Back Issue Bin 123 "Copra, Green Lantern, Milk Wars, and others"

The Brave and the Bold #23 (DC)
(from July 2009)

Dan Jurgens writes a fairly standard Dan Jurgens tale featuring his signature creation Booster Gold as well as Magog, from the time Magog wasn't just a signature Kingdom Come creation but rather a part of the ongoing DC landscape thanks to Geoff Johns' Justice Society of America and even, briefly, his own ongoing comic.  I don't think Jurgens was ever going to be someone who could sell Magog properly.  He could pull off Cyborg Superman, but Magog requires more subtlety.  I'm glad Jurgens got a full-fledged career renaissance in the pages of Rebirth's Action Comics, but Jurgens circa 2009 was a long ways away from feeling relevant again.

Copra #13
(from April 2014)

A pastiche on John Ostrander's classic Suicide Squad, Michel Fiffe's Copra is something I've long wanted to have a look at, and thanks to this random issue appearing on the eclectic shelves of Comics & Stuff, I finally have.  And it was worth the wait.  This issue features Fiffe's Deadshot analog in a classic revenge saga spotlight.  It seems that after the series hit 31 issues, Fiffe moved on to other projects.  No idea if that's it or if he's just taking a break.

Countdown Arena #1 (DC)
(from February 2008)

I read the Countdown weekly comic itself back in the day, but I skipped over some of the side projects like Arena, which now seems like it foreshadowed not only Marvel's similarly-named Avengers Arena but DC's own Convergence event.  Anyway, I picked this up because of the typically sweet Scott McDaniel art.  I never get tired of it, never understand why he's since faded into comics oblivion.  Hopefully he gets to emerge at some point

Green Lantern #11-16 (DC)
(from June 2006-February 2007)

I wasn't instantly a fan of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern.  When Rebirth began I was just getting back into comics after a near half-decade lapse, and I still thought of Johns in relation to some of the Marvel work he'd done that desperately sought attention.  I ended up liking Rebirth itself well enough, but I didn't feel motivated to dive into the subsequent ongoing series.  I caught up with it about a year into its run, and liked what I saw.  This is a reunion with that material, in which Hal Jordan reunites with some of the Green Lanterns he steamrolled in "Emerald Twilight," and they still hold a grudge despite magically surviving the rampage.  Now they're all trying to survive the Manhunters and their new master, the Cyborg Superman!  At some point I'll own the complete Johns Green Lantern run in collected edition form.

Hawkman #18 (DC)
(from October 2003)

Like his later Aquaman, Johns had a brief run on Hawkman, spinning out from the pages of one of his long runs, Justice Society, and it's something I like to catch glimpses of every now and then, when I come across it.  This issue is Johns doing the Hawkman version of Gaiman's Sandman.  Shocking that this isn't done more often. 

Justice League Canada #5 (DC)
(from December 2014)

I picked this up because I thought it featured Lemire's take on the Legion of Super-Heroes, as he's recently launched another Black Hammer spinoff features a Legion analog (The Quantum Age), but it's not.  Funny that there've been so many secondary League title launches in recent years, increasingly hard to keep them all straight, and that among them was this short-lived Canadian team.

Kingsman: The Red Diamond #6 (Image)
(from February 2018)

As a frequent contributor to the MillarWorld forums, I'm not actually a frequent reader of Mark Millar.  I've read a fraction of his output over the years, but I've liked some of it ("Old Man Logan," Starlight, Empress) quite a bit.  Kingsman is his version of James Bond, and Red Diamond the first time he's let a professional writer (Rob Williams) play in his sandbox, just the kickoff to a bold new era, perhaps thanks to his Netflix deal.  Williams holds pretty close to the Millar formula, as it turns out.  If you didn't know it wasn't Millar himself writing the comic, you probably wouldn't even guess.

Manhunter #27 (DC)
(from March 2007)

I'm pretty surprised that DC hasn't tried to revive Kate Spencer's Manhunter since her original comics, perhaps because Marc Andreyko has de facto creator rights to her?  I don't know.  Either way, in this issue Spencer's role as lawyer reaches its zenith as she defends Wonder Woman circa the second most famous DC neck-snapping, the Infinite Crisis death of Maxwell Lord.  The cover evokes Lord's murder of Ted Kord.

Mother Panic/Batman #1
Doom Patrol/Justice League of America #1 (Young Animal)
(from April 2018)

Part of the "Milk Wars" Young Animal event that featured familiar DC characters (notably Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), not to mention Frank Quitely doing a cover version of his own art.  I guess I don't really get why Young Animal hasn't caught on.  I don't know if there's a cult-level appreciation I just haven't heard about or if the disappointment over Doom Patrol's erratic publishing schedule, or that Gerard Way heavily expected readers to be familiar with and fans of Grant Morrison's '90s run, or...Just another of the peculiarities of modern times, subverting expectations every step of the way...Anyway, Mother Panic finally meets Batman!  And Robotman figures out whether he's merely a comic book character who thinks he's Robotman!  Probably!

Mister Terrific #2 (DC)
(from December 2011)

One of the things I'll always credit the New 52 with, right from the start, was giving Michael Holt his first ongoing series.  To my mind, Holt was a signature creation of the early millennium, and I always want to see the dude find the breakout success he deserves.  In a lot of ways, he's the new Martian Manhunter.  Anyway, to my shame this is the first time I've read past the first issue of the New 52 series.  Granted, at the time I didn't have a lot of money to spend so I had to make a lot of brutal choices (thankfully I had enough to discover Tomasi and Gleason's brilliant Batman & Robin).  I didn't know what to make of the first issue, so I quickly gave up on the series.  If I'd read the second issue, I would've gotten a much better idea, it seems, and a much better impression of the series...

Teen Titans #100 (DC)
(from October 2011)

Just before the New 52 era, it seems, was this milestone issue of the popular Johns relaunch of the team.  I had to remind myself that Superboy was officially back a few years earlier, and star of his brief second ongoing series (third if you count Superboy and the Ravers, which I definitely do!), ahead of a New 52 reimagining. 

X-Nation 2099 #2 (Marvel)
(from April 1996)

One of my key memories of the '90s scene was this abortive 2099 version of Generation X, coming at the end of the initial push for Marvel's look at a century in the future, since collapsed mostly into the line's Spider-Man, Miguel O'Hara.  I remember the quick creator collapse in X-Nation itself, how Humberto Ramos provided the art for the first two issues and then left, back to DC (he'd eventually wind up back at Marvel), and subsequent issues wobbled wildly out of control.  It was mostly the Ramos art, it seems in hindsight, that I loved so much about the early issues.  I tried reading this again more than twenty years later (apparently I forgot who the writer was, Tom Peyer, convincing myself it was Mark Waid, mostly because Ramos and Waid made such beautiful magic together in the pages of Impulse), and the art was all I could still bring myself to follow.  Anyway, I was amused in later years to reacquaint myself with the exact details of what happened creatively.  Ben Raab and Terry Kavanagh took over writing chores, while none other than Ed McGuinness helped round out the art in the final issue (#6).  I remember being hugely disappointed with the series after Ramos and Peyer (apparently) departed, and only enjoying the series again with #6.  The art finally looked like Marvel cared about the series again, and I can see why.  It'd probably be interesting to revisit that issue...

Quarter Bin 101 "The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael and other finds"

Black Knight #2, 3, 5 (Marvel)
(from 2016)
Frank Tieri is one of those comics professional I linked up with on social media before really knowing much about them much less having actually seen their material.  That's pretty much social media in a nutshell, I think.  Anyway, so this is the first time I've read his work, and I like it.  Black Knight is one of those fascinating characters that've just never really gotten their due.  Here his Ebony Blade is like a demonic Excalibur.  Seems to have spun out of Secret Wars.

Bloodshot Reborn #1 (Valiant)
(from 2015)
Although I'd read subsequent issues and the preceding inciting event in The Valiant, I hadn't read how the series began.  Explains all over again why I love Jeff Lemire's work with the character.  I wish more readers were aware of the truly stellar work Valiant has been doing with some of its material.

The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (and the Dead Left in His Wake) #2, 3, 4 (2000 AD)
(from 2015)
Reprinting material previously serialized in 2000 AD itself, this mini-series is like a secret origin of Rob Williams' later Martian Manhunter.  It's brilliant.  I found out that you probably shouldn't try reading it if you're struggling to stay awake, because it's printed small and your instinct will be to give up on it.  But it's a great find, it really is. 

Klaus and the Witch of Winter (Boom!)
(from 2016)
Unlike the other comics here, this one was bought at retail and not out of an actual quarter bin (Newbury stuck little orange tags on all of them, which I still haven't tried to remove), so it doesn't really belong, but I got it on the same day, so...Anyway, this was a follow-up to Grant Morrison's Santa Claus origin story, the first of a proposed yearly one-shot return engagement with the concept. Morrison exhibits his typically explosive imagination in ways that he hasn't since Joe the Barbarian.  Which suddenly puts Klaus into a new context, actually.

Letter 44 #13, 15, 16,17 (Oni)
(from 2015)
Charles Soule's vision of complicated alien contact is something I've been reading sporadically the last few years, really only when I get a chance at my semiannual trips to the Maine Mall, where Newbury Comics is (I previously had regular access to a different Newbury location in Burlington, which was where I discovered another Oni series, Wasteland, along with a lot of other good stuff, including my first Free Comic Book Day, which I'll remind you is coming up on the first Saturday in May).  Honestly, if I had regular access to Letter 44, I'd be reading it regularly.  Soule has come up with something that's kind of Arrival meets George W. Bush. 

Ninjak #2 (Valiant)
(from 2015)
Having just read the most recent issue of the series, I know that the stuff that happens in this second one continues to develop over the next two years.  Matt Kindt at this point is very much channeling his Mind MGMT, which at the time was still unfolding.  And just like that I have another Valiant series I want to read in its entirety...

Martian Manhunter #12 (DC)

The latest exceptional Martian Manhunter story ends, well, exceptionally.  DC uses the guy sparingly, but when it does, increasingly so, the results are among the best in superhero comics.

Rob Williams creates the logical conclusion to the story he began with his first issue, J'onn J'onzz once again at war with the remnant of his home planet, Mars.  From the beginning, Martian Manhunter was always a variant of Superman, last survivor of a doomed population, and a stranger in a strange land on Earth as a result.  Because he's green, J'onn has always had the ability to present what being alien really means to this particular superhero archetype, and writers have frequently been drawn to that popular aspect of his backstory: life on Mars.

At least as far back as Grant Morrison's JLA and the spinoff Martian Manhunter series from John Ostrander, other Martians make a constant hell for this guy.  Williams produced a whole host of aliases for him as he combatted the latest threat, at first keeping the fact that they were J'onn a secret, and therefore creating some unique new characters and versions of him, including the instantly iconic Mr. Biscuits, who sadly didn't make it to the final issue.

No, in this finale, Williams reveals that the whole thing was literally in Martian Manhunter's head.  He suggests that the superhero actually went mad.  Unlike Superman, he didn't spring forth from his home planet an innocent little baby.  No, Martian Manhunter was an adult.  He's lived with what happened to his people ever since. 

I think this is as plausible a conclusion to reach about him as any, and it's the perfect ending to Williams' story, which rightfully takes its place alongside the best of Martian Manhunter's stories, arguably at or near the top.  Maybe that sounds like faint praise, because this has never been one of the most popular of DC's characters, and therefore he remains somewhat obscure.  But with storytelling like this, who cares?

Reading Comics 169 "Comics from 7/15/15"

Covered: Robin: Son of Batman #2, Book of Death #1, Hawkeye #22, Justice League #42, and Martian Manhunter #2.

Robin: Son of Batman #2 (DC)
Pat Gleason picks up where...Batman and Robin #0 left off, delving more deeply into Damian's formative years with Talia, while also further introducing the new Nobody (totally counts as this Boy Wonder's first romance) and not really getting much more into how exactly Goliath became Robin's new partner except to say that he's probably more rude to the Man-Bat than he's been to anyone else (even Pennyworth!).  And it's another fantastic issue.  I love that Gleason has turned out to be such an excellent chronicler as well as illustrator.  He knew he had plenty to build on.  And he's making the most of it.

Book of Death #1 (Valiant)

Robert Venditti is definitely one of those writers I have a tough relationship with.  Understandably, Geoff Johns had to leave Green Lantern at some point, but I hoped his replacement would be some version of inspired and thus not be a complete disappointment.  Venditti hasn't been a complete  disappointment (the funny thing for me to remember is that I didn't think Johns himself was as good as his Rebirth suggested when he first launched the ongoing), but I've just never been able to get into his Green Lantern.  Then over at Valiant, which is where he first came onto the scene with X-O Manowar, I wasn't overly impressed with his material there, either.  So to see Book of Death, a direct sequel to The Valiant, which I found brilliant, written by Venditti was a cause for concern.  Turns out, the only thing immediately objectionable about it is how the lettering seems enlarged, or done in bold, whatever the case may be.  Just makes the issue seem off.  But it's not Venditti's fault!  Probably.  So maybe I will continue reading Book of Death.  For now.

Hawkeye #22 (Marvel)

Apparently much, much delayed (although not really), this is the final Matt Fraction issue of Hawkeye (a Jeff Lemire reboot comes next).  I've caught enough of the series to know that this was something special, a truly unique "indy style" comic featuring a mainstream superhero (pretty much), the kind of storytelling you only wish Daredevil had received post-Miller (instead of endless rehashes or attempts to ignore Miller entirely).  Some of the impact of the issue is lost on me, as I didn't really have anything invested in the big showdown, but it was still fun to see and be a part of.

Justice League #42 (DC)

"Darkseid War" continues, and Geoff Johns reveals that both the female warriors he's introduced are basically villains, not only Grail, the daughter of Darkseid, but apparently even Myrina Black, Grail's mother, who willingly conspired with Darkseid (including, ah, knocking boots) in a thorough rejection of Amazonian dogma.  Maybe either or perhaps both will get a little more nuance later.  Because I'm still digging Johns' depiction of the New Gods, especially Metron, who loses "his" Mobius Chair (remember, "Mobius" is actually the Anti-Monitor!), with Batman taking seat and finding out disturbing things.  One is that Joe Chill murdered his parents.  This we knew.  But he also finds out Joker's real name.  No, Johns doesn't spill the beans.  But this is something DC has been teasing in Scott Snyder's Batman for a few years now.  Somehow I have the feeling that we finally are going to have a definitive origin for the Joker (although I'll always be partial to "Lovers and Madmen" from Batman Confidential).  Batman's reaction when he finds out?  "No.  That's not possible."  I love it.

Martian Manhunter #2 (DC)

Continues to be a pleasant surprise.  This issue is trickier than the first one.  At first Eddy Barrows seems to have stumbled in a simplistic "Angry Martian Manhunter" presentation as Superman and the Justice League attempt to intervene.  But Rob Williams backs Barrows up in the script, explaining the central premise of this arc and thus vision of the character, that pretty much everything we know, anyone knows, including Martian Manhunter himself, is subject to telepathic overwrite.  It's brilliant.  Why is this the first time anyone has ever thought of that?  This is a series that will challenge the reader in nearly every way.  I say it's a worthy challenge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I look forward to future issues, eagerly.

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

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

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

So that was good to see.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Digitally Speaking...28 "Classwar"

via Goodreads

Classwar #1 (Com.X)

From 2002.

Mainstream professionals Rob Williams and Trevor Hairsine make Classwar look mainstream professional....And that's about it, really.  That's the best I can say about it.

The idea behind Classwar is one of those expose-the-truth-behind-what-America's-doing deals, from back in 2002, a true Iraq War comic before the Iraq War even happened.  Reading it now, you wouldn't even realize that if you didn't know its original publication date.

Another blast from the past is a figure who seems comparable to Ultimate Nick Fury, also known as the Samual L. Jackson version we know and love from the movies who debuted, in full appearance, in the pages of The Ultimates the same year.  

All this weird prescience is probably as close as Classwar can get to being worth talking about.

The main character is a superhero called the American.  (Never mind that I just remembered the Jack Kirby character named Fighting American, a kind of Captain America who is...not called Captain America.)  Which is actually not a bad idea.  Straight and to the point.  Simplifies things, much as the storytelling does.  The American is like Superman if he were...Captain America.  See also: The Mighty.  Or Life and Times Savior 28.  Or The Plutonian from Irredeemable.  You get the picture.  Classwar is none of those. 

Move along.