A Joker what's funny? Must be so many universes away.

I was having another of those "geez, did I even read any comics last week?" moments; just long enough to not feel great about it. Then I remembered, oh yeah, didn't I read like all of the 1997 and 1998 Tangent Comics? Like 18 comics in one sitting? I think their version of the Flash was the breakout; and it's a fun book to be sure: a girl born in space with a ton of light powers, has wacky hijinks with her stage-manager of a mom and her dad working for the eeeeeeevil secret-government conspiracy trying to capture her but repeatedly failing in slapstick fashion. (The conspiracy stuff is gloomy and dead-serious across the rest of the Tangent titles, except for her dad!) I liked this one better, although it may or may not have more jokes: from 1997, Tangent Comics/the Joker #1, "Laugh 'till it Hurts!" Written by Karl Kesel, pencils by Matt Haley, inks by Tom Simmons. 

The Tangent Universe was pretty divergent from our world or the usual DCU, since Cuba and Florida were destroyed in a worst-case version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 35 years later, New Atlantis was a thriving metropolis (not that one!) built out of Atlanta; and now home to new cop John Keel, and mysterious vigilante the Joker. Joker seems to be giving Keel the business, but lures him into giving chase, only to instead find midget mobster Doll Man and his thugs tied up and ready for jail.

Not letting it go, Keel tries to get background on the Joker, and from reporter Lori Lemaris he gets a couple of rumored origins for her, that probably aren't even close. He also tries Higher Atlantis University, where we meet meek Mary Marvel, mocked by a classmate as "girl of a thousand gimmicks." Then, wannabe cult leader Brother Power tries to preach the gospel of the Joker, who is not having it; and shuts down her prospective followers by asking them to follow her, as she leaps off a building.

Keel gets jumped by the Joker, and wakes up in a virtual reality nightmare, part-Joker, part family history: although he had been following orders, his father had been the soldier that launched the missile strike that destroyed Cuba and Florida. After the bomb goes up, Keel comes out of it, in Madame Xanadu's "VR-cade." But, when he catches up to the Joker, he thinks she might have inadvertently revealed her true origin: she was probably the child of survivors of the missile strike, who would have been severely irradiated. They're then interrupted by Doll Man's girlfriend and muscle, Big Barda!

In the end, Keel thinks he maybe understands the Joker, but also knows nothing; and the reader doesn't yet either! There's a brief peek at Joker's hideout, with masks that resemble Lori Lemaris, Mary Marvel, and Madame Xanadu; implying she was all of them. Which would make for a busy day! (No spoilers, but the sequel seemingly backpedals on that.) 

The Tangent Universe was maybe DC's only fifth-week event that they ever revisited; and they still show up here and there. I don't know if this Joker is used much, though; since her cheerful anarchy is now 100% Harley Quinn's schtick, and Kesel has his own Impossible Jones too. (It's great, grab it if you see it!)  

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I got the new Marvel Legends Tarantula figure a bit ago, and while he's pretty far down the list of Spidey villains, it's not his first figure: per OAFE.net, he's gotten figures in 2009 and 1997. I mention that, because this classic foe has never gotten anything! Granted, that was about three seconds of looking, but he didn't appear to have ever gotten a Heroclix, a Minimate, anything; but he is in this fun tribute to Mike Wieringo: From 2008, Spider-Man Family #7, "Looter's Quest" Plot by Karl Kesel, Todd DeZago, and Mark Waid; pencils and inks by Karl Kesel and others, script by Todd DeZago and Mark Waid.

The Looter, Norton G. Fester, first appeared in 1966's Amazing Spider-Man #36, and feels more Steve Ditko than Stan Lee: a crackpot stumbles into a weird meteor and gets powers, hijinks ensue. I don't know if he always talked to his meteor, or if that was a recent addition; he was never one of the most prevalent of Spidey's bad guys. (Aside: I might need to read Web of Spider-Man #39, where he apparently steals Aunt May's engagement ring?) Today, the Looter's trying to be a good...friend to his meteor, and recover its (her?) "long-lost missing twin!" Spidey stops him at a museum, pointing out the only place to get the tracking equipment that could maybe find something like that would be the Baxter Building. The Looter then accidentally drops a hostage, whom Spidey saves, but the Looter is long gone, and Spidey has a pretty good idea where...

Spidey tries to warn the FF, but when the Torch goes to let him in on the roof, the Looter hits them with a "flash gun" which is a nice Ditko touch: Blue Beetle had one of those! Reed is mildly surprised the Looter had the wherewithal to use his complicated equipment: Looter claims to be a scientist, which Spidey doubts, and that the meteor increased his intelligence as well, which Spidey also doubts. Johnny, glancing things over, notes the twin meteor probably landed in the Savage Land; and the Looter sneaks off and swipes Ben's sky-cycle for the trip!

Perhaps wisely, Reed and Sue opt out of the trip to the Savage Land, leaving Spidey, Ben and Johnny; who discover the Looter trying to parley with another obscure Spidey bad-guy: Stegron, the Dinosaur Man! (Stegron had a 1998 Toy Biz action figure that I'm legitimately surprised I don't think I've ever owned; part of a villain wave called "The Vault" that included Ultron and Typhoid Mary, and each character came with restraints!) Ka-Zar and Shanna also show up: amusingly, Spidey seems way happier to see Shanna, which is understandable. They have to fight to save the Looter, who punches out Devil Dinosaur (!) to try and get the twin, but he instead finds what Spidey recognizes as the "Sphere of Sarakath," a mystical doodad that gave him and Dr. Strange the hassle once, in another Mike Wieringo issue! Ka-Zar suggests, maybe the Looter should consult with Strange about the meteor, and Ben knows what's coming: the Looter escapes again, through a portal. At Strange's Sanctum, Strange also appears to give the Looter the benefit of the doubt, and uses the Eye of Agamotto to track the twin meteor...to Europe somewhere...Latveria!

The Looter makes an attempt to swipe the Fantasticar for the next leg of his trip, but Reed and Strange had consulted on this one: the Fantasticar takes him to the Baxter Building again, where he's stopped by an Invisible Woman force field. They want to study the meteor, and see if they can break the Looter's delusions; but they're interrupted by the arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents airdropping in, to take the Looter and the meteor into custody, for top-secret hush-hush reasons. But while he's being taken away, Reed lets slip if there was a twin to his meteor, it probably landed on the moon... 

There are precedents for sentient objects in the Marvel Universe: the first to come to mind is Green Lantern ring knockoff the Power Prism, of Doctor Spectrum; but there has to be others. I don't think the reader is ever privy to what, if anything, the meteor communicates to the Looter, so it makes him look really crazy, but is he? ...yes, he's a nut!

Also this issue: reprints of Venom: Lethal Protector #1, and Spider-Man: Death and Destiny #1. The latter was written and drawn by Lee Weeks, and was a sad story set around the death of George Stacy. There was also the manga-style "Spider-Man J" story "The Moth and the Flame."

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There were 25 "Legends of the Dead Earth" annuals, and so far we've blogged, um, maybe 7? But, helluva lineup on this one: from 1996, Supergirl Annual #1, featuring "The Surrogate" Written by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Ron Wagner, inks by Bill Reinhold; "The Legend Lives On" Written by Barbara and Karl Kesel, layouts by Dick Giordano, finishes by George Perez; and "Shootout at Ice Flats" Written by Joe Lansdale and Neal Barrett Jr, pencils by Robert Teranishi, inks by Stan Woch. 

The legend of Supergirl lives on in the far-flung future, even if it has combined aspects of various versions: Kryptonian, protoplasmic matrix, angel, what-have-you. In "The Surrogate," a young woman is forced into high-tech slavery; her mind irreversibly linked to remote-control a mining robot. But she transfers her mind and spirit to her "tooljerk" and upgrades its look, frees others, and then destroys her captors before heading off into space, indestructible and forever. A surprisingly affecting tale, I thought. Also, it's impressive that she's able to give herself an 'S,' I would've accidentally made myself a Bizarro.

After a big heist, an all-girl criminal gang finds one of their own dead, in "The Legend Lives On," and the victim carved an 'S' in the floor before dying, as a warning to the others. Could Supergirl be among them? One argues, there's no such thing; but another thinks, that's exactly what Supergirl would say! This doesn't go great for them.

Lastly, "Shootout at Ice Flats" features the local schoolmarm-slash-sheriff, who's going to face a showdown with the local ruffians. Her mom gives her an 'S' charm, that might give her the power of...Sardine Girl? Maybe! A fun bit of nonsense, with an interesting look; like most of the "Dead Earth" stories.

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I didn't think I backed that much stuff on Kickstarter--although, I have to put in the annual Rifftrax pledge for some shorts or something--but then I checked, and um, there were like three more books than I'd thought still coming! Blighter, Alter Ego, and Shelly Bond's Fast Times in Comic Book Editing; the latter of which might be shipping soonish. But, I had recently received the latest Impossible Jones book from Karl Kesel and David Hahn! Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz!

Kesel has had fun runs on Superboy and Fantastic Four (he should've been given that title for a longer run!) but puts it all into his own characters here: the titular Jones is a former crook caught in a traditionally origin-type accident that gives her weird powers and the opportunity to escape her old life. She's not entirely straight-and-narrow, and it's pretty obviously going to bite her in the ass someday, especially when she tries to have things both ways, like with her Christmas-themed crook buddy Holly Daze. When good guy Polecat shows up to bust Holly, can Jones get her friend out of trouble, while still keeping her newfound rep? And that's only the start of her troubles...

They're putting a lot into the packages here, not only with prints, stickers, and an Impossible Jones pin; but also two back-up stories with two-tone vigilante Even Steven by Gail Simone and David Hawhn and Alex Segura and Dan Schkade! The only thing that's not good about this is that they should be on like #28 of a couple hundred issue run by now, since Kesel plots the book like he's in for the long haul. Me too! This issue hasn't yet, but some Impossible Jones has been available in stores, so grab it if you see it. And the new Kickstarter campaign just started, too! Read more!