Category: Supergirl

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Superman: The Third Kryptonian


By Kurt Busiek, Dwayne McDuffie, Fabian Nicieza, Rick Leonardi, Renato Guedes, José Wilson Magalhaés, Dan Green & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1987-1 (TPB)

After interminable page counts and the preponderant never-ending angst of hyper-mega-ultra-braided multi-part cross-overs, it’s quite nice to pick up an – admittedly slim – endeavour of more modest means and intent: to wit, a book with a couple of stories that actually begin, occur and end.

Collecting Action Comics #847, Superman #668-670 and Superman Annual #13, this tome actually has three yarns to delight, beginning with Kurt Busiek, Rick Leonardi and Dan Green’s mini-epic wherein every survivor of lost Krypton on Earth, including Power Girl, Clark and Lois’ adopted son Chris (don’t fret, it’s all explained in the story) and even Krypto are targeted for destruction by brutal space pirate Amalak, hungry to take vengeance for the misdeeds of the long dead “Kryptonian Empire”.

Imagine how the irate rogue reacts upon discovering that – unbeknownst to all – an actual survivor of that long-dead galactic aggressor-state has been living secretly on Earth for years…

Good old-fashioned romp though it is, the real meat of this tale was an adjustment and rewriting of Kryptonian history for the post-Smallville/Superman Returns generation. As the disparate continuities of TV, Cinema and comic books were massaged closer to overarching homogeneity, the best of the old was retrofitted to the new. This is an uncomplicated adventure thriller with nostalgic overtones that has a lot to recommend it.

‘The Best Day’ (Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Guedes & José Wilson Magalhaés) offers sheer delight, and beautiful execution. In a quiet moment, Superman and Supergirl take the Kent clan on a picnic to the stars where we get a chance to see beloved characters interact in joy and relaxation, as the skies of a million universes aren’t collapsing around their invulnerable ears. It’s a brave, rewarding return to old ways and I still want to see more of it.

So go no further than ‘Intermezzo’ (McDuffie and Guedes), another introspective segment sliced from a longer epic, short on punching but big on emotional wallop as Jonathan and Martha Kent share secrets and reveal close-held fears as their adopted son struggles off-camera with another “Never-Ending Battle.”

It’s such gentle moments and the emotional beats that give the best adventure fiction its edge, and this book has them in delightful quantities. This is the stuff that made Superman a legend, and in this anniversary year this collection is an ideal argument for stuff like this to stage a comeback.
© 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 3


By Jim Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell, Otto Binder, Curt Swan, George Klein, Pete Costanza, Jim Mooney & George Papp (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2185-0 (TPB)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…

And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino in early 1958, just as the revived comicbook genre of superheroes was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten over and over again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This third sturdy, action-packed monochrome compendium gathers a chronological parade of futuristic delights from October 1966 to May 1968, as originally seen in Adventure Comics #349-368, and includes a Legion story from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106 (October 1967).

During this period the Club of Champions finally shed the last vestiges of wholesome, imaginative, humorous and generally safe science fiction strips to become a full-on dramatic action feature starring a grittily realistic combat force in constant, galaxy-threatening peril: a compelling force of valiant warriors ready and willing to pay the ultimate price for their courage and dedication…

The main architect of the transformation was teenaged sensation Jim Shooter, whose scripts and layouts (usually finished and inked by veterans Curt Swan & George Klein) made the series accessible to a generation of fans growing up in the Future…

The tense suspense begins with Adventure #349’s ‘The Rogue Legionnaire!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) wherein Saturn Girl, Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet, Chameleon Boy and Brainiac 5 hunt hypnotic villain Universo through five periods of Earth’s history, aided by boy-genius Rond Vidar, a brilliant scientist with a tragic secret…

This is followed by a stellar 2-parter from #350-351 scripted by E. Nelson Bridwell which restores a number of invalided or expelled members to the team. In ‘The Outcast Super-Heroes’, a cloud of Green Kryptonite particles envelope Earth and force Superboy and Supergirl to retire from the Legion just as demonic alien Evillo unleashes his squad of deadly metahuman minions on the universe.

The Kryptonian Cousins are mind-wiped and replaced by armoured and masked paladins Sir Prize and Miss Terious in ‘The Forgotten Legion!’ but quickly return when a solution to the K Cloud is found. With Evillo’s eventual defeat, the team discover the wicked overlord has healed one-armed Lightning Lad and restored Bouncing Boy’s power for his own nefarious purposes, and together with the reformed White Witch and rehabilitated Star Boy and Dream Girl, the Legion’s ranks grow and might swell to bursting point.

That’s a very good thing as in the next issue Shooter, Swan & Klein produce one of their most stunning epics. When a colossal cosmic entity known as the Sun Eater menaces the United Planets, the Legion are hopelessly outmatched and forced to recruit the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals to help them save civilisation.

However, The Persuader, Emerald Empress, Mano, Tharok and Validus are untrustworthy allies at best and form an alliance as ‘The Fatal Five!’, intending to save the galaxy only so that they can rule it…

Adventure #353 reveals how the Five seemingly seal their own fate through arrogance and treachery with the true cost of heroism paid when ‘The Doomed Legionnaire!’ sacrifices his life to destroy the solar parasite…

Issue #354 introduced ‘The Adult Legion!’ when Superman travelled into the future to visit his grown-up comrades – discovering tantalising hints of events that would torment and beguile LSH fans for decades to come – before the yarn concluded with #355’s ‘The War of the Legions!’ as Brainiac 5, Cosmic Man, Element Man, Polar Man, Saturn Woman and Timber Wolf, accompanied by the most unexpected allies of all, battled the Legion of Super-Villains.

The issue also included an extra tale in ‘The Six-Legged Legionnaire!’ (by Otto Binder, Swan & Klein) wherein Superboy brings his High School sweetie Lana Lang to the 30th century, where she joins in a mission against a science-tyrant as bug-based shape-shifting Insect Queen. Disaster soon strikes though when the alien ring which facilitates her changes is lost, trapping her in a hideous insectoid incarnation.

Issue #356 sees Dream Girl, Mon-El, Element Lad, Brainiac 5 and Superboy transformed into babies to become ‘The Five Legion Orphans!’: a cheeky, cunning Bridwell-scripted mystery leading into darker matters as repercussions and guilt of the Sun-Eater episode are explored and survivors of that mission are apparently haunted by ‘The Ghost of Ferro Lad!’ (#357, by Shooter, Swan & Klein), after which ‘The Hunter!’ (Shooter & George Papp) sees the LSH stalked by a murderously insane sportsman with a unique honour code.

Adventure #359 depicts the once-beloved champions disbanded and on the run as ‘The Outlawed Legionnaires!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) thanks to manipulations of a devious old foe, only to rousingly regroup, counter-attack and triumph in #360’s ‘The Legion Chain Gang!’.

Illustrated by Jim Mooney, and with the superhero squad once more a key component of United Planets Security, the Legion are assigned as secret service to protect alien ambassadors The Dominators from political agitators, assassins and a hidden traitor in tense thriller ‘The Unkillables!’, before ‘The Lone Wolf Legion Reporter!’ (from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106, October 1967, by Shooter & Pete Costanza) finds the young newsman seconded to the 30th century to help with the club newspaper. Sadly, he’s far better at making news than publishing it…

The team is scattered across three worlds in Adventure Comics #362 as mad scientist Mantis Morlo refuses to let environmental safety interfere with his experiments in ‘The Chemoids are Coming!’, culminating in a lethally ‘Black Day for the Legion!’…

Shooter & Costanza then top that gripping 2-parter by uncovering ‘The Revolt of the Super-Pets!’ in #364, when the crafty rulers of planet Thanl seek to seduce the animal adventurers from their rightful – subordinate – positions with sweet words and palatial new homes.

When the isolated world of Talok 8 goes dark and becomes a militaristic threat to the UP, their planetary champion Shadow Lass leads Superboy, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy and Karate Kid on a reconnaissance mission which results in the cataclysmic ‘Escape of the Fatal Five!’ (illustrated by Swan & Klein). The vicious quintet then nearly conquer the UP itself: only frustrated by the defiant, last-ditch efforts of the battered heroes in blistering conclusion ‘The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!’

In grateful thanks, the Legion are gifted a vast new HQ but before the paint is even dry, a vast paramilitary force attempts to invade, slowly reconstructing planet Earth in #367’s ‘No Escape from the Circle of Death!’ (Shooter, Swan, Klein & Sheldon Moldoff), before this volume ends on a note of political and social tension as a glamorous alien envoy attempts to suborn the diminished and downtrodden female Legionnaires in #368’s ‘The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines!’

The Legion of Super-Heroes is unquestionably one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom. These scintillating, seductively addictive stories, as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League, fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of readers to underpin the industry we all know today.

If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1966, 1967, 1968, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Bill Finger, Edmund Hamilton, Len Wein, Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggin, John Byrne, Roger Stern, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Paul Cornell, Geoff Johns, John Sikela, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Jackson Guice, Howard Porter, Matthew Clark, Lee Bermejo, Frank Quitely, Pete Woods, Doug Mahnke & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6207-5 (HB/Digital edition) 978-1- (TPB)

We’re all celebrating the anniversary of the ultimate superhero this year, but who’s thinking of his archenemy – the world’s first true supervillain? Time to address the balance, even if it’s actually two years until the mogul of menace is actually due his bit of candle-covered cake…

Closely paralleling the evolution of the groundbreaking Man of Steel, the exploits of the mercurial Lex Luthor are a vital aspect of comics’ very fabric. In whatever era you choose, the prototypical and ultimate mad scientist epitomises the eternal feud between Brains and Brawn and over eight decades has become the Metropolis Marvel’s true antithesis and nemesis. He’s also evolved into a social barometer and ideal perfect indicator of what different generations deem evil.

This stunning compilation – part of a dedicated series reintroducing and exploiting the comics pedigree of venerable DC icons – comes in Hardback, Trade Paperback and digital formats, sharing a sequence of snapshots detailing what Luthor is at key moments in his never-ending battle with Superman. Groundbreaking appearances are preceded by brief critical analyses of the significant stages in the villain’s development, beginning with Part I: 1940-1969 The Making of a Mastermind.

After history and deconstruction comes sinister adventure as the grim genius debuts in ‘Europe at War Part 2’ (Action Comics #23 April 1940 by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster). Although not included here, Action #22 had loudly declared ‘Europe at War’ – a tense, thinly-disguised call to arms for the still-neutral USA, and as the Man of Tomorrow sought to stem the bloodshed, the saga became a continued story (almost unheard of in the early days of funny-book publishing).

Spectacularly concluding in #23, Clark Kent’s European investigations revealed a red-headed fiend employing outlandish science to foment war for profit: intent on conquering the survivors as a modern-day Genghis Khan. The Man of Steel strenuously objected…

Next is ‘The Challenge of Luthor’ (Superman #4, Spring/March1940) and produced at almost the same time: a landmark clash with the rogue scientist who, back then, was still a roguish red-head with a bald and pudgy henchman.

Somehow in the heat of burgeoning deadlines, master got confused with servant in later adventures, and public perception of the villain irrevocably crystalized as the sinister slap-headed super-threat we know today. The fact that Superman was also a star of newspapers – which operated under a different inworld continuity – is widely considered the root cause of that confusion…

Siegel & Shuster’s story involves an earthquake machine and ends with Luthor exhausting his entire arsenal of death-dealing devices attempting to destroy his enemy… with negligible effect.

From Superman #17 (July 1942), ‘When Titans Clash’, by Siegel & John Sikela, depicts how the burly bald bandit uses a mystic “powerstone” to survive his justly earned execution by stealing Superman’s abilities. However, the Action Ace retains his wily intellect and outsmarts his titanically-empowered foe…

Jumping ahead 10 years, ‘Superman’s Super Hold-Up’ (by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye from World’s Finest Comics #59 July 1952) is a supremely typical duel of wits in which the Einstein of Evil renders the Metropolis Marvel helpless with the application of a devilish height- and pressure-sensitive mega explosive device… if only for a little while…

WFC #88 (June 1957 by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Kaye) offers ‘Superman and Batman’s Greatest Foes!’ wherein “reformed” master criminals Lex and The Joker ostensibly set up in the commercial robot business. Nobody really believes them… as it happens, quite correctly!

As the mythology grew and Luthor became a crucial component of Superman’s story, the bad boy was retroactively inserted into the hero’s childhood. ‘How Luthor Met Superboy!’ (Siegel & Al Plastino in Adventure Comics #271, April 1960) details how Boy of Steel and budding genius were pals until a lab accident burned off Lex’s hair. In his prideful fury Lex blamed the Kryptonian and swore revenge…

In Finger, Curt Swan & John Forte’s ‘The Conquest of Superman’ (Action Comics #277, June 1961) the authorities parole Lex to help with an imminent crisis, only to have the double-dealer escape as soon as the problem is fixed. By the time Superman returns to Earth, Luthor is ready for him…

For October 1963, Superman #164 featured ‘The Showdown between Luthor and Superman’ (Hamilton, Swan & George Klein). The ultimate Silver Age confrontation between the Caped Kryptonian and ultimate antithesis pitted them in an unforgettable clash on devastated planet Lexor – a lost world of forgotten science and fantastic beasts – resulting in ‘The Super-Duel!’ and displayed a whole new side to the often two-dimensional arch-enemy.

Part II: 1970-1986 Luthor Unleashed previews how a more sophisticated readership demanded greater depth in their reading matter and how creators responded by adding a human dimension to the avaricious mad scientist. ‘The Man Who Murdered the Earth’ from Superman #248 (cover-dated February 1972, by Len Wein, Swan & Murphy Anderson). Here Luthor dictates his final testament after creating a Galactic Golem to destroy his sworn enemy, and ponders how his obsession caused the demise of humanity.

For Action Comics’ 45th anniversary, Superman’s two greatest foes – the other being Brainiac – were radically re-imagined for an increasingly harder, harsher world. ‘Luthor Unleashed’ in #544 (June 1983, by Cary Bates, Swan & Anderson) saw the eternal enmity between Lex and Superman lead to Lexor’s destruction and death of Luthor’s new family after the techno-terror once more chose vengeance over love.

Crushed by guilt and hatred, the maniacal genius reinvents himself as an implacable human engine of terror and destruction…

Elliot S. Maggin, Swan & Al Williamson offer a glimpse into the other motivating force in Luthor’s life, exposing ‘The Einstein Connection’ (Superman #416, February 1986) wherein a trawl through the outlaw’s life reveals a hidden link to the greatest physicist in history…

The Silver Age of comic books utterly revolutionised a flagging medium, bringing a modicum of sophistication to the returning sub-genre of masked mystery men. However, after decades of cosy wonderment, Crisis on Infinite Earths transformed the entire DC Universe, leading to a harder, tougher Superman. John Byrne’s radical re-imagining was most potently manifested in Luthor, who morphed from brilliant, obsessed bandit to ruthless billionaire capitalist as seen in the introduction to Part III: 1986-2000 Captain of Industry…

The tensions erupt in ‘The Secret Revealed’ (Superman volume 2 #2, February 1987 by Byrne, Terry Austin & Keith Williams) as the pitiless tycoon kidnaps everyone Superman loves to learn his secret. After collating all the data obtained by torture and other means, the corporate colossus jumps to the most mistaken conclusion of his misbegotten life…

‘Metropolis – 900 Miles’ (Superman vol. 2 #9, September 1987 by Byrne & Karl Kesel) then explores the sordid cruelty of the oligarch who cruelly torments a pretty waitress with a loathsome offer and promise of a new life…

‘Talking Heads’ appeared in Action Comics #678 (June 1992, by Roger Stern, Jackson Guice & Ande Parks), set after Luthor – riddled with cancer from wearing a green Kryptonite ring to keep Superman at arms’ length – secretly returned to Metropolis as his own son in a cloned (young and handsome) body. Acting as a philanthropist and with Supergirl as his girlfriend/arm candy, young Luthor has everybody fooled, Sadly, everything looks like falling apart when rogue geneticist Dabney Donovan is arrested and threatens to tell an incredible secret he knows about the richest man in town…

‘Hostile Takeover’ comes from JLA #11 1997) wherein Grant Morrison, Howard Porter & John Dell opened interstellar saga ‘Rock of Ages’ with the Justice League facing a newly-assembled, corporately-inspired Injustice Gang organised by Lex and run on his ruthlessly efficient business model.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman are targeted by a coalition of arch-enemies comprising Chairman-of-the-Board Lex, Joker, Circe, Mirror Master, Ocean Master and Doctor Light, with ghastly doppelgangers of the World’s Greatest Heroes raining destruction down all over the globe.

Even with new members Aztek and second-generation Green Arrow Connor Hawke on board, the enemy are running the heroes ragged, but the stakes change radically when telepath J’onn J’onzz detects an extinction-level entity heading to Earth from deep space…

The action and tension intensify when the cabal press their advantage whilst New God Metron materialises, warning the JLA that the end of everything is approaching.

As ever, these snippets of a greater saga are more frustrating than fulfilling, so be prepared to hunt down the complete saga. You won’t regret it…

A true Teflon businessman, Lex met the millennium running for President and Part IV: 2000-Present 21st Century Man follows a prose appraisal with ‘The Why’ from President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1 (2000, by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark & Ray Snyder). Here the blueprint to power and road to the White House is deconstructed, with daily frustrations and provocations revealing what inspired the nefarious oligarch to throw his hat into the truly evil political ring…

The next (frustratingly incomplete) snippet comes from a miniseries where the antagonist was the star. ‘Lex Luthor Man of Steel Part 3’ by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo offers a dark and brooding look into the heart and soul of Superman’s ultimate eternal foe: adding gravitas to villainy by explaining Lex’s actions in terms of his belief that the heroic Kryptonian is a real and permanent danger to the spirit of humanity.

Luthor – still believed by the world at large to be nothing more than a sharp and philanthropic industrial mogul – allows us a peek into his psyche: viewing the business and social (not to say criminal) machinations undertaken to get a monolithic skyscraper built in Metropolis. The necessary depths sunk to whilst achieving his ambition, and manipulating Superman into clashing with Batman, are powerful metaphors, but the semi-philosophical mutterings – so reminiscent of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead – although flavoursome, don’t really add anything to Luthor’s character and even serve to dilute much of the pure evil force of his character.

Flawed characters truly make more believable reading, especially in today’s cynical and sophisticated world, but such renovations shouldn’t be undertaken at the expense of the character’s heart. At the end Luthor is again defeated; diminished without travail and nothing has been risked, won or lost. The order restored is of an unsatisfactory and unstable kind, and our look into the villain’s soul has made him smaller, not more understandable.

Lee Bermejo’s art, however, is astoundingly lovely and fans of drawing should consider buying this simply to stare in wonder at the pages of beauty and power that he’s produced here. Or read the entire story in its own collected edition…

Rather more comprehensive and satisfying is ‘The Gospel According to Lex Luthor’ as first seen in All-Star Superman #5. Crafted by Morrison, Frank Quitely & Jamie Grant from September 2006, here an unrepentant Luthor on Death Row grants Clark Kent the interview of his career and scoop of a lifetime, after which ‘The Black Ring Part 5’ (Action Comics #894, December 2010 by Paul Cornell & Pete Woods) confirms his personal world view as Death of the Endless stops the universe just so she can have a little chat with Lex and see what he’s really like…

This epic trawl through the villain’s career concludes with a startling tale from Justice League volume 2, #31 (August 2014) as, post-Flashpoint, a radically-rebooted New 52 DCU again remade Lex into a villain for the latest generation: brilliant, super-rich, conflicted and hungry for public acclaim and approval. In ‘Injustice League Part 2: Power Players’ by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne & Christian Alamy, bad-guy Luthor has helped Earth from extradimensional invaders and now wants to be a hero. His solution? Make real superheroes invite him into the Justice League, which can be accomplished by ferreting out Batman’s secret identity and blackmailing the Dark Knight into championing his admission…

Lex Luthor is the most recognizable villain in comics and can justifiably claim that title in whatever era you choose to concentrate on; goggle-eyed Golden Age, sanitised Silver Age or malignant modern/Post-Modern milieux. This book captures just a fraction of all those superb stories and offers a delicious peek into the dark, unhealthy side of rivalry and competition…

This monolithic testament to the inestimable value of a good bad-guy is a true delight for fans of all ages and vintage.
© 1940, 1942, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1972, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 2


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, John Forte & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1- 4012-1724-2 (TPB)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…

And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino in early 1958, just as the revived comicbook genre of superheroes was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten over and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim. Happy 65th Anniversary, teams!

This splendid, charm-soaked, action packed second monochrome collection continues to re-present those early tales from assorted Superman Family titles in chronological order: the sagas from their own feature spanning Adventure Comics #316, 322-348, and 365 with guest-shots from Superboy #117, 124-125 and pertinent portions of Superman Annual #4, covering July 1964 to September 1966.

From Adventure #322 the fun-filled futurism opens with ‘The Super-Tests of the Super-Pets!’ by Edmond Hamilton, John Forte & Sheldon Moldoff, wherein the Legion’s mighty animal companions – Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Super-horse Comet – are left to guard Earth as the humanoid players continue to pursue the elusive Time Trapper. When Chameleon Boy’s pet Proty II applies to join the bestial bunch, they give him a series of extremely difficult qualification tasks…

‘The Eight Impossible Missions!’ (#323 by Jerry Siegel, Forte & George Klein) see the incomprehensibly smart Proty setting the human Legionnaires a set of challenges to determine their next leader, after which the tone switches to deadly danger for ‘The Legion of Super-Outlaws!’ (Hamilton & Forte), as a grudge-bearing mad scientist manipulates a super-team from far distant Lallor into attacking the United Planets champions…

Issue #325 reveals how ‘Lex Luthor Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes!’ (Siegel & Forte) in a cunning tale of deadly deception whilst a ‘Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires!’ (Siegel, Forte & Klein) finds the female heroes attempting to eradicate their male comrades. Of course, they don’t mean it and a sinister mastermind is behind it all…

Superboy #117 (cover-dated December 1964) offers a classy thriller wherein Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Ultra Boy, Element Lad and Brainiac 5 seemingly travel back 1000 years to attack the Boy of Steel in Siegel, Curt Swan & Klein’s ‘Superboy and the Five Legion Traitors!’ whilst over in Adventure #327 ‘The Lone Wolf Legionnaire!’ introduces bad boy Brin Londo in a clever thriller from Hamilton, Forte, Klein & Moldoff. This troubled teen is framed for appalling crimes but will one day become a valued member of the team…

Siegel & Jim Mooney began an engaging run of tales in #328, opening with ‘The Lad who Wrecked the Legion!’ as insidious Command Kid joins the superhero squad to dismantle it from within.

Narrowly escaping that fate, the heroes confront the topsy-turvy threat of their own imperfect doppelgangers in #329’s ‘The Bizarro Legion!’ after which another evil juvenile infiltrates the organisation, intent on destroying them all in ‘Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’. The dastardly plan proceeds without a hitch until victorious Dynamo-Boy recruited malevolent Lightning Lord, Cosmic King and Saturn Queen and falls victim to ‘The Triumph of the Legion of Super-Villains!’ in #331.

Rescued and restored, the good kids are back in Adventure #332, facing ‘The Super-Moby Dick of Space!’ (Hamilton & Forte) as recently resurrected Lightning Lad suffers crippling injuries and an imminent nervous breakdown…

‘The War Between Krypton and Earth!’ (#333, by Hamilton, Forte & Klein), has the time travelling wonders flung back into Earth’s antediluvian past and split into internecine factions on opposite sides of a conflict forgotten by history, after which Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff’s ‘The Unknown Legionnaire!’ poses a perilous puzzle with an oppressed race’s future at stake.

The same creative team introduce sinister super-villain ‘Starfinger!’ in #335, framing one luckless Legionnaire for incredible crimes before ‘The True Identity of Starfinger!’ (inked by Klein) reveals the real culprit.

Superboy #124 (October 1965, Otto Binder & George Papp) features Lana Lang as ‘The Insect Queen of Smallville!’: rewarded with a shape-changing ring after rescuing a trapped alien. Naturally, she uses her new abilities to ferret out Clark Kent’s secrets…

Adventure #337 highlights ‘The Weddings that Wrecked the Legion!’ (Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff) as two couples resign to marry. However, there’s serious method in the seeming marital madness…

Long absent Bête Noir Time Trapper at last returns in #338, as Siegel & Forte expose ‘The Menace of the Sinister Super-Babies!’, with sultry siren Glorith of Baaldur using the Chronal Conqueror’s devices to turn everybody but Superboy and Brainiac 5 into mewling infants. When they turn the tables on the villains a new era dawns for the valiant Tomorrow Teens…

Cover-dated November 1965 and by Binder & Papp, Superboy #125 signals darker days ahead by introducing a legion reservist with a tragic secret in ‘The Sacrifice of Kid Psycho!’, after which Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff tell a bittersweet tale of disaffected, tormented Lallorian hero Beast Boy who turns against humanity in Adventure Comics #339’s ‘Hunters of the Super-Beasts!’…

The slow death of whimsy and light-hearted escapades culminates in #340 when Brainiac 5’s latest invention goes berserk, with ‘Computo the Conqueror!’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein): attacking humanity and killing one of the superheroes before ‘The Weirdo Legionnaire!’ (inked by Moldoff) begins the team’s fight-back and eventual triumph.

‘The Legionnaire who Killed!’ (#342, Hamilton, Swan, Moldoff & Klein) sees Star Boy forced to take a life and facing the harshest of consequences, whilst ‘The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) finds the bold band of heroes assaulting the stronghold of a sinister cult claiming to control chance and destiny.

The same creative team ramps up tensions in Adventure #344 in ‘The Super-Stalag of Space!’, wherein the Legion – and many other planetary champions – are incarcerated by malicious alien overlord Nardo; an epic thriller completed in #345 with ‘The Execution of Matter-Eater Lad!’…

With Adventure #346 (July 1966) the dramatic revolution culminated in ‘One of Us is a Traitor!’ as Jim Shooter – barely a teenager – sold script and layouts (finished and inked by veteran Sheldon Moldoff) for a spectacular Earth invasion yarn. Here the sinister Khunds attack the UP, and the depleted Legion inducts four new members to bolster their strength. Sadly, although Princess Projectra, Nemesis Kid, Ferro Lad and Karate Kid are all capable fighters, it is soon apparent that one is an enemy agent…

With Earth all but fallen, ‘The Traitor’s Triumph!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) seems assured, but there’s one last surprise to come in a spectacular debut yarn from one of the industry’s most innovative creators…

This superb second compendium concludes with a tense thriller by Shooter & Papp from Adventure #348, as the secret origin of Sun Boy is revealed when radioactive rogue Dr. Regulus attempts unjustified vengeance in ‘Target-21 Legionnaires!’

But wait! There’s more!

Before the end, an expanded illustrated pictorial check-list and informational guide to the entire team by Swan, Klein & Al Plastino, culled from Superman Annual #4 (1961), Adventure Comics #316 and #365 (January 1964 & February 1968, respectively) reveals all you need to know about the youthful champions.

The Legion is one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom. Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz’s Justice League fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Blue Beetle: Jaime Reyes Book Two


By John Rogers, J. Torres, Keith Giffen, Justin Peniston, Rafael Albuquerque, Freddie E. Williams II, Andy Kuhn, David Baldeón, Dan Davis, Steve Bird & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-2027-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

As the most recent incarnation of the venerable Blue Beetle brand makes the jump from comic book limbo and kids’ animation reruns into live action movie madness, here’s a recent collection from the superb 36-issue run that began in 2006: one of the most delightfully light-hearted and compelling iterations of the Golden Age stalwart and still pure joy to behold…

The Blue Beetle first appeared in Mystery Men Comics #1, published by Fox Comics and cover-dated August 1939. The eponymous lead character was created by Charles Nicholas (AKA Charles Wojtkowski): a pulp-styled mystery man who was a born nomad. Over the years and crafted by a Who’s Who of extremely talented creators, he was also inexplicably popular and hard to kill: surviving the failure of numerous publishers before ending up as a Charlton Comics property in the mid-1950s.

After releasing a few issues sporadically, the company eventually shelved him until the superhero revival of the early 1960s when Joe Gill, Roy Thomas, Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico revised and revived the character in a 10-issue run (June 1964, February 1966). Cop-turned-adventurer Dan Garrett was reinvented an archaeologist, educator and scientist who gained super-powers whenever he activated a magic scarab with the trigger phrase “Khaji Da!”

Later that year, Steve Ditko (with scripter Gary Friedrich) utterly reimagined the Blue Beetle. Ted Kord was an earnest and brilliant young researcher who had been a student and friend of Professor Garrett. When his mentor seemingly died in action, Kord trained himself to replace him: a purely human inventor/combat acrobat, bolstered by ingenious technology. This latter version joined DC’s pantheon during Crisis on Infinite Earths, earning a solo series and quirky immortality partnered with Booster Gold in Justice League International and beyond…

Collecting Blue Beetle (volume 7) #13-25 and spanning June 2007 to May 2008 – the saga follows the hallowed formula of a teenager suddenly gifted with great powers, and reveals how some heroes are remade, not born – especially when a sentient scarab jewel affixes itself to your spine and transforms you into an armoured bio-weapon.

At the height of the Infinite Crisis, El Paso high-schooler Jaime Reyes found a weird blue jewel shaped like a bug. That night, as he slept, it invaded him and turned him into a bizarre insectoid warrior.

Almost instantly, he was swept up in the chaos, joining Batman and other heroes in a climactic space battle. Inexplicably returned home, Jaime revealed his secret to his family and tried to do some good in his hometown of El Paso but had to rapidly adjust to huge changes. Best bud Paco had joined a gang of super-powered freaks, he learned that the local crime mastermind was his other best bud Brenda’s foster-mom, and a really scary military dude named Christopher Smith AKA Peacemaker started hanging around. He claimed the thing in Jaime’s back was malfunctioning alien tech, not life-affirming Egyptian magic and that he also had an unwelcome and involuntary connection to it…

We resume this cinematically-inspired return engagement with John Rogers, Rafael Albuquerque, David Baldeón & colourist Dan Davis’ ‘Defective’. Here a benevolent (seeming) alien from an interstellar collective named The Reach introduces himself and reveals that the scarab is an invitation used to prepare endangered worlds like Earth for trade and commerce as part of a greater pan-galactic civilisation. Unfortunately the one attached to Jaime has been damaged over the centuries it was here and isn’t working properly.

The Reach envoy is a big fat liar…

The Scarab should have paved the way for a full invasion and once they discover this, Jaime and Peacemaker grasp that The Reach are the worst kind of alien invaders; patient, subtle, deceptive and stocked with plenty of space-tech to sell to Earth’s greedy governments. The only hope of defeating the marauders is to expose their real scheme to the public – which is currently too dazzled by the intergalactic newcomers’ media blitz to listen…

‘Mister Nice Guy’ (Rogers & Albuquerque) finds the Beetle teamed again with erratic Guy Gardner: a Green Lantern who knows all about The Reach and their Trojan Agenda. Here the unhappy allies must defeat the macabre Ultra-Humanite who has sold his telepathic services to the prospective new overlords.

Seeking allies and solutions, Jaime meets Superman in guest creators J. Torres & Freddie Williams Jr.’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’: battling electrical anti-villain Livewire before one of the DCU’s gravest menaces manifests in Rogers & Albuquerque’s startlingly powerful change of pace tale ‘Total Eclipso: the Heart’.

‘Something in the Water’ sees elemental menace Typhoon employed by The Reach to endanger a coastal city – and Bruce Wayne’s off-shore oil wells – in a clever, insightful tale packing plenty of punch, before ‘Away Game’ – with contributions from Baldeón & Davis – finds the Beetle and Teen Titans in pitched and pithy battle against the unbeatable alien biker-punk Lobo.

Weirdly whimsical Keith Giffen joins Rogers & Albuquerque next, focusing on Brenda, who has blithely lived her entire life unaware that her surrogate parental unit is El Paso’s crime boss supreme. La Dama is also a hoarder and supplier of alien, futuristic and magical weaponry. The distraught lass learns ‘Hard Truths’ when rival mob Intergang declare war: sending 50-foot woman Giganta to smash La Dama’s family to gooey pulp… until the Beetle buzzes in…

The previous tales were first collected in 2008 as Blue Beetle: Reach for the Stars and are accompanied here by most of sequel volume End Game, which finds the blue boy fighting a very secret war against the seemingly saintly visitors from the stars.

What the Green Lantern Corps already know is that The Reach are rapacious conquerors who follow near-sacrosanct ancient “strategies” to increase their empire. First a scarab converts an indigenous inhabitant into a pathfinder – a devastating marauding bug warrior – before the undetectably orbiting Reach “arrive”, offering weapons and planet-changing technologies to any who want them. And in the interim, the benefactors build world-ripper engines to eventually tear planet and remaining resources into manageable, marketable portions…

Rogers & Albuquerque set up the climactic counterstrike to Armageddon in ‘Fear to Live’, as Peacemaker is selected by a Sinestro Corps power ring due to his ability to “instil great fear”, just as Reach’s Chief Negotiator seeks to take him out. The silent invaders are terrified: desperate to learn why after countless millennia a scarab has rebelled against their infallible programming and created a disobedient, destructive maverick in Reyes.

Having finally deduced the part Peacemaker plays in the rebellion of his strategic weapon, the Negotiator infects Smith with a fully-obedient scarab and transforms him into a monstrous killer-drone. However, the terrifying “Infiltrator” is still no match for Jaime and his now sentient and liberated inner bug, especially after the yellow ring and alien Green Lantern Brik join the struggle…

Before Jaime’s meticulously constructed masterplan to save Earth gets underway, Justin Penniston & Andy Kuhn step in with a powerful tale of mistakes and consequences in #21’s ‘Ghost of a Chance’. Stepping in to quell a riot at a Federal Correctional facility, The Beetle finds the latest incarnation of The Spectre impatiently executing murderers the authorities haven’t got around to yet. Severely outmatched and deeply emotionally conflicted, Jaime needs the sage advice of his father and sorceress girlfriend Traci 13 to a get a handle on the Why as much as the How and Who of this crisis…

After almost a year of preparation, the fate of Earth is resolved in End Game parts one to four, by Rogers, Albuquerque & Majors, starting out ‘Under Pressure’ as Earth’s leaders get deeper in debt to the so-amenable Reach, whilst the Beetle and his allies – his parents, Peacemaker, Paco, Brenda and Danni Garrett (granddaughter of the first Blue Beetle) – try to expose the hidden world-ripper stations and uncover a hidden race who are far from what they seem…

The unravelling eternal strategies have sown discord amongst the Reach with Chief Negotiator’s subordinate openly displaying defiance and advocating abandoning the texts and a century of invisible sedition for total savage warfare right now. Pushed into rash action, the big boss targets the Reyes family, but too late…

‘World Tour’ reveals how Blue Beetle has already invaded their orbiting cloaked base, using a tactic and weapon the scarabs have never before used…

All too soon the boy is defeated, captured, tortured and deprived of the malfunctioning scarab designated Khaji Da. As the Negotiator sadistically gloats, he’s unaware that this was the plan: to strike from ‘Outside-In’…

With Traci 13 shielding the Reyes from retaliation, Jaime and his now-sentient symbiotic scarab are methodically taking the Reach apart, provoking a rash public attack on El Paso, the abrupt exposure of the formerly-shielded Reach legions and bases and a gathering of heroes. Can it be merely coincidence that the first responders in concluding clash ‘A Little Help From…’ are Ted Kord’s closest friends and allies, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner and Booster Gold, or that Jaime has outwitted the perfidious purveyors of illicit high technology with the most primitive methods ever devised by humanity?

… And as Jaime and Khaji Da are plucked from certain death, the rebels leave behind something that will have devastating repercussions for The Reach…

To Be Continued

With covers by Cully Hamner, and Albuquerque this is a smart, fast and joyous thrill ride to delight fans of comics and other, lesser, media forms. There are so few series combining action and adventure with all-out fun and genuine wit, or which can evoke shattering tragedy and poignant loss on command. John Rogers and his stand-ins excel in this innovative and impossibly readable saga and the art is always top notch. With the climactic final battle against the Reach only setting the scene for more and better to come, this is a second chance you probably don’t deserve but should reach out and grab onto with all you’ve got.
© 2007, 2008, 2023 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Robert Bernstein, Edmond Hamilton, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, John Forte, Jim Mooney, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1- 4012-1382-4 (TPB)

Once upon a time in the far future, super-powered kids from many alien civilisations took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and banded together as a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited that legend to join them…

Thus, began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino when the many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), just as the revived superhero genre was gathering an inexorable head of steam in America. Happy 65th Anniversary, team!

Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten again and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This glorious, far-and-wide ranging collection assembles the preliminary appearances of the valiant Tomorrow People, tracking their progress towards and attainment of their own feature. It re-presents in stunning monochrome all pertinent tales from Adventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, 300-321, Action Comics #267, 276, 287, 289, Superboy #86, 89, 98, Superman #147, Superman Annual #4 and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 and 76.

As already stated, the many-handed mob of youthful worlds-savers debuted in Adventure #247, dreamed up for a Superboy tale wherein three mysterious kids invite the Boy of Steel to the 30th century. He is being vetted to join a team of metahuman champions unanimously inspired by his historic career. Binder & Plastino’s throwaway concept inflamed public imagination and after a slew of further appearances throughout Superman Family titles, the LSH eventually took over Superboy’s lead spot in Adventure: thereafter enjoying their own far-flung, quirky escapades, with the Kid Kryptonian reduced to “one of the in-crowd”…

However here the excitement was still gradually building as the kids returned for an encore 18 months later, Adventure #267 (December 1959) saw Jerry Siegel & George Papp make the Boy of Steel ‘Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!’ when the teen wonders attacked and incarcerated Superboy of Steel because of a misunderstood ancient historical record…

The following summer Supergirl met the Legion in Action Comics #267 (Siegel & Jim Mooney, August 1960) as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy secretly travelled to “modern day” America to invite the Maid of Might onto the team, in a repetition of their offer to Superboy 15 years previously (in nit-picking fact they claimed to be the children of the original team – a fact glossed over and forgotten these days. Don’t time-travel stories make your head hurt?).

Due to a dubious technicality, young and eager Kara Zor-El failed her initiation at the hands of ‘The Three Super-Heroes’ and was asked to reapply later – but at least we got to meet a few more Legionnaires, including Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy.

With the editors still cautiously testing the waters, it was Superboy #86 (January 1961) before the ‘The Army of Living Kryptonite Men!’ by Siegel & Papp turned the LSH into a last-minute Deus ex Machina to save the Smallville Sentinel from juvenile delinquent Lex Luthor’s most insidious assault. Two months later, in Adventure #282, Binder & Papp introduced Star Boy as a romantic rival for the Krypton Kid in ‘Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes!’

Action Comics #276 (May 1961) debuted Supergirl’s Three Super Girl-Friends’ (Siegel & Mooney) which finally saw her crack the plasti-glass ceiling and join the team, sponsored by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. We also met for the first time Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy and potential bad-boy love-interest Brainiac 5 (well at least his distant ancestor Brainiac was a very bad boy…)

Next comes pivotal 2-part tale ‘Superboy’s Big Brother’ (by Robert Bernstein & Papp from Superboy #89 and June 1961) in which an amnesiac, super-powered space traveller crashes in Smallville, speaking Kryptonese and carrying star-maps written by the Boy of Steel’s long-dead father…

Jubilant, baffled and suspicious in equal amounts, Superboy eventually, tragically discovers ‘The Secret of Mon-El’ by accidentally exposing the stranger to a lingering, inexorable death, before providing critical life-support by depositing the dying alien in the Phantom Zone until a cure can be found…

Sporting an August 1961 cover-date, Superman #147 unleashed ‘The Legion of Super-Villains’ (Siegel, Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a stand-out thriller featuring Luthor and an evil adult Legion coming far too close to destroying the Action Ace until the temporal cavalry arrives…

In Adventure #290 (November), Bernstein & Papp seemingly gave Sun Boy a starring role in ‘The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero!’ – a clever tale of redemption and second chances, which is followed in #293 (February 1962) by a gripping thriller from Siegel, Swan & George Klein. ‘The Legion of Super-Traitors’ sees the future heroes turn evil, prompting Saturn Girl to recruit a Legion of Super-Pets – comprising Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Super-horse Comet to save the world…

‘Supergirl’s Greatest Challenge!’ (Siegel & Mooney, Action #287 April) sees her visit the Legion (quibblers be warned: for some reason it was mis-determined as the 21st century in here) to save future Earth from invasion). She also meets a telepathic descendent of her cat Streaky. His name is Whizzy (I could have omitted that fact but chose not to – once more for smug, comedic effect and in sympathy with all humans-with-cats everywhere)…

Action #289 featured ‘Superman’s Super-Courtship!’ wherein the Girl of Steel scours the universe to locate an ideal mate for her cousin. One highly possible candidate is adult Saturn Woman, but her husband Lightning Man objects…

Perhaps charming at the time, although modern sensibilities might quail at the conclusion that his perfect match is a doppelganger of Kara herself… albeit – and thankfully – a bit older…

By the release of Superboy #98 (July 1962), the decision had been made. The buying public wanted more Legion stories and after ‘The Boy With Ultra-Powers’ by Siegel, Swan & Klein introduces an enigmatic lad with greater powers than the Boy of Steel, focus shifted to Adventure Comics #300 (cover dated September 1962) where the super-squad finally landed their own gig; even occasionally taking an alternating cover-spot from still top-featured Superboy.

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes opened its stellar run with Siegel, John Forte & Plastino’s ‘The Face Behind the Lead Mask!’; a fast-paced premier pitting Superboy and the 30th century champions against an unbeatable foe until Mon-El, long-trapped in the Phantom Zone, temporarily escapes a millennium of confinement to save the day…

In those halcyon days humour was as important as action, imagination and drama, so many early exploits were light-hearted – if a little  moralistic. Issue #301 offered hope and role model to fat kids everywhere with ‘The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy!’ by regular creative team Siegel & Forte. This yarn formalised a process of open auditions – providing devoted fans with loads of truly bizarre and memorable applicants over the years – whilst allowing the rebounding human rotunda to give a salutary pep talk and inspirational recount of heroism persevering over adversity.

Adventure #302 featured ‘Sun Boy’s Lost Power!’, as the golden boy is forced to resign until fortune and boldness restore his abilities, whilst ‘The Fantastic Spy!’ in #303 provides a tense tale of espionage and possible betrayal by new member Matter-Eater Lad.

The readership was stunned by the events of #304 when Saturn Girl engineers ‘The Stolen Super-Powers!’ to make herself a one-woman Legion. Of course, it was for the best possible reasons, but still doesn’t prevent the shocking murder of Lightning Lad…

With cosy complacency utterly destroyed, #305 further shook everything up with ‘The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’ who turns out to be the long-suffering Mon-El finally cured and freed from his Phantom Zone prison.

Normally I’d try to be more obscure about story details – after all my intention is to get new people reading old comics, but these “spoiler” revelations are key to further understanding here and you all know these characters are still around, don’t you?

Pulp science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton took over the major scripting role with #306, and introducing ‘The Legion of Substitute Heroes!’ (quirkily, perfectly illustrated by John Forte). This is a group of rejected applicants who selflessly band together to clandestinely assist the champions who spurned them, after which transmuting orphan Element Lad joins the major team. He seeks vengeance on space pirates who had wiped out his entire species in ‘The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero!’ before #308 seemingly sees ‘The Return of Lightning Lad!’

Actual Spoiler Warning: skip to the next paragraph NOW!!! if you don’t want to know it’s actually his similarly empowered sister who – once unmasked and unmanned – takes her brother’s place as Lightning Lass…

‘The Legion of Super-Monsters!’ is a straightforward clash with embittered applicant Jungle King who takes rejection far too personally and gathers a deadly clutch of space beasts to wreak havoc and vengeance, whilst #310’s ‘The Doom of the Super-Heroes!’: a frantic battle for survival against an impossible foe.

Adventure #311 opens ‘The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires!’ with a cease-and-desist order from the A-Team that turns into secret salvation as the plucky, stubborn outcasts carry on regardless under the very noses of the blithely oblivious LSH…

The next issue (September 1963) features the ‘The Super-Sacrifice of the Legionnaires!’ and inevitable resurrection of Lightning Lad – but only after the harrowing sacrifice of one devoted team-member, after which Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 (October, by Siegel, Swan & Klein) visits ‘The World of Doomed Olsens!’ Depicting an intriguing enigma as the cub-reporter is confronted by materialisations of his most memorable metamorphoses, it’s all just a prank by those naughty Legion scamps – but one with a serious purpose behind the jolly japery…

Adventure #313’s ‘The Condemned Legionnaires!’ (Hamilton, Swan, Klein & Forte) affords Supergirl a starring role after the sinister Satan Girl infects the team with a deadly plague, forcing them all into perpetual quarantine, before ‘The Super-Villains of All Ages!’ (art by Forte) reveals how a manic mastermind steals a Legion Time-Bubble to recruit the greatest monsters and malcontents of history – Nero, Hitler and John Dillinger – as his irresistible army of crime.

Why he’s surprised when they double-cross him and possess Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy is beyond me , but happily, the lesser legionnaires still prove more a match for the brain-switched rogues. Then ‘The Legionnaires Super-Contest!’ in #315 finally sees the Substitute Heroes go public, for which the primary team offer to allow one of them to join the big boys. Which one? That’s the contest part…

Issue #316’s ‘The Renegade Super-Hero!’ outs one trusted teammate as a career criminal who then goes on the run, but there’s more to the tale than at first appears, after which the heroes confront ‘The Menace of Dream Girl!’: a ravishing clairvoyant who beguiles her way into the Legion for her own obscure, arcane reasons. In her knowing way she presages the coming of deadly foe The Time Trapper and even finds time to convert electrically redundant sister of recently-resurrected Lightning Lad into gravity-warping Light Lass.

Adventure #318 sees ‘The Mutiny of the Legionnaires!’ as Sun Boy succumbs to battle fatigue and became a draconian Captain Bligh during an extended rescue mission, whilst in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #76 (April 1964) Siegel & Forte describe ‘Elastic Lad Jimmy and his Legion Romances!’ wherein the plucky journo is inveigled into the future and finds himself inexplicably irresistible to the costumed champions of Tomorrow. It isn’t his primitive charm, though…

Hamilton & Forte began a strong run of grittier tales from #319 on, beginning with ‘The Legion’s Suicide Squad!’ as the Science Police ask the team to destroy, at all costs, a monolithic space fortress, whilst #320 debuts daring new character in Dev-Em, a forgotten survivor of Superman’s dead homeworld who was little more than a petty thug when Superboy first defeated him. Now in ‘The Revenge of the Knave From Krypton!’ ( Siegel, Forte, Papp, Moldoff & Plastino), the rapscallion returns as either a reformed undercover cop or the greatest traitor in history…

The story portion of this titanic tome concludes with Adventure Comics #321 and Hamilton, Forte & Plastino’s ‘The Code of the Legion!’, revealing the team’s underlying Articles of Procedure during a dire espionage flap, simultaneously testing one Legionnaire to the limits of his honour and ingenuity and actually ending another’s service forever.

Perhaps. Sort of…

An appropriate extra from Superman Annual #4, follows: featuring a 2-page informational guide and pictorial check-list illustrated by Swan & Klein which was amended and supplemented in Adventure #316 with additional pages of stunning micro-pin-ups, all faithfully included here. This fabulously innocent and imaginative chronicle also includes every cover the team starred on: mostly the work of honorary Legionnaire Curt Swan and inkers George Klein, Stan Kaye & Sheldon Moldoff.

The Legion is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in American comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became Comics Fandom. Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz Justice League fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1958-1964, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Brave and the Bold volumes 1 & 2: The Lords of Luck and The Book of Destiny


The Lords of Luck By Mark Waid & George Pérez & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-649-8 (US HB) 978-1-84576-649-8 (TPB)

There are so many great graphic novels and compilations available these days that it’s always a shock when I realise how many more are still out of print. Here’s a classic example just begging for revival and digital editions…

The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck collects the first 6 issues of another revival of a venerable DC title (technically volume 3 and spanning April -September 2007): returning it not only to the fitting team-up format we all enjoyed, but doing so with such style, enthusiasm and outright joy that I’m reduced to a gawping, drooling nine-year-old again.

Here Mark Waid, George Pérez and inkers Bob Wiacek & Scott Koblish crafted an intergalactic romp through time and nether dimensions, ripping across the DC Universe in a funny, thrilling and immensely satisfying murder-mystery-come-universal-conquest saga.

When Batman and Green Lantern (in part one ‘Roulette’ and concluding episode ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much’) discover absolutely identical corpses hundreds of miles apart it sets them on the trail of probability-warping aliens and the missing Book of Destiny – a mystical chronicle of everything that ever was, is, and will be!

And yes, that makes this a notional tie-in to The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman and his coterie of classy creatives…

Each issue/chapter highlights a different team-up and eventually the hunt by Adam Strange, Blue Beetle (‘The Lord of Time’), Destiny (of the Endless, no less in chapter 4 ‘The Garden of Destiny’), the Legion of Super Heroes (‘The Batman of Tomorrow’), Lobo, Supergirl (‘Ventura’) and a mystery favourite from long-ago (you’ll thank me for not blowing the secret, honestly!) plus an incredible assortment of cameo stars coalesces into a fabulous free-for-all that affirms and reinforces all the reasons I love this medium.

With the value-added bonus of an annotated exploration of Waid & Pérez’s creative process to entrance the aspiring creator-of-tomorrow, this is a great story with great art, and is perfect for all ages to read and re-read over and over again. So let’s hope that happens soon…

© 2006, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

The Book of Destiny

By Mark Waid, George Pérez, Jerry Ordway, Bob Wiacek & Scott Koblish (DC Comics)

ISBN: 978-1-4012-1838-6 (HB) 978-1-4012-1861-4 (TPB)

The Book of Destiny is a mystical ledger which charts the history, progress and fate of all Reality and everything in it – except for the four mortals entrusted with its care at the end of The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck. The death-defying Challengers of the Unknown – cool pilot Ace Morgan, indomitable strongman Rocky Davis, intellectual aquanaut Prof. Haley and daredevil acrobat Red Ryan – live on borrowed time and were bequeathed the terrifying tome by Destiny of the Endless since their lives are no longer included within its horrifying pages…

After the staggering spectacle of the previous Brave and the Bold story-arc, here Waid & Pérez, with inkers Bob Wiacek & Scott Koblish are joined by co-penciller Jerry Ordway for a stunning sequel featuring most of the DC universe…

This compilation collects issues #7-12 (volume 3 from December 2007-June 2008) of the high-energy, all-star revival of the venerable DC title: playing novel games with traditional team-up format as a mysterious mage begins manipulating heroes and villains in a diabolical alchemical scheme to transform the cosmos fundamentally and forever…

Beginning with ‘Scalpels and Chainsaws’ – wherein Wonder Woman and the ever-abrasive Power Girl rub each other the wrong way (oh please, what are you, ten!?) whilst tackling an undead invasion, the case takes a stranger turn and Kara-Zor-L accidentally discovers the Caped Kryptonian has been brainwashed into trying to murder her cousin Superman…

Their ill-tempered investigations lead to the fabled Lost Library of Alexandria and a disastrous confrontation with the deranged Dr. Alchemy, but he too is only a pre-programmed pawn – of a sinister presence called Megistus – who needs Power Girl to use the mystical artefact known as the Philosopher’s Stone to turn the Fortress of Solitude into pure Red Kryptonite…

Thanks to Wonder Woman’s battle savvy, the plot is frustrated and the stone thrown into the sun… just as Megistus intended…

All this has been perused in the mystic chronicle by the Challengers and their fifth member Dr. June Robbins – whose merely mortal existence and eventual doom are tragically recorded in the Book. They rush off to investigate a universe-rending menace even as ‘Wally’s Choice’ brings The Flash and his rapidly aging children Jai and Iris West into unwelcome contact with manipulative genius Niles Caulder and his valiant Doom Patrol. “The Chief” claims he can cure the twins’ hyper-velocity malady, but Caulder never does anything for selfless reasons…

With no other hope, Wally and wife Linda acquiescence to the mad genius’ scheme – which relies on using elemental hero Rex Mason to stabilise their kids’ critical conditions. It might have worked, had not Metamorpho been mystically abducted mid-process – consequently transforming the children into bizarre amalgams of Negative Man and Robot Man…

Worst of all, Flash is almost forced to choose which child to save and which should die…

Thinking faster than ever, the Scarlet Speedster beats the odds and pulls off a miracle but, in a distant place, the pages of the Book are suddenly possessed and abruptly attack the Challengers…

‘Changing Times’ features a triptych of short team-up tales which play out as the Men that History Forgot battle a monster made of Destiny’s pages, beginning as the robotic Metal Men joined forces with young Robby Reed who could become a legion of champions whenever he needs to Dial H for Hero.

Sadly not even genius Will Magnus could have predicted the unfortunate result when crushingly shy robot Tin stuck his shiny digit in the arcane Dial…

Next, during WWII the combative Boy Commandos are joined by The Blackhawks in battling animated mummies intent on purloining the immensely powerful Orb of Ra from a lost pyramid, after which perpetually reincarnating warrior Hawkman joined All-New Atom Ryan Choi in defending Palaeolithic star-charts from the marauding Warlock of Ys.

None of them are aware that they are doing the work of malignly omnipresent Megistus…

The fourth chapter paralleled the Challengers’ incredible victory over the parchment peril with a brace of tales seeing the Man of Steel travel to ancient Britain to join heroic squire Brian of Kent (secretly the oppression-crushing Silent Knight) in bombastic battle against a deadly dragon, whilst the Teen Titan’s untold second ever case finds Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash in Atlantis for the marriage of Aquaman and Mera.

Unfortunately Megistus’ drone Oceanus crashes the party, intent on turning Aqualad into an enslaved route map to the future…

And in California, the Challengers attempted to save Green Lantern’s Power Battery from being stolen only to find it in the possession of an ensorcelled Metamorpho…

As the Element Man easily overwhelms Destiny’s Deputies, Jerry Ordway assumed the penciller’s role for issues #11-12.

‘Superman and Ultraman’ saw the natural enemies initially clash and then collaborate at the behest of an alternate universe’s Mr. Mixyezpitelik, who reveals the appalling scope and nature of Megistus’ supernal transformational ambitions, leading to a gathering of the heroic clans and a blistering Battle Royale in the roaring heart of the Sun…

With the fate of reality at stake and featuring a veritable army of guest stars ‘The Brave and the Bold’ concludes the saga with a terrible, tragic sacrifice from the noblest hero of all, whilst subtly setting the scene for the then-upcoming Final Crisis…

With fascinating designs and pencil drawings from Ordway to tantalise the art lovers, this second captivating collection superbly embodies all the bravura flash’n’dazzle thrills superhero comics so perfectly excel at. This is a gripping fanciful epic with many engaging strands perfectly coalescing into a frantic and fabulous free-for-all overflowing with all the style, enthusiasm and exuberant joy you’d expect from top costumed drama talents.

The Brave and the Bold: The Book of Destiny is another great story with great art, ideal for kids of all ages to read and re-read over and over again.
© 2007, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Bizarro Comics! – The Deluxe Edition


By a big bunch of very funny people AKA Jessica Abel, Todd Alcott, Rick Altergott, Peter Bagge, Kyle Baker, Gregory Benton, Charles Berberian, Aaron Bergeron, Nick Bertozzi, Ariel Bordeaux, Rand & David Borden, Ivan Brunetti, Eddie Campbell, Jim Campbell, Dave Cooper, Leela Corman, Mark Crilley, Jef Czekaj, Farel Dalrymple, Brian David-Marshall, Paul Dini, Paul Di Filippo, D’Israeli, Evan Dorkin, Mike Doughty, Eric Drysdale, Ben Dunn, Philippe Dupuy, Sarah Dyer, Phil Elliott, Hunt Emerson, Maggie Estep, Bob Fingerman, Abe Foreu, Ellen Forney, Liz Glass, Paul Grist, Matt Groening, Tom Hart, Dean Haglund, Tomer & Asaf Hanuka, Dean Haspiel, Danny Hellman, Sam Henderson, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Matt Hollingsworth, Paul Hornschemeier, Dylan Horrocks, Nathan Kane, John Kerschbaum, Chip Kidd, Derek Kirk Kim, James Kochalka, John Krewson, Michael Kupperbaum, Tim Lane, Roger Langridge, Carol Lay, Jason Little, Lee Loughridge, Matt Madden, Tom McCraw, Pat McEown, Andy Merrill, Scott Morse, Peter Murrietta, Tony Millionaire, Jason Paulos, Harvey Pekar, Will Pfeifer, Paul Pope, Patton Oswalt, Brian Ralph, Dave Roman, Johnny Ryan, Alvin Schwartz, Marie Severin, R. Sikoryak, Don Simpson, Jeff Smith, Jay Stephens, Rick Taylor, Raina Telgermeier, Craig Thompson, Jill Thompson, M. Wartella, Andi Watson, Steven Weissman, Mo Willems, Kurt Wolfgang, Bill Wray, Jason Yungbluth, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-1012-9 (HB/Digital)

Here am big, dull shopping list of top-ranking cartoonists from beginning of twenty-oneth century. Bunch of names not very entertaining, but what they draw and write am, especially when taking loving pot-shots at beloved DC Comics icons and moments…

I’ll happily go on record and say that practically all of the fun and true creativity in comics has come out of the ‘alternative’ or non-mainstream writers and artists these days. To prove my point I’d list a bunch of things, and very near the top of that list would be this book -actually two older, smaller books sensibly nailed together in 2021.

In its near 90 years of comics publishing, DC Comics has produced many of the most memorable, most engaging and most peculiar comic characters and concepts you could imagine. For all that, they also managed to stir echoes and forge a deep and abiding affection in the hearts and minds of some of the most creative people on the planet.

As I’ve already said, the material in this titanic tome of titters (sorry, apparently I’m channelling my inner Frankie Howerd today) first emerged in a brace of cartoon anthology volumes: Bizarro Comics and Bizarro World in 2001 and 2005, disrespectively.

They delivered fast and furious skits, sketches and gags by profoundly engaged – often deeply disturbed – fans turned pros. There was a heavy dependence on small-press and self-published creators all used to having complete control of their work…

It was all meant to make you laugh and feel longing for simpler whackier times, and the Introduction by Kyle Baker should be all you need to steer you through what follows.

If I were you, I’d stop here and just buy the book, but just in case you’re a stubborn holdout, I’m going to add to my editor and proof-reader’s many woes by listing exactly who is in the thing, what they did and even add a few critical comments, just to earn my keep.

Then I’ll make my poor staff read the book too, just to cheer them up after all my word salad…

Following Matt Groening’s Bizarro Comics cover (which you get here for free) lurks a hilarious framing sequence, as a monstrous unbeatable creature attempts to conquer Mr Mxyzptlk’s 5th dimensional home. Chris Duffy & Stephen DeStefano – aided by legendary cartoonist and colourist Marie Severin – tell a weird and wonderful tale of outlandish failed Superman clone Bizarro that begins in ‘Bizarre Wars Part One’ and diverges into a wonderland of individual battles against cosmic games player A.

As the appointed defender of the entire endangered dimension, Bizarro resorts to a heretofore unsuspected ultimate power: producing comic strips featuring unfamiliar adventures of DC’s most recognizable heroes that come to life …ish.

Cue a veritable Who’s Who of the cool and wonderful of modern comics creating a plethora of wacky, dreamy, funny, wistful and just plain un-put-downable strips that would delight any kid who read comics but then accidentally grew up.

In rapid rollercoaster fashion and Fighting the Goof Fight for reality come ‘Bizarro-X-Ray One’ by Gregory Benton, Bizarro-X-Ray Two’ by John Kerschbaum and Bizarro-X-Ray Three’ by Gilbert Hernandez – all coloured by Tom McCraw. Sam Henderson & Bob Fingerman reconvene the ‘Super-Pets’ whilst Duffy & Craig Thompson expose Green Lantern in ‘The Afterthoughts’. Chip Kidd & Tony Millionaire revisit early days of ‘The Bat-Man’ in stylish monochrome before Henderson, Dean Haspiel, Bill Oakley & Matt Madden recount the silly charm-packed saga of ‘Captain Marvel and the Sham Shazam’…

Baker & Elizabeth Glass test the mettle of ‘Letitia Lerner, Superman’s Babysitter!’ and Aquaman endures double trouble as Evan Dorkin, Brian David-Marshall, Bill Wray & Matt Hollingsworth draw attention to ‘Silence of the Fishes’ before Andy Merrill & Jason Little douse the Sea King in ‘Porcine Panic!’

Fingerman, Pat McEown, Oakley & Hollingsworth inflict ‘The Tinnocchio Syndrome’ on The Metal Men before Andi Watson, Mark Crilley & Lee Loughridge orchestrate ‘Wonder Girl vs Wonder Tot’ and James Kochalka, Dylan Horrocks & Abe Foreau pit Hawkman against ‘The Egg-Napper!’, even as ‘The GL Corps: The Few, The Proud’ glean more story glory courtesy due to Will Pfeifer, Jill Thompson, Clem Robins, Rick Taylor & Digital Chameleon.

Horrocks, Jessica Abel & Madden then see Supergirl and Mary Marvel have a moment in ‘The Clubhouse of Solitude’ whilst Nick Bertozzi & Tom Hart tune in to ‘Kamandi: The Last Band on Earth!’ before Jeff Smith, Paul Pope & Loughridge depict Bizarro demanding ‘Help! Superman!’ as Jef Czekaj & Brian Ralph confront Aquaman with ‘The Man Who Cried Fish!’ in advance of Wonder Woman pondering ‘One-Piece, Two-Piece, Red-Piece, Blue-Piece’ on a shopping trip organised by Fingerman & Dave Cooper.

Ellen Forney, Ariel Bordeaux & Madden probe a young girl’s ‘Bats Out of Heck’ and Eddie Campbell, Hunt Emerson, Rick Taylor & Digital Chameleon went full-on Batmaniacal in ‘Who Erased the Eraser’ before Crilley & Watson negotiate a shocking ‘First Contact’ with The Atom, after which The Batman invites us ‘Inside the Batcave’ with Pope & Jay Stephens as tour guides.

Dorkin, D’Israeli & Digital Chameleon expose ‘Solomon Grundy: Bored on a Monday’ before Alvin Schwartz, Roger Langridge & Loughridge debut ‘The Most Bizarre Bizarro of All’ and Ivan Brunetti, Dorkin & Sarah Dyer reveal ‘That’s Really Super, Superman!’ to The World’s Finest Team whilst Dorkin, Carol Lay, Tom McCraw & Digital Chameleon invite everyone to ‘The J’onn J’onzz Celebrity Roast’ before Bordeaux, Forney & Madden share ‘Wonder Woman’s Day Off’…

The initial volume and that framing Mxyzptlk yarn are coming to a close as Dorkin, Wray, John Costanza & Hollingsworth craft ‘Unknown Challenges of the Challengers of the Unknown’ and Dorkin, Steven Weissman & Dyer go to bat for all the forgotten creature sidekicks in ‘Without You, I’m Nothing’ before Duffy, DeStefano, Phil Felix, Severin & Digital C reunite for the climactic conclusion of ‘Bizarre Wars – Part Two’…

If you haven’t heard of anybody on that overwhelming list then get Googling. Then get this book and get enjoying.

No? that’s okay… There’s More…

The turn of this century was a particularly fraught time – aren’t they always? – and one of the best ways to combat the impending travail was to make people laugh. A follow up to the remarkably successful Bizarro Comics again invited a coterie of alternative comics creators (and guests!) to make sport of various hallowed DC icons. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and all the lesser gods were dragooned into more tales humorous, dolorous and just plain peculiar, drawn in an eye-wrenching range of styles. Many of those involved continued to display a disturbing knowledge of, if not respect for, the DC continuity of the 1960s whilst others seem to centre on the TV and Movie interpretations, but the fondness for times gone by was readily apparent throughout.

Behind a Bizarro World cover from Jaime Hernandez, Rian Hughes & Coco Shinomiya is unsurprisingly story ‘Bizarro World’ by Duffy, Scott Morse, Rob Leigh & Dave Stewart as a couple of unwary kids fall into a universe stuffed to overflowing with everyday super people…

Answers come from a crusty reporter with extensive files and notes from many stringers…

Kidd, Millionaire & Jim Campbell review ‘Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder’ and Merrill, Langridge & Madden get seasonally silly in ‘Jing Kal-El’, whilst Mo Willems, Forney & Madden reveal ‘The Wonder of it All’ for the youthful feminist before Foreu, Kochalka & Madden have shapeshifter Chameleon Boy ask ‘Where’s Proty?’

Nostalgia and childish wish-fulfilment masterfully merge in pants-wettingly funny ‘Batman Smells’ by American National Treasures Patton Oswalt, Fingerman & Stewart, whilst Duffy & Craig Thompson channel ‘The Spectre’ and Jasons Yungbluth & Paulos confirm with Hal Jordan that ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’ even as Aaron Bergeron & Kerschbaum revel in ‘The Power of Positive Batman’…

Mike Doughty & Danny Hellman’s Fish-out-of-water ‘Aquaman’ segues into another true Stand Out story: ‘Batman: Upgrade 5.0’ by Dean Haglund & Peter Murrieta, illustrated by Don Simpson, before comics bad boy John Ryan joins Dave Cooper to explore being ‘Super-Dumped’ via the sad story of Clark and Diana…

Elsewhere, Dorkin & M. Wartella retroactively introduce Batman to ‘Monkey, the Monkey Wonder’ whilst comics verité legends Harvey Pekar & Dean Haspiel declare ‘Bizarro Shmizarro’ just as Dylan Horrocks, Farel Dalrymple & Paul Hornschemeier proposition ‘Dear Superman’ on behalf of a youngster with a secret…

‘The Red Bee Returns’ courtesy of Peter Bagge, Gilbert Hernandez & Madden, after which Eric Drysdale, Tim Lane, Oakley & Madden organise ‘The Break’ for the JLA. Dorkin & Watson then find The Legion of Super-Heroes ‘Out with the In Crowd’ just as Todd Alcott, Michael Kupperman & Ken Lopez detail the ‘Ultimate Crisis of the Justice League’…

Tomer & Asaf Hanuka join Lopez & Campbell to define ‘Batman’ whilst Paul Dini & Carol Lay have the very last word on ‘Krypto the Superdog’ and Ariel Bordeaux & Rick Altergott unwisely launch ‘Legion.com’ before mercurial Harvey Dent enjoys a ‘Dinner for Two’ thanks to Dorkin & Iva Brunetti…

Maggie Estep & Horrocks take on ‘Supergirl’ and her horsey history before Leela Corman & Tom Hart steer a ‘Power Trip’ for Batgirl, Wonder Woman and the Girl of Steel, whilst Eddie Campbell, Paul Grist & Phil Elliott schedule ‘A Day in the Life in the Flash’ before hilariously reprising their manic madness via ‘The Batman Operetta’…

Bizarro returns in an activity page from his ‘Daily Htrae’ – by Dorkin & R. Sikoryak – and the GL Corps turn Japanese in ‘Lantern Sentai’ from Rand & David Borden of Studio Kaiju, manifested by multi-talented Benn Dunn. Philippe Dupuy & Charles Berberian then offer a continental touch in ‘Batman of Paris’, Kurt Wolfgang & Brian Ralph have fun with ‘The Demon’ and John Krewson, Dorkin & Dyer expose ‘Kamandi, The Laziest Boy on Earth’.

Despite all the craziness, the best has wisely been left until last and end begins with The Justice League of America regretting ‘Take Your Kids to Work Day’ (by Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier) whilst ultimate manservant Alfred Pennyworth conducts his master’s business as a “Personal Shopper” thanks to Kyle Baker & Elizabeth Glass, before we finish with Deadman who learns with horror – from Paul Di Filippo & Derek Kirk Kim – that ‘Good Girls Go to Heaven. Bad Girls Go Everywhere’…

What do you get if you give a whole bunch of vets and alternative comics creators carte blanche and a broad brief? You should get this.
© 2001, 2005, 2021 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow


By Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, Clayton Cowles & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-1568-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

As a rule, superhero comics don’t generally do whimsically thrilling anymore. They especially don’t do short or self-contained. Modern narrative momentum concentrates on continuous extended spectacle, major devastation and relentless terror and trauma. It also helps if you’ve come back from the dead once or twice and wear combat thongs and thigh boots…

Although there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that – other than a certain inappropriateness in striving to adjust wedgies during a life-or-death struggle – sometimes the palate just craves a different flavour…

Once upon a time, angsty in-continuity cataclysm was the rule, not the exception, but ever since DC readmitted all its past epochs into one vastly welcoming expansion multiverse via the Dark Night: Death Metal, Future State and Infinite Frontier mega-events, a spirit of joyous experimentation has resulted in some truly memorable storytelling.

This decidedly backward-looking modern fable harks back to simpler days of clearly defined plots, solid, imaginative characterisation and suspensefully dramatic adventure, by way of an almost alternative take on redoubtable Kara Zor-El, late of Krypton’s Argo City and another illegal alien immigrant on Earth.

Supergirl first gained popularity as a back-up feature in Action Comics: a tag-along (and trademark protection device) to her more illustrious cousin. After years of faithful service, in 1985 she was killed as a sales gimmick in the groundbreaking Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since then, a number of characters have used the name – but none with the class or durability of the original.

This latest incarnation cunningly references much of the original’s trappings, but combines stellar whimsy, dark modern attitudes and an edgier twist, as befits today’s readership. Written by Tom King (Mister Miracle, The Vision, The Sheriff of Babylon, Omega Men, Strange Adventures, Batman) and delightfully illustrated by Brazilian artist Bilquis Evely (Wonder Woman, The Dreaming, Detective Comics, Shaft: a Complicated Man) in a deliriously addictive, retro-futurist pulp style, it examines the concepts of justice and power of reputation through the wide eyes of a worshipful child who is both outraged orphan and lonely sidekick/secret weapon in waiting…

After a few intriguing concept-tweaking test-runs, the first true Girl of Steel debuted as a future star of the ever-expanding Superman pocket universe in Action Comics #252 (cover-dated May 1959). Superman’s cousin had been born on a city-sized fragment of Krypton, hurled intact into space when the planet exploded. Eventually, Argo turned to Kryptonite like the rest of the detonated world’s debris, and Kara’s dying parents, observing Earth through their viewer scopes, sent their daughter to safety even as they apparently perished.

Crashlanding, she immediately and fortuitously met the Metropolis Marvel, who created a cover-identity: hiding “Linda Lee” in an orphanage in bucolic Midvale so that she could adjust to and learn about her new world whilst mastering her powers in secrecy and safety.

…And isolation. At no stage did anyone consider moving the recent orphaned newcomer in with her only surviving family. Kara reached her maturity without the closeness Clark Kent’s human parents provided …although she was eventually adopted by Earth couple Fred and Edna to become Linda Lee Danvers…

Supergirl experienced her own secret double life in the rear of Action Comics: gradually moving from Superman’s covert secret weapon to an independent star turn, and from minor player to acclaimed public celebrity. From the back of the book to the front of the house is always a reason to celebrate, right?

For decades, DC couldn’t make up their minds over Supergirl. I’ve actually lost count of the number of different versions to have cropped up over the years, and never been able to shake a queasy feeling that above all else she’s a concept that was cynically shifted from being a way to get girls to reading comic books to one calculated to ease young male readers over the bumpy patch between sporadic chin-hair outbreaks, voice-breaking and that nervous period of hiding things under your mattress where your mum never, never ever looks…

Her popularity waxed and waned until her attention-grabbing death during Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, in the aftermath – once John Byrne had successfully rebooted the Man of Steel and negated her existence along with all other elements of doomed Krypton – non-Kryptonian iterations began to appear: each accumulating a legion of steadfast fans. Ultimately, early in the 21st century, DC’s Powers-That-Be decided the real Girl of Steel should come back… sort of…

The New 52 company-wide reboot recast her as an angry, obnoxious distrustful teen fresh from Argo, before the 2016 DC: Rebirth event unwrote most of those changes: bringing back much of that original origin material whilst aligning the comic book iteration with the popular TV series broadcast from October 2015 to November 2021. Then under the aegis of the Infinite Frontier revolution, King, Evely, colourist Mat Lopes & letterer Clayton Cowles crafted 8-issue limited series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (cover-dated August 2021-April 2022).

This focussed on a major moment in the hero’s life and how it changed everything…

King was inspired by Charles Portis’ 1968 novel True Grit – and both movie adaptations – to cast Supergirl as mentor to a vengeance-obsessed child: tracing how a united quest/journey reshaped both of them. Employing the latitude afforded by IF’s umbrella premise, he incorporated iconic characters and trappings from various iterations of Kara’s many super-lives. The result is pure magic, made real by Bilquis and her visual collaborators.

Wordy and wondrous, colours and calligraphy are key components of this space opera, which opens with youthful narrator Ruthye Marye Knoll disclosing how she first met an alien voyager after merciless bandit Krem of the Yellow Hills butchered her father…

Intent on rightful retribution, little Ruthye tracks the killer to a tavern in ‘Men, Women, and Dogs’, encountering a violent drunken woman from another world. Supergirl was on this unnamed backwater red sun world with frivolous intent: it was her 21st birthday and she wanted to get really, really drunk…

Things go bad when Supergirl tries to help her get justice. The intergalactic warrior seriously underestimates Krem, and nearly dies when he puts three arrows through her chest, before apparently killing her dog Krypto and stealing her spaceship…

Barely alive, Kara agrees to let Ruthye help her hunt Krem down: travelling so very slowly by commercial starship and encountering the full annoying range of sentient lifeforms – and a deadly space dragon – in ‘Wounded, Stranded, and Impotent’, before finally reaching a region of space where yellow suns can recharge her…

Stranded on tourist trap Coronn for weeks, they jointly expose appalling racist atrocity in ‘Modest, Calm, and Quiet’ and learn the quarry has joined Barbond’s Brigands: a marauding fleet of space plunderers who become Supergirl’s greatest concern after their latest raid exterminates an entire species in ‘Restraint, Endurance, and Passion’.

Repeated close encounters with them result in furious frustration as Krem has mastered a mystic banishment spell that deposits his pursuers all over the cosmos. Slowly, steadily, Supergirl and Ruthye close in, with the latter honing her skills in eager anticipation of bloody revenge, despite anything Kara can say to dissuade her. Repeatedly fighting a succession of colossal lizard beasts, and enduring a slow painful death and resurrection, does nothing to help their moods either in ‘The Lake, the Trees, and the Monsters’…

Finally – reinforced by magical superhorse Comet – the seekers capture Krem and spectacularly engage the brigands in ‘Home Family, and Refuge’ and ‘Hope, Help, and Compassion.’, but the outcome is shockingly unexpected …and tragic.

Final chapter ‘Ruthye, Supergirl, and Krem of the Yellow Hills’ delivers major emotional and conceptual payoffs as antagonists and protagonists take their vendetta to its foregone conclusion. The vengeful child fulfils her quest, but learns some adult truths…

Supplemented by a covers-&-variants gallery by Evely, Lopes, Gary Frank & Alex Sinclair, Lee Weeks, David Mack, Rose Besch, Amy Reeder, Steve Rude, Nicola Scott & Annette Kwok and Janaina Medeiros, this book includes a stunning swathe of character and costume designs, to augment a tale profoundly and consciously mythic in scope and execution.

The apparent maiming and deaths of beloved characters – and animals at that! – and epic transitions and evolutions of the twin leads are potently and evocatively depicted against a universe of inspirational wonders and casual horrors, allowing us to see how heroes are forged, and the device of using a childlike Boswell to define Supergirl’s humanity is both compelling and revelatory.

A cosmic odyssey in the grandly poetic idiom of Jack Vance and Samuel R. Delaney, realised via retro-futuristic visuals reminiscent of Roy G. Krenkel, Jack Katz and Michael William Kaluta, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a mesmerising mix of space opera and superhero drama exploring the mechanics of myths and power of storytelling on a multitude of levels.

It’s also a sublime rollercoaster ride of vivid, cathartic joy for old fans and newcomers alike: one every fantasy and adventure lover must see.
© 2022 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age volume 1


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Al Plastino, George Papp, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, John Forte & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8157-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a super-powered kids from dozens of alien civilisations took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited that legend to join them…

And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino in early 1958, just as the revived comic book genre of superheroes was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten again and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This glorious, far-and-wide ranging collection assembles the numerous preliminary appearances of the valiant Tomorrow People and their inevitable progress towards and attainment of their own feature. It includes all pertinent material from Adventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, and 300-310, Action Comics #267, 276, 287, 289, Superboy #86, 89, 98 and Superman #147, cumulatively spanning April 1958 through July 1963.

Happy anniversary!

The many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers eponymously premiered in Adventure Comics #247 (cover-dated April 1958) in Superboy tale ‘The Legion of Super-Heroes!’ wherein three mysterious kids invited the Boy of Steel to the 30th century to join a club of metahuman champions inspired by his life.

Devised by Otto Binder & Al Plastino, the throwaway concept gripped public imagination and, after frequent further appearances throughout Superman Family titles, the LSH eventually took over the Boy of Steel’s lead spot in Adventure for their own far-flung, quirky escapades, with the Caped Kid Kryptonian reduced to merely “one of the in-crowd”…

However, here the excitement is still gradually building as the kids return 18 months later in Adventure #267 (December 1959) for Jerry Siegel & George Papp to play with. In ‘Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!’ the teen wonders attack and incarcerate the Boy of Steel because of a misunderstood ancient record they have uncovered…

The following summer Supergirl met the Legion in Action Comics #267 (August 1960, by Siegel & Jim Mooney) as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy secretly travel to “modern day” America and invite the Maid of Might to join the team, in a repetition of their offer to Superboy 15 years previously (in nit-picking fact they claimed to be the children of the original team – a fact glossed over and forgotten these days: don’t time-travel stories make your head hurt?).

Due to a dubious technicality, young and overeager Kara Zor-El fails her initiation task at the hands of ‘The Three Super-Heroes’ and is asked to reapply later – but at least we get to meet a few more Legionnaires, including Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy…

With editors still cautiously testing the waters, it was Superboy #86 (cover-dated January 1961 but on sale in November 1960) before ‘The Army of Living Kryptonite Men!’ (by Siegel & Papp) turned the LSH into a last-minute Deus ex Machina to save the Smallville Sentinel from juvenile delinquent Lex Luthor’s most insidious assault.

Two months later in Adventure #282, Binder & Papp introduced Star Boy as a romantic rival for the Krypton Kid in ‘Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes!’…

For Action #276 (May 1961) Siegel & Mooney debuted ‘Supergirl’s Three Super Girl-Friends’, which finally saw her crack the plasti-glass ceiling and join the team, sponsored by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. We also met for the first time Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy and potential bad-boy love-interest Brainiac 5 (well, at least his distant ancestor Brainiac was a very bad boy…)

Next comes a pivotal tale as ‘Superboy’s Big Brother’ (by Robert Bernstein & Papp from Superboy #89, June 1961) reveals how an amnesiac, super-powered space traveller crashes in Smallville, speaking Kryptonese and carrying star-maps written by the Boy of Steel’s long-dead father…

Jubilant, baffled and suspicious in equal amounts, Superboy eventually, tragically discovers ‘The Secret of Mon-El’ after accidentally exposing the stranger to a lingering, inexorable death, before providing critical life-support by desperately depositing the dying alien in the timeless Phantom Zone until a cure can be found…

With an August 1961 cover-date Superman #147 unleashed ‘The Legion of Super-Villains!’ (Siegel, Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a stand-out thriller featuring the adult Luthor and correspondingly mature wicked future bad guys coming far too close to destroying the Action Ace …until the temporal cavalry arrives…

Bernstein & Papp seemingly give Sun Boy a starring role in ‘The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero!’ (Adventure #290, November 1961), followed by a clever tale of redemptive second chances followed in #293 (February 1962) in a gripping thriller from Siegel, Swan & George Klein. ‘The Legion of Super-Traitors’ posits the future heroes turning evil, prompting Saturn Girl to recruit a Legion of Super-Pets including Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Superhorse Comet to save the world…

Siegel & Mooney set ‘Supergirl’s Greatest Challenge!’ in Action #287 (April 1962) seeing her visit the Legion (quibblers be warned: for some reason it was mis-determined as the 21st century in this story) to save future Earth from invasion. She also met a telepathic descendent of her cat Streaky. His name was Whizzy (I could have omitted that fact but chose not to – once again for smug, comedic effect and in sympathetic solidarity with cat owners everywhere…)

Action #289 originally hosted ‘Superman’s Super-Courtship!’ wherein the Girl of Steel scours the universe for an ideal mate for her cousin. One highly possible candidate is the adult Saturn Woman, but for some reason her husband Lightning Man objects…

Modern sensibilities might quail at the conclusion but at that time his obvious perfect match was a doppelganger of Supergirl herself… albeit thankfully a little bit older…

By the release of Superboy #98 (July 1962), the decision had been made. The buying public wanted more Legion stories and after ‘The Boy with Ultra-Powers’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein) introduced a mysterious lad with greater powers than the Boy of Steel, focus shifted to Adventure Comics where #300 (cover-dated September 1962) proudly saw the futuristic super-squad finally land their own gig: even occasionally taking an alternating cover-spot from the still top-featured Boy of Steel.

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes opened its stellar run with ‘The Face Behind the Lead Mask!’ by Siegel, John Forte & Plastino: a fast-paced premier pitting Superboy and the 30th century champions against an impossibly unbeatable foe until Mon-El, long-trapped in the Phantom Zone, briefly escapes a millennium of confinement to save the day…

In those halcyon days humour was as important as action, imagination and drama, so many early exploits were light-hearted and moralistic. Adventure #301 offered hope to fat kids everywhere with ‘The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy!’ by regular creative team Siegel & Forte, wherein the process of open auditions was instigated.

These provided fans with dozens of truly bizarre and memorable applicants over the years but here allows the rebounding human rotunda to deliver a salutary pep talk and inspirational account of heroism persevering to triumph over adversity.

Adventure #302 featured ‘Sun Boy’s Lost Power!’ with the golden boy forced to resign until fortune and boldness restore his abilities, after which ‘The Fantastic Spy!’ in #303 sparks a tense tale of espionage and potential betrayal by new member Matter-Eater Lad.

The happy readership was stunned by the events of #304 when Saturn Girl engineered ‘The Stolen Super-Powers!’ to make herself a one-woman Legion. Of course, it was for the best possible reasons, but still didn’t prevent the shocking murder of Lightning Lad…

As a result she was elected Legion leader – at that time the first female to ever lead a comic book team.

With comfortable complacency utterly destroyed, #305 further shook everything up with ‘The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’ who turns out to be long-suffering Mon-El, finally cured and freed from his Phantom Zone prison.

Normally I’d try to be more obscure about story details – after all my intention is to get new people reading old comics – but these “spoiler” revelations are crucial to further understanding here and besides you all know these characters are still around, don’t you?

Pulp sci fi author Edmond Hamilton took over the major scripting role with Adventure #306, introducing ‘The Legion of Substitute Heroes!’ (still quirkily, perfectly illustrated by John Forte): a group of rejected audition applicants selflessly banding together and clandestinely assisting the champions who had spurned them, after which transmuting orphan Element Lad joins the big league.

He seeks vengeance upon the space pirates who had wiped out his entire species in ‘The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero!’ whilst in #308 readers seemingly saw ‘The Return of Lightning Lad!’

Actual Spoiler Warning: skip to the next paragraph NOW!!!

Otherwise you’ll find out it was actually his similarly empowered sister who – once unmasked and unmanned – took her brother’s place as Lightning Lass…

Penultimate escapade ‘The Legion of Super-Monsters!’ was a straightforward clash with embittered applicant Jungle King who took his rejection far too personally and gathered a deadly clutch of space beasts to wreak havoc and vengeance, after which the future tension temporarily subsides with ‘The Doom of the Super-Heroes!’ from #310: a frantic battle for survival against an impossible foe

The Legion is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in American comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became Comics Fandom.

Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories, as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz Justice League, fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1958-1963, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.