Category: Graphic Novels

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Superman in the Fifties


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-56389-826-6

Part of a series of trade paperbacks intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades (the other being Batman, of course) these books always deliver an unbeatable dollop of comicbook magic and a tantalising whiff of other, arguably better, times. They’re divided into sections partitioned by cover galleries, and this second volume of comic cuts begins (after an introduction by the ever informative Mark Waid) with “Classic Tales” culled from the period when the Superman TV show propelled the Man of Tomorrow to even greater levels of popularity.

Leading off is ‘Three Supermen from Krypton!’ written by William Woolfolk and illustrated by Al Plastino (one of a talented triumvirate who absolutely defined the hero during this decade). From Superman #65, (July-August 1950) this classy clash revealed more about Superman’s vanished homeworld whilst providing the increasingly untouchable champion with a much needed physical challenge.

Outer Space provided another daunting threat in ‘The Menace from the Stars!’ (World’s Finest Comics #68, January-February 1954). However all is not as it seems in this quirky mystery by a now unknown writer and the exceptional art team of Wayne Boring (another of the triumvirate) and inker Stan Kaye.

‘The Girl Who Didn’t Believe in Superman!’ by Bill Finger, Boring and Kaye, is a fanciful, evocative human interest tale typical of the times and sorely missed in these modern, adrenaline-drenched days. It originally appeared in Superman #96, cover-dated March 1955. From the very next issue came the canonical landmark ‘Superboy’s Last Day in Smallville!’ (by Jerry Coleman, Boring and Kaye) which revealed that particular rite of passage by way of exposing a crook’s long-delayed master-plan.

The first section ends with a tale from one of the many spin-off titles of the period – and one that gives many 21st century readers a few uncontrollable qualms of conscience. Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane was one of precious few titles with a female lead, but her character ranged crazily from man-hungry, unscrupulous bitch through ditzy simpleton to indomitable and brilliant heroine – often all in the same issue.

Most stories were played for laughs in a patriarchal, parochial manner; a “gosh, aren’t women funny?” tone that appals me today – but not as much as the fact that I still love them to bits. It helps that they’re all so very well illustrated by the wonderfully whimsical Kurt Schaffenberger. This one, ‘The Ugly Superman!’ (#8, April 1959), deals with a costumed wrestler who falls for Lois, giving the Caped Kryptonian another chance for some pretty unpleasant Super-teasing. It was written by the veteran Robert Bernstein, who unlike me can use the tenor of the times as his excuse.

As the franchise expanded, so did the cast and internal history. The second section is dedicated to our hero’s extended family and leads with ‘Superman’s Big Brother’ by famed pulp writer Edmond Hamilton and Plastino, (Superman #80, January-February 1953) wherein a wandering alien is mistaken for the aforementioned sibling, followed here by the introduction of a genuine family member in ‘The Super-Dog from Krypton!’ which originally saw print in Adventure Comics #210, March 1955.

Here Otto Binder and Curt Swan (the third of three and eventually the most prolific Super-artist of all time), aided by inker John Fischetti, reveal how baby Kal-El’s pet pooch escaped his home-world’s destruction and made his way to Earth.

Another popular animal guest-star was ‘Titano the Super-Ape!’ a giant ape with kryptonite vision, and this tale (from Superman #127, February 1959) is still one of the best Binder, Boring or Kaye ever worked on, combining action, pathos and drama to superb effect. This section ends with the inevitable landmark which more than any other moved Superman from his timeless Golden Age holdover status to become a part of the DC Silver Age revival. ‘The Supergirl from Krypton!’ introduced the Man of Steel’s cousin Kara Zor-El (Action Comics #252, (May, 1959) in a captivating tale by Binder and Plastino.

There had been numerous prototypes (one was included in the previous volume of this series, Superman in the Forties, ISBN: 978-1-4012-0457-0) but this time the concept struck home and the teenaged refugee began her long career as a solo-star from the very next issue.

Section three highlights “the villains” and leads with a rarely seen team-up of The Prankster, Lex Luthor and that extra-dimensional sprite Mr. Mxyztplk in ‘Superman’s Super-Magic Show!’ by Hamilton, Boring and Kaye (Action Comics #151, December, 1950) – tale more of mirthful mystery than menace and mayhem. It’s followed by the still-impressive introduction of alien marauder Brainiac in ‘The Super-Duel in Space’ by Binder and Plastino, from Action Comics #242, (July, 1958) and ‘The Battle with Bizarro!’ from Action Comics #254, (July, 1959) by the same creative team. This story actually re-introduced the imperfect duplicate, who had initially appeared in a well-received Superboy story (#68, from the previous year). Even way back then sales trumped death…

So popular was the character that the tale was continued over two issues, concluding with ‘The Bride of Bizarro!’ (Action Comics #255, August 1959), an almost unheard of luxury back then.

The fourth and final section is dedicated to “Superman’s Pals” and stems once more from that epochal television show, which made most of the supporting cast into household names. ‘The End of the Planet!’ by Hamilton and Plastino, Superman #79 (November-December 1959) is actually about the famous newspaper’s imminent closure rather than a global threat, whilst ‘Superman and Robin!’ is a classic bait-and-switch teaser from World’s Finest Comics #75 (March-April 1955), and Finger, Swan and Kaye knew that no-one believed that they had really broken-up the Batman/Boy Wonder team….

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen also had his own comicbook, and ‘The Stolen Superman Signal’ (#13, June 1956, by Binder, Swan and Ray Burnley) perfectly displays the pluck and whimsy that distinguished the early stories. The last tale in this section – and the volume – is from Showcase #9 (June-July 1957) the first of two Lois Lane try-out issues. ‘The girl in Superman’s Past!’ by Coleman, Ruben Moreira and Plastino introduced an adult Lana Lang as a rival for superman’s affections and began the sparring that led to many a comic-book cat-fight…

Including an extensive cover gallery, text features and a comprehensive creator-profiles section, this is a wonderful slice of comics history, refreshing, comforting and compelling. Any fan or newcomer will delight in this primer into the ultimate icon of Truth Justice and The American Way.
© 1950-1959, 2002 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Superman in the Forties


By Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster & the Superman studio (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0457-0

Part of a series of trade paperbacks intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades (the other being Batman, of course) these books always deliver a superb wallop of comicbook magic and a tantalising whiff of other, perhaps better, times.

Divided into sections partitioned by cover galleries this box of delights opens with the untitled initial episodes from Action Comics #1 and 2 (even though they’re technically ineligible, coming from June and July 1938) written and drawn by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. With boundless enthusiasm the Man of Tomorrow exploded into action, saving an innocent condemned to the electric chair, teaching a wife-beater a salutary lesson, terrorising mobsters and teaching war profiteers to think again. It’s raw, unpolished and absolutely captivating stuff.

Swiftly following from Superman #58, (May-June 1949) is a beguiling teaser written by William Woolfolk and illustrated by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. ‘Lois Lane Loves Clark Kent!’ found the intrepid reporter seeing a psychiatrist because of her romantic obsession with the Man of Steel. His solution?

The quack tells her to switch her affections to her bewildered, harassed workmate! A rare treat follows as the seldom seen Superman prose story from Superman #1 (Summer 1939 and of course written by Siegel with accompanying art by Shuster) reappears for the first time in decades.

In 1948 the editors finally declassified the full and original ‘Origin of Superman’ written by Bill Finger with art from Boring and Kaye (Superman #53, cover-dated July-August) It was followed a year later and directly after in this volume by ‘Superman Returns to Krypton’ by Finger and Al Plastino wherein the Man of Steel breaks the time barrier to observe his lost homeworld at first hand. This little gem (from Superman #61, November-December, 1949) provided the comic-book explanation for Kryptonite – it was originally introduced on the radio show in 1943 then promptly forgotten – opening the door for a magical expansion of the character’s universe that still resonates with us today.

During the late 1940s Siegel & Shuster retrofitted their creation by creating Superboy (“the adventures of Superman when he was a boy”) for More Fun Comics #101 (January/February 1945). An instant hit, the youthful incarnation soon had the lead spot in Adventure Comics and won his own title in 1949.

From Superboy #5 (November-December, 1949) comes the charming tale of a runaway princess ironically entitled ‘Superboy Meets Supergirl’ by Woolfolk and the hugely talented John Sikela.

The second section is dedicated to the Man of Steel’s opponents beginning with ‘Superman Meets the Ultra-Humanite’ from Action Comics #14 (July, 1939) by Siegel, Shuster and Paul Cassidy. They also produced a much more memorable criminal scientist in Lex Luthor who debuted in an untitled tale from Action #23 (April, 1940). This landmark is followed by ‘The Terrible Toyman’ (Action #64, September, 1943) by Don Cameron, Ed Dobrotka and George Roussos.

In such socially conscious times once of Superman’s most persistent foes was a heartless swindler called Wilbur Wolfingham. ‘Journey into Ruin’ by Cameron, Ira Yarbrough and Stan Kaye (from Action #107, November #107) is a fine example of this type of tale and the hero’s unique response to it.

A different kind of whimsy was apparent when Lois Lane’s niece – a liar who could shame Baron Munchausen – returned with a new pal who could make her fantasies reality in ‘The Mxyztplk-Susie Alliance’ from Superman #40, May-June 1946, charmingly crafted by Cameron, Yarbrough and Kaye.

The American Way section begins with a genuine war-time classic. ‘America’s Secret Weapon’ from Superman #23, July-August 1943, by Cameron, Sam Citron and Sikela is a masterpiece of patriotic triumphalism, as is the excerpt from the Superman newspaper strip which reveals how the over-eager Man of Tomorrow accidentally fluffed his own army physical. These strips by Siegel, Shuster and Jack Burnley, originally ran from 16th – 19th February 1942,

Look Magazine commissioned a legendary special feature by the original creators for their 27th February 1943 issue. ‘How Superman Would End the War’ is a glorious piece of wish-fulfillment which still delights, and it’s followed by a less famous but equally affecting human interest yarn ‘The Superman Story’. Taken from World’s Finest Comics #37 (1947, by Finger, Boring and Kaye) it sees a pack of reporters trail Superman to see how the world views him.

The book ends with ‘Christmas Around the World’ as Superman becomes the modern Spirit of the Season in a magical Yule yarn by Cameron, Yarbrough and Kaye from Action #93 (February 1946).

With a selection of cover galleries, special features and extensive creator profiles this is a magnificent Primer to the greatest hero of a bygone Golden Age, but one who can still deliver laughter and tears, thrills and spills and sheer raw excitement. No real fan can ignore these tales…

© 1940-1939, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold Batman Team-ups Volume 3


By Bob Haney & Jim Aparo, with John Calnan (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84856-117-5

With this third collection of Batman’s pairing with other luminaries of the DC universe (collecting in splendid black and white The Brave and the Bold issues #109-134) we find a creative team that had gelled into a perfect machine producing top-notch yarns aimed at the general readership – which would often annoy and appal the dedicated fans and continuity-obsessed reader.

Leading off is the superb supernatural thriller ‘Gotham Bay be my Grave!’ wherein the Caped Crusader and Jack Kirby’s then newest sensation the Demon battled an unquiet spirit determined to avenge his own execution after nearly a century, followed by a canny cold War adventure starring semi-regular Wildcat in his civilian guise as retired heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Although the veteran Justice Society hero was usually stationed on the alternate Earth 2 at this time no explanation was ever given for his presence on “our” planet. It used to drive the continuity-conscious fans utterly nuts!

Issue #111 boasted “the strangest team-up in history” as Batman joined forces with his greatest enemy, the Joker, for a brilliantly complex tale of cross and double cross in ‘Death has the Last Laugh!’ which may have lead to the Harlequin of Hate’s own short-run series a year later. With the next bimonthly issue B&B became a 100 Page Super Spectacular title: a much missed high-value experiment which offered an expanded page count of new material supplemented by classic reprints that turned many contemporary purchasers into avid fans of “the good old days”.

First to co-star in this new format was Kirby’s super escape artist Mister Miracle who joined the Gotham Guardian (himself regarded as the world’s greatest escapologist until the introduction of Jolly Jack’s Fourth World) in a tale of aliens and Ancient Egyptians entitled ‘The Impossible Escape!’ Issue #113 saw the return of the robotic Metal Men in a tense siege situation thriller ‘The 50-Story Killer!’ whilst Aquaman helped save the city from atomic annihilation in the gripping terrorist saga ‘Last Jet to Gotham‘ in #114.

‘The Corpse that wouldn’t Die!’ was a different kind of drama as the Batman was declared brain-dead after an assault, and size-shifting superhero the Atom was forced to occupy his skull to complete the Caped Crusader’s “last case”. Needless to say the Gotham Gangbuster recovered in time for another continuity-crunching supernatural team-up with the Spectre in #116’s ‘Grasp of the Killer Cult’ before embarking on a ‘Nightmare Without End’ – a brilliant espionage thriller guest-starring the aging World War II legend Sgt. Rock and the survivors of Easy Company, a fitting end to the 100 page experiment.

The Brave and the Bold #118 returned to standard comic book format, if not content, as both Wildcat and the Joker joined Batman in the rugged fight game drama ‘May the Best Man Die!’. Sometime villain Man-Bat also had his own short-lived series and he impressively guested in #119’s exotic tale of despots and bounty-hunters ‘Bring Back Killer Krag’.

Possibly the most remarkable, if not uncomfortable, pairing in this volume occurred in B&B #120. Jack Kirby’s biggest hit at DC in the 1970s was Kamandi, Last Boy on Earth. Set in a post-disaster world where animals talked and hunted dumb human brutes, it proved the perfect vehicle for the King’s uncanny imagination, and ‘This Earth is Mine!’ saw Batman mystically sucked into that bestial dystopia to save a band of still-sentient human shamans in a tale more akin to the filmic “Planet of the Apes” quintet than anything found in comic-books.

The Metal Men bounced back in #121’s heist-on-rails thriller ‘The Doomsday Express’, an early advocacy of Native American rights with as much mayhem as message to it, and ‘The Hour of the Beast’ saw the Swamp Thing return to Gotham City to save it from a monstrous vegetable infestation. B&B #123 brought back Plastic Man and Metamorpho in ‘How to Make a Super-Hero’ as well as featuring a rare incidence of a returning villain: ruthless billionairess Ruby Ryder, once again playing her seductive mind-games with the pliable, gullible Elastic Ace.

Always looking for a solid narrative hook Haney spectacularly broke the fourth wall in ‘Small War of the Super Rifles’ when Batman and Sgt. Rock needed the help of artist Jim Aparo and editor Murray Boltinoff to stop a gang of ruthless terrorists. This is another one that drove some fans batty…

‘Streets of Poison’ in #125 was a solid drug-smuggler yarn with exotic locales and a lovely hostage for Batman and the Flash to deal with, and John Calnan stepped in to ink #126’s Aquaman team-up to solve the sinister mystery of ‘What Lurks Below Buoy 13?’

It was back to basics next issue as Wildcat returned to help quash a people-smuggling racket in the ‘Dead Man’s Quadrangle’ whilst #128’s ‘Death by the Ounce’ found the Caped Crusader recruiting Mister Miracle and Big Barda to help him rescue a kidnapped Shah and save a global peace treaty.

Ever keen to push the envelope, the next yarn was actually a jam-packed two-parter as #129’s ‘Claws of the Emperor Eagle’ pitting Batman, Green Arrow and the Atom against the Joker, Two-Face and a host of bandits in a race to possess a statue that had doomed every great conqueror in history. The epic, globe-trotting saga concluded with an ironic bang in ‘Death at Rainbow’s End.’

The last time Wonder Woman appeared (#105 if you recall) she was a merely mortal martial artist but in Brave and the Bold #131 she retuned in all her super-powered glory to help Batman fight Catwoman and ‘Take 7 Steps to… Wipe-Out!’

DC cautiously dipped its editorial toe in the Martial Arts craze and #132 found Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter joining ‘Batman… Dragon Slayer??’, as Denny O’Neil succeeded editor Boltinoff in a rather forced and silly tale of dueling stylists and purloined historical treasures.

Normal service resumed when Deadman stepped in to deliver ‘Another Kind of Justice!’ to rum-runner Turk Bannion when his heir and murderer turns to a more modern form of smuggling. This book concludes with ‘Demolishment!’ from #134, wherein Green Lantern defects to the soviets, a la “the Manchurian Candidate” and Batman’s rescue attempt goes bad…

By taking his cues from news headlines, popular films and proven genre-sources Bob Haney continually produced gripping adventures that thrilled and enticed with no need for more than a cursory nod to an ever-more onerous continuity. Anybody could pick up an issue and be sucked into a world of wonder. Consequently these tales are just as fresh and welcoming today, their themes and premises are just as immediate now as then and Jim Aparo’s magnificent art is still as compelling and engrossing as it always was. This is a Bat-book literally everybody can enjoy.

© 1973-1977, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority


By Mark Millar, John McCrea, James Hodgkins & Ian Hannin (WildStorm)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-310-0

Evolving from the comic-book Stormwatch, The Authority are a team of super-heroes who take their self-appointed duty to its only logical – if extreme – conclusion. As god-like super-beings they have eschewed the traditional societal role in favour of a pre-emptive strike policy, and a no-nonsense One-World paternalism, that allows them to tackle real problems such as hunger, pollution, genocides and corporate piracy as well as demented super-villains and alien invasions.

They have set themselves above the Machiavellian dances of world politics in a mission to save the entire planet, and naturally, that doesn’t endear them to the entrenched Interests of Government and Business.

When the team first formed the most intriguing member was easily the brittle, cynical English woman Jenny Sparks whose electrical powers were an expression of her metaphysical position as the incarnate “Spirit of the Twentieth Century”. This collection gathers the five issue miniseries that revealed her 100-year life (born at midnight, December 31st 1899…) but it’s less a secret origin and more a handy guide to the history of the alternate world that the Authority inhabit.

By flashing back to key moments with her fellow crusaders Swift, The Doctor, Apollo and the Midnighter, Jack Hawksmoor and The Engineer creators Miller and McCrea cleverly deliver subtle moments and insights into a feature mostly known for excess and spectacle.

This tale is a must-see for fans of the brand, but also a clever and entertaining fantasy adventure for lovers of good storytelling everywhere.

© 2000, 2001 WildStorm Productions. All Rights Reserved.

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Robin: A Hero Reborn


By Alan Grant, Chuck Dixon, Norm Breyfogle, Tom Lyle & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-029-1

No matter how hard creators try to avoid it or escape it, Batman and Robin are an inevitable pairing. The first one graduated, the second died (sort of, more or less, leave it, don’t go there) and the third, Tim Drake, volunteered and applied pester-power until he got the job…

Reprinting Batman #455-457 and the first Robin miniseries (#1-5), this volume shows how the plucky young computer whiz convinced the Gotham Guardian to let him assume the junior role in a cracking adventure yarn that has as much impact today as when it first appeared nearly twenty years ago.

‘Identity Crisis’ by Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle and Steve Mitchell finds the newly orphaned (or as good as: his mother is dead and his dad’s in a coma) Tim Drake as Bruce Wayne’s new ward but forbidden from participating in the life of the Batman. The kid is willing and competent, after all, he deduced Batman’s secret identity before he even met him, but the guilt-racked Dark Knight won’t allow any more children to risk their lives…

However when an old foe lures the lone avenger into an inescapable trap Tim must disobey Batman’s express orders to save him, even if it means his own life… or even the new home he’s just beginning to love.

Following on the heels of that landmark saga Robin got a new costume and a try-out series. Writer Chuck Dixon, and artists Tom Lyle and Bob Smith relate the tale of the apprentice hero’s journey to Paris, ostensibly to train in secret, but which devolves into a helter-skelter race-against-time, as the murderous martial artist Lady Shiva leads the lad into a deadly battle against the Ghost Dragon Triad and Hong-Kong crime-lord King Snake for possession of a Nazi terror weapon.

There’s a breakneck pace and tremendous vivacity to this uncomplicated thriller that would rouse a corpse whilst the exotic scenarios make ‘Big Bad World’ a coming of age tale that any reader of super-hero fiction would adore.

This book is a lovely slice of sheer escapist entertainment and a genuine Bat-classic. If you don’t own this you really should.

© 1990, 1991, 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Teen Titans: Titans Around The World


By Geoff Johns, Tony Daniel & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-442-5

After the non-stop calamity of the DC Infinite Crisis the company re-set the time line of all their publications to begin One Year Later.  This enabled them to retool their characters as they saw fit, provide a jumping on point for new converts and also give themselves some narrative wiggle-room.

One of the titles that made the most of that creative opportunity was the Teen Titans. In the missing year not only did the characters undergo vast personal changes but the team and the core-concept itself was stretched leaving a broad canvas to tell tales and spring “Big Reveals” on the reader (who after all had only been away for thirty days!).

Collecting issues # 34-41 of the comicbook series, the story opens with team lynchpin Cyborg coming out of a year-long coma caused by injuries received during the aforementioned Infinite Crisis. He awakens to a team he doesn’t recognise, including Rose, daughter of their arch-foe the Terminator, who was actively trying to kill him when he last saw her.

In rapid fashion Cyborg goes into action trashing not only her but also a teen-aged demon, and a couple of preppy teen whiz-kids before Robin intervenes. The Boy Wonder explains that in the past year since Superboy died saving the universe, Wonder Girl has gone solo, Beast Boy/Changeling has returned to the fatalistically surreal Doom Patrol and more than two dozen young heroes have joined – and mostly left – the ranks of the teen super-group.

Determined to pull the Titans back together, they set off to re-recruit some old friends only to fall afoul of both the Brotherhood of Evil and the Doom Patrol themselves, in a taut, devious thriller that perfectly kick-starts the new era. But what is the obsessive secret Robin is hiding from his comrades?

The four-part ‘New Teen Titans’ is by scripter Geoff Johns, penciller, Tony Daniel, with inks from Kevin Conrad, Andy Lanning and Norm Rapmund.

It’s followed by the eponymous ‘Titans around the World’ another four parter that reveals some of the incredible events of that lost year. While Cyborg was recovering, a huge number of troubles super-kids passed through the doors of Titans HQ, but as the new team mentor reviews recordings of that time he is unsettled…

The mystic Raven has disappeared and by checking with some of those past recruits he discovers that the team may have been harbouring a traitor in its midst…

Produced by Johns, Tony Daniel and fellow pencillers Carlos Ferreira, Paco Diaz and Ryan Benjamin, with inks by Conrad, Art Thibert, Drew Geraci, Silvio Spotti, Jonathan Glapion, Michael Lopez, Edwin Rosell, Saleem Crawford and Vincente Cifuentes, this is a thoroughly enjoyable romp in the classic Teen Titans manner that should delight fans of the superhero genre and might even make a few new converts along the way.

This is another fights ‘n’ tights triumph for Geoff Johns who seems determined to revitalize the entire DC pantheon. Surely such a noble undertaking deserves a few brief moments of your time?

© 2006, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: Joker’s Asylum


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84856-047-5

This slim collection focuses on the A-list villains in Batman’s Rogues Gallery, reprinting five sinister one-shots beginning inevitably with The Joker, who stays on as EC-style host narrator for all the tales from his comfy padded cell at Arkham Asylum.

‘The Joker’s Wild’, by Arvid Nelson with art from Alex Sanchez and colours by Jose Villarrubia, offers a genuinely different slant on the old plot of the homicidal maniac who hijacks a live TV show. This is followed by the Penguin who waddles onto centre stage for a chilling, poignant and very dark love story entitled ‘He Who Laughs Last…!’ by Jason Aaron and Jason Pearson (coloured by Dave McCaig).

Possibly the weakest of these collected tales is ‘Deflowered’ wherein the unearthly floral siren Poison Ivy wreaks her unique brand of vengeance on manipulative fat-cat property speculators in a gory thriller from JT Krul and Guillem March. Luckily it’s followed by the most seductive and compelling yarn in this book of horrors as ‘The Dark Knight of the Scarecrow’ is visited upon a gaggle of High School Bitch-Princesses whose bullying leads to enlightenment of a most instructive and permanent kind, courtesy of the deadly Dr. Jonathan Crane and creative team Joe Harris & Juan Doe.

The savagely tragic Two-Face rounds off the volume in a powerful and challenging tale of tough choices and powerful compulsions. ‘Two-Face, Too’ is by David Hine, Andy Clarke and colourist Nathan Eyring, and while we’re handing out credit Rob Leigh lettered it, as he did all the tales in this superbly creepy walk with monsters in the dire environs of Gotham City.

There’s a lot of Batman material out there and this collection shows that he doesn’t have to be present to cast a long shadow. This is one of the best Bat-books of recent vintage and a worthy addition to any bookshelf.

© 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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EX MACHINA: EX CATHEDRA


By Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Jim Clark & JD Mettler (WildStorm)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-872-0

The seventh collection of high-powered politics (collecting issues #30-34 of the award-winning comics series) finds New York City Mayor Mitchell Hundred having to cope with something far outside his outside his already outré experience. In the final days of his Papacy, Pope John Paul II summons the super-hero-turned-civic-leader to a private audience in the Vatican. With forty percent of the city practicing Catholics, that’s simply an “offer” an independent candidate for re-election cannot refuse…

Since the Mayor is most definitely not a believer and his liberal views on Gay Rights, abortion and a thousand other doctrinal no-no’s have already led to a number of ecclesiastical frowns from all the major religions, our hero is already more than a little unnerved. But when the Vatican’s Chief Astronomer explains how the Church views the alien technology that bonded to the Mayor (giving him his powers to communicate with and command machinery) Mitchell Hundred’s world changes forever…

To further complicate matters a leftover team of Cold-War subversives have hit on a way to turn all that E.T. hardware in the Mayor’s brain into a remote control unit. Without his even knowing it Hundred could become a puppet, a spy or even an assassin at the flick of switch…

Sharp, witty, endlessly inventive and startlingly perspicacious, Ex Machina is still one of the absolute best comic reads on the market today, with characters and insights that always beguile and enthrall. And as the creators are never content to rest on their laurels it only gets better and better. If you’re not a fan yet, start today. If you are tell everyone you know. They’ll thank you for it…

© & TM 2007 Brian K. Vaughn & Tony Harris. All Rights Reserved.

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HAWKGIRL: HATH-SET


By Walter Simonson, Renato Arlem & Dennis Calero (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1665-8

The climactic third and final volume of the adventures of Hawkgirl, collecting issues #61-66 of her monthly magazine, goes all-out to deliver drama and spectacle in a thrilling and satisfying manner.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl are Egyptian lovers Prince Khufu and Lady Chay-Ara, murdered by the evil priest and usurper Hath-Set millennia ago. The heroes are inescapably trapped by a reincarnation spell to reunite, fight injustice and be murdered by the mad villain. All three souls are equally prisoners of an inescapable deathbed curse.

The last time she died Chay-Ara’s soul somehow possessed the fully grown body of Kendra Saunders when that troubled young woman committed suicide. With one variable altered the curse has been unraveling for some time now, and in this book the hidden truth of the trio’s situation is finally revealed, but before that there’s a few other problems to deal with…

Firstly there’s the Apokolyptian death squad known as the Female Furies, here to recover a planet-breaker weapon stolen three and a half thousand years ago. Hidden by the first Hath-Set, the deadly Beta-3 Gizmoid has now been activated by his latest incarnation…

Then there’s the plague of ensorcelled zombie citizens in Gotham City that needs all of Hawkgirl and Batman’s undivided attention, and the legion of suicidal Hath-Set servants that blight her trip to Metropolis.

Even Superman and Oracle can’t prevent her capture there, and only Hawkman is able to track her to the Valley of the Kings where millennia of passion and conflict leads to a final deadly resolution and a breaking of the spell holding the accursed lovers and their eternal tormentor together…

Coming directly from the “going out with a very big bang” school of entertainment these tales are witty, thrilling and vast in spectacle and scope. Ancient history, lost gods, giant robots, zombies, aliens, mummies, guest-stars, stark heroism and undying love all vie for the readers attention but never once feel forced or crowded. This is a bravura comics performance and the best possible way to end a series.

At least until we meet again…

© 2007, 2008 DC Comics.  All Rights Reserved

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SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOLUME 4

By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Wayne Boring, Jack Burnley and the Superman Studio (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 9781-84576-743-3

This fourth collection of the Man of Tomorrow’s earliest adventures, reprinted in the order they originally appeared, sees out the year 1940 in another tremendous little album that covers his appearances in Action Comics #26-31as well as the bi-monthly Superman #6-7.

Siegel and Shuster had created a true phenomenon and were struggling to cope with it. As well as the monthly and bimonthly comics a new quarterly publication, World’s Finest Comics (springing from the success of the publisher’s New York World’s Fair comic-book tie-ins) would soon debut and their indefatigable hero was to feature prominently in it. Also, the Superman daily newspaper strip, which began on 16th January 1939, with its separate Sunday strip following from November 5th of that year, was garnering millions of new fans.

The need for new material was constant and terrible.

From Action Comics #25 (July 1940) came ‘Professor Cobalt’s Clinic’ wherein Clark Kent and Lois Lane exposed a murderous sham Heath Facility with a little Kryptonian help, and the next month dealt a similar blow to the corrupt orphanage ‘Brentwood Home for Wayward Youth’. The September issue found the him at the circus, solving the mystery of ‘The Strongarm Assaults’, a fast-paced thriller beautifully illustrated by the astonishingly talented Jack Burnley.

Whilst thrilling to that, kids of the time could also have picked up the sixth issue of Superman (September/October 1940). Produced by Siegel and the Superman Studio, with Shuster increasingly only overseeing and drawing key figures and faces, this contained four more lengthy adventures.

‘Lois Lane, Murderer’, ‘Racketeer Terror in Gateston’, ‘Terror Stalks San Caluma’ and ‘The Construction Scam’ had the Man of Action saving the plucky newshen (you can’t imagine how long I’ve waited to type that term) from a dastardly frame up, rescuing a small town from a mob invasion, foiling a blackmailer who’s discovered his secret identity and spectacularly fixing a corrupt company’s shoddy, death-trap buildings.

Action Comics #29 (October 1940) again features Burnley art in a gripping tale of murder for profit. Human drama in ‘The Life insurance Con’ was replaced by deadly super-science as the mastermind Zolar created ‘A Midsummer Snowstorm’, allowing Burnley a rare opportunity to display his fantastic imagination as well as his representational excellence.

Superman # 7(November/December1940), and the Man of Steel was embroiled in local politics when he confronted ‘Metropolis’ Most Savage Racketeers’, quelled man-made disasters in ‘The Exploding Citizens’, stamped out City Hall corruption in ‘Superman’s Clean-Up Campaign’ (illustrated by Wayne Boring, who was Shuster’s inker on the other tales in this issue) and put the villainous high society bandits ‘The Black Gang’ where they belonged – behind iron bars.

This volume ends with Burnley drawing another high-tech caper as criminals put an entire city to sleep and only Clark Kent isn’t ‘In the Grip of Morpheus’.

Although the gaudy burlesque of monsters and super-villains still lay years ahead of our hero, these tales of corruption, disaster and social injustice are just as engrossing and speak powerfully of the tenor of the times. The raw intensity and sly wit still shine through in Siegel’s stories which literally defined what being a Super Hero means whilst Shuster and his team created the iconography for all others to follow. These Golden Age tales are priceless enjoyment at an absurdly affordable price. What dedicated comics fan could possibly resist them?

So don’t…
© 1940, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.