...and the Atom leaves tiny footprints all over the Calculator, in two back-up stories from Detective Comics #463, "Crimes by Calculation." Written by Bob Rozakis, with art by Mike Grell and Terry Austin; and #464, "A Hot Time in Star City Tonight." Written by Bob and Laurie Rozakis, and art by Mike Grell and Terry Austin.
These two stories were the first in a serial with new villain the Calculator, who starts by fighting the Atom and killing a college professor who had developed an anti-earthquake device. Defeated by the Atom, the Calculator presses the star button on his chest keypad, which is teased as being important in future stories. The next issue, an escaped Calculator tries to use Black Canary's sonic scream to drive the temperature up to unbearable levels and drive the citizenry out. Canary beats him as well (apparently driving the local temperature to a balmy 526 degrees, according to a nearby bank thermometer) but the Calculator pushes star again, which he counts as a win while he's back in jail.
I don't have the next issues yet, but I guess the Calculator's plan somehow involved every time a hero beat him, he wouldn't be able to be beaten the same way again, or some such. Sadly, even though I think Gail Simone revamped him as an evil counterpart to Oracle, I don't think he's ever been popular enough to reprint anything of his.
I think Simone did her best to revamp him. And I think it worked, but then again he wasn't allowed to do much leading up to and during Final Crisis.
ReplyDeleteOf course with the reboot, that all became moot, but who says he can't comeback as the evil Oracle? Especially since there is no Oracle.
He'd make an interesting figure based off his old costume though.