"Moving Day."

I should be signing the lease for my new apartment Friday, which means I should be much further along in my packing than I am right now. We're probably going to be coming up on a low-content week sooner rather than later, then. So, we'll be watching the JLA move for a few weeks!
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Although DC has tried to reinvent him a couple of times, Captain Marvel's classic villain Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana has usually worked best as the pinnacle of the mad scientist. And Sivana is mad by any definition of the word: his ideas are usually off the wall; he's actually insane; and he's generally pissed off all the time, over not getting the respect for his work he felt he deserved. Sivana's grudge against humanity would solidify over the years to the point that he would never let it go; even when he won the Nobel Prize for Physics.

After Billy Batson reads the newscast, as Captain Marvel he wants to give Sivana the news face-to-face, and visits him in prison. Early in his career, before he went bad, and occasionally over the years; Sivana would invent something he couldn't use for crime, like a death ray that only killed rats or a process to make food out of rocks. Sivana is embarrassed by those inventions, and doesn't consider the Nobel to be an honor. He's holding out for "rightful ruler of the universe." Interestingly, Sivana had four kids: two older ones, that were good and hoped their dad would redeem himself; and two evil younger ones ashamed Sivana was going soft.

Captain Marvel offers to take Sivana to accept the Nobel, handcuffed to him. But Sivana escapes with a remote controlled teleporter, and immediately plans to "wipe out the ignominy" of winning the Nobel, by starting World War III. He knocks out an aggression ray, and tests it on some passersby. Captain Marvel settles the victims down, but Sivana starts work on a bigger, more powerful satellite model; that would make everyone in the world aggressive for twelve hours. Sivana figures someone will start a nuclear war then, and he can take over afterwards.

As Sivana launches his satellite, destroying a condemned building, Captain Marvel sees it, then rewires it to reverse the effect. Instead of aggression, everyone mellows out for twelve hours. Terrorists surrender, invasions are cancelled, political prisoners are freed. Even Sivana cheerfully surrenders and accepts his Nobel, affected by the ray. The next day, back in jail, Sivana is mortified to hear he stopped like six wars, and is probably a shoo-in for next year's Nobel Peace Prize.

From World's Finest #273, "Sivana's Nobel" Written by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Dan Adkins. Oddly, the only other Nobel Prize winner I can think of in comics is Morbius, the Living Vampire...
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At least he isn't moaning about jet-packs.

Based on today's comic, and two or three others I could recall off the top of my head; I became convinced DC Comics Presents was preoccupied with the apocalypse. Kinda grim for a Superman team-up book. Maybe not every issue--#39 was a Plastic Man story I had as a kid--but the collapse of civilization, Mad Max-style aftermath, comes up in #57 with the Atomic Knights, #61 with O.M.A.C. as we saw earlier, and I'm pretty sure it's mentioned at least in passing in at least one of the Legion of Super-Heroes appearances. Back then, DC's continuity took nuclear armageddon as a given: at some point, society collapses and millions die, but humanity does get themselves more together by around the 30th Century...

That was the spirit of the time, I'm afraid. As a child, I remember being genuinely terrified of nuclear war for a while. Eventually, I decided it would either kill me outright (more or less) or I'd spend my post-apocalypse racing around the wastelands, looking for gas and fighting barbarians. Good times. However it turned out, there didn't seem to be much point in worrying about it. I don't know if today's issue would have cheered me up back then or not, though: from 1983, DC Comics Presents #64, "May You Live in Interesting Times!" Written by Mark Evanier, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Frank McLaughlin.

This was a pre-Crisis tale, so there was none of that "Superman only first appeared in public five years ago" business: Supes had been around for way longer than that. When the general public knows he can travel through time, I think they might be a little too familiar with Supes. But for scientist Victor Epoch, that knowledge seemingly accelerates his mid-life crisis. Realizing he's not going to be around forever, Epoch yearns to see the future; imagining it to be a wonderland of progress, science, and culture. He builds a time-viewer, hoping to get even a glimpse of what's to come. And he gets more than an eyeful.

When Superman then returns to Metropolis, he finds large sections of it leveled, but mysteriously of old age. He also finds a calendar "that's wrong by a couple of centuries!" Meanwhile, in the future, two of Great Caesar's tiger-men chase Kamandi, the last boy on earth. But the tigers are distracted when they discover an undestroyed section of city: modern-day Metropolis! Industriously, the tigers capture several of the "human animals."

Kamandi tries to find out why Great Caesar's on the warpath, but is captured. Superman has realized past and present are colliding, but doesn't know why yet, and confronts Caesar. The tiger lord had seen the past Metropolis and thought the humans were rebuilding in his domain. Kamandi recognizes "the Mighty One," though; having seen ancient video footage and Superman's costume. Superman gets Kamandi out of there, and Caesar prepares his troops to ride and exterminate the humans.

Back in the present, Epoch checks his work, but can't determine why he can't see the future...until he goes outside and finds himself in the future Metropolis. He's a little disappointed, and that's before the tiger-men catch him. Kamandi's setting himself up for some disappointment as well, since he had been hoping Superman could save humanity; but Supes knows Kamandi's future is one of many possible ones, and he's powerless to change it.

As Superman battles the tiger-men, throwing more than a few of them into the zoo; Kamandi is captured again and thrown in with the human prisoners, where he meets Epoch. Figuring he's missing something, Supes goes undercover as Clark Kent, to allow himself to be captured, where he finds them both. By this point, Epoch's time-gyroscope is building up to an explosion, the Daily Planet/Galaxy Broadcasting building has been thrown back to prehistoric times, and the National Guard has been called in to fight the tigers. Clark "accidentally" finds a weak spot in an old wall, freeing them all, then ditches to turn back into Superman. But he ends up back with the Daily Planet, while Epoch and Kamandi try to fight their way to the time-gyroscope; they arrive just in time to stop it.

Kamandi is pulled back to his time, and says he's needed there, since the people there don't have a Superman there to save them. Epoch is glad everything is back to normal, and begins to smash his machine. Supes points out he'd be glad to give Epoch a tour of time, but Epoch thinks the future "makes today look pretty good."

This issue may have been Kamandi's last appearance until...maybe Crisis? But the video rental stores of the early 80's were full of Mad Max knockoffs; and it seems like DC should've been publishing Kamandi then.

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If you had told me Vandal Savage was going to be the breakout character of the New 52...

...that would've been hard for me to believe. And yet here we are, over a year and a half in, and Vandal Savage might be the only currently published character I even like. Sure, he's an immortal barbarian warmonger, but he's likable!

From Demon Knights #20, "The Stone Door" Written by Robert Venditti, pencils by Chad Hardin, inks by Wayne Faucher. After last month's battle with vampires for Paradise Island, Sir Ystin struggles to fight off the bite of Cain, Exoristos turns down Queen Hippolyta's offer to rescind her exile, the Amazons are shown to be nowhere near as nice or friendly as everyone thinks, and Vandal Savage cheerfully sets aside his "grudge" with Jason Blood. Blood, who was tortured for decades by Savage, seems less forgiving...I don't know if fans of I, Vampire or Wonder Woman are even aware of this series, but it ties in with both!

The Knights begin a new quest, or rather take up an old one; the search for the Holy Grail. Which leads to an encounter with a giant squid, because that's the sort of thing that should happen on a quest. Per the Beat, Demon Knights hasn't been setting any sales records, but I'm still kinda liking it--it's the only DC book I'm reading regularly. I've been meaning to re-read the whole series, but I misfiled two issues, which is driving me up a wall since I don't have time to dig around for them!

Demon Knights #20 just came out Wednesday, but you may or may not be able to pick it up at your local comic shop: many are probably just getting it for subscribers, and not racking any copies. Which isn't going to turn around sales on the book, although that's not on the shops. Maybe DC should do, I don't know, like ninety-nine cent issues for books on the lower end of the sales charts; I know Milestone did that way back when...
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80-Page Thursday: Countdown Special: OMAC #1!

I was a big fan of the all-too-brief New 52 O.M.A.C.. I always thought it needed a metal opening theme, possibly with legions chanting his name; possibly kinda like the opening to Metalocalypse.

But today, we have classic OMAC! From 2008, Countdown Special: OMAC #1, with stories and art by Jack Kirby, Jim Starlin, and Len Wein, George Perez, and Pablo Marcos.

That's a great lineup, although I had kinda been hoping this was just going to be Jack Kirby issues, since those were the ones I don't have! I already had two of the Jim Starlin ones, that were intended for use in Kamandi but instead burned off as back-ups in Warlord. (I do wonder how they were received there, but I suspect Starlin may have moved on regardless.) And DC Comics Presents #61 with Superman I have reprinted, in Best of DC #50 digest. (Which is pretty good!) Hell, I probably have the original floating around somewhere too, now that I think about it.

I didn't notice before, but both the original OMAC and the new 52 version only lasted eight issues each. And what did OMAC have to do with Countdown again? Something about the Great Disaster? Well, we're lucky in that these issues read just fine without getting back into that debacle.


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"Sleepless."

I figure Deadman's always able to ghost into different houses and catch up on whatever's on TV; but playing video games might be a little more problematic. And I don't know if I'd want to live in Constantine's body, either.

Zatanna actually pulls that spell on John in Totems, a Vertigo one-shot. At a New Year's Eve party--1999!--a visibly soused John is a little more forward than he is here; and Zatanna isn't having it. Dig it up!
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The Defenders: Making TV look good...

As typical for the Defenders, one crummy day leads to another: pissed off about Dollar Bill's TV special, which made the heroes, the criminals and the viewing public look like fools; the Foolkiller kidnaps Dollar; who leads him to the Defenders HQ--at the time, Kyle (Nighthawk) Richmond's mansion. Dollar had hoped the Defenders would kick Foolkiller's ass, but so far that hadn't been working out.

Foolkiller's death-ray gun only stuns Valkyrie, but also starts the place on fire. Clea can't put the fire completely out; Hellcat isn't able to put Foolkiller out, but Val comes back to administer him a stout beating about the skull and face.


Meanwhile, the Hulk yells at a whale; and Nighthawk violates a court order and flys over to his now-half demolished home. Upon hearing it was just a guy with a gun, he's a little cheesed off. He also seemingly outs his secret identity, except the news crew seems to think he's Hawkeye.

By the time the Hulk shows up, Nighthawk's disbanded the team; but even the Hulk thought the Defenders was a stupid idea. This does free up Valkyrie and Hellcat to look into what happened to Omega...

From 1979, the Defenders #75, "Poetic Justice" Written by Ed Hannigan, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Mike Esposito.

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Today, Conan vs. speculation.

I had this issue as a kid, and was absolutely convinced it was going to be a collector's item. I have no idea why I thought that, or why I felt compelled to tell people it was sure to be valuable later, but I know I did. From 1981, Conan the Barbarian #126, "The Blood Red Eye of Truth!" Written by J.M. DeMatteis, pencils by John Buscema, embellishment by Bob McLeod.

Trapped deep in Stygia, Conan is feeling up a creek; but the little wizard Liirix claims he can send Conan back--if Conan would do him a solid, and steal a gem called the Eye of the Unknowable One from some cultists. Since Stygia kind of blows, Conan agrees; and tracks down some of the cultists, who already know Liirix's plot and attack on sight. Still, Conan is more than a match for them even outnumbered four-to-one; but one remains: an old woman, Shikar. She had been on her way to the Unnameable City, to see the Unknowable One before she died; and convinces Conan to take her there. "The only way to become one with truth is to be consumed by it," she tells Conan, who obliges her.

After a brief fight with an ogre-like monster, Conan and Shikar arrive at the altar of the Unknowable One; which is a big stone worm-snake with a ruby-gem eye. Shikar wishes Conan would give up on the idea of looting her temple, but knows he has a good heart. Shikar dies, and while Conan wonders if she's found the truth she devoted her life to, the Unknowable One comes to life and eats Shikar's body. Appalled, offended, or possibly just grossed out; Conan tries to gut the worm, but it's a little more durable than he'd expected. Finally, Conan crushes it with a giant slab of stone.

Conan gets the ruby-gem, but later seems to see faces in it, including Shikar's, seemingly trapped after the death of her god. Still, Conan had made a deal, and gets the gem to Liirix; who promptly poisons Conan with a face full of powder. (What kind, I wonder?) As Liirix boasts, Conan recovers, but isn't sure why until he realizes it was the gem. Conan smashes the gem, releasing Shikar and the others within, who then turn Liirix into a ruby glass goblin.

As a bonus, Shikar also gets Conan back to a civilized city, well out of Stygia; as well as sets him up with food, drink, and a bag of gold. A fun little issue, but certainly not the collector's item I thought it was going to be. For some reason...really, I'm still not sure what I was thinking.

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Hey, a review: Marvel Select Nightcrawler!

I don't do a lot of proper reviews, but thought I could take a moment for this figure. Especially since I had been waiting, I dunno, five months or so for it. But, the Marvel Select Nightcrawler is finally here!

This was sculpted by Jean St. Jean, who also did the recent Marvel Select Venom, which I think was a bigger release with extra sculpting and parts. And also came out earlier, while Nightcrawler got pushed back multiple times. Still, as Diamond Select themselves pointed out, it's not like they missed Nightcrawler day or anything. At any rate, it's nice work. He's got a relatively neutral expression, but his fangs are visible; something I'm not sure you see that often.

The articulation isn't bad: neck, shoulders, upper biceps, elbows, wrists, mid-torso, waist, hips, upper thighs, double knees, and ankles. So, like 21 points, and a bendy tail! Except, the joints don't have as much range of motion as you might get with a Marvel Legends-style figure. The red points over his shoulders are stiff, and block some poses as well. Nightcrawler can't look straight up, the mid-torso joint doesn't do much, the ankles could go a little further. But, it's more of a display piece than a straight toy, right? If you find the articulation of Marvel Legends fiddly or loose, this is more your speed.


The paint is good, but there's a lot of wash on the legs and face. It seems uneven up close, and possibly in the close-up pictures; but fine from a distance. It's also closer to the early appearances of Nightcrawler, where he was more monstrous-looking: like most X-Men and X-Women, he would get better looking as the series went on. (It's more noticeable in characters like Rogue and Psylocke, but even Wolverine got more handsome over the years. If Maggott had caught on, he would look like the Old Spice Guy by now...)

Nightcrawler supposedly gets a piece of the Danger Room base, like the ones that came with the other X-Men: Colossus, Storm, Gambit, Cyclops. He doesn't really, just the small teleporting-smoke base. It's OK. I don't use bases very often; but if you were building the Danger Room, you could be in for a disappointment. I don't have any of the others, since I'm a Nightcrawler fan, more than an X-Men fan. (I did miss a clearance Cyclops a while back, but since I hate him, it was a pass.) So, no bases, but I'm afraid I can't say how the team looks together.

Since the base is a little light, Nightcrawler feels a little short-changed. He could've used a sword, at the very least. Or a Bamf mini-figure! He's not a huge lump of plastic like some other Marvel Select figures like Thanos or the Thing or even Colossus--and Colossus still came with a Danger Room piece!

MS Nightcrawler isn't my favorite figure of his, then; but he would've had a long way to got to beat the Marvel Legends Nightcrawler. And even that isn't my imaginary ideal version: I would love to see a cheery, friendly, smiling version; either in Alan Davis or Dave Cockrum's style. Maybe even pirated out, like the cover of his first limited series.

Overall, I have to say this Nightcrawler's a B figure; good, but not great. As a fan of the character, of course I was going to buy it, and as long as the legs didn't fall off the figure right out of the package, I'd probably be just fine with it. But he's not the best figure Marvel Select has ever done, nor does it feel like they went all out with him, either.
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