Sometimes I'll buy a quarter book (or dollar, more likely nowadays) even if I already have it, if it's too good to leave behind; or if I might not have read it before but might have. Today's book was more of the latter than the former: from 2003, Battle of the Planets: Mark #1, cover and art direction by Alex Ross, written by Munier Sharrieff, pencils by Edwin David, digital inks by Erik Ko.

The leader of G-Force has his vacation interrupted by an ambush from Red Impulse, the "United Armed Forces covert air strike force." But it's not an attack, more like an initiation: their leader, Colonel Cronus, was missing and presumed dead, and they needed a new boss. Actually, the Impulse's second, Major Maelstrom, suspected Cronus might've survived, and needed Mark's help to find him. It's a quick adventure yarn, with some spy action, piloting, and punch-ups. Finding Cronus, Mark is thrilled to get to fight alongside his hero, even though the rest of the book he's been badmouthing his MIA deadbeat dad...who of course, is Cronus.

I'm actually 90% sure I had this issue, but didn't have the one-shot for Jason. And looking it up, Princess got a six-issue solo mini-series; which goes a bit towards showing who the most popular team member actually was.
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Ah, nothing like a satisfying conclusion. No, I mean nothing like a satisfying conclusion.

I had actually intended to re-read this series one of these days; but found a cheap copy of the last one. And now I can't remember if this was intended as a mini-series from the start, or if the writing was on the wall and the bloom off the rose by this point...From 2003, Battle of the Planets #12, "Destroy All Monsters, part 2" Written by Munier Sharrieff, pencils by Wilson Tortosa, cover and art direction by Alex Ross.

This was of course based on the classic cartoon, which was a dubbed and edited version of the original Japanese Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman. Five teenaged ninjas with bird costumes and individualized weapons and vehicles are earth's only real line of defense against the invading alien Galactor. That's breaking it down to its most basic elements, but the series is still much beloved to this day by old men who watched it in the 70's fans and influenced numerous other series: any Power Rangers thing you see with five team members probably descended from here.

The title page proclaims "The Explosive Conclusion!" and there is a good chunk of action to be had here; but there's also a lot of open plot threads. More than just leaving the door open for a sequel, like followup was all but certain. And yet I think this was about it, and I'm not sure why: it may have gotten the ball rolling for more profitable DVD sales (I bought the box set with Jason figure advertised in the back!) or the license cost may have been more than Top Cow was willing to pay. I didn't think this was a bad little series, since I fall squarely into the target audience for it, but wish there was a bit more closure here.

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A Zoltar robot does seem pretty standard, mind you...

As a kid, I loved the redubbed anime import Battle of the Planets. I remember making my own little wrist communicator like G-Force, from paper and a rubber band: I wanted toys from that show in the worst way, but had to settle for a somewhat subpar comic. From 1979, Battle of the Planets #4, "The Creeping Forest" Written by Gary Poole, pencils by Winslow Mortimer.

I only had two issues of this back in the day, and wasn't sure there were more until I found a couple in the dollar bin at the Comic Book Shop. Not unlike some of Gold Key's Star Trek comics, these seem to have been produced with only a passing glance at any sort of reference material. On the other hand, I know I read the 2002 Image version as well, but I'm not sure I remember anything about it except it may have ended on a cliffhanger. Well, it's been due for a re-read, the next time I see it...
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My Ideal Saturday Morning Lineup!

Over at Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation, Poe had an assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers: create your ideal Saturday morning schedule. He also says he never watched cartoons before 8 AM, which is crazy: I would get up at five if a good cartoon was on. (I also lived in the Mountain Time Zone, which meant things were on at different times than everywhere else.) By that standard, I should add another two hours here; but my runners-up are probably other people's favorites: Super Friends, classic G.I. Joe and Transformers, and the modern ThunderCats--which didn't really have an intro!

This schedule's pretty much just for me, but here goes:

7 AM: Grandizer


7:30 AM: Battle of the Planets


Otherwise known as, gateway drugs to anime.

8 AM: Space Ghost


8:15 AM: The Herculoids
Embedding disabled everywhere, for some reason...

8:30 AM: Jonny Quest


God, I love the intros for the classic Hanna-Barbera action shows. Great music+two seasons worth of explosions in a minute.

9 AM: Thundarr the Barbarian

Possibly the bleakest set-up for a Saturday morning kid's show ever!

9:30 AM: Sam and Max: Freelance Police

My only comedy pick, although I could've been persuaded for the Tick or Tiny Toon Adventures--although I'm terrified the latter may not have aged well. Still, Sam & Max deserved a longer run and more exposure.

10 AM: Legion of Super-Heroes

Another show that deserved better--I'm not sure if it's all on DVD yet.

10:30 AM: Justice League

If you like the Justice League Unlimited opening better, you are wrong. Just so you know.

11 AM: Avengers

Wait, wait, wait: not that one. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes


That's better.

11:30 AM: X-Men: Evolution

Wolverine and the X-Men might've been a better show, but Evolution wasn't as grim.

What can you tell by my list? I'm both old, and still watch cartoons. That, and I'd watch this lineup every Saturday now.

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"Date of the Dove."

Oh, sure, a girl falls in love with a ghost (like Dove and Deadman) and it's "tragic" and "romantic." But a guy digs up a corpse, and it's gross...wait, it is gross. I don't know where I was going with that. And I think Dove dated the alive Deadman before he was dead for like the fifth time, but letting that go...


Y'know, an Angry Birds/Hawk & Dove skin would be a lot of fun. And I've often figured coming back from the 23rd or 30th centuries to the present has to just be gross: imagine going back to the 14th century. I guarantee it's less fun than you just pictured.

Ugh, I didn't get Booster's first balloon positioned well there. Well, too late now. Somehow, more Hawk & Dove next week!
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"Doldrums."

Sigh. I keep saying longer strips will return, and they will; but I've got three Wednesday's worth done and wanted to keep that cushion. That and man, there haven't been a ton of new figures out here recently. The new batch of DC Universe Classics is yet to appear, and I was kind of waiting for the DC Direct Manhunter. I still sort of want a Marvel Universe Captain America, or at least an Iron Man. And yet...not much out there. Or I'm being cheap. Or both.

I don't suppose anyone else out there wants to pick up the multi-line 3.75-inch (or thereabouts) comparison challenge for me? Spock and Superman both seem a bit short, but I'm pleased to see Batman looks a bit taller than I had thought. I think he's taller than Supes. There's a Jack Sparrow and a Tron figure in there for no reason...

If I've never mentioned it here, I loved Battle of the Planets as a kid; even if looking back it is probably the most edited, piecemeal hackjob ever made of an anime in getting it kid-friendly and Americanized. I still think of the characters by the American names: Jason is from a DVD box set. Mark, Princess, and Keyop were fairly available in my area, but the second wave with helmeted Jason, Tiny, and Zoltar was nowhere to be found. Really oughta eBay that one of these days. At any rate, Gatchaman is the only G-Force I'll recognize.

And here's something I thought was weird: every once in a while, checking the toy aisles, I'll check out the Wolverine figures in the hopes that they'll finally go on sale. At least a buck or two down would be a lot more tempting, right? I still see the occasional Deadpool figure, like the one pictured here. But not the movie version. Did a chill just go down your spine? The unrecognizable Pool with swords sticking out of his arms is sold out? Maybe? What's up with that? Also, whenever I do a few posts without Wade, I forget what a pain in the ass it is to fill his balloons in with his signature yellow. Probably an easier way to do that...

Maybe, if the day goes well, I'll get another post up. If you're good. And maybe if you're not.

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