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Tag Archives: World's Finest
Hello fellow Internet wanderers, and welcome to another edition of Into the Bronze Age, finishing up our coverage of December 1971. I'm afraid that there is a cloud hanging over our celebration of the joy of classic comics today, as a tragedy has struck the FF community. We recently learned of the death of Cyber Burn, content creator extraordinaire, my constant aide and ally, my dear friend, and all-around great human being. He was an amazing guy, and we are all grieving his loss. I'm going to write more about him and his importance to our community and literally everything I ever created for FF in a future post. At the moment, I don't have the capacity to do him justice, though I am far from certain that I ever will be up to that particular herculean task.
In the meantime, let's celebrate one of the things that always brought him joy, one of the things that, for him, as for many of us, served as a refuge from the ugliness and tawdriness of the world around us, the realm of the fantastic, the brighter, more hopeful terrain, of superhero comics. Let's see what our last books of the month have in store for us.
"A Big Thing in a Deep Scottish Lake!"
Writer/Penciler: Jack Kirby
DNA Project: "The Torn Photograph"
Letterer John Costanza
Newsboy Legion: "Kings for a Day!"
Writers: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Inker: Joe Simon
Letterer: Howard Ferguson
Editors: Whitney Ellsworth
The first book in this batch is that misfit, redheaded step-child of the Fourth World titles, Jimmy Olsen, but unlike the bizarre, confusing mixture of ideas from the previous pair of issues, this month the King gives us something much more focused and fun. As you might guess from the cover, this comic sees the Newsboy Legion and our titular cub reporter coming face to snout with an ersatz Loch Ness Monster. In such an aquatic adventure there's even a chance that Flippa Dippa might actually be useful….but I wouldn't count on it. The cover image itself is a pretty good one, with a nicely dynamic and exciting central drama unfolding upon it, as the Legion hang on for dear life or leap to safety during their impromptu shipwreck. The whole thing has the King's trademark energy and excitement. Superman doesn't quite fit in with the picture, both because of Murphy Anderson's overwriting of Kirby's work and because he's not really part of the dominant scene. That is actually rather accurate, as he plays no role in Jimmy's plot, but it looks a bit odd to have him disproportionately soaring past as his young friends face pseudo-Nessie's watery wrath, 'Sorry kids, I've got super-business back in Metropolis, good luck with the monster!'
Not exactly the most creative of titles…
Kirby's cover is a pretty fair promise of what awaits us within, and our tale begins with a Kirby-tech speedboat racing across the surface of "Loch Trevor," which is totally not Loch Ness, thankyouverymuch. The pilot of the craft is searching for a supposed sea monster that stalks the waters of the Loch, and he finds it, or rather, it finds him, in rather dramatic fashion, destroying his ship and setting the stage for our adventure. Back in Metropolis, everyone's favorite corporate shark, Morgan Edge, is raking Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion over the coals for failing to come back with a story. Of course, they have a heck of a story about "The Project," but they've been sworn to secrecy. The King also seems to have forgotten that he last left Jimmy Olsen watching musicals projected onto the clouds of a miniature Universal Monster-themed world, so one would imagine he's got quite the story to tell himself! Nonetheless, the heinous head of Galaxy Broadcasting casually dismisses the Legion's claim that their Whiz Wagon was destroyed by a bomb and sends them out to chase down the scoop on the sea monster of Loch Trevor. Man, the gang are awfully forgiving about all of Edge's attempts to kill them. You think they'd be a tad more insistent about that whole thing. Yet, once they're out of his office, he opens the secret screen in his desk that we saw in this month's Lois Lane, but this time he's not looking at himself. Instead, he orders a hit on the Newsboy Legion!
Meanwhile, all crime everywhere has apparently been stopped, because Superman and the Guardian are spending their time dropping by a "discotheque," not for charity, not as a benefit, not working a case, but just to "help their attendance." Oookay? I'm glad they've got their priorities straight. Inside, they meet the young woman who is running the place, a girl named Terry Dean, who we saw briefly in #138. It seems she first appeared in a rather interesting sounding issue, #127, wherein Jimmy Olsen goes undercover to expose a slumlord. It's neat and a little surprising that Kirby is making use of this minor supporting character introduced before his run, though I wouldn't have minded some editorial reminders here. At any rate, Dean introduces them to a super Kirby-ified band, the San Diego Five String Mob, who are secretly serving Apokolips. They are wonderfully cool looking, in that inimical Kirby style of gonzo gadgets and weird wardrobes. As the malevolent musicians maintain their cover, playing strange music, Dubbilex, the D.N.Alien suddenly appears, bringing with him a warning!
The King cuts away before we see what comes of that, though, and we travel to the skies over Scotland, where Jimmy and the Legion are literally dumped out of a fancy jet in the Whiz Wagon. Scrapper is determined he's going to fit in, and has dressed the part, complete with kilt and Tam o' Shanter, but unfortunately, his voice gives him away every time he opens his mouth, which becomes a running gag. On the ground, the gang nearly run over their contact, Felix MacFinney, as they try to stop their careening car, but they manage to do no permanent harm. This whole scene is fun and Kirby actually gives us some fairly charming humor, though we're also besieged with comically exaggerated Scottish accents at every turn.
Back in the "discotheque," Dubbilex reveals to the Man of Steel that there is a tunnel under the club that leads right back to the Project, but it is a tunnel the good guys didn't make! Well, the bad band certainly can recognize a cue, so they prepare to strike…giving us a weird and interesting little sequence. They each play a note, summoning their "Sixth String," Barri-boy, who is just another guy with a crazy instrument, but he literally brings the house down when he plays! That seems a little inefficient, but it's still a fun sequence.
Back in Scotland, our neophyte newshawks meet MacFinney's lovely daughter and engage in some banter while the plan for the monster-hunt the next day. MacFinney also shows them a device he created to attract the marine menace. Nothing suspicious here, nope! The next morning finds them out on the Loch, monitoring Flippa Dippa as he swims in its murky depths. Suddenly, he's ambushed below the waves by a fellow frogman, and the others prepare to go to his aid, only to find themselves looking down the barrel of MacFinney's gun! It seems that the Scotsman is actually an Intergang assassin! Fortunately, while Jimmy distracts the gunsel, the little Scrapper Trooper that the full-sized Scrapper brought along slips away and activates the monster lure. The situation is resolved in dramatic fashion, as the creature swamps the boat and seizes MacFinney, leaving the others soaked but safe. When they reach the shore, they find Flippa Dippa there ahead of them, having overcome his assailant, MacFinney's "daughter," another Intergang assassin. One wonders, how inept must she be at her job to have been taken out by Flippa Dippa? Confused but very curious, the gang determine to stay in Scotland and solve this monstrous mystery!
This is a fairly fun story, as silly as it is in parts, and the main plot, with Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion investigating the mystery and generally carrying on with their own banter and shenanigans, seems like a good fit for the characters. It's a premise that serves them well, and I'd be happy to see the book settle onto a course like this. Heaven knows the last few issues have shown it is desperately in need of some direction. In terms of the writing, Kirby's dialog, rather stilted and awkward in some of his other books, is generally in much better shape in this issue, provided you don't mind his atrocious Scottish accents. He seems to have a good grasp of the voices of the Newsboys, which isn't too surprising, seeing as they are his creations, after all. In fact, the interplay between Scrapper and the Scotsman, as well as the banter between the rest of the boys, is often genuinely funny and enjoyable. And then there's everything Flippa Dippa says…the book's resident embarrassment has fairly cringe-inducing lines throughout, like: "This ghetto guppie says 'yeah!'" and "My SCUBA cells are vibratin', Jimmy." It is rather funny in an almost meta sense how desperately enthusiastic he is when he discovers that their adventure will involve a body of water, like he realizes how completely pointless he is as a character. Overall, Flippa Dippa aside, this is an enjoyable adventure. The King's unmatched creativity is once again on display, but all of these different elements fit together much better than the bizarre horror-planet of the previous issues. Superman and the Guardian just sort of casually dropping by the club is pretty goofy, but the Kirby-tech band is so cool that I'm willing to give it a pass. Of course, the King's art is great throughout, despite Colletta's inking. I'll give this promising start to a new adventure 4 Minutemen, with its sillier elements holding it back from a higher score.
P.S.: I've been really enjoying the Newsboy Legion stories that have been reprinted as backups in these books. They're simple but fun.
"The Tomb be Their Destiny"
Aqualad: "The Girl of the Shadows"
Penciler/Inker: Jim Aparo
"Superboy Meets Robin the Boy Wonder"
Writer: Bill Finger
Penciler: Al Plastino
Inker: Al Plastino
Editor: Jack Schiff
"The Teenager from Nowhere"
Penciler/Inker: Nick Cardy
Editor: Mort Weisinger
Well, if this month's Jimmy Olsen issue was an improvement over the previous one, we can't really say the same for this month's Teen Titans, which is rather disappointing. The book continues to limp along without a clear direction and without any real reason for the Titans to actually be involved in its plots. To start with, we've got an okay cover, with a hint of mystery to it, though the perspective and layout is a bit wonky. I'm not really sure how those stairs exist in relation to the angle of the floor at the front. While the scene is non-Euclidean, it is also atmospheric, but the context is a bit too vague for it to be entirely successful. Our heroes seem to be hunting this figure rather than trying to rescue him, but he's turning to dust, which his dialog tells us is….bad, as if they're out to help him? It's just not terribly successful.
Unfortunately, the story itself isn't much better. It picks up where we left off in our last issue, in the purported crypt of the "real" Romeo and Juliet, where Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, and the superfluous Mr. Jupiter examine the scene and debate whether Lilith is really the incarnation of Romeo's star-crossed lady love. They spot a shadowy figure and give chase, only to be temporarily trapped by a cave-in. While they are delayed, the shadowy figure sneaks off with the unconscious forms of Romeo and Lilith (doesn't have quite the same ring as the original, does it?).
The misshapen figure turns out to be a hunchbacked madman named "Calibano," who is supposed to resemble Romeo's cousin of the same name, though I wouldn't have gotten that from the art alone. As the young lovers revive, this Calibano tells them that Romeo and Juliet were actually part of a love triangle, with him as the third angle. Lilith uses her power of vagueness to learn that it was actually him who killed the original moon-struck Montague, causing Juliet to take her own life. Then, he apparently got trapped in their tomb and put into suspended animation…by…plot? Seriously, that's not explained at all.
Now Calibano's convinced that the new couple are the originals reawakened, as he was, and he challenges Romeo 2.0 to a duel, and the brave young man fights a desperate battle while Lilith makes the valuable contribution of…shouting…and…looking worried. It's just a very impressive showing for a superheroine. As the ancient feud reunites, the rest of the Titans follow the trail of their lost teammate, only to come across the other Calibano leading a water-borne funeral procession. We're reminded that the police were interested in the Loggia family, and this funereal flotilla out on a foggy night seems suspicious.
Suddenly, Mr. Juptier, who let's remember has displayed no particular skills or abilities or received any special training up to this point, decides that he's an action hero, and he and Robin investigate the suspect ships. The pair discover that the casket is a cover for smuggling industrial diamonds (which really doesn't seem all that worthwhile, really), and overcome a bunch of frogmen in an extended scene where neither of them is apparently troubled by the need to, you know, breath for what one can only assume is a good 15-20 minutes. The marine marvel millionaire hauls himself out of the water to confront Calibano, and is nearly killed, only to have his life saved by the sudden arrival of Don Loggia, who is actually honest, though still a jerk, and who was suspicious of his nephew.
While Robin was being upstaged by a random dude with no qualifications for hero work, the other two Titans arrive just in time to save Romeo…by straight-up murdering the original Calibano! That's right, Speedy shoots the guy with a sharp arrow as opposed to any of the zillion trick arrows he carries. He shoots him right in the chest, and though the poor fellow is able to stagger back to the crypt, he definitely dies. (Man, the books this month have had an unusually high body count for the era!) The story ends with the characters wondering if Lilith and Romeo are actually the reincarnations of their much more interesting and famous predecessors, and we are told that they are totally in love. Yep, definitely deeply and really in love, a love that is absolutely going to last beyond this issue and will certainly carry significance for years to come. Or not. Yeah, it will probably not surprise y'all to learn that our dear friend, Zany Haney, the anti-continuity cop, completely drops that particular plot thread, and this Romeo guy is never heard from again. It's just as well, because the whole 'reincarnated Romeo and Juliet' angle doesn't seem super sustainable over the long-haul.
So, what are we to make of this story? Well, much like the previous issue, it's not an entirely bad tale, by itself, but it isn't particularly suitable for the Teen Titans, and there is absolutely no reason for these characters to be here. The actual Titans contribute almost nothing to the story, short of Speedy murdering a poor, deformed, and mentally ill fellow. That's the part of the story that galls me most, as Haney gives Speedy exactly one panel to feel a little bad about missing the sword and shooting the guy straight in the chest, and that is it, as if this wasn't entirely avoidable if the character was acting in any normal fashion. And, of course, because it's a Zany Haney plot, this killing will never be mentioned or thought-of again, and that's terrible on multiple levels.
Let's also not forget Haney just casually adding a character and a whole subplot to what is arguably the most famous play of all time. It's not quite as bonkers as it seems, though, as it is very likely that "Calibano" and his plotline were drawn from "Caliban," a character in another of Shakespeare's plays, The Tempest. In that story of magic and mysticism, Caliban was the misshapen and monstrous servant of the wizard Prospero and was also the unlucky angle of a love triangle. Nonetheless, even if Calibano has respectable origins in another of the Bard's tales, his presence in this story is weird and a bit disconcerting, especially because the last issue ended with the young couple discovering the apparently mummified remains of Calibano, who was also wearing different clothes. Continuity errors aside, this whole thing is just a bit of a mess. Everything happens at the speed of plot, and the two plotlines end up feeling entirely alien to each other, despite the attempts to connect them with the multiple Calibanos. You could pretty much drop the entire Loggia family plot thread from this issue and lose nothing except for Mr. Jupiter's inexplicable display of commando skills.
As you might be able to tell, I have just about lost all patience with this whole premise. This whole 'superhero summer camp' thing we've got going on, with the Titans involved in this vague project with Jupiter, just has nothing to recommend it to me. Lilith also continues to be vague and pointless, only now she is joined in her uselessness by Wonder Girl, who does nothing all issue. I find myself wishing we could see the Titans be, you know, superheroes. On the plus side, the team of Tuska and Cardy continues to be great, really turning out some lovely work with lots of darkly atmospheric scenes that add some drama and mystery to this silly plot. Their work is really deserving of a better story. So, what is the final score? Well, I would probably have given this one 2.5 Minutemen like its first half if it weren't for Haney having Speedy kill the antagonist with zero justification, logic, or examination. That plus 'secret agent-Jupiter' sours the story for me, so I'll give it 1 Minuteman. Haney is really batting 1000 this month.
"The Girl of the Shadows"
Interestingly, this issue has another little Aqualad backup, which is cool, but it is a super brief one, only running 3 pages. Apparently, this little mini-adventure, by the wonderful SAG team, was actually slated to appear in the cancelled Aquaman #57, and it was put into inventory when that book never materialized. Unfortunately, that also meant that this intriguing little tale and the mysteries that it introduces are never resolved! What a crying shame! Being only 3 pages, there's really not enough here to judge, so I'll just share all three pages and offer a brief overview.
It begins with the young Aquatic Ace emerging onto darkened docks, searching for a girl that had intrigued him when he saw her earlier at a concert (don't tell Tula!). Just as he finds her and she gives him a cryptic greeting, she is confronted by a big man in strange armor who tries to capture the mysterious maiden. The Sea Prince cleans his clock, then asks the girl for an explanation. All she says is that they must "get past the wall — before it's too late!", and then she disappears, leaving our young hero to wonder what this strange encounter was all about. So, we are left with a mystery that will likely never be solved, and that's a shame, because Skeates set the stage for an interesting story, and I would have quite enjoyed it if he had been given a chance to finish it in these pages.
"The Teen-Ager from Nowhere"
That…is a very…generous description of the infamous mythical figure, Lilith.
This month's Titans issue actually held two original backups, and the second is a solo Lilith story, which is actually a good deal better than you'd probably expect from what we've seen of her in the main book. This little tale is something of an origin story, and in just 7 pages Haney gives us more information about Lilith and more reason to care about her than in all of the issues she's been in up to this point combined. It is still, of course, pretty vague, but that vagueness is at least a bit more understandable here, and the story also seems to promise some answers might be forthcoming.
It begins when a 12 year old Lilith sees a group of men leaving her small Kentucky town to search for the body of a young boy presumed drowned in the river. Suddenly she runs after them and yells that he's not in the river, leading them into the hills and finally to an old well. They find and rescue the boy, but then they begin to wonder how she knew he was there. The young girl can't explain her knowledge, and the crowd grows more suspicious until her father finally arrives and takes her home. Back in the safety of her own house, her parents are supportive, but the pre-teen psychic senses that she is actually adopted, and she runs out of the house in search of her origins.
In fact, she runs all the way to the orphanage that once sheltered her, where somehow the matron recognizes and remembers her, despite the fact that she was only one year old when she was adopted. Neat trick! Lilith learns that her powers were apparently shared by her real mother, who brought her to the orphanage after some mysterious trouble relating to her father. The kindly matron warns the strange girl not to dredge up the tragedies of the past, but the youth swears that she will discover who she is, though she is glad when her adoptive parents come to fetch her home.
This is a surprisingly good story for focusing on Lilith, and it shows that she could be a decent character if she was given any development or personality other than "mysteriousness." The girl's lack of understanding of her powers or past is much more believable and excusable, as she is just beginning her journey. A 12-year-old not being able to explain a first flash of psychic insight is much more understandable and palatable than, say, a college-age girl doing the same after having lived with such abilities for years. Nick Cardy's art is just plain gorgeous, as always, and he brings so much humanity and emotion to his characters that you can't help but sympathize with the lost young girl or her concerned parents. Haney's writing is positively restrained and thoughtful here, and the final result is a really solid and intriguing backup that actually makes me, of all things, look forward to more stories about Lilith! I'll give it 4 Minutemen, as it isn't quite strong enough to reach a higher score, .
Cover Artists: Neal Adams and Gaspar Saladino
"Peril of the Planet-Smashers!"
"The Inside Story of Robotman!"
Writer: Joseph Samachson
Penciler/Inker: Jimmy Thompson
Ghost Patrol: "The 'Spectacular' Crimes"
Editor: Sheldon Mayer
Oh man, what an awesome cover! How could you pass by the newsstand and not plunk down your quarter to see what kind of story could have such an epic image over its pages? Many of us have probably heard the old saying that the Silver Age Superman could "juggle planets," but that expression, which captures the casual omnipotence of the character and thus one of the flaws with his portrayal in the era, doesn't really apply here. Instead, we get a wonderful portrayal of a truly epic feat that feels properly epic. You can see the strain and effort on Superman's face, like a moment out of the wonderful old Fleischer Superman cartoons, where the Man of Steel would constantly be pushed to his limits to defeat his foes and rescue his friends. It feels heroic and exciting in the extreme, and it is beautifully and powerfully rendered by Neal Adams. In fact, it's such a cool cover, that I've been anxiously anticipating its approach in my lineup, quietly excited to read the story it represents. So, does the tale within live up to that dynamite image? Perhaps a better question is, could anything?
Sadly, although Wein and Dillin give us a good super-story inside, it isn't quite the amazing epic that our cover promises us. It begins with Dr. Fate helping the police to recover a stolen "thermal-ray," which is apparently insanely dangerous for a hand weapon, but the technological marvel and its erstwhile criminal owners are a poor match for the master of magic, who simply causes the device's trigger to disappear! That's a wonderfully clever and straightforward solution to the threat. However, his heroics are soon interrupted by an emergency call from…the hospital?? Apparently this Dr. Fate is a literal medical doctor, which was completely news to me. I always knew him as an archaeologist, but apparently, his earliest appearances had him sharing his fellow Justice Society member, Dr. Mid-Nite's profession. Who knew? Surprisingly, what awaits the good doctor at the hospital is not your average case but an ailing alien! The strange-looking being telepathically communicates the mental message that "Earth is doomed!" The medical magician is left stunned, realizing that he must save this creature's life, or its secret will die with it, and so may the Earth itself!
Meanwhile, our other heroic headliner is hanging out on a satellite above Earth 1, contemplating his magical misadventure from the previous issue. We find Superman lamenting the fact that he has two whole weaknesses in his otherwise invulnerable form. Boo-freaking-hoo, the poor sun-god is only mostly invulnerable! Just then, the morose Man of Steel hits upon the idea of seeking succor from one of his mystical allies and heads out to consult the Mistress of Magic, Zatanna. On the way, he casually disposes of a radioactive dust cloud by sucking it into his lungs and then blowing it into the sun. Yep, clearly he's not powerful enough! Unfortunately, Zatanna tells the Action Ace that she can't help him, because her father told her that "to know how our powers work would cause them to stop working!" Now, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that just means that Zatarra didn't feel like answering a young Zatanna's questions…I do enjoy Zatanna just casually doing crazy magic as she talks to Supes, almost like she's rubbing it in.
Having exhausted his options on Earth 1, Kal conceives of an alternative, and he goes to visit his other spell-slinging friend, Dr. Fate, on Earth 2. The Man of Tomorrow arrives just in time to help his fellow hero with his unusual patient, and mage teleports them to his tower and fills his guest in on the plot. Apparently this alien was just hanging out in the sky over a city and was struck by a plane (imagine being the pilot and trying to report that!). I suppose you've got to be prepared for things like this when you live in the DC Universe. The Arcane Avenger supernaturally scans his patient's mind and discovers images of two landmarks, a Mayan temple and Stone Henge, and the heroes split up to investigate the mysterious threat facing the world.
Dr. Fate travels to the Mayan temple, only to discover another alien just "sitting" in the sky, meditating, and ignoring him. When the occult hero presses his case, the strange being casually causes the surrounding flora to grow and attack, and the wizardly warrior has to employ his magical might to escape from the plant-based peril, literally blowing up some one of the hungrier heinous herbs from the inside! It's a nice little sequence, and Dillin renders it well. However, just when Fate is ready to grab his alien attacker, the being simply vanishes!
On the other side of the world, Superman doesn't have much better luck in England, where the same pattern repeats itself, though with a giant formed from the ground itself in place of the sinister shrubbery that attacked his ally. The sand is too soft for the Man of Might's blows to have much of an impact, so he tries a different tack, turning the entire colossus into glass with his heat vision, and shattering it with a powerful blow, another really cool sequence, with an honestly clever resolution. Yet, just as with Fate, the mysterious meditator vanishes when approached. What could these baffling beings be up to? Well, as the heroes prepare to regroup, they each encounter strangely sudden natural disasters, with Dr. Fate stopping a rampaging tidal wave and Superman saving a city from an unexpected volcanic eruption.
Comparing notes, the dauntless duo discover that the continents of Earth 2 are being drawn together, and the planet is heading towards an apocalyptic ending! Risking another probe of their injured alien, they discover that he was a member of the Buudak, the "high lamas" of an ancient race, who are seeking an interplanetary Nirvana, one that can only be found through the release of energies resulting from the destruction of the Earth! The heroes confront the alien trio as they prepare their final psychic attack, but both might and magic prove futile. In desperation, the dauntless dyad decide to combine their abilities, and Dr. Fate channels his preternatural power into the Metropolis Marvel, giving him mystical might to match his star-born strength.
The supercharged Superman is able to shrug off the alien's attacks, smashing their psychic shield, and the terrible trio vanish as their own powers consume them. However, despite their defeat, the world is not yet saved, and the continents continue to converge! The master of magic reclaims his power and forges occult chains, and Superman hauls the rogue land masses back into place! The adventure ends with the world restored and with the Man of Might having decided that his vulnerability is for the best after all because…and see if you can follow this, he was only able to save the day because Fate's magic could effect him…though one wonders just how often such a situation is going to arise. To be fair, the Kryptonian's actual last thought makes more sense, as he notes that "a little humility is good even for a Superman." That is almost certainly true, and in fact, I might say "especially good".
Muddled moral aside, this was a pretty fun issue. Dr. Fate and Superman make for an unusual team, and it is interesting to see them in action together. They are in many ways opposites in terms of their powersets, with one being a physical juggernaut, while the other is a magical powerhouse. It's a pairing that we don't see too often, and I enjoyed the casual yet logical reason behind their team-up. Superman just happens to show up looking for answers, and he drops into an adventure already in progress. Good enough, and it makes the world of DC feel a bit more interconnected. The incredibly powerful alien lamas made for solid antagonists, though I would have liked to know a bit more about them. Their objective, spiritual enlightenment at all costs, is also an unusual one, adding an interesting twist on the standard 'destroy the world' plot, but their casual dismissal of the lives they're about to destroy does raise some questions about their ethos! Our heroes' efforts make for an entertaining and exciting tale, especially in the first half. Unfortunately, the final confrontation and climax aren't as successful. Dillin makes the first challenges the team faces visually interesting and fun, especially Superman's fight with the sand giant, but the last attack isn't nearly as engaging, though it is serviceable enough. The real problem with this story, and it is a minor one, is that Dillin's portrayal of that wonderfully dramatic moment from the cover just simply pales in comparison. It's fairly uninspiring rather than the show-stopping scene it really should be. Still, if the worst you can say about a comic is that it has one moment that isn't as impressive as its cover, then you're not doing too badly! In the end, this is a really enjoyable adventure, if not quite as epic and memorable as the cover promised. I'll give it a strong 4 Minutemen.
Well, with these three books, we have reached the end of December 1971, and an interesting end it is! This month saw quite a collection of comics, with few high highs but several quite low lows. Nonetheless, we had an unusual number of moderately high scoring books this month, with a lot of them earning 4 Minutemen, even if few scored higher. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable month of comics, with several pleasant surprises along the way, including Action Comics, Adventure's new Zatanna backup, The Creeper's guest spot, Superman's plankton-fueled panic, and more. There were a few real clunkers, though, with the master of madcap plots, Zaney Haney, turning in two terrible tales that even his insane energy can't save. We're seeing some books dragging, like Teen Titans, while others, like Jimmy Olsen have hopefully begun to recover, though Kirby's 4th World work is so wild and uneven, there's no promise of that. One thing is certain, both Zaney Haney and the King will have something unique and creative for us next month, whether it sinks or swims.
In terms of themes, this has been a fascinating month, with many a book aiming at a significance that its story can't quite match. Nonetheless, there are some really interesting attempts to tackle heavier ideas in this batch of books, and the social relevance revolution is on full display. We've got obvious examples, like Green Lantern / Green Arrow, which attempted to address racism in O'Neil's usual rather ham-handed fashion, but which did succeed in achieving some real importance by introducing John Stewart, a new black hero who would go on to become an excellent and worthwhile addition to the DC Universe. If his portrayal in this first appearance was rather one-note, his very existence was still rather remarkable. The Green Arrow backup also aimed at relevance, and with a fair amount of success too. That unusual ground that tale trod had to feel particularly revolutionary in 1971, with Ollie questioning how much good a superhero could actually do in light of the social problems plaguing the country. O'Neil's attempts at verisimilitude and relevance are effective, if rather depressing.
Though the issues that percolate in the background of the story are vague and unexplored, the sense of unrest and tension fits with what we've been seeing in many of the other other books that have tried to take on such themes. In fact, we find that this idea has plenty of company this month. Interestingly, we see just that same vague sense of tension, especially among the youth, reflected in Justice League, where we meet an ersatz Jimi Hendrix. Of course, the most fascinating element in that story was its look at the plight of Vietnam veterans, though sadly it was given little more than a glimpse. This issue does recognize the power that music was playing in the counter-cultural movement, a concept which we also see show up in much more fantastic and strange fashion in Superman's visit to the "discotheque." Unfortunately, Jimi Hendrix never quite managed managed to rock hard enough to bring down a literal roof.
Nonetheless, we can see how much DC comics have changed in just a year, with so many different teams on so many different titles attempting to engage the tumultuous culture of their day to a degree that was much more rare when we started our journey. One of the most unexpected of these attempts was our backup Kid Flash tale, which featured another wealthy businessman as an antagonist, which is becoming a much more common trope, but which also focused, not on environmentalism as has already become common, but instead on nutrition. That really surprised me, showing up in 1971, as I think of that as a much more modern concern. Heck, I grew up in the 80s, where preservatives and all manner of additives in our super-processed food was just the norm! It's the carcinogens that make it tasty!
Social relevance wasn't the only connection to the real world that we saw in our books this month. We also got to see the first appearance of the Rutland Halloween Parade in DC Comics, which was quite entertaining, though that issue did have some problems with tone, combining the light-hearted fun with the heavy drama of holocaust survivors and escaped Nazi war criminals…real laugh-a-minute stuff! Despite its rather schizophrenic tone, it did manage to be an interesting and memorable issue. After all, it's not every day you see Batman sharing the page with Thor and Spider-Man!
All-in-all, there were a lot of really entertaining reads this month, and we saw a lot of great art in the pages of our various books, even when the stories themselves weren't quite as good. Pleasantly, even when the main tales tank, I find myself really enjoying several of our backups, like The World of Krypton, Rose and Thorn, and especially the new Zatanna feature. I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes out of that one. Despite its unevenness, I'm still excited about reading the rest of the 4th World as it develops. Though there are several runs that I find myself wishing would end, there is still plenty to be excited about. I wonder what next month will bring us!
Well, there's only one way to find out! I hope that y'all will join me again soon(ish) for another edition of Into the Bronze Age! I'll be posting a tribute to our fallen friend, Cyber Burn first, and I hope that y'all will join me for that as well and honor his memory. Until next time, keep the Heroic Ideal alive!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Superheroes Tagged Bob Haney, Dick Dillin, Dr. Fate, George Tuska, Jack Kirby, Jim Aparo, Jimmy Olsen, Joe Giella, Len Wein, Lilith, Morgan Edge, Murphy Anderson, Newsboy Legion, Nick Cardy, Robin, Speedy, Steve Skeates, superman, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Teen Titans, Vince Colletta, Wonder Girl, World's Finest, Zatanna
Hello and welcome back my friends and readers! I hope and trust that y'all have all had a very merry Christmas and are enjoying the post celebration cheer. In any case, we have, after a two year hiatus (!), finally arrived at the end of November 1971! I'm very pleased to have gotten back to this little project, as it has always been something that I have loved. I have already been enjoying diving back into these classic comics, and even the duds have proven entertaining. Here at the end of this month we have two more tales to tell, and they are a mixed bag. I can safely say, however, that you won't be bored reading these comics, even if one of them makes no freaking sense. So, without further ado (I feel like y'all have waited long enough as it is!), let's continue our journey Into the Bronze Age!
"Jimmy Olsen: Genocide Spray!"
"DNA Project: The Alien Thing!"
"Newsboy Legion: The Rookie Takes the Rap!"
Okay….where to begin? So, the last issue, which we covered way back when, was crazy enough. Yet, this one really takes the cake for gonzo madness. After I finished reading, I sat staring at my comic for a few minutes, just pondering, 'how in the world am I going to summarize this?' Do we get an explanation for why vampires and werewolves are hanging around former NASA facilities? Sort of? We do get explanations, but they don't make a whole lot of sense! But before we get into the madness inside, let's take a look at this cove. We get an interesting image of ghostly figures rising from the "mini-planet" our heroes discovered at the end of the last issue. It works pretty well, and it looks fairly dynamic and spooky. The story it represents is not quite so fortunate!
We do get a really lovely two-page splash revealing the mysterious planet, Transilvane, complete with comparatively giant 'horns' (Can a planet be evil?) and a brace of hovering movie cameras(!). With no warning, we've gone from investigating a scientific laboratory to the set of a Universal monster movie, as The Man of Tomorrow finds a secret passage that opens into a chamber where the pals discovers a pair of coffins, presumably belonging to the apparently vampiric 'Count Dragorin' and his hairy henchman. Inside, they do find their supposedly undead antagonist, but they also find hi-tech gadgetry, and this seems to confirm Superman's theory that these beings are actually from the mini-world, tiny creatures that use machines to grow large enough to interact on a human scale, like reverse Atoms. Just then, more of the classic movie monsters arrive, and we get a regular Monster Mash, as the Action Ace and the cub reporter fight this macabre menace, only to be struck down by a "micro-bomb" triggered by the cunning Count.
Kirby cuts us away at that point, shifting the focus to the Newsboy Legion, who we last left in an underground bunker, having discovered the gangster who killed the original Guardian, Jim Harper. The kids listen in as the unwary gunman spills his guts on the phone with his Intergang contact. Having heard enough, they jump him, planning to bring him to justice, but the torpedo turns the tables on your youthful heroes, literally, in a panel that looks more like a bomb went off than a desk was kicked over. However, his escape proves short-lived, as Intergang triggers hidden explosives in the hideout, tying up the loose end he represented and leaving the kids empty-handed. Dispirited, they eventually make their way back to the surface at last.
"ZONNKO!" You've got to love comic sound effects!
Meanwhile, what about the assembled cast of our extraterrestrial Adams Family and their feud with the Man of Steel? Well, they tie the Kryptonian to a torture device and attempt to force him to reveal the location of the elusive Dabney Donovan, but when Superman casually breaks free and tells his 'captors' that he doesn't know where to find the missing scientist, they start talking about some kind of prophecy about a "Demon Dog," which will destroy their world when it flies, an evil event that is at hand! While the horror movie rejects lament their fate, the Metropolis Marvel leaps into action, tearing open the stone floor and finding another high tech facility below the planet cradling catacombs, finally discovering the very Demon Dog itself, just as it takes flight!
The strange winged hound, it turns out, is a mechanical delivery system for a poison spray which was designed to eliminate life on the artificial planetoid….for….reasons? Whatever lunatic logic was behind its creation, Superman smashes the poisonous pooch and saves the day for Transilvane and its movie-monster denizens. At this point, Jimmy finally recovers from the explosion that knocked them out, and he joins his heroic pal to observe a fleet of flying coffins shrinking back into the mini-world, their mission accomplished, I suppose? At this point, Superman explains the situation….or at least, it's as close to an explanation as we get. As we had already discovered, Dabney Donovan apparently somehow created this miniature world, along with an entire race of sentient life, and for some reason, he played classic horror films on the clouds as that life evolved, so they copied what they saw, becoming a race of B-picture players.
It's basically the plot of the famous 'gangster planet' episode of Star Trek, "A Piece of the Action", except even wackier and not nearly as charming. On top of all of that, apparently Donovan, completely unconcerned with the fact that he had created life had planned on cleaning the slate, for more 'reasons', presumably, and had cruelly declared this fact to the inhabitants of Transilvane, once more through cloud-movies. Superman and Jimmy decide to try to undo the weird, warping effects of Donovan's choice of sky-entertainment (skyertainment?) by playing a different genre. Of all things, they choose a musical, Oklahoma!, and pull up chairs to watch the sky-screening. One can only wonder what kind of society would evolve from that choice…
So…that was certainly an interesting ride. It's certainly not boring, but this tale is just so out there and disjointed, with so many different concepts pulling in so many different directions, that it just leaves you scratching your head and asking "why"? Why did Donovan hide his planetoid below a graveyard? Is he just a nutjob obsessed with horror movies? Why did he just abandon the experiment? Why bother killing the planet's inhabitants if he abandoned it? What is the point of any of this? Well, we never learn any of the answers to those questions, and we never even meet Donovan. It's a rather unsatisfying conclusion to an already weird adventure.
I do sort of enjoy the ending, with Superman and Jimmy sitting down to try to provide the Transilvaneites with something more wholesome to copy, though I rather question their choice. Kirby's artwork is fun and dynamic, as usual, though I noticed several scenes that seemed stripped-down and unfinished, and I would wager that the infamous Vince Colletta is to blame for that. The Newsboys' subplot was interesting, but it wrapped up rather quickly and dramatically, and I find myself wondering about its point as well. All-in-all, this issue just confirms the sense I had with the last one that this book is in need of a focus and a direction. Here's hoping the next one will bring something more coherent from the mind of the King! I'll give this one a disappointing and disjointed 2 Minutemen.
Executive Editor: Julius Schwartz
Cover Artists: Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson
"A Matter of Light and Death!"
"Galloping Gold"
Writer: M.W. Wellman
Penciler/Inker: Edwin J. Smalle, Jr.
"The Cosmic Idiots!"
Writer: Sid Gerson
Penciler: Gene Colan
While this month brought us an issue of Jimmy Olsen with a cool cover but a weird, unsatisfying story, it also brings us this rather pleasant surprise of a comic, which is the exact opposite. Take a look at that cover. Despite the jeopardy of our heroes, it just about couldn't be more boring. Oh no, Superman and Batman, the greatest super hero pair in the world, the eponymous "World's Finest," are being menaced by….a couple of guys? It doesn't exactly fire the imagination. They have slightly more personality than the usual foot soldiers of the Generic Gang, but not by all that much, and the cover is largely blank, other than these four figures. And yet, the tale inside, which I fully expected to be a slog, held my attention and even kept me guessing, though the title sort of gives away the secret villain of the piece.
Our tale begins with a clandestine meeting, where three random guys, whose names I can't be bothered to remember, are being contracted for a hit by a shadowy figure. The splash page reveals that the target is….Superman! That's right, these random gunsels are being hired to whack the freaking Man of Steel. Even more surprising, the mysterious malefactor behind these mercenary machinations is none other than….Clark Kent himself! Well, as you might imagine, the hoods, not being complete morons, balk at being asked to kill the invulnerable alien sun god, but the not so mild-mannered reporter convinces them that he can provide them with magical means to complete the hit, and vanishes as proof (using super speed, of course).
This may seem quite silly; after all, what threat can three random guys pose to the Metropolis Marvel, but Len Wein actually does have a reason for this setup. In any case, as Clark flies away, we follow him to the arctic, where he uncovers a strange device that he calls the "Satan Staff," which supposedly can kill his alter-ego. I rather expected that this was an artifact from an earlier story, so I was confused by the lack of an editor box, but once again, I was to discover that there was a reason for that. After stashing the device in a Metropolis park, Clark "wakes up" and realizes that had suffered from a blackout, apparently the third such episode! Afraid of what he's doing with his lost time and unsure of how to solve the mystery enshrouding him, the Action Ace turns to the world's greatest detective, the Batman!
Our scene shifts, and we join Batman taking out a gang. and doing a bit of bantering that would be rather out of place for the character these days but which is fun enough in context. Superman arrives just in time to help him clean up the captured crooks, and then shares his trouble with his friend. In response, the Dark Detective sets out to shadow the Metropolis Marvel in a series of disguises (which is a fun touch and gives us a nice montage), but discovers nothing through his trailing.
At the end of the day, Clark returns to his apartment to meet his ally, only to once again fall under strange influence and swat the Caped Crusader aside! Not to be deterred, the Dark Knight of course prepared for such an eventuality and preemptively planted a tracker on his pal. He trails the mind-controlled Man of Steel to another meeting with the assassin trio, where the reporter delivers the "Satan Staff", and attacks after Clark leaves, smashing through a skylight in a wonderfully dramatic panel. After defeating two of the thugs in a skirmish, Batman is blitzed by the last one, who uses the magic device to trap the Masked Manhunter in a net summoned from thin air. The trio decide that, since they are businessmen, they won't simply kill the Gotham Guardian for free; instead, they'll auction off his death after they've taken care of his partner.
The Random Gang attempts to ambush Superman at the Metropolis Planetarium, where he's setting up an exhibit on Krypton, which is a fun little touch, but his super hearing tips the hero off to their heinous plans. After a fun little fight, they manage to take him out by using the magic wand to bring a Kryptonian exhibit to life, which seemingly kills the Man of Might! The assassins trap his body in amber and return to finish Batman off, wondering when their contact will arrive with their fee.
It is then that our true antagonist makes his appearance, and it is none other than Dr. Light! This is the latest outing in his attempts to destroy the members of the Justice League by attacking them one at a time. He eventually reveals that he was the prime mover in this enterprise; having tapped into Superman's brainwaves in a previous attack, he used that experience to hypnotically program his foe to arrange his own destruction with the Satan Staff, a weapon of his own devising. Dr. Light later explains that he developed the Staff after studying the magic of Zatanna, seeking to use such magic, Superman's one remaining weakness, against his Kryptonian opponent. But why this elaborate charade? Well, it's actually a rather funny reason. The Luminary Lunatic realized that, although he possesses the power to destroy the Justice League, he blows it every time he tires to defeat them, thus, he decided to work through intermediaries and to turn hes enemy's own strength against him. That is both hilarious and reasonably clever.
At any rate, Dr. Light's sudden arrival doesn't have the effect on his contracted killers that he had hoped, as they want to keep the Satan Staff because of its power, so he straight up disintegrates them! That's a great moment, and also stunningly brutal for a comic of this age. Yet, just as the bad Doctor is about to reclaim his weapon, a gloved hand beats him to the punch: the Dark Knight has freed himself! The two maneuver around, trying to get in position for a shot, but when the Caped Crusader fires the Staff, it passes harmlessly through the Lord of Luminescence, who then snatches the device and teleports away!
Is all lost? Not quite, as Superman suddenly bursts free from the amber, and Batman reveals that he foresaw Light's avoidance of his attack, so he had maneuvered him in front of the Man of Steel's yellow tomb so that the beam would strike it instead, breaking the spell and reviving his fallen friend. The Action Ace is steaming mad, so he leaves his partner in peril behind to settle the score with Light by his lonesome. The Kryptonian hero discovers his foe in a floating solid light fortress hidden in the Aurora Borealis, which is a really cool concept that Dillin's art doesn't quite capture.
Despite Superman getting the drop on him, Dr. Light is not without resources, and he hits the Man of Tomorrow with a red sunlight beam, weakening him, only for the hero to turn the tables on him by smashing through the floor and striking from an unexpected direction. It's a great little action piece, and a satisfying conclusion to the conflict. Finally, the issue ends with Superman and Batman taking in one of Zatanna's shows, where Batman laments the bruises he suffered through the contortions necessary to escape his bonds.
What a fun, enjoyable issue! I really had a good time reading it, especially considering that I thought I was in for a chore because of that clunker of a cover. The whole thing hangs together surprisingly well, with all of its different elements making sense once the mysteries are revealed. I really enjoy the interaction between Batman and Superman, and this tale accomplishes a feat that remains rare today, properly balancing the two character with their vastly different power levels. Both the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight get a chance to shine and be useful. And speaking of the Masked Manhunter, his portrayal here is fun, though a little too light in context of where the character is going in his own books. Still, I enjoyed this Batman, who doesn't take himself entirely seriously, though he's still mysterious and calculating.
On the villain front, it's worth noting that, although Wein tries to give the trio of assassins a little personality, they are ultimately forgettable cats-paws, so much so that I really can't remember any of their names as I write this, having read the issue just last night! On the other hand, Dr. Light is a great antagonist for this tale, and his portrayal is interesting and entertaining. Despite awful things done with the character in later days, I've always liked this classic version of Dr. Light. He's got cool powers and a cool look. He's generally a great 'generic' villain to throw at your heroes for a straightforward superhero adventure, as his motivations are pretty prosaic and simple. Dillin's art was quite good as well, energetic, dynamic, and full of life, and we got a lot of lovely, creative panels throughout. Yet, there were a few missteps in there as well, like Zatanna's horribly distorted legs in the panel to the left (she looks like she's being viewed through a fun-house mirror!). All told, this is exactly the kind of superhero yarn I enjoy, creative, fun, action-packed, some mystery and surprises, and a touch of continuity and world-building to top it all off. I'll give this entertaining issue a strong 4 Minutemen.
Well dear readers, with these two books we at long last wrap up our trek through November 1971! I hope that y'all have found these tales worth the wait, though I don't think even the best of them quite justifies the delay, ha! Nonetheless, I am pleased that we at least end on a positive note. Years between my posts has, I'm sure, tried your patience, and I appreciate all of those of you who have rejoined me now that I've emerged from the wild realms of a PhD program, busy semesters, and the general chaos of 2020!
It's been an interesting month of comics, featuring more of the themes we've come to expect, with a little bit of environmental consciousness in one of our Superman stories, some more witches and occult outings, and the usual dash of counter-culture chaos. Interestingly, we are seeing both positive and negative portrayals of the counter-culture trends, with Robin's 'illuminating' contact with a commune on one hand and Batgirl's conflict with some truly heinous hippies on the other. We've had some unexpected gems, like Supergirl's super-fun alien adventure, as well as some disappointing duds, like Jimmy Olsen's visit to the planet of the Late-Late Show. We've also had more than our fair share of the wacky and the weird, with robo-Lincolns battling robo-Booths, and superfluous melting androids. It's certainly been an interesting month, and I hope that y'all enjoyed joining me on our little trek.
I know that my wrap-up section here is shorter than normal, but there's so much distance between me and the bulk of these stories now, since I read most of them ages ago, that I don't have as much to say as usual. Nonetheless, I hope things will get back to normal in the months to come. I've also had to cut the "Headblow Headcount" for the moment, as I can't figure out who to format it in the new WordPress editor. I'll keep experimenting with it, and hopefully I'll have that figured out by the next time a hero takes a crack to the cranium. So, until we begin our next month's coverage, I hope that y'all will enjoy the final days of 2020, at least as much as possible. Here's hoping that the next year will bring better fortunes and brighter skies for all of us! Until then, keep the Heroic Ideal alive, and join me again soon for another edition of Into the Bronze Age!
2 Comments Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Superheroes Tagged batman, Dick Dillin, Dr. Light, Jack Kirby, Jimmy Olsen, Joe Giella, Len Wein, Newsboy Legion, superman, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Vince Colletta, World's Finest
Welcome back for another edition of Into the Bronze Age, dear readers and Internet travelers! Come right in and prepare for our final pair of pulse-pounding adventures! They're a mixed bag, as Zaney Haney takes Teen Titans back from our favorite Aquaman author, Steve Skeates, but never fear, stylin' Steve is also back in this batch, and penning an old favorite, the Sea King himself, in an issue of World's Finest! I've been eagerly anticipating that particular book, seeing it in my reading list. Time to find out how both of these comics stack up!
"Less Than Human?"
First up is a new Teen Titans adventure, and it's a weird one, which is to be expected from Zaney Haney. The stranger thing is that it follows in the similarly weird footsteps of Steve Skeates from last month. The comic has a Nick Cardy cover, but it isn't as fantastic as his usual work. The image is a solid 'scary discovery' type of composition, but Cardy can't seem to make up his mind on whether the menacing figure is a zombie or a skeleton (look at those arm bones!), so it just looks a bit confused. Otherwise, it is pretty solid. Inside, this comic picks up directly from the last issue, in the poorly conceived and developed fantasy world that was created by the Butterfly Effect of Mal and Kid Flash's journey into the past.
The young heroes face a test in the form of an archery competition, a-la Robin Hood, and somehow Kid Flash duplicates the forester's famous shot. I expected this to be revealed to be a super speed trick, especially when the arrow begins to drill into the lock on its own, but it's never actually explained. So, we could just assume that Wally is somehow an expert archer. It's a bit clumsy, but Haney has no time for explanations or logic! Instead, a hulking skeleton, the animated remains of the caveman they killed, comes charging out of the door, and the Titans are terrified, so terrified, that Mal actually breaks and runs.
However, he doesn't run too far, as he grabs the 'Duke of Galaxy's' helmet and dons it before charging back towards the apparition. And a specter it proves to be, vanishing into thin air. 'Jupiterius' explains to the youths that 'Cerebella' (get it?), Lilith's alternate future counterpart, used her mental powers to fill Mal with fear. Since they successfully passed their trial, he will show them how to travel back in time 'to put right what once went wrong!'
The wizard takes them to "The Well of Time," where they take a piece of its crystallized water and find themselves back in the Stone Age, facing their anachronistic antagonist. This time Flash knocks the club away without sending the caveman crashing over the cliff, but the marauding Cro-Magnon (who looks much more like a neanderthal) manages to grab him…somehow. The crystals that hold them in the past fade during the fight, and the young friends find themselves back home…but they have picked up a chronological hitchhiker!
The caveman, grappling with Kid Flash at the moment of their return, went with them, and suddenly the entire team find themselves in a desperate struggle with the powerful savage. When they manage to incapacitate him, Mr. Jupiter oh-so-helpfully proclaims that he is not going to send their visitor back home because it turns out time travel is a tad dangerous. Gee, ya' think? It's a shame you didn't figure that out before you lost two teenagers in time!
So, instead Jupiter instructs the team to tame the caveman, turn him into a modern man…which is problematic in multiple ways. Most importantly, this scene points to a major plot hole. Killing this caveman really messed up the timeline and caused a whole alternate future, right? But removing him from his era entirely doesn't have any impact on the present? That's just ridiculously sloppy writing, even for the Zaney one.
Nonetheless, in the present the caveman, who they dub "Gnarrk," after his only vocalization, must stay. The Titans bring Robin in to help them with their new pupil, and after devising a curriculum, they start with the first and most important step…appearance! The first thing the team does is sedate their savage student and give him a shave and a hair cut, which doesn't please the fellow too much when he awakens. He grabs Lilith through the bars, but fortunately she is able to communicate telepathically with him, and they make friends.
The most amazing part of this comic isn't the time travel or the magic but the fact that Lilith does something useful!
After a poor start with subliminal education while he sleeps, the Titans take the caveman out on the town pretty much immediately, which seems wildly irresponsible and unnecessary. Predictably, it goes poorly, and Gnarrk attacks a car, thinking it is some type of monstrous animal. Then he gets spooked by a train, and the team has to split up and search for their charge. When they recover the kooky Cro-Magnon, they discover that he has observed a local city councilman involved in a payoff, and they realize that Gnarrk has just become a damning witness against a major crime figure…but a witness who can't testify!
This is actually a rather original and entertaining situation, all other concerns aside. You can say this for Haney, he certainly was creative! Well, the Titans immediately redouble their efforts. After two weeks of intensive training, they take their time-tossed guest to the D.A., for some reason in a major hurry, despite the fact that there seems to be no real external pressure. Nonetheless, Lilith, having grown close to Gnarrk, tries to shield him from the frantic efforts of the others, but when she takes him out for a walk, the pair are attacked by gangsters and narrowly avoid a bomb. Fearing for her new friend, the enigmatic lady slips away with him, planning to hide Gnarrk until after the hearing so he won't be in danger.
Of course, this works about as well as you might imagine, and for some strange reason, the young caveman proves to be slightly less safe hiding out in a van in the woods than surrounded by superheroes. Gnarrk tries to confess his feelings for Lilith, who is apparently quite the ridiculous hippie, given her psychedelic surroundings, but she shoots him down.
This is followed quickly by being shot down herself in a more literal fashion as bullets riddle the van and the vaguely-powered vixen is hit. The Caveman goes crazy and tears into the attackers. The rest of the Titans arrive just in time to talk him down from killing his captives, but the Cro-Magnon chooses to do the right thing, sparing the would-be killer. The next day, Gnarrk appears in court and haltingly gives his testimony, bringing down the crime boss, and the comic ends with Lilith and her newfound friend walking off together, arm-in-arm.
Once again, Haney packs enough into a single issue of a comic to fill three normal books. He seems to pretty immediately lose interest in the time travel tale, instead settling on the weird and reasonably original angle of a caveman in the modern world. That story is fairly entertaining, and the character's growing fondness for Lilith is actually rather touching. The scene where he tries to tell her how he feels, only to have her shut him down makes you feel for the guy. For her part, Lilith continues to be super vague and undeveloped, which annoys me, and her plot-fortunate powers seem rather convenient. That's not terribly surprising with the Zaney one doing the writing, as character personalities and powers change at his whim.
This is a common problem with his work, but it is magnified here because even the questionable unity provided by Haney is lacking in this Titans book, with the authorial duties shifting every other issue. The inconsistency and uncertainty of direction is really clear with this issue, which clashes with the story started by Steve Skeates, whose plotlines are almost immediately abandoned. George Tuska's art is lovely as always, and he does some really great work with Gnarrk's face, which is particularly important considering how little dialog the character has. I think Nick Cardy inking Tuska also adds a bit of continuity to the visual side of the book, which is nice. The most intriguing part of this issue was the introduction of Gnarrk, who, despite being the focus of the story, receives relatively little development. Apparently he goes on to play a role in the Titans mythos in the future, but tellingly, none of the references I could find about him make any mention of this story. I'm curious to see what will become of him. (I wonder if he went on to become a lawyer). In the end, this is a comic with a lot of imagination that has some flaws but is still a fun read, so I'll give it 3.5 Minutemen, with its creativity raising it above the average.
"Who's Minding the Earth?"
I have been really looking forward to this one, especially after Aquaman's own book met its unfortunate demise. I have been excited to see my favorite character team up with the Man of Steel, and written by submarine scribe supreme, Steve Skeates, no less! Fortunately, this issue doesn't disappoint, though it doesn't have the most gripping of covers. It's not bad, but it is rather excessively yellow, and the scene is rather more suggestive than exciting. Nonetheless, the monstrous creatures walking away from our heroes hold a bit of menace and the figures are well drawn, which is no surprise from Neal Adams. Nonetheless, the story inside delivers something pretty enjoyable.
It starts with everyone's favorite Sea King discovering a strange phenomenon, an underwater rainbow, and when he investigates, he hears a strange, high-pitched buzzing which leads him to a ruined research station on a seemingly abandoned island. In the wreckage, the Marine Marvel discovers a torn journal page with a cryptic message about 'raising him' and a warning that 'they plan to drown the world.' That doesn't sound good!
As he continues to search the island, Aquaman encounters a quartet of strange looking creatures, seemingly humanoid dolphins, and he can't help but laugh at their awkward, waddling walk. Real sensitive Arthur! The creatures take this none-too-kindly, and the Sea Sleuth suddenly is hit with a mental attack and passes out! I'm not crazy about this scene as Aquaman, of all people, should probably be both a bit more accepting of and a bit more used to strange aquatic beings, but I suppose we're meant to take it as harmless mirth.
Dillin really knocks it out of the park on Aquaman in this issue.
Meanwhile, a very snappily dressed Clark Kent encounters a frantic stranger on the streets of Metropolis who is desperately searching for Superman. Before the reporter can calm him down and enjoy the irony, the disguised figure mentions something about 'the change' coming over him and somehow renders everyone nearby blind, even affecting the Man of Steel's superior eyesight! It seems to the Action Ace's blurry vision as if the figure splits in two and then races off, but after his vision clears, he manages to pick up their trail on the coast.
Clark, rockin' the paisley ascot. I wonder why Lois won't go out with him?
The Man of Tomorrow follows these odd aquatic beings across the sea and discovers Aquaman's still form, managing to return him to the water just as the Atlantean's hour was running out. Quickly catching each other up, they return to the isle and encounter the creature that had been seeking Superman in the first place. This alien-looking being fills the two heroes in on the situation. Apparently he was born a mutant, but a mutant dolphin, which is sort of a fun twist.
He was a humanoid being, and his marine mother abandoned him. Fortunately, a team of scientists working on the island rescued and reared the young mutant, who grew rapidly and proved to be brilliant, quickly learning English. He also developed strange sonic (or perhaps psionic) abilities, which he often used to summon displays of light, creating submarine rainbows for his own amusement.
Still, he was lonely, as well as clumsy and awkward on the land, which earned him the laughter of his adoptive family, embittering the young creature. He longed for a companion, someone like him, and suddenly one day, in response to his desire, he split in two, reproducing asexually. His new brother possessed all of his knowledge, but none of his compassion. There's something of a similarity here to the Sand Superman of O'Neil's.
The strange sibling inherited only the original's anger, and the process proved continual, with more twins born every few days. Soon they drove the scientists away and began plotting to destroy the human race which had mocked them. The original dolphin-being warns the heroes that his freakish family plans to drown the Earth by using their sonic powers to melt the ice caps!
Together, the trio take off for the North pole, where the dolphin-men have gathered. However, the malevolent mutants sense the heroes approaching and launch a sonic attack that affects Superman's brain (and we get an educational little map of the human brain to illustrate the point, which is a nice touch). Suddenly the Man of Steel streaks into the sky, charging a massive creature seemingly composed of sonic energy, yet he can never seem to make contact with it. Strange!
Under the waves, the Marine Marvel presses the attack, and while he and his flippered friend hold their own, the weight of numbers soon threatens to swamp them, so the Sea King calls in an army of fish to cover his retreat. As the mutants search for him, they fail to notice a seemingly harmless whale as it gets close, but suddenly Aquaman bursts from the creature's mouth and slams into his aquatic antagonists! It's a great sequence, and Dillin does a really nice job with it, other than one slightly awkward pose.
As the Marine Marvel tears through his foes, he manages to disrupt their attack on Superman, who suddenly realizes that the monster was an illusion and dives back into the undersea brawl. The two heroes make short work of the creatures. Once they have been captured, Superman gives them a fiery speech, lambasting the mutants for their violent response to human ridicule, arguing that they should have worked to earn respect instead.
Oddly, this prompts Aquaman thinks to himself that his friend "has that unbearable establishment 'twang' in his voice!" That's…a weird choice for the King of Atlantis, and it really just doesn't fit the character, a grating sour note, way more suited to the current, obnoxious characterization of Green Arrow, made all the more surprising because it was written by Skeates, who has previously shown such a great grasp of the character. Maybe Aquaman has been spending too much time with Ollie!
Despite that, there is a certain interesting element to this scene, as there is some buried social commentary in an authority figure telling an abused minority that they just needed to prove themselves to the powers that be. Given the racial issues of the day, I wonder if this was a subtle jibe or just a coincidence. Whatever the case, after his speech, the Metropolis Marvel gathers the mutants up and flies them to an unpeopled inhabitable planet where they can create their own world, free from humanity and no threat to anyone. On Earth, Aquaman ponders the case, and the married mariner thinks that it makes a certain amount of sense that this species that developed without love was also one that lacked an opposite sex. Arthur, you romantic, you!
This is a great little adventure story, and for the first time in far too long, it's one in which Aquaman actually gets to be useful. Yet, he isn't just useful, he positively steals the show, which isn't easy to do when sharing space with Superman! The Sea King puts on a great showing in this comic, which I expected from a story by Skeates. The threat that the heroes face is an interesting one, and the tale of the original dolphin-creature (who Skeates really should have given a name) is rather touching in its own way. His loneliness, being the only one of his kind, is fairly poignant, and I quite like the little scene of him hanging out underwater, 'singing colors' to himself.
The one real problem with the issue is that the motivation for the mutants' hatred of mankind is a bit weak. I'd have liked to see a bit more development to that part of the tale, but Skeates is moving pretty quickly in the space he has to work with and packs a lot in here, including a great action sequence. It's a shame the original dolphin-man got exiled to another world with the others, as he seemed like a decent sort and an interesting character. If there were still an Aquaman title, he'd have made a fun addition to the supporting cast.
In terms of the art, Dillin is in particularly rare form on this book. His work is great, and he creates some really striking panels, like the gathering of dolphin-men, Aquaman's fish army, and the drowning city. The creatures themselves have a pretty good design, strange enough to be a little creepy but anthropomorphic enough to be sympathetic as well. This is just a lovely, imaginative, and well-realized issue. I thoroughly enjoyed this comic, and it was great to see Aquaman back in action (in a good light). While the story could have been expanded, it was great fun as is. I'll give it 4.5 Minutemen.
The Head-Blow Headcount:
Another month without any new visitors to the Wall of Shame. I wonder if anyone will succumb to the siren song of the headblow in the comics to come!
June has proven to be quite a month! There were a lot of really enjoyable comics in the line-up this time, including some very pleasant surprises, like Flash tangling with an honest-to-goodness super-powered opponent, and in a good issue, to boot! We also had a lot of stories that illustrated the transitional nature of this era, comics with more ambition than accomplishment that nevertheless illustrated the growing maturity of the medium. This month's JLA certainly fits that description!
In general, the trends we've been observing continue this month, with a definite presence of socially conscious stories and a push towards darker themes. Even in light-hearted series, like Superboy, we find a story about witches and warlocks. It's a silly tale, but it still evinces a growing interest in the supernatural in comics. Considering we're only a year away from the premiere of Kirby's Demon series and soon to see the return of the Specter, I suppose that shouldn't be surprising. These are only the first steps of the mystical revival of the Bronze Age, and there's much more to come!
Interestingly, among the socially conscious comics on the stands this month, we find another dealing with the plight of the Native Americans. Considering that last month also featured such a tale, this is decent evidence that the topic was in the zeitgeist. Fortunately, one of my awesome readers mentioned that this was certainly the case, and pointed to the publication of books like Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and the release of films like Little Big Man in 1970, both of which dealt with the subject and helped to begin transforming the public's perception of Native Americans and the history of the West. I'll be interested to see if this trend continues and if we find more stories from DC on the topic in the months and years to come.
Of course, Kirby's Fourth World continues to develop in his various books, and we got two slam-bang issues to enjoy this month. The King keeps tossing out concepts and telling exciting stories, and even his action-heavy issues have unique elements like this month's Mr. Miracle and the proto-fabber it contained. There's not a ton of development of the larger mythos in these two books, though we do see the debut of Granny Goodness and get some more hints of just where Scott Free comes from. It's really impressive that Kirby as able to keep so many titles moving forward and rolling out his nascent mythology across these different books. They really all do work together very well, creating a greater whole. Reading them in collection, I didn't really appreciate what a complex dance he was doing.
Of course, Kirby's titles are not the only books that are growing and evolving. Denny O'Neil is continuing his renovation of Superman, spinning a thoroughly enjoyable yarn this month, but more importantly and more memorably, he also delivered one of the greatest Batman villains of all time in a comic that was an instant classic. The deservedly beloved Batman #232 gives us R'as Al Ghul and brings the Dark Knight solidly into the Bronze Age with a mystery and adventure tale that highlights everything that makes the character who he is, from his detective skills, to his courage, to his brilliance and physical ability. This is the Batman I love, and it's great to see him in action.
So, all in all, it was a really solid month, with a few clunkers but plenty of fun, readable comics. What's more, it demonstrates the growing character of the age in some really interesting ways. I hope that y'all enjoyed this portion of our trip, because we now bid adieu to June 1971! Please join me again soon as we begin our trek into the next month and see what awaits us there! Until then, keep the Heroic Ideal alive!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Superheroes Tagged aquaman, Bob Haney, Dick Dillin, George Tuska, Gnarrk, Joe Giella, Kid Flash, Lilith, Mal Duncan, Nick Cardy, Robin, Speedy, Steve Skeates, superman, Teen Titans, Wonder Girl, World's Finest
Hello Internet travelers, and welcome to the final edition of Into the Bronze Age for May, 1971! We've got three tales to finish out the month, and though quality varies, there's plenty here to enjoy. I hope that all of my readers are safe and sound, having escaped from the various disasters plaguing us at the moment. Speaking of escapes, let's do just that, find our way to a world full of heroes and find solace in the fantastic and the wondrous!
"Indian Death Charge!"
Cover Artist: Dick Giordano
"The Face of Fate"
Penciler: Ross Andru
Inker: Mike Esposito
Well, we've got quite a cover on this month's Lois Lane issue. I…hardly know where to begin. It's beautifully drawn by Dick Giordano, but it certainly is unusual. Lois protecting a Native American baby is one thing, that getup is something else. It really is a pretty striking image, with a crowd of angry white faces threatening in the background, even throwing rocks. Given the attitudes about racial mixing that still exist today, you can imagine what it might have been like in 1971, seeing a white woman with an Indian baby, claiming it as her own. The ridiculous elements of the image aside, it still probably created something of a stir.
The story within seems an obvious attempt by Kanigher to capitalize on his success with his previous excellent racial story. Sadly, this one isn't nearly as good. It begins in a similar way, with Lois pursuing a feature in the ghetto of Metropolis, where she is interviewing candidates for the Daily Planet's "Mother of the Year" contest. Yet, just as in the previous book, she is rebuffed by the natives of the place, though this time not because of her race. Instead, a mother rather unkindly attacks the reporter because she is not a mother and so is unfit to pick one.
The career-minded Lois replies with biting sarcasm and flippant wit…oh wait, no, she is immediately consumed by an existential crisis because a stranger pointed out she doesn't have children, and she weakly tells Clark that she would have a family, if only Superman would marry her. This little scene bothered me a bit, though I suppose I should have expected it. I want Lois to be the confident, self-assured woman we've been getting glimpses of lately, and this seemed a bit weak for her. Nonetheless, she begs off the story with Perry and is sent to cover a Pueblo Indians rain dance on a reservation in the west, with Clark along to cover the same story for TV.
While there, we get a cross-section of the tourists, all saying various terrible things, which sets the tone for the encounter. The Pueblo tribesmen declare that they won't hold the dance, as it is a religious ceremony and not a circus. The crowd gets ugly, and Superman has to intervene to prevent a riot. He whips up a dust storm to blind and separate the crowds, and while he is working, Lois tries to help a young Indian mother get her child to safety, but the girl declares "My baby must learn to expect hurt from the white man!" Wow! Yeah, no-one in this country has gotten a worse deal than the Native Americans, but I'd still say that doesn't exactly make her mother of the year material, what with the willful endangerment of her infant and all!
As the crowds break up, Lois follows the Pueblo people, offering to help. They refuse her aid, but let her accompany them, telling their story. It is a sadly familiar tale of exploitation and corruption, the eradication of the buffalo herds and the theft of land, but it has a particular wrinkle. The Indian leader, Johnny Lone Eagle, shows the reporter a dam being constructed that threatens to flood their village. What's worse, the dam isn't fated to provide power to a city or anything so useful or productive. No, it's only going to create a lake for a rich man's fishing preserve.
The Pueblo tribesmen plan to attack and dynamite the dam, risking their lives, women and children too, to protect their homes. Lois observes their war dance the night before the attack, but convinces their leader to let her report the story….with smoke signals. Oookay. That's a bit much, and it rather undercuts the seriousness of the story. A little later on, the young Indian mother, Singing Rain, is discovered laying on the ground, apparently badly injured, though she looks more like she just can't be bothered to get up.
Deathly ill or just mildly annoyed?
On the morning of the showdown, the Indians and the construction workers face off, about to come to blows, when Superman scoops up the entire dam, angry crowds in tow, and drops it into a mountain valley, quickly shaping the place into a replacement pond with super strength, and thus solving the problem.
Yet, Singing Rain has apparently worsened, and she dies, but not before giving her baby son to Lois to raise as her own. Lois is touched and promises to care for 'Little Moon,' though no-one, white or red, is happy about it. We see her happily taking care of the little tyke, but things take a turn when a sleazy publisher who would give even J. Jonah Jameson pause tries to get her to sell the rights of her story. When she refuses, the fellow twists the facts, claiming she approached him, and soon the foster mother finds herself the center of competing protests.
Shortly thereafter, Lois is driving when she is forced off of a bridge! In other words, it's a Tuesday. She and the baby plunge into a river, and though the reporter finds herself trapped, she desperately pushes the child to the surface, only to be rescued at the last moment by a Native American soldier. She awakens in the hospital to find Joseph Bright Wing, Little Moon's father, who was missing in Vietnam. He was in the truck which sent her careening off the bridge, on his way home, having escaped from a V.C. prisoner of war camp.
He thanks the girl reporter for caring for his son and notes that she almost gave her life for the boy. She bids Little Moon a tearful farewell, and the story ends with an unexpected ceremony, wherein Lois Lane is surprisingly selected as the Daily Planet's (foster) mother of the year. Yet, one moron in the crowd can't keep his mouth shut, and he calls out that she's color-blind, caring for an Indian baby. We get a real clunker in her reply, as Lois answers back that: "It's you who are blind! My heart and Little Moon's are the same color!"
It's…an unsatisfying conclusion, really. Superman snaps his super fingers and solves the racial conflict, giving both sides what they want, despite the fact that the sides were not equal in merit. The trouble is that the rich jerk who was willing to flood an entire village so he could take a private fishing holiday didn't deserve to get what he wanted. I'd have rather seen some of the social justice-oriented Superman we glimpsed in O'Neil's run, smashing the dam and changing hearts, not just placating the bullies pushing around the little guys. The ending to Lois's plot is okay, but just packed full of convenience. It's positively deus ex machina. She happens to run off the road right in front of the child's father, who just happened to be coming home from Vietnam at that exact moment. Kanigher is clearly trying to recreate the magic of the previous story's powerful ending with their hospital room meeting, but this one just doesn't come together naturally or effectively.
This issue has a great message about the humanity and dignity of America's abused native population and about the insignificance of racial difference, but they are rather lost in the shuffle of competing elements. This comic ups the drama and the stakes compared to the previous tale of this type, but it moves too far too quickly. There was something remarkably realistic, despite the fantastic trappings, in the previous yarn. This one tries to cram a bit too much into the plot, leaving too little room for pathos. Instead, it descends to bathos. Yet, Kanigher's heart is certainly in the right place, and it is interesting to see him focus on native peoples and the continuing themes of racial divisions. Perhaps the most striking thing about this issue is the blatant racism on display in many of the background characters, an ugliness that is treated pretty straight-forwardly. It's surprising and arresting.
As for Roth's art, for the most part it is beautiful and detailed, as it usually is. I'm still really enjoying his tenure on this book, but there are a few moments where his work fails in its storytelling duties, as when the supposedly injured Singing Rain looks more like she's mildly perturbed rather than desperately hurt. Still, Roth fills the book with interesting and detailed faces and delivers some solid emotional work throughout. All things considered, I'll give this ambitious but rather flawed issue 2.5 Minutemen. It just doesn't manage to capture either the quiet dignity or the gentle impact of Kanigher's previous effort.
Topping off this issue is another Kanigher-penned tale, the continuation of his Rose and Thorn feature. This one picks up where the last left off, with the titular Thorn haunted by the spirit of a wronged woman that wants vengeance in order to find its peace. The plea for revenge has found the right type of audience, and the next night, the Thorn sets out to find the girl's killer, Albert Talbot, and bring him to justice! On her nightly prowl, the female fury finds her boyfriend, Detective Danny Stone, getting his head handed to him by a pack of 100 thugs. It's just possible that Stone is really bad at his job given how often she has to rescue him!
The Baleful Beauty comes on like Gang Busters and takes out the gunsels, only to discover that Stone's sister may be following in her ghostly guide's footsteps, falling for the charms and hollow promises of her target! This is…a bit convenient and an unnecessary complication. However, because the supernatural is involved, you could hand-wave it as the workings of fate. A bit of dialog drawing attention to this fact would have gone a long way, however.
Following the slightly dented detective's lead, the Nymph of Night manages to locate Talbot's estate/hideout, and she scales the fence, taking out a pack of dogs and then a passel of guards with various trick thorns in a rather nice looking set of sequences. Finally, the Vixen of Vengeance earns her name by facing down the felonious fiend who murdered poor Selena.
Talbot has taken Detective Stone's sister hostage, but as he threatens her with a candelabra, he unwittingly sets the drapes alight in his panic, setting the whole house ablaze in no-time. The Thorn saves the foolish girl, but she is unwilling to let even such a despicable lout as Talbot meet his fate in a fire, so she rushes in to save him as well. She succeeds, pulling him from the flames, but he is horribly burned, meeting a similar fate as his victim. To add ironic salt to his wounds, the Baleful Beauty leaves him the same mask worn by Selena years ago. When she returns home that morning, the Thorn sees Selena's spirit fade away, finally able to find peace.
This is a brief and absolutely packed story! It's actually pretty good, which adds to my growing impression that Kanigher was actually best in small doses. He really crams plot into these few pages, and though he over does it a bit, the end result is a pretty solid tale of vengeance. The final showdown is rapid-fire but quite dramatic, and the irony of the ending is pretty effective. The villain meets a fairly grisly fate, and this type of approach to justice continues to set this feature apart from the rest of the DCU. It's rather refreshing to find a tale like this as the exception, rather than the rule in a superhero universe! There are some slightly clunky elements, as with the random element of Stone's sister and history repeating itself, but she does add to the tension in the final scene and add a bit more urgency to the plot. I'm actually a bit surprised that Kanigher wrapped this arc up in just two issues. I rather expected it to have a bit more buildup, and it may have benefited from such. Nonetheless, the final effect was pretty solid, and Rose and Thorn continues to be a strong feature. I'll give this outing 3.5 Minutemen.
"Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!"
Rounding out the month of May, we've got another adventure of the world's finest team, and it's a fairly solid one. We've got a wonderfully dynamic cover with the two super-friends locked in deadly combat. The strange enthroned figure behind them looks suitably alien, though the featureless orb isn't as menacing as it might be. I'm reminded a bit of the titular Robot Monster. The cover text boldly proclaims that this image is not a cheat, which is certainly intriguing. It's a beautifully illustrated composition, which makes the opening splash page of the book, which largely recreates it, a tad disappointing. Dick Dillin is a fine artist, but comparing his work to Neal Adams' is a losing proposition in my book.
The actual tale begins with a stormy night over a distant Middle Eastern desert, where a familiar flying red and blue form is struck by lightning, and, strangely, knocked out of the sky by the bolt! A gang of desert bandits hear the impact and are soon astounded when Superman walks out of the rain and into their camp. Even more amazing, the Man of Steel seems to have lost his memory, and the bandit leader, 'Bedouin Brakh,' decides to use the confused hero to forward his own nefarious goals.
The next day finds Lois Lane (of course) covering a nearby archeological dig of the tomb of 'King Malis,' (I bet he was a real nice guy) when they are suddenly attacked by bandits. The archeologists take a page from Dr. Jones and prove that any well stocked expedition is a well armed one, opening fire on the raiders. Yet, one of them proves bullet-proof, and he smashes through the guards. Lois, displaying rather insane levels of courage, bare-handedly attacks the man she just saw shrug off rifle bullets, revealing him as Superman! Unfortunately, it's an amnesiac Man of Tomorrow who doesn't recognize her, and the girl reporter finds herself taken prisoner. The bandits use the confused champion, dressed up as a ghost, to scare away other visitors and take over the dig in order to loot it.
Back in the states, a certain millionaire playboy hears about the mystery surrounding these events on the news and decides that Batman should investigate, which is a tad random. O'Neil gives us a few touches of realism as Bruce complains about the heat and closes his eyes to prepare to enter the tomb without being blinded by the change in light. Such little details are welcome. and add to the slightly higher tone of the tale
As the Dark Knight springs into the supposedly haunted tomb, he surprises the Bedouin guards and acquits himself well until Superman suddenly appears. The Masked Manhunter thinks his friend is playing a part, so he goes along with what he expects to be a staged fight, but only too late does he realize that the conflict is in deadly earnest. The Man of Steel chokes his friend out, and the bandits take the Gotham Guardian prisoner!
Meanwhile, we see Superman…or rather, SuperMEN, smashing into icy cliffs in the arctic. What is this?! It seems that the real Metropolis Marvel has been at this Fortress of Solitude working on his Superman robots, trying to get them functioning properly. O'Neil hits his one of his favorite notes as we're told that the trouble is too much pollution in the air, which is making the bots go haywire. That bugged me a bit, because it felt a tad forced. An increase in radiation affecting the machines would make a certain amount of sense, but this just seems a bit silly, an excuse for mentioning the author's pet subject. Nonetheless, the Kryptonian decides that he can't trust his doppelgangers any longer, despite his best efforts, and he discovers that one of his robots is missing. Heading back home, he hears about Lois's disappearance and streaks off to the rescue.
Arriving at the tomb, he confronts the bandits, who have enslaved their prisoners, forcing them to excavate the site. Of course the sinister Superman is, in fact, the renegade robot. Interestingly, when the real Man of Steel orders his artificial android back home, it refuses for an intriguing reason. While its master has never treated it as anything but a machine, Brakh has treated it as a friend, and so it chooses to stand with him. That's…actually almost touching if you think about it. Superman is entirely unmoved by this and doesn't bother to ask if androids dream of electric sheep, just smashing the apparently sentient super-bot without a qualm!
Batman gets in on the action, dropping the bandit, but the tomb is opened in the struggle, and a strange red light escapes from it, weakening the Metropolis Marvel. Suddenly he is no match for the renegade robot, who lays a vicious beating on him in revenge for his mistreatment. The Dark Knight tries to intercede, but the machine easily cleans his clock. Just then, a glowing figure emerges from the darkness of the sepulcher in a nicely dramatic appearance. It's a mummy with a glowing red globe for a head, and it starts smashing everyone nearby. This could look rather goofy, but I find it a surprisingly effective design.
Taking a gamble, the Caped Crusader comes to his senses just in time to rescue Superman, tossing his cape over the creature's glowing gourd. His hunch was right, the creature's head is some kind of device that gives off radiation similar to that of a red sun, weakening the Kryptonian. When the antagonistic android tries to intercede, Batman gets some revenge, smashing the machine, and when the recovered mummy attacks again, Superman returns the favor, knocking the shinning sphere off of its shoulders with a boulder and then smashing what is revealed to be its robotic body.
The exhausted champions theorize that the legendary King Malis was actually some type of advanced android created by an alien race and imprisoned on Earth centuries ago. Sure. That makes sense in a comic book-y kind of way. The heroes suspect they'll never learn the details of this weird case, but the Man of Steel notes that, whoever those beings were, "they had problems very like ours!"
Ohh! Batman with the bad-A one liner! Nice!
That's a droll ending to a fun adventure. O'Neil gives us a solid romp here, full of dramatic peril and heroic efforts. While Batman's ignominious defeat by the Superman robot the first time is a bit disappointing, for the most part we see the wit and energy here that characterizes O'Neil's better stories, as when Superman casually notes that he'd have to be foolish to make his own robots stronger than he is. Strangely, despite the fact that O'Neil is doing such a bang-up job on the Batman books at this time, he doesn't quite seem to capture the Dark Knight's voice in this yarn. Other than that, there are only two real flaws here, one being that the Masked Manhunter is captured, but not turned into the Maskless Manhunter, which makes no sense. Why in the world wouldn't the villains want to unmask Batman? It's a common trope, but not a good one.
Perhaps more significantly, nobody at all seems even mildly concerned that this robot has suddenly developed sentience and free will, perhaps making it, in C.S. Lewis's terminology, hnau. Instead, his creator seems just mildly miffed that his walking toaster is talking back to him. Frankenstein this ain't, is what I'm saying, but as has often been the case with the stories we've encountered so far, this tale raises the specter of themes that it doesn't have the interest to pursue, and that's a shame. Still, despite that oversight, O'Neil delivers a fun read here. It might have benefited from being a two-parter and developing Malis and this strange alien race some more, but we're left with the impression of depth. Dillin's art is really quite good throughout as well, and we're not seeing some of that stiffness that often accompanies his JLA work. There are several really nice sequences in this story. I suppose I'll give this adventure 3.5 Minutemen, as it is fun, but not quite living up to its potential. On an unrelated note, it looks like the next issue features Aquaman. Yay!
We've got no additions to the Wall of Shame this month, but we've still collected quite a list of characters. Who knows how many head-blows the future holds?
Well, it took me a while, but I've gotten through another month in our journey! Quite a month it was, featuring the return of legendary (and legendarily bad) Bat-villain, the Ten-Eyed Man…for some reason! The ridiculousness of that story alone made this month of comics worth the read for me! Still, there was a lot more here than just the Emperor of the Occulus. We've also got Batgirl's fashion adventures, an (almost) guest appearance by Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon, and a cameo by Alfred Hitchcock. You don't see that every day in comics!
We encountered my least favorite JLA issue to date, thought it was certainly fascinating as a cultural artifact, providing a brief glimpse of the pop-culture production of the early 70s, as well as some biographical elements of a famed sci-fi writer. Perhaps most notably, it pointed to Harlan Ellison's involvement with comics in this era and the overlap and cross-pollination between mediums that is always the case. The Flash continues to be a real, real drag, ironically enough, though the inclusion of an Elongated Man backup should help to lighten the blow. O'Neil's Superman, on the other hand, is staying surprisingly strong, delivering fun, even somewhat thoughtful, comics. Now that he's got full-length books to work with, it is paying off well. It's a shame that his Green Lantern/Green Arrow work can't evince the same sense of adventure and wit. I suppose he is trying too hard in that book.
On an even more exciting note, Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga continues to develop, and with second issues, we're starting to get into the meat of his stories. Having read through his Fantastic Four run since the last time I read these books, I have a new perspective on how he is developing as an artist and storyteller, and it is fascinating to see. Of course, it continues to be really interesting to see the context of his efforts in the Fourth World, and what is going on in the rest of the DCU really illustrates just how innovative and different his work was. This month's brief glimpse of cosmic, psychedelic elements in the Forever People is just a hint of such difference, but it is a telling one.
In terms of cultural significance, we saw a continued interest in the turmoil on campuses in both the Robin backup and our weird Supergirl tale this month, though it isn't given as much focus as it has been. Lois had another racially charged adventure this month, and despite its lack of success as a story, it points to the increasing social awareness in the DCU and, in particular, a focus on Native American issues.
Notably, we also saw the creation of a character by the ever unpredictable Bob Haney that really defied expectations for this era in the form of the feminine yet entirely independent and self-possessed Ruby Ryder. Strangely, this was actually one of the elements of the month's books that I found most interesting. When even heroic women like Black Canary are still occasionally depicted as shrinking violets, it's interesting to see Haney's femme fatale hold her own in a man's world, a businesswoman in an era when that type of thing was exceptionally rare.
Well, that will do it for the month of May, 1971! I hope that y'all enjoyed the ride as much as I enjoyed the reads. Stay safe out there in the real world! For those of you in the paths of hurricanes, fires, floods, or earthquakes, I wish you all the best, and you're in our prayers in the Grey household. Remember folks, do what you can to help out, as there is a lot of need. Until next time, keep the heroic ideal alive!
2 Comments Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Superheroes Tagged batman, Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, Joe Giella, Lois Lane, Robert Kanigher, Rose and Thorn, Ross Andru, superman, Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, Werner Roth, World's Finest
Into the Bronze Age: March 1971 (Part 6)
Hello Internet travelers, you've just encountered the final post in this portion of my coverage of DC Bronze Age comics! Here at the end of this month of mags, we've got all Superman, all the time! They're a pretty fun set of comics, and they certainly have some interesting qualities, both positive and negative. They make a pretty fitting set of titles to consider as a cap to this set of features. Enjoy!
"Sinister Scream of the Devil's Harp!"
Denny O'Neil's tenure on Superman continues, and, quite frankly, I continue to be impressed. I'm very pleasantly surprised that, under this goofy looking cover with what looks like a hairy brown version of Satan slugging it out with the Man of Steel, there is a good, solid Superman story. The cover is actually dynamic and interesting enough, though like roughly half of the Metropolis Marvel's comics from this era, it depicts him being bested by someone inexplicably more "super" than he is. Somewhat hackneyed concept aside, the real problem is the goofy-looking opponent he faces. The character, who turns out to be attempting to evoke the goat-footed Greek god Pan rather than the cloven hoofed Devil of medieval imagination and popular culture (one inspired the other, after all), just doesn't quite fit with the tight-wearing superhero. Nonetheless, the comic really is a good read.
We join Mr. Mild Mannered himself, Clark Kent, on a rare date with Lois Lane, as the two of them prepare to attend a special concert of a new piano virtuoso, the improbably named Ferlin Nyxly. There's some fun bantering between the two, and we actually see Lois displaying some of the pluck and personality we've been seeing in her own book, but which seems to have been missing in Superman's own books since the 50s.
Fitting, as I don't see Lois as the classical music type…
Poor Clark, for his part, is still playing second fiddle to his alter ego, but as the pair take their seats, he spots helicopter-borne assassins preparing to bomb the crowd in order to kill a visiting dignitary! That's pretty cold blooded! The Man of Steel does his quick-change routine, stops the bomb with his body, and then yanks the copter down, all the while being hosed down with machinegun fire. His casual handling of the situation is entertaining, as with last issue, and the complete helplessness of these would-be killers against him makes for a nice contrast with what comes later in our tale. As he leaves, Supes gives Lois a wave, a simple gesture that will have unintended consequences.
Yeah, just keep trying. Maybe you'll get lucky!
Meanwhile, his antics have attracted the attention of the crowd, and no-one is taking any notice of Nyxly's playing, causing the musician to berate himself and think back on the strange start to his music career. It seems that not long ago he was the curator at the Music Museum, where he was cataloging new acquisitions. He noticed a strange, devilish harp and he played it, an eerie tune resulting, as he lamented that he had never amounted to anything. Nyxly had always wished to be a musician, and after playing the harp and considering his wish, he suddenly found himself able to play beautifully!
That night at the concert, the excited susurrus of the crowd is suddenly silenced by the surprising outcry of an old man in the audience, who chastises the concertgoers for their rudeness. Clark and Lois notice that the man is a former pianist whose skill mysteriously disappeared a few months ago. What a coincidence!
The next day, Clark narrowly manages to avoid having to read a blistering editorial against himself! Mr. Corporate Evil himself, Morgan Edge, orders Kent to deliver the message after misinterpreting a picture of the hero waving to Lois and accusing him of grandstanding. Fortunately, the reporter is saved by the bell, or more accurately, a breaking story, when reports come in of an unidentified flying object over the Atlantic.
The Man of Steel takes the opportunity to get into costume and investigate the matter. Flying over the watery wastes, he encounters the sand creature created a few issues back, and try as he might to catch up to it, he can't close in on the strange being. Meanwhile, the bitter musician broods over his perceived slights, and he strums upon his harp and wishes that he could fly as the Kryptonian does. Suddenly, Superman plummets out of the sky, no longer able to soar! The rest of his powers remain, but back in Metropolis, Ferlin Nyxly finds himself floating. Racing along the waves like the Flash, the Metropolis Marvel finds himself being paced by the sand creature, but he's unable to communicate with it.
Now we hit the one real weakness of the issue. For some reason, Nyxly feels the need to dress up in a Pan costume from his museum and take to the streets to steal the wealth he's always coveted. O-okay? The story of this weak fellow's corruption through power is actually pretty good, but the random choice of Pan as his costumed (sort of) identity is a really odd one, especially considering the fact that the Greek deity is associated with Pan pipes (which he's credited with inventing) rather than harps! Logic aside, the flying soon-to-be felon zooms around the city before snatching some money bags from an armored car, only to be shot by one of the guards in a rather funny panel. As he falls to the Earth, Nyxly wishes for invulnerability, and when he hits, he smashes a hole in the pavement but emerges unscathed, flying away and happily ignoring the guards' bullets.
Back at the paper as Clark, our hero has coffee spilled on him and is stunned when it actually scalds him. Before he can investigate this strange occurrence, he's summoned to observe a broadcast of a challenge by none other than Nyxly, now calling himself "Pan." The nascent villain calls Superman a coward and a braggart and dares the hero to meet him for a duel, which thrills Morgan Edge, of course. Despite his mysteriously flagging powers, Superman refuses to back down from a challenge, and speeds to face 'Pan.'
Counting on his remaining abilities, the hero attacks, but Nyxly plays his harp and steals first his speed and then his strength, leaving the former Man of Steel to bruise his knuckles on the villain's chin. Suddenly, as Pan toys with his helpless victim, the sand creature races into the stadium and, at Superman's urging, smashes the harp, breaking the spell. Having helped his double and despite the Man of Tomorrow's attempts to communicate, the sand creature leaves as mysteriously as it arrived, leaving Clark to wonder just how they are connected and what this motivates this strange being.
So, Pan is a weird choice for a supervillain's nom de guerre, (Freedom Force did it better!) but despite that incongruous element, this is actually a really solid story. You've got some nice action, some good characterization for everyone involved, including the villain, who is given a surprising amount of depth for a one-shot character, and an intriguing resolution. The ongoing mystery of the Sand-Superman is really a fascinating one, and I'm quite enjoying O'Neil's treatment of that plot thread. O'Neil is making the most of the ongoing storytelling in this book, and it is a promising move in general, highlighting the growing complexity of the writing in this era.
'Pan,' despite his silly aesthetic, provides an interesting departure from the usual two dimensional villains we've been encountering, as he's driven to evil much more by his desire for self-realization than by greed or a thirst for power. I also quite enjoyed the focus on Superman's 'never say die' attitude, despite how hopeless his situation was, but man, would he have been embarrassed if he survived all the brilliant madmen, alien warlords, and rampaging monsters, only to be taken out by this loser! This was a fun, interesting comic, and I'll give it 4 Minutemen, taking away some points for Pan's goofy appearance.
"The Saga of the DNAliens"
Time for some more Fourth World madness! While all of Kirby's New Gods books are creative in the extreme, I think there's little doubt that his Jimmy Olsen series houses his craziest, most 'out there' ideas. All this title's zany concepts like the Wild Area, the Project, and everything that goes with them, are really unique and unusual, whether they soar or sink. This issue contains some of both types in the exploration of the mysterious government 'Project,' and the attempts of the rival Monster Factory to destroy it. We get a nice looking Neal Adams cover image, though that yellow background is rather ugly. Unfortunately, the Hulk…err…I mean the green Jimmy clone, is a bit goofy looking.
This issue we join events already in progress as the Jolly Green Jimmy engages in a massive battle with the newly emerged Guardian clone, while Superman has already been knocked out by his Kryptonite covered fists. Kirby captures this titanic struggle in a glorious double-page spread. For a time, Guardian holds his own, relying on his superior agility to counter the monster's strength, but eventually it lands a devastating blow, stunning the hero. Jimmy tries to revive Superman, and the creature is momentarily distracted when it notices that the youth shares its face.
Superman cleverly frees the young reporter from…well…himself, by collapsing the floor beneath them with subtle pressure from his foot, snatching his pal from the crashing creature. The conflict seems about to renew when suddenly a cloud of smoke explodes from the Incredible Olsen's own head, and he collapses. The Legion and their allies are all befuddled by this sudden turn until the Man of Steel reveals a tiny antagonist hidden in the monster's hair, a miniature paratrooper armed with gas grenades. Moments later, an entire company of teeny troopers float down around them and assemble a Lilliputian device that covers the creature in liquid nitrogen, freezing him. To top off the weirdness of this twist, these minuscule military men are all clones of Scrapper!
So, the Project created tiny paratroopers from Scrapper's DNA? Were they trying to put the Atom out of a job? It's so insane that I hardly know what to say about it, yet, in a certain sense, the idea works. It's another of these utterly crazy concepts that Kirby tosses out left and right in this series. Such crumb-sized commandos would actually be pretty useful, and their role in defeating the monster is certainly an interesting twist in the story. Still, the choice of Scrapper, as with all of the Newsboy-derived clones, is baffling, though he himself seems thrilled by it, missing out on the existential angst of being cloned without his consent, just like Jimmy did last issue.
With their unintentional attack having failed, the two Monster Factory scientists find themselves on Darkseid's bad side, and you really don't want to be there. In classic Kirby fashion, the two Apokoliptian's study a massive, room-sized model of their target, just so the King can provide some visuals of the place, and they ponder their next move. They decide to use a new and unknown creation and travel down into a special chamber to witness the creatures hatching.
Meanwhile, back in the Project, the Legion is thrilled to meet the Guardian and ply him with questions, only to have their fathers reveal that this is not the original hero, but a clone created to replace him. Sadly, this doesn't really get explored, but as Superman takes Jimmy on his promised tour of the facility, the young man at least voices some concerns over the dangers of playing God. I'm glad Kirby at least nodded at the moral and practical issues involved with these concepts, but the story still remains entirely too matter of fact about such things.
During the tour, the pair see the wonders of the Project, including where the young clones are raised (lots of issues there that don't get explored), and the 'step-ups,' advanced clones like the Hairies with incredible intelligence. Kirby also includes a fairly neat photo-collage, which has a bunch of 'science-y' stuff on it. I think this works better for me than most of such images because what you're looking at is not supposed to be the same type of 3D object as that portrayed by the regular art.
Yet, the highlight of their trip is when the Man of Tomorrow introduces his young protege to a rather different kind of tomorrow man, a home-grown alien, the product of radical tweaking of human DNA. The strange looking fellow named 'Dubbilex' bears Jimmy's slack-jawed amazement with dignity and undeserved good humor. There's a certain undercurrent of sadness in this being who had no say in his creation and who now serves as a conversation piece for every big-wig visitor to the place. The tale ends with the hatching of the mysterious monsters of Simian and Mokkari, four armed creatures that bode ill for our heroes.
'Hey, do I come to your job and stare at your horrible fashion sense?'
This is a fun story, despite (or perhaps because) of the Kirby's trademark imaginative insanity. The fight with the Jade-jawed Jimmy clone was dynamic, and its ending was certainly entertaining. The strange facility itself proves the real star of the issue, and Jimmy's tour is a fascinating look at the place. The King is moving quickly, but he's working to establish an interesting and exciting setting in the Project and its evil opposite. There's no question that the concepts he's introducing are both fascinating and groundbreaking for comics. It's just a shame that he's not making more out of what he's creating.
It's likely that some of the nonchalant attitude surrounding the genetic tinkering and flat-out Frankensteining of the Project results from Kirby's own hopeful scientific optimism about the power and destiny of the human race. He seems never to entirely have lost the cheerful outlook and faith in science of 50s science fiction, despite the real world's failure to deliver on the promise of the shiny utopian visions of earlier fiction. He sees these things as intrinsically positive, and we're still a year away from Watergate, so America hasn't entirely lost faith in the government yet either. What to modern readers seems incredibly sinister may have been, to a certain extent, quite straight forward to contemporary audiences. So, despite its shortcomings, this is still an entertaining and intriguing issue, and I'll give it 3.5 Minutemen.
P.S.: Notably, the letter column for this issue includes a missive from a sharp eyed fan who spotted the touch-ups of Kirby's art in the previous issues, as well as DC's rather weak explanation that Kirby was just not used to the characters, so his versions didn't look right. The column is otherwise filled with almost universal praise for the King's new efforts on the book, including letters from several readers who had followed Joltin' Jack from Marvel, which is pretty neat.
"A Prize of Peril!"
Our final book this month is something of a mixed bag. There's an enjoyable superhero story here, but there are also some rather odd moments as O'Neil makes some strange choices. Nevertheless, we're presented with a nicely dynamic cover by Neal Adams (how did he find time to actually draw any books with all the covers he was doing ?). All of the figures look good, and the framing, with them literally battling over Earth, is rather nice. Yet, Dr. fate looks a bit odd, just sort of standing in space. The cover promises some more star-spanning adventure, like some of our previous issues in this series, and we definitely get a fairly non-terrestrial tale, which plays into the strengths of both the protagonists.
It begins with a meteor shower heading towards Earth and being noticed by both Superman and Green Lantern independently. Each hero sets out to divert the menace, but they end up unwittingly cancelling out each other's efforts, exacerbating the situation, and the Man of Steel has to race to save a airliner from a rogue meteoroid. This incident is actually a neat idea, as it is entirely possible that the two heroes most concerned with space might foul one another's lines as they responded to the same emergency.
Afterwards, the two heroes investigate why their efforts failed and, finding one another, an argument breaks out. This is one of the weaknesses of the issue, as their fight is a bit silly. They immediately blame each other, taking rather mean-spirited shots ant one another. Superman even tells Lantern that his attitude for the last several months has been lousy. It all feels just a bit too petty, and while we've seen this kind of thing from Hal lately, it seems out of character for Clark.
Suddenly, the glowing visage of a Guardian appears and berates the two heroes, telling them that this exchange is beneath them, which is actually quite true. He proposes a contest to help them sort out their differences, saying that the winner will have dominion over atmospheric perils and demands that they meet back in space in 24 hours.
The next day, the contentious champions rendezvous to find that Dr. Fate has seemingly been summoned to create their contest. They wonder at his being there rather than home on Earth-2, but he waves away their question and shows them a purple dragon, an enchanted object from his universe, that will be the goal of their competition. Next he conjures two vast, parallel race courses and tells each hero that they must face their gravest fears in order to reach the finish line.
The race starts, with Green Lantern pondering what awaits him, as he is, after all, fearless. That's why his ring chose him. Along his way, the Emerald Gladiator is suddenly seized by sticky yellow strands. His ring is helpless against the golden bonds, and he soon finds himself faced with an immense yellow spider. He is also consumed with fear, despite the fact that he had never really been afraid of bugs before.
He realizes that, though his ring can't free him, his own strength can, and he manages to snap his bonds and escape from the trap. Now, this whole scene works reasonably well. Obviously, Hal is not really afraid of spiders, but he is afraid of becoming too dependent on his ring and it failing him in his need. The sequence is effective and exciting, and at least a little insightful on O'Neil's part.
Superman's encounter with his greatest fear is not quite so successful. Suddenly the Man of Steel finds himself confronted by the towering figure of his birth father, Jor-El, and the Kryptonian scientist tells his Earth-raised son that he is terribly disappointed in him because he's wasted his gifts and not become a man of science. Okay, that's rather odd. Superman's greatest fear should really have involved either his abusing his powers or his not being able to save someone despite his powers. Those are really the things that worry the Man of Tomorrow. But he hangs his head and is ashamed of all the world-saving he's done, because a father he never really knew yells at him. Yet, what really makes the whole situation go from strange to creepy is when Jor-El starts spanking his super-son, and the Metropolis Marvel begs him to continue, saying he deserves it. Yikes! I feel like we've stumbled into something that maybe O'Neil should have kept private!
I've…got nothing.
Well, the Action Ace finally wakes up to what's going on and, by exerting his willpower, dispels the illusion and continues on his way. The two heroes arrive at the same time, and, in order to keep the speedier Superman from reaching his goal first, Green Lantern tries a risky gambit. He notices that the creature has a strange aura about it and reasons that it may be more than an inanimate object, so he uses his ring to cancel out its effect, bringing the beast to life and causing the Man of Steel to fall back. Yet, when he himself tries to cage the creature, the Emerald Crusader finds his ring helpless, as the monster rips through his constructs.
The dragon repulses both heroes and tears out into space, racing straight towards the Justice League Satellite. Finding their individual efforts inadequate, the two Leaguers join forces, with Green Lantern using his ring to shield Superman from the creature's magic, while the Kryptonian champion belts the beast, tearing it asunder. They celebrate their combined victory, but Superman realizes that they've been duped, so they rush off to confront "Dr. Fate."
Sneaking up on him in a power-ringed comet, which is actually a fairly clever tactic, the heroes leap upon their ersatz ally, revealing him to be Felix Faust, the Justice League's old foe. Faust's thoughts explain that he needed the Lantern's ring to activate his spell and the whole thing was an elaborate ruse to destroy the League. With their enemy captured, Superman and Green Lantern realize that their rivalry bred nothing but ill-fortune, and we get something of a sappy O'Neil moment as Hal wishes the people of Earth would realize the same thing.
This is, taken as a whole, a pretty decent superhero adventure. You've got some nice action, an interesting setup, and an honest-to-goodness supervillain behind it all. You've also got some attempts at characterization with the two protagonists, though the end result isn't the best fit. There are some definite weaknesses in this issue, though. For one, Faust's plan is just a touch too complicated to really make sense. He needs the Lantern's power ring to activate his spell, which is reasonable enough as such things go, but this is the best way the wizard can come up with to accomplish that goal? Why not just present the Lantern with the big, scary looking dragon and let nature take its course? Why bring Superman into this in the first place? O'Neil just needed a little more thought and another line of exposition to solve that problem. Something along the lines of 'I needed Superman's strength to breach the dimensional pocket that had trapped this creature' or the like would do the trick.
Rather more significant is the *ahem* odd episode delving into the Man of Steel's daddy issues. The embarrassing panel aside, the scene still just doesn't really fit with the character, though O'Neil tries to justify it by saying that this fixation is a result of Kal-El being an orphan. There's just one problem with that. He's not really an orphan. He was adopted as a baby and raised by the Kents. He's got a father who is proud of him, and while there's still some room for angst and ennui in that setup, it just doesn't track for this to be the defining issue in his life. Despite these weaknesses, this is a fun adventure and an enjoyable read. I particularly liked the resolution, with the heroes combining their powers to defeat the threat, as well as the reveal that Felix Faust had been behind it all. It's just nice to see an actual villain show up in one of these books. Dillin's artwork is serviceable, though he really does some good work on the larger, more cosmic moments of action. I'll give this one 3 Minutemen, though I'm a little tempted to dock it a bit more for the spanking.
What a month! All-in-all, it was a fairly positive set of titles and there were several quite enjoyable reads scattered throughout. Obviously, the most notable feature of this set of books was the appearance of two new Jack Kirby created comics, bringing our total of Kirby books up to three. The debut of these two books marks the true beginning of his Fourth World saga, and these are also the first books in his career that he's had near total control over. What a huge shift that was, the realization of a dream the King had long been chasing. It was also a pretty unheard of event in the comic industry at large, as it was rare for a single creator to be given that much control over their work. For the first time in his career, the King was free to really let his imagination run wild, and the end results are certainly fascinating. While The Forever People is a limited success, the first issue of New Gods is extremely striking. There's no doubt that Jarrin' Jack is blazing new trails. It really is a unique experience to read these books in context, and I'm fascinated to see how these titles will develop together against the backdrop of the wider DC Universe.
This month also highlights just how uneven Denny O'Neil was as a writer. He created a very solid, completely realized Superman adventure on the one hand and yet turned in the muddled mess of this month's Green Lantern book on the other. That doesn't even take into account the…odd choices made in our World's Finest tale. I'm becoming convinced that one of the defining traits of his work during this period is a tendency towards great ideas and poor execution. There's no doubt that he was extremely imaginative and that he could occasionally do a great job with characterization. Yet, at this stage, his work is more often marked by aspiration than accomplishment. I have a feeling that will change in time. After all, he is still innovating and testing what the genre can do at the moment.
In terms of major themes this month, we see that youth culture continues to be a significant concern. Both this month's Batman and Brave and the Bold titles feature stories concerned with both teen involvement and its dangers. Notably, each has a story that details disenfranchised groups turning to violence to achieve their ends, with very different receptions from the protagonists in the two books. These were not this month's only attempts at relevance, however, with even Superboy getting into the act for the second month in a row. Of course, the message in that book was lost in the shuffle, but it is still a sign of the times and features an unexpected theme, one we haven't really seen before, in its treatment of poaching.
Well, I believe that wraps up March 1971. I hope that y'all enjoyed the journey, and what's more, I hope you'll join me again soon as I start looking into April! Until then, keep the heroic ideal alive!
Believe it or not, I actually almost closed this month out without acknowledging Green Arrow's second appearance on the wall. This month's turn on his shared title saw the Emerald Archer get his goateed face shoved through a plate-glass window. The booming blow landed on the back of his head and knocked him right out, earning him another coveted spot on the Headcount! He's our only new addition this month, making it a pretty quiet period, but I'm sure there's more head-blows on the horizon!
4 Comments Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged Curt Swan, Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, Felix Faust, Fourth World, green lantern, Jack Kirby, Jimmy Olsen, Joe Giella, Lois Lane, Murphy Anderson, Newsboy Legion, superman, Vince Colletta, World's Finest
Into the Bronze Age: February 1971 (Part 7)
Welcome to the final installment of Into the Bronze Age for February 1971! It's been a pretty solid month of comics, featuring some telling signs of the times. For our final story this month, we've got an unusual World's Finest, featuring a team-up between a hero and someone else's sidekick, which is a fun change of pace. So, shall we forge further Into the Bronze Age?
Aquaman #55
Justice League of America #87 (AND Avengers #85-6)
"Prisoners of the Immortal World!"
Don't be fooled by this striking cover. That mighty orange skinned alien is not, in fact, Mongul. No, unfortunately, it's a much less interesting villain. Every time I see this cover, it takes me a moment to realize that the big, orange skinned guy in the purple costume with the yellow shape on his chest isn't the cruel conqueror. Nonetheless, the story within is an enjoyable one, even if it makes me wonder when we'll see the alien annihilator in the Bronze Age. Apparently he won't make the scene for another decade!
Anyway, the story at hand is a bit uneven, combining several very different elements. It begins, just like this month's Titans issue, on a college campus. This time, it's Hudson University, the stomping grounds of the Teen Wonder himself, Robin. The school is beset by protests and demonstrations, and Dick is right in the thick of it, helping to keep the peace. The scene is being covered by Mr. Mild Mannered, Clark Kent, when suddenly the ROTC building gets firebombed! What follows is really quite interesting from a historical point of view.
During the 60s and 70s, there were several bombings of campus buildings that had a link to the military, so this little episode is drawn directly from the headlines of the day. What's more, in response the military moves in to take control of the situation, which intriguingly causes Superman to spring into action, as he reasons that soldiers on campus are apt to make the situation even more unstable in light of the Kent State Shootings and similar events. The Man of Steel appeals to the governor and obtains orders for the troops to return to base, leaving the University in the hands of the campus police and the heroes and perhaps defusing some of the tension.
Yet, not everything is resolved by this move, and Robin overhears two brothers, Davy and Marty, in a heated argument about the military. They appeal to the young hero to help them settle matters, and as he tries to separate the two, Superman flies down and scoops them all up so that they can continue the conversation in more peaceful surroundings.
So far, we've got an interesting social story with some promising generational elements, but just at that point, the comic takes a hard left turn. The quartet is swept through space by some type of teleportation beam (described, for some reason, as "magnetic body-grabbers," because that's how magnets work) and to an alien world.
This is the home of a pair of immoral immortal brothers who, as they helpfully tell us, drain the power from captured super-beings to extend their lifespans. They are currently over 150,000 years old! The two bicker over the prospects for their next victim, and there's the potential for some interesting parallel development between these brothers and the human siblings, but it doesn't come together.
The perfidious pair have set their sights on Superman, and when he arrives with his young companions, they use their "mind bands" to blast them with mental bolts, and Friedrich makes the first of a few strange choices, as the aliens talk about how the Man of Tomorrow's body is invulnerable, despite the fact that they are presumably attacking his mind. This will become a problem at the climax of the tale.
With the Kryptonain captured, the immortals just dump Robin and the other two students in the inhospitable jungle of their world. Inexplicably, we get a one-page origin and catch-up for Robin, which seems rather unnecessary. Who doesn't know who Robin is? After wasting a page, we pick back up with the teen trio in a nicely bizarre alien setting. Despite the wonder and terror of their situation, the two brothers immediately resume their fight. Interestingly, Robin calls them 'jackasses,' which I was surprised to see in a Comics Code book. His cool-headedness and impatience with their stupidity is entertaining. The Teen Wonder organizes his little party, telling the boys to travel along the ground while he takes to the trees to act as a scout, and they make their way back towards the aliens' citadel.
Shortly, they are attacked by a group of hunters to whom they've been sold as game by the immortals. They're riding a massive, nicely exotic looking, horse-like creature, and they are thundering down upon the brothers. Fortunately, Robin rescues Davy, though Marty gets mind-blasted. The Teen Wonder is in his element up in the alien canopy, and he launches an acrobatic attack that allows him to scatter the stalkers. Taking their 'mind-bands,' the trio continues their trek, soon arriving at the alien city.
I always enjoy seeing Robin being awesome!
Meanwhile, the immortals have strapped Superman into their machine, only for him to burst free! The Man of Steel quickly makes short work of their defenses, but they hit him with another mental beam, and he awakens to discover he's been recaptured again. It is then that the teen team arrives, and Robin takes out the guards with a batarang before leading an assault on the immortals and freeing the Metropolis Marvel. Interestingly, Superman is held, not by bonds, but by a prison of the mind. His escape and recapture was all in his head, designed to make him believe that freedom was impossible, which is a neat idea.
Fighting Mad, the Man of Steel sets out to get his revenge, but the staging of the conflict is a bit odd. Robin clearly freed him from the room that the immortals were in, yet the Kryptonian leaves by busting through the wall and goes somewhere else to attack them. The internal continuity is a bit wonky here, and the scene that follows is where Friedrich makes his other strange choice.
Pictured: half of a great two-page spread. What the devil is going on with his legs?
The immortals recover and attack Superman, who overcomes them, not with his super strength, heat vision, or what have you, but by overwhelming their mental attacks with is own mental bolts. That's right, suddenly Superman has become Professor X! It makes no sense, and there's no way that he should be able to do this, making the resolution just feel cheap, especially because the immortals were already defeated by Robin and the others.
The adventure helps Marty and Davy to realize that each of them has some merits in their points of view, and they shake hands, ending their argument. The issue concludes with Clark Kent reporting on the boys' strange experiences, focusing on the new unity between the brothers and hoping that the world can learn something from their example.
There are a lot of good elements in this story, but they don't combine into a single whole very smoothly. The campus chaos raises some good questions, and the idea of real dangers helping us to put our differences in perspective is certainly a good one. Yet, their intergalactic exploits are a bit too out-there for the moral to be as effective as it might be. How often are aliens going to kidnap us to another world to be hunted for sport? Well, I suppose the chance is significantly higher in the DC Universe. Still, something more domestic might have been more effective as far as the message of the issue goes. The alien adventure was good fun on its own merits, however, and it was great to see Robin in action, proving his independence and resourcefulness. I really enjoyed how unflappable he was in the face of this crazy circumstance. Superman's inexplicable mental powers really take something away from the story, though. Dick Dillin's work is quite good for the most part here, especially on the alien flora and fauna, but he has a few weird panels throughout, like the two-page spread above. I suppose I'll give this one 3 Minutemen. It evens out, more or less.
We have certainly had a very interesting month in this batch of books. The stories have tended to be solid rather than stellar, and we've had a number of rather disappointing outings, with a few previously reliable books turning out weaker offerings, like Lois Lane. Nonetheless, there is a good deal to catch our interest here. The growing focus on youth culture and youth involvement is on great display, providing a definite common theme being shared by many of this month's issues. Dissatisfied young people fill the pages of everything from Teen Titans to Aquaman, showing up in a good number of surprising places, like today's World's Finest. It seems like everywhere the unrest on the nation's campuses, the spirit of rebellion and independence in the youth of the day, is reflected in the pages of these comics. What a change from only a year before! There's a growing sense of the importance of the youth and their voice in society, a more serious treatment of the younger generations as a whole. This is producing stories that are uneven but interesting.
In the same way, we're also seeing increased moral and political maturity appearing with greater regularity, like this months' Superman and Phantom Stranger. While the Man of Steel's adventure emphasizes a more nuanced ethos than just law=good, the Stranger's title actually takes a surprisingly sober and realistic (however brief) view of the cycle of vengeance and the conflict in the Middle East. Of course, there's also still some more ham-handed attempts at the same, like Mike Friedrich's weak-sauce, tacked-on anti-war message in JLA.
Speaking of which, this month also saw the first unofficial crossover between the JLA and the Avengers, which was fascinating to explore. I really enjoyed the chance to read books across the Big Two and compare them, and the process really put the different approaches of DC and Marvel into context for me. It was quite an eye-opening experience to directly compare the JLA and Avengers books, and I think that might have been my favorite part of this month's coverage. The comparison revealed the greater sophistication of Marvel's storytelling and characterization in contrast to DC's greater imaginative breadth.
We also saw the continued activity of the League of Assassins in the Bat-books, which forms one of the longer-running plot threads we've observed so far. We're still in a period of mostly self-contained stories, which makes the Aquaman title's layering in of plot threads all the more innovative and exciting. Continuing plots do seem to be becoming a bit more common, which is interesting because around this time Marvel handed down an editorial mandate to eliminate continued stories. I'm curious to see how this trend develops.
This was undoubtedly a fascinating month. I hope that all you readers enjoyed the journey with me, and I also hope y'all will share your thoughts and reflections as well. Please join me soon as we begin our travels through March 1971. Until then, keep the heroic ideal alive!
This month saw two new additions to the Wall of Shame, with both Batgirl and Hawk joining the august company here. It was a bad month for teens, but at least Robin didn't have a return engagement, though I'm sure he'll be back before too long. Let's just hope Aquaman can stay away for a little while. Three in a row was enough!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged Dick Dillin, Joe Giella, Mike Friedrich, Robin, superman, World's Finest
Hello Internet travelers, and thank you for joining me for today's stop on our journey Into the Bronze Age! This is the very last post covering the banner year of 1970. We are standing at the threshold for the 70s proper, and soon we'll be exploring a whole new year of comics. We've got a promising trio of titles to examine in this post. So, hop in your Whiz Wagon and join me as I investigate these classic comics!
Roll Call (You can see everything published this month HERE)
Justice League of America #84 (reprints, won't be covered)
"The Mountain of Judgment!"
We return to Jack Kirby's Fourth World today in our second issue of Jimmy Olsen. With this book we get a bit better of an idea about the setting Kirby is developing, but there are still far more questions than there are answers. Kirby is setting up a great deal here, and my memory doesn't quite serve to show me which threads will get paid off. I have a vague notion that several of the ideas he sets up here won't quite get the development they need. Nonetheless, this issue is full of wild ideas and colossal concepts, including some classic Kirby artistic experimentation.
It opens in grand fashion, with a full-page splash of a mass exodus from the tree-house like 'Habitat' we saw at the end of the previous issue. It's a parade of crazy, Kirby-esq vehicles, led by the wondrous Whiz Wagon. Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion are leading the Outsiders out in search of the mysterious and oh-so-awesomely named 'Mountain of Judgement.' The Newsboys get into some antics as they try to film the crowd that turns up to see them off, and Flippa-dippa is already stretching for an excuse to make himself useful…which is not a great sign. Yet, the festivities are interrupted by the newly recovered Man of Steel who tries to talk the crew out of pursuing their mission, intimating that he knows something they don't. Jimmy and the Legion insist they have a job to do, but their discussion is cut short by the antagonistic bikers, who mount another attack on the Metropolis Marvel.
One of them tries to run Superman down with a rocket cycle, because apparently he's a moron and doesn't get the whole 'more powerful than a locomotive' thing, and that goes about as well as you'd expect. The Man of Tomorrow catches it and plays rocket wrangler in a really cool panel. Yet, the next attack is more effective. One of these dropouts with their ridiculously advanced weaponry, targets the hero with a bazooka shell of kryptonite gas, and another finishes him off with a "green K paralysis gun." Of course, this is another example of that 'everything is kryptonite' problem with this era of Superman stories. Fortunately, next month we get "Kryptonite Nevermore," and I am really looking forward to that.
Anyway, Superman is defeated and possibly poisoned, you know, what with the deadly element he was exposed to and all, and his best friend, Jimmy Olsen, casually and callously notes that now they can get on with their job. This is the one point of the book that really bothered me. Last issue, the attack on Superman was sudden and unexpected, and Jimmy had just taken control of the gang. This issue, on the other hand, the attack goes on for some time, the young reporter is clearly more in control, and yet he does nothing to stop it. What's more, he greets his friend being knocked unconscious with all the concern that you or I might muster for seeing a stranger stub their toe. That's a beat that doesn't ring true. It seems like, at the least, they could have, you know, listened to what Superman had to say.
After that kerfuffle, the convoy heads out, careening towards the foreboding Zoomway and beginning a race with death as they encounter obstacle after obstacle in their search for the mysterious Mountain. First, Jimmy sends the Whiz Wagon straight through a camouflaged entrance to the roadway at top speed, 'trusting in his instincts,' which seems an unnecessary gamble, but what do I know? Next, they must build up speed on a rock-strewn course in order to leap a chasm, a jump that some of the bikers don't make.
Then they wade into "the water course," where Flippa-dippa actually contributes, by planting a charge on a blocked exit, though his incompetence nearly gets himself killed as the charge goes off too early. Of course, the incredible Kirby-bikes of the Outsiders are equipped for submarine operation as well, because Jack Kirby's reality is way more interesting than ours.
Next, the crew encounters a reality-warping tunnel that messes with their senses, and they have to pilot by instruments as they lose all sense of direction. This is portrayed by two bizarre pages of Kirby's patented black and white photo-collages. They're fairly psychedelic and surreal, but it rather irks me that his model car doesn't actually look that much like the Whiz Wagon. I think he'd have been better off to incorporate some pencils, as he did in similar instances with the Fantastic Four. I know that this was the King experimenting with the medium, pushing its boundaries and pioneering new techniques, but I never really cared for the effect that this type of gambit created. According to the letters' pages of the old Marvel books, though, it seems to have received at least some positive reaction from fans. I wonder what DC readers would have thought of this in 1970. If they hadn't been reading Marvel books, it's possible they wouldn't have seen anything like this before.
At any rate, Superman has awakened during all this adventure, and he sets out after our young travelers, zooming past the dangers they overcame. Along the way, he passes the bikers who were left behind in the madcap dash towards their goal, and, in a bit of a cheat, he notes that they are all unharmed. I can't help but wonder if that was a Comic's Code sop, because you've got to think that the guys that failed that jump and plowed into the chasm wall probably didn't do too well. Nonetheless, the Man of Steel suddenly encounters a bizarre, Brobdingnagian behemoth, a boogeyman from the nightmares of a regular car, a gigantic converted missile carrier with a frightening facade that is screaming down the Zoomway. This is the Mountain of Judgement. Who should be caught in its path but the plucky Legion. Pulling off a last minute save, the Metropolis Marvel carries the Whiz Wagon into the Mountain, which is Kirby-tech from top to bottom. Instantly, the enigmatic Hairies who we heard about last issue spring forth and start examining the Wagon with delicate instruments.
Only Kirby could design this gloriously mad vehicle.
Superman begins to explain but is interrupted by the discovery of a tiny but incredibly powerful bomb hidden in the car-mounted camera. The Hairies lessen its power, and the Man of Steel smothers its blast, leaving the Legion boys entirely gobsmacked. At this point, Jimmy finally begins to show some appreciation for the guy who is constantly saving his life. It seems that Morgan Edge had an ulterior motive for sending this expendable little gang of kids on this assignment. They were a Trojan Horse designed to destroy the Hairies.
But, just who are these strange people, and what are they doing in this bizarre corner of the world? Most of our questions remain unanswered, but their new hosts take the hero and his crew on a tour and show them the incredible insides of the Mountain, which serves as a giant rolling home for their enclave. Essentially, theirs is a "mobile scientific society," whatever that is, and Superman somehow knew about them. The issue ends with the Legion wondering what game Morgan Edge is playing, and we get a glimpse of the man himself contacting a mysterious master, a strange character by the name of…Darkseid!
This is another jam-packed issue, full of Kirby's signature wild, rollicking action, an imaginative overload. Unfortunately, our inker is the notorious Vince Colletta, so I imagine that we're losing some of the nuances of the art. Nonetheless, the book is full of fantastic visuals and wonderfully over-designed gadgets. I don't think he's quite got the hang of Superman himself yet, as the Man of Steel occasionally looks a bit wonky, but the rest of the art in this issue is as gorgeous and creative as you'd expect. The King delivers a plot that centers around a frantic race, which makes for a fun read, and the mysteries he's introducing left and right are intriguing.
Obviously, DC fans will recognize where a lot of this is going, but it is great fun to see the seeds planted. The weakness, other than the odd moment with Jimmy's indifference to Superman's plight, is Kirby's dialog. It's got a strange quality to it that I just can't put my finger on. Just check out some of the examples I posted above. It has something in common with Beat poetry, an odd rhythm and cadence, combined with some silly 60s slang. I'm definitely not the first to observe this, and while it isn't a huge problem with this issue, this is something that marks the Fourth World books and can make them feel a bit dated, even for their contemporary milieu. Still, on the whole, this is a fun issue, full of the manic energy that always characterizes Kirby's plotting. I'll give it 3.5 Minutemen.
Interestingly, despite several ads for more forthcoming Fourth World books due out this very month, we won't see them premiere until a few months into the next year. I wonder what happened there?
P.S.: Several of my friends over at Freedom Reborn have been kind enough to remind me of something that I really should have remembered. Apparently, despite hiring Jack Kirby to draw Superman and Jimmy Olsen, DC's top brass were concerned that he would somehow damage the characters by drawing them like Jack Kirby rather than like the house style. They actually had artists like Al Plastino and Murphy Anderson retouch and sometimes completely redraw both of those characters, leading to the weirdness I noticed in the Superman figures above. Here's a great article by Kirby champion and expert, Mark Evanier. It's really a crying shame, and the few samples of existing Kirby Superman art really make me long for what might have been. I had actually learned this years ago when I read through the 4th World omnibuses, but I apparently had forgotten. Thanks guys!
P.P.S.: This issue also came with an odd, off-beat text piece by the King himself where he praises the possible development of real-life Whiz Wagons and ponders the world that might come. It's an interesting read, though Kirby's strange prose style is a bit hard to get a hang of. It seems that prediction like these were everywhere decades ago, and yet I still don't have my flying car, my personal submersible, or my jetpack. Clearly, we've failed to make the future as awesome as it should have been. After all, we're living in the 21st Century, and aside from the Star-Trek like device I carry around in my pocket, it doesn't seem all that different from the 20th. Buck Rogers would be heartbroken!
" Greed… Kills!"
Editor: Dick Giordano
"Some Call It Noise"
Apparently we're seeing a change in format with this issue. Instead of a single story, we're going to get two short yarns each month for a while. I'm more than a little disappointed by that, as I've been looking forward to this issue because the cover indicated it would be Aqualad-centric, even featuring the fantastic but rarely used Aquagirl. Imagine my dismay when I realized the promising cover only represented a brief backup tale (8 1/2 pages) rather than a full comic. Promisingly, both of the stories herein are penned by Steve Skeates, but they didn't quite live up to my expectations.
The first tale, which is actually not the cover story, sadly returns our titanic teens to the pointless Mr. Jupiter plot. We find them engaged on a mission for the mysterious millionaire, costume-less and also rather clueless. Lilith has had another vague vision, and she has brought them to a pawnshop she foresaw being robbed. The team debates the value of following her "hunches," and Kid Flash is particularly dubious. Yet, the would-be thieves do show up, and while the boys tackle them, quickly dispatching two of them, the young speedster lets his pigeon get away.
For some reason, he doesn't use his super speed in pursuing the guy, and then he just stands idly by while the fellow stumbles into traffic and gets run down. Now, it's supposed to be sudden, but how sudden does it have to be for a kid with super speed not to be able to intervene? That bothered me, and it smacked more of Kid Flash just choosing not to act than anything else, which is a failure on Skeates' part.
A scene follows with the police in the hospital that tells us that the injured man is Kevin Murphy (no, not Tom Servo's alter ego), a notorious thief, thought to have died ten years ago. What does all of this have to do with a job for Mr. Jupiter? Well, wait and see. The kids follow up on their "mission," visiting a wealthy businessman, named Mr. Tout, from whom they are tasked with getting a donation for a charity to help first time youth offenders reform. Mr. Scrooge, er…I mean Tout doesn't react take too fondly to this idea, and he screams about how criminals can't be reformed and how he won't subsidize lazy bums who won't get jobs. Cardy really does some great personality work with this fellow, giving him a distinct and evocative look.
Their plea having failed, Mal notes that Tout looked directly at him during his tirade and speculates that there were probably racial overtones in it. The quintet try to decide what to do now, and Lilith surprises them all by insisting that they go visit the injured Mr. Murphy. It's handy to have the powers of plot. Meanwhile, Tout discovers the concussed crook's whereabouts and, strangely, begins to panic. He decides that he must take care of this situation, immediately!
When they arrive at the hospital, the former Titans discover gunmen attempting to take out the police guards and kill Murphy. Fortunately for the lone cop still standing, the girls intervene, promptly incapacitating the two assassins in a nice Cardy action sequence that, like some of our previous issues, demonstrates the different fighting styles of the participants. Interestingly, Lilith is actually useful in the fight, which I didn't expect.
The gunsels grounded, the kids get an explanation from Murphy, who is dying from his injuries (that's entirely on you, Wally). Apparently, he and Tout were partners years ago, and after a big score, the 'self-made man' went straight and built himself a business empire. Yet, he was afraid that his former partner would one day be caught and turn on him, so he tried to have him killed. Murphy faked his own death in order to escape, and when his identity was in the papers after his capture, Tout decided it was time to finish the job. Strangely, the issue ends, not with the capture of Tout, but with the youths just wandering down the street, talking over the enigmatic events of the case. Tout's fate is implied, but not shown.
This is a fine story, with an interesting twist, but the trouble is that it isn't really a Teen Titans story, just like some of the earlier issues I've covered. Replace little-miss plot device with a clue that connects Murphy to Tout, and you could lift the Titans entirely out of this plot without anyone noticing. None of the team use their abilities, none of their secret identities come into play, and the characterization, while solid, isn't particularly distinctive or necessary to the narrative. There's nothing at all that makes this a Teen Titans tale. The kids aren't even in costume. Cardy's art is as beautiful as usual, but it also suffers from the lack of costumes. His Kid Flash and Speedy are pretty hard to tell apart without any of their action garb to aid us. Cardy still turns out a lovely story here, but I miss seeing his Titans in action.
Part of the problem here is just the situation that Skeates inherited, but I'm disappointed that he didn't just go ahead and disentangle the team from this narrative albatross around their necks. There are some elements of social commentary here, with the bootstraps-businessman's success not actually a product of his own hard work, the racial tension, and the counterexamples for criminal reform and the like. It subtly pushes for a more liberal approach to several social issues, but there isn't much made of those ideas. I suppose I'll give this story 3 Minutemen. It's about average.
Oddly, this comic also includes a two-page, mostly text short story about Kid Flash encountering a bank robber with a portable whirlwind, who is definitely not Whirlwind. I wonder if this was an experiment or just a space filler.
The story I was so eagerly anticipating proved more than a little disappointing in context, mostly from its brevity, which left Skeates just too little space to follow any of the fun and interesting ideas he introduced. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable little adventure, and it is great fun to see Aqualad and Aquagirl in a story together, something we haven't seen for quite some time, and never in a Teen Titans book, methinks.
This little yarn begins in an operating room where a desperate case is met by a daring doctor. The patient has some type of head trauma that will prove fatal, unless, perhaps an experimental treatment the doctor has been developing is employed. Meanwhile, everyone's favorite aquatic adolescents hurry out of the waves on their way to a concert. This is a fun idea, but unfortunately, Skeates just doesn't have the time to do much with it.
It does give us a charming image, though.
Just as the two young heroes reach the concert, the experimental surgery reaches its own crescendo, and the patient seems to be recovering well. Yet, there is a terrible side effect of the new drug, and the recovering man goes mad! His body chemistry thrown into turmoil, he develops superhuman strength, and he smashes his way out of the hospital. Outside, he pulls a Grendel, catching wind of the merry music in the park and, enraged by the noise like that lonely fen-stalker, he sets off to put a stop to the revelry in most violent fashion.
The maddened patient charges past the Aqua-teens, clocking poor Tula on the head and leaving her stunned. Aqualad sets out in pursuit, realizing that this guy needs to be stopped before he kills someone. Just as the crazed music critic prepares to smash the band, the Aquatic Ace attacks, laying into the fellow in a nice action sequence. However, here we get one of my only real critiques of the issue.
Aqualad thinks to himself that he's able to throw a strong punch underwater, so he's even more capable on the surface without the water resistance to fight. Now, you might be thinking, 'but that's right!' and you'd be correct. My issue is that this really rather sells his abilities short, as he isn't just able to throw "a strong punch;" he's downright super strong! I think Skeates, as much as I love him, forgets the super strength of his Atlanteans too often. Still, it's a minor complaint, and the kid still handles the enraged patient with aplomb.
Yet, his encounter with his angry antagonist proved a dangerous distraction. Aquagirl, injured more seriously than he realized, has wandered off in a daze, trying to head to the sea, but stumbling further inland in confusion. In growing fear, as their one-hour deadline looms closer and closer, Garth sets out on a desperate search. Following a few clues, he finds her leaning against a lamppost in town, and then we get one of the stronger beats of the story. Aqualad notes that their hour was up five minutes ago, yet they don't just drop dead. Instead, they grow weaker, yet the young man pushes himself to a heroic effort, carrying the lovely lady all the way back to the beach. He even passes out on his feet, but keeps stumbling forward blindly, collapsing mere inches from the sea.
Fortunately, the tide comes in, reviving the exhausted Atlanteans. It's a great sequence, and it shows that Aqualad has some of his surrogate father's force of will. It also establishes that the one hour limit is not a hard and fast rule, but a general guideline that threatens, not immediate death, but growing weakness. That's a significant step in the right direction. In the final half page, the two teens head out to sea, and I really love the spin Aqualad puts on their adventure. He argues that, even though they missed part of the concert, it was worthwhile because he "saved a man from doing something he would have hated himself for for the rest of his life." That's true, and an unusual angle on the events of the day. It implies a thoughtful, empathetic quality for the young hero, which I enjoy.
This is a fun little adventure, but it is definitely just that, a little adventure. I really enjoy seeing Aqualad and Aquagirl get to share a story together, but it is so brief that Tula's role is almost nonexistent. She takes no part in the real action, and she's even out of her head for half of the tale. That's a shame because she's a great character who doesn't get much focus in the first place. Despite the fact that I wanted more from this backup yarn, it is effective and efficient, delivering a complete story in just a few pages. I'll give it a fun but limited 3.5 Minutemen.
" Race to Save Time"
Colourist: Tatjana Wood
Editor: Julius SchwartzE. Nelson Bridwell
This is the second half of our two-parter featuring the race around the galaxy between Superman and the Flash, and it is great fun. The crazy cosmic adventure of the last issue continues here, though the scale gets reduced a bit for the finale. Also, Jimmy faces more chronological conundrums. Interestingly, the first issue promised, in no uncertain terms, that we would get an answer to the age-old question about who would win in a race, the Flash or Superman. "There must be a winner!" declared the cover copy, and there is…sort of. O'Neil still cheats a bit. I wonder if that question was ever entirely settled in the Bronze Age. Who wins, you ask? Well, there's only one way to find out!
Our story picks up right where it left off, with poor, time-displaced Jimmy facing a flight of airborne arrows. The situation looks pretty hopeless, until the hapless teen fades through time once more, but this is only a temporary temporal reprieve, as he lands right in the middle of a witch trial by the masked menace of the Spanish Inquisition! I bet you didn't expect that! Of course, the young man's sudden appearance is taken as proof positive that he is in league with dark powers, so he is sentenced to die. Poor Jimmy, out of the frying pan, into the inquisitional fire.
Meanwhile, our two heroes are continuing their race, and we get a brief recap of events , thanks to some exposition from the masters of the art, the Guardians. Our nameless Centurion is still hanging out, but sadly we don't get any more of his inner monologue. That's a missed opportunity Mr. O'Neil! Anyway, the radical racers are ambushed by another batch of the Anachronids, and unfortunately they chose their sector of space well as they are near an orange star, so Superman is weakened. The charging champions put up a good fight, but eventually they go down, captured by the super-fast robots!
Back in 15th Century Spain, Jimmy is not one to wait idly by for his fate. He uses his wristwatch, a marvel in that era, to distract his guard and then takes him out, fleeing the prison. He escapes into the night, trying to figure out how to get home. In search of shelter, he stumbles into a barracks, accidentally stirring up a hornet's nest of trouble! Fleeing the roused soldiery, the young reporter climbs up a balcony, only to run smack into the grand inquisitor himself, Torquemada, now unmasked. Poor Jimmy! His luck is worse than mine!
As time continues to fluctuate, we also get a brief check-in with some other DC characters, including Batman and Wonder Woman, as their environments shift and anachronisms creep into the modern day. In deep space, Superman and the Flash awaken to meet their captors and the architects of the universe's current peril, the Phantom Zone Villains! They kindly introduce themselves to the Scarlet Speedster as: Kru-El (definitely a case of nominative determinism), Jax-Ur, the notorious General Zod (whose Silver Age look is only so-so), and Professor Va-Kox. This criminal quartet have had their robotic minions bring the heroes back to the strange, extra-dimensional planet they visited last issue. Apparently, the villains have managed to escape from the Phantom Zone to this dimension, but they can go no further. They created the Anachronids to turn the universe on its head, as they've determined that upsetting the time-stream will weaken the dimensional barriers enough for them to escape. That's workable enough technobabble for the setting. The Flash cries out that this plan will kill billions of beings, and, in true villainous style, the Phantom Zone refugees respond with callous disregard. All that matters is their freedom, and once free, they'll pick up the pieces and rule like kings!
Well, for something like the fourth or fifth time this month, the villains complete their contractual obligation to leave the heroes alone in order for them to escape, as the Phantom Zone Four propose to leave the pair alive in order to see their triumph. Man, the DC villains really need to read the Evil Overlord List. Even so, the strange star of this world is red at the moment, so the Metropolis Marvel isn't strong enough to burst their bonds, and, his medallion captured, the Flash doesn't have the energy to vibrate free. But wait, the medallion was made by the Guardians, so the heroes realize it may function similarly to a power ring. They concentrate their willpower on the device, and Superman uses it to free himself, but before he can help his comrade, Zod returns, destroying the medallion! He has them both dead to rights, and he tells them the villains decided they were too dangerous to let live. That's the right idea, Zod; if only you had acted on it earlier.
The Flash, still bound, manages to knock the kryptonian's gun away, and Superman jumps his father's old foe. The Man of Steel, now more like the Man of Soft, Bruisable Flesh, takes a beating, but he eventually manages to knock the former dictator out, twisting his ankle badly in the fight. It's a fun scene, as Superman has to work much harder than he's used to because he doesn't have his powers, yet he still triumphs through force of will. I rather prefer the Bruce Timm approach to the character, though, which stipulates that everything Superman does requires great effort, but that's really a matter of taste.
Unfortunately, the Flash also catches a ricochet blast from the gun, rendering his legs temporarily paralyzed. This leaves both heroes unable to walk, but, as the Flash declares in grand heroic fashion, they can still crawl! They set out, dragging themselves desperately towards the Phantom Zone criminals' headquarters, where they hope to find the controls for the Anachronids. Never one to let the weight of the universe resting on his shoulders get him down, the Scarlet Speedster declares to his not-so-super partner that they "began this thing as a race-remember? Well, we're still racing–and I'm still determine to beat you!" That is just a great sequence, and it just wonderfully captures the indomitable heroic spirit of these two characters, Flash in particular, with his cheerful, hopeful personality.
Next, O'Neil briefly checks back in with Jimmy as he awaits the headman's axe, just to add a little more tension to the situation. Back in the future, the two exhausted, injured heroes, arrive at the headquarters and encounter Jax-Ur and the Professor playing six dimensional chess (!). The Flash throws a rock to distract them, and then, using a last burst of speed, the pair rush the villains and knock them out. With just thirty seconds left until the the universe is shattered, the heroes drag themselves up the steps of the control center, and the Flash pulls the shut-off lever with only moments to spare.
Exhausted, he declares somewhat sheepishly, "Hey! Guess what? I won!" That's right, the Flash won the race…after a fashion. This sets everything to rights, as the Anachronids decelerate and disintegrate, not being able to survive at sub-light speeds. Jimmy is yanked back through time just in the nick, as the axe descends. Just then, Kru-El dashes into the control center with a gun, but the sun has just turned once more, giving the Man of Steel back his powers. He decks Kru-El and destroys their machinery. Then he takes Flash home, noting that he'll get the Guardians to help him seal this dimensional breach.
Well, this is a great two-parter. This second half doesn't have the rapid pace and non-stop action of the first, but it is still a lot of fun. I love the heroes' grit, reduced to crawling, and yet refusing to give in. They persevere and succeed pretty much entirely on moxie alone. It's a lovely character moment for the two of them. The story does have a few little weaknesses, some breaks in logical consistency, like Superman taking out Kru-El easily, despite the fact that the villain now has super powers too. The wrap-up is really a bit too brief, and it seems that O'Neil may have run out of room. Still, the story is so much fun, and the adventure, both for the heroes and for time-tossed Jimmy, is so satisfying, that I'm not too bothered by such things. Once again, Dillin's artwork is really strong, standing in particular contrast to the stiff and lackluster work from this month's JLA. By the way, Bronze Age Jimmy is growing on me as a character. He's proving resourceful, courageous, and capable.
Speaking of Jimmy, his encounter with the Inquisition gives O'Neil a chance to bring in a little social consciousness, as the youthful reporter notes that the fanaticism and cruelty of Torquemada didn't die out in the Middle Ages (in fact, it was generally way more common in the Renaissance), but continues to live on in the modern day. We certainly still see plenty of that kind of viciousness and irrationality in our own time. It is a fine little note, but it would have been more effective if he could have connected it to the main plot more directly. I think there's an angle to be worked there with the Phantom Zone villains, but c'est la vie. In the end, this is just an all around enjoyable comic yarn. I'll give it 4.5 Minutemen, with the the Flash's unflappable good cheer helping overcome its weaknesses. I just had a blast reading both of these stories.
And that, my dear readers, is the end of the first year of our journey Into the Bronze Age! It's taken a tad more than a year of real-time, but hopefully the next will move a little more quickly! Either way, I am very excited to have completed an entire year of this project, having read most of the superhero books published by DC Comics for 1970. It's been a fascinating journey, and we have watched the Bronze Age grow before our very eyes. We've seen Silver Age tropes grow a little more rare, but more importantly, we've seen a revolution taking place in the pages before us, as the cardboard characters of the Silver Age began to grow, developing unique personalities (some of those more pleasant than others…I'm looking at you, Ollie). We've seen Denny O'Neil absolutely everywhere, jumping from book to book to book, constantly innovating, often failing, at least in part, but arguably succeeding more often than not. I'm really blown away by how large a role he's played in these early days of experimentation and evolution. Clearly, the Bronze Age at DC owes a great deal to that man, and even if his writing is sometimes heavy handed and pedantic, the fellow did some amazing work. It's easy to credit later works for being more sophisticated than their predecessors, but it is important to remember that the former wouldn't exist without the pioneers who came before.
Over the last year of comics, social consciousness themes have grown from occasional influences trumpeted, often solely, in the books being penned by Denny O'Neil, to showing up just about everywhere, even in the most conservative of DC's offerings, like the Superman titles. The most immediate and marked change, is of course, in Batman, who has evolved quickly and more consistently than most. He's already begun to resemble the 'grim avenger of the night' version of the character that is the pure expression of the concept, at least for my money. Books like Aquaman are serving as sources of innovation, both in art and story, and a spirit of change seems to be in the air. Interestingly, even the fans notice it, and many of the letters of the latter part of the year have talked about the 'character revolution' or something similar, going on at DC, calling for the same process to be applied to characters not yet affected.
I would say by December 1970, the Bronze Age was well and truly on the way. The change between the first and last month is really quite marked, and I can't wait to see what the future holds! First, what about this month itself?
We've had a lot of solid stories and a few strong stand outs. This month's comics have featured two different takes on the growing political involvement of America's youth. We've also seen multiple instances of real-life events influencing and inspiring this month's comics, from the student march in Cleveland being reflected in Robin's tale to the cultural anxiety around the rise of Satanism being reflected in the Flash's macabre plot. In general, I think there has been a slight uptick in stories with supernatural elements, with Flash, Kid Flash, Batman, and, of course, the Phantom Stranger all facing occult menaces this month.
All-in-all, I'd call that a pretty fitting end to a good year of comics, and I hope that you'll join me soon as we race back through time on our Cosmic Treadmills to peer into 1971! Until then, keep the heroic ideal alive!
Only Aquaman joins our distinguished company on the wall of shame this week, though we had several very close calls, more than we've had before, I believe. There you go, folks, an entire year of head-blows. It seems Aquaman's reputation of getting knocked out as regularly as Philip Marlowe is probably deserved. Hopefully things will improve for my favorite hero in the next year.
1 Comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged Aquagirl, Aqualad, Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, Fourth World, Jack Kirby, Jimmy Olsen, Joe Giella, Kid Flash, Lilith, Mal Duncan, Nick Cardy, Speedy, Steve Skeates, superman, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Teen Titans, The Flash, Vince Colletta, Wonder Girl, World's Finest
Welcome to the Greylands!
Batman #226 (the debut of the awe-inspiring Ten-Eyed Man!)
World's Finest #197 (reprints, won't be covered)
"The Wheel of Super-Fortune!"
Inker: Dan Adkins
This one is pretty nuts, ladies and gents. It's the second part of last month's crazy-pants story, and it ups the insane ante to new heights. It's a weird, wild combination of random elements that make a very Silver Age-ish story, continuing the trend of the Man of Steel's books feeling dated. This particular issue combines magic and mad science, plus a bald Superman and lots of melodrama with Lois. Feast your eyes on this odd offering.
It begins with a recap of last issue, as Super-Lex takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude, where he just happens to have a giant crystal that can somehow replay the past. He shows her Clark Kent's ridiculous villainous origins, but Lois is way too obsessed to listen to any of his 'logic' or 'reason.' She's in love with the formerly comatose crook, and nothing can change that! We're not quite dealing with the capable and self-possessed Lois we were just talking about in the last post. In the flashback, we see that Clark may have been given 'evil genes,' but he apparently wasn't given brains, as he plans to set himself up as a 'big-time gang boss' with the proceeds from one little gas station robbery. Is…is that how it works? Somehow, I doubt it.
Meanwhile, in his deceased mad scientist/benefactor's secret lab, Clark discovers a criminal teletype, which tells him about some mystic named Grandovic that can predict the future for criminals, which sounds promising to him. The neophyte ne'er-do-well takes one of the bad doctor's unlikely inventions and robs a bank, nearly killing Lois in the process, as she's too smitten to get out of the way of the giant rolling tank!
Fortunately, Super-Baldy is there to save the day, and we get a bizarrely hilarious scene where Lois furiously attacks the hero because he's preventing her from leaping to her death and he knocks her out with one finger. Of course, while he's dealing with the irrational reporter, Clark gets away, having left behind a bomb to cover his escape.
The villainous Kent uses his ill-gotten gains to garner an audience with Grandovic, a randomly floating mystic-type in Tibet. After giving him a diamond worth 2 million bucks, the visionary answers his burning question, how can he defeat Superman. Grandovic fills Clark in on all of Lex's history, and points out that he loves Lois, so he can be attacked through her. In response, Kent proves how evil he is by poisoning the swami, who in turn prophecies his assailant's death through the means of a steering wheel. Clark thinks he'll just avoid cars and be fine, but apparently he never studied his mythology.
Back in Metropolis, Lex secretly protects Lois from a falling piece of masonry, though she notices that Superman must have intervened in some fashion and begins to reassess her view of him. Before anything else can come of that, Lex is attacked in his apartment by a cool looking robot, which unfortunately only lasts two pages before the hero literally chops it in two with his hand. Inside is a taped message that directs the Man of Tomorrow to a rendezvous with Clark, wherein the criminal reveals that he's given Lois a drug that he can use to kill her with the push of a button. He tells his nemesis that unless the big baldy backs off, he'll kill his girl.
After a mix-up with a super-robot, Clark makes good on his threat, but he only stuns Lois, rather than kill her. She immediately throws herself at him when she awakens, but he's got no time for her. He's got a wildly impractical war-machine to drive! He takes a new vehicle out to level Metropolis, and when Super-Lex doesn't back off, he does just that, amazed that the Metropolis Marvel would allow this to happen. As the hero destroys his vehicle, Clark declares that all the thousands of deaths he just caused are on Lex's head, but the Man of Steel was one ludicrous step ahead of him.
It turns out that Lex built an entire, FULL-SCALE replica of Krypton at some point in the past and filled it with androids. He just evacuated the entirety of Metropolis overnight and filled it with his kryptonian androids, so no-one died! Wow. That's a big development to toss out in a single line of dialog. Of course, it doesn't account for the billions of dollars worth of property damage, but oh well. I wonder if Zack Snyder read this comic. I suppose not, since there's no sex and death.
Well, silly plot devices and terrible directors aside, Clark pulls a different kind of device out of his pocket. It's a ray that steals Superman's powers and transfers them to a nearby object, specifically, a steering wheel. Clark very helpfully explains the entire situation to Lex as opposed to, you know, just grabbing the artifact himself while the hero is reeling. In the struggle that follows, Super-Lex gets the brass super-ring and Clark dies…because….the story is almost over? There's really no good explanation. His 'evil genes' basically fry his brain, and this magically fixes everything, including Lois's obsession. I'm not going to try to explain this last page. Just read it and marvel at the craziness as Bates suddenly realizes he's run out of space and has to wrap everything up.
This is a pretty goofy story. It's all over the place, with the random criminal guru, the tons and tons of mad-style science, the Lois subplot, and ridiculous ending gambit by Super-Lex. Interestingly enough, this issue also reprints a Superman story from 1956, and that one is positively grounded and restrained compared to this one, which is instructive in context. There's not really much to recommend this comic. I'll give this goofy tale 2 Minutemen. It's entertaining, but nutso.
"Race to Save the Universe!"
"Joanie Swift, Queen of Speed!"
Penciler: Paul Norris
Inker: Paul Norris
Editors: Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff, Julius Schwartz, and E. Nelson Bridwell
Well in contrast to that last Superman story, this issue of World's Finest is just plain fun! It's full of big, bombastic action, cosmic concepts, and a universe-spanning setting that would be perfectly at home in Grant Morrison's JLA. Considering the fact that Morrison penned some of the best League adventures of all time (not perfect, but undeniably great), that's a very good thing. This comic is just a rip-roaring adventure from start to finish, and while it's packed full of crazy events and ideas, they all work together and make sense in the mad, wonder-packed world of the DC Universe.
It opens with a bang, as Jimmy Olsen steps out of bed and right through time itself! He plummets through a strange hole in the time continuum (gotta' love comics science!) and right into the middle of a Roman chariot race, circa 15 B.C.! Not only that, a Roman charioteer charges through a similar portal and finds himself in 'modern' day Metropolis. Of course, the Man of Steel is confused at first, thinking that this guy in the Roman getup is just some nut. After all, given the insanity of his daily routine, that's as likely as anything else. In a fun and funny little moment, Superman just lets the Centurion break his sword on the 'ol abs-of-steel so he can see for himself how pointless it is to fight. Just as the Metropolis Marvel is about to take this time-tossed Roman to the funny-farm, he's interrupted by one of the Guardians of the Universe!
The Guardian, with their usual tact, orders the Man of Tomorrow to get to Oa, today, and we get one of the only bits of this story that irked me. Superman flies straight to their world, with his Roman in tow, and somehow the guy doesn't die a messy and unpleasant death in the vacuum of space. The text tells us that he takes a 'space-warp,' but one would imagine such a phenomenon as being…you know…in space. Still, it's a minor point, and I absolutely love the poor, rattled Roman's befuddled thought bubbles as he tries to make sense of what in the heck is happening to him! "Surely I have passed beyond the mortal realm!" he thinks as Superman flies him through space, and "Have I passed unto Olympus?" is his wondering thought when he sees the strange science of the Guardians. If I have one criticism of this comic, it's that I would have loved to see more of this guy!
Well, speaking of the Blue Man Group, no, not that one, once he arrives, they fill our hero in on the situation that spurred his summons. Apparently beings called the 'Anachronids,' bizarre forms of life that move faster than the speed of light, have moved into inhabited space. These creatures move so fast, in fact, that their very passage is playing merry havoc with space/time, causing random rifts to open between today and yesterday, the likes of which spawned Superman's Latin companion. The Guardians have need of the Man of Steel's incredible speed and endurance, as they must stabilize the time-stream by employing a counter-balancing speed-force to that of the Anachronids. Of course! That kind of wonderful techno-babble totally works in the DCU. The trouble is, Superman by himself is not going to produce enough power, so the Guardians send him to recruit the Flash and give the Scarlet Speedster a medallion that will grant him endurance and the ability to run in space. Together, the titanic twosome must race for the galaxy or risk time itself unraveling in the face of the universe-shattering speed of the Anachronids!
Got all that? Good, because we're only on page six! Well, once Superman picks up his partner in speed, the Flash offers a friendly idea, noting that they have raced in the past, but they have never had a definitive outcome. He suggests that they make their universe-saving jaunt a competition, which would hopefully drive both of them to give their utmost. This, and several other moments, show a particular strength of O'Neil's writing in this issue.
The casual, jolly attitude they take to their world-saving, the free-spirited love for adventure that both heroes evince, is a great deal of fun. I just can't help but compare this to the endlessly grim and serious comics of the modern era, where even characters who should have a real sense of wonder and adventure about them still manage to be relentlessly serious and joyless as often as not.
So, it is with good spirits that our heroes set out on their race, passing the Moon in a moment and tearing through the cosmos on an incredible journey. In a fun little detail, Batman officiates the start of the contest. Meanwhile, we check back in with poor Jimmy in Rome, and his high school Latin fails him miserably as he finds himself sentenced to death as a wizard! Back in space, Superman and the Flash are ambushed by the incredibly speedy Anachronids, who begin firing at them with energy weapons. The Man of Steel manages to protects his partner, but their antagonists turn their deadly attentions to a nearby star, causing it to go super nova in a matter of moments. It's a lovely page, and it really sells the scope of the challenge facing our heroes.
The turbo-twosome have to outrun the exploding star (how's that for wide-screen action?), but they are almost caught by the solar fire until they dive through a rift in space, perhaps caused by the Anachronids' passage. They fall into a bizarre, barren landscape, getting separated in their descent. Superman finds himself under a strange, center-less sun that oscillates between red and yellow, and during the sanguine state, he's clobbered by a trio of…shall I say 'phantom' assailants? We just see their ghostly outlines, but sharp-witted DC fans will likely recognize some of the Phantom Zone villains. What is going on?!
The trio attempts to feed the unconscious Man of Steel to a horrible, Lovecraftian monster, and the sun's split personality renders him mostly helpless. Fortunately, the Flash has been searching for him, and he launches a cleverly deduced attack against the big green ugly. He sees that it has no eyes, and, in a bit of a stretch, he thinks that it may have a radar sense that he can confuse. He does so by whipping up a dust storm. The Speedster guesses that the antenna near the creature's mouth are probably important, so with a dust storm and an attack to its sensitive tendrils, he frees his partner, who, with a return of yellow sunlight, decks the beast into a mountain. It's a great action sequence, and while the Flash's idea about a radar sense doesn't really get set up properly, I'm willing to let it go because the rest of the encounter makes pretty good sense. Eyes or radar, it's reasonable to think that a dust storm might be a good distraction.
The monster escaped, the heroes take to their heels once more, racing straight through the heart of the bizarre star, hoping that their path to freedom lies within. Superman points out that space and time is distorted around stars, so they count on this being their doorway back into the normal universe. That mostly works in a comic kind of way, so I'm not going to kick, especially because it just looks awesome.
Free, the racers once again encounter their eerie antagonists, and they endeavor to capture one. When they manage to slow the speeding being down, they discover that it is actually a robot! What's more, the machine disintegrates shortly thereafter, apparently not designed to exist at anything below the speed of light. With more questions than answers, the heroes once more take up their race, tearing off through space, and for the final page of the book, we check back in with poor Jimmy, who is facing a firing squad of Roman archers. The story ends with their arrows in the air!
This is just a fun, exhilarating issue. This is the type of Bronze Age story that I really love. It's got vast, cosmic scope, big ideas, and bigger action. The cheerful, grand heroism of this tale is precisely what makes comics great. The mystery set up in this comic is intriguing, and I can't wait to see where it goes next issue. It helps that Dick Dillin is really firing on all cylinders for this book, turning out some great art and some really dynamic, well-rendered action. The stiffness from some of his JLA issues is gone and what is left is imaginative and lovely. I really like the camaraderie and friendship displayed between the two heroes, even if they aren't given a ton of development. Their spirit of adventure comes through, and in an epic tale like this, that's enough. They also each got a moment to shine, as the narrative was nicely balanced between their exploits, and the Jimmy subplot provided an enjoyable dose of comic relief. I particularly enjoy the universe spanning nature of this yarn, bringing in several different elements of the DC mythos, from the Guardians to our spectral villains. I'll give this cosmic adventure 4.5 Minutemen, a great score!
There's an enjoyable reprint of a Johnny Quick story as a backup to this issue.
Final Thoughts for the Month:
This was really a rather fascinating month. It really drove home to me how much things at DC had changed in just one year's time. Over the course of the last year, we've watched as DC comic books go from the racial homogeneity of the Silver Age to a set of titles that, at least in the supporting casts of their stories, tend to feature more than a few minority faces. It really seems like there has been an increasing attention to racial issues. Obviously, this month we saw a particularly excellent story on race, but it seems to me that the company as a whole has taken an effort to present a more realistically diverse portrayal of the world in the pages of their books. I'm not positive, but it does seem to be so, and that is a pretty cool development to watch happening.
This month also gave us both the highs and the lows of creativity, with two different new concepts being introduced, both of which would endure for a time, though to very different fates. While the Ten-Eyed man was a goofy concept that was too silly even for comic books, the League of Assassins showed promise from the very beginning, worthy antagonists for the Dark Knight, employing many of the same methods and skills that he himself uses. They are an interesting threat lurking out there in the DC Universe, and readers must have looked forward to their return. At the same time, one can't quite imagine anyone clamoring for the return of the Ten-Eyed Man. Despite that, he will once again grace the pages of Batman in just five issues.
Perhaps most intriguing of all, this month showed us another side of Robert Kanigher. I've certainly not been kind to this fellow, and yet in this month alone saw several solid stories penned by this maligned writer and one exceptional tale. How strange to see Kanigher take an inning after the messy, silly stories he's told previously. I'm very curious about whether this is a turning point or a high water mark.
Well, that will do it for November, 1970! It was a pretty good month, all told, but I'm excited to head into the final month of this first year. Hopefully I can move through 1971 a little more quickly. Otherwise, this process is going to take forever and a day! Until next time, keep the heroic ideal alive!
Once again, it's been a quiet month, with no new additions to the wall of shame. I bet December will hold new noggin' knockin' wonders for us, though!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, Joe Giella, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, superman, The Flash, World's Finest
Just in time for Christmas, welcome to the last edition of Into the Bronze Age for September 1970! I rather wish that I had some type of Christmas special planned, but I hope a regular old IBA post will be a welcome gift nonetheless. We have an interesting pair of stories, and we are looking at a definite change coming next month. So, let's see what is in store for the end of September (in December).
Showcase #93
"Never Trust a Red-Haired Greenie"
Writer: Mike Sekowsky
Penciler: Mike Sekowsky
Editors: Mort Weisinger and E. Nelson Bridwell
I've been looking forward to this last issue of the Manhunter feature, but I've also been dreading its arrival. Why, you may ask? Well, it's been so much fun that I just hate to see it end! It's a crying shame that Starker did not get picked up for an ongoing series, but this issue hit me with more than just disappointment over the loss of a promising character and concept. It struck me with the cruelest surprise I've encountered in any of these comics, perhaps the cruelest I've ever met in comics at large. This issue, the last major mention of Manhunter 2070 ever in mainstream DC continuity, ends on a cliffhanger! What a kick in the teeth! And what a cliffhanger it is! I'll share the painful moment with you, and you can see what I mean.
Other than the ending, this is another exciting and engaging sci-fi yarn, continuing to flesh out a really interesting universe full of fascinating peoples and places. The loss of the setting is as significant as the loss of the character himself. Speaking of Starker, the Manhunter, we find him on his way home to his base orbiting Jupiter, where Arky, his robotic man Friday, has a new job for him. Apparently we've got some white-collar space crime, which makes for a nice change of pace. A mining company executive took off with two million 'credits,' and has vanished. Starker takes off after him, heading to the planet Zodan, which Arky warns him is home to a very strange culture. Remember the crime-city on Krypton-that-was? Those folks would feel right at home on Zodan, where theft is the planetary pastime. It's a goofy concept, just like that World's Finest story, but unlike its predecessor, it's actually pulled off rather well.
From the moment he arrives, our stoic bounty hunter friend is besieged by one thief after another in a series of funny little bits. However, Starker is not a man to be trifled with, so all of the Zodanian "Greenies" quickly come to regret having tried to get one over on him. In this issue, the unevenness of Sekowsky's art is still evident, though not too badly. Yet, in the splash page below, it looks like Starker is performing a dance number rather than fighting. One-two-three, and kick!
The futuristic Manhunter gets by more or less just by being a terrifying individual, making it very clear to those he encounters that stealing from him would be the last mistake they'd be likely to make, and his grim, confident carriage is quite well handled. He's definitely an entertaining character to see in action.
There's several nice, moody panels like the above to illustrate his search
We follow as his chase leads across the spaceport, and he eventually discovers that his quarry has headed to another world in the system, but when he heads for that planet, he is unaware that he has two space-suited stowaways clinging to his ship. They follow him stealthily for the rest of the issue, a constant, menacing presence behind him.
On the planet Zoldar, Starker finds his prey drinking away his sorrows in an extraterrestrial version of an Old West saloon. Apparently the embezzler met with craftier thieves than himself and was duped out of all his ill-gotten gains in a rigged card game. This is not what I expected, and it's a nice twist. From the first time we meet this thief, Wallen, he's actually rather pitiful and sympathetic. As the bounty hunter gets the story out of the poor loser, three other toughs try to horn in on the bounty, but our hero makes quick work of them.
He leads Wallen in pursuit of the card sharks that fleeced him, and the two head off in a cross-desert chase on a pair of alien mounts. These creatures, called glyphs, are just one of the many examples of the world-building that Sekowsy is doing in this issue. We have unique names for technologies, places, and creatures. His setting is really beginning to feel fleshed-out, to acquire that "impression of depth" we've discussed before. Unfortunately, they are ambushed by their quarry, and Starker and Wallen are pinned down by unseen shooters in the alien wasteland. In a really nice sequence, the Manhunter orders Wallen to draw their fire, telling him, "they might miss–I won't–dead or alive–you'll still be worth 25,000 to me." It's a great moment, really fitting the tough-as-nails hunter and showing how unique he is among the characters that populate the DC line at this point.
Wallen survives his sprint, and Starker is able to pick off one of their attackers, though he is bushwhacked by the other. Interestingly, his prisoner actually warns him, saving his life. He survives the hit and kills his attacker in turn. Then, Starker gathers Wallen up, noting that he owes him and wishes he could let him go in recompense for his warning, but saying he can't. That's another nice character touch, and I rather like the inflexibility of his approach to his work.
The pair encounter another strange scene as they continue their journey. They discover a red-headed 'Greenie' woman lying in the desert, apparently hurt. When Starker dismounts and picks her up to bear her to safety, another lady appears to hold him at gunpoint. This was all a trap, and these two femme fatales were the stowaways from Zodan. They devised this ambush to ensure that the hunter's hands would be busy when they struck, intending to steal his prisoner and the loot. Yet, Starker is not one to take things lying down, so he drops his lovely burden and goes for his gun, only to get blasted again and again by the deadly dames.
They leave him for dead, and he is too weak even to fire off a parting shot. After they depart, he is also discovered by a pack of neanderthal-like creatures, and the last image of the book is one of the man-beasts raising a club to threaten the helpless hunter. Infuriatingly, the editor's box tells us that we can only find out what happens if Manhunter is picked up. What a gambit that was. Sekowsky was really stacking the deck, for all the good it did him. It's a crying shame, because he really created a gripping cliffhanger. Starker is in deep, deep trouble, and I, for one, would really have loved to see what happened. He'd been shot several times, marooned in the desert, and was now facing a savage tribe's wrath. That is quite a note to go out on.
This was another great issue, and it is definitely a loss for the DC Universe that this series was never picked up. I think this may be the best work Sekowsky ever did, and he clearly really enjoyed this creation. I love the feel of this story, in particular. The universe Starker inhabits is actually rather Star Wars-ish, nearly seven years early. There's a lived-in feel to the place that is a departure from the dominant sci-fi settings of the day. There is a great deal of originality and personality in Starker and his setting, and I can only imagine what it might have grown into if given the chance. I suppose the day of the cosmic 70s stories had not yet arrived and this concept was just ahead of its time. Again, Sekowsky gives us a solid mixture of action, intrigue, and mystery, with a healthy dose of character moments for his taciturn protagonist. I'll give this issue a 4.5 Minutemen, though I'm tempted to deduct some points because of the dirty cliffhanger trick, and I will bid a very fond farewell to Starker and his world. It was here only briefly, but I shall miss it nonetheless.
"Kryptonite Express"
Inker: George Russos
This is a surprisingly decent issue. We're definitely back in the zaney reaches of the Haneyverse, but as goofy and gimmicky as the concept is, Haney actually manages to turn in a fun tale that works without too many bizarre or irrational moments. I suppose this is one of the last kryptonite-as-gimmick stories we're likely to see, given the rapid approach of "Kryptonite No More." And this one uses the heck out of that gimmick.
The comic opens with a sudden meteor shower blanketing the U.S., falling all across the country. It just so happens that these are not your ordinary, every day meteorites. They are, in fact, a huge supply of kryptonite. Now, let's get the silliness of this setup out of the way right from the start. It is, of course hilariously silly how much of the exploded planet of Krypton ended up on Earth. All of it must have flown directly at our system. The basic idea is that Krypton exploded and chunks of its radioactive matter showered Earth around the same time baby Kal-El got here, right? Then how in the blue blazes would this big cloud of space debris happen to get here some thirty odd years later? That's not the way space and gravity work!
The silly plot device aside, the country suddenly finds itself in a fix. There's now tons of kryptonite (literally) scattered all across the continent, just waiting to be picked up by some black-hearted rogue, just itching for a chance to kill Superman. It's like Lex Luthor's dream come true. It's literally raining kryptonite. The President makes a special televised plea to all Americans, urging them to gather up the mineral and deliver it to a special train that would travel through the nation to collect it. Batman and Robin will play conductor and Superman will serve as a guard and scout. They'll also have a passel of security forces from every agency in the alphabet soup. Ohh, and Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen (described as a "reporter" instead of photographer, interestingly enough), and Clark Kent will be along in a special press car. And here we've reached maximum gimmick.
Of course, here we reach our second problem with the concept. If there was a meteor shower of such proportions, the black market would already have to be absolutely flooded with enough kryptonite to kill a Super-elephant. It's just lying on the ground for the taking. Are you telling me every criminal and psychopath from Lex Luthor to the lowest street hustler wouldn't have hit the countryside for a kryptonite scavenger hunt? But, because this is a Bob Haney story, the blazingly obvious is just plain unreasonable.
Despite the abundant availability of organic, free range kryptonite, a criminal mastermind and train enthusiast (no, really, that's how he's described) plots to steal the special train and its green glowing cargo. Seriously, this guy is Sheldon Cooper after the inevitable mental break. Anyway, Dr. Cooper, er, I mean K.C. Jones, sends his thugs to grab the train. We get an actual set of costumed (after a fashion) crooks, which is always a plus in my book, especially considering how often we've seen the members of the Generic Gang lately.
Our well-dressed henchmen storm the train after a smoke bomb goes off in the fire (because, apparently, this is a coal-powered train, for some reason). Batman and Robin battle their way back from the the engine towards the kryptonite but get caught at gunpoint. Batman pulls a fairly clever stunt, tossing a batarang back towards the throttle while shielded by Robin's cape. The train slams to a stop, sending the assailants flying.
Meanwhile, the attackers have uncoupled the press car, leaving Clark Kent in a very embarrassing position. He fakes a panic attack, locking himself in the bathroom, only to emerge as Superman and rejoin the cars. The begins a series of secret identity farces that are par for the course. One wonders how Clark ever manages to show his face in public after these types of things. The first attack repelled, they soon face a second. They pass through a tunnel inhabited by bats, only to find that the Batman's namesakes are part of a second trap! The winged mammals carry tiny gas canisters, and soon the entire train is snoozing, other than Superman himself. The Man of Steel stays out of range of the kryptonite and pushes the train back with a telephone pole until his partners can reawaken and regain control, a clever way around the problem.
The heroes seem to be doing pretty well, with two up and two down, but K.C. is not to be defeated so easily. He must have his special train…and the kryptonite. Hey, I'm okay with his quirk. A quirky villain is an interesting villain, though, in this case, the quirk is pretty much all this guy has going for him. Anyway, he lays a trap for the Express, faking a special celebration of the lining of the Transcontinental Railroad and offering the Man of Tomorrow a golden spike that is actually disguised kryptonite. The villain captures the train, and Superman just manages to escape after he is left to die (of course).
When the Man of Steel recovers, he finds the train racing back down the tracks, out of control. Batman is chained to the front car, which is also full of kryptonite. Still weakened, the Man from Krypton is too weak to stop the train from the back, and the whole kit and kaboodle crashes into a river! In a nice display of resourcefulness, the Dark Knight grasps a sharp piece of kryptonite between his feet and uses it to cut his bonds before he drowns.
Meanwhile, Robin seems to bungle an escape attempt, breaking Jimmy's signal watch in the process, but everything is not as it appears. K.C. seals the press members in a cavern with a landslide, and the World's Finest pair only manage to spot their would-be tomb because Batman makes a sharp-eyed observation. Robin and the others freed, the heroes head out to stop the train. Aboard the Express, Batman battles his way to the engine, only to be ambushed by…Robin! Fortunately, the Dark Knight expected this double cross, having surmised that this Teen Wonder is an impostor, and he takes him out, though he is still captured by the rest of the henchmen. Superman, for his part, can't get close because of the kryptonite, but he comes up with a crazier (day I say "zanier"?) solution.
He flies ahead to where a bridge crosses over the Rio Grande into Mexico, and relocates it a mile further inland in the U.S. When our villainous train enthusiast crosses this bridge, he stops to taunt the hero, thinking he is safe in Mexico, which seems utterly stupid on too many levels to count. I know Superman likes to obey the law and everything, but come on! Fortunately, the Man of Tomorrow has outsmarted him, though he notes that the plan wouldn't have worked anyway, as he has authority to make arrests in all U.N. member nations, which is a nice little detail and makes sense. To finish things up, Superman throws the kryptonite car into space, which should really make K.C. question his life choices, and the tale comes to an end with some more secret identity farce, as Lois wonders what ever happened to Clark.
I was entirely prepared to find this another silly, annoyingly Silver Age-ish tale, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was so much fun. The kooky elements don't get in the way of the fun. It's actually a solid adventure story with several clever moments. Each of the stars (other than poor Robin) is given something interesting to do, and they both display their better qualities, showing what they bring to the team. There is a lot of quick thinking on display, and most of the solutions, other than the bridge stunt, are actually fairly reasonable. The villain is entertaining enough, if a tad silly, and at least he had some costumed henchmen, who were worth at least half a Minuteman by themselves! This was a fun story, and it was enjoyable enough to make up for the goofy and gimmicky premise. I'll give it 3 Minutemen, an average comic.
We've had an interesting month in this set of books. We've seen the highs and the lows, and once again they were penned by the same hand, which is an odd situation. On the whole, it's been a fairly solid month, with several of our usually lackluster titles turning out enjoyable issues. Once again, the portrayal of Batman across the DCU illustrates the liminal nature of these stories. We're trekking through a world in transition here, and the Dark Knight is the clearest symbol. While the teams on the Batman books are delivering a grim avenger of the night, a detective who uses his wits more than sci-fi gadgets, Bob Haney continues to bring us the 'Policeman's Friend' version of the character. Of course, one imagines that Haney would portray him, and anyone else he fancied, in whatever way he liked, regardless of what the rest of the world was doing. Yet, Haney isn't alone.
We're seeing more and more books following the pattern of Batman and Green Lantern and taking on a more mature tone and set of themes, with mixed success, and Superman continues to be the poster child for the conservative (both politically and generally) tendencies of the genre, as he continues to engage in very Silver Age-ish adventures that are beginning to feel more and more dated. Interestingly, Denny O'Neil seems to be at the center of a great deal of the change that DC is experiencing. Whatever missteps he may be guilty of in Green Lantern and other books, he certainly deserves a great deal of respect for the innovation he did, and there are probably more hits than misses to his credit.
Here we are, almost to the end of our first year of the Bronze Age, and the growth during these months is actually rather notable. There is still much to come, however, and we'll be seeing some changes in the next month, both to DC comics and to this blog feature. Of course, something we've been eagerly awaiting is finally going to arrive, as next month will see the first forays of the King into DC comics of the Bronze Age, as Jack Kirby begins his tenure on Jimmy Olsen. That's pretty exciting, and though those stories are very uneven, I can't wait to cover them! I'm also adding a few other titles to my already massive reading list. I'm going to begin covering the Supergirl stories in Adventure comics in the hopes that the Silver Age-y hijinks are on the way out, and I'll also be adding, of all things, Superman's Girlfriend: Lois Lane. That book, which I never thought I'd be reading, apparently adds a new feature next month, a backup of Rose and Thorn, which intrigues me. Unfortunately, it's written by Robert Kanigher. So…we'll see how that goes, but since she's definitely a superhero, I feel like that means I should cover her in this feature.
So, please join me soon for the next issue of Into the Bronze Age, where we will start on October's comic offerings. Until then…
Merry Christmas to all!
May God bless your celebrations and may the new year bring us all a better, more joyful world.
The Headcount remains the same at the end of the month, just having added a few new faces. Our list has certainly grown, though not quite as much as I suspected. Enjoy the wall of shame, my friends!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged batman, Bob Haney, Curt Swan, Manhunter 2070, Showcase, superman, World's Finest
Into the Bronze Age: August 1970 (Part 6)
Welcome to the last post on August 1970! It's not as bad as the Superman tale we met last time, but this isn't quite the soaring success we encountered elsewhere this month. I hope you enjoy this next step, Into the Bronze Age!
Phantom Stranger #8
"Dig Now, Die Later!"
This is definitely Zaney Haney, and not his most successful issue, though neither is it his least. Compared to some of them, this one is even a little tame. Haney lets this story get away from him a bit, so it isn't quite as good as the previous iteration. One highlight is the inclusion of the sidekick team. I always enjoy seeing Jimmy Olsen and Robin join the World's Finest. I find them a fun addition, though they really don't do much here. Nonetheless, this issue has some good moments. Unfortunately, Superman entirely overshadows everyone else in the, as he is wont to do.
When I started reading the Silver Age Superman and World's Finest books, I was particularly surprised to discover how big a role Olsen often played in these adventures. It seems that in order to provide Superman a sidekick akin to Batman's, Jimmy was dragooned into service, despite not really being an equivalent figure. It's a weird little trend, and sometimes it really doesn't fit. Still, he is a resource kid and a good character, so it also led to some enjoyable yarns. This one sadly doesn't offer us anything special along those lines, though.
We pick up where we left off, with Superman unmasked by the brain-damaged Batman, who thinks he is the Mafia's 'Big Uncle' Lukaz. Trapped by the kryptonite wreath, the Man of Steel is rapidly weakening, and knowing that escape is impossible, he tries a desperate gambit. He employs 'Super-Ventriloquism' to ape the sound of Krypto, hovering outside the fortieth floor window, causing a panic among the hoods. Now, Super-Ventriloquism is a pretty goofy power, but I have to admit, this is a clever use for it. It's actually a good way for the hero to buy himself some time.
It's also funny to see a bunch of tough guys running away from a dog…
With his captors temporarily routed, the Metropolis Marvel puts everything he has left into an inhalation of super breath, which sucks the lead-lined suitcase closed, cutting off the deadly radiation. When the mafiosos return, Superman seems to just be starting to recover, so they prepare to finish him off, but he fakes a memory loss like Batman's, pretending he thinks he really is a hood. Pseudo-Lukaz decides to make him into a weapon for the mob, and then we get one of the sour notes that trouble this story as the disguised Batman announces that he'll continue to dress as Batman "to confuse the law!" Ooookay. Sure. That's a thing. This has absolutely no follow-up and doesn't affect anything. It's just an extra bit of weirdness that Haney decided to include.
Well, the Bat-Godfather, hereafter, the Batfather, takes his new 'soldier' to his special gallery, where he has wax figures of all of the mafia's enemies. He shows Superman the figures of Robin and Jimmy Olsen and tells him that they are the next targets. They summon both boys to a junkyard where the Batfather plans to ambush them. However, when the two youths are captured and on the point of being executed, Robin delivers an impassioned speech to his mentor, declaring that he loves Batman like a father. The impact of the Teen Wonder's words snap the Dark Knight out of his mafia persona. It's not a bad moment, though not given much room to breathe.
Just then, Lukaz shows up, having escaped the Fortress of Solitude through yet ANOTHER head injury, this time that of a robot jailer, whose head-blow jarred its circuits into recognizing him as its master. The Godfather and his two measly henchmen apparently frighten the entire team into inaction. There is a good idea here, as the bad guys, using regular old guns, threaten Superman, not with death, but with the deaths of his allies. The Man of Steel continues playing his part, knocking Batman out with a super-slap and burning Robin and Jimmy Olsen to ash with his heat vision! He hands over their "hearts" to Lukaz in a special case and carries his erstwhile partner off to 'dispose' of him.
I'm sure that's fine for a man with a concussion…
On the way, the Dark Knight revives and punches Supes in a really odd looking panel, but the Man of Tomorrow calms him by explaining his plan. He planted a tracker in the case, and they are headed to find Lukaz's stash of evidence. Along the way, we get another sour note, as Batman is stymied by a door marked "For accredited criminologists only." Can you imagine the Caped Crusader being stopped by a 'no trespassing' sign? Well, they find the stash, but they are jumped by the Godfather and his two thugs. Really? Again? If you're going to fight freaking Superman and Batman, you should really bring more than two guys!
Anyway, Robin and Jimmy arrive and take them out, with Superman revealing that, before he roasted them, he switched them out with their wax doubles from the head gangster's own collection at super speed. It's a solid resolution, though, if the Man of Steel had time to do that, one thinks he could probably have just disarmed the thugs as well. I suppose he needed the ruse to find the evidence cache, so we can 'no prize' that.
This was a fun story, creative, with some clever moments from Superman and a good character moment with Robin and Batman. Unfortunately, that was about the only good moment the Dark Knight had in this tale, with Superman carrying almost all of the action, even solving the mystery, making the World's Greatest Detective pretty much entirely superfluous. The end results is still enjoyable, but not terribly exceptional. I'll give it 3 Minutemen on the strength of the cleverer moments.
This comic also had a Congo Bill backup. It was a reprint, so I won't be covering it, but it was a fun little story about a jungle con-artist, which basically employed the old 'beguiler beguiled' trope.
Well readers, I ALMOST made it to September before our own September ended. So close! C'est la vie. Nevertheless, we have successfully made it through August, and an interesting month it was! We saw some of the very best and very worst stories we've yet covered. August unfortunately saw the goofy Silver Agey-y Super Sons and, horror of horrors, the insipid foolishness of both tales from the Superman issue (which I was really probably too hard on), but it also gave us more great books than we've yet seen in one place. The Legion backup, Aquaman, Detective Comics, Teen Titans, The Phantom Stranger, and Showcase all featured excellent stories, earning 4.5 Minutemen. That's not half bad! We're seeing innovation continuing to grow, with the Aquaman book and the creative Phantom Stranger tales, and we're seeing a further growth of more mature (in the true sense, not in a 'sex and violence' one) themes and horror motifs in the Batman books. All-in-all, I would call it a good month. It seems we are settling in to something of a routine, with most books following a predictable pattern of quality and style. Please join me next time to see what September holds!
We've had a busy month in the head-blow department, with our favorite Aquatic Aces both making an appearance. Our Aqua-guys just can't catch a break! I'm mollified by the fact that, even though Aqualad has been added to the Wall, at least Robin is on there twice. Take that Boy Wonder!
Leave a comment Posted in Comics, DC Comics, Into the Bronze Age, Nostalgia, Superheroes Tagged batman, Bob Haney, Jimmy Olsen, Robin, Ross Andru, superman, World's Finest
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