Robin #87 (2001)

Robin #87 (April, 2001)
"Secrets Revealed"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Pete Woods
Inker - Andrew Pepoy
Colorist - Noelle Giddings
Separations - Jamison
Letterer - Willie Schubert
Assistant Editor - Frank Berrios
Editor - Matt Idelson
Special Thanks - Esther Newlin
Cover Price: $2.25

Just as I was falling into a Titan-ic rut... my buddy Andrew tweeted out some great Chuck Dixon-era Robin comics he happened across.  So, I sez to myself, "self... you haven't covered any Robin in far too long."

And so, here we be!  Thanks for the inspiration, Andrew!

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Tim Drake hasn't made it home for the night... and Batman is a bit worried.  And so, we open with him visiting with Robin's gal-pal, Stephanie Brown.  She's kinda fangirling out... and it's really rather endearing.  This is the kind of scene they try and do these days, and it just falls flat.  Here, I dig it.  Anyhoo, Steph... she thinks this is cool and all, but isn't entirely clear on why Batman is gracing her with his presence.  Well, ya see... he needs her help.

Now just where could Tim be?  Well, he's sleeping off a night of patrolling atop a building near his Brentwood Boarding School.  Ya see, things have been in a bit of upheaval in Gotham of late... in the recent "Officer Down" arc, Commissioner Gordon was shot... and ultimately retired.  Tim sits down to think on it... but falls asleep before long.

Back in the Batmobile, Batman and Steph head toward the Batcave.  In a cool bit, the windows go black... so Stephanie can't tell where they're headed.  Seems he's not sure she's ready to know everything just yet.

Back at Brentwood, Ben Stein calls roll.  Tim's still sleeping, so he ain't there.  A kid named Danny raises his hand to cover/inform the Teach that he "thinks" Tim might've had a family emergency.

Back at the Cave, Batman gives Spoiler the tiniest of tours around the facilities.  He tells her that he's checked all of Robin's regular "haunts", save one.  One that he cannot go... and that's where Stephanie comes in.

That night, after sleeping the entire day away, Robin wakes up... still atop that building.  From this vantage point he sees one of his Brentwood classmates running around the streets like he's Superman.  Tim narrowly saves him from becoming street pizza.  Because, c'mon... it doesn't look like that bus driver had any interest in pumping the brakes, does it?

Getting a closer look, Tim recognizes "Supermeth" as his classmate Tommy.  The kid begins to seize before passing out.  Tim does what he can before Emergency Services arrive.

Then... he goes back to his dorm, where he faces off with his nosy roommate Wesley the Weasel.  After telling ol' Wes off, Tim calls into the hospital to check on Tommy.  Turns out, he didn't make it.  Dead on arrival... brain hemorrhage.

Since Tim slept the entire day away, it looks like he's gonna be up all night.  While he vegges out, he is visited by big-guy Buzz... who is happy to announce that not only did he receive a full-ride football scholarship... but that his father is once again talking to him.  Then... Alfred shows up!  Yep, after a sizable "falling out" with Master Bruce, Alfred is staying at Brentwood.  Tim shares his troubles with him.

Tim retires to his bedroom... and sees a bat-themed sticky-note on his window, and so... he suits up and heads to the roof.  He's shocked that his "midnight caller" isn't Batman... but Spoiler!  What's more... she knows... everything.  Well, almost everything.

Tim freaks the eff out, and swings away.  Spoiler chases him through a park... and for whatever reason, past a pug?  Well, that's random enough to capture for posterity, ain't it?

Robin winds up running smack dab into Batman... who tells him that this was all his idea.  This doesn't settle Tim's teakettle, it just shows him where to focus all of his anger.  He lays into Batman for betraying his trust... for spilling the beans on his (Tim's) secret identity... while continuing to play his own close to the vest.  He also calls him out on being too much of a coward to visit him in person... just because Alfred is there.

As Tim stomps away, Spoiler's all "whoa...".  Batman kinda shrugs it off... this kinda thing happens with every Robin.  Well, he isn't wrong.  He even goes on to explain that "sometimes it ends well".  Yeah, and other times... they get their skull caved in by the Joker.  Anyhoo, we wrap up with Batman telling Stephanie that she's got a lotta work ahead of her.

--

Man, I miss this era of the Bat Books.  Not only is this a great "weird day in the life" story for Tim, it's got some of that Bat-Family drama that you know I'm a sucker for.

This comes off the heels of "New Gotham"... at least that was what the trade paperback collections were branded as.  Not so long before this, Gotham was still in the midst of No-Man's-Land... and stories like Officer Down really helped move things forward and build a new status-quo... at least for the interim.

Feels like Batman was being written in "chunks" back then... and, I really dug it.  We had this "chunk" coming out of No-Man's-Land which would take us to the Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer "chunk" then to the War Games "chunk".  A really inventive (though, perhaps not intentional) way to give many of these ongoing arcs a more-definitive "ending".  Kind of like a "seasonal" approach without chucking the entire volume, continuity, numbering and all into the toilet any time it's deemed convenient to do so.

Now, for this issue... Spoiler learns about Tim's secret identity.  Kind of a jerk-move on Batman's part, right?  Even Stephanie sorta calls him out on it... of course, he brushes it off with a "Pshh, that's just the latest of my many betrayals", but still... I think this was a big deal.

So much of the Steph/Tim dynamic was the fact that she didn't know who he really was... and he wasn't about to tell her.  It kinda kept her at "arm's length", and added an extra layer to their odd romance.  That all ends here... and, like I said... I feel like it's a pretty big deal.

We have the "Brentwood Mysteries"... of sorts.  Tim recounts all of the weirdness... which, if I'm honest... doesn't seem all that weird, but the fact that he recounts it the way he did, makes me feel like maybe I should think it is weird?  Who knows?  I can't remember how this rolls out... but I'm always up for a mystery.  And a Boarding School is as good a setting for one as any!

Overall... this was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately it just makes me yearn for a time long gone.  The art here was fantastic... Woods and Pepoy were the perfect team for this book.  Definitely worth a read.  This one is available digitally.

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Action Comics #871 (2009)

Action Comics #871 (January, 2009)
"New Krypton, Part 2: Beyond Doomsday"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Artist - Pete Woods
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99

Today we're going to pick up where we left off... late last Summer.  For a bit of context on just what New Krypton is, go 'head and check out our discussion on the Superman: New Krypton Special #1 (2008).  For even more table-setting, check out our (more recent) chat on the Brainiac storyline.

Let's get ready to meet our new stars of Action Comics: Nightwing (not that one) and Flamebird?!

--

We open with a pair of drabbly-dressed Kryptonians (Gor and Mur) walking the streets of New York.  They appear angry, and feel as though Krypton requires a measure of vengeance... from the Earth?  They're irritated that Kal-El would rather play diplomat than warrior... and consider how much different this would be if Zod were around.

We shift scenes to Lex Luthor's holding cell... where he is greeted by General Sam Lane.  He escorts Lex out of his cell, and tells him all about the Kryptonian "invasion".  He questions him about his knowledge of Kandor... which, being Lex Luthor... of course he knows about that!  We get a bit of a quick and dirty to explain that this Kandor is the real one, and it's the first time Superman has dealt with it.

Luthor is then led to where they have been holding Brainiac.  Lex asks to be unshackled... but Lane doesn't oblige.  They begin a pretty fun passive-aggressive back and forth about how both of them work so hard to gain Lois' favor... and the person she holds most dear is the "naive spellchecker" Clark Kent.

Lane responds by... well, shooting Lex in the shoulder.  Just a slight overreaction there, no?  Lex agrees to help Sam "break open" Brainiac's mind... but warns that that likely won't stop the "invasion".  Sam's all "that's okay...", after all he has more "bullets" at his disposal, such as...

Doomsday?!  Okay, we head to Metropolis where Superman is getting ready to fight... Doomsday?!  Just like that?  Just like that.

Supergirl rushes in to give her cousin a hand.  Her folks look on for a moment before deciding to get involved.  Elsewhere, the Guardian... or is that Agent Liberty... or is that Codename: Assassin... whoever he is, he's leading the President of the United States safely onto a helicopter.

The fight pours into Centennial Park, where Doomsday rips the Kon-El Memorial out of the ground and hurls it toward the Supers.

Superman manages to catch it... then decides, enough it enough... he plows into Doomsday and takes him into orbit.  The Kryptonians then dog-pile the poor murdering monster...

... until he cannot continue to fight.  Wow, y'almost feel bad for him here.

We rejoin Gor and Mur at the Fortress of Solitude.  They scan the Fortress and seem annoyed to see that Kal-El collects "trinkets" from his "terrestrial experiences".  I just wish they got a closer look at 'em!  Love seeing that stuff!

Unimpressed by their visit, Gor and Mur deduce that they're going to need General Zod... and proceed toward the Phantom Zone Projector.  Well, not so fast, kemo sabe(s)... first you're going to have to go through... Nightwing and Flamebird?!

--

This was pretty fun... and a neat way to introduce the "stars" of this title moving forward (that's Nightwing and Flamebird, by the way).  I know precious little about these two, besides that they are basically the Batman and Robin of Kandor... and Dick Grayson took his post-Robin codename from the former.

I'm sure I've said this before, but I didn't stick around with New Krypton the first time through... I was out of work, and any "fun" money had to be wisely spent.  So with what little dosh I was able to get my hands on, I probably bought X-Men comics (jokes on me!).  That being said... I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, but every time I dip my toe into this New Krypton mishegoss I find myself walking away intrigued... and even entertained!

The very idea that they'd remove Superman from his two "home" titles shows how strongly DC felt about getting this concept "over"... they were going to go as "all in" as they could.  Guess that shows some guts... perhaps poor business sense, but guts nonetheless!  Gotta give'em that.

Now the baton hasn't been officially handed over to the Kandorian Dynamic Duo just yet, but it's coming... and with how they've been eased into the story, it doesn't feel terribly forced (at least not yet!).  I'm looking forward to spending some time with these two, and getting to know them better.  Really dig their designs too!

Speaking of design, this is a very good lookin' book!  Looking at it quickly, I'd have sworn this was Scott Kolins... though, that might have to do with the more pastel-y color palette.  Still... really nice looking book!

Can't say I'm a fan of jobbing old Doomsday out... but, I guess if you're going to do it... this is as good a way as any.  I mean, if Superman alone can (eventually) take him down, what hope does the monster have against a gaggle of Kryptonians?  The fight scene looked great too... awesome action, and a real feeling of destruction.

If I had to pick a favorite scene, I'd probably go with the Lane/Luthor back-and-forth.  These two are pretty great together.  You can tell they're both sickened being together in the same room... but decide to work together anyway.  The passive-aggressive mentions of Lois were pretty spectacular too.  Lex is pretty good when it comes to "pushing buttons" and he ain't shy about showing that off.

Overall... I quite enjoyed this!  Not sure I'm ready to go "all-in" on a New Krypton read-through, but I'll admit to being quite tempted!  This issue has been collected, and is available digitally.

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Action Comics #891 (2010)

Action Comics #891 (September, 2010)
"The Black Ring, Part Two"
Writer - Paul Cornell
Pencillers - Pete Woods & CAFU
Inkers - Pete Woods & Bit
Colorist - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Wil Moss
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $3.99

Had such a good time with Lex Luthor's Action Comics yesterday, I decided to keep the ball rolling today.  When last we left him, he was facing of with... of all peo... er, things, Mister Mind!

Worth mentioning, we're nearing the fourth quarter of our #Action100 endeavor.  I've still got a few requested reviews on the docket, including a couple of the "hundredth" issues.  I'm saving those for a little closer to the end though.  That said, I'm still taking requests... so, if you've got an issue of Action you wouldn't mind seeing me spoil... and it's one I've got in the library, just lemme know... here, Twitter, Facebook... wherever!

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We open in... prehistoric times?  Sure, let's roll with it.  Lex Luthor is leading a loin-clothed band of cavefolk toward a temple bathed in light.  There's a bit about class and privilege before Lex runs in and steals a bowl of fire... and tears down the temple for good measure.

Everything starts to make sense when we shift scenes to Mister Mind... a far cuter-looking Mister Mind than the one we met last issue.  He reveals that he has taken over Luthor's consciousness... and he did so on behalf of, well... we don't know who yet.

Back to Luthor's head, where the fantasy has jumped ahead several centuries... and he is depicted like Dr. Frankenstein.  His Lois-bot gets the Bride of Frankenstein makeover for good measure.  On the table lays a man covered in a sheet.  Before revealing who it is, Lex pauses... feeling as though something's not quite right here.  Lois encourages him to remove the sheet... and wouldn'tcha know it, the "monster" is... him!

Lois asks if he'd have pulled the sheet if not for her prodding... and he realizes he wouldn't have.  Lex is a man who works best when he has others to do his bidding (sort of like that hitman we met last issue).  This troubles Mister Mind, because it's going against the fantasy he'd placed Luthor in.  He realizes he's going to have to get involved.

Back in Luthor's head... townspeople crash through his window, pitchforks and torches in hand... before they can do any damage, however... Lex shifts into his next fantasy.  In it, he is a Sheriff in an old Western town.  His Deputy rushes the saloon to inform him that "Big Blue" is back.

"Big Blue" is... well, you know.  He and Lex face off in the street in front of the saloon.  Again, Lex is getting hip to the fact that this ain't all kosher.  He decides to take control of the situation by... not shooting "Big Blue", but blowing the brains out of his Deputy!

Now this really vexes Mister Mind... who is not only losing control of the situation, but his own consciousness.  His "benefactor", whoever that is, watches as Mind is pulled into the simulacrum.

Sheriff Luthor reenters the saloon, and finds Lois has been taken captive by... Mister Mind in an adorable black hat.  He and Lex exchange some banter, and we (well, I) learn that this Mister Mind is the offspring of the original.  Lemme pull out by best Johnny Carson... ahem, I did not know that.  At this point Lex is all but sure that they are, in reality, still atop that building in Metropolis.

Mister Mind reacts to this deduction by growing to kaiju-size!

Ambushed... by a Bug?!

Lex pulls the whole "Stand back..." bit, tearing open his shirt... revealing... well, his hairless chest.

He takes the fight to the giant Mister Mind... and realizes all he really needs to do to win this one, is to regain control of his actual motor reflexes.  He does, and boots the poor caterpillar off the Metropolitan roof.

The simulacrum ends with a bang... and when the dust settles, Luthor and his kidnappers spring back to their senses.  They apologize to Lex, claiming to have been under Mister Mind's control when they acted.  Lex agrees to let them off the hook, so long as they tell him everything they know.

Later, Lex and Lois discuss the day's events.  Lex worries that Lois isn't sure she's actually a robot... but she assures him that she fully understands.  He then tells her that their journey has just begun.  Since Mister Mind was so set on isolating Lex, he now knows his best bet is to assemble a team to seek out the Black Lantern ring.

We wrap up with Lex putting in a call to a potential third member...

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More fun than it had any right to be!

When I first heard that Lex Luthor was taking over Action Comics, I had braced myself for some... well, to be blunt, really boring "boardroom" stories.  I feel like a lot of writers in comics today are tickled by scenes of "mundane intrigue" (probably because they're trying to use comics as a springboard into movies and television)... and I was glad to see this was most certainly not the case.

Back when I used to talk about Marvel... when I thought Marvel was almost worth talking about, I used to complain about how books like the Avengers and X-Men no longer felt like "fun" superhero comics.  So often half the pages were taken up by members of S.H.I.E.L.D. sitting in a darkened monitor-filled room "sassing" at each other.  Apropos of nothing, when it got to the point where Captain Freaking America had to get permission from Maria Freaking Hill in order to do... well, anything... I knew it was time for me to split.

Back to this story... I mean, this is the perfect way to show Lex in different situations.  It's great seeing him so out of "control" at the start, and slowly regain himself as we move forward.  I really can't overstate how much fun this was.  I've always been intrigued by the idea of lucid dreaming... and taking control over your dreams.  My wife claims she's able to do it from time to time... Just between us, I'm not quite sure I believe her.  Figure if anyone can do it though... it'd be Lex Luthor.

Mister Mind made a really fun foil as well.  I'm glad he wasn't the dripping, oozing mess he was last issue... and was back to a more cartoony-cute look.  Shame he went splat though!  I'm glad he wasn't the "big bad" though... seems like we've got quite a reveal in the making (one that I've actually forgotten the outcome of... so, yay for that!).

Art here was, as expected, top-notch.  The addition of CAFU (or Cafu... not sure if that's all-caps) was great and absolutely seamless.  Really just another beautiful chapter.

Overall... if you haven't read this run, I'd recommend you do so.  I'll admit, I was a bit on-the-fence about it at first, but so far it's over-delivered on an engaging, entertaining, and excellent (EEE) story.  As with yesterdays book, this has been collected in trade... and is available digitally.

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