NML Crossing, Episode 043 - Batman #562 (1999)

NML Crossing, Episode Forty-Three

Batman #562 (February, 1999)
“Bruce Wayne Goes to Washington, Part Three: The Devil His Due!”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - David Roach
Letters - Todd Klein
Colors - Lee Loughridge
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

Wrapping up the last pre-No Man's Land issue of the flagship, where the hammer finally (officially) drops on Gotham City. Bridges are bein' blowed up, and it's time for all good Gothamites to up-stakes and get the eff out. We also get some more ineptness from Nick Scratch and his crew of buffoons.

Plus: One'a dem "soul bearing" installments of the NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 042 - Batman #561 (1999)

NML Crossing, Episode Forty-Two

Batman #561 (January, 1999)
“Bruce Wayne Goes to Washington, Part Two: The Witness”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - David Roach
Letters - Todd Klein
Colors - Lee Loughridge
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

In which Bruce Wayne takes the stand and pleads the case for Gotham City to be bailed out by the United States government... and comes across as completely tone deaf and out of touch!  Not a good outing for the fella I'm struggling to remember is also actually Batman!  With advocates like this, who needs enemies?

Plus: The long-awaited (by me) return of the NMaiLbag!

NML Crossing on Youtube

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NML Crossing, Episode 041 - Batman #560 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Forty-One

Batman #560 (December, 1998)
“Bruce Wayne Goes to Washington, Part One: The Jackals”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Art - Jim Aparo & David Roach
Colors - Lee Loughridge
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

Mr. Wayne Goes to Washington... and isn't off to the greatest of starts in his attempts to plead the case for saving Gotham City with the United States government!

Also... ugh, Nick Scratch. 

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NML Crossing, Episode 031 - Batman #558 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty-One

Batman #558 (September, 1998)
“Dying City”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - Sal Buscema
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

It's time for a situation report!  Let's take a beat and catch ourselves up on all things post-Quake Gotham City... with an eye toward its uncertain future!

Plus: A dip into the comics journos of the day in Wizard #82, and a collector-focused installment of the NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 030 - Batman Chronicles #14 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty

Batman Chronicles #14 (Fall, 1998)
"Master of the House"
"The Lunatic Fringe"
"Random Encounters"
Writers - Lisa Klink, Bruce Canwell, Greg Rucka
Pencils - David Boller, Jim Aparo, Sal Buscema
Inks - Aaron Sowd, Drew Geraci, James Hodgkins
Colors - Noelle Giddings, Jason Wright
Letters - Albert DeGuzman, Clem Robins
Edits - Vincenzo, Gorfinkel
Cover Price: $2.95

Perhaps the most off-beat issue/episode yet!

Where else can you hear about an old man giving himself a cottage cheese sponge bath, a child who'd rather be eaten than see her captor beaten up... and also have a text-story in a turn of the century comic book?!  It's an odd one, all right!

Plus: A very Jack Drake-focused NMaiLbag!

NML Crossing on Youtube

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NML Crossing, Episode 027 - Detective Comics #724 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Seven

Detective Comics #724 (August, 1998)
“The Grieving City”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - James Hodgkins
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Vincenzo & Peterson
Cover Price: $1.95

It's not that the people of Gotham don't believe he exists... it's that they no longer believe in HIM.  What happens when the urban legend of the City having a protector becomes moot... since, what has he done for us lately?  Well, it leads to a crisis of confidence for our Caped Crusader... and it lends a whole lotta weight to our "new normal".  If you've always known Batman as being the "coolest" guy in any room he enters... this is an issue you'll need to read to believe.

We've also got a Letters Page to discuss! 

Plus: A wildly confusing (for me) NMaiLbag!

NML Crossing on Youtube

https://gothamquake.com

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NML Crossing, Episode 021 - Detective Comics #722 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-One

Detective Comics #722 (June, 1998)
“Statistics”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - James Hodgkins
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Peterson & Vincenzo
Cover Price: $1.95

Another relatively quiet issue in the Aftershock Era, showing the softer side of the GCPD.

But, the real "meat" of today's episode is a deep-dive (perhaps TOO deep a dive) into the 1995 New York Magazine article that inspired the Cataclysm story to become a thing in the first place!  It's an eye-opening and sobering account of what could happen should a Gotham-esque earthquake hit Manhattan! 

NML Crossing on Youtube

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New York Magazine Supplemental:

NML Crossing, Episode 009 - Batman: Blackgate-Isle of Men #1 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Nine

Batman: Blackgate-Isle of Men #1 (April, 1998)
“Isle of Men”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - David Roach
Colors - Pat Garrahy
Letters - Clem Robins
Edits - Vincenzo, Peterson, O’Neil
Cover Price: $2.95

Taking a look at the first (of three) one-shots tying into the Cataclysm event and finding out what happens at 7:03pm when the Verybadthing happens... at a prison full of violent, dangerous, and angry fellas!  Believe it or not, a humanoid bat-figure gets his land legs back and figures into things!

Plus: a very special NMaiLbag!

https://chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

NML Crossing, Episode 001 - Detective Comics #719 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode One

Detective Comics #719 (March, 1998)
“Cataclysm, Prelude: Sound and Fury”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo, Flint Henry, Mark Buckingham
Inks - Bob McLeod
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Darren Vincenzo, Scott Peterson
Cover Price: $1.95

Welcome to a New Year... and a new project!  We're kicking off the Road to No Man's Land, with designs on covering every single chapter of the Batman Crossovent from Cataclysm to Endgame!

Today's issue is a fun one, taking us back to those post-Zero Hour "Batman-as-Urban-Legend" days for a somewhat ephemeral romp, before hopping into an ominous pre-cataclysmic epilogue!

https://chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

Brave and the Bold #124 (1976)

Brave and the Bold #124 (January, 1976)
"Small War of the Super Rifles"
Story - Bob Haney
Art - Jim Aparo
Edits - Murray Boltinoff
Cover Price: $0.25

I come to you today on final-finals day.  Got my last big exam of the semester this afternoon... and so, hopefully once that (and wrapping up the big podcast hitting this weekend) are out of the way, I'll get the opportunity to breathe a bit.  Though, I am one of "those people" who always seems to need to have something to worry about... I guess we'll see!

Wanna apologize for being lax in my responses to comments left on the last several articles... I will get those answered hopefully in the next day or two!

So, whatta we got here... from the looks of it, something a bit zany, no?  Poor Jim Aparo being held up by Cobra Commander... this is going to be weird!  Let's dig in to this dog-eared, rolled-spined pile'a pulp and find out just how weird!

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We open with a drive-by shooting in Gotham City... we got some of those Cobra Commander-looking terrorists firing into a crowd of people (and a dog!).  Turns out, one of those people was Batman in a rubber human mask... oof.  He dives on top of the baddies' car and goes for a ride, while the police follow in hot pursuit.  The terrorists drop one of their number off at... I dunno, some office or something, before taking off again.  Batman decides to follow this thread, and leave the "chase" to Gotham's finest.  I do love how nonchalant these evil murderers are about making a "pit stop" during a high-speed chase.  Anyhoo... Batman looks into the doorway, and is fired upon by a big ol' rifle...

... which, then goes "boom"... right in the terrorist's face!  Batman attempts to get a closer look, to confirm just what in the heck just happened (and to rule out suicide, I guess), when he's approached by an old friend... Sgt. Frank Rock!  He's here looking for a cache of stolen experimental rifles... just like the very one that exploded in this dude's face.

The heroes decide to work together in tracking down this stolen arsenal... and figure their best "first stop" would be down at the Gotham City Police Department.  And so, they check in with the Commish, who angrily (I mean, he looks ticked) proclaims that the rest of the terrorists had gotten away!  Without much of a lead, Batman turns to Rock for advice.  Rock coolly informs him that he pulled a locker key off the dead guy.  Uh, Frank?  You might'a wanted to lead with that!  The locker is at the Bus Depot... and so, before we know it... that's where our heroes go.

Here's... where things get weird... er.  We jump to the Connecticut studio of... Jim Aparo!  He's busy drawing the very story we're currently reading... and is surprised to see what it says on the next page of the script.  Ya see, on the next page... Batman and Sgt. Rock... die!  You'd think that'd be an immediately red-flag, but in fairness... we gotta assume it's a Haney script, and probably one of the tamest Aparo has seen in a bit.  What we actually find out is... the terrorists (yes, the Cobra Commanders from the actual comic) have rewritten the comic to end with the death of the heroes.  Poor Jim Aparo is bein' held up at gunpoint... and is being forced to kill Batman!

Aparo is told in no uncertain terms that he's gotta follow the new script... or, ya know, die.  Jim accidentally-on-purpose snaps his pencil, and asks if it's cool if he go to his storeroom for another.  The terrorists have already staked the whole place out, and know that there are no windows in that storeroom... so, they allow it.  What they didn't take into account, however, was the fact that Aparo's a wiry dude... who might just fit through a vent.  Which is exactly what he does in order to escape!  Next we know, Jim's hopped in his boat, and is hightailing it to a nearby "abandoned-reconditioned" lighthouse where his buddy Chuck sometimes stays.  Inside, wouldn'tcha know it, there's a drafting table and a whole lotta comic-crafting materials!  He gets back to work, and deftly saves Batman and Sgt. Rock's lives in the next panel he draws.  Wow... this was all on one page!

Back in the story, Rock nyoinks Batman away from the locker (feels like it's been days since we first saw this scene) right before it explodes.  Yes, the whole thing was a trap!  Unfortunately, back in the "real world", this is all Aparo's got.  Sure, he's saved the heroes' lives... but, what's next?  He decides to call his buddy and co-conspirator in all things Brave and/or Bold... Bob Haney!  Jim sounds like an absolute crazy person here... talkin' about the terrorists from inside the book trying to stop them from exposing them in the actual printed comic.  Luckily, he's talking to Chevy Chase's sorta-kinda step-uncle (true story!), who might have a higher tolerance for wackiness.  Haney then calls Murray Boltinoff for... I dunno... story approval?  Okay, now we know this is a complete fiction... there's no way Haney's scripts ever pass under an editor's eyes, right?

Haney goes ahead and gives Aparo the next few story beats.  Ya see, these experimental stolen rifles require a special sort of ammo... and so, they probably oughta check in with some nearby guns-and-ammo shops.  Turns out, that's just the ticket!  The man behind the counter confirms that somebody came in to buy that very special ammunition exactly one week ago.  Batman assumes that they'll be back today for more... and so, he waits outside the gun shop for two whole hours.  Finally, the gunsmith signals to him that "the guy" just made his purchase.

Batman confronts the baddie, who unloads his magnum into the hero's chest!  Batman still manages to tackle the geek... and wonders aloud how he himself survived the experience.  The gunsmith informs our man that he sold the bad guy "blanks" instead of actual bullets.  Well, that's sure handy.

Nearby, Sgt. Rock notices a military vehicle driving down the street, but notes that it has civilian plates.  He decides to dive onto the back of the rig to see where it takes him.  Unfortunately, no sooner is he on-board, than he's faced down by a bunch of Cobra Commanders!  They beat the ever-loving dog out of him... and, get this, dump him off an overpass onto some tracks... where he narrowly avoids getting clobbered by an oncoming train!

Back in the real world, the real-Cobra Commanders meet with their big-boss to let him know what's going on.  The Big Boss is ticked that Aparo and Haney are conspiring against their rock-solid plan to kill Batman.  We jump back to Jim and Bob on the phone, when... suddenly a strange car pulls up to the Haney abode!  Bob (and his dog) hop into his car, and flee the scene.

The terrorists bust into Haney's house, and start looking for clues.  What they manage to find is a chalkboard next to the phone... with the remnants of a phone number written on it.  They assume this is probably whatever number Jim Aparo was calling from.  They check in with one of their contacts at the phone company... and, bingo-bango, they've figured out where Aparo is hiding out.  Meanwhile, Jim is chatting up Murray Boltinoff... and they're attempting to put together the finishing touches of the story.

Back in the story, Batman and Rock (who is somehow still ambulatory) are walking the "blanks-shooting" dude into the Police Labs at the GCPD.  Inside, there's just a rat in a cage.  I will do my best not to date myself with a lyrical reference here.  Anyhoo, Rock tells the Perp that the rat's rabid... and if he doesn't speak up about the rest of the baddies, he's going to let it bite him.  Dude squawks pretty quick.  The organization is calling themselves "The Thousand" (man, these Cobra Commanders always seem to call themselves something different, don't they?)... and they need the rifles because... get this... they've declared war on America.

Back in the real world, Jim Aparo lets out a stretch after (presumably) hours at work on these pages.  He spies out one of the lighthouse windows... an incoming boat!  It's gotta be the terrorists!  Knowing time is short, he makes one last frantic call to Boltinoff so they can bring this story home... unfortunately, ol' Murr didn't quite hang up his phone completely.  Ya see kids, phones used to work a bit differently... when they were left "off the hook", you couldn't get any incoming calls!

Just then, Bob Haney (and his dog) calls in from a payphone.  Haney decides, since the bad guys are closing in, they probably ought to just have Batman and Sgt. Rock come to Aparo's rescue!  Let's not think too hard about it... and just enjoy the ride.  Back in the story, Frank and Batman hop into a helicopter, and head toward Connecticut.

As the terrorists get even closer to the lighthouse... Batman and Sgt. Rock fly overhead, before descending on the baddies and knocking the lot of 'em out!

Annnnnd... that's the end of the story!  Batman and Sgt. Rock win the day... all of our creators are safe and sound... and, uh... yeah, everything's cool!

--

What a delightfully weird little story!

Definitely one ya gotta just let "happen" to ya... because, if we use even an ounce of critical thinking, the whole thing falls apart faster than a Jenga tower in an earthquake.  We have to just "go with it"... the story inside the story is nebulously leaking out into the real-world story... inside the story... or something.  The baddies being written about feel like their plans in the real-world will be negatively affected by the exposure they get in the story-in-the-story... and, uh... Batman and Sgt. Rock have to die in the story-in-the-story, which will change the way things go in the real-world-in-the-story.  Ya dig?  E-Z P-Z!

With all that spoo' spoken... I can't deny that I had a blast with this!  It was just so weird, and so fun.  It didn't make much of a lick of sense, but... I guess they don't always have to.

I wonder how a story such as this might've been received back in 1976.  Personally speaking, if DC/Marvel did a story like this today... say, they had Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo help out Batman with an adventure... I'd probably puke.  But, with Haney and Aparo, they're like these mythical and endearing creators... kind of like part of the "bedrock" of DC Comics.  With hindsight, I can appreciate this as a simple throwaway "funny, ha-ha"... simply because I know the body of work that Haney and Aparo will have ultimately put out... and how much they've both contributed to DC Comics.  I guess what I'm trying to say is, whereas today something like this would be nothing more than a "vanity" issue where creators pat themselves on the back for being clever (and get those "retweets"!), there's a certain innocent earnestness to this story.  Am I projecting?  Maybe I'm projecting?  That's always a possibility probability.

Now, Brave and the Bold has never really been "my jam"... so, I'm not all that knowledgeable on its conceits or anything... do these Cobra Commander-looking terrorists show up a lot?  Or have I just gotten really lucky with my last few picks?  Whatever the case, I suppose they're perfectly good fodder for this sort of story.  Their danger doesn't really come from the individual... but, their sheer number.  I'm almost surprised nobody (to my knowledge) has tried to make them a "thing".  I could see this being something right up... dare I say it... Bendis' alley.  Think about it... thousands... tens-of-thousands of hooded people, part of a secret society bent on world domination... with a wink-and-a-nod to fans of the Bronze Age for "cred"?  Seems a no-brainer to me... but, then again... consider the source.

Overall... had almost too much fun with this one.  This bugger is available digitally for your convenience, if you're interested in seeing it in all its glory!  It's also been collected several times over.  I'd definitely recommend giving it a look!

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Brave and the Bold #150 (1979)

Brave and the Bold #150 (May, 1979)
"Today Gotham... Tomorrow, the World!"
Writer - Bob Haney
Art - Jim Aparo
Colors - Jerry Serpe
Edits - Paul Levitz
Cover Price: $0.40

Just a random one from the pile.

Hmm, maybe I ought to say: Just a ran-dumb one from the pile?

Let's take a look!

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We open with Batman watching a wedding procession... a happy bride and groom are rushing out of the church toward their waiting luxury car.  Batman is there due to some terrorist threats having been made... and, whattayaknow, the baddies are actually the happy couple!  They abduct a businessman named Edward T. Weeks, before riddling some passerbys with bullets and hopping into their ride and heading off on their "honeymoon".  Batman attempts to hop on the top of the car, however, the thing suddenly sprouts spikes!  Welp, I'm not even sure what's going on just yet... but, we'll roll with it.

Later on at one of the passerby's funeral, Batman meets up with the Commish... who, uh... is kind of acting snippy.  I must concede, I don't have a ton of experience with 70's Batman, was Batman and Gordon's relationship this combative (or catty) back then?  Anyhoo, after "pleasantries" are exchanged, they spy a note on the coffin which states that Bruce Wayne will be the terrorists' next target!

And whattayaknow, on the very next page... Bruce Wayne is taken hostage!  Ya see, the baddies had wired the Stately Manor's phone line with electricity.  Good thing they didn't get that good a look at the place, otherwise they might've found... well, ya know.  Oh well, Bruce wakes up some time later inside an old silo, a fake-ass Cobra Commander stood before him.  The geek snaps a pic of our man to prove to the public that he's got 'im.

Bruce is then introduced to the slab of beef who will be keeping a watch over him.  It's Moses Karns... or, "Keeper" Karns, if you prefer.  Oh, and we also learn that the baddies have kidnapped Alfred, so if Bruce tries to escape, his faithful butler will be killed.  Karns (awkwardly) backhands Bruce to let him know he means business.

Bruce... get this, strikes back!  The two men exchange blows for a bit, with Karns getting the better of the situation.  Well, Bruce makes it clear that he "let him win" in order to not raise any suspicion... which begs the question, why even bother throwing a punch in the first place?

Later, Bruce spies some loose boards in the roof of the silo.  He takes apart his mattress, which just so happens to be held together by some of the thickest rope you could ever hope to tie a knot with... and manages to escape his circular prison.  Before long, he's back on the streets in the Bat-suit checking in with the Catty Commissioner.

I mean, there's definitely something up Gordon's ass here.  I really don't get why he's being such a jerk.  Anyhoo, after more "pleasantries" are exchanged... Batman learns that a "historical print" (a drawing of some old Gotham mining digs) was stolen from his father's private art collection at the Gotham Museum.  He then heads back to the silo before the baddies could be any the wiser.  Unfortunately, Keeper Karns has noticed that his prisoner was missing... he nyoinks Wayne back into the silo, informing him that his neck is on the line here too.

Just then, Cobra Commander enters the silo... which seems to get larger dependent on how many people are inside it.  Anyhoo, he has brought that Edward Weeks fella with him... because he wants Bruce Wayne to witness Weeks' execution!  And... well, that's exactly what happens!  Wayne is forced to sign a plea for the the Mayor and Commissioner... what this "plea" says, however, is anyone's guess.  This terrorist group wants power... it's pretty boilerplate bad-guy stuff.

After the dust settles, and Bruce is left all to his lonesome... he devises a plan.  He snaps off a chunk of his bedpost and calls for Keeper Karns to enter the silo.  Get this, Karns appears to phase through the silo wall... when he, uh... "materializes" (I guess?) Bruce wacks him over the noggin with the bedpost.  He rushes off to check in with the Commish at the morgue... only to learn that Edward Weeks is... alive?!  No bullets in his bod... and all of his wounds "neatly sutured".  Batman insists that, for all intents and purposes, Weeks must "stay dead"... for now.  Gordon doesn't understand the plan... but goes along with it anyway.

Back by the Silo, Keeper Karns rushes the Caped Crusader... and, check this out, calls him "Wayne"!  Oh man, the Keeper knows the secret?!

Batman is tossed back into Silo, where he changes (or is forcibly changed) back into his civilian attire.  Cobra Commander arrives a little bit later to reveal the next step in his "plan".  Ya see, he's hidden an atomic device somewhere in Gotham City... and, if his "demands" (whatever the hell they are?) aren't met by Thursday, the entire City's gonna go boom.  Very "all or nothing" guy, this generic masked terrorist.

For good measure, however, he trots in Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth... and orders Bruce to kill him!  At this point... Keeper Karns (?) starts to rumble with the bad guys!  He, Bruce, and Alfred fight back the guards before beating a hasty retreat!

During the skirmish, it becomes clear to Bruce that his "Keeper" has been, in reality... Superman!  We learn that he's in Gotham because Jimmy Olsen was one of the people the bad guys abducted.

Oh, we also find out that the bad guys are part of an organization called the Battalion of Doom... ya kidding me?  Oh well.  The baddies called Olsen's (and Kent's) boss, Morgan Edge to tell them they had Jimmy and to coerce some cooperation out of the news media.  Edge refuses, because he's an a-hole.  He even tells the terrorists to "go ahead and kill him!"... the "him", of course, being Jimmy.

So... Superman threatened Edge, and went undercover as Keeper Karns (the real Karns... because, I guess there's a real one... is locked away in a Mexican prison).  He knew if the Battalion saw Superman in the skies of Gotham, they wouldn't hesitate to "off" Olsen.  He claims that he didn't fill Bruce in on his true identity because he didn't know if the Silo was bugged.  Okay... about that... this is pre-Crisis Superman, right?  The fella who could, if he wanted to, push entire planets out of orbit... could perform precision surgery... could basically do anything, is what I'm trying to say... and he couldn't deduce whether or not a single Silo was wired?!

The World's Finest then put their heads together trying to figure out where the Battalion of Doom might've locked up the rest of their hostages (including Jimmy Olsen).  It's Alfred who cracks the code by... looking at a newspaper.  Ya see, Cobra Commander always carried around this particular copy of The Gotham Gazette (which wasn't made apparent in the art).  Anyhoo, there are certain letters circled on the rag... and, if you held it up to an equal-sized map of Gotham City (which the fellas conveniently have) we learn the eight locations where the hostages were being held.  Batman calls Gordon to fill him in.

An hour later, eight simultaneous raids take place.

Now, all that's left is finding the atomic device.  Superman realizes he's going to have to reveal himself... and, get this, "Jimmy will have to take his chances".  I suppose the lives of everyone in Gotham are worth more than Jimmy.  Heck, I'd probably step on Jimmy before squashing an ant, personally.

Superman and Batman check all around Gotham for clues... until the latter finally comes across one!  At the Gotham Museum, he spies a note crudely scrawled on some of the signage to "check office, old print".  He suddenly remembers how that one print of his father's had been recently stolen.

If you recall, it was some old mining diagram.  We learn that it was of an old lead mine... as luck would have it, it's just adjacent to the Batcave!  Man, if only this Battalion tried a little harder, they'd have had all the goods on Batman.  They wired Wayne Manor... they're messing about in mines next to the Batcave... so close, yet so far.

Superman... for whatever reason... changes his clothes into that of a sewer inspector (complete with phony mustache!) and heads into the lead mine.  Wouldn'tcha know it... he finds the atomic device!  He grabs the thing and chucks it into orbit before it blows... and the day is saved!

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This was... hmm... what the word... uh... oh, yeah... pretty dumb!

Not outright bad or anything... but, ya know, kind of a chore to get through?  Felt endless... and not in a good way.  Ya know how some comics feel like they last forever, but you still come out of it wanting more?  This was not one of those comics.

The entire premise here is very "threat of the week"... likely not anything that will ever need to come up again down the line.  That's all well and good, I guess... but, damned if I felt like the last several hours of my life I've devoted to this thing was time well spent.

Let's look at Superman for a bit.  I know he was powerful in the Silver and Bronze Ages... but, dude can phase through walls now?  I don't understand what was up with that scene... and, yeah, "it's Haney", so why bother even thinking about it... but, where did that even come from... and, what's more... why?  When I saw that, I figured "Okay, so the secret co-star is probably... Martian Manhunter, then?"  But, no!  It's wall-phasing Superman!  Did I miss something here?  I do have a tendency to be dense every now and again... maybe this is one of those times!

Also, how could Superman not know where the rest of the hostages were?  I get that the nukes were buried under lead... but, he should've been able to suss out the other abductees, right?  So weird... and uneven.  We're playing the ball from like four or five different positions on the field here!

What was up Jim Gordon's ass here?  Were he and Batman on contentious terms in the late 70's?  That doesn't feel right to me, though, again... 70's Batman isn't really my jam or wheelhouse, so I can't speak to that with any authority.  Just felt really forced here.  Maybe a reader with more experience with this era can fill me in/set me straight?

The art was mostly great.  There were a few very awkward panels... but, overall, up to the standard we'd expect from Jim Aparo.

Overall... well, personally, I'd say you could skip this one and not miss it... though, if you're down with the "Zaney", you may absolutely love this... and think that I'm a damned fool (which I very well may be!).  This issue has been collected in trade a few times over and is available digitally.

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(Not Quite the) Letters Page (click to enlarge):

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