Showcase #96 (1978)

Showcase #96 (December-January, 1977/1978)
"Defection!"
Writer - Paul Kupperberg
Penciller - Joe Staton
Inker - Bruce Patterson
Letterer - Ben Oda
Colorist - Liz Berube
Editor - Paul Levitz
Cover Price: $0.35

Like I said yesterday, on this week's Cosmic Treadmill on the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast (Episode 90 for time-travelers), Reggie and I will be discussing Doom Patrol #121... which features the End of the Doom Patrol... just like the book we'll be talking about here today (if the cover blurb is to be believed)!  This is part of the Paul Kupperberg "pitch" for the Doomies that wouldn't bear fruit for almost an entire decade!  This was a three-issue arc, which I'd planned on covering in its entirety... however, my comics library is kind of a disaster area at the moment.  So, let's look at the final part of the "new" Doom Patrol saga, and see what "The End" truly means...

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We open with the new Doom Patrol being held at gunpoint by Central Intelligence dweeb Matt Cable... who I more associate with Swamp Thing than Doom Patrol, never realized that he loomed large throughout DC.  Anyhoo, he's there to arrest the Doomies, in particular Negative Woman, Valentina Vostok.  He claims that she is a Soviet defector... a cosmonaut who one would assume would be very valuable to the Soviet government.

Well Robotman's heard about enough, and he gets into Cable's face.  Matt insists Cliff "climb out of that tin suit"... then proceeds to fire a bullet into his chest.  Not cool, Cable.  He's shocked to find out that Cliff's not a flesh and blood human in a suit... though, if he looked at the way his pelvis and legs looked, he'd have to realize something isn't quite right.  Cliff nyoinks Cable's gun, reshapes it into some makeshift handcuffs.  He cuffs Cable, and... get this, stuffs him into a locker.  How great is that?

Given this moment of peace, the Doom Patrol kind of takes inventory of the situation.  Cliff's not too sure about Val, however teammate Tempest appears to be quite smitten with her.  Negative Woman, annoyed by the entire proceeding, decides to split for a bit.  Unfortunately for her... we got some "Comrades" watching from outside... a monocled Colonel and the bearded (the) Cossack.

We rejoin the team as Valentina storms out.  Arani Caulder (wife of the fallen Chief Niles Caulder) finally pipes up.  Thus far, she's just stood around gawking.  She gets in Cliff's face to read him the riot act about how he talked to Vostok.  Downstairs, Val runs afoul of... a horse-mounted (the) Cossack. 

The two engage in battle that sees Val change into her Negative Woman form and the Cossack wielding his electron sword.  After a bit of a back and forth, the Cossack runs poor Val through.

Upstairs, the remaining Patrol-mates hear such a clatter... and decide to go downstairs to see what's the matter.  The find, duh... the Cossack who's draped their teammate over the back of his horse.  We get a bit of a skirmish, mostly fueled by Tempest's lustful feelings toward Val... which ends with the Cossack making a spectacular exit... kind of a reverse-Kool Aid Man.

Cliff gives chase, until the Cossack's mount sprouts wings and takes to the sky.  Robotman returns to his teammates so they may ready their helicopter to give proper chase.  We get a bit of a one-on-one with Arani and Josh, where we learn a bit more about Josh's feelings for Val... which, if I'm being honest... seems like the dude's a bit confused.

Back in the locker, we rejoin Matt Cable.  Wouldn'tchaknowit... he's got a lock-pick.  He finagles his way out of his bindings and escapes the building... running right into our main monocled man, Colonel Brunovich.  It must've been in Cable's contract that he had to look good on one page... because he knocks the baddie out.

In the sky, the Doom-copter narrows in on it's aerial-equestrian target.  When close enough, Cliff swan dives onto the Cossack's ride.  He's shaken off, and begins plummeting to the ground... head-first.  If you know anything about Robotman, you know that's a bad thing.  Luckily, Celcius (Arani) makes a Bobby Drake-level ice slide to ease Cliff's descent.

The ice slide ends on an upswing, sending Cliff right back up into the thick of it.  Negative Woman finally wakes up, and helps Robotman to knock the Cossack to the ground.  Once there, we begin the big battle.  Cliff suffers a few gashes from the electron sword... but then, Josh and Arani step in... and go all "full blast" on the Cossack.

Aw man, the Cossack was a robot all along?  Lame.  Anyhoo... the Doom Patrol win the day, Josh Clay gets kind of grabby with Val... something she seems oblivious to... and the foursome decide to officially become a team.  The End...

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Not bad... not bad at all.  Not to say it's great... because it's not... but, I still had a good time reading it... and really, that's all that matters.

I enjoy how Robotman is always part of the Doom Patrol regardless of the incarnation.  Seeing him here delivers a completely different dynamic than when he was with Rita, Larry and the Chief... but it's still the Doom Patrol.  I always look at Cliff as the guy who thinks he's "getting too old for this crap", yet still finds himself pulled back in time and again.

Even here, he refers to his new teammates (including the alleged wife of his old boss) as "kids".  I love that about Cliff.  He's tired and curmudgeonly... but, he knows there's a job to do.

Onto the "kids".  Joshua Clay, Tempest.  I really only know him from the Morrison run, and I thought he was a great "utility" character there.  Seeing him actually in action here was pretty neat.  I do think he fell for Valentina a bit quick, but who am I to doubt true love?  I appreciate he and Robotman butting heads from time to time... it's pretty much what you would expect to happen.

Arani Caulder, Celcius... doesn't really get a whole lotta time to shine here.  She's another character I only know from another era... this would be Paul Kupperberg's run that started the second volume of ongoing Doom Patrol.  There she was convinced that Niles Caulder was somehow alive, and recruited yet another team of Doomies to seek him out.  If I'm not mistaken, she is among the casualties of Invasion!.

Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman.  Here we learn that she's a Soviet defector.  I suppose it gets the story from point A to B.  It also introduces some distrust among the Doomies... though, I get the feeling there isn't a whole lotta trust here to begin with.

Really not a whole lot to say in regard to the meat-n-potatoes of the story.  It's a rescue story, with an optimistic ending... that unfortunately hit at a time when DC would be getting ready to implode.  Not sure if this is collected anywhere, but still think this is something fans and followers of the Doom Patrol ought to give a look to.  It's that weird bronze bridge between the Silver Age and post-Crisis Doom Patrol.

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Doom Patrol (vol.4) #1 (2004)

Doom Patrol (vol.4) #1 (August, 2004)

"Baptism of Blood"

Writer/Penciller - John Byrne

Inker - Doug Hazlewood

Colorist - Alex Bleyaert

Letterer - Jared Fletcher

Assistant Editor - Valeria D'Orazio

Editor - Mike Carlin

Cover Price: $2.50

This coming week on the Cosmic Treadmill, Reggie and I are discussing the final issue of the first volume of Doom Patrol wherein the team goes boom.  Along the way we touched a little bit on the various incarnations of the team... and among those include the book we'll be covering here today... the 2004 John Byrne Doom Patrol re-boot/launch/imagining... whatever.

I remember hating this when I first read it 12 (!!!) years ago.  Likely due to my Morrisonian-bias.  I'd like to think that, during the interim, I've perhaps found a way to check it out and review it on its own merits.  Let's see if I can't hold it together!

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We open on the roaring visage of Grunt... a four-armed ape (or is that gorilla?).  He's suddenly been triggered by something deep within a nearby prison.  With him is Nudge, Vortex, and Faith from the JLA.  A strange whirling cloud formation appears above the penitentiary and a huge... chunk of machinery blasts from the building right in their direction.

Faith is able to deflect the machinery, which is sent straight up in the air.  Before it can descend, Vortex uses his "silent scream" to destroy it.  With the threat averted, the crew looks into the gigantic hole left in the building.

We shift scenes to the JLA watchtower where Batman and Martian Manhunter are discussing recent events.  They battled a group of vampires called the Tenth Circle and met a new team of heroes called the Doom Patrol (who their teammate, Faith, left with).  Batman can't shake the thought that this case may not be as closed as they think and asks J'onn to use his martian telepathy.

Back with the kids as they explore the abandoned former Confederate jail.  Nudge mentions that Niles Caulder bought the place a decade prior and used it to contain his most dangerous prisoners.  The gang comes across three newly-opened cells.  Before they can collect their thoughts on the situation, Elasti-Girl, Rita Farr crashes through the wall.

We hop back in time seventeen minutes where we join Rita, Cliff and Larry... who is wearing a gimp suit instead of his normal bandages... as they find the Chief hung up in a crucifixion-style pose with a trio of rather uninspired-looking vampires surrounding him.

Off to the side they see a punk kid reclining by the computer bay.  Lucky for us, he decides to tell the Doomies his full origin.  Ya see, Crucifer... the big bad of the Tenth Circle drafted him into his ranks due to his ability to open wormholes... oh, and his name is Wormhole too, by the way.  He would travel through the portals to find folks for Crucifer to feast upon.  Sounds like... not too terrible an idea, if I'm being honest.  He continues recounting the ending of the JLA story this series spun out of where the League (which, for some reason I can't recall appears to include two Flashes) and the Doom Patrol take down the Circle.  After the battle, Wormhole decided he'd release the three dangerous criminals being kept at the Caulder's Confederate Prison.

Well, the Doomies have heard alls they can stand, and so Larry releases the Negative Man entity (which is a skeleton... nope, don't like that!) which immediately gets blasted to smithereens.  This Vamp is, in reality, Barrage.

Cliff's Vampy opponent is really Megalith... another baddie I've never heard of.  Cliff is able to take him down handily... until the third Vamp reveals herself to be Rubber Maid... who despite this being her first appearance, alludes to the fact that there's some history between her and Cliff.

The battle continues... the Negative Man entity "gets better" and Elasti-Girl helps Robotman untangle from his rubber-skinned attacker.  Barrage turns his attention toward her and blasts her through the wall... taking us back to the "present".

Back at the Satellite, Batman and Martian Manhunter have "seen" the entire clusterschmazz.  Green Lantern, John Stewart arrives to transport the trio to Crucifer's house of horrors.  Inside, they nab Wormhole.  The Negative Man entity comes around the corner, and is acting strange.  J'onn approaches to check on him, when...

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Well...

Yeah, this one didn't quite get better with age... still really disliked it.  First, I hate the idea of launching a new number one issue where you needed to read the six-part story of another series to understand what's going on.  I haven't read The Tenth Circle... probably since it's been released.  Didn't much like that either.

Now, I can't outright say that Byrne got anything wrong here.  Where the characters are concerned, Cliff, Larry and Rita all act the way I would expect them to... and their dialogue seems right.  Not too hot on gimp-suit Larry, but whattayagonnado?

I think my main disconnect with this book comes from how much i dug what came before.  I'm guessing that's not a terribly unpopular opinion... the way this leaves the "baggage" of not only the Kupperberg, Morrison, Pollack and Arcudi runs at the door... but the Drake and Premiani original as well... really left me cold.  I think many a comics enthusiast projected a sort of braggadocious-ness to Byrne's revamp...launch...boot, whatever... which makes it hard to judge fairly.  Like a feeling of "nobody else got it right" that I found it hard to shake.

The new characters feel kind of one-note, though in fairness... they get precious little screen time here.  They aren't visibly interesting... never did see any novelty in apes... which might make me a bad comics fan, but who knows?

The art... it's not bad until we approach the end.  The last few pages see the quality of visuals degrade a bit.  I remember the first time I read this I thought the art was not up to John Byrne's normal standards... but, I was probably thinking of the series overall.  For the most part, this looks good.  Like I said, the ending... kinda sketchy, no pun intended.  I do dig the coloring all throughout, though!

Is this something you should read?  Probably not.  If you're a Doom Patrol fanatic, you've probably already read this... however, if you are and have somehow missed it... eh, put a hash-mark in the "win" column and call it good.

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Animal Man #5 (1988)

Animal Man #5 (1988)

"The Coyote Gospel"

Writer - Grant Morrison

Penciller - Chas Truog

Inker - Doug Hazlewood

Letterer - John Costanza

Colorist - Tatjana Wood

Assistant Editor - Art Young

Editor - Karen Berger

Cover Price: $1.25

This is one of those issues I've wanted to discuss for awhile, but have honestly been a bit intimidated by it.  This is one of those issues that is no stranger to the "best of..." lists, and as such, I know that many hold it quite dear.

I too have a special place for this issue, yet I hesitate to speak about it out of fear that I'm missing some things that just go over my head.  Gonna try to break this one down best I can.  Apologies if I miss any symbolism or deeper undertones.  Feel free to fill me in if I leave anything out.

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We open on a lonely desert road, Death Valley California.  An over-the-road trucker (for the AJAX company) has picked up a hitchhiker called Carrie.  She's left home to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood... an endeavor that the driver feels is folly.  We learn a bit about our drivin' buddy here.  He's got a boyfriend named Billy waiting for him back home.  The driver comments that Billy saved his life and introduced him to Christ.  He wears a silver cross that he had been given.

The pair continues on their trek across the desert while jauntily singing along with the radio.  In the distance, what appears to be an anthropomorphic coyote standing in their path.  The trucker is unable to stop before plowing over the creature.  Carrie begins to panic... he calms her down by instructing her not to look back.

We get a closeup of the apparent roadkill... and watch as it somehow knits itself back together... bones mend, flesh heals, lungs re-inflate, and ultimately... he stands back up.  This was almost a year ago.

We shift scenes to the Baker home where Buddy is on a vegetarian rampage.  He's tossing all of the meat from the fridge, and trying to talk up the finer points of tofu with his son Cliff.  Buddy's wife Ellen enters the scene, and the couple begins arguing about Buddy making this decision without first discussing it with her.  The discussion gets pretty heated and ends with Buddy storming out... and almost immediately regretting it.

In the desert, we rejoin our friend the truck driver as he is setting up some dynamite between rocks.  He reflects on how his life fell apart, seemingly ever since he ran over that "devil" in the desert.  Over the past several months Billy was killed after being hit by a truck... the driver himself lost his job, and his mother died of cancer.  The last straw for him was finding out that Carrie his hitchhiker turned to prostitution, and was killed.

He's in the desert this day... because he's hunting coyote.  He tracks the critter to the edge of a canyon... where it's just minding its own business.  He takes aim... and shoots it right through the heart.

The coyote falls into the canyon, and the driver approaches to survey the damage.  He sees that his target is still stirring, and so... crushes him with a large rock.  If you've never read this before... by this point, you may be getting a feeling where this is headed.

Animal Man enters the scene... not really for any reason, he just happens to be flying by.  The coyote again emerges... alive and well.  He begins walking toward the truck driver, but does not appear to have any malicious intent... but that just be my take.  In his approach, he triggers the bomb the driver had set earlier on.

Which, if you're following along... absolutely decimates the coyote's body... but it isn't long before he regenerates.  Animal Man lands to see what's going on... and the coyote approaches him.  He hands over a rolled up sheet of paper and pleads with him to read it.

This is the Gospel According to Crafty.  We learn that this coyote once lived in Looney Tunes kind of world... he really is a "real life" Wile E. Coyote here.  In this world, everyone was cruel and violent toward one another... as is made evident if we have any familiarity with these type of cartoon shorts.  Lotsa AJAX stuff here... 

Crafty Coyote finally had enough one day... and so he boarded an elevator in the middle of the desert, and ascended to stand before God.  God is armed with a paintbrush, and wears a watch on his left wrist.  He is none-too-pleased with Crafty's protest, and so sends him to the "real" world where he will still be able to take the same amount of punishment... however, he would feel the pain that comes along with it.

While on Earth, he died time and again... yet would always return to life.  He hoped to one day return to his home... and make it a better place.  I assume this is why he's approaching Animal Man... but sadly, the paper he gave him was indecipherable.

In the distance we find the truck driver stirring.  He mentions how he had the silver cross Billy gave him when he "saved" him melted down into a silver bullet.  He takes aim one last time... and fires... through the gospel and through the heart of the "devil".

We close out with Crafty lying in the intersection with tears in his eyes... perhaps for the first time, unsure of what's to come.  We look on while the hand of the creator enters the frame, and fills in the red of the coyote's blood... finally allowing him to rest in peace.

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I'm really unsure whether or not I can put how I feel about this issue into words... not sure I have the wordsmithery to adequately pull it off.  I will say that this is one of the sadder issues of a comic book I'd ever read.  Like, it's a really sad story... in almost a haunting kind of way.

Let's discuss our truck driving friend.  He blames so much of his misfortune over the past year or so on the "devil" he hit with his rig.  His boyfriend dies, his mother succumbs to cancer, he loses his job, and finally the girl he helped "go west" became a prostitute and was murdered.  He's frantically trying to find a reason why his life has taken this turn... and it's easier for him to pin it on a "devil" rather than the fact that from time to time "life sucks", and sometimes you just become its punching bag.

It's so often that folks would rather subscribe to ideas like "evil" or that of conspiracy.  It's so much easier for us to swallow that bad things occur for a reason... rather than realizing that at any given moment misfortune can befall us.  Without warning... without reason, bad things happen.  I can empathize with the trucker here... I have trouble swallowing "reality" myself from time to time.  Without a visible... even tangible antecedent, I struggle to digest or reconcile traumatic events too.

Moving on to Buddy.  I'm pretty sure when I read this in my youth I thought he was being a bit precious with regard to his newfound vegetarian lifestyle... and his attempts to force it on the unwitting (and/or unwilling) Bakers.  Now, not that I'm a vegetarian or anything, I can appreciate what he was attempting to do.  You'd figure if any DC character would feel uncomfortable eating meat, it's going to be Animal Man.  I can dig that.  Even the argument with Ellen works, as Morrison always made Buddy's story as much domestic as supernatural.  This is something a married couple would discuss... or endeavor to discuss... and may not see eye-to-eye on.  Fine work here.

Finally, let's talk about the star of the issue... Crafty.  Such a tragic character... one who wanted something more than his Wile E. Coyote existence... to the point where he actually stood in opposition to God... whether that's a deity-kinda God or a Grant Morrison-kinda God, I'm not sure.  Knowing where this series... at least the first 26 issues, winds up... I suppose it may be Morrison.  I'll concede that I cannot say for sure.  Good stuff here, either way.  You'd almost figure if fictional characters could gain self-awareness, they would eventually begin questioning their lots in life.  Being a pseudo-Wile E. Coyote, you gotta figure he was tired of being blowed-up and squished all the time.  He'd probably be really annoyed at his regular invoices from ACME AJAX as well.

Crafty is given the blessing/curse of immortal life... on Earth... a place where, as the entire cast of this issue can attest, pain is real.  We watch poor Crafty get wrecked in a number of ways... and see him painfully regenerate.  It really was pretty heartbreaking.  The look of utter defeat when he realizes Animal Man cannot understand the Gospel... really powerful.

Crafty's death scene was also quite gripping.  Were the tears in his eyes because he was relieved to be finally free of suffering... or because he was coming to terms with the fact that he was actually dying?  Again, it doesn't matter... either approach is powerful.  The final brushstrokes of the "creator", showing his creation mercy was a great way to end this one.  Not sure if I "get" the Christ imagery here (or on the cover)... is Crafty dying over and over again supposed to be for the other cartoon character's sins?  Or his own perceived "sin"?  Or maybe even... with this being Morrison, the reader's sins?  Like, all the abuse he took as a cartoon character was for "our" entertainment and amusement... is our engagement to that kind of behavior "sinful"?  I dunno... I'm kinda scrambling here.

Highly recommended.  Even though I've just ruined the entire thing for you... I'd still say this is an issue any comics fan owes it to themselves to experience first-hand.  It's been collected in the first Animal Man TPB... which is now available digitally.  I hate using the word "brilliant" because since the internet has gone mainstream its lost a lot of its meaning... buuuut, the entire Morrison run really is. 

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