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.
Showing posts with label Chuck Dixon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chuck Dixon. Show all posts
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Monday, June 20, 2016
Quarter Bin 82 "Return of the Duck Knight, Dixon & McDaniel's Nightwing, Pandora's Futures End, Rucka's Queen & Country, Dixon's Robin"
Not always, but this time the title of this column may be taken literally. Thank you for reading this.
The Midnite Skulker #2 (Target)
From August 1986.
This issue, as you can tell, is dubbed "Return of the Duck Knight," which makes this a vintage parody of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. I just had to read it. We live in an age where anything that's parodied isn't taken seriously (it's funny because literally anything can be made to sound ridiculous, right?), but there was a time where it was taken for granted that anything was fair game, including something that was just beginning to become a touchstone. E. Larry Dobias delivers a pretty spot-on parody, down to panel structure and emphasis on TV reportage. The whole Duck Knight thing was later absconded by Darkwing Duck, but...Dobias get there first! Midnight skulkers, meanwhile, also exist in the comic strip B.C., which means you have to be pretty specific to find this on Google. I know people who aren't fans of superheroes find it very hard to take them seriously, so it's not surprising that someone instantly showed up to make fun of Dark Knight Returns, but it's pretty funny, observing how much pain Bruise Wane, I mean Bruce Wayne would be in if he really did try and resume a young man's career when he was anything, anything but. I mean, if you were to make a movie about Old Man Bruce, I wonder if anyone would take him seriously. I remember critics pointing out how Jack Bauer probably couldn't absorb relatively easy jumps at his age when the last 24 revival happened. And Jack would still be young compared to the Bruce Wayne of Dark Knight Returns! Clint Eastwood had some hits as an old man adventure star (Unforgiven, Gran Torino), but again, no real comparison to Miller's vision. Apparently, only ducks can pull it off otherwise...
Nightwing #26 (DC)
From December 1998.
When I quit reading comics before heading off to college, I quit cold turkey, unlike what I've managed to do in this Comics Readr era (although I'm hoping to make a better go of it in a few months). The transition was during my senior year of high school, and I guess it was more staggered than I now remember, because I don't remember reading this issue back in the day, in which Huntress enters the series proper (there had been a mini-series team-up previously) under the auspices of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, who somehow managed to turn Dick Grayson's first ongoing series into their own little creative showcase, especially McDaniel, who parlayed this work into higher profile stuff with Batman and Superman, before gradually be used less and less, to the point where you'd hardly know the poor guy's still working in comics...Anyway, I loved this era, and it's always worth revisiting. Clancy's still there, Soames is still there, Tad is still there, and even Cisco! It's easy to forget Cisco, because he wasn't as well defined as some other characters, but this was such a rich vision of Dick's further crime-fighting career, I wish it got more respect later. There are always reprints, and back issues...
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End (DC)
From November 2014.
I continue to pick away at the Futures End and Villains Month comics DC put out, since there's such a wealth of material to be found. The latest is Pandora, who was seemingly intended to be the major new character of the New 52, and who was killed off in DC Universe Rebirth, and apparently in this story, too. It seems that was always her fate. As part of the "trinity of sin" (along with the Question and Phantom Stranger), she ended up inhabiting one of the more obscure corners of the DC landscape. These are characters who recur in the comics with some regularity, but they're rarely around for much more than a visit. Pandora was inhabiting, at first, the role of Harbinger from Crisis on Infinite Earths, and so it can actually be said she had remarkable staying power. It's time to put aside the notion that she was a creative failure. The surprisingly dependable Ray Fawkes, still looking for a true breakout project, was responsible for this.
Queen & Country FCBD (Oni)
From May 2002.
This was one of the releases from the very first Free Comic Book Day. (Read a little about that here.) With the recent return of Greg Rucka to the pages of Wonder Woman (and DC in general), it's worth remembering that he's got a pretty long history in comics at this point. His first creator-owned success was Whiteout (adapted into a 2009 film), but Queen & Country is what, besides his Batman work, put Rucka on the map (for me, he'll always be best remembered as part of the writing dream team of 52). Until now, I'd never read any of it. Turns out it's pretty good. It's also worth noting, with some amusement, that Bryan Lee O'Malley, who would later launch the innovative Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels at Oni, appears listed as artist for someone else's project. You just kind of expect someone like that to have emerged fully formed, but apparently that wasn't the case.
Robin #75 (DC)
From April 2000.
This was from later in Chuck Dixon's long run on the title he helped launch (he had nearly twenty-five issues left to go after it, reaching the hundredth issue, and then a few more later). By this time, Tim Drake is about ready to take his break from being the Boy Wonder, and Stephanie Brown will assume her ill-fated turn, in what is still a shockingly downplayed part of the Robin lineage. But that's about fifty issues and two writers later. It's not surprising that Dixon would be the writer to shepherd Tim away from the Dynamic Duo partnership, as the beginning of the series had Tim breaking away from "AzBats" and thus a Robin striking out on his own for the first time. Tim kind of remains in that mode, actually. The artist is Pete Woods relatively early in his career. I can't believe I'm just making a label for the guy.
From August 1986.
This issue, as you can tell, is dubbed "Return of the Duck Knight," which makes this a vintage parody of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. I just had to read it. We live in an age where anything that's parodied isn't taken seriously (it's funny because literally anything can be made to sound ridiculous, right?), but there was a time where it was taken for granted that anything was fair game, including something that was just beginning to become a touchstone. E. Larry Dobias delivers a pretty spot-on parody, down to panel structure and emphasis on TV reportage. The whole Duck Knight thing was later absconded by Darkwing Duck, but...Dobias get there first! Midnight skulkers, meanwhile, also exist in the comic strip B.C., which means you have to be pretty specific to find this on Google. I know people who aren't fans of superheroes find it very hard to take them seriously, so it's not surprising that someone instantly showed up to make fun of Dark Knight Returns, but it's pretty funny, observing how much pain Bruise Wane, I mean Bruce Wayne would be in if he really did try and resume a young man's career when he was anything, anything but. I mean, if you were to make a movie about Old Man Bruce, I wonder if anyone would take him seriously. I remember critics pointing out how Jack Bauer probably couldn't absorb relatively easy jumps at his age when the last 24 revival happened. And Jack would still be young compared to the Bruce Wayne of Dark Knight Returns! Clint Eastwood had some hits as an old man adventure star (Unforgiven, Gran Torino), but again, no real comparison to Miller's vision. Apparently, only ducks can pull it off otherwise...
Nightwing #26 (DC)
From December 1998.
When I quit reading comics before heading off to college, I quit cold turkey, unlike what I've managed to do in this Comics Readr era (although I'm hoping to make a better go of it in a few months). The transition was during my senior year of high school, and I guess it was more staggered than I now remember, because I don't remember reading this issue back in the day, in which Huntress enters the series proper (there had been a mini-series team-up previously) under the auspices of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, who somehow managed to turn Dick Grayson's first ongoing series into their own little creative showcase, especially McDaniel, who parlayed this work into higher profile stuff with Batman and Superman, before gradually be used less and less, to the point where you'd hardly know the poor guy's still working in comics...Anyway, I loved this era, and it's always worth revisiting. Clancy's still there, Soames is still there, Tad is still there, and even Cisco! It's easy to forget Cisco, because he wasn't as well defined as some other characters, but this was such a rich vision of Dick's further crime-fighting career, I wish it got more respect later. There are always reprints, and back issues...
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End (DC)
From November 2014.
I continue to pick away at the Futures End and Villains Month comics DC put out, since there's such a wealth of material to be found. The latest is Pandora, who was seemingly intended to be the major new character of the New 52, and who was killed off in DC Universe Rebirth, and apparently in this story, too. It seems that was always her fate. As part of the "trinity of sin" (along with the Question and Phantom Stranger), she ended up inhabiting one of the more obscure corners of the DC landscape. These are characters who recur in the comics with some regularity, but they're rarely around for much more than a visit. Pandora was inhabiting, at first, the role of Harbinger from Crisis on Infinite Earths, and so it can actually be said she had remarkable staying power. It's time to put aside the notion that she was a creative failure. The surprisingly dependable Ray Fawkes, still looking for a true breakout project, was responsible for this.
Queen & Country FCBD (Oni)
From May 2002.
This was one of the releases from the very first Free Comic Book Day. (Read a little about that here.) With the recent return of Greg Rucka to the pages of Wonder Woman (and DC in general), it's worth remembering that he's got a pretty long history in comics at this point. His first creator-owned success was Whiteout (adapted into a 2009 film), but Queen & Country is what, besides his Batman work, put Rucka on the map (for me, he'll always be best remembered as part of the writing dream team of 52). Until now, I'd never read any of it. Turns out it's pretty good. It's also worth noting, with some amusement, that Bryan Lee O'Malley, who would later launch the innovative Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels at Oni, appears listed as artist for someone else's project. You just kind of expect someone like that to have emerged fully formed, but apparently that wasn't the case.
Robin #75 (DC)
From April 2000.
This was from later in Chuck Dixon's long run on the title he helped launch (he had nearly twenty-five issues left to go after it, reaching the hundredth issue, and then a few more later). By this time, Tim Drake is about ready to take his break from being the Boy Wonder, and Stephanie Brown will assume her ill-fated turn, in what is still a shockingly downplayed part of the Robin lineage. But that's about fifty issues and two writers later. It's not surprising that Dixon would be the writer to shepherd Tim away from the Dynamic Duo partnership, as the beginning of the series had Tim breaking away from "AzBats" and thus a Robin striking out on his own for the first time. Tim kind of remains in that mode, actually. The artist is Pete Woods relatively early in his career. I can't believe I'm just making a label for the guy.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Digitally Speaking...51
The comics I talk about here were read from my comiXology account...
G.I. Joe #1 (IDW)
From 2009.
When IDW originally acquired the rights to G.I. Joe, it printed up a preview with all the titles it was going to launch. I immediately identified G.I. Joe: Cobra as the one most likely to interest me, and never looked back (that series panned out nicely), which here means I never really gave the rest of the line a chance. So this digital version of the debut for Chuck Dixon's flagship title was my first chance to see if I made a mistake. I was a big Dixon fan in the '90s (he had a knack for Boy Wonders, working wonders in the pages of Robin and Nightwing), and so he's one of those creators who've since floated around that I should theoretically be interested to revisit. I don't think this was a good fit for him, or at the very least, it's not a good fit for me. Once I became hooked on Mike Costa's G.I. Joe, all interest in any other version fell completely by the wayside. Dixon's G.I. Joe is nothing like Costa's. I guess that's all there is to say about that...
Goblin Hood (Twin)
From 2013.
Interesting if a bit...pointless? head-scratching? Basically, as the title may suggest, Robin Hood smashed with monsters, with Robin Hood and his crew as monsters, not so much the actual characters but entirely new characters...cast in the familiar roles. This preview doesn't really sell the idea as particularly...necessary? but it does provide one or two interesting ideas, the more interesting one being the one that's not really explored outside of the character sketches...included in the story itself. (Yes, this is a somewhat awkward affair overall.) Little John has become Little Giant, who like Harry Potter's pal Hagrid is something of an undersized giant. (I can't help but think of the correlation being less than completely coincidental.) That's a character I'd want to read. The rest of it...Creator Bobby Timothy is apparently another alumni from DC's Zuda experiment.
God Hates Astronauts #1 (Image)
From 2014.
I first heard of this series from a preview in an issue of Chew. I thought it looked stupid. In the interests of objectivity, if you're the kind of reader who takes Garth Ennis seriously, you might like God Hates Astronauts. However, strictly speaking, this is an incredibly stupid comic that makes you doubt the existence of quality control at Image, and comics in general...
Guardians #0 (Black Magic Wolf)
From 2013.
The general idea here is that God (without calling him God) sends a couple of ready-made superheroes (they're basically angels, but not called angels) to...do superhero things. And the twist is that these guys don't really know how to interact with humans other than to...save them. And stuff. The premise sounds interesting, but Guardians has no idea what to do with it. Maybe the material previewing the concept just doesn't do a good job of showing its actual potential, but somehow I doubt that. There are many, many writers out there who just don't know how to execute their material. Some of them are outright bad, some merely mediocre. It's not so much a matter of the story not working, but the writer having no clue what to do with it. They have an idea, and without knowing what to do with it, they just kind of run with it. And hope that's good idea. It's not good enough.
Guardians of the Galaxy Infinite Comic #1 (Marvel)
From 2013.
"Infinite Comic," as in taking full advantage of the digital medium. Otherwise this is a Drax the Destroyer story, a version of the character movie-goers didn't quite get to see in Guardians of the Galaxy. This is also part of Brian Michael Bendis's comics relaunch, which is what led to the movie in the first place. He and artist Michael Avon Oeming (whom I know from Mice Templar, which after some consideration have decided to stop reading after many years) are better known as collaborators on Powers (now a TV show available via PlayStation). This counts as the best material from everything presented here. And easily so.
G.I. Joe #1 (IDW)
From 2009.
When IDW originally acquired the rights to G.I. Joe, it printed up a preview with all the titles it was going to launch. I immediately identified G.I. Joe: Cobra as the one most likely to interest me, and never looked back (that series panned out nicely), which here means I never really gave the rest of the line a chance. So this digital version of the debut for Chuck Dixon's flagship title was my first chance to see if I made a mistake. I was a big Dixon fan in the '90s (he had a knack for Boy Wonders, working wonders in the pages of Robin and Nightwing), and so he's one of those creators who've since floated around that I should theoretically be interested to revisit. I don't think this was a good fit for him, or at the very least, it's not a good fit for me. Once I became hooked on Mike Costa's G.I. Joe, all interest in any other version fell completely by the wayside. Dixon's G.I. Joe is nothing like Costa's. I guess that's all there is to say about that...
Goblin Hood (Twin)
From 2013.
Interesting if a bit...pointless? head-scratching? Basically, as the title may suggest, Robin Hood smashed with monsters, with Robin Hood and his crew as monsters, not so much the actual characters but entirely new characters...cast in the familiar roles. This preview doesn't really sell the idea as particularly...necessary? but it does provide one or two interesting ideas, the more interesting one being the one that's not really explored outside of the character sketches...included in the story itself. (Yes, this is a somewhat awkward affair overall.) Little John has become Little Giant, who like Harry Potter's pal Hagrid is something of an undersized giant. (I can't help but think of the correlation being less than completely coincidental.) That's a character I'd want to read. The rest of it...Creator Bobby Timothy is apparently another alumni from DC's Zuda experiment.
God Hates Astronauts #1 (Image)
From 2014.
I first heard of this series from a preview in an issue of Chew. I thought it looked stupid. In the interests of objectivity, if you're the kind of reader who takes Garth Ennis seriously, you might like God Hates Astronauts. However, strictly speaking, this is an incredibly stupid comic that makes you doubt the existence of quality control at Image, and comics in general...
Guardians #0 (Black Magic Wolf)
From 2013.
The general idea here is that God (without calling him God) sends a couple of ready-made superheroes (they're basically angels, but not called angels) to...do superhero things. And the twist is that these guys don't really know how to interact with humans other than to...save them. And stuff. The premise sounds interesting, but Guardians has no idea what to do with it. Maybe the material previewing the concept just doesn't do a good job of showing its actual potential, but somehow I doubt that. There are many, many writers out there who just don't know how to execute their material. Some of them are outright bad, some merely mediocre. It's not so much a matter of the story not working, but the writer having no clue what to do with it. They have an idea, and without knowing what to do with it, they just kind of run with it. And hope that's good idea. It's not good enough.
Guardians of the Galaxy Infinite Comic #1 (Marvel)
From 2013.
"Infinite Comic," as in taking full advantage of the digital medium. Otherwise this is a Drax the Destroyer story, a version of the character movie-goers didn't quite get to see in Guardians of the Galaxy. This is also part of Brian Michael Bendis's comics relaunch, which is what led to the movie in the first place. He and artist Michael Avon Oeming (whom I know from Mice Templar, which after some consideration have decided to stop reading after many years) are better known as collaborators on Powers (now a TV show available via PlayStation). This counts as the best material from everything presented here. And easily so.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
My All-time Favorite Comic Books, 20-16
Continuing my list:
#20. Grant Morrison's JLA
Creators: Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, Frank Quitely, various
Publication dates: 1997-2005
Issues: 1-17, 22-31, 34, 36-41, JLA: Earth 2, JLA Classified 1-3, One Million 1-4
The seminal point of 1990s DC comics where the icons started acting like icons again, setting the stage for how they would be uniformly depicted at the start of the new millennium, bringing together all the big guns back to the Justice League after years of second-stringer line-ups, arguably setting up the whole career of Geoff Johns. This was Grant Morrison's version of the mainstream following notable runs in various Vertigo reinterpretations of heroes he was perhaps dooming once more to obscurity. And he went big. Every story an event. The standout for me remains the "Rock of Ages" arc that reads like a preview of Morrison's later Final Crisis, with the particular highlight of #13, the "Darkseid Is" issue, one of the greatest scripts he ever wrote. The sheer amount of imagination on display here, from the throwaway breakout character Tomorrow Woman to the Hawkman stand-in Zauriel who introduced an important piece of Morrison's mythology to the Ultramarine Corps and even Prometheus, one of the most important new villains of the past twenty years, and all the way to One Million, a vision of the future, there's so much to love here. Needs reminding.
#19. Flashpoint
Creators: Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert
Publication dates: 2011
Issues: 1-5
The importance of this mini-series event in my personal comics experience cannot be overstated. For a lot of fans, it became the gimmicky story that allowed DC to recreate its entire line-up from scratch with the New 52, but for me, it was a flashpoint of a different kind entirely. (There's another Flashpoint, by the way, 1999's version from Pat McGreal and Norm Breyfogle, totally unrelated but perhaps equally worthy of inclusion on this list.) I tend to like DC's alternate realities. The Tangent experiment was for a long time a particular touchstone. What sets this one apart is its clear emphasis on reflecting directly on known characteristics by turning them just a degree on their side rather than wholesale revision. Most famously there was the Thomas Wayne Batman, who helps inform the story's emotional conclusion. But it's really a story about Barry Allen, Geoff Johns' Barry Allen, a character he brought back in the same manner he'd done for Hal Jordan seven years earlier. But he had this big story waiting for Barry, a piercing character study unlike any other crossover event before or since. And I found what I've so far experienced of the spin-off books to be equally inspired. I still intend to read through them all, but for now, the core title itself is more than enough to cement its place in my appreciation. I was about to walk away from comics forever, half out of necessity and half because I'd lost my love for them. And then this happened and reminded me about all the magic possible in the stories of costumes adventurers.
#18. Chuck Dixon and Devin K. Grayson's Nightwing
Creators: Chuck Dixon, Devin K. Grayson, Scott McDaniel, various
Publication dates: 1996-2006
Issues: 1-70, 101-106, 1,000,000 (Dixon), 71-100, 107-117, Nightwing and Huntress 1-4 (Grayson)
People like to make the comparison anyway, and it's a little easy in some regards, so let's go out and just say it: Dixon and Grayson's epic Nightwing saga was DC's answer to Frank Miller's classic Daredevil story about Elektra and the Kingpin. Nightwing had Tarantula and Blockbuster. It remains the longest and best Dick Grayson story ever attempted, creating an independent legacy for the first Robin's transition into his own man, and in some ways an impossible story to follow. Many writers have tried, using some of the same basic elements, key among them being a relocation away from Gotham City, out from the shadow of Batman. Dixon got the ball rolling with the introduction of a whole supporting cast, a battery of villainous foes to call Nightwing's own, most of them revolving around the auspices of Blockbuster, whose tragedy was that his moment of glory was interrupted by a health crisis. Grayson picked up the ball and introduced Tarantula, a femme fatale who gave Nightwing his own Terra, and then plunged the hero into still murkier waters, which in some ways is also being revisited today. It's unthinkable that one creator would follow another and not only complete their story but do it in such a fashion that not only remains controversial but elevated it to operatic proportions. But that's what happened here. The likes of which will probably never be seen again.
#17. Grant Morrison's Action Comics
Creators: Grant Morrison, Rags Morales
Publication dates: 2011-2013
Issues: 0-18
Morrison's All Star Superman was immediately recognized as its own kind of classic, depicting a version of the Man of Steel that spoke to the whole legacy of the character in much the way he would also do for Batman. Yet his New 52 revamp may yet prove to be the more definitive. Borrowing elements introduced by Geoff Johns in a different era of Action Comics, Morrison's Superman was a god among men struggling to be human and superhuman at the same time, drawing all manner of outrageous individuals towards him in the process, including the Legion of Super-heroes, Mxyzptlk, and a boy who stole his cape (the story in the 0 issue), plus one exceptional alternate reality (#9) that proves he can write a great Superman no matter the circumstances. The ending should be viewed as a classic in its own right, how it turns into just another fight for the character who can sometimes be considered too powerful for his own good. Morrison gets that, but that's nothing but an afterthought for someone who truly understands Superman.
#16. Stuart Immonen's Superman
Creators: Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, Mark Waid
Publication dates: 1994-2004
Issues: (as writer/artist) Adventures of Superman 530, 534, 573-577, Action Comics 738-748, 750-753, 758, Alpha Centurion Special Special 1, Superman: End of the Century, (as artist) The Final Night 1-4, Superman: Secret Identity 1-4
Here's a sorely overlooked milestone of the 1990s Superman comics, and to my mind the single best run. There are a number of other issues where Immonen provided solely the art, but for my purposes here I'll stick with the ones he wrote and drew, because his talent in this dual capacity should be emphasized all the more for the reason that it's been overlooked since, plus two key projects where he provided only the art. Simply put, Immonen's Superman was iconic simplicity, the exact opposite of everything the '90s are known for. He also best depicted the Man of Steel's continuing fight against Lex Luthor, not the Luthor who was a red-haired clone of himself but one who formed his own budding supporting cast, including the since-forgotten Contessa, the only equal the criminal genius ever knew. These are not only some of the best Superman comics, then, but some of the best Lex Luthor stories ever, highlighted by the brilliant Action Comics #741, in which Immonen juxtaposes the classic narrative of Chanticleer from The Canterbury Tales with Luthor's relationship to his infant daughter (another tragic lost element from this period). It didn't matter which version of the 90s Superman was featured, whether it was Electric Superman, Mullet Superman, or Classic Superman, Immonen aced them all. The Final Night remains one of the most unique event books ever in huge part to Immonen's art. Until All-New X-Men he's never found a project nearly as worthy of his talents.
(All covers via Comic Book Database.)
#20. Grant Morrison's JLA
Creators: Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, Frank Quitely, various
Publication dates: 1997-2005
Issues: 1-17, 22-31, 34, 36-41, JLA: Earth 2, JLA Classified 1-3, One Million 1-4
The seminal point of 1990s DC comics where the icons started acting like icons again, setting the stage for how they would be uniformly depicted at the start of the new millennium, bringing together all the big guns back to the Justice League after years of second-stringer line-ups, arguably setting up the whole career of Geoff Johns. This was Grant Morrison's version of the mainstream following notable runs in various Vertigo reinterpretations of heroes he was perhaps dooming once more to obscurity. And he went big. Every story an event. The standout for me remains the "Rock of Ages" arc that reads like a preview of Morrison's later Final Crisis, with the particular highlight of #13, the "Darkseid Is" issue, one of the greatest scripts he ever wrote. The sheer amount of imagination on display here, from the throwaway breakout character Tomorrow Woman to the Hawkman stand-in Zauriel who introduced an important piece of Morrison's mythology to the Ultramarine Corps and even Prometheus, one of the most important new villains of the past twenty years, and all the way to One Million, a vision of the future, there's so much to love here. Needs reminding.
#19. Flashpoint
Creators: Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert
Publication dates: 2011
Issues: 1-5
The importance of this mini-series event in my personal comics experience cannot be overstated. For a lot of fans, it became the gimmicky story that allowed DC to recreate its entire line-up from scratch with the New 52, but for me, it was a flashpoint of a different kind entirely. (There's another Flashpoint, by the way, 1999's version from Pat McGreal and Norm Breyfogle, totally unrelated but perhaps equally worthy of inclusion on this list.) I tend to like DC's alternate realities. The Tangent experiment was for a long time a particular touchstone. What sets this one apart is its clear emphasis on reflecting directly on known characteristics by turning them just a degree on their side rather than wholesale revision. Most famously there was the Thomas Wayne Batman, who helps inform the story's emotional conclusion. But it's really a story about Barry Allen, Geoff Johns' Barry Allen, a character he brought back in the same manner he'd done for Hal Jordan seven years earlier. But he had this big story waiting for Barry, a piercing character study unlike any other crossover event before or since. And I found what I've so far experienced of the spin-off books to be equally inspired. I still intend to read through them all, but for now, the core title itself is more than enough to cement its place in my appreciation. I was about to walk away from comics forever, half out of necessity and half because I'd lost my love for them. And then this happened and reminded me about all the magic possible in the stories of costumes adventurers.
#18. Chuck Dixon and Devin K. Grayson's Nightwing
Creators: Chuck Dixon, Devin K. Grayson, Scott McDaniel, various
Publication dates: 1996-2006
Issues: 1-70, 101-106, 1,000,000 (Dixon), 71-100, 107-117, Nightwing and Huntress 1-4 (Grayson)
People like to make the comparison anyway, and it's a little easy in some regards, so let's go out and just say it: Dixon and Grayson's epic Nightwing saga was DC's answer to Frank Miller's classic Daredevil story about Elektra and the Kingpin. Nightwing had Tarantula and Blockbuster. It remains the longest and best Dick Grayson story ever attempted, creating an independent legacy for the first Robin's transition into his own man, and in some ways an impossible story to follow. Many writers have tried, using some of the same basic elements, key among them being a relocation away from Gotham City, out from the shadow of Batman. Dixon got the ball rolling with the introduction of a whole supporting cast, a battery of villainous foes to call Nightwing's own, most of them revolving around the auspices of Blockbuster, whose tragedy was that his moment of glory was interrupted by a health crisis. Grayson picked up the ball and introduced Tarantula, a femme fatale who gave Nightwing his own Terra, and then plunged the hero into still murkier waters, which in some ways is also being revisited today. It's unthinkable that one creator would follow another and not only complete their story but do it in such a fashion that not only remains controversial but elevated it to operatic proportions. But that's what happened here. The likes of which will probably never be seen again.
#17. Grant Morrison's Action Comics
Creators: Grant Morrison, Rags Morales
Publication dates: 2011-2013
Issues: 0-18
Morrison's All Star Superman was immediately recognized as its own kind of classic, depicting a version of the Man of Steel that spoke to the whole legacy of the character in much the way he would also do for Batman. Yet his New 52 revamp may yet prove to be the more definitive. Borrowing elements introduced by Geoff Johns in a different era of Action Comics, Morrison's Superman was a god among men struggling to be human and superhuman at the same time, drawing all manner of outrageous individuals towards him in the process, including the Legion of Super-heroes, Mxyzptlk, and a boy who stole his cape (the story in the 0 issue), plus one exceptional alternate reality (#9) that proves he can write a great Superman no matter the circumstances. The ending should be viewed as a classic in its own right, how it turns into just another fight for the character who can sometimes be considered too powerful for his own good. Morrison gets that, but that's nothing but an afterthought for someone who truly understands Superman.
#16. Stuart Immonen's Superman
Creators: Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, Mark Waid
Publication dates: 1994-2004
Issues: (as writer/artist) Adventures of Superman 530, 534, 573-577, Action Comics 738-748, 750-753, 758, Alpha Centurion Special Special 1, Superman: End of the Century, (as artist) The Final Night 1-4, Superman: Secret Identity 1-4
Here's a sorely overlooked milestone of the 1990s Superman comics, and to my mind the single best run. There are a number of other issues where Immonen provided solely the art, but for my purposes here I'll stick with the ones he wrote and drew, because his talent in this dual capacity should be emphasized all the more for the reason that it's been overlooked since, plus two key projects where he provided only the art. Simply put, Immonen's Superman was iconic simplicity, the exact opposite of everything the '90s are known for. He also best depicted the Man of Steel's continuing fight against Lex Luthor, not the Luthor who was a red-haired clone of himself but one who formed his own budding supporting cast, including the since-forgotten Contessa, the only equal the criminal genius ever knew. These are not only some of the best Superman comics, then, but some of the best Lex Luthor stories ever, highlighted by the brilliant Action Comics #741, in which Immonen juxtaposes the classic narrative of Chanticleer from The Canterbury Tales with Luthor's relationship to his infant daughter (another tragic lost element from this period). It didn't matter which version of the 90s Superman was featured, whether it was Electric Superman, Mullet Superman, or Classic Superman, Immonen aced them all. The Final Night remains one of the most unique event books ever in huge part to Immonen's art. Until All-New X-Men he's never found a project nearly as worthy of his talents.
(All covers via Comic Book Database.)
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Reading Comics #76 "Nightwing and the Color Red"
When Nightwing launched as an ongoing series in 1996 under the auspices of Chuck Dixon, it was immediately defined as much by the title character as the city of Bludhaven, which continued to define both until the latter became a smoking crater in 2006 thanks to the events of Infinite Crisis. Dick Grayson's life in this more corrupt neighbor of Gotham City was defined by the many colorful characters around him.
I enjoyed reading the series for years until it came time to leave comics behind in 1999. Some years later I came across a trade collection that more or less picked up where I'd left off, The Search for Oracle, in which Barbara Gordon and her Birds of Prey colleagues share time with the original Boy Wonder. A few months ago I coincidentally stumbled across the next volume in the collection, Big Guns, collecting issues originally published in 1999-2000: Nightwing #s 47-50, Nightwing 80-Page Giant, and material from Nightwing Secret Files & Origins.
From the beginning, Bludhaven's corruption was almost best understood in its police department. Chief Redhorn was no Commissioner Gordon. Inspector Dudley Soames got his head twisted around by Blockbuster and became the psychopath Torque. In this collection, Redhorn's on the lam and Torque is on the loose. Redhorn's successor is a fairly harmless man, but the new inspector, Mac Arnot, is classic scum. Unfortunately for both of them, Nightwing's biggest threats in this collection are nothing but bad news.
Let's talk about those threats for a minute. One of them is Sylph, the woman in red polymer scarves (which act in much the fashion of the cape in the short-lived TV series The Cape, highly adaptable for business). She's a woman trying to get revenge on the businessmen who drove her father to suicide. The other threat is Hella, a former cop trying to get revenge on the corrupt cops responsible for the death of her entire family. She has notable red hair.
In the New 52 comics, Dick's costume has red on it where there was once blue. This decision was recently described as making more sense to the color scheme of his Robin origins. Yet Dick Grayson's connection to the color red runs deeper. Donna Troy wore a red costume while they served in the Teen Titans together. Starfire of course has red hair, and to some fans she's still Dick's most famous romantic conquest (though their attempt at marriage was even more disastrous than the frog wedding in Lois & Clark). And of course, Barbara Gordon has red hair. (So does Batwoman, who was notably introduced opposite Nightwing in the pages of 52.)
Babs is still around in these pages, operating as Oracle, the source of all information in DC at the time. This was also the time in which Dick and Babs came closest to having a real romantic relationship. It was a giant tease that lasted for years but has mostly been forgotten since.
Dixon was a writer who could really get inside the heads of his characters, and know how to build a world around them. He proved it in Nightwing and Robin (and earlier this year in the Cobra annual; he currently writes IDW's ongoing G.I. Joe comic, but I spend my IDW time with Cobra, written by Mike Costa, who has managed to streamline Dixon's approach). With the introduction of Blockbuster as Nightwing's chief adversary, there were a lot of fans who drew parallels with Daredevil, defined by his adversarial relationship with Kingpin. In these pages Blockbuster is mostly a nonentity, recovering from a heart transplant (being a big guy has certain disadvantages), but he still manages to loom over the proceedings.
Another of the brilliant things Dixon did was make Dick Grayson a cop. This was an ambition that began well before the stories in this collection, but Big Guns sees his first official action operating from the other side of the law. Any further need to distinguish between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne was certainly accomplished with this move. True, as eager as Dick is to function with a badge rather than his fists, he often abandons one for the other in order to get results.
In a lot of ways, that's just one of the reasons why Dixon's Nightwing was the original Gotham Central. Aside from the focus that had already been put on the police department, inserting Dick into the mix gives that much more of a look into some more ordinary law enforcement than is typical in a superhero comic.
Aside from the color scheme shared by Sylph and Hella, the fact that they're both female is another signature element of Dixon's run (shared by his successor Devin K. Grayson), to continue defining Nightwing by the women around him. This is atypical in comics. The closest, naturally, would be Daredevil, whose relationship with Elektra became legendary under the auspices of Frank Miller. A lot of Nightwing's foes were women, so it's no surprise that both of the ones in this collection are, too.
As I'd hoped, Big Guns serves as a wonderful reminder how excellent Chuck Dixon's Nightwing was.
I enjoyed reading the series for years until it came time to leave comics behind in 1999. Some years later I came across a trade collection that more or less picked up where I'd left off, The Search for Oracle, in which Barbara Gordon and her Birds of Prey colleagues share time with the original Boy Wonder. A few months ago I coincidentally stumbled across the next volume in the collection, Big Guns, collecting issues originally published in 1999-2000: Nightwing #s 47-50, Nightwing 80-Page Giant, and material from Nightwing Secret Files & Origins.
From the beginning, Bludhaven's corruption was almost best understood in its police department. Chief Redhorn was no Commissioner Gordon. Inspector Dudley Soames got his head twisted around by Blockbuster and became the psychopath Torque. In this collection, Redhorn's on the lam and Torque is on the loose. Redhorn's successor is a fairly harmless man, but the new inspector, Mac Arnot, is classic scum. Unfortunately for both of them, Nightwing's biggest threats in this collection are nothing but bad news.
Let's talk about those threats for a minute. One of them is Sylph, the woman in red polymer scarves (which act in much the fashion of the cape in the short-lived TV series The Cape, highly adaptable for business). She's a woman trying to get revenge on the businessmen who drove her father to suicide. The other threat is Hella, a former cop trying to get revenge on the corrupt cops responsible for the death of her entire family. She has notable red hair.
In the New 52 comics, Dick's costume has red on it where there was once blue. This decision was recently described as making more sense to the color scheme of his Robin origins. Yet Dick Grayson's connection to the color red runs deeper. Donna Troy wore a red costume while they served in the Teen Titans together. Starfire of course has red hair, and to some fans she's still Dick's most famous romantic conquest (though their attempt at marriage was even more disastrous than the frog wedding in Lois & Clark). And of course, Barbara Gordon has red hair. (So does Batwoman, who was notably introduced opposite Nightwing in the pages of 52.)
Babs is still around in these pages, operating as Oracle, the source of all information in DC at the time. This was also the time in which Dick and Babs came closest to having a real romantic relationship. It was a giant tease that lasted for years but has mostly been forgotten since.
Dixon was a writer who could really get inside the heads of his characters, and know how to build a world around them. He proved it in Nightwing and Robin (and earlier this year in the Cobra annual; he currently writes IDW's ongoing G.I. Joe comic, but I spend my IDW time with Cobra, written by Mike Costa, who has managed to streamline Dixon's approach). With the introduction of Blockbuster as Nightwing's chief adversary, there were a lot of fans who drew parallels with Daredevil, defined by his adversarial relationship with Kingpin. In these pages Blockbuster is mostly a nonentity, recovering from a heart transplant (being a big guy has certain disadvantages), but he still manages to loom over the proceedings.
Another of the brilliant things Dixon did was make Dick Grayson a cop. This was an ambition that began well before the stories in this collection, but Big Guns sees his first official action operating from the other side of the law. Any further need to distinguish between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne was certainly accomplished with this move. True, as eager as Dick is to function with a badge rather than his fists, he often abandons one for the other in order to get results.
In a lot of ways, that's just one of the reasons why Dixon's Nightwing was the original Gotham Central. Aside from the focus that had already been put on the police department, inserting Dick into the mix gives that much more of a look into some more ordinary law enforcement than is typical in a superhero comic.
Aside from the color scheme shared by Sylph and Hella, the fact that they're both female is another signature element of Dixon's run (shared by his successor Devin K. Grayson), to continue defining Nightwing by the women around him. This is atypical in comics. The closest, naturally, would be Daredevil, whose relationship with Elektra became legendary under the auspices of Frank Miller. A lot of Nightwing's foes were women, so it's no surprise that both of the ones in this collection are, too.
As I'd hoped, Big Guns serves as a wonderful reminder how excellent Chuck Dixon's Nightwing was.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Quarter Bin #44: Brother's Blitz, Part 2
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.
Avengers West Coast #48 (Marvel)
From September 1989:
Anyone who thought Scarlet Witch's predicaments since House of M are unique for the character probably aren't aware of just how obsessively Marvel keeps track of its own comics and keeps using even the most ridiculous developments to inform new stories (thankfully, there are limits). In this issue (from another time there were a bunch of Avengers teams running around), Wanda is being held captive and exploited by an evil organization. From the mind of John Byrne.
Cable #33 (Marvel)
From July 1996:
Jeph Loeb seems to thrive better in shorter assignments than when he's called to work in a more ongoing capacity (he got around this in his seminal Superman/Batman by working on very specific arcs). In the last Blitz, I dismissed Cable as just another symptom of the mediocre X-Men '90s, but it's worth noting that Loeb and James Robinson wrote those (and they were released in 1997). I won't say they're good, but they do have the hallmark character work, even if it's mired in uninteresting material that someone at Marvel thought was awesome at the time (I appreciated DC at the time because it avoided what the rest of the industry was doing). Are these comics worth a look? Well, only just that.
Concrete: Think Like a Mountain #2 (Dark House)
From April 1996:
For some of you newer comics readers, Concrete was pretty big at the time, basically what Hellboy is today for Dark Horse. He was a human trapped in an alien body, which as "Concrete" suggests basically turned him into the Fantastic Four's Thing. Except Concrete was not the Thing. He was a lot like a mountain, actually. And creator Paul Chadwick was an unapologetic environmentalist (if you don't believe me, check out this issue for the bonus material alone), and that's what this comic is all about. To Chadwick's credit, at least in this issue he allows Concrete to be fairly (typically) impassive. I wonder why the character didn't resurface in the wake of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth campaign (famously more passionate than his presidential one). Now Chadwick seems content to leave Concrete as a curious artifact.
Damage Control #3 of 4 (Marvel)
From January 1990:
This seems to be Marvel's version of DC's (in)famous Bwa-ha-ha Justice League, a jokey look at the more routine (and less reverent) corners of the superhero life. These guys try to clean up the damage left behind, hence the title. She-Hulk dominates the issue, however, with not a little assist from her gimmick at the time, breaking the fourth wall.
Elven #4 (Malibu)
From May 1995:
Malibu may be obscurely known today for giving us the Men in Black concept that led to the movies, but at the time it made a game attempt to join the superhero big leagues with its Ultraverse line, which Marvel eventually absorbed and forgot about. Less forgettable than the star of this book is guest-star I'm-Definitely-NOT-Captain-Marvel Prime.
Ex-Mutants #14 (Malibu)
From March 1993:
Speaking of the Ultraverse, this was another of its efforts. It's forgotten now, but in the early '90s several companies attempt to make their own mutant franchises. This one did not make its intentions subtle. It was also not especially good.
Freex #4 (Malibu)
From October 1993:
Another offering from Ultraverse, this one was easily the bunch of the three. But it had a terrible title. Hence another reason why nobody remembers it. From writer Gerard Jones, who was a notable Green Lantern creator. Very reminiscent of DC's later Primal Force, part of the original Zero Month.
Give Me Liberty #1 (Dark Horse)
June 1990:
That there are people who argue Frank Miller hates women (mostly because in Sin City they're all strippers) is a little surprising, considering he's responsible for the creation of Martha Washington. No, the first president's wife was not a time-hopping robot. This Martha Washington lives in a future where everything bad about America has only gotten worse. Miller (and artist Dave Gibbons, who must have felt a certain amount of deja vu, having worked on Watchmen a few years earlier) tracks Martha's life in this issue from 1995 to 2010, as she grows up in a district/asylum for the underprivileged and escapes it by enlisting in the military. Forced into desperate acts that appall her, Martha is always sympathetic. I always knew this one was in the collection, but never got around to reading it, which is just as well, because I think I appreciate it more now than I would have ten years ago. The character last appeared in 2007, but already by then was a forgotten piece of Miller's legacy, which is a pity.
Guardians of the Galaxy #53 (Marvel)
From October 1994
Guardians of the Galaxy #56
From January 1995:
A Marvel book from the '90s that looks like an Image book from the '90s, especially that first issue. I think these guys were Marvel's attempt at an answer for DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, a team set a thousand years in the future.
Hawkman #7 (DC)
From March 1994:
Featuring Mongrel, another character created during the 1993 Bloodlines Annuals event, and a version of Hawkman that was very Native American (it's curious, because Zero Hour was supposed to have made Hawkman less schizophrenic). Actually pretty interesting, though I thought the Bloodlines characters on the whole were a lot more interesting than their legacy suggests. If you want some 2012 context, I think what happened was that fans at the time thought they were just an attempt to cash in on the Image phenomenon. No, fans, that's the horrible art in Guardians of the Galaxy #53. Bloodlines was awesome, and I will not rest until I resurrect what it achieved.
Heroes #3 (Milestone)
From July 1996:
No, not a comic based on a TV show that debuted a decade later (seek Isaac Mendez elsewhere). Rather, this was Milestone's attempt to be a little more mainstream. On all accounts, Milestone was already mainstream. Icon was a Superman figure. Hardware was an Iron Man figure. Static was a Spider-Man figure. The Blood Syndicate was an Image figure (see!). But they were all black. Heroes, then, was an attempt to try and make Milestone more relatable. The body builder-esque female Donner was white (or certainly looks it). Reads almost like a Kurt Busiek comic today.
The Inhumans Special #1 (Marvel)
From April 1990:
I've never been able to care for the Inhumans, basically a version of Jack Kirby's New Gods as if they were mutants and thus perpetual outcasts (or, the popular reception of the New Gods!). This did not change my opinion. Possibly doesn't help that the cover touts their first encounter with the Fantastic Four. Which really doesn't amount to anything special.
My Name Is Chaos #3 of 4 (DC)
From 1992:
From writer Tom Veitch, this was one of the big discoveries from this batch, part of a prestige format mini-series that today reads like a version of Ridley Scott's Prometheus that doesn't become a horror story midway through. Ideally this would be another comic that would not have been forgotten. Though popular reception of Martian tales does seem to be a dicey affair, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. I will probably attempt to read the rest of this one.
The Omega Men #21 (DC)
From December 1984
The Omega Men #27
From June 1985:
Pretty much rubbish, but the second issue does reference Peter Pan, so I may have to have another look at some point.
One Mile Up #1 of 5 (Eclipse)
From December 1991:
Terrible cover, but what's inside is pretty awesome, like an updated version of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (more on that later!), so that was a nice surprise.
The Origin of the Defiant Universe (Defiant)
From February 1994:
Jim Shooter kicked around for quite a while, trying to jumpstart new or existing characters outside of the Big Two (he's probably still at it), and this was one of those efforts, an ambitious prose introduction that's like Jack Kirby's New Gods (there they are again!). In all likelihood, the resulting comics were not worth this effort, but at least this was interesting!
Shakespeare's Othello (Tome Press)
From 1993:
Actually a very interesting adaptation, from David J. Verruni. Previously I was most familiar with the play thanks to Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Fishburne. Though somehow I had more sympathy for Othello when he was Morpheus...
Outbreed 999 #1 (Black Out)
From May 1994
Outbreed 999 #2
From July 1994:
I kind of feel bad for small press creators when they don't seem to realize that something about their effort is obviously small press. The art, in this instance. And maybe the lack of subtlety.
Overland Magazine #1 (Eclipse)
From April 1987:
An anthology of small press black-and-white comics!
Oz: Romance in Rags #2 (Caliber)
From 1996
Oz: Romance in Rags #3
From 1996
Oz #11
From 1995
Oz #12
From 1995:
In a lot of ways, Eric Shanower and Skottie Young have completely spoiled me. Their Oz adaptations from Marvel have come to represent L. Frank Baum's original intentions (and not just because they adapt Baum's original books directly). So it's both a good and bad thing to read these Oz comics now. Shanower and Young have helped me catch up on some Oz lore that would not be apparent from the Judy Garland movie or the first book, so it's better that I read these comics now than when I originally got them, because the appropriate context would not be there for me to even begin to appreciate the work. Young especially has come to represent my ideal Baum artist. These comics do not feature Skottie Young. But they're not as bad as they would have seemed without the context. It is still unfortunate that anyone might have had to accept this as Oz material. It's not bad, it's just not what it could be. And it takes Oz in a direction that doesn't jive with Baum's original spirit. Except if you know how he kind of it himself. Emphasis on kind of.
Prince (Piranha)
From 1991:
The best thing about this comic (from a DC imprint) is that it was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan, who would later make their reputations on Milestone (McDuffie passed away last year). The rest of it is a daydream of the pop musician's ego. So yes, it features "When Doves Cry" Prince. It's not terrible, but it is ludicrous.
Pummeller $2099 #1 (Parody Press)
From 1993:
A parody of Punisher 2099 (in case that wasn't obvious). Not bad, may also even be funny!
Purge #1 of 4 (Ania)
From August 1993:
A completely low-rent answer to Milestone (gosh, tons of references to Milestone in this Blitz!), with poor production values. This is the kind of description that gets me in trouble. It's not that bad. But it's not Milestone, either.
Q-Unit #1 (Harris)
From December 1993:
Harris Comics was known for Vampirella. Let's just leave it at that.
Quagmire USA #1 (Antarctic Press)
From March 1994:
A spinoff from Ninja High School, which Antarctic had recently reacquired, and probably only decipherable by those fans.
The Queen of the Damned #9 of 12 (Innovation)
From September 1993
The Queen of the Damned #11 of 12
From December 1993:
Anne Rice was pretty huge at the time, thanks to Interview with the Vampire. Queen of the Damned became a movie, too, a decade later. For some reason Lestat in this comic seems to be based on Christopher Lambert (very noticeable on the cover of #9), erstwhile Highlander. Pretty fascinating stuff, though.
Quest for Dreams Lost (Literacy Volunteers of Chicago)
From 1987:
Anthology meant to promote adult literacy. Ironically, it could have used more thorough editing. One segment features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Also features the first professional work of the late Mike Parobeck!
Robin Annual #3 (DC)
From 1994:
The theme of DC's 1994 Annuals was Elseworlds, a concept that replaced the multiverse during that decade, and gave fans a ton of alternate versions of their favorite characters. This one, from Chuck Dixon, places the Batman mythos in feudal Japan, to remarkable effect. Batman is Robin's sensei, and protector of a besieged lord. And it only becomes more complicated. Batman dies early in the story, leaving Robin to figure out how to avenge him (or not, which is his mentor's dying wish). Eventually, Robin runs into Catwoman. A lot of it plays like a version of Robin's experiences following "Knightfall," but infinitely more awesome. The thing about these one-shot comics, annuals or not, especially if they're set in an alternate reality, is that fans are not likely to remember them. I could read a whole series based on Ninja Robin, but this is certainly enough of a taste to know how well it works. It's not surprising that Dixon would write a lot more martial arts comics following this effort.
Rogues Gallery (DC)
From 1996:
Basically an excuse for a pinup gallery of DC's villains, with Underworld Unleashed as the inspiration. Said title was a crossover event from Mark Waid and Howard Porter, whose main benefit was to help differentiate Captain Marvel from Superman. Come to think of it, that was the point of Kingdom Come, too. Why hasn't Waid written more Captain Marvel?
Rust #5 (Now)
From 1989:
Ed Brubaker, thank this comic for having something to be ten times better than.
The Saga of Original Man #1 (Omega 7)
From 192:
Remember what I was saying about Milestone (!) and Purge earlier? Original Man is exactly what Purge wasn't. It's bad comics. Pretty much hilariously bad. I think I went to middle school with kids who did better work than this.
The Saga of the Sub-Mariner #3 of 12 (Marvel)
From January 1989:
Let me set some context here: Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is literally one of Marvel's original creations. It's baffling that in seven decades no one has ever figured out what to do with him. Aquaman has a better track record. Aquaman!!!
Savage Dragon #2 (Image)
From July 1993
Savage Dragon #23
From October 1995:
Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon is basically an ongoing parody of traditional superhero comics. The second issue of the series apparently featured the Ninja Turtles (two appearances in this Blitz?!?), while the 23rd features girls with boobs, at least one of them in a costume that could not logically contain them, and certainly not in battle! And Savage Dragon is one of two Image series that is still in regular publication from the earliest days. Is it really any wonder that the company basically abandoned the superhero format years ago, with few exceptions?
Secret Weapons #13 (Valiant)
From October 1994:
I'm not really sure what this was supposed to be about. And I have two copies of this issue.
Shadowman #22 (Valiant)
From February 1994
Shadowman #23
From March 1994:
Valiant was one of the companies that tried to support the superhero line that invariably includes Solar, X-O, Turok, Magnus...Shadowman does not belong in this company. I'm not sure what's going on here, either.
The Shadow #8 (DC)
From March 1988
The Shadow #9
From April 1988
The Shadow #10
From May 1988:
I'm now at something at a loss to reconcile something. If you will remember (or have a look through my Challengers of the Unknown label), I became a little obsessed with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!, a precursor to The Long Halloween and other famed and popular collaborations. Must Die, however, was not popular. The world wasn't yet ready for Sale's art, for one thing. Except these issues of The Shadow suggest precedent. From Andy Helfer (better known as an editor) and Kyle Baker's debut on the title, these issues are so similar to Loeb and Sale's work with the Challengers that I can't help but assume a few things: that, for one, Loeb was inspired by this work when he was making the decision to enter the comics field; that perhaps I read or at least looked at these comics when I first received the Blitz; and that subconsciously my interest in Must Die was derived from them. One way or another, memorable stuff.
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #7 (Marvel)
From December 1992
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #8
From January 1993
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #9
From February 1993:
Marvel's bad girl comics!
Space: Above and Beyond #3 of 3 (Topps)
From March 1996:
Based on the short-lived TV series, think of it as Star Wars by way of BattleStar Galactica by way of Top Gun by way of Wing Commander...Features art from Yanick Paquette.
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #1 of 10 (Eternity)
From September 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #2
From September 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #3
From October 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tim Corbett #4
From November 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #5
From December 1990:
Reprints of classic daily comic strips from September 1951 to July 1952 (and that's half the series, on both accounts) featuring that guy you may recognize from the poster on Leonard and Sheldon's wall in The Big Bang Theory. This is surprisingly interesting stuff, vintage sci-fi that with the right treatment could totally be revived today (if you doubt me, remember One Mile Up).
Superman Adventures #2 (DC)
From December 1996:
Featuring Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), based on the second Bruce Timm/Paul Dini animated series.
Tempus Fugitive #1 of 4 (DC)
From 1990:
Not as compelling as My Name Is Chaos, but another prestige format limited series that nonetheless interesting.
They Were 11 #3 of 4 (Viz)
From 1995
They Were 11 #4
From 1995:
A manga that I found to be enjoyable, perhaps because it features some interesting character work.
The Mighty Thor Annual #15
From 1990
The Mighty Thor Annual #17
From 1992:
My attitude toward Thor, at least in these stories, is very similar to the Inhumans. Remember what that was?
Triumph #1 of 4 (DC)
From June 1995:
Marvel's Sentry was Marvel's version of Triumph, an attempt to retroactively add an iconic superhero to the history books. Neither of them is around today.
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #43 (Valiant)
From May 1996
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #44
From May 1996:
Although this is some fairly generic Native American storytelling, it's still heads and shoulders above most of the other stuff in the Blitz, so it counts as a win. It's surprising that no company has been able to keep Turok and the several others like him in publication, or that any major company hasn't snapped them up, or whatever it would take to bring them some stability.
Venom: Nights of Vengeance #3 of 4 (Marvel)
From October 1994
Venom: Lethal Protector #4 of 6
From May 1993:
The other curious development of '90s Spider-Man besides the Clone Saga was the attempt to make Venom as pretty much originally envisioned a star. I know everyone was wild about him...But really?
Warchild #4 (Maximum Press)
From August 1995:
Maximim was one of several versions of Rob Liefield's own publishing line after Image no longer wanted him (the best attempt was literally Awesome). That's the only thing notable about this comic.
The Web #2 (Impact)
From October 1991:
Archie's Red Circle superheroes are in the same boat as Turok & pals: no one can figure out how to keep them in publication, and many have tried. Impact was DC's first attempt (the recent Web series from Marc Guggenheim and Roger Robinson was worth the effort, but I was one of its few fans). It obviously didn't work.
What If? #40 (Marvel)
From August 1992:
What If? is basically Marvel's long-running version of Elseworlds, only far less awesome, often very pedestrian look at what would have happened if something from a particular story had turned out differently. In this instance, what if Storm hadn't joined the X-Men? As this story posits, nothing about her life would have changed except joining the X-Men. How fascinating!
Avengers West Coast #48 (Marvel)
From September 1989:
Anyone who thought Scarlet Witch's predicaments since House of M are unique for the character probably aren't aware of just how obsessively Marvel keeps track of its own comics and keeps using even the most ridiculous developments to inform new stories (thankfully, there are limits). In this issue (from another time there were a bunch of Avengers teams running around), Wanda is being held captive and exploited by an evil organization. From the mind of John Byrne.
Cable #33 (Marvel)
From July 1996:
Jeph Loeb seems to thrive better in shorter assignments than when he's called to work in a more ongoing capacity (he got around this in his seminal Superman/Batman by working on very specific arcs). In the last Blitz, I dismissed Cable as just another symptom of the mediocre X-Men '90s, but it's worth noting that Loeb and James Robinson wrote those (and they were released in 1997). I won't say they're good, but they do have the hallmark character work, even if it's mired in uninteresting material that someone at Marvel thought was awesome at the time (I appreciated DC at the time because it avoided what the rest of the industry was doing). Are these comics worth a look? Well, only just that.
Concrete: Think Like a Mountain #2 (Dark House)
From April 1996:
For some of you newer comics readers, Concrete was pretty big at the time, basically what Hellboy is today for Dark Horse. He was a human trapped in an alien body, which as "Concrete" suggests basically turned him into the Fantastic Four's Thing. Except Concrete was not the Thing. He was a lot like a mountain, actually. And creator Paul Chadwick was an unapologetic environmentalist (if you don't believe me, check out this issue for the bonus material alone), and that's what this comic is all about. To Chadwick's credit, at least in this issue he allows Concrete to be fairly (typically) impassive. I wonder why the character didn't resurface in the wake of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth campaign (famously more passionate than his presidential one). Now Chadwick seems content to leave Concrete as a curious artifact.
Damage Control #3 of 4 (Marvel)
From January 1990:
This seems to be Marvel's version of DC's (in)famous Bwa-ha-ha Justice League, a jokey look at the more routine (and less reverent) corners of the superhero life. These guys try to clean up the damage left behind, hence the title. She-Hulk dominates the issue, however, with not a little assist from her gimmick at the time, breaking the fourth wall.
Elven #4 (Malibu)
From May 1995:
Malibu may be obscurely known today for giving us the Men in Black concept that led to the movies, but at the time it made a game attempt to join the superhero big leagues with its Ultraverse line, which Marvel eventually absorbed and forgot about. Less forgettable than the star of this book is guest-star I'm-Definitely-NOT-Captain-Marvel Prime.
Ex-Mutants #14 (Malibu)
From March 1993:
Speaking of the Ultraverse, this was another of its efforts. It's forgotten now, but in the early '90s several companies attempt to make their own mutant franchises. This one did not make its intentions subtle. It was also not especially good.
Freex #4 (Malibu)
From October 1993:
Another offering from Ultraverse, this one was easily the bunch of the three. But it had a terrible title. Hence another reason why nobody remembers it. From writer Gerard Jones, who was a notable Green Lantern creator. Very reminiscent of DC's later Primal Force, part of the original Zero Month.
Give Me Liberty #1 (Dark Horse)
June 1990:
That there are people who argue Frank Miller hates women (mostly because in Sin City they're all strippers) is a little surprising, considering he's responsible for the creation of Martha Washington. No, the first president's wife was not a time-hopping robot. This Martha Washington lives in a future where everything bad about America has only gotten worse. Miller (and artist Dave Gibbons, who must have felt a certain amount of deja vu, having worked on Watchmen a few years earlier) tracks Martha's life in this issue from 1995 to 2010, as she grows up in a district/asylum for the underprivileged and escapes it by enlisting in the military. Forced into desperate acts that appall her, Martha is always sympathetic. I always knew this one was in the collection, but never got around to reading it, which is just as well, because I think I appreciate it more now than I would have ten years ago. The character last appeared in 2007, but already by then was a forgotten piece of Miller's legacy, which is a pity.
Guardians of the Galaxy #53 (Marvel)
From October 1994
Guardians of the Galaxy #56
From January 1995:
A Marvel book from the '90s that looks like an Image book from the '90s, especially that first issue. I think these guys were Marvel's attempt at an answer for DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, a team set a thousand years in the future.
Hawkman #7 (DC)
From March 1994:
Featuring Mongrel, another character created during the 1993 Bloodlines Annuals event, and a version of Hawkman that was very Native American (it's curious, because Zero Hour was supposed to have made Hawkman less schizophrenic). Actually pretty interesting, though I thought the Bloodlines characters on the whole were a lot more interesting than their legacy suggests. If you want some 2012 context, I think what happened was that fans at the time thought they were just an attempt to cash in on the Image phenomenon. No, fans, that's the horrible art in Guardians of the Galaxy #53. Bloodlines was awesome, and I will not rest until I resurrect what it achieved.
Heroes #3 (Milestone)
From July 1996:
No, not a comic based on a TV show that debuted a decade later (seek Isaac Mendez elsewhere). Rather, this was Milestone's attempt to be a little more mainstream. On all accounts, Milestone was already mainstream. Icon was a Superman figure. Hardware was an Iron Man figure. Static was a Spider-Man figure. The Blood Syndicate was an Image figure (see!). But they were all black. Heroes, then, was an attempt to try and make Milestone more relatable. The body builder-esque female Donner was white (or certainly looks it). Reads almost like a Kurt Busiek comic today.
The Inhumans Special #1 (Marvel)
From April 1990:
I've never been able to care for the Inhumans, basically a version of Jack Kirby's New Gods as if they were mutants and thus perpetual outcasts (or, the popular reception of the New Gods!). This did not change my opinion. Possibly doesn't help that the cover touts their first encounter with the Fantastic Four. Which really doesn't amount to anything special.
My Name Is Chaos #3 of 4 (DC)
From 1992:
From writer Tom Veitch, this was one of the big discoveries from this batch, part of a prestige format mini-series that today reads like a version of Ridley Scott's Prometheus that doesn't become a horror story midway through. Ideally this would be another comic that would not have been forgotten. Though popular reception of Martian tales does seem to be a dicey affair, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. I will probably attempt to read the rest of this one.
The Omega Men #21 (DC)
From December 1984
The Omega Men #27
From June 1985:
Pretty much rubbish, but the second issue does reference Peter Pan, so I may have to have another look at some point.
One Mile Up #1 of 5 (Eclipse)
From December 1991:
Terrible cover, but what's inside is pretty awesome, like an updated version of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (more on that later!), so that was a nice surprise.
The Origin of the Defiant Universe (Defiant)
From February 1994:
Jim Shooter kicked around for quite a while, trying to jumpstart new or existing characters outside of the Big Two (he's probably still at it), and this was one of those efforts, an ambitious prose introduction that's like Jack Kirby's New Gods (there they are again!). In all likelihood, the resulting comics were not worth this effort, but at least this was interesting!
Shakespeare's Othello (Tome Press)
From 1993:
Actually a very interesting adaptation, from David J. Verruni. Previously I was most familiar with the play thanks to Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Fishburne. Though somehow I had more sympathy for Othello when he was Morpheus...
Outbreed 999 #1 (Black Out)
From May 1994
Outbreed 999 #2
From July 1994:
I kind of feel bad for small press creators when they don't seem to realize that something about their effort is obviously small press. The art, in this instance. And maybe the lack of subtlety.
Overland Magazine #1 (Eclipse)
From April 1987:
An anthology of small press black-and-white comics!
Oz: Romance in Rags #2 (Caliber)
From 1996
Oz: Romance in Rags #3
From 1996
Oz #11
From 1995
Oz #12
From 1995:
In a lot of ways, Eric Shanower and Skottie Young have completely spoiled me. Their Oz adaptations from Marvel have come to represent L. Frank Baum's original intentions (and not just because they adapt Baum's original books directly). So it's both a good and bad thing to read these Oz comics now. Shanower and Young have helped me catch up on some Oz lore that would not be apparent from the Judy Garland movie or the first book, so it's better that I read these comics now than when I originally got them, because the appropriate context would not be there for me to even begin to appreciate the work. Young especially has come to represent my ideal Baum artist. These comics do not feature Skottie Young. But they're not as bad as they would have seemed without the context. It is still unfortunate that anyone might have had to accept this as Oz material. It's not bad, it's just not what it could be. And it takes Oz in a direction that doesn't jive with Baum's original spirit. Except if you know how he kind of it himself. Emphasis on kind of.
Prince (Piranha)
From 1991:
The best thing about this comic (from a DC imprint) is that it was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan, who would later make their reputations on Milestone (McDuffie passed away last year). The rest of it is a daydream of the pop musician's ego. So yes, it features "When Doves Cry" Prince. It's not terrible, but it is ludicrous.
Pummeller $2099 #1 (Parody Press)
From 1993:
A parody of Punisher 2099 (in case that wasn't obvious). Not bad, may also even be funny!
Purge #1 of 4 (Ania)
From August 1993:
A completely low-rent answer to Milestone (gosh, tons of references to Milestone in this Blitz!), with poor production values. This is the kind of description that gets me in trouble. It's not that bad. But it's not Milestone, either.
Q-Unit #1 (Harris)
From December 1993:
Harris Comics was known for Vampirella. Let's just leave it at that.
Quagmire USA #1 (Antarctic Press)
From March 1994:
A spinoff from Ninja High School, which Antarctic had recently reacquired, and probably only decipherable by those fans.
The Queen of the Damned #9 of 12 (Innovation)
From September 1993
The Queen of the Damned #11 of 12
From December 1993:
Anne Rice was pretty huge at the time, thanks to Interview with the Vampire. Queen of the Damned became a movie, too, a decade later. For some reason Lestat in this comic seems to be based on Christopher Lambert (very noticeable on the cover of #9), erstwhile Highlander. Pretty fascinating stuff, though.
Quest for Dreams Lost (Literacy Volunteers of Chicago)
From 1987:
Anthology meant to promote adult literacy. Ironically, it could have used more thorough editing. One segment features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Also features the first professional work of the late Mike Parobeck!
Robin Annual #3 (DC)
From 1994:
The theme of DC's 1994 Annuals was Elseworlds, a concept that replaced the multiverse during that decade, and gave fans a ton of alternate versions of their favorite characters. This one, from Chuck Dixon, places the Batman mythos in feudal Japan, to remarkable effect. Batman is Robin's sensei, and protector of a besieged lord. And it only becomes more complicated. Batman dies early in the story, leaving Robin to figure out how to avenge him (or not, which is his mentor's dying wish). Eventually, Robin runs into Catwoman. A lot of it plays like a version of Robin's experiences following "Knightfall," but infinitely more awesome. The thing about these one-shot comics, annuals or not, especially if they're set in an alternate reality, is that fans are not likely to remember them. I could read a whole series based on Ninja Robin, but this is certainly enough of a taste to know how well it works. It's not surprising that Dixon would write a lot more martial arts comics following this effort.
Rogues Gallery (DC)
From 1996:
Basically an excuse for a pinup gallery of DC's villains, with Underworld Unleashed as the inspiration. Said title was a crossover event from Mark Waid and Howard Porter, whose main benefit was to help differentiate Captain Marvel from Superman. Come to think of it, that was the point of Kingdom Come, too. Why hasn't Waid written more Captain Marvel?
Rust #5 (Now)
From 1989:
Ed Brubaker, thank this comic for having something to be ten times better than.
The Saga of Original Man #1 (Omega 7)
From 192:
Remember what I was saying about Milestone (!) and Purge earlier? Original Man is exactly what Purge wasn't. It's bad comics. Pretty much hilariously bad. I think I went to middle school with kids who did better work than this.
The Saga of the Sub-Mariner #3 of 12 (Marvel)
From January 1989:
Let me set some context here: Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is literally one of Marvel's original creations. It's baffling that in seven decades no one has ever figured out what to do with him. Aquaman has a better track record. Aquaman!!!
Savage Dragon #2 (Image)
From July 1993
Savage Dragon #23
From October 1995:
Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon is basically an ongoing parody of traditional superhero comics. The second issue of the series apparently featured the Ninja Turtles (two appearances in this Blitz?!?), while the 23rd features girls with boobs, at least one of them in a costume that could not logically contain them, and certainly not in battle! And Savage Dragon is one of two Image series that is still in regular publication from the earliest days. Is it really any wonder that the company basically abandoned the superhero format years ago, with few exceptions?
Secret Weapons #13 (Valiant)
From October 1994:
I'm not really sure what this was supposed to be about. And I have two copies of this issue.
Shadowman #22 (Valiant)
From February 1994
Shadowman #23
From March 1994:
Valiant was one of the companies that tried to support the superhero line that invariably includes Solar, X-O, Turok, Magnus...Shadowman does not belong in this company. I'm not sure what's going on here, either.
The Shadow #8 (DC)
From March 1988
The Shadow #9
From April 1988
The Shadow #10
From May 1988:
I'm now at something at a loss to reconcile something. If you will remember (or have a look through my Challengers of the Unknown label), I became a little obsessed with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!, a precursor to The Long Halloween and other famed and popular collaborations. Must Die, however, was not popular. The world wasn't yet ready for Sale's art, for one thing. Except these issues of The Shadow suggest precedent. From Andy Helfer (better known as an editor) and Kyle Baker's debut on the title, these issues are so similar to Loeb and Sale's work with the Challengers that I can't help but assume a few things: that, for one, Loeb was inspired by this work when he was making the decision to enter the comics field; that perhaps I read or at least looked at these comics when I first received the Blitz; and that subconsciously my interest in Must Die was derived from them. One way or another, memorable stuff.
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #7 (Marvel)
From December 1992
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #8
From January 1993
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #9
From February 1993:
Marvel's bad girl comics!
Space: Above and Beyond #3 of 3 (Topps)
From March 1996:
Based on the short-lived TV series, think of it as Star Wars by way of BattleStar Galactica by way of Top Gun by way of Wing Commander...Features art from Yanick Paquette.
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #1 of 10 (Eternity)
From September 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #2
From September 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #3
From October 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tim Corbett #4
From November 1990
Space Cadet: The Original Tom Corbett #5
From December 1990:
Reprints of classic daily comic strips from September 1951 to July 1952 (and that's half the series, on both accounts) featuring that guy you may recognize from the poster on Leonard and Sheldon's wall in The Big Bang Theory. This is surprisingly interesting stuff, vintage sci-fi that with the right treatment could totally be revived today (if you doubt me, remember One Mile Up).
Superman Adventures #2 (DC)
From December 1996:
Featuring Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), based on the second Bruce Timm/Paul Dini animated series.
Tempus Fugitive #1 of 4 (DC)
From 1990:
Not as compelling as My Name Is Chaos, but another prestige format limited series that nonetheless interesting.
They Were 11 #3 of 4 (Viz)
From 1995
They Were 11 #4
From 1995:
A manga that I found to be enjoyable, perhaps because it features some interesting character work.
The Mighty Thor Annual #15
From 1990
The Mighty Thor Annual #17
From 1992:
My attitude toward Thor, at least in these stories, is very similar to the Inhumans. Remember what that was?
Triumph #1 of 4 (DC)
From June 1995:
Marvel's Sentry was Marvel's version of Triumph, an attempt to retroactively add an iconic superhero to the history books. Neither of them is around today.
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #43 (Valiant)
From May 1996
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #44
From May 1996:
Although this is some fairly generic Native American storytelling, it's still heads and shoulders above most of the other stuff in the Blitz, so it counts as a win. It's surprising that no company has been able to keep Turok and the several others like him in publication, or that any major company hasn't snapped them up, or whatever it would take to bring them some stability.
Venom: Nights of Vengeance #3 of 4 (Marvel)
From October 1994
Venom: Lethal Protector #4 of 6
From May 1993:
The other curious development of '90s Spider-Man besides the Clone Saga was the attempt to make Venom as pretty much originally envisioned a star. I know everyone was wild about him...But really?
Warchild #4 (Maximum Press)
From August 1995:
Maximim was one of several versions of Rob Liefield's own publishing line after Image no longer wanted him (the best attempt was literally Awesome). That's the only thing notable about this comic.
The Web #2 (Impact)
From October 1991:
Archie's Red Circle superheroes are in the same boat as Turok & pals: no one can figure out how to keep them in publication, and many have tried. Impact was DC's first attempt (the recent Web series from Marc Guggenheim and Roger Robinson was worth the effort, but I was one of its few fans). It obviously didn't work.
What If? #40 (Marvel)
From August 1992:
What If? is basically Marvel's long-running version of Elseworlds, only far less awesome, often very pedestrian look at what would have happened if something from a particular story had turned out differently. In this instance, what if Storm hadn't joined the X-Men? As this story posits, nothing about her life would have changed except joining the X-Men. How fascinating!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Cobra Annual 2012
writer: Chuck Dixon
artist: SL Gallant
Normally IDW's Cobra series demands to be written by Mike Costa (with or without Christos Gage and most frequently illustrated by Antonio Fuso), who seemed like the only creator capable of providing the trademark character-based storytelling required to deliver the Cobra perspective from a truly compelling, psychological perspective. I've just learned that Chuck Dixon can do it, too. (This is the first time someone other than Costa or Gage, who left a few years ago, has written one of the company's G.I. Joe books with "Cobra" in the name.) Dixon wrote a Zartan origin that suggested to a certain extent that he might be qualified, but now he's stepped up fully to the plate. This is a sign that the company realizes more than ever that the Cobra books are the best thing it's got in this franchise. After "Cobra Civil War" spun out of G.I. Joe: Cobra (which was quickly relaunched simply as Cobra), it was easy to get that impression, but this has got to be the defining turning point. The story's not too bad, either, in case you were wondering. The new Cobra Commander is a completely new character, and his origin helps fit him in with everything Costa has done with the characters who used to be one-dimensional villains. I have to imagine that Costa himself didn't write this one due to his recently cancelled Black Hawks (which curiously lacked any real sense of character) work at DC. All I can say is, I hope IDW does more and more G.I. Joe stuff like this.
artist: SL Gallant
Normally IDW's Cobra series demands to be written by Mike Costa (with or without Christos Gage and most frequently illustrated by Antonio Fuso), who seemed like the only creator capable of providing the trademark character-based storytelling required to deliver the Cobra perspective from a truly compelling, psychological perspective. I've just learned that Chuck Dixon can do it, too. (This is the first time someone other than Costa or Gage, who left a few years ago, has written one of the company's G.I. Joe books with "Cobra" in the name.) Dixon wrote a Zartan origin that suggested to a certain extent that he might be qualified, but now he's stepped up fully to the plate. This is a sign that the company realizes more than ever that the Cobra books are the best thing it's got in this franchise. After "Cobra Civil War" spun out of G.I. Joe: Cobra (which was quickly relaunched simply as Cobra), it was easy to get that impression, but this has got to be the defining turning point. The story's not too bad, either, in case you were wondering. The new Cobra Commander is a completely new character, and his origin helps fit him in with everything Costa has done with the characters who used to be one-dimensional villains. I have to imagine that Costa himself didn't write this one due to his recently cancelled Black Hawks (which curiously lacked any real sense of character) work at DC. All I can say is, I hope IDW does more and more G.I. Joe stuff like this.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Quarter Bin #22 "Smattering of DC from 1986-2002"
NIGHTWING SECRET FILES & ORIGINS
From October 1999.
DC’s SECRET FILES & ORIGINS specials were some of the best things the company did in the 1990s, and something I still wish they’d bring back. This one, obviously, spotlights Dick Grayson from a few months after I was forced to abandon comics for the first time (I should probably reiterate, because 2011 hasn’t exactly seemed to prove it so far here at Comics Reader, but for economic reasons I’ve “retired” from collecting new comics for the second time), just three years after his first series launched. As readers will remember, Dick assigned himself to the We-only-wish-we-were-as-good-as-Gotham neighbor Bludhaven, which was filled with police corruption so thick Chuck Dixon’s Dudley Soames beat Geoff Johns’ Hunter Zolomon by a few years as a police inspector who later turned into a villain (Soames becoming the subsequently underutilized Torque, while Zolomon became the new Reverse Flash). It was during this time that Dick sort of became DC’s Daredevil, with Blockbuster becoming Bludhaven’s Kingpin (with an epic payoff Devin Grayson got to script; it still kills me that her tenure still gets very little respect). The contents were typically stellar: beyond profiles of characters relevant to the series (including a new villain named Shrike who apparently had close ties to Dick) and a chronology from the rise of Robin to the most recent developments in the NIGHTWING series; to a couple of short stories, one of which is written by Dixon with art from Scott McDaniel (the blockbuster team from the earliest run on the book) and actually involves a nod to Jason Todd and two by Devin Grayson, one harking back to the Wolfman/Perez Titans and the other to Dick’s torturous history with women. In short, this is a perfect book for any fan of Dick Grayson, from 1999 and even in 2011, something that will remind readers just how much potential the character has, as well as his rich history.
SUPERBOY #100
From July 2002.
The final issue of the modern Superboy’s first series is perhaps a good indication that at least at that point he really was ready to take a break. The fun starts off with Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett reuniting one more time (they were the creative team who helped launch the character in 1993, as well as the series, and a return engagement hugely inspired by Jack Kirby at the midpoint of the series), marred only by Grummett’s decreased ability (or willingness) to replicate the style he’d made famous throughout the previous decade (he’s one artist who should either be absolutely consistent or completely change his style, because his work in this issue is almost painful to see). From there, the creative team that’d been working on the book in its final issues takes over, and consists of Jimmy Palmiotti and Dan DiDio as writers (and it’s worth noting that DiDio did begin his DC tenure as a writer, which makes his current efforts, which began a few years ago with THE OUTSIDERS not as much of a stretch as some fans might believe) and John McCrea somehow doing even worse art than Grummett-in-this-issue. Clearly the new team had attempted to push Superboy in a completely new direction, almost completely revamping him (which is something I hate for creative teams to do, ignoring someone else’s continuity and replacing it with something that isn’t as interesting but is superficially similar and in short not inspired in the least). The elements they worked with might have actually worked with only a few keys differences (first of which would have been a different artist), but as it is, this left Superboy free to be reimagined by Geoff Johns (who had retroactively-famously proposed his vision in SUPERBOY’s letters column years earlier), and in turn receive a complete reboot this year as part of the New 52, which was probably for the best.
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #65
From August 1992.
As I wrote about in QB #19, Dan Jurgens and his brief run with the Justice League is probably more memorable to me than for most fans, and a large part of that is the debut of a subsequently obscure character, Bloodwynd. I have a feeling that Dan’s whole run with the League was meant to hinge around the “Doomsday” story (which as of this issue was only about five months ahead), and so it was probably shorter than he’d intended, or at least readers like me would’ve hoped. Maxima, who’s apparently returning in the New 52 with a more alien look, is in the spotlight this issue.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #10
From February 1988.
From the early days of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire run, it shows because the classic line-up isn’t even in place yet, but the spirit of the enterprise already well on display. There are four Green Lanterns featured in this issue, one of them being Hal Jordan, and all the others members who don’t really matter in the modern era (Arisia, who comes closest; G’Nort, who is actually referred to as Gnort in this early appearance; and Katma Tui, who was Soranik Natu’s predecessor as Sinestro’s successor). Features the Manhunters and is a “Millennium” crossover from Week 5 (so says the cover!).
SECRET ORIGINS #2
From May 1986.
From the post-CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS version of the New 52 reboot comes this dual origin for the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, and his subsequent replacement, Ted Kord, from Len Wein and Gil Kane. It’d be interesting what a modern creator could do with either one, because what’s presented here hasn’t exactly dated very well. Still, extremely interesting to have, including the Beetle publishing history included in the letters column.
STARMAN #80
From August 2001.
The final issue of James Robinson’s epic (before the Blackest Night resurrection issue) is something I felt like reading long before the Omnibus business I talked about a few months back (and in fact thanks very much to the Blackest Night issue, to link these parenthetical phrases). As expected from the style of the series, the issue deals with Jack Knight’s farewell to Opal and his supporting cast, and in Robinson’s own farewell note, THE SHADE series that has only now just been undertaken is referenced, in case you were keeping score.
From October 1999.
DC’s SECRET FILES & ORIGINS specials were some of the best things the company did in the 1990s, and something I still wish they’d bring back. This one, obviously, spotlights Dick Grayson from a few months after I was forced to abandon comics for the first time (I should probably reiterate, because 2011 hasn’t exactly seemed to prove it so far here at Comics Reader, but for economic reasons I’ve “retired” from collecting new comics for the second time), just three years after his first series launched. As readers will remember, Dick assigned himself to the We-only-wish-we-were-as-good-as-Gotham neighbor Bludhaven, which was filled with police corruption so thick Chuck Dixon’s Dudley Soames beat Geoff Johns’ Hunter Zolomon by a few years as a police inspector who later turned into a villain (Soames becoming the subsequently underutilized Torque, while Zolomon became the new Reverse Flash). It was during this time that Dick sort of became DC’s Daredevil, with Blockbuster becoming Bludhaven’s Kingpin (with an epic payoff Devin Grayson got to script; it still kills me that her tenure still gets very little respect). The contents were typically stellar: beyond profiles of characters relevant to the series (including a new villain named Shrike who apparently had close ties to Dick) and a chronology from the rise of Robin to the most recent developments in the NIGHTWING series; to a couple of short stories, one of which is written by Dixon with art from Scott McDaniel (the blockbuster team from the earliest run on the book) and actually involves a nod to Jason Todd and two by Devin Grayson, one harking back to the Wolfman/Perez Titans and the other to Dick’s torturous history with women. In short, this is a perfect book for any fan of Dick Grayson, from 1999 and even in 2011, something that will remind readers just how much potential the character has, as well as his rich history.
SUPERBOY #100
From July 2002.
The final issue of the modern Superboy’s first series is perhaps a good indication that at least at that point he really was ready to take a break. The fun starts off with Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett reuniting one more time (they were the creative team who helped launch the character in 1993, as well as the series, and a return engagement hugely inspired by Jack Kirby at the midpoint of the series), marred only by Grummett’s decreased ability (or willingness) to replicate the style he’d made famous throughout the previous decade (he’s one artist who should either be absolutely consistent or completely change his style, because his work in this issue is almost painful to see). From there, the creative team that’d been working on the book in its final issues takes over, and consists of Jimmy Palmiotti and Dan DiDio as writers (and it’s worth noting that DiDio did begin his DC tenure as a writer, which makes his current efforts, which began a few years ago with THE OUTSIDERS not as much of a stretch as some fans might believe) and John McCrea somehow doing even worse art than Grummett-in-this-issue. Clearly the new team had attempted to push Superboy in a completely new direction, almost completely revamping him (which is something I hate for creative teams to do, ignoring someone else’s continuity and replacing it with something that isn’t as interesting but is superficially similar and in short not inspired in the least). The elements they worked with might have actually worked with only a few keys differences (first of which would have been a different artist), but as it is, this left Superboy free to be reimagined by Geoff Johns (who had retroactively-famously proposed his vision in SUPERBOY’s letters column years earlier), and in turn receive a complete reboot this year as part of the New 52, which was probably for the best.
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #65
From August 1992.
As I wrote about in QB #19, Dan Jurgens and his brief run with the Justice League is probably more memorable to me than for most fans, and a large part of that is the debut of a subsequently obscure character, Bloodwynd. I have a feeling that Dan’s whole run with the League was meant to hinge around the “Doomsday” story (which as of this issue was only about five months ahead), and so it was probably shorter than he’d intended, or at least readers like me would’ve hoped. Maxima, who’s apparently returning in the New 52 with a more alien look, is in the spotlight this issue.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #10
From February 1988.
From the early days of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire run, it shows because the classic line-up isn’t even in place yet, but the spirit of the enterprise already well on display. There are four Green Lanterns featured in this issue, one of them being Hal Jordan, and all the others members who don’t really matter in the modern era (Arisia, who comes closest; G’Nort, who is actually referred to as Gnort in this early appearance; and Katma Tui, who was Soranik Natu’s predecessor as Sinestro’s successor). Features the Manhunters and is a “Millennium” crossover from Week 5 (so says the cover!).
SECRET ORIGINS #2
From May 1986.
From the post-CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS version of the New 52 reboot comes this dual origin for the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, and his subsequent replacement, Ted Kord, from Len Wein and Gil Kane. It’d be interesting what a modern creator could do with either one, because what’s presented here hasn’t exactly dated very well. Still, extremely interesting to have, including the Beetle publishing history included in the letters column.
STARMAN #80
From August 2001.
The final issue of James Robinson’s epic (before the Blackest Night resurrection issue) is something I felt like reading long before the Omnibus business I talked about a few months back (and in fact thanks very much to the Blackest Night issue, to link these parenthetical phrases). As expected from the style of the series, the issue deals with Jack Knight’s farewell to Opal and his supporting cast, and in Robinson’s own farewell note, THE SHADE series that has only now just been undertaken is referenced, in case you were keeping score.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Quarter Bin #17 "Nightwing and other legacies"
Amidst the eternal partisan bickering between DC and Marvel fans is the debate about which company has amassed a greater legacy. Marvel fans are cocky about the fact that they’ve had the superior sales number for years now, and can point to a remarkably consistent continuity dating back to the dawn of the Marvel Age in the 1960s as proof. DC can still argue that it’s been around longer, and that Batman and Superman are still more iconic than Spider-Man and the X-Men.
Me, I still like to talk in derivatives. Deadpool, the wisecracking “Merc with a Mouth,” is in some respects the mutant version of Spidey (as if the mask isn’t, well, a dead giveaway), who is in many ways a knockoff of Robin, the Boy Wonder sidekick of Batman introduced decades earlier. Robin is also known as Dick Grayson, who in later years evolved into the character known as Nightwing (who has just completed a second and very successful run as a replacement Batman, thank you very much). The one thing, beyond smart aleck humor, that Spidey and Dickey have in common is that they were both originally intended to be reader surrogates, someone young fans could identify with. Both have gone a long way toward growing up, however, and much as the median age of fans has gone up, so too has the base age of Misters Parker and Grayson.
When Mark Waid envisioned the future of the DC Universe, he paired Grayson with his sometime Teen Titans love Starfire, and even gave them an offspring, who looked a lot like mommy and went by the name Nightstar in her own crime-fighting career. When he revisited the Kingdom in 1998, he made it a point to spend some time with young Nightstar. I’ll begin this column’s issue commentary with a few of these KINGDOM spotlight spinoffs, more comics I caught up with years later…
THE KINGDOM: SON OF THE BAT (DC)
From February 1999.
Waid had no idea that his seminal KINGDOM COME would not actually endure as a symbol of DC’s future. How could he? When Magog finally appeared in regular continuity and actually got his own ongoing series, fans responded with apathy. What’s more, Grant Morrison decided to capitalize on the obscure scion of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, daughter of the Demon, Ra’s al Ghul, reshaping him as Damian and the other star in BATMAN AND ROBIN (along with…Dick Grayson!). Waid had previously fashioned the youngster as Ibn al Xu’ffasch, which very cleverly translated as, well, “Son of the Bat,” but…didn’t necessarily roll off the tongue. Still, as Waid envisioned him, his future was bright indeed. He was indeed the heir apparent, but he couldn’t quite figure out, even as an adult, to which legacy, to his father, or perhaps to his grandfather. What’s more, he carries on a romance with Nightstar. Egad, could this dude’s life be any more complicated?
THE KINGDOM: NIGHTSTAR (DC)
From February 1999.
Hah! Ibn, you have it so easy! The daughter of Dick Grayson and Starfire is even more angst-ridden! She’s haunted by the legacy of death her family seems to dwell in, constantly fearful that she, too, will lose her parents. (Still, she’s got great genes!) Moreso than with Ibn or any other legacy of KINGDOM COME, Nightstar represents an organic continuation of DC continuity, at least as far as the New Teen Titans go (Dick has since been better linked to Babs Gordon, the once and future Batgirl, naturally), and as such, always stood as the most likely of any future comics prognostications to actually happen (I’m looking at you, Marvel 2099, though unlike virtually everyone else by the end of that extended experiment, I actually enjoyed it more than its more contemporary counterparts). Needless to say, I’d read an ongoing Nightstar series, even today. For anyone who isn’t strictly interested in THE KINGDOM and its obsolete Hypertime outcome, this is something you can still easily read and enjoy. (For anyone who actually is, you’ll find a whole alternate explanation to the origin of Magog, including just who Gog is, which conflicts with the one Geoff Johns later established in the pages of JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA. But, after all, this was originally Waid’s tale.)
THE KINGDOM: KID FLASH (DC)
From February 1999.
The Flash was surprisingly tangential to the overall story in KINGDOM COME, despite the fact that Mark Waid was at the time best known for writing the continuing legacy of the speedster (it was even unclear whether the Mercury-esque figure he and Alex Ross depicted in the 1996 mini-series was Wally West or Jay Garrick). He seemed to make up for that when he got around to THE KINGDOM, and specifically this one-shot, which now stands like a lost gem in the Mark Waid/Flash firmament. Kid Flash in this instance is Iris West, the daughter of Wally West, who has a brother named Barry who’s perpetually disgruntled over the lack of affection they’d gotten from their father, and has rejected the chance to inherit the mantle. Not that Wally has stopped running. In fact, that’s all he ever does, to the point that he’s completely overlooked his daughter’s eagerness to follow in his footsteps (hah!). This whole issue is about Iris trying to get through to him, like a microcosm of Waid’s efforts to establish Wally’s own credentials in the regular FLASH series. As comics fans of 2011 know, Waid did eventually write about Wally West and his two children, but sort of like the immediate follow-up to KINGDOM COME, he was met mostly with disinterest. Funny how things sometimes work out.
One of the themes I routinely return to in this blog is the great exodus I undertook from comics reading in 1999, and how that has regularly provided me with material to revisit for the first time. In some respects, the KINGDOM comics I just wrote about were part of the run-up to this event (Countdown to Schism!), since although I was certainly interested in what Mark Waid had to say about the further adventures of his seminal KINGDOM COME work, I didn’t have the money to read all of them on original release. As I’ve suggested this column, Nightwing/Dick Grayson has been a character I’ve followed throughout my comics experience. His attainment of an ongoing series in 1996 was one of the most important developments of that experience, and something I necessarily had to try and forget when I stopped reading. Nightwing was hot for a short period following the debut of that series, but he was never going to be someone, say in the pages of Wizard magazine, fans in general would breathlessly await the latest storylines concerning. He was always going to play second-fiddle to those he most closely resembled: Batman, Spider-Man, even Daredevil. Aside from the fact that he used to be Robin, Dick just wasn’t in himself an icon. That helped make it easy for Dan DiDio to at one point consider him possible cannon fodder during INFINITE CRISIS. (No, seriously!)
Still, Nightwing comics kept getting written. Chuck Dixon had launched NIGHTWING as writer, and was still at it three years later, and wouldn’t leave the book until 2002. His successor, Devin K. Grayson, was still at it by the time I came back in 2005, but had run afoul of the fans by apparently emasculating Dick in her Tarantula storyline. Anyway, here’re some comics from the limbo period I eventually tracked down:
NIGHTWING: OUR WORLDS AT WAR (DC)
From September 2001.
OUR WORLDS AT WAR was an otherwise forgotten crossover event that symbolized the kind of comics DC was attempting to make at the time, that broke all the rules the previous decade had established, thereby theoretically making it safe for new fans, made famous by the black background amended to Superman’s famous shield, and the incidental timing of the fallout issue released soon after 9/11. Nightwing got his own spotlight special, written by Dixon, in which Dick and Barbara Gordon become entangled in a mostly unrelated plot filled with mind-bending time-travel. See what I mean about Starfire?
NIGHTWING #65 (DC)
From March 2002.
Dixon’s still writing, sharing the Dick Grayson spotlight with the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?” crossover event, one that’s been completely forgotten. Completely miring these efforts is artist Trevor McCarthy, whose cartoony style is a worthy successor to Scott McDaniel and precursor to Phil Hester, at least as far as the Nightwing sequences go, but is completely out of place otherwise. I’m reminded, however, that it was as much letterer John Costanza as Dixon and McDaniel who set the tone for the series, whose style Willie Schubert continues to evoke this issue.
NIGHTWING #69 (DC)
From July 2002.
Dixon has a different artist this issue (William Rosado, for the record), but is still hip-deep in crossover, this time “Bruce Wayne: Fugitive” (of course it’s related to the other one, silly). It’s actually Dixon’s penultimate issue on the book, before his “Nightwing: Year One” arc some thirty issues later.
NIGHTWING #71 (DC)
From September 2002.
Devin Grayson’s debut! Having previously written a Nightwing/Huntress mini-series, not to mention the BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS ongoing title, Devin wasn’t a completely unknown commodity, but judging from letters column comments, she wasn’t an entirely trusted one, either (must have made the backlash all that much easier). I will go on record as saying I probably prefer Devin Grayson’s Nightwing work to just about any other run, including Chuck Dixon’s, which had previously set the standard (and was probably Dixon’s best work).
NIGHTWING #96 (DC)
From October 2004.
Well into Devin’s run, the offending event has already taken place, Tarantula has killed Blockbuster, and everyone’s primed for the big NIGHTWING #100 (which I did get to read upon release!). Serialized comics storytelling just doesn’t get any better than Devin’s Dick Grayson, especially how she managed to so easily transition Dixon’s work into a crescendo that eventually saw Dick “mobbed up” (how these comics have never been collected is one of modern comics’ biggest crimes) and witness to the destruction of his adopted (if horribly named) hometown during INFINITE CRISIS.
NIGHTWING #150 (DC)
From January 2009.
From Grayson there was a succession of writers, including Bruce Jones (never got a chance to find his groove), Marv Wolfman (actually did some interesting things), and Peter Tomasi, who had the chance to illustrate the transition from Nightwing to Batman, as this issue helps explain. This is not, however, the last issue of the series. That bugger proved to be a hell of a challenge to find. At the time, I had just lost Heroes & Dragons as my regular comics supplier, and had not yet chosen Midtown-online as its replacement. I relied instead on a combination of trips to Escape Velocity (never a strictly regular occurrence) and my friend Daniel to stay on top of “Batman R.I.P.,” by far the most important event from that period. I remained obsessed with reading the final NIGHTWING for the next several years. I already had this one.
I have other Nightwing adventures to write about in later editions of Quarter Bin, including, yes, the holy grail I’d sought for so long...
Me, I still like to talk in derivatives. Deadpool, the wisecracking “Merc with a Mouth,” is in some respects the mutant version of Spidey (as if the mask isn’t, well, a dead giveaway), who is in many ways a knockoff of Robin, the Boy Wonder sidekick of Batman introduced decades earlier. Robin is also known as Dick Grayson, who in later years evolved into the character known as Nightwing (who has just completed a second and very successful run as a replacement Batman, thank you very much). The one thing, beyond smart aleck humor, that Spidey and Dickey have in common is that they were both originally intended to be reader surrogates, someone young fans could identify with. Both have gone a long way toward growing up, however, and much as the median age of fans has gone up, so too has the base age of Misters Parker and Grayson.
When Mark Waid envisioned the future of the DC Universe, he paired Grayson with his sometime Teen Titans love Starfire, and even gave them an offspring, who looked a lot like mommy and went by the name Nightstar in her own crime-fighting career. When he revisited the Kingdom in 1998, he made it a point to spend some time with young Nightstar. I’ll begin this column’s issue commentary with a few of these KINGDOM spotlight spinoffs, more comics I caught up with years later…
THE KINGDOM: SON OF THE BAT (DC)
From February 1999.
Waid had no idea that his seminal KINGDOM COME would not actually endure as a symbol of DC’s future. How could he? When Magog finally appeared in regular continuity and actually got his own ongoing series, fans responded with apathy. What’s more, Grant Morrison decided to capitalize on the obscure scion of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, daughter of the Demon, Ra’s al Ghul, reshaping him as Damian and the other star in BATMAN AND ROBIN (along with…Dick Grayson!). Waid had previously fashioned the youngster as Ibn al Xu’ffasch, which very cleverly translated as, well, “Son of the Bat,” but…didn’t necessarily roll off the tongue. Still, as Waid envisioned him, his future was bright indeed. He was indeed the heir apparent, but he couldn’t quite figure out, even as an adult, to which legacy, to his father, or perhaps to his grandfather. What’s more, he carries on a romance with Nightstar. Egad, could this dude’s life be any more complicated?
THE KINGDOM: NIGHTSTAR (DC)
From February 1999.
Hah! Ibn, you have it so easy! The daughter of Dick Grayson and Starfire is even more angst-ridden! She’s haunted by the legacy of death her family seems to dwell in, constantly fearful that she, too, will lose her parents. (Still, she’s got great genes!) Moreso than with Ibn or any other legacy of KINGDOM COME, Nightstar represents an organic continuation of DC continuity, at least as far as the New Teen Titans go (Dick has since been better linked to Babs Gordon, the once and future Batgirl, naturally), and as such, always stood as the most likely of any future comics prognostications to actually happen (I’m looking at you, Marvel 2099, though unlike virtually everyone else by the end of that extended experiment, I actually enjoyed it more than its more contemporary counterparts). Needless to say, I’d read an ongoing Nightstar series, even today. For anyone who isn’t strictly interested in THE KINGDOM and its obsolete Hypertime outcome, this is something you can still easily read and enjoy. (For anyone who actually is, you’ll find a whole alternate explanation to the origin of Magog, including just who Gog is, which conflicts with the one Geoff Johns later established in the pages of JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA. But, after all, this was originally Waid’s tale.)
THE KINGDOM: KID FLASH (DC)
From February 1999.
The Flash was surprisingly tangential to the overall story in KINGDOM COME, despite the fact that Mark Waid was at the time best known for writing the continuing legacy of the speedster (it was even unclear whether the Mercury-esque figure he and Alex Ross depicted in the 1996 mini-series was Wally West or Jay Garrick). He seemed to make up for that when he got around to THE KINGDOM, and specifically this one-shot, which now stands like a lost gem in the Mark Waid/Flash firmament. Kid Flash in this instance is Iris West, the daughter of Wally West, who has a brother named Barry who’s perpetually disgruntled over the lack of affection they’d gotten from their father, and has rejected the chance to inherit the mantle. Not that Wally has stopped running. In fact, that’s all he ever does, to the point that he’s completely overlooked his daughter’s eagerness to follow in his footsteps (hah!). This whole issue is about Iris trying to get through to him, like a microcosm of Waid’s efforts to establish Wally’s own credentials in the regular FLASH series. As comics fans of 2011 know, Waid did eventually write about Wally West and his two children, but sort of like the immediate follow-up to KINGDOM COME, he was met mostly with disinterest. Funny how things sometimes work out.
One of the themes I routinely return to in this blog is the great exodus I undertook from comics reading in 1999, and how that has regularly provided me with material to revisit for the first time. In some respects, the KINGDOM comics I just wrote about were part of the run-up to this event (Countdown to Schism!), since although I was certainly interested in what Mark Waid had to say about the further adventures of his seminal KINGDOM COME work, I didn’t have the money to read all of them on original release. As I’ve suggested this column, Nightwing/Dick Grayson has been a character I’ve followed throughout my comics experience. His attainment of an ongoing series in 1996 was one of the most important developments of that experience, and something I necessarily had to try and forget when I stopped reading. Nightwing was hot for a short period following the debut of that series, but he was never going to be someone, say in the pages of Wizard magazine, fans in general would breathlessly await the latest storylines concerning. He was always going to play second-fiddle to those he most closely resembled: Batman, Spider-Man, even Daredevil. Aside from the fact that he used to be Robin, Dick just wasn’t in himself an icon. That helped make it easy for Dan DiDio to at one point consider him possible cannon fodder during INFINITE CRISIS. (No, seriously!)
Still, Nightwing comics kept getting written. Chuck Dixon had launched NIGHTWING as writer, and was still at it three years later, and wouldn’t leave the book until 2002. His successor, Devin K. Grayson, was still at it by the time I came back in 2005, but had run afoul of the fans by apparently emasculating Dick in her Tarantula storyline. Anyway, here’re some comics from the limbo period I eventually tracked down:
NIGHTWING: OUR WORLDS AT WAR (DC)
From September 2001.
OUR WORLDS AT WAR was an otherwise forgotten crossover event that symbolized the kind of comics DC was attempting to make at the time, that broke all the rules the previous decade had established, thereby theoretically making it safe for new fans, made famous by the black background amended to Superman’s famous shield, and the incidental timing of the fallout issue released soon after 9/11. Nightwing got his own spotlight special, written by Dixon, in which Dick and Barbara Gordon become entangled in a mostly unrelated plot filled with mind-bending time-travel. See what I mean about Starfire?
NIGHTWING #65 (DC)
From March 2002.
Dixon’s still writing, sharing the Dick Grayson spotlight with the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?” crossover event, one that’s been completely forgotten. Completely miring these efforts is artist Trevor McCarthy, whose cartoony style is a worthy successor to Scott McDaniel and precursor to Phil Hester, at least as far as the Nightwing sequences go, but is completely out of place otherwise. I’m reminded, however, that it was as much letterer John Costanza as Dixon and McDaniel who set the tone for the series, whose style Willie Schubert continues to evoke this issue.
NIGHTWING #69 (DC)
From July 2002.
Dixon has a different artist this issue (William Rosado, for the record), but is still hip-deep in crossover, this time “Bruce Wayne: Fugitive” (of course it’s related to the other one, silly). It’s actually Dixon’s penultimate issue on the book, before his “Nightwing: Year One” arc some thirty issues later.
NIGHTWING #71 (DC)
From September 2002.
Devin Grayson’s debut! Having previously written a Nightwing/Huntress mini-series, not to mention the BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS ongoing title, Devin wasn’t a completely unknown commodity, but judging from letters column comments, she wasn’t an entirely trusted one, either (must have made the backlash all that much easier). I will go on record as saying I probably prefer Devin Grayson’s Nightwing work to just about any other run, including Chuck Dixon’s, which had previously set the standard (and was probably Dixon’s best work).
NIGHTWING #96 (DC)
From October 2004.
Well into Devin’s run, the offending event has already taken place, Tarantula has killed Blockbuster, and everyone’s primed for the big NIGHTWING #100 (which I did get to read upon release!). Serialized comics storytelling just doesn’t get any better than Devin’s Dick Grayson, especially how she managed to so easily transition Dixon’s work into a crescendo that eventually saw Dick “mobbed up” (how these comics have never been collected is one of modern comics’ biggest crimes) and witness to the destruction of his adopted (if horribly named) hometown during INFINITE CRISIS.
NIGHTWING #150 (DC)
From January 2009.
From Grayson there was a succession of writers, including Bruce Jones (never got a chance to find his groove), Marv Wolfman (actually did some interesting things), and Peter Tomasi, who had the chance to illustrate the transition from Nightwing to Batman, as this issue helps explain. This is not, however, the last issue of the series. That bugger proved to be a hell of a challenge to find. At the time, I had just lost Heroes & Dragons as my regular comics supplier, and had not yet chosen Midtown-online as its replacement. I relied instead on a combination of trips to Escape Velocity (never a strictly regular occurrence) and my friend Daniel to stay on top of “Batman R.I.P.,” by far the most important event from that period. I remained obsessed with reading the final NIGHTWING for the next several years. I already had this one.
I have other Nightwing adventures to write about in later editions of Quarter Bin, including, yes, the holy grail I’d sought for so long...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Quarter Bin #9 "Nightwing: The Target"
Continuing our themes editions of this column, let’s have a look at:
NIGHTWING: THE TARGET (DC)
From 2001.
A little-known prestige format one-shot (hell, the idea of “prestige format” is itself something of a lost art at DC these days), and a comic I only even heard about last year, the main appeal of it was the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel. Since neither name carries the same weight in 2011 as it did ten years ago, let’s take a look back at why exactly I would care so much.
While there are in fact many reasons, the most relevant one is that Dixon and McDaniel were the original team behind the NIGHTWING series launched in 1996. Dixon was a company writer, who’d helped make his reputation on books like ROBIN and GREEN ARROW, while McDaniel was known for a run on DAREDEVIL, a comparable vigilante figure, whose style would be well-suited to conveying the animated look of a title featuring Dick Grayson, a former circus performer who had become better known as a stalwart Teen Titan and former Boy Wonder than for his ability to hold his own. Incredibly, he’d never carried his own ongoing series to that point. Dixon was needed to give the character credibility, to establish an entire world around him, one separated from Gotham, Dark Knights and Teen Titans. McDaniel was needed to present him in a fashion that set him apart.
To put it mildly, they pulled it off. There are only a few creative teams I will forever hold in great esteem. Ron Marz and Daryl Banks on GREEN LANTERN. Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos on IMPULSE (and early issues of the mishandled X-NATION). Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett on SUPERBOY. Most of these teams seemed to spontaneously form at roughly the same time, perhaps by sheer coincidence, perhaps by inspired editorial selection.
When fans think about that kind of chemistry, they naturally think of tandems like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the heavy hitters, who either made history or lasted for obscene lengths of time together, sometimes both. For me, simply because I had to privilege of following them personally, I gravitate toward those who simply seemed inspired by each other, to push characters to considerable heights, even if they didn’t always seem to be appreciated. I know that DC certainly admired Kesel and Grummett together. The duo followed Superboy from ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN to a couple of memorable runs in his own title (I’ll be writing more about them later). Marz and Banks had the job of not only completely revamping Green Lantern mythos, but establishing an entirely new character. Waid and Ramos presented what I consider to be the CALVIN + HOBBES of the superhero set.
But Dixon and McDaniel were still unique. Of all the creators mentioned so far, I feel the most continued interest in a guy like McDaniel, who has maintained against all conventional wisdom exactly the same appeal he first demonstrated (at least for me) in NIGHTWING. All these guys became journeymen. It was the nature of what made them so special in the first place, being in the right place at the right time, finding their perfect matches. I have to believe that he thought DC fit his style better than Marvel, because all these years later, Scott’s still there, one of the unsung tenures of comics history. He’s still waiting, maybe, for that next perfect match. (Never mind that he found it with Tony Bedard on THE GREAT TEN, because fans didn’t seem to notice.)
With NIGHTWING, he and Dixon gave Dick Grayson a whole new lease on life. They pushed him into a strongly independent direction, and worked so well together that DC apparently found it appropriate to give them a further spotlight with THE TARGET, which is like their run in miniature, Dick fighting corruption in his adopted hometown of Blüdhaven, a seedier, more obviously corrupt version of Gotham (thus the unwieldy name, and why it was eventually, spectacularly erased from the DC map during INFINITE CRISIS). The title of the book comes from a separate identity Dick assumes during a particularly tricky case, a one-off deal that shows the nuances of Dick’s war on crime, the way it evolved during the course of NIGHTWING (Devin Grayson, when she came to the end of her controversial run, perhaps did it one better, but I don’t suppose we have to get into that now, but suffice it to say, DC had to reboot Nightwing afterward, the first time in that title’s history, over a hundred issues, which is itself a huge testament to the work Dixon and McDaniel began).
The Dick Grayson that exists today, the one who has permanently (we’ll say) assumed the mantle of Batman, is a direct result of the work begun in NIGHTWING, the strong push for character established by Dixon and McDaniel. Something like THE TARGET one-shot, a terrific find if there ever was one, is just another sign that, among all the teams that I personally have come to enjoy in my experiences with comic books over the years, Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel deserve a permanent record of their achievements, reprints of their trade paperbacks, hardcover commemorative collections. Maybe even a return engagement. Maybe McDaniel doesn’t have to look so hard for that next blockbuster collaboration. If anyone can succeed Tony Daniel on BATMAN, or any team deserves to assume control of BATMAN & ROBIN, it would be these two.
NIGHTWING: THE TARGET (DC)
From 2001.
A little-known prestige format one-shot (hell, the idea of “prestige format” is itself something of a lost art at DC these days), and a comic I only even heard about last year, the main appeal of it was the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel. Since neither name carries the same weight in 2011 as it did ten years ago, let’s take a look back at why exactly I would care so much.
While there are in fact many reasons, the most relevant one is that Dixon and McDaniel were the original team behind the NIGHTWING series launched in 1996. Dixon was a company writer, who’d helped make his reputation on books like ROBIN and GREEN ARROW, while McDaniel was known for a run on DAREDEVIL, a comparable vigilante figure, whose style would be well-suited to conveying the animated look of a title featuring Dick Grayson, a former circus performer who had become better known as a stalwart Teen Titan and former Boy Wonder than for his ability to hold his own. Incredibly, he’d never carried his own ongoing series to that point. Dixon was needed to give the character credibility, to establish an entire world around him, one separated from Gotham, Dark Knights and Teen Titans. McDaniel was needed to present him in a fashion that set him apart.
To put it mildly, they pulled it off. There are only a few creative teams I will forever hold in great esteem. Ron Marz and Daryl Banks on GREEN LANTERN. Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos on IMPULSE (and early issues of the mishandled X-NATION). Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett on SUPERBOY. Most of these teams seemed to spontaneously form at roughly the same time, perhaps by sheer coincidence, perhaps by inspired editorial selection.
When fans think about that kind of chemistry, they naturally think of tandems like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the heavy hitters, who either made history or lasted for obscene lengths of time together, sometimes both. For me, simply because I had to privilege of following them personally, I gravitate toward those who simply seemed inspired by each other, to push characters to considerable heights, even if they didn’t always seem to be appreciated. I know that DC certainly admired Kesel and Grummett together. The duo followed Superboy from ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN to a couple of memorable runs in his own title (I’ll be writing more about them later). Marz and Banks had the job of not only completely revamping Green Lantern mythos, but establishing an entirely new character. Waid and Ramos presented what I consider to be the CALVIN + HOBBES of the superhero set.
But Dixon and McDaniel were still unique. Of all the creators mentioned so far, I feel the most continued interest in a guy like McDaniel, who has maintained against all conventional wisdom exactly the same appeal he first demonstrated (at least for me) in NIGHTWING. All these guys became journeymen. It was the nature of what made them so special in the first place, being in the right place at the right time, finding their perfect matches. I have to believe that he thought DC fit his style better than Marvel, because all these years later, Scott’s still there, one of the unsung tenures of comics history. He’s still waiting, maybe, for that next perfect match. (Never mind that he found it with Tony Bedard on THE GREAT TEN, because fans didn’t seem to notice.)
With NIGHTWING, he and Dixon gave Dick Grayson a whole new lease on life. They pushed him into a strongly independent direction, and worked so well together that DC apparently found it appropriate to give them a further spotlight with THE TARGET, which is like their run in miniature, Dick fighting corruption in his adopted hometown of Blüdhaven, a seedier, more obviously corrupt version of Gotham (thus the unwieldy name, and why it was eventually, spectacularly erased from the DC map during INFINITE CRISIS). The title of the book comes from a separate identity Dick assumes during a particularly tricky case, a one-off deal that shows the nuances of Dick’s war on crime, the way it evolved during the course of NIGHTWING (Devin Grayson, when she came to the end of her controversial run, perhaps did it one better, but I don’t suppose we have to get into that now, but suffice it to say, DC had to reboot Nightwing afterward, the first time in that title’s history, over a hundred issues, which is itself a huge testament to the work Dixon and McDaniel began).
The Dick Grayson that exists today, the one who has permanently (we’ll say) assumed the mantle of Batman, is a direct result of the work begun in NIGHTWING, the strong push for character established by Dixon and McDaniel. Something like THE TARGET one-shot, a terrific find if there ever was one, is just another sign that, among all the teams that I personally have come to enjoy in my experiences with comic books over the years, Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel deserve a permanent record of their achievements, reprints of their trade paperbacks, hardcover commemorative collections. Maybe even a return engagement. Maybe McDaniel doesn’t have to look so hard for that next blockbuster collaboration. If anyone can succeed Tony Daniel on BATMAN, or any team deserves to assume control of BATMAN & ROBIN, it would be these two.
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