Sometimes, when life doesn't make sense, it's time to read a comic that doesn't make a lot of sense! From 1982,
Brave and the Bold #190, "Who Killed Adam Strange?" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sal Trapani.
The lead story was only 17 pages, so it has to zip along; with Batman taking the zeta beam to Rann, fighting his way through some young guards, and getting to Adam Strange's wife Alanna by page 4. Bats had received a letter from Adam's "earth lawyer," that was to be delivered if Adam went missing for more than six months. (Which I thought would've been often, for an archeologist back then!) Batman followed the letter's instructions and took the zeta beam, to find out what happened to Adam. Good news, he got a statue! Bad news...
Bats admits to Alanna he did not know Adam well, but there's a sense of admiration: like maybe if his parents hadn't died, he could've led a life like his. (Doubtful! Bruce would've been idle rich. I don't think he would've been Elon Musk-level terrible, but probably not great.) As Rann is attacked again, Batman is directed to Alanna's father, Sardath; since Batman's detective skills were what they really needed. Rann was under attack by their "ancestral
enemies" (who I don't think we've ever seen before) the Kirri, who are crushing Rann's forces with their "
aqua-ray" that turns their foes into water. Adam had stopped the Kirri before, so Sardath was certain they arranged his murder.
Viewing footage of the crime scene, Batman notes that even though he had been shot multiple times with a ray-gun, Adam still tried to write something in his own blood. Watching Adam's other cases, Batman has a revelation: when the zeta-beam wears off, Adam is always returned to earth, in the same state he left. (Today. That may not be a hard-and-fast rule.) Sardath withdraws the zeta-radiation from Adam's corpse and Batman, returning them to earth--and Adam to life! Catching another zeta-beam back, Batman does advise, don't try that again. Oh, and Batman has solved the mystery.
Yes, by bluffing! He tricks one of the guards that first attacked him into confessing. Adam then leads the charge against the Kirri, even as Batman wonders if being dead has brain-damaged him; but Adam figures out how to stop the aqua-ray: it can't penetrate ice. Using massive chunks of ice as shields, they rally and defeat the Kirri, who promise to restore their aqua-victims. Batman and Adam have just about a page to hang out with Alanna, before the zeta ray brings them to earth again.
Also this issue: a Nemesis back-up! Man, I think DC has slept on him for a while.
You gotta' appreciate the fact that just because he was often called "The World's Greatest Detective" he sure was shit wasn't always portrayed that way, especially before the late 90's/early 00's, this issue being another example. Because honestly, shouldn't have detective points deducted for bluffing rather than outright figuring it out?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I definitely agree with you on Nemesis being criminally under-utilized.
Just going based off his involvement with the Suicide Squad in their early years, he should've been as much as a stable of that series as Rick Flagg was as a counter to Waller.
Hell his skill-set and backstory would be enough to keep readers invested.
I think the Human Target is another character that would've done well in the Squad.
Totally disagree- bluffing is an essential part of detective work. Some of the greatest fictional detectives solved big cases based on a hunch and goading.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, it didn't make much of the team-up aspect, and that is something a lot of the later B & B's are guilty of. It was enough to get Mike Barr the job on the Outsiders though, and that's a good thing as far I'm concerned.
I mean, a win's a win no matter how you get it, but it still seems like cheating to me, but point.
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