Today, one of the books on my comicon bingo card: from 1977, Secret Society of Super-Villains #10, "Triumph and Treachery" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by Jack Abel. And the cover promptly fell off of this one...
Tying into the Atom's Super-Team Family story, this issue the Creeper and Star Sapphire kidnap the unstable super-powered Jean Loring. The Creeper had been mistaken for a villain, and only joined the Society to try and figure out who was giving Funky Flashman his orders, yet still helps kidnap Jean, and doesn't seem to give it a second thought later! Captain Comet tries to stop Gorilla Grodd and the Wizard from stealing another of the Sorcerer's Treasures, the Invisibility Cloak, and gets beat down. Seeing that, the Trickster decides to opt out of any more work with the Society: they play too rough! This was something this title did often, rotating villains in and out of the book. It's something that should happen more in villain-centric books, but I'm never sure if this was by accident or design here.
Comet catches up to the Society as they gather all three of the Sorcerer's Treasures; which Comet mentions had been thrown into orbit by Superman, yet drifted back to earth later, which seems weird for a cloak...While they fight, Creeper notices Funky Flashman swiping the treasures, and follows him to a bus terminal. Funky puts them in a locker, then drops the key; and the Creeper changes back to Jack Ryder and catches Funky's contact...the Wizard? In jail, the Wizard protests that he was merely a hired hand, but we saw before being arrested was part of his plan all along. Meanwhile, Funky Flashman returns to the Society's Secret Citadel, where Grodd reveals another new lineup for the Society!
With the rotating cast, it seems like it would be a lot of fun to write Secret Society of Super-Villains...I don't know if I'd use Funky Flashman, but still.
Damn, it does sound fun huh? I'd use the same team approach as Nick Spencer used for Superior Foes if DC ever brought it back. As for Funky Flashman, I'll have to look it up, but when was the official last time he was ever used? Had to be before the 80's at least, and no, I don't think it'd be any fun to use him anymore, especially since the man he's based off could be on his way out of this mortal coil....
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Funky was in the old Steve Rude Mister Miracle one-shot, and I bet somebody used him in MM's regular series...serieses? Anyway, I think he's drifted away from his initial portrayal enough that he's a straight conman-grifter type. So to speak. Don't think they use "HouseRoy" anymore, though...
ReplyDeleteI keep reading these out of order, and for some reason I had it in my head the writer or editor kept changing, which was why the Society and its goals kept changing, but now I'm not sure that's why. That's how it would roll today, I guess: "Sales are slipping, get Gorilla Grodd in there!"