Captain Atom #13 (1988)

Captain Atom #13 (March, 1988)
"We Three Kings..."
Writer - Cary Bates
Co-Plotter - Greg Weisman
Pencils - Pat Broderick
Inks - Bob Smith
Letters - Duncan Andrews
Colors - Nansi Houlihan
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $0.75

Today we're going to visit Nathaniel Atom as he faces a truly dangerous concept... spending Christmas all by his lonesome!

Let's keep the poor guy company, shall we?

--

It's Christmas Eve, and we open with Nate tossing his United States Air Force identification card (with his Cameron Scott alias) into the drink, symbolizing how he'd just quit working for the organization.  He reflects on the position he'd recently been put in where he was coerced to endorse Major Force.  Force was a fella who underwent the same sorta splody-origin as Captain Atom, and was eventually expected to be his successor.  Turns out he wasn't nearly as stable as our man Atom, however.  This is a good and bad thing... good, as in, Nate can use this information to slip out of his subservience to General Eiling.  Bad, as in, hey we've got a new atomic villain.

While Nate burns his clothes, we shift scenes over to General Wade Eiling, who is up in the mountains getting ready to celebrate Christmas with his father, and step-children.  His step-children, if you'll recall, are Nathaniel Adam's biological children.  Wade married Nate's wife following the Captain Atom Project.  He stands by the fireplace, lost with his thoughts, when his father offers him a penny for 'em.

Back to Nate... he's sitting along in his apartment, running recent events through his mind.  He has no family, no friends, no job... and worst yet, it's Christmas!  Who wantsta be alone during the Holidays?  Well, at least he doesn't have to deal with Eiling anymore... well, not counting the whole "he raised my kids" thing.

We jump over to a nearby phone booth, where we meet a man named Chester King.  He's calling his wife to let her know he'll be running late... again.  He has something he has to do for his boss, Mr. Wiley.  You might think that with a name like "wiley", nothing good will come of this... and you'd be right!  Chester has been tasked with burning down a condemned hotel!

It's cool though, with the Christmas bonus Wiley is willing to cut, the King family will be able to take a trip to the Bahamas!  So giddy at the prospect, Chester hands over a wad of cash to a beggar.

Back up the mountain, the Eiling men chat, while Nate's kids have a snowball fight.  Papa Eiling notes that his son has changed... he's always been a "business first" type'a guy, but now it's even worse.  As he expresses his concern, Wade cuts him off to take a phone call.

Back in D.C., Nate aimlessly wanders the streets.  He thinks to himself how he's not sure he belongs in this world.  Having lost two-decades, he's a man out of time and place... and without being bossed around by Eiling, he's really quite lost.  On his way into a bar, he hands that same beggar a quarter.

We rejoin Chester as he rigs a ramshackle building to go boom.  Little does he know, however, a dozen of the neighborhood homeless has been squatting there to escape the frigid cold.

With his job completed, Chester heads into the same bar Nate's cooling his jets at, and offers to buy a round for the house.  We get a whole bunch more exposition from Nate's thought-bubbles... man outta time, yadda yadda yadda.

Back with the Eilings, Papa is regaling the children with his story of the time he had a run-in with Hans von Hammer, Enemy Ace!  Ya see, Papa's plane was leaking fuel... and yet, he still attempted to take Enemy Ace on.  He lost the dogfight, however, Ace let him live.  Rather than shoot him down, he offers a salute before parting.

Papa Eiling responded to that gesture with... a torrent of gunfire!  Enemy Ace vanished in the distance, so this was a futile gesture at best.  The elder Eiling tells the kids that it's taken him his entire life to understand Enemy Ace's "code of honor" in letting him live.  Basically, when lives are on the line... it really doesn't matter who wins or loses.  Life's not a game at that point... there's no "scorecard" when you're faced with your own mortality.  Wade calls this "life lesson" a bunch of crap, and suggests Papa's gone soft... or senile.

Back in Washington, D.C., the bar patrons hear an explosion!  A frantic passerby rushes in to tell them that the old hotel is all lit up.  The bar empties into the street, when someone mentions all of the squatters.  This is brand-new information for budding arsonist, Chester King!

Suddenly, a man... engulfed in flames, rushes from the Dixie Hotel... it's the same beggar that Chester gave money but a few hours earlier.  Chester smothers the flames with his coat... but, it's clearly too late.

An onlooker suggests there's nothing anyone can do... it's best to just wait for the fire department and emergency services.  Little do they know, they've got a bonafide superhero in their midst!  Captain Atom takes to the crisis, all the while thinking to himself that this feels like the first time he's acted truly heroically since coming back.

Back up the mountain, the Eiling men talk s'more... and it's just as contentious as ever.  It's plainly clear that Wade has little affection for his father... or at least that's the impression he's trying to give.  Nate's son, Randy overhears the discussion.

Back in D.C., emergency services have arrived, and the burned beggar is pronounced dead.  Chester stands there with a blank look on his face for a bit before dropping $5,000 into a Salvation Army bucket.  Yeah, that about evens things up, doesn't it?

We close out with Captain Atom's heroism being celebrated at the bar... they've got him hoisted on their shoulders and everything... just like on the cover!  He is approached by a woman named Eve Eden (Nightshade), who tells him they have a "mutual uncle".  They decide to head out and spend the evening together.  Let's hope she didn't mean "uncle" literally, eh?

--

This was an interesting issue.  It's not often in comics that we take a look at the loneliness the Holiday Season can bring.  I guess maybe that's not something we necessarily want to think about.

We look at Nate, and... well, dude is very much alone.  Being time-displaced, he no longer has a family... he doesn't have any friends, and since quitting his gig in the Air Force, he no longer has any direction.

That's one of those things you don't really think about when quitting or leaving a job.  Even if it's not a dream gig, it's not the absolute worst thing in the world to have a "direction".  Having worked a bunch of contract positions in my time, there have been a handful that I've hated... but, those first few days after they wrap up... eesh, talk about becoming a wandering soul.  It was actually during one of those "nebulous interims" that I read through this volume of Captain Atom for the first time!

Not sure I'd suggest hitting up a bar when in that sort of state, but I ain't here to judge.  Something I will say though, Nate refers to the bar as a "pub".  Was that ever American slang for a bar?  Seems like people use that word to sound worldlier than they are.  Ehh, maybe I'm projecting.

Let's look at the Eilings for a bit.  Another big part of the Holidays for many folks is facing their family dysfunction.  Usually in entertainment, that's ramped up to comical levels... but here, it's pretty... I dunno, dark.  We don't get a happy ending, or even a mutual understanding.  Only disdain... and, while it's not terribly pleasant to read, it's refreshing that we didn't get the cliche hug and clink of eggnog mugs.

Also, I don't have much of a frame of reference for DC's War characters, but it was neat seeing Enemy Ace here.  Love the effort DC made to tie their characters together.  Seems the opposite is true nowadays!

Finally, there's Chester King.  Dude burns down the Dixie Hotel... and in so doing, kills a bunch of homeless.  Seems he learned his lesson, right?  Only... there's no real comeuppance.  Can't remember if King and Wiley show up again down the line... I suppose it wouldn't surprise me either way... and at the end of the day, I guess it doesn't really matter.  Dude did something bad, and it facilitated Captain Atom's first (non-government mandated) outing as a superhero.

Overall, this isn't a comfortable issue... and probably not one I'd add to my normal Christmas rotation, but I did enjoy it for what it was.  I'd recommend checking it out, though it will help if you have the proper context for Nate's lot in life.  This issue is available digitally.

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On the Fifth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, Captain Atom #13!  Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review.

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Batman #439 (1989)

Batman #439 (September, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three, Chapter Four: Resolutions"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Pat Broderick
Inker - Michael Bair
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.00

I come to you today in recovery mode.  I think I've got full smell back in one nostril... which is a step up from the past few days.  With things looking up, let's jump right into the final part of Year Three.  I'm experimenting with adding "pages" to the humble blog, and look forward to putting one together for the Batman "Year" stories in the very near future.

--

Picking up right where we left off, we see the bloody and perforated body of Tony Zucco sprawled on the ground.  Nightwing is laying into Batman... certain is he that his old partner knew this was what was waiting for Zucco's first steps as a free man.  Batman assures him this wasn't the case... he didn't want to make a move on Zucco because he was afraid he would have killed him for what he did to Dick.  Before the two can properly hash things out, Batman leaves.

We join Batman on his ride home.  Along the way he is listening to a radio story discussing the pending closure of St. Jude's Orphanage... he then switches stations to hear an address being given by Zucco's pal and parole boarder, Mr. Taft.  He brings light to Zucco's ledger in front of the press... playing it real cool.  He's acting as though he is truly concerned, however, Batman realizes that he's trying to spark something in the gangsters to, well... find that book.

By now, both Batman and Nightwing are back at the Batcave.  Batman decides he's going to follow up on some of his theories and go about fetching that book.  Dick asks if he wants company... and, Batman makes it pretty clear that he doesn't.

Batman leaves Dick and Alfred in the Cave.  The two reminisce about the former's custody hearing all those years ago.  We watch as Bruce Wayne takes the stand and pleads his case.  He believed he would be the best person to raise the orphan because they both lost their parents to criminals.  Mr. Haly, Sister Mary Elizabeth, and Dick himself agree that Bruce is very likely the best man for the job.  They end their conversation with Dick setting out to try his own luck tracking down the Zucco ledger.

We catch up with Batman... who is just wrecking fools left and right.  He's kicking in crotches, and busting up jaws.  He finally comes across his bounty... Mr. Drexel... the same fella from last ish.  He roughs him up quite a bit... and gets him to spill a very cryptic line about Zucco's "beginning" being the rival gangs' "ending".  The Bat's got no time for this crap, and so, he tosses Drexel into a wall.

Batman's next stop is a bar where some of the rival gangs are killing one another to find the book.  Batman tells them to call off the search... and go about their normal lives, otherwise there's gonna be trouble.  Initially, they are resistant... but after a few broken bones, they come around.  Batman's brutality knows few bounds at this point.  Without the gangs snooping around, Batman feels as though he can conduct his own investigation unhindered by nonsense.

We meet back up with Dick who is in Mr. Drexel's bathroom while the man himself is taking a shower.  Nightwing alerts him to his presence and starts asking the tough questions.  Drexel's confused... he already spilled whatever beans he has to Batman.  Nightwing's all... me and him don't talk too much these days... and he gives him the same hub-bub about beginnings and endings.  Dick, having his head on straight, immediately considers the Orphanage.  He voices his thoughts out loud, unfortunately, because Mr. Taft is lurking behind the door.  After Nightwing leaves, Taft makes poor Drexel very dead.

We rejoin Bruce at the Manor where he is talking to Alfred.  He shares Drexel's "riddle" with his butler... who, thankfully is quite up on his Tony Zucco trivia... he suggests the Orphanage might be the key to it all... after all, it's just about to be demolished... if Zucco wants his book, now would be the time.

Speaking of the orphanage... Dick Grayson is already there.  He comes across Sister Mary Elizabeth who offers him shelter from the rain under her umbrella.  He introduces himself as Nightwing... from the Titans.  The Sister tells him she him... very well.  Hmm... wonder what that can mean?  And that's not me being cryptic... I do not think this comes up again.

The subject of Zucco comes up, and she mentions seeing him with a bucket heading away from the bell tower.  This makes Nightwing wonder if he might have hid the ledger there... and wouldn'tcha know it... he did!

Unfortunately, Mr. Taft sneaks up behind him as he's thumbing through the book.  Dick dodges the first few blows, but a well-timed whack with a tire iron puts him down.  At this point, Batman has arrived on the scene.  He watches in horror as Taft relentlessly beats Nightwing with the iron... flashing back to the Joker doing something similar with a crowbar.

Nightwing is able to get his footing, and starts taking the fight back to Taft.  He knocks the goof to the ground and goes back to the ledger.  Taft returns to his feet and charges at our man... luckily, Batman is there to get his attention... though, rather than call out "Nightwing!" he yells "Dick!"  That's pretty sloppy, no?  Anyhoo, Dick is able to sidestep Taft who plummets off the belltower.  Amid the chaos Nightwing drops the ledger... the wind takes the pages every which way.

We wrap up the issue, and the story... it's clarified that Taft wanted the ledger because it held secrets about him in it... which, we already knew.  Bruce expresses great pride in Dick's detective skills... and recognizes that he has become quite a man over the years.  As for Dick himself, he's sharing the story with two very important people.

--

That all came to a head pretty quick, eh?

Sometimes it feels as though I have to retrain myself to read these older stories.  I have very little doubt had this story been told today it would fill at least six issues... and, hell... probably wouldn't have had any closure.  Wrapping up this story so swiftly almost makes me feel... I dunno, underwhelmed.  After so much build over the past four issues, we get our big climactic fight in just a scant handful of pages.

I was kind of hoping that the Zucco hit was going to be proven to be a fabrication... and he'd still somehow be the big bad of the story.  Maybe give Dick a measure of retribution... or at least the opportunity to get some stuff off his chest.  Instead, we get some stuffed suit... ehhh.

Speaking of the stuffed suit, I really dug the parallels between Jason being beaten by the Joker and Dick getting whacked with the tire iron.  It was very well done, though Broderick's Joker is still just a bit too Wolvie-looking for my tastes.  I thought it was interesting that the very sight of the offense caused Batman to lose his objectivity and rationality... he actually yelled out for "Dick" (minds outta the gutter, please) within earshot of the bad guy.  That seems pretty sloppy for our Dark Knight Detective.

While on the subject of "detective"... I thought it was cool that Bruce accepts that Dick has become one helluva detective in his time.  He'd actually sussed out the ledger before he did.  Hell, we've been following this story for four issues by this point, it seems like Nightwing's been one step ahead of the Batman the entire way.  I mean, I know our writer might have a Titan-ic bias here... but this was told in a way that shone a light on Dick's experience and Bat-education.  It wasn't done to show that he is in any way better than Batman (now, there's a terrible name for a story)... it was done to show how effective a teacher the Batman is... and what an apt student Nightwing had been.

In conclusion... this is a story that bat-fans should familiarize themselves with.  Now that they've re-retconned the Titans back into Dick's history, this one very well might sorta-kinda still be in continuity... it's well worth tracking down and checking out.  It is, of course, available digitally... perhaps one day we'll see a collection.  Gonna put this on my "TPB wish-list" right next to Wild Dog and Angel Love.

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We used to stop in at a deli on our way home from the comic store when I was a kid to buy a mini-bag of Doritos and a Snapple Tru-Root Beer, that had this arcade machine in it.
Never played it though.

Batman #438 (1989)

Batman #438 (September, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three, Chapter Three: Turnabout"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Pat Broderick
Inker - John Beatty
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.00

Still feeling the sick.  Let's get right to it.

--

We pick up right where we left off.  Alfred is now sitting on his bed and he's holding a very oddly-shaped gun.  He considers the possibility of snuffing out Zucco... he ultimately decides he cannot cross that line... not even for Master Dick.  He figures there's gotta be a better way.  Speaking of Nightwing, we catch up with him as he rides to the next hit.  Along the way he flashes back to the events of A Death in the Family, which features a Wolverine-haired Joker beating young Jason to a pulp.

At the crime scene, Commissioner Gordon is giving a statement to the press.  Nightwing heads around back and asks if it's cool for him to snoop around a bit.  The Detective on duty says it's fine, however, doubts anything will turn up... and thus, proves how ineffectual the Gotham City Police Department can be.  It doesn't take long for Dick to turn up a a silk thread from a parachute as well as a bit of glass with a fingerprint on it.  Okay... I can see the cops mayyyybe missing the thread... but a fingerprint?  C'mon...

We shift scenes to Batman as he stands before a pack of gun-wielding mobsters.  He plays it cool, and tells them if they kill him, he can no longer protect them from whoever's out there head-hunting.  Basically, he's their best (perhaps only) hope of survival.

Before we get an answer... we pop back over to Alfred.  He's at the generically named Gotham Prison, and has requested a face-to-face audience with Tony Zucco.  Surprisingly enough, it's granted.  He sits in front of the killer... and produces a checkbook.  He is prepared to let Zucco name his price... in exchange, however, he must leave Gotham upon release.  Zucco finds this rather laughable... which, if the art is any indication, appears to shake Pennyworth to his very core.

Alfred returns to the Batcave, and finds Nightwing computering away.  He's been able to deduce that the fingerprint he found belongs to a fella named Sherman Saticoy.  Before going any further, we hop back to Batman... who is in the middle of a firefight.  Looks like the baddies didn't take him up on his offer.  It's not long before the tables are turned, and they're all staring down the barrel of a gun themselves.  Hey, another "Year" story, another bit of Batman holding a gun.

Suddenly, the mobsters are a bit more receptive to the chat.  They start talking about the other "bosses" in town, and the name Zucco comes up... sending Batman into flashback mode.  He thinks back to a time that he and Robin busted up a Zucconian drug deal... and a time he stuffed several dozen bats into a tiny box to scare him.  Not sure how that worked, but we'll roll with it.  Back in the present, Batman learns about the fabled Tony Zucco book.  You know the one...

At this point, the mobsters are interested in joining forces with the Batman.  They take him to the cruddy apartment of a man called Drexel.  He's been in Zucco's employ for awhile, and he's not planning to talk... that is, until Batman introduces him to his "associates".

Back at the Batcave, Nightwing is still cross-referencing data... he is shocked to find out just who is behind it all... but we'll get to that in a moment.  He hops on his motorbike and heads to a hill overlooking Gotham Prison... where the Batmobile is already parked.  Both Batman and Nightwing have concluded that the big bad is... are you ready for this... Tony Zucco.  They've got the goods to lock him right back up at this point... though, Nightwing wants him to taste freedom for just a moment before they break the news.  I appreciate this scene, as it shows the different approaches the heroes used... kinda shows us just where they both are insofar as "head space" is concerned.

It's nearly the time where Zucco goes free... and so, we watch as the warden walks him out.  Batman and Nightwing sit in wait... Dick is kinda waffling on his stance, he'd rather just "nail him" now... Batman insists they wait.

We watch as Zucco takes his first steps out of the pen... he extends his arms, certain that with his book... he will soon be king of Gotham.  Just then... he is plugged full of holes by a helicopter.  Nightwing is furious... he believes that Batman knew this was going to happen all along...

--

I gotta say... this one just gets better as we go along.  Not that it didn't start out strong... but, at this point... we've got ourselves a really nice story.  Excellent character beats... a nice way of popping from past to present without looking forced or contrived.

I mentioned it briefly above... but this issue, to me, was all about depicting the disparate approaches of our heroes.  We've got Nightwing crossing his T's and dotting his I's as he cross-references data and evidence... doing the very thing that Batman had taught him.  On the other hand, we've got that Batman... who has definitely lost his way.  He's acting irrational... he's making deals with the devil in order to follow the mobby breadcrumbs to Zucco's door.  Two different paths... same destination.  Student becomes teacher... teacher becomes a lunatic.

Alfred's bits here were okay.  I can appreciate his loyalty and care toward Dick... but he just came across as overly dramatic here.  I think it's more the art... he is depicted as a hammy actor rather than a concerned parent-figure.  I mean, he gasped with his hand over his mouth... he made ridiculous constipated faces.  Just so hammy.

I had a little fun ragging on the ineffectual Gotham City Police Department above... but, honestly... how could they leave this much evidence behind?  Did they even sweep for prints?  I mean, wouldn't that be among the first thing the Crime Scene Investigators would do?  I'd imagine if they hadn't yet swept, there's no way they'd let a costumed vigilante go stomping around in there.

Overall... another great issue.  We've got a bit more dysfunctional Dick and Bruce... and, lordy... a pretty neat cliffhanger to boot.  Getting some more parallels to Year Two... but I'm not sure if that's just due to our discussing it so recently.  Batman holding a gun... the baddie getting shot to death by a third-party.  I doubt either is a callback, but it's still interesting... at least to me.

Gotta wonder how Dick feels about not being able to get a measure of closure from Zucco.  Not that he was going to "off" him or anything... but, hell, we might have gotten another scene like when Batman confronted Joe Chill... when he unmasked to drive the point home that his chickens were about to come home.  I suppose that's not likely if he intended to allow Zucco to leave the scene breathing air and pumping blood.

Anyhoo... definitely worth checking out.  As with the other two (and probably the next) it's available digitally for your convenience.

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