From Silver Surfer #128, "Beneath the Silver Skin" Written by J.M. DeMatteis, pencils by Rick Leonardi (prologue) and Ron Garney, inks by Bob Wiacek.

Recently, I re-read the last year-and-change of the Silver Surfer's regular book, from #121 to #145. (We saw the last issue, #146, during 'The End' week some time back.) Coming off George Perez's run, DeMatteis would start with #123 and stay until #145, with Tom DeFalco co-writing or scripting a couple issues; and a good batch of artists: Ron Garney, Cary Nord, Paul Pelletier, Tom Grummett, and Jon J. Muth.

Plot-wise, DeMatteis had a good start: the Surfer's homeworld, Zenn-La, is destroyed. Retroactively. It's implied that it's been gone for years, and has only been a holographic projection, which comes as a surprise to the Surfer. He loses some of his memory and all of his emotions, and returns to earth to try and put them back together. This was just after the Onslaught crossover, so the Fantastic Four and the Avengers were MIA, presumed dead; so no help there. Instead, the Surfer returns to Alicia Masters, who inspired him to help humanity when he first came to earth with Galactus.

After encounters with the Hulk and Dr. Strange, the Surfer gets the Puppet Master to build one of his clay replicas of himself, to use it to find his own memories. Of course, the clay Surfer steals the real one's cosmic power and rampages, while Daredevil and Spider-Man try to stop it. Powerless, Norrin Radd confronts himself, which seemingly causes a massive explosion. Instead, the Surfer regains his power as he and Alicia are thrown back in time to 1947; while the spent clay Surfer is stolen by an organization that thinks the Surfer could be a new messiah for earth...

We may come back to some of this run, since there was a lot to enjoy: a "minus 1" issue with gray aliens and an abducted Stan Lee! The truth about Zenn-La! A dead Surfer versus the ghost of Mephisto! Alicia and the Surfer as a couple, even when the Thing returns! There were some weak bits, too, though: the last set of villains--the Coroner, Tenebrae, and the Mergence--weren't great: an existential version of the Borg, with an aged Goth and a woman in a praying mantis suit. That storyline went too long, and wasted Muth on art. The big bad "the Other" are interesting, but derailed by the Mephisto appearance and the sudden appearance of Scrier, a mysterious figure from Spider-Man comics of the time.

Still, overall not too bad, especially the Ron Garney issues.


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Oh, Nosferatu.

Taking a mental health day today, folks; so enjoy this picture of my Youngest son, Spongebob, and Graf Orlok, a.k.a. Nosferatu.

Why, you ask? Well...

OAFE.net has a great write-up on Aztech Toys Graf Orlok, so go check that out instead, 'kay? Regular nonsense should resume tomorrow.


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Apparently, some orthodontia is involved...

We saw the Dominators yesterday in 1988's Invasion, but today we check out a very early appearance of their race...from ten years earlier and a thousand years later. From 1978, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #248, "Earth's Last Stand" Written by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton and Jack Abel.

On the neutral planet Weber's World, a group of Legionnaires led by Wildfire try to guard a peace conference between the United Planets and the Dominators, while on earth a Khund invasion force is too much for the skeleton force left defending it. The Science Police and the Legion of Substitute Heroes make a noble effort, but are overwhelmed as well. Brainiac 5 is sucked into a black hole, and after robots attack the conference, the dignitaries from the UP and the Dominators are somehow teleported away. And the Dark Circle closes...

When I first read Invasion, I thought the Dominators had been created for the series, but they had been around for some time. They would also have a good run in Giffen's "Five Years Later" Legion stories, too.
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80-Page Thursdays: Invasion, Book One!

We're coming up on a full year of 80-Page Thursdays, even though I'm writing this in March. Actually, I'm behind schedule, since it took me a while to find these issues again: from 1989, Invasion! Book One, The Alien Alliance. Plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Todd McFarlane, inks by P. Craig Russell, Al Gordon, Joe Rubinstein, and Todd McFarlane. I love this book, to be honest. It's the rare comic I enjoy, even though there's all sorts of things in it that I don't necessarily care for.

The titular alliance is several alien races, mostly from Legion of Super-Heroes continuity or the Omega Men, led by the Dominators. Although they first appeared in Adventure Comics #361, this was the first time I saw them, and the Doms had been redesigned slightly to make them more inhuman and emphasize their disc caste-markings and their teeth. I always thought they had a very Mars Attacks! feel, although that could just be me. (It really comes through in some of the house ads as well.)

Experimenting on captured humans, the Dominators are concerned about the unpredictability of humans and human genetics. Already, earth had given rise to multiple super-powered beings (and reams of alien and alien-powered defenders, but ignore that...) and the collected aliens worry about potential armies of them. Again, never mind there's really not that many supers on earth, and you can't put three of them in the same room without two trying to beat each other up...

With their allies--the Khunds, Durlans, G'il Dishpan and observers the Daxamites from Legion comics; the Thanagarians of Hawkman (who, as a race, are generally more dickish than Carter) and the Citadel, the Psions, and Okaarans from Omega Men (And possibly Teen Titans, maybe.) the Doms already have the ball rolling. Depowered Green Lanterns are hunted down, to prevent them speaking on earth's behalf. Darkseid is approached, and while he doesn't join, he does tell the Alliance to do what they like to earth, but not to destroy it, since he's still looking for the Anti-Life Equation. Doom Patrol villain Garguax is evicted from his strategic position on the dark side of the moon.

To keep Rann safe, Adam Strange is forced to surrender himself, hoping he'll be able to warn earth when the zeta-beam wears off. Strange is taken to the Starlag, a giant prison satellite build by the Citadel for dissidents, political prisoners, and test subjects. He briefly manages to escape to earth, only to find the Khunds have an advance station at his return point. Strange's former cellmate, Garryn Bek, is then celled up with a seemingly emotionless Coluan, Vril Dox. Meanwhile, the Omega Men are attacked by the Durlans, and captured after several casualties. And a lone low-caste Dominator wonders if maybe the human genetic anomaly couldn't just be neutralized, as the Invasion begins...

As a beachhead, Australia is taken in short order. Somewhat disturbingly for the alliance, the Daxamites develop super-powers in earth's atmosphere; although as observers they don't seem intent on doing anything, unless they get orders from their homeworld. The alliance also isn't sure what to make of the JLA's teleport tubes--technology seemingly far beyond the earthlings. And elsewhere, the Lords of Order tell the Spectre if he or earth's mystic heroes get involved, Chaos may ally with the aliens...

At Belle Reve prison, Amanda Waller is ordered to bench the Suicide Squad, as the President waits to see what the aliens do. She doesn't listen...and the Dominators make their demand: they will spare earth, if the humans surrender their super-heroes. The next day, the headlines at the Daily Planet tell the story: "Earth to Invaders: Drop Dead!"

Despite building on years of continuity of some of DC's less popular books, Invasion! is still pretty accessible. (Aside from the Thanagarians, I knew of the Khunds and Daxamites going in, but the rest were new to me.) This issue is almost all set-up, and although we see a few familiar faces like Adam Strange and Perry White, there isn't a main hero in the story yet. The plotline with the humans experimented on by the Dominators, the Blasters; goes nowhere. I've never read an issue of L.E.G.I.O.N. either; but still plenty to like here.
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"Of Batmen and Bat-Signals."

Although I'm back from vacation now, as I write this I don't go back to work until tomorrow. The temptation was to spend the evening scratching lottery tickets in the futile hope that I'd win enough to not have to go back, but I refrained and bought a couple figures instead. (I did buy a Powerball, since tonight's drawing is probably in the $240 million dollar range; even after taxes I'd clear enough to make an action figure of myself...)

The Azrael-Batman there (reviewed over at OAFE.net, which called the repaint a year ago) may or may not be available locally yet: I know he's going to be in a two-pack with a battle-damaged Batman, but I got him off eBay for $15.50. Not bad, but beware: this was shipped from China and may be a factory-second figure. The left wrist on mine was broken and glued back on; and there may be a bit of warping on the cape pieces. The chest emblem is missing a touch of paint as well. Those aren't deal-breakers for me, though; and the cape could definitely be adjusted. The left hand is currently held on with putty, which does keep the articulation!

We will probably see Azrael-Bats again--although, thanks to my scheduling, I'm not sure when. The replacement Batman from Knightfall, Jean-Paul Valley carried a solo title for over a hundred issues, first as Azrael (with a #1,000,000 issue) then as Azrael: Agent of the Bat. I'm not sure I've read more than a couple of them, but I had an idea on bringing him back...

I also got the Movie Masters Batman and Bane, on sale at K-Mart right about now for $12.79 or so. I guess the Batman is the same as the one from the Dark Knight, which I've had on the Bat-Pod on my entertainment center for...ever, judging by the dust that was on him. So, I have four-ish pieces of the Bat-Signal, out of a possible six.

OK, that's not quite right: the Youngest got some Fisher-Price Trio Batman sets, with Batman and the Joker, and Robin and the Riddler. They were little character two-packs, marked half-off, with a few block-pieces.

I have the Movie Masters Batman, Bane, Gordon, and Dale got me Alfred. Which puts us here:

Gordon came with the smashed Bat-signal cover. I don't know if I'd display it that way, but I have yet to see a Catwoman figure, let alone the other two. Eventually...

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That seems like a cheat on multiple levels...

When is a riddle not a riddle? Um, when you mail a whole book of them and call it a clue, as in Batman #317, "The 1,001 Clue Caper, or why did the Riddler cross the road?" Written by Len Wein, art by Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin.

The Riddler sends Batman and Robin a riddle book from the Gotham State Prison; partly as a red herring, and partly to satisfy his compulsion to leave riddles to his crimes. And the Riddler's working a tricky game this time; starting with stealing a chicken truck, then using it as a distraction to steal magazines. Except the magazine distributor was a front for a gun runner, and the Riddler made off with a ton of guns, which he plans on selling--wait, are a lot of guns smuggled out of the country? Or in, for that matter? This is America, it's not super-hard to get a gun...Batman and Robin wrap this one up pretty quickly, and the issue closes with Lucius Fox being forced to meet with Gregorian Falstaff, which is slightly less dramatic than I'm making it sound.

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From Batman: Unseen, three looks into the Batcave.

For starters, this is to remind me I need #1 of Doug Moench and Kelley Jones's Batman: Unseen. It's a fun little mini-series with Batman tracking down a mad scientist turned invisible man. In passing, Black Mask is completely spanked; which is doubly unusual, since Batman comics seemed to have been building him up for a number of years, and the character was created by Doug Moench!

I just had to look up Jones's Batman: Gotham After Midnight series, which ran about a year before Unseen and was written by Steve Niles. I've read maybe three issues of that one, but now I'm wondering if the Batcave just looks crazier and crazier every time Jones draws it. Like the next scan, where Batman appears to have disassembled Robbie the Robot and turned him into a still:

Crazy. Not as crazy as the stuff Jones does with Batman's cape, though; especially when Bats spends the fifth issue mostly naked. You'd have to see it for yourself.

Moench does have an interesting little point going throughout the series: Batman is mildly concerned or annoyed that Gotham's criminals are acclimating to him. They're still scared of Bats, but not pants-fillingly terrified anymore; and Batman wonders if that's an edge he can regain.






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One 45-minute bathroom break later...

We've actually had a scan from this issue before some time ago, but here's another couple from Batman versus Predator III #4, written by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Rodolfo Damaggio, inks by Robert Campanella. Actually, in the above panel Batman's stopping a bit of bleeding, so the Predator doesn't follow the blood trail.

But even though Batman and Robin (Tim) and Alfred face-off against a father-son Predator hunt; I was just noting the look at the Batcave, where most of the last issue took place. Heck, the Predator even squats on the giant penny on the cover, too. As far as the actual fights go this issue, eh, it seems a little anticlimactic since Bats has fought the Preds twice before and totally has their number now: he knows they don't like cold, and has a certain villain with a cold gun...

This is a good one to wrap up my vacation week; since I always read the first Batman vs. Predator every year at my parents' place! Have a good weekend, I should be back around Monday!
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80-Page Thursdays: Batman 80-Page Giant #3! Hey, wait a second...

(I'm on vacation, so here's an 80-pager I did before starting 80-Page Thursdays. From 2000, Batman 80-Page Giant #3!)

Look, I'm not Calendar Man, but June 30 has got to be either Yak Shaving Day or the Feast of Maximum Occupancy.

Long-term readers of this site probably know this isn't one of those behind the scenes kind of news outlets: for example, while I know Chuck Dixon is no longer with DC Comics, I haven't the slightest on the how or why of that. But Dixon wrote Batman for a long time, moreover, he wrote the best Calendar Man I've ever read. Admittedly, I've read like three; but still, that's a tough villain to have to work with.
Dixon opens with a 60's style Calendar Man getting his big score foiled by Batman and Robin, with period-appropriate art by Joe Staton. Sadly, it's probably the high point of the Calendar Man's career, and things go pretty south for Julian Day from there. Although his lawyer does a good job of selling it, Day is found guilty on all charges, his third offense. This may have been before three strikes laws, but he gets the maximum sentence, which wouldn't make him eligible for parole until after January 1, 2000. For someone completely fixated on the calendar, that wasn't really working for him.

Before that, though, Day gets two lucky breaks...that aren't lucky for him at all. First, he's freed by Bane, circa Knightfall. Although Julian wisely bails out on Gotham, he's picked up by Power Girl, who seems about as concerned as if she was picking up her dry cleaning. Thrown into Blackgate Prison, Day is freed again during the Bat-Quake, but is left starving and helpless in No Man's Land until he's arrested again. This time he gets Arkham.

His treatment would be cruel and unusual in a prison, but in Arkham it's innovative therapy: to break Day of his fixation on calendars, he's put in a cell with no outside light, no clocks, random periods of light and darkness. He's kept without any knowledge of days, months, or years...until March 2000, missing the millennium. Still, that gets him parole, since he was rather a bit on the catatonic side for that, which is what passes for good behavior in Arkham.

Although he had planned a whole Times Square blowup before, with the millennium gone, Day is at first so surprised to be released that he thinks it is another "shrink's trick." But, he's so grateful to have days and nights and the simple joy of marking days off on a calendar, that he seems harmless. Then Batman pokes the bear. He sounds like Judge Dredd here, on recidivism, and probably gives this speech to just about everyone who gets out of Arkham or Blackgate. He might have wanted to save it this time, since it just sets Calendar Man off. (How many villains do you think would be quits if Batman didn't get in their faces?) Day decides he may have missed January 1, 2000; but there are other calendars, and he sets off to have his vengeance on those days.

Day gets a more current costume, a rocket launcher with EMP-generating shells, and a new gang; before setting off on a new five day spree. But not five consecutive days: Calendar Man sends Commissioner Gordon a note with his five days of terror, picked from ancient and obscure calendars. Tim Drake appears a couple times in the story as Batman's legman, to track down the dates.

Calendar Man is pretty successful at first, and seems to be having a lot of fun: shooting down a jet in Y2K homage, kidnapping a pile of models at a calendar shoot, booby-trapping his old apartment for the cops. Fed up, Batman turns up the pressure on the rest of Gotham's underworld, letting them know that he'll be all over them until they find Calendar Man. I have to ask: it's not like Batman was giving the mobsters and crooks a pass before, right? I mean, Bats roughs them up and lets them know more is coming, but even if they deliver Day giftwrapped to Batman, he's not going to be any less harsh on those criminals. There is a brief moment where a boss asks the advice of an old-school criminal, Matches Malone, a longtime secret identity of Batman; who advises "flush the psycho."

So they do: the criminals track down Calendar Man (one of his men broke radio silence to make a bet) and gun down his crew. Batman stops the mob from murdering Day (although, doesn't that leave the lives of the crew on Batman's hands?) then chases down Calendar Man. Bill Sienkiewicz art. Can't go wrong with that.

In the end, Day's found guilty of a mountain of charges from racketeering to discharge of a radioactive weapon within city limits...and two hundred and ten counts of homicide. His lawyer advises if the judge doesn't go for the death penalty, he wouldn't be eligible for parole for eight years. Day starts making plans for December 23, 2012. The day the world ends according to the Aztec calendar, for you non-X-Files fans.

I'll have to look for it, but I think Dixon wrote a similar story with the secret origin of the Riddler. (One of the annuals, I believe.) He can write a good story of a bad guy who is just a wee bit insane, villains who take obsessive-compulsive disorders into their crime gimmicks. I found this one in the quarter bins, but if you want a nice Batman story with good art that doesn't make you read forty other books, take a look for the Batman Eighty Page Giant (July 2000). Written by Chuck Dixon, art by Joe Staton, Manuel Gutierrez and Bud Larosa, Mike Deodato and David Roach, Graham Nolan and Mark Pennington, Louis Small Jr. and Caesar, Dale Eaglesham and John Floyd, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
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I would read "Sword of Shazam," honestly...

I've really enjoyed the DC Nation shorts, particularly "Sword of the Atom." Partially because although I have a few issues of it lying around, I've never read it all...in fact, I didn't realize there was a third Sword of the Atom special! That's probably set right before Ray got dragged back to the world in Power of the Atom. (Figure we'll see more of that series around the end of the year...!)

Check out the first chapter: I would watch the hell out of an entire DC Nation half-hour: twenty or so minute-and-change episodes of random DC shorts. Something to consider, Cartoon Network...


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Man, I would so buy a six-inch scale one of these:

Hmm, guess we should mention possible spoilers for the Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD and Batman #641, "Family Reunion, conclusion: Face to Face" Written by Judd Winick, pencils by Doug Mahnke, and inks by Tom Nguyen. By the way, I honestly thought if I searched the GCD by title for "Face to Face," you'd come up with about 80 Batman comics...

I don't know if I was reading the issues as they came out, but I rather prefer the Under the Red Hood DVD to the comics it was adapted from: the DVD has to cut extraneous elements, and has a far more elegant solution for the resurrection of Jason Todd than "Superboy punched reality." It does help that the DVD was maybe the second, third Blu-Ray I ever bought--I haven't built up a massive collection, to be honest.

Upon his return, Jason is shocked that Bruce didn't end the Joker for killing him. After all, Jason would've. Bruce refuses to cross that line, but Jason will, saying Gotham is "evil. And you have to fight her where she lives." Before escaping, Jason leaves Bruce fingerprints, hair, tissue, and blood samples by cutting himself with a Batarang; and after testing Bruce has to concede that it's really Jason. (He'd been fooled with a Clayface in Hush, although Jason had tagged in for part of that fight.)

As we see above, Alfred asks Bruce if the memorial to Jason, his Robin uniform, should be removed. Bruce says no: "This doesn't change anything. It doesn't change anything at all." I haven't read every story since with Jason, but I have the feeling some writers embraced him, and others did not: in some stories, the Batman-trained Jason is scarily competent; in others, he's a sad, pathetic wannabe with dyed hair, scalp problems, and delusions of grandeur.

That said, Jason's memorial has become one of the most recognizable trophies in the Batcave. Personally I'd put it behind the dinosaur and the giant penny but ahead of the Joker card. I was going to do a Batman strip soon, and while I have a silly dinosaur I've used in strips before, and am pretty sure I could print off a Joker card; I'm not sure how big the giant penny should be, and have no idea how to knock out a Robin costume case. I would dearly love a decently priced, DCUC/six-inch scale one--I think a decent one could be made without it being a full-on lucite cube, which might be too expensive. Might shop that around now...a few minutes searching found this, which might be worth giving a try the next time I'm feeling crafty. We'll see...

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That is the weirdest prisoner transport I've ever seen.

...and I don't know about those waist-mounted rockets, either. From 1996, Uncanny Origins #4, "Forged in Fire!" Written by James Felder, pencils by Dave Hoover, inks by Bill Anderson. This was a ninety-nine cent series, and this issue retells the origin of Firelord. Actually, I'm not sure a lot of his story was ever told in one place, before or since.

The world Xandar, home of the Nova Corps, seat of the mighty Xandarian Empire, and blown up like four times since it was introduced. It's also home of the Xandarian Space Academy, where young cadet Pyreus Kril is one of their finest students. An orphan, Pyreus worked his way up from the gutter, because he believed in the Empire's ideals of "loyalty, friendship, and courage," and he idolized the aging hero, Commander Gabriel Lan. Lan, disillusioned and tired, meets Pyreus to see the enthusiasum and idealism he's long since lost; but the two become friends. (Imagine if you could meet Captain Kirk, and become his best pal, and join his crew: Pyreus is living the dream.)

Having his fill of war, Gabriel takes the commission of the Way-Opener; the oldest, smallest ship in the fleet. But, it's an exploratory mission, and he wants the chance to see something new. His four-man crew are burnouts, injured, a cadet that decked the Admiral, and Pyreus, who insists on joining his commander.



In the waning days of the Xandarian Empire, the crew of the Way-Opener explore new worlds and fight Kree, Skrulls, and Tharks; becoming a beacon of inspiration. (Pyreus also hooks up with the cute navigator, which almost seems like an editorial addition: he always seemed really devoted to his commander. Not that there's anything wrong with that...) Still, after three years, Gabriel is still tired of serving the empire, and feels like there must be something more for him.

Then, the Way-Opener encounters a colossal starship, which teleports Gabriel away. Taking command, Pyreus gives chase, realizing his commander's abductor was Galactus; a fact not lost on the Xandarian High Council, who order Pyreus to stand down and not antagonize him. Refusing to abandon Gabriel, Pyreus and the crew give chase, following Galactus by the trail of drained and lifeless planets left in his wake. A burned survivor tells of "an angel of death...the Air-Walker."

Finally reaching their quarry, the Way-Opener is outclassed, and almost immediately destroyed. The crew escapes in a rescue skiff, but Pyreus is teleported to Galactus himself; who offers him a deal: become his new herald, and he will tell him what happened to Gabriel. Pyreus agrees, and is transformed into Firelord; just as Gabriel had become the Air-Walker. Gabriel had served Galactus, until his death; then his soul was put in a robot, which also died. Galactus points out Gabriel killed billions leading him to new planets to consume, and wonders what Firelord now thinks of his friend.



Pyreus refuses to think any less of his friend, calling Galactus a monster that could never understand friendship or loyalty. He may have a point, since Galactus then mind-wipes him a bit (something he did to the Silver Surfer as well, and may or may not have done to Gabriel) to make him a more tractable herald. Firelord would serve as herald for many years--maybe, that doesn't really track since it wasn't that long from when the Surfer broke free. Still, eventually Firelord wanted to be free himself, and after meeting Thor, Galactus agreed to take the Destroyer as herald instead.

Some time later, on a Christmas morning, Thor fought and destroyed a rebuilt Air-Walker robot, just in time for Firelord to miss reuniting with his lost friend. Enraged, he fought Thor, until Thor explained he felled the robot unknowingly. Forgiving Thor, Firelord buries his friend, and takes again to space, the last legacy of the Xandarian Empire. (At the time, anyway.)

Although he had never been a character I really liked, there is nothing about this issue I don't love. Ninety-nine cents, an origin rarely seen, a great animated-style that I wish Marvel would've dabbled in a bit more. Of course, this wasn't even my favorite issue of Uncanny Origins...no, not the Cyclops one. For good measure, you could also find a lot of this series for $1.99 an issue, but with Kurt Busiek's great Untold Tales of Spider-Man!

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The cover really sells this one:

Is that all the retellings of Nightcrawler's origin I could find? Um, maybe; and we did skip some like the Ultimate X-Men version. Still, bits and pieces of it are seen here and there, like, um, here: Classic X-Men #15, "Armageddon Now!" Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin. Of course, this is a reprint of X-Men #108, but it has an Art Adams cover where Nightcrawler is staked by his teammates.

Still, with that, I'm on vacation! Normal programming resumes...Monday, actually; posts are already set up, I just won't be handy. Have a good week!


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Nightcrawler would probably prefer the angry villagers to this one...

Wow, I knew Chuck Austen was, well, reviled is probably the right word; but I didn't think it would go this far: I couldn't even find this issue in the GCD and had to put it in myself! From 2003, X-Men 2 Prequel: Nightcrawler, written by Chuck Austen, art by Karl Kerschl.

This issue blends elements of Nightcrawler's usual continuity--life in the circus, crushing hard on his adopted sister Amanda--with the movies, as Kurt is mind-controlled and captured by Stryker and his anti-mutant forces. Austen does a good job here, painting Kurt as a devout young man who is still a bit of a smartass; as seen when he takes several beatings for daring to pray to humanity's God. (For his part, even Stryker seems to think his men took things too far, and he's a racist murderer.)

I like the art this issue as well, although Nightcrawler doesn't have the scarification/tattoos/markings he had in the movie. Eh, that's fine.



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80-Page Thursdays: Strange Adventures #1! (2011)

By this point, I feel like I should have some kind of formula or equation for how much I like these 80-pagers. What characters are involved, what creators, how many stories are in the issue, how old the issue is, how much I paid for it...The reason I'm wondering about that, is that today's issue doesn't push my buttons as much as I would've expected. From 2011, Strange Adventures #1, featuring stories by Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell, Brian Azzarello, and more; and art by Eduardo Risso, Goran Sudzuka, Denys Cowan, Juan Bobillo, and more. Jeff Lemire, Ross Campbell, and Kevin Colden all write and draw their stories, to boot.

This issue features nine short stories, including two that serve as previews for Saucer Country and Spaceman. DC seems to alternate the Strange Adventures title from DCU science-space heroics, and oddball Vertigo shorts, and this issue is squarely in the Vertigo camp. It does seem a little more mean-spirited and grim than usual, though. (I need to get the last two issues of the 1999 limited, the first two were pretty good.) And Jeff Lemire puts a Vertigo spin on the old DC space character, Ultra the Multi-Alien. In the best Vertigo tradition, it is now a complete downer.

I got this issue for a buck, but it still feels hollow. Not bad, I suppose, but perhaps not to my taste. Peter Milligan's "Partners" is probably my favorite of the lot, but it's not my favorite of his, either.

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In case you were having trouble picturing it:

I know I watched the old Fox X-Men cartoon when it originally aired, but I'm not sure I ever forgave it for having Gambit from episode one, then taking three seasons to get to Nightcrawler. The above clip does a good job of the villagers' chase, but the episode really hammers on the point of Nightcrawler's Christianity. It even goes as far to suggest Wolverine finding God, which always seems a bad fit to me: Logan would have a hard time maintaining faith and justifying all the stabbing...

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(Not a) Review: Dinner Jacket Venom!

Sometimes, a figure just comes out of nowhere and grabs your heart. In a good way. In this case, he comes from Toy Biz, a few years back, and China: Dinner Jacket Venom!

OK, that's not the figure's proper name, but it might as well be: although I picked this one up loose on eBay, I had the devil's own time finding any info on him online. Here's a link to a packaged but out-of-stock one: aw, he came with a little helmet to go with his Venom-chopper! Here's one that's in-stock--too rich for my blood, but the cycle is adorkable.

Although I'm going to insist on calling him Dinner Jacket Venom, it's more of a biker jacket, with a raised collar and visible zipper. On mine, I think the right thigh is either mispainted or maybe even the wrong piece--he should apparently have a solid white patch on the inside thigh, and three white marks on the outer thigh. Not a dealbreaker for me. DJ Venom (spinning all-trance every Friday) isn't as muscular as some Venom figures have been--he's not as roided-out as Todd McFarlane used to draw him, then. While he doesn't have some of the traditional Legends articulation--no chest or ankle points--he's got at least fifteen points, including ball-jointed hips, shoulders, and neck.

I think I was comparing this Venom to the current, Flash Thompson version: not really close, no. I don't think even the addition of gunbelts would do it. But for some reason, he just struck me as fun.







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At first glance, this looks like a retelling of Nightcrawler's first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men #1. In the next page, Kurt even gives the same "I learn my lessons well!" speech, but it's slightly reworded, since it's out loud, to the angry villagers this time.

In fact, this was another batch of angry visitors, accusing Nightcrawler of having killed a child. The "child" in question, though, was merely a disguise of a monster, that was killed by its brethren for revealing itself; and the monsters in question had been killing children and may have been responsible for Kurt's step-brother going insane, which led to his death at Kurt's hands...

Yeah, this was a pretty big lump of retcon, in Marvel Comics Presents #104, "Male Bonding, part 4: You Know That We Do It Together" Written by Scott Lobdell, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Al Williamson. In previous versions, Kurt's stepbrother Stefan made Kurt promise if he ever went bad, Kurt would stop him; and Stefan did go bad, committing more than a couple murders. He ended up snapping his neck in Kurt's tail, at which point the villagers found them, and gave chase, leading into Giant-Size.

Kurt fares against the villagers about as well as he did the first time, but luckily he's saved this time by Wolverine. This was their first team-up since Logan and the X-Men supposedly died in Uncanny X-Men #226 (an issue I have, but needed the footnote this issue to remind me) and Kurt's a little pissed about not being let in on the gag.



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No one asked, but about the Dark Knight Rises:

Ooh, spoilers. Obscure points ahead!

Short answer? I really liked it, both by itself but especially as part of a trilogy. But I'm looking forward to more Batman...in a different way.

I don't know how it would be coming in cold, but Nolan's Dark Knight Rises isn't just a great conclusion to his Batman trilogy, the way various plot points and moments come together make it more cohesive than any other movie trilogy I could name. Catwoman and Bane were both great: just about everything that was wrong with them in their other movies, Nolan gets right. (There's another villain briefly in late, that's also great.) While some plot points were a bit telegraphed, there were others that were genuinely surprising to me, even though I went well out of my way to avoid spoilers. Still, a couple of thoughts:

It bothered me that Batman's career was really short: I thought he may have seen a little action after the Dark Knight, but how did he wreck his knee? Running from the cops? Every so often in the comics, Batman and the police force's working relationship goes south, but the motorcycle chase scene really underlined what a pain in the ass it would be to work like that.

The Dent Act seems like something Batman would not be OK with, either. I misheard it and thought it was a thousand mobsters locked up without due process; when I think it was probably "just" without parole; but it was based on a lie, and to me it seems pretty likely that out of that thousand, there has to be someone who doesn't deserve eight years in the joint: I don't think Batman would stand for one innocent person suffering to keep a thousand criminals locked up. Gordon might compromise and choke that one down, but it would hurt.

While it sets up a later point, I didn't like Alfred and Bruce's last conversation. I just can't see either one of them not forgiving the other, for anything; although I figure Alfred had to be taken off the board there.

Weird, it's President Henry Hayes! Guess we know what universe this is the Batman of...

I don't know if this point was made clear, or if I missed it, but the fusion clean-energy project was heavily invested in by Wayne Industries, but was proposed by Miranda Tate. An important distinction, since without that point it really makes Wayne's attempts to improve the world colossal failures across the board. (Let's keep all these weapons safe in our basement...) Did you trust Miranda, at all? I think I knew going in that she wasn't what she seemed, although she did surprise me once or twice.

I didn't have a problem with the character of Blake, but...and big spoiler here: in the end, when Bruce leaves him the cave, did you think, "so what?" Can Blake become a Batman, or another symbol, without that fat Wayne bank backing him up? I suppose there may be some remnants of Tumblers and other gear floating around for him to scavenge--and I was momentarily hoping one of those destroyed Tumblers would spit out a Batpod, too.

But, and keep in mind I really enjoyed all three movies, Nolan's more real-world take on the Batman isn't necessarily the Batman you might have in your head, is it? Personally, my Batman is agile--less Frank Miller, more Marshall Rogers or Alan Davis or Jim Aparo or Norm Breyfogle. Next Batman movie--and we all know it's coming, which I'm fine with--I want a Batman that can move, that isn't armored up to the point that he can't turn his neck. Picture Batman, in the cave, cowl off, training with parallel bars: that shows a level of strength, balance and coordination that I don't think a live-action Batman has brought to play yet.

If I was writing or directing the next Batman--and yeah, no one's asking!--I would keep it away from anything Nolan's done. No origin, everyone knows it. No training montage. Show Bats doing some detective work, for god's sake. Open with a youngish Batman, in his prime, against a super-powered foe or two: someone visually impressive, but not deep enough to build a whole movie around; just to show Batman as someone who has trained and equipped himself to be more than a match for anything. Maybe Blockbuster or Amygdala...


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As usual, this is the week before I go on vacation: there are posts scheduled, although I couldn't tell you what off the top of my head. To get ready to go, we're having another Nightcrawler week. This year, we're checking out retellings of Nightcrawler's origin: it hasn't been retold as many times as Wolverine or most of the other X-Men, even, but in the years since 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1 it's been touched upon a time or two. In fact, we saw a page from the Len Wein/Dave Cockrum original along with the modernized retelling in X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler.

Today's version is from Uncanny Origins #8, "From Circus Freak to X-Man" Written by Bill Rosemann, art by Mark Campos. While it sticks to the "villagers chasing Kurt" and most of the same dialogue as the original, it also ties into the retcon from Uncanny X-Men Annual #4: the villagers are chasing Kurt, because they found him over the body of his stepbrother. Which gives the villagers slightly more motivation than simply "kill the monster," but also makes it odd that Professor X recruits Kurt without any investigation at all. (Admittedly, there wasn't time, since the Professor had to rescue the team trapped on Krakoa; and reading Kurt's mind he would know Kurt was innocent.)

This is probably my favorite retelling of Nightcrawler's origin, mainly because of Campos's art, but it's also the only place I can think of that most, if not all his continuity is in one place.





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Here's something for the ladies. The Korbinite ladies, I guess.

From Silver Surfer #121, "Execution Day" Written by George Perez, pencils by Scot Eaton, inks by Don Hudson. This was the conclusion of a ten, eleven part "Uni-Lord" saga written by Perez; involving the Surfer being split into several pieces and distributed between a batch of aliens. Not great. The Surfer gets himself together, and back to our reality, but also is zapped by a mysterious light...

He's found by his pals Beta Ray Bill and Quasar; the three had been called the Star Masters. I'm not sure by who. Bill had also been redesigned a bit, since in Warren Ellis's brief run on Thor, the World Tree Yggdrasil removed Thor's power from him. It looked like he was going to killed off, but Bill would return with the above costume and modified Stormbreaker hammer. Bill and Thor both had some terrible costumes there for a while.

Re-reading the last couple of years worth of Silver Surfer this afternoon, mostly written by J.M. DeMatteis, with a good stretch of art by Ron Garney. Mostly pretty good. I am mildly curious why I had Big Black Kiss #2 in the same box as a bunch of Silver Surfer and Micronauts...

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80-Page Thursdays: Secret Origins 80-Page Giant!

Although it's not indicated in the title or the indica, this is the Young Justice issue: Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1, featuring stories from Chuck Dixon, Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and more; with art by Humberto Ramos, Cully Hamner, Amanda Conner, and more.

Secret, a mysterious young girl with gaseous powers, has been observing the heroes of Young Justice since they freed her on their first adventure. At their cave headquarters, she meets the Red Tornado, and they talk about Impulse, Superboy, and Robin; as well as Spoiler, Wonder Girl, and Arrowette.

Keeping with the main, Peter David-written Young Justice book, most of the stories are light and entertaining. Spoiler's origin and then-current status as a soon-to-be teen mom is probably the most weighty; but even that doesn't seem like it will keep her down. Arrowette's origin is also the origin of her mom; a former Olympic archer who tried to take the archer/superhero route of Green Arrow and Speedy...unsuccessfully.


A great 80-pager: I swear, DC knocked out a pretty good batch of them in the late 90's, and next week we might keep that streak rolling with another one. Read more!

"Mission, like Burma."

Playing with Alfred and Batman this afternoon, waiting for a repairman. And misspelling "council."



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