You know what you need before the comic-con? Another big ol' stack of comics!

Maybe two, it's entirely possible between when I type this and now. (And sure enough, I did!)

There are honestly not a lot of good reasons why I live where I do--I'd tell you why, but I don't like remembering what a lout I was--except comics. Seriously. When I was a kid, probably from about seven years old until I graduated from high school; there was always at least three places in my tiny Montana hometown that had comic books. The last time I was there was at least fifteen years ago, and the only comic I saw was a clearance copy of WATCHMEN. (Which I bought!) 

Where I live now, my main comic book shop, where my pull list lives, has three locations; two of which often have cheap books. (The third is a bit more of a casual, gamer store) There's two other comic shops, a used bookstore that sells a bunch; and then two more places the next town over! Throw the local comicon on top of that, and more recently, a used toy store with two locations? That kind of explains why I remain. (Well, that and inertia...those boxes are heavy!) 

I think of this, not just because said comicon is tomorrow; or because I just bought a stack of books when I was trying to get a ticket for it; but because my dad turns 80 this month. And he's doing OK for an 80-year-old guy; although he's not driving anymore: he recently told his doctor that was kind of hard on my mom, since it cut into her drinking time...I don't think Mom's had a glass of wine in years, and I unfortunately see where my sense of humor comes from...Anyway, I was thinking, what if I had to go back to Montana and take care of my folks?  (Odds are I won't have to; my sister lives much closer!) I might not have a comic shop within a hundred miles or more; so stocking up on cheap books now while I can makes more sense! Get those issues of Damage while you can! Doesn't matter if I have time to immediately read them.

Anyway, here's a book from a mini-series that I bet you a quarter I don't find the rest of at that show: from 1989, Strikeforce: Morituri Electric Undertow #1, "Street Moves" Written by James D. Hudnall, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Carlos Garzón.

We checked out the last issue some time back, which had the same creative crew; but like a ton of other comics had the time this was an attempt to pivot to 'prestige format,' and maybe keep going as mini-series on their own schedule instead a month-in/month-out grind. Or maybe to charge $3.95 a pop instead of $1.50...Actually, before I bash that, let's math it out. This one's 52 adless pages for $3.95; while Strikeforce: Morituri #31 was $1.50 for 25 story pages, with ads. I'm basing the page counts on the GCD rather than counting myself, and I think the $1.50 book was a slightly higher-end than regular newsstand, newsprint comics, but it seems like a better deal. For readers, anyway; maybe the creative team got a bigger payout with the prestige format stuff. Also, I'm glad I looked this up, since this was a five issue mini and I wouldn't have guessed that. (A brief pause, as I just ordered a collection, with the tailend of the regular series and all of Electric Undertow!) 

You may be wondering if I ordered it just to save myself some hassle, or I saw it cheap and snatched it, or some vague completionist urge, or was it actually good? Three out of four of those; but mainly, it is pretty good! Set ten years after the end of the regular series, after the alien Horde had been defeated, earth has settled back into being largely corporate-run states, with the citizens affluent and kind of dumb; addicted to VR and computer learning and/or consumerism. There also seems to be a lot of people spontaneously combusting, although no one knows why. Dan Baker is a private investigator, and one of the few surviving Morituri recipients (the one-year lifespan having been cured in the series) and has a fairly good life: he married one of his teammates, and they have two kids. Except he was currently living in his office, since he was afraid he was losing his mind; as he kept seeing one of his dead teammates, Will Deguchi. (I'm not positive, but I think Will was designed after early series artist Whilce Portacio!) 

This was maybe less than a year out from New Warriors #1, so Bagley hadn't quite broken big yet; but this is nice work. Now, if I could just find that note I scribbled somewhere; I think I'm missing one, maybe two issues in the whole series; let's see if I can avoid buying the whole run twice!  

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80-Page Thursdays: Action Comics #1000!

This gets into Marvel-style numbering shenanigans; I had thought because of the Action Comics Weekly run, but also because there's Action #23.1 through 23.4! I also thought the jump would be from the previous issue, but no, they had earlier gone from #52 to #957...oh, comics. From 2018, Action Comics #1000, featuring stories from Dan Jurgens, Geoff Johns, Marv Wolfman, Louise Simonson, Paul Dini; and more; and art from Jim Lee, John Cassaday, Jerry Ordway, José Luis García-López, Curt Swan, Rafael Albuquerque, and more. Cover by Jim Lee, but there were like 43 variants to choose from; I think I have the Mike Allred one somewhere. 

Anyway, this is largely a celebration of Superman, what makes him inspiring for all of us; and aside from a couple visits to his 1930's beginnings and one to the future, a lot of the stories seemed to be from the Triangle era, which was probably the heyday of the book for a lot of the creators. I didn't love that it closed, as DC often seems to do now with this kind of milestone book, with an attempt to kick off like the next 1000 issues with a bang; here by introducing Brian Bendis as the writer, and new villain Rogol Zaar. Neither Bendis nor Zaar seemed to take off, there: Zaar is a big, chatty Mongul-type, who claimed to have been responsible for the destruction of Krypton; and this feels like any number of extraneous bits that have been bolted to and subsequently fallen off of the Joe Chill/Batman origin over the years.

But, in the plus column, there's a repurposed Curt Swan, and Butch Guice story, originally written by Cindy Goff but rewritten by Marv Wolfman: four previously unpublished pages from one of the greatest Superman artists ever, that then cheats a bit by reusing a page from Superman: the Secret Years #2, but we'll allow it! It is sad that we've lost Butch Guice and John Cassaday since then, though.  
 

This won't fit in the scanner, so this post is largely to gently bash Bendis a bit and maybe remind myself to not buy yet another copy; but I would be remiss if I didn't try to get a bit of José Luis García-López's "Actionland!" I...I want to go to there. 

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This issue, Batman vs. Foulmouth.

If I find a $7.99 book in the dollar bin, I kinda have to buy it, right? And I bought a few of this series! Did I buy enough to read a whole serial...well, that remains to be seen. From 2023, Batman: the Brave and the Bold #1. Cover by Simone Di Meo.

When is a team-up book not a team-up book? When it's an anthology title like this one, I guess. The opener was...sigh...yet another Batman "Year One" story, with Batman seemingly reeeeeeally considering letting a rather potty-mouthed wife-murderer get run over by a train; while a lost little girl is kept company in the rain...by the Joker. The Joker doesn't get word balloons in this one, but instead his speech is conveyed through silent movie-style dialogue cards. Which, kind of feels pretentious? And eats up like a splash page and 18 separate panels? I'm a little down on writer Tom King of late, so I might be too hard on him; but the Mitch Gerads art and in particular the Clayton Cowles lettering are on point; and it is a suitably gloomy start. (I don't know which designed the intertitles, though.) I also wonder, is there a database somewhere of "Year One" stories? Every year feels like twelve lately, maybe seeing that would put things in perspective. Or not. (Per the GCD, this is a retelling of the first Joker story, from Batman #1.) 

 Next, is it still a Stormwatch if they only have like two Stormwatch guys? Also, it's mentioned they would be less focused on extraterrestrial threats and more so on domestic ones; which differentiates them from the Suicide Squad how? I'm not sure anybody wants to be there. I guess they're in a satellite rather than a prison...New director Mr. Bones takes over, although holdovers Winter and Flint are still there, as the team's "Weatherman" and field leader, respectively. Most of the rest of the team appeared to be either disposable like Peacekeeper-01 (not the guy with the helmet!) or Phantom-1, or long-time characters that didn't seem to have a home now, like Ravager and Shado. The team is deployed to recover an evil scientist, which it does, barely, after a time-acceleration field nearly destroys Iron Heights. And Mr. Bones gets a call from his bosses, who threaten to terminate all of them if they don't work out...("Down with the Kings, part 1" Written by Ed Brisson, art by Jeff Spokes.)

Then, I was surprised to find a Superman story! A full Superman story, for that matter; I remember when Action Comics Weekly used to have the 2-page strips. I don't remember if super-memory is still a power, though? I feel like sometimes, maybe in later stories, but Clark doesn't maybe have super-recall over his entire life: he can't recollect the name of a childhood sweetheart from camp, but later receives a decoder ring like he had as a kid, with a note: "Save me!" Also, this was tied to then-current continuity, with Lois as acting chief of the Daily Planet; she admits to Clark that readership numbers were dire. ("Order of the Black Lamp, part 1" Written by Christopher Cantwell, art by Javier Rodriguez.)

Finally, and almost worth the full price of admission: Dan Mora does a little one-off, that is very much Batman Kamen Rider. Nothing wrong with that! ("Heroes of Tomorrow" Story and art by Dan Mora.)

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If DC Direct was still in-house, I feel like this absolutely would've got a figure already.

Mildly surprised McFarlane hasn't hit that one, actually. But, I was a little sick the other day, so I had time to finally read this one: from 2024, Superman: Lost, reprinting 2023's Superman: Lost #1-10, written by Christopher Priest, art by Carlo Pagulayan, Lee Weeks, Dan Jurgens, Will Conrad, Jose Luis, and more. 

While Lois investigates a Congressional scandal, Superman joins the Justice League for what seems like an ordinary mission. Later, back home, Superman seems incredibly out of it, and also doesn't seem to be breathing regularly. Bruce Wayne shows up, with bad news for Lois, but he seems just as surprised to see Superman there; Lois tears into him, "what did you do?" But this wasn't on Batman: the Chinese government had been trying to salvage the drive from a crashed spaceship, but caused an implosion that could've destroyed the earth: Superman sacrifices himself to stop it, and is thrown something like 14 thousand or so light-years into space. Still in shock, Superman tells them, it had taken him twenty years to get back...!

On earth, the series alternates between Clark's pronounced PTSD, and Lois's probably ill-advised attempt to bring him out of it by going to Lex Luthor. Lex's 'help' involves giving Lois cancer: he figures, she would tell Superman, Superman would attack him, and Lex would kill him, but at least he wouldn't be all weird and mopey anymore, right? Lex did not take into account the idea that Lois might not tell him, instead passing her nausea off as a pregnancy! We also see Superman's space travel, which covered vast distances but didn't really get anywhere: with no points of reference, he's mostly stuck on a distant world--that doesn't seem to have a name, so Supes calls it 'Kansas'--inhabited by a culture Priest describes as libertarian at one point. It's sort of a democracy, but also cliquish: the general consensus seems to be, if people are dumb enough to vote to be idiots, it's not anyone else's responsibility to save them. In the same vein, so what if the sun's going to explode? That might not happen tomorrow, or in my lifetime, why do anything? Oh, and Superman couldn't get full power in the sun there, blocked by a nebula; the whole thing seems virtually designed to frustrate him. Even the arrival of a Green Lantern doesn't help much, as the ring wearer, Hope, had no idea what that was...in more ways than one. 

This kind of series was usually 12 issues, right? I almost feel like it could've used the extra two, even if there's some What If Elseworlds-like sidebars towards the end that don't add a ton. Likewise, Superman goes to therapy, which he probably needed after this, but he also borrows Supergirl's therapist and her appointment! (Clark is also, somewhat rightly, hard on himself for not understanding what Kara had been going through or supporting her enough.) The therapist later asks, how much does Superman hate Lex, which Supes tries to brush off; but there are several short fantasies of Superman murdering Lex in various ways: those might actually be Lex's annihilation fantasies. After all, if Superman killed him, he would be proven right, which is really all Lex ever wanted. 

Lois also has a conversation with Wonder Woman, that seems full of jealousy and resentment, that I had thought Lois had got out of her system long ago. Similarly, every time Bruce shows up it's with bad news, and Lois is taking none of his crap. 

 I got this at a buy two/get one free at EntertainMart: they haven't come through for me as often as the dearly departed Hastings, but here and there. Recommended!

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I think I've read most of this before, and I'm still struggling.

Last night--two days ago, as this posts--there was a pretty bad wind storm here. I slept like crap, and like 64,000 people were without power yesterday morning! Not me, though, I still hadda work; and my brain is running short on power as well! Still, we've got time for one I got last week: from 1975, Son of Origins. Cover by John Romita.

Ten bucks, and in pretty good shape for a book nearly my age! I have seen the ad with that cover so many times over the years, so finding this was a pleasant surprise--it's been reprinted in '97 with a Gene Ha cover, and three more covers in 2023. This collects, duh, origins of the X-Men, Daredevil, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, and more; along with ruminations from Stan Lee about each of them. But, much as I prefer the Romita cover, I don't love how "By Stan Lee" makes it sound like he did everything from the writing to the art to the typesetting. I'm more forgiving if along with Stan's name there's even a minor nod like "and the Mighty Marvel Bullpen," even if that's also a bit dismissive.

Anyway, I'll be glad to see the back of this week; we'll see if the next is any improvement!

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We looked at Masks last month, and I mentioned having no idea what the Black Terror's deal was. This issue, sorta-kinda helps, but not really. From 1990, the Black Terror #3, written by Beau Smith and Chuck Dixon, art by Dan Brereton. 

The Black Terror in this one is Ryan Delvecchio, undercover G-man working as a hitter for the Capone family--in 1990! Allison Capone steps up as the latest heir to the family name, with an elaborate scheme to destroy America's financial structure and put the mob in charge of it. Delvecchio was the ninth Black Terror--the rest having died in the line of duty, which isn't a ringing endorsement--but the Terror had been intended to be the real force of justice in the country, while the FBI was largely useless paper-pushers. But his handlers may be ready for a tenth Black Terror... 

Got two issues of this the other day, and it's neat but doesn't have any connection to the original Black Terror comics other than the costume, which Brereton updates slightly with a trenchcoat rather than a cape. Said trenchcoat also features multiple buttons, not unlike Brereton's next book, the Psycho.

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A Sunday post! Feels like it's been a while since we've had one, but since it's the 23rd, we'll continue our streak of Avengers #23's going--with an asterisk. Despite having a solid batch of the run, my local comic shop did not have Marvel Triple Action #17, nor the original, which would doubtless have been a bit rich for my blood. Luckily, we have a budget-conscious alternative! Reprinted in Essential Avengers #1,1965's Avengers #23, "Once an Avenger..." Written by Stan Lee, pencils by Don Heck, inks by John Romita.

This was the "Cap's Kooky Quartet" phase of the team, with Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch; half of whom couldn't stand the other half at any given time. To wit, after the events of the previous issue, Cap had just quit; either because he felt he failed as their leader, or he was sick of those jerks. Hawkeye and Quicksilver keep the sniping going, and I'm just surprised they aren't full-on accusing each other of driving Cap away; while Wanda has a bit of a crush on him and misses watching him workout already. Meanwhile, it appears to have taken Steve Rogers about 30 seconds to get to upstate New York and get a job 'training' boxers, by which I mean thumping them somewhat mercilessly. Well, they were probably the 'learn by doing' types, so okay. Also meanwhile or wherever he is in time, Kang was plotting against the remnants of the Avengers, at their lowest ebb. Step one: add another level to their house. Yeah, that'll teach 'em. Actually, it might: Kang's ship, disguised to the outside world as another story of the mansion, is full of traps and easily defeats the three, who maybe are all missing Cap now.

Kang returns with his captives to his future, and has a gruff meeting with "puppet ruler" Ravonna. So far she seems to hate Kang's guts, considering him a mere "commoner," despite the fact that Kang did have a pretty legit army then. Back at the training camp, the news of the Avengers' capture makes the news, and Steve punches out the current champ so he can take off. Back in the future, the Avengers are trapped in clear cells, but the Scarlet Witch manages to shatter hers, although it takes all her hex juice and she was "vulnerable" and dizzy now, which definitely feels like that's because she's the girl. Realizing they're not on their home turf, the Avengers try to fight it out, despite being swarmed by Kang's guards and gizmos. Kang is perhaps even impressed, since this team didn't have anywhere near the power of the old roster, but was still giving it a go. Hit by strength-sapping beams, only Quicksilver escapes; but Kang is interrupted by a message from the past: Cap has used a "recreater" device of Iron Man's, to see that Kang had taken the team, and now was calling him out.

With Ravonna in his control room, Kang has to play the big man, and opts to bring Cap to the future to show he didn't fear him. To give Cap a chance, Ravonna changes where he would land: Kang knows what she's doing, but goes with it. Quicksilver finds Cap, and together they storm through the guards, to face Kang himself; largely as Kang intended. He's showing off for Ravonna and her royal court, trying to neg her into marriage; and if that didn't work, his army would come down on her kingdom like a ton of bricks. Ravonna has a bit of an aside, that she might have been into Kang maybe, if he'd not tried to impress her with conquering? Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch rejoin the fight, as Kang signals his army to attack... 

OK, let's set the wayback machine and confirm something: Ravonna appeared--sort of, in a corpse-like state--in 1969's Avengers #71, which was reprinted in Marvel Super Action #32, which I've mentioned was one of my first Avengers comics. MSA #32 would've been on stands late March/early April 1981; the other earliest Avengers I read was #211, which was from June '81! So, now I know which was first.

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There's a ghost right on the box, what did you think would happen eating it?

From 1982, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17, featuring "...the best of Ghosts and other tales of terror!" But, it doesn't actually reprint any stories from DC's Ghosts title! These stories were mostly from House of Secrets or House of Mystery, but with the host from Ghosts, the Gentleman Ghost-lookalike "Squire Shade" drawn in to present them instead of Cain or Abel. Still, it's a killer lineup this 100-pages, with art by Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Wally Wood, and more!

I didn't have this before, but recently got it while buying DVD's! Anyway, no scans from this little one, I'm afraid, but if you hit your local shop, you might be able to get the facsimile reprint of the Limited Collector's Edition #C-23, better known as the House of Mystery treasury. It'll be easier to read and includes Neal Adams's "The Widows Walk" and "Nightmare" from this one. 

Right about when this posts I'll probably be starting a busy Halloween of horror movies and Boo Berry! Ooh, I've been eating lower carb and am just dying for a big blue bowl of sweetness; in typical horror comic twist-ending fate it'll probably blow the top of my head off! If I survive the experience, there's a toy show Sunday; and we'll see you next week!

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I've mentioned, I miss the old Marvel Graphic Novel format, but I should go back and add it to the tags, since I don't think I realized Marvel put out 75 of 'em from 1982 to 1993, plus some more under the Epic label. (Which somehow, still included some Silver Surfer and Punisher ones!) I need to go back to my shelves and do a hard count: there are several like Killraven and the Sensational She-Hulk that I've read, or maybe have in other formats. But, here's one I didn't have before: from 1987, Marvel Graphic Novel #31: Wolfpack, written by Larry Hama, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Kyle Baker, Walt Simonson, and Whilce Portacio. 

This was the lead-in to their own series, although it may have been downgraded from a regular book to a 12-issue limited. If you enjoyed Hama's G.I. Joe it's worth a look: it's a New York gang with a heart of gold, and ninja training, versus a far-reaching conspiracy called the Nine. It's a little hokey in spots, but still a fun yarn; and I wish this had maybe got a little more traction. 

Man, there were like six Conan's in this format? And a Kull! I think I do have that Killraven, but it was also included in the Essential volume. The Avengers: the Vault GN was reprinted in the prestige format style, but some might be tough to find at all.

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Wasn't expecting Dracula to pull a January 6th, but here we are.

I just picked up a dollar copy of this one, and opened it up...directly to that page, like it was cursed. From 1992, Tomb of Dracula #4, written by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Al Williamson.

And of course, I wasn't positive I had even read this, but sure enough, there's an old post from 2018 with the first issue; where I indicate I was missing the second issue. Without having the other issues next to me, I think Drac was dabbling in psychic power here, and while he had an army of zombies at his command, he looked like crap, dead and rotting. Blade guest-stars, but closer to his loose-cannon characterization of the original series: he's willing to do just about anything to kill Dracula, and isn't taking no for an answer. There were also a few new supporting characters, that Wolfman may have been trying to seed for later use; but where do you go after Dracula? Anything else would be a comedown. Read more!

We mentioned this show at the start of last year, and I don't know if we'll have a scanproof book every Monday this month, but this is a good start: from 2002, Kolchak: the Night Stalker, written by Jeff Rice, pencils by Gordon Purcell, inks by Terry Pallot. 

This was an adaptation of the first Carl Kolchak story, which was a 1972 movie: it was based on a then-unpublished novel by Rice, and adapted by horror legend Richard Matheson. Abrasive reporter Kolchak doggedly pursues the story of the "Night Stalker" murders, which appear to be the work of a vampire, or someone that thinks they're a vampire. No, they're definitely a vampire. The cops are useless except for getting thrown around by the vampire, then planting evidence after Kolchak takes care of things himself. It's a frustrating end, as Kolchak gets his Vegas privileges removed; but only slightly more annoying that his usual cases. On the brighter side, I'm always glad to see Gordon Purcell art! He did a ton of DC's Star Trek.

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Is it spooky season? EEEK!

September 30? Ah, close enough. Some might consider October spooky season, but I saw a lot of Christmas stuff over the weekend. Way too much. But, I did find this from a clearance rack, too: from 2010, EEEK! #1, stories and art by Jason Paulos. Cover by Aly Fell. 

Paulos delivers 16 (!) short stories here, in the vein of classic Creepy or Eerie. Highlights include "Thrill Killer," in which a creep decides to try his hand at murdering strangers, but soon finds he's hardly the only one; and "Six Digit Disaster," where a spacefaring crook makes a fatal counting error. I think Paulos may still be crunching out horror tales for Asylum Press; good for him. 

As usual, I don't have a plan in my head, but do I have enough horror comics within arm's reach for the next month...? Mmm, tomorrow's book probably doesn't qualify as horror; but I guess it depends who you ask.

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I bought these from the same comic shop, about the same time...

...and that's about all this series has in common with yesterday's books, except I might find it even more nihilistic. From 2009, The Last Days of American Crime #1-3, written by Rick Remender, art by Greg Tocchini. Covers by Alex Maleev.

I didn't love this series, but that's kind of on me and my expectations: it's a perfectly fine, well-executed, one-last-heist story. I just didn't like the ticking-clock aspect of it: in two weeks, the American government would start its "A.P.I. broadcast," which would hit certain centers of the brain, and making knowingly committing an illegal act impossible, from sea to shining sea. The Feds were also converting to paperless currency, phasing out cash, to further hinder criminal activity; so the crooks have to act now or never. Kinda felt like stopping the broadcast should be the plot; but this isn't that kind of book and these characters aren't heroes, so...Also, the bad-girl lead shares a name with my former hometown, so I found her suspicious as hell; which might also be on me. 

This also won't cram into the scanner, but did get a reissue from Image a couple years back. Read more!

Aw, man, Cooper doesn't even make the cover!...'Copper'? That doesn't sound right.

Oddly enough, I've never picked up the Showcase collections for the Metal Men; partly because I never see the first one, and partly because I already have the Walt Simonson issues in the should-never-be-out-of-print Art of Walt Simonson. Also surprising: I didn't already have all of this one: from 2011, DC Comics Presents: Metal Men 100-Page Spectacular, mostly written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, mostly drawn by Kevin Maguire!

While this starts with a reprint of the Bob Haney-written Silver Age: the Brave and the Bold #1, the rest is the complete run of back-up stories from Giffen's 2009 Doom Patrol, which I have most of but I don't think I added it to my pull list until it was already on the chopping block for cancellation. The Metal Men stories are fun, but that's all they are: there's barely a lick of development or drama, but maybe that's the way to go with them? They're largely resistant to change, or change and then quickly change back--malleable, you might say! One change should have stuck, though: the addition of new team member, Copper; but one running joke is that most of the team seems to forget her on a regular basis. (I thought she was from Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire, but Copper was actually an earlier addition, from 2007's Superman/Batman #34!) I'd love to have her back in the lineup again, like she took two years off to hitchhike across Europe, then just told everyone she had been there the whole time, and they bought it...I wondered if maybe the guys weren't building up to something, like the reason Magnus and the others never remember her was that she was some kind of plant; but now I kinda doubt that: in the last couple stories, they gave Magnus his own lab assistant/wacky sidekick, which really feels like overegging the pudding there. Read more!

So I don't start work until tomorrow, but I'm home from vacation, and it was a lot of fun! Got some biking in and a lot of reading: the latest Stephen King--Fairy Tale, which may or may not be his latest, the way he writes--some Haruki Murakami, several Star Trek paperbacks, the somewhat unnecessary sequel to Joe Haldeman's the Forever War, Forever Peace. Didn't read enough comics, though.

I plowed through the Showcase: War that Time Forgot, which actually took me a while: it's more than a bit formulaic. Every time some soldier throws a "pineapple," drink! But that's OK: Robert Kanigher hit a formula that worked, and kept at it. These weren't intended to be collected, there's barely any continuity in the stories. There may be more continued stories in the Young Love collection; which I didn't find a listing for on Amazon right now; which is partially why I bought it. It was on sale, and who knows when I'd ever see something like that again; but it's more of a historical curiosity for me, so it's slow going as well. Although, the plots have mildly surprised me twice so far: one story where the heroine realizes her doctor love-interest wasn't going to work out, and moves on; and one extra-bonkers one where a girl refuses to let a friend steal her man, even if she has to pull him out of a car wreck to prove herself...! There's a ton of John Romita art in YL, I'm not sure if I've even got that far yet.

At a glance: the WTTF stories collected here were from 1960-66, and the Young Love stories were from 1963-66, so they were probably on the racks at the same time! 

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Another one that won't fit in the scanner, but I didn't think I would ever have: I wasn't even positive it ever came out! From 1991, Badger Bedlam #1, written by Mike Baron, pencils by Steven Butler, inks by Ken Branch. Cover by Jay Geldhof. 

Badger is legitimately crazy, and on occasion would make poor choices. Multiple poor choices, in succession: trying to outrun the cops when they try to stop him for speeding, then fighting the cops after ditching his motorcycle in the river, then fighting the judge at his arraignment! He gets sent to the "Reich Center for Phobic Disorders," and it's pretty obvious nothing good happens there. Badger cycles through his various personalities while Dr. Reich schedules his lobotomy; but an old bad guy (who I hadn't seen before!) is there as well...A fair chunk of this issue is flashbacks, to Norbert's time as a POW in Vietnam. 

This was intended to be the first quarterly issue of First Comics new publishing scheme; moving away from traditional monthly floppies to squarebound "prestige" format books. They did not get a lot of them out before the company folded; and in all those years I don't think I'd ever seen a copy of this one! I just got a mountain of cheap books recently from Midtown Comics, and lucked into it. (A tip I hadda figure out myself: I had a Legion flight ring and a store-branded marker in my cart, but they would've DQ'd my order from free shipping!)

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This won't fit in the scanner, but luckily we had a random issue too.

My local shop has been clearancing a bunch of stuff they don't want to move again...insuring that I'll be the one that has to move it. Hmm. From 2005, Robo-Hunter: Day of the Droids, reprinting from 1980's 2000 AD and Tornado #152-#174 and 2000 AD #259-#265, written by John Wagner (as T.B. Grover) and Alan Grant, art by Ian Gibson.

I've read most of this before, but it's nice to have in one place. It's a longer serial than I'd remembered, 23 progs! (We saw a piece of one, some time back!) This collection also features "The Beast of Blackheart Manor" in which Sam Slade moves to Brit-Cit, followed by his self-appointed "assistant" Hoagy; and solves a murder mystery that I'm positive includes cannibalism that gets glossed over in the end. I've never been one for meat "pies" but that'll put you right off them...

For good measure, we've got a Quality reprint: from 1987, Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter #4, "The Filby Case, parts 4-7" From 2000 AD #269-#272, written by Alan Grant, art by Ian Gibson and Dominic Regan. Despite a broken ankle, Slade's still on the case to find Ronald the Random Robot, who appears to have randomly developed psychic powers that everyone wants, but he's joined the Robo Goonie cult. As has the undercover Hoagy, who is too dumb to remember he did that because he was undercover.

Also this issue: an early Ro-Busters tale from 2000 AD and Starlord #100, "To the Death!" Written by Pat Mills, art by Dave Gibbons. Gentle giant Charlie savagely defends his city against the demolition robots the Terra-Meks. In a scene like a really dark Bob the Builder, the damaged Tyranno-Mek helps destroy himself as to not hold up his teammates Roadroller and Excavator from their work schedule. Since these robots dwarfed the bulldozer Mek-Quake, he wisely/cravenly ducks out, while the money-men plot to pin the blame for all this on Charlie...I seem to recall this one ends happier than most Ro-Busters stories, though. Read more!

Well, this'll definitely fall under the "scanproof books" tag; but it's one I remember seeing the house ads for, and didn't think I'd ever happen across. From 1989, Demon Knight: A Grimjack Graphic Novel, written by John Ostrander, art by Flint Henry. Cover by Keith Parkinson. 

The extradimensional city Cynosure is having a bit of a temporal crisis, which doesn't really seem like a job for Grimjack, but in a pinch, man. His current incarnation, James Twilley, gets sent back to the Demon Wars, which might give him a second chance to save his lost love Rhian and her world Pdwyr from being betrayed to the demons. Or, is this just another opportunity for the universe to kick him in the teeth and going to end in him losing her again...? No spoilers, but c'mon, this was Grimjack. 

This was an 8.5" x 11" book, kinda the same format as the old Marvel Graphic Novels, and it feels like forever since I had read a book in that style! Glad to have it.

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Somehow I managed to schedule posts for next week but not this one; but I guess that gives us the chance to check out a trade I didn't think had even been collected: Suicide Squad: Casualties of War, reprinting the 2002 series. Written by Keith Giffen, art by Paco Medina, John Severin, and others. 

We checked out #10 some time back, but this run was post-Our Worlds at War and featured Frank Rock and Bulldozer--somewhat improbably still pretty active for WWII vets--running the Squad, as Amanda Waller was working for President Luthor. The Injustice League/Justice League Antarctica guys are largely killed off in the first issue: Cluemaster 'dies' but returns pretty quickly since the Batman books used him, and Major Disaster becomes a mainstay of the team. (I strongly suspect Cluemaster returned with little, if any, explanation other than "I'm Cluemaster, bitch!") Oddly, Giffen also seems to take out another "bwah-ha-ha" era JL reference out, as the island Kooey Kooey Kooey is apparently wiped out in a tidal wave! 

Somewhat infamously, in the last issue "Rock" disappears, leaving behind a rubber mask. I had suspected him of being Nemesis, but the Unknown Soldier had also appeared in one of the Rock flashback issues, so who knows? The wheelchair-bound "Bulldozer" isn't allowed to see more, but does get up and walk away. And Havana, who appeared to be in-line to take over the Squad someday, is killed by the Jihad, while saving the mom that put her up for adoption--Amanda Waller! That was a bit of a surprise, and there isn't a lot of space given to her reaction or dwelling upon it. Instead, Amanda closes the series by saying "Frank Rock and Bulldozer died in 1945." If that was true, even the flashback issues were lies, so what did you just read? Your guess is as good as anyone's! Seems like maybe the cancellation crept up on Giffen, or editorial mandated some changes. Even pre-New 52, nothing in this run is referenced, ever, ever again. 

So it's an interesting, but frustrating read; since you're left wondering where they were originally going with this. I swear we had some discussion about this somewhere; but the text itself doesn't really offer any answers.  BTW, I bought this and got a Showcase Presents: Legion of Super Heroes volume 4 free, so frustration aside it was a good deal. 

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If you could be either Chris Hemsworth, or you; yeah, nobody's going to understand why you chose you.

I really kind of miss this format, even though not unlike prestige format books it wasn't always used for groundbreaking works and was often just a bigger comic. Sometimes that's fine, but there's some choices that seem odd here. From 1987, Marvel Graphic Novel #33 - The Mighty Thor: I, Whom the Gods Would Destroy, plot by Jim Shooter, script by James (Priest) Owsley, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Vince Colleta. 

This delves into the life of Dr. Donald Blake probably more than any hundred issues of Thor, as Don has lost faith after losing a patient. Drowning his sorrows in a bar, a patron seems to take a practiced interest in him (she suspects a divorce, asking if he lost the kids) until Sif makes an effortlessly dramatic entrance to offer him his walking stick. Don refuses, knowing Sif doesn't understand why he doesn't, or why Thor should even spend time as Donald Blake. When a guy gets handsy with Sif and gets thrown into the jukebox, Don has to step in to keep her from probably slaughtering the guy's friends in a bar brawl, which involves Don taking the beating himself. Don throws his stick back to Sif, demanding she leave, then goes home with the patron he spoke with earlier. I'm 90% sure we, and Don, don't learn her name! The attempt is to play it off as two people finding comfort in each other, but does seem a little sleazy? Also, we see Sif watching from outside in the rain, but she somehow gets the walking stick in there so Don has it in the morning. 

Don runs out, intent on throwing the stick off the roof, furious at Odin for putting him in that situation and convinced his father was laughing at him. He lashes out at the patron as well, but quickly realizes that wasn't fair, and tells her the truth, transforming into Thor. While he takes her flying, Sif returns to Odin, feeling like a little cog in the All-Father's schemes. She still loves Thor, but is at a loss as to what she can to for him; and Odin may (or may not) be in the same boat. He had put Thor into the Don Blake persona to teach him humility; a lesson Thor had long since learned, but perhaps Thor had learned something else: being a god was timeless, endless monotony; while mortality was a brief exhilaration. (Just because I've been recently: immortality is the trip to Disneyland from start to finish, the plane rides, the shuttles, the lines, the rest of your life afterwards...mortality is the two minutes on Space Mountain.) 

Thor briefly lavishes in the adulation of the bar patron, but when he tries to explain how he feels about mortality she doesn't get it: she feels like he could have everything; Thor has already had it. He leaves her on the roof of her building, probably regretting sleeping with Don and missing out on Thor...Thor then spends a chunk of his day doing super-hero stuff, saving a man from a construction accident, stopping a bank robbery and a fire; struggling to feel something besides envy and admiration for the mortals and their little struggles. This section has a panel you may have seen online, where Thor is offered a creamsicle! He wonders if the mortals are more alive than he could ever be, and curses his father for giving him that knowledge, making him feel things his fellow gods wouldn't. Flying into what looks like low earth orbit, Thor throws Mjolnir, aiming for "the farthest reaches of the galaxy," knowing it would take more than 60 seconds to return. 

Mjolnir seems to make good time, getting back in time to turn back into the walking stick close to Don, who is freezing and suffocating. Feeling Odin mocks him still, Don takes the stick and strikes it against his heel to turn back into Thor and save himself. Meeting Sif in a park, he laments--I know I've used that word in write-ups before, but you know Thor would definitely 'lament'--what he felt was weakness, in reaching back for the lifeline of immortality. Sif tries to sweet-talk him into returning to Asgard, but is interrupted by a small girl chasing her ball. The girl is afraid of them, but Thor gently returns it, pleased with "the wonder in her eyes," which seems to miss Sif. Changing to Don, he takes her to Bloomingdales for less-conspicuous clothing, and she almost starts a riot there refusing to give up her sword. (A guard calls her "sweet-cheeks," a phrase I've never heard outside of a comic but maybe I've never been cat-called, either.) She grudgingly agrees to have her sword delivered with her packages, and gets fitted: she's putting up with this for his benefit. Dressed up, Sif looks a lot like Wonder Woman in people clothes: still maybe not that inconspicuous. 

Taking a walk through the park again, Sif asks when they're going to get to a nice part of the city; and gets progressively less impressed with mortals as the day goes on. At dinner, she asks "What is a single moment among an infinity?" Don describes it as precious, something he would remember forever; but to Sif it passed like any other. She walks out on dinner and goes home with Don, possibly just to get her sword; but he gamely tries once again to explain why he spends so much time as a mortal. He kisses Sif, which is greeted a bit condescendingly, like he's been playing a game but it's time to stop. Don tries to contain his anger and fails; feeling that 'Don' was not a disguise but who he was, yet whenever he was in trouble he could reach back for the comfort of immortality, with a tap of his stick. He nearly throws the stick into the fire, but is body-checked by Sif, who still thinks 'Don' was a facade created by Odin and he didn't need to be doing this. Tearing off (most of) her mortal clothes and retaking her sword, she storms out: she was what she was, and didn't see what his problem was. Although tempted, Don doesn't go after her--OK, not to be mean, but he couldn't. Don was lame, Sif was six-foot-two and moving at a full huff; at a dead sprint he'd have never caught up to her. But, his beeper goes off... 

Dr. Blake is called in for surgery on a little girl, victim of a hit-and-run. No other doctor in the area could save her, it was down to him, but Don's confidence was currently zeroed out, and he runs out before the start of the operation. Outside, Sif comforts him, perhaps now seeing a bit of his strength: few other gods would care about the death of a little girl, like the falling of a tiny sparrow. She points out Thor could face any threat without fear; couldn't Don do the same for this threat? He realizes, this was his battlefield, and steps into the operating room to continue the fight. Don doesn't know if he's worked through his identity crisis, but he wonders if perhaps Odin has stopped laughing. But, on the last page, Odin ponders "new mischief against the scion of Odin," not in the sense Loki would, but seemingly indicating Odin had other lessons planned for Thor to learn. That almost makes me wonder, how much of this was orchestrated by Odin: Don losing that first patient? The hit-and-run girl? Odin cares about mortals the same way you care for a bag of rice: you might lose a few here and there, oopsie.

OK, recap aside: this came out in 1987, per Mike's Amazing World, same month as Thor #387--which was about four years after Thor lost the Donald Blake persona in 1984's Thor #340, where the enchantment was given to Beta Ray Bill! This had maybe been on the shelf for a while, then: Paul Ryan's Wikipedia page seems to indicate it would've been before D.P.7; but even that would've been after Thor #340. (Incidentally, Ryan's art wasn't quite to it's usual level; either because this was early work or Colleta's inks? Although, Sif always looked great, and that could be Colleta's influence as well.) Did Shooter suspect Donald Blake would return; that it was an integral part of the character, like Clark Kent and Superman? Shooter was fired by Marvel April 15, 1987; several months before this would come out. But, pound for pound this was more page time given to the Thor/Blake dichotomy than in maybe the entire 257-or-so issues that it was a thing. And Don Blake has managed to return, a couple times more than I thought he ever would.  

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