More comics from the Mile High mystery boxes! (Shocked myself when I realized there are only two more batches to go through after this one! Time flies!)
Outsiders #46
“Pay As You Go,” an arc I somewhat remember, at least certainly the title, apparently dealing with the fallout, at least as of this issue, of Black Lightning being a part of President Luthor’s cabinet, now locked up at Iron Heights and requiring extraction. This incarnation of the team included his daughter, so yeah, there are a few passionate advocates for getting that done, although some of them, being superheroes, think it’s a bad idea. Pretty sure this was the end of this particular incarnation. The Outsiders in general have a somewhat nebulous history, periodically reverting back to Batman’s Personal Team, as it was in the ‘80s. Otherwise no one’s really managed to nail down what exactly makes them relevant. Seldom actually composed of “outsiders,” though leaning into that would be...relevant?
Outsiders: Five of a Kind - Metamorpho and Aquaman
Didn’t notice when I was unpacking the boxes that this was written by G. Willow Wilson, who at this point in history was still known mostly for the graphic novel Cairo and Vertigo series Air, which only an obscure chap named Tony Laplume thought was brilliant. This one-shot leading to the next iteration of Outsiders allows Wilson, perhaps, to lean into her Muslim faith for the first time, although she needs a supporting character to do so, as neither Metamorpho nor this incarnation of Aquaman (who was quickly tossed to the scrap heap of history) can help out with that. I was reading these one-shots, and invested in that Aquaman, at the time, so there’s a chance this is a second read. But I experienced it as a first. This time more interested in Metamorpho, at any rate.
The Power Company #2
Kurt Busiek definitely wrote this more as a Marvel book than as a DC book, which might explain why it vanished so quickly (but as a rule, most modern new concepts go that way). Better appreciated, by me, for the Tom Grummett art. Grummett was a ‘90s Superman staple, but ended up being more closely associated with Superboy specifically, and in recent years has continued working with Superboy collaborator Karl Kesel, which I’m always happy to be reminded.
Robin #166
Sort of the awkward period where Tim Drake’s solo adventures had reached their zenith and no one wanted to admit it.
Ronin #1
Ah! One of the Frank Miller projects that used to be heavily touted! But eventually fell out of favor once Miller became best known for Daredevil, Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300, and fans hating him trying to do more with Dark Knight Returns! DC has long been very good at “evergreens,” keeping their celebrated and best work in print, probably something that sprang from ensuring Watchmen stayed in print. For the longest time Ronin was kept in print, too, and celebrated equally among Miller’s other achievements. I don’t know if it was the backlash alone to Miller’s later work that took it off the slate, or that it became harder to categorize, as it wasn’t part of the DC landscape nor connected to Vertigo nor a superhero tale in general, or DC just got caught up trying to redeem Miller’s reputation by fishing for a Dark Knight Returns sequel fans didn’t actively hate and legitimately forgot about Ronin, but forgot it was. And I never got around to reading it, nor getting any real idea of what it was.
Well, now I’ve read this first installment. As the title suggests, it’s heavily relevant to the Daredevil portions of Miller’s legacy, and the art style, since this began in 1983, looks more like his Daredevil than his later work (fans are always saying how his work degenerated over the years, but it was clearly always changing). And the story weaves between a past and a future, linked by a magic sword and two warriors locked in mortal combat (if this were a podcast I would be playing the theme song to a certain video game/movie right now). And it’s very interesting! And absolutely does not deserve to be forgotten. At some point I will read the rest of it. Miller’s a treasure through and through. The back cover includes praise from Klaus Jansen, Walt Simonson, and Will Eisner, all of whom champion Miller’s innovative instincts, an emerging master of the craft. That’s exactly how it began, folks. Eisner’s endorsement is probably the most significant, and out of everyone Miller probably came to see him in particular as his peer. And rightfully so. I later read a book of conversations between them. Priceless history and insight.
Seven Soldiers of Victory #1
The conclusion of Grant Morrison’s innovative modular team book, which in hindsight might even be considered a template of the MCU; both are composed of individual spotlights converging on limited team experiences. Morrison’s imagination can be overwhelming; it’s in full epic scale here, and I’m almost ashamed to admit I haven’t always been able to remember how great it is. I became a fan of Morrison only with JLA, and somehow found it easy to walk away from him as I did comics in general at the turn of the millennium. I knew all about the wild expectations for his New X-Men, which Marvel expected only to duplicate his JLA, but ended up being...more ambitious. The moment Morrison left Marvel gleefully deconstructed everything he’d accomplished. And I never felt overly compelled at the time to see what was happening. It wasn’t until Seven Soldiers happened that I became interested in Morrison again. A lot of fans were baffled by the whole thing. Morrison himself saw it as his take on Jack Kirby’s approach to the New Gods, multiple series presenting multiple viewpoints on the same general landscape. But Kirby’s New Gods famously got cut off before he could reach an ending, and creators (including Kirby himself at one point) have been chasing that ever since. In some respects Seven Soldiers was Morrison’s dry run at his own attempt, Final Crisis, safely obscured in the Mister Miracle material by the many other moving parts around it, but in hindsight it’s pretty obvious. But I don’t think Morrison has allowed himself to be this wild since, even with Multiversity, which is as much a shame as what happened to Kirby’s New Gods. But Morrison, at least, still has plenty of time and opportunity...
Shadowpact #2
Shadowpact #7
Funny how time can change things. I enjoyed reading this series at the time, but find now that it’s virtually impossible to get back into.
Showing posts with label Robin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robin. Show all posts
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Friday, February 7, 2020
Reading Comics 242 "Fifth and final Forbidden Geek mystery box"
Yeah, so that happened. The title of this post reads "fifth" mystery box, when it really ought to have read "sixth." You might recall that I had problems with my fourth box. Forbidden Geek, when I contacted them, quickly shipped a replacement box when I told them the original had been lost in the mail. The company sent out an email explaining how they'd had trouble keeping up with mystery box shipments during the holidays. And then my fifth box never arrived. Payment was processed for my sixth box, and the shipping information for the fifth box was immediately replaced for the sixth's. I decided enough was enough. The sixth box actually arrived exactly on-schedule, the same as the first three boxes had. But I didn't want to continue supporting an unprofessional company. It's one thing for shipping to be messed up once. It's another to know there's a problem and take no real steps to address it and just get back to the schedule later.
So I missed a box, and this final one, which actually proved all over again the value the service had for me, arrived. It also included a trade collecting material relevant to the forthcoming Birds of Prey movie, and another Funko statue, plus these comics:
Animal Man #76
from October 1994
I had never read an Animal Man from this initial Vertigo period that wasn't written by Grant Morrison. I understood that DC was keen to keep the series going without him, but I imagined that the results wouldn't really interest me. As a result, I don't think I'd read a Jamie Delano comic before this. Delano was one of the Vertigo originals, but he never had a signature comic like Morrison or Neil Gaiman, much less Peter Milligan (a lesser but still talented writer who continued working with the imprint for years after the original creators moved on). This issue doesn't even feature Animal Man himself, but rather is part of an arc that includes the Red, a concept that was later used in the New 52 in ways fans didn't think was relevant, and yet here it is. The New 52 was a job of reintegrating Vertigo characters back into the DC mainstream, and to do so it reclaimed familiar superhero tropes rather than focused squarely on horror elements (though the Red, and the Rot, were certainly intended even later to be considered horrific). Anyway, long story short, I think I won't be so reluctant to read a Jamie Delano comic in the future. We all have our biases for familiar creators, and can be shy about sampling unfamiliar ones. Sometimes that approach is sheer nonsense. You might discover a new favorite, or perhaps merely someone who is worth reading.
Batgirl #71
from February 2006
An incredibly simplistic story (this writer was totally unknown to me, and I was happy to leave them that way) featuring Cassandra Cain under the cowl, with the mouth covering she's traditionally associated with literally snipped away, apparently from a period where the Dark Knightress was no longer intended to be so ominous. Great cover from Tim Sale, though.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #3
from 1993
"Bloodlines," yeah! This is one of those things I'll always be nostalgic about, not just because a few of the new superheroes created during it turned out to be fun to have around (for as long as they managed to; Sparx and Hitman probably had the longest runs out of them, and neither is around anymore, and haven't been for decades). Like the theme months in the New 52, I'll always be up to sampling the results all over again. This one actually features two new characters, a hero and a villain, who end up cancelling each other out (both are depowered by the end), which isn't something I'd seen before. Bonus, of course, that it features Azbats!
Batman #4
from February 2012
There's Scott Snyder's initial "Court of Owls" arc again, which lately I've been cursed to revisit again and again, whether in a Forbidden Geek trade collection or the Batman Giants. Or this single issue. Which I actually kind of want to write my own version of. Y'know, so Snyder can never, ever see the results, and how much better they are. (Take that!)
Hawkman #8
from March 1987
I admit that I didn't really read this one.
The Kingdom #2
from February 1999
Kingdom Come was a big epic tale that became one of my all-time favorite comics. Mark Waid decided to follow it up with The Kingdom, which didn't really approach it (like at all) in quality, but was really an excuse for Waid and/or DC to officially bring back the multiverse via the concept of "hypertime," which actually got a bigger bow in the pages of Karl Kesel's Superboy (though, like Superboy in this era in general, is generally forgotten, despite a wealth of great material, and not all of it from Kesel and Tom Grummett). Much like Morrison's later Multiversity, Waid sandwiched The Kingdom with one-shots exploring individual characters/concepts, which in the end were more valuable. (Actually, the same is true of Multiversity.) I actually think Kingdom Come's legacy was tarnished by The Kingdom. If there were only going to be two issues of the lead story, DC and/or Waid could really have stood to opt for at least more impressive art, even if Alex Ross wasn't available.
The Ray #7
from December 1994
It's Howard Porter on art! But not quite the Porter art as later depicted in the pages of JLA, meaning his style hadn't yet advanced to that familiar level. And while I was always interested in at least sampling this series, featuring one of the many teenage '90s superheroes (for reasons, in this particular character, I never really understood), this issue is hijacked by Black Canary, which is kind of hilarious, because it proves how engaging she is apparently right after a series starring her was cancelled due to poor sales. Stupid readers!
Robin #4 (of 5)
from April 1991
The original solo mini-series, featuring Tim Drake taking on the dreaded King Snake (a villain Tim's stories repeatedly returned to in the '90s, but who otherwise quickly faded into obscurity) while trying desperately not to think about having sex with Lady Shiva (hey, he was a '90s Teenage Superhero).
Stanley and His Monster #4
from May 1993
No, not Stan Lee and His Monster! Although after Lady Shiva, it's kind of funny that the best thing about this comic is the sexy lady demon. The best thing about the art is the sexy lady demon, too. So there's that.
Starfire #2
from November 1976
Ha! So apparently "Starfire" existed before the New Teen Titans! And no, not the orange-skinned alien who sometimes is too sexy for comic book fans (it's a distinctly modern problem '90s fans would've been completely baffled by, as that was literally a whole genre back then; Americans still have no idea how puritanical our culture remains, regardless of how we explain it), but...a sword & sorcery Starfire!
As explained in an editorial in the comic itself, DC was desperately trying to launch a sword & sorcery angle to its lineup at the time. Literally the only success from the many failure attempts in this initiative was Warlord, Travis Morgan, who still pops up from time to time.
And like the later Starfire, this Starfire is a sexy lady whose wardrobe does not attempt to cover large swathes of her body. Anyway, the comic was also fun to read, and it was just fun to discover that the name had been used before.
The Titans #16
from June 2000
Devin K. Grayson! I don't know, I think fans never forgave her for Dick Grayson's (no relation) rape. Maybe there were other reasons, but Devin left comics behind and never attempted (or never succeeded at) a full-time comeback. Which is absurd, because she was a talented storyteller, and instantly grasped DC continuity and how to continue it. This team is literally the original Teen Titans, as adults, reunited, and this issue sees them rehashing interpersonal conflicts and deciding it's okay to have them and still maintain relationships (which makes it completely inconceivable in today's environment). Kind of bittersweet, in hindsight, too, with how it handles Roy Harper, who in current continuity is kind of dead with far less fanfare than what happens to Wally West within the pages of Heroes in Crisis. And suddenly I want a Devin K. Grayson series starring Roy. At least they're finally reprinting her Nightwing. Hopefully. Sometimes DC ends up cancelling these sorts of things.
So long, Forbidden Geek, and thanks for all the fish!
So I missed a box, and this final one, which actually proved all over again the value the service had for me, arrived. It also included a trade collecting material relevant to the forthcoming Birds of Prey movie, and another Funko statue, plus these comics:
Animal Man #76
from October 1994
I had never read an Animal Man from this initial Vertigo period that wasn't written by Grant Morrison. I understood that DC was keen to keep the series going without him, but I imagined that the results wouldn't really interest me. As a result, I don't think I'd read a Jamie Delano comic before this. Delano was one of the Vertigo originals, but he never had a signature comic like Morrison or Neil Gaiman, much less Peter Milligan (a lesser but still talented writer who continued working with the imprint for years after the original creators moved on). This issue doesn't even feature Animal Man himself, but rather is part of an arc that includes the Red, a concept that was later used in the New 52 in ways fans didn't think was relevant, and yet here it is. The New 52 was a job of reintegrating Vertigo characters back into the DC mainstream, and to do so it reclaimed familiar superhero tropes rather than focused squarely on horror elements (though the Red, and the Rot, were certainly intended even later to be considered horrific). Anyway, long story short, I think I won't be so reluctant to read a Jamie Delano comic in the future. We all have our biases for familiar creators, and can be shy about sampling unfamiliar ones. Sometimes that approach is sheer nonsense. You might discover a new favorite, or perhaps merely someone who is worth reading.
Batgirl #71
from February 2006
An incredibly simplistic story (this writer was totally unknown to me, and I was happy to leave them that way) featuring Cassandra Cain under the cowl, with the mouth covering she's traditionally associated with literally snipped away, apparently from a period where the Dark Knightress was no longer intended to be so ominous. Great cover from Tim Sale, though.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #3
from 1993
"Bloodlines," yeah! This is one of those things I'll always be nostalgic about, not just because a few of the new superheroes created during it turned out to be fun to have around (for as long as they managed to; Sparx and Hitman probably had the longest runs out of them, and neither is around anymore, and haven't been for decades). Like the theme months in the New 52, I'll always be up to sampling the results all over again. This one actually features two new characters, a hero and a villain, who end up cancelling each other out (both are depowered by the end), which isn't something I'd seen before. Bonus, of course, that it features Azbats!
Batman #4
from February 2012
There's Scott Snyder's initial "Court of Owls" arc again, which lately I've been cursed to revisit again and again, whether in a Forbidden Geek trade collection or the Batman Giants. Or this single issue. Which I actually kind of want to write my own version of. Y'know, so Snyder can never, ever see the results, and how much better they are. (Take that!)
Hawkman #8
from March 1987
I admit that I didn't really read this one.
The Kingdom #2
from February 1999
Kingdom Come was a big epic tale that became one of my all-time favorite comics. Mark Waid decided to follow it up with The Kingdom, which didn't really approach it (like at all) in quality, but was really an excuse for Waid and/or DC to officially bring back the multiverse via the concept of "hypertime," which actually got a bigger bow in the pages of Karl Kesel's Superboy (though, like Superboy in this era in general, is generally forgotten, despite a wealth of great material, and not all of it from Kesel and Tom Grummett). Much like Morrison's later Multiversity, Waid sandwiched The Kingdom with one-shots exploring individual characters/concepts, which in the end were more valuable. (Actually, the same is true of Multiversity.) I actually think Kingdom Come's legacy was tarnished by The Kingdom. If there were only going to be two issues of the lead story, DC and/or Waid could really have stood to opt for at least more impressive art, even if Alex Ross wasn't available.
The Ray #7
from December 1994
It's Howard Porter on art! But not quite the Porter art as later depicted in the pages of JLA, meaning his style hadn't yet advanced to that familiar level. And while I was always interested in at least sampling this series, featuring one of the many teenage '90s superheroes (for reasons, in this particular character, I never really understood), this issue is hijacked by Black Canary, which is kind of hilarious, because it proves how engaging she is apparently right after a series starring her was cancelled due to poor sales. Stupid readers!
Robin #4 (of 5)
from April 1991
The original solo mini-series, featuring Tim Drake taking on the dreaded King Snake (a villain Tim's stories repeatedly returned to in the '90s, but who otherwise quickly faded into obscurity) while trying desperately not to think about having sex with Lady Shiva (hey, he was a '90s Teenage Superhero).
Stanley and His Monster #4
from May 1993
No, not Stan Lee and His Monster! Although after Lady Shiva, it's kind of funny that the best thing about this comic is the sexy lady demon. The best thing about the art is the sexy lady demon, too. So there's that.
from November 1976
Ha! So apparently "Starfire" existed before the New Teen Titans! And no, not the orange-skinned alien who sometimes is too sexy for comic book fans (it's a distinctly modern problem '90s fans would've been completely baffled by, as that was literally a whole genre back then; Americans still have no idea how puritanical our culture remains, regardless of how we explain it), but...a sword & sorcery Starfire!
As explained in an editorial in the comic itself, DC was desperately trying to launch a sword & sorcery angle to its lineup at the time. Literally the only success from the many failure attempts in this initiative was Warlord, Travis Morgan, who still pops up from time to time.
And like the later Starfire, this Starfire is a sexy lady whose wardrobe does not attempt to cover large swathes of her body. Anyway, the comic was also fun to read, and it was just fun to discover that the name had been used before.
The Titans #16
from June 2000
Devin K. Grayson! I don't know, I think fans never forgave her for Dick Grayson's (no relation) rape. Maybe there were other reasons, but Devin left comics behind and never attempted (or never succeeded at) a full-time comeback. Which is absurd, because she was a talented storyteller, and instantly grasped DC continuity and how to continue it. This team is literally the original Teen Titans, as adults, reunited, and this issue sees them rehashing interpersonal conflicts and deciding it's okay to have them and still maintain relationships (which makes it completely inconceivable in today's environment). Kind of bittersweet, in hindsight, too, with how it handles Roy Harper, who in current continuity is kind of dead with far less fanfare than what happens to Wally West within the pages of Heroes in Crisis. And suddenly I want a Devin K. Grayson series starring Roy. At least they're finally reprinting her Nightwing. Hopefully. Sometimes DC ends up cancelling these sorts of things.
So long, Forbidden Geek, and thanks for all the fish!
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.
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