batman and Robin, it was that it had to earn the same distinction the hard way.  But thank goodness.  Because it seems Damian's adventures just keep getting better and better as a result!

Detective Comics #27 (DC)

(via CBDB)

writer: various

artist: various

The original Detective Comics #27 was released in 1939.  It immediately entered into history as the first appearance of Batman.  When the New 52 company-wide reboot in 2011, DC fans probably weren't thinking about the possibility of a unique anniversary issue suddenly becoming a real possibility.

The reboot already celebrated a soften celebration previously with #19, which was also the 900th issue in the title's history.  This particular milestone was not only much more hyped, but featured plenty of high profile material, and creators.  Funny enough, but writer John Layman is the common link between the issues, and may still be the highlight of both.

Infrequent comics scribe Brad Meltzer kicks off the festivities with his version of the very first Batman adventure, sharing the same title ("The Case of the Chemical Syndicate").  I don't know how well the two stories mirror each other.  I know Meltzer's is more a character study (with a series of statements Bruce Wayne makes as to why he's fights crime as Batman), as well as a version of the Joker's origin.  It's always fun to see Meltzer dabble in comics.  His origin effort, Identity Crisis, revitalized the whole DC landscape.  I've become a fan of him as a novelist, too, although I don't typically read thrillers of the kind of he writes.  I guess I love his ability to identify American icons and spin stories out of them.  (His Book of Lies actually involves the creation of Superman.)

The art for this segment comes from Bryan Hitch, by the way.  Hitch's legacy has turned out to be his work in the original Ultimates comics, and so he's the artist on record responsible for turning Nick Fury into Samuel L. Jackson.  He's known for photorealism, like Greg Land, a style that's sometimes criticized for appearing to come directly from traced source material.  In this effort, Hitch has relaxed those instincts.  It may signal a shift in his approach.  I don't know that it'll make him more or less popular, but it certainly shows a willingness to do something different.  

The second story comes from Gregg Hurwitz, another novelist who sometimes dabbles in comics, most recently taking over Batman: The Dark Knight.  With all due respect to Hurwitz, however, it's more significant for the art, supplied by Batman legend Neal Adams.  Adams last worked on Batman Odyssey, with his inimitable style that is a hallmark of the Silver Age.  Cleverly, however, he takes the occasion to draw not like Neal Adams, but to evoke classic Batman in general, a tale that winks at the character's more lighthearted past.  

My boy Peter J. Tomasi, whose work in Batman and Robin has constantly impressed me, writes the third segment, which is essentially the anti-Dark Knight Returns.  An aging Bruce Wayne has his Bat-family help him celebrate his birthday, and then he slips away to operate once more under the cowl, even though it kills his body to do so.  Once more taking a cue from Grant Morrison, Tomasi knows that this does not have to be a grim legacy, even though it looks nothing like the Hurwitz/Adams tale that precedes it.

Francesco Francavilla is usually associated with pulp characters, and he delivers an appropriately moody entry, minimalist and effective.

Mike W. Barr is another classic creator who makes an appearance.  Barr is responsible for a lot of Batman mythology, including the Outsiders and the idea of the liaison with Talia al Ghul that created an offspring (Son of the Demon).  In his tale, the Phantom Stranger gives Batman a glimpse of what might have been had his parents not been murdered.

John Layman comes next with the first part of his "Gothtopia" arc, which imagines what Batman's world would be like with the grim aspects completely eliminated.  I was soundly impressed with Layman after Detective 19, and so it's a real treat to see him finally receive a standout crossover of his own, even if it still won't rival Scott Snyder's continuing "Zero Year" arc in the minds of most fans.  The whole alternate reality Layman envisions is pretty awesome.  I hope to read the complete story later.

Snyder, meanwhile, rounds out the issue along with Wake collaborator Sean Murphy (who always impresses me).  And even he comes up aces.  I tend to marginalize his efforts in strict contrast to how everyone else tends to greet him, but here I think he does an excellent job.  He worries less about what he's allowed to do when he's not concerned with current continuity.  It's one reason why I look forward to exploring "Zero Year" later.  This effort is like the Batman version of Moon, a succession of Bruce Waynes creating their own legacies as Batman over the years, a clever way of extrapolating the character's 75 years and many permutations.  

Overall, a truly excellent celebration.

Quarter Bin #45 "Brother's Blitz, Part 3"

Disclaimer: Comics featured in this column do not necessarily come from a quarter bin.  The ones in the "Brother's Blitz" series, however, in all likelihood were got for a good price.  The following are the contents of several boxes given to me as presents more than a decade ago, which I did not read until recently.

Conclusion!

Alpha Flight #6 (Marvel)

From January 1997:

This Canadian team is best known these days for Northstar, a pioneering gay character who just got married.  There was a time the only relevant association was Wolverine.  Very rarely, it's the team itself.  This issue comes from Steve T. Seagle and Bryan Hitch (before The Ultimates made him a superstar), and features the diminutive Puck trying to track down Sasquatch, who's being screwed around by the authorities.  One of the more interesting reads from this selection.

Atari Force #7 (DC)

From July 1984

Atari Force#8

From August 1984:

A comic book not meant for the likes of me.  In the letters column of the latter issue, however chimes in one Thomas Paoli.  It's only the second time I've seen that surname.  The first is in the pages of Mike Costa's Cobra, where Paoli is the last name of the twins Tomax and Xamot.  Coincidence?

The Avengers #290 (Marvel)

From April 1988:

Of tenuous interest to the many viewers of this summer's biggest blockbuster.  Remember the Tesseract?  In the comics it's better known as the Cosmic Cube.  In this particular comic it's become Kubik, though it has the bad fortune of temporarily being corrupted by the Adaptoid.  Much havoc ensues.  The Avengers in the issue are very much a b-team, though Captain America is around, even though this is a period during which Steve Rogers is estranged from the US government (he does that periodically).  He sports a variation of his usual costume that looks like the one U.S. Agent wears later

Battlestar Galactica #21 (Marvel)

From November 1980:

This is not your BSG.  This is, as the publication date suggests, the original.  There's a reason it was almost totally reimagined.

Captain America #347 (Marvel)

From November 1988:

As with the above Avengers comic, the role of Cap is in flux, with a sort of prototype Jean-Paul Valley arc going on as the unstable John Walker assumes a role he makes considerably less familiar.  

The Crow: Dead Time #1 of 3 (Kitchen Sink)

From January 1996

The Crow: City of Angels #1 of 3

From July 1996

The Crow: City of Angels #3 of 3

From September 1996:

I think I've been spreading some falsehoods.  In a previous edition of "Brother's Blitz" I suggested that there haven't been any new Crow comics in years.  There is in fact a new one in print right now.  There was also a new Concrete one-shot just recently published from material previously published in Dark Horse Presents.  Journalistic integrity...eventually!  Anyway, Dead Time is original material from Crow creator J. O'Barr and features art from Alex Maleev.  City of Angels is based on the movie that tried to start a screen franchise after the infamous Brandon Lee original (infamous because Lee famously died on the set).  Yes, the franchise did happen, but to very little success.  Angels failed to connect with fans.  It's become increasingly obvious that anyone cared about the Crow at all because of Lee's death (though pro wrestler Sting took the look and has kept it in the public conscious since '96).  From this comic I think the story certainly had its merits.  If the execution was off, I suppose that would be one thing.  I may have to start watching some of this material to see for myself.  Like the Highlander franchise, it's a cult I wasn't in at the time, but have found myself increasingly attracted to.  

Elfquest: Blood of Ten Chiefs #3 (Warp Graphics)

From November 1993:

I still don't find myself caring for Elfquest.  Sorry.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #19 (Marvel)

From July 1984

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #20

From August 1984:

Anyone who thought adding aliens to the franchise in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was hopefully scratching their head in the former issue, which features a dragon.  Yeah.  The latter sees someone trying to impugn the name of Marcus Brody!

Ghost Rider 2099 #1 (Marvel)

From May 1994:

Features the art of Carlos Bachalo.  Otherwise seems to be a pretty standard Ghost Rider comic, and not particularly inspiring 2099 material.

Hawk & Dove #1 of 5 (DC)

From October 1988:

From Karl & Barbara Kesel as well as some dude named Rob Liefeld, whose legendary inability to draw feet (or so modern observers like to claim based on his current style) is somewhat belied by many feet appearing this issue.  Hawk & Dove is a pretty interesting concept (though Hank Hall is perhaps more interesting as Monarch/Extant, or for slightly more recent fans Brightest Day), and got their own New 52 comic.  This issue features the debut of the female Dove, who replaces Hank's brother Don.  Her name is Dawn.  This is what it sounds like when doves cry.

Infinity Inc. #35 (DC)

From February 1987:

Features art from Todd McFarlane, which looks nothing like the Todd McFarlane art later featured in Spider-Man and Spawn.  The team, by the way, was second generation Justice Society.

Jack of Hearts #s 1-4 (Marvel)

From January-April 1984:

This character has a terrible costume design.  Otherwise fairly interesting.  The second issue features the first reference (of many) in the comics from this Blitz to the Official Marvel Try-out Book, which famously launched the career of Mark Bagley.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #s 1-6 (Marvel)

From November-April 1984-85:

From Chris Claremont's legendary X-Men run comes this mini-series featuring Wolverine's second-ever solo(ish) adventure, which is really a supporting role in Kitty Pryde's story in which she runs away after being rejected by Colossus (which going on this information alone makes Joss Whedon's most famous Astonishing X-Men moment completely illogical) and discovers her father's dirty business dealings have gotten him into trouble with Japanese gangsters.  In his previous mini-series Wolverine's Japanese connections had just been established, which makes it awfully convenient.  As it's written by Claremont himself, this is readable material, even if Al Milgrom's art does no favors to Kitty's hairstyle, before and after it's forcibly altered by the chief villain.

Lady Death #0 (Chaos!)

From November 1997:

A character straight from the '90s bad girls scene, though this particular comic certainly makes her out to be pretty, er, matrony.  It's actually pretty interesting.  This is Lady Death's secret origin!

Marvel Fanfare #16 (Marvel)

From September 1984:

Apparently much controversy was to be had at the time by editor Al Milgrom appearing in the Marvel corner symbol, a spot normally reserved for the stars of the particular title (it's something DC did, too).  I don't know what that's about, but it's the most memorable thing about this one.  It also features work from Marv Wolfman and David Cockrum, as well as Mike Mignola (unlike McFarlane and even Liefeld above looking familiar to fans of his later work).

MASK #1 (DC)

From February 1987:

Based on a toy line I had brief experience with.  Art by Curt Swan!

The Micronauts: The New Voyages #4 (Marvel)

From January 1985

The Micronauts: The New Voyages #6

From March 1985:

Features art from Kelley Jones, who would go on to play a memorable role on the covers of the Batman "Knightfall" saga as well as several vampires tales featuring the Dark Knight.  Even moreso than Mignola, Jones' work is instantly recognizable in these issues.  It's the only thing worth noting about them, however.

The Mighty Thor #409 (Marvel)

From November 1989:

From Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the latter of whom would later work in the '90s Superman comics I enjoyed so much, except when illustrated by Ron Frenz.  Not the right style.  No label link for Ron Frenz!  Features Dr. Doom!  Hercules!  Exclamation points!  And the second time Thor was tied to the body of an ordinary human!

Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel)

From December 1983:

But featuring reprinted material from '67 and '68 and the work of legendary Jim Steranko, a conceptual genius when it came to art.  There's only a few panels here that truly reflect that, however.  It's nice finding classic work in these random comics, and for some reason this batch was just loaded with notable artists, even if some of them weren't doing their most iconic work.

Nightmare Theater #1 & 4 of 4 (Chaos!)

From November 1997:

A horror anthology that I enjoyed best for its surveys of classic Hollywood films (these issues cover the Golden Age and the resurgent '60s.  Both issues feature Eric Powell (The Goon) inking someone else's work.  The latter issue features a story from Alan Moore, in classic form taking an alternate look at familiar faces, this time movie monsters and featuring wolfman Francis "Itchy" Peterson.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #3 (Marvel)

From March 1983:

Characters from The Collector to Dracula are profiled, with Collector probably being the most interesting character, with Deathlok coming in second, though more famous ones like Cyclops, Daredevil, and Dazzler (famous?), as well as Doc Samson, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, and Dormammu (??) are also featured.  Marvel's Captain Marvel is listed in the appendix on the inside back cover.  I don't know if he got better treatment in the previous issue, but he was an incredibly notable character, especially in Jim Starlin's famous Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel.  Is it that he was dead by the time this was published?

Pitt #15 (Full Bleed)

From September 1997:

Dale Keown's Pitt was pretty famous in the '90s, and was also one of a rash of characters from the decade to duplicate the (Fawcett/DC) Captain Marvel gag of being closely tied to a little boy (or perhaps Keown was more inspired by Bill Watterson?).  Now Pitt just seems like one of those out-of-control art oddities that also littered those years.

Preacher #25 (Vertigo)

From May 1997

Pride & Glory #s 2 & 3 

From August-September 1997:

I'm lumping these together because they're both written by Garth Ennis.  I've had something of a contentious relationship with Ennis.  I've never read him regularly.  The one time I almost did, I ended up taking a fairly violent reaction to his work.  The thing to understand about Ennis is that he's not writing comics to write about superheroes.  In fact, it might be said that he really dislikes superheroes.  He's incredibly cynical about them (whether in the pages of Hitman or The Boys).  He's probably better understood outside of comics where he forces himself to write about something he neither enjoys nor particularly understands.  Preacher is perhaps his most famous creation.  These three issues (Pride & Glory has no relation) reveal a writer who has a great deal in common with Stephen King.  Both of them like to have fairly ordinary characters swap stories.  I think with this insight, I may begin to better appreciate Ennis.  Don't tell him I said so.

Robotech #1 of 3 (DC)

From January 1985:

Written by Andy Helfer!  Based on a Japanese TV show (does not feature Wolverine).  That is all.

ROM #23 (Marvel)

From October 1981

ROM #s 63-64

From February-March 1985:

I still don't get ROM.  (The first issue features Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and a cameo from the Fantastic Four.)  Great concept, terrible design.  How did this series run for so long?  I think if anyone wanted to revive it now they'd better give the lone survivor of a band of space knights a better look.

Sabretooth (Marvel)

From 1995:

From Fabian Nicieza and Gary Frank (showing glimmers of the work he'd make famous with collaborators like Geoff Johns), this one was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the last Blitz.  From the foil-embossed cover I was expecting very much the kind of (mostly) bad X-Men comics I've been characterizing in these things.  It's anything but.  This is all the more surprising because I remember being baffled that anyone thought it made any sense to try and make Sabretooth a member in good standing of the mutant community.  Nicieza crafts this tale in the fashion of Jeph Loeb (years before anyone would truly appreciate that fact), and Frank makes Victor Creed the spitting image of Wolverine...as portrayed by Hugh Jackman in movies that wouldn't exist for another five years.  In effect, this is a comics years ahead of its time, and is all the more remarkable for it.  

Shatter #1 (First)

From December 1985:

It's almost sad, the amount of hope First Comics seemed to have in this series.  Tell me how many comics fans know about either Shatter or First Comics today.  The comic features digital art, however, so that was pretty revolutionary.  The company also published Mike Grell's Jon Sable, John Ostrander and Timothy Truman's Grimjack, as well as Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! (apparently being written by Alan Moore at the time), Nexus, Michael Moorcock's Elric...Holy crap, First Comics was a precursor to the indy dream!  But is it remembered?  First indeed...

Uncanny X-Men #-1 (Marvel)

From July 1997:

Note the minus sign in the issue number...This was part of Marvel's "Flashback" event, more or less its version of Zero Month (1994 and 2012 versions) from DC.  Written by Scott Lobdell, it's another indication that '90s X-Men wasn't completely wasted by attempts to cash in on the Image art craze (which it actually began with Jim Lee's X-Men #1).  Lobdell probably did his most notable work in Generation X, but apparently he was at least as ambitious with the main group.  I'm not sure fans agreed, and the legacy doesn't seem to be there, but this was another comic worth discovering in the Blitz.  Another appearance from Bryan Hitch, too!

Vengeance of Vampirella #15 (Harris)

From June 1995:

Bad girls be gone!  Written as in previous Blitz appearances from the tramp vamp by Tom Sniegoski, sometimes collaborator of Jeff "Bone" Smith.

West Coast Avengers #37 (Marvel)

From October 1988:

More Al Milgrom!  A team of Avengers acting dysfunctional!

Wolverine: Days of Future Past #2 (Marvel)

From January 1988:

Harking back to a famous Claremont tale...but not itself destined to be famous.  The next First Class X-Men film is going to be borrowing from one of them.  Guess which.

X-Men Annual #12 (Marvel)

From 1988:

From Claremont.  Not featuring vintage Claremont.