Category: Superman

Posted on

Superman vs. Shazam!


By Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Julie Schwartz, Paul Kupperberg, Joey Cavalieri, Mark Waid, Jerry Ordway, Judd Winick, Rich Buckler, Gil Kane, Alex Ross, Ian Churchill & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0909-3 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Golden Grudge-Match Magic… 8/10

Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 in the summer of 1938. Created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, it proved extremely popular across many disparate media and sparked a new kind of hero and story form. You’re here right now because of him…

Another one of the most venerated and loved characters in American comics was created by Bill Parker & Charles Clarence Beck for Fawcett Publications as part of the wave of opportunistic creativity that followed that successful launch of Superman. Although there were many similarities in the early years, the “Big Red Cheese” moved swiftly and solidly into the area of light entertainment and even broad comedy, whilst as the 1940s progressed the Man of Tomorrow increasingly left whimsy behind in favour of action and drama.

Homeless orphan and thoroughly good kid Billy Batson was selected by an ancient wizard to battle injustice and subsequently granted the powers of six gods and mythical heroes. By speaking aloud the wizard’s name – itself an acronym for the six patrons Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury – Billy would transform from scrawny boy to brawny (adult) hero Captain Marvel.

At the height of his popularity, Captain Marvel hugely outsold Superman but, as the decade progressed and tastes changed, sales slowed. An infamous court case begun in 1941 by National Comics citing copyright infringement was settled and like so many other superheroes, the Captain disappeared, becoming a fond memory for older fans. A big syndication success, he was missed all over the world…

In Britain, where an English reprint line had run for many years, creator/publisher Mick Anglo had an avid audience and no product, and transformed Captain Marvel into atomic age hero Marvelman, continuing to thrill readers into the early 1960s.

Decades later, as America lived through another superhero boom-&-bust, the 1970s dawned with a shrinking industry and wide variety of comics genres servicing a base that was increasingly founded on collectors and fans rather than casual or impulse buyers. National Periodicals/DC Comics needed sales and were prepared to look for them in unusual places.

Since the court settlement with Fawcett in 1953 they had secured the rights to Captain Marvel and his spin-off Family. Now, though the name itself had been taken up by Marvel Comics (via a circuitous and quirky robotic character published by Carl Burgos and M.F. Publications in 1967), the publishing monolith decided to tap into that discriminating if aging fanbase.

In 1973, riding a wave of national nostalgia on TV and in the movies, DC brought back the entire beloved cast of the Captain Marvel crew in their own kinder, weirder universe. To circumvent the intellectual property clash, they named the new title Shazam! (…With One Magic Word…) after the memorable trigger phrase used by myriad Marvels to transform to and from mortal form and a word that had already entered the American language due to the success of the franchise the first time around.

Although the fortunes of Billy and Co have waxed and waned, one thing never did – the primal joy of all fans everywhere as they asked the eternal question of the golden age sales competitors: “Who would win if…?”

This rather hastily updated and rereleased volume is based on a 2013 edition but has come back presumably because it features so many stories starring surprise modern movie star Black Adam and gathers All-New Collectors’ Edition C-58, DC Comics Presents #33-34 & 49, DC Comics Presents Annual #3, Kingdom Come #4, Superman #216 and Power of Shazam #46 spanning 1978 to 2005. It’s by no means a comprehensive compilation with some notable omissions – such as my personal favourite ‘Make Way for Captain Thunder!’ from Superman # 276 (June 1974) – but there is plenty here to whet appetites and tantalise fading memories if you’re nearer the age of the Wizard than Billy…

The action begins ‘When Earths Collide’ as seen in May 1978’s tabloid-sized special All-New Collectors’ Edition C-58 as crafted by Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano. At this juncture, prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Shazam Family lived on alternate Earth-S whilst the regular DC pantheon inhabited the universe dubbed Earth-One.

This epic yarn sees ancient Martian sorcerer Karmang the Evil attempt to merge both worlds by harvesting the energy of cataclysmic combat, to which end he resurrects long-dead Shazam-empowered Black Adam and the mystic Quarmer being that haunted Superman as the Sand Thing.

As they stalk and provoke the heroes, Karmang curses the champions with addictive rage, compelling them to attack each other and liberate the super-forces Karmang craves. Thankfully, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl join Mary Marvel and an unsuspected secret ally to sabotage the scheme before the Big Blue Boy Scout and Big Red Cheese pummel each other and the worlds out of existence…

Conway, Roy Thomas, Buckler & Giordano then craft a 2-part epic in DC Comics Presents #33 and 34 (May & June 1981) as ‘Man and Supermarvel’ finds the Action Ace and Good Captain helplessly swapping powers, costumes and Earths, thanks to the mirthlessly manic machinations of Fifth dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk and malevolent alien worm Mr. Mind.

Despite the intervention of Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior in the concluding issue, the villains’ sinister manipulations allow antediluvian revenant King Kull to become ‘The Beast-Man that Shouted ‘Hate’ at the Heart of the U.N.’ (Thomas, Buckler & Giordano).

The consequent confrontational clash rumbles across myriad dimensions and only goes the heroes’ way after they stumble upon the garish homeworld of Lepine Legend Hoppy the Captain Marvel Bunny…

Black Adam takes centre stage in DC Comics Presents #49 (September 1982) as Thomas, Paul Kupperberg, Buckler & John Calnan detail how the troubled Billy Batson of Earth One is targeted by the immortal wizard in ‘Superman and Shazam!’

From his citadel in the Rock of Eternity, the mage seeks to empower a child and create a Marvel on Superman’s adopted homeworld. However, when he tries to enlist the Man of Steel’s assistance to create another Captain Marvel, everything goes badly wrong and the Earth-S original has to step in from his own world to stop the opportunistic depredations of his devil-hearted predecessor Teth Adam…

Captain Marvel’s blend of charm, drama and whimsy made and remade many fans, even prompting a live action TV series, but never quite enough to keep the series going in such economically trying times. Despite cancellation, however, the series persevered in back-up slots in other magazines and the character still made the occasional bombastic guest-appearance such as 1984’s DC Comics Presents Annual #3.

As delivered by Thomas, Julie Schwartz, Joey Cavalieri and illustrator Gil Kane, ‘With One Magic Word’ is a cracking and witty 40-page romp which sees the Earth-S Doctor Sivana appropriate the mystic lightning that empowers Billy, leading to a monolithic multidimensional melee involving not just the Marvel Family but also the Supermen of both Earths One and Two (this was mere months before Crisis on Infinite Earths lumped all these heroes onto one terribly beleaguered and crowded world) before peace, sanity and the status quo was restored…

Envisaged and designed by artist Alex Ross, Kingdom Come was originally released as a 4-issue Prestige Format miniseries in 1996 to rapturous acclaim and numerous awards and accolades. Although set in the future and an “imaginary story” released under the Elseworlds imprint, it almost immediately began to affect the company’s mainstream continuity.

Set approximately twenty years ahead, the grandiose saga detailed a tragic failure and subsequent loss of Faith for Superman and how his attempt to redeem himself almost caused an even greater and ultimate apocalypse.

Scripted by Mark Waid, the events are seen through the eyes and actions of Dantean witness Norman McCay, an aging cleric co-opted by Divine Agent of Wrath The Spectre after the pastor officiated at the last rites of dying superhero Wesley Dodds. As The Sandman, Dodds had been cursed with precognitive dreams which compelled him to act as an agent of justice.

This is a world where metahumans have proliferated: spawning a sub-culture of constant, violent clashes between the latest generation of costumed villains and vigilantes, all uncaring of collateral damage they daily inflict on mere mortals around and in all ways beneath them.

The preacher sees a final crisis coming… but feels helpless until the Spectre takes him on a bewildering voyage of unfolding events, McCay must act as the ghost’s human perspective as the Spirit of Vengeance prepares to pass judgement on Humanity…

Seen here is the concluding chapter: a staggering battle of superpowers, one last moment of salvation and a second chance for humanity during a calamitous ‘Never-Ending Battle’…

At first Superman’s plans seemed blessed to succeed, with many erstwhile threats flocking to his banner and doctrinaire rules of discipline, but as ever there are self-serving villains with their own agendas. Lex Luthor had organised a cabal of like-minded compatriots such as Vandal Savage, Catwoman and Kobra – a “Mankind Liberation Front”. With Captain Marvel as their utterly corrupted slave, this group is determined the super-freaks will not win, but salvation hinges on the outcome of their tool’s clash with a despondent, embittered Man of Steel…

The emotional trauma is heaped on Billy in Power of Shazam #46 (February 1999) as he reels from his failure to stop an atomic atrocity that killed many of his friends. Deeply traumatised, he at first ignores the depredations of Black Adam and allows Superman to fight his foe in Fawcett City, but when turns when pushed to far unleashing his ‘Absolute Power’ and lashing out at family, friends and foes alike in a powerful and disturbing tale by Jerry Ordway & Giordano…

The Fights ‘n’ Tights furore ends here with another single chapter from a greater epic as Superman #216 (June 2005, by Judd Winick, Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund) sees the heir of Shazam battling a Man of Steel controlled by rage-filled Demon of Darkness Eclipso in ‘Lightning Strikes Twice Part Three’ which was part of the build up to the Acts of Vengeance storyline…

Comics are such an interconnected, overlapping and entwined medium these days that I suppose my crusty old git reservations against incomplete stories can be ignored by most readers. That said, the material here is spectacular and thrilling and should gratify and satisfy new readers generated by movies or even word of mouth. With covers by Buckler, Giordano, Kane, Ross, Churchill & Dave Stewart and Ordway, this tome offers a quick glimpse of what’s great and topical, and for those in need of more there are entire worlds waiting for you to find them…
© 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1996, 1999, 2005, 2013, 2018, 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: Strange Attractors


By Gail Simone, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, John Byrne & Nelson (DC Comics)
ISBN 978-1-4012-0917-9 (TPB)

Here’s a Superman collection tailored to the fight fan, as the mighty Man of Steel takes on a bevy of baddies in terse tales designed as an antidote to an over-abundance of multi-chapter epics. I’m focussing on it here primarily because it’s also a complication- and continuity-light compendium featuring movie Man of the Moment Black Adam…

Created by Otto Binder & C.C. Beck, Black Adam/Teth Adam debuted in The Marvel Family #1, cover-dated December 1945. There he was revealed as the power-corrupted predecessor of current magical superhero (the Original…) Captain Marvel. The Egyptian relic’s reign of evil ended with his death at the end of the story…

You can’t keep a good villain down though, and when the Golden Age Marvel was revived in the 1970s as Shazam!, the ancient antithesis eventually returned to bedevil the heroes. He even survived the continuity changing chaos of Crisis on Infinite Earths and numerous subsequent reboots.

For present purposes, the following is the backstory new readers should access…

Once upon a time Billy Batson was a little boy living on the streets of Fawcett City. His archaeologist parents had left him with an uncle when they went on a dig to Egypt. They never returned, his little sister vanished and Billy was thrown out so his guardian could steal his inheritance.

Sleeping in a storm drain and selling newspapers for cash, the indomitable lad grew street-smart and resilient, but when a shadowy stranger bade him follow into an eerie subway, the boy somehow knew it was all okay. Soon after, he met the wizard Shazam, who bestowed upon him the powers of six ancient Gods and Heroes.

Thus began an astounding career as wholesome powerhouse hero Captain Marvel. Billy eventually found lost sister Mary and shared his nigh-infinite power with her, as they both subsequently did with disabled friend Freddy Freeman.

They fought and eventually reached an accommodation with militant progenitor Black Adam, who was the wizard’s first superhuman champion, reborn in the body of Theo Adam – a distant descendant who had murdered the Batson’s parents. When a succession of crises arose, everything changed.

Immortal Shazam was murdered, Billy was exiled to the transcendent Rock of Eternity as his replacement and Freddy became a new Captain Marvel; his mighty gifts supplied by a completely different pantheon of patrons.

Meanwhile, Black Adam had found peace and redemption in the love of ascendant nature goddess Isis …until she was cruelly taken from him. The worst tragedies befell poor Mary. Deprived of her intoxicating powers she became an addict without a fix… until soul-sick Adam shared his dark energies with her. His corrupted spirit fatally tainted the once-vibrant innocent…

During his lost phase, the Egyptian warrior vacillated between hard-line hero and outright menace: joining the Justice Society of America but also arbitrarily administering his old testament brand of judgement whenever he felt the need…

This selection of Superman stories comes from Action Comics #827-828, and #830-835 (spanning July 2005 through March 2006). The run of was originally interrupted for the “Sacrifice” storyline (and collected as a graphic novel of the same name), so the volume reconvenes with the episode after…

First up is eponymous 2-part saga ‘Strange Attractors’ and Strange Attractors part 2 – Positive Reinforcement’: a battle against the incredibly bad and quite mad Master of Magnetism Dr Polaris, aided, if not abetted, by the resurrected reprobate Black Adam, currently holding a high position in supervillain army The Society…

Following the aforementioned Sacrifice pause, we reconvene with #830’s ‘The Great Society’ as the Man of Tomorrow tackles Dr. Psycho. The old Wonder Woman villain is a physically stunted, sadistic psychologist with the power to control minds. When he arrives in Metropolis intent on mischief, Superman finds that every citizen is a foe and hostage at the same time.

Once again, Black Adam is on hand to render ambivalent assistance as ‘Black & Blue’ (a Villains United tie-in) sees Adam reassess his role before it all devolves into the obligatory fist fight.

Scripted by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning ‘Old Ghosts’ sees Devil-surrogate Lord Satanus and the Spectre use the city as a phantasmal Ground Zero next, and, after refereeing that little cataclysm, Superman finds himself the target of a psychic and spiritual assault from old JLA foe The Queen of Fables in ‘Depths’ and ‘Awake in the Dark’ – with Norm Rapmund, Larry Stucker, Marc Campos, & Oclair Albert joining Nelson in applying inks to John Byrne’s pencils..

The furious ferocious fun concludes in a duel with Livewire, that perky punkette with absolute control of all things electrical who contracts ‘A Contagion of Madness’ with Gail Simone, John Byrne and inker Nelson delivering potent, punchy and self-contained mini-classics.

Not overly complicated, concentrating on exhilaration and excitement, but still managing to sustain some tense sub-plots involving Lois Lane-Kent and the rest of the venerable supporting cast, these stories are just plain fun. It’s a shame that the experiment doesn’t seem to have caught on …
© 2005, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore


By Dennis O’Neil, Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, Dick Giordano & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0755 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Total Entertainment Perfection… 10/10

Superman is the comic book crusader who started the whole genre and, in the decades since his 1938 debut, has probably undertaken every kind of adventure imaginable. With that in mind it’s tempting and very rewarding to gather up whole swathes of his inventory and periodically re-present them in specific themed collections, such as this hardback celebrating one his greatest extended adventures. The episodes contained within were originally released just as comics fandom was becoming a powerful – if headless – lobbying force reshaping the industry to its own specialised desires and remains a true landmark of the superhero genre.

When Julie Schwartz took over editorial responsibility for the Man of Steel in 1970, he was expected to shake things up with nothing less than spectacular results. To that end, he sagely incorporated many key characters and events that were simultaneously developing as part of fellow iconoclast Jack Kirby’s freshly unfolding “Fourth World”.

That bold experiment was a breathtaking tour de force of cosmic wonderment which brought a staggering new universe to fans: instantly and permanently changing the way comics were perceived and how the entire medium could be received.

Schwartz, meanwhile, was again breathing fresh life into a powerful but moribund icon – a job he had been excelling at since he more-or-less singlehandedly kickstarted the Silver Age of Comics. Superman had been a mega-media star since his launch, with internationally syndicated comics, books, newspaper strips, movie and cinema serials plus hugely successful radio and TV shows (live action and animated) making the franchise globally recognizable. Whenever that happens, inevitably overkill and overexposure inescapably set in and the core property needs to be carefully overhauled or vanish forever. I’ll bet you can think of plenty of really famous and ubiquitous things from your childhood that one day you simply stopped noticing. Happily, sometimes they can be reborn…

Schwartz knew his market and was open to new ideas, and his creative changes were just appearing in 1971. The new direction was also vanguard and trigger for a wealth of controversial and socially-challenging story content unheard of since the feature’s earliest days: a wave of tales ultimately described as “Relevant”…

The era itself and those vital changes are described and contextualised in Paul Levitz’s Introduction, after which the crucial radical shift in Superman’s vast mythology starts to unfold.

With iconic covers by Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson, this titanic tome collects Superman #233-238 and #240-242, originally running from January to September 1971.

The groundbreaking epic was crafted by scripter Dennis J. “Denny” O’Neil, and veteran illustrators Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson – although stand-in Dick Giordano inked #240. A deliberate and very public abandonment of super-villains, fanciful Kryptonian scenarios and otherworldly paraphernalia instantly revitalised the Man of Tomorrow, attracting new readers and began a period of engagingly human-scaled stories which made Superman a “must-buy” character all over again.

The innovations began in ‘Superman Breaks Loose’ (Superman #233) when a government experiment to harness Kryptonite as an energy source goes explosively wrong. Closely monitoring the test, the Action Ace is blasted across the desert surrounding the isolated lab, but somehow survives a supposedly fatal radiation-bath. Then, reports begin filtering in from all over Earth: every piece of the deadly mineral has been transformed to harmless, common iron…

As he goes about his protective, preventative patrols, the liberated hero experiences an emotional high at the prospect of all the good he can now accomplish. He isn’t even phased when the Daily Planet‘s new owner Morgan Edge (a key Kirby character) shakes up his civilian life: summarily ejecting Clark Kent from the print game to remaking him as a roving TV journalist…

Meanwhile, the desert site of his recent crashlanding offers a moment of deep foreboding as Superman’s irradiated imprint in the sand shockingly grows solid and shambles away in ghastly parody of life…

The suspense resumes in #234’s ‘How to Tame a Wild Volcano!’ as an out-of-control plantation owner refuses to let his indentured native workforce flee an imminent eruption on the island of Boki. Handicapped by misused international laws, the Man of Tomorrow can only fume helplessly as the UN rushes towards a diplomatic solution. His anxiety intensifies when a sinister sand-thing inadvertently passes him and agonisingly drains him of his powers.

Crashing to Earth in a turbulent squall, the de-powered hero is attacked by work boss Boysie Harker‘s thugs and instantly responds to the foolish provocation, relying for a change on determination rather than overwhelming might to save the day…

The ‘Sinister Scream of the Devil’s Harp’ in #235 gave way to weirder ways – the industry was enjoying a periodic revival of interest in supernatural themes and stories – as mystery musician and apparent polymath Ferlin Nyxly reveals the secret of his ever-growing aptitudes and gifts is an archaic artefact which steals from living beings knowledge, talents and even Superman’s alien abilities.

The Man of Steel is initially unaware of the drain, as he’s trying to communicate with his eerily silent doppelganger, but once Nyxly graduates to a full-on raving super-menace self-dubbed Pan, the taciturn homunculus unexpectedly joins its living template to trounce the power thief…

Issue #236 offered a Batman cameo and a science fictional morality play as cherubic aliens seek Superman’s assistance to defeat a band of devils and rescue Kent’s friends from Hell. However, the ‘Planet of the Angels’ is nothing of the kind, and the Metropolis Marvel must pull out all the stops to save Earth from a very real Armageddon, after which Superman #237 sees him save an orbiting astronaut only to see him succumb to madness-inducing mutative disease. After another savage confrontation with the sand-thing further debilitates him, the harried hero is present as more mortals fall to the contagion.

Believing himself the cause, the ‘Enemy of Earth’ considers quarantining in space. As he decides, Lois Lane stumbles into another lethal predicament and the hero’s instinctive intervention seemingly confirms his earlier diagnosis, but another clash with the ever-present sandy simulacrum on the edge of space presents an incredible truth. Painfully debilitated, Superman nevertheless saves Lois and again meets the evermore human creature. Now able to speak, it offers a chilling warning and the Man of Steel realises exactly what it is taking from him and what it might become…

A mere shadow of his former self, the Man of Tomorrow is unable to prevent a band of terrorists taking over a magma-tapping drilling rig and endangering the entire Earth in #238’s ‘Menace at 1000 Degrees’. With Lois among their hostages and the madmen threatening to detonate a nuke in the pipeline, the Action Ace desperately begs his doppelganger to assist him, but its cold rejection forces the depleted hero to take the biggest gamble of his life…

Superman #239 was an all-reprint giant featuring the hero in his incalculably all-powerful days – so not included here – but the diminished Caped Kryptonian returned in #240 (with Giordano inks) to confront his own lessened state and seek a solution in ‘To Save a Superman’. The trigger is his inability to extinguish a tenement fire and the wider world’s realisation that their unconquerable champion is now vulnerable and fallible…

Especially interested are the Anti-Superman Gang who immediately allocate all resources to destroying their nemesis. After one particularly close call, Clark is visited by an ancient Asian sage who somehow knows his other identity and offers an unconventional solution…

From 1968 superhero comics began to decline – just as they had at the end of the 1940s – so publishers sought fresh ways to keep audience as tastes changed. Back then, the industry depended on newsstand sales, and if you weren’t popular, you died. Editor Jack Miller, innovating illustrator Mike Sekowsky and relatively new scripter Denny O’Neil came up with a radical proposal and made history by depowering the only female superhero then in the marketplace. They had the mystical Amazons leave our dimension, taking with them all their magic – including Wonder Woman‘s powers and all her weapons…

Reduced to mere humanity she chose to stay on Earth, assuming and legitimising her own secret identity of Diana Prince: resolved to fighting injustice as a mortal. Tutored by blind Buddhist monk I Ching, she trained as a martial artist, and quickly became a formidable enemy of contemporary evil.

I Ching claims he can repair Superman’s difficulties and dwindling might, but evil eyes are watching. Arriving clandestinely, Superman allows the adept to remove his Kryptonian powers as a precursor to restoring them, allowing the A-S Gang opportunity to strike. In the resultant brutal melee, the all-too-human hero triumphs in the hardest fight of his life…

The saga continues with “Swan-derson” back on art in #241 as Superman overcomes momentary but almost overwhelming temptation to surrender his oppressive burden and lead a normal life. Admonished and resolved, he then submits to Ching’s resumed remedy ritual and finds his spirit soaring to where the sand-being lurks before explosively reclaiming the stolen powers. Leaving the gritty golem a shattered husk, the phantom brings the awesome energies back to their true owner and a triumphant hero returns to saving the world…

Over the next few days, however, it becomes clear that something has gone wrong. The Man of Tomorrow has become arrogant, erratic and unpredictable, acting rashly, overreacting and even making stupid mistakes. In her boutique Diana Prince discusses the problem with Ching and the sagacious teacher deduces that whilst merely mortal and fighting AS gangsters, Superman received punishing blows to the head which have caused a brain injury that did not heal after his powers returned…

When the hero refuses to listen, Diana and Ching track down the dying sand-thing and beg its aid. The elderly savant recognises it as a formless creature from other-dimensional Quarrm and listens to the amazing story of its entrance into our world. He also suggests a way for it to regain some of what it recently lost…

Superman, meanwhile, has blithely gone about his deranged business until savagely attacked by a statue of a Chinese war-demon. Also able to steal his power, it has been possessed by a second fugitive from Quarrm. It has no conscience and wears ‘The Shape of Fear!…

The shocking saga concludes in ‘The Ultimate Battle’ as the second Quarrmer falls under the sway of two petty thugs who use it to put the again de-powered Superman into hospital…

Rushed into emergency surgery, the Kryptonian fights for his life as sand-thing confronts war-demon in the streets, but events take an even more bizarre turn once the latter drives off its foe and turns towards the hospital to finish off the flesh-&-blood Superman. Regaining consciousness – and a portion of his power – the Metropolis Marvel battles the beast to a standstill but needs the aid of his silicon stand-in to drive the thing back beyond the pale. With the immediate threat ended, Man of Steel and Man of Sand face off one last time, each determined to ensure his own existence no matter the cost…

The stunning conclusion was a brilliant stroke on the part of the creators, one which left Superman approximately half the man he used to be. Of course, all too soon he returned to his unassailable, god-like power levels but never quite regained the tension-free smug assurance of his 1950s-1960s self.

A fresh approach, snappy dialogue and more human-scaled concerns to balance outrageous implausible fantasy elements all wedded to gripping plots and sublime art make Kryptonite Nevermore one of the very best Superman sagas ever created. Also included are creator biographies, the iconic ‘House Ad’ by Swan & Vince Colletta which proclaimed the big change throughout the DC Universe, plus a thoughtful ‘Afterword by Dennis O’Neil’ to wraps things up with some insights and reminiscences every lover of the medium will appreciate.

A must-have graphic novel to sit on the same shelf as Watchmen, Batman: Year One, Segar’s Popeye, Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse, Kirby & Lee’s Galactus Trilogy and Chaykin’s American Flagg!: a shining exemplar of action- adventure comics captured at their most perfect moment. Why don’t you have this yet?
© 1971, 2009, 2020 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

The Other History of the DC Universe


By John Ridley, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Cucchi, José Villarrubia & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-1197-3 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Hard-Hitting, Strong Medicine… 9/10

The evolution and assimilation of non-white, non-standard characters – defined and othered by skin colour, religion, ethnicity and who loves whom – has been in most mass media what author and screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave; Future State: The Next Batman) has described as “measured progressiveness”.

That’s especially true in comics, where incremental firsts have been applauded – and rightly so, as the industry has always been at the forefront of progressive thinking and action – but has also suffered from a tickbox mentality where true change has been slow to materialise and hard to sustain. We can say “first black superhero”, “first gay hero”, “first interracial marriage” or “first same-sex kiss” , but other than offering a glimmer of acceptance, and recognition, what has changed?

It’s certainly better than an all-white, all-male milieu where “different” equates to “lesser than”, where more than 50% of the populace and who knows how much of the readership doesn’t conform to proposed norms and are reduced to eye-candy, plot props and useless bystanders (not even competent villains who at least have agency!). For the longest time these attitudes were tacitly enshrined on funnybook pages – and not even for sinister reasons – but what appears to simply be an unconscious acceptance of an unchallenged status quo…

You can read other books or even some previous posts here from the last month for background, if you want, but here and now, I’m pointing you towards a fascinating and gripping series recently collected as an answer to that situation.

Here Ridley – with illustrators Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Cucchi, José Villarrubia and letterer Steve Wands – re-examines and deconstructs DC’s record of Diversity progress via all those slow incremental steps and breakthroughs: interpreting through the eyes and attitudes of the revolutionary characters the company added but with modern sensibilities and opinions in play…

Filtered from a socio-political perspective and assessment of those times – but not in the comfortably parochial “everything’s basically fine” tones of a white, male middle class parental audience-placator – you’ll learn a different history: one told not under Comics Code Restrictions, or commercial interests sanitising culture and attitude to keep (covertly and actively) racist authorities from embargoing titles but as heroic individuals finally telling their sides of a well-known story.

Published under DC’s Black Label mature reader imprint it begins with the story of Black Lighting in Book One – 1972-1995: Jefferson Pierce. Here we see the inner workings of an African American former Olympian who became a school teacher and vigilante to save lives and how it destroyed and damaged his family, after which Book Two – 1970-1989: Karen Beecher-Duncan & Mal Duncan recounts in their words how being the tokens on a team of white privileged teen super do-gooders shaped their lives and relationship.

A far darker divergence is applied to Japanese warrior/assassin Katana in Book Three – 1983-1996: (plus the kanji for Yamashiro Tatsu), exploring the tragic Japanese widow’s reinventions from faithful wife/widow to murderous killer and lethal weapon to nurturing superhero and beyond…

The lecture continues with the tale of a Gay Latinx cop who inherited the role of DC’s most mysterious avenger in Book Four – 1992-2007: Renee Montoya, before The Question resolves into second generation angst and answers for Book Five – 1981-2010: Anissa Pierce. Here Black Lightning’s actual legacy and effect on DC continuity is reappraised through the eyes of his superhero children Thunder and Lightning, with religion and sexual orientation also coming under fire.

All we’ve seen before is summed up with no obfuscations or confusions, but you might want to reread or acquaint yourself with the original material as seen in various volumes of Black Lightning, Teen Titans, The Outsiders as well as selected continuity highpoints of Green Lantern, Batman, Cosmic Odyssey, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Death of Superman. Don’t let the reading list deter you though: you could simply plunge right in and wing it. The material, its tone and reinterpretation are carefully orchestrated and fully approachable for any level of fan from veteran adept to casual film watcher…

Ridley enacts a miraculous slice of sleight of hand here, examining simultaneously the actual published comics as accepted DC lore but also the redefining times they were created in and filling out the characters in modern terms – quite a feat of meta-realism…

The covers are by Camuncoli & Marco Mastrazzo with Jamal Campbell producing some stunning variants, but the true attraction of The Other History of the DC Universe is the knowledge that times and attitudes have changed enough that this book is even possible. Read it and see…
© 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman & Batman vs Vampires & Werewolves


By Kevin VanHook & Tom Mandrake (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2292-5 (TPB/Digital edition)

The Man of Tomorrow and the Dark Knight are two characters who have, for the most part, escaped their lowly comics origins to join a meta-fictional literary landscape populated by the likes of Mickey Mouse, Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes. As such their recognition factor outside our industry means that they get to work in places and with other properties that might not appeal to funny-book purists.

Take for example this out-of-print tale that piles on heaped helpings of monster-bashing, and which, despite a host of guest-stars, felt on release more like a test launch than a assured hit and has since become as vanishingly vaporous as its arcane antagonists…

Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves is an intriguing, if flawed, oddment (with one of the clunkiest titles ever imagined) that should have appealed to the casual reader, especially if they’re not too adamantly wedded to the comic book roots and continuity of the DC Universe.

Prowling the streets of Gotham City, Batman comes across a partially devoured corpse and is promptly boots-deep in an invasion of mindless berserker vampires and werewolves who turn the city into a charnel house. Helpless to combat or contain the undead rampage, the Caped Crimebuster accepts the aid of enigmatic (but rational) vampire Marius Dimeter and his lycanthropic counterpart Janko who grudgingly ally themselves with the hero to track down Herbert Combs – a truly deranged scientist resolved to traffic with the Realms Beyond.

To facilitate his goals, Combs turned Janko and Dimeter into the accursed creatures they are and unleashed his plague of horrors on America to further his research. The bonkers boffin is infecting more helpless humans and has become an actual portal for Lovecraftian beasts to invade our reality…

Superman joins the fray just as one of these Elder God nightmares is unleashed, but even after its defeat he’s no real help: hampered more by his ethical nature than utter vulnerability to magic. Far greater aid is provided by super-naturalist Jason Blood and his Demonic alter-ego, whilst Kirk Langstrom – who can transform into the monstrous Man-Bat at will – provides both scientific and brutally efficient clean-up assistance.

Fellow harder-edged heroes such as Wonder Woman, Nightwing and Green Arrow turn up and join the battle to great effect, but after their admittedly impressive cameos and participatory contributions inexplicably wander off before the overarching threat is ended…

Nuh-uuh! Once a team-up begins, comics guys (who aren’t paid big bucks like big-name guest actors) don’t leave until the day is saved!!

So it’s up to the headliners – with Dimeter and Janko – to finally restore order and normality, even though the cost is high both in blood and convictions…

At the last, the superheroes are – relatively – victorious, but the ending is rather ambiguous and leaves the impression that the whole affair has been a pilot for a Dimeter spin-off…

This was clearly a break-out publishing project, aimed at drawing in new readerships like those occasional movie tie-ins that drive professional fans crazy, and on that level the daft and inconsistent plot can be permitted, if not fully forgiven.

VanHook (Flash Gordon, Bloodshot, G.I. Joe, Red Tornado) makes more films than comics these days and the tale is certainly most effective on the kind of action and emotional set-pieces one sees in blockbuster flicks: so even if there are far too many plot holes big enough to drive a hearse through, the sensorial ride should carry most readers through. Most importantly, the moody art of Tom Mandrake (Grimjack, The Spectre, Batman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter) is – as ever – astoundingly powerful: dark, brooding and fully charged for triumph and tragedy…

So if not perhaps for every reader, there’s a great deal of sinful pleasure to be found here. And let’s face it: who doesn’t like monster stories or finding out “who would win if”…
© 2008, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Black Lightning volume 1


By Tony Isabella, Denny O’Neil, Trevor Von Eeden, Mike Netzer, Frank Springer, Vince Colletta & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6071-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

Black Lightning was far from the first superhero of colour, but his mutability, iconic image and sheer tenacity have made him one of the most enduring and widely travelled. He’s been everything from outraged lone street vigilante to teacher; Presidential Secretary to perfect team player (on a succession of super-groups); sporting legend, family man and world-saving wise mentor. He’s even made the turbulent transition to star of his own television series…

Very little of that was apparent when these groundbreaking adventures were first released. Back then, the simple fact that an African-American masked hero was considered sales-worthy was the biggest leap imaginable…

Excluding a few returning characters in jungle-themed comic of the 1940s and 1950s, War comics first opened the door to black characters in the early 1960s, when Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert created negro boxer Jackie Johnson as a stalwart of Sgt. Rock’s Easy Company in Our Army at War #113 (cover-dated December 1961).

Marvel followed suit with a black soldier in Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos (Gabe Jones, debuting in #1, May 1963), and pulled far ahead in the diversity stakes after introducing America’s first negro superheroes. The Black Panther premiered in Fantastic Four #52, (July 1966) and The Falcon first flew in Captain America #117 (September 1969). Luke Cage became the Hero for Hire in the spring of 1972, carrying a June cover-date…

The honour of being the nation’s first black hero to carry in his own title had already come and gone via a little-remembered (or regarded) title from Dell Comics. Created by artist Tony Tallarico & scripter D.J. Arneson, gunslinger Lobo was a vigilante of the wild west who sought out injustice just like any cowboy hero would. He first appeared in December 1965, with his second and final issue cover-dated October 1966…

Gradually, more ethnic lead characters appeared, with DC finally getting a black-skinned hero in John Stewart (Green Lantern #87, December 1971/January 1972), although his designation as a “replacement” GL might be construed as more conciliatory and insulting than revolutionary. By then, Jack Kirby had introduced teen New God Vykin the Black in Forever People #1 (March 1971) and later created enterprising “ghetto kid” Shilo Norman as a hero’s apprentice and eventual successor in Mister Miracle ##15 (August, 1973). DC’s first superhero to have his own solo title didn’t debut until 1977…

This astoundingly accessible, no-nonsense collection – comprising Black Lightning #1-11, material from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #1 and World’s Finest Comics #260, spans April 1977 to January 1980) and bolts into action following a forthright and informative Introduction by originator Tony Isabella.

It begins as ‘Black Lightning’ (illustrated by neophyte penciller Trevor Von Eeden & veteran inker Frank Springer) sees former Olympic decathlete Jefferson Pierce return to the streets of Suicide Slum, Metropolis to teach at beleaguered inner city Garfield High School. Pierce is determined to make a difference to the troubled kids he used to be numbered amongst, but when the educator interrupts a drug buy on school grounds and sends the dealer packing, the door is opened to vengeance and tragedy…

When the mob – a crime syndicate dubbed The 100 – seek retaliation, one of Pierce’s students pays the ultimate price and the teacher realises he needs the shield of anonymity if he is to win justice and safety for his beleaguered home and charges…

Happily, tailor Peter Gambi – who sheltered Jefferson and his grieving mother after the elder Pierce was murdered – has some useful ideas and inexplicable access to pretty far-out technology…

Equipped with a strength-&-speed enhancing forcefield belt, gaudy costume, a and mask/wig unit completely changing his appearance, a fierce vigilante stalks the streets of Metropolis…

The local chapter of The 100 is run by monstrous, cunning freak Tobias Whale and once the assaults on his soldiers starts biting into profits and offer the downtrodden populace a glimmer of hope, he starts ruthless retaliation.

The sinister strategist lays many traps, culminating in hiring a lethal super-assassin who previously faced Green Arrow and the Justice League of America.

When the killer pounces, Pierce is forced into uneasy alliance with mystery woman Talia Al Ghul, but it ends as soon as bodies start piling up all over the school gym in ‘Merlyn Means Murder’…

Vince Colletta assumes the inker’s role as Black Lightning’s continued war against The 100 forces “the Whale” to fight smart, and Metro Police – led by doughty Inspector William Henderson – pursue the vigilante as vigorously as any gangster or felon. Taking seedy stoolie Two Bits Tanner into his confidence, Pierce savagely works his way up the criminal chain of command.

He eventually confronts Tobias in his inner sanctum only to find ‘Every Hand Against Him.’ As the police pounce, paranoia grips Pierce and he begins mistrusting his small team. Has someone he trusts betrayed him?

A more palatable answer seems apparent in #4 as suspicion falls on Tanner’s source – Daily Planet journalist Jimmy Olsen. When the outraged street fighter tries to force a confession from the baffled cub reporter, they are attacked by the 100’s latest super heavy in ‘Beware the Cyclotronic Man’…

Jimmy is wounded when they unite to fight off the atomic villain, and Black Lightning is suddenly confronted by the kid’s enraged and late-arriving best pal, who immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion and quickly shows why ‘Nobody Beats a Superman!’

In fact, had Cyclotron not switched attention to the true target Tobias wanted him to kill, everyone might have died, but the heroes’ misunderstandings are all forgotten when Black Lightning saves the Man of Tomorrow from nuclear meltdown, beats the bad guys and uncovers a mole in the police force…

Patience exhausted and under pressure from his own bosses, the Whale declares open season, placing an astounding bounty on Black Lightning. When deeply conflicted manhunter Syonide (and his hilarious, Marvel-baiting in-joke kung fu assistants) stalk the Saviour of Suicide Slum, their first move is to shadow and learn everything about their quarry.

When Gambi is abducted, Jefferson’s secret is finally exposed in ‘One Man’s Poison’, Syonide – afflicted with a bizarre sense of honour – hands over a helpless Black Lightning to the Whale in #7. However he cannot escape ‘The Conscience of the Killer’ and is compelled to shelter the captive tailor from the 100’s vengeance before voluntarily paying the ultimate price when ordered to kill the apparently-helpless masked hero…

Tragically, even as Black Lightning undergoes a miraculous transformation and takes out the gathered crooks and villains, he loses another innocent to the violent life he has embraced…

With the power of the 100 seemingly broken and Tobias Whale in custody, Pierce’s war should be over, but the gigantic gangster quickly breaks free and takes hostages from Police HQ.

Determined to end the vendetta, Black Lightning tracks him down for one last duel and in the ‘Deadly Aftermath’ finds the renewed purpose to carry on his alternate lifestyle…

Now considering himself more hero than avenger, Pierce experiences ‘Fear and Loathing at Garfield High’ when his school is invaded by a maniac terrorist operating an army of robotic killers, after which a circus trip exposes ‘The Other Black Lightning’. Sadly, although this well-meaning admirer is a mostly-harmless copycat, jewel thieves and former Flash foe The Trickster provide plenty of genuine danger and menace before the big top sawdust settles…

Comics were experiencing another general sales downturn at this time, and just as Denny O’Neil took over scripting Black Lightning, it was cancelled with #11 (October 1978).

‘All They Will Call You Will Be… Deportee!’ offered hints of a new direction with the urban avenger exposing a people-trafficking ring luring South American refugees into slave jobs at a fast food chain, but for most readers that was the last sight of the hero for some time.

So abrupt was the cancellation, that for legal reasons and to secure copyrights, DC had to put out black-&-white ashcan anthology Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, printing completed but unpublished stories of Claw the Unconquered, The Deserter, The Green Team, Madame Xanadu, Firestorm and others. Also included was Black Lightning #12…

The wider world got to see that last adventure – ‘Lure of the Magnetic Menace’ by O’Neil, Mike Nasser (nee Netzer) & Colletta – a year later when the January 1980 cover-dated World’s Finest Comics #260 ran the story as a prelude to a new series of BL adventures.

This edgy yarn details how the shocking hero is attacked by costumed crazy Doctor Polaris after Jefferson Pierce investigates a possible case of child neglect and abuse involving one of his more troubled students…

Wrapping up this initial outing is a copious selection of working drawings from the ‘Black Lightning Sketchbook’ by Von Eeden, and Mike Netzer’s unfinished cover for never-seen issue #13.

Although closely interlinked to then-current DC continuity, these fast-paced Fights ‘n’ Tights thrillers are so skilfully constructed that even the freshest neophyte can settle in for the ride without any confusion and enjoy a self-contained rollicking rollercoaster of terrifically traditional superhero shenanigans.

So, go do that then…
© 1977, 1978, 1979, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: Time and Time Again


By Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Dennis Janke, Tom Grummett, Jose Marzan & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1852865702 (TPB)

When Superman was re-imagined after Crisis on Infinite Earths, many of his more omnipotent abilities were discarded. Like his earliest days, he was a far from omnipotent hero, more in touch with humanity because he wasn’t so far above it. One thing that was abandoned was his casual ability to travel through time.

Indeed, rather than being able to navigate the chronal corridors with ease, in this splendid epic from 1991 (originally published serially in Action Comics #663-665, Adventures of Superman #476-478, and Superman (volume 2) #54-55 -with epilogues from #61 & 73 – the Man of Tomorrow is trapped in a cataclysmic and volatile temporal warp, bounced around from era to era with his abilities constantly diminishing and utterly unable to regain his home and loved ones.

That specifically means co-worker and girlfriend Lois Lane, to whom he has just divulged his greatest secret… his real identity…

It all begins in Adventures of Superman #476 as Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding’s ‘The Linear Man’ sees a rogue (self-appointed) guardian of the Time Stream attempt to forcibly return chronal refugee-turned superhero Booster Gold to the 25th century he originated from. When Superman intervenes, the battle sparks a tremendous explosion, causing the Caped Kryptonian to careen through time. Each “landing” leaves him in a significant period of Earth’s history such as Roger Stern & Bob McLeod’s ‘Lost in the ‘40s Tonight’ (Action Comics #663) precipitating a meeting with that era’s first mystery men before almighty wraith the Spectre transports him not home but to ‘The Warsaw Ghetto!’ to act as temporary savour in an iconic battle saga by Jerry Ordway & Dennis Janke from Superman #54.

Apparently only gigantic explosions can launch him back into the time stream, such as occurs in in ‘Death Rekindled’ (Adventures of Superman #477 Jurgens & Brett Breeding) when a trip to the future introduces him to an iteration of the Legion of Super-Heroes needing help to destroy a monstrous Sun Eater… ‘

That climactic detonation deposits him ‘Many Long Years Ago’ (Action Comics #664, Stern & McLeod) to end up a Jurassic castaway until a clash with marooned time thief Chronos propels him into the Pleistocene and a chronologically adrift encounter with primordial alien race the H’v’ler’ni (AKA the Host)…

That tussle tosses him forward to ‘Camelot’ just as the Dark Ages begin, battling valiantly but in vain beside eventual All-Star Squadron champion and Seventh Soldier of Victory Sir Justin the Shining Knight in Superman #55 (Ordway) before landing again with another LSH for blockbusting finale ‘Moon Rocked’ (Adventures of Superman #478 Jurgens & Breeding) and resolution and reunion with Lois via a 5-page excerpt from Action Comics #665’s ‘Wake the Dead’…

Also included are the contents of Superman #61’s ‘Time and Time Again Again!’ and #73’s ‘Time Ryders’ – both by Jurgens & Breeding – as the Man of Tomorrow has further dealings with the Linear Men Matthew Ryder, Waverider, Liri Lee and Hunter…

As Superman is gradually depowered whilst seeking to get home without wrecking reality, he enjoys incredible memorable moments – such as walking with dinosaurs, cathartically crushing Nazis, tussling with a mammoth and fighting Etrigan the Demon during the fall of civilisation. He also meets many milestone characters from DC history including the WWII Justice Society of America, and encounters the Legion of Super-Heroes at three critical points of their long and varied career: making this tale a significant marker for establishing the key points of post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity…

This hugely enjoyable epic is highly readable and cheerfully accessible for both returning and first time fans so it’s a true shame it’s currently out of print and still unavailable as a digital edition. Hopefully with Superman’s 85th anniversary impending there are moves afoot to rectify that…
© 1991, 1992, 1994 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Batman in the Fifties


By Bill Finger, Don Cameron, Edmond Hamilton, France Herron, David Vern Reed, Dave Wood, Joe Samachson, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Bob Kane, Win Mortimer, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye, George Roussos, Ray Burnley & various (DDC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0950-5 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the early years of this century, DC launched a series of graphic archives intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades: delivering magnificent past comic book magic from the Forties to the Seventies via a tantalisingly nostalgic taste of other – arguably better, but certainly different – times. The collections carried the cream of the creative crop, divided into subsections, partitioned by cover galleries, and supplemented by short commentaries; a thoroughly enjoyable introductory reading experience. I prayed for more but was frustrated… until now…

Part of a trade paperback trilogy – the others being Superman and Wonder Woman (thus far, but hopefully Aquaman, Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter are in contention too, as they have become such big shot screen stars these days) – the experiment is being re-run, with even more inviting wonders from the company’s amazing family-friendly canon.

Gathered here is an expanded menu of delights adding to that of the 2002 edition, rerunning Michael Uslan’s original context-stuffed Introduction and chapter text pieces. The stories originated in Detective Comics #156, 165, 168, 180, 185, 187, 215, 216, 233, 235, 236, 241, 244, 252, 267; 269, 1000; Batman #59, 62, 63, 81,92,105, 113, 114, 121, 122, 128; and World’s Finest Comics #68, 81, 89 which span the entire decade while laying the rather bonkers groundwork for the landmark television series of the next decade.

Supported by the first of a series of factual briefings, the comics open with Classic Tales, and ‘The Batmobile of 1950!’ Written by Joe Samachson and illustrated by visionary artist Dick Sprang and ideal inker Stan Kaye, the clever saga of reinvention originated in Detective Comics #156 (cover-dated February 1950 and on sale from December 19th 1949):  heralding new vistas as their reliable conveyance is destroyed by cunning crooks.

Badly injured, Batman uses the opportunity to rebuild his ride as moving fortress and crime lab and scores his first techno advance. There would soon be many more: a Batplane II, new boats and subs and even a flying Batcave…

David Vern Reed, Sprang & Charles Paris then set the Crime Crushers to recovering a vital lost tool assemblage before some villain could decipher ‘The Secret of Batman’s Utility Belt!’ (Detective #185 July 1952) and end their careers, after which ‘The True History of Superman and Batman’ (World’s Finest Comics #81, March/April 1956 by Edmond Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) finds a future historian blackmailing the heroes into restaging their greatest exploits so that his erroneous treatise on them will be accurate…

Foreshadowing modern tastes and tropes, an unknown author & Sheldon Moldoff reveal ‘The New-Model Batman’ in Detective #236 (October 1956) as recently-released criminal genius Wallace Waley deploys counters to all the heroes’ techniques and tech, necessitating a change of M.O and new toys… like a Bat-tank…

In a classic case of misdirection, the Dark Knight briefly becomes ‘The Rainbow Batman!’ in Detective #241 (March 1957). As delivered by Hamilton, Moldoff & Kaye, a series of outlandish costumes keep the public – and reporters’ – gaze on the mighty masked peacock and well away from the biggest story of the decade…

Bill Finger, Moldoff & Paris detail a review of the hero’s most versatile weapon in ‘The 100 Batarangs of Batman!’ (Detective #244 June 1957) as criminals begin using old variants of the throwing tool against him and the Gotham gangbuster has to unleash an almost dangerous and untested prototype to defeat them…

In a most frustrating piece of poor editing, next up is the seminal sequel story to a most important and repercussion-packed yarn. Crafted by Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, ‘The Club of Heroes’ first appeared in World’s Finest Comics #89 (July/August 1957) reprising an earlier meeting of Batmen from many nations. It became a key plank of Grant Morrison’s latterday epic Batman: the Black Glove as those valiant foreign copycats reconvened to add the Man of Steel to their roster only to find him suffering recurring amnesia and outshone by brand-new costumed champion Lightning Man…

‘The Thousand Deaths of Batman!’ (Detective #269 July 1959) comes from another uncredited scripter, with Moldoff & Paris limning a bizarre tale of a criminal entertainment network offering staged deaths of their greatest enemies until the Caped Crusaders infiltrate and exterminate…

Just as the adventures always got bigger and bolder, so too did the character roster and internal history. The Bat-Family section homes in on the heroes’ constantly expanding supporting cast, and leads with something I just finished whining about.

Detective Comics #215 (January 1955) featured ‘The Batmen of All Nations!’ by Edmond Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris) and saw the World’s Greatest Crimefighters acknowledged as such by well-meaning champions from Italy, England, France, South America and Australia, who took the sincerest form of flattery a step too far by becoming nationally-themed imitations. That was fine until they all attend a convention in Gotham City doomed to disaster after a villain replaces one of them…

Why on Earth did this tale have to follow its own sequel?

Anyway, back to our usual nonsense and a question: Do you believe in coincidence? Superman was incredibly popular throughout the 1950s and many things that happened to him were tried in Batman stories. For a while the caped crusader even had a girl reporter – Vicki Vale – trying to ferret out hi secret identity. So when Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955) introduced a dog from Krypton, how surprising was it that Batman would soon join that rather exclusive kennel club?

For no reason I could possibly speculate upon, ‘Ace the Bat-Hound!’ debuted in Batman #92 (June 1955), created by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris. Ace was a distinctive German shepherd temporally adopted by Bruce Wayne when his actual owner John Wilker is abducted by crooks. A skilled tracker with distinctive facial markings, the pooch inserts himself into the case repeatedly, forcing the Dynamic Duo to mask him up as they hunt his master and foil a criminal plot. Like Krypto, Ace reappeared intermittently until Wayne stopped borrowing him and just adopted the amazing mutt.

Almost as necessary a Fifties adjunct, ‘The Batwoman!’ debuted in Detective #233 (July 1956) as Hamilton, Moldoff & Kaye added a female copy to the cannon…

Today fans are pretty used to a vast battalion of bat-themed champions haunting Gotham City and its troubled environs, but for the longest time it was just Bruce, Dick Grayson and an occasionally borrowed dog keeping crime on the run. However, three months before the debut of the Flash officially ushered in the Silver Age, editorial powers-that-be introduced valiant heiress Kathy Kane, who incessantly suited-up in chiropteran red and yellow over the next eight years. She was a former circus acrobat who burst into Batman’s life, challenging him to discover her secret identity at the risk of exposing his own…

Far more critical to the growing legend was Finger, Moldoff & Kaye’s ‘The First Batman!’

as originally seen in Detective Comics #235 (September 1956): a key story of this period which introduced a strong psychological component to Batman’s origins, disclosing how when Bruce was still a toddler, his father had clashed with gangsters whilst clad in a fancy dress bat costume…

In Batman #105, (February 1957) France Herron, Moldoff & Paris introduced ‘The Second Boy Wonder!’ as a stranger apparently infiltrates the Batcave by impersonating the kid crimebuster, but there’s more going on than would first appear, unlike Batman #114 (March 1958) wherein unknown writer, Moldoff & Paris reveal how circus gorilla Mogo joins the team to clear his framed keeper’s name in ‘The Bat-Ape!’…

The grim gritty tone of the Dark Knight remains utterly absent in ‘The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman!’ (Batman #122, March 1959) as Finger, Moldoff & Ray Burnley manifest Robin’s bleakest nightmares should such a nuptial event ever occur, before Detective #267 (May 1959) details how ‘Batman Meets Bat-Mite!’ and Finger, Moldoff & Paris launch the Gotham Guardian’s most controversial “partner” – a pestiferous, extra-dimensional prank-playing elf who “helps” his hero by aiding his enemies to extend the duration of the fun… (World’s Finest Comics #68, January/February 1954).

In the 1950s costumed villains faded from view and preference for almost a decade – until the Batman TV show made them stars in their own right. Thus there’s not as big a pool to draw on here as you might expect, and what there is mostly the old favourites..

The Villains highlights our hero’s greatest recurring enemies, leading with The Secret Life of the Catwoman!’ from Batman #62 (December 1950/January 1951) by Finger, with Lew Sayre Schwartz ghosting for Bob Kane – who only pencilled a few faces and figures. It’s all inked by Paris.

Here the Felonious Feline reforms and retires after a head trauma cures all her larcenous tendencies… until Batman begs law-abiding Selina Kyle to suit up once more and go undercover to catch crime boss Mister X.

Kane had all but left his role to others by this time and his contributions remained minor in The Origin of Killer Moth!’ (Batman #62, February/March 1951) as Finger, Sayre Schwartz & Paris record how a recently-released convict steals Batman’s ideas and sets up as a paid costumed crusader for crooks…

Around that time Detective #168 (February 1951) began the long road to an origin for the Joker as Finger, Sayre Schwartz, Kane George Roussos and Win Mortimer exposed ‘The Man Behind the Red Hood!’ This reveals a partial origin as part of a brilliantly engrossing mystery which begins when the Caped Crusader regales eager college criminology students with the story of “the one who got away” – just before the fiend suddenly comes back…

Batman’s most tragic Golden Age foe resurfaced cured and fully functional in Detective #187 (September 1952), but Harvey Dent was soon on a spree committing ‘The Double Crimes of Two-Face!’ (by Don Cameron, Sprang & Paris). Although the Dynamic Duo knew from the start their foe was a fake, the situation was far different two years later when Reed, Sprang & Paris detailed how ‘Two-Face Strikes Again!’ in Batman #81 (February 1954). This time a freak accident restored Dent’s scarred bipolar state and the heroes were outmatched all the way to the stunning turnabout conclusion…

The bit about bad guys bows out with ‘The Ice Crimes of Mr. Zero’ (Batman #121, February 1959) as Dave Wood, Moldoff & Paris depict a scientist’s turn to crime after an experiment afflicts him with a condition that will kill him if his temperature rises above freezing point. Although cured in this yarn, that villain would return, taking the name Mr. Freeze …

Final comics section Tales from Beyond highlights the increasingly strange adventures of the Dynamic Duo which – due to Comics Code embargoes on horror and the supernatural – meant a wealth of weird alien and startling science fiction themes. The wonders beginswith a rarely reprinted yarn from Finger, Sayre Schwartz, Kane & Paris originally seen in Batman #59 (June/July 1950). It begins as the heroes seek to use time travel to cure The Joker, before a mistake by chronal scientist Professor Carter Nichols dumps them in 2050 AD. ‘Batman in the Future!’ finds them aiding the Harlequin of Hate’s crimefighting descendant against space pirates before returning to their own era…

A solid gold classic follows as ‘The Batman of Tomorrow!’ (Detective #216, February 1955) visits the 20th century – from his home in 3054 – to save an injured Bruce Wayne from Vicki Vale’s latest exposé and catch a cunning crook in a fast paced and fantastical romp by Hamilton, Sprang & Paris.

Many of these bright-&-breezy high fantasy tales deeply affected modern writers and the overarching continuity, perhaps none more so than Herron, Sprang & Paris’ ‘Batman – The Superman of Planet X!’ from Batman #113 (February 1958): which formed a key thematic plank of Grant Morrison’s epic 2008 storyline Batman R.I.P. The story details how the Gotham Guardian is shanghaied to distant world Zur-En-Arrh by its version of Batman to fight an alien invasion: a task rendered relatively simple since the planet’s atmosphere and gravity gives Earthmen incredible superpowers…

In Detective #252 (February 1958) Wood, Moldoff & Paris channelled contemporary film fashion as a monster makes trouble on a movie location shoot, compelling the costumed champions to tackle ‘The Creature from the Green Lagoon!’ before the last tale in this section – and volume – reveals how our heroes mistakenly aid an alien pirate and are arrested and imprisoned offworld by interstellar lawmen. ‘The Interplanetary Batman!’ (Batman #128. December 1959) is a riotous rollercoaster rocket ride by Finger & Moldoff with Batman and Robin overcoming all odds to clear their names and get home and is a perfect place to pause this circus of ancient delights.

Also including a selection of breathtaking covers and a ‘Bonus Cover Gallery’ by Sprang, Mortimer, Moldoff, Curt Swan, Sayre Schwartz, Kaye & Paris, this is a splendidly refreshing, comfortingly compelling and utterly charming slice of comics history that any aged fan or newcomer will delight in: a primer into the ultimate icon of Justice and fair play.
© 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 2002, 2019, 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

JLA: Year One


By Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn & Barry Kitson with Michael Bair, John Stokes, Mark Propst, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-512-8 (TPB)

If the chop-and-change continuity gymnastics DC have undergone in recent years gives you a headache, but you still love reading excellent superhero team stories, you could just take my word that this is one of the best of that breed and move on to the next review. If you’re okay with the confusion or still need convincing, though, please read on.

With then-partner All-American Publishing, in 1940 DC published the Justice Society of America in All-Star Comics from #3. Cover-dated “Winter Issue”, it spanned the year end and was on sale from November 22nd until January. The JSA were the first superhero team in comics.

In 1960 after a decade largely devoid of superheroes, the now fully-amalgamated publisher sagely revived the team concept as the Justice League of America, and gradually reintroduced the JSA ancestors as heroes of an alternative Earth to a fresh new caped and cowled world. By 1985, the continuity had become saturated and overcrowded with so many heroic multiples and close duplicates that DC’s editorial Powers-That-Be deemed it all too confusing and a deterrent to new readers, and decreed total change. It resulted in maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths and the events of the groundbreaking, earth-shattering saga led to a winnowing and restructuring of the DC universe…

With all the best bits from past stories (for which one could read “least charming or daft”) having now occurred on one Earth, and with many major heroes remade and re-launched (Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash et al.), one of the newest curses to readers – and writers – was keeping definitive track of what was now DC “History” and what had now never actually happened.

Thus 12-issue maxi-series JLA: Year One presented the absolute, definitive, real story of the formation and early days of the Justice League, the World’s Greatest – but no longer first – Superheroes…

Of course, since Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis and all the other subsequent publishing course-correcting extravaganzas (such as 52, Countdown, Dark Nights: Death Metal and so on) it’s not strictly true anymore. Still. Again…

None of which impacts upon the superb quality of the tale told here. Way back then – January to December 1998 and in the wake of Grant Morrison & Howard Porter’s spectacular re-reboot of the team – Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn & illustrator Barry Kitson (plus assorted assisting inkers) produced a superb version of that iteration’s earliest days. It’s still one of the best and most readable variations on the theme, even if DC have inexplicably let it slide out of print…

It begins “ten years ago” in ‘Justice League of America: Year One’ as a hidden observer gathers files on an emergent generation of new costumed heroes. When an alien invasion from Appellax brings inexperienced neophyte heroes Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter together to save Earth from colonisation, the media scents a news sensation, but the real story is the hidden forces hovering in the background of the event…

The Canary was reimagined as the rebellious daughter of the JSA original who had been active during WWII, and the others, like the Sea King and J’onn J’onzz, had undergone recent origin revisions too…

The main action begins after that initial victory, as the heroes – novices all, remember – opt to stick together as a team, only to be targeted by secret super-science society Locus, who begin snatching up alien invader corpses for genetic experimentation…

The second issue sees the new kids as media sensations overwhelmed and out of their depth, with everyone wanting a piece of them. Older outfits like the Blackhawks, Challengers of the Unknown and even officially-retired JSA veterans are watching with apprehension whilst Bruce Wayne wants them far away from Gotham City as they establish their ‘Group Dynamic’. Even trick archer Green Arrow is constantly hanging around, clearly angling for an invitation to join, but that’s never gonna happen…

Immortal villain Vandal Savage targets the inexperienced heroes with a squad of veteran supervillains – the Thorn, Solomon Grundy, Clayface and Eclipso – as everywhere, more new superheroes are emerging. Savage is resolved to stop this second Heroic Age before it begins…

In #3, Locus’ bio advancements lead to alliance with Savage, but their schemes are sidelined as the team struggle to work together. Every man there seems distracted by Black Canary, but their “chivalrous impulses” in combat are not only insulting but will get someone killed – if not by enemies, then by her…

The team is fully occupied playing ‘Guess Who?’ after accepting funding and resources from a mystery billionaire. The influx of cash results in a purpose-built secret mountain HQ, a covert personal communications network, live-in custodian/valet/tech support Snapper Carr and a security system designed by maverick teen genius Ted Kord.

At least the heroes are starting to bond, sharing jokes, origins and trade secrets, but tensions are still high and trust in each other is fragile…

Inker Michael Bair joins with #4 as ‘While You Were Out…’ sees Locus at last launch their campaign of conquest: picking off lone hero Dan Garrett, whose mystic Blue Beetle scarab proves no match for alien-enhanced bio-weaponry, even as the heroes are all singled out for close observation by mystery operatives…

The merciless Brotherhood of Evil unleash Locus-designed horrors on Manchester, Alabama in #5, leading to a tenuous team-up of Justice League and Doom Patrol that ends in disaster and defeat. Maimed and deprived of their abilities, they are ‘A League Divided’ until the DP’s resident genius Niles Caulder provides stopgap powers and weapons in ‘Sum of Their Parts’ (inked by Bair & John Stokes), enabling the heroes to rally and restore themselves…

In ‘The American Way’ the JLA suffer a shock after their greatest inspiration – Superman – declines an offer to join, even as Locus’ endgame begins.

The dispirited heroes barely notice, as ‘Loose Ends’ exposes treachery in the ranks, further distracting the heroes who discover a trusted ally has been spying on them in their private lives. They have no idea what’s really going on…

With unity shattered, the JLA turns on itself, missing Locus’ attempt to terraform Earth and literally ‘Change the World’…

‘Heaven and Earth’ (inked by Bair & Mark Propst) finds all humanity’s helpless and all its many heroes subdued in a superpowered blitzkrieg that catches the planet napping. Crushed, defeated and interned in ‘Stalag Earth’ all hope is lost until the reunited Justice League lead a counter-offensive, turning tragedy into triumph and ensuring ‘Justice for All’…

A brilliantly addictive plot, superbly sharp dialogue and wonderfully underplayed art suck the reader into an enthralling climax that makes you proud to be human… or at least terrestrially-based. This saga of our champions’ bonding and feuding under extended threat of rogue geneticists, planetary upheaval, and the mystery of who actually bankrolls the team, all added to continual, usual, everyday threats in a superhero’s life, is both enchanting and gripping.

When it’s done right there’s nothing wrong with being made – and allowed – to be feel ten years old again. In-the-know fans will delight at the clever incorporation of classic comics moments, in-jokes and guest-shots from beloved contemporaneous heroes and villains such as the Sea Devils, Metal Men, Atom and such, but the creators of this revised history never forget their new audience and nothing here is unclear for first-timers. The finale is a fan’s all-action dream with every hero on Earth united to combat all-out alien invasion! …And of course, the rookie JLA save the day again in glorious style.
© 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman vs Zod


By Robert Bernstein, Cary Bates, Steve Gerber, Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, George Papp, Curt Swan, Alex Saviuk, Rick Veitch, Rags Morales & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3849-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

Superman is comics’ champion crusader: the hero who heralded a whole genre. In the decades since his spectacular launch in April 1938 (cover-dated June), one who has survived every kind of menace imaginable. With this in mind it’s tempting and very rewarding to gather up whole swathes of his prodigious back-catalogue and re-present them in specifically-themed collections, such as this fun but far from comprehensive chronicling of someone who’s become his latter-day Kryptonian antithesis: a monstrous militaristic madman with the same abilities but far more sinister values and motivations.

For fans and comics creators alike, continuity can be a harsh mistress. These days, when maintaining a faux-historical cloak of rational integrity for the made-up worlds we inhabit is paramount, the greatest casualty of the semi-regular sweeping changes, rationalisations and reboots is those terrific tales which suddenly “never happened”.

The most painful example of this – for me at least – was the wholesale loss of the entire charm-drenched mythology that had evolved around Superman’s birthworld in the wonder years between 1948 and 1986. Happily, DC post Future State and Infinite Frontier is far more inclusive and all-encompassing…

Silver Age readers buying Superman, Action Comics, Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane, World’s Finest Comics and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (not forgetting Superboy and Adventure Comics) would delight every time some fascinating snippet of information was revealed. We spent our rainy days filling in the incredible blanks about the lost world through the delightful and thrilling tales from those halcyon publications.

Thankfully DC was never as slavishly wedded to continuity as its readership and understood that a good story is worth cherishing. This captivating compilation gathers material from Adventure Comics #283, Action Comics #473, 548-549, DC Comics Presents #97 and Action Comics Annual #10; spanning 1961-2007), re-presenting appearances both landmark and rare, current and notionally non-canonical featuring Kryptonian warlord and arch-nemesis General Dru-Zod, crafted by so many brilliant writers and artists who have contributed to the mythology of the Man of Tomorrow over the years.

Naturally this terrific tome begins with the first appearance – brief and incidental though it was – of the warrior who tried to conquer Krypton with an army of Bizarro-like clonal “inorganisms”. ‘The Phantom Superboy’ – by Robert Bernstein & George Papp – was lead feature in Adventure Comics #283 (cover-dated April 1961), describing how a mysterious alien vault smashes to Earth and the Smallville Sensation finds sealed within three incredible super-weapons built by his long-dead dad Jor-El.

There’s a disintegrator gun, a monster-making de-evolutioniser and a strange projector that opens a window into an eerie, timelessly dolorous dimension of stultifying intangibility. However, as Superboy reads the history of the projector – used to incarcerate Krypton’s criminals such as Dr. Xadu and the traitorous General – an implausible accident traps him inside the Phantom Zone and only by the greatest exercise of his mighty intellect does he narrowly escape…

Although there were plenty more appearances of the Red Sun Rebel, we jump here to ‘The Great Phantom Peril’ from Action Comics #473 (July 1977, by Cary Bates, Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell) for the concluding chapter in a 3-issue tale introducing sadistic psycho-killer Faora Hu-Ul.

In this instalment, the male-hating escapee engineers freedom for all her ghostly companions, leaving criminal Kryptonians running riot on Earth. Thankfully, foresighted Superman has contrived to place all humanity in the Phantom Zone even as the prisoners explosively exited it…

Again no more than a bit-player, Zod was left to shout empty threats and wreck property until the ingenious Man of Steel turned the tables on his foes and banished them all back behind intangible bars once again…

He played a far more important role in the next epic. ‘Escape from the Phantom Zone!’ (Action Comics #548 October 1983) was the first part of a 2-issue yarn by Bates, Alex Saviuk, Vince Colletta & Pablo Marcos: an engaging if improbable saga of cosmic vengeance as a race of primordial plunderers discovered the dead remains of Argo City, hurled intact into space when the planet exploded and birthplace of Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El AKA Supergirl. The starfarers gleefully realised that there was at least one Kryptonian left in the cosmos and started searching…

The alien marauders were Vrangs, savage slavers who had conquered Krypton in eons past and brutally used the primitive populace to mine minerals too toxic for the aliens to handle. Krypton’s greatest hero was Val-Lor, who died instigating the rebellion which drove off the Vrangs and prompted the rise of a super-scientific civilisation.

All Kryptonians developed an inbred hatred of Vrangs, and when Phantom Zone prisoners Jax-Ur, Professor Va-Kox, Faora and General Dru-Zod observe their ancestral oppressors from the stark and silent realm of nullity that had been their drearily, unchanging, timeless jail since before Krypton perished, they swore to destroy them. If their holy mission also allowed the Kryptonian outcasts to kill the hated son of the discoverer of the eerie dimension of stultifying intangibility, then so much the better…

Using the psycho-active properties of Jewel Kryptonite – a post-cataclysm isotope of the very element poisonous to Vrangs – a quartet of Zoners break-out and head to Earth for vengeance… but upon whom?

Soon after, Clark Kent, still blithely unaware of his peril, investigates a citizens’ defence group that has sprung up in Metropolis in response to a city-wide rash of petty crimes. ‘Superman Meets the Zod Squad’ (Action Comics #549) as Zod, Faora, Tyb-Ol and Murkk infiltrate human society and bide their time, while the Man of Steel and Lois Lane are most concerned with how these “White Wildcats” can afford to police neighbourhoods with jet-packs and martial arts skills unknown on Earth…

Uncovering militarist maniac Zod behind the scheme, Superman is astounded when the Kryptonians surrender, offering a truce until their ancient mutual enemies are defeated.

…And that’s when the Vrangs teleport the Man of Steel into their ship, exultant that they now possess the mightiest slave in existence.

Moreover, there are four more potentially priceless victims hurtling up to attack them, utterly unaware in their blind rage and hatred that the Vrangs have a weapon even Kryptonians cannot survive…

This clever, compulsive thriller of cross, double and even triple-cross is a fabulously intoxicating, tension-drenched treat blending human foibles with varying notions of honour, and shows that even the most reprehensible villains may understand the value of sacrifice and the principle of something worth dying for…

In 1986 DC celebrated its 50th year with the groundbreaking, Earth-shattering Crisis on Infinite Earths by radically overhauling its convoluted multiversal continuity and starting afresh. All the Superman titles were cancelled or suspended pending this back-to-basics reboot courtesy of John Byrne, allowing the opportunity for a number of very special farewells to the old mythology.

One of the most intriguing and challenging came in the last issue of team-up title DC Comics Presents: specifically #97 (September 1986) wherein ‘Phantom Zone: the Final Chapter’ – by Steve Gerber, Rick Veitch & Bob Smith – offered a creepy adieu to a number of Superman’s greatest foes and concepts…

Tracing Jor-El’s discovery of the Phantom Zone through to the impending eradication of the multiverse, this tale reveals that the dread region of nullity was in fact sentient and had always regarded the creatures deposited within as intruders.

Now as cosmic chaos ensues the entity Aethyr, served by Kryptonian mage Thul-Kar, causes the destruction of the Bizarro World and deification/corruption of Fifth Dimensional pest Mr. Mxyzptlk as well as the subsequent crashing of green-glowing Argo City on Metropolis.

As a result Zod and his fellow immaterial inmates are freed to wreak havoc upon Earth until the now-crystalline pocket dimension merges with and absorbs the felons, before implausibly abandoning Superman to face his uncertain future as the very Last Son of Krypton…

This compilation concludes with a thoroughly modern reinterpretation of General Zod from Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, Rags Morales & Mark Farmer from Action Comics Annual #10 in 2007.

Blending elements of the 1978 filmic Superman franchise (and starring Zod, Ursa and Non as seen in Superman: the Movie and Superman II),‘The Criminals of Krypton’ reveal that their lost world was no utopian paradise in its final days and how its ruling Science Council silenced Jor-El’s mentor and kept word of the impending planetary explosion quiet by operating on Non’s brain…

Although pacifistic Jor-El chose to argue his position from within the strictures of the Council, his impatient converts Zod and Ursa tried to seize control of the government to save the unwary citizens, forcing the head of the House of El to exile (or perhaps save?) them from the cataclysm to come…

Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and with the character again undergoing another radical overhaul, these timeless tales of charm and joy and wholesome wit (accompanied by classic covers from Papp, Swan, Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Veitch & Smith) are more necessary than ever: not just as a reminder of great tales of the past but as an all-ages primer of wonders still to come…
© 1961, 1977, 1983, 1986, 2007, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.