Back To The Golden Age

A few thoughts on recent comics.
Captain Midnight: By Dark Horse, Captain Midnight has been mostly a way to do a revival right. While clearly based on the history of the old radio and comic character (not "pulp"), the comic is also modern storytelling. The Captain is brought forward through time and finds that his villains have not been idle over the years. Also, his own tech seems to have been corrupted by others over the years. The writers manage to tell their Captain America/SHIELD over arcing long story without sacrificing telling smaller stories and keeping the hero heroic and active force. There were a couple of mis-steps in the Skyman issues as with the character of Skyman, they did everything they didn't do with the character of Captain Midnight. They went out of the way to make the character derivative of CM by completely ignoring Skyman's own rich history and motivations (the truth is that the Skyman owed more to Spy Smasher than Captain Midnight, especially as this version of Midnight is based on Fawcett's version, who they re-worked as being more like their character Spy Smasher). The character of Skyman is not the original but some patriotic zealot thug and made to look ridiculous by seeing his hair sticking out from under his cowl. Then to add insult to injury, in the upcoming Skyman comic, he's replaced by a minority character AND given a new, kewl costume while making making fun of the original costume!

Doc Savage: Two issues in, Dynamite's Doc Savage is a bit of a surprise. One, it is keeping so far halfway close to the actual pulp character. Two, the artwork in the second issue is the same as in the first issue, and mostly solid if not exceptional. Three, it is a tighter, stronger and in character driven story than the writer's attempt in "Masks". The second issue thankfully does not live up to the advertised hyperbole, that Doc would have to choose between his mission or his cousin's life. No such decision is made here. There's even hope that the writer is coming up a way to bring Doc and crew both to the present day without actually sidelining them by death or infirmity of age. The story of the second issue only has one real flaw. It states that when Doc is at his fortress, that his men call in help and that help is Pat Savage. This is necessary for the sake of the story, but it doesn't fit with what we know of Doc's men or of their relationship with Pat. Pat is a capable character, but she's not super-capable, no more capable than they are. Plus, the text states that she formed her own crew of adventurers, which would make some sense as Doc and crew tended to try to keep her out of trouble, but after stating that, instead of seeing some of them, we get Monk and Ham! Kinda disappointing.  If Doc's men were calling in help, might have been interesting to see another Lester Dent or Street & Smith character ala Click Rush, Blond Adder or Nick Carter, Cash Gorman, the Avenger...

I give Roberson credit by dealing with the Crime College and NOT writing it up as if Doc was lobotomizing the bad guys and removing all sense of free will.

The biggest drawback so far really is the art. It's clear and straightforward, detailed where it needs to be, not overly colored. What it cannot do is really distinguish Doc and his men. Long Tom, Renny, and Johnny all have the same build and face, nothing distinguishing about them. Doc is not drawn taller than those around him. Monk doesn't look shorter than the others and doesn't look homely as much as just perpetually angry. Characters are identified not by who they look like, but because they look less like anyone else.

The Invaders: A strong first issue by Marvel and James Robinson that comes as a bit of a surprise. There are two cannon fodder deaths, one belonging to a Shi'ar Imperial Guardsman and the other a golden-age hero. Although, given the nature of the particular hero's power and who killed him, it is not something that is necessarily permanent. Although, it does raise the question as to why he was on the mission and not Captain America and hopefully, there will be an in-story explanation.

The plot concerns the Kree after a device that the Invaders discovered in the 40s being used by Strucker. It could control gods and the original Human Torch, Namor, and Bucky divided it up and hid it. Namor's piece was found and they are after the Torch's piece. The Torch has been living the quiet life in a small town as a mechanic when they come calling. A pitched battle, things go badly for him, and then at the end Superpro and Nomad show up.

There's a few places that make little sense beyond the story needing it to be that way. Such as if the Human Torch is retired and keeping a low profile, why is he wearing his costume under his clothes? Even more to the point, why is he wearing a new, cool version of his costume? As he's a synthetic human, if he's trying to pass as normal, why wouldn't he eat a whole pie or drink a whole cup of coffee? Presumably, he could actually process the food as energy just as a normal person. It's there to drive home that he's not human, but it doesn't really make sense from a character point of view. Since, the Invaders divided the pieces to hide, why would Namor and NOT the Human Torch hide his piece in the middle of the desert? One might guess that Namor would hide a piece in the desert if he is the one that had to hide all three, who would look for a piece there. But, since they divided it up, the desert is no longer a reach for a hiding place as the other two could conceivably hide it there. So, it simply makes no sense other than being a cool moment.

The artwork is top notch. Clean and clear storytelling, actually looks better on print than online. The only drawback is in a few flame effects and the explosion behind Superpro-Cap and Nomad-Bucky are obviously digitally created.

The biggest problems for me in continuing with the book are things mostly coming from outside this specific issue. For example, I don't like the idea of Winter Soldier. We see Bucky in the past and he's mowing people down with his gun, his new default personality. I also lost faith with James Robinson as a writer some time ago. We get an indication of that with the cannon fodder deaths that he's using to kick off his series. He plans on making changes to Toro's powers (because somehow another fire-based character is redundant, even when he's one of the first ones). Then there's Cap's movie inspired costume that is one of the ugliest ideas to come down the pike. Where's the idea that he is an acrobatic and martial artist styled fighter under all of that padded gear? The idea that it's supposed to be a superhero costume? 

Scooby Doo Team-up: A comic that actually captures the fun. The first issue was the gang teaming up with Batman and Robin to take down Man-Bat. The second has Batman and Robin but also Slam Bradly, Mystico, Jason Bard, Roy Raymond, Dr. Thirteen, Angel O'Day and Ace, the Bat-hound. And, manages to keep in character with the various characters... well, as long as you consider in-character does not have to do with the nu52.

Bob Larkin needs help

Most of the pulp fans are probably already aware of this. But, I thought I'd share this with some of the comic fans that may be unaware.

I first became aware of Larkin's name when he became the main replacement for James Bama on Bantam's Doc Savage series. He was a good choice in that he had much of the same sense of heroic realism of Bama and Boris. He also managed to get Doc in some other clothes for a few of the covers. It was only in retrospect that I realized I had seen his art for awhile as he did quite a few painted covers for Marvel's comics and paperbacks as well as the painted and pulpish covers for Warren's Rook magazine among others.

Bob's wife, Fran, has been fighting cancer for the past 12 years and the medical bills has put them under an incredible financial strain. She is currently recovering from her latest surgery and Bob has become her caregiver around the clock, leaving him unable to take on new work.

Thankfully, fantompress.net has been working with Bob the past few years, doing primarily Doc Savage based items with the profits going to Bob and family.

They've also been working with Bob about putting together a sketch book featuring Doc Savage as well as Batman, Stewie, the Shadow, and a bunch others. It has finally come to pass as the books are fresh from the printers. Each is square bound, 8 ½ x 11" 48 black and white pages and are individually signed and numbered by Bob. The paperback is b/w, signed and numbered of 500 copies and is $20 per. The special hard cover includes an extra 8 pages of color of new paintings of Doc and friends. Thirty signed and numbered copies for $60 apiece. The Deluxe has the extra 8 pages plus choice of original water color illustration (5x7 on 8 1/2x11 board) along with custom storage case. Only 20 copies and is $500.

100% of the sales are going directly to the Larkins as well as anything else that might interest you on the site.

www.fantompress.net

Aquaman's Gloves and some comics

Notice a couple of things off in the picture to the right? Hint #1: there's two things not quite right. Hint #2: Both concern the gloves, though you may have to blow the image up to see the second one.

Give up? Well, the first thing is, Aquaman's gloves aren't like Captain America's gauntlets, loose fitting with a split. At times they have been drawn as flaring at the end, but traditionally, they are form fitting with a fin that flares out at the side (see image below for how they were drawn, sometimes subtly but still obviously not the gloves above as you can see the musculature of his forearm underneath the glove). The finned gloves makes sense as a design element in terms of an aquatic superhero and the fins on the forearm then reflect the fins on his calves, so it's good basic design. Here, we have more standard superhero gloves that not only don't reflect his character-theme, they now obviously look odd and out of place on an aquatic character.

The second design flaw became obvious once I focused on the fact they were the wrong type of gloves: the seam and the split. Over the course of the comic the artist is unable to decide whether the split is on the top or the bottom of the gloves as he draws them both ways depending on the scene while Finch draws the seam on the side on a few of the covers. The correct placement of course is on the side so that the split and the seam line up. The place for a split in clothing is along the seam and seams on gloves are along the sides. Ironically, the whole reason for an artist to go through the effort of rendering seams on superhero costumes is to make them somehow seem more realistic, more like real clothing. However, the effect here is that it makes the gloves more unrealistic! If he had left the seam off, I probably wouldn't have even noticed that the splits changed positions depending on the panel, or I'd have simply chalked it up to artistic license. But, with the seam, I couldn't help but think, "gloves wouldn't be made that way, the split would be on the side along the seam where the material meets." The artist made me aware of the placement of the split by his use of a realistic detail in an unrealistic manner which then lead me to noticing the split constantly changing whether it was the top or the palm side of the gloves!

Doc Savage: Man of Bronze:Went into the comic store the other week and found something I wasn't expecting. DC reprinted Marvel's Doc Savage color series! Marvel produced two distinctive Doc Savage books. One was a large b/w magazine with art mostly by John Buscema. These were all new stories and had Doc running around in a t-shirt (though the covers mimicked Bama's paperback look with the torn shirt). The other was a color series that adapted several of the pulp novels with art mostly by Ross Andru and some great covers by Steranko and Kane. Here Doc wore simply an open vest over his bare chest! In addition to this series, Doc would crossover and appear with the Thing in Marvel Two-in-One (one of my all-time favorite comics) and with Spider-man in a Marvel Team-Up annual (not nearly as good). Marvel would also reprint the first couple of issues of their color mag when they were publishing the b/w mag a few years later, no doubt to coincide with the Ron Ely movie. So, on the cover Doc was re-drawn as sporting the t-shirt look from the magazine!

Because Marvel no longer has the rights to Doc, when they were reprinting Marvel Two-in-One in their Essentials format, there is an issue missing. Likewise, this trade sadly is unable to include the cross-overs with the Thing and Spider-man.

The stories it adapts are "The Man of Bronze", "Death in Silver", "The Monsters", and "The Brand of the Werewolf". Like Doc the villains get a little bit super-fied for their comic appearances and there's quite a bit of heavy editing. For example, in the original pulp story "The Brand of the Werewolf" readers are first introduced to Doc's cousin Pat. However, this is the last of the pulp stories adapted in this comic series and Pat had appeared in one of the other stories, so the story is written so that Pat is merely on vacation in Canada. Likewise, a werewolf is only hinted at and never actually seen in the pulp. Here, one of the villains actually sports a werewolf costume and engages Doc. And, while I usually like Rich Buckler despite his reputation as a swiper, his artwork here is a real disappointment and fails to tell the story. One scene would imply that Doc either can make himself immaterial or is invulnerable as the werewolf slashes at Doc who is standing still. Naturally both crook and reader are understandably a bit surprised that this doesn't affect Doc at all!

Despite the flaws and clunkiness in having to compress hundreds of pages of prose in about a tenth of comicbook space, the stories are a breath of fresh air compared to how decompressed modern comics have become while page counts get shorter and shorter. There's variety of story without skimping on characterization all balanced against plenty of action and mystery. Ross Andru's art excels and I love the issue with Tom Palmer on inks.

Wonder if DC would be able to follow up and reprint the b/w series by Marvel as well? Those are great reads, capturing a lot of the spirit of Doc but as they are all new stories, without the necessarily force-fitting and clunky editing required in adapting longer works in prose form to a different medium.

Justice Society of America #40: Disappointing end to what is ultimately a mediocre and overly drawn out story. The biggest flaw is the whole issue is essentially an epilogue. After ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, we get that basically Mr. Terrific woke up and the rest is Obisidian narrating matter-of-factly how being set free changed things over the past year's worth of stories so that pretty much everything happened as before with the exception of Green Lantern getting blown up and the Fourth Reich winning. Zero dramatic tension and can be used as a text book example of the definition of "anti-climactic". Still unanswered is who was leading the Fourth Reich and where did the army come from that they had amassed to take over America and the world. For all that is shown here, the JSA seems content with taking down the few super-Nazis and not worrying about whatever mastermind had put this together and the obviously huge and powerful organization he has at his disposal.

I'm probably about the only person that thinks it would have been perfectly ok to make Obsidian straight again as the reasoning and execution behind making him gay was some of the worst to come down the pike as it purposely completely mis-read and invalidated a story that was all about him not being gay and to not make judgments about people based solely on stereotypes. And, as this retcon was by a writer that went out of his way to completely re-write another writer's entire run and character (basically saying the creator got his own character wrong) AND killing the character off, and then boasting that people hadn't solved his little mystery story because they hadn't figured out the motivation that all hinged on a massive retcon history that the writer hadn't bothered to reveal yet (whereas, almost all of the readers had figured out the who part of the mystery). To say the least, I don't feel especially beholden to honor anything he wrote in his title and an appearance by the current female Manhunter is enough to keep me from purchasing a book.

Lastly, Mr. Terrific is a little too gadget happy, that the writers are working too hard at making him seem all that uber. In talking about the Legion of Superheroes online, I wrote one of the things I think that hurts them these days is that super sci-fi tech exists as being very common every-day in the pages of superhero books set in the present day. Such as I don't mind the Avengers having the occasional space mission but when they investigate an Earth corporation mining on Mars, it completely throws me out of the book as being set in the here and now. Here is a prime example as Mr. Terrific has given his T-spheres the ability to allow his team-mates to fly. Considering some of the spheres' other abilities, he has shown himself to be able to invent things consistently on the level of Brainiac Five if not surpassing them. Look at the things they are able to do vs the Legion's flight rings which basically have only two functions. How long is it before he is able to recreate Starman's cosmic rod in ring form thus putting him on the level of the Oans?

The art on the book looks good, especially Obsidian. Ordway really knocked the ball out of the park with that one. He does a good job on Green Lantern and the Flash without making them look too old or too emaciated but iconic and powerful. Although he does overdo the wrinkles in the clothing a bit making it look like Alan sleeps in his clothes.

Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #10: Wonderful cover by Ross of Skyman, the Face and Marvello. Their role in the story just highlights there's no reason for the Face to be involved in this part of the plot. He adds absolutely nothing, his whole reason being that the three of them appeared in the same comic in the 1940s.

Justine's role as a sleeper agent of the Claw comes to light as she and scores of other followers go Voltron and start combining and merging into one huge body if the cover of next issue can be taken at literal value. We also get a possible explanation as to who or what the current Death Defying Devil is. Although in the space of two panels we got conflicting accounts. The first says that Bart Hill, the original Dare-Devil didn't enter the urn but that he put his costume in (implying that Bart knew the Fighting Yank's plans and likewise that the Yank should have known from the start that this wasn't Bart but never mentioned or hinted otherwise). The second panel claims that whatever is masquerading in the costume took it from Bart and cast him out of the urn. And, both accounts are from the same character, so which is it?

Again, a relatively all-ages friendly comic marred by over graphic ad for Ennis' The Boys.

JSA: Unstick in time?

I'm a stickler for context. When dealing with established characters and stories, I'm all about context. It's the context that makes them matter. It's why I don't like it when DC or Marvel touts the latest character revival or ongoing and then pull a bait and switch, either by creating a totally new character making use of the name or powers and treating them as if they are the same or just radically altering the originals past the point of recognizability. It's a big reason why I don't like DC's take on the pulp heroes or the Red Circle heroes after all their talk about bringing them into continuity. So, it may come as a bit of surprise and seem hypocritical that I propose the following: take the JSA out of WWII. Or, rather, take WWII out of the JSA.

This would solve so many problems that are inherent with the JSA and modern continuity. Plus, it's not as hypocritical as it seems. In the 1940s, the owners of National and All-American didn't think the readers wanted to read about the War, so for the most part the stories didn't center or involve the War. Incidentally, this tactic is about the exact opposite taken at every other comic company at the time. What this means is that unlike Captain America and the Shield, the War plays little part in the original history of the JSA. In fact, it doesn't really play a major part in their history until Roy Thomas' excellent All-Star Squadron.

Where the context of the JSA matters is that they are the older heroes compared to the JLA. They don't need WWII for that. If the current heroic age is about ten years long, then the JSA should be permanently be around 15 - 20 years before that, about the same relationship they shared when the JLA and JSA first met. Just as the main DCU is in an eternal now, the JSA's prime should then be in an eternal now minus a decade or two. Since the original JSA stories didn't center around WWII, this means that very little apart from Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron books need to be thrown out. They still fought their big villains Brainwave, Icicle, Vandal Savage, Per Degaton, Solomon Grundy, Psycho Pirate, etc. It solves a host of other problems.

• Wildcat's secret identity is that of a celebrity and most of his solo stories center around that but don't address why no one is surprised that he looks half his age. Now, as Ted Grant, he'd be expecting to look middle-aged.
• Likewise, the JSA's spouses now don't need to look several decades older than their husbands.
  
• Infiniti Inc. As the eternal now progresses, the Infinitors stay the relatively same age as the original Teen Titans meaning that the JSA had to have children later and later in life. This allows them to have had their children in their mid- to late-thirties as opposed to well into their senior citizen years.
  
• Wonder Woman can be made into a member of the JSA again. She served with them, possibly Steve Trevor died. Regardless, she retires to Paradise Island and raises/trains Donna Troy and Fury. Returns to help the JLA no older than before.
• A little time manipulation/time travel and we only have to have ONE Black Canary again.
  
• Don't need as many "legacy" heroes as the originals are hardly senior citizens. Johnny Thunder, Dr. Mid-nite, Dr. Fate, Sandman, Starman and the Atom can return to active duty without a problem (after un-killing them)
  
• Green Arrow & Speedy served with the Seven Soldiers... wait, what does that have to do with the JSA? Well, along with the JSA, I'd unhook the Seven Soldiers of Victory (and almost every character that made up the GA DC) as well. They'd still get thrown through time and rescued by the JLA & JSA. But, by making Green Arrow being only from a few years and not several decades earlier, it doesn't make him quite the man out of time with a complicated back-story while the rescue sets him up as still being the same age as the JLA and leaves the JSA as the team with the most experience.
  

So, what about WWII? What about heroes that were definitely tied to that era such as the Blackhawks, Steel, Spy Smasher and Minute Man? Remember Earth X and the Freedom Fighters? Originally, it was a place for the Quality heroes but with the added quirk that Hitler more or less won, WWII was never really over until after the help of the JLA and JSA. Instead of another Earth, they become THE heroes of WWII alongside the non-Marvel family Fawcett characters and WWII retcon heroes like Steel and Judomaster. If a story involves traveling to the time period or referencing it, they are the heroes of the time. The idea would also involve for the most part leaving them there. No referencing their final battles, seeing them as 90 year olds in the present or a host of legacy characters. Modern age appearances would be due to the nature of the characters themselves lend them to such for example Uncle Sam.

In the end, I think this one retcon would allow the undoing and uncomplicating a host of other retcons from over the years. It would allow the original JSA be the JSA again as you don't need countless explanations and legacy heroes to make up the team (though it does mean undoing some senseless deaths along the way). And, they'd still serve as the previous generation's team of heroes and inspiration to the modern heroes which is the important context they provide.

Green Hornet Year One #2: This continues the separate paths that opened the eyes of Kato and Britt Reid to the injustices of the world while also depicting the events that lead them to have the persona of Green Hornet be of a rival gangster. There's a lot of wonderful layering of the story as we see the idealism of justice of young Britt being challenged by the face of real violence and brutality just as Kato sees the difference between the honor of the ideals of martial skills and the way of the samurai against the backdrop of the horrors and modern warfare. There's real meat to this story, providing in depth characterization and motivations of all of the characters.

Doc Savage #1: The Doc story wasn't all bad. Most of the bad notes were dictated by the First Wave "bible" ie Renny being the ugly one, the total mix-match of science and technology (Monk is talking about quantum physics, but Doc flies a blimp from Africa?). None of the aides look quite right, Ham looks too vintage in manner of dress as opposed to best dressed, Long Tom has brown hair and looks fairly normal, and the torn shirt seems to be treated as Doc's uniform as he never bothers to change to a fresh shirt. The plot and storytelling seem fairly solid though, a very pulpish threat and beginning and introduces the individual characters quite well. If DC had lead with this instead of a mini-series whose second issue hasn't come out yet. How is a mini-series late by issue 2? Throw out everything dictated by the First Wave bible, and you'd have a solid Doc Savage adventure story that doesn't really contradict much of the Doc canon.

The Avenger was worse than I even thought it would be based on reading prior reviews. Other than the character names, the story and art completely miss the boat on the character. It has less in common with the source material than the FF and X-Men movies did with the comics. Honestly, it takes deliberate work to depart that far from the source material without just creating a whole new character by the same name. It left such a sour taste in my mouth, that when The Spirit relaunch from the First Wave imprint showed up in my bag, I returned it and told the store owner no more First Wave books. Instead of being a built in buyer, they made me decide to actively avoid the whole line.

Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor #1: John Byrne's work on the Star Trek and Angel related projects play to his strengths as a storyteller. His best stories tended to be the more science fiction and horror ones, even when doing superheroes such as the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight. His art has changed, grown far more organic in its depictions. He has a wider range of body types and faces, but his figure work has also become a bit looser and less iconic looking. With his books for Angel, he explores the genre of horror that did so well with the overlooked Blood of the Demon. With the first issue of "Frontier Doctor" we get those exploration sci-fi stories that he did with the FF so well. The first issue is a stand-alone that takes place some time in between the original series and the first motion picture. It's a slightly older McCoy (and Kirk) doing medical work in the vast reaches of space. The story has a feel of one that could easily take place in the original series, provided they had the budget and ability to do the fx. The only discordant note of the whole thing is when the nature of using computer technologies to produce the inks and colors shows its hand ie, you see the computer enhanced backdrops in some scenes that throws you out of the narrative due to their obviousness.

Other natter:
Probably the funniest thing coming out of the new Rawhide Kid mini is that in an interview, Zimmerman references Blaze of Glory and then talks about how the new mini is an homage to The Magnificent Seven indicating he doesn't realize that whole point of Blaze of Glory was to rip off that classic Western. Can count on Zimmerman trying to write Rawhide Kid as being more stereotypical gay than Jack of Will & Grace not being nearly as humorous.

Hornets and Savages

Astro City Dark Ages Book 4 #2: I admit to tiring of the Williams brother saga. I like the various characters and character designs that we've been getting such as the neon Mirage and the green goo Floo. I like the pseudo costumes the brothers wear, very Steranko inspired. However, as their story went from being normal men to actually ingratiating themselves into the super-villain community and acting more and more like the dark heroes they profess to despise, their story has grown uninteresting. Part of it is that it has meandered and expanded with all of these little threads of other things into including a time jumping Silver Agent and a empathic threat from another dimension. Their tight, personal story of tragedy, vengeance and transformation has become more one note. The brothers started off with individual voices, individual outlooks; but, now, like the uniforms they wear they've become interchangeable. I find myself more interested in all the little side characters in the story than the main plot and had to struggle to get through the opening narration that just seemed verbose and dense to communicate a simple question of meta-storytelling, did dark heroes call to the other dimension's dark force (ie the real world and fans/creators of that particular storytelling) or did the dimension make the characters dark (ie the characters simply reflected a shift that was going on in the real world)? Yet, for all that, it's a dense read. Busiek knows just how much is needed to communicate secondary and tertiary characters to move a story forward without them all just being cyphers.

First Wave #1: Take your average movie adaptation of a book, series character, comic character or even of other movies, and more often than not you are left wondering about the changes that the writers and directors make to the source material. Some, if you are truly honest, were needed or necessary to make the transition from one format to another as well as to bridge the years and changes in storytelling voices. More often than not, most leave you wondering why they accepted the project in the first place, that it misses the point, the spirit of the original work. That's this book.

I give Azzarello props in that he understood at least one thing, that it's possible to write Doc Savage or the Spirit as actual characters and not just archetypes, that he didn't set out to write a pulp pastiche or a Eisner pastiche which the last Spirit book turned into once Cooke left it. A pity he failed everywhere else.

The first problem isn't the story but the whole idea of a separate continuity and reality for the pulp heroes. One, it means Dan Didio basically lied when he first announced DC was going to do Doc Savage and have him be in continuity. That implies that he's going to be in the mainstream DCU not a separate Earth. It recognizes the problem of the non-powered heroes but comes up with the wrong solution, or at least one on faulty logic. Doc has to be on his own Earth because on the main Earth, he'd be second rate to Superman? What does that make Batman? Or Captain Marvel? The problem is, that's how DC has treated almost every character since Crisis put everyone on the same Earth, made them second rate to DC's first tier of Silver-Age heroes. But, it's not an inherent flaw in the characters or the idea of them all on one Earth. It's in the basic treatment by the creators, the constant elevation of the original JLA into some kind of holy pantheon of gods and the rest lesser. Some writers got it. Grell wanted to write a more serious, street level Green Arrow. He just set him clear across country and wrote the blamed stories. He didn't get tied up in every cross-over down the pike. Ditto for Gerard Jones El Diablo comic, O'Neil's Question series and even Ordway's Power of Shazam. The trick to telling such stories "in-continuity" is to simply don't write things that violate continuity but maintain the style and spirit you're aiming for. The last Doc Savage and Shadow series could have easily been considered in-continuity if so-desired because they didn't actually violate any major DC continuity. The trick is they weren't actually about continuity, they were not continuity stories which is sadly what most of the mainstream DCU is about.

And, in a sense, that's what First Wave is about too. By launching this and not the individual titles, it's a story about continuity, about the continuity of this Earth. Instead of just being a rolicking good adventure. Which is where Azzarello drops the ball. By being placed on another Earth, there's zero context. It's not the world of the 1930s, that's easily seen through various fashions and automobiles. Neither is it modern day though, the world outside our window. There are references to a recent war that's in the past. Also, someone asks Doc if space travel is possible. It's neither fish nor fowl.

In interviews Azzarello constantly talks about how bad the original pulps were and how he's not writing that Doc. He comes across as a writer who only has disdain for the original material, and this storyline is about "doing it right." Which makes you wonder why he's doing it anyway? Why give him the job, why did he accept? Why did Didio actually want to pay to get the rights to the characters? He doesn't want to write the pulp Doc but he sets out to cover the same ground and do his version of the story of "Man of Bronze", reinventing the wheel. In the process, it removes all context of the character, all history. By strip-mining the original material like this, it's not him writing the character of Doc Savage as much as him just creating his own Doc Savage character. Likewise, his Spirit and Dolan are provided nice modern kinks in that Dolan is apparently a bad cop, maybe a corrupt one. He's not just avoiding writing an Eisner pastiche Spirit, but avoiding writing a version that's faithful to the actual character, the spirit of the Spirit.

Related to this is the flaw of having Batman on this Earth (he's not in this issue by the way, but already established through the earlier one-shot). By setting up multiple versions of Batman, with each one, you lessen the concept of Batman as a flesh and blood, breathing character whose stories matter and reinforce Batman as an artificial construct that can just be plugged in. It doesn't matter that he's dead in the mainstream continuity because he's healthy in so many other equally valid continuities. By launching various titles that are new continuities of the character, none of them really matter or carry weight. The character is diluted to the point of being meaningless. Again, there's a difference in telling stories that just don't tie in to the ongoing continuity but don't necessarily violate it as opposed to making up multiple versions being about continuity because they all reference how they are different from the core character. DC has been doing this through their constant revamps of the Legion, the multiple Superman and Batman continuities such as the All-Star line, their launching of the Red Circle heroes. By constantly re-writing characters' histories and backstories and continuities, they actually lose all the context that the characters actually have as opposed to creating new ones. What makes characters rich are their stories. It's the difference between a series like Byrne's X-Men: The Hidden Years or Busiek's Untold Tales of Spider-man and Marvel's Ultimate line.

Then you get the Blackhawks. Keep in mind, the whole reasoning behind this new pulp Earth was that it would be a place where these type of characters would work. Why, then do we not have the original Blackhawks? By giving a team that would fit in with the post-modern sensibilities of DCU continuity, it pretty much violates the whole basic reasoning behind this separate Earth. We also see it a bit with Rima, as she's over literalized, losing the basic spirit of the Sheenas and Tarzans of literature for one that's more realistic.

The end result is that it's not a world where these type of characters are allowed to shine and be themselves, but a world that allows the writers and creators the freedom from being held accountable to writing the characters on model beyond superficialities. And, here's the rub. Like DC's Red Circle line, the writer hired to do the hatchet job and create the bible for these characters isn't even in it for the long haul. He's only on the opening arc and establishing the whole worldview and characters. And, in both cases, it's writers with not much of a background showing that they have that level of creativity. Kirby and Ditko, yes, the two of them were constantly creating new concepts and characters. Even Jim Shooter has a background of world-creation although it's often of establishing limitations rather than themes that will excite and fire creativity.

Green Hornet #1: Once upon a time, a publisher got the license to the Green Hornet comic. They decided to make the character a generational one, embracing the previous incarnations of the GA radio and comicbook character and the 1960s' television version. The new guy would be the son of the 1960s guy and he'd be reluctant to take on the role. He'd be overshadowed a bit by Kato who would be a much better fighter and dynamic character, especially when they make Kato a woman, all dressed in black leather. Finding a hit on their hands, they'd launch spin-offs. Green Hornet in the 1940s. Green Hornet in the future. A title focusing on Kato. Only the year is 1989 not 2010 and the publisher is Now Comics not Dynamite.

That's the chief flaw with the book. It's not horrible. There is potential, but it is all a bit cliched. The deja-vu is magnified by all of the ads for the other Green Hornet books before this one is even out of the gate proper and all exploring the exact same ground that Now Comics did. Can you say "Rip Off"? I thought you could.

The story itself is a bit dull and by the numbers. The hero choosing to retire because he managed to put the last of the major crime families out of business. On one hand it limits the scope of the character, his mission. On the other it's naive and superficial reasoning, that other criminals won't fill the void, that there could and would always be work for the Hornet if he wishes to continue. Just as making the son just a tabloid bad-boy is dull. Sure, there's apparently some good in him, we see it in his ex-girlfriend being with him longer than two weeks. But, what's missing is a sense that there is enough depth to him that would really warrant him taking up the role. In the few pages he's in, we see petulance and possibly good intentions, but we don't see passion.

What we see is the path that made previous versions dull and seems to fuel the future movie as well. One, a Green Hornet that is secondary to Kato. Remember, Kato is the side-kick. He can be the best friend. He can be capable. But, the number one man, the most interesting character should be the Green Hornet. His motivations, drive and passion should be number one. Kato is not Bruce Lee.

Two, the Green Hornet is more than fighting gangsters. He appeared at a time and in a format that didn't readily lend itself to really colorful villains. But, he's still a pulp inspired hero, he solved impossible crimes, pirates that had their own submarine, and even a few costumed crooks in the comics for example. Gangsters and mobsters and mafia can be interesting characters, but they need to be larger than life as well, compelling visually and physically for a comic book superhero. Every villain need not be a Joker, Lex Luthor, or with super-powers. But they need to be more than your average gun wielding killer or drug dealer. Want to write a kick-butt Green Hornet series? Listen to some of the radio shows, read various GA comics by Simon & Kirby and finish off by a marathon of watching Bruce Timm's animated Batman series. That has the proper mixture of pulp and jazz with super hero comics and humor. Just remember that Green Hornet is Batman and Kato is a cross between Alfred and Robin.

What's interesting in looking at the Now Comics again, I am struck by the similarity between their story and James Robinson's Starman, at least in the opening arc. Both set up the heroes as generational heroes, the elder too old to continue. An old foe strikes back at the city and family. The current generation has two brothers. One wants to be the hero, dresses up and goes out to fight crime and is promptly killed. Leaving the other brother, the one with the more artistic soul and who doesn't want a life of crime fighting to step in the shoes and learn on the fly. And, while Now Comics explored details of the Green Hornet generations and extended family with the Kato connections mostly through limited series, Robinson would explore all the various Starmen of the DCU and their different decades and both touching what the legacy would be in the future.

Comic reviews and musings

Batman/Doc Savage Special: Despite all the indications of Azzarello not really getting it, this is a decent one-shot. It involves Doc, early in his career (actually would be contemporary with the events of the first Doc pulp story, "Man of Bronze".) Avoiding some unpleasant business, he decides to investigate the actions of the Batman of Gotham City and a possible murder committed by him. Much of the story explores similar tropes of the Batman-Superman relationship or the crossover storyline several years back of Doc Savage and the Shadow in DC's last time licensing of the comic.

The cover has the wonderful feel of being Bama influenced and the interior artwork is adept at storytelling. However, the style lacks solidity, looking more like animation cels, a feel that grows as the story progresses, being very ephemeral looking by the end.

While the story is decent, it underscores the problem with the concept. As noted, the Doc-Shadow crossover did the same thing better, telling a story with a villain that suited the strengths of the characters and their style. Batman feels almost shoe-horned into the story, made to fit a role that he's not suited for.

Then, there are the end-notes about other characters appearing as part of this "First Wave". It's more of Didio's New Earth style madness. Instead of going with the purer aspects of characters, it's seen as a chance to make judgments and arbitrary changes of characters. So, instead of a chance seeing the GA Black Canary free of 40 years of retcons, we have the character being re-cast as an Asian American. The Blackhawks are now a second generation team, the original Blackhawks being mostly dead. Why? The whole idea behind this pulp-Earth was to make characters like Doc Savage and the Blackhawks work. Instead, we get a Blackhawks team that is less pulp-like and completely at home in modern DCU. Azzarello apparently doesn't think Ebony can work unless as a cliched sassy African American woman. Except that Cooke made the character work completely well in his Spirit series. Ugh.

To the point that it seems that they have a better handle on the pulp characters than the others, though it still seems like they are adding and changing complexities and dynamics than working with what's there. There is quite a bit of interest to the Avenger and the original stories. Such as the efforts of the creators to make the characters more racially enlightened (one of his chief aides, Smitty was originally meant to be African American judging by the artwork and eventually he did get two African American aides that played up their intellect and society's pre-judging the characters). Despite his and his team's personal losses to crime, they DON'T actually kill criminals, he goes out of his way to not personally kill them. However, he does set things up that criminals often kill themselves through their own ruthless actions. The books also often have a fatalism about them, how the Justice, Inc crew expect this profession to kill them one day.

Likewise with Doc. While Monk will kill though Doc chooses not to, Monk always feels a bit guilty about it, usually making excuses. On the other hand, Renny has killed if he thought that was the only way and without excuse. The books don't suggest Monk and Ham as Doc's enforcers with Ham keeping lease on the pit-bull. I guess just being best friends isn't edgy enough. Lastly, Azzarello sees Renny as being an ugly man. Did he not actually read the stories? Dent gave all the characters specific physical looks and other than Ham and Doc himself, none are described as being actually good looking. But, the books are consistent in describing Monk as being incredibly homely NOT Renny. It's the creator re-casting the characters to fit his agenda than actually working with the characters.

The Black Coat: Ok, there is obvious stupidity here in the numbering. This issue is listed as being Two Issues, 1 & 2 of 4 (the next issue will be 3 & 4). Man, zero issues were bad enough of gimmicks.

Beyond that, it's a wonderful two-chapter comic, very pulpish story of a costumed hero in the days of colonial America (not too dissimilar to the Disney adaptation of Dr. Synn in "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh") mixed with some of the occult stylings of Mignola. The publishing of Black Coat has been very sporadic, the long gaps in this little known title making you wonder if that's the last to be seen of the title, that it will just fade away like Xenozoic Tales, then, bam, a new issue comes out.

The story of this 2/4 parter begins with the death of the Black Coat and his resurrection and occult menaces that aren't flesh eating zombies as well as the menace of a traitor in his organization against the backdrop of the American Revolution. The artwork of the first half is Francesco Francovilla who has a wonderful old school illustration style, full of cross-hatching and atmosphere and making a name for himself on Dynamite's Zorro book. The second half is by Dean Kotz, a name unfamiliar to me but whose style is similar to Brett Blevins' and appropriate to the feel of this book (his cover is gorgeous by the way).
Black Terror #5 (picking up the numbering where the mini ended): The comic spins off into its own owngoing of a sorts, though the concept of Project Superpowers doesn't really lend itself to ongoings at this point in time. Hester shows himself to be a capable writer and focuses on a small story against the big picture. While most of the heroes went into the urn, the American Crusader apparently did not. When the heroes returned, they found zombie like beings in black wearing the Crusader's symbols and having a modicum of his power. The opening arc of this story goes into the background, establishing a friendship between the Black Terror and the American Crusader in the days of the War and making AC into a perfect martyr character ala Barry Allen crossed with Captain America. It's very well done, perfectly setting up the twist at the end. Especially considering that American Crusader was in many ways a very generic character, a variation of Nedor's basic template and often with art that was crude even by their standards. The most notable thing about him is metafictiona, one of the earliest patriotic heroes and the first to use atomic power as a basis for an origin, but he's generally overshadowed by the likes of the Fighting Yank, Black Terror, Doc Strange, Captain Future and even American Eagle.

The artwork is the weakest part. It's actually hard to judge the pencils as the coloring is extremely dark and completely overwhelms the artwork. To the point that if you weren't aware of the American Crusader was supposed to be a patriotic hero by his name, you really wouldn't get it from the art as it looks like he's wearing red & black and not red & blue (admittedly, on the covers of the 40s, his cowl and cape does look black with blue highlights).

JSA vs Kobra #6 of 6: After a very solid story of a team of heroes fighting a super-villain terrorist, the mini ends with whimper as it just ends without resolving anything after all of the set-up. As if the powers that be lost the resolve to go where the story was taking them, that the heroes are not allowed a clear cut win. At the end, the status quo is the same as where it was at the beginning of the book, the very definition of a bad story, the central conflict has resolved nothing. If the reader wasn't paying attention, one could expect another issue or two to go. Tacked on is that Mr. Terrific's girlfriend is cured of her ill-defined techno illness. But, other than a mention in the first issue, her plight and what it means to Mr. Terrific is not dealt with or touched on the rest of the mini, this isn't an ongoing theme of the story or a central motivation or struggle on the behalf of Mr. Terrific. So, her curing is just an afterthought, an attempt to give the story a feel of some kind of resolution, but is forced as it has nothing to do with what the story or characters have been about, her condition is a minor footnote for all that it has meant.

The sad thing is the artwork is good and there are some great panels and scenes scattered throughout. But, it's a case of when in the end, all is said and done, more is said than done.

Fred Gaurdineer

One of the unexpected joys of working on this project about the publisher Centaur was finding in many of the text stories art by Fred Guardineer, often nice big images really showing off his attention to detail and strong illustrative sense.

Guardineer is not a name you hear very often when people talk of the golden-age greats unless it's about the golden-age magician characters. While he worked on almost every type of story for many of the companies of the day, Guardineer made a name for himself on working on magicians. He did art for Zatara at DC, Tor and Merlin at Quality, Marvelo at Columbia, and Mr. Mystic for the Spirit supplement. And, many of them tended to follow Zatara's magic casting at some point by saying words backwards.

It's a shame he doesn't garner more interest. Even with his earliest art, he had a solid command of illustrating, layout and style. Every line or lack of line is deliberate and serves to define a shape, or texture or pattern. Patterns and textures play off of each other. The pic here is of Dan Hastings, a character that hopped from one publication and company to another, specifics changing back and forth. In this case, Dan for some reason is colored as a brunette, most images have him as a blond. It has been re-colored for publication purposes and reasonably accurate, but the real star is Guardineer's linework.

Website:
Yes, my website is down. When yahoo announced it was shutting down its free sites, it had mentioned that the plus account holders would be able to transfer at that date. When I started my site, it was a plus account but apparently had not been for awhile (though I still operated with all the benefits of a plus account). What it means is I have to find a new home or start a new account with an actual domain name.

I had been thinking about changing the name anyway, the Cash Gorman moniker being a bit problematic in that it's not public domain though not like the owners are doing anything with the character right now. Although with recent events of them finally okaying the reprinting of Doc Savage, the Shadow AND the Whisperer and Avenger as well as DC using Doc and others for a pulp-Earth, it's possible that Cash Gorman might just have a small comeback. All the more reason to at least change the name of the site. With the name changed, I also wanted to update the layout and design of the site, including the beginnings of a page devoted to the Quality characters. When I chose the name for my yahoo email address, I didn't really anticipate it expanding into having an identity of its own (or having to explain where the name comes from, a few times explaining that it's not really my name.

But, I've been busy with other projects and just not been able to move on it yet. Although, I had lots of updates of information to transfer. And it means having to re-do all those links too. sigh. Sadly, this means that unless he's moved them elsewhere, some of Jess Nevins' sites are also lost as well as copperage's where the micros came from. double sigh.

Reviews
Abe Sapien: The Haunted Boy: A wonderful one shot story of Abe investigating a simple haunting. Perfect for Halloween, it's a tightly told horror story centering around human pathos and grief. It misses a few beats as the big twist hinges on the writer and artist firmly establishing visible differences between the two boys, so the a-ha moment isn't as strong as it should be. Regardless, it has more of that feel of what the Hellboy books or shows like Buffy/Angel/Supernatural were before continuity and ongoing plots became more important.

Angel vs. Frankenstein: I can understand some people not liking how Byrne's art has changed and developed. I think his figures have lost a bit of that iconic feel, that sense of epic proportions and action to the point that it's jarring when he's working on superheroes. I found this to be true first when he was working on Wonder Woman where all too normal looking everyday characters looked out of place standing next to someone like Wonder Woman or Superman. Yet, when he's working on projects like Angel (and the late Demon series), what's been gained is texture and nuance that are perfect for horror titles or books featuring all too human characters even if they are vampires, psychics and monsters. He knows when detail is important and when the action should take front-stage, a master of storytelling in each panel.

I got so caught up in reading the story, I briefly forgot that it was a book featuring Whedon-verse characters and was a bit upset that the vampires turned to dust immediately when stabbed with a stake but then remembered that's the rules this book has to operate under. The monster is beautifully rendered and characterized, his whole book summed up in a few pages. He's both tragic and horrific in his ruthless nature, a perfect anti-hero to pit against Angel when he was less than sympathetic as well.

If there's any flaw, it's the story has a lot going on for just one issue, would have loved to have seen this paced out into two issues, to really get to know some of the poor citizens that get caught in the battle between the two characters, and to wince at their sudden violent deaths. Maybe we'll see the Frankenstein monster spin off into its own series. Meanwhile, Byrne has in the works a new Angel story, one taking place in the current day.

Astro City: Astra #2: The cover alone has that great feel of a glossy magazine cover ala Omni. To the point, that I didn't at first recognize the two heads kissing. By this point, I guess Brent Anderson must find the book a joy to work on as he's still doing it. I could see some artists getting frustrated, "you want me to draw what?" He must draw the ordinary alongside the cosmic, and make the fantastic look both fantastic and everyday. Which is what the text is going for as well, as Astra is showing her boyfriend other worlds and cosmic goings on and finding that a place populated by aliens from all over with fantastic science, she fits in as being "normal" because different and strange is normal in a sense that it's not in Astro City where the two co-exist in large quantities but still segregated. It is a bittersweet tale about our culture's fascination with celebrities and celebrity news over real news, how we chew up the celebrities and spit them up and the fascination of reality shows and the voyeurism they provide. Busiek continues to provide a mature superhero books with mature storytelling without sacrificing what originally drew so many of us to superheroes to begin with. And, it's still more "all ages" accessible than most of the mainstream superhero books out there.

The Brave and the Bold #28: This has been reviewed online elsewhere and they pretty much all hit the mark in that the comic doesn't. I'll give JMS credit in that he's trying to tell stories with meaning, that are about something. However, he doesn't really know how to do it without preaching, he isn't able to pull it off through metaphor and themes. Part of that is the format of single issue stories doesn't allow him much room to explore thematic elements.

The other part is that once you get past the purty pictures and the surface story, it's just full of bits and pieces that don't make much sense. It's a team-up of the Flash and the Blackhawks in WWII. This is the second appearance for the Blackhawks in this title and nowhere are their planes in evident. Nor are their varied characters identified or explored much. There's no reason for them to be the Blackhawks vs Sgt Rock and Easy Company or even the crew of the Haunted Tank. I'm not caught up on the planes angle, the Blackhawks were more than pilots, they are one of the earliest non-powered costumed teams, providing the template for many that followed. But, their use here doesn't really give them much to do.

Next, the Flash is stranded in the past via a broken leg. We are told that. It keeps him from running at superspeed. However, what it doesn't do is apparently give him any pain, hinder him standing, walking, etc. I've sprained my ankle worse than the Flash's broken leg for all the trouble it gives him. And, why not contact the JSA to send him back to his own time? Of all characters, Barry Allen would know that Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, Dr. Fate or the Spectre would be able to do so.

Then we have the moralizing part. The Flash sees himself as a symbol that doesn't kill, a superhero must stand for something after. Ignore that the character's last big story before Crisis on Infinite Earths and his recent rebirth was about him killing the Reverse Flash and standing trial. Now, part of the conceit of the genre of superhero fiction is we are willing to cede that heroes with guns never accidentally kill or wound innocent bystanders, that all the fisticuffs and knockouts don't result in accidentally killing or permanently injuring their opponents, etc. However, when you raise this issue as a story point, that the Flash does not want to use a gun to kill enemy soldiers, it draws attention to the incongruity and nonsense that his idea of a better non-lethal solution is a barrage of bricks thrown with super-speed! Seriously? After all, to quote the tv Flash, "it's not guns that kill people, it's these little hard things!"

And, then the Blackhawks are upset that the Flash managed to incapacitate the enemy in a few seconds instead of killing them through a protracted gunfight? Might be different if his waffling or solution took more time and actually put their lives at risk, but it was more efficient than their method AND somehow, miraculously, didn't kill anyone. It makes the Blackhawks just seem needlessly bloodthirsty.

Doom Patrol: Haven't been getting this since the first issue, but judging from pages pasted online and quick perusal at the store, I have to ask has anyone been getting this and enjoying it? Every issue seems designed to make each member of the team thoroughly unlikeable and pathetic as characters and make you long for the days when they were blown up and martyrs. Last issue, Mento and this issue the Chief. It further compounds it by making the dead "New" Doom Patrol with Celsius, Tempest et al as being the more likeable and less issue laden team. AND, they retcon Tempest's powers? The dude is dead and being referenced in a flashback, so WHY? Cannot bother to do a character in character for just a couple of panels? For $3.99 a month, why would anyone bother getting this book?

Justice Society of America #32: The book progresses along its way with little change from the previous issues. As the investigation continues into who betrayed the team, important points are brought up, important enough that it could be argued they should have been addressed earlier. Despite that, there's no real new development or progress, it almost feels like a bit of filler between the beginning and end. Sorta like how in the old movie serials, about 2/3 of the way through the storyline, you have a chapter that just kind of sums up all the pertinent details and storyline to that point. Still no clue as to who half the villains are or what they can do. Likewise, it pains me a bit that we don't really see who many of the JSA really are either. They all come across as superheroes full-time without real outside lives.

A good time to address the previews, in this book is the preview of Batman/Doc Savage. The art looks good. However, the way Batman is blasting away with guns... sure, it's a more pulpish world and Batman originally did use a gun on occasion. However, when that's Batman's first recourse, to go in with guns in each hand blasting, you don't have Batman, you have the Shadow, a character that this world is supposed to already have. Why bother with Batman at all?

Meanwhile, online is a preview of the JSA: All-Stars. Reinforces my plan on not getting it. Didn't care for the art, half the team is who I'd like to see booted anyway, AND the writing in just a few pages has two stupid moments. One, Magog seems surprised to discover his foes are cyborgs to the point that he mistakens them for robots. Of all the JSA, who's the one character that is cybernetic? Magog. Then, Power Girl gives the order for the JSA not to hold back since they aren't humans in suits but cyborgs? Maybe, she doesn't know the definition of the term, that they are still living people? Not like discovering they are undead zombies or something.

Marvels Project #3: A decent issue, following up on several threads introduced. As the story is progressing, the narrative itself is not as strong. This plagued JMS on The Twelve as well, starting off with a strong narrative voice, but the story being told was much bigger than what could be contained or told via that narrative. Thus, the Angel's narrative at times is barely oblique commentary. The scene with the Ferret seems completely incongruous, having little to nothing to do with anything else going on in the book at this point. Maybe, it'll play in later but right now it's just wondering what it was all about other than to be a minor character cameo. Epting's art is a bit of a disappointment there as well. He does a good job at setting up the office and all but his Ferret pretty much just looks like the Angel.

The Angel himself comes off as being thuggish, his method of investigating being hitting people til they talk as opposed to doing some detective work. It seems a bit contrary to the way he's been portrayed up to this point as someone extremely capable and smart. There's a couple of leaps in storytelling logic as well. The Angel seems to take the death of the Phantom Bullet very personally. He's never met the man in either identity, no reason the two even really knew of each other this early in their careers, yet he calls him "comrade". And, while I can see investigating the guy's death and his most recent cases, is there anything to indicate that he wasn't just killed while stopping a mugging or commission of some other crime, that it was an intentional murder? But, the Angel in his questioning isn't asking who killed the Phantom Bullet, who's been taking credit or talking about it, but about who would WANT to kill him, which implies that the killing was a planned and intentional act and not a spur of the moment opportunity. None of it read right, it comes off as being the easiest way to get from point A to point C, without spending the pages of actual writing it would take to do it logically.

Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #4: The storyline is moving along and a hero seemingly falls. After the big reveal of last issue, nothing concerning it is touched on other than it seems as if the Supremacy has ways to get inside information with each group. Makes you wonder how Tim "healed" his face after the rather sizable cut that left him noticeably a fake.

Project Superpowers: Meet the Bad Guys... Dagon #3: This issue is pretty much undercut by the previous one. Here, Samson is alive and well and there's a lot of talk about him suffering a crisis of faith and the villain played up as a rather personal threat, only to have Chapter Two render it all kind of moot. Again, there's the usual feel of a Casey script that seems to indicate that he thinks readers can read his mind and thus he can leave out all sorts of background, motivations and relevant information that would actually give his story any meat and help it make some kind of sense. The villain looks cool, and who thought we'd see Hydroman as a serious hero this day and age (only he's called Hydro these days). Otherwise, there's a lot of talk as if something is going on, but it's all sound and fury.

The Torch #3 of 8: Toro finally breaks out of his funk and fights back, we see a bit of Jim Hammond inside the revived Human Torch and the Thinker exits stage left. The story is still very linear and it makes you wonder just how it's going to be more than 4 issues, what are the rest of the issues going to be about? Still, an enjoyable romp.

Witchfinder #5 of 5: In the end, the book falls in the category of many of the Hellboy minis, best to be savored as a trade and read in one sitting. I found myself picking it up and really not recalling many of the details and characters and by the time I remembered, the story and the book was done. It is better than the modern BPRD books have been in having that gothic feel of dread and horror with unholy beasts, magic, mystical objects and secret brotherhoods though. A good creepy book for cold dark stormy nights.

Comic Reviews and Doc Savage musings

Astra #1: Astro City and Kurt Busiek are exceptions to the rule for me in regards to the longer stories. Instead of feeling like he's stretching things out, he seems to pack more things in whether its character development or plot twists. He takes advantage of the longer story arcs to flesh things out but without forsaking the thrill of telling a story with superheroes. The longer stories are just denser and more layered instead of simply padded. Each issue is a satisfying read even if it leaves you hanging. The problem has been it has just taken so long between issues, but now there seems to be a renewed commitment to making Astro City more regular. The other thing is Busiek doesn't just tell the long big stories, but also the small short ones. Such as this, the first of issue of 2. It's more light-hearted than the recent storyline of Astro City, but it still manages to capture the times and cultural references, in this case the today of Hannah Montanna, Paris Hilton, celebrity tabloid journalism. Brent Anderson continues to excel at being a realistic artist with an organic line while still being able to capture the outlandishness and gosh-wow of a Jack Kirby designed world and make it all fit together seamlessly.

The Brave and the Bold #27: JMS delivers a fairly strong story with excellent art by Jesus Saiz (other than the cover with Batman's utility belt pouches being ridiculously big and out of place looking). Most of the story mines the human interest personal angle that Busiek does so well in Astro City. Sadly, the story ultimately fails in the end as it has to lessen the heroic nature of Robby Reed, that he was willing to let someone else die in his place and Batman just lets him off the hook.

Justice Society of America #31: Dissension in the ranks of both heroes and villains, the story moves forward with little character bits all the way around. Magog makes good arguments but only because it IS stupid to have the heroes just blindly allow people to walk right in without any type of clearance checks. Although it's one of those things like characters using the toilets. It's so obvious that I don't need to see the heroes do it in order to reassure me that they aren't all seriously constipated. If something is a completely logical and natural thing that any normal person would do, it doesn't really need to be shown unless it actually serves a plot point. What is stupid is that no one replied to his arguments pointing out that superhero teams aren't just about being armies, but also police force and rescue personnel.

JSA vs Kobra #4: Proving to be an excellent mini. Of course, part of that is this is how the JSA and JLA should have been treated all along, with them actually investigating and fighting villains, showing them off to be heroes. The focus is a little too much Mr. Terrific as if he's the only smart guy and the leader of the JSA, but otherwise a strong story. Thing is, this story could have easily been told with the original JSA as well since it's not a story ABOUT continuity but more of an action-thriller that superheroes naturally are and thus a natural fit to spotlight and show off any superhero team. Instead of Mr. Terrific, you'd actually have Hawkman showing up to be the tactician and leader that he was supposed to be, that carried the team for 40 years and Kobra being the world-threat that he always should be. Tell stories like this with the original JSA and no one would be wondering if the team was past its prime.

Marvel Mystery Handbook: I almost didn't pick it up as I don't normally get the handbooks, but there were so many characters I barely knew by name in there which made me just have to pick it up. Chock full of information and artwork.

However, the book is schizophrenic in just what it was trying to be and how it was to present the information. Just the format alone, in the first half of the book, there are power grids, ranking the powers using bar graphs., then for the shorter entries in the second half, it was decided the grids were too big and presented just the numbers for the scale of the powers. From a graphic design perspective, on projects like this consistency is the key. Keep in mind that reference books like this are not required to be read from front-to-back so a consistent approach is all the more important. If the grids are too big for some of the entries, chuck them entirely. Use the same format for each entry. Likewise, keep in mind that some people don't read all of the handbooks, so in the beginning should be an explanation as to what the power grids and numbers actually mean. How does a normal person have an energy projection of one and not zero?

Likewise, if you are going to divide a book like this into two sections so the entries are NOT in absolute alphabetical order, some kind of table of contents is required!

This is carried through with the artwork. Some pieces have art from the original stories, others have modern artists' takes on the characters. Some artwork is cited, others are not. Again, how the main artwork is cited in the longer entries in the first half is different from the second half. Again, there is reasoning based on the page layouts, but there should be consistency throughout the book. If the smaller entries require it to be alongside the pictures in the margins, then it should be that way throughout the book. If the artist is unknown, that should be mentioned instead of left blank. Settle on a single format and be consistent throughout the book.

One could argue that the reasoning behind some having art from the original stories as the main illo and others not is because of the difficulty in getting a good enough scan of the original art or an image from the one appearance that would be appropriate. Except when you get to the Namor entry. His main illo is of him with a modern look as done by a modern artist. There is NO WAY THAT A DECENT IMAGE BY EVERETT OR EVEN SCHOMBURG COULD NOT BE FOUND TO BE USED. Heck, even the small John Byrne pic would have been better since that was at least more consistent with the way he originally looked.

Which gets at the core of the other problem, what is the purpose of this book? Ostensibly, it's to celebrate the heroes who first appeared in 1940 and prior of Marvel Comics. That's fine. No Captain America, no All-Winners Squad, no Union Jack, Dominic Fortune, Two-Gun Kid, etc. Yet, the book is a big failure in that regard. It's full of modern continuity and retcons and does not distinguish between information found solely in the original stories and what is part of modern continuity. Thus for Namor, we get as his main illo artwork that is nowhere close to how he originally was presented. The same is true for Red Raven, Thin Man, Mastermind Excello and the Eternal Brain. The first sentence of the entry of Mr. E is retcon information from The Twelve, a mini-series not even done yet. While the Phantom Reporter leaves out interesting tidbits actually in his original story (his mask seemed to glow and he had another identity of a rich playboy with a different name). That's just wrong. At this point, you're not celebrating these characters from 70 years ago, you're celebrating modern continuity and too worried over how they fit in the scheme of things today.

The biggest example of this is the entries for Hurricane and Mercury. They don't have one. Instead they are a small part of an entry for Makkari. It's a prime example of why I don't like that retcon, it completely subverts the original characters for a much later one. He does not deserve an entry, much less a two-page one in a book about GA heroes. He was created in 1971 and his GA ties are retcon ones. If his retcon adventures qualify him, then they should qualify EVERY character whose stories take place 1940 and before including all the Atlas Western heroes, the medieval Black Knight, Freedom's Five and the WWI Union Jack, etc. This is a handbook of the GA characters that were introduced 70 years ago (or a little prior as the case of Ka-zar) and that's the history that it should celebrate. The retcons and modern continuity should take a backseat to the originals. It's as I always said about making the characters Mercury/Hurricane part of Makkari's identity, we lost them as characters. They are now footnotes of the Eternal's character, it's two pages of information that has nothing to do with the actual GA characters where he deserves no more than a sentence in their entries. And, this just highlights that fact. The one place where they could be given to shine and stand as equals among the other heroes created at the same time, they are treated as less than Leonard McKenzie. I'd rather have seen two short entries, and used the space to highlight some villains. Likewise, Namor's entry could have just ended around his revival in the FF and the role he played in the revival of Captain America and just a summation sentence that he was still active today instead of going on. And on. And on. Red Raven who appeared in ONE Golden-age story has a two page entry!

It's just too full of retconned and modern history without any clear-cut demarcation between how the stories were originally and what they mean in modern continuity. As a true golden age reference book, it's not very useful except for the few characters that haven't been touched by modern hands.

The Ka-zar entry is the way I would have preferred all of them to be, focusing on information found in the original stories, with little to no mention of modern-day continuity. Of course, it makes him a contradiction as well. Judging from the other entries, one would expect that we'd have just gotten the history of the modern-day Ka-zar as his appearance pretty much negates the GA Ka-zar stories as they relate to Marvel continuity.

Lastly, I would have loved to have seen more villains and other colorful characters and less of the secondary characters such as Professor Horton and Namor's parents. Seriously, how does McKenzie rate a full page entry when everything needed to know about him is covered in the Namor bio? Ditto on Horton. How big of a role is he as a character in the actual GA Human Torch stories? Almost all of the information is from stories decades after the fact. Did we really need to have separate entries on Zog and Electro? Less waste and less focus on all of the modern continuity, we could have possibly gotten EVERY GA Timely character that held his own strip in a book not much larger than this, maybe even a timeline of characters' appearances and history from a strictly Timely perspective.


Project Superpowers: Chapter 2 #3: Chapter 2 continues to be an improvement over the first mini, though it's still stuck telling basically one long drawn out story. At least, there's a feeling of progression as lots of things happen and most of them not good for the heroes involved. Although, the revelation concerning the Black Terror's kid partner Tim is very reminiscent of the fate of Tim in the Terra Obscura minis. Overall though, the over arcing meta story is really kind of boring and a tired concept.

Surprise, surprise, I even approve (or at least understand) of the small change to Skyman. In this day and age, a character using that name just because he pilots a specialized airplane just isn't going to.. um.. fly. So, it makes a bit of sense to actually have him be able to fly. Although, by jet-boots? It doesn't really work with the look of his character.

Project Superpowers: Meet the Badguys #2: Joe Casey manages to make the most out of the rather non-sensical status quo of the Fighting Yank in this "story". I also find it interesting that the Revolutionary has on his chest a ring of stars as that's the look of Roy Thomas' retcon character Spirit of '76, distinguishing him from the Fighting Yank who he was visibly based on.

Sadly, that's all that recommends this book. As per Casey's habit, the character the book is supposed to be about is not explained at all. No motivation for any of his actions. No backstory. No explanation of just what are his powers or the source of them. Like almost every story I've read by him, it's all set-up and no actual story. He seems to be trying to paint him as a possible hero or anti-hero and the fact that the seems a cross between Lobo, Ghost Rider and a cracked mirror reflection of the Yank is enough for the readers to know. As we have no motivation for his anarchic behavior and willingness to use potentially lethal force, we don't know why he is supposed to be considered a possible hero. Also, these are supposed to be the "bad guys" yet this issue and the last remove the teeth from the characters they introduce. It seems to be more of showing the feet of clay of the heroes vs the more pure if violent anti-heroes. Are they villains or not? And, when you have your heroes set up to be terrorists, what exactly makes these guys the bad guys?

The artwork is painted prettily in places but is bad at sequentially illustrating a story. Pages are often too dark while simultaneously being just unclear as to what actions they are supposed to be depicting. Of course, so is Casey's script, so in that regard they are a perfect marriage.

Sherlock Holmes #5: A bit anti-climactic in the ending as it's just a quick and easy trial, with little real drama as Holmes pretty much reveals that he already knew everything. Some things seem a little unexplained as issue 4 built up a master mystery thief but that goes nowhere other than to serve as part of the frame job of Holmes. Overall, not a bad story but a little bland.

The Torch #2: Great cover. The story is decent too in that we see what makes the Thinker a formidable foe. But, it's not really going anywhere either. Two issues into the story and all we really have is the original Human Torch revived as a weapon. Too much of the story is too busy being about continuity and explaining the continuity and not the actual title characters doing anything. At this pace, it's going to be an 8 issue mini that could have been done in three.

The problem is that writers today don't really know how to pace out story lines and subplots. A more talented writer would have found a way to have Toro in the main story being active fighting villains and finding his place in the modern world of heroes and as a civilian, while having the Thinker, his research and fan-boy need to over-explain every little thing serve as a sub-plot or second tier to the main story, building to a head. What we got is mostly boring and do we really care about this fine detail of why Toro catches on fire too? Is there going to be a big enough payoff in the relevancy of these details that has taken two issues to detail in such a dull way? Because, right now, it's not the story that's carrying the book or the title characters, it's the personality of the Thinker. Other than his characterization, it's not hard to see that this is largely the same creative team behind the above Superpowers book.

Witchfinder #4: Continues to be an excellent creepy and eerie book, a throwback to what made the Hellboy books so entertaining before they became about their own continuity. A shame that the timing couldn't have made it be a complete read in time for Halloween.

Pulp Matter:
An interesting synchronicity of pulp stories lately. At a recent trip to a local used bookstore, I came across a Bantam Doc Savage double reprint I didn't own. I think it may be the last of my holes with the doubles, now it's just hunting down a couple of the omnibuses. The two stories are "The One-Eyed Mystic" and "The Man Who Fell Up". Both are excellent stories with wonderful "impossible" occurrences drawing Doc into the action. In the pulps, only Doc and Monk actually have their hair color mentioned, so it's interesting that in the "Mystic" story we find out that Renny's hair is not red as that is his hair color in the DC comics from some years ago.

In "Mystic", Renny is on his way flying out for a vacation when he gets into an argument with a mystic on the plane. He falls asleep and wakes up as a two-bit crook, even looking like him when he looks in a mirror. He finds out that while he is this crook, there is evidence linking his real body to a murder that he knows nothing about. When knocked unconscious, he wakes up again as his old self in the town he was heading to. The mystery is compounded when later Doc has trailed the mystic aboard another passenger plane and under the cover of smoke while in flight, the mystic completely vanishes off the plane and is replaced by someone who insists he never boarded the plane.

Meanwhile, in "The Man Who Fell Up" the story centers around a body that falls out of a skyscraper only to fall up instead of down, a mysterious green fog, and strange attitudes by Monk and Ham.

While originally, these stories were written years apart, it's no coincidence they are paired together in this double. Despite wildly different beginnings, the inventions behind the actions of the bad guys are remarkably similar. There are other familiar tropes and storytelling choices that are cliched if you read many of these, so it's not too terribly hard to figure out who some of the bad guys are.

Meanwhile, Sanctum Books has released the second two-story reprints of the Avenger, reprinting the stories "The Sky Walker" and "The Devil's Horns" (as well as a Whisperer short-story "Boulevard of Death"). While The Avenger pulps advertised as being by the creator of Doc Savage, "Kenneth Robeson", the reality was that Robeson was just a house name for other writers. Lester Dent who wrote the majority of the Doc novels and had a hand in most of the ghosted ones, had little to do with the Avenger written by pulp writer Paul Ernst However, "The Sky Walker" involves a jet made of transparent materials, something that Will Murray ruminates about a bit in an article in the book. According to Murray, Dent apparently wrote a short-story involving a similar plot device early in his career but never published. Murray doesn't go into any more detail than that about this short-story. Even if not true, the plane in "The Sky Walker" still pre-dates Wonder Woman's by some years. What's not mentioned is Dent did get around to using that idea eventually. In the Doc Savage story "The Man Who Fell Up", Doc has a mostly invisible jet. Like "The Sky Walker", everything is invisible except for the engine. To aid the invisibility aspect, in the Doc story, the engine is painted to mimic the sky on the bottom and the ground on the top. It even mentions the one drawback, it doesn't take long for soot and all to gather on the otherwise transparent aircraft. And, like many of Doc's planes, it doesn't last 5 pages before it gets blown out of the sky, in this case by a man falling up. As far as I know, it's not mentioned again, presumably Doc saw it as a failure and by that point Wonder Woman was zipping along everywhere in her not too original Invisible airplane. It does give credence to Murray's wondering if there was at least some collaboration between Ernst and Dent though, especially if there's that unpublished short story out there somewhere. Maybe, we'll see it see print some day too.