Action Comics Weekly #640 (Speedy)
"Exiles V"
Writer - Mark Verheiden
Pencils - Frank Springer
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Julianna Ferriter
Editor - Robert Greenberger
Welcome to the final installment of Speedy. It's been a long and winding ride for our second-or-third favorite archer... he's gone from being Nightwing's sidekick for a six-part arc... to a co-headliner with Nightwing for a nine (hundred?)-part arc... to a five-part arc of his very own! That's a lotta Speedy, innit? 19 out of the 42 issues (remember, there were two chapters of Nightwing & Speedy in ACW #627) of Action Comics Weekly... had Speedy!
Today, we call it "run" for Roy... and enjoy the work of our old Secret Six art team!
--
We open with Speedy gazing over the crowd of protesters. Our writer makes sure to point out that they probably "vote Republican"... because, if southern California is known for anything, it's it's strong Republican base. Anyhoo, the protesters are carrying some pretty gross signs... the kind of signs that are so bad that you probably couldn't even post them online as an example of "bad" these days without people flipping out. So, I won't. You probably have a pretty good idea the sort of words appear on 'em. So, Speedy heads outside to engage in some "crowd control", and by that... I mean he fires a net-arrow into the crowd... followed by a gas-arrow. The numbers game soon catches up to our second-or-third favorite archer, and he starts getting his butt kicked.
Just then... a familiar face arrives on the scene! Is that... could it be... no way, it's Randy Violent Sean Bauman! He tells the crowd to "leave da kid alone" before entering the hospice.
Inside, Sean Bauman/Phillip Lossner is led to his brother's bedside... and we finally get to meet the man this whole arc has been built around, Donald Lossner. He is, as you might imagine, quite ill.
The brothers have a heart-to-heart, which ends in an embrace. Sean tells Speedy to keep his motorbike as a token of his gratitude. I honestly thought we were going to wrap up with the cliche deathbed scene. But alas, Donald will live to see another day... just not another comics panel.
With the job (well?) done, Roy heads off to meet back up with that date he abandoned at the bar... ya know, the one that probably doesn't want anything to do with him since finding out he has a daughter? Yeah, her. They reconnect, and... get this... she tells him she doesn't want anything to do with him, since he has a daughter. Wonk, wonk.
We wrap up with our man returning to the offices of Owen Burley, P.I., and it looks like the goofball's got another gig for him. Thankfully, it's one we're probably never going to see!
--
All's well that ends... right?
Boy, this wasn't all'at great... it almost feels like this arc was paced expecting a sixth chapter to wrap things up... but found out about the Human Target one-shot that will be taking the "slot" around halfway through. Very odd pacing, on an already unsatisfying story.
Let's get into it... from start to finish. We open with some weirdly-specific anti-Republican rhetoric. I hate it when either side of the aisle pulls this kind of "drive by" commentary in comics. It's just... "here's a bad guy... they must vote for the party I don't vote for." It's an oversimplification and an arrogance that makes me think less of any writer who engages in it.
Speedy, again, slings before thinking... I mean, firing a gas-arrow into a crowd as a first resort? That doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do. Doesn't seem like the most legal thing to do, either. Can you just attack people who are protesting? Holding signs and chanting? I mean, we might want to... especially in cases like this, but... can we? That just seems like a way to punch your ticket to a night in jail. The whole thing gets out of hand pretty quickly... but, we got this chicken/egg thing here. Did the crowd grow unruly because they were always going to... or because a gaudily-clad archer had his bow trained on them?
Phillip Lossner arrives to defuse the situation... and to make peace with his ailing brother. This was a pretty good scene, kind of boilerplate... but, not bad. I am happy the sidestepped the cliche of Donald dying in Phillip's arms immediately after their heart-to-heart. If I were a betting man, I'd have put it all on that exact thing happening.
Roy gets dumped by that lady he picked up during a moment of (her) weakness... because she ain't fittin' to battle Lian for Roy's attention. Fair play, right? At least she isn't leading him on... or, worse yet, trying to unseat Lian as Roy's top priority. Our man doesn't quite see it from her perspective... and, in an incredible showing of maturity, chucks a few ice cubes in her direction.
The non-ending... I mean, is there anyone out there hoping for more of this? Like, the "Further Adventures of Speedy and Burley, P.I.'s"? Yeesh... some characters aren't headliners... and, ya know what... that's okay. While I didn't dig this much at all, I will say... this is the sort of thing that Action Comics Weekly is all about. Odd little "try out" stories... some are going to hit the mark... and others, well... just ain't.
Tomorrow: Welcome to Hell
Action Comics Weekly #639 (Speedy)
"Exiles IV"
Writer - Mark Verheiden
Pencils - Louis Williams
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Julianna Ferriter
Editor - Robert Greenberger
Woof... wouldja look at that cover? It's a new week... and unfortunately, the covers just seem to get progressively worse as we go!
It's Speedy time!
--
We pick up right where we left off... the dude in the Randy Violent cosplay is holding Speedy up in his garage. They share a bit of back-n-forth, of both the verbal and physical variety. Roy wins this battle... steals the motorbike, and gets away. Next thing we know, our second-favorite archer is literally kicking in the door of Mr. Burley. Ya see, he ain't keen on having some of the facts kept from him. He didn't know that Sean Bauman was the client... and also, the super-secret brother of Donald Lossner. Speedy explains that Bauman was rather peeved to learn that his brother was both, a) gay and b) stricken with AIDS. Now, wait just a second... has it ever been said that Donald Lossner was gay? I don't think that's been confirmed in so many words. Heckuva conclusion to leap to there, Roy.
Roy quits working for Burley right then and there. That night, he goes on a date with the woman whose purse he saved a few chapters back. It's a pretty boring evening, until our man reveals that he has a daughter. Seems ol' whatsherface might not be quite as interested as she initially thought. In fact, she spills her drink all over the place when she finds out.
Roy heads over to the bar to get her another glass of the bubbly, and on the bar's television is a report from the AIDS Hospice. An anonymous patient speaks out on behalf of those suffering. Roy instantly assumes that this must be Donald Lossner. Sure, while we're jumping to conclusions already... what's one more? Worth noting, the bartender is all "Ehh, y'ask me, we oughta load all dem AIDS people onto a boat..." because, how else could we illustrate how tolerant Roy Harper is?
Speedy ends his date early... which, to be honest, doesn't seem like all that much of a disappointment to our purse-snatched victim. We join our man later on, as he's driving Sean Bauman's motorcycle up to the AIDS Hospice. There's a pretty big demonstration going on... seems there are a lot of NIMBY types in the area! Roy manages to get inside, since... ya know, he's dressed like a cartoon archer in broad daylight.
One of the demonstrators hurls a rock through the window of the joint, and Roy is pulled into the Resident Physician, Doctor Fielding's office. She kinda lambastes him for only caring about AIDS right now, while it's "popular"... and asks where he and his ilk were years ago while folks were suffering in silence. Well, she's kinda got a point there. She suggests maybe he was just as scared as the people demonstrating on the other side of the wall.
--
Well... this still ain't all that great, now is it?
In reading those last couple of pages, I kept getting pangs of Denny and Neal's "You were there for the (insert color) skins..." bit from Green Lantern/Green Arrow... only with AIDS patients/victims as the marginalized class. It feels wildly ham-fisted... and really, just something that could've gone without saying. I feel like it would have had more "oomph" if we got a moment with Speedy wondering to himself why he (or any non-Black Canary member of the hero community) hadn't gotten involved with the plight of AIDS patients sooner. This just comes across as trying too hard to underscore the issue... and, at least for me, winds up missing the mark.
Let's talk Lossner. I know my reading comprehension isn't always the best, but I really don't remember it being plainly stated that he was gay. Maybe I'm too dense to pick up on allusions, but... I figure something being written as unsubtle as this story is, would say so flat out. Feels like Speedy might be making some assumptions... then again, since this is such an unsubtle story, he's probably going to wind up being right anyway.
Speaking of assumptions... how in the world did Roy know that the anonymous AIDS patient was Donald Lossner? Was his face supposed to be pixelated on the screen? It's fairly featureless in the art... and, I mean, he only spoke under the condition that his identity not be revealed. Seems as though enough people know who this fella is, that there'd be some sort of image manipulation at play... right? Who knows... maybe I'm just thinking too hard about it.
Roy's date was... pretty lame, but it was a means to an end. It got him to the bar, so he'd see the interview, so he'd get some direction, so he'd yadda, yadda, yadda. I thought it was interesting that his date seemed to want nothing to do with him after finding out about his daughter. I also thought it was interesting (in another way) how willy-nilly Roy was about his secret identity... especially knowing that his daughter could be (and eventually would be) used as a way of getting to him. Seems pretty dumb.
Overall... this is, what it is. It's still not great, but worse yet... with this chapter, it's no longer dumb fun either!
Tomorrow: What Glenda Saw...
Action Comics Weekly #638 (Speedy)
"Exiles, Part III"
Writer - Mark Verheiden
Pencils - Louis Williams
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Julianna Ferriter
Editor - Robert Greenberger
Heyyy, izzat a Jack Kirby cover on our Action Comics Weekly? Howzaboutdat? Unfortunately, I'm not usually of the mind that Kirby always equals better. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan... but, this just looks like a re-purposed pin-up.
Welp, I suppose we'd better get used to lookin' at it... it ain't goin' anywhere for a week! On that subject, wait'll you get a load of next week's cover... cuz, talk about woof.
--
We open with a news reporter reporting on a demonstration going on outside of a local AIDS Hospice. Some dude in a hardhat talks about how he doesn't want none'a this in his backyard. We see that Speedy (in full costume) and his new boss Burley are watching this on a bar television set. They have very different opinions on the AIDS epidemic... I'm sure you can pick out which side of the argument both find themselves on. It's almost cartoonish in their opposition here. Roy stands up for the rights of those with AIDS... Burley immediately insinuates that Roy's gay. Cartoonish... zero subtlety here. Roy stomps out of the bar (again, in full costume), and heads over to a pay phone to ring up that woman who he'd saved from the purse-snatcher a couple of weeks back. His call, however, is interrupted by the arrival of a towncar.
After a pair of heavies... who just parked their boat on the sidewalk... inform Speedy that "dey're boss wantsta tawk to 'im" about the Lossner Investigation. And so, without any question, our second-favorite archer hops into the back of the hooptie. They arrive at the sprawling mansion of the Hollywood actor, Sean Bauman. He might be an Arnold Schwarzenegger stand-in, only with He-Man's haircut.
So, what's the deal with all'a this anyway? Well, ya see... Bauman's real name is, are you ready... Phillip Lossner. He's the brother of the missing Donald Lossner... and the guy who put Burley Investigations on the case! Out by the pool, they compare notes... and lemme tell ya, Phil ain't pleased to learn that his brother has the AIDS. He lashes out at Roy... calls him a liar... threatens him... all that jazz.
Speedy realizes that this conversation ain't going anywhere productive, and so he gets all "screw this" and heads for the door. Bauman's heavies grab him before he can... and the A-Lister gets in Roy's face and accuses him of spreading lies in order to ruin his career as a leading man.
Roy manages to hiptoss the heavies, and... for whatever reason, he just starts firing gimmick arrows all over the place. Like, explosive ones... which, I suppose makes sense if he's trying to escape, but... here's the thing: Bauman's compound is littered with (I assume) innocent civilians! Roy's willy-nilly arrow-slinging seems more than a bit irresponsible and reckless here.
Roy fights his way to the garage, and goes to steal one of Bauman's motorcycles in order to make his escape. Then... oh boy... then, we wrap up with Bauman... who stopped chasing Roy long enough to get into a Randy Violent costume (headband and all), shows up brandishing a big-ass gun!
--
Wow, this was bad.
I mean, I'm not one to usually just come out and say something like that... but, wow. This was just so dumb. I'm not even sure where to start with this one.
I guess we'll go beat-by-beat.
The AIDS crisis/hospice scenario presents itself with a "teachable moment"... which, our writer doesn't take advantage of. That, to me, is a bad thing for the message of the story... but also, a good thing in that it kinda zigs where I was expecting it to zag. I figured Roy would hop up on his soapbox to lecture Burley about how HIV/AIDS is actually transmitted... which, again... good for the "message", bad for an entertaining read.
Of course, this scene is still written with very little subtlety... Burley immediately accuses Roy of being gay. Which, c'mon... what grade are you in, pal? You'd figure Roy would be like, "wow, you're kind of an a-hole" and maybe leave to fill out that application at Del Taco like he threatened a few weeks ago... but, nope.
Instead, he heads out to try and make time with that girl who's purse he saved last week. Unfortunately for him, the heavies arrive. Now, here's another one of those missed moments. Roy hops into the back seat of their car without any questions. Last week, we had that really great scene where he was dealing with his inner conflict... he's a hero, but he's also a father. You'd almost expect that to at least waft through his head here. Ya know? Like, thinking about how dangerous it is to get into a stranger's car... especially when you've got a little baby (who's getting younger every chapter) to consider! But, nope.
Then we meet Sean Bauman... who is actually Donald Lossner's super-secret brother, Phillip. He doesn't cotton to the idea that his brother has AIDS... and assumes that Speedy's just trying to screw with his career. So, what does he plan to do? Kill Speedy?! Isn't that just a little bit harsher than the public finding out that his brother has AIDS?!
Then, Speedy starts flingin' splody arrows everywhere... which is, ya know, dumb. Then... THEN... Roy tries to steal the Bauman-cycle... which is, also dumb. But, then... dumbest of all, he's confronted by Sean Bauman... who stopped, mid-chase, to tie a headband around he noggin, and squeeze into a pair of Randy Violent's camo-cargos! This is just so dumb. I really don't know what they're thinking here.
Here's the question though... did I hate this? No, not really. I understand that it's awful... but, it's so over-the-top awful that it kind of passes into the realm of campy. High energy... high impact... no regard toward consequence, just stupid mindless action. It's bad, yes... but, I dunno, I kind of enjoyed it for just how bad it was. Also, I think it thinks it's much deeper than it actually is, which in a case like this, almost makes it all the more endearing.
Tomorrow: The Demon Went Down to England
Action Comics Weekly #637 (Speedy)
"Exiles, Part 2"
Writer - Mark Verheiden
Pencils - Louis Williams
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Julianna Ferriter
Editor - Robert Greenberger
It's a new week... and, it's still weird to be starting an issue on a Wednesday! It's also still weird to be starting an issue without talking about Green Lantern!
So yeah, plenty of weirdness today... let's check in with our second (?)-favorite DC Comics archer.
--
We pick up where we left off last chapter... Speedy is facing down a dude with a gun. He immediately recognizes the man's erratic behaviors (ya know, outside of brandishing a pistol) as his probably being high on drugs. A police officer arrives, which only heightens the sense of urgency... and makes this baddie's trigger-finger even itchier. He squeezes off a few shots, but Roy is able to fire off a blunt-ended arrow which disarms the dude. Afterwards, our man chats up the woman whose purse had been nyoinked... and, get this, asks her out to dinner. She's down with it... even referring to him as "sexy". I dunno, from this angle it looks like he could stand in as a doorknob at Beauty and the Beast's house, but... whatta I know?
We jump ahead to Roy meeting with William "Just Call Me Bill" Rettick, the owner and manager of the shop where Donald Lossner worked. If you recall, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't... Roy is working for a P.I. named Burley, and his first case is tracking down some information about this Lossner. So, after Rettick fanboys out over meeting one of the Teen Titans, he gives Roy the run-around. When the subject of Donald Lossner comes up, the tone shifts, and "Just Call Me Bill" gets all mum and angry.
Speedy's next stop will by Lossner's old apartment. It's so weird seeing him dressed in his Robin Hood gimmick (bow and arrow in hand), in broad daylight, sitting on a public bus... as a grown-up. Oh well. He gets to the place, and gets more of the run-around. Lossner's old landlord clearly wasn't a fan'o the man... and he's got himself a big ol' bruiser to try and convince Roy to back-off. Hmm, didn't we recently see something just like this?
The Landlord warns his heavy to "be careful" because ol' Robin Hood "probably got it too". Got "it" too... are we really going down this road again?! Roy kayos the creep, because... of course he does. The landlord then grabs a 2x4 and proceeds to swing it in Speedy's direction. This doesn't work out so well for him.
That night, Roy is spending some time with Lian... who, I'm sorry, is drawn to look something like a Capuchin monkey here. Like, is this Yorick playing with Ampersand? Anyhoo, he hears a police siren from outside and instinctively gets up as though he's going to attend to whatever the situation may be. That is, until he remembers that he's a daddy now, first and foremost. It's difficult for him to do, but he lets the police do their job, while he gets back to his.
We wrap up the following day. Speedy is popping in on Burley to provide an update on the Lossner case. He winds up meeting Rettick's secretary instead, who offers up a bit of information... turns out, Donald Lossner disappeared after he was diagnosed with... you guessed it... AIDS.
--
So... another AIDS story. I guess it's timely... relevant... all that jazz. Not sure I wanna jump right back into one after that over-long Black Canary arc, but... I guess it's really not up to me, now is it?
Let's talk about the surreal nature of seeing Roy Harper... dressed as Speedy... carrying his bow and arrow... in broad daylight. That's just... I dunno... weird, no? It's not often I consider the notion that a superhero/vigilante might have to rely on public transit in order to go about their daily business... and, to be completely honest, I probably could've gone on just as well without actually seeing it!
It really pulled me out of the story... made it feel as though, at any moment, a couple of guys in white coats were going to start chasing our man around with a butterfly net. I mean, couldn't Roy wear his costume... like, under a trenchcoat or something? Is he really so destitute that we couldn't afford to draw him a jacket? So weird. Maybe our artist just isn't good at drawing trench coats?
Tell ya one thing, our artist seems to be really interested in drawing chins! Big ol', chunky, well-defined chins. So much attention goes into this one part of Roy's anatomy, that the rest of him almost feels unfinished! Hell, in a few panels here... the art was unfinished! Sleeves were missing, lines were omitted... that could've been an inking or coloring error, but holy cow... they never missed a chin!
Keeping with the art. What happened to poor Lian? Not only did this ragamuffin get de-aged back into diapers... now, she looks like she ought to be walking on all fours. Eesh. I will say, however, this scene was probably the strongest of the chapter. Roy battling that internal conflict over what his role in the world should be was pretty powerful stuff. Is he a hero? Is he a father? Can he be both? Really great scene... I hope we get more like that in the coming weeks.
Overall... a decent enough chapter, plenty of stuff to enjoy. Roy as the world's gaudiest Private Investigator was pretty neat... as was his stopping to chat up the purse-snatching victim. The aforementioned scene with Lian was definitely the best bit of this, and might be worth it all on its own as a study in what changes when you go from kid-sidekick to adult-hero.
Tomorrow: Unca Etrigan Strikes Again!
Action Comics Weekly #636 (Speedy)
"Exiles"
Writer - Mark Verheiden
Pencils - Lewis Williams
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Julianna Ferriter
Editor - Robert Greenberger
It's a new day for Action Comics Weekly! This weird little experiment is about to get even weirder. Four new features this week... well, three new/one returning... a "final chapter" for Phantom Stranger, annnnd we're finally going to learn who the "big bad" is in our Superman feature.
This issue, well at least the procurement of it, comes with a brief story... so, apologies in advance. For a very long time, well over a year in fact, this was the only issue of Action Comics Weekly I needed to complete my run. I've been thinking/talking about collecting "white whales" for a while, and this very issue was one day among them!
During my hunt for this book in particular, I was working on the road... I was a mobile glass tech for a large windshield repair and replacement firm... you've probably heard of them, they have a very annoying jingle. Anyhoo, while off on my route, I would often stop at any book stores or comic stores I'd pass. It served a couple of purposes, a) I'd get to look at books, and b) bookstores, at least in my experience, have some of the cleaner public restrooms you're going to find... beats the hell out of a gas station bathroom, anyway!
Well, this one day... a Sunday... I stopped at a Half-Price Books about an hour away from my house. My dealings with HPB are sort of like "famine to feast, and back to famine again", in that some days I'll walk out with more than I can carry... other days, I'll walk out grumbling that they "never have anything I want". Well, on this day... I found the one issue of ACW I needed, ugly cover and all! Paid a few bucks for it... which, admittedly was a bit rich for my blood, but... ya know, "white whale".
Then, I hop back into my rig, and head about five miles west to take care of my next customer. Whattayaknow... they lived at the apartments right across the street from another used bookstore I frequented. After repairing the windshield, I popped in the shop to see what's what... annnnnd, boom, two more copies of Action Comics Weekly #636! Adding insult to injury, they were only forty-cents a piece! This was a book that I'd never actually seen in "real life" before... and now, I was swimmin' in em!
Oh well... least I got the thing, and we can begin talking about it... right now! It's Speedy... solo!
--
We open with Roy trying to get his daughter, Lian for fall asleep... and so, he tells her a bedtime story... which facilitates a quick and dirty retelling of his origin story... even the part where he was hooked on drugs, and impregnating terrorists! I mean, that's... I can't even think of anything witty to say. It, uh, does the job... the tot falls asleep, but will she still respect her father in the morning? Eh, like she was even listening... looks like she's de-aged from toddler to infant since last we saw her.
We join Roy... either the next day, or maybe later the same day... pounding the pavement, in full costume. Are we sure he's not on drugs right now? I mean, dude looks goofy as hell walking the streets, in broad daylight... wearing the Speedy costume, as an adult! Anyhoo, enough "costume shaming"... for now. Our man is actually looking for work, and thinks he's found a lead on a gig as an Private Investigator for some nearby outfit. Upon arrival for the interview, he finds himself in the middle of a bit of a to-do!
His would-be boss, Mr. Burley is tossed through his office door by a squat little bald fella. This fella's packin' heat, and looks to be about to "finish the job" when Roy fires an arrow into his barrel... and, that's no euphemism.
Speedy then kayos the creep... however, is stopped by Mr. Burley. Ya see, the bald fella is a dude named Geniello... and he's just being "emotional" right now. Dude's (fifth) wife is cheating on him... and so, he's just letting off some steam. Alrighty, then. So, Roy inquires about the gig... and Burley ain't too keen on giving it to... well, a dude who just walked in dressed like Robin Hood's cousin.
Roy's all "screw this noise", and decides he'd be just as happy serving people at the nearby Del Taco. Before he can leave, however, Burley stops him... asks why he doesn't just sign on with the police or the feds. Roy tells him that ain't his scene... even though we just spent something like nine chapters trying to get him back into the good graces of the C.B.I.! Burley begrudgingly decides to take a chance on our man.
That evening, after feeding Lian while scanning through the file Burley gave him on Mr. Donald Lossner, Roy hits the streets once more. After changing into his workin' clothes, he happens across a young woman who just had her purse snatched. He chases the thief into an alley... annnd, is held up at gunpoint.
--
So... there are a couple of ways we can view this.
As a story, it's not half bad. Some questionable parenting decisions and fashion-choices aside, this was a decent enough opening chapter. Anyone "uninitiated" to Roy and his world get a concise origin story for him... and, from there... we wander into a boilerplate "street level" story.
As a continuation of the last few times we dealt with Roy Harper in the pages of Action Comics Weekly? It kinda fails. It shows a lack of regard for the previous... what... fifteen chapters we spent with Roy (and Dick)? I mean, their nine-part second arc was basically a Speedy solo as it was... and none of that is reflected here.
Here, he's complaining about only being able to afford ramen noodles and peanut butter... and pounding the pavement for work, when I'm pretty sure he'd be welcomed back into the C.B.I. post-the Sepulveda Affair. Hell, I'm pretty sure one of the agents literally welcomed him back into the fold during that last chapter!
Also, Lian has gone from toddler... like maybe just shy of preschool age... to infant. I know that happens in comics all the time... but, not usually two issues later in the same title, right? Is this a prequel? I dunno. I mean, knowing what we know now about how little the comics industry cares about things like "continuity", it's easy to write it all off... but still, it's annoying.
I probably ought to mention Roy's mind-boggling bedtime story... Hush little baby don't you cry... daddy's coming back after he snorts this line? Rock-a-bye Lian, tomorrow we'll play... your terrorist mama tried to blow up the U.K.? Weird stuff. I get that it facilitated the retelling of Roy's origin... but, wow...
Overall, not the worst way to kick off our "new-look" Action Comics Weekly... continuity frustrations aside, this still won't rock any socks... but, it's readable and enjoyable for what it is.
Tomorrow: We begin the winding travels of someone that rhymes with, uh, begin...
