Hey, they went to series! I'm sure that'll turn out for them.

I don't think I noticed this said "One of Six" on the cover until I got to the "to be continued" at the end: from 2017, the Ruff and Reddy Show #1, "Ruff and Reddy: A Cautionary Tale in Six Parts, part one" Written by Howard Chaykin, art by Mac Rey. Cover by Howard Chaykin.

We were re-introduced to the titular duo in the back-up story in Green Lantern/Space Ghost Special #1, but this issue follows them from their 50's heyday, to their inevitable breakup: despite being the bottom rung of the entertainment ladder, as living cartoon "celimates," they had been briefly beloved and successful, even though they largely couldn't stand each other. Backtalking each other durning a Thanksgiving parade, they are undone when deaf kids are able to read their rather foulmouthed lips. (This being Chaykin, there's a rather risque joke about Superman's trunks!)

Ruff, the cat, would go on to moderate success in a Law & Order style show; while the dog Reddy would stumble into alcoholism and obscurity. Neither had worked in some time, but a young talent agent is tasked with bringing them back together...Yes, I'm sure that will go swimmingly, until it doesn't.

DC had a smattering of Hanna-Barbera books going for a minute--some, like this or Dastardly & Muttley were fairly obscure but had talent on 'em, like Garth Ennis! The Flintstones was pretty great, and Exit Stage Left: the Snagglepuss Chronicles was supposed to be as well. This particular one might just be Chaykin hitting his usual interests (see also: Satellite Sam) but he can do that pretty darn well. Read more!

I dropped it mid-stream, and I still like Firearm better, but Starman did have more issues. And this random one's cover grabbed me, at least! From 1999, Starman #55, "Taxicab Confessions" Written by James Robinson and David Goyer, pencils by Peter Snejbjerg, Chris Weston, and John McCrea, inks by Keith Champagne. Cover by Tony Harris.

The Starmen--Jack Knight, his dad Ted, and alien Mikaal--were doing a lost-in-space/time storyline at the time; but we don't really see them this issue. Instead, Space Cabbie picks up a couple guys who want to go to the Karloff sector. Figuring this was probably going to end in gunplay or something, Cabbie chats them up, trying to get at what they want out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing to see there but a debris field, and the Cabbie knows the story of that one: the Starmen had answered a distress call there, and fought Jovian pirate Jarko, to rescue the Teen Titans' Starfire. Jarko had a strange, curved staff--that you might recognize as another Starman's, Prince Gavyn's! His duel with Jack's Cosmic Rod is inconclusive, since the Knights of the Galaxy arrive and start shooting the place up, but Mikaal frees Starfire and they escape before it explodes.

EDIT: Did I have the wrong picture here? Lemme try that again.

The first passenger, revealing himself to be Space Ranger, disagrees on some of the details: yes, the Starmen were answering a distress signal. But it wasn't from the Titans' Starfire, it was from the 70's sci-fi revolutionary leader Starfire! Speaking mangled "ye olde Englishe," like they spoke back then, Jack challenges Jarko...to a game of a Twister knockoff? This time, the duel is interrupted by the Star Rovers, but Mikaal (looking very Spock-like in this version) still frees Starfire and they escape.

The second passenger also disagrees, and he was Ultra the Multi-Alien! In a far more bombastic version, the Starmen (including Jack in a more classic costume, as Mikaal as space Bucky) rescue Russian Starfire Red Star--why he was there is anyone's guess. Jarko challenges Jack to the contest of "unflinching gaze," and whoever grinned first lost! This time Tommy Tomorrow and the Planeteers blast up the joint, but the Starmen free Red Star and escape.

Although they had split a cab, Space Ranger and Ultra had been sent separately, by the Space Museum, to recover Gavyn's staff, since it could be dangerous. How'd Gavyn even get that thing--the guys all argue on that story, on their way home. 

Do comics do a better job of Rashomon'ing a story than Rashomon does? Sometimes, when the art shifts go hard enough, I'd say they might!

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One story has a pretty good message! And one foresees, um, TRON.

Aw, that's still pretty good! From 1979, House of Mystery #268. Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta.

The first story, feels like a riff on the movie Tron but predated it by three years! In "Night Call, Collect" a terminally ill man funds a program, to turn a man into a program; breaking a person down into data, then adjusting and correcting it, to return them to perfect health. The man isn't about to be the first test monkey for that, though, and zaps one of his scientists into it instead, in a bit that seems to predict "de-rezzing" in Tron. But he starts to get strange calls at night...and the tape the scientist was supposed to be encoded onto, was blank! (Written by Wyatt Gwyon, art by Ruben Yandoc.)

"Dead Buddy" is a brief bit of CB radio nonsense, as was the style at the time; then "The Man Who Spoke With Spirits" is a very nice object lesson. Endlessly seeking knowledge, a king invokes spirits for their wisdom: the spirits oblige him, but say he must obey their every command. Every command? Yeah, every command! First: build a fancy monastery. Sure, why not? Then, start gathering up all the gold in the kingdom: it's rough on the peasants, but it'll teach 'em "the virtue of poverty." When the peasants are ready to revolt, the spirits help the king summon demons, then advise him to imprison random citizens to keep the rest from getting uppity. So desperate for wisdom is this king, that he goes along with everything the spirits order, like 'give your daughter to the barbarians to get them to lay off' and 'eat garbage to learn humility.' Let's just say, it takes a long time for this guy to get wise...(Written by T.Casey Brennan, art by Jess Jodloman.)

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The cover is just to draw attention from the fact that this is hardly a "Two-in-One."

I don't think this cover fooled anyone at the time, although I'm not sure it was supposed to. This wasn't really a team-up story and they had to put something on the cover, so...from 1982, Marvel Two-in-One #91, "In the Shadow of the Sphinx!" Written by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Jon D'Agostino.

There were other heroes in this issue, even if they really aren't helping poor Ben out much: Dr. Strange makes an astral appearance, to tell Ben he has to go to Egypt. Ben blows him off, but then Reed was examining a recent survey picture of Egypt, which showed a pyramid that he didn't remember being there before. That's enough to compel Ben, grudgingly, to fly over in a pogo plane for a look. Which still might be a dumb idea, since Ben realizes when he gets there, he doesn't speak the language and can't really question the locals. Then, an escaped professor asks him for help, but he's chased by a batch of local goons. Said goons are no match for the Thing, but Ben loses track of the professor in the fight, so he opts to "surrender" and get taken to the big bad. Which--that shadow--could it be?

No, it's the Sphinx, remember the title of the story? And so you don't forget, while Ben's chained up, the Sphinx monologues for three solid pages on his origin, the Ka Stone that gave him immortality, getting super-bored with said immortaliity, challenging Galactus to a fight and losing, and Galactus sending him back in time to get his Ka Stone again and relive his stupid life. The problem was, Galactus sent him back to just before he got the stone, creating a time paradox--I don't know if that's a paradox as much as a mere loop. Working together, the two Sphinxes create a machine to rebuild the Ka Stone after it was broken, and one Sphinx goes into suspended animation to wait for that day. Which...why? Weren't you sick of that life? Why wouldn't you tell your past self to do things differently, rather than "do everything exactly the same, it'll go badly and you'll end up exactly where I am."

When the Sphinx leaves to see if the Ka Stone is done cooking, Ben frees himself from the big metal mittens he was held by, then goes to punch him up. Even without his stone, the Sphinx wasn't a pushover, although he is hurt when Ben accidentally catches him with a shot to the kidneys. Furious, the Sphinx throws Ben's pogo plane at him--I don't think you see those anymore, maybe this is why--but that just got Ben into position to clobber the Ka Stone machine. The stone reaches out to Ben's mind, trying to convince him to take it, but Ben's not buying it. Thrown for a loop after the usual massive explosion, Ben is down when the Sphinx finds his partially rebuilt stone. While glad to have it, he also realizes he's maybe not the head guy in their pairing, and sensing that the Ka Stone had plans for Ben, he takes off in his flying pyramid. Ben probably had to fly home commercial. (Weirdly, he'd be back in Egypt in MTIO #95!)

Batman-shaped shadow notwithstanding, I don't think Ben had to face the Sphinx again: after this, he seemed to be Nova and the New Warriors' problem. This is at least one more issue where Ben's reading is rudely interrupted (I'm thinking of Spidey surprising Ben in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2) as he's reading a "Mark Boyland" novel while lifting weights: that's a reference to Mack Bolan and the Executioner novels, which ran from 1969 to 2020! Ben also cross-pitches Epic Magazine, suggesting the Sphinx pitch his fantasy there. And although I don't think any of them are related: how many evil rocks are there in the Marvel Universe? The Soul Gem, Bloodstone's stone, several Moonstones, the Ka Stone: many of which are portrayed as trying to influence or take over their bearer. (Then there's the Looter, who claims to hear his meteorite but everyone assumes he's nuts!) Also, on the back of this issue: the full-page ad for Megaforce! Somehow, I saw that in theater, and spoiler alert: it's not very good! Read more!

I'm 40% sure I got my dad this one already, but why not?

The Lone Ranger strikes me as neither pessimistic nor genre-savvy, so he maybe doesn't know that having a good feeling about anything is a recipe for disaster! Well, that feeling probably won't last, anyway. From 2009, the Lone Ranger #17, "Resolve" Written by Brett Matthews, art by Sergio Cariello. Cover by John Cassaday.

Despite still being relatively new to the job, this issue the Lone Ranger and Tonto stop some robbers and a runaway stage, with a relative minimum of violence: I've been reading too much Jonah Hex, because I was expecting a shotgun blast to the face, an arrow to the neck, and a guy thrown to his death, but the robbers are brought in alive. The Ranger and Tonto return the stage to the bank, with the tied-up robbers, and also drop off a big lump of silver with an old lady whose fence got smashed in the chase.

While Butch Cavendish and Winston Marle continue their respective plots, the Ranger and Tonto visit Linda and her boy Dan: while the Ranger is a terrible cook, he's still a catch! He tries to have a talk with Linda and explain his feelings; which kind of looks like he maybe thinks he can be the Lone Ranger and still have a family, which seems like a pipe dream. Sure enough, Dan interrupts them, saying someone was there asking for the Lone Ranger...to be continued! 

 I've read a few of these, but I'm not sure why Cavendish was a psycho-killer in this: he's in a room full of people he'd already killed in that panel there, with a prospective victim trying to buy his way out, and Cavendish is seemingly uninterested in the money. I maybe just like the idea of even a bad guy, being self-aware enough to realize he didn't like what money was making him. This series only ran 25 issues, and there's ads in the back for Man With No Name, Zorro, and the Boys, which Dynamite had picked up after DC dropped it. You'd suspect the Boys to be the sales juggernaut there, and I feel like it sold better than anything else mentioned here, but I'm not sure it was overwhelmingly so.

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It always strikes me as weird that "Choose Your Own Adventure" is like, a trademarked brand, since I remember reading a bunch of...well, I guess they'd be knock-offs, then. Although, some were with licensed characters: I know there were a couple Star Trek ones I'm sorry aren't in my collection now. In comics, I know they had a Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way recently, but I'm surprised Marvel didn't go to this well more often: from 1994, What If? #63, "What If War Machine had Not Destroyed the Living Laser?" Written by Dan Slott, pencils by Manny Galan, "ink battalion" Jim Amash, Kata Kane, and Mark Stegbauer.

This tied into one of my favorite Iron Man runs, the all-too-brief second Jim Rhodes term, which would lead to him taking the mantle War Machine. Tony Stark was believed dead but actually cryogenically frozen, which was known only to a few scientists; and he had left Rhodey in charge of Stark International and Iron Man. Still, inexplicably Tony Stark kept appearing around the facility; but that was really the Living Laser! All of this came to a head in Iron Man #289 but is largely the B-plot: after it was resolved, the real Tony was revived, but furious that Tony had lied to him, Rhodey quits. (Despite my usual tag for Tony, I don't think his dickery was intentional that time: Tony thought the cryo thing was a longshot, and he would probably not ever be revived.)

The Laser had intended revenge on Stark, but with him 'dead,' Rhodey instead offers the Laser a job: he was a brilliant scientist, after all. That was just a ruse, though, for Rhodey to lure him into a trap and beam the Laser to the Andromeda galaxy; which the Laser thought was a bit much. This issue, we see three other ways this could've gone down: instead, Rhodey relents, and actually does put the Laser to work. While undeniably great in his field, the Laser has trouble working within business confines, his fellow employees aren't comfortable around him, and he knows Iron Man doesn't completely trust him, either. Overhearing a message asking for Rhodey, the Laser holographically takes his form to answer the call, and is shown the frozen Tony Stark! In shock, he reverts back to his Laser form, and Rhodey arrives as Iron Man, equally surprised. How will it play out? 

Three different endings are offered: surprisingly for this title, not a one of them is "and everybody died!" I'm thinking of a recent issue, which was largely 'what if Cyclops was a stand-up guy' that of course ends with the earth exploding. I don't know why I expected anything else there...

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Consult your local listings! Although, this first story looks like Perry Mason or something...

Also, now I'm remembering a pretty terrible horror movie...actually not remembering it, which probably explains why I think I've seen it twice; Down, also released as "The Shaft," with a killer elevator. And Naomi Watts, but don't let that sell you on it; you can watch better Naomi Watts' movies! Anyway, I don't know if the SyFy Channel still does them, but if you have an antenna H&I's annual? Semi-annual? Whatever, their Twilight Zone marathon starts today. I'm usually just trying to catch 'New' Twilight Zone episodes from the 80's; maybe some year they'll finally get the 2002-03 Forest Whitaker-hosted episodes in there...And, since I brought it up, let's look at yet another Gold Key issue! From 1975, The Twilight Zone #63; sadly, as usual, no cover credit.

In the opener, "No Perfect Crime," a little girl at the fair is gifted a power--and a terrible burden--by a fortune-teller; to see through people and know what they had done, and what they would do. She promises to only use her power for good, and grows up to become a devastatingly effective lawyer, seemingly making criminals confess at her will. Her technique does kind of seem badgering, but that's probably just shorthand for lawyer-stuff in comics, so...She gets on with a big firm, but one of the partners approaches her about a case, to maybe take it easy on a murderer who was also "an important leader in the community," as in, probably kicking back to the firm. Refusing, she knows her number was up, and is later murdered after winning her case. But, she gets the last laugh, as she had carefully taped notes with how her killer did it, the holes in his alibi, and where he would be afterwards. Well, she went out on top, at least. (Written by Himilce Novas, art by Frank Bolle.)

Next, "In Their Own Time" is one with no Rod Serling opening or closing, which probably means it was produced to slot into any of Gold Key's books like Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery or Grimm's Ghost Stories. An elderly couple finds a pair of Hong Kong "immortality statues," which start to turn them younger. The wife felt they had lived a rich full life already, but the husband is gung-ho for his thirties again: she dies peacefully in her sleep, he's killed in an atomic war instead! (Art by Jack Sparling.)

The cover story, "Going Up?" isn't so much about a killer elevator, but a mean little blackmailer that uses the security cameras for blackmail, until he starts see giant bird attacks in the elevators, that no one else sees. Sent away for a rest, he probably should've taken the stairs...or maybe jumped, instead. (Art by José Delbo.)

Finally, and appropriately so, "Last Request" finds a scurvy scallawag of a soldier, during the French Revolution, facing execution for his crimes. He asks for a second chance, and seemingly gets it, but can he change his ways? Maybe a little, although it maybe doesn't help him out much. (Art by Adolfo Buylla.) 

Huh, I'm almost never timely with this kind of post; I'm in the Zone! Hopefully a charming one where I learn a lesson and live...  

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That cover seems familiar somehow...

If you don't recognize it, the GCD has the answer for you! From 1990, Uncle Scrooge Adventures #19, "A Stitch in Time" Plot by Patsy Trench, script by Tom Anderson, US script by Geoffrey Blum, art by Daniel Branca. Cover by Don Rosa!

I really wish more people involved in finance or investing read Uncle Scrooge--actually, I just wish more people in general had read it, or maybe learned some of the lessons therein! Sometimes, Scrooge can make a bundle by being thrifty, inventive, and stubborn; and sometimes Scrooge can burn a ton of cash by being thrifty, inventive, and stubborn. You may guess where this one's headed, as Scrooge can't figure out how to unload a ton of silk: the market had changed to rayon and synthetics. Still, a conversation sparks an idea: Scrooge decides to use Gyro Gearloose's time machine, the TADPOLE (Temporal Axis Displacement Projectile and Ozone Layer Enhancer; of course that's a Doctor Who riff!) to go back to the middle ages and unload the silk there. Previously, the TADPOLE had run on smog, which I'm sure had been a problem when travelling to the past, so now Gyro had it converted to electricity; but it would take days to charge and because it would be carrying a load, Scrooge and the boys would only be able to stay in the past for three hours.

The sale hits a snag, since even a princely sum back then was lowballing Scrooge on the deal, so he opts out, which hurts the local king's pride, and the Ducks are chased out by guards. After returning to the present, Scrooge fumes that he should've bought the silk in medieval times and sold it now...so, maybe in 800 years, it would be worth something! Turning it around, he has Gyro recharge the TADPOLE, for a trip into the world of tomorrow, 2389! Where the silk is also not a big hit, but Scrooge's antique watch is, as he sells it for twenty million credits! They also miss the return window, so the TADPOLE returns without them, but so what? Gyro would recharge it and send it back...Except, Scrooge did not appear to take inflation into account, and was probably robbed on the watch deal: a glass of milk was twenty thousand credits, and a cheap hotel room two million for the night! Four million with shower!

Gyro charges the TADPOLE to a minimum for the trip, and finds the Ducks, wrapped in silk; which was all they had left to wear since they'd had to sell their clothes...Huh, does anybody wear proper silk anymore now? I'm not exactly stylish, although I'm remembering a pair of silk boxers I had once. Mmm, comfy! I wonder if I got tired of my butt slipping off chairs, though...

Also this issue: Scrooge tries converting to paper money and a round bin, in "Tricky Experiment," and a Carl Barks one-pager, where Scrooge helps Donald avoid making impulse purchases, with one last one. Shoot, I maybe oughta try that! Read more!

Even though posts have been going up, I haven't actually blogged anything--or even sat down with a comic, feels like--for over a week. Let's see if I remember how blog work...We'll start with a fairly recent one, that ties into a pretty old power for the Hulk, that always surprises me when it comes up. From 2025, the Incredible Hulk #27/LEG #808, "The Falling-Down Tree" Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, pencils by Kev Walker, inks by Cam Smith.

I'm definitely not up to speed on current Hulk continuity--I haven't even read all of Immortal Hulk--but this is a stand-alone story, mostly. Chilling in the forest, alone again as usual, the Hulk's solitude is disturbed by a small boy playing, who advises this were his woods, kinda, and did he want to be friends? Remembering recent betrayals and such, the Hulk does not, but the boy warns him to stay away from "the falling-down tree," and explains that he lives nearby, in a bus with his parents and baby sister. Sometimes Daddy gets mean, and they have to go somewhere else...

The boy continues to hang out with the Hulk, over the course of a couple weeks, and it becomes apparent the dad is both abusive and shady, involved with a thievery ring. Speaking through an animal's skull, the voice of Banner tells the Hulk he could help that kid. Sure enough, the Hulk hears a ruckus at the bus: after a shootout, the dad was pulling stakes, but the mom is reluctant to go, since she doesn't want to leave their son...buried alone, under the falling-down tree. Realizing the truth, the Hulk finds the body, then the terrified mom, left behind, finds the Hulk. She pleads for her life, as the Hulk just scowls at her.

The Hulk catches up to the fleeing dad, and over a four-page sequence just demolishes him, screaming "monster." He knew who the real monster was. Later, as the authorities arrive, the boy tells the Hulk his little sister was going to live with their grandma, but wasn't sure what he should do. The Hulk says, "there's no rules...when nobody's looking out for you." He's sorry he wasn't able to help the boy, but the boy's just glad his sister was safe, calling that "hero stuff," and opts to go with her, to teach her hero stuff too. 

 I'm not 100% positive on the issue, but I'm pretty sure the Hulk has been able to see ghosts since way back in Defenders, and that was probably just to explain why the Hulk could see Dr. Strange's astral form in some story! But, Peter David used that one maybe a couple times as well; and later writers have maybe brought that more to the forefront. If I recollect, maybe the Maestro pointed out the Hulk can see ghosts because he was afraid of his ghost dad or something...

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It's at least partly because I keep coming in midstream, but I haven't loved a lot of Captain America stories in his regular title for some time. There was something I enjoyed this issue, though! From 2024, Captain America #13/LEG#763, "The Last Stand of the Front Door, part 2" Written by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Carlos Magno. I got the David Yardin variant, which kinda looks like Morbius is giving Cap the business; I couldn't be lucky enough to get the Godzilla variant from the dollar bin!

Again, I'm coming in midway through a storyline, but I don't think I'd ever be onboard with pseudo-Starlin level metaphysics in a Cap book; as here he's working for Lyra, an embodiment of Life itself, to stop her brother Death from wiping out the human race, as he's somewhat understandably sick of watching us kill each other. With a small team of mutants (new ones, nobody we know!) and a Guardian (who I don't think is Heather from Alpha Flight? I was confused because she's had not-Canadian flag costumes before, but feels like that'd be mentioned somewhere, and she has a sword: OK, pretty sure now she's just for this arc) they have to get a psychic, Malik, to the "mystical safe house" of the Front Door Cabaret. Death gives a ton of power to a massive crowd, threatening them with their own demises if they don't comply and stop Cap and friends. Taking back some magic rings, which I hope isn't a Captain Planet riff, Cap throws down with Death, to force him to draw that power back. Lyra had offered Cap a chance, to go back to his old life, to "lay down his burden," which feels a lot like trying to comment on his MCU arc, but we know darn well Cap isn't going to cop out here, and he doesn't.

Death gives Cap a pretty bad beating, before he realizes Malik was safe and he'd lost; which to him meant the suffering of humanity would be extended. He threatens Cap, that a bad end was coming for him. With seemingly everyone gone, while healing up Steve wonders if they made it, but thinks he might never know...while unseen behind him, a flowerbed blooms.

So, that didn't work for me much, except seeing Cap being Cap, even in a plotline that didn't feel like it was for him; but the next issue had Spidey and Thor guest-starring, so maybe Straczynski could course-correct from there. What I did like, was a Deadpool and Wolverine "Street Ball" ad, in the style of the great Spalding Jack Davis ad from the 70's! I know I've seen Wolvie and Pool hoop it up multiple times (like when I first started reading Deadpool!) but my headcanon now is that they sucked and always have. Wolvie's short and heavy as hell, no way he can jump...(Pretty sure that's Ryan North and Scott Koblish.)

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Oh, man, I hope Beatriz still flies around like that. Clears out the sinuses!

This is a pretty banged-up copy, but a moderately important one! From 1979, Super Friends #25, "Puppets of the Overlord!" Written by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Ramona Fradon, inks by Bob Smith.

It always strikes me, when I get a random old issue of Super Friends; that it was in theory the younger reader, kid-friendly version of the characters, based on the cartoon; yet still leaned surprisingly heavily on continuity and lore, even events and characters not seen on the show. Today, bad guy Overlord (really the second Overlord, the first had maybe been his puppet, or was maybe now a puppet) had taken over a small nation and was using its resources against the Super Friends, starting with a "thought-induction helmet." Since the JLA satellite was too far away and he didn't know the heroes' secret identities, Overlord strikes at them at the Hall of Justice, located in scenic Gotham City! The assembled heroes go off the rails for justice, with Batman and Superman, frustrated at having to work within the law, opting instead to take over North and South America, respectively. Aquaman realizes all the mistakes he made as King of Atlantis, and decides to correct them by taking over all the undersea kingdoms; while Wonder Woman opts to free the oppressed women of Africa, and the Wonder Twins choose to bring their superior alien culture to Eurasia. Oh and Robin goes to Australia, where he has a run-in with Tasmanian Devil--no, not that one, you know it's not! 

Batman heads up to the JLA satellite, where he immediately has to gas Green Lantern for not being onboard with his plan. Likewise, Wonder Woman throws down with her "black sister" Nubia in Africa, and Superman knocks out Beatriz Bonilla da Costa, aka the Green Fury, better known to us as Fire, in her first appearance! Her flaming--and, inexplicably, freezing--breath does nothing to the Man of Steel, so not a great start for her. Aquaman takes out Mera and Aqualad, to keep their "old-fashioned morality" from getting in his way, while Jan and Jayna's plan to rule hits a snag when they address a crowd somewhere in "the Arabian Peninsula" that didn't speak English. But, Seraph, the hero of Israel shows up to help--look, it was a different time, alright? Although even so I'm wondering what he was doing there. When Jan and Jayna change form, they snap back to their usual selves, and realize that's how they can save the other Super Friends, by changing them to their civilian identities. Except, Aquaman didn't have one, so he was going to be tougher, especially since the team had to fight him plainclothes! (A bit of lip service is paid to protecting their identities: if anyone saw this fight, it was just going to be Atlanteans, who were telepathic and could've found out anyway, if they cared.)

Aquaman puts up a solid fight, using a squid to get a Kryptonite meteorite to keep Clark out of it, then he no-sales a Green Lantern battering-ram by letting it hit him in the back of the head: his blonde hair was yellow and immune to the power ring's yellow impurity! Diana however is able to contact Mera to pop him one, and the magic lasso cures everyone of the mind-control effect, but they don't know who was behind it. Meanwhile, Overlord ponders his next attack, while one of his puppets seemingly taunts him...

Also this issue: another of DC's title-specific subscription ads; and their Daily Planet hype page! Man, I miss the latter: I know they tried to do something in that vein with "Channel 52" for a while, but it's not the same.

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It's kind of the inverse of the opening of UP; except there's ducks. And Badger. And a professional wrestler...

One simple trick for writing action-hero type material, whether for TV or movies or comics, is that sometimes the writer can make the bad guys such rat bastards that the audience is completely onboard with whatever the hero has to do to make them pay. Property damage, excessive force, violations of the laws of god and man, whatever, as long as those scumbags pay. Which is where Baron seems to be taking this one, but is there a twist...? From 1987, Badger #25, "The Duck Lady" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Bill Reinhold, inks by Jim Sanders III.

"The Duck Lady" is rather dismissive, as Minerva Kuipers led a rich life in addition to that aspect: she had been a teacher, and her husband had built their house by the side of a Wisconsin lake. Retiring, the couple was happy there until he died in 1975. She stayed in the house, feeding and caring for the ducks on the lake; until years later, when sleazy developer Jerry Grate built a house next door, moving in with his three sons. (The oldest, from a previous marriage, it's noted.) Grate offers to buy Mrs. Kuipers out, but she declines. The next morning, after a late night partying, Jerry is awakened by the ducks, and throws a fit. He confronts and calls the cops on her for feeding them, then with his youngest two sons shoots several of the ducks. With seemingly nowhere else to turn, she writes a letter to a man she had only seen on television...you were expecting Morley Safer, maybe? Of course she wrote Badger, who's there almost immediately. He crashes the Grate family's latest party, giving the two younger brothers a bit of the what-for.

Badger had known this would escalate, and had already set up a tent in the woods to keep Mrs. Kuipers safe, as high and pissed, the Grates burn down her house. In a white camo version of his usual costume, Badger then kicks the tar out of them, leaving them calling for their big brother: pro wrestler Killdozer! Who had a girl up in his room, did not give a rat's ass what happened to his brothers, but maybe can't let somebody just run all over his dad, despite having nothing but admiration for Badger. Their fight doesn't go the distance, partially because Badger seems to be just dodging him, since Killdozer both didn't seem to have done anything wrong and was large enough to crush him. Instead, it's Mrs. Kuiper that saves the day, cracking her former student Brian 'Killdozer' Harris with a ruler! Despite his repeated mangling of the king's English (each followed by a crack from that ruler!) Killdozer still respected "the only teacher who ever cared about me," and says his dad will replace her house. Which Grate does, selling his place to Killdozer, and leaving Mrs. Kuiper and her ducks in peace, possibly only maybe disturbed by Badger. (Badger could speak with animals, although the ducks seem dubious.)

Also this issue: another installment of Clonezone, an odd name for a strip about a "lizardgator" hack comedian: basically Borscht belt, in the setting of Nexus. It's somewhat odd, and I have the feeling Baron enjoyed doing those more than any fans took to it, but it did sometimes have jokes! I swear there was one with a Gong Show-style rendition of "Feelings" that was so bad I could hear it, which is a mean feat for a comic book. Read more!