Category: DC Superhero

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The All-New Atom: Small Wonder


By Gail Simone, Rick Remender, Pat Oliffe, Mike Norton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1996-3

The adventures of the all-new Tiny Titan came to an abrupt halt with this final collection of mind-bending, time-busting yarns, collecting issues #17, 18 and 20-25 whilst inexplicably omitting #19 (a rather tasty subterranean thriller fill-in from Keith Champagne & Jerry Ordway). Whether the switch from stellar and wistfully whimsical scripter Gail Simone to darker, more hard-edged Rick Remender indicated the series was failing or perhaps caused its eventually demise is a matter of speculation – but it was probably neither…

After the events of Identity Crisis and 52, size-changing Professor Ray Palmer vanished, leaving his world behind him. But life goes on, and his post at Ivy University was offered to a young prodigy from Hong Kong who just happened to be Palmer’s pen-friend and confidante: privy to his predecessor’s secrets ever since he was a child. This neophyte, Ryan Choi, soon inherited his Palmer’s super-hero identity as well – under some rather suspicious circumstances. He battled super-villains, monsters and seemingly random chronal catastrophes that were making Ivy Town a viper’s nest of bizarre occurrences.

Gail Simone opens the book with the two-parter ‘The Atom and the Amazon’ illustrated by Mike Norton, Andy Smith, Trevor Scott and Keith Champagne, a bravura combination of action, adventure and sublime surreal comedy wherein expanding villainess Giganta sexually harasses the young professor into a date whilst the mysterious forces and agencies infesting Ivy Town all jockey for position before the impending crisis to come.

Things come to a head when Federal Department of Metahuman Affairs agent Diana Prince steps in and asks Choi to wear a wire on his assignation…

When a creep with a detachable brain provokes a confrontation Wonder Woman steps in and events spiral out of control until Ryan uses a brilliant seldom-seen ploy to calm things down. Sadly the peace is temporary as the brain-thing incites the entire city to attack the heroes. Nevertheless Atom saves the day and is rewarded by the most outrageous offer he has ever heard…

Simone ended her run with ‘A Few Small Affairs’ as the sinister mastermind  behind so many of Choi’s problems traps the diminishing hero in the perfect prison: a paradisiacal hallucination whilst in reality demons, monsters and aliens rampage through the city…

To see how he stops that mess you’ll need to get this book, but that’s not the end of the fun as the epic ‘Inside Out’ by Remender, Pat Olliffe & John Stanisci pits the new Atom against truly horrendous odds and insurmountable problems. In ‘The Positive Aspects of Negative Thinking’ Choi discovers that his explorations of the micro-cosmos have infected him with a virus and unleashed a monstrous carnivore on the city, whilst ‘How to Disappear Completely’ leaves him shocked and reeling when the beast devours his best friend Panda.

Consumed with a need to make amends Choi is utterly unaware that arch-enemies Chronos and Dwarfstar are preparing to attack, and is horrified to learn that the micro-monster has since disintegrated dozens of citizens. Meanwhile his infection is causing him to uncontrollably shrink in violently painful spasms…

Donning a high-tech containment suit Choi battles on in ‘Strange New World’ becoming lost in the microverse but joyfully discovering that the townsfolk “consumed” by the monster were in fact reduced to sub-atomic proportions and trapped in an extremely hostile new universe. His elation is tempered however when he realises that time passes much faster there and if the horrors inhabiting the place don’t eat them first, they could all die of old age before he can rescue them…

‘Forecast Fascist Future’ guest-stars Booster Gold and focuses on Chronos and his partner in time-crime, a mysterious lady from Choi’s past. All the myriad threads of the series converge and Ray Palmer returns to save the day, revealing some shocking truths to – and about – his successor in ‘Time’, the gripping conclusion to a bold epic and conclusive proof that the Tiny Titans should have been given more time to continue their adventures…

Alas they didn’t and the series passed away, but at least lovers of fun, fantastic fantasy Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction have this tome and its three companion volumes to enjoy, and who knows, maybe the All-New action will resume one day?

© 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JLA: Ultramarine Corps


By Grant Morrison, Ed McGuinness, Val Semeiks & Dexter Vines (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-383-1

Here’s a peculiar little item thrown up by the peculiarities of periodical comics publishing, but one increasingly important to fans following Grant Morrison’s creative pyrotechnics in the Batman titles. Collecting a portion of JLA Secret Files 2004 #1 and JLA Classified #1-3 the tome also rather inappropriately includes one of those always uncomfortable marriages of publishing convenience as the JLA endures another less than stellar cross-company crossover – this time from JLA/WildC.A.T.S #1.

In JLA: Justice For All Grant Morrison introduced a team of American military metahumans duped by malevolent General Wade Eiling into attacking the World’s Greatest Super-heroes. Wising up at last the Ultramarine Corps eventually declared their independence and resigned their commissions. Setting up a floating headquarters called Superbia, the quartet invited other heroes – such as the Global Guardians and some members of previous Justice Leagues – to join them as a pre-emptive strike-force that would not rule out extreme sanctions wherever necessary.

Here Ed McGuinness handles the art for the spectacular sequel as the new champions attack and are attacked by the lethally dangerous Gorilla Grodd. ‘Island of the Mighty’ finds the Knight and the Squire centre-stage as the new team’s arrogant assault goes hideously awry and all those heroes not eaten by the sinister simian are co-opted by a fantastic being called Neh-Buh-Boh and turned upon helpless humanity.

Meanwhile the JLA are fighting in a distant baby universe and only Batman remains to protect the Earth…

‘Master of Light’ pairs the Dark Knight and the Squire as Grodd’s eerie ally extends his control over the surviving heroes of Superbia, clearly working to his own agenda, whilst the super-ape easily quashes Batman’s last-ditch attack. Things look bleak in ‘Second to Go’ until the JLA returns to spectacularly save the day, before suggesting a unique penance for Superbia’s Finest…

Fast-paced, glossy and chock-full of big ideas this light romp is an enjoyable piece of eye-candy most notable for laying the groundwork and setting up the ambitious Seven Soldiers publishing event.

The remainder of this book is a less successful, but still a vitally visual fiesta for fantastic fight-fans as old JLA foe the Lord of Time begins to rewrite history, causing dimensional rifts and an uncomfortable alliance with the parallel earth heroes called the WildC.A.T.s.

The tale is stuffed with guest cameos as the heroes chase the increasingly more powerful villain through the ages, but as usual far too much time is spent with the teams fighting each other (presumably because all any comic fan could ever desire of a team-up is to discover which hero is strongest/fastest/most buff or buxom…) before they finally unite to tackle the bad-guy – who defeats himself when they cannot.

This yarn is a poor example of Morrison’s exceptional talent, but Val Semeiks, Kevin Conrad & Ray Kryssing do the best they can so at least it looks shiny and pretty. Even though a shaky fit these mismatched tales will still please the dedicated fans and the Ultramarine episodes offer a tantalising glimpse of greater things to come in better conceived books.

© 1997, 1999 DC Comics and Regis Entertainment, 2004, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JLA volume 5: Justice for All


By Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Howard Porter & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-110-6

By the time of the fifth collection featuring the breathtaking adventures of the World’s Greatest Superheroes, a pattern for gargantuan epics and mind-boggling conceptual endeavours had been well established and re-originators Grant Morrison and Howard Porter, whilst patiently laying the complex groundwork for a “Big Finish” saga were increasingly sharing creator credits with the cream of the comics-making premier division.

This book, collecting issues #24-33 of the monthly comic-book, also includes contributions from writers Mark Waid, Mark Millar & Devin Grayson and art by Mark Pajarillo, John Dell, Walden Wong & Marlo Alquiza, but begins with Morrison and Porter (with Dell on inks) in cracking form, introducing a brand-new super-team in ‘Executive Action’ as the American military, in the form of General Wade Eiling, announced its own metahuman unit “The Ultramarine Corps”.

The four-person squad was officially tasked with pre-emptively defending America from paranormal threats, but as the JLA (and long-term DC fans) were aware Eiling had a long history of covert, “black-bag” and just plain illegal operations and remained duly suspicious. When the Corps stole the artificial body of major League foe Shaggy Man everyone concerned knew it was bad news but even they were unprepared for ‘Scorched Earth’ wherein Eiling set his Ultramarines and the beleaguered US army against the heroes.

Meanwhile New God members of the JLA were preparing for the imminent cosmic threat they had enlisted to confront (and which would finally materialise in the next volume) whilst Batman, Huntress and Plastic Man infiltrated the General’s base to discover his real motives…

The spectacular revelatory conclusion came in ‘Our Army At War’ (with art by Pajarillo & Wong) as Eiling’s plans were disclosed and the truth about the Ultramarines was uncovered. The net result was the disillusioned super-soldiers setting up their own operation independent of any national influence and beginning to gather like-minded costumed champions for a First-Strike force. They would soon return…

Time-travelling future-robot Hourman replaced the Martian Manhunter for a while and Mark Millar, Pajarillo, Wong & Marlo Alquiza crafted ‘The Bigger They Come…’ a delightfully retrospective yarn which saw size-changing physicist Ray Palmer return to service as the Atom when power-stealing super-android Amazo was accidentally reactivated.

The main event of this volume is a JLA/JSA team-up ‘Crisis Times Five’ (by Morrison, Porter & Dell). The thunderbolt Genie of Johnny Thunder returned with a new master and reality was grievously assaulted by unnatural disasters and magical monsters. Somehow, Triumph, an old friend and foe of the League, was at the heart of it all but promptly found himself trapped in a true Devil’s Bargain…

In ‘World Turned Upside Down…’ with reason on the run the assembled champions of League and Society battled rampant magical chaos, retrofitting a little more secret history as the assorted sprites, Djinn and pixies of the Silver Age DC Universe were revealed to be something far more sinister, and ‘Worlds Beyond’ saw those Genies reduced to civil war; concluding with ‘Gods & Monsters’ as a vast army of united heroes saved reality in the nick of time and space…

‘Inside Job’ (Waid and Devin Grayson with art by Pajarillo & Wong) is deeply embedded in company continuity, set during the Batman: No Man’s Land publishing event and referencing one of the League’s first cases (for which see JLA: Year One) as genetic supremacists Locus returned to make quake-devastated Gotham City their private Petri-dish and releasing a mutagenic terror-virus that not even the JLA could combat…

The book ends with Waid, Pajarillo & Wong’s ‘Altered Egos’ as Batman led a plainclothes mission to discover who – or what – was masquerading as Bruce Wayne: an unexpectedly violent mission which resulted in the return of the League’s most dangerous opponents…

Although Justice For All is as compelling and engrossing as the preceding four volumes the inevitable slippage into company history and continuity means that some tales here might well confuse or even bewilder newer readers; but for all that the action, wit, imagination and sheer fun of these stories should still provide immense enjoyment for devotees of Costumed Dramas and Fight ‘n’ Tights fiction.- and after all, isn’t that inconvenience exactly what footnotes, search-engines and back-issue comics shops are for?

Compelling, challenging and never afraid of looking back fondly or laughing at itself, the new JLA was an all-out effort to be Thrilling, Smart and Fun. For a brief moment in the team’s long and chequered career these were the “World’s Greatest Superheroes” and increasingly ambitious epics, broken up by short, sharp single-issue sorties reminded everybody of the fact. This is the kind of joyous frolic that nobody should ever outgrow and these are graphic novels to be read and re-read forever…

© 1998, 1999 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Superman & Batman: Generations – An Imaginary Tale


By John Byrne, coloured by Trish Mulvihill (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-605-7

Working on the biggest guns in any company’s publishing stable is like being King Canute. You get the major gig, make your irrevocable, industry-shaking refit of said star-vehicle and then as time passes, watch it get inevitably changed or as with DC in current times changed back to suit the restless drive of the fickle fans.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths the myriad alternate Earths that had housed different eras of DC heroes as well as providing handy accommodation for the company’s acquisitions such as Fawcett’s Marvel Family and retinue or the Charlton Action Heroes line had been amalgamated into one bulky, homogenous whole, and the company took the opportunity to retrofit their major stars into the bargain.

Batman got darker, Wonder Woman was culturally re-cast and Superman had all the charming Mort Weisinger/Murray Boltinoff/Julie Schwartz additions and contributions to the original Siegel & Shuster paraphernalia jettisoned by revamp architect John Byrne. Out went the friendship with the Caped Crusader, the entire career as Superboy and all the tenuous, wondrous baggage of fifty spectacular years.

And then he decided to bring it all back…

In the four-issue Prestige format miniseries Superman & Batman: Generations, An Imaginary Tale published under DC’s non-continuity “Elseworlds” imprint in1999, Byrne posited a world where the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader began just as they had in the dog-days of the 1930s, and by sampling all the eradicated material prior to Crisis, explored how the pair would have fared had they aged like us relatively real people.

Written with obvious affection and referencing the magnificent alternate-continuity flights of fancy dubbed “Imaginary Stories”, but with a more mature modern sensibility the saga progressed in decade-wide jumps that followed the family and friends of the World’s Finest Heroes in an epic struggle spanning the years 1939 to 1999, with a punchy postscript set in 2919 but revealing a secret origin in 1929.

Beginning with ‘The Vigilantes’ where two new mystery-men, Superman and Batman first meet to defeat the mad scientist Ultra-Humanite at the New York Word’s Fair, jumping to ‘Family Matters’ in 1949 where the Joker and Luthor kidnap Clark Kent’s wife Lois, the ‘Strange Days’ of 1959 where aging Dark Knight and Metropolis Marvel battle Bat-Mite, Mr. Mxyzptlk and a host of weird aliens and monsters whilst their children prepare to succeed them or tragically fall the turning point comes with the ‘Changing Times’ of 1969.

Now elder statesmen of the heroic community Batman and Superman watch their children deal with such complex issues as corrupt US President Nixon, the Vietnam War and massive social unrest, only to lose one of their own to the ageless madness of the Joker.

‘Twilight of the Gods’ in 1979 introduced the eco-despot Ra’s Al Ghul to the saga as triumph and tragedy continued to dog the heroes’ descendents and one of their oldest foes struck his most telling blow, whilst ‘Crime and Punishment’ a decade later found the revenge-crazed Superman a disgraced and hunted felon for taking the law into his own hands, with the epic proper ending in 1999 with ‘Beginnings and Endings’ as the fragmented survivors of the twin heroic dynasties reunited after years at odds.

The epilogue ‘1929’, using the magic of comic-books leapt into the 30th century to reveal the actual first meeting of Superman and Batman, a rather saccharine conclusion that was clearly meant to presage the inescapable sequel…

Complex and professional yet somehow inadequate and unfulfilling, the time-girdling circularity and touchy-feely happy-ending is strongly reminiscent of Robert Heinlein’s later Lazarus Long novels (but lacking the satirical bite), as Byrne focused far too hard on adding everything Silver-Aged-and-the-Kitchen-Sink to the mix, but for all that this is still a hugely readable piece of sweetened fluff, beautifully engaging and thoroughly engrossing, and might well act as a gateway tale for new readers and young fans to try the older material for themselves.

Great but not the greatest, Generations is a book every Fights ‘n’ Tights fan should try, but be warned it’s out of print and going for a vast range of prices from online and high-street retailers…

© 1985 DC Comics.  All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-845-4

This fast and frantic collection presents another “final” clash between the Gotham Guardian’s extended gang-busting family and the immortal criminal mastermind: one which re-invents the eco-supremacist Ra’s Al Ghul.

This contemporary and more acceptable embodiment of the classically inscrutable “ancient foreign menace” was typified in a less forgiving age as the Yellow Peril or the threat of the Eastern races for the “civilised” West, embodied most memorably by Sax Rohmer’s Dr. Fu Manchu. This breed of alien archetype permeates the early days of popular fiction and is an overwhelmingly powerful symbol, although here the character’s Arabic origins, neutral at the time he was first created, seem to embody a different kind of ethnic bogeyman in today’s post 9/11 world.

The concept of a villain who has the best interests of the planet at heart is not a new one, but Ra’s Al Ghul, whose avowed intent is to cull teeming humanity back to ecologically viable levels and save the Earth from Mankind’s poisonous polluting madness, hit a chord in the 1970s – a period where such issues first came to the attention of the young. It was a rare kid who didn’t find a core of good sense in what “the Demon’s Head” planned.

The character is still best remembered for the O’Neil/Adams collaborations (see Batman: Tales of the Demon) but has come a long way since: arguably becoming more diluted and less impressive with each outing, but here an awesome assemblage of writers – Paul Dini, Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza, Keith Champagne and artists David López, Jason Pearson, Tony S. Daniel, Freddie E. Williams III, Don Kramer & Carlos Rodriguez, Ryan Benjamin, David Baldeón, Alvaro López, Jonatham Glapion, Wayne Faucher & Bit, Saleem Crawford and Steve Bird revive “the Demon’s Head” in breakneck, high-octane fashion just as DC’s much-publicised plans to kill off Bruce Wayne were about to commence.

Gathering the crossover story-arc that featured in Batman Annual #26, Robin Annual #7, Batman #670-671, Robin #168-169, Nightwing #138-139 and Detective Comics #838-839 the tale follows Talia and her son Damian as he learns the secret history of his dead grandfather Ra’s Al Ghul as Batman roves the world hunting down the last ancient alchemical Lazarus Pits which have always resurrected the long-lived villain over the centuries.

Genetically perfect, young Damian, whose sire was (technically) the Dark Knight is a reluctant student, and suspects that there might be an ulterior motive for his latest lessons. Playing hooky in a Cantonese graveyard the boy experiences things that shake even his cocky, obnoxious bravado…

Old time Wonder Woman mentor I-Ching (see Diana Prince: Wonder Woman volumes 1-4) guest-stars in the unfolding saga as does the deadly Sensei, master of Al Ghul’s League of Assassins; all strands in a broader web of intrigue revolving around the son of Batman, a factional war to determine the eventual successor to the Demon’s globe-girdling organisation and the desperate hunt to find the mystical city Nanda Parbat; an utterly pure refuge from all earthly evil.

However it seems the Demon is not quite dead: his consciousness is trapped in a disintegrating animated cadaver and if he is to survive the immortal mastermind needs to transfer his soul into the body of someone young and who, preferably, shares his genetic structure…

Revolted and on the run Damian turns to the Batman Family to save him from this horrendous fate whilst his mother Talia is been ousted from leadership of the cult by the mysterious White Ghost, fanatical acolyte of Al Ghul and one who holds the secrets of reviving the undying eco-terrorist…

Perhaps a little short on mood, this all-out blockbuster epic might appear a little disjointed to newer readers, but the action is non-stop and absolutely mesmerising as the assorted heroes try to halt the villain’s inevitable return, prevent a far worse monster from taking his place and save an innocent city and potentially malign child from falling into undying darkness.

Dedicated fanboys will thrill to the return of low-key old baddies such as Merlyn the Archer, Silken Spider, Tiger Moth and Dragonfly, the heroes strut their martial stuff against hordes of ninjas, assassins and warrior death-cults and the settings range from lost world to hidden kingdoms with the ever-present treat of soul-stealing body-snatchers ramping up the tension page by page. Daft and joyous this is real treat for the extreme combat fans and lays the threads for much of what would follow in the days after the latest “Death of Batman”.

© 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman/Deadman: Death and Glory


By James Robinson & John Estes (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-213-4 Softcover 978-1-56389-228-8

Everybody thinks they know Batman but only by a select few are the secrets of murdered trapeze artist Boston Brand also understood. An ordinary man in a brutal, cynical world Brand was a soul in balance until killed as part of a pointless initiation for a trainee assassin. When he died, instead of going to whatever reward awaited him, Rama Kushna, spirit of the universe, offered him the chance to solve his own murder. That opportunity evolved into an unending mission to balance the scales between good and evil in the world. The ghost is intangible and invisible to all mortal men, but has the ability to “walk into” living beings, possessing and controlling them.

Gotham City: Batman gradually regains consciousness, realising he is facing a squad of armed, trigger-happy police and holding a knife to the throat of a hostage. The scene is a Nightclub-turned-charnel house and all evidence before the hero’s widened eyes indicates that he is the murderous culprit…

Suddenly clear headed he drops his victim and escapes the SWAT teams, determined to find out what has happened since he lost consciousness. Stepping broadly out of character Batman uses magical items taken from villainous sorcerer Felix Faust to perform an eldritch rite and captures his prime suspect, Boston Brand. Unfortunately, his old comrade Deadman is not the guilty party, but reveals that a rich man who has sold his soul to the devil is responsible for all the Dark Knight’s woes.

Meanwhile, Albert Yeats, loser and AIDS victim is running for what’s left of his life, hunted by things he doesn’t know and can’t understand…

Determined to renege, Frederick Chaplin has offered another’s soul for his hellbound one, and the devil has accepted. Yeats had been chosen by the universe to reincarnate as the Messiah in his extremely imminent next life, but that can’t happen if he’s paying Chaplin’s tab in the Inferno. Deadman has been watching over Yeats until he safely passes, but when Batman was first possessed and subsequently distracted the Ghostly Guardian with his spell Yeats was left alone and unprotected…

Now the kid is in the wind and the heroes must find and shield him long enough to die safely, a task complicated by an entire city hunting what they still think is a murderous Bat-Maniac, whilst the real possession-killer – a phantom, satanic counterpart to Deadman called the Clown who has spread terror and death for seventy years – is loose to spread his own unholy kind of havoc…

Intriguing and pretty but lacking much of the emotional punch of earlier Batman/Deadman pairings, Death and Glory looks great but feels rather dispirited and glib in its attempts to blend urban horror, all-out chase action, cod-religion and hidden histories with a millennial feel-good factor, resulting in a top-rate outing for Boston Brand but a rather forced and unlikely performance from the Dark Knight.

Nevertheless, fans of both heroes will find lots to love here and Estes’ painted art will win the approval of most comic lovers. This book is still available through physical and online outlets, in both paperback and hardcover editions…

© 1996 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JSA volume 10: Black Vengeance


By Geoff Johns, Don Kramer & Keith Champagne (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-256-8

New, Extended Review

The addictive super-hero soap opera (originally published as JSA #66-75 of the monthly magazine) stepped into high gear as the younger stalwarts of the team once more went time-travelling: this time back to the immediate post-war years to thwart a plot to prevent the Justice Society from ever coming out of retirement, after the House un-American Activities Commission and Senator Joe McCarthy forced them to disappear in 1951.

But before that engaging time-paradox romp got underway attention returned briefly to the once-rogue state of Kahndaq (see JSA: Black Reign) wherein ‘Prologue’ by Geoff Johns, Don Kramer & Keith Champagne showed the size-changing Atom Smasher having doubts about the efficacy and ethics of the way the newly liberated country was progressing under Black Adam’s reign. Suddenly, he is summoned by mysterious, autocratic Time Master Rip Hunter to save hid erstwhile Justice Society comrades…

Illustrated by Dave Gibbons and James Hodgkins, the scene shifted to 1951 where Fascistic time-meddler Per Degaton was once more attempting to bend reality to his will…

‘Making History’ (art by Kramer & Champagne) revisits a seminal 1979 JSA tale by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, originally published in Adventure Comics #466 and collected in the second volume of Justice Society (coming soon to this blog) which revealed the reason that the team retired was due to witch-hunts and political pressure from the US government’s House Un-American Activities Commission. Rather than reveal their secret identities the team simply ceased to operate, only coming out of retirement once the oppressive climate abated. Now Degaton was twisting events to ensure his hated enemies never returned…

Hunter’s attempts to stop him have convinced the murderous mastermind to eradicate the 21st century team and all their friends and families before they can journey to 1951 and interfere…

‘Guardian Angels’ and ‘High Societies’ found the hastily assembled rescue team encountering unexpected problems as they worked to counter the Time Nazi, especially for  Mr. Terrific, a brilliant African-American who couldn’t even ride in the same vehicles as his time-transplanted white companions.

A scene depicting how the Ku Klux Klan responded to a black man who wasn’t afraid of them and subsequently got the kicking of their vile lives is a delightfully gratuitous and vicarious joy that still warms my old liberal heart and absolutely stole the show before the timely assistance of two generations of Hourman in ‘Past Mistakes’ turned the tide and the forces of good finally, magnificently triumphed in ‘JSA/JSA: Conclusion’.

The controversial and contentious Kahndaq saga is then resolved with the eponymous three-parter ‘Black Vengeance’ (drawn by Kramer, Leonard Kirk and Stephen Sadowski with inks from Champagne & Michael Bair) as the morally bereft Atom Smasher, once more with the JSA, surrenders himself to a higher justice just as Eclipso and the Spectre begin their combined assault on magic (which formed the basis of the Infinite Crisis prequel series Day of Vengeance: you don’t need to read them to enjoy or understand this story, but it is recommended…) resulting in a devastating conflict that destroys the body and soul of the country and its inhabitants…

This volume is a little disjointed in places as it serves to clear up long running plot-lines whilst asking a few more pertinent questions about US imperialism as seen from the perspective of the citizens of the fictional middle-Eastern nation which was regularly reduced to rubble and collateral damage statistics whenever super-powers and Superpowers came into play.

Despite the prevalent political overtones, this is still primarily a simple hero-fest for fans of the genre, and delivers high-quality escapism for the faithful, although the uninitiated might find the implicit back-story a tad hard to grasp. At this time the entire DC line was gearing up for major changes beyond their Infinite Crisis publishing event and the narrative throat-clearing here allowed everybody concerned a few final dalliances with the World’s First Super-Team before the Big Boom got lowered (and for those last two excellent escapades check out the final two volumes of this graphic novel sequence JSA: Mixed Signals and JSA: Ghost Stories).

A shaky moment in an otherwise superlative series, but this is still a book well worth pursuing and a saga worth reading over and over again.

© 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JSA volume 8: Black Reign


By Geoff Johns, Morales, Kramer, Bair & Champagne (DC Comics)

ISBN 1-84023-984-0

New, Extended Review

All periodical fiction (even television shows) walk a tricky tightrope when they try to inject a semblance of contemporary relevance into their narratives, weighing popular cachet and increased interest against potential controversy, accusations of “cashing in” and especially the risk that by the time of release the cause célèbre has faded from public consciousness.

There’s even the ever-present threat of lawsuits such as in the infamous, never, ever to be reprinted ‘Cursed Earth’ episodes of 2000AD wherein the creators of Judge Dredd aroused the litigious ire of the world’s two largest fast-food empires with what we all thought was a funny, fabulous piece of satire…

Here however, damning the consequences, superheroes once more got all geo-political in the eighth compilation of the excellent, award-winning JSA (collecting issues #56-58 as well as Hawkman #23-25) wherein a breakaway branch of current and ex-members invaded an oddly allegorical (lawyers, politicians and media-moguls read comics too remember?) Middle-Eastern country to depose a monstrous and tyrannical dictator and liberate his oppressed subjects.

This naturally leads to the right-thinking defenders of the status quo and champions of democracy having to go in and stop their erstwhile comrades since these actions contravene the long-cherished, unspoken principle of super-hero ideology that Good Guys don’t mess with political injustice and issues. The flagrant and wilful abuse of this principle is, of course, the guiding concept behind the hugely enjoyable series The Authority and even Justice League Elite …

The action begins in the eponymous ‘Black Reign’ illustrated by Don Kramer & Keith Champagne, as magical superman Black Adam leads a team of like-minded heroes (Atom Smasher, Brainwave, super-assassin Nemesis, a new Eclipso and mutated human hawk Northwind) in a bloody campaign to liberate the rogue state of Kahndaq – the middle-Eastern land Adam ruled five millennia ago and one currently suffering under a military dictatorship.

Once the regime-change has been accomplished however the real problems – and calamitous bloodletting – begin…

When originally released the tale alternated with Hawkman‘s own comicbook, and the second chapter, with art by Rags Morales & Michael Bair, saw the Winged Wonder pressgang his own teammates into going after the renegade liberators, even seizing the role of chairman from a bewildered Mr. Terrific, but forces beyond mortal ken were also aligned against the JSA, and with Dr. Fate distracted one of their number sustained a fatal wound.

As the death-toll escalated a sinister old foe was discovered, but to the astonishment of the JSA, had been nothing more than a contributory factor to a much more ancient and human problem: men will fight for the stupidest reasons…

With the heroes ultimately forced to see themselves through victim’s eyes and in unaccustomed roles, every troubled stalwart was compelled to thoroughly reconsider his/her/its position…

Even with a little time and distance it’s impossible to escape the rather heavy-handed political allusions to America’s dubious foreign policy adventures, but by fictionalising such commentary do creators run the risk of also trivialising it? Brutal and deeply jarring, ‘Black Reign’ is a bold but heavy-handed tale from America’s “War on Terror” era which, whilst still being a massive soul-searching punch-up, culminating in a portentously inconclusive stalemate, genuinely attempted to address political issues and involve an audience notoriously ambivalent to real-world issues.

I have diametrically changed my opinion on the book since I first reviewed it six years ago. Perhaps that’s a relevant message for the real world and comic fans alike. Moreover, if all actually you want is an exceptional graphic novel to read, there’s probably nothing better than this stirring saga. After all, it’s only a comic, right?

© 2003, 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents The Atom volume 2


By Gardner Fox, Gil Kane & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1848-5

Super-Editor Julius Schwartz ushered in the Silver Age of American Comics with his Showcase successes Flash, Adam Strange and Green Lantern, directly leading to the Justice League of America which in turn inspired Fantastic Four and the whole Marvel Empire and …

However his fourth attempt to revitalize a “Golden Age Great” stalled when Hawkman (debuting in Brave and the Bold #34, February-March 1961) failed to find an immediate audience. Undeterred, he back-pedalled and persevered with the Winged Wonder, whilst moving forward with his next revival. Showcase #34 (September-October 1961) retooled the pint-sized strongman of the 1940’s Justice Society of America into a fascinating science-fiction champion and eternal underdog.

Ray Palmer was a young physicist working on the compression of matter: a teaching Professor at Ivy Town University. He was wooing career girl Jean Loring, who wanted to make her name as a trial lawyer before settling down as Mrs. Palmer (yep that’s what the 1960s were like for the fillies; years of striving and achievement followed by glorious, fulfilling days cooking meatloaf and changing nappies…)

One evening Ray found an ultra-dense fragment of White Dwarf Star Matter, leading his research into a new direction. By converting some of the degenerate matter into a lens he could shrink objects, but frustratingly they always exploded when he attempted to restore them to their original state. As fiercely competitive as his intended bride, Ray kept his progress secret until he could perfect the process. Meanwhile the couple took a group of youngsters on a science hike to Giant Caverns, where a cave-in trapped the entire party.

As they all lay trapped and dying Ray secretly activated his reducing lens to shrink himself, using the diamond engagement ring he was carrying to carve a tiny fissure in the rock wall into an escape hole. Fully expecting to detonate any second, he was astounded to discover that some peculiar combination of circumstances allowed to him to return to his normal six foot height with no ill effects. With his charges safe he returned to his lab to find that the process only worked on his own body; all other subjects still catastrophically detonated.

Somewhat disheartened he pondered his situation – and his new-found abilities. Naturally, he became a superhero, fighting crime, injustice and monsters, but Ray also determined to clandestinely help Jean become successful as quickly as possible using his suit made from White Dwarf material, which could alter not only his height but also his weight and mass…

This second volume collects the Atom #18-38, the remainder of Palmer’s solo stories (with issue #39 the title merged with another struggling Schwartz title to become The Atom and Hawkman – an early casualty of declining interest in superhero comics at the end of the 1960s) and explodes into action with the first of two short tales scripted as always by Gardner Fox, penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Sid Greene.

‘The Hole-in-the-Wall Lawman!’ (lead feature in Atom #18, April-May 1965) found the Tiny Titan tracking a safe-cracker who had inadvertently stolen a miniaturised thermonuclear bomb whereas ‘The Atomic Flea!’ saw the hero lose his memory while fighting thugs, wrongly deducing that he must be part of the flea circus where he regained consciousness…

Clever whimsy, scientific wonders, eye-popping action, perspective tricks and simply stunning long-shots, mid-shots and close-ups with glorious, balletic, full-body action poses are hallmarks of this fondly regarded, dynamic series, but #19 brought a whole new edge and dynamic to the Atom when he became the second part of a bold experiment in continuity. ‘World of the Magic Atom!’ was a full-length epic featuring a sexy sorceress in a world where science held no sway.

The top-hatted, fish-netted, comely young sorceress appeared in a number of Julie Schwartz-edited titles hunting her long-missing father Zatarra: a magician-hero in the Mandrake mould who had fought evil in the pages of Action Comics for over a decade beginning with the very first issue. In true Silver Age “refit” style Fox conjured up a young and equally gifted daughter, and popularised her by guest-teaming her with a selection of superheroes he was currently scripting (if you’re counting, her quest began in Hawkman #4 and after this chapter moved on to Green Lantern #42, and the Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355 as well as a very slick piece of back writing to include the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare’, before concluding after the GL segment in Justice League of America #51).

Issue #20’s ‘Challenge of the Computer Crooks!’ found the Tiny Titan again battling ingenious robbers attempting to use one of those new-fangled electronic brains to improve their heists whilst in ‘Night of the Little People!’ impersonating a leprechaun to sway a reluctant witness to testify in court. A recurrent theme in the Tiny Titan’s career was Cold War Espionage. The American/Soviet arms-and-ideas race figured heavily in the life of physicist Ray Palmer and in the collegiate circle of Ivy Town where even Jean’s father was a scientist carefully watched by both CIA and KGB.

Issue #21’s ‘Combat Under Glass!’ pitted the Man of Many Sizes against soviet spies and an enraged housecat, whilst ‘The Adventure of the Canceled Birthday’ was another enchanting “Time-Pool” tale wherein the Atom traveled to England in 1752, meeting Henry Fielding, helping to establish the Bow Street Runners, as well as solving the mystery of 11 days that dropped off the British calendar (for the answer to this mysterious true event look up the Julian Calendar on line – although buying this book would be far more entertaining and rewarding…)

Ray Palmer’s mentor and colleague Professor Alpheus Hyatt created a six-inch wide energy field that opened portals to other eras. Hyatt thought it an intriguing but useless scientific oddity, occasionally extracting perplexing items from it by blindly dropping a fishing line through. Little did he know his erstwhile student was secretly using it to experience rousing adventures in other times and locations. This charming, thrilling and unbelievably educational maguffin generated many of the Atom’s best and most well-loved exploits.

‘Bat Knights of Darkness!’ introduced the Elvarans, a subterranean race of six inch feudal warriors who had lived in Giant Caverns since prehistoric times. When these savage bat-riding berserkers fell under the mental sway of cheap thug Eddie Gordon, all of Ivy Town was threatened. This visual tour de force is a captivating early example of Gil Kane’s swashbuckling fantasy epics and a real treat for anybody who loved Blackmark, Star Hawks or even the 1983 classic Sword of the Atom.

Issue #23 opened with a smart science-fiction teaser as the Mighty Mite played a peculiar joke on the police in ‘The Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery!’ but it was back to blockbusting basics when he stopped the ‘Thief with the Tricky Toy!’ and more so in #24 when he saved the entire planet from plant Master Jason Woodrue in the feature-length thriller ‘The Atom-Destruction of Earth!’

The Camp/Superhero craze triggered by the Batman TV show was infecting many comic-books at this time, and a lighter, punnier tone was creeping into a lot of otherwise sound series. ‘The Man in the Ion Mask!’ is far more entertaining than the woeful title might suggest; a solid heist-caper featuring another crook with a fancy gadget, and even the espionage romp ‘The Spy Who Went Out for the Gold!’ is a smart, pacy rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills, but there’s really not much I can say to defend the ludicrous yarn introducing costumed nut the Bug-Eyed Bandit.

Feeble felon Bertram Larvan built a robotic mini-beast to rob for him and despite some wonderful artwork from Kane and Greene ‘The Eye-Popping Perils of the Insect Bandit!’ in #26 remains an uncharacteristic blot on Gardner Fox’s generally pristine copy-book.  The art quality grew in leaps and bounds during this period, as seen in the romantic tryst-come-slugfest described in crime-thriller ‘Beauty and the Beast-Gang!’ accompanied by spectacular historical high-jinks as Atom used the Time Pool to visit the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783 Paris, saving Benjamin Franklin’s life and becoming a ‘Stowaway on a Hot-Air Balloon!’

It was non-stop costumed criminal action when Chronos returned in #28’s ‘Time-Standstill Thefts!’ with a side-order of scientific mystery when ordinary citizens began to change size in ‘The 100,000 “Atoms” of Ivy Town!’, and the sheer drama intensified when the Mighty Mite teamed up with the Earth-2 Atom for a cataclysmic clash against one of the worst villains of DC’s Golden Age in ‘The Thinker’s Earth-Shaking Robberies!’

Nasty thug Eddie Gordon returned in #30, which wouldn’t really have been a problem except he had once more gained control of the diminutive flying berserkers in ‘Daze of the Bat-Knights!’ whilst old comrade Hawkman guest-starred #31’s ‘Good Man, Bad Man, Turnabout Thief!’ to battle a phantom menace hidden within the brain of an innocent man, and issue #32 saw a most astounding episode in the Tiny Titan’s career as he became the giant invader of a sub-molecular universe in the enthralling fantasy thriller ‘The Up and Down Dooms of the Atom!’

Bert Larvan inexplicably won a second appearance in ‘Amazing Arsenal of the Atom-Assassin!’ and it must be said, comes off as a far worthier opponent the second time around, whilst the outlandish comedy-thriller ‘Little Man… You’ve Had a Big-Gang Day!’ produced the daftest assemblage of themed villains in DC history – each has a gimmick based on the word “big”. Led by Big Head, Big Bertha is strong, Big Wig uses weaponized toupees – and wait till you see what Big Cheese can do… Despite all that, this lunacy is actually hugely enjoyable Big Fun!

Issue #35 led with a sterling crime-caper ‘Plight of the Pin-Up Atom’ and closed with the gripping ‘Col. Blood Steals the Crown Jewels!’ following the Mighty Mite into another Time Pool adventure in 1671 London. The Earth-2 Atom returned for one of the very best team-up tales of the Silver Age in ‘Duel Between the Dual Atoms’ as a radiation menace played hob with victim’s ages on both worlds simultaneously, before the artistic team signed off in mind-blowing style by adding a new ally to the Atom’s crime-fighting arsenal in ‘Meet Major Mynah!’ in #37.

A trip to war-torn Cambodia saw the diminutive hero adopt a wounded Mynah bird who, with a few repairs and alterations from Winged Wonder Hawkman, transformed the faithful talking bird into both alternative transport and strafing back-up for the Tiny Titan.

This volume concludes with a classy and extremely scary transition tale from writer Frank Robbins and artists Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos. ‘Sinister Stopover… Earth!’ is an eerie alien invasion mystery perfectly in keeping with the grimmer sensibility gradually taking over the bright shiny world of comics at the time and still one of the spookiest tales of the Atom’s captivating run.

With the next issue the changing tastes and times forced The Atom and Hawkman series to merge (see Showcase Presents: Hawkman volume 2), but even then the move only bought an extra year or so. Superheroes were once more in decline and different genres were on the rise. The Atom was never a major name or colossal success, but a reading these witty, compelling tales by Gardner Fox, where Gil Kane first mastered the fluid human dynamism that made him a legend, you’d be hard-pressed to understand why. This is sheer superhero perfection. Why not try a little Atomic Action… just a tiny bit?

© 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 2008 DC Comics.  All Rights Reserved.

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Hawkman Vol. 2: Allies and Enemies


By Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Rags Morales & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0196-8

After a cracking start to his own series (see Hawkman: Endless Flight) the reincarnating Winged Warrior offered even more thrills, chills and spills as his new series progressed. One of DC’s most visually iconic characters, the various iterations of Hawkman had always struggled to find enough of an audience to sustain a solo title. From his beginnings as the second feature in Flash Comics, the Feathered Fury struggled through many excellent yet always short-lived reconfigurations. From ancient hero to space-cop and (post-Crisis on Infinite Earths) Thanagarian freedom fighter  Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) never quite hit the big time they deserved.

Hawkman premiered in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940), created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville, with Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Kubert carrying on the strip’s illustration, whilst a young Robert Kanigher was justly proud of his later run as writer. Carter Hall was a playboy archaeologist until he uncovered a crystal knife that unlocked his memories. He realised that once he was Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt and that he and his lover Chay-Ara had been murdered by High Priest Hath-Set. Moreover with his returned memories came the knowledge that both lover and killer were also nearby and aware…

Hall fashioned a costume and anti-gravity harness, becoming a crime-fighting phenomenon. Soon the equally reincarnated Shiera Sanders was fighting and flying beside him as Hawkgirl. Together these gladiatorial “Mystery-Men” battled modern crime and tyranny with weapons of the past.

Fading away at the end of the Golden Age (his last appearance was in All Star Comics #57, 1951 as leader of the Justice Society of America) they were revived nine years later as Katar Hol and Shayera Thal of Thanagar by Julie Schwartz’s crack creative team Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert – a more space-aged interpretation which survived until 1985’s Crisis, and their long career, numerous revamps and retcons ended during the 1994 Zero Hour crisis.

When a new Hawkgirl was created as part of a revived Justice Society comic, fans knew it was only a matter of time before the Pinioned Paladin rejoined her, which he did in the superb JSA: the Return of Hawkman , promptly regaining his own title. This time the blending of all previous versions into a reincarnating, immortal berserker-warrior appeared to strike the right note of freshness ad seasoned maturity. Superb artwork and stunning stories didn’t hurt either (for which see the excellent previous volume Hawkman: Endless Flight).

The reconstituted Hawkman now remembers all his past lives: many millennia when and where he and Chay-Ara fought evil together as bird-themed champions, dying over and over at the hands of an equally renewed Hath-Set. Most importantly, Kendra Saunders, the new Hawkgirl differs from all previous incarnations. This time Shiera was not reborn, but possessed the body of her grand-niece when that tragic girl committed suicide. Although Carter Hall still loves his immortal inamorata his companion of a million battles is no longer quite so secure or sure of her feelings…

This second captivating volume reprints issues #7-14 of the monthly comicbook and further gems from the one-shot Hawkman Secret Files, beginning with a fascinating reunion between the Pinioned Paladin and his one-time best friend the Atom. ‘Small Talk’ by Geoff Johns, Rags Morales, Prentiss Rollins & Michael Bair has the old comrades rediscover each other by recapping the momentous events that have transpired whilst Carter Hall was dead – useful and insightful for new readers – all whilst Hawkgirl tracked down a super-miscreant for the ever-so grateful Chief Nedal of the St. Roch police.

James Robinson rejoined the creative cast for ‘In the Hands of Fate’. The convoluted history of the Hawks threatened their effectiveness and happiness, and Dr. Fate intended to fix their problems, but before any resolution, the body of Kendra Saunders – which housed the spirit of Egyptian princess Chay-Ara – was confronted by long-suppressed memories of a brutal assault: an experience which led to her suicide and rebirth as Hawkgirl. Meanwhile the mystic master dragged Carter through his own panorama of horrific remembrances…

Before the esoteric therapy session could conclude the Hawks were propelled into a calamitous battle in the Himalayas against their oldest foe in a fresh new guise. ‘Snowblind’ saw Winged Wonders battle an army of killer yeti to recue aged adventurer Speed Saunders, whilst in ‘Everlasting Love…?’ the heroes unveiled a secret weapon of their own to thwart the malevolent mastermind, but sadly, too late as the terrifying transformation an already efficient enemy into ‘The Darkraven’ (with additional inks from Dennis Janke) upset everybody’s plans and threatened all of Tibet. Even after their narrow victory greater shocks and horrors were awaiting their return to Louisiana…

‘Fine Day For a Hanging’ (illustrated by Tim Truman) delved into a past life of the heroes, revealing that once Carter and Shiera had fought injustice as the masked gunfighter Nighthawk and frontier legend Cinnamon. Not only is this ripping yarn a cracking cowboy romance and stunning change of pace, but it also serves to set up the compelling saga which follows…

Arrested for murdering a cop, Kendra is being taken to prison by Chief Nedal when events take an utterly unexpected turn. ‘Killers’ (Johns, Ethan Van Sciver & Mick Gray) revealed that the cop had concealed a startlingly intimate connection to Kendra that stretched back to her earliest years. Now Nedal has gone completely over the edge…

Naturally there are secrets within secrets and phantom villain the Gentleman Ghost smugly reveals how – and why – he has been orchestrating the Hawks’ woes and miseries for over a century in ‘Killers Part Two’ (with art from Don Kramer & Rollins) – a tense and tragic thriller that could only end in the spilling of innocent blood …

Grim, gripping, stark and uncompromising, these are some of the most stirring episodes in the high-flying heroes’ seventy-odd year history and still the best is yet to come. Absolutely unmissable superhero sagas for older fans and novices alike, Enemies and Allies is a magnificent, beautiful and compelling example of what great creators and fresh ideas can achieve with even the oldest raw material.

© 2002, 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.