Justice League America #42 (September, 1990)
"Solicitations"
Writers - Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Penciller - Mike McKone
Inker - Jose Marzan, Jr.
Letterer - Bob Lappan
Colorist - Gene D'Angelo
Assistant Editor - Kevin Dooley
Editor - Andy Helfer
Cover Price: $1.00
Well, after so many days in a row with excellent covers, I thought I'd shake things up and take a look at a book with a... well, not so excellent cover. I mean, really now... how hideous is Starman on this cover? Quite unpleasant to look at all around... not sure at all why they would decide to go with this... it would have sent me for the holy water had I seen it on the shelf. Yikes... and from Adam Hughes no less! This dude is normally friggin' incredible... not sure how this found its way off of his pencil.
Let's read on and see if this is indicative of what's on the inside... it couldn't possibly be... could it?
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We open with Martian Manhunter and Gypsy as they discuss the events of the last several issues. Before them, in stasis, floats the bite-sized Despero who wrecked havoc on Earth until J'onn was able to nullify the threat. Gypsy lost her parents in the attack and is adamant that J'onn just kill the tiny destroyer. J'onn replies that it isn't his place to do such a thing, and decides to leave him be. J'onn asks Gypsy if she would consider joining the Justice League... an offer he imagined she would jump at... and she declines. He promises he'll always be there for her and she leaves.
J'onn meets up with Max Lord and now they discuss current events. Mister Miracle is dead, and the team is in desperate need of some "new blood"... so desperate in fact that Max has sent some of their members out on a little recruitment drive...
We join Fire and Blue Beetle as they hover over Dos Rios, Texas in The Bug. They land and enter a local dive-y bar in search of their prospective member. None of the patrons or barmen are too keen on chatting with the heroes, but luckily, their man enters the scene... it's El Diablo... ya know, the boring one.
Meanwhile over the Arizona desert, Starman... and his glorious mullet soar the skies. He runs into the top JLI PR fella himself... Guy Gardner. Guy offers him the gig, and when Will turns it down, Guy just decides that he wasn't willing to give him any rights of refusal. He nabs him in a green energy construct, and flies away.
Back in Dos Rios, Fire takes point... she and El Diablo begin chatting in Spanish, while Beetle begrudgingly takes in the local flavor.
Our next team of recruiters is Huntress and Ice... and their targets are the crime-fighting duo, Hawk and Dove... wait, really? Okay.
Now for something completely different, we shift skyward... and spaceward, up to the spacecraft of the great Manga Khan. Mister Miracle was contracted to him via some nuttiness drafted by Stan Lee Funky Flashman over in his own title. Khan informs Scott that he's met his obligation, and will "in the name of friendship" be escorted back to Earth so that he may resume his life... little does he know that the robot that took his place just "died".
Back on Earth... Bea and El continue their chat while Beetle fights to stay awake... and Guy and Will continue their scuffle over the desert. If I were Will I'd be angry too, but mostly due to the way I was drawn on the cover!
Back at the Embassy, Max Lord is escorted to his office to find... Mister Miracle, alive and well... along with Manga, Oberon, L-Ron, and the Flashman. After being caught up on the "status" of his robotic dupe, Scott faces the harsh realization that Barda believes him to be dead!
We get a neat little scene between J'onn and Batman where they discuss both the future of the League and their places in it. J'onn is looking to get away for awhile, though Batman feels that it really wouldn't change things if he did. I'm really not doing the scene the justice it deserves... it's really well done. J'onn ultimately decides to tell Max he wants to bug out for awhile... which is news that Mr. Lord is not too keen on hearing.
The next several pages reveal the unsuccessful results of the JLI Recruitment Drive, as all three parties have been shot down by their prospects. Suddenly a whole lot of hair with men underneath it enter the Embassy... it's Lightray and Orion of New Genesis... they want on the League and they want it now!
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Thankfully that old axiom about not judging a book by its cover comes into play here. This was a helluva fun issue... from a very strange (but wonderful) time in League history.
We're coming off perhaps the defining battle for this version of the League... Despero just goes ape and kills/destroys everything in his path... such an amazing tonal shift from the normal "sitcommy" nature of this title... but it worked so well. Perhaps I'll dig some of those issues out somewhere down the line.
For this issue... we get to watch as the League does something I'm not sure it had ever done before... or since... go out on a recruitment tour! Such a great idea, especially for this group of characters. We see the problem with trying to run a superhero team as though it were a company... I mean, these folks aren't really known for their PR skills... Seriously now, would you send Guy Gardner out to recruit new talent for your company?
For whatever reason whenever I think back to this issue I remember that Wild Dog also turns down membership... and every time I revisit it, I'm surprised that this scene does not exist. I must be confusing it with something... I'll have to do some brain-digging I suppose.
J'onn J'onzz continues to be a true highlight of this title... really makes me hate what they've done with him since 2011. It may be cliche to call the Martian Manhunter the "heart and soul" of the Justice League... but that doesn't make the statement any less true. J'onn requesting time to decompress makes perfect sense after what he was forced to do with Despero... and after what happened to Gypsy and her family. Gypsy was something of a daughter figure to J'onn... having to deal with her suffering and persistence to process everything that occurred on her own has really shaken the man.
The Mister Miracle bit... ehh, I didn't dig this the first time I read it, and I still don't. Asamattafact, Scott leaving Earth was kind of what sank his solo ongoing for me too. Up until then, it was kind of "sitcommy" as well... just some fun comics. Having him leave Earth made it feel a whole lot less special. I mean, I get it... not everyone is going to enjoy reading about Scott and Barda's domestic bliss... but, I definitely thought the book was better during those stories.
Overall... I would recommend ignoring the gruesome cover and enjoying the wonderful contents of this issue... hell, this era. It is often around this point in the Giffen/DeMatteis run that my interest begins to wane, but there's still some great stuff in here. If you're down for an offbeat issue from an offbeat era, definitely consider giving this one the ol' flip through.
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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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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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