Green Lantern (vol.3) #107 (December, 1998)
"The Choice"
Writer - Ron Marz
Pencillers - Jeff Johnson & Chris Batista
Inkers - Bob Wiacek & John Lowe
Colors & Separations - Rob Schwager
Letterer - Chris Eliopoulos
Assistant Editor - Chuck Kim
Editor - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $1.99
Just a random pick today. For the next couple of days we've got some special features... tomorrow is a Thanksgiving special, and Friday will be the... three-hundredth daily post here at the ol' blogstead. I've got a few ideas for what #300 will be... hopefully I'll be able to settle on something fun. Anyhoo... enough housekeeping... let's check in on Kyle Rayner as he pops the question... no, not that one.
--
We open with Kyle getting the stuffing knocked out of him by Sledge who is an absolute mountain of a man. Kyle sees him as a threat, however, Sledge is doing his best Hulk impression... saying he just wants to be left alone. He swats Kyle into a building and leaves him laying under the resultant rubble. While the battle raged, our narration was excerpts of a letter Kyle was writing to his mother. The note is mostly about his current cohabitation with the former superhero Jade.
By the time Kyle is able to dig himself out, Sledge is already long gone. It's just as well, however, because Kyle has some Green Lantern business to attend to over at Warriors. He has arranged to meet with three former Earth-based Lanterns, Alan Scott, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner. Ya see, in recent issues Kyle Rayner had a team-up with, of all people, Hal Jordan. This was a time-displaced Hal, not yet at his Parallax-worst. At the end of their team-up, Hal gave Kyle a self-replicating copy of his own Lantern ring, and urged him to rebuild the Corps.
To do so, Kyle will have to go off planet for an extended period of time. As this would leave Earth without a Green Lantern, he needs to find an interim replacement. His first offer goes to... well, the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott (and not just because he's shacked up with his daughter). Alan notes that, while he was the first Lantern... he was really never officially a member of the Corps. He is flattered by the offer, but decides to pass.
The next offer goes to John Stewart. He also appreciates the thought... but feels he is not yet ready to wield the ring again. He recounts all of the things he had lost while being a Lantern... his wife, an entire planet... he's just not ready to "go there" again.
Which leaves Kyle with a smilin'-like-the-cat-that-ate-the-canary lookin' Guy Gardner. He surprises Kyle... and I'd assume a lot of the readers, by also declining to take the ring. He is happy with his new lot in life as the proprietor of Warriors, and as the on again off again Vuldarian superhero, Warrior.
The "old guard" apologize to Kyle and suggest he find someone more willing to take on the temporary mantle. Kyle considers Connor (Green Arrow) or Wally (Flash) as his replacement. All he knows, is that whoever he chooses, they're going to have a lot of tradition to live up to.
And so, Kyle heads home. He is greeted by his live-in girlfriend Jade who is pretty surprised that he couldn't find a replacement. She thought, at the very least... Guy would have jumped at the opportunity. She begins hinting that she might "know a gal" who would be interested in filling in.
Kyle thinks this is a great idea, and slides the ring on her finger. She instantly manifests a classic Green Lantern costume (with mask). Kyle suggests she zazz it up a bit, and put her own spin on it... which gives us a fun little fashion show. She ultimately decides to stick with the classics... but loses the mask.
After getting "fitted" Jade is chomping at the bit to hit the streets and "do stuff". They do some pleasure flying throughout New York City and wind up in Central Park where Kyle hopes to have more room to "work". Well... wouldn'tcha know it... there's Sledge!
Kyle and Sledge get back down to business, trading blows and tree stumps until... Jade interrupts. She is... and I'm assuming here because the art is a bit iffy... seated in a seductive pose to distract the baddie so that Kyle can kayo him with a construct of an anvil.
With the job done, we head to the end... and a pretty abrupt shift in art style. Jennie has now held the ring for a week, and is ready to officially take over as Earth's Green Lantern. She and Kyle share a final conversation in which they replicate Hal's ring, and a kiss that has to hold them both over for the foreseeable future. We close out with Kyle heading skybound in search for the new (and, spoiler alert... disappointing) Green Lantern Corps.
--
I really enjoyed this issue. It's part action, part day-in-the-life, and Marz is able to put it all together in a great package. I've always been an Earth-bound Green Lantern fan... I always prefer the comparably more mundane Lantern tales than those that take place in outer space. I always start to lose interest when Kyle (or Hal... or whoever) heads off into space (Green Lantern: Mosaic is my exception), which is why this story works so well. If we want to follow Kyle on his quest... we can pick up the New Corps miniseries. The main Green Lantern title will follow Jade while she takes care of Earth-bound issues. Best of both worlds.
I think, upon reflection, what I appreciate most about this issue (and this era) is that DC was moving forward. We had characters like John Stewart and Guy Gardner leaving the superhero world behind... moving into their next stage of life. There was just such a feeling of change... all of which has been undone in the decades that followed. Superheroes don't retire anymore... they just keep hanging on. Nothing changes. Instead we just get reboots and de-aging.
I would say that my biggest complaint here would be with the mishmash of artists. Most of the pages looked fine enough, however... the one page that springs immediately to mind is the one where Jade sits seductively by the tree... I mean, c'mon... how goofy does that look? She looks completely uncomfortable... chuckle-headed and cross-eyed. Unless Sledge has some strange tastes, I just don't see how this gets him so distracted.
Overall... worth checking out. This was a fun era for the character and the title from a time in which the DC Universe was actually progressing. A time, sadly, long forgotten.
--
Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
New Teen Titans #13 (November, 1981)
"Friends and Foes Alike!"
Co-Creator & Writer - Marv Wolfman
Co-Creator & Artist - George Perez
Embellisher - Romeo Tanghal
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Ben Oda
Editor - Len Wein
Cover Price: $0.60
Who is ready for two great tastes that taste great together? Today we're going to be discussing the start of the New Teen Titans' second year in which they team with Doom Patrol member Robotman in order to rescue Mento, and hunt down the killers of the original team. It's bound to be a great time... let's get down to it.
--
We open as Donna Troy is dealing some major league damage to some fools at a warehouse. She's just tossing geeks around left and right... ultimately causing a crate avalanche by throwing a forklift in the direction of the gang-bangers. Donna, being Donna chooses to spare the baddies, and pulls them from the wreckage so that they could be arrested. We learn her outburst was due in no small part from the events of an earlier issue in which she was made into a pawn by the god Hyperion.
As if the day couldn't get any worse, Donna's next stop is lunch with... Terry Long. The two share an uncharacteristically stilted conversation where Donna shares her fears... both in regard to her vulnerability in being controlled, and in regard to her teammate Gar Logan's health and well-being as he lay on Paradise Island where he is being bathed by the purple ray after being shot by Deathstroke the Terminator.
Speaking of Paradise Island... it's our next stop. I'll be upfront here and say... I really dislike Paradise Island. It just bores me to tears. And, speaking of things that bore me to tears, we've got arena battles! Starfire is competing as Hippolyta and Raven look on. While we don't really know how adept Starfire is in competitive battle at this point, she makes short work of her opponent nonetheless.
After completing the "kanga-back" round, Starfire begins the hand-to-hand combat piece. Here is where we start to get a look into her formal battle training. As she competes, we see her both in her current battle as well as a flashback to battle on her home planet of Tamaran. She wins this round as well. The celebration, however, is cut short when an explosion occurs on Paula's Laboratory Island where Gar Logan is recuperating.
We shift scenes to the jungles of Uganda where Robin, Kid Flash, and Cyborg are looking to rendezvous with Robotman, formerly of the Doom Patrol. They are looking to team up to locate Gar's adoptive father, Steve Dayton... better known to us as Mento... also of the Doom Patrol. The trio have been waiting quite some time, and as such Wally decides to engage in a bit of high-speed reconnaissance. He leaves Dick and Vic behind, where the subject of friendship comes up. Victor is having a difficult time making nice with some of his teammates, and is also a bit nervous about his new friend Sarah Simms (from the special school).
It's not long before Wally returns... and he has bad tidings. He leads his teammates to the man they were to meet... and he appears quite worse for wear.
The boys bring Robotman down where Vic can take a better look at him. He is able to revive Cliff... who is just as ornery as ever. We get some fun back and forth between the two (mostly) metal men while "the new 1981-style" Cyborg performs some spot-weld-surgery.
Back at Paradise Island, we discover the cause of the explosion at the island lab. It's Changeling... now in the form of a brachiosaurus. We learn that the purple ray had overloaded him and driven him mad. It is left to the resident empath, Raven to sooth the savage beast... boy.
Later, Gar wakes up. He is atop a table, surrounded by several Themysciran goddesses. He attempts to step down, but is advised that his non-female feet were to ever touch the ground, they would lose all of their powers. Poor Gar, surrounded by lovely ladies... and relegated to a cold steel table. Before we leave this scene, Wonder Girl calls in to inform her sisters that she is headed home.
Back in Africa, Robotman has led the Titans to a secret entrance to an underground bunker where he believes Steve Dayton is being held. Wally decides to play canary-in-a-coal-mine by running ahead to scout the situation.
What he finds is a pair of sentries... who he takes out with the quickness before giving his pals the all-clear to join him down below.
Now, what they find is... a crazy underground city chock full of sentries.
On a nearby video monitor, the crew sees Madame Rouge as she addresses her faithful folks. She lets them know that they've got intruders... and they'd best do something about them pretty damned quick. Cliff is rightfully enraged upon seeing her face... after all, she is (partially) responsible for the deaths of his old friends Rita, Larry, and Niles.
The fellas are able to weave their way through the facility and eventually find themselves standing before a... woozy... Steve Dayton. He doesn't appear to recognize any of them... not even Cliff. Before they can get in any proper reintroductions, Wally warns that the hordes are on their way.
A short battle rages... so short in fact, that the Titans bring attention to it. Why would so few sentries attack when earlier they saw what must have been hundreds of them. Fearing it to be a trap, the gang decides they'd best hit the bricks. For the duration of the battle, Dayton has been mumbling about his Mento costume... which Wally fetches for him after the dust settles.
Our story draws to a close as the fellas head to their T-Jet. In the distance Rouge and her Doom Patrol-eliminating associate Zahl look on. We end with a bit of a heavy-handed hint that there might just be more to Steve Dayton then meets the eye.
--
I'm of two minds with this issue. On one hand, I love the Doom Patrol related scenes... while on the other, Paradise Island is always an instant yawn for me. I was hoping Marv and George would be able to change my mind, but alas... still totally bored me. For me Paradise Island is something akin to outer space stories... familiar heroes and characters dealing in unfamiliar environments (at least to me). My least favorite Titan's stories seem to always take place on either Starfire's homeworld or Donna's homeland... at least under Perez's pencil, it all looks real pretty.
Luckily... again, at least for me... the other half of the story was wonderfully compelling. Two of my favorite teams taking care of business together... actually following up on official Doom Patrol issues, amazing stuff. It must have blown some minds back in 1981, seeing the death of the original Doom Patrol addressed.
The opening bit was well done, with Donna lashing out in order to process her feelings of vulnerability after having been controlled by Hyperion in an earlier issue. Even despite all of this, she still acts heroically in the end... which is a testament both to her constitution and her upbringing. Sadly, we also get a lunch scene with our old friend Terry Long. The dialogue between the two is painfully lovey dovey in a way that feels inorganic... forced, even. I mean, "little lady that I love", gimme a break, Terr'... nobody talks like that, man... nobody. His sensitive man shtick/gimmick sometimes gets a bit too thick for my liking.
Overall... its Wolfman/Perez Titans, and regardless of my reservations in regard to the goings-on on Paradise Island, I wholeheartedly recommend checking this out... and that goes for the entire run. I understand that my mileage on Paradise Island may not be indicative of others... and, even I will admit that what happens there is important, and there is some good action and a few funny lines. There is definitely stuff there to be enjoyed.
--
Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
Martian Manhunter #1 (May, 1988)
"Fever Dream"
Writer - J.M. DeMatteis
Artist/Colorist - Mark Badger
Letterer - Bob Lappan
Editor - Andy Helfer
Cover Price: $1.25
Since we discussed Jemm, Son of Saturn yesterday, I figure why not check in with his sometimes analogue J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter? I've had an affinity for the character ever since the bwa-ha-ha era of Justice League. In the year since, I have gone back and checked out his time with what many refer to as Justice League Detroit. He is usually quite a comforting presence, sometimes as the "straight man" among goofballs... other times just as the cornerstone among a pantheon of Godlike characters.
I was quite disappointed when The New 52! revoked his Justice League founder status in favor of Cyborg. I've heard J'onn referred to often as the "heart and soul" of the League... and I find that quite the apt description. He just belongs there... always has, always will.
Now let's turn that "comforting presence" on its ear and take a look at this spooky J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Badger miniseries from the mid-to-late 1980's.
--
We open in Gotham City. Batman has cornered a killer whose most recent victim was a young girl of only four-years. The killer seems surprised that he is the target of the Batman, and maintains his innocence. He is suddenly brought back to reality when he realizes he is holding a bloody knife and a baby doll. So shocked is he by this realization that he throws himself off the... I dunno, fire escape (?) he is standing on. Batman leaves and notes that the man really did not know what he had done. It is then that he is approached by a wildly malformed J'onn J'onzz pleading with him for help.
We are soon swept into the titular "fever dream" of J'onn J'onzz. He feels something inside of him... something he cannot touch, or even describe. It is something that shakes him to his very core. Before we get too deep, he awakens... inside the Batcave. He tells Batman that he was the only one he could go to and immediately apologizes for getting him involved. He feels that his association will only endanger him to whatever it is that is haunting him.
He is suddenly troubled by something he perceives as sinister. Batman is confused. He doesn't see whatever it is that has spooked his martian pal. J'onn tries to escape the Batcave, however, Batman protests... thinking him unwell. Batman tries to restrain him, and it ultimately comes to blows. J'onn socks the Batman in the jaw with a thunderous right!
When Batman comes to he is rather thankful that J'onn decided to pull his punch... otherwise, his head would likely be in another area code. As he gathers his druthers... he sees it. The apparition that has J'onn so jumpy. He reaches out to it... but it vanishes just after his hand goes through it. He realizes it just might be time to involve the Justice League.
From here, we get back into the Martian Manhunter's head. He is recounting his past, thinking about his arrival on Earth... and his association with certain Leagues who gather in the name of Justice.
He continues... and the name Erdel comes to mind. Dr. Erdel was the man who unwittingly brought J'onn to Earth. He had shot an energy beam into cross dimensional space... which somehow reentered the "real" universe on Mars... and, again... somehow results in J'onn winding up in the fella's lab. Unfortunately the poor doc's heart couldn't take it... he dropped dead upon seeing our main Martian.
This trip down memory lane somehow brings about the realization that Batman was right... there was no apparition. The entire thing was a result of a fever dream. We learn that during an adventure with the Justice League, J'onn had absorbed a sentient cell... a spore into his body. He sees this as the cause of not only his fever, but his bodily distortion. He refuses to let this "fever dream" defeat him.
Suddenly... the apparition returns. J'onn is steadfast in his belief that this is all just a manifestation of his fever... and ultimately all in his head. The apparition thinks this belief is positively adorable, and taunts J'onn to no end. The word "father" is repeated throughout this sorta battle between the two... the baddie informs J'onn that it sees a sickness in him... a sickness it intends to cure. J'onn breaks away... and flees through the city.
We rejoin Batman as he addresses the Justice League at their New York Embassy. He pleads his case, and requests their aid in assisting the Martian Manhunter. They all seem on board, however, Captain Atom... of all people, is the lone voice of resistance. Well, maybe resistance is a bad word for it... he's just really uncertain. Batman takes this as "whining" and actually calls him out for it. This kind of feels out of character for both of these gentlemen... but what do I know?
The chapter draws to a close back in the mind of the Martian Manhunter. He repeats the word "father" some more... and appears to feel some sort of calling... something might just be calling him home.
--
Yeah... this one was a lot of fun. I did not see this coming. I gotta be straight with you... I'm not sure I understood some of it, but the story is so intriguing I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure just what this is that is haunting J'onn... and it's been so long since I've read the Justice League that I have long forgotten whatever this "spore" was.
The Batman bit at the open... really not sure where that's going... or even if it is going anywhere. It's an awfully specific thing to include, so I would imagine it will be addressed down the line. A serial killer whose victims include young children seems a strange thing to add to a story for no reason, right? I will say that Batman appearances are a bit gratuitous, however, in this instance... it both fit and worked.
I gotta give it to J.M. DeMatteis... he does some fine mental/emotional anguish. We really get this... unbalanced... unhinged... and uncomfortable feeling inside of J'onn's head. His memories are repeatedly interrupted by whatever it is inside him... the "sentient cell". There are repeated mentions to "father"... it's all quite nebulous... but I'm sure there is a payoff on the horizon. One that... unfortunately, I'm going to have to track down. This series isn't one I come across all that often... or at all. Gonna have to add the remainder of this series to my "watch list".
Now... the art. I'm sure this is the most contentious bit for most readers. I... really dug it. It's not a style I would seek out... however, for a story such as this... it's really quite fitting. We get strange scenes of body horror... and Mark Badger's art really aids in getting this across... without being too graphic or visceral, which... if you ask me, would not have served this story all that well. This is not supposed to be that kind of story... it is far more cerebral than that. His take on, the Justice League for example, may not be to everyone's (or even my) liking, but I maintain he was the right artist for this project.
Overall... yeah, definitely worth checking out. This isn't a "single issue" recommendation... however, if you come across the entire four-issue mini at a decent price, you shouldn't hesitate to snatch'em up.
--
Interesting Ads:
