Hey, masks go in the garbage! The Amazing Litterbug.

I did not greatly enjoy last week, and I don't have high hopes for this week...or the rest of the month. But, nothing to do for it but keep going: I'm not throwing in the mask--er, towel--like this issue! From 1990, Web of Spider-Man #61, "Dragon in the Dark" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Keith Williams.

It's an Acts of Vengeance crossover today, but more importantly, Spider-Man's got cosmic power this week! And somewhat typically, he is not overly enthusiastic about this: in fact, he acts like he's been diagnosed with leprosy. If "with great power comes great responsibility," then with too much power comes too much responsibility, and it's done Peter's head in. Sick of having the people he saved be afraid of him, Spidey throws away his mask in a rainstorm...but it's caught before it hits the ground, by the Wizard! He takes it to his AoV cronies: both Dr. Doom and the Kingpin are positive it was a fake, a ploy of some kind. The Wizard plans to use it, to finish Spider-Man once and for all, by setting the android Dragon Man on him! The Wizard really talks up D-M, and he is impressive; but it's not like he invented the thing or was anywhere near the first to control it. He probably feels the need to hype himself up a bit, to compete with the other guys, since yeah, he was not at the same level. Wizard might have been brought on as glorified tech support.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker...takes a shower, at his upscale apartment, and the bathroom seems laid out weird? He couldn't afford it in a million years, but Harry Osborn gave him a break on the rent. Which somehow adds to his responsibilities? Also, despite making a stink about quitting, he still puts his Spidey-suit on, under his street clothes! He has a brief visit with Liz Osborn on his way out, and Liz can tell he's depressed: she had known him for years, and probably seen that dozens of times. Then, on the subway, Dragon Man sniffs out Peter, and blasts him with his flaming breath!

We cutaway to Doom, plotting to steal the cosmic power from Spider-Man: it worked on the Silver Surfer, should work here, right? It doesn't, the power is too much, and the ensuing explosion nearly kills him. Mary Jane visits her cousin Kristy, who was getting treatment for her eating disorder: her parents sound pretty terrible, although I don't know if they, or Kristy, have returned. Meanwhile, cosmic Spidey was unharmed by the flames, and creates a new costume out of thin air. Then, immediately has to make another, after getting flamed again. The fight does a good amount of damage, but Dragon Man is no match for cosmic power. Still, as bystanders show legitimate concern to the fight, Spidey's had it, and tells them once he takes Dragon Man to the Vault, he is done. Except, a crowd of people from the subway sing Spidey's praises for saving him, and he's back in it. And the Wizard worries, what if the others find out, he gave Spidey his groove back?

Two final subplots: Doom realizes--or maybe just assumes--someone sabotaged his attempt to score cosmic power. Loki is watching, but may or may not have done anything? And Liz Osborn is worried about calls she keeps getting, from someone out of jail: probably the Molten Man, but maybe not. (Yep!) I know Spider-Man is a tough gig, but good grief, is Peter mopey in this one, and it kind of feels out of place: great wife, good friends, nice apartment, new powers, boo-freaking-hoo. And I didn't like how the ending made it seem like he needs adulation to keep going: everybody knows action is his reward. Still, now I need to check if I've read Web #65, where most of the villains Spidey beat with cosmic power, team up and come back! They'll give him something to cry about...nah, they'll bicker, get over-confident, fail to work together, and get clowned; if I had to guess. Read more!

Wha--I wanted to see giant robots, not the least compatible couple ever making out!

I know a lot of times around here, when I blog some random comic, it's part 9 of 47, and you're going to have to either catch up on the fly or figure it out from context. And that's how I came to this particular issue, almost 39 years ago! From 1986, Robotech: the Macross Saga #11, "First Contact" Written by Jack Herman, pencils by Mike Leeke, inks by Chris Kalnick.

Without getting deep into Macross/Robotech (or the plot this issue, since we don't have all day!) this was one of the first anime shows to break big in America; and it wasn't aired within 80 miles of me! I think it and Star Blazers were maybe sometimes on WGN from Chicago or something, at like four in the morning in some (relatively) nearby towns, but nowhere I could watch it. (See also: Spectreman, which was on TBS in 1978 every day while I was languishing in school! Goddamn Mountain Time...) Nor do I recall usually seeing Comico books on the spinner racks near me: for some reason, I only ever saw them in Canada, where I occasionally visited my grandparents. I bought this issue, but I'm pretty sure it was the only issue of the series I ever saw!

Two or three years later, I'd read the guidebook for Robotech: the Roleplaying Game, and then much later read the Jack McKinney novels. I recall different covers, though: I didn't read them as single novels, but rather omnibuses or collected up a bit. I don't think I watched Robotech until the late 90's! Enh, it's okay: I have an abiding love for Macross II, though. (Shiro Sagisu music! He'd go on to Neon Genesis Evangelion.) I don't know if I have a point to this, except that if something maybe interests you, maybe if you're patient you'll eventually find it. Especially now with that new-fangled internet: I hadda do some legwork! Read more!

"Well, look at that. 'Start Ragnarok, all die.' Even had it underlined."

I watched the last season of What If? over the holidays, and while it didn't knock my socks off, I don't know why it's ending, either: plenty of other stories out there, although I suspect they're limited by what actors are available to use. (Just use voice actors! They usually do a better job anyway.) Here's a recent one, that maybe could've used a Watcher, to ask, what was Loki thinking? From 2023, What If..? Dark: Loki #1, "The Song of Mjolnir...in minor..." Written by Walt Simonson, pencils by Scot Eaton, inks by Cam Smith and Scott Hannah.

This was "What If...? Dark," not "Dark Loki," and I think there were a few one-shots here that were all downbeat endings. I was flipping through old Journey Into Mystery covers, since I thought this might be based of a story from that era; but it didn't immediately jump out. (Maybe around Thor #138!) While Thor fought Ulik, Loki steals Mjolnir, having used enchantments of his own and from Karnilla so he could lift it. He then stabs Dr. Donald Blake in the back with Mjolnir's walking-stick form, and murders Sif for good measure! Then, he makes a quick trip to Nornheim, to kill Karnilla before she could take back her magic. Three murders so far, and Loki's just getting started! He's mildly annoyed that Mjolnir doesn't return to his hand and he has to dig it out, but as the hammer sparks lightning while he holds it, he thinks Mjolnir is starting to learn who was boss.

Spying on Odin, Loki sees how Ragnarok usually goes down, starting with his torture, then the death of Balder. He opts to move up that timetable, using Mjolnir to force-grow a sprig of mistletoe into a mighty spear, with which he backstabs Balder, right after he got the bad news about Karnilla. Loki then frees Fenris, and rallies his allies: the Frost Giants, Hela, the Midgard Serpent Jormungand, and Surtur. Heimdall gets clobbered by Mjolnir before he can sound the alarm, and Loki's forces storm Asgard almost without a fight. Odin is eaten by Fenris, and Loki is now in charge...for about three seconds, as Surtur was going to light his sword, and burn all of the Nine Realms. Somehow this comes as a surprise to Loki; and he can't throw Mjolnir hard enough to stop him; nor can he turn the lightning on Surtur. Instead, Mjolnir lightnings Loki into ash. Surtur lights his sword and destroys everything; even himself. But, a flash of lightning heralds a new universe.

Feels like Loki should have kinda seen this coming; but gods might be locked in on some of their actions. Still, he had been on a roll; did he really need Surtur? All he does is show up at the end to set everything on fire; maybe leave him on the bench. This issue would've been on the racks just prior to the first episode of the second season of Loki, and feels like a conscious choice, to remind readers when Loki was consistently an amoral monster. Read more!

There is currently a lot of hype over the newest New Gods books, and while Ram V has done some stuff I liked, I wonder if the hook isn't going to be like the recent-ish Green Lantern crossover Godhead. (From ten years ago? Geez.) In that, despite the absence of the "evil" Darkseid, the "good" gods of New Genesis were still locked into a war mindset and were not really any better than their counterparts, covering their decisions with platitudes like "hard decisions" and "for the greater good." Which, honestly, you don't have to look super-far to see parallels in today's culture for that, huh? Although, my enthusiasm for any New Gods stuff might be tempered by the fact that I have a drawerful of assorted last issues for them, but let's check one I grabbed at random: from 1996, New Gods #10, "Sacrifice of the Gods" Written by Rachel Pollack, pencils by Stefano Raffaele, inks by Brian Garvey.

The story opens with guest-star Superman, in a situation not unlike he would face in his own books: with earthquakes and angry electrical storms hitting Metropolis, he flies into action, frustrated at "choices," having to prioritize figuring out the problem rather than simply helping people. When a Boom Tube appears, Supes assumes it's going to be a Darkseid-thing, but instead receives a message in the form of Highfather's colossal face, who tells him to come to New Genesis, where the real problem was. Metropolis appears to be able to see Highfather's projection, so the effect is that of God seemingly summoning Superman away, which I feel would be a weird look for him. Travelling through the Boom Tube, Superman arrives to find Darkseid, and gets zapped by his Omega Beams before he can throw down, but Highfather tells him Darkseid wasn't the problem here. Instead, it was S'ivaa, the "dancer of destruction," a force from the "timeless time between the death of the old gods and the birth of the new." With the Source out of balance, only "sacrifice" could stop S'ivaa from destroying the universe; and Darkseid and Highfather had to prepare before giving themselves to the Source. (I really don't think Darkseid would be trustworthy on that sort of thing.) They need Superman, to help Orion stall S'ivaa.

Orion, for his part, isn't keen on Superman's help, but if Highfather says so, then whatever. They don't do well, and S'ivaa tears a hole in space, through which Superman can see multiple, seemingly tiny worlds, and hear them screaming as they burn. Orion's Mother Box advises them, to use Superman's heat vision and Orion's astro-force, to "cauterize" the universe-hole. This leads to a somewhat lengthy sidebar: to Orion, all other universes were "mere bubbles" in the one true universe of New Genesis. Superman argues no, but Orion goes on: that includes Superman's universe as well. But, wouldn't Superman be microbe-sized in New Genesis, and Orion a massive giant on earth? Nah, the Boom Tube adjusted sizes to relative conditions. Supes is seemingly befuddled by this revelation, which I think Kirby did a couple times as well, to underline the fact the New Gods were up there, and not just costumed baddies for fight scenes. On the other hand, is Orion a trustworthy source, as it were; or is he repeating the dogma?

Both Apokolips and New Genesis were being shaken by S'ivaa's incursion, as we see some Parademons try and stop some "Lowlies" from performing their own pagan sacrifices to the fire in the hopes of salvation. Meanwhile, Highfather and Darkseid have seemingly completed their preparations, which for Highfather appeared to mostly be lamenting that he couldn't kill Darkseid right there. But, greater good and all; and he and Darkseid fly into the Source Wall...Darkseid? Hey, Darkseid, you here? Yeah, Darkseid bails, laughing as Highfather gets sucked in. But, would that be enough sacrifice to save the universe...to be continued! Pollack would have one more issue, before John Byrne took over with New Gods #12: somewhat surprisingly, instead of a new #1, that would be a ninety-nine cent issue. The series would only continue to #15, though; before relaunching as Jack Kirby's Fourth World #1. The cycle continues to continue... Read more!

"Dubstep."

Even though it's a week between strips, how long has this plotline taken? A long evening, perhaps? A shorter installment today, since I'm behind from the year-end stuff, and have some housekeeping-type stuff to take care of. Read more!

There's no Justice...in this comic, appearances notwithstanding.

For "The End" week this year, one of the books I didn't get to in my pile of last issues was Justice #32, the last issue of the New Universe title. And spoiler alert, it's not very good: we've mentioned before how that title had been massively retconned midstream, but while there's a couple decent supporting character beats, Peter David gets really referencey-jokey, even for him, here; and Lee Weeks had moved on: the art was by Alan Kupperberg and feels rushed. Of course, I also say in that post, don't buy Justice out of the quarter bins, it will just hurt you; but of course I'm not one to take my own advice. That said, we've got something else today, but close: from 1987, Nightmask #8, "Transfer Point" Written by Archie Goodwin, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by Rich Bryant. 

Nightmask was one of several New Universe books cancelled at the twelfth issue, and although Marvel has tried to bring a redesigned version back, I don't know much about the character, Keith Remsen, except that he could enter people's dreams. Which seems tapped into the zeitgeist, "Dream Warriors" would have been having their moment in 1987! The series didn't appear to have a consistent art team--which could lend itself to dream interpretation, or could make every issue feel like a fill-in--ah, there's a Kyle Baker issue in there! It also wasn't consistently written, either: this would be the last written by series creator Archie Goodwin, and it ties into another New Universe character he created: Justice. Who appears here, as an implacable serial killer with a laser hand. Even though Keith knows it's out-of-character for him, he sees Justice murder most of his supporting cast, while coming for him and his sister Teddy.

To try and pump himself up in a chase on a subway train, Keith manifests his Nightmask costume, while awake, which he hadn't been able to before. Because he was in a dream, duh: he had been trapped in the nightmare of a young thug, whose older brother had been a drug dealer killed by Justice in his first issue. The thug had seen the murder and understandably been a bit traumatized, but in trying to help him, Keith's own survivor's guilt over the deaths of his parents transferred "Justice" to him, and he has to work through that guilt and his fear to survive. Granted, "it was all a dream!" but it's still a much more solid comic than the New Universe rep would lead you to believe. We've actually seen Nightmask before on the blog, but in his own series, he appeared to need his sister as an anchor to reality; that was probably phased out after his title was cancelled, because we know it's traditional as hell to lose your supporting cast when that happens...!

Read more!

If the timeline is so bent out of shape you're starting to notice...you might be a Legionnaire.

This issue is the first of a six-part crossover, but it's mislabeled as "End of an Era: Conclusion" on the cover. But, that'll be the least confusing part of it! From 1994, Legionnaires #17, "End of an Era, part one: History Lesson" Written by Mark Waid, pencils by Chris Gardner, inks by Dennis Cramer.

If you're not up on your Legion history, this would be a dive into the deep end; as it was the start of the crossover with the main Legion of Super-Heroes title and Valor, that would wrap up about five years of the "Five Years Later" storyline begun by Keith Giffen, as well as about 36 years of continuity as they headed into their first reboot. By this point, there were two versions of much of the 30th century team: the somewhat bleak older versions, and the "SW6 Batch" younger heroes that had been found when they escaped from the Dominators during their occupation of earth. (Which had since been blown up! The moon too.) There weren't still two versions of everybody, though: after three Legionnaires capture a deranged Rokk "Cosmic Boy" Krinn trying to rebuild earth, most of both teams had gathered on the funeral asteroid Shanghalla, to mourn the loss of the younger Laurel Gand. (Who was a post-Crisis continuity patch replacement for Supergirl!) Unfortunately, the mourning period is stepped on by the arrival of both Brainiac 5's and Invisible Kid. (One Brainy looked much, much older; after a battle with time-travelling baddie Glorith.) They've got some bad news, about the end of the universe...

Put simply, both in-story and in publication, the Legion's timeline was completely flarked; and they appeared to be turning into the skid here pre-Zero Hour. Long-time supporting character and time-travel researcher (and secret GL!) Rond Vidar points out recent changes, like the sudden and unexplained arrival of young versions of Star Boy and Dream Girl: everyone had been acting like they had been there the whole time, but if they really thought about, they maybe just showed up last week? And another more recent supporting character, former P.I. Celeste McCauley had Green Lantern energy powers previously, now she was a Darkstar? (She's drawn to resemble a female version of the bald, reddish-skinned one from the Travis Charest ads for that brief series; even more than just having the elaborate costume!) The Legionnaires aren't really shaken by this yet, feeling that "the heart of the Legion still holds!" Until, the older Brainy leads them to a funeral marker, for Superboy, whom half of them don't seem to remember. (That wasn't across old/new lines, either, just some did and some didn't.)

The Brainy's explain, the timeline keeps shifting, but since they keep shifting with it, they aren't necessarily aware of it. To illustrate his point, the marker for Chemical King is briefly replaced by Chameleon Boy, as Chemical King switches with him for a moment. The timeline problems had started--allegedly, we know they'd been around longer--when the SW6 entered stasis; which brings up a sore point: so far, it had never been firmly determined what the SW6 was. The obvious answer would have been some kind of clones or duplicates created by the Dominators, but they weren't. There was even some proof that pointed at the younger versions being "real" and the older versions "knock-offs," as Leviathan indelicately puts it.

Before a fight can break out between the two versions, some actual villains appear from nowhere, and a pretty powerful lot: Satan Girl, Urthlo, and the adult Legion of Super-Villains Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen! (Sun Boy--the younger Sun Boy, who might have been using the name Inferno? He gets popped in the mouth before he can point out 'Satan Girl' was a duplicate of Supergirl--who, in the updated continuity, would've been Laurel Gand, but that wouldn't work without a lot of rejiggering: Satan Girl was created by Supergirl being affected by Red Kryptonite, and the Daxamites didn't have an analog to that...ah, continuity.) The adult LSV from Superman #147 might even be one of the first Legion continuity problems, as they had attacked an adult Superman, but were stopped by adult versions of the original three Legionnaires. By the way, big shout out to DC's old digests like Adventure Comics and Best of DC Blue Ribbon, since that's where I read reprints of a lot of the classic Legion stories referenced!

The brief fight is just a distraction, as the new power couple Mordru and Glorith have captured Rokk Krinn, and disappear. Luckily, the Legion had Dawnstar--minus her glorious wings, but she still had her tracking power! She could find Rokk anywhere in the universe...except she just disappeared mid-sentence. Super. There's a slight bit of logic to Dawnstar disappearing, beyond "narrative convenience," but get ready for way more of that as the story continues! Some characters will get final moments or big goodbyes, and others will just poof! Be gone, off-panel, when you weren't looking. Which maybe feels like a metaphor for the Legion, somehow. Read more!