Friday, December 2, 2016

Action Comics #662 (1991)


Action Comics #662 (February, 1991)
"Secrets in the Night"
Writer - Roger Stern
Artist - Bob McLeod
Letterer - Bill Oakley
Colorist - Glenn Whitmore
Assistant Editor - Dan Thorsland
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $1.00

Another from the "wouldja lookit that cover!" files... this is a cover that both gives it all away... and kind of builds you up for what's to come... on the very last page of the issue.  When I was building my From Crisis to Crisis-era Superman collec... actually, let's just save that for the discussion portion.

On with the spoilery synopsis... you'll never guess what happens this issue!

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It's a stormy night as we open with Ms. Fenster who is burning the midnight oil at the Lexcorp building.  This is in the wake of Lex Luthor's passing and an heir to the Luthor empire has not been named.  Among the files, she is able to locate a whole raft of paper written in longhand.  What she has found promises to change everything.


We get a brief scene featuring a silver blur on the streets of Metropolis... and then segue over to Baron Sunday's jail cell... before checking in with Lois and Clark who are getting busy in her apartment... well, until the popcorn starts popping anyway.  Clark decides he will take this opportunity to finally share his long kept Super-secret with his wife-to-be... but is interrupted by a wild knocking at the door.  He goes to answer it... and...


It's the Silver Banshee... and she's looking for Superman.  Clark feigns passing out as Lois chucks the bowl of popcorn at the baddie.  Seeing Clark to be certainly not "Super", the Banshee flees crashing through a window.


Clark "comes to" and tells Lois he is going to warn Superman about the Banshee.  Despite her protests, Clark insists he must go.  As he changes clothes, he questions whether or not he should have just told her then and there... but decides there will be a better time and place to do so.  He thinks back to the last time he tangled with the Banshee... and recounts a story that I had forgotten about having to do with an old crone.


Superman hones his hearing in on the Banshee's frequency and is able to track her to the Daily Planet building where she is terrorizing the overnight staff.  The two enter into a struggle, which ends when the Banshee smashes Superman into the street below.  She slumps his limp body over her shoulder and trudges away from the scene.


From here we briefly revisit Ms. Fenster as she checks in with a lawyery looking individual... it appears Lex Luthor does in fact have a living heir... now they just gotta track him down.  Before getting back to the action, we also pop in on Lois Lane (and cat, Elroy) as she chats with her sister Lucy over the phone.  The storm causes the power to go out.


We rejoin the Banshee at the ruins of St. Christopher's which was also the site of the nightclub "Blaze's".  She lays Superman out on something of an alter, and prepares to run him through with the battle axe of the Clan McDougal.  She is being instructed by a strange living flame.


She goes to plunge it into Superman's throat, but he's all "nah-ah-ahh" and stops her with ease... and confiscates the "pig sticker".  She then lets out a Banshee wail... which doesn't appear to affect Superman in the slightest.  Perhaps he's building an immunity... or maybe it's the enchanted axe he's holding.  We can now see that the living flame is Blaze...ya know, the devil... and former night club owner...


Superman tosses the axe, knocking down the Blaze-sconce.  The Banshee picks it up and makes a last ditch effort toward killing Superman... when she poofs out of existence.  It's the doing of the old crone.  She and Superman have a brief discussion in which she warns against the threat of Blaze... yeah, no kidding.


Some time passes... though, not all that much.  Lois is still fumbling with the candles she was going to get the last time we saw her.  Clark enters in the darkness, giving her one hell of a fright before they embrace.  The lights return and Clark tells her he needs to tell her something.


... and so...


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I'm definitely of two minds with this issue.  First, I do love the cover... that's the kind of cover that would have immediately jumped off the shelves to me (yet sadly didn't because I was "blinded by the X" at this point).  Now, when I was building up my From Crisis to Crisis era Superman collection some years back, this was one of the first issues I sought out due to it being a "key" moment.  I was absolutely shocked to see literally dozens of them in the cheap-o bins in my neck of the woods.  So, I grabbed it...

... and I read it... and I was wildly disappointed.  I had anticipated not only the reveal, but "the talk" would occur in this issue.  I figured Lois and Clark would really either have it out, or Lois would just start laughing and be all "Yeah... and?"  Instead we just end with a pregnant pause... and I'd have to go in search of yet another issue.

From here we hop into the Time and Time Again storyline... which I remember enjoying... but, I wouldn't have minded an entire issue to reflect on the reveal.  I suppose I'm something of an odd duck, and concede that some may have felt that to be too indulgent.

Only having "the reveal" here made it somewhat difficult to prioritize my "shopping list"... it wasn't terribly easy for me to figure out when "the talk" was going to occur (ya know, unless I looked at the [Don't Miss Superman No. 53 in 2 weeks!] note on the cover).   I guess that's part of the problem with buying books wayyy after the fact and binging on whatcha bought, you (or I) miss silly little details like that.  Anyhoo... please don't take any of this as an indictment on the issue or the era... just some comic-hunting-Chris woes that can't help but to bubble to the surface whenever I think about this issue.

Now... into the issue...

Well, it's a fight with the Silver Banshee... and it's fairly decent.  I think I would have been more invested in the outcome had the cover not spoiled what was going to occur at some point inside... but that's not the Banshee's fault.  Now that I think about it... there just really isn't all that much to say about the "action" segment of the story.  It was a decent means to an end, and that's about it.

The bits with Clark really stressing over whether or not to tell Lois are what really makes this one for me.  I mean, he must have been just itching to tell her... probably from (or around) day one.  It was revealed quite early in the Byrne run that Clark harbored feelings for Lois... a fact that everybody seemed to know/pick up on.  I see Clark as a guy who wants to share everything about himself with those he loves... and here we actually get to observe some of the mental anguish that goes along with his not being able to.

Here we see the final time Clark has to lie to Lois about "informing Superman".  We can just see how tired he is of the entire charade.  It's appears to be an almost painful endeavor... which I'm really glad they included.  This wasn't Clark pretending to be hurt... or crawling into the bushes so he could change clothes... here he actually has to tell Lois he's leaving... at a time when she is scared for both his safety and her own.  I mean, the Silver freaking Banshee just made two holes in her apartment!  Now Clark is leaving her... such a great way to "end" the "lie".

Despite some of my reservations, this is definitely an issue I'd recommend to Superman (and/or Lois) fans to track down.  I feel that my initial reading of it did the story a great disservice.  I just wanted what the cover promised, and didn't much care about how we were going to get there.  In actually looking at this issue with something of a critical eye, I can see that the Banshee bits are... perhaps not integral, but still contextually important to Clark's "coming out".  It's been reprinted (as in received a "second print" back around release) and it is included in the relatively recent Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years hardcover (featuring Lois' creepy smile on the cover).  Both the single issue and collection are also available digitally.

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Thursday, December 1, 2016

Aquaman #1 (1989)


Aquaman #1 (June, 1989)
"Aquarium"
Plot/Layouts - Keith Giffen
Pencils - Curt Swan
Script - Rober Loren Fleming
Inks - Al Vey
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Tom McCraw
Edits - Barbara Kesel
Cover Price: $1.00

Now for another on from the "hey, check out that cover!" file, the first issue from a five-issue Aquaman miniseries from 1989.  Don't get your hopes up, however, it is not indicative of the art on the inside... but we'll get to that later on.

Now outside of the more recent Aquaman and the Peter David volume, I don't have all that much experience with the character... at least in his own book.  This looks as though it is a bit of an attempt at a (soft?) reboot... so, let's give it a look see.

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We open on an Aquaman who is returning to Atlantis after a few months away on a sort of expedition.  As he swims he recounts a time in which he was held captive for three years... it was where he was given the name "Aquaman".  As he nears in his approach he is shocked to see an outpost has been destroyed, and so he decides to investigate.


He continues... swimming among the wreckage and the bodies... he comes across a big glob of Bazooka bubblegum... or a bit of jellyfish tissue.  I always kinda assumed if you were to try and touch a jellyfish, your hand would kinda phase right through it.  I doubt that's actually the case, but it seems like Arthur here has found quite the concentrated sample.  He is a bit shaken by this... and he ought to be... he decides to bee-line it to Atlantis to check on his home.


He arrives to find that the entire city of Atlantis has been captured... but, by who?  All he can see are Atlanteans... hard at work Atlanteans.  The only signs of a conquering force are a fleet of strange boxy ships patrolling the perimeter.


Aquaman heads around back to the salt processing plant.  This I really like... as I'd never considered that Atlantis had any sort of trade contracts with the above-sea-level world.  We... or I learn here that Atlantis' key export is... salt!  That makes total and complete sense, and I really dig it.  Sadly, the plant is being dismantled... but, why?


Well, Aquaman intends to find out.  He figures his best way into the dome is to be taken in as a prisoner.  He comments that he's "dressed for it"... whatever that means... and gets himself caught by one of the patrols' (electrified... oops) nets.


He wakes up inside the "Aquarium" which is the prison of Atlantis... Arthur is in the political-prisoner (minimal security) wing and is surrounded by a gaggle of folks with very similar fashion sense... I'm starting to understand what he meant when he said he was "dressed for it".  The classic Aquaman togs are the prison uniforms!  One of the prisoners seems to recognize Arthur... however, he is stopped by another fella before he can verbalize it.


Aquaman is taken on a tour where the past several months of Atlantean turmoil is shared with him.  After he had left, the government struggled with finding a replacement.  Lord Wexel wished that the throne return to the proper bloodline and so backed a man called Pletus... who he saw as an easily manipulated fool.  The army, however, maintained that Arthur's wife Mera should remain as Queen... sooooo... Wexel had her committed, on the grounds that her mental capacity had dwindled since the death of her son.  I am ignorant of many things Aquaman... so this is all news to me.  Aqualad would turn the responsibility down... and so, ultimately Pletus got the (literal) keys to the castle.


Until, of course, "they" invaded.  During times of war, the leadership of Atlantis falls to the General of the Atlantean Army... luckily for Pletus, the poor bugger died his first day out.  At which time, Pletus seized the throne and just lost his damn mind... even poisoning his top booster, Wexel.  It isn't long before Pletus gets captured by the baddies... and is drawn and quartered... along with the entire ruling council of Atlantis... there be some gross swimming for days.


We shift scenes to the Atlantean Royal Palace where we find out who was behind the invasion... some very casual giant alien jellyfish... oi.  They plan on enacting something they call the "final solution" to wipe humanity off the globe... oi again.


We now join Mera who is still in rehab.  Her eyes pop open... and she somehow knows that "he" is back.  She beats on the doors of the facility to try and get out to join him at his side.  Now, who "he" is... I'm not sure... depends on Mera's sanity, I suppose... for all I know, she's talking about her baby.


That night, Aquaman decides he is going to escape.  He is not even being guarded... and there is no door on the Aquarium... so, why not, right?  His tour guide from earlier soon appears to try and stop him.  It turns to fisticuffs... the bald fella blames the loss of his wife on Arthur's absence.  The fight gets more and more personal... even bringing Arthur's dead child into it.


The fight is stopped by yet another prisoner... the same one from earlier who recognized Aquaman.  He introduces himself as Jared... and he is the leader of the resistance.  Aquaman is invited to join their ranks, and he quickly obliges.


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This was pretty good... kind of weird, but pretty good.

Let's get one thing out of the way to start... while the cover (by Dave DeVries) is really quite striking, inside is the competent but comparably bland, Curt Swan.  This makes the book look and feel old before its time.  At first glance, I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was a pre-Crisis story.  Just so... safe.

I think "safe" might be an apt descriptor for this issue.  The art is safe... even the writing is safe.  This being a Giffen story, I would assume there'd be at least a bit of humor here... but, no... the entire story is played straight.  Aquaman doesn't feel terribly interesting here... he basically just stands... er floats around having the plot thrown at him.

I was surprised to learn that the familiar orange Aquaman shirt is in actuality the prisoner's outfit.  Does that mean the "A" on his belt stands for the prison, "Aquarium" rather than "Aquaman"?  This is probably my key takeaway from this issue... and probably this series should I choose to continue reading it.  Well, there's also Atlantis exporting salt to the dry world... that's actually a really cool touch!

Overall... not a whole lot to say about this one.  It's very much a "part one"... it introduces the threat and conflict... and ends with Aquaman joining the rebellion.  If you're an Aquaman fan who is interested in a pre-Geoff Johns take on the character, you'll probably find this interesting... otherwise, I definitely think this is a safe one to skip.  To be fair, the cover itself might just be worth the cost of admission... you shouldn't have to dig too far into the cheap-o bins to find this... that cover is definitely worth two-bits.

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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Robin #59 (1998)


Robin #59 (December, 1998)
"Brutality 101"
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Penciller - Staz Johnson
Inker - Stan Woch
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Tim Harkins
Associate Editor - Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

Sticking with the Dixon Robin stuffs for today... having had such a wonderful time revisiting it.  I'm sadly of two minds about it... love it so much, but at the same time it makes me miss this era.  No worries though, we're not going All-Robin, All-the-Time... 

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We pick up right where we left off... Robin face to grizzled face with Steeljacket.  Tim comments that the last time they tangled, he was lucky enough to have some police officers nearby to give him a hand... today, that is not the case.  All he's got is a pair of geeks behind glass, and they ain't in any rush to lend a hand.  Tim is able to flee (for the time being) and takes the opportunity to catch his breath.


We shift scenes to a touching discussion between Stephanie Brown and her mother.  Steph is very apologetic about her current condition... and her mother is, almost surprisingly cool about the whole thing.  Ya see, she blames herself for most of what's gone wrong in her daughter's life... and seems proud of how well she has turned out in spite of it all.


Back at the wreckage, Steeljacket resumes his attack on the Boy Wonder.  They tussle until Robin is able to catch the creeper by the toe... and then snap his ankle!  Dang.  After this his school chums flee the scene.


Back at the Batcave, Robin marks the name "Steeljacket" off the bat-list of bat-villains who are still loose on the streets of Gotham following the quake.  He asks Alfred for a bit of privacy so he may make a phone call.  I love that there is a corded phone in the Batcave, by the way.  He calls Steph, who shares the story about her chat with mom... then asks Tim for a favor.  Well, judging from the cover, it's gotta be a doozy, right?  Are you ready?  She asks Tim... to join her at her birthing classes!  Dun dun dunnnn... I shouldn't be too hard on it... this opens up a ton of comedic potential.


The following morning during gym class, Tim and his classmates are hoofin' it on the track.  Tim notices his goofy pals Ives and Philmont, ya know... the guys who were hiding from Steeljacket... he notices them trailing far behind the other boys.  So he fakes a charlie horse so that he can allow them to catch up to him.  Before they can chat, a pair of ne'er do well bullies start razzin' them.


They demand Philmont join them for a walk in the woods.  Rather than fight it, Phil slumps his shoulders and submissively obeys.  Tim is about to intervene when Ives grabs him by the sleeve... he doesn't think they should induce the bullies' ire toward them.  Tim, realizing he doesn't want to blow his cover, agrees to hang back.  This is going to be important.


Later on during fifth period, Tim is called to the Dean's office.  He sees Ives sitting in the lobby as well.  Inside Mr. Blassingame's office, Tim is told that Philmont was just found DEAD in the woods.  Uh-oh...  Now Tim's mad.  He spills the beans and gives the Dean the names of the pair of bullies... Josh Stanzland and Mark Meachum.


Outside in the hall, Ives is freaking out that he'd overheard Tim snitching on the bullies... thinking they'll be next on their hit list.  Tim, enraged, caves in a locker and tells Ives that their buddy didn't just get beat up... he got killed.


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Before we go in too deep I really wanna express my appreciation that this issue marks the end of the... horrendous mid-90's glossy paper... I haven't made a big deal out of it for the past two discussions, because... eh, I probably complain about that too much anyway.  It does no favors to the art, and... if I'm being honest, is a pain in the butt to take photos of, and I'm glad that it's gone for this issue.  With that spoo out of the way, let's get on to it...

Another very enjoyable issue here.  As has become normal from this era of Robin... we get two very different story segments.  There's an action section, which is decent comic book action... and a far superior character section (very-special-episode-ness and all).  We don't quite get the scene depicted on the cover, but we do get some good Tim & Steph interaction here.

The bullying/murder story we get in the second half is pretty well taken.  I appreciate the fact that, while Robin could easily wipe the track with these fools... he doesn't.  He needs to be Tim Drake while he's at school... can't afford to tip anyone off to his dual identity.  Even better here... if he had beaten up the bullies, his friend would still be alive.  This opens up so many storytelling options... we get to investigate Tim's guilt while he investigates the murder.

Speaking of guilt... we get a nice chat between Stephanie and her mother.  Steph is surprised that her mother is taking her pregnancy so well... Mom tells Stephanie that she blames herself for choices she made... She feels guilty... which makes Stephanie feel guilty... I'm seeing (or imagining) the theme of this issue.

Overall... Chuck Dixon's Robin is still wholeheartedly recommended.  So much fun, so much heart... just don't say I didn't warn ya... it makes a lot of what has come since look pretty weak.  You're gonna be homesick for some awesome 1990's Bat-books.  Like I said, this run is available digitally... (Don't worry... not an affiliate link, nobody knows who I am).

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