Flash (vol.2) #1 (1987)

Flash (vol.2) #1 (June, 1987)
Writer - Mike Baron
Penciller - Jackson Guice
Inker - Larry Mahlstedt
Letterer - Steve Haynie
Colorist - Bob Gifford
Editor - Mike Gold
Cover Price: $0.75

With the DC Comics Rebirth announcement still fresh in my head, I decided to revisit an old favorite.  The Wally West Flash was the Flash that I grew up with.  I was quite disappointed when he (well, this version) didn't find his way into the New-52.  It's hard to forget this Wally, as he has ties to the Speedster family, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.  I was excited to see an image featuring, not only Wally, but the very issue I want to discuss today during Geoff Johns' introduction to Rebirth video, and I am hopeful that perhaps come this summer DC will have filled that Wally-sized hole that has been in the fabric of their universe for the past half-decade.

I started reading the Flash because of my younger brother.  I had always been a Marvel guy, reading mostly the X-Men family of titles.  My brother wanted a superhero book to follow for himself (he was probably just barely of reading age at the time).  I went to one of our local shops (this was the mid-90's, we had A LOT of local shops), and found like a two-pack of Flash comics (Messner-Loebs run) and a used Flash action figure for a couple of bucks.  I grabbed them, thinking if he didn't dig the comics, at least he got a toy.

I eventually decided to read them, and found myself really enjoying them.  This was several years later, and by then we were a few issues into the Geoff Johns run on the title.  I snagged up what I could, and got hooked.  I have been reading the Flash ever since.

--

It's Wally West's 20th birthday, and the Teen Titans along with his girlfriend, Fran have planned a surprise party for him.  Wally is already well aware that this is going down, however plays along for their benefit, by leaving his apartment while they set everything up.  While he was out, he picked up some lottery tickets and a handful of candy bars.  This was something I always enjoyed about the Flash, it would stand to reason that he should be eating almost constantly to keep up with his metabolism.  This doesn't often come up anymore, but I'm glad it is here (even at the party he is shown eating a pile of hamburgers).

Chitlins and Gravy indeed, Vic.

Wally receives an emergency call from St. Mary's Children's Hospital.  They need a heart transplant delivered immediately, and know that the Flash is their only hope for successful and expedient transport.  The heart will travel from Manhattan to Seattle, and must arrive within five hours.  Wally takes the job under the condition that he receive health insurance.  He would do transports for them as long as they cover his medical bills.  He also requests a plane ticket home.  Of late, the Flash can only run at a maximum speed of 705 miles per hour, and that is with a struggle.

This is definitely one of those moments that illustrates that we are no longer dealing with the Barry Allen Flash.  Wally wants to do good, however, will make sure he still takes care of himself in the process.  Wally makes mention to hearing "muttering" from the hospital staff in regard to his requests... Certainly they never had to worry about any conditions from Barry.  Having Wally be somewhat less than altruistic at the get-go also allows the reader to watch as he grows and matures into what he becomes throughout this volume.

We join Wally on his cross-country trek.  He is reflecting on his predecessor's recent passing... even mentioning the money Barry owed in legal bills from the spanning "Trial of the Flash" story line that ate up the last few years of the Flash's first volume.  In Wyoming, Wally witnesses a man being beaten.  In another interesting use of speed dynamics, it takes an additional twenty miles for the image to fully register in his head.

He returns to the scene to find a man.  Most of his major bones are broken and he is writhing in the snow.  He tells the Flash that he is a private investigator tracking down a man named Varney Sack.  He tracked him down, only to find that Varney was in actuality Vandal Savage.  Still prowling nearby, Savage strikes.  Wally attempts a counter-attack, and Savage vanishes.

In a nearby town, Wally informs local law enforcement of the P.I. laying wounded.  They ask him to escort them out there and he refuses, as he still has to deliver the heart.  The police don't believe him, going as far as threatening to lock him up.

Wally's on the road again, now crossing the Rockies.  Vandal Savage's name is still ringing in his mind.  He passes a semi-truck that had been just turned on its side.  He cannot afford to stop and help, he must get that heart to Seattle.

Wally arrives at the Hospital to deliver the heart... and passes out.  He remains asleep for 17 hours.  He is informed that the operation was a success.  He heads to a local McDonald's (actually a McDonald's) to re-up his caloric intake before returning to the hospital to visit the heart transplant patient.  She is Eugenie Hegstrom, a writer.  Flash recognizes her from books he's read on European History.  He asks her if she had ever heard of Vandal Savage.  Savage is something of a legend, a myth.  His existence has not been confirmed.  Eugenie tells Flash what she knows about Vandal's lore, while Wally helps himself to a pound of mixed chocolates.

Wally catches his flight home, and wouldn't you know it... an attempted hijacking occurs.  Wally quickly beats up the aggressors, and returns to his seat.  During the fracas, Wally sprains his hand.  When he returns to New York, he visits St. Mary's for an x-ray cashing in on his favor from earlier.

Upon returning to his apartment, he turns on the television.  It is time for tonight's lottery numbers to be called, and we come to find that Wally West is now a millionaire.  Out of the corner of his eye, Wally spots a gift on the table he hadn't noticed before.  He opens the gift only to find that it contains a human heart.

A nearby lamp is turned on... Vandal Savage is here.  He tells Wally to put on his costume, because "live as the Flash, die as the Flash." and we are... [to be continued...]

--

This is a very interesting way to launch a series.  Wally West was one of those characters who did not seem to lose much of his history due to Crisis on Infinite Earths.  He is still the former Kid Flash and former Teen Titan.  Barry Allen's Flash still existed, still went on trial Pre-Crisis, and still perished during the Crisis.  That having been said, this issue did a fine job of giving the reader a good idea of just how different this version of the Flash would be.

No respect...

Wally is not Barry.  It was because (and through) Wally that I got into the Barry stories.  Barry Allen was depicted as something of a saint during this run.  He was the ideal that Wally would find himself struggling to keep up with... and that worked.  This Flash is not perfect, and is not respected.  During this very issue he is referred to as "Kid Flash" several times.  He has large shoes to fill, and an steep climb ahead of him if he is to be viewed in the same light as Barry.  This is such a fun series to follow, as Wally does mature and does grow into his role.

Definitely one to check out, especially if Rebirth delivers this character back to us.  It's available digitally for $1.99 and does pop up from time to time in the cheap-o bins.  I found my copy about 10 years ago for a dollar, and have seen it at that price and cheaper many times since.

--

Interesting Ads:

They Will Answer!
Can you imagine getting a letter from (a dude pretending to be) Justine Bateman?

While I was growing up, there were no red M&M's
If kids at my school are to be believed, it's because they were made of COCAINE.
Trust me, one of their uncles works for Nint... er, M&M's.

DC Comics Rebirth - Preliminary Thoughts

Although I normally focus on (relatively) older DC Comics, I figured I may as well join in the chorus of Rebirth announcement takeaways.  No real rhyme or reason to these ramblings, just emptying out my head.

--

I guess I'll start with my two biggest surprises that came from this announcement.  First, the return to legacy numbering for both Action Comics and Detective Comics, which will resume their pre-Flashpoint numbering this June (Action Comics #957, Detective Comics #934).  I know that in the grand scheme of things, this should not be a big deal... but, it is... to me anyway.  Really can't explain it to eloquently, it just makes the title feel more, I don't know... alive, to me.  I am a big back issue guy, and it was always more satisfying picking up books for a series that still had its "real" numbering.  Being able to reflect back, knowing that in June when I pick up issue #957 of Action Comics it has a history going back over 75 years... just feels right.  

This was actually on my post-Convergence wish list.  I was hoping these two titles would return to their real numbering, and follow the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe versions of Superman and Batman (while the Superman and Batman titles remained New-52centric).  For all I know, this may very well be the direction they are looking to explore this summer.

Second biggest surprise is the price rollback.  Re-drawing the line at $2.99 is great.  Now, I know that many of these books will be bi-weekly, and we will ultimately be paying $6 per month for each of those titles... However, when bits and pieces of this started to leak, the bi-weekly schedule was already part of that.  I feared that titles like Action Comics, Batman, and Green Lantern would remain $3.99 and go bi-weekly.  So, I suppose this is more of a relief than anything.  This appears to be a very good customer service move, as well as perhaps something of an acknowledgement that the $3.99 price point is just too high for a new or lapsed reader to embrace.

What I wasn't so surprised about was the aforementioned bi-weekly release schedule for many of the books, as well as relaunching the rest of the line at yet another #1.  The bi-weekly thing, I could really do without, though, I suppose I understand where they are coming from.  I hate to think of what this may do to creative teams.  I'm doubtful that an artist can put out their top-quality work consistently under such a schedule.  Perhaps they will implement rotational art chores... I'm guessing they'll have to.  I do miss long creative team runs on books, right now the closest thing we have is Snyder and Capullo on Batman.

Restarting the numbering on some 30 titles is a bit irritating.  I have always disliked this practice, going back as far as the Heroes Reborn event from Marvel.  I hate tossing out the old volume for some short-term gain.  It bugs me that we will be on volume three of Batman come June.  I hope there is a legitimate reason for the renumbering, however I am doubtful.

The titles announced all seemed quite interesting.  DC does not seem to be exploring any experimental titles right off the bat.  I think this is a good idea for the launch.  The titles given will hopefully provide a workable foundation for which to build upon.  When the New-52 was launched we had titles like Resurrection Man, Voodoo, OMAC, and Mr. Terrific.  These were going to be challenging sells to a potential new (or even seasoned) reader.  If those titles were launched, say a year into the New-52 (potentially after the characters had already been introduced), they may have found a wider audience.  I was going to go blow-by-blow for each title, however, with the limited information we have currently, it would likely be a waste of everyone's time.

Now, I am pleased with the news, however, I cannot say that I am 100% optimistic about Rebirth.  I am excited, and really can't wait to see how things pan out, however there is something I just can't shake.  During the interview, Geoff Johns mentions that this has been in the works for a long while.  If that's truly the case... Why did we just go through Convergence?  If this is to be a re-melding of the classic and contemporary DC Universes, Convergence would have been the most opportune time to pull the trigger... the fact that they didn't, and announced Rebirth six or seven months later makes me question how much forethought is being (or has been) put into this.  

I just hope that this is a better planned launch (story-wise) than the New-52.  There were so many unanswered questions in late 2011.  Questions that remained unanswered because I don't think even the creators or editorial had the answers.  (Most) Everything just felt so thrown together.  It felt like the heart had been pulled out, leaving us with just empty characters.  I have high hopes that this will not be the case this summer, and DC Comics will successfully bring their classic legacy into the contemporary market.

Not sure anything I just wrote made a lick of sense, thanks for reading nonetheless.

Lois Lane #2 (1986)

Lois Lane #2 (September, 1986)
"When it Rains, God is Crying"
Chapter III: "Quicksand!"
Chapter IV: "Bless this Child"
Writer - Mindy Newell
Artist - Gray Morrow
Letterer - Agustin Mas
Colorist - Joe Orlando
Editor - Robert Greenberger
Cover Price: $1.50

Okay, let's see how this all ends...

--

Chapter III

It is apparently three weeks later, and City Editor, McCullough is asking Metrolife Editor Janice how Lois' story is coming along.  Janice expresses a bit of frustration, claiming Lois to be "impossible" and offers to kill the story.  McCullough declines and offers a few more days.

Lois is meeting with Inspector Henderson at the Police Station.  She is furious to find out that Bill is planning on taking a three week vacation at some point in the near-immediate future.  Bill warns her that she's getting too involved with this case, and it would likely be in her best interest as well to take a break.  Lois storms out, though as she approaches her cab, she asks herself if perhaps she is too involved.

At the Planet, Lucy Lane is reunited with Jimmy Olsen.  I am very unfamiliar with this era of Superman, but it appears as though Lucy and Jimmy are/were more than friends.  They sit down to coffee and discuss the recent goings on with Lois.  The talk ends with Jimmy (jokingly?) proposing marriage to Lucy, and Lucy (jokingly?) accepting.

We rejoin Lois conducting an interview with a Mrs. Zelinsky, a woman whose 20-month old daughter was abducted and held for almost a year before she was found.  This is quite a chilling account of child abduction.  As I stated yesterday, most nonfamily abductees are not kept alive more than three hours.  If a child is kept alive longer, and there is no attempts toward ransom, one can only imagine what the child may be kept alive for.  It is sobering and incredibly sad.  Mrs. Zelinsky tells Lois that her now three-year old baby girl is not a virgin.

The child was returned, and is now relatively physically healthy.  The child has some inner turmoil, however, unable to speak and appearing to be mentally "broken".  Upon return, the child was ten pounds underweight and covered from head to toe in bruises.

Lois finds out that Inspector Henderson was the lead on the Zelinsky case, which offers the reader a bit of insight as to his experience with these types of scenarios.  Zelinsky tells Lois that Henderson "wouldn't let up" when it came to this case, telling us that he knows what he is talking about when he warns Lois not to become too involved.

Lois has a contentious run-in with Lana and Clark at a nearby newsstand.  Lana tells Lois that she will ensure that her story will be told... if not by the Planet, she will give it air-time on the evening news.  Lois suggests she is only making such an offer to drive ratings to her program, and to "grab all the glory again".  Of special interest, Lana tries to tell Lois that she knows the pain of losing a child... a comment that Lois does not even appear to hear.

Back at the Planet, Perry White is breaking everyone's backs over their lack of bringing in any interesting news of late.  He even attacks Lois, and lambastes her for acting more like a social worker than a reporter.  He wants the missing children story in-print as soon as possible.  Metrolife editor reels Lois' deadline in, only giving her five days to complete the assignment.

Lois visits a Suicide Slum runaway shelter/halfway house, Haven House where she meets with a Mr. Cortez who is allowing her to sit in on some of their sessions.  The first session features runaways, including young girls who fell into prostitution.  Girls who have given up their freedom and any money they are making for a perceived safety at the hands of their keepers/pimps.  The second session features adults whose children had run away.  We hear the story of a father who was overprotective and controlling to the point of inflicting physical abuse to his daughter.  Having had enough, she ran away never to be heard from again.  This group facilitates facing and working through guilt for the father.

Lois is called out of the session and told there's a man there to see her.  She finds Clark Kent waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.


Chapter IV

Lois and Clark have a rather less than smooth encounter.  It is alluded to that they had shared a romantic relationship somewhat recently, though "called it quits".  It is also mentioned several times in this issue that Lois Lane was actually dating Superman, not Clark... but Superman.  This era is new to me, so I will take their word for it.  The two argue like a couple of people who really care for one another.  They know how to push each other's buttons, and Gray Morrow's art does an incredible job of showing their emotional pain.

We are treated to a page offering a juxtaposition between Lois' and Clark's evening.  Clark is surrounded by friends, Jimmy, Lucy, and Lana.  They dine together on a home made meal, and decide to take in a movie that evening.  Lois is alone, and is waiting on her Chinese food to be delivered while she hammers away at her story.  Being a Post-Crisis and Pro-Supermarriage guy, scenes like this are so incredibly strange, and sad.

Inspector Henderson is being pressured to bury the child they dredged out at the pier.  Bill is pushing back a bit, knowing that if the body (even though thus far unidentifiable) gets buried, the odds of pursuing the case will become ever slimmer.

Lois follows up on a tip, and visits a Mr. Dillon.  It was believed that the Dillon's daughter Marcy had been abducted.  Mr. Dillon is not wanting to talk, going as far as having his maid call the police.  Lois insists that they speak, and offers to speak to Mrs. Dillon instead if that would be easier.  Dillon forcefully grabs her before regaining his composure and apologizing.  He still wants her to leave.

As Lois leaves she tries to give the maid her card, asking that it be passed on to Mrs. Dillon.  The maid informs Lois that she enabled Mrs. Dillon to leave with their child following a fight with Mr. Dillon.  They are high-society types, and wanted to keep that out of the press.  As Lois presses further, the Police arrive and physically remove Lois from the premises.

Lois takes a moment to reflect before returning to the office.  The Planet staffers appear to be ignoring her.  Lois is informed that a baby was stolen from a hospital nursery, and it's body was found in a nearby garbage pail.  She heads out on the tip.

Inspector Henderson is conducting his investigation of "Baby Doe", and is confronted by Lana who is trying to get some comments for the news.  Lois arrives and again makes the claim that Lana's actions are ratings-driven.  Oddly enough, as Lois is lecturing, Lana invites her to have some coffee.  Lana felt that she (Lana) may need a bit of support for the upcoming press conference.  Lois does not appear to understand what this means.

During the press conference it is revealed that the baby taken from the nursery was in fact not the baby found in the garbage can.  It is further revealed that one of the kidnapped baby's ears was delivered to the Police Department.  All the while Lana is growing more and more agitated.  Upon hearing about the ear, Lana breaks down.  Lois helps her out of the conference.

Now, this is a bit weird... and I have no frame of reference for this, so this may be a new wrinkle in Lana's history.  Lana confides in Lois that she had recently been married and had a child while living in Europe.  The terrorist group, The Red Hand had kidnapped her baby boy, and had sent her his ear.  Shocked, Lois now understands that Lana did not have a ratings-driven angle for her involvement in this story.

The next morning, Lois and Lucy attempt to mend fences.  The ultimately decide to try and be friends.  Lucy is leaving Metropolis that evening, and Lois invites her to the burial of the child from the beginning of this story.  Lois, Clark, Lucy, Lana, Jimmy, Janice and Henderson are all present for the proceedings.

--

I'm not too sure how I feel about this ending.

On one hand, it drives home the message that some of these cases will likely never be solved, and justice will never be done.  The late introduction (and inconclusive nature) of the Baby Doe case(s) further gives the feeling that when it comes to child abductions, there is no "down time" and loose ends will be left frayed.

On the other hand, however, I guess I was hoping for a, for lack of a better term, happier ending.  Upon reflection... I guess that would not necessarily fit.  There will, sadly, always be missing children.  Such a subject really cannot be "fixed" in 48 (or 96) pages.

This series did a great job of showing the reader the various forms of child abduction that occur.  Family abductions, non-family abductions, political abductions, and runaways.  It did not linger too long on any given point, but stayed long enough to help the reader understand through Lois' interactions.  Characterization and art throughout are still top-notch.

Not much more to say, this was admittedly a bit weaker than the first issue, though by no means is it bad.  I felt that it may have been rushed toward the end, as I was expecting at least a few more pages after Lana's reveal.  During this part, Jimmy and Lucy were writing a piece for Metrolife in order to help Lois... I'm not sure if this is a case of my being somewhat dense, but I cannot figure out what they were writing about, and how it was to help Lois.  Further, there was a brief scene at the Planet where the staffers were ignoring Lois... again, I may have missed something... but I cannot figure out the significance of that scene.

The cover for this one is a bit strange.  Lois protecting three children from a shadowy person entering brandishing a pistol.  No such scene occurs in this issue, making me wonder if it was a scene that was cut, or if this series was meant to have additional chapters.

This little series is definitely worth your time.  It may be a hard one to track down, however.  To my knowledge, it has not been collected... it is not available (legally) digitally... and I have only come across it "in the wild" once.

Lois Lane #1 (1986)

Lois Lane #1 (August, 1986)
"When it Rains, God is Crying"
Chapter I: "Ignorance Was Bliss"
Chapter II: "Dark Realities"
Writer: Mindy Newell
Artist: Gray Morrow
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Colorist: Joe Orlando
Editor: Robert Greenberger
Cover Price: $1.50

Now I like to think of myself as a guy who's familiar with comic books.  I've been collecting forever, and my library features a vast array of oddities.  I was actually a bit taken aback finding this comic at a local used record store.  I'd never seen or heard of it, and it really stood out in comparison to DC's other mid-1980's offerings.  There isn't a whole lot about this two-issue miniseries online, at least to my knowledge, mostly it just shows up in chronology lists.  I assume my copy is the Canadian version, as its cover price is $2.10 (which was another thing that stood out to me).

This is a 48-page book, with no ads (barring inside covers).  This issue features the first two chapters of "When it Rains, God is Crying", making me wonder if this was originally planned to be a four-parter.

I'm reading this book at a very strange time.  I am a Psychology Major, currently approaching my senior year (yeah, I started the whole higher education thing a decade-plus too late).  One of the classes on my docket is Forensic Psychology, which is a class I had been dreading for the past couple of years.  It is a very challenging class, and I was worried that I would bomb it hurting my GPA in the process.  Long story, well, less long... I am taking the class as I write this, and have found that I have a passion for the course material that I had not anticipated.

This story has to do with missing and abducted children (a fact I was unaware of when I decided to review it), a subject that never really affected me as we haven't started having kids yet.  For the past two weeks, as part of a cold-case project, I found myself very deeply researching the case of Amber Hagerman, a young girl who was abducted in Arlington, TX in 1996 (and is the "Amber" behind the National AMBER Alert).  Her body was found five days later, and tragically the case remains unsolved to this very day.  During the second chapter of this tale, Lois connects with an agency to get information and statistics on missing children.  Reading that scene gave me such strange deja vu.  She speaks with the director of the agency, and is also there to witness a missing child report being filed by a scared family.  These scenes came across as so very real, and considering my academic head-space of late, really affected me.

How does the rest of the story hold up... let's find out.

--

We open on Lois ending a date with a fellow named Geoff.  She observes several police cars speeding off, and considering the late hour she decides to abandon her date (while borrowing his Jag') and give chase.  She follows them down to the pier and sees a group of officers and detectives looking out to the drink.  Inspector Henderson attempts to corral Lois into the sanctioned "Press" area, however, she asserts herself and is able to get a better view of what they are pulling out of the water.

Fellow Planet reporter, Bob Harley is unhappy to see Lane both covering his beat and getting special treatment from the Inspector.  He calls Editor Ed Byrnes at the Planet and tells him what is going on.  Byrnes, in turn, calls acting City Editor James McCullough to pass on the information.  McCullough is none to pleased to hear what Lane is up to (and being woken up as well).  Byrnes is instructed to "bury" her story.  Apparently, Lois is on thin ice from an apparent "botching" of a mid-east interview she conducted, and has been sidelined to reporting "small stuff".

We cut to a flight attendant attempting to make a phone call from an airport.  We find out that she is Lois' sister Lucy Lane, and she is trying to contact Lois so that they may "bury the hatchet".  She gets Lois' answering machine, and hangs up without leaving a message.  She is headed to Metropolis and wants to give her sister a heads up.

Back at the pier, the body of a young girl is lifted from the water.  Upon getting a closer look, Lois is struck with intense emotion, describing the child as "a grotesque parody of a Cabbage Patch doll".  Lois and Henderson retire to his car to collect themselves.  Henderson encourages Lois to go home for the evening, even offering to drive her.  Lois accepts the ride, however, asks to be dropped off at the Daily Planet so that she may begin her story.

Upon arrival, she is greeted by Byrnes, who informs her that whatever story she is working on, it will not get the front page of the next day's edition.  He offers her one column on page 53 (next to an ad for a Mother's Day sale on lingerie, no less).  Lois begrudgingly accepts, and is sent home shortly thereafter.

Lois returns to her apartment, and checks her answering machine.  Among her missed calls is Lana Lang inviting Lois to join her and Clark on their movie date.  I'm guessing this puts this story in Pre-Crisis DC continuity.  She notes the message (Lucy's) with the hang-up, and comments that "somebody doesn't like to talk to a machine".  She also has a message from McCullough demanding an audience with her the next day.


The morning comes, and we witness a discussion between McCullough and Byrnes.  Ed informs McCullough that he complied with his demand and buried Lois' story, though adds that he disagrees with that decision.  He reinforces that Lane is an ace reporter, and goes on to say that Lois' story could be a very good thing for the paper to run with.  He left a copy of Lois' article for McCullough to read.

McCullough reads Lois' story, and decides to run with it.  However, with the caveat that it will be done "his way... or not at all".  He sends for "Metrolife" Features Editor Janice Denton.

Lucy Lane shows up at Lois' apartment, however, cannot get buzzed in.  Lois sleeps through all of the doorman's attempts at contacting her.  Lucy gives up, and decides to try to connect with Lois at the office.

End of Chapter One


Chapter Two starts with Lois experiencing nightmares about what she had witnessed the night before.  She wakes up to find she has overslept, and heads into the office.  She attempts to get more information about the case and the victim from Inspector Henderson, but is unsuccessful.  She asks if dental records have been checked, even though they have not yet determined a cause of death.  Lois is clearly becoming obsessed with this story.  Her assistant, Justin provides her with a stack of paperwork he procured from the morgue, things that weren't yet inputted into the computer system.  Their discussion is interrupted by McCullough who lambastes Lois for her tardiness.

Meanwhile, at 344 Clinton Avenue Clark Kent and Lana Lang are having breakfast.  This is during a time where Clark and Lana are co-anchors for the evening news (so, yeah... Pre-Crisis).  Their meal is interrupted by somebody at the door.  It is Lucy Lane, seeing if Clark knew Lois' whereabouts.  Clark calls the Planet, and finds that Lois is there, hard at work, and the whole office is gossiping about what she is up to.  The three head out to the Planet.

We rejoin Lois and McCullough, now in his office arguing about her story.  Lois threatens to quit and take her story to The Eagle, and McCullough informs her that "Metrolife" editor, Janice Denton would be working with her on this story.  This infurates Lois, as the Metrolife section is more of a lifestyle supplemental rag concentrating more on "fashion and health notes".  Lois knows her story is "hard news" and belongs at the fore of the paper.

She storms out intending to visit Childsearch, Inc. in New Paltz to try and get more information for her story.  I did a bit of digging on Childsearch, Inc., there appears to be several organizations using this name across the United States, however, I was unable to find one in New Paltz, NY.  In a written piece, Ms. Newell does make reference to this organization and it's New Paltz location.  The phone number for The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (1-800-843-5678) is prominently displayed on a poster in the lobby.  This is, in fact, still the number for this organization, and on their web-site is where I spent most of this past weekend.  It is a wonderful resource, that is an unfortunate necessity.  She meets with a Kate Brinkley (could not find her with some brief googling to see if this was she is a real person, though I have little doubt that she is), and is given some statistics.  She is told that two million children are reported missing each year, most of which are runaways.  They discuss children being abducted by a divorced parent, and those taken by strangers (now referred to as nonfamily abductions).

Personal research tidbit here, I was shocked to find that for nonfamily abductions the first three hours of the abduction are the most critical.  Within the first three hours around three-quarters of abducted children are reportedly killed.

Lois and Kate are joined by a family reporting a missing child.  In an awesome bit of realism, Newell depicts this family as imploding, blaming each other for the abduction.  They are really reaching with the blame, which strikes me as something that would really happen.  With something this potentially gruesome, people will say nearly anything to assuage themselves of any guilt.

Brinkley cuts them off quickly, telling them that this is not the time for recriminations, telling them to redirect their hostilities in a positive direction.  The character of Kate is written incredibly well.  This is the way such a person should be written, she is steady and calm, and does not let the emotion of the moment overtake her.  Clearly, Ms. Newell did her research.  All the while, Lois is taking notes.

The family shares the story of how their baby daughter went missing.  The parents left their young son and baby daughter in the car while they ran into a restaurant to grab some hamburgers.  Having something as benign as a burger run be the impetus for an abduction really drives the point home that abductions can occur anywhere, and quickly.  A couple of men approached the family car, punched out the young boy, and took the baby girl.

We rejoin Lucy, now walking through a park in Metropolis.  She witnesses a child standing with a police officer.  The officer blows his whistle and informs the people present that the young boy he is standing with had become separated from his mother.  His mother charges up and reclaims the boy, initially seeming thankful... though, she berates the young lad for embarrassing her as they walk away.  Seeing this helps Lucy make an association... she thinks she can help Lois with her story.

Lois arrives home only to find Lucy sitting on her couch.  Their reunion is quite contentious, and Lois excuses herself to take a bath.  Lucy follows her in the bathroom and tells her she thinks she can be of help.  Lois scoffs, putting Lucy down.  Lucy leaves, Lois is alone in the bath and we are... [to be continued]

--

Whew.  That was long, dense, and rather intense.

This was an interesting, mature take on Lois Lane.  One that I perhaps was unprepared for.  In these 48 pages I feel like I learned so much more about Lois, her drive, her passion, than I have in all my years of reading her in the Superman titles.  We see Lois as a person who is defined by her career, and due to the extreme nature of this story, it begins seeping into her "real life".  She is obsessive, determined, and... well, human.

The Lois I've always known has been an infallible "Ace" reporter, having this story touch on a story that she "botched" lends to viewing Lois under a new light... one in which her ego had taken a bit of a thrashing, and it not being due to Clark having "scooped" her on a Superman story.

Seeing Clark and Lana together (instead of Lois and Clark) was somewhat heartbreaking.  I always had the impression that Lois was okay alone, however, the scenes in her apartment depict a vulnerability, almost a loneliness.  It's like you can see her trying to maintain her "stiff upper-lip", and in a few scenes here, that facade begins to crack.  From the messages on her answering machine, you get the impression that Lois has perhaps alienated herself from her family, and potential suitors.

This is a sad story, no doubt.  The sadness seeps into almost every scene.  I may be biased here, due to my current research on the subject, but this is one people really ought to read.  Not so much for the PSA aspects, all of that information is readily available online (trust me...), but for this novel and mature way of examining the Lois Lane character, her social dynamics, and her place in the world.

Mindy Newell, who I am wholly unfamiliar with did some great work here.  In between the chapters there is a three-page written piece by Ms. Newell in which she discusses how she was nearly abducted as a child.  Gripping and sobering, this story obviously means a lot to Ms. Newell.  The amount of research she did (pre-Internet) and the people she must have spoken to for this story did it such a service.  She also refers readers to other contemporary missing child stories going on in comics.  Her talent helps steer this issue from becoming a simple PSA that could be set aside with all of our mid-eighties "Just Say No!" comics.  This is truly a character piece, and addresses a challenging and sadly real subject.

The art from Gray Morrow is an absolute treat.  Clean, identifiable characters with just the right amount of "grit" and realism to truly separate this story from DC's regular superhero fare.  This is an issue predominantly consisting of talking heads, and at no point was it boring to behold.

Read this book.  I think we'll finish up this two-parter tomorrow.

--

No ads here, however here is the back-cover to this issue:

... and the three-page written piece by Mindy Newell:

Batman #339 (1981)

Batman #339 (September, 1981)
"A Sweet Kiss of Poison..."
Writer - Gerry Conway
Artists - Irv Novick & Steve Mitchell
Letterer - Ben Oda
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Dick Giordano
Cover Price: $0.50

This is an era of Batman that I know very little about.  My Batman knowledge begins around the time of the 1989 film.  I jumped on during a three-parter called "The Penguin Affair", so maybe it was closer to Batman Returns.

Batman is one of the books in my collection where I don't really have very long "runs".  I tire of the character easier than others, and find myself dropping in and out.  My longest stay on the title was around the turn of the century with the "New Gotham" stories, Officer Down, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive and into Hush.  I dropped out around Infinite Crisis when Jason Todd came back, popped back in for Morrison's run, and have mostly kept on with the New-52 volume.  Batman (read: not Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, etc.) is the only Batman solo that I keep up with, as it's just so costly to collect them all.

Today we're going to discuss a book that came out when I wasn't even two-years old.  Goes without saying, this is not one I grabbed off the shelf.

--

Batman arrives home, and is experiencing a terrible bout of fatigue.  It appears that Bruce is living in a penthouse in the Wayne Foundation building at this point in his career, which is certainly odd to see.  Bruce is trying to balance his day-life as "Prominent Business Leader" (no longer "Ne'er-do-well Playboy") Bruce Wayne and his night-job as the Batman.

Bruce decides to retire to bed for a few hours before his 9:00am board meeting.  In the meeting, Bruce is having trouble keeping up with the conversation, and appears to be ignoring questions from the board members.  Bruce adjourns the meeting early, claiming to be "not at his best", and decides they will reconvene the next morning.  Bruce's assistant, Lucius Fox recommends he take off a couple of months to recharge... which goes about as well as once can imagine.

Later that day, Bruce is having lunch with Mayoral candidate Hamilton.  Hamilton is trying to procure Wayne's endorsement, but Bruce is having none of it.  One of Hamilton's platforms concerns the removal and replacement of Commissioner Gordon from the Police Department.

A woman with long brown hair strolls by, and plants a kiss on Bruce.  She claims to have mistaken him for someone else.  We follow the woman out to her car, where she removes her wig revealing herself to be Poison Ivy.  She has a list of names she is checking off one by one, including Bruce Wayne's.

That night, Batman is at the Gotham Waterfront looking to intervene on a smuggling drop when he goes into a catatonic state.  He walks across town as though he were a sleepwalker, and arrives at the Ambassador Theatre.  Before he enters, he observes a grouping of members of the Wayne Foundation board have also arrived.  He ducks into a room to change out of his Batman gear, and connects with his board members.

None of them know why they have been summoned here, and they are beckoned inside.  On the stage is a wooden desk, and... Poison Ivy.  She reveals that she kissed all of them earlier that day wearing lipstick that contained a hypnotic drug.  She orders the men to sign a document... a document that would sign all of the assets of the Wayne Foundation over to her.

All of the members, including Wayne himself sign the document.  Before leaving, Ivy orders the men to keep this secret.  If they tried, her hypnotic suggestion would cause the words to choke in their throats.

Bruce changes back into Batman knowing this is his only opportunity to reclaim the document.  Ivy does not know that when she kissed Bruce Wayne she was also kissing (and had hypnotic control over) the Batman.

Batman attacks, and is surprised to be hit with a torrent of poison thorn darts.  Batman falls to the stage, spraining his ankle.  Ivy then throws a vine around Batman's throat, and tells hims she will release it if he lets her kiss him.  Batman refuses, and Ivy flees.  Batman just so happens to have a vial of "defoliant" in his utility belt that does the trick in removing the vine.

Batman escapes to the Batcave, which is now under the Wayne Foundation building and calls Commissioner Gordon to check in.  At the waterfront, the smugglers apparently abandoned the cargo, which Batman reports.  He tries to continue to tell Jim about his encounter with Ivy when... the words choke in his throat!  He is unable to tell Gordon what happened, and we are [to be continued...]

Following the main story, there is a backup tale that serves as something of an origin revisit for Robin (Dick Grayson).  Not much new here, although there is a cameo from Cleveland Brand, the brother of Boston Brand (Deadman).  He is wearing the Deadman costume, and watches Dick's trapeze act.  I never knew Deadman had a brother... who used the same gimmick.  Interesting.

--

This was an interesting issue, all said.  It was a Batman/Bruce Wayne that is somewhat new to me.  I had never seen Wayne as a serious executive, and operating out of the Wayne Foundation building.  This was a fun not-to-serious romp, a breath of fresh air when compared to the Batman we have been reading in recent decades.  This was a silly Poison Ivy story, where she was able to control Batman via her "hypnotic lipstick".  There's nothing wrong with that!

The writing was solid... it's Gerry Conway, after all.  There isn't much he's written that I don't like,  Irv Novick has a great, clean style.  His handling of both Bruce and Batman are great.

Only thing bad about this issue, is that I'm going to have to track down the next one to see what happens.  Recommended read if you're looking for a Batman story that doesn't take itself too seriously, and at the same time isn't too goofy.

--

Interesting Ads:

Wouldn't be a book of this vintage without an ad for GRIT!

Wouldn't be a book of this vintage without a Hostess Ad!
"Creamed filling" always sounded gross to me.

 

 

Hex #18 (1987)

Hex #18 (February, 1987)
"Thanksgiving"
Writer/Editor - Michael Fleisher
Penciller - Keith Giffen
Inker: Carlos Garzon
Colorist: Bob Lerose
Letterer: Milt Snapinn
Cover Prce: $0.75

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths many of DC Comics' franchises were reimagined for a new generation of readers.  Old-Western Jonah Hex's transformation into the post-apocalyptic Mad Max inspired Hex was among the more striking changes following the Crisis.

I have very little (okay, okay... none) history with Jonah Hex , be he in the old West or in 2050 post nuclear war.  This series was one that I always kinda kept in my peripheral vision, as it was just such a strange take on an established character.  I wondered how long-time fans of Jonah and DC's western offerings felt seeing what had become of one of their favorites.  This is such a strange experiment for one of the major comics companies.  I am reminded of Marvel's X-Force being morphed into the X-Statix, or the Thunderbolts turning into a Fight Club comic.  The shift was so jarring, however, whether you liked it or hated it... you were still somewhat interested.

I miss companies taking risks.  Actual risks, not just throwing a new #1 on an issue, or rebooting (or constantly threatening to) every time they have a bad month.  Jonah first appeared in the early 1970's, so by this point he had well over a decade of history.  Definitely a daring and interesting way to revitalize a (reportedly flagging) property.

--

It is Thanksgiving, 2050.  Hex and Stiletta are ambushed.  The art throughout this issue makes it somewhat difficult to follow the action.  Hex talks Stiletta into leaving him behind, under threat of him having to "whup [her] raw".  Stiletta obliges and says she will leave to find help.  Injured, Hex flees, leaving some bloody footprints in his wake.  His pursuers are able to follow him to a cabin, which Hex had already rigged to be set ablaze.

Here is another instance of the art being difficult to follow, It appears as though Hex passes out from his injuries, and has a flashback to a boxing match his father forced him to take part in.  The next several pages feature more tracking and confrontations with his pursuers interspersed with more flashback scenes of Hex and his father.  It is all terribly confusing, I imagine a less abstract artist would have made these flow much better.

It appears all is lost as Hex collapses in a shed.  Just as he is about to be taken out, Stiletta returns with reinforcements,  and Hex is saved.

We check in on Jonah later on.  He is wearing a restorative body stocking and is seated in a sorta-kinda 1990's Professor X style hover-chair.  His rescuers have brought him to an abandoned warehouse they had fixed up.  The warehouse is full of odd antiquities and curiosities of times past.

While Hex peruses the warehouse he stumbles across what he believes to be a life-sized statue of himself.  The doll has white hair and is wearing old western gear.  Upon getting a closer look, Hex discovers that this is no statue, and is in fact his very body stuffed and mounted.  This gives Jonah hope that one day he will be going home again... and we are [done.]

--

What a strange ending for this series.  Ultimately, Jonah does return of the old west, however, to my knowledge we never see just how he did so.  This was an interesting issue, and although I've spoiled the ending for myself, I look forward to checking out earlier issues.  Fleisher's writing style feels quite out of place in a late-80's book, however, it is still very good.

What really hurts this issue is the art.  I usually really enjoy Keith Giffen's work, however, this appears to have been crafted during a very experimental and abstract phase for him.  I have no problem with non-traditional art in comics... I enjoy Ted McKeever's work greatly, Bill Sienkiewicz' art during the Demon Bear Saga in New Mutants was fantastic, and one of my favorite comics artists of all time is Chris Bachalo.  I'm fine with experimental art styles... when they work.  During this issue, I kept feeling as though I was misunderstanding what was going on (and, hell... I might have been).  The action scenes were fairly brutal to behold.  They actually ran several letters in the "Hex Communications" letters column addressing the dramatic shift in art.

If you can snag this on the cheap, I'd recommend it.  It is such an oddity, and definitely worth a flip through, even solely for curiosity.

--

Interesting Ads:

Batman Year One House Ad
I enjoyed this story so much more than Dark Knight Returns

Another Year, Another batch of awards for DC Comics
They really were firing on all cylinders back then
If only they could do something to find that old magic today.

This is one that has been on my "to read" list for many years.
One of these days...

[Bin Beat] Half-Price Books - Valentine's Day Weekend

Another weekend, another visit to the cheap-o bins.  This week I'm going to share some neat finds and discuss a few issues you may run into "in the wild".  This weekend featured a 20% off coupon from Half-Price Books.  This marks all of the books in the quarter bin down to 20 cents, and makes even terrible looking books seem enticing.

We have three HPB locations within driving distance, and we visited two.  Fairly decent finds, though nothing earth-shattering.  Things I would normally pass up if I came across it in a 50 cent or dollar bin.  Five for a buck was too good to refuse.

The regular (read: non-clearance) comic bins at Half-Price Books seem to be going through something of an evolution.  It used to be that their bins were quite similar to any back-issue assortment in a comic book store.  Of late, however, two of the three local HPBs have taken to not bagging, pricing, or even sorting their non-clearance offerings.  It is supposed to be understood that the books will be half of cover price, although it sometimes creates a hassle at the register.

A few months ago I was able to find several early 80s Batman issues in those bins.  Cover prices ranged from 50 to 60 cents.  When I got to the register, they alluded like they may have simply forgotten to mark them.  The poor girl at the register was confused as to whether or not she should let these books go for 25-30 cents a pop.  She didn't want to make a mistake and cost the store... she also didn't want to upset a customer who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  She ultimately sold me the books for 25-30 cents each after conferring with her manager.

The entire exchange was incredibly uncomfortable, I felt like a goofball standing there, and I really wish they would go back to their old way of stocking their non-clearance books.  The bins are now a complete mess.  Some books, as stated are not priced, and are just thrown in slipshod, and yet there are others... bagged, boarded, and priced ridiculously high.  I can find a 40 year old issue of Batman for a quarter next to an issue of New-52 era Stormwatch tagged at $10.00.

The comics are clearly not the priority of a used bookstore, however, I think it should be at least an inviting area of the shop.  Their trade paperback section has also changed of late.  Many of these books are no longer half-price.  I've seen this mentioned on some of the blogs I follow, including Comic Reviews By Walt... "Out of Print" books are rapidly taking over the trade/graphic novel sections in Half-Price Books.

It used to be that you may run into a couple of OOP books, those ones you'd get excited to see... thinking you were about to snag a trade you'd missed out on a decade earlier for half of cover price, only to face severe sticker-shock when you remove the book from the shelf.  On this visit, however... I'm no mathemagician, but it felt as though most every book that caught my eye was marked OOP and priced at at the very least $10 above cover-price.  This is at one HPB in particular.  The other local store, while having the same OOP infestation, never marks them above cover price.

The silliest part about this is that many of the comic book stores in the area carry tons of old and out of print books in their ever-growing TPB sections... and almost never mark them up.  Actually, I often see the out of print books in the clearance section because their trade-dress/spines are different than contemporary releases, which affects the aesthetic of the shelves.

Anyhoo, those are just a few observations and annoyances from this weeks outing.

These visits were fairly productive, filling holes-wise.

I was glad to stumble upon a cache of Hex comics.  It is a series that had fascinated me ever since I'd heard of it.  I have a few of the issues in the library already, though have not read them yet.

Early New-52 Green Arrow comics are one's that HPB had priced at $5.00 apiece.  I am glad I waited them out.  These are more books I missed during my post-Flashpoint tantrum.

As for the rest, just some stuff that caught my eye.  Hawkman (vol.2) #1, Day of Judgment Secret Files & Origins (ANYtime I see a Secret Files & Origins in the cheap-o bin I grab it), Fate #1, Damage #1, and Darkseid #1 (from New Year's Evil) are curiosities... looking forward to checking them out.

For some non-DC finds.  I lucked across some old Marvel G.I. Joe: ARAH comics.  These were previously in their non-clearance section, and were priced (in my opinion) quite unreasonably.  Savage Dragon is another series I try to fill holes for on the cheap.

Huck #1 came out only a few months back, and was one I was curious about... for 20 cents, I really had no excuse not to grab it.  This kind of thing happens all the time, by the way... books that are only a month or few old WILL wind up in the quarter-bin.  Sometimes its an oversight, sometimes the HPB store just gets a pile of the same issue (likely from a local comic shop who inflated their orders to snag a super-ultra-rare variant cover).  That having been said, even if you are not into older books, have a sit-down and flip through your cheap-o bins at Half-Price Books... you may find something you passed on a week earlier because of its $3.99 or $4.99 cover price for under a buck!


To close, here's a pop quiz:

Half-Price Books comic book sections are pretty small.  Too small for several comics enthusiasts to browse at one time.  If you approach the comic section and find another comics enthusiast has gotten there first, what do you do?

a. Decide to browse other parts of the store while s/he continues to flip through the comics.
b. Stand directly behind the other comics enthusiast, and breathe heavily through your mouth.
c. Walk by several times, making sure to sigh and stomp louder each time you pass.
d. Try and squeeze in anyway, ruining the experience for both parties.

(answer: a., you wait until your fellow comics enthusiast is done with their hunt before you start your own.  You wouldn't want somebody to try to ruin your time at the bins, so you shouldn't try to ruin it for them.)


Now, I know I've dogged on HPB a bit here, but honestly, warts and all it's still a great place to hunt for comics.  It's one of my favorite haunts, and I rarely leave (completely) disappointed.

Thanks for reading.