"As senior statesmen... or mystery men, we should have a role in society-- as mentors or advisors or helping hands in an emergency. I've worked with some of the Justice League and they're good... real good. I'm proud to say that maybe my experience made them even better... but they're not invincible-- no one is! And God knows there's plenty of trouble to go around in the modern world." -Carter HallI did that thing where I missed a week again. In my defense, I had a couple of doable posts in mind and had time set aside to get them done, but circumstances changed throughout the week. I kept having to push things back a day at a time, until Friday approached, and I figured, why bother? So to make it up, I intend to do a longer post on Wednesday. I have to say that 2024 has been full of exciting challenges, both good and bad. It's made me one poor correspondent, so if I owe you an email, I'm sorry and hope to catch up in November. I have to say that I'm in the safest, most comfortable place of my life. But also, time changes everything, I'm not one to just sit on a lilypad, and even if I could, a lot is simply outside my control. Thankful as I am, I was looking forward to enjoying Halloween this year, but there's been too many horrors this October to feel like seeking any more out. I'm sure we've all been extra tense this month, but whatever happens in November, I'm set on shoring things up on my end. 2024 has been defined by self-imposed degrees of drowning, and I need to find healthier ways to blog, podcast, and pursue other creative endeavors. Hopefully, that will include fewer skip weeks, but you've heard that before...
Monday, October 28, 2024
Justice Society of America #2 (September, 1992)
Monday, October 14, 2024
Jack Reed
"In my secret identity of John Jones, I'm an accomplished detective with the Middleton police force-- but Jack Reed set the standard there. He was as brave and skilled an officer as I've ever known. If only that had been enough to keep him safe. Jack made plenty of enemies. Vengeful mobsters murdered Jack and his wife. Their son Robby was barely two-- not old enough to realize what had happened-- only old enough to feel a great and inexplicable sense of loss. Not long after, Robby's maternal grandfather moved the boy to nearby Littleville. I can see now that I should have stayed in touch-- since i can't fathom what could have turned the boy into a-- super-hero?"See Also: Silver Age: Dial H for Hero #1 (July, 2000)
Monday, October 7, 2024
2015-2017 Martian Manhunter Comrades Jam
2015-2017 Martian Manhunter Comrades Jam
- 2015 The Atom (Ray Palmer) Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Atom Todd
- 2015 Bloodwynd Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Oliver Banks
- 2017 Elongated Man Jam Sketch Detail by Isaiah Broussard
- 2015 Glenn Gammeron Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Adrian Nelson
- 2016 Green Lantern John Stewart Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Eddie Nuñez
- 2015 Gypsy Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Brent Peeples
- 2015 L-Ron Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Ali Morgainne
- 2015 Miss Martian Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch by Mark Bagley
- 2015 Oberon Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Johnny J. Segura III
- 2017 The Ray Comicpalooza convention Jam Sketch Detail by Jason Scholte
- 2017 Roh Kar Jam Sketch Detail by Allen Bellman
- 2016 Steel (Hank Heywood III) Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Allen Adams III
- 2015 Vibe Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Brian Salinas
- 2015 The Vixen Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Brad Garneau
- 2016 Zatanna Comicpalooza convention Jam Sketch Detail by Garrett Gainey
Monday, September 30, 2024
The Manhunter From Mars #106 (Nov.-Dec. 1969)
Upon setting down on Phobos, J'onzz was greeted not by his loved ones, but the humanoid sentries of Duke Dorna. The Manhunter's Justice League of America compatriot Wonder Woman had once rescued her love Steve Trevor and Duke Dorna from a coup perpetrated by Ghurkos. Though Duke Dorna wasn't as clearly corrupt, the Plutonian legal system presumed guilt against any accused, and J'onn J'onzz was declared suspect in the immolation of Mars by The Blue Flame. Further, his fate would be determined through trial by combat, as was the Plutonian way, on penalty of death.
The accused was briefly jailed, sharing a cell with his old foe, B'rett, thanks to a safety feature in his Guard Belt that flew him to the moon when Mars perished in flames. Their reunion prompted a history lesson, recalling ancient myths of the Roman Gods having moved out into the solar system to claim worlds as their own, as was the case with Mars. Not content to reign over a planet that bore his name, Mars also sought to destroy any terrestrial gods, such as those worshiped by the green-skinned Desert Dwellers. The Albino Polar People embraced the gospel of Mars, which is why they assumed more humanoid appearances than the greens. Mars set the Martian tribes against one another, for sport and to assert dominance, aided by the lesser deities that served him. Lord Conquest oversaw a particularly ruthless band of Polars, who forced assimilation upon captive Desert Dwellers, from which B'rett's yellow-skinned race arose. Treated as lesser beings by the white-skinned Martians, the yellows came under the sway of Lord Conquest's rival, the Duke of Deception. The Duke so loved his people that he crafted a moon of their own to live upon, and led them to Deimos. Later, following a clash with Mars, Lord Conquest took his most fanatical followers to their own moon, Phobos, from whom the even more humanoid and Roman-influenced people of Duke Dorna were descended. Neither Green Martian nor Yellow Deimosian were welcome among the Phobosians, but only B'rett had the patronage of his personal deity in this foreign land. Not only had he declared that B'rett would survive his trial, but that he would also be free to leave for Earth aboard the soon-to-be deceased J'onzz's space ship. It was Duke Deception who had caused J'onzz to lose the trail of the Martian ark, and cast the illusion of J'onzz's family being stranded on Phobos.
All this caused the Sleuth from Outer Space to beg the question, what does God need with a starship? The Alien Atlas and the Xanthic Bandit competed in a series of Olympic-style challenges, as was the Phobosian way, each claiming an equal number of wins. Finally, the pair had to traverse perilous ground, and one wrong step meant a miles deep drop from atop a lunar plane where they had no special powers to save them. Through treachery, B'rett sent J'onzz falling to his apparent doom, while he succeeded with the aid of his still-active guard belt, giddily anticipating his rocket-powered exit from this satellite. However, Phobos could not sustain life without resources from lost Mars, so Duke Dorna and his favored would be taking the vessel for themselves, and allowing Brett to "live" for however long Phobos would keep him. Not only was B'rett enraged, but so was Duke Deception, himself trapped on Phobos by yet another rival, the Earl of Greed. Deception and B'rett joined forces against Dorna, but then the entire moon careened out of orbit.
The Martian Marvel had a history lesson of his own. Not only hadn't any of these false Roman deities of Earth "given" their followers moons, but there were never any Martian moons to begin with. 50,000 years earlier, the genius scientific survivalist Thas Bakkus had created the two miles-wide satellites during an earlier catastrophe on Mars when the rivers dried up and oxygen disappeared. While Thas Bakkus lay in suspended animation, Martian society evolved to adapt to the atmospheric changes, and in 1955 the Manhunter from Mars was teleported to Earth. Professor Erdel's experiments had also caused Thas Bakkus to awaken from his long slumber, and after studying Earth with his cosmic rays, attempted to conquer it as a replacement for his home world. Just after John Jones had captured “The Man of 1,000 Disguises”, Thas Bakkus caused all the humans on Earth to become his type of unevolved Martian, and obey his will. J'onzz was unaffected, but Thas Bakkus' having arrived near Earth aboard the Deimos satellite was causing gravitational calamity to the planet. While the Alien Atlas investigated Deimos and set it on a return course for Martian orbit, the human Jim Croft had thwarted Thas Bakkus himself. The Sleuth had recognized Thas Bakkus' handiwork on Phobos, and had programmed the satellite to carry its citizens to orbit a world that could sustain them. In the confusion, the Manhunter from Mars reclaimed his space ship, and made off, leaving B'rett and Duke Deception to drift through space, with only the guard belt between them...
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
2014-2023 Martian Manhunter Foes Convention Sketch Jam
2014-2023 Martian Manhunter Foes Convention Sketch Jam
- 2019 A-Mortal convention jam sketch by Robert Henry
- 2014 The Conjurer Comicpalooza convention head sketch by Shane Davis
- The Conjurer convention head sketch inked by Kevin Conrad
- 2014 King Zeus Comicpalooza Commission by Thom Zahler
- 2014 Porto Comicpalooza convention sketch by Herbie Rivera
- 2014-2015 Porto Comicpalooza convention sketches by Herbie Rivera and Antoine Mayes
- 2023 S'vor Fan Expo New Orleans convention sketch by Ian Chase Nichols
- 2014 Scorch Comicpalooza convention head sketch by James O’Barr
Monday, September 23, 2024
2023 S'vor Fan Expo New Orleans convention sketch by Ian Chase Nichols
One trick that's helping me as my aging mind fails is to take pictures with my phone of commissions at a given con, so that I can later recall more details of the when/where/who. I wanted to get commissions for celebrities appearing at that year's Texas Frightmare Weekend, plus this looked like a last convention run with one of my best friends before he was going to have to settle down. NOLA seemed like a reasonable drive from Houston, so we loaded up the car, rented a shotgun shack, and headed out for the weekend. You typically have to adjust your expectations for a show taking place right after the holidays, but there was top quality talent at there. I seriously considered laying down the $3K asking price for another Arthur Adams, and would have if they'd taken the cash at the show, but I hate dealing with online negotiations, indefinite waiting times, shipping concerns, et cetera...
I wasn't as familiar with Ian Chase Nichols, who's done work on IDW TMNT, Dynamite Red Sonja, and seems to pal around with The Tick's Ben Edlund. I liked what I saw at the show though, and was very happy with a Dawn of the Dead Charlie Peters piece he did for me. We had the time and money for another go (because Art didn't take it,) so he was kind enough to help finish another jam piece. He chose Jupiter's least favorite son, S'vor, an appropriate name for the porcine foe. I'd never gotten anything done with S'vor, and there was a decent anount of space yet, so Nichols did me a solid by filling it out. The Jovian looks to have gotten on Ozempic since we last saw him in the '60s, and he cuts a man figure. A love the energy radiating from our boy!
Ian Chase Nichols
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
The Conjurer convention head sketch inked by Kevin Conrad
Monday, September 16, 2024
Mars & the Duke of Deception
In the Golden Age, the Roman God Mars ruled from the planet bearing his namesake, where he gathered the souls of dead men to serve as eternal slaves to his kingdom. Under Mars were three commanders, Lord Conquest, the Earl of Greed, and the Duke of Deception (along with General Destruction and Lya.) Mars and his lieutenants often deployed forces from the planet Mars against their sworn enemies, the Amazons, and their greatest champion, Wonder Woman. Initially, these "Martians" appeared to be Caucasian humans, perhaps related to those enslaved souls, but later, native Martians were clearly deployed.
At one point, Duke Deception overthrew Mars to rule their planet, and later commanded a fiefdom over Yellow Martians, whose form he assumed to lead them in a combined invasion force alongside armies from Saturn and Jupiter. This was after Deception had gathered representatives from planets throughout the Solar System in a bid to join together to invade Earth, but they were put off when Princess Diana made an impressive demonstration of potential resistance in "The Olympics of Terror." Later still, after an unexplained separation from his prior army (which may have involved the machinations of Morpheus,) the Imperator of Illusions assumed a green-skinned form, and was surprised to make the acquaintance of actual Green Martians. For a sprawling arena of natives, the Master of Matter tasked Wonder Woman in the Martian Olympics of the Doomed, but the Amazing Amazon bested him in the crooked competition. In revenge, the Green Martians destroyed the Earth, but with the help of a Jovian, Princess Diana traveled back through to prevent the destruction before it began.
Mars himself pitted against Wonder Woman the Crimson Centipede, a powerful green-skinned being, and a Martian creation bearing roughly sixteen arms and legs. Meanwhile, the Duke of Deception disfigured Wonder Girl, and tried to use her as bait for the Wonder Family to be cut down by a Martian fleet, but was thwarted. After a final invasion attempt on Paradise Island with Martian saucers disguised as an Amazonian Swan Fleet, the Duke of Deception was commanded by the Lasso of Truth to return to the Red Planet, from which the Martian incarnation of the Imperator of Illusions never returned. This final return took place before the seeming destruction of Mars in the inferno of The Blue Flame.
Friday, September 13, 2024
2024 Comic Art Live “Ziggy Manhunter” Mystery Sketch by Nir Levie
For the mystery sketch May 2024, I chose Ziggy Stardust, what I received was this gorgeous amalgamation of Ziggy Stardust and Martian Manhunter. It’s crazy, unique and fun as hell! That’s what I love about the mystery sketches, you don’t really know what you are gonna get. Nir Levie put his own wild spin on it, and it works fantastically. David Bowie would have killed for abs like these.Sorry I missed yesterday. I went to a concert with the Rolled Spine Podcasts crew, and also was inspired to put a little more work into something that I'd intended to hack out before the weekend.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
1986 FPC DC Comics Calendar Poster
It was produced by FPC, or The Federal Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., who distributed black & white DC Comics reprints in the Down Under. In fact, the ad running, in the original U.S. comics, added the unusual shipping penalty of $1.50 extra outside Australia-- which is, y'know, all of us buying the original North American editions. Like, almost everybody on Earth is somewhere besides Ozzieland, which has less than 27M population, only 0.33% of the global population. I live in the state of Texas, with nearly 31M, and that's only one (admittedly populous) of 50 United States, and these things went to Canada, too (40M.) At $6.50 in 1985 dollars, that's $19.00 today, including shipping, which actually isn't that bad when I consider it. But it's pretty hefty for something expected to be thrown out on a year, which might be why I've never seen one in the wild. But also, it's a one-sheet poster, not a flip calendar, with the Marshall Rogers Batman & Robin crowding into four of the other images (molesting a small portion of the previously unobscured Titans portion.) Other characters revealed in the final release are Blue Devil & Amethyst by Paris Cullins, and... wait... that's it? A twelve month calendar with only eight images, because several months do double duty, and one triple. What a rip-off.
The image that I haven't discussed yet is maybe my favorite, though not without serious competition. Green Lantern John Stewart, Firestorm, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter, drawn by Luke McDonnell and inked by Jerry Ordway! Wooo-we! That is quite the collection of choices cuts for ol' Frank-- enough for me to let my Texas (or at least my Slim Pikins) out just now. I really wish this art existed outside a sloppy, mangled sheet of paper. And it kind of does, as the original art is nominally available for trade or purchase. I'd miss that lovely Greg Theakston painted color, though I could overlook it wth those characters and that linework. But see, the seller doesn't actually post prices, and the listing is so old that for all I know it's part of the dead internet. I have enough trouble getting art and quotes from people face to face with me at conventions. I can't manifest the energy for "email me bro," so one of you can pursue it with my full blessing. I reserve the right to envy, however.
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
2016 Armek Commission by Rick Hoberg
For instance, I approached Rick Hoberg at a convention. I'm pretty sure that it was in Houston, but I don't think it was Comicpalooza. Both Space City Comic Con and Amazing were still operating in town in 2016, the date on the finished piece, but it was a take-home that ultimately got to me later. For all I know, we might have first talked about it the previous year. I'd been getting 1950s-1980s characters done in modern styles, so I thought it would be fun have a comparatively recent (1996?!?) character created in the post-Image school done by a more classical Bronze Age veteran. There was an added layer of irony, because Hoberg is likely best known for his work on DC's Golden Age heroes in All-Star Squadron, but I mostly associated him with the Ultraverse's Image-adjacent team book The Strangers. I dug his clean line, and I think I gave him a choice of characters (I usually do,) with him picking the Hyperclan's robot member, Armek.
It turned out great, and I think you can tell that he had fun working on something outside what was expected from him. This poor guy probably never wants to draw another archer or old-timey mystery man again. His Armek reminds me of Geoff Senior's Death's Head, with all the armor layers and battle damage. There's another blog I could have threatened. Anyway, the same year as the art arrived, I was working on the first volume of Who's Who in Martian Manhunter, making a bunch of mistakes with it while chasing a stupid self-imposed deadline. That project was a ton of work, but I had every intention of getting back to it, and "saved" Armek for the first page of Vol II. Eight years later, I wouldn't hold your breath over that happening. So here I am, poorly serving Hoberg's efforts by sitting on them and forgetting most of the finer points behind the piece's creation. John Cassaday, twenty years Hoberg's junior, died today, and I'm still playing around with time like it's infinite. Sorry, Rick. The piece came out awesome. Thank you!
Monday, September 9, 2024
The Fake Manhunter from Mars Comic Series & Other Entertaining Fabrications
- The All-Stars #120 (August-September, 1961)
- The Boy All-Stars #1 (April, 1963)
- John Jones: Manhunter From Mars #100 (Sept.-Oct. 1968)
- The Manhunter From Mars #105 (Sept.-Oct. 1969)
- The Manhunter From Mars #106 (Nov.-Dec. 1969)
- Manhunter from Mars #125 (February 1973)
- The Martian Manhunter #150 (Winter 1976)
- Manhunter from Mars #175 (February, 1979)
- Limited Collectors' Edition #C-61 ([March] 1979)
- Manhunter from Mars #199 (February 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars #200 (March 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars #201 (April 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #1 (1984) Part 1, Part 2
- Manhunter from Mars #250 (May 1985)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #2 (1985)
- The Best of DC #74 (July, 1986)
- Manhunter from Mars #300 (July, 1989)
- The Manhunter from Mars Annual #7 (1990)
- Manhunter from Mars #350 (September, 1993)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #12 (1995)
- The Manhunter from Mars Annual #14 (1997)
- Manhunter from Mars #400 (November, 1997)
- Surf and Turf #4 (9/08)
- 2012 Martian Manhunter Super Spectacular #2 Mock-Up
- 2012 New 52 Wave 3 Martian Manhunter #1!
- 2013 New 52 Villain’s Month: Malefic #1!
I've also goofed off in other ways, like constructing the The Manhunter from Mars Filmation-style limited animation intro/theme, or coming up with a solicitation catalog for the years 1999 and 2021 featuring more alternate universe Sleuth from Outer Space projects...
- "1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure: Manhunter from Mars Segment Intro"
- 35 Years Ago (an alternate history of J'Onn J'Onzz's super community in the Post-Zero Hour 1950s
- Silver Age Triumph by Gil Kane
- 2021 “DC Comics 1999 Editorial Presentation: Countdown To The Millennium”
- DC Comics 1999 Editorial Presentation: Manhunter
- 2021 “Justice League Extreme #1” Bloodwynd fanfic commission art by Brad Green
- 2021 “The Legend of Isis” fanfic commission art by Jean Sinclair
- Bloodwynd Mini-Series Announced!
- O’Neil & Netzer Announced for RETRO-ACTIVE 1970s Martian Manhunter!
- Creators for RETROACTIVE: MARTIAN MANHUNTER – THE ‘80S #1
- Creators for RETROACTIVE: MARTIAN MANHUNTER – THE ‘90S #1
- 2013 “The Post-Punk / New Wave Martian Manhunter” (In the style of "Butcher Billy")
Friday, September 6, 2024
2015 Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues #1289: Martian Manhunter and The Mighty Thor
Martian Manhunter and Thor in "Battle for the Bifrost!"To show how long I've been absentee/coasting, it's been nearly a decade since I shamelessly recycled one of Ross' blogging efforts just to make my quota on a daily. Which means I had plenty to choose from, but this was a favorite.
Thursday, September 5, 2024
2016 Cherry Capital Comic Con Martian Manhunter Commission by Ryan Lee
Ryan Lee Art Studio
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
2024 Martian Manhunter Convention Sketch by Tom Mandrake
I had something else in mind for tonight, but my files have gotten to be such a byzantine sprawl of external drives into which past computers have been collapsed that I can't find some required background. Also, I have a podcast and a long form blog supporting a podcast to get out tonight. So heere's a recent CAF post by prolific art patron Off(icer) White from the most prodigeous J'Onn J'Onzz artist in modern times. I'll do better tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
2014 Martian Manhunter Villains Comicpalooza Jam
2014 Martian Manhunter Villains Comicpalooza Jam
Monday, September 2, 2024
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Countdown to 70
Monday, August 5, 2024
Detective Comics #557 (December, 1985)
In this specific story, Batman was in the hospital watching over Selina Kyle after she'd been struck by Crisis Red Sky lightning. An exhausted Robin returned alone to the Batcave, where he received a transmission from the Martian Manhunter and the Justice League. "Nothing new to report on the bizarre weather phenomena, Robin-- just checking in to tell Batman to remain on alert-- and ready for action. Until this is cleared up, none of us can afford a moment's rest." This entirely random interaction convinced Robin that he was acting like a wimp, and needed to act in his mentor's absence to protect Nocturna and, if possible, stop Night-Thief. He couldn't, as Night-Thief beat on Robin, and nearly killed Nocturna, before Batman and a revived Catwoman intervened. That was mostly in the next issue of Batman, where Robin put the severely injured Nocturna in a hot air balloon, which seemed to get blown up by Crisis energy. Don't ask me "why?" It's all too messy to get into.
I wasn't reading Batman comics in these years, but some of my friends had copies that I'd toss through on occasion. I was always intrigued by that alabaster goth girl, but nobody in my circles to this day ever brings her up, and I rarely feel the need to cross the Crisis boundary on DC icons. These comics were selling less than 70K a month, an attainable number even today, and this interminable soap opera couldn't have helped. I've read biography pages on Nocturna several times, but my eyes always glaze over at the twists and turns, the finer details soon forgotten. Only the Psycho-Pirate could remember all this junk, which is probably why we don't talk about Nocturna. But boy, somebody really should reprint those Green Arrow & Black Canary back-ups with the Jerome K. Moore art. They're worth recollecting.
"Still Beating" was by Doug Moench, Gene Colan, & Robert Allen Smith.
Monday, July 29, 2024
Action Comics #595 (December, 1987)
Lying in state, Superman's ghost lifted from his glass encased body, stating "I have been cut down before my work was done! I must finish what I set out to do. Only then can I rest. Beware, Silver Banshee! Your time of judgment is at hand!" Jimmy Olsen had trailed the villainess to another bookstore, and nearly doomed himself when Spectral Superman showed. Once her powers failed to effect his immaterial form, she blew herself up trying to destroy him with her Banshee cry. Only after did a living Superman reveal himself, while his "ghost" resumed his nat-- er-- typical Martian form.
The Sleuth from Outer Space had deduced that there was a visual component to the Silver Banshee's powers that prevented her from killing someone that she couldn't accurately identify. The Kryptonian form held up better than human victims, but Superman was still placed in a deathlike coma state until the Aien Atlas jumpstarted his brain with undefined "mental powers." It's a huge stretch that doesn't stand up to scrutiny, since she'd killed multiple unidentified dudes, but Perry White lampshades it with "Well, I guess that's a satisfactory explanation... at least it'll have to do if that's all we're going to get." Still, they played fair by announcing J'Onn J'Onzz's presence earlier in the story, and allowing him a showcase for his detective skills.
"The Ghost of Superman" was by John Byrne, with Keith Williams. Crisis on Infinite Earths had ended with 1985, but it took until June of the following year for "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" to wipe the board clean of Pre-Crisis Superman. Then another four months later, John Byrne used the oldest but "spare" of his two Man of Steel titles to continue the team-up format of the recently canceled DC Comics Presents, beginning with #584. I'm fuzzy on when I started picking the title up, but most probably it was with this issue, so it would have been nice to already be familiar with Martian Manhunter for the reveal. It was apparently the first appearance of Silver Banshee as well, though I could have sworn she'd made an earlier one. Obviously she was super cool, and a fairly strong addition to the rogues gallery, so it's disappointing that she's been more or less relegated to a second hand Supergirl foil. Kal-El's so powerful and so visible that he really can't spare someone so formidable, just because neither Banshee or his cousin possess a y-chromosome.
Monday, July 22, 2024
Booster Gold #22 (November, 1987)
Booster Gold sent his flying robot companion Skeets to free Michelle, then called on his new teammates in the Justice League International to stop the giant gray horned monster in Minnesota. Booster griped about how long it took for the JLI to arrive, and they countered with basically "what part of International did you not understand?" Plus, y'know, the Titans could have already gotten there, y'feeb. The giant is an artificial construct made out of a doughy, energy-resistant substance, so direct attacks were fairly useless. At one point, the team is saved by Booster's force field, and another time Mister Miracle helps them escape. It's very weird to see Miracle carrying Martian Manhunter to safety, and in fact this whole debacle relies on tying the JLI's hands behind their backs to make the hoary aliens and Booster look better. Green Lantern Guy Gardner's recent brain trauma is used to keep him out of the action entirely, while Captain Atom's quantum powers are unusually limp against Dimension X, conveniently. The Alien Atlas is reduced to strength, eye beams, and flight (when not being held by Aero-Discs?) and generic teamwork lines. As least as leader, J'Onn J'Onzz comes up with the decisive play: Captain Atom burns a small tunnel, Manhunter holds it open with his regular, non-elongated hands, and Booster Gold flies into the cavity. Once inside, Gold expands his force field until the creature bursts into goo sprayed all over town.
It feels like word came down while the issue was being worked on that the title had been cancelled. For reasons, the JLI vacate the story, Booster Gold returns to his sister, and those pesky reasons also meant that Michelle Carter's very life force had also been drained with the independently powered super suit. The siblings have to team-up to stop the alien invaders, but a stray power line hits Goldstar and disintegrates her. Then the JLI attend her cliff side funeral, and Doctor Fate sends her tombstone to a dimension where it will be untouched by time. That was... abrupt. "Tortured Options" was by Dan Jurgens & Ty Templeton. I bought the first issue of this book because an ad promised me a free button with purchase, not realizing that the offer wouldn't be honored at a Circle K. He had an okay costume, and it was nice to get in on the ground floor with a new hero, but I basically hated the guy from jump. Materialistic narcissist showboat is a good mixer for a shared universe or super-team, but I don't want to read a whole book about that guy. I didn't realize it then, because the whole package was so bland an unappealing, but that issue would be the start of my long time disdain for Dan Jurgens. He's done good work, I won't deny, but on average I find reading his stuff to be a tedious chore. This story was a perfect example, strongly recalling his own mostly miserable run on Justice League America, as a bunch of characters he has no feel for make too many utterances in a chaotic fashion that is supposed to have some sense of humor or characterization that is absent. Just overeager placeholder balloons that never got needed revisions. I needed to skim through a few issues around this one to get a better sense of what was going, but planned to read this one cover to cover, and just couldn't. I quit trying partway through page 14, when the JLI exits for some contrived reason, and I couldn't tolerate the lame dialogue anymore.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Doctor Fate #1-4 (July-October, 1987)
Sunday, June 30, 2024
The Weird #4 (July, 1988)
Page 16. The Weird kneels before the Macrolatts, speaking to the error of his ways and promising to tell his masters of potential threats to them in this realm. If there were any actual threats, they weren't shared with Batman, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he played indignant before being slapped down by the Weird to help sell the lie. The Macrolatts are so arrogant as to be offended by the idea that anything could threaten them, and smack the Weird around before he fully surrenders, ostensibly to allow them to drain him of all his knowledge and power, ending on a twelve panel page of the possessed heroes slowly reaching toward Weird. Pages 22-24: The Weird reaches into Superman and Nuklon's chests with his variable density powers, pulls out a Macrolatt in each hand, and destroys them both. Well... that was a swift and convenient reversal of the story as told.
Oh, there's still 16 pages to fill? Super studies show that nothing can be done to save The Weird. He spends three pages building a small island as a monument to himself. Superman flies Billy Langley to the island across one page, and it's revealed in the opposing splash. Kind of looks like a sailing ship. Walter Langley's son is somehow meant to make it to this small personal island to play on a mostly barren rock whenever he feels lonely. The proposed logistics of that are the weirdest thing in The Weird. They hug, and then Martian Manhunter is stuck with the thankless task of flying this sobbing child back home to the mother that refused to visit, but was totally cool with allowing her son to fly off with Superman to parts unknown. I do wonder if there was some symbolism in the roles, but most probably J'Onn just got the **** detail, so Superman and Guy Gardner could fly off to unpopulated space to watch The Weird explode. I'd like to say Guy was the only Green Lantern dumb enough to risk it, but they're all so "confident" in their power rings, aren't they? The Weird does blow up a significant distance away, so I guess that explains why an energy bubble wouldn't have contained it. Superman, the Kevin Smith of super-heroes, sheds a tear at his passing. Even Guy looks a bit choked up, or maybe it's like how someone puking makes you want to puke, and Guy is just worried for his tear ducts. The final page is a somber distance shot of the island at sunset.
"...Armageddon" was by Jim Starlin, Berni Wrightson, & Dan Green. Well... that sucked. I liked Batman: The Cult when I got it a few years later, and almost ordered the new edition that's coming out, but I didn't like the production work on display. I mention that because I'm a lifelong Starlin fan, and I'm glad that he produced a script worthy of collaborating with Wrightson at some point, but this wasn't it. All the stuff with the father and son was unearned, because instead of developing that relationship to have any independent weight, they Zarolatted and punch-faced us. I can't remember if they bothered to name the wife/mother, but obviously the story didn't care any more about her than we did once it was done. This feels more like an outline than a complete narrative, and at least twice as many pages of art were produced than were needed to tell this basic of a story. Frankly, it was too obvious and unadorned to even earn its given name. The Lame would have been more honest. At least I got to see Wrightson draw the Alien Atlas, I guess?
Monday, June 24, 2024
The Weird #2-3 (May-June, 1988)
"The Jason" found his failed businessman father's body hanging when he was four. His mother turned to the bottle and maybe prostitution before Jason found her body in bed after one of her gentleman callers took a razor to her. Despite being an impoverished orphan who was academically lax and had no prospects, Jason's belief that he was better than everyone else held fast despite his poor social skills, being an incel, living on the streets, doing a stint in prison for the violent assault of a woman, and eventually ending up a garbageman. He was primed to turn on humanity, ready to believe anything the Macrolatts told him if it meant power, and using it to take murderous advantage of at least one woman victim. Although held captive for a time, The Weird eventually freed himself, and at great personal distress, determined that the only way to stop The Jason was to snap his neck.
The Weird played hide & seek with Superman for fourteen continuous pages in one issue. The Justice League looked on throughout a couple of issues as The Weird had entanglements with other, more powerful beings. "Unbelievable! Not even J'Onn J'Onzz's incredible strength seems able to put a dent in that barrier." Nor Captain Atom's quantum energies, not Green Lantern Guy Gardner's power ring, nor Doctor Fate's mysticism, et cetera. Even after witnessing The Jason's execution, they mostly offer disapproving glares. Well-- that and an order from the Dark Knight to the green one. "It was just as you predicted, Batman. My powers of invisibility caught him completely by surprise." Unable to adapt in time, The Weird took two blows and a hard tumble. Unfortunately, two Macrolatts had escaped to possess Superman and... Nuklon? I guess for his variable density abilities, but yeah, not the guy you'd expect when you have all these powerhouses in Metropolis and Infinity Incorporated is all the way on the West Coast. Also, there was a whole bit about how The Weird had taken over a corpse rather than displace the life energy of a host, so by the rules laid out in the story, both these guys should have died.
"Questions" & "Confrontation" were by Jim Starlin, Berni Wrightson, & Dan Green. These single word narrative direction story titles speak to the reductive nature of the mini-series. Each issue has a few points to check off on a predictable agenda, and the rest is just vamping to fill out space. The art has its moments, but I think everyone involved would have benefited from the space being cut in half. It reminds me of when George Pérez quit Infinity Gauntlet midway through because he was sick of drawing fight scenes where a bunch of people gang up on Thanos and lose. So much of this series involves powerhouse DC heroes floating impotently outside energy fields or getting slapped around by what ultimately prove to be nothing characters, for clout more than narrative necessity. It's all so cheap, pointless, and passionless-- a purely commercial venture that nonetheless can't conceal its distaste toward its own existence. Anyway, I got through the second issue after coming home from HeroesCon, realized the Alien Atlas wasn't in that one, and decided we'd just double up on issues for the following week. This would keep, especially since I have to do my own scans on this thing.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
The Weird #1 (April, 1988)
The small energy ribbon hovered in the sky above Metropolis, and Superman investigated. The energy had no atomic structure-- no mass-- but when the Man of Steel passed his hand through it, he was knocked back three miles. By the time he flew back, J'Onn J'Onzz and Captain Atom had arrived to observe the energy. An hour later, there was a military cordon and a No Fly Zone, then the new Justice League were on the scene. Examinations through varied disciplines were attempted, including a science team on The Bug aircraft consisting of Blue Beetle, Batman, Black Canary, and more. When Doctor Fate's mystics were stymied, Green Lantern Guy Gardner attempted to probe deeper with his Oan Power Ring. An energy surged knocked out Gardner and blacked out the Bug and city as a whole.
Two probes were fired off by the energy ribbon in opposite directions. One was pursued by Superman, as it passed immaterially through a genetics lab's fluid beakers and into its complex computers. The other was followed by Manhunter to a funeral parlor, where the Martian met repeated resistance in contrast to the immediate aid and trust conferred upon the Kryptonian. The energy went into a service in progress, and caused the body of Walter Langley to vanish as mourners looked on in shock and horror. The probes reunited with the core energy, and the gathered heroes watched as the borrowed elements slowly coalesced into a new physical body of a lanky adult male in a queer red and black garb. Super senses detected that this being was not quite right, a sort of cosmic Frankenstein made up of misfit parts that were not quite human. The being collapsed into unconsciousness from the effort, and was taken to S.T.A.R. Labs for testing. Super senses determined that the Weird being, as dubbed by Blue Beetle, was molecularly unstable to a degree that its energies threatened a detonation that could destroy the Earth.
The Weird awakened and assisted upon attending to tasks that "he" refused to take the time to explain to the super-heroes, who attempted by failed to detain him/it by force. The Weird had its vibratory patterns thrown off by the proximity of the super-beings during its maturation period, which had altered the form in unexpected ways. This allowed The Weird to unintentionally push the Alien Atlas across a room, although the Manhunter fared better in a follow-up physical altercation than most of the rest of the League with their varied abilities. Regardless, the Weird at least briefly laid low everyone but Batman, while Superman had left prior to the fight to correct a compromised passenger jet's flight elsewhere.
The Weird sought out "The Jason," the half-crystal man that had been conjuring earlier, but found only his empty apartment. It/he declared the Jason to have a "dark and twisted nature" that would see him pursue world domination. However, a misalignment of the harmonic vibrations in the apartment would prevent Jason Morgan from attempting another inter-dimensional bridge for 18 hours, so the former Walt Langley had some time to kill, The Weird retained some of Langley's memories and motivations, causing him to visit Walt's former home. His widow, Eva, bemoaned his fatal mugging and the scene at the funeral parlor. "I don't care what the police say, I'm sure it's all the doing of that terrible green man." Meanwhile, in the back yard, young Billy Langley recognized his visiting father, even in this altered form...
"Conception" was by Jim Starlin, Berni Wrightson, & Dan Green. Following by introduction to Justice League International with their eighth issue, my reintroduction to the Man of Tomorrow via John Byrne, and a broader exploration of the Post-Crisis landscape moving out from the Millennium event series, I was a target audience member for The Weird house ads. However, I don't know when I had access to individual issues, and do know that I only read the first issue at some point after the final one. Neither experience was satisfying, and I won't know if I ever bothered with the meat of that story sandwich until I move on to covering the second installment. One quarter of "The Studio" and the crown prince of cosmic comics were long time friends who would prove a formidable pairing... on Batman: The Cult. This excessively long warm-up session noodles for 38 pages of heroes impotently watching stuff, then getting trashed by the second in a series of very powerful but rather boring sci-fi/magical Mister Spocks based on the visual template of Syzygy Darklock. I do like though that both Starlin and Wrightson are clearly a more comfortable fit on the Sleuth from Outer Space over Superman. Wrightson seems to relish his dark, exaggerated features over an off-model Man of Steel, with a broad flat nose and thick lips suggesting a less Caucasoid interpretation of the Manhunter, with the strongly implied prejudice that goes with it. I do wonder if Grant Morrison was influenced in his views of J'Onn J'Onzz here (and I think that's the only name he's been referred to in the issue.) Also, Wrightson's horror background gives the takedown of the heroes a more ominous quality than the story would seem to dictate, a sort of accidental element of interest in what otherwise feels more akin to a Radio Shack rudimentary science edutainment giveaway. The issue is way too long to accomplish so little, and I do wonder if this was initiated as a prestige squarebound mini-series for more niche audiences that was either determined not to rate the expensive ask, or was diverted to take advantage of the JLI's building heat on the newsstand.