80-Page Thursdays: DC's Saved by the Belle Reve #1!

I have zero attachment to Saved by the Bell, and I know there's a remake that maybe leans on the idea that everyone involved is a bit sociopathic. Anyway, the point is, the title for this one was a stretch: from 2022, DC's Saved by the Belle Reve #1. Cover by Juni Ba. 

 This was maybe a year after the Suicide Squad hit theaters, but in case you missed it or the reference, Belle Reve is the prison in those comics. And said Squad appears in "High School Lows," as substitute teachers, that go predictably awry: Harley as a counselor almost makes sense, but once Weasel has somehow become lunch-lady, even the Squad knows something isn't right. (Written by Tim Seeley, art by Scott Kolins.)

The opener this issue was a Gotham Academy story, which feels like burning it off? It maybe took a couple years off but had three issues earlier this year; although I'm not sure if the old cast aged out or continued: in comics, they would have the option to continue! ("Sophomore Year" Written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher, art by Karl Kerschl.) "Back to School" follows Damian and Jon Kent, as they help a nonbinary student with a bully: the student does attempt to reach out to him, but when the bullying continues, time to get decked. (Written by Peter J. Tomasi, art by Max Raynor.) 

There's a Green Arrow/Speedy story, where Ollie grounds Roy from the Titans, until he gets his grades back up; which feels like him being more involved in Roy's life than ever before. But, Ollie also has to listen to Batman's parenting advice, like twice: being a buddy didn't work, but neither did being a hardass. There's a bit of a happy ending, until you remember Speedy still becomes a junkie. ("Earn it Back" Written by Dave Wielgosz, art by Mike Norton.) 

Art Baltazar and Franco bring the Tiny Titans to Belle Reve in "Piece Making," then Brandon Thomas, Craig Cermak, and Black Lightning try to answer the question of why Jefferson Pierce served as Secretary of Education under President Lex Luthor. It should be inspiring but just feels infuriating, especially when Jefferson still has to brownnose Lex like the rest of the Cabinet, in a scene that feels way too familiar.

I liked "How Angels Are Made" a bit more: Jean-Paul Valley comes out of the System, at an abandoned school where he was routinely tortured and abused as part of his training from the Order of St. Dumas. Azrael activates inside of him after one incident, where Jean-Paul is then dragged off of his abuser before he can kill him; but the overseers reset him, and tell the abuser not to go easy on him next time. (Written by Dan Watters, art by Juan Ferreyra.) Finally, "A Night Off" for Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson of course is interrupted, but they still make to their prom...y'know, I don't think Dick would'a been Nightwing then, but sure. (Written by Andrew Aydin, art by Nelson Daniel.)

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I grabbed this issue at the toy show, but didn't love it at first read. Will it improve looking at it here? Well, stranger things have happened, maybe. From 1979, World's Finest #257, cover by Jim Aparo.

"The Innocent Who Hated!" is a nice title, but this one feels like Denny O'Neil trying to inject some social consciousness into a Bob Haney-type story: a refugee scientist is working in the zoo, nursing a strange lizard creature back to health, when he's accosted by some goons who want to drag him back to his old country. Batman stops them, but the guy's lizard escapes, and flies to Metropolis and takes up with Maudy. She's what used to be called a 'bag lady' and more than a bit off; but she takes to the creature, naming it 'Fred' after her brother. Fred turns out to be pretty helpful, granting Maudy the ability to alter reality; which would be great if she just wanted a house or something: first, she causes a cop to go bouncing away from her, then tries out looking like a uptown model for a bit, before getting into an argument with a construction worker about there being too many too buildings and it was too crowded. (Superman saves the cop, but misses Maudy while she looks different.) Maudy is more than a little...what used to be called, "opinionated," and after another argument with a Chinese restaurant owner decides the problem is too many foreigners, so maybe they shouldn't let anybody else into Metropolis. As the bridges collapse and tunnels block, Batman barely makes it in himself, having been told that Fred might be telepathic and then leaping to the correct conclusion.

Superman does his best to mitigate the disaster, until Maudy starts turning anyone she considers foreign to stone, including him! Batman was alright by her, so he's not affected, but is maybe freaking out a bit. Eventually, Maudy seems to decide change them all and let God sort them out, turning all of Metropolis except her, Fred, and Batman into statues! Thinking quickly, as Maudy settles down for a nap in the park, Batman breaks into a costume store, makes himself over as a George Washington statue, and gives Maudy an after-school special speech about America was all about everyone working together. Maudy changes everyone back, and Superman grabs Fred and hustles him out of there, while Batman takes the crying Maudy away for help. It kinda feels like the World's Finest team just gave the business to an old lady, but she was kind of a jerk, so...The scientist thinks Fred was too dangerous and would need to be killed, but Batman wishes he was safe and back where he came from, and Fred disappears. Presumably back where he came from, and not to nothingness: there's no reason why Batman's wish would have precedence over the scientist's, his was first! (Written by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Frank McLaughlin.)

Denny writes the next story as well, Black Lightning in "Death Ransom!" Confronting his archfoe Tobias Whale, Black Lightning is captured; which Tobias intends to put to good use. No, not powering his house: he blackmails his former organization, the 100, to either pay twenty million, or he would turn Lightning loose with all the information he had on the 100. Savvy plan, somewhat undermined by Tobias' moll Tabby, who offers the 100 his location, for the bargain price of 500 grand! Lightning and Tobias are forced to work together to escape, then have to find Tabby and bring down the 100...to be continued! (Written by Denny O'Neil, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Bob Smith.)

"Time Keeps on Killing" brings back old Green Arrow baddie the Clock King, who's back for revenge, and it feels somewhat justified? Diagnosed with only six months to live, he had turned to crime to try and leave some money behind for his sister. She had some ailment, referred to rather insensitively by Ollie; and Clock King had been willing to sacrifice himself to keep her out of a nursing home. But, either the diagnosis had been in error or he beat the disease, and while he ended up in jail, his sister had been sent to a state home and died there. CK tries to blow up a clock tower, Green Arrow, and himself, but fails. He would be played strictly for laughs in the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League; I think they leave the dead sister out of his origin now. (Written by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Jose Delbo, inks by Frank McLaughlin.)

"Attack of the In-and-Out Invaders" sounds mildly risqué, but it's Hawkman and Hawkgirl trying to help some birds affected by unexplained sonic waves, that leads to alien thieves robbing the Midway City Museum. The thieves are "in-and-out" in the sense that the Hawks can't touch them, seeming to pass through them like they were erasing them. Like a lot of their stories, the bad guy had seemingly found sophisticated alien technology, somewhere, and immediately decided to use it for robbery. (Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Romeo Tanghal.)

Finally, everyone in the world seems to be listless and tired--yeah, tell me something I don't know--as Captain Marvel faces "the Invincible Man!" (Written by E.Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Kurt Schaffenberger.) The big green meanie explains, he was tapping directly into the soul of the universe, which made him as mighty as Captain Marvel; and "the spawn of Shazam!" couldn't cut off that power without killing everyone on earth! But, CM realizes, his foe seems to know a lot about him, which makes him think it was actually one of his old foes...and he's right! I probably would've enjoyed this story more, if the next issue blurb wasn't for "The Courtship of Captain Nazi!" I'm pretty sure he's up to no good there, but phrasing, man. I don't want to see Captain Nazi trying to get a date, I want to see the Marvels work him over with tire irons for 15 pages. Read more!

Hey, sort your trash! Some of that has gotta be recyclable.

Kurt Busiek has written a ton of great books--Astro City should be on everybody's reading list, but the latter half of his Avengers run is my favorite--and today we've got an early one from him, that probably should've got him the regular gig for the title! From 1984, Justice League of America #224, "The Supremacy Factor!" Written by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Chuck Patton, inks by Dick Giordano. And the cover is, of course, a homage to that page in Amazing Spider-Man #50!

Clark, Hal, and Ollie are enjoying a rare get-together out of costume; with a waitress thrilled to have three hot guys at her table, maybe just a hint of the civilian angle Busiek would take much later with Astro City. The guys are waiting for Dinah, who has been delayed by three guys mugging another--and getting the tar beat out of them! Black Canary has to step in to stop the masked figure from killing the muggers, but then he turns out to be a far more adept fighter than she expected, setting her up for a bad throw. Worse, he shrugs off her Canary cry, but that is heard by Superman, who arrives in time to save her. (I think other JLA stories from this time indicated Supes had a soft spot for her and might've been even more protective of her than Hal and Ollie were.) Somehow, the masked man is able to slug Superman so hard he hits the outer atmosphere; then he escapes at super-speed. Still, Superman had snagged the man's trenchcoat pocket, which contained some notes.

At the JLA satellite, neither Superman nor Red Tornado are able to get much out of the equations on the notes; so Green Arrow is surprised Firestorm wanted a look. But, we know there was more to him than met the eye: Professor Stein recognizes them as relating to RNA coding. Green Lantern then searches the database for recent scientific journals on the subject, finding Dr. Joel Cochin, a very smug looking three-time Nobel prize winner. Presumably, from back when the Nobel prize meant something; but the only three-time recipient is the Red Cross! Although Wonder Woman advises caution, even suggesting maybe the Atom should investigate, Ollie isn't one to let hitting Dinah slide, and Dinah isn't either: they head to Cochin's lab with Firestorm. The lab seems unusually closed off, with no windows; and Ollie is about to have Firestorm blow a hole in the wall, when someone else does: Cochin, now in costume as Paragon, with Firestorm's powers! Smugly, he explains he possesses the mental and physical powers of anyone within a certain range, only better, so nyah. The Leaguers are thumped and captured.

Paragon doesn't depose of them, possibly because he wanted Firestorm's powers, to use to make components for his machine. (He also mentions Ollie's engineering skills, which I'm pretty sure have long since fallen by the wayside.) Born with the mental portion of his powers, Paragon had long ago become sick of "hostile inferiority" from those he considered his lessers, namely everybody; so he was going to wipe out 90% of the population, figuring the rest would then acknowledge him as their superior. The rest of the League then arrives, giving him a ton of powers; but when Firestorm gets knocked out of his range, Canary realizes the trick to beating him: Paragon couldn't copy Red Tornado or Green Lantern's powers, and they were able to keep him off-balance. Canary lands the finishing blow, but Firestorm wonders, how were they going to keep him locked up...? 

I had to look it up: Paragon would return, sort-of, post-New 52, in Grayson of all places. I think he might have done a bit better, with maybe one more pass on the costume: the underwear-over-tights look is super-traditional, sure, but it made Paragon look like he was wearing tighty-whities on the outside of his clothes. And Firestorm could rock those sleeves, but they aren't for everybody.

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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.

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"You haven't seen the last of the Pi-Meson Man!" Um, actually...maybe they should've put air holes in his cell.

There is pretty much zero chance I'll ever collect all of World's Finest, but I suppose it's not impossible that I'll run out of Bob Haney ones to blog about. Mildly surprised this one wasn't him, though. From 1980, World's Finest #262, "The Power of the Pi-Meson Man!" Written by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Dick Giordano.

I would guess O'Neil found some info--like the name--pi-meson, or pion somewhere and thought that was good enough for today's bad guy, scientist Pincus Bridger, who was irradiated when his experimental reactor blew up. Contaminated and forced to live in isolation, he blamed the mayor and all of Gotham City, for commissioning the reactor: geez, why not blame your high school physics teacher, that'd make about as much sense. Pincus causes havoc with his invisible projection, the Pi-Meson Man; but blind little girl Betsy Pyatt can see him. Pincus decides no witnesses, and tries to burn down her orphanage to kill her. Classy.

Batman quickly comes to believe Betsy can see P-M Man, who chases them even to the Batcave. (He says he doesn't know or care where they are, he just wants to kill the girl; that's O'Neil making a lampshade concession to Batman's secret identity.) Visiting Pincus in his containment cell, Superman realizes he was projecting something, and follows it to the Batcave, but he can't touch him. Superman takes Batman and Betsy to Gotham University's atom-smasher as a trap, first blasting the Pi-Meson Man with particles, then trying to reunite it and Pincus's body, punching him out and cramming him into a lead cell. The final caption indicates the Pi-Meson Man would return, but nope! Well, maybe O'Neil realized pions have a lifetime measured in nanoseconds. This really felt like O'Neil channelling Haney, but the next issue was "The Final Secret of the Super-Sons!" which seems to draw a line under that type of free-wheeling, somewhat more fantastical story; although Haney was writing Green Arrow that issue.

Also this issue: the conclusion to the Green Arrow Auntie Gravity two-parter! In which GA does nothing. Black Canary's been captured by Auntie and her boys, one of whom wants Canary instead of a dumb ol' mail-order bride. Dinah may actually be so pissed she yells loud enough to disintegrate her gag, kicks the stuffing out of the boys with her arms tied behind her back, then shouts down Auntie. Not playing today, I see. ("Gravitational Boom-a-rang" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Romeo Tanghal, inks by Vince Colletta.) And the ever popular Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation: Paid circulation, actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 85,194. With maybe 137,000 returns! Or allegedly returned...some of those are probably floating around out there.

She's not even done with them there! Geez, I think Canary kicked those guys so hard their sentence will be over before they regain consciousness... Read more!

We saw "Thou Shalt Have No Other Batman Before Me!" on Monday, but surprisingly the second feature of World's Finest #255 was just as long! "Nothing But a Man" Written by Elliot S! Maggin, pencils by Trevor von Eeden, inks by Vince Colletta.

The outgoing mayor of Star City, the wheelchair-bound Jack Major; wants Oliver Queen to succeed him. That's maybe the least of the endorsements Ollie's gotten, like Congresswoman Barbara Gordon, Green Lantern, and bags of cash from Bruce Wayne! His opponent seems a well-meaning but easily led shrub, and his handlers push for Ollie to appear on stage at an event, with Green Arrow: Ollie wasn't officially believed to be the archer, but a lot of people had noticed the resemblance. Ollie's campaign manager, Dinah, makes a quick call to Carol Ferris, to get Green Lantern to appear as Green Arrow. Later, Clark Kent announces live for WGBS, as most of the League turns out to stump for Ollie: Supergirl obligingly sits down to duck the word balloons. 

Aquaman makes an announcement that as far as they knew, Ollie was unaware of their endorsements; and election day Ollie votes early but still goes out to see voters. He is then abducted and taken before mobster Thaddeus Cable, who tells Ollie he's going to own him, just like he owned Jack Major. Ollie scoffs, but Cable has...transcripts? Did he get a deal on a stenographer? Still, Ollie recognizes Major's phrases and wording, and is convinced it's legit. He offers a deal, not just to look the other way, but to be an active partner..."when hell freezes over!" Ollie throws some doodad into the fuse box, then switches in the dark. He also gaslights the mobsters a bit: did Ollie change in three seconds, or did Green Arrow get him out the window? Maybe Ollie should take a page from Matt Murdock's book and get a "I'm not Green Arrow" t-shirt.

GA takes the transcripts, which include "the records of every operation since nineteen freaking fifty-five!" Cable calls out the hit order for Ollie and Major, and they try to whack them that night at campaign headquarters...with GA, GL, Black Canary, and Superman in the building. Actually, Supes doesn't even tag in, Ollie had slipped him a tip about the transcripts going to the D.A. Ollie maybe goes too rough on one of the hitters, but is interrupted by Major, who has a massive coronary and dies; before Ollie can confront or forgive him. 

Ollie was possibly losing a close race, and makes a bit of a concession speech before the shootout. Later, Clark Kent calls Ollie, who was exhausted and out, but Dinah answers. Clark thinks Ollie may have actually won the election...but through the mob's fix? And Dinah tells Clark to bury it: after fighting the mob like that, she feels he was safer as Green Arrow than Ollie Queen...and doesn't want him to fall into the same trap Major did. Huh?  A bit of a muddle at the end, there.

I feel like the intention may have been to show how hard it is to buck the political machine; but I also don't buy it since Supergirl's endorsement alone probably should've carried him? DC's heroes were usually more beloved than Marvel's; their word should've carried more weight.

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80-Page Thursday: World's Finest Comics #249!

I'm really tempted to just post the cover from this one: whatever you imagine from it, is probably way better than the actual story! How do you have the "vampire of steel" and the Phantom Stranger and still drop the ball? From 1978, World's Finest Comics #249.

The only fun bit in "The Vampire of Steel!" is Superman repeatedly choosing to hang out, but seemingly decline to help Batman, based on his code to "never give super help to corporations or private persons--even friends!" The rest is squandered, like mythical undersea vampire creatures, a Jacques Cousteau-style undersea conservationist who you know is going to be the bad guy--he's named 'Kalamari,' for pete's sake. Batman is about as mysterious as a kid wearing his underroos and almost as effective, and the Phantom Stranger can apparently breathe and talk underwater, yet never visits Aquaman. Jerk. On to the next one! (Story by Bob Haney, pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger, inks by Tex Blaisdell.)

I thought we had blogged either the prior or next chapter of this Green Arrow/Black Canary serial, "Will the Costume Make the Hero?" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Trevor Von Eeden, inks by Vince Colletta. Ollie had been ruined financially by Deleon, who added insult to injury by buying his old mansion, then finding the Arrowcave, proving Ollie was...Batman? I think I missed one of Deleon's steps there, but he needs 'Batman' to defend him against Hellgrammite, who has Black Canary captured. She manages to shatter her prison, and beat down the bug baddies's men, but gets knocked out again. Hiding in the shadows, his beard anyway, Ollie makes a convincing Batman, until he goes into action: he has no idea what's in his utility belt, since it's not labeled, and gets tangled in the cape and falls over!

Knowing Deleon was probably going to go to Hellgrammite--part of his scam, supposedly giving old gangsters new lives--Ollie thinks his career is probably over, but Hellgrammite forces Canary to call him for help. Even webbed up, though, Canary is still fighting to free herself: she does like a challenge. Hellgrammite turns on his men and Deleon, intent on covering his tracks and stealing the Green Arrow's identity, but still dressed as Batman Ollie manages to stop him. Deleon was killed, and Canary wonders if Ollie couldn't get his money back, but he claims he doesn't need it, then acts a little too possessive with Canary and pushes her away. Did I say a little? He's being a jerk.

Next, the Creeper's World's Finest debut! I think he'd stick around maybe seven issues, but here in "Moon Lady and the Monster" Jack Ryder and his supporting cast are security for a network's Elvira-like horror host as she's stalked by an old partner. It's a bit of fun, but I don't think sticks the landing--I wanted Moon Lady to go on, but apparently the ratings got her.

Then, an unexpected lead (that's on the cover...) and an unexpected guest-star: Wonder Woman, with Sgt. Rock! With Rock hypnotized by Doctor Psycho! And aliens! The latter are 100% unneccessary, as I'd rather see Rock and WW kicking Psycho back and forth. I don't know if he very much resembles later versions of the character, though.

Seriously, they could beat on him for chapters, I'll allow it. Another DC Necronomicon, though. Read more!

It's a somewhat iconic cover, but what about the story?

Try the link first: from 1985, Detective Comics #546, "Hill's Descent" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Bob Smith. 

Mayor Hill receives two gifts from his assistant Blevins, as he trashes his mansion office: one is Batman's glove, the other a lump on the head. All the better to sell his narrative: having already suspended James Gordon, he then claimed Batman had broken in to plant evidence and struck him when discovered, but Hill claims he got the glove in a struggle. Watching the televised announcement, Alfred indignantly notes it was a pretty thin frame-job, but Batman has to acknowledge some cops just don't like him. Cut to: some cops that don't like Batman.

One of those cops is of course then the first to see Batman, who had been on his way to see the recovering Gordon. (He had recently had a stroke, possibly the first health scare he would have over the years.) Batman tries to talk them out of it, but does have to slap four good cops down. For certain values of 'good': they aren't working for Hill or completely corrupt, but still mindlessly follow orders they have to know are wrong. Meanwhile, on a subplot page, a blind girl is starting to realize the 'Batman' she rescued is kind of a jerk: it's Anton Knight, the Night Slayer, who's all kinds of obscure now. More subplot: somehow Nocturna has gotten custody of Jason Todd, and she's a little hurt he doesn't act like her son. These early Jason Todd stories are kind of a mess, since he was entirely a Dick Grayson-knockoff then.

Batman gives Gordon a call from a phone booth to check in, while an assassin takes a shot at Harvey Bullock and misses. Harvey gets the killer, who takes a dive off the top of a building, but has had more than enough of Mayor Hill. Since he was still "assistant to the commish," Harvey is able to bulldoze his way into Hill's office, but not in time to hear Hill get a call from Blevins about the hit failing, and Hill orders an APB on Bullock for murder. Bullock angrily confronts Hill, possibly mad that he worked with him against Gordon: he had thought Jim was going soft, but admits "in his sleep, Gordon's a better cop than I'll ever be." Hill notes Bullock's already killed one man tonight, which makes it easier to shoot him in self-defense. (The layouts don't quite get the job down, half the panels look like Bullock should've seen Hill get the gun from his drawer.)

Is this the end of Harvey Bullock? It kind of feels like it, since the Batman story trails off after the shooting, and the rest of the issue was a Green Arrow story, with Ollie versus Vigilante Vengeance! Seriously, I thought it was Vigilante at first. ("Clash Reunion" Written by Joey Cavalieri, pencils by Jerome Moore, inks by Bruce D. Patterson.)

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Like trying to herd cats, except if the cats had their own editors and writers taking them away from you.

There's a lettering mistake on the first page, as what appears to be the old JLA satellite burns up entering the atmosphere; but three pages later Black Canary coldcocks Green Arrow one, so that makes up for it. From 2009, Justice League of America #31, "Welcome to Sundown Town, interlude: Crisis of Confidence" Written by Dwayne McDuffie, pencils by Shane Davis, inks by Sandra Hope.

Dinah could be the author's surrogate in this issue, and probably just as steamed as McDuffie, as after the deaths of the Martian Manhunter and Batman (in other comics...) six Leaguers quit the team by editorial fiat um, I mean, for personal reasons! Ollie gets slugged since he and Hal had gone off and created their own team--remember Cry for Justice? Ugh. Later, probably after venting a bit, Oracle calls that a lack of respect on Ollie and Hal's part: they wouldn't have pulled that with Clark or Bruce. But, Dinah admits that was "barely the tip of the iceberg."

Arsenal leaves the team--I forget what terrible thing had happened to him at this point, besides possibly breaking up with Hawkgirl, and while it seems like he's grieving well enough here, I'm pretty sure he had a relapse coming. Black Lightning had left to take over the Outsiders, one of Batman's final requests--why they had to be separate from the JLA, who knows? Wally confesses, while he promised Wonder Woman he would be more available for the team, that wasn't realistic with problems in Central City and his family. Superman and Wonder Woman have a private remembrance of Batman while sparring in the Fortress of Solitude, then both tell Dinah they will try to be there for the team, but...maybe don't count on it. (WW had "obligations to Themyscira," although I couldn't say what in particular then; while Supes was going to be mired in the dismal New Krypton arc.) When Dinah complains she just lost all the founding members, Supes suggests maybe she should patch things up with Hal; and Dinah contains herself enough not to scream until the Fortress caved in.

Red Tornado hadn't answered her call, Atom was joining Hal's team, and Hawkgirl was somewhere with Hawkman and neither back yet, so Dinah's JLA was down to John Stewart, Vixen, Zatanna, and Dr. Light; who are supportive of her but all snippy with either each other or regarding their former teammates. Perhaps not unreasonably, Dinah throws in the towel, telling them she was disbanding this branch... 

My god, did McDuffie get all the toys taken away from him at once? "Welcome to Sundown Town" would continue until his last issue, JLA #34--without Dinah, but with Milestone's Icon and Hardware! Also, I try to refrain from swearing here, so you'd have to ask me somewhere else what I think of Rich Johnston and Bleeding Cool: "hot garbage" would be the most polite thing I could say. After his work on the Justice League cartoon, McDuffie's run on the comic should've been a can't-miss classic for the ages, but he was never given the tools or the freedom for it to take off. I'm furious at this comic...and just noticed the editor, so now I'm even madder.

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Eee, that got dark in a hurry.

I wish these tribute issues had included not just the cover of the original issue, but the story as well; since I sincerely doubt Green Lantern #31 was this much of a downer. From 2004, DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern #1, featuring "Penny for Your Thoughts, Dollar for Your Destiny!" Written by Brian Azzarello, pencils by Norm Breyfogle, inks by Sal Buscema; and "Feel Something" Written by Martin Pasko, pencils by Scott McDaniel, inks by Andy Owens. Cover by Brian Bolland, in tribute to Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. 

"Penny for Your Thoughts, Dollar for Your Destiny" starts as a lark, with GL (Hal) in Coast City, selling power rings for a dollar! The JLA arrives in short order, to see what's up--actually, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman arrive, followed in short order by the Flash, who later points out they forgot to pick up Aquaman again. While confused at what Hal's up to, Flash is up for buying a ring, but didn't have a buck on him; so he's shoved out of line by a rather large--and hirsute--'woman.' Although the heroes don't seem to pay a lot of attention to 'her,' that was obviously Gorilla Grodd in drag: Hal captures him, apologizing that "power rings only fit on fingers, not #@%!! dirty paws like yours..." The ring sale was a trick to lure Grodd out, and Hal says he'll buy back the rings he sold next. (Wouldn't all those people have flown off, in different directions? Hal's whole morning is going to be shot.) 

The denouement is a bit off, though: the JLA'ers leave together in the invisible jet, and Superman muses that Hal's power is only limited by his imagination, and he may be the most powerful of them all. Flash counters, we're talking about Hal here; and they all have a hearty laugh, because god Hal's dumb. Batman over-explains the joke, though; leaving them all wondering, what if they had the ring...or if one of them did? It feels a little mean, and not quite right; but Breyfogle's art is great. 

In "Feel Something," Hal isn't selling the rings: Ollie comes to him because a grifter pirates a TV transmission for an ad selling power rings, only $89.99! For, as Ollie puts it, "some hunks of plastic you should only find in a gumball machine." Ollie can't figure out why Hal isn't more pissed off about this, either: he had put the grifter away before, "the sweat shop king of Star City," who probably used slave child labor to make his fake rings. GA and GL catch him at another of his tapings, and Hal has to stop Ollie from beating the grifter to death, although Hal later admits he only stopped him because he might've killed him himself. The grifter reminded Hal too much of his father's abuse; worse, Hal had to use a lot of will to keep his thoughts away from the rage his father taught him. This was a Hal with grey on his temples, which would've been relatively shortly before his heel-turn as Parllax. Also, this particular issue would have been published just two months prior to the last issue of Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern run, and almost feels like the last time DC would be down on Hal Jordan. (Actually, thinking about it; I don't think these were "in-continuity," and that Hal's dad has since been portrayed as the bestest, since Hal is the bestest...)  

The only Julius Schwartz tribute issue left to cover here is the Hawkman issue, which I might have around here somewhere? Someday.

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The last issue of this title we looked at was the last issue, and it was a Green Lantern-led story, like today's book: from 2005, Justice League Unlimited #6, "In the Dimming Light" Written by Adam Beechen, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Walden Wong.

John Stewart, Fire, Red Tornado, and a grumpy and sleep-deprived Green Arrow answer an emergency call in Boston; only to find another Green Lantern fighting a trio of alien baddies, the Triptych. It's not a GL we know, but John does: Zibar, described as one of the first Lanterns, having served for millennia. The other Leaguers think he may be a bit over the hill, or they may be cheesed that Zibar refers to them as John's "servants" as he bosses them all around.

Arrow questions John's courage, in not telling the oldster he was too old; but Zibar doesn't really start to act senile until this point in the story. Having followed his plan to separate, the Leaguers were getting picked off separately by the Triptych; as Zibar has both forgotten to charge his ring, and forgotten the oath to charge it! (Technically, I don't think you need the oath; it's just an affirmation to mark the time the ring needs to be charged.) Zibar gets his head together just in time to tell John to enclose the Triptych's blast, knocking them out.

Zibar feels ashamed, and that he would give up his ring in disgrace; but John assures him there is honor in passing to a worthy successor. And anyway, he could always teach! That kind of cheapens teaching, I think, but okay. He shouldn't be so down on retiring; I'm looking forward to it! Nothing to do all day but blog...and eat cat food, if my 401k statement is any indication. Read more!

"The End" Week: Green Arrow #50!

This is a more recent last issue that I had wanted to check out, and...whoo. It's, um, a last issue, I guess. From 2019, Green Arrow #50, "zero." Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, art by Javier Fernandez.

This series began in 2016 under the 'Rebirth' banner, and managed to get 50 issues out inside of three years? None of which I've read! Lanzing and Kelly had been writing since #39, although I'm not sure it had all been building up to this. In the No Justice event, the Justice League and other heroes had been, as Ollie testily puts it, "space kidnapped" leaving him earth's last line of defense. Pissed that it had come to that, he let the League have it, and J'onn J'onzz gave him a secret box, a weapon that could destroy the League. The government forces Dinah, Ollie's beloved Black Canary, to bring him in and get the box. Failing that, a ton of government special forces teams are ready to try to bring him down.

Ollie manages to get to his Arrowplane, and tries to bluff the pursuing fighters: maybe he does have a weapon the JL is afraid of, and maybe shooting him down wouldn't be good for it? He still gets his plane shot out from under him and has to bail out, but loses his chute (it may catch fire, but it's not clear there) and is only saved by Dinah's Canary Cry. She then takes down a squad for him, but won't run away with him: new vigilante Riot races through on her motorcycle to drag Ollie and his box away. She's going to be the new guardian of Seattle, Ollie is O-U-T. Ollie tries to give her some serious advice, and what I hope is a joke:

In the end, alone in the rain, his old life probably wrecked beyond repair (until the next reboot, anyway!) Ollie opens the box. And finds nothing. After going through most of the stages of grief--disbelief, fury, grief--Ollie calls out to J'onn, presuming the Martian could hear him. (Could he, though?) He knows, politeness aside, what J'onn thinks of him: "...a loose cannon...the loud rich brat who ruined every party by bringing up racial profiling statistics. The guy you invited out of obligation." Ollie may have even believed that, for a while, but he's something else. A survivor. And he promises J'onn, "when you do overstep your bounds--and you will--it won't be an empty box you're facing."

After Ollie walks away, the discarded box glows green.

Whoo. I know I'm coming in at the end, but I...did not care for that. I don't know how planned this was, or if I missed all the set-up previously, but if Ollie is going to spend the last four pages of his series yelling at someone, maybe they should've appeared in the issue? Even in flashback? And I grew up on Oreo-eating JLI J'onn; it is virtually impossible for me to believe he would be this kind of dick. Unless Ollie was somehow more annoying than Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and Guy Gardner at their worst. ("This is an ancient Martian artifact. It is imperative you keep it out of enemy hands. Now go! Run!" "...this looks like your coffee cup, J'onn." "I could make you believe it, or you could get out of my office.") Either J'onn thinks Ollie is less than useless and gave him a busy-box; or he gave him an invisible super-weapon that Ollie then threw away...

I think at some point since the TV show, DC tried to bring Felicity Smoak into the comics series, but comic fans refuse to have him with anybody except Black Canary. And I think Canary has a lot of fans that prefer her with the Birds of Prey or solo or the JSA or the JLA; just without Ollie. Probably some subset of both want Ollie to have a sidekick or partner like Roy or Emiko, while another insist he be a solo act...somewhere in that Venn diagram is a smaller group of "people paying money for Green Arrow comics," which probably explains this last issue as well as anything.

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