Yeah, nice Fay Wray, Kara.

Not to tell you your business, scientists, but if mysterious strangers show up in the middle of the night to "help" you with the giant-ass robot you built for peaceful purposes, they probably don't have the best of intentions. From 1972, Adventure Comics #422, "Pawn of Peace!" Written by Steve Skeates, pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Bob Oksner.

Aliens disguise themselves as humans, to hoodwink a scientist that built a rather large and ominious peacekeeping robot: the damn thing didn't work, so I wonder how much the aliens had to do for it: it might just be an art piece for all we know. The aliens seem like they've got a plan but are also really enjoying their dickery; meanwhile, Supergirl is just trying to get to work on time, man. She was already late because she...sigh...stopped to look at a dress; and the robot seems to do a lot of damage, but Kara still worried she won't get to punch in before lunch. Priorities, Kara!

The robot gives her a bit of hassle, and she's grabbed for a bit: the Air Force shoots a few missiles at it, figuring they couldn't hurt Supergirl anyway, even if she was stuck. The scientist tries to make up for being duped by dropping from a helicopter onto the robot to disable its computer; which was pretty daring, except he's squashed like a bug. Supergirl figures out how to disrupt its circuitry with her x-ray vision and disables it; then after a couple pictures zips into the office, where she has to give a sick excuse that even her cousin wouldn't have been able to sell; while elsewhere the aliens disguise themselves again, to help a Russian scientist with his non-functional peacekeeping robot...I don't know if they returned, but honestly I kinda doubt it.

Also this issue: a Vigilante story, "Rodeo of Death!" Written by Bill Meredith, art by Gray Morrow. A publicity tour for some black cowboys is plagued by racist attacks; Vigilante helps stop the masked creeps, but not without cost. Read more!

"Worried."

There's a couple points in Marvel continuity where alien races realize, earth had driven off Galactus, more than once; and was thus probably insanely dangerous. If they had the planet under any sort of surveilance, they would probably have seen X-Men #59, wherein Cyclops pulls the Star Trek logic trap on the Sentinels, convincing them the sun was the source of mutations, so they should fight it? Enh, to a lot of A.I. that probably makes sense. That, Ultron, and I think a lot of robot bad guys are beat by getting launched into space; so from the outside it probably looks like earth is littering the universe with those things. 

We got the Super-Adaptoid pretty cheap from a Disney sale, but I still feel like he needs a little extra something--definitely a cape, possibly with a big flared collar; or at least Yellowjacket style 'wings.' I kind of love the Super-Adaptoid, and hate Nimrod, even for a bad robot he's a bad robot. He's overtly racist, and no-sales too many attacks, or rebuilds/recovers way too fast. Cheap! That and I feel like S-A could conceivably improve itself, maybe in an evil way like in Avengers #290, but still trying; while Nimrod might pay lip service to that and not really care: it just wants to kill mutants. I really think Claremont was maybe building up to that and got sidetracked: Nimrod is a friend to all children!...until you develop mutant powers, then ggggak!

Read more!

Crap, Nixon sold me on this comic; maybe I can't say anything.

Futurama got a lot of mileage out of him, and Conan O'Brien mentioned him as well on Hot Ones; but while he was reprehensible and objectionable in so many ways, Nixon was kinda funny? Just his mannerisms and tics; not anything he tried to do intentionally, god no. I mention this because one of my nephews has a pretty solid Trump impression, that I can't stand: even when he's being made fun of, I don't like having to think about him? But, we can have some laughs with Nixon, sort of, in today's book! From 1972, From Beyond the Unknown #17, cover by Murphy Anderson...mostly. (We've seen two other issues from this series fairly recently: I suspect they were part of somebody's collection, that ended up at the comic book shop and slowly trickled down to me!)

The cover story, "The Impossible World Named Earth!" originally appeared in 1956's Mystery in Space #30, but it didn't predict Nixon; the president was Dwight Eisenhower in that one! A Jovian keeps having visions of another world, which of course is impossible: everyone knows Jupiter is the only world in the whole universe! (Presumably, they don't call it that, but whatever.) Meanwhile, on earth, a sci-fi writer keeps having the same ideas as other writers, via telepathy. Can the writer and the Jovian help each other? Yes, since the Jovian is stout enough his mind doesn't collapse when he finds out "Nee-xon" is real. (Written by Otto Binder, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Joe Giella.)

"Mystery of the 12 O'Clock Man" was the cover story for 1964's Strange Adventures #162: a rocket scientist on the moon has a good job and good friends, but he also seems to disappear at lunch every Friday, for reasons even he doesn't know. A friend tries tailing him, and gets nowhere; but as the scientist starts pulling on strings, his entire history seems to unravel: the orphanage and the high school he attended have no records of him. This doesn't push on into Phillip K. Dick territory, but not bad. (Written by Ed Herron, art by Sid Greene.)

"The Magic Typewriter" probably should be "the Magic Typist," as a flaky stenographer keeps going into trances and typing out massive scientific advances, like an anti-gravity belt and a death-ray. But was she more than she seemed...? Well, yeah. (From 1953's Strange Adventures #31, written by Sam Merwin, art (maybe) by Frank Giacoia.) I didn't love that one, or "Super-Cook of Space!" or "Rocketeer for Hire!" All three are dated, sexist, and/or rah-rah go American-Earth in ways I wasn't in the mood for right now. Read more!

Aw, from the silhouette on the cover, I thought Yellowjacket was rejoining the team.

Wait, that's not right...spoiler alert after the break! From 1975, Justice League of America #117, "I Have No Wings and I Must Fly!" Written by Elliot S! Maggin, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Frank McLaughlin.

The returning hero would in fact be Hawkman, and this issue would be referenced in his continuity, geez, for years afterwards; but it also feels like an early example of the "no time to explain, so I'm going to do something that seems super wrong, and catch you up later" kind of story that's like team books' bread-and-butter. Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Batman, Superman, and the Atom take off towards Mars, where GL has spotted Hawkman's Thanagarian ship: there's also a "photon-mirage" of Hawkman, that fails to lure them to Mars, but they go anyway. The team makes a surprisingly poor showing, though; with Supes and GL downed, Green Arrow missing two shots, but Batman now seemingly able to tear steel? The Atom misses what should be a standard jump from an arrow, and Batman is defeated by a dark-haired man claiming to be Hawkman...although he was noticeably shorter. He deposits the unconscious Leaguers on Mars, noting this would let him turn the disease to his advantage.

When the Leaguers wake up, the most noticeable change was that they were all about same height and weight, about five feet tall! (The Atom's shrunken stature brought the average down: Ray was six feet tall normally, and I'd guess the other guys there were at least that tall.) Superman and GL were noticeably diminished, but Batman could fly? Hawkman had been infected by microbes from the alien Equalizer--not that one! Or that one. Or that one! He was a odd-looking sort, and had microbes "that affect people when they exert themselves--making them physically equal to everyone around them!" Hawkman was no longer big and strapping, and couldn't even wear his wings; but had stolen some of the Leaguers' powers, so he could stop the Equalizer from infecting earth. But the microbes seemed to affect the Leaguers mentally as well: Batman had lost much of his deductive abilities, while Green Arrow was far more of a team player than he ever was. He rallies the heroes into concentrating their willpower, to use GL's ring and follow the Equalizer--meaning Hawkman, they hadn't learned of that alien yet!

Despite his borrowed powers, Hawkman is no match for the Equalizer, who counters his every move with equal force, before destroying his ship. The heroes arrive, to join their old friend, and aren't really getting anywhere, until they try hate: waves of hate, aimed at the Equalizer, which is countered by if not love, then restitution; as the heroes are restored to their usual selves. But, Thanagar was still infected, including Hawkgirl, and he was left with nowhere to go except back to the JLA, which elects to reinstate him. 

The Equalizer's goal, if any, isn't explained here; this might have been his only appearance? But, we saw his equalizing plague mentioned in Showcase #103, and I'm pretty sure it was still a plot point in 1982's World's Finest #278, and possibly into 1985's the Shadow War of Hawkman.

Read more!

It's gonna be hilarious when the adaptation of this has more cultural impact than Black Adam.

Like most of DC's books in 2022, this one's got an ad for Black Adam on the cover; but it's maybe getting an adaptation soon: from 2022, Jurassic League #6, cover and script by Daniel Warren Johnson, script and art by Juan Gedeon.

I only picked up a dollar bin copy of the last issue, but yeah, this is pretty much "What If the Justice League were dinosaurs?" and this is the dramatic conclusion, as "Batsaur" has a final face-off with "Jokerzard" before the big confrontation with "Darkyloseid." "Supersaur" sacrifices himself, maybe, to take out Darkyloseid; and Batsaur and the rest of the League learn to work together with the primitive humans; which seems like a point in recent American Godzilla/Kong movies and probably dates back to Mothra or earlier, but always reminds me of the Primal Rage arcade game.

This is fluff, but harmless; unlike Black Adam: I'm pissed at the Rock, for being a candyass and complaining about his endorsement of Biden in 2020. Read more!

Wait, Deadman is a publicly known figure? How?...ghost writer?

We saw the Madame X from this event some time back, but I had been looking forward to this one: from 2012, National Comics: Eternity #1, written by Jeff Lemire, art by Cully Hamner and Derec Aucoin.

Confession: Jeff Lemire has never clicked for me. I don't know why--he had a run on (Extraordinary) X-Men, he's had a bunch of books at Dark Horse, ooh, he had a Moon Knight run, that one I know I didn't love. This is a perfectly reasonable updating for Kid Eternity, which really reminded me of the iZombie TV show--which I loved, but the Kid doesn't have the supporting cast to back him up, (This issue did predate that show, though.) Here, the Kid is the survivor of a drive-by shooting, where his father was killed, but that has left him with an unusual power: he can reach into seeming Purgatory, to bring back the spirit of a recently deceased, for 24 hours. The Kid works in the police morgue, and tries to use his powers to solve crimes; despite the fact that he's barely doing his actual job, he keeps seeing a weird guy in the real world and Purgatory, and oh yeah, this recently murdered ghost is kind of a prick.

While the Kid puts together the clues, and keeps his job for another day, the weird guy introduces himself as Mr. Keeper, and tells him he'll have to learn the rules. He can't or won't tell him said rules, that's a rule right there...I already hate him. And, for good measure there's a cliffhanger ending, seemingly setting up the next episode, but this is like a pilot that didn't go to series. Man, Kid Eternity is a hook I want to like, but the Grant Morrison/Duncan Fegredo mini has a massive retcon that breaks the idea of the character, and is a bit too murky for its own good; while Nocenti's version was interesting but I don't think readers were ready for it in 1993. Read more!

"Tweekend."

We've seen a few panels here and there of actual Darkhawk comics, and I have an actual plotline for him that's been percolating in my skull for some time and I hope to get to someday. He mentions the "Fraternity of Raptors," which I don't have a huge amount of interest in, but the family drama (as seen in Darkhawk #30) has some appeal. One of Chris's little brothers seems super big-hearted, while his other one, in another issue, had a serial killer mentor/replacement father figure! He also seemed like a jerk willing to throw Chris under the bus for all the family's assorted problems. And Chris's mom was a smokeshow! She doesn't look old enough to have a college-age son. 

The other reason Darkhawk is getting written out for a bit, is that I don't think I moved his figure for several strips! I'm glad he got made at all, sure, but he wasn't a figure they went all-out on. No swappable hands or wings.

In more cheerful news, the Crystal Method's "Tweekend" still holds up!

Read more!