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Power Pack and Cloak & Dagger: Shelter from the Storm – a Marvel Graphic Novel


By Bill Mantlo, Sal Velluto, Mark Farmer & Julie Michel (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-601-5

During the 1980s American comicbooks experienced a magical proliferation of new titles and companies following the creation of the Direct Sales Market. With publishers now able to firm-sell straight to retail outlets rather than overprint and accept returned copies from non-specialised shops, the industry was able to support less generic titles and creators were able to experiment without losing their shirts.

In response Marvel developed its own line of creator-owned properties and concentrated a lot of resources into the development of high quality original graphic novels: mixing said creator-owned properties, licensed assets and new series launches in oversized and key Marvel Universe tales (such as this one) in extravagant over-sized packages (a standard 285mm x 220mm rather than the now customary 258 x 168mm) which always felt and looked like far more than an average comicbook no matter how good, bad or offbeat the contents might have been.

Cloak and Dagger were created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan (first appearing in Spectacular Spider-Man #64 March 1982); two juvenile runaways who fell into the clutches of drug-pushing gangsters. As part of a group of other abducted kids they were used as guinea pigs for new designer drugs but when all the others died horribly Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen were mutated by the chemical cocktail into something more – and less – than human.

Isolated, alone, and vengeful they determined to help other lost kids and hunt drug dealers and all who preyed on the weak in the blackest corners of New York City, popping up all over the Marvel Universe and periodically winning and losing a number of short-lived series all their own.

Cloak is connected to a dimension of darkness; able to teleport, become intangible, and terrifyingly amplify and feed on the wickedness in people. His unceasing hunger for these negative emotions must be regularly if only temporarily sated by super-acrobat Dagger’s dazzling radiance. Her power too has advantages and hazards. The power can cleanse the gnawing dependency afflicting addicts, but constantly, agonizingly, builds up within her when not released. Thus Cloak’s incessant hunger can be assuaged by her light-knives and his apparently insatiable darkness provides a vital method of bleeding off the luminescent pressure within Dagger.

One of the most explored themes of their extended epic was the true nature of their abilities: were they monsters, mutants, transformed humans or were even greater spiritual forces at play in their origins and operations?

Power Pack, created by Louise Simonson & June Brigman in 1984, were four pre-teen siblings given a rare chance to shine in a world dominated by adults after a race of alien marauders kidnapped their parents. Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power were befriended by the patriarch of a rival extraterrestrial species who gave his life to save the galaxy and bequeathed his incredible abilities and sentient “Smart-ship” Friday to the valiant children who aided him in his final struggle.

The distraught and horrified kids inherited his fantastic abilities (one each) and, with the guidance and assistance of Friday, the super-powered kids decided to fight for truth and justice – after doing their homework and whenever possible before bed-time!

In Shelter from the Storm writer Bill Mantlo and art-team Sal Velluto, Mark Farmer and Julie Michel explore the nature and reasoning of runaway teens when Marjorie Rifkin discovers that her obsessively protective parents have sabotaged all her college applications, determined that she should marry and stay in their sheltered little town of Russet Corners. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks Juan Cordova again defends his mother and younger brother and sister from his drunken, abusive father before fleeing the house in fear of his life.

Although worlds apart, Marjorie and Juan are united in their desire to get way and as the strangers meet on a bus to New York, desperate friendship blossoms…

Meanwhile in Manhattan a news report about the Safe Refuge Shelter for runaways blends with a bedtime story of Hansel and Gretel and little Katie Power succumbs to nightmares of abandonment and loss…

When Marjorie and Juan hit the Port Authority Bus Terminal they are immediately targeted by pimps and chicken-hawks but rescued by Cloak and Dagger. In the brutal struggle the luminescent Tandy Bowen receives a savage blow to the head and wanders off, dazed and confused, unnoticed by her rampaging partner Ty Johnson…

Carrying Dagger, Juan and Marjorie make their way to Safe Refuge whilst the enraged Cloak’s ravening hunger and grim fury gives way to despair. With few allies to call on, the Demon of Darkness enlists the aid of Power Pack to help him find his symbiotic soul-mate…

Wise beyond her years, Julie suggests shelters such as Safe Refuge, but even as they make their way there – without their parent’s knowledge – Dagger, Marjorie and Juan have stumbled onto more problems.

In the City’s harsh social climate, Safe Refuge is facing closure. It can only stay open if enough runaways use it, but so many are defecting to new and upcoming residence The Shelter Society that it might die for lack of funds and occupants. Moreover, many of the residents are simply disappearing…

By the time Cloak and Power Pack arrive, Dagger, Marjorie and Juan have been kidnapped and forcibly dragged to the new home, rapidly discovering its horrifying secret: The Shelter Society is nothing more than a gigantic honey-trap run by a ghastly mutated travesty called Cadaver who feeds on the life energy of humans. Naturally his favoured repast is those dregs that society refuses to acknowledge and won’t miss if they vanish without fuss forever…

Even before Power Pack and the increasingly desperate Cloak arrive to save the day, former helpless victims Juan and Marjorie have taken their first steps towards true independence by escaping and striking back at Cadaver and his legion of drained, zombie mind slaves…

Produced in conjunction with and offering solid advice and contact information for homeless kids from the Nineline National Runaways Hotline service, this worthy tale never strays far from the point that to be effective, a message has to be entertaining too, and the dark drama has all the necessary action, adventure, thrills and spills to keep readers glued to this great-looking graphic page turner.
© 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Seven Miles a Second


By David Wojnarowicz & James Romberger with Marguerite van Cook (Vertigo/DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-247-9

Every so often an outsider dabbles in the comics medium and brings something new to the tried-and-trusted mix which forces insiders to re-evaluate the way and the why of their preferred medium. Such a case was the collaboration between iconoclastic multi-media artist David Wojnarowicz and painter, cartoonist and occasional comics pro James Romberger.

During the 1980s and until his death in 1992 Wojnarowicz was a prolific author, poet, musician, painter, filmmaker, photographer, performance artist, advocate for Artist’s Rights, anti-censorship champion and political activist, driven or inspired to constantly create by his appalling life as a teen runaway, street prostitute and AIDS sufferer.

This slim 64-page painted album consists of three interlinked episodes from the author’s life, threaded and embellished with reminiscences, observations dreams and poetry to form a living monologue with the world which made Wojnarowicz the compulsive, questing, wonderingly politicized rebel that he was.

Beginning with ‘Thirst’, we follow as the world-wise, street-smart kid dodges Vice Cops and cruises for “Johns” on the 1970’s corners of 42nd Street, encounting just one more sad guy in search of negotiable warmth and affection…

‘Stray Dogs’ takes place a few years later as David and his latest dangerous boyfriend Willy struggle to feed themselves and trawl the soup kitchens, halfway houses and shelters in search of food and a safe place to sleep. Their nightmare journey through the dregs and gutters of the city would enrage a saint and make the Devil weep…

The disturbingly forensic inner narrative ends with a contemplative and breathtakingly introspective marshalling of ideas and experiences in ‘Seven Miles a Second’, begun as David was dying and left uncompleted until Romberger, a renowned artist himself – particularly scenes of urban and inner city life – returned to the author’s incomplete notes and his own memories of Wojnarowicz to pull everything together.

The final painfully intense and intimate project was initiated in 1989 and only completed after Wojnarowicz died from AIDS-related complications. The book was released in 1996 as a Vertigo prestige format publication.

Terrifying, hallucinogenic, appallingly revealing of a society that eats its weak and different, the graphic self-dissection is followed by the Afterword ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Maniac’, a history and appreciation of David Wojnarowicz by Carlo McCormick (Senior Editor of Paper magazine) which includes reproductions of many of his own paintings.

Hard to take, frighteningly beautiful and staggeringly honest, this is a book that will – and should – upset all the right people, but is one that no mature, clear thinking devotee of graphic narrative should avoid or miss.
© 1996 the Estate of David Wojnarowicz. Illustrations © 1996 James Romberger. Introduction © 1996 Thomas W. Rauffenbart.  Afterword © 1996 Carlo McCormick. All individual Rights Reserved throughout.

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The Flash: the Secret of Barry Allen


By Geoff Johns, Howard Porter, Livesay & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0723-6

Created by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert, Jay Garrick debuted as the very first Scarlet Speedster in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). “The Fastest Man Alive” wowed readers for over a decade before changing tastes benched him in 1951. The concept of speedsters and superheroes in general was revived in 1956 by Julie Schwartz in Showcase #4 when police scientist Barry Allen became the second hero to run with the concept.

The Silver Age Flash, whose creation ushered in a new and seemingly unstoppable era of costumed crusaders, died heroically during Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-1986) and was promptly succeeded by his sidekick Kid Flash. Of course Allen later returned from the dead – but doesn’t everyone?

Initially Wally West struggled to fill the boots of his predecessor, both in sheer ability and, more tellingly, in confidence. Feeling a fraud, he nonetheless persevered and eventually overcame, becoming arguably the greatest hero to bear the title.

There are now many super-speedsters populating the DCU and the majority congregate in the conjoined metropolis of Keystone and Central City. Wally West lives there with his true love Linda Park, his Aunt Iris – Barry’s widow – and fellow fast-fighters such as the apparently tireless Jay Garrick.

Bart Allen, grandson of Barry & Iris, is a juvenile speedster born in the 30th century and has recently taken up Wally’s old role as Kid Flash.

This volume reprints issues #207-211 and #213-217 (issue #212 being a tale devoted to the Mirror Master which was bumped to the next compilation) of the monthly comic and opens with an absolutely crucial scorecard and checklist of characters…

In the aftermath of a staggering extended war of attrition that plagued the Twin Cities for over a year the Scarlet Speedster disappeared and, thanks to the intervention of nigh-omnipotent spirit The Spectre, everyone who knew Wally West was the Flash forgot the secret: friends, foes and even Linda and Wally too…

In The Flash: Ignition Wally recovered his memories but lost his wife as the attack of evil speedster Zoom caused her to miscarry unborn twins and the constant life of turmoil compelled Linda to take a desperately needed time-out. Wally, heartbroken, didn’t even have time to grieve. The Rogues Gallery of Flash-foes were still making trouble and, thanks to the Ghostly Guardian’s spell, all the Scarlet Speedster’s old Justice League allies felt that they could no longer trust a comrade who could so casually meddle with their memories…

Now, with the again anonymous hero back, the Twin Cities have declared a celebratory Flash Day against the wishes of the man himself – who feels that it’s a provocation to the super-villains haunting Central and Keystone. He’s proved right in ‘Rush Hour!’ as Plunder, the new Trickster, Tarpit, Abra Kadabra and a herd of Golden Giants crash the parade intent on much mayhem…

Meanwhile in super-penitentiary Iron Heights, Ashley Zolomon, criminal profiler and estranged wife of Zoom, is trying to see her comatose former spouse, determined to cure him of his murderous obsession, but she’s getting little help from draconian warden Gregory Wolfe.

When Jay Garrick and Kid Flash appear the three speedsters quickly drive off the party crashers in ‘Red Carpet’ before taking a tour of the newly refurbished Flash Museum, whilst in Chicago FBI Special Agent James Jesse – the original Trickster – is forming a task force of reformed Rogues intent on arresting his former criminal associates. Suddenly Wally vanishes, teleported to the JLA citadel and a brusque confrontation with his angry team-mates…

The stories in this collection were first seen during the shocking Identity Crisis crossover event when DC heroes were forced to re-assess their careers and procedures whilst hunting down the murderer of Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man.  As the investigation progressed, heroes – and villains – were forced to challenge many of their bedrock principles, especially when it was revealed that a cabal of heroes had indulged in involuntary, illegal brain-wiping and behaviour modification of criminals in their custody…

Thus the understandably antsy reaction of the JLA in ‘Fast Friends’, when the assembled heroes demanded answers from Wally regarding their own enforced selective amnesia, resulting in a speedy clash with Superman and an agreed rapprochement with the entire heroic community.

In ‘Reconnected’, Captain Cold puts the Rogues on a war footing as Wally reminisces with Nightwing and reconnects to his former Teen Titans chums. Whilst Ashley finally gets her time with Zoom – which everybody will come to regret – The Penguin briefly and painfully relocates into and out of the Twin Cities, courtesy of the Flash and Nightwing, just as the FBI’s reformed Rogue unit (Jesse, Heatwave and Pied Piper) turn their attention to the murderous Flash-foe Murmur…

When Wally gives Dick Grayson an after-hours tour of the Flash Museum they are ambushed by the horrific Gorilla Grodd in ‘Animal House’ resulting in a devastating battle and the super-ape’s crushing defeat. Returning the beast to Iron Heights, Flash clashes with Ashley, whose husband he holds responsible for Linda’s leaving.

Later that night Zolomon almost dies when her car brakes mysteriously fail…

‘Slow Motion’ sees events spiral out of control. Although nobody remembers that Wally is the Flash, Zoom’s attacks on him and Linda are common knowledge and, in his job of police motor mechanic, West was the last person to service her vehicle. However during his interview with Detectives Chyre and Morillo, time literally stands still as The Turtle – Slowest Man Alive – escapes custody by stealing the city’s kinetic motion and the Vizier of Velocity is compelled to stop him between ticks of the clock…

In ‘The Secret of Barry Allen’ chapter 1 the ongoing crisis and pitched metahuman battles of the Identity Crisis begin to hit home as more heroes’ family members are targeted. When Flash discovers that his comrades and idols – particularly his uncle Barry – had crossed a line with their mind-control tactics, he confronts the JLA-ers originally involved and is given a letter written before the second Scarlet Speedster’s death…

In ‘Reformed’ Wally learns that his sainted predecessor was a mere man, filled with fears and foibles who, in a moment of weakness, took the behaviour modification a stage further and attempted not to merely neuter an implacable foe, but, with the aid of magician Zatanna, turn him into a force for justice.

Thus deadly, psionic phantom menace The Top became a man compelled to “do good” but with catastrophic results and, plagued by guilt and remorse, Barry’s last wish was that Wally undo this well-meaning mistake and rectify any harm the ill-advised procedure had caused…

As The Top Roscoe Dillon tapped into incredible mental powers and in ‘Spinning’ his full lethal potential was restored, with terrifying results. Possessed once more of evil free will, Dillon disclosed that he had carried on Barry’s mistake: forcibly making many of his fellow Rogues defenders of society. Almost all of Barry’s Rogues had tried to reform after his death for different lengths of time and with qualified success. Some even became FBI operatives…

Now the vengeance-crazed Top intends to undo his past mental manipulations and see just how many poachers-turned-gamekeepers actually changed their spots…

This volume concludes with ‘Post-Crisis’ and yields the spotlight to the Rogues as they prepare to bury Captain Boomerang and induct his son Owen Mercer as his replacement. Meanwhile Flash is put on final warning by Batman, but isn’t too fussed since Linda has finally returned.

What nobody knows is that the FBI have stolen Boomerang’s corpse (another casualty of the Identity Crisis) in preparation for an all-out war against Captain Cold and the Rogues…

With a cover gallery by Michael Turner, Peter Steigerwald, Howard Porter & Livesay and including a photo-feature revealing how Turner’s cover was converted into a statue of Flash triumphant over Gorilla Grodd, this tome is a captivating reaffirmation of the strength and vitality of the Flash as a fan-favourite who always delivers the goods.

Fast, furious and fabulous, the numerous Scarlet Speedsters have always epitomised the very best in costumed comic thrills and these spectacular yarns are among the very best. Moreover, this entire book is just a prologue for a blockbusting epic still to come…

© 2004, 200s DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Legion of Super Hero Archives volume 7


By Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, George Klein, Pete Costanza, Jim Mooney & Sheldon Moldoff (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-398-3

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

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

This stunning and sturdy, action packed seventh full-colour deluxe hardback collection re-presents tales from the disparate Superman Family titles which saw the early zenith of the team in sagas from their own feature spanning Adventure Comics #359-367 from August 1967 to April 1968 cover-dates, with a Legion-starring tale from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106 (October 1967) thrown in at no extra cost.

This period completed the Tomorrow Team’s transformation from wholesome, humorous and generally safe science fiction strip into a grittily determined army of galactic warriors dedicated to universal peace and, after an effusive and fulsome Foreword from sometime Legion scripter Tom Peyer, the action starts fast, picks up speed and just keeps going…

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

Adventure #359 found the entire team of once-beloved and trusted champions disbanded and on the run as ‘The Outlawed Legionnaires!’ thanks to the manipulations of a devious old foe, only to rousingly regroup and comprehensively counter-attack in #360’s conclusion ‘The Legion Chain Gang!’

Once again restored to their position as a key component of United Planets Security in ‘The Unkillables!’, a small superhero squad consisting of Bouncing Boy, Duo Damsel, Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Karate Kid, Shrinking Violet, Superboy, Star Boy, Collossal Boy, Light Lass and Brainiac 5 were then assigned to protect alien ambassadors the Dominators from political agitators, assassins and a hidden traitor in a tense thriller illustrated by Jim Mooney, after which ‘The Lone Wolf Legion Reporter!’ (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106, by Shooter & Pete Costanza) found the young newsman seconded to the 30th century to help with the club newspaper. Sadly he was far better at making news than publishing it…

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

Shooter & Costanza then topped their gripping two-parter by uncovering ‘The Revolt of the Super-Pets!’ in #364, when the crafty rulers of planet Thanl attempted to seduce the animal adventurers  Krypto, Streaky, Beppo the Super-Monkey, super-horse Comet and amorphous telepathic blob Proty II from their rightful – subordinate – positions with sweet words and palatial new homes…

When the isolated world of Talok 8 went dark and became an ultra-militaristic threat to the UP, their planetary champion Shadow Lass led Superboy, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy and Karate Kid on a reconnaissance mission which resulted in the disastrous ‘Escape of the Fatal Five!’ – illustrated by the returning Swan & Klein, whose time was increasingly being taken up with work in Superman and Action Comics).

The despicable quintet then almost conquered the UP itself and were only frustrated by the defiant, last ditch efforts of the battered heroes in the blistering conclusion ‘The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!’

In grateful thanks the Legion were gifted with a vast new HQ but before the paint was even dry a vast paramilitary force attempted to invade the slowly rebuilding planet Earth in #367’s ‘No Escape from the Circle of Death!’ (with additional inking by Sheldon Moldoff) ending this classic collection with a blockbuster battle and revelatory encounter which would reshape DC continuity in the years to come…

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

Moreover, these scintillating and seductively addictive stories – as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League – enflamed the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and underpinned the industry we all know today.

If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1967, 1968, 1997 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Shade the Changing Man: the American Scream


By Peter Milligan, Chris Bachalo, Mark Pennington (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-716-0 (1990)      978-1401200466 (2009 edition)

Even before DC hived off its “Mature Readers” sophisticated horror/hero series to become the backbone of the self-sustaining Vertigo line in 1993, the company had begun to differentiate between standard all-ages superhero sagas, new stand-alone concepts like Gilgamesh II, Skreemer, Haywire or World Without End and edgy, off-the-wall, quasi-costumed fantasy and supernatural suspense titles as Doom Patrol, Black Orchid, Animal Man, Sandman, Hellblazer and Swamp Thing. Perhaps the most radical and challenging was a darkly psychedelic reworking of Steve Ditko’s lost masterpiece of modern paranoia Shade the Changing Man. 

In the original 1977 series Rac Shade was a secret observer from the other-dimensional realm of Meta-Zone, who was framed and went rogue; using stolen technology to combat a wave of insanity that emanated from “the Area of Madness” within the Zero-Zone which separated his world from ours. The madness threatened both universes and Shade was determined to stop it, despite the best efforts of sinister self-serving forces from Earth and Meta determined to destroy him.

When Peter Milligan, Chris Bachalo & Mark Pennington began to rework the character much of the Ditko concept remained but was brutally tweaked for the far more cynical and worldly readers of the Blank Generation…

This initial collection re-presents the first six issues of the new Shade from July-December 1980 and introduces deeply disturbed Kathy George, patiently awaiting the final sanction on spree-killer Troy Grenzer. Years ago the unrepentant psychopath butchered her parents and almost her too, and when her black boyfriend tackled the knife-wielding manic the Louisiana police shot her saviour instead of the white assailant…

Now in the final hours before Grenzer finally sits in the electric chair on ‘Execution Day’ Kathy is experiencing wild hallucinations. That’s nothing new: following the deaths of everyone she’d ever loved, Kathy was committed to an asylum until her inheritance ran out and she was released, apparently “too poor to be crazy” anymore.

Becoming a thief and a grifter, she wandered America until a radio report informed her that Grenzer was about to be put to death and Kathy inexplicably found herself heading back to Louisiana…

On Death Row things weren’t going according to plan. Bizarre lights, strange visions and electrical phenomena interrupted the execution and, as a fantastic reality-warping explosion occurred, Grenzer’s body vanished…

On a hillside overlooking the prison Kathy was pursued by an animated electric chair and Troy Grenzer materialised in her car – only he claimed not to be the serial killer but Rac Shade, a secret agent from another dimension who had left his own body in an otherworldly Area of Madness and mentally occupied the now-vacant corpse of the serial killer.

It wasn’t the craziest thing Kathy had ever heard and even if it wasn’t true at least she had a chance to personally kill the man who had destroyed her life…

As the drove away together insane things kept happening and Shade explained that his journey had caused a rupture in the fabric of the universes – a trauma in Reality…

Slowly acclimatising, Shade explains that his original body is clad in experimental technology and this “M-Vest” connects his subconscious to the chaos of the Madness zone. His job was to come here and stop a plague of materialised insanity threatening both worlds, but he’s actually given it easier access to ours…

After a climactic struggle with her own ghosts and traumas, Kathy reluctantly agreed to help the semi-amnesiac Shade in his mission…

Meanwhile at the Famhouse Mental Hospital uncanny events were culminating in a ghastly reordering of people and matter itself: a horrific nigh-sentient phenomenon dubbed “the American Scream” had broken through from somewhere else and threatened all life and rationality on Earth.

With casual daydreams, flights of fantasy and vicious whims increasingly given substance and solidity, the government, well aware of the crisis, dispatched Federal Agents Stringer and Conner to investigate…

The quest proper began as the fugitives from justice trolled through the hinterlands of American Culture and its Collective Unconscious, ending up in Dallas where obsessed author Duane Trilby, determined to discover ‘Who Shot JFK?’, found himself conversing with the tarnished martyr himself as the murdered president returned to the scene of the crime and the city started to literally unravel, with a giant idolatrous bust of the victim bursting through the tarmac of Dealey Plaza, incessantly screaming for answers…

The chaos affected Shade, and the last vestiges of Grenzer’s personality kept repossessing the body they shared, determined to at last add Kathy to his tally of victims, whilst Agents Stringer and Conner, convinced that she is connected to Grenzer’s abrupt disappearance from his own execution, followed her to Texas…

With madness rampant, Shade and Kathy were drawn into Trilby’s materialisation of events, becoming JFK and Jackie, inexorably heading toward death in that open-topped car…

The measured insanity continued in ‘All the President’s Assassins!’ as Trilby saved Shade/JFK and slowly revealed his own personal tragedy: one which drove him to solve an impossible conundrum and avoid an agonising admission.

All the while the Metan’s consciousness was being dragged into a succession of traumatised participants and realised that he must defeat this outbreak of the American Scream quickly or surely fragment and die…

Escaping into his own past on Meta in ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’, Shade physically re-experienced his early life whilst in Dallas Stringer and Conner apprehended Kathy. A lovelorn, impressionable poet, young dropout Rac Shade was tricked into becoming an agent and sent to Earth because it was apparently the source of devastating waves of insanity plaguing Meta, but he was sucked into the Area of Madness and met the American Scream face to face…

Falling back to Earth, Rac freed Kathy and they fled, arriving in Los Angeles in time to struggle with the dark underbelly of the film industry as it came to murderous, sadistic life and began stalking the stars and moguls who created the vicious yet glorious land of dreams.

First singled out were the cast and crew of in-production zombie epic “Hollywood Monsters’, who endured shame and career destruction as impossible film-clips of their deepest secrets and darkest transgression became to appear. Soon after, the mutilations and deaths began, before a psychedelic crescendo was reached in ‘Hollywood Babble On II’ with Shade and Kathy fighting their way through a physically realised and highly biased history of Tinsel Town triumphs and travesties, before seizing control of the noxious narrative and beating the Madness at its own game…

Darkly ironic, blackly comedic, gripping and dripping with razor-edged social commentary, Shade the Changing Man adds a sparkling brew of sardonic wit to the horror and action staples of the medium and remains one of the most challenging and intriguing series in comics.
© 2003, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Avenging Spider-Man: My Friends Can Beat Up Your Friends


By Zeb Wells, Joe Madureira, Greg Land, Leinil Francis Yu, Jay Leisten & Gerardo Alanguilan (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-509-3

Since Spider-Man first joined the Avengers he has spent a lot of time questioning his worth and fittingness and that nervous insecurity informs this delightful compendium of brief sidebar stories starring the wall-crawler and individual members of the World’s Mightiest Heroes in team-up action.

Collecting the first five issues of team-up title The Avenging Spider-Man, which began at the end of 2011 – presumably to capitalise on the then-impending Avengers film release – this engaging and upbeat compendium is as big on laughs as mayhem, as you’d expect with award-winning Robot Chicken scripter Zeb Wells at the keyboard…

The madcap mayhem begins with a three-part collaboration illustrated by Joe Madureira and co-starring military monolith Red Hulk wherein the subterranean Moloids once ruled over by the Mole Man attack during the New York Marathon and kidnap Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.

The only heroes available are the criminally mismatched and constantly bickering web-spinner and Crimson Colossus, who follow, by the most inconvenient and embarrassing method possible, the raiders back into the very bowels of the Earth…

There they discover that an even nastier race of deep Earth dwellers, the Molans, led by a brutal barbarian named Ra’ktar, have invaded the Mole Man’s lands and now are intent on taking the surface too. The only thing stopping them so far is a ceremonial single-combat duel between the monstrous Molan and the surface world “king” Mayor Jameson…

Understandably Red Hulk steps in as JJJ’s champion, with the Wall-crawler revelling in his own inadequacies and insecurities again, but when Ra’ktar kills the Scarlet Steamroller (don’t worry kids, it’s only a flesh wound: a really, really deep, incredibly debilitating flesh wound) Spider-Man has to suck it in and step up, once more defeating impossible odds and saving the day in his own inimitable, embarrassing and hilarious way…

Next up is a stand alone story pairing the web-spinner with the coolly capable and obnoxiously arrogant Hawkeye (limned by Greg Land & Jay Leisten) which superbly illustrates Spider-Man’s warmth, humanity and abiding empathy as the fractious allies foil an attempt by the sinister Serpent Society to unleash poison gas in the heart of the city, but without doubt the undisputed prize here is a magical buddy-bonding yarn featuring Captain America which charismatically concludes this compendium.

The wonderment begins when some recently rediscovered pre-WWII comics strips by ambitious and aspiring kid-cartoonist Steve Rogers leads to a mutual acknowledgement of both Cap and Spidey’s inner nerd… and just in case you’ve no soul, there’s also plenty of spectacular costumed conflict as the Avengers track down and polish off the remaining scaly scallywags of the Serpent Society in a cracking yarn illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu & Gerardo Alanguilan…

By turns outrageous, poignant, sentimental, suspenseful and always intoxicatingly action-packed, this is a welcome return to the good old fun-stuffed thriller frolics Spider-Man was born for…

™ & © 2012 Marvel and subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A, Italy. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.

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Showcase Presents Superman volume 4


By Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, Leo Dorfman, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, George Klein & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1271

By the time of the stories collected in this fabulous fourth monochrome compendium Superman was truly a global household name, with the burgeoning mythology of lost Krypton, modern Metropolis and the core cast familiar to most children and many adults.

The Man of Tomorrow was just beginning a media-led burst of revived interest.

In the immediate future, television exposure, a rampant merchandising wave thanks to the Batman-led boom in superheroes generally, highly efficient world-wide comics, cartoon, bubblegum cards and especially toy licensing deals would all feed a growing frenzy. Everything was working to keep the Last Son of Krypton a vibrant yet comfortably familiar icon of modern, Space-Age America: particularly the constantly evolving, ever-more dramatic and imaginative comicbook stories…

The tales in this tome span October 1962-February 1964 culled from Action Comics #293-309 and Superman #157-166 and increasingly saw the Man of Tomorrow facing more fantastic physical threats and critical personal and social challenges.

Action Comics #293 gets things off to a fine start with ‘The Feud Between Superman and Clark Kent!’ by Edmond Hamilton & Al Plastino, as another exposure to the randomly metamorphic Red Kryptonite divided the Metropolis Marvel into a rational but powerless mortal and an aggressive, out of control superhero, determined to continue his existence at all costs…

Superman #157 (November 1962) opened with a key new piece of the ongoing legend as ‘The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!’ by Hamilton, Curt Swan & George Klein introduced permanently power-neutralising Gold Kryptonite and Superman’s Zone-o-phone – allowing him to monitor and communicate with the incarcerated inhabitants – in a stirring tale of injustice and redemption.

Convicted felon Quex-Ul used the device to petition Superman for release since his sentence has been served, and despite reservations the fair-minded hero could only agree.

However further investigation revealed Quex-Ul had been framed and was wholly innocent of any crime, but before Superman could make amends for the injustice he had to survive a deadly trap which the embittered and partially mind-controlled parolee had laid for the son of the Zone’s discoverer…

The issue also contained a light-hearted espionage-sting yarn as the Action Ace became ‘The Super-Genie of Metropolis!’ (Robert Bernstein & Plastino) as well as ‘Superman’s Day of Doom!’ by Jerry Siegel, Swan & Klein, wherein a little kid saves the Man of Steel from a deadly ambush set during a parade in the hero’s honour.

Action #294 then offered a classic duel between Superman and Lex Luthor in ‘The Kryptonite Killer!’ (Hamilton & Plastino) wherein the obsessed scientist creates elemental humanoids to destroy his hated foe, whilst #295’s ‘Superman Goes Wild!’ featured an insidious plot by the Superman Revenge Squad to drive the hero murderously insane – courtesy of creators Bernstein, Swan & Klein.

Issue #158 of his solo title featured the full-length epic ‘Superman in Kandor!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) which saw raiders from the preserved Kryptonian enclave attacking the Man of Steel in ‘Invasion of the Mystery Supermen’, describing him as a traitor to his people. Baffled, Superman infiltrated the Bottle City with Jimmy Olsen where they created the costumed identities of Nightwing and Flamebird to become ‘The Dynamic Duo of Kandor!’ and discovered the answer to the enigma before saving the entire colony from utter destruction in ‘The City of Super-People!’

Action #296 seemed to offer a simple man vs. monster saga in ‘The Invasion of the Super-Ants!’ (Hamilton & Plastino) but the gripping yarn also had a sharp plot twist and timely warning about nuclear proliferation, whilst in #297 ‘The Man Who Betrayed Superman’s Identity!’ by Leo Dorfman, Swan & Klein, veteran newsman Perry White was tricked into solving the world’s greatest mystery after a bump on the head gave him amnesia.

Whilst Editor Mort Weisinger was expanding the series’ continuity and building the legend, he learned that each new tale was an event which added to a nigh-sacred canon and that what he printed was deeply important to the readers. However as an ideas man he wasn’t going to let that aggregated “history” stifle a good plot situation, nor would he allow his eager yet sophisticated audience to endure clichéd Deus ex Machina cop-outs which would mar the sheer enjoyment of a captivating concept.

Thus “Imaginary Stories” were conceived as a way of exploring non-continuity plots and scenarios, devised at a time when editors believed that entertainment trumped consistency and fervently believed that every comic read was somebody’s first and, unless they were very careful, their last…

This volume’s first Imaginary Novel follows, taken from Superman #159 wherein ‘Lois Lane, the Super-Maid of Krypton!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) saw a baby girl escape Earth’s destruction by rocketing to another world in ‘Lois Lane’s Flight from Earth!’ befriending young Kal-El and growing to become a mighty champion of justice.

She clashed with ‘The Female Luthor of Krypton!’ and saved the world over and again before tragically enduring ‘The Doom of Super-Maid!’ at a time when attitudes apparently couldn’t allow a girl to be stronger than Superman – even in an alternate fictionality…

Dorfman, Swan & Klein produced ‘Clark Kent, Coward!’ in Action #298 wherein a balloon excursion dumped Jimmy, Lois and the clandestine crusader in a lost kingdom whose queen found the timid buffoon irresistible. Unfortunately the husky hunks of the hidden land took great umbrage with her latest fascination…

In his eponymous publication the hero temporarily lost his powers in ‘The Mortal Superman!’ (#160 by Dorfman &Plastino) and almost died in ‘The Cage of Doom!’, before his merely human wits proved enough to outsmart a merciless crime syndicate, after which the mood lightened when, fully restored, he became ‘The Super-Cop of Metropolis!’ to outwit a gang of spies in a classy “why-dunnit” by Siegel, Swan & Klein.

Action #299 revealed the outlandish story behind ‘The Story of Superman’s Experimental Robots!’ in a truly bizarre tale from Siegel & Plastino, after which Superman #161 led with an untold tale that revealed how he tragically learned the limitations of his powers.

In ‘The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent!’ (Dorfman & Plastino) a vacation time-travel trip led to his foster parent’s demise and only too late did the heartbroken hero learn that his actions were not the cause of their deaths, after which ‘Superman Goes to War’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) lightened the mood as a war game covered by the Daily Planet staff segued into the real thing when Clark discovered some of the participants were actually aliens.

Action Comics reached #300 with the May1963 issue and to celebrate Hamilton & Plastino crafted the brilliantly ingenious ‘Superman Under the Red Sun!’ which saw the Man of Tomorrow dispatched to the far, far future where Earth’s sun has cooled to crimson and his powers faded. The valiant chronal castaway suffered incredible hardship and danger before figuring out a way home, just in time for #301 and ‘The Trial of Superman!’ (Hamilton & Plastino), wherein the Man of Steel allowed himself to be prosecuted for Clark Kent’s murder to save the nation from a terrible threat.

Dorfman, Swan & Klein’s ‘The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!’ (Superman #162) is possibly the most ambitious and influential tale of the entire “Imaginary Tale” sub-genre: a startling utopian classic so well-received that decades later it influenced and flavoured the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman continuity for months.

In ‘The Titanic Twins!’ the Metropolis Marvel is permanently divided into two equal beings who forthwith solve all Earth’s problems with ‘The Anti-Evil Ray!’ and similar scientific breakthroughs before both retiring with pride and the girls of their dreams, Lois Lane and Lana Lang (one each, of course) in ‘The End of Superman’s Career!’

There’s no record of who scripted Action #302’s ‘The Amazing Confession of Super- Perry White!’ but Plastino’s slick illustration lends great animation to the convoluted tale wherein the Man of Steel replaces the aging editor to thwart an assassination plot, only to accidentally give the impression that the podgy Perry is his actual alter ego…

Superman #163 offered a crafty mystery as ‘Wonder-Man, the New Hero of Metropolis!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) almost replaced the Man of Steel, were it not for his tragic foredoomed secret whilst ‘The Goofy Superman!’ (Bernstein & Plastino) saw Red K deprive the Metropolis Marvel of his powers and sanity, resulting in a rather fortuitous stay in the local home for the Perpetually Bewildered – since that’s where a cunning mad bomber was secretly hiding out…

Action #303 saw the infernal mineral transform Superman into ‘The Monster from Krypton!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein), almost dying at the hands of the army and a vengeful Supergirl who believed her cousin had been eaten by the dragon he’d become, whilst #304 heralded ‘The Interplanetary Olympics!’ by Dorfman, Swan & Klein, with Superman deliberately throwing the contest and shaming Earth… but only for the best possible reasons…

Next up is a classic confrontation between the Caped Kryptonian and his greatest foe in ‘The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman’ (Superman #164, October 1963 and by Hamilton, Swan & Klein again) pitting the lifelong foes in an unforgettable confrontation on the post-apocalyptic planet Lexor – a lost world of forgotten science and fantastic beasts – which resulted in ‘The Super-Duel!’ and displayed a whole new side to Superman’s previously two dimensional arch-enemy.

The issue also included ‘The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!’ (Siegel & Plastino) a smart vignette which saw Superman cunningly outwit a foe he could not beat by playing on his psychological foibles…

Action #305 featured the Imaginary Story ‘Why Superman Needs a Secret Identity!’ (Dorfman, Swan & Klein) which outlined a series of personal tragedies and disasters following Ma and Pa Kent’s proud and foolish public announcement that their son was an alien Superboy, whilst in Superman #165 ‘Beauty and the Super-Beast!’ and its conclusion ‘Circe’s Super-Slave’ (Bernstein, Swan & Klein), the Man of Steel was seemingly helpless against the ancient sorceress, but in fact the whole thing was an elaborate hoax designed to foil the alien invaders of the Superman Revenge Squad. The issue’s third tale, ‘The Sweetheart Superman Forgot!’ (Siegel & Plastino) featured a memorable and heartbreaking forbidden romance in which a powerless, amnesiac and disabled Superman met, loved and lost a good woman who loved him purely for himself. When his memory and powers returned Clark had no recollection of Sally Selwyn, who’s probably still pining faithfully for him…

Action #306 offered ‘The Great Superman Impersonation!’ by Bernstein & Plastino, as in a twist on the Prince and the Pauper Clark Kent was hired to protect the President of a South American republic because he looks enough like Superman to fool potential assassins. Of course it’s all a Byzantine con, but by the end who’s conning who?

The reporter’s crime exposés found ‘Clark Kent – Target for Murder!’ in Action #307 (by an unattributed scripter and artists Swan &Klein) but the villainous King Kobra made the mistake of his life when the hitman he hired turned out to be the intended victim in disguise, whilst issue #308 concentrated on all-out fantasy when ‘Superman Meets the Goliath-Hercules!’ (anonymous & Plastino) after crossing into a parallel universe.

Before returning the Man of Steel helped a colossal demigod perform the Six Labours of King Thebes in a story clearly cobbled together in far too much haste.

Superman #166 (January 1964) featured ‘The Fantastic Story of Superman’s Sons’ by Hamilton, Swan & Klein: an Imaginary Tale and solid thriller built on a painful premise -what if only one of Superman’s children inherited his powers? The story begins in ‘Jor-El II and Kal-El II’ with the discovery that little Kal junior takes after his Earth-born mother and subsequently grows into a teenager with real emotional problems.

Hoping to boost his confidence, Superman packs both sons off to Kandor where they’ll be physically equal and soon the twins are finding adventure as ‘The new Nightwing and Flamebird!’

However, when a Kandorian menace escapes to the outer world, it’s up to the human son to save Earth following ‘Kal-El II’s Mission to Krypton!’ which wraps everything up in a neat and tidy bundle of escapist fun.

This volume closes with a strange TV tie-in tale from Action Comics #309 as an analogue of This Is Your Life honours Superman by inviting all his friends – even the Legion of Super-Heroes and especially including Clark Kent – to ‘The Superman Super-Spectacular!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein).

With no other option the Metropolis Marvel is compelled to share his secret identity with somebody new so that they can impersonate him. Although there must be less convoluted ways to allay Lois’ constant suspicions, this yarn does include perhaps the oddest guest star appearance in comics’ history…

These tales are the comicbook equivalent of bubblegum pop music: perfectly constructed, always entertaining, occasionally challenging and never unwelcome. As well as containing some of the most delightful episodes of the pre angst-drenched, cosmically catastrophic DC, these fun, thrilling, mind-boggling and yes, frequently moving all-ages stories also perfectly depict the changing mores and tastes which reshaped comics between the safely anodyne 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1970s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry – “keep them entertained and keep them wanting more”.

I know I certainly do…
© 1962-1964, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Thor: the Deviants Saga


By Robert Rodi, Stephen Segovia, M. Jason Paz & Jeffrey Huet (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-511-6

Once again a major motion picture adaptation has generated a host of supplemental comics product and as Thor returns to the big screen in The Avengers movie there’s still plenty for established fans and freshly-interested parties to grapple with, such as this stirring and tempestuous epic featuring the final fate and rebirth of Jack Kirby’s other Marvel “gods and monsters” series…

The Eternals debuted in 1976 in a series slightly at odds with and removed from the regular company continuity and revealed that giant Celestial aliens had visited Earth in Epochs past, gene-gineering proto-hominids into three distinct species: Human Beings; god-like super-beings who called themselves Eternals and monstrous, genetically unstable but highly intelligent creatures dubbed Deviants. Moreover the Space Gods had periodically returned to check up on their experiment…

Never a comfortable contemporary fit with the rest of the Marvel Universe, the comic explored Kirby’s fascinations with Deities, Space and Supernature through the lens of very human observers. Once the series ended and Kirby left, other creators subsequently co-opted the concept into the regular continuity.

Skilfully remastered here by Robert Rodi and artists Stephen Segovia, M. Jason, Paz & Jeffrey Huet, the story picks up on elements of the 2007 collection Neil Gaiman’s Eternals and opens in the ruins of Asgard as Thor discovers ancient deposed, Deviant ruler Ereshkigal has crept in and is searching through the rubble.

The Deviants have fallen on hard times and face extinction from a deadly plague, inspiring the demonic ex-empress to seek Asgardian tools and weapons to facilitate her return to power. After an inconclusive battle, Ereshkigal escapes with the Unbinding Stone of Oshemar, an apparently innocuous globe which can literally unmake reality.

Utterly unaware of the power of her purloined prize, the Deviant tries and fails to usurp control from the current rulers of the Lemurian under-city which is their home whilst Thor, galvanised by the imminent destruction of the universe, seeks allies and the location of her hidden homeland amongst his old comrades in Olympia, cloaked Earthly citadel of his old Eternal comrades.

The city is all but deserted, with only resurrected hero Virako, master technician Phastos and “reformed” Deviants Karkas and Ransak the Reject occupying the vast mountaintop metropolis…

Before the valiant band can formulate a plan, however, the city is invaded by a Deviant army led by immortal Warlord Kro and a coterie of elite monster warriors. After a spectacular battle the heroes are temporarily overwhelmed and Phastos captured: his incredible devices taken in the misguided belief that they can reverse the effects of the disease devastating the Deviant population.

With the Unbinding Stone still in Ereshkigal’s meddling hands and their friend in peril, Thor and his comrades must storm the very heart of Lemuria before personal tragedy becomes universal Armageddon, but at least they have a hidden ally in the heart of the enemy – the outcast Eternal known alternatively as Gilgamesh and the Forgotten One…

Also re-entering the mix are the space-scattered, missing Eternals, but even if they return in time what can anybody do against a doom-obsessed potentate possessing a device which destroys atomic bonds and has no off-switch…?

A grandiose old-fashioned blockbuster epic, this rousing yarn is craftily constructed so that even first-time readers can get right into the swing of things, whilst veteran followers will find plenty of old favourite characters and themes revisited and clarified, with the adventure rattling along to a perfect climax with the portentous promise of more to come.

Fast, furious, frantic fantasy fun for older kids that no Fights ‘n’ Tights fanatic could possibly resist.
™ & © 2012 Marvel and subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A, Italy. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.

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Battle Scars


By Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction, Christopher Yost, Scot Eaton & Andrew Hennessy (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-512-3

What happens when everything you think you know is proven to be a lie? How does a practical, self-reliant normal man cope?

Short, sharp, supremely shocking and superbly entertaining, this collected six-part ‘Shattered Heroes’ miniseries was set in the aftermath of the Fear Itself company-wide crossover and focused on troubled American Army Ranger Marcus Johnson, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who overnight found himself in an impossible situation a million miles from the sane and sensible – if understandably deadly – world he knew.

Afflicted by PTSD after all he experienced as a soldier, and with the world still recovering from the visceral global panic of “the Fear” (when dark Asgardian Gods almost destroyed the world through a wave of supernatural terror), Johnson returns home to attend his mother’s funeral.

Nia Johnson was a simple Atlanta schoolteacher killed in a terror-inspired street riot.

Or was she…?

On leave for the burial, Johnson discovers evidence that his mother was actually assassinated by mercenaries who then attack him in broad daylight. Hot on their heels comes super-hitman Taskmaster and the baffled soldier is only saved by the intervention of Captain America and a new iteration of the covert agency Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

Without any explanation Johnson is taken into protective custody but, determined to get some answers, escapes and stumbles his baffled way through the insane world of superhumans and secret societies where everybody is a costumed lunatic and they’re all trying to kill him or recruit him.

With only his best buddy Ranger Phil “Cheese” Coulson to depend on, Johnson battles an army of maniacs who literally want his blood, discovers his mother’s incredible secret, and learns of his connection to one of the oldest and most valiant heroes in the Marvel Universe in a spectacular, compelling and rocket-paced rollercoaster ride which fittingly introduces him to a world he never wanted or even believed in…

Without, I hope, giving too much away, I’ll suggest that the contemporary trend of rationalising and aligning comicbook and screen versions of superhero scenarios clearly inspired this classy espionage super-saga and its ties to the interlocking Avengers/Iron Man/Thor/Captain America mega-movie franchise. If I’m being vague, I apologise, but if you’ve seen the movies, read this book and you’ll see what I mean.

If you’re not a devout movie maven, however, read the book anyway.  The sheer quality of the tale by storymen Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction, Christopher Yost and artists Scot Eaton & Andrew Hennessy seems certain to make this marvellous yarn a guaranteed hit and crucial keystone of 21st century Marvel continuity.
A British Edition ™ & © 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Outsiders: Pay As You Go


By Judd Winick, Carlo Barberi, Ron Randall, Scott McDaniel, Freddie Williams III & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1366-4

Finally exposed to a world which  believed them dead and now also blamed for setting off a nuclear explosion which destroyed a large part of Russia and poisoned the atmosphere for miles around, the underground metahuman coalition known as The Outsiders found themselves on a path to oblivion as their series peaked even whilst winding down for a major reboot.

This sixth compelling compendium (collecting #42-46 and Annual #1of Judd Winick’s grim and witty Outsiders comicbook) saw Nightwing, Grace, Thunder, Metamorpho, Katana and Owen Reece (speedster son and heir of the recently – and temporarily – deceased Captain Boomerang) – up to their muscular armpits in trouble as the story-arc ‘Mad Scientists’ continued with ‘The Weaving Factories’ (illustrated by Ron Randall, Pop Mhan, Art Thibert & Steve Bird) as exposed mastermind Dr. Sivana attacked Sydney, Australia with a weapon that neutralised technology and turned people into infinitely suggestible idiots (no, even worse than usual…).

First to respond was Nightwing’s team who flew straight to the smug mad scientist’s new lair and straight into a trap. Rather than kill them all, however, the demented doctor made them a staggering offer in ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’ before Katana spectacularly turned the tables on the maverick savant.

Even while being driven off Sivana gloated that an irresistible seed had been planted in the rogue heroes’ minds…

The eponymous ‘Pay as You Go’ storyline then begins with ‘The Skeleton Crew’ (art by Carlo Barberi & Thibert): an untold tale from the year that was skipped in the ‘One Year Later’ event and the exploit which led the world to believe the entire team was dead…

At that time the Outsiders were struggling to cope after the Infinite Crisis, particularly Anissa Pierce AKA Thunder, who was grieving for her father Black Lightning.

Elder hero Jefferson Pierce, believing himself guilty of murder, had surrendered to the authorities and chosen to serve time under an alias in the metahuman prison known as Iron Heights, but when Batman-trained vigilante and part-time villain Red Hood reached out to Nightwing with evidence that Lightning had been deceived and was completely innocent of the crime which had crushed his spirit, heart and soul, the conflicted Dick Grayson had no choice but to inform the team he had just quit…

The drama further unfolded in ‘Sins of the Father’ (Freddie Williams III, Barberi & Thibert) as the details behind the guilt-driven Lightning’s self-incarceration were revealed and Red Hood named the who, how, and why of the real killer before ‘Friends, Lovers and Other Strangers’ (additional inks by Bird) saw the team initially refuse to bust him out because of the political ramifications before changing their minds and sending the new Captain Boomerang in to infiltrate and pave the way…

Unfortunately Jefferson refused to go, but when Boomerang realised Black Lightning’s cover had been broken and an entire prison of super-criminals was hungry to kill him the Outsiders had no choice but to go in hard and heavy…

It all went bad in ‘The Wrong to do the Right’ (illustrated by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens) as the hasty plan quickly misfired, resulting in the entire prisoner population breaking free and hard-line warden Gregory Wolfe maniacally over-reacting. In the resulting catastrophe 43 inmates and guards perished and the Outsiders, although believed dead too, were blamed.

Nightwing and Arsenal, who had been noticeably elsewhere at the time, were perceived as not involved, but they knew the truth and shared the blame: the plan had been theirs and in the undertaking of it they had destroyed the team’s standing and reputation forever. Moreover, in the aftermath, one of the Outsider’s, unable to bear the guilt of his actions, ended his life…

Brutal, uncompromising and savagely action-packed, the dark secret of the Outsiders had been revealed just in time for a big finish, but these cynically plausible superhero sagas are still gripping, shocking and extremely readable: compelling tales which will enthral older fans of the genre.

To Be Concluded…
© 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.