Category: DC Superhero

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Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns


By Geoff Johns, Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis & others (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-355-8

Following on from his triumphant resurrection in Green Lantern: Rebirth and return to the superhero “A-List” in Green Lantern: No Fear this third collection recounts the on-going adventures of Hal Jordan, troubled test-pilot and inter-galactic policeman in a sequence that encompassed the One Year Later publishing event (after the Infinite Crisis event, the company re-set the time line of all their publications to begin one year later. This enabled them to reconfigure their characters as they saw fit, provide a jumping on point for new converts and also give themselves some narrative wiggle-room), and firmly placed this series at the hub of all future DC continuity.

Collecting issues #7-13 of the monthly comicbook, all the stories here are written by Geoff Johns and the hints and plot-markers for both the upcoming Sinestro War and Final Crisis epics are liberally sprinkled throughout the yarn re-presented here.

‘A Perfect Life’ illustrated by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino, paired GL with old friend Green Arrow in a riotous showdown with alien marauder Mongul, a two-part blockbuster that gave the veteran warriors a tantalising glimpse of how their lives could, or perhaps should have been.

Next comes ‘Branded’ with art by Ethan Van Sciver and Prentiss Rollins, which sees GL tackle a long-standing enmity with Batman, who cannot bring himself to trust a hero who has already gone rogue once, whilst the pair have to defeat a deadly new version of the Tattooed Man. The end of that tale marks the jumping-off point for One Year Later. The volume continues immediately with the eponymous ‘Revenge of the Green Lanterns’.

During the missing year the Infinite Crisis rocked the DC universe, and in its aftermath world politics shifted. Superheroes are no longer as popular as they once were and many countries have forbidden them to operate within their national borders. The story opens as Green Lantern invades Russian territory (and not for the first time) in hot pursuit of an alien foe, and when challenged by Rocket Red defenders takes out his impatience on them.

It transpires that year ago Hal Jordan rejoined the air force, and with old pals Jillian “Cowgirl” Pearlman and Shane Sellers was shot down by Chechnyan rebels. Held for months before escaping Jordan holds himself responsible: the arrogant hotshot had decided not to wear his ring in combat and his friends suffered torture and maiming because of his complacency. He has much to atone for and his patience with Earth politics is now non-existent…

 

Moreover, in ‘Revenge of the Green Lanterns’ (pictured by Ivan Reis and Marc Campos) many members of the revived Green Lantern Corps cannot forgive him for the deaths he caused when possessed by the fear-parasite Parallax, so when a lead to missing Lanterns supposedly dead at his hands crashes at his feet Jordan ignores direct orders from the Guardians of the Universe to track them down and sets out with fellow Lantern Guy Gardner for the edge of the universe…

Ending in a spectacular battle against the Cyborg Superman and the robotic Manhunters Hal Jordan’s moment of triumph seems supreme, but throughout the universe creatures of immense violence and evil are being recruited by an implacable old enemy and the Guardians are making secret preparations for an impending catastrophe that will shake the very heavens…

Breathtaking in scope, superb in execution, this is perfect superhero storytelling: but unless you have a basic familiarity with DC /Green Lantern history you’d best review some of the earlier graphic novel collections before even attempting this little cracker…

© 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The All-New Atom: Future/Past


By Gail Simone, Mike Norton, Eddy Barrows & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1568-2

Gail Simone is arguably the best scripter of superhero stories currently working in the business. She can handle High Concept attention grabbers, fight scenes and pathos easily, but where she is unsurpassed is in the rounded depth of her characterisation. Combine that with solid plotting, bravura whimsy and the sharpest, funniest dialogue money can buy and every thing she touches becomes a thoroughly delightful “must-read” item.

Here she continues to reveal the trials and tribulations of the freshest incarnation of one of the Silver Age’s most enduring heroic brands with the further adventures of neophyte college professor and scientific adventurer Ryan Choi – the All-New Atom.

After Identity Crisis size-changing physics Professor Ray Palmer disappeared, leaving his world behind him. But life goes on, and his teaching chair 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.

Ivy Town has seen better days however and continues to go downhill. No longer the sedate place Palmer made it sound, this collection (reprinting issues #7-11 of the much missed monthly comicbook) continues to reveal a city plagued by temporal anomalies, warring tribes and supernatural freaks. To make things worse the new Dean is an unctuous toad and possibly worse, whilst Choi’s fellow science professors are a bizarre band of brilliant loons.

This volume commences with the two-parter ‘The Man who Swallowed Eternity’ and ‘The Entropy of the Universe Tends to a Maximum’ illustrated by Mike Norton and Andy Owens, wherein the time-hiccups that pepper Ivy Town go into overdrive, necessitating an unwelcome intervention from the Temporal police known as Linear Men before Choi uncovers a tragic secret that draws him uncomfortably closer to his missing mentor.

That’s followed by a gratifying, thrilling change of pace and tone when the young professor returns to Hong Kong to rescue his sometime true love in ‘Jia.’ Drawn by Eddy Barrows and inked by Trevor Scott the saga kicks off with ‘Her Name Meant Beauty’ and we discover some unpleasant truths about Ryan’s childhood…

In ‘Unwanted Advances’ Choi realises being a superhero can’t compensate for the girl he loves marrying the bully who made his life hell, and its even worse when the brute has become a vengeful ghost determined to kill them both, but mercifully in ‘The Border Between’ ancient wisdom as well as unwelcome truths help the diminutive hero overcome the supernatural odds…

The utterly enchanting career of the new Atom is funny, charming, stirring and incredibly addictive: moreover this completely planned mapped out series is riddled with clues and hints cunningly left that will only make sense when the final volume ends – and Simone has the nerve and confidence to treat the entire venture as a fair-play mystery. Follow the All-New Atom, match wits with the writer and have a huge amount of fun along the way.

© 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JLA: volume 8 Divided We Fall


By Mark Waid & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-392-6

When Grant Morrison and Howard Porter relaunched the World’s Greatest Superheroes in 1997 the result was everything jaded fans could have asked for, but nothing lasts forever. By the time of these tales (four years later, kick-starting a new century and reprinting issues #47-54) they were gone and nearly forgotten as scripter supreme Mark Waid assumed full control of story-making and a selection of top-notch artists took turns to produce a delightful run of exciting, entertaining epics that cemented the title at the apex of everybody’s “must-read” list.

Starting off this volume is a dark fable illustrated by Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary introducing a supernatural hell-queen who makes fairytales real – but not in a good way – in ‘Into the Woods’: an extended yarn that stretches into ‘Truth is Stranger’ (with a fairyland section from J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray) before Hitch, Neary, Javier Saltares and Chris Ivy bring it all to a conclusion in the spectacular ‘Unhappily Ever After.’

That brought up the celebratory fiftieth issue, and true to tradition it was resplendent with guest artists. ‘Dream Team’ reaffirmed and revitalised the heroes – who had developed a healthy distrust of Batman – through a series of pitched battles against old foe Doctor Destiny, with art from Hitch, Neary, Phil Jimenez, Ty Templeton, Doug Mahnke, Mark Pajarillo, Kevin Nowlan, Drew Geraci and Walden Wong, which segued neatly into another End-of-Days cosmic catastrophe, as a sixth dimensional super-weapon was unleashed on our universe.

In ‘Man and Superman’ (with art from Mike S. Millar and Armando Durruthy) the extra-planar Cathexis came seeking the JLA‘s help in recapturing their rogue wish-fulfilling “Sentergy: Id”, but it had already struck, separating Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man from their secret identities, rendering them into twelve incomplete and ineffectual half-men. But all was not as it seemed…

Hitch and Neary resumed the art-chores as the wishing plague devastated Earth in ‘Element of Surprise’ with one unexpected benefit in the grotesque resurrection of dead hero Metamorpho, but the prognosis was poor until the un-reformed thug Eel O’Brian (who turned over a new leaf to become the daftly heroic Plastic Man) saw which way the wind had been blowing in ‘It Takes a Thief’ and led the disjointed team’s resurgence in the apocalyptic climax ‘United we Fall.’

Any worries that Morrison’s departure would harm JLA were completely allayed by these spectacular High Concept super-sagas, and the artwork attained even greater heights at this time. This volume is one of the very best of an excellent run: if you read no other JLA book at least read this one.

© 2000, 2001 DC Comics.  All Rights Reserved.

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Catwoman: Crime Pays


By Will Pfeiffer, David Lopez & Alvaro Lopez (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-972-7

Even the most resonant characters handled by the very best creators have bad patches, especially when tumbled into the destabilising chaos of company crossover events and so much more so when said creators are labouring under the cosh of knowing that the title they’re working on has already been cancelled.

So it is with this compilation of Catwoman (collecting issues #73-77 of her done-and-dusted monthly comic) as the urban defender of the downtrodden, freshly returned from a debilitating role in the Wonder Woman: Amazons Attack! storyline, having given up her daughter and abandoned her old secret identity, only narrowly escapes being blown up in her own apartment mere moments after discovering that somebody has stolen every stick and stitch she possessed…

Determined to discover who took the last remnants of her life, Selina Kyle has to steal one of her old costumes and gear from a demented collector before she goes after The Thief, only to be shanghaied by the Suicide Squad: a clandestine government penal battalion of super-villains, working black ops in return for eventual pardons… She awakens on another planet: a hellworld used as Devil’s Island of Space, where the government has been secretly dumping Earth’s villains without due process… and with no way back.

A world chock-full of metahuman psychopaths, thugs and megalomaniacs is bad enough, but when the likes of Luthor, the Joker, Vandal Savage and Gorilla Grodd start competing for the right to lead it’s going to get a little fraught. How long can Selina last before somebody remembers that she’s been fighting for the other side? And then she falls into a booby-trapped alien device that seems to send her somewhere even weirder and more dangerous…

For a fuller understanding of this tale you will have to read the collected miniseries Salvation Run, and yet again this book ends on a cliffhanger but regardless of those niggles this is still a good solid read and the end is finally in sight, with only one more book to come.

The great shame is that even though creators Pfeifer, Lopez and Lopez knew they were on clean-up detail, and compelled to add material not necessarily of their choosing, they still pulled out all the stops to make this a superbly engaging and compelling experience, and such artistic integrity shouldn’t go unnoticed or un-remarked.

Enjoyable and thrilling for established fans, this isn’t the book to start with if you’re a new reader. Those lucky latecomers should aspire to buy the complete series and indulge in the luxury of reading the lot all at one sitting…

© 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold Batman Team-ups Volume 2


By Bob Haney, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, Nick Cardy & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-813-3

Now settled on a winning format – pairing media superstar Batman with other luminaries of the DC universe in complete stand-alone stories – The Brave and the Bold proceeded to win critical as well as commercial kudos by teaming regular writer Bob Haney with the best artists available. At this time editors favoured regular if not permanent creative teams, feeling that a sense of visual and even narrative continuity would avoid confusion amongst younger readers. During this second collection (reprinting B&B #88-108 in crisp, efficient black and white) a number of stellar artists contributed before the comicbook finally found its perfect draughtsman…

Following a ground-breaking run by the iconoclastic and influential Neal Adams (see Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold Batman Team-ups Volume 1) was always going to be a tough act but veteran Irv Novick – who would unfairly tread in Adams’ mighty shadow on Batman for years to come – did sterling work here on a gritty tale of boxing and Cold War mind-games when the Caped Crusader met Wildcat in ‘Count Ten… and Die!’ (B&B #88, February-March 1970).

Mike Esposito inked that tale before rejoining longtime collaborator Ross Andru for a brief return engagement that began with an eerie thriller pitting Batman against the mystery sensation Phantom Stranger in #89’s ‘Arise Ye Ghosts of Gotham!’ and then switching pace and genre for a time-bending science fiction thriller ‘You Only Die Twice!’ guest-starring interstellar champion Adam Strange.

Issue #91, ‘A Cold Corpse for the Collector’ is a true gem of a tale. Haney was always at his best with terse, human scale dramas, especially “straight” crime thrillers, and his pairing of the Gotham Guardian with Black Canary (transplanted from Earth-2 to replace the “de-powered” Wonder Woman in the Justice League) found the recently widowed heroine searching for the Earth-1 counterpart of her dead husband only to find imminent death in a masterpiece of ironic melodrama. It also signalled the advent of the superb Nick Cardy as illustrator: a run of beautifully drawn and boldly experimental assignments that are still startling to see even four decades later.

The artistic exploration continued in the next issue when Batman traveled to England, embroiled in a moody, gothic murder mystery with a trio of British stereotypes fancifully christened “The Bat Squad.” Although the scratch team never reappeared, ‘Night Wears a Scarlet Shroud!’ remains a period delight and a must for those who still remember when “Eng-ga-land Swung.”

At the end of the 1960s the Comics Code Authority ended its ban on crime and horror comics to allow publishers to exploit the global interest in the supernatural. This had instantly affected comics and more and more stories had macabre overtones. It even led to the revival of horror and suspense anthologies. One such was the venerable House of Mystery; and unquestionably the oddest team-up in B&B history.

Scripted by Denny O’Neil and illustrated by Neal Adams #93’s ‘Red Water, Crimson Death’ is a chilling ghost story with the added advantage of having the Dark Knight’s somber shtick counterbalanced by the musings of the sardonic laconic Cain, ethereal and hip caretaker of that haunted habitat…

Bob Haney, Nick Cardy and the Teen Titans returned for the powerful counter-culture bomb-plot ‘Rebels in the Streets’ whilst a forgotten mystery hero (I won’t spoil it for you) helped Batman get the goods on ruthless, fat-cat industrialist Ruby Ryder in ‘C.O.D. – Corpse on Delivery’, and – somewhat more palatable for continuity bugs – Sgt Rock’s second engagement was set in contemporary times rather than in WWII as the honourable old soldier became a bureaucrat’s patsy in an excellent espionage thriller ‘The Striped-Pants War!’

Haney clearly had a fondness for grizzled older heroes as Wildcat made another comeback in #97’s South-of-the-Border saga ‘The Smile of Choclotan!’, an epic of exploration inked by Cardy over the husky he-man pencils of the hugely underrated Bob Brown. The Phantom Stranger guested next in a truly sinister tale of suburban devil worship which found Batman thoroughly out of his depth in ‘The Mansion of the Misbegotten!’, illustrated by the man who would soon become the only B&B artist: Jim Aparo.

Brown and Cardy returned to draw the Flash saving the Gotham Gangbuster from ghostly possession in ‘The Man who Murdered the Past’ and Aparo illustrated the anniversary 100th issue as Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary had to take over for a Batman on the verge of death and trapped as ‘The Warrior in a Wheel-Chair’ as well as the outrageous murder-mystery ‘Cold-Blood, Hot Gun’ wherein Metamorpho, the Element Man assisted the Caped Crusader in foiling the World’s most deadly hitman.

Brave and the Bold #102 featured a true rarity: the Teen Titans again featured in an angry tale of the generation gap ‘Commune of Defiance’ which began as an Aparo job, but in a bizarre turnabout Neal Adams – an artist legendary for blowing deadlines – was called in to finish the story, contributing the last nine pages of the tension-packed political thriller. Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin illustrated ‘A Traitor Lurks Inside Earth!’ a doomsday saga of military computers gone awry featuring the multipurpose Metal Men whilst Aparo handled the poignant story of love from beyond the grave in the eponymously entitled ‘Second Chance for a Deadman?’ from #104.

The aforementioned unpowered Wonder Woman returned after a long absence in Haney and Aparo’s superb revolutionary epic ‘Play Now… Die Later!’ wherein Diana Prince and Batman become pawns in a bloody South American feud exported to the streets of Gotham, and Green Arrow was sucked into a murderous get-rich-quick con in #106’s ‘Double Your Money… and Die’, featuring a surprise star villain.

Black Canary then featured in a clever take on the headline-grabbing – and still unsolved – D.B. Cooper hijacking of a airliner in ‘The 3-Million Dollar Sky’ from B&B #107 (June-July 1973. Inflation sucks: “Cooper” only got $200,000 when he jumped out of that Boeing 727 in November 1971, never to be see again…) and this volume ends with a wonderfully chilling tale of obsession as Sgt. Rock tried once more to catch the greatest monster in history on ‘The Night Batman Sold his Soul!’

These are some of the best and most entertainingly varied yarns from a period of magnificent creativity in the American comics industry. Aimed at a general readership, gloriously free of heavy, cloying continuity baggage and brought to stirring action-packed life by some of the greatest artists in the business, this is a Batman for all seasons and reasons with the added bonus of some of the most fabulous and engaging co-stars a fan could imagine. How could anybody resist? Seriously: can you…?

©1970-1973, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase presents Green Lantern volume 4


By John Broome, Gardner Fox, Dennis O’Neil, Gil Kane & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-322-3

Slightly slimmer than the usual phonebook-sized tome the fourth collection starring the Emerald Gladiator of Earth-1 (here reproducing in crisp, stylish black and white the contents of issues #60-75 of the groundbreaking comic book) is a kind of throat-clearing shuffle to allow a fifth volume to begin with the landmark O’Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow tales, but that doesn’t by any means imply that the superb collection here is unworthy of your attentions.

By the time this selection of stories began DC was a company in transition – as indeed was America itself – with new ideas (for which, in comic-book terms read “new, young writers”) being given greater headway than ever before: an influx of new kids unseen since the very start of the industry, when excitable young artists and writers ran wild with imagination…

Green Lantern #60 (April 1968) was however an all-veteran outing as Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Sid Greene introduced a fantastic new foe in ‘Spotlight on the Lamplighter!’, a power-packed, crime-busting morality play that foreshadowed a spectacular team-up classic in the next issue.

Mike Friedrich penned ‘Thoroughly Modern Mayhem!’ but mercifully the story was as wonderful as the title is not, since it cut to the quick of a problem many a kid had posited. If the power ring was so powerful why not just command it to banish all evil? When the old and weary Emerald Crusader of Earth-2 does just that, it takes both him and his Earth-1 counterpart to remedy the shocking consequences…

Issue #62 replaced Kane with Jack Sparling for Fox’s clever scientific mystery ‘Steal Small… Rob Big!’ and Denny O’Neil’s metaphysical, history-warping thriller ‘This is the Way… The World… Ends!’ in #63: whilst Mike Sekowsky and Joe Giella illustrated the O’Neil scripted ‘Death to Green Lantern’ wherein a long-forgotten foe almost destroyed the Green Guardian’s reputation before ending his life. Social historians might like to note the inclusion of benevolent and necessary (plus favourably depicted and written) hippies/flower children acting as more than mere comedic asides: Those times they really were a-changin’…

There was a return to straight superhero drama with Fox, Sekowsky and Giella’s doomsday thriller ‘Dry Up… and Die!’ which apparently ended the criminal career of Doctor Polaris whilst John Broome took GL back to the future for another planet-saving sci-fi romp in #66’s ‘5708 AD… A Nice Year to Visit – But I Wouldn’t Want to Live Then!’

Issue #67 featured two shorter tales, the first of which ‘Green Lantern Does his Ring Thing!’ was a delightful old-school conundrum as old enemy Bill Baggett wrested mental control of the ring away from the Emerald Gladiator (by Fox, Dick Dillin and Giella) whilst ‘The First Green Lantern!’ by Fox and Sid Greene revealed how the Corps began in the first (and only, I think) of a projected series: Tales of the Power Ring.

Contemporary space opera was the order of the day in the intriguing action thriller ‘I Wonder Where the Yellow Went!’ scripted by O’Neil and featuring the wonderfully welcome return of a rejuvenated Gil Kane, aided and abetted by Giella. Kane’s last efforts on the hero he visually created was to be a eye-pooping run of beautiful, dynamic classics, and none more so than the youth-rebellion parable ‘If Earth Fails the Test… it Means War!’, cleverly scripted by Broome and inked by the incomparable Wally Wood.

Vince Colletta inked the less impressive Broome/Kane space spoof ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Earth’, but honour and quality were restored with the tense countdown to disaster mystery ‘The City that Died!’ (Broome, Kane and Giella): one of two tales in #71, and one that reintroduced Olivia Reynolds – a love interest whose subconscious mind was a planet-shattering energy source. The second story was another jolly Jordan Brothers yarn, from Broome, Dillin and Murphy Anderson, but ‘Hip Jordan Makes the Scene!’ was a regrettably old-fashioned tale of a grifting hippie way out of tune with its readers’ sensibilities – and that’s a shame because it is quite funny…

‘Phantom of the Space Opera!’ by O’Neil, Kane and Giella is a visually magical but rather heavy-handed co-opting of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungs, transposed to deep space, but this was more than compensated for by the brilliant two-parter that followed.

‘From Space Ye Came…’ in Green Lantern #73 and its climactic conclusion ‘Lost in Space!’, by Mike Friedrich, Kane and Anderson was an unforgettable clash of ultimate enemies as Sinestro, the renegade Green Lantern, made a brutal attempt on our hero’s life using his foe’s unrequited love for Carol Ferris as a psychological wedge. However the alien mastermind was unaware of just how unstable Ferris was in her dual identity of the gem-possessed Star Sapphire…

With #76 Denny O’Neil would become sole scripter and in collaboration with comics genius Neal Adams completely redefined contemporary superhero strips with relevancy-driven stories. But to complete this book and the first chapter of Hal Jordan/Green Lantern’s chequered career comes the glorious swan-song ‘The Golden Obelisk of Qward!’ as the Emerald Crusader and a desperate doctor invaded the anti-matter universe to save Olivia Reynolds and destroy a weapon capable of demolishing our galaxy. Broome, Kane and Giella went out on a high note blending modern sensibilities with the plot-driven sense of wonder and high-octane action that made Green Lantern such an all-pervasive hit and the very foundation stone of DC mythology.

These tales of wit and courage, illustrated with astounding dynamism defined the Silver Age of comics and they are still as captivating and engrossing now as they ever were – perhaps even more so. If you love the sheer gloss and glamour of superhero fiction, then it never gets better than this…

© 1968, 1969, 1970, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Superman: Last Son


By Geoff Johns, Richard Donner & Adam Kubert (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-572-9

In recent years DC has taken great pains to rationalise the attendant continuities surrounding their comicbook characters’ forays into other media. It’s sound sense, both commercially and artistically, as no matter whether if it’s a television series, big screen interpretation or the animated “kids” shows (generally the very best and most palatable material for died-in-the-wool fans: check out Justice League Unlimited or Batman: the Brave and the Bold and see for yourselves) that bring new fans into the mix. When they finally check out the comics – which is surely the ultimate goal – inconsistencies and jarring differences can only lead to confusion, disappointment and a lost reader.

Last Son was a five issue story-arc that blended portions of the Christopher Reeve Superman films into the then-current comics continuity, using the “ripple effect” of the reality-altering Infinite Crisis to explain the changes in the character’s back-story – and as a palliative sop to the most intransigent and picky fan-boys. The storyline also impacted on many other DC titles and its repercussions are still in effect in current issues of all Superman titles.

It also brought film director Richard Donner back to the characters he had turned into global sensations in Superman: the Movie and Superman II, substituting key elements of those epics for much of the increasingly tangled web which had preceded it. This volume collects Action Comics #844-866, #851 and Action Comics Annual #11; the stories co-written by Donner’s old assistant and super-scripter Geoff Johns, with stylish and gritty illustration from Adam Kubert and colorists Dave Stewart and Edgar Delgado making an incomparable contribution to the events.

In his Fortress of Solitude the Man of Tomorrow is chided and reminded by the computer-recorded consciousness of his father Jor-El that he is an alien surrounded by humans, but never one of them. As the troubled hero returns to Metropolis and his wife Lois, he detects a spaceship crashing to Earth. Catching the blazing capsule he discovers a young boy within, who appears to be from Krypton…

Claimed by the US government the boy nearly disappears into the nebulous miasma of US covert agencies until Superman breaks him free and hides him with the only humans with any experience of raising super-kids: Jonathan and Martha Kent…

With his own family as a support group the Man of Steel decides on a course of action that will keep the government involved-but-honest, although when Lex Luthor sends the unstable juggernaut Bizarro to steal the child, he is forced to see that only secrecy and anonymity can save the youngster from becoming somebody’s ultimate weapon.

Naming the mysterious child Christopher he and Lois adopt the boy, just as three Kryptonian villains break free of the Phantom Zone (based on the filmic General Zod, Ursa and Non as seen in the aforementioned Superman: the Movie and Superman II). Confronting Superman they claim to know the boy’s secret, but they are angry, implacable and hungry for revenge…

Despite many scheduling problems during its initial release this series has slowly been accepted as a cornerstone of Superman’s latest mythology, and by reintroducing many beloved facets of older interpretations – albeit in the whimsy-lite, grim-and-gritty post-modern manner (such as the return of Superman’s Daxamite “big brother” Mon-El and different shades of Kryptonite), has almost re-validated some of the most charming memories of many older devotees. Spectacular and fabulously compelling, this heroic mystery epic is a brilliant book to introduce modern readers to the comics industry’s greatest invention, and has lots to offer any older fan who will accept yet another revamp.
© 2006, 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Checkmate: the Fall of the Wall


By Greg Rucka & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84756-848-5

Spy series – as opposed to spy stories – in comic-books are notoriously short-lived things: in the mainstream the covert tension inevitably dissolves into more-or-less traditional punch-’em-up costume dramas, and even mature imprints such as Vertigo, WildStorm and others can’t seem to translate the particular values and allure of “the Great Game” to panels and borders. Such is sadly the case with DC’s boldly dark Checkmate which can already be seen as rapidly thundering to a big finish even in this collection (re-presenting #16-22 of the monthly periodical) which marks the mid-point of the run.

In the aftermath of DC’s Infinite Crisis an international organisation to monitor and control meta-human affairs was developed, under the aegis of the United Nations Security Council. Originally an American agency, the new Checkmate is tasked with policing all nations, protecting them from superhuman dangers and terrorism, and also preventing rogue nations and regimes from weaponising their own paranormal resources.

This is a bleak and furtive blend of genres from writer Rucka, pencillers Joe Bennett, Chris Samnee & Joe Prado and inkers Samnee, Prado, Jack Jadson & Steve Bird, with the murky world of espionage coldly and logically grounding the shiny gleam of costumed super-doers.

Although Checkmate is United Nations mandated, every member knows that partisan patriotism too often trumps global cooperation, leading to a delicious edge of distrust among operatives. For some time both Kings, Mr. Terrific and Taleb Beni Khalid, and Black Queen Sasha Bordeaux have suspected White Queen Amanda Waller of running her own operations within Checkmate and actively sabotaging missions that might harm American interests.

Now “the Wall” makes a move to take control of Checkmate unaware that her cover is blown and that the people she has so readily and repeatedly betrayed are waiting for her, resulting in UN agents facing off against Waller’s American penal brigade of coerced super-villains the Suicide Squad…

The greater tale unfolds against a series of close, intimate tales investigating the lives of regular personnel and packs a masterful punch because of it: a subtle technique more writers would benefit from studying, and the volume closes with a solid two-part yarn revealing the heritage and destiny of Black Queen’s Knight Josephine Tautin: the latest French operative to carry the glorious code-name Mademoiselle Marie.

‘La Vie en Sang’ by Rucka and Eric S. Trautman, illustrated by Chris Samnee, is a cracking, high-octane thriller that takes a fascinating delve into the DC universe’s hidden history, and proves how espionage adventures can work within a world of gods and monsters.

Moody and addictive, but far too dependent on a working knowledge of the DC universe, this is a series well worth a few moments of any serious fan’s time, and the spy-game milieu should, even now – produce a few converts from espionage devotees looking for a little something on the wild side…

© 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Superman Chronicles volume 7


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Leo Nowak, John Sikela (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-338-4

Due to the exigencies of periodical publishing, although the terrific tales collected in this seventh chronological recollection take the Man of Steel to December 1941, they were all prepared well in advance of Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbour.  Even though spies and sabotage plots were already a trusty part of the narrative currency of the times and many in America felt war was inevitable (patriotic covers were beginning to appear on many comic books), they were still a distant problem, impersonal and at one remove from daily life as experienced by the kids who were the perceived audience for these four-colour fantasies. That would change radically in the months to come…

For the meantime then here to enjoy are some of the last pre-war stories of the Man of Tomorrow taken from Action Comics #41-43, the bi-monthly Superman #12-13 and a tale from the quarterly World’s Finest Comics #4. Once again all the stories were scripted by Siegel, and as most stories of the time they were untitled these have been named post-hoc simply to provide differentiation and make my task simpler … As always every comic appearance is preceded by the original cover illustration, all from the increasingly inspired Fred Ray.

Leo Nowak was drawing most of the comic output at this time and is responsible for the lion’s share of these adventures, beginning with the first two from Superman #12 (September-October 1941). ‘Peril on Pogo Island’ found Lois and Clark at the mercy of rampaging tribesmen, although spies from a certain foreign power are at the back of it all, whilst ‘The Suicide Murders’ saw them facing a particularly grisly band of gangsters. John Sikela inked ‘The Grotak Bund’ wherein seditionists attempted to destroy vital US industries, and fully illustrated the final tale as an old foe reared his shiny head once more in ‘The Beasts of Luthor’, accompanied by a spectacular array of giant monsters.

Action Comics #41 (October 1941) ‘The Saboteur’, told a terse tale of a traitor motivated by greed rather than ideology, and ‘City in the Stratosphere’ (Action #42) revealed that a trouble-free paradise floating above Metropolis had been subverted by an old enemy, were both illustrated by Sikela, as Nowak laboured on the contents of Superman #13 (November-December 1941).

This issue led with ‘The Light’ and featured an old foe in a new super-scientific guise whilst ‘The Archer’ pitted the Man of Steel against his first true costumed villain. ‘Baby on the Doorstep’ took a rare opportunity for fun and the feel-good factor as Clark Kent became a temporary parent in a tale of stolen battle plans before ‘The City Beneath the Earth’ (by Sikela) returned to the serious business of action and spectacle when our hero discovered a subterranean kingdom lost since the Ice Age.

World’s Finest Comics #4 (Winter 1941) ‘The Case of the Crime Crusade’ was another socially relevant racketeering tale and the final story in this volume ‘The Crashing Planes’, from Action #43 (which actually has Superman attacking Nazi paratroopers on the cover) had the Man of Tomorrow smashing a plot to destroy a commercial airline.

Even though war was undeclared DC and many other publishers had struck their colours well before December 7th. When The Japanese attack filtered through to the gaudy pages the patriotic indignation and desire for retribution would generate some of the very best art and stories the budding art-form would ever see.

Stay tuned…

© 1941, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman Chronicles volume 8


By Bob Kane, Don Cameron, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-447-3

This eighth volume of chronological Batman yarns from the dawn of his career covers Batman #14-15, Detective Comics #71-74 and World’s Finest Comics #8-9, and once again features adventures produced during the scariest days of World War II.

It’s certainly no coincidence that many of these Golden Age treasures are also some of the best and most reprinted tales in the Batman canon, as lead writer Bill Finger was increasingly supplemented by the talents of Don Cameron, Jack Schiff and Joe Samachson and the Dynamic Duo became a hugely successful franchise. The war seemed to stimulate a peak of creativity and production, with everybody on the Home Front keen to do their bit – even if that was simply making kids of all ages forget their troubles for a brief while…

Cameron wrote all four stories in Batman #14 (December 1942-January 1943) which leads off this volume. ‘The Case Batman Failed to Solve’, (illustrated by Jerry Robinson) is a superb example of the sheer decency of the Caped Crusader as he fudges a mystery for the best possible reason, ‘Prescription for Happiness’ (with art by Bob Kane & Robinson), is a classic example of the human interest drama that used to typify Batman tales as a poor doctor discovers his own true worth, and ‘Swastika Over the White House!’ (Jack and Ray Burnley) is typical of the spy-busting action yarns that readers were gratuitously lapping up at the time. The final story ‘Bargains in Banditry!’ – also by the Burnley boys – is another canny crime caper featuring the Penguin.

Detective Comics #71 (January 1943, by Finger, Kane and Robinson) featured ‘A Crime a Day!’, one of the most memorable and thrilling Joker escapades of the period, whilst ‘Brothers in Law’ from the Winter 1942 World’s Finest Comics #8, by Schiff and the Burnleys, pitted Batman and Robin against a Napoleon of Crime and feuding siblings who had radically differing definitions of justice.

Detective Comics #72 by Samachson, Kane & Robinson, found our heroes crushing murderous con-men in ‘License for Larceny’ whilst Batman #15 (February-March 1943) lead with Schiff, Kane & Robinson’s Catwoman romp ‘Your Face is your Fortune!’ whilst Cameron and those Burnley boys introduced plucky homeless boy Bobby Deen ‘The Boy Who Wanted to be Robin!’ The same team created the powerful propaganda tale ‘The Two Futures’, which examined an America under Nazi subjugation and ‘The Loneliest Men in the World’ (Cameron Kane & Robinson) was – and still is – one of the very best Christmas Batman tales ever created; full of pathos, drama, fellow-feeling and action…

Cameron, Kane & Robinson went back to basics in Detective Comics #73 (March 1943) when ‘The Scarecrow Returns’, a moody chiller followed by the introduction of comical criminal psychopaths ‘Tweedledum and Tweedledee!’ in #74, and this volume concludes with the Batman portion of World’s Finest Comics #9 (Spring 1943) as Finger, Robinson & George Roussos recounted the saga of a criminal mastermind who invented the ‘Crime of the Month!’ scheme.

This wonderful series of Golden Age greats is one of my absolute favourite collected formats: paper that feels nostalgically like newsprint, vivid colours applied with a gracious acknowledgement of the power and limitations of the original four-colour printing process and the riotous exuberance of an industry in the first flush of success. These tales from the creators and characters at their absolute peak are even more readable now that I don’t have to worry about damaging an historical treasure simply by turning a page. I’m still praying that other companies with an extensive Golden Age back-catalogue like Marvel and Archie will follow suit.

© 1942, 1943, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.