Chase #2 (1998)

Chase #2 (March, 1998)
"Letdowns"
Co-Plot/Script - D. Curtis Johnson
Co-Plot/Pencils - J.H. Williams III
Inks - Mick Gray
Colors/Separations - Lee Loughridge
Lettering - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

No real preamble today... just taking a brief detour from our #Action100 endeavor to continue chasing Chase!

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We open outside of a pyramid near the Peruvian/Bolivian border... inside sorta-kinda Giger-esque robots speak to one another in broken English, code, and binary.  Before they can activate... something (I think), the JLA arrives to take care of bidness.

We shift to Cameron Chase's apartment... and we can see that her boyfriend Peter has arrived.  He's crashed out on the couch... and she decides against waking him before leaving on a D.E.O. trip to South America... which, we might assume has something to do with that pyramid/temple... because it totally does.

At the office, Chase is assured that this trip is "hers"... as in, she's running the show.  It appears as though the elusive "Director" has been impressed with her work so far.  Cam and Sandy enter the briefing room where they are... well, briefed... by Amanda Waller.  The Wall fills them in on the goings-on by the Peru/Bolivia border.

Chase flashes back to an argument she had with Peter a day or two prior.  He's not terribly pleased that she's working for the Department... and even less pleased that her next assignment will be in South America.  He badgers her about the identity and motivations of this "Director" that speaks so highly of her... and she assures him everything is on the up and up.

Back in the "present", the Wall is still laying out the assignment.  Cameron is tasked with... clean-up, basically.  Taking out every piece of hardware in the pyramid/temple before members of the Shining Path Tribe start salvaging... and she's not going to be doing so alone.  It's time to meet our new Suicide Squad.

Sixteen hours later, Chase and the Squad are hovering in the air above the jungles in a chopper.  While the Squaddies try to make Cam feel as uncomfortable as possible, her mind begins to wander again... back to her argument with Peter.  This time the subject is Chase's nebulous metahuman "talent".  Things get heated, as a) she doesn't understand it herself, and b) there are laws in place for those with the "talent" (there are?)... and so, she needs this to remain a secret.

The helicopter lands... and the team is greeted by a young local named Paolo.  Well, actually Copperhead attacks and threatens to eat him... but, he assures the gang that he is their guide.

And so, he guides them... for several interesting hours.  This is a really fun page... it even has Bolt trying to get the "real news" on Roswell from Cam... she tells him that it was just a crashed Dominator craft, but he's sure that's just the "cover story".  I mean, what?  Isn't a Dominator craft bad enough?  Very funny stuff in the context of a fantastical world.

The crew is frightened by the sound of movement... but it's just a rat, that Copperhead is more than happy to eat.  Chase's mind wanders one more time... the argument continues, and now they're talking about Peter not having (or being interested in) a job.  Cam insists that she'll drop a resume at the Department's Computer Ops... but he ain't down with working alongside freaks.

In the present, the Squad arrives at an overlook.  Down below, the Shining Path confer.  Paolo is able to listen in, and translates what they're saying.  It would seem they already know about the Temple... but also, that there are already people at the Temple!  People in armor, even!

The Suicide Squad kinda shrugs it off... and says if they can't complete their original mission, then they ought to move to Plan B... which involves escaping... and maybe, just maybe killing Cameron Chase.

Chase is all "b-b-but your collars", to which Bolt shows her a "jammer" he whipped up to solve that problem.  Sledge appears to be the only member of the Squad who doesn't want to kill Chase. Copperhead, Bolt, and Killer Frost seem to be all about it.

Copperhead lunges toward Cam... sending them both off the edge of the overlook.  The both manage to hang on... and Paolo begins to pull Chase back up.  Copperhead insists that Paolo let Chase fall... otherwise he'll just kill her with venom.  Cam tells Paolo to do what the snake-man says... and just let her fall.

And so... he does!

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Another really good issue of Chase.  I mean, we've covered just about one-third of the entire series here... and haven't been let down yet!  That's a pretty good sign, right?

I really dig the way this story is being kinda "weaved" together.  We're getting story threads via flashback which really lend flavor to what is going on in "the present".  Chase letting her mind wander and not being completely focused on the mission at hand is a very human way to be.

The flashback-argument scenes that her mind was wandering to were also incredibly well done.  Johnson has done a terrific job merging real-world bones of contention into the unreal-DC Universe.  The argument(s) felt incredibly real... and while we only saw a brief snapshot... it was more than enough to understand both sides.

Speaking of "real", I thought the page illustrating the several-hour jungle trek was pretty great.  Just odd conversation... Bolt asking if anyone minds if he sings... that was pretty funny.  The Roswell "cover-up" chat... also really good.

This new Suicide Squad... well, I suppose it could've been worse (though, I think that was kind of the point).  I really want someone to punch Copperhead in the face, that's for sure.  I dig that Sledge is kind of conflicted... he seems a-okay with escaping, but doesn't see any point in killing Cam.  Gotta wonder if he'll play a more heroic role down the line.

Overall... one heckuva package here, words and art alike... all top-notch!  A series definitely worth your time!

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Chase #1 (1998)

Chase #1 (February, 1998)
"Baptized in Fire"
Story - D. Curtis Johnson
Penciller - J.H. Williams III
Inker - Mick Gray
Colors/Separations - Lee Loughridge
Lettering - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

I don't want to alarm anyone... but, you might want to be careful with how you handle this humble blog today... because, we got some Collectible Cards included, bay-bee!  Make sure not to bend the blog!  Better yet, just get this one slabbed.

To be serious for a moment... today we're reading a very special book.  One that I only recently got my hands on.  Ya see, I kinda read Chase backwards (heck, we've even covered an issue here!)... not because I couldn't find the first issue, or for any "real" reason... I just never picked it up, because every time I saw it I thought I already had it!

I'd even passed up on it in a Half-Price Books dime bin a few years back!  Also in that bin... complete runs of Hex and Scare Tactics.  I should've just taken the entire box!  Sad but true, that keeps me awake some nights.

Oh well, enough of my psychosis... let's "officially" meet Cameron Chase.

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We open in Daily, Ohio (which I'm not sure is a real place... apologies to any and all "actual" Dailians out there).  It's 8 am, and school is in session.  It's here that we meet a little nerdy kid named Jerry who, if not for the protruding proboscis could very well have been me.  Anyhoo, he's crushing hard on a classmate named Amy... whose boyfriend Chad (they're always named "Chad", aren't they?) catches him sneakin' a peek... and so, heads over to "feed him some table".  Unfortunately for ol' Chadwick, this is the moment where young Jerry's Meta-Gene comes active!

We shift scenes to New York City, where new DEO Agent Cameron Chase is running late for her first day on the job.  I guess things like "traffic" and "rush hour" are alien concepts to her.  Overhead, she sees Kyle Rayner flying around... and is nonplussed.  Just another day in the big city.

She finally arrives at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations building and heads inside, ready to make the most of her day.  Once inside, she is guided to her office, where she plans to meet with the Director of the DEO.  Instead, she runs into Field Personnel Manager, Sandy Barrett.  She's informed about the odd goings' on in Ohio... and before we know it, she's swept onto a Dayton-bound plane.

While in the air, Cameron looks over some information Sandy brought.  It's some pretty interesting stuff... it shows that the DEO is working with schools, altering tests in order to suss out who might have a Meta-Gene.  This is starting to feel a little X-Menny.  Get used to that...

The ladies arrive at Daily Junior High, where they are given the quick and dirty on the day's event.  They produce the list... and ask a Sheriff if anyone on it has gone missing.  Well, asamattafact, a certain Jerry Harris has flown the coop.  Cam looks over the scene, and is able to deduce that Jerry is very likely a pyrokinetic... which, I mean... everything's burnt and in ashes, so that's not really much of a leap.

From here, Chase and Barrett conduct some... pretty natural and entertaining interviews with Jerry's classmates.  This is a really well done (pun!) bit.  We learn here that Chad survived the blast... but is in a really bad way.  He's blinded and suffering third degree burns.

That night, Jerry Harris is found.  Chase and Barrett accompany the police... causing Jerry to "light up" again.  Cameron lines up her shot... hoping that she won't have to pull the trigger.  Jerry explodes one of the cars and attempts to flee... however, falls into a nearby pond.  Whoops... that ain't gonna keep ya lit, kid!

From here, Jerry is taken into custody.  Cam chats him up a bit, and makes him an offer he can't refuse.  They plan to send him somewhere where he can hone his newfound abilities.  Those X-Men pangs shifting into X-Factor ones?  Yup, me too.  Hell, Jerry even has a similar power to Rusty Collins from X-Factor #1!  Anyhoo, Jerry's totally on board... after all, if he becomes a superhero, whatsherface would have to notice him!

The kid is taken back to his cell, leaving Chase to talk to Barrett about how messed up she thinks everything is.  She doesn't feel it's a good idea to "reward" a kid who nearly killed his entire school with the promise of becoming a superhero.  Barrett has a more grounded perspective... the kid's got powers, would we rather he grow up to be one of the good guys... or one of the bad guys?

Barrett heads into the next room to talk to Jerry's folks... leaving Cam behind to give a call to her boyfriend.  He's still in California and hasn't made the cross-country move just yet.  She fills him in on her day... and suggests that she feels a measure of responsibility for what's happened.

Later that night, some torch and pitchfork wielding Ohioans surround the station.  Looks like Chad didn't make it... and they're wanting to take it out of Jerry in trade.  The prison guard... really isn't much help.  He intends to allow the mob inside to do whatever they'd like to the kid!  This causes Jerry to "light up"... which causes ol' Barney Fife to fire a shot into the kid's shoulder!

This doesn't stop Jerry though... and he runs off into the night.  Nearby, Cameron sees the kid attempting to flee, and she gives chase (pun!).  When she catches up to him, he lashes out... leaping toward her.

Then... something... happens.  Before he can attack, his flame is extinguished.  It's as though Cameron Chase was able to cancel out his powers... hmm...

We wrap up with Barrett giving Chase her due.  It's been one heckuva first day on the job.

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Now, this is one of those books that seems to be universally praised... and that almost always raises a red flag for me.  The internet "hivemind" is one of those things I've grown to... I dunno, accept.  Apropos of nothing... this week I reacquainted myself with the Comicbook Roundup website... kind of a meta-critic collection and aggregate of review scores.  I was quite taken aback by the amount of Perfect 10 scores there are in the world.  Damn near every book on that site has at least one 10/10 score.

Makes me wonder... if everything gets a "10", what's the point of reviewing anything?  I mean, that "Perfect 10" bookshelf used to be pretty sparse... it only had the best of the best on it.  Now, it's... I dunno Watchmen... maybe Crisis... and Squirrel Girl (vol.3) #4.  Yeesh.  Really makes you stop believing in anything.  I get that giving high scores ingratiates us to the publishers... but have some integrity.  Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who has been taken to task several times over for being "too positive" on this very blog.

Ahem... apologies for the detour/rant there... but, I said all of that, so I could say this... sometimes the hivemind is right.  Chase is a wonderful book... and I've enjoyed every issue that I've read of it.  Is it a book that was cancelled too soon?  Perhaps... or maybe not.  "Leaving them wanting more" isn't a bad way to go out, right?

Now for the issue itself... this was a great way to introduce us to our main character.  She's very much our point of view character here... which is to say, it's as though we're seeing everything through her eyes.  Much as this is her first day with the DEO... it's ours' too!

Information is given out in drips and drabs... and we're learning everything along with Cameron.  Schools altering tests to find potential Metas?  We get to react to that with Cam.  Learning about the "deals" the DEO cuts with young Metas?  We get to experience that reaction as well.  We see that not everything is so cut-and-dry... and have to make our own moral concessions.  It's really quite well done.

I really enjoyed the classmate interview scene.  Very natural reaction from the kids.  Amy is kind of grossed out by Jerry's crush... that other kid is more interested in how long school's gonna be out than the well-being of Chad.  This page really stood out to me as something special.

I made a few references/comparisons to the X-Men during the synopsis in regard to metagenes activating.  I want to be clear, I don't see that as a negative... I'm just surprised it's something I never actually "connected the dots" on before now.  It seems so obvious... though in fairness, I can also be particularly dense at times.

I don't think DC went as far with the "feared and hated" angle as Marvel did... which is, to my mind, a good thing.  It really shows how different the cultures are between the universes.  Marvel has always been more cynical... where DC's heroes are often propped up as examples.  Neither are right or wrong, or better or worse... there's room for both, it just depends on what kind of story you're looking for.

Gotta mention the art.  Really great stuff... and thankfully this issue hit after the industry's (relatively) brief flirtation with super-shiny, super-blistery glossy 1990's paper.  The "science" just wasn't there yet.  Man, that era produced some ugly books!

Overall... a wonderful book, well worth your time tracking down.  The entire series has been collected, and is available digitally (this issue is listed for just 99 pennies!).  Is it a 10/10?  Well... no, but they can't all be... or, can they?

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Chase #6 (1998)

Chase #6 (July, 1998)
"Girls' Day Out"
Plot & Script - D. Curtis Johnson
Plot & Pencils - J.H. Williams III
Inks - Mick Gray
Color & Separations - Lee Loughridge
Lettering - Clem Robins
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50

During the late 1990's, DC Comics offered a smattering of offbeat experimental titles.  It was a really fun time to be a fan... you never really knew what you were going to get.  There were titles like Young Heroes in Love, Major Bummer, Chronos and the title we're going to look at today... Chase.

(Cameron) Chase worked for the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) as an agent.  I believe currently she is set to (or already has) appear in the new Rebirth volume of Supergirl.  Today we're going to see if we can't get to the bottom of what makes her tick.

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We open at the Department of Extranormal Operations offices.  Sandy Barrett is going about her daily duties, and we learn that our titular agent Cameron Chase will be returning to duty the following Monday.  She had been out several weeks due to having a wall fall on her while she was watching over the Teen Titans during their action figure launch.  This was the Teenage Atom-led version of the team that included folks like Joto and Argent.  Ms. Chase was comatose for a time, but as mentioned... she'll be back tout suite.

Monday is still a few days away, so Cam and her sister Terry are enjoying a day out in the city hitting the shops.  Terry wants to head up to the top of the World Trade Center... Cameron agrees, with the caveat that they drop off all their purchases at her office along the way.  Before going DEO-bound, Terry pops into a convenience store to pick up the latest issue of Herotab... which is like the superhero equivalent of the National Enquirer.

At the offices, Cameron deposits their new chachkies in her office while Terry gets hit on by a "superhero" named Ivan.  In her office, there's a JLA themed bouquet of balloons waiting for her along with a note from "Bear", who I'm assuming is Ms. Barrett.

After dropping off, Cameron rescues Terry from Ivan... by telling him the object of his flirtation is currently dating Lobo.  Really funny stuff here.

The sisters load into an elevator and prepare for their twin-tower trek.  Moments later there's a rumbling... it feels like there's an earthquake... and the elevator comes to a sudden halt.  Terry's mind immediately goes to Gotham City, who during this era had just experienced a cataclysmic quake that led into the epic No Man's Land storyline.  Cam calls Barrett on her cell, and learns that there'd been an incident on one of the upper floors concerning a tentacled test subject that broke free.  She tells Terry it's just a power outage, and there's nothing to worry about.

While "sitting tight" Terry cracks open her new copy of Herotab... which sports a cover hinting at a romantic relationship between Booster Gold and Firehawk.  Deeper inside there's a story about a girl who accuses her father of secretly being a supervillain.  This story appears to bother big sis, and she asks her to kindly not talk about it.  Whether out of true interest, or just to be a jerk Terry does the exact opposite until Cam nyoinks (er, fwaps) the rag out of her hand.

Terry can't figure out that hub-bub is all about... can't understand why her sister would react in such a way to just some "goofy story" in a tabloid.  Well folks, sometimes stories like that aren't so goofy... when you've lived something similar.  It's story time...

Turns out that Terry and Cameron's father was a costumed crime fighter... the Acro-Bat.  During the 1960's, the Justice Society of America was more or less in semi-retirement.  The baby-boomer generation began filling the holes left in the hero... and villain communities.  The Acro-Bat led a group of heroes called the Justice Experience.  I love the way this is all described.  It seems as though these costumed folk were just bored... and so they decided to become either heroes or villains.  Very interesting take on vigilantism and villainy... just playing the part to combat boredom.

At first Terry is reluctant to believe anything Cam tells her.  It just sounds too ludicrous to be true!  Their old man was a school teacher... nothing more.  Big sis insists what she says is true... she's even got a fat DEO file upstairs to prove it.  Terry gets excited thinking that perhaps she has superpowers, and begins thinking about how their father passed.  She assumes he died saving the world.  If only...

Ya see, once there was a man... Larry Trapp.  He was gifted and brilliant... though unfortunately suffered deformities at birth.  One day he met a woman who saw through his less than aesthetic visage and fell in love with him.  She was Caroline Anders... and sadly, she was caught in the crossfire of a super-battle between the Justice Experience and the villainous House of Pain.  The authorities levied no charges on any of the "heroes"... so Trapp made it his mission to exact his own version of justice.

He placed the blame for the death of his lady love at the feet of the superhero community... and as such, they became the object of his scorn and the target of his vengeance.  Who better to start with than the leader of the Justice Experience, Acro-Bat?

Cameron found her father's body in their living room.  Trapp had already left for his next target.  The police dubbed him Doctor Trap because he would booby-trap each of his lairs, so that when they were discovered those who found it would be in a fair amount of peril.  He would wipe out the entire Justice Experience, along with many of their friends... and even enemies.  This dude was a force to be reckoned with.  Ultimately, a handful of JSA retirees were able to capture Trapp.

Terry is not reacting to this new information all that well, feeling as though she'd been lied to her entire life.  She begins lashing out at Cameron, asking if she's only in this line of work to "get back" at their father.  Before Cam can explain, the power resumes, and the elevator doors are pried open by the rescue team.

Once out, Barrett approaches Chase about her next assignment.  Normally she would be cool with this, however at the moment she has more important things to attend to.  She says it'll have to wait until her "official" return to work, and heads over to Terry.  She is able to get across the point that she kept that information from her to protect her, and the sisters appear to be pals once again.

We close with Barrett entering the office of DEO head Mister Bones.  She tells him Chase was wiped from the goings on that day and the upcoming Gotham City gig would have to wait until Monday.

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I said it in the preamble, and I'm saying it again... the late 1990's were such a fun time to be a comics fan.  It was when the old tricks stopped working... a company couldn't just slap a foil cover on a book and expect it to sell in the six-figures.  Fans and speculators alike were tired of stunts and fatigued from events... the big two (and the rest) had to actually buckle down and "get creative".  I wish something like this would happen today... but sadly, people just seem to eat up the variants and events.

Reading this issue of Chase felt very much like experiencing one of those excellent "Tales of Times Past" from the James Robinson Starman.  Everything from the tone to the artwork is evocative of those swell tales.  I love anything that adds to the lore of the universe... and as I have a bit of a blindspot as to what occurred between the Justice Society's heyday and the start of the "modern" age of heroes, this story was most welcome.

Lets discuss the superhero malaise of the 1960's.  How cool is it that this new generation of costumed folks only become so because there's nothing better to do.  Chase talks about the goofy "deathtraps" the supervillains would come up with... which really speaks to some of the campier elements of that decade, like the Adam West Batman stuff.  I really dig that this is described as basically the adult version of "cops and robbers"... where groups would just "decide" whether they were the heroes or the villains.  Such an interesting approach... that actually fits when you think about it.

Doctor Trapp's story is pretty intriguing.  Here's a fella who has had a real rough time of it.  He was born deformed... and when he finally finds someone who can get past it, he loses her.  It's enough to drive anybody nuts... not saying it justified or excused his actions... just saying that it's a really good origin for a villain.  If I'm not mistaken, this issue is his sole appearance.  I'm kinda surprised he never surfaced during the reemergence of the JSA near the turn of the century.  I think he would have made a great addition to their pantheon of baddies.

The sisterly dynamic between Cameron and Terry was neat.  You get the feeling that Cam really takes it upon herself to overburden herself with responsibility.  You also get the feeling that this is not a new character trait... probably something she's dealt with for most of her life.  Something that has affected the way that she deals with others... including those in her own family.  Assuming that she is the judge of what information her sister would be able to handle, not only says a bunch about her... but also how she views Terry.  Terry appears quite immature... however, it can be questioned whether or not she truly is... or if she's living down to her big sis' expectations.  Really good stuff here. 

I'm not sure why Dan Curtis Johnson doesn't have more creator credits to his name... this series is fantastic. This is procedural before procedural became cool.  This is before there were books like Gotham Central and Marvel's Alias (later The Pulse).  Definitely ahead of its time... and overall, a great time.  The art is wonderfully moody when it needs to be... and as I said earlier, very evocative of the work on Starman.  Excellent stuff here.

Luckily, and surprisingly... this entire ten-issue series is available digitally and in trade paperback.  That is issues one through nine, with a #1,000,000 for good measure.  Definitely worth your time if you're looking for something a little bit different... but still adds to the tapestry of the post-Crisis DC Universe.

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I have literally no idea what it might look like if we connect A and B...