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!

Read more!

There is a used toy place out in the valley, aptly titled Never Enough Toys, that has come through for me more than once; and came through again with a few more Marvel Legends: two Tracksuit Mafia and the Collector! And, I also got a cheap copy of this one, saving me a lot of digging: from 1996, Starman Annual #2, written by James Robinson, pencils by Craig Hamilton, Bret Blevins, J. H. Williams III; inks by Ray Snyder, Bret Blevins, and Mick Gray.

Not unlike Preacher, I didn't read Starman from the start, but got the trades with the early run, while getting new issues. Unlike Preacher, I didn't stick with Starman all the way through; and I haven't re-read much of it in years. I know I read the Batman/Hellboy/Starman crossover, but honestly, it's not my favorite Hellboy crossover: not trying to be harsh, but I liked the Painkiller Jane and Ghost ones more. For good measure, I've said multiple times, I liked Robinson's Ultraverse book Firearm much more and remember it way more fondly; which makes me feel like I'm not enthusiastic about this book. But! It is another Legends of the Dead Earth annuals, and the artists are high-end, so let's go!

Blah blah earth is dead, blah blah credits page, then the framing sequence: a distant, distinctly art-deco world, opulent and peaceful and happy; home of the immortal Shade. I'm sure there's more of a continuity reason for this, but long ago Shade had visited, and immediately been smitten with, Opal City; kind of like that painting the Joker doesn't let Bob slash in Batman '89? He just liked it, and sort of resolved there, he wouldn't be a villain. Everywhere else, who knows, but he seems to have carried that benevolent side to this new world, as he tells stories to a bunch of kids that were probably described as "ragamuffins" in the script. The first story was of Prince Gavyn, the only Starman the Shade had never met. Gavyn had been a prince of a smallish (24 planet!) space empire, and had been a cheerful fop; but to prevent a Lion King situation, whenever the emperor died and a new one was chosen, anybody else with a claim to the throne was immediately executed. Gavyn had intended to remove that law, but he wasn't elected or chosen or whatever, his sister was, and she spaced his ass. In fairly typical superhero fashion, Gavyn was saved by his new alien mentor...Mn'torr; became a superhero, fought to defend the empire, died a couple times, eventually avenged the death of his jerk sister, dissolved the empire, and ruled over a single world. Happy ending, right? Only if you stop reading there!

Stop me if you've heard this one: a massive wave of nothingness, sweeping across the universe, headed straight for Gavyn's world. Red skies. Although given the opportunity to flee with his wife Merria, Gavyn immediately resolves to stay and defend his world. Before heading into battle, Merria tries to stop him, and Gavyn tells her how much her love made him a better person, but while afraid, he had to defend his people. And he did his best...to no avail, dying in the anti-matter wave. But, his world was saved, by the other heroes in the Crisis. If Gavyn had hesitated--done nothing at all--he would have lived.

A sad story, so the Shade's next one is perhaps a bit more upbeat, although it does involve several murders for the kiddies: back in the early 50's, Ted Knight, the original Starman, is put on the case of the Prairie Witch. She was a mysterious leader of a band of jewel thieves, with a "flying broomstick." Starman admitted, he didn't know how she did it, inspiring a bit of "professional jealousy." (I wonder if Ted felt that towards everyone he encountered that could fly, since probably 90% of them flew by magic, versus his science; even though said science was also basically magic.) In a recent robbery, three cops were killed while stumbling into the crime while staggering home from a bar, but one, Billy O'Dare, took a slug but still jumped onto their getaway truck, since they kidnapped another cop for reasons unknown. Starman's contact Bailey also lets on that O'Dare had been a big fan of his, and Ted doesn't feel like he's got enough fans that he can lose any.

Both Starman and the Witch go quiet for a few days, making their plans: Starman had figured her hit-and-run tactics, and had a plan. The Prairie Witch was very much swiping from the Wicked Witch of the West, although also with guns: she shoots Starman down with a .45; and he crashes, gravity rod shattered, and is captured. All according to plan! He wanted to be taken to the captured cops, although only Billy was left: out in the mysterious, creepy Turk County (man, I hope that name isn't racist) the Witch was leading human sacrifices; although we don't necessarily know why. Starman had concealed flat circuitry in his cape, and with Billy's nightstick recreates his gravity rod--the destroyed one had been meant to break. Teaming up, the Witch is no match for Starman, but disappears after crashing; and he's mildly dismayed that her broom...appeared to just be a broom. Billy tells Starman, he'll always be there for him, as will all of the O'Dares, as seen in the regular series; although the drink may not have done him any good. Sad, but the Shade tells the kids, that world, and the kids themselves, were the real happy ending.

OK, I might not have a lot of residual fondness for this title, but this could arguably be the best-looking of all the LotDE books. It's also one of only two--two that we've seen so far, anyway--that are in regular DC continuity; the other being the Power of Shazam Annual. If you trust the Shade's stories, of course.  

Read more!

This is one I've wanted to flip through for a while, although it maybe only needed one blurb on the cover? Two feels like too much. From 2014, All-New Invaders #9, "Death-Locked!" Written by James Robinson, art by Steve Pugh. Cover by Michael Komarck.

Most of the Invaders are trying to rescue Jim Hammond's old sidekick Toro from German terrorist Kurt Dagmar, with Captain America racing to join them. Bucky has already started to realize this is a trap, as he fights his way past a rather generic cyborg, while Namor and the Torch fight an army of Deathloks! Another, somewhat Cap-themed Deathlok (with shield!) shoots down Cap, holding him up a bit. Dagmar is all smiles, as his lackey continues a scan, or a hack, on the Torch; while also chatting it up with original Deathlok Luther Manning. Luther was under Dagmar's control, given just enough freedom to be frustrated and mouthy. Dagmar confides how he started his collection by buying a Deathlok from Roxxon, and he had gotten others from seemingly dozens of alternate timelines.

While the Winter Soldier meets a weird cybernetic woman in the base's central storage hub, Dagmar has the Torch disabled, then has Luther use a modified Kree weapon on Namor. He's confident it will kill Namor outright, but Cap arrives just in time to block it and save Namor, who he's not thrilled with: Cap seems so mad at him that he momentarily forgets about Dagmar, but he reflected the blast back at him, killing him...and revealing "Dagmar" to be a Martian! Huh, it's kind of a big thing; and I don't remember them being able to change shape like DC's Martians. Also, unless Cap saw Martians earlier in this run, it had been a long, long time since he'd seen any: wait, I was thinking Marvel Two-in-One #5, but that would've been Cap vs. the Badoon. When did he see Martians? Or did he just know them from the files? Cap was one to do the research. Read more!

Try to imagine meeting your mom for the first time, and she's wearing those pants. Unavoidable psychic damage!

I know I read X-Man from like the fifth issue, though at least #26, but I don't think I still have most of those, and a lot of the details are pretty vague. Still, it's way longer than I ever read Cable! From 1997, Cable #44, "Temptation in the Wilderness" Written by James Robinson, pencils by Randy Green and Allen Im, inks by Scott Hanna and Scott Koblish. 

In what appears to be a musty dungeon, in a hanging cage, Nathan Summers finally comes face to face with Madelyne Pryor, his mother. Who was wearing a slightly more modest version of her Inferno outfit! Those low-rise pants maybe aren't helping...They were on the astral plane, but at Mister Sinister's old lab: Madelyne had entered Nathan's mind while he was meditating, to introduce herself, and show him her life. She also got to Nathan just before Jean Grey could warn him, that Maddy had somehow returned as a "psychic ghost," in a really tiny editorial footnote, in X-Man #25, although she had been back since X-Man #5. There had been at least one other writer on that title since then, though; #25 might've just been the reveal of 'how.'

Anyhow, Madelyne takes Nathan on a magical mystery tour, of her depressing origin and life. She also tricks Nathan into fighting an imaginary monster at Sinister's lab, just to see how far he would go to protect her. They walk and talk for two pages that are positively Claremont-esque, in that the letterer (Richard Starkings and Comicraft!) deserves combat pay: I'm only scanning part of one of those pages, because I know you probably have other things to do today. Nathan tells Madelyne, while she had a rough start, that doesn't excuse the pain she caused, and he can't feel pity for her. She changes to a slightly more demure, winter outfit; to show Nathan where she was happiest: in Alaska, the brief window of a "normal" life between Uncanny X-Men #201 and X-Factor #1. (Maybe a month between those issues actually hitting stands? Really?)

Next, a visit to New York City, which they both hate: Nathan thinks of it as Babel, "...where no one takes the time to listen and understand." Maddy's just mad she died there, and Nathan points out, wasn't she trying to sacrifice him when she died? Maddy claims that was a lie of the treacherous X-Men, and Nathan throws her off the building. Really, but it's just to transition to something he wants to show her: real evil, that of Apocalypse. Of course, even here Nathan is still Johnny Tightlips about his real goals, as he mentions "he is the one I am sworn to defeat. Perhaps not in the manner you might think, but it is still a task that requires all my attention." Ergo, no time for Ghost Mom: he doesn't consider Madelyne, as she was then, even 'real.' Madelyne comes back, if that was his real goal, why hadn't he done it yet? Why was Apocalypse still alive? A cold glower is his only response, and Maddy then pushes too far: they could take out Apocalypse, Sinister, and the X-Men. She calls mutants "evil" one too many times for Nathan's taste, and he remembers Jean raising him in the future, as his mother.

Madelyne asks if Nathan feels nothing for her, and he grudgingly admits he felt a moment of peace in Alaska; so that would be neutral territory for them, if they needed to meet. Still, he warns if she threatens innocent lives, including the X-Men, he would fight her; but Maddy still seems to take it as a win. Nathan wakes up, with Scott and Jean there for him; a moment that makes him feel like a little boy again, and he welcomes it. Probably should've ended the issue there, but nope! There's two pages with villain Ch'vayre, who...yeah, I got nothing. From the context, he had been sent from the future, to make sure Cable stuck to the right path, but seems to have decided to change tactics, and work with Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club. (I would've thought Shinobi Shaw would've still been in power then!)

I wonder if this is just because I reflexively oppose Cyclops nine times out of ten, but I'm still Team Maddy? And I kind of dig her new costume as well. I'm not positive where she went from here, but I'm glad she's around again. Also, I'm not sure how long he stuck around, but this was Robinson's first issue here: I feel like a lot of this was editorial-driven, but the Babel bit definitely feels like his. That might be the first time I've seen Cable explain anything, though.

Read more!

This book really captures DC at the time: some cool moments, honoring some of its history, crapping on other parts...

It reminded me of Countdown to Infinite Crisis, really; although since I'm not as attached to some of these characters I'm probably not going to be as hard on it. From 2008, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1, "From a Cub to a Wolf" Written by James Robinson, pencils by Jesus Merino, Leno Carvalho, and Steve Scott, inks by Jesus Merino, Nelson Pereira, and Kevin Stokes.

Jimmy Olsen feels there's something missing in his life, drifting away from his old friends and his hookup girl, wanting more from work than struggling to keep Perry White's coffee warm. Also, at a recent fight between Superman and Atlas, he had caught a couple photos of something: a floating man, who he recognized from the funeral for a woman killed by the mob. Clark Kent encourages him to take some time off to pursue the story, with Perry grudgingly giving him two weeks.

From there, Jimmy pulls on string after string, pretty quickly getting a secret file, witnessing a murder, and getting chased by the psychic-powered Codename: Assassin! If you recognize that one, it's a deep cut: he only appeared once before, in 1st Issue Special #11 back in 1976! That's given a two-page recap, in somewhat loving detail. Despite having flight and some heavy-duty guns, C:A is troubled that he isn't able to read Jimmy's mind, which keeps him one step ahead. The file also has a link most everyone else would not have seen but that Jimmy recognizes, to Cadmus, which he remembers "even at my young age now seems like a fairy tale from long ago." He suspects the worst, then confirms his fears: the original Newsboy Legionnaires had all been killed.

Returning to Cadmus, he finds the vast facility cleaned out, with the exception of Dubbilex, who reveals another piece: the man who would later become Codename: Assassin had been Cadmus's head of security once, but was let go after killing Jim Harper, the original Guardian, in front of his own clone. Every time Jimmy had seen Guardian, that had been a clone, or possibly a clone of a clone: Harper's DNA had been special, suited for cloning. Dubbilex tells Jimmy all this before revealing he was bleeding out, already killed by Codename: Assassin.

Jimmy follows a final clue, to Warpath, Arizona; a border town that used to be the first stop for troublemakers or super-villains headed north, but had recently picked up some law. After a rather daring escape from Codename, Jimmy meets one of the men that cleaned up Warpath: Sheriff Greg Saunders, aka the original Vigilante! Who apparently works doubles, days as the sheriff, nights as the Vigilante, although sadly out of costume. He seems to pick up a hat mid-fight though, while punching up a ton of low-rent no-name super-villains with his pal, the Guardian! Or a Guardian, I guess; who similarly seems to grow a big-ass mustache overnight! This motorhome Jim Harper has a young daughter and a bit of distrust for Jimmy, but he has a story for him, that sends Jimmy racing back to Metropolis, to save Superman!

With the exception of a couple art hiccups, and an recruitment insert for the Navy, I should be more up on this one. But. I don't get how this could be virtually reverent of a one-shot wonder, while killing off multiple Jack Kirby creations, many of them off-panel? I did look up to confirm, this was Dubbilex's last appearance, at least pre-New 52. Also, the cover says "One-shot" and this wasn't, it's continued in Superman: New Krypton Special #1, and another Jimmy Olsen special, then more issues! Good effort in getting me to read that one, but no thanks: I'm pretty sure it ended with everyone involved who wasn't a regular character killed off or written out forever.

Read more!

In the mountain of comics I picked up recently, there were at least two with Doctor Doom. Actually, three: I mistakenly thought Doom was on the cover of the Mighty Avengers #10, but it was the Sentry; but Doom was inside! Well, some other time for that one; we've got one I liked and one I didn't: from 2014, Original Sins #4, "Checkmate" Written by James Robinson, art by Alex Maleev. And from 2020, Doctor Doom #3, "Death in the Afternoon" Written by Christopher Cantwell, pencils by Salvador Larroca.

"Checkmate" is a sidebar from the Original Sin event, as a Wall Street douchebro caught in the explosion of one of Uatu's eyes finds himself privy to all of Doctor Doom's secrets. Or at least something--"a memory. A secret. A sin."--bad enough he can blackmail Doom with it. Although the friend he's bragging to (who specifically asks not to be told what it was) tells douchebro he's biting off way more than he can chew, d-bro isn't worried at all. He's left copies with his lawyer, his wife, his mistress, and his bank manager. Yeah, all those people, including the friend, are dead as hell before he gets to Doom. That's amateur hour to him, suckers got to know. I hadn't read a non-Bendis book with Maleev for some time, he nails 'sleazy bastard realizing their mistake' like rolling out of bed.

"Death in the Afternoon" is from the current Doom ongoing--I think it's an ongoing? As much as anything is these days. There were a couple things I liked, but more I didn't: this was a couple issues into a storyline where Doom was attempting to clear his name after a mass murder. He had surrendered, to try and prove his innocence--like Doom cares--but was having mysterious visions of a possible future. Kang confirms that could be the case, but in the previous issue, Doom is shot dead by a sniper. The end! No, this issue opens with another vision of the possible future, as a benevolent-seeming unmasked future Doom makes an eloquent plea for his weather control system to fight climate change. Meanwhile, present Doom finds himself in hell, which seems about as bothersome to him as getting a piece bumped back to the start in a rowdy game of Sorry. Mephisto greets him, and gets manhandled a bit, but has a little challenge for Doom: convince his first love Valeria he deserves to live, and he will.

Now, that is a bit of continuity I liked, although it is probably Doom's most unforgivable crime ever: he sacrificed her for more power, and wore her skin as armor for a few. I hate to see something glossed over, especially as fast as that was; but it was probably too creepy to keep. Unfortunately, a sequence with Doom's regent Victorious takes up several pages, so we don't see much of Valeria: Mephisto, in his more demonic appearance, claims to have seen Doom's visions, and refuses to let him reduce mankind's suffering--"the food of the damned." His armor disappearing, Doom is still willing to take it to Mephisto, but the fight is broken up by Death herself, because she tells Doom he will be her greatest servant.

Returning to the land of the living, Doom knocks out Blue Marvel and H.E.R.B.I.E--yeah, Reed sent a robot, to ask Blue Marvel to field this one, because he just can't with Victor, apparently--with a spell. Kang then appears, like a helpful sidekick, which does not seem like him; Doom asks if he had seen futures where he died. Sure, tons, several where I did it, why? Oh, but this one was probably Taskmaster, hired by A.I.M.! Which may have caused the collapse of civilization. Great, Kang, Doom's ego needed that. Man, I know I'm an old, but I remember when Taskmaster had like three appearances and a Marvel Universe entry; now he's in a movie and every third goddamn comic.

The mystery of whatever's happening is intriguing, but Doom makes a snarky crack, which absolutely seems out of character. And Morgan le Fey appears as well, and I'm not sure what she's up to, but it's weird to see her in normal clothes with an apartment. Where is this going, though? Doom isn't going to be able to fix climate change, nor is he going to pay for any of the terrible crap he's done. The opening says "Over the years, Doom has wielded his power for great good and great evil," but I honestly can not think of a single good thing he's ever done, that wasn't in service of Doom in some way. I wish this issue had been 20 pages of Valeria and Mephisto roasting Doom, figuratively and literally: Mephisto is usually snarkier, I honestly thought he was going to blurt out "choke me, daddy!" when Doom had him by the neck.
Read more!

You don't have a lot of high ground in that argument, Bruce.

I had another one of those moments there, where I wasn't sure I had even read any comics last week. Um, no, read a ton, but they were all new ones; not the stuff we usually blog about here. Still, since we mentioned Warlord last week, why not check out a guest-spot from him? From 2018, Trinity #18, "No Home for You Here, part 2" Written by James Robinson, art by Patrick Zircher. I have the Guillem March cover, and I don't love it: it looks like Batman is trying to fit into the tyrannosaurus's mouth, and Travis completely overshot it and has leapt out at the reader. There is a Bill Sienkiewicz cover, though, that looks great!

This was a Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman team-up book, and, um, that's about all I know about it. It opens with the heroes being interviewed separately post-mission, setting the stage for an adventure in Skartaris! Just to make it interesting, Diana was currently blind, Superman's powers were out due to the magic of Skartaris (Power Girl's still did, for whatever that's worth!) and Batman is being Batman, as in stubborn, sullen, and charging ahead like he was the one with all the powers. Using Jennifer Morgan's magic, Travis is able to contact the trio; then shortly afterwards Jennifer herself contacts them, saying her father was dead: time worked differently there, as evidenced when they find a mysterious pile of dead soldiers from the surface world that seemingly aged to death.

Even a bit out of sorts, the heroes are still able to fight their way across the land and through Deimos's monsters, finally reaching Shamballah, under serious siege. Jennifer is glad to see them, but dismayed to realize they've all aged horribly! Even Diana, which doesn't happen very often. I think Deimos, and to a lesser extent Skartaris and Travis, would play into the rest of the series, but #20 started "The Search for Steve Trevor," and I think my eyes glazed over again just typing that. Well, maybe I'll find the last three issues cheap later. Wouldn't mind those Sienkiewicz covers, though...


Read more!

"The End" Week: Fantastic Four!

We've got some twenty "The End" posts lined up already, yet I forgot to set up one to start things out! Since the Fantastic Four has returned to the land of publication, maybe we should start with their last issue. In fact, why not their last two last issues? From 2014, Fantastic Four #16, "Doomed: Four to the Fourth Power!" Written by Matt Fraction and Karl Kesel, script by Karl Kesel, art by Raffaele Ienco, color art by Paul Mounts; with a backup story by Lee Allred and Karl Kesel, scripted by Karl Kesel, pencils by Joe Quinones, inks by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred; and from 2015, Fantastic Four #645, "...the Fantastic Four!" Written by James Robinson, pencils by Leonard Kirk, inks by Karl Kesel and Scott Hanna.

Since we checked out the Fraction/Kesel issue with Skrull Ben Franklin a couple months ago, I had wanted to check out the end of this series, and things have gone off the rails by this conclusion of a four-parter: the FF's bodies had been breaking down, because an alternate-universe Fantastic Four had shot their powers into the multiverse in order to keep their alt-Dr. Doom from stealing them. With those powers returned, everything should be fine, except alt-Doom has gone and stolen the powers of (alt-)Annihilus and (alt-)Kang! (Does Kang really have powers, technically?) So it's two FF's and Marvel Girl versus a giant Doom; I don't know if that was an alt-Marvel Girl either, but Doom sends her back to her own time pretty quickly. Alt-Reed tries to pass our Four off as clones, but Doom knows they're from another universe, and checking in on the 616, he finds...Ant-Man vs. Dr. Doom? The hell? Well, whatever. He can conquer that one next.

Reed doesn't have to go deep for the plan on this one, although there are some timey-wimey shenanigans with the Torch and his alternate. The FF use Doom's power siphon to take the alt-Four's powers, then maneuver Doom into getting scattered across time and space. They are then killed giving the extra powers back, but revived quickly enough. Alt-Reed does warn them that the "Doom the Annihilating Conqueror" was a universal constant, that would always occur eventually in any reality, and always defeated by two universes' Fantastic Fours teaming-up; but having doubled up on the powers our FF wouldn't be able to call for help when it happened there. Again, whatever, Reed'll figure something out. The FF return to their own universe and Baxter Building, and after the alt-Torch leaves to sacrifice himself; it's time for a barbeque on the moon! With a ton of guests, and one great line from Valeria: "Wondering where kids run away to if they already live in a circus."

The better part of a year later, would come the conclusion of James Robinson's run, which we saw an issue of some time back. Among other things (so to speak!) the Thing had been framed for the murder of the Puppet Master, the Human Torch had lost his powers, and the Quiet Man and Psycho-Man had turned Franklin Richard's Counter-Earth (from Heroes Reborn) into slaves and monsters. Still, Reed knows both that Psycho-Man would betray the creepy, shape-changing Quiet Man; and that his family is at their strongest when things are worst.

With the help of a bunch of guest-stars, including Sleepwalker, Jim Hammond, and the Scarlet Witch (Robinson seemed to use those last two a bit) Franklin's fake earth is destroyed (again? I swear it had been dealt with before) and Psycho-Man is defeated. The Torch gets his powers back, and Ben is freed when the real Puppet Master is found.

The back-up stories in this one are pretty good, particularly Johnny's meeting with an old girlfriend, and Reed and Valeria's day out. I don't think this gave any indication that half the team was going to be gone for three years, but it feels like the Marvel Universe has been missing them longer than that.
Read more!

"The End" Week: Invaders #41 and #15!

From 1979, Invaders #41, "Beware the Super-Axis!" Written by Don Glut, breakdowns by Alan Kupperberg, finishes by Chic Stone, edited by Roy Thomas. (Who I'm sure had some input!) And from 2015, All-New Invaders #15, "The Return of Toro, part 2" Written by James Robinson, art by Steve Pugh.

Even though it's not a series I read regularly at the time, I have strong memories of the old Invaders: they appeared as the Grandmaster's pawns in Avengers #71, which was reprinted in Marvel Super Action #32, which was probably my first Avengers comic. (Man, I haven't blogged that yet? At all? The hell? No, I did post one Invader-less panel way back when!) And I remember reading an issue where the team was captured and the Human Torch was kept in an airless, vacuum container; and I was trying to figure out why he didn't suffocate: I didn't know the "Human" Torch was an android! Not positive what issue that was.

Anyway, this issue is mostly fight sequence, between the Invaders (with less well known members the Whizzer and Miss America) punching it up with the Super-Axis, featuring Baron Blood, Master Man and Warrior Woman, and U-Man. The Torch is hypnotized by Lady Lotus for a good chunk of it, and the issue ends with Lotus escaping to fight another day, with her uncle, the Yellow Claw!

The modern, "All-New" Invaders was at least two-thirds old members: the Torch, Namor, the returned (and now of Inhuman origin) Toro, and as of this issue the old Steve Rogers, since he had lost the Super-Soldier Formula. I kind of suspect that was at least part of the reason this was cancelled: keeping consistency with Steve appearing in his book, who knows how many Avengers titles, and anything else. While Steve is having a hard time adjusting to being old, he meets with Namor and the Torch, over the coordinates in the ocean where the Avengers found him, frozen in ice.

In a recent adventure, Lash, an Inhuman searching for others of his kind that he deemed 'worthy,' intervened in a fight to invite Toro and Iron Cross to join him. Card-carrying Nazi Iron Cross was not thrilled at that revelation, but realizes his old life was over, and joins Lash. While their current adventures appeared to be wrapping up, Namor tells the Torch that he had "been the villain to Steve on many occasions," but Jim Hammond brought out the best in him. And Jim was not only working with S.H.I.E.L.D, he had rescued another former lab specimen like himself: Speedball's cat, Niels!

Who trashed a good chunk of his place, but seems to be coming around to him. It's a nice ending, that I'm pretty sure was crapped all over by Secret Empire, if not sooner; and a better storyline--the Winter Soldier, the British Invaders, and Killraven versus a new Martian tripod invasion--was left hanging. Robinson notes in the closing that some of the loose ends might be wrapped up elsewhere, but Secret Wars might've derailed that. Unless they were in Robinson's next book...better look for the last issue of that, now.

Read more!

It's been over two years since the last issue of Fantastic Four, which I have and totally should get around to for "The End" week. And even though I got that Walgreens exclusive Invisible Woman figure last month, it feels like I'll have the rest of the team before a new FF comic hits the racks. (I wrote this before the reveal of...whatever Marvel's Legacy thing is; which I think has a new Two-In-One? A step in the right direction, but not the same.) So luckily, I picked up about a year's worth of their last run the other day; let's check out 2014's Fantastic Four #11, "East of Eden, part three" Written by James Robinson, pencils by Leonard Kirk, inks by Karl Kesel.

As was often the case for the FF...and most Marvel characters, honestly...the writer has to spend a lot of time tearing them down, to make their later victory more dramatic. That's great, but wading through the ten issues prior it felt like Robinson was really hammering on them! An attack on New York by monsters from the "Heroes Reborn" universe is blamed on the team, even though Johnny sacrificed his powers to stop it. The court ruled against the FF, taking the Baxter Building and Sue and Reed's Future Foundation kids away; Val was already staying with Dr. Doom! During the Original Sin crossover, Ben finds out how Johnny accidentally wrecked one of Reed's attempts to cure him of being the Thing; and that Reed didn't tell him. Worse, Ben is then framed for the murder of the Puppet Master, and thrown in super-villain jail! Meanwhile, Johnny's becoming a wastrel, Sue might be reverting to Malice as she fights for her kids, and Reed's working for a science guru that you know is going to end up being a villain. (Close! That latter part is probably the most thankless job in comics: create a new villain for the Fantastic Four. Remember Hyperstorm or Crucible or the Marquis of Death?)

This particular issue opens with the aftermath of a fight with the Wizard's latest Frightful Four--this time, the girls from Salem's Seven--versus Mr. Fantastic and his magical lifeline Dr. Strange the Scarlet Witch. Reed is feeling like he can't do anything right; but Wanda tells him she's been there, and it gets better. Longtime FF associates (and occasional couple) Wyatt Wingfoot and She-Hulk meet up, and agree to investigate who was coming after the team; maybe see if they could get Johnny into rehab while they're at it. (He wasn't quite that far gone, but close.) And the prison shower scene doesn't quite go into Oz territory for Ben, but he nearly catches a beating, saved only by the subtle intervention of the Sandman, who doesn't want to be seen helping him. She's on the cover but not inside: the top dog in the prison food chain, was none other than former FF member and Ben's ex, Sharon "She-Thing" Ventura!

As Wyatt calls Johnny, his cab driver catches an arrow in the head, and Wyatt is nearly killed by...the "Heroes Reborn" Hawkeye? Luckily, She-Hulk had asked Spider-Man to keep an eye on Wyatt, but they're both confused by this turn of events. Robinson had actually written "Heroes Reborn" before: he did the 13th issues for those, the Wildstorm/Marvel crossover World War III, which I loved to death. This FF issue isn't bad, but it only moves the plot forward incrementally: much more seems to happen in the recap, than anywhere else.
Read more!

As I pick up random comics, a lot of times I note here to pick up the next issue or the conclusion. This time, meh; even if I've got part seven of eight today. From 2006, Detective Comics #820, "Face the Ecaf, part 7 of 8" (I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be "Face the Face," right?) Written by James Robinson, layouts by Leonard Kirk, finishes by Andy Clarke.

We're coming to this one mid-stream, but I do remember this was the big storyline after Infinite Crisis, with Batman returning to action "One Year Later" after leaving Gotham to the care of former Two-Face Harvey Dent. Who has since been framed for murder (including that of the original Ventriloquist and the KGBeast, both jobbed out here) but Bats is working the case, even while he and Robin fight the Scarecrow, and hallucinations of the Thomas Wayne Bat-Man, the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth 2 Robin, and the Earth-Prime Superboy. Batman defeats the Scarecrow, as you might expect; but then trash-talks him, which surprised me.

Batman downplays that as "part of the game," to throw Scarecrow off next time; but it still doesn't sit well with me. He does praise Robin, Tim Drake, for getting past the fear gas and his nightmares so quickly; but Tim shrugs that off: he had lost so much, what was left? Batman does hint at an idea for what Tim could do next; but back at police headquarters, after explaining to Gordon how Dent was framed; Bats takes a moment to speak with a uniformed officer. Explaining he was trying to "undo past wrongs, not make new ones," he tells Officer Harper he knew something about her:

Despite his seeming desire to not make old mistakes, Bats gives her a slightly-nicer version of the "thou shalt have no vigilantes before me/Stay outta Gotham" speech he's given multiple times before. And he almost has a point: just because your grand-uncle was the Guardian or your third cousin was the Red Bee, doesn't mean you're a legacy and should join the Justice Society. It does feel a bit condescending, though.

Then, a Jack Ryder appearance! But only as a talking head on TV, breaking the news of Two-Face's return! Which was a foregone conclusion, wasn't it? Between that and Batman seemingly insuring the Scarecrow would come after him again by rubbing his nose in it, we're finally adding that tag for recidivism! Still, in-story Bats could be justified here: he, and we, know full well Scarecrow is going to get out someday, and Batman may want to make sure Scarecrow comes after him rather than someone that couldn't protect themselves. But overall, this issue didn't sit well with me.
Read more!