Showing posts with label Manhunter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manhunter. Show all posts
Monday, January 20, 2025
If she had the old blue mask, I'd have been onboard day one.
So the other day, from the quarter bins I got the first six issues of Image's Void Rivals and one issue of new Transformers series. I don't remember if the former was a stealth TF relaunch, or if it was announced as such: it's basically a longer-form Enemy Mine with a bit of Moonlighting's will-they/won't they. Jetfire appears in the first issue, but only long enough to be "oh crap, how long was I asleep!?" and take off. For a buck an issue? Not bad, but I didn't run to the store for more yet either. Transformers #5 was mid-stream, but interesting: I feel like Optimus taking Megatron's cannon should be a moment like Cap picking up Thor's hammer, but I also kinda feel like Optimus shouldn't be able to transform with that thing on him. (They maybe cheat and it appears as one of Optimus's stacks!) Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of Kirkman or his banner, but like I've said before, I lost most of my Transformers continuity two, three reboots back and would have a hard time getting back in. Which I was kind of expecting to be the case with this issue!
From 2005, Manhunter #11, "Manhunted Part 2: Chasing the Dragon" Written by Marc Andreyko, pencils by Javier Pina and Diego Olmos, inks by Fernando Blanco and Bob Petrecca.
Was this the most recent Manhunter book from DC? It's a title they've trotted out more than once, but this issue maybe goes a ways towards making it more of a legacy than it had been in the past. Well, she was was a legacy too, but that would come out later! The current Manhunter was Kate Spencer, a prosecutor who stole impounded super-tech to use it to murder villains who beat charges. Feels like a few conflicts of interest there, but okay. This issue, her old friend Cameron Chase of the DEO (and her own short-lived series!) was getting involved, since two of the previous four Manhunters had recently been killed: the elderly All-Star Dan Richards, and musician Chase Lawler. Meanwhile, Mark Shaw was driving across Nevada, intent on warning the "new girl" since the other, clone Kirk DePaul of the Power Company, wouldn't take his call. DePaul does get a warning from the DEO, but scoffs at the idea of needing help: he was a professional.
DePaul probably should've listened, though: his girl gets shot as they leave a fancy restaurant, but the shooter lets himself be seen, wanting to be chased. Despite having a full stomach (and probably a few drinks in him) DePaul does give chase, facing Shaw's old foe, Dumas. Dumas gives him his bigass daggers, and does get stabbed, but that was just so he could inject DePaul...not with poison, but an air bubble, to cause a massive stroke. (The odds of hitting a vein just so, in the middle of a fight like that, seem long.) Dumas's mask had been knocked off, and DePaul recognizes him before being decapitated. Two to go, but spoilers after the break!
Since this was, crap, twenty years ago! You might already know: this was a retcon, and Shaw was also Dumas, and apparently always had been. He had been shot full of nanites, to give him that ever-popular healing factor, but also to imprint "Dumas" on him as a means of control: Shaw could chase "Dumas" forever, while Dumas was useful for murders and such. I didn't care for this retconning the Ostrander/Rice series I liked, or killing the clone from Power Company: a little too much breaking of other people's toys, but Kate seems cool, and Chase should be in way more books.
Read more!
Friday, January 07, 2022
That cover's from 1993, but I'd swear he still looks like John Cena.
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Honestly, it's not his worst showing here.
How much does a writer have to rehabilitate a character before said writer should be upgraded to creator? Gail Simone didn't create Catman...she only created everything good about him. (Except for fighting the Doom Patrol!) Before Gail fixed him up, we've seen Catman flummoxed by the Freedom Fighters and grounded by G'nort; and today he's manhandled by Manhunter, in 1989's Manhunter #13, "Trackdown" Written by Kim Yale, pencils by John Koch, inks by Pablo Marcos.
Current Manhunter and bounty hunter Mark Shaw isn't having a great week: an intrusive TV reporter has been interfering with his training, and Shaw had been looking for both his next case and his old source, Sylvia Kandrey. She had been a warrants officer, but giving info to Shaw may have hurt her career, and their relationship. Shaw does get a new source, though: a friend from Belle Reve Prison puts him in touch with a new name, Oracle...
I was going to mention, even though this was 1989, neither Mark nor Oracle have keyboards that resemble anything in reality; but would fit in on the bridge of the Enterprise or maybe the Hall of Justice. I don't think this was Oracle's first appearance, but there was a little clue there. Shaw works a few more sources, before attending a museum opening with his step-sister Eleanor. Outside, he sees something and makes a quick call, since he knows Cat-Man is going to hit the museum! Shaw mentions usually preferring to do proper surveillance and plan things out, but every once in a while you just have to make it up as you go.
Cat-Man (this issue has the hyphen, although I prefer it without) makes a showy smash-and-grab of an Egyptian cat statue, but tosses his prize at Shaw when he sees the mask. With his claws, he does a number on Shaw and some guards, but his escape is cut short when his car is being towed! Shaw had recognized Cat-Man's vanity plates, GATO-1, as Spanish for cat, and called him in on his parking tickets. Shaw gets Cat-Man with his power baton, and that's that.
Later, after taking another beating during training, Shaw is visited by Sylvia, who may be willing to forgive him...maybe.
This issue didn't have Doug Rice on art...which hurt every issue he wasn't there. (He did do the cover, but still.) Yale and her husband John Ostrander were usually co-writers on this book, and I always thought they were trying to get a real pipeline going between Manhunter and their other title, Suicide Squad: Shaw would catch a bad guy, they'd be immediately sent to Belle Reve to sink or swim there...! Unfortunately, I don't think Cat-Man did any time on the Squad, so my theory may be full of holes.
Read more!
Monday, February 03, 2014
The most toyetic book in the quarter bin!
Good news! Got a new (used) car, that should last me for a stretch. Bad news, I did have to front a bit more cash up front than I expected. Anyone in the market for a used blog?
...no? Fine, then, we'll press on. Although don't be surprised if the quarterbooks tag is used a helluva lot in February. Like for today's book! I bought it back in 1989, but picked up a new copy of Manhunter #12, "Losers Weepers, conclusion" Written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Pablo Marcos.
In Australia after the crossover Invasion!, Manhunter Mark Shaw is working with a salvage company to recover a downed alien robot from a former employee. Said employee tried to keep the robot for himself, and the Yakuza, Lexcorp, and American and Russian governments have all sent agents to try and poach it. The Lexcorp agent has a variation of the green and purple battlesuit Luthor sometimes wore, while the Rocket Red armor and cool Checkmate uniform all play to the strengths of Doug Rice's art. Manhunter himself actually had an add-on suit upgrade the start of this storyline, but I had forgotten it was smashed before this issue.
The battle with the giant robot is wrapped up surprisingly quickly, since the second half of the book is a fairy tale from Kim Yale with art by Sam Kieth! This series would be cancelled by Manhunter #24, but I kinda suspect its sales would be considered staggeringly good by today's standards...
Read more!
...no? Fine, then, we'll press on. Although don't be surprised if the quarterbooks tag is used a helluva lot in February. Like for today's book! I bought it back in 1989, but picked up a new copy of Manhunter #12, "Losers Weepers, conclusion" Written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Pablo Marcos.
In Australia after the crossover Invasion!, Manhunter Mark Shaw is working with a salvage company to recover a downed alien robot from a former employee. Said employee tried to keep the robot for himself, and the Yakuza, Lexcorp, and American and Russian governments have all sent agents to try and poach it. The Lexcorp agent has a variation of the green and purple battlesuit Luthor sometimes wore, while the Rocket Red armor and cool Checkmate uniform all play to the strengths of Doug Rice's art. Manhunter himself actually had an add-on suit upgrade the start of this storyline, but I had forgotten it was smashed before this issue.
The battle with the giant robot is wrapped up surprisingly quickly, since the second half of the book is a fairy tale from Kim Yale with art by Sam Kieth! This series would be cancelled by Manhunter #24, but I kinda suspect its sales would be considered staggeringly good by today's standards...
Read more!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
"Buyer Beware."
The one thing I miss about doing strips with G.I. Joes and other three-and-three-quarter inch figures is probably the army building. Maybe the characters, a little.
I know I did at least one other longer Joe strip, but we'll see if I find it...
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Friday, April 06, 2012
76-Page Friday: Manhunter #1!
Killing me that I couldn't use this for 80-Page Thursdays, but sadly, it's a mere 76. Manhunter #1, written by Archie Goodwin, art by Walt Simonson. (With colors by Klaus Janson!)
I actually have the thicker, gold-covered Manhunter: the Special Edition, which features the silent "Manhunter: the Final Chapter." Famously, it was plotted by Goodwin, who sadly passed away before he could script it; so Simonson left it as is. That's a great package, this 1984 reprint is almost as good. And fits in a scanner. And I found it for under a buck: no way it wasn't coming with me.
Next week: our third annual Retro Toy Week! What old(er) toys will we check out? As many as I can cram in!
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Friday, September 02, 2011
And you thought the seat between the baby and the fat guy was the worst:
The trouble with nattering on about old Manhunter comics is that eventually I'm going to run out of them.
This issue, after bringing in Flash Rogue Dr. Alchemy (through his personal Kryptonite, "redheads with balconies you could play Shakespeare from") Manhunter Mark Shaw checks out the other bounties up at the police station. Kobra? Seems labor-intensive, not to mention overly dangerous. Count Vertigo? He's a manic-depressive and a former Green Arrow bad guy. Sounds easy enough...
I wanted a straight-shot of that mask. After some legwork, including working out insertion into Vlatava via dropping off a landing jet, Manhunter tracks down the Count, who's in the middle of a truly epic depressive spiral--he was massively emo before that was the term. Vlatavan separatists had planned to use Vertigo as a figurehead, but between his past conditioning and his depression, he can't really see the point in it. Shaw tries to break Vertigo back, but he doesn't see the point in that, either. So, Shaw slaps him around a bit, and Vertigo's royal blood rises; turning him against Shaw and the 'peasant' separatists.
Manhunter has his work cut out for him, but manages to beat the Count; which would lead to him appearing in Suicide Squad, also written by Ostrander. At the time, I think I had Count Vertigo pegged as fodder for the Squad's grinder, but he's survived more than a couple times there. Good for him.
From Manhunter #7, "Prelude to Havoc" Written by Kim Yale and John Ostrander, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Pablo Marcos.
We probably won't have much on Monday, so have a good weekend! I'm hoping to be out in the sun; hope you are too.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
"The End" Week: Manhunter #24!
Although Manhunter #24 opens with a cover tribute to Amazing Spider-Man #50, it's nowhere near as downbeat as that. Mark Shaw, the titular Manhunter, has just defeated his nemesis, the face-changing assassin Dumas. Even though he had stolen, under duress, the Japanese emperor Hirohito's sword; his contacts in the Yakuza got Shaw off, fulfilling their debt to his father.
Although he's been offered a job with a salvage company (which, apparently, isn't too shabby) and the magic space baton and legacy of the Manhunters of Oa (don't ask, even Geoff Johns wouldn't touch that one) Shaw is planning on running away to protect his family and friends. Somewhat surprisingly, they don't let him.
In a callback to the first issue, Shaw again runs into a drunk Captain Cold, shooting up the town with his cold gun while lamenting another Cubs losing season. (This issue being from 1990.) Shaw takes him down easily, but Cold gets off with a book deal and a stern talking to. Finally, Shaw visits his potential girlfriend, Sylvia, who had salvaged his damaged Manhunter mask from his bombed apartment. Shaw considers it for a moment, then contacts space lion Shan, to give him his baton for safekeeping; so he can try a normal life with Sylvia.
As sometimes happens in these last issue write-ups, this one doesn't make a helluva lot of sense without the previous issues for context. Especially since this issue was coming off a six-issue storyline called "Saints and Sinners." And as is pretty typical for a DC comic, once cancelled, I don't think Shaw's supporting cast was ever seen again. Mark Shaw would return, though. Maybe. He was supposedly killed in Eclipso, but that was a replacement, a ringer. He would return in Steven Grant's post-Zero Hour Manhunter, and then again in the Kate Spencer Manhunter. (Look, DC is not letting that name go without a fight.)
Shaw's history is pretty jacked up at this point, even without getting into the Manhunters from Green Lantern. (I think some of the space lion stuff from this issue may have been written off as Shaw being brainwashed.) But, last I heard, he passed on taking the Azrael job; which I still think was a bit of a shame, since I love that mask.
Scans from Manhunter #24, "The Long Goodbye" Written by Kim Yale, art by Grant Miehm, inks by John Statema.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
This one's for the DC historians:
This one is pretty much just for me and my sense of humor, yeah. Out for the weekend, so have fun!
Read more!
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Still not reviews: Three from DC Direct!
Like I say every (sort of) review, I don't do a lot of reviews. Partly, because either I like a character to the point that I'd buy their action figure if it was made out of rusty nails and shaving cream; and partly because a lot of stuff I buy is clearance, marked-down, on sale, or some kind of deal that may be cheaper than the suggested retail price. Just because I like a figure I got for three bucks, doesn't mean you're going to want to pay $18.99 plus postage for it.
And this review is going to be either much more or way less half-assed than usual, since I had the photos and half the work done, then switched computers. So, I'm retaking pictures, attaching a couple of scans of the characters in question, and generally redoing the whole damn thing. And in case that wasn't long enough, I picked up a third figure that's going in here just because. From the History of the DC Universe line, (series 1) Manhunter, and (series 2) Creeper; and from Justice League of America series 3, Geo-Force.
For those of you unfamiliar with Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's Manhunter, Paul Kirk was a big-game hunter turned mystery-man in World War II. After the war, he was killed while on safari; but then resurrected by the super-science of the Council, an organization that had banded together to save the world, then went bad and tried to take it over. To that end, the Council made multiple clones of Kirk, to serve as their assassins. Teaming up with Batman, Kirk would bring down the Council and destroy all of his clones (maybe...) at the cost of his second life.
Manhunter was a back-up feature in Detective Comics, crossing over into the lead for the concluding chapter, "Gotterdammerung." If you can find it, Manhunter: the Special Edition collects the story and a silent story plotted by Goodwin before his death, and left silent by Simonson. Buy it. Now.
Manhunter comes with his trademark bundi daggers, and a base; which gives him three times as many accessories as the average DCD figure: Geo-Force and Creeper both only come with a base. Manhunter also has what I'm going to describe as blue plastic leg thingees, which I thought were for holding his daggers, if he didn't mind leaving stab holes everywhere he went. Honestly? He might not have cared.
Initially, I was staggeringly disappointed that Manhunter didn't come with his Mauser pistol. (At the time, he was one of the relatively few costumed characters using a gun...) My disappointment was compounded by the fact that in the earlier New Frontier line, Blackhawk got a kickass one. Actually trying it, though, I saw that Manhunter is bigger, and Blackhawk's pistol would be too small for his meathooks. Luckily, I had a cheap substitute, purchased from a capsule machine, that will do for me.
The plastic on Manhunter feels like a DC Universe Classic figure, but he's not quite as poseable; but that is pretty standard across the board for DC Direct. Still, he stands pretty well, although the hip articulation seems particularly limited; and that probably applies to these other two as well.
Like the Question, the Creeper is a Steve Ditko creation. And not unlike the Question, Jack Ryder was a reporter that wasn't afraid to piss off his advertisers. Fired from his show, the brash Ryder takes a job as a security investigator. His first case was trying to find Professor Yatz before the Reds did, which dates the hell out of his origin. Following a lead, Ryder plans to crash a mob party, but discovers when he arrives that it's a costume party, so he puts together an outfit of some odds and ends: green wig, yellow makeup, gloves and boots and a "sheepskin rug."
After the break: the rest of the Creeper's origin! More pictures! Oh, yeah, and Geo-Force!
The mobsters have Yatz, and become suspicious of Ryder, who is forced to fight his way to the Professor and is wounded. Not wanting his inventions to fall into the wrong hands, Yatz treats Ryder with both a "instant healing agent" and a "molecular rearranger." Yatz destroys his notes and other equipment, and is promptly shot. Healed and stronger, Ryder fights the mobsters, affecting an insane laugh to unnerve them. In the end, the Creeper is wanted by the mob and the law, and Jack Ryder wonders how long the rearranger will work.
The Creeper's origin is a bit of a mess: later versions would point out the unlikelihood of Yatz having a "double major" in molecular biology and subatomic engineering. In the early stories, Ryder was sane enough, and the Creeper's laugh and mannerisms were all an act; he seems to have gotten progressively crazier every version since. And Ryder had a few different jobs after his origin; but seems to usually appear as a sensationalistic TV host, less of a muckraker than a ratings-hog.
The History line is billed as based on the art of George Perez, but you can see more than a little Ditko in there, probably because George kept some, I guess.
Now, the Creeper doesn't come with any accessories, at least, not a traditional, removeable one. But he does have his red mane-boa-cape thing on his back; what it actually is varies from creator to creator. Sometimes, it's a chunk of sheepskin rug, sometimes it's a furry or feather boa, either of which would make the Creeper the Dennis Rodman of DC's heroes, especially when you consider his costume is otherwise briefs, gloves, and boots. In the recent Steve Niles update, I think it's a spiky mane growing out of him. In his 1997 series, the red things are weird tendrils or psuedopods; the Creeper himself is as surprised as anyone when they untie him from an operating table.
Why am I going on about the Creeper's rug? Because it's flocked! Flocked! Shout it from the hilltops! I don't know if DC Direct had ever done any flocking before, but they didn't flock this one up, they knocked it out of the flocking park. Sorry. I think I appreciate the effort from them more than anything. The rug is a bit of a hindrance to his shoulder articulation, and he should doubtless be a bit more articulated anyway; but even putting aside that I've wanted a figure of him for ever, overall Creeper strikes me as a noble effort, like DCD worked a little harder on him than they had to.
I don't want to say Geo-Force is unpopular, but in his wave, he's the only one to have never gotten a figure: Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash all aren't hurting for plastic representation. And yet, GF is the one I find for 80% off. (To be fair, this Manhunter never had a figure either, the Creeper had one in Batman: the Animated Series.)
Moreover, I don't think I own a single comic with Geo-Force in this costume: while looking for some comic with him in it, I vaguely recalled a DC Digest reprinting a Batman and the Outsiders story with Jim Aparo art and Superman guest-starring. It was issue #19, and while I can only think of one other issue he did with Superman, Jim Aparo's Supes always looked pre-Crisis to me. Damn, Aparo was great...oh, right, Geo-Force: I was thinking of his green outfit with the "GF" logo on it. That's not an iconic image either, but this brown one seems too generic.
So, unlike Manhunter or the Creeper, Geo-Force is a character I have no great affection for. Obviously. So, his figure does not fare as well. That's not really fair: GF only has a couple less points of articulation than Manhunter or the Creeper, with no chest or waist joints. I don't like his hands, though: they look like they're meant for a flying pose, that GF can't do at all, since his neck and ankles can't pull it off.
I don't know if GF is based on the art of Ed Benes, but while it does a good enough job, it's just a little bland. I know he's the prince or king of Markovia, and typically is more of a hothead than his facial sculpt would suggest.
Now, to tie it all in to the opening: Typically, DC Direct figures run maybe $15-19 dollars. I had expected Manhunter and the Creeper to go for a little bit more of a premium, since they were the only characters in their respective waves not to have (comparable) figures before. (That said, I'm not sure if retailers have to buy a whole case to get them, either.) Manhunter was $6.50 on eBay, plus $8 in postage, and I believe I got a deal on the postage as well. The Creeper was $4.80 at a clearance sale for a closing location, while Geo-Force was marked down to a mere $3.40. At those prices, I'm more than glad to have the lot.
Read more!
And this review is going to be either much more or way less half-assed than usual, since I had the photos and half the work done, then switched computers. So, I'm retaking pictures, attaching a couple of scans of the characters in question, and generally redoing the whole damn thing. And in case that wasn't long enough, I picked up a third figure that's going in here just because. From the History of the DC Universe line, (series 1) Manhunter, and (series 2) Creeper; and from Justice League of America series 3, Geo-Force.
For those of you unfamiliar with Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's Manhunter, Paul Kirk was a big-game hunter turned mystery-man in World War II. After the war, he was killed while on safari; but then resurrected by the super-science of the Council, an organization that had banded together to save the world, then went bad and tried to take it over. To that end, the Council made multiple clones of Kirk, to serve as their assassins. Teaming up with Batman, Kirk would bring down the Council and destroy all of his clones (maybe...) at the cost of his second life.
Manhunter was a back-up feature in Detective Comics, crossing over into the lead for the concluding chapter, "Gotterdammerung." If you can find it, Manhunter: the Special Edition collects the story and a silent story plotted by Goodwin before his death, and left silent by Simonson. Buy it. Now.
Manhunter comes with his trademark bundi daggers, and a base; which gives him three times as many accessories as the average DCD figure: Geo-Force and Creeper both only come with a base. Manhunter also has what I'm going to describe as blue plastic leg thingees, which I thought were for holding his daggers, if he didn't mind leaving stab holes everywhere he went. Honestly? He might not have cared.
Initially, I was staggeringly disappointed that Manhunter didn't come with his Mauser pistol. (At the time, he was one of the relatively few costumed characters using a gun...) My disappointment was compounded by the fact that in the earlier New Frontier line, Blackhawk got a kickass one. Actually trying it, though, I saw that Manhunter is bigger, and Blackhawk's pistol would be too small for his meathooks. Luckily, I had a cheap substitute, purchased from a capsule machine, that will do for me.
The plastic on Manhunter feels like a DC Universe Classic figure, but he's not quite as poseable; but that is pretty standard across the board for DC Direct. Still, he stands pretty well, although the hip articulation seems particularly limited; and that probably applies to these other two as well.
Like the Question, the Creeper is a Steve Ditko creation. And not unlike the Question, Jack Ryder was a reporter that wasn't afraid to piss off his advertisers. Fired from his show, the brash Ryder takes a job as a security investigator. His first case was trying to find Professor Yatz before the Reds did, which dates the hell out of his origin. Following a lead, Ryder plans to crash a mob party, but discovers when he arrives that it's a costume party, so he puts together an outfit of some odds and ends: green wig, yellow makeup, gloves and boots and a "sheepskin rug."
After the break: the rest of the Creeper's origin! More pictures! Oh, yeah, and Geo-Force!
The mobsters have Yatz, and become suspicious of Ryder, who is forced to fight his way to the Professor and is wounded. Not wanting his inventions to fall into the wrong hands, Yatz treats Ryder with both a "instant healing agent" and a "molecular rearranger." Yatz destroys his notes and other equipment, and is promptly shot. Healed and stronger, Ryder fights the mobsters, affecting an insane laugh to unnerve them. In the end, the Creeper is wanted by the mob and the law, and Jack Ryder wonders how long the rearranger will work.
The Creeper's origin is a bit of a mess: later versions would point out the unlikelihood of Yatz having a "double major" in molecular biology and subatomic engineering. In the early stories, Ryder was sane enough, and the Creeper's laugh and mannerisms were all an act; he seems to have gotten progressively crazier every version since. And Ryder had a few different jobs after his origin; but seems to usually appear as a sensationalistic TV host, less of a muckraker than a ratings-hog.
The History line is billed as based on the art of George Perez, but you can see more than a little Ditko in there, probably because George kept some, I guess.
Now, the Creeper doesn't come with any accessories, at least, not a traditional, removeable one. But he does have his red mane-boa-cape thing on his back; what it actually is varies from creator to creator. Sometimes, it's a chunk of sheepskin rug, sometimes it's a furry or feather boa, either of which would make the Creeper the Dennis Rodman of DC's heroes, especially when you consider his costume is otherwise briefs, gloves, and boots. In the recent Steve Niles update, I think it's a spiky mane growing out of him. In his 1997 series, the red things are weird tendrils or psuedopods; the Creeper himself is as surprised as anyone when they untie him from an operating table.
Why am I going on about the Creeper's rug? Because it's flocked! Flocked! Shout it from the hilltops! I don't know if DC Direct had ever done any flocking before, but they didn't flock this one up, they knocked it out of the flocking park. Sorry. I think I appreciate the effort from them more than anything. The rug is a bit of a hindrance to his shoulder articulation, and he should doubtless be a bit more articulated anyway; but even putting aside that I've wanted a figure of him for ever, overall Creeper strikes me as a noble effort, like DCD worked a little harder on him than they had to.
I don't want to say Geo-Force is unpopular, but in his wave, he's the only one to have never gotten a figure: Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash all aren't hurting for plastic representation. And yet, GF is the one I find for 80% off. (To be fair, this Manhunter never had a figure either, the Creeper had one in Batman: the Animated Series.)
Moreover, I don't think I own a single comic with Geo-Force in this costume: while looking for some comic with him in it, I vaguely recalled a DC Digest reprinting a Batman and the Outsiders story with Jim Aparo art and Superman guest-starring. It was issue #19, and while I can only think of one other issue he did with Superman, Jim Aparo's Supes always looked pre-Crisis to me. Damn, Aparo was great...oh, right, Geo-Force: I was thinking of his green outfit with the "GF" logo on it. That's not an iconic image either, but this brown one seems too generic.
So, unlike Manhunter or the Creeper, Geo-Force is a character I have no great affection for. Obviously. So, his figure does not fare as well. That's not really fair: GF only has a couple less points of articulation than Manhunter or the Creeper, with no chest or waist joints. I don't like his hands, though: they look like they're meant for a flying pose, that GF can't do at all, since his neck and ankles can't pull it off.
I don't know if GF is based on the art of Ed Benes, but while it does a good enough job, it's just a little bland. I know he's the prince or king of Markovia, and typically is more of a hothead than his facial sculpt would suggest.
Now, to tie it all in to the opening: Typically, DC Direct figures run maybe $15-19 dollars. I had expected Manhunter and the Creeper to go for a little bit more of a premium, since they were the only characters in their respective waves not to have (comparable) figures before. (That said, I'm not sure if retailers have to buy a whole case to get them, either.) Manhunter was $6.50 on eBay, plus $8 in postage, and I believe I got a deal on the postage as well. The Creeper was $4.80 at a clearance sale for a closing location, while Geo-Force was marked down to a mere $3.40. At those prices, I'm more than glad to have the lot.
Read more!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Well, Peacekeepermaker's Helmet was good for something after all.
OK, the other day I mentioned that the Manhunter figure, that I'm never going to get, should come with a Peacekeepermaker mask as an accessory. Why, you may ask? Readers of Eclipso may remember that both Manhunter and Peacekeepermaker were killed in a failed assault on Eclipso; Manhunter turned out to be a sub in over his head, but Peacekeepermaker was dead. (I don't think that's been reversed yet, like a few other deaths there: Creeper was killed there, and had to dig himself out of his own grave.)
In his first storyline, mysterious collector and reclusive actress Olivia Vancroft wants Mark Shaw's Manhunter mask for her wall of masks. Vancroft hires the shapechanging assassin Dumas to get it for her, and hiring an assassin for a basic theft may not have been a great choice, since Dumas proves overzealous and goes after Shaw and his family. To protect them, Shaw offers Vancroft his mask, but she tells him that Dumas' code of honor won't let her cancel a job. Before he leaves, Vancroft asks Shaw to put on his mask, perhaps not realizing the sensors in it would reveal her secret...
Shaw returns later, as Manhunter, to blackmail Vancroft: she and Dumas are one in the same; Dumas being his male identity, and Vancroft his idealized woman. Unfortunately, Shaw forgot one important detail in his plan:
Shaw was already outmatched, but now on Dumas' home turf he doesn't have a chance. Dumas offers him the chance to kill himself, but Shaw declines, deciding to fight it out. He realizes the collection is Dumas' mask, and starts to destroy it, luring Dumas into the open for the kill:
I'm willing to bet Shaw picked the Peacemaker mask because it's a big, metal lump; and not for the irony. Dumas dies, and Shaw leaves both their masks in the collection: unlike a lot of masked heroes, Shaw has no particular attachment to his. It's just a mask. In a nice touch, he leaves his mask with three of DC's prior Manhunters'.
From Manhunter #4, "Through the Mask" Written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Kelley Jones.
Researching for another post, I realized on this and Peacemaker's other post, I started typing his name as Peacekeeper halfway through. No one appeared to notice, which should tell you all you need to know about him.
Read more!
In his first storyline, mysterious collector and reclusive actress Olivia Vancroft wants Mark Shaw's Manhunter mask for her wall of masks. Vancroft hires the shapechanging assassin Dumas to get it for her, and hiring an assassin for a basic theft may not have been a great choice, since Dumas proves overzealous and goes after Shaw and his family. To protect them, Shaw offers Vancroft his mask, but she tells him that Dumas' code of honor won't let her cancel a job. Before he leaves, Vancroft asks Shaw to put on his mask, perhaps not realizing the sensors in it would reveal her secret...
Shaw returns later, as Manhunter, to blackmail Vancroft: she and Dumas are one in the same; Dumas being his male identity, and Vancroft his idealized woman. Unfortunately, Shaw forgot one important detail in his plan:
Shaw was already outmatched, but now on Dumas' home turf he doesn't have a chance. Dumas offers him the chance to kill himself, but Shaw declines, deciding to fight it out. He realizes the collection is Dumas' mask, and starts to destroy it, luring Dumas into the open for the kill:
I'm willing to bet Shaw picked the Peacemaker mask because it's a big, metal lump; and not for the irony. Dumas dies, and Shaw leaves both their masks in the collection: unlike a lot of masked heroes, Shaw has no particular attachment to his. It's just a mask. In a nice touch, he leaves his mask with three of DC's prior Manhunters'.
From Manhunter #4, "Through the Mask" Written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Kelley Jones.
Researching for another post, I realized on this and Peacemaker's other post, I started typing his name as Peacekeeper halfway through. No one appeared to notice, which should tell you all you need to know about him.
Read more!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
"No Man Employs the Manhunters."
I would've liked to get at least one more Manhunter for this one, to better give the impression that there were an army of long-necked, frowny-faced robots. I paid $1.20 a piece for these two, marked down from $6.99; which makes me wonder if the new articulation model for DC Infinite Heroes is even going to make it to the shelves. I guess they could always release it online, which seems to be the way the winds are blowing lately.A questionable history lesson, with the Manhunters, the Transformers, and Galactus; after the break!
For those of you who aren't DC historians: The Manhunters were the first attempt from the Guardians of the Universe (the little blue guys in red smocks, that I still don't have figures of, but could probably sub in Papa Smurf) at a universe-wide peace keeping force. They were androids equipped with stun guns they charged with proto-Green Lanterns, and kept the peace for (at least) thousands of years. Then they went bad, power-mad, and tried to take over. Failing miserably, the androids were abandoned; and the Guardians replaced them with the Green Lantern Corps.
I used to know the ballpark timeline on this: if the universe is like five billion years old, and the Guardians became Guardians four billion years ago...and I could be way off on this, but I swear I thought Steve Englehart marked a lot of their history in billion year increments, with the Manhunters at three and the GLC coming in at two. Two billion years of Green Lanterns? The number staggers the mind a bit to casually throw around, not to mention that would mean the Corps survived all that time yet has been just about demolished two or three times since letting earth men in...
If I was better organized, I could probably figure out the Transformers timeline as well. In the old comics (and again, I'm going off memory here) the war between the Autobots and Decepticons had been going for umpteen billion years, before Optimus Prime and Megatron's crews crashed on earth back in the Paleozoic era or thereabouts. OK, but then when they were finally revived around 1984, not only is the war on Cybertron still going, with people they knew from before they were lost, but Optimus and Megatron are still somehow in charge, aren't they? Shouldn't they have been replaced after going missing, and shouldn't that have been done after maybe a month or so? (Similarly, in the first movie, Megatron was frozen in ice for something like eighty years or so; but when Starscream catches up to him, he still obsequiously defers to his leader as if Megs had just been out for a coffee break. Wouldn't Starscream have taken over during that time?) I think later work has glossed this over a bit, that Prime and Megs were leaders of their respective factions or cells, but the larger Autobot and Decepticon nations continued without them. War aside, you can debate for yourselves why the Transformers as a species aren't much changed in millions of years...
Then there's Galactus, and his heralds. How long was the Silver Surfer's stint as herald? Conservatively, I think it was decades; but it's hard to say. The Zenn-Lavians like Norrin Radd and Shalla Bal appear to be pretty long-lived, but in the classic Stan Lee/John Buscema series, Shalla still looks on the younger side. And she's still pining away for her lost love like he's been gone for a good chunk of time; but maybe not centuries.
On the sliding timescale of Marvel, Galactus arrived on earth and was stopped by the Fantastic Four maybe eight or nine years ago. Since the betrayal of the Surfer, Galactus has had several other heralds: Air-Walker, Firelord, and the Destroyer; all of whom would've had short tenures before Frankie Raye became Nova. If you figure the first visit of Galactus was before Franklin Richards was born, and he was maybe four when Frankie left...man, Galactus was just giving away the power cosmic there for a while.
Of course, none of those happened in the same fictional continuum, outside of my toy pile anyway. I was going to finish up with a couple of Manhunter pages--none from Millenium, the Manhunters' revenge, though: I bought that series as it came out, but have long since lost it. And most of the crossovers. Still, maybe a Manhunter page or two on Friday.
Oh, and the Optimus and Megatron in this strip may look a little different than you're used to: I believe they were both from the Robots in Disguise cartoon. Not the best one; and it was a little more kiddy than a lot of fans were hoping for, but if I remember right it was the first non-Beast Wars Transformers cartoon and toys back on American shelves in years. They've maintained their presence since.
I'm not an expert on that show, though: I remember Skybyte, the flying shark; and one of the "Autobot Brothers" with a somewhat inappropriate love of earth cars. Look it up sometime, if you're curious. Probably still made more sense than the movie, anyway...
Read more!
Friday, May 02, 2008
Maybe if winter's really over, my mood'll improve. Maybe. Slowly.
If you've ever seen the first Jackass movie, there's a scene where the guys are cutting themselves or each other, and squirting lemon juice in the cuts. About halfway through the scene, Johnny Knoxville mutters "This is stupid," and wanders out of the room. That just about sums up how I felt yesterday, and maybe for most of April. I'm still kind of crabby right now, but May looks like a lot of fun coming up, so that'll improve.
Here's a knot of tangents that I've stumbled upon lately: I read Steven Grant's Permanent Damage column every week, and this week Grant mentions not caring for the recent Flash Gordon comic. (I don't know who it’s by either. I've seen a variant cover for it in some banner ads at Newsarama or somewhere, but that's it.) While he's not a fan of the character, Grant points out the old Alex Raymond Flash Gordon was dynamic and exciting; and the new one is "cookie-cutter, nondescript Amerimanga art." Which is probably true, but...
When I was younger, all I knew about Flash Gordon was the old Filmation cartoon, and the movie. The cartoon seemed cool even though I'd only seen a few of the episodes (that may have helped it, really) and my elementary school had a laserdisc player, back in the day with the plate-sized discs, and a Flash Gordon disc with about a quarter of the movie that refused to play. (Aren't there some scenes in a swamp or something?) I had either negligible or no exposure to the classic comics version of Flash.
So, when Dan Jurgens did a Flash Gordon limited series for DC, I was able to read that without a lot of preconceptions about the character. Jurgens made a few changes: Arden was a more assertive reporter than she may have been in the old strips, Ming wasn't an Asian stereotype, but the biggest changes were for Flash himself. In this version, he was a forty-year old NBA player, nearing the end of his career bitter and full of regrets. He starts out a bit of a pig, but grows over the course of the series.
I'm not sure this version appealed to the old-school fans at all, who were probably more accustomed to a traditionally heroic Flash; not a divorced dad who badmouths Star Wars and Star Trek as being for "geeks and nerds!" in his first issue.
The series had a letters column, and there were a few complaints about that one. Could you imagine someone pulling that today? It would be like Spider-Man telling the reader comics were for chronic bedwetters and credit risks.
(I really censored myself on that last line...)
But, even if it wasn't for everyone, I loved the hell out of this series. Even though I had to drive eighty miles for each issue. (Admittedly, I was probably in braces at the time, so...) Every issue ended in a cliffhanger (except the last one, duh) and these were the days before pull boxes in my area, so every month I was sweating trying to find the next one. (Tempus Fugitive was the other book I recall scrambling for, although I don't think they were at the same time. Coincidentally, the main characters in that book were named Alex and Ray, after Flash's creator.)
GCD was down as I write this, so I have no idea if this series was ever collected. I don't think it was, and I could see the rights for something like Flash Gordon being an ongoing legal quagmire. For example, if something becomes popular in one version of it, like a new character or location on Mongo, does it become canon, or would that aspect still belong to whoever added it? Hell if I know. I also can't say if I would've enjoyed Jurgen's version any more or less if I had read the Alex Raymond originals. The only version I've read or seen since has been some of Al Williamson's. (I haven't seen the Sci-Fi channel version or any of the later cartoons.)
Moving further down the tangent, yesterday I bagged on DC Universe 0, and I've been checking out some other reviews on it to see if I'm the only naysayer. Over at the Savage Critic Douglas "thought it was Excellent as a teaser and value-for-money--I want to read what happens next--and n/a as a story," which I have to say, is a fair assessment. But then, Valerie at Occasional Superheroine correctly points out that it's an ad, and "I hear some people comment that DC Universe #0 should have just been a Free Comic Book Day offering. I disagree. It is not new-reader friendly. DC is much better off with Superman, Batman, or whatever."
The idea that it's a fifty-cent ad struck me, especially since I was flipping through that issue of Flash Gordon for an ad, the subscription offer for Manhunter that I mentioned a couple of days back. It was so hard to believe, I went through it a couple of times, but in all of Flash Gordon #2, there were no ads other than house ads for other DC books. It was a new format, actually called "new format," and for some reason, I seem to recall those books as having a lot of weird public-service government ads, too. No reason I know of, just because.
Meanwhile, in other pissing and moaning, I went to Wal-Mart on my lunch break today, as I often do. The kids and I were at a different Wal-Mart yesterday to get coffee and whatnot--little secret, I drink the cheapest available coffee. The toy section there was planogrammed out, but largely bare, awaiting the street date for Indiana Jones, Hulk, and Batman toys.
So, I was all excited for my lunch, foodless as it might be, jumpy with the prospect of seeing all sorts of new things. As I approached the action figure aisle, I passed an Indiana Jones Lego display I hadn't seen before, and then...nothing. Not a single new thing. Not even Kung Fu Panda. Nothing that hadn't been there for seemingly ever. This store hadn't even cleared any space for the new stuff.
It was disappointing, even though I'm not all that interested in any of those lines. For the most part, I think they're all out of scale with my usual tastes, although I'll doubtless want at least one Indiana Jones figure. Still, just to even see new toys at this point would've cheered me up, and there's every possibility something would've jumped out and made me buy it. I checked my notebook of toys yesterday, and saw I hadn't bought a new figure all of April. Well, that explains at least some of the crankiness. Still, long weekend coming up for me: enjoy your Free Comic Book Day, and be back later. Read more!
If you've ever seen the first Jackass movie, there's a scene where the guys are cutting themselves or each other, and squirting lemon juice in the cuts. About halfway through the scene, Johnny Knoxville mutters "This is stupid," and wanders out of the room. That just about sums up how I felt yesterday, and maybe for most of April. I'm still kind of crabby right now, but May looks like a lot of fun coming up, so that'll improve.
Here's a knot of tangents that I've stumbled upon lately: I read Steven Grant's Permanent Damage column every week, and this week Grant mentions not caring for the recent Flash Gordon comic. (I don't know who it’s by either. I've seen a variant cover for it in some banner ads at Newsarama or somewhere, but that's it.) While he's not a fan of the character, Grant points out the old Alex Raymond Flash Gordon was dynamic and exciting; and the new one is "cookie-cutter, nondescript Amerimanga art." Which is probably true, but...
When I was younger, all I knew about Flash Gordon was the old Filmation cartoon, and the movie. The cartoon seemed cool even though I'd only seen a few of the episodes (that may have helped it, really) and my elementary school had a laserdisc player, back in the day with the plate-sized discs, and a Flash Gordon disc with about a quarter of the movie that refused to play. (Aren't there some scenes in a swamp or something?) I had either negligible or no exposure to the classic comics version of Flash.
So, when Dan Jurgens did a Flash Gordon limited series for DC, I was able to read that without a lot of preconceptions about the character. Jurgens made a few changes: Arden was a more assertive reporter than she may have been in the old strips, Ming wasn't an Asian stereotype, but the biggest changes were for Flash himself. In this version, he was a forty-year old NBA player, nearing the end of his career bitter and full of regrets. He starts out a bit of a pig, but grows over the course of the series.
I'm not sure this version appealed to the old-school fans at all, who were probably more accustomed to a traditionally heroic Flash; not a divorced dad who badmouths Star Wars and Star Trek as being for "geeks and nerds!" in his first issue.
The series had a letters column, and there were a few complaints about that one. Could you imagine someone pulling that today? It would be like Spider-Man telling the reader comics were for chronic bedwetters and credit risks.
(I really censored myself on that last line...)
But, even if it wasn't for everyone, I loved the hell out of this series. Even though I had to drive eighty miles for each issue. (Admittedly, I was probably in braces at the time, so...) Every issue ended in a cliffhanger (except the last one, duh) and these were the days before pull boxes in my area, so every month I was sweating trying to find the next one. (Tempus Fugitive was the other book I recall scrambling for, although I don't think they were at the same time. Coincidentally, the main characters in that book were named Alex and Ray, after Flash's creator.)
GCD was down as I write this, so I have no idea if this series was ever collected. I don't think it was, and I could see the rights for something like Flash Gordon being an ongoing legal quagmire. For example, if something becomes popular in one version of it, like a new character or location on Mongo, does it become canon, or would that aspect still belong to whoever added it? Hell if I know. I also can't say if I would've enjoyed Jurgen's version any more or less if I had read the Alex Raymond originals. The only version I've read or seen since has been some of Al Williamson's. (I haven't seen the Sci-Fi channel version or any of the later cartoons.)
Moving further down the tangent, yesterday I bagged on DC Universe 0, and I've been checking out some other reviews on it to see if I'm the only naysayer. Over at the Savage Critic Douglas "thought it was Excellent as a teaser and value-for-money--I want to read what happens next--and n/a as a story," which I have to say, is a fair assessment. But then, Valerie at Occasional Superheroine correctly points out that it's an ad, and "I hear some people comment that DC Universe #0 should have just been a Free Comic Book Day offering. I disagree. It is not new-reader friendly. DC is much better off with Superman, Batman, or whatever."
The idea that it's a fifty-cent ad struck me, especially since I was flipping through that issue of Flash Gordon for an ad, the subscription offer for Manhunter that I mentioned a couple of days back. It was so hard to believe, I went through it a couple of times, but in all of Flash Gordon #2, there were no ads other than house ads for other DC books. It was a new format, actually called "new format," and for some reason, I seem to recall those books as having a lot of weird public-service government ads, too. No reason I know of, just because.
Meanwhile, in other pissing and moaning, I went to Wal-Mart on my lunch break today, as I often do. The kids and I were at a different Wal-Mart yesterday to get coffee and whatnot--little secret, I drink the cheapest available coffee. The toy section there was planogrammed out, but largely bare, awaiting the street date for Indiana Jones, Hulk, and Batman toys.
So, I was all excited for my lunch, foodless as it might be, jumpy with the prospect of seeing all sorts of new things. As I approached the action figure aisle, I passed an Indiana Jones Lego display I hadn't seen before, and then...nothing. Not a single new thing. Not even Kung Fu Panda. Nothing that hadn't been there for seemingly ever. This store hadn't even cleared any space for the new stuff.
It was disappointing, even though I'm not all that interested in any of those lines. For the most part, I think they're all out of scale with my usual tastes, although I'll doubtless want at least one Indiana Jones figure. Still, just to even see new toys at this point would've cheered me up, and there's every possibility something would've jumped out and made me buy it. I checked my notebook of toys yesterday, and saw I hadn't bought a new figure all of April. Well, that explains at least some of the crankiness. Still, long weekend coming up for me: enjoy your Free Comic Book Day, and be back later. Read more!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Like saying George Lazenby is your favorite Bond. He totally should be, sure, but try convincing anyone else of that.
While John Ostrander's work on Suicide Squad is a fondly remembered cult classic, I liked Manhunter better. I'm already in the minority, but then I liked the Mark Shaw version better than any of DC's sixty other Manhunters. Even more than Paul Kirk...mmm, maybe not, but close.
In the first few pages of his debut issue, Mark stalks the Penguin, who had been just about reformed in his last appearance. Didn't take.
Even though I stumbled back across this issue first, I had been looking for the house ad for Manhunter: the subscription pitch was for the first three issues packaged with a Manhunter mask. Did anyone get that thing? Was it cardboard? I loved the mask design, but it only worked when Doug Rice was drawing the book. Rice was one of the first to bring a manga/anime inspired look to American comics; I mentioned his and Ostrander's Dynamo Joe a coupla hundred posts ago.
Shaw was allegedly killed in a b-lister massacre in Eclipso, then brought back in the last issue of Steven Grant's Manhunter series, and has since appeared a few times with the most recent, Kate Spencer Manhunter. Later this year, DC Direct has a Green Lantern box set, with a battle-damaged robot Manhunter; and will have a figure for Paul Kirk as well. But I'd still love the Shaw one. And over at Title Undetermined, the home of former Batman Azrael, I saw a while back (before Manhunter went on hiatus) that Shaw may have fallen in with Azrael's Order of St. Dumas. I maintain, that mask is gonna look sharp on Azrael's costume. Just a thought.
Panels from Manhunter #1, written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Sam Kieth.
Fixed the links. Did I miss any? I read a lotta blogs...hell, it's cheaper than actually reading comics. Read more!
While John Ostrander's work on Suicide Squad is a fondly remembered cult classic, I liked Manhunter better. I'm already in the minority, but then I liked the Mark Shaw version better than any of DC's sixty other Manhunters. Even more than Paul Kirk...mmm, maybe not, but close.
In the first few pages of his debut issue, Mark stalks the Penguin, who had been just about reformed in his last appearance. Didn't take.
Even though I stumbled back across this issue first, I had been looking for the house ad for Manhunter: the subscription pitch was for the first three issues packaged with a Manhunter mask. Did anyone get that thing? Was it cardboard? I loved the mask design, but it only worked when Doug Rice was drawing the book. Rice was one of the first to bring a manga/anime inspired look to American comics; I mentioned his and Ostrander's Dynamo Joe a coupla hundred posts ago.
Shaw was allegedly killed in a b-lister massacre in Eclipso, then brought back in the last issue of Steven Grant's Manhunter series, and has since appeared a few times with the most recent, Kate Spencer Manhunter. Later this year, DC Direct has a Green Lantern box set, with a battle-damaged robot Manhunter; and will have a figure for Paul Kirk as well. But I'd still love the Shaw one. And over at Title Undetermined, the home of former Batman Azrael, I saw a while back (before Manhunter went on hiatus) that Shaw may have fallen in with Azrael's Order of St. Dumas. I maintain, that mask is gonna look sharp on Azrael's costume. Just a thought.
Panels from Manhunter #1, written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Sam Kieth.
Fixed the links. Did I miss any? I read a lotta blogs...hell, it's cheaper than actually reading comics. Read more!
Friday, July 06, 2007
At long last, Friday Night Fights!
I don't want to oversell this issue, but when the second half features Sinestro knocking over a skyscraper in San Francisco, and that isn't even the most exciting part of the comic? Hell, it's even a bit of a letdown after the first half. Although, it is a good excuse to see Hawkman on the receiving end of a beating.
Even though Sinestro is Green Lantern's villain, Hawkman sticks him on a point of order: he has monitor duty. Captain Comet and Hawkman take this one, but Hawkman doesn't make as good of a showing as he would've hoped.
Sinestro smashes Hawkman's anti-gravity belt, leaving him to fall and buying time to bail out into space. Huh, you'd think he would want to hang out and see the destruction, but Sinestro plays it smart.
Only Captain Comet can stop the building from collapsing (the narration is odd, noting Superman could stop the building from falling by "merely lifting a pinky," but the Captain has to put his back into it) and stop Sinestro, using his mightier mental powers to override Sinestro's yellow power ring. Leaving Hawkman talking out of his beak:
Hawkman's gained a lot of respect in recent years, but this story's from around the Superfriends era, when he was just a guy who flapped around.
But, like I said, this wasn't the main event for this issue, so let's skip back to the front of this issue, where Mantis begs for his life, the Black Racer arrives, and Darkseid faces the assault of the Secret Society of Super-Villains!
I don't have the previous issue, and there's no recap or reason given for this one. Suffice to say, the Society is going to take Darkseid down. They know why. Darkseid dismisses the Black Racer, as if he was a vulture, stating if he's patient there will be more victims; and sets Mantis on the Society.
Currently, the Society consists of undercover hero Captain Comet, Flash Rouges' Gallery regulars (back when that meant something) Mirror Master and Captains Cold and Boomerang, Star Sapphire (not Carol Ferris...I don't think) and another clone of Manhunter Paul Kirk. From what I can piece together, Comet and Manhunter were trying to use evil against evil, and this may be the most successful they ever were at that.
Left against Mantis, a warrior that has fought Superman to a standstill, the Rouges don't even work up a sweat. Well, they probably never sweat much with Cold around, but you see what I mean. Comet puts the finishers on Mantis, leaving Manhunter clear to make a run on Darkseid.
A suicide run.
The 'Endgame' comes on page 7 of the comic, so naturally the rest of the book is a bit of a comedown--it's why heavyweight title fights don't come before the bantamweight matches. Especially when the next few pages are devoted to thinly-veiled Stan Lee parody Funky Flashman, Comet pulling Green Lantern out of a hole he's apparently been in for issues, and Green Arrow being much more of a dick than usual.
Even putting aside that I have only the vaguest idea what's going on this issue, it's jarring to see how much of it is back in vogue in current DC comics. Sinestro has his own corps, Star Sapphire and Captain Comet have recently made appearances, Darkseid's due back in short order, and the Rouges recently had their greatest victory ever...beating to death a child in a grown-up's costume. All of a sudden, this issue seems a lot better, especially when you factor in a mere thirty cents cover price, versus various and sundry purchases of Countdown, Flash, Green Lantern, Mystery in Space, JLA, and so on, and so forth. From The Secret Society of Super Villains #5, "Endgame!" Written by Bob Rozakis, art by Rich Buckler and Vince Colletta.
And again, this one's for Always Bet on Bahlactus, home of Friday Night Fights. Bring back Milestone Mondays while you're at it! Read more!
I don't want to oversell this issue, but when the second half features Sinestro knocking over a skyscraper in San Francisco, and that isn't even the most exciting part of the comic? Hell, it's even a bit of a letdown after the first half. Although, it is a good excuse to see Hawkman on the receiving end of a beating.
Even though Sinestro is Green Lantern's villain, Hawkman sticks him on a point of order: he has monitor duty. Captain Comet and Hawkman take this one, but Hawkman doesn't make as good of a showing as he would've hoped.
Sinestro smashes Hawkman's anti-gravity belt, leaving him to fall and buying time to bail out into space. Huh, you'd think he would want to hang out and see the destruction, but Sinestro plays it smart. Only Captain Comet can stop the building from collapsing (the narration is odd, noting Superman could stop the building from falling by "merely lifting a pinky," but the Captain has to put his back into it) and stop Sinestro, using his mightier mental powers to override Sinestro's yellow power ring. Leaving Hawkman talking out of his beak:
Hawkman's gained a lot of respect in recent years, but this story's from around the Superfriends era, when he was just a guy who flapped around.
But, like I said, this wasn't the main event for this issue, so let's skip back to the front of this issue, where Mantis begs for his life, the Black Racer arrives, and Darkseid faces the assault of the Secret Society of Super-Villains!
I don't have the previous issue, and there's no recap or reason given for this one. Suffice to say, the Society is going to take Darkseid down. They know why. Darkseid dismisses the Black Racer, as if he was a vulture, stating if he's patient there will be more victims; and sets Mantis on the Society.
Currently, the Society consists of undercover hero Captain Comet, Flash Rouges' Gallery regulars (back when that meant something) Mirror Master and Captains Cold and Boomerang, Star Sapphire (not Carol Ferris...I don't think) and another clone of Manhunter Paul Kirk. From what I can piece together, Comet and Manhunter were trying to use evil against evil, and this may be the most successful they ever were at that.
Left against Mantis, a warrior that has fought Superman to a standstill, the Rouges don't even work up a sweat. Well, they probably never sweat much with Cold around, but you see what I mean. Comet puts the finishers on Mantis, leaving Manhunter clear to make a run on Darkseid.
A suicide run.
The 'Endgame' comes on page 7 of the comic, so naturally the rest of the book is a bit of a comedown--it's why heavyweight title fights don't come before the bantamweight matches. Especially when the next few pages are devoted to thinly-veiled Stan Lee parody Funky Flashman, Comet pulling Green Lantern out of a hole he's apparently been in for issues, and Green Arrow being much more of a dick than usual.
Even putting aside that I have only the vaguest idea what's going on this issue, it's jarring to see how much of it is back in vogue in current DC comics. Sinestro has his own corps, Star Sapphire and Captain Comet have recently made appearances, Darkseid's due back in short order, and the Rouges recently had their greatest victory ever...beating to death a child in a grown-up's costume. All of a sudden, this issue seems a lot better, especially when you factor in a mere thirty cents cover price, versus various and sundry purchases of Countdown, Flash, Green Lantern, Mystery in Space, JLA, and so on, and so forth. From The Secret Society of Super Villains #5, "Endgame!" Written by Bob Rozakis, art by Rich Buckler and Vince Colletta.
And again, this one's for Always Bet on Bahlactus, home of Friday Night Fights. Bring back Milestone Mondays while you're at it! Read more!
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