NML Crossing, Episode 084 - Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #121 (1999)

NML Crossing, Episode Eighty-Four

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #121 (September, 1999)
“Power Play”
Writer - Larry Hama
Pencils - Rick Burchett
Inks - James Hodgkins
Colors - Felix Gerrano
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Illidge, O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

In what is quite possibly the worst chapter of No Man's Land to date, we get a generic... and odd-banter-filled... battle between Batman and Mister Freeze, in which - get this - our titular hero blows up the Gotham City Power Plant! It's an odd and awful little ditty... join me, won't you?

The Bada-Bin!

NML Crossing on Youtube

https://gothamquake.com

https://chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

NML Crossing, Episode 011 - Batman Chronicles #12 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Eleven

Batman Chronicles #12 (Spring, 1998)
"The Contract"
"House of Cards"
"Trapped"
"A Bird With a Hand"
"Love Me 2 Times"
"Little Orphan Andy"
Writers - Devin Grayson, Chris Renaud, Rick Burchett, Klaus Janson, & Kelley Puckett
Pencils/Art - Marcos Martin, Chris Renaud, Alex Maleev, Rick Burchett, & Klaus Janson
Inks - Vince Giarrano, Bob McLeod, & Bill Sienkiewicz
Colors - Lee Loughridge, Ian Laughlin, Jason Wright, Grant Goleash, & Noelle Giddings
Letters - Ken Lopez & Clem Robins
Edits - Vincenzo & Gorfinkel
Cover Price: $2.95

Welcome to Anthology Land, where we can take a peek into how some of the non-Bat-characters are handling the "new normal" post-the verybadthing that happened at 7:03pm.  It's very much a 90s anthology... so, prepare for a very "your mileage may vary" experience!

Plus: A thought-provoking NMaiLbag

For those playing along at home, the rest of this week's books are:

• Nightwing #20
• Batman #554
• Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma #1
• Detective Comics #721

https://chrisisoninfiniteearths.com

weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

ACW #634 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #634 (Blackhawk)
"Coming Down"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Art - Rick Burchett
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

Here's one I've both been looking forward to... and dreading!  Folks, friends, fellow comic fans... today is the final chapter... of the final ACW arc of Blackhawk.

Hopefully we'll still find that T.G.I.- day on the other side of The Crash!

--

Picking up where we left off, Jan's still trippin'... and now has his hands wrapped around Olaf's throat.  The big man is able to swat the Major away, and thankfully knocks him back to his senses.  As Jan shakes out the acid-y cobwebs, he manages to level out their altitude.  At this point, Weng starts to come around... just in time to see all of their in-flight instruments begin to go haywire!

Turns out they're flying in the vicinity of a strange little island of sorts... one from which a "magnetic field disturbance" is originating.  Olaf grabs the binocs, and sees a fella in an ominous uniform looking back at them.  The Nazi rushes into a cavern... 

The Blackhawks land, and come barreling out of the back end of their plane in a Jeep!  Needless to say... we got guns a'blazing!

The good guys pick off a bunch of Nazis... however, have their tires shot out by the faux Ms. Darabont.  Janos gets thrown from the Jeep, but is able to collect himself and give chase into the cavernous base.

As Frau Whatsherface pontificates about how the "Reich Will Rise Again", Janos shows us he ain't screwin' around by... shooting her, right between the eyes!

We wrap up with the Blackhawks deducing that the real Darabont is likely dead somewhere back in Berlin... and they lament the fact that, so long as they got what they were sent for (the L.S.D.), nobody's really going to care.  Annnnnnd, that's the end!

--

Gang... I am going to miss this feature.

When I began our Action Comics Daily endeavor way back on February 1... I really thought all I was in for a fun revisit to the Green Lantern stories... and a very "muddling" rest of the time.  I kinda saw it as a self-fulfilling prophecy, where I'd maybe get about six week in... and call it a day.  What I wasn't expecting, was that I'd absolutely fall for a feature that I'd previously not had an iota of interest in... and I certainly didn't think that feature would be... Blackhawk!

I've said it before... especially early on, I'm not all that big on war comics.  For as "well read" I am with comics, my tastes and interests are... relatively narrow.  So... even if going through this Action Comics Weekly experiment hasn't been the most fun or exciting experience, it has a place in my heart for the simple fact that it got me to finally buckle down and read a Blackhawk story.  Even if this were the only bright spot (and I'm not saying it was), it all would have been worth it.

So, whatta we got here today?  Well, an ending... a sorta abrupt ending (like all the rest), however, Martin Pasko has the ability to use that to his benefit.  Sometimes things just end... loose ends don't always get tied up... and sometimes, you just gotta move onto the next "thing".

Janos neutralizes the threat of the next Reich... by shooting everybody!  They deduce that Ms. Darabont is likely dead... but, at this point, there's nothing they can do about it... so, it's treated in an "it is what it is" sort of fashion.  It's not "neat" or "tidy"... but, it works... and it speaks to the talents and understanding of the realities of the comics medium that Mr. Pasko doesn't bend his story to necessarily give us a "neat" ending.  To do so would be to undermine much of what got us here.

If we look at some other concluding features this week, they tried giving us finality and closure... and it, unfortunately, didn't do the overall story any service.  They felt rushed, truncated... and worst of all, convenient.  We manage to sidestep most of that with this final chapter of Janos and the Gang.

Overall... man... I'm going to miss this.  There is a follow-up series by the same creative team that I have started to grab whenever I come across it... but, I can't promise I'll be able to get around to covering it here anytime soon.  Granted, that's probably more of a bummer for me than anyone reading this...

Anyhoo, that's a wrap on our pre-Crash coverage of Action Comics Weekly... our next "daily" will cover The Crash of '88!

But first... Tomorrow: The big compilation post, and your last opportunity to vote for Blackhawk!

ACW #633 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #633 (Blackhawk)
"Gremlins at Twelve O'Clock"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Art - Rick Burchett
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

It's with a fair amount of sadness that I recognize that this is the second-to-last time I can say... T.G.I.B.!  This is, say it with me, our penultimate visit with Janos and the Gang.

There will be a version of the Blackhawks in the upcoming The Crash of '88! crossover special... but, it won't be the same.

Let's enjoy it while it lasts!

--

Picking up right where we left off, Olaf has caught "Ms. Darabont" spiking the Blackhawk's brew with the L.S.D.  He inquires as to what might be going on, and gets shot in the shoulder for his troubles.  At the same time, Andre up in the cockpit starts feeling something very... ominous begin to overtake him.  They try radioing back to Olaf, and when they don't get an answer... Weng heads toward to rear to find out what's up.  He just barely misses seeing "Darabont" parachuting away.

Back up front, Andre's sinister feeling manifests itself in... the colors, maaaaaan... our poor Frenchman be trippin'!

In the back, Weng tends to Olaf.  He also admits to having drank some of the tainted java.  At the same time, Janos learns that Chuck's having a similar reaction to his cuppa.  It's becoming a pretty wild scene... and with every moment, the Blackhawk aircraft is losing altitude!

Andre lunges at Olaf... not sure what he's seeing, but he's in a rage!  Olaf punches him square in the nose, knocking him out.  Finally, we're down to two.  It's just Olaf and Janos... and they gotta land this bird.  One problem though, turns out that Jan took a few swigs himself!  Suddenly his fingers transform into snakes (why'd it have to be snakes?), and he's all outta sorts!

We shift scenes to Frau Whatsherface.  She's meeting with some Neos on the Islet of Herm in the Channel Islands between France and England.  She hands over the "mind-control serum", and tout the soon-to-be rise of Global Fascism.

We wrap up back in the Blackhawk cockpit, where Janos' trip continues.  He suddenly sees naked Nat spooning with a naked Olaf... and, with foam dripping from his mouth, Janos is bound and determined to do something about it!

--

Well, here's the scene I've been waiting for ever since the realization that L.S.D. would be playing a part in this arc... and it did not disappoint.  I'm left wondering just how they're going to wrap this all up in the next eight pages... but, I very much enjoyed this chapter for what it was.

Never having used L.S.D. (shocker, I'm sure), I wasn't sure how the trippin' Blackhawks were going to be depicted.  I didn't know if it was going to be straight "the colors, maaaan" or more creative hallucinations.  Turns out, we get both!  I appreciate the fact that Janos lets his paranoia get the better of him here... he's still clearly worried about (and sorta-kinda "hooked on") Ms. Nat, and it was cool to see that here.

If you recall, early in the previous Blackhawk arc, Jan and Olaf scrapped a time or two over the fair and beautiful Ms. Commie Nineteen-Fifty-Whatever... and it was alluded to (if not said outright) that Olaf might've been responsible for the loss of her eye.  I haven't peeked ahead into our final chapter... but, I'm wondering how much of a knock-down, drag-out this might be.  Though, I have a sneaking suspicion it'll be defused within the first page.

Overall, another fun chapter... and another reminder of how much this book will suffer once Blackhawk vacates its pages!

Tomorrow: The Wrap-Up!

ACW #632 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #632 (Blackhawk)
"Doing the Horizontal Goosestep"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Art - Rick Burchett
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

T.G.I.B.!  It's Blackhawk Day!

--

We open in occupied Berlin, where the Blackhawks have already nabbed the LSD.  Our man Jan notices that Ms. Darabont appears to have a stick up her butt and offers to, well, loosen it up?  She ain't quite feelin' it and the rest of the team is tickled by the whole scene.  Elsewhere, Frau Koblenz... looking a lot like Ms. Darabont at the moment, is snuck through a checkpoint into the city.

Back in the American sector, the 'Hawks and Connie are checking into their lodgings for the evening.  Darabont hands her bags over to a porter so she might take in a bit of the evening air.  Andre offers to accompany her, but she's fine on her own... though, mentions if the Major offered, she might take him up on it.  Well, he did offer back at the airport, remember?  Olaf suggests that Berlin might not be the best place to sight-see... but, she's steadfast that she go.

Outside, a "soldier" asks to see her papers... while she rattles through her purse, she gets jumped!  This is actually Koblenz and her man... and they're ready to pull the big switcheroo.  They're playin' for keeps, though... poor Ms. Darabont winds up with "two behind the ear"!

Later, back at the hotel, Olaf visits Connie to deliver a bag that accidentally made its way to his room... and can't help but to notice that she's acting a bit "off".  She assures him that the night air just made her a bit "stuffy" in the head... he doesn't seem to completely buy her story.  Our man Jan passes him in the hallway, and Olaf almost makes his suspicions known... but doesn't.

Jan gives Connie a ring-a-ling to fill her in on the sit-rep.  None of that was intended as a euphemism... buuuuuut, well... 

The next day, the 'hawks are airborne.  Olaf wakes up from a nap, and is handed a cup of coffee.  After learning that the coffee had been prepared by "Ms. Darabont", he gets all "ruh-roh" and beelines it to the back of the plane.  There, he observes her sprinkling something into the drink!  When confronted, she pulls a gun!

--

Still loving this one!

I'm glad that the two stories we've been following have intersected here... I was afraid this might result in a "slower burn", especially considering how so many of our ACW features feel almost painfully drawn out these past few weeks.

Sometimes in reading Blackhawk, I'm almost shocked that such mature themes were actually in a book with "Action Comics" on the cover.  I feel like these days we might take for granted just how different this sort of story is/was... especially as one that would appear in what many might view as DC's "flagship" title.  Having a woman get beaten and shot (presumably) to death... and a whole lotta Blackhawk-bangin'?  This ain't yer daddy's Action Comics... well, I suppose in 2019, maybe it was!

Really not much more to crow about... really enjoying the story, and look forward to seeing where it goes!

Tomorrow: Compilation Day

ACW #631 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #631 (Blackhawk)
"Kissoff--that's a Russian word, isn't it?"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Art - Rick Burchett
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

These weeks just fly by don't they?  Hard to believe we're already at the end of another issue of Action Comics Weekly.  TGIB... Thank Goodness it's Blackhawk!

--

We pick up, still at the White House where President Truman and Company are making their pitch to the Blackhawk Team.  Ya see, the United States isn't so much worried about LSD fomenting any Neo-Nazi movement, they're more concerned about the Red Menace.  They see LSD as having a potential role in Communist propaganda.  After dismissing some of his aides, Truman gets into the real nitty-gritty with Janos and the Boys.  He sees Blackhawk as being able to handle both the covert ops... and any possible "heat" that might result.

Meanwhile, back in Singapore... our gal Nat finds herself cornered by some gentlemen who wanna "ask her a few questions".  She fights them off, best she can, but isn't able to escape.  She's injected with something-in-a-syringe and taken away.

Then, in Munich... a carrier pigeon delivers a message to the Nazis we've been checking in with over the past few weeks.  Frau Whatsherface is seductively putting on her nylons while a dude named Dieter reads her the missive.  Looks like all is going according to plan for them... also, looks like Gretchen is going to be going "incognito" pretty soon.

Back in Singapore, Blackhawk Airways is closing down... so, we can probably assume they decided to take Truman up on his offer.  Mairzey reports that she was able to get her entrance visa, and we learn that she'll be stepping in for the missing Nat.  They don't know she'd been abducted... and just assume she ran off.  I guess patterns of behavior eventually catch up to ya!

We pick up a few days later, I'm gonna assume stateside, where the all-new Blackhawk Airways, Inc. has set up shop.  Jan, is aroused from a nap by some bonehead.  In response, our man delivers what might be the first-ever recorded Shoryuken!  Turns out, this dude is just the driver for Constance Durabont... of Durabont-Cathcart Pharmaceuticals.  She's arrived to be flown to Germany... to get'a da Ell Ess Dee.

We wrap up back in Germany, where Frau Whatsherface (now wearing a short-haired wig) is preparing for the handsome Mr. Prohaska to arrive... so she can kill him... and, uh, judging by the "Next Week" blurb... maybe bang him too.

--

I can understand and appreciate that one my very best day I'm going to be very overly (and annoyingly) rambly and repetitive... but, when we're dealing with all of these short serialized features... it's kinda hard not to repeat myself.  You could literally look at any of my recent Blackhawk "reviews", and it's going to look rather samey.  I love this feature... love the art... love the mature themes.  Yadda yadda yadda.

So, while all that's great as a comics reading experience... it leaves this portion of the piece dreadfully difficult to compose.  I don't want to waste anyone's time with tangents (I already spend whole podcasts doing that!), or pick nits just for the sake of length... but, I also don't wanna look like I'm half-assing anything.  It's a toughie.

So, that's where I'll leave it.  This was very much a transitional chapter... multiple scene shifts, pieces getting into place (or seemingly taken off the board altogether).  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this one shakes out!

Tomorrow: The Big Wrap-up ~aka~ The Day Before... Malvolio Arrives!

ACW #630 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #630 (Blackhawk)
"Mr. Blackhawk Goes to Washington"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Art - Rick Burchett
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

Hey gang, just wanna beg your indulgence a tiny bit up in the preramble and thank you for letting me vent some of my frustrations on the loss of steam this blog has experienced over the past little while.  I've received a lot of thoughtful words of encouragement both here and elsewhere, and I appreciate all of it more than I can properly put into words.

Seems, as much as we'd like to pretend we're above such things, I guess sometimes I need a bit of validation and a gentle shove forward to shake off some doubt, paranoia, and inertia.

Thanks again, gang!  Now, let's Blackhawk!

--

We open with Mr. Claiborne, at least I think it's Mr. Claiborne, exiting the Hotel Bedford.  A car sidles up to the curb... inside, an equally obnoxious-looking fellow asks the way to the Quay.  When Claiborne can't answer, the occupants of the car chase him down and beat him down soundly.  We shift over to the Blackhawk Airways Offices at Changi Airfield, where Janos is filling Natalie in on the particulars of the last arc.  Their chat is interrupted by the arrival of Mairzey and the bird.

Jan ain't too keen on her walking in on him in his skivvies... gotta say, I didn't realize he was so modest... anyhoo, Nat informs him that Mairzey is her new assistant, and everything kinda blows over.  It's a much cuter scene than I'm explaining it to be.  She tells him that there's a dude from the State Department waiting to speak with him... to which, Janos finally decides to throw on a pair of pants.

The State Department guy marches in, and immediately ingratiates himself to Nat and Jan, by referring to the former as "Miss Young Communist League, 1937".  She also realizes, in reading the letter from Washington, D.C., that she is not among the invitees.  This looks like it's going to be a boys trip... or at the very least, a non-Communist one?

The suit introduces himself as Wendell Hardesty, and he informs Jan that Claiborne is now "out of the picture"... but doesn't go into any actual detail.  He is particularly careful with his words while Natalie is present.  From here, we jump right on over to the White House, where Janos critiques President Truman's methodologies.  Truman kinda pushes the blame for the recent "microwave thing"... and the blame makes its way almost completely around the room.  Again, a much cuter scene than I'm explaining it to be.

When the President finally gets to make his pitch, we come to find that it has to do with the creation of the C.I.A.  As they not yet have the authority to conduct covert ops, Truman has decided to turn to Blackhawk... and make him a Special Agent of the President!

Like we have for the past few weeks, we now shift over to Munich to check in with the Reich.  Frau Koblenz is still being chatted up by a pair of dudes.  Turns out, there's this "truth serum" the Germans have used... whose formula is now owned by an American pharmaceutical firm called Darabont-Catchart, Incorporated.  This neatly dovetails into Janos' world, as this current "covert op" has to do with the transporting of said drug out and Germany and into the United States.

We wrap up back in D.C., where we get the particulars on this "truth serum" (from a time-traveling Ted Cruz?).  Turns out, Janos's trip... might just get trippy, because the serum is actually an hallucinogen called D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, otherwise known as L.S.D.  Far out...

--

Another fun installment for Janos and the gang!  I tell ya what, one thing I wasn't expecting when we started this journey was for Blackhawk to have elements of situational comedy.  In my obliviousness, I assumed this would be a dismal "war book"... not that there's anything wrong with war books, they've just never really been my speed.

I didn't think I'd be able to draw parallels between this and the bwah-ha-ha era of Justice League International... and yet, here we are!  We get these moments of, I dunno, normalcy... but, with pretty great comedic timing.  Dunno... just really loving the tone and feel of this story, the situation, and this crew.

The L.S.D. angle kind of caught me by surprise, though admittedly, I'm not much of a student of "real" history (if this is even rooted in such)... so, more astute readers might've picked up on this right away.  Still, an interesting wrinkle... which opens up some very intriguing possibilities.  Whatever the case, I'm happy to see the beginnings for the disparate storylines (Blackhawks and Munich) dovetailing into one.

Just really can't say enough good about this feature.  I'll miss it when it's gone!  Thankfully, there's that New Format ongoing that follows.  Really looking forward to digging into that!

Tomorrow: We can finally stop looking at the damned elephant!

ACW #629 - Blackhawk

Action Comics Weekly #629 (Blackhawk)
"Some Guys Can't Take 'No' For an Answer"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Pencils - Rick Burchett
Inks - John Nyberg
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Editor - Mike Gold

Not really feeling an intro today, sorry about that.  Truth be told, I've just been staring at this blank screen for awhile now trying to muster the interest in actually typing anything.  That's not an indictment on Blackhawk though.

Might be some changes coming down the pike pretty quick... doubtful it'll really affect anybody but me though.

--

We pick up where we left off last issue.  Blackhawk and the Boys are in the hospital, and learn that despite the best efforts of the doctors, Marcia Whatsherface was not able to pull through.  Janos rushes over to Claiborne, who he blames for the entire mishegoss, however before he can haul off and slug him, he's held back by some of his own men.  Jan stomps out into the rain... but, Claiborne follows.  Outside, after some pleasantries about Marcia's promiscuity, our man finally gets to feed this creep a knuckle sandwich.

Claiborne responds in kind.

The fellas tussle until the MPs get involved, and threaten to haul Jan off to... I dunno, military jail?  Claiborne calls off the cops, and... get this, offers our man yet another business opportunity.

We shift scenes to someplace outside Munich, Germany.  We learn that American G.I.'s destroyed a lab where Doktor Schmeling was concocting some sort of "miracle formula".  So, maybe that's what happened last chapter?  Two men discuss this with a Frau Koblenz (do we capitalize "Frau"?), who stood before a Nazi flag mentions something about establishing a "new order".  What's that definition of insanity again?

Back at Blackhawk Airways, Jan chats up Natalie for a bit... then they get a bit tipsy... then, naturally, they bang.  This leads to an all-time classic line from our man Jan:

We wrap up with Janos receiving an invitation to Washington, D.C. from... Harry S. Truman (and we're not talking the Sheriff from Twin Peaks)!

--

It's so weird... feels like not all that much happened here, and that's something I'd normally hold against other features... but, here... it works!  Thing of it is though, if not much happened, there's also not much to break down.  But, we'll try!

Claiborne is a real a-hole, ain't he?  Here, while Jan is mourning a woman who he felt he might have a connection (though, perhaps only a physical one) with, this goofball tells him that his sister would uh, consummate... in the line of duty.  So, any feelings he has for her are built on some wrongheaded romantic ideations.  Dude deserved to be punched in the face.  Kinda sucks that the Blackhawks might still have to work with this guy going forward.

Jan and Nat's scene was pretty neat.  Both have valid reasons for drowning their sorrows, and find their way back into some comfortable arms.  I especially love Jan's line the next morning about, if Nat looked any happier, he'd send a sympathy card.  That made me chuckle out loud... which is a rare thing when it comes to comics.

The Nazi-aside... ehhh.  Kinda bored with it already, even though it hasn't even really started.  Hopefully it will prove to be interesting, though, if I'm being honest, I'd be okay with Blackhawk being a workplace dramedy.  Whatever the case, at least the good guys will be interesting!

Overall, yeah... maybe more happened than I realized.  I really enjoy this, and Blackhawk is probably the highlight of this Action Comics Daily exercise for me at this point.

Tomorrow: Wrapping up the 620's!