The Comet #1 (July, 1991)
"First Flight"
Story/Art - Tom Lyle
Script - Mark Waid
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Letterer - Tim Harkins
Editor - Brian Augustyn
Cover Price: $1.00
I've never really sat down to read through the !mpact Comics books I've (somehow) come into possession of. Seems like a lotta folks my age have a stack of these, and I'm no different. Haven't the foggiest idea how and why I have them... but I do!
I remember when they were first announced, I was mildly interested... after all, they were bound to launch with "valuable" #1's! When they actually hit the shelves... I dunno. I took one look at them, and thought they seemed... for lack of a better term, cheap (plus, they weren't part of actual DC continuity... which was apparently something that bugged me even as a kid!). I still thought the characters looked cool... especially the Fly, but not enough for me to actually plunk down my buck... after all, there were X-Men just beggin' to be bought.
So, after a... ay yai yai, quarter-century... I'm finally going to give this line a shot.
*Note, the blogger label I'm going to use for !mpact comics is just going to be impact comics to avoid confusion/to assuage my (questionable) sanity.
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We open with our man the Comet preparing for his first case at St. Helen's University... which, is kiiiiinda underwhelming. What we've got is a quartet of geeks (calling themselves the "Tech Wizards" who really aren't ready for prime-time. Their flustered back-and-forth is rather humorous... you can tell they're just not up for this, it's almost endearing. Comet waits for them to break-and-enter before swooping in to dazzle them with his superheroic prowess. They take a few shots...
... but they're not all that successful, or is that... not successful at all? Comet snags one named Charles, who from the looks of it, is attempting to affect an olde-English accent... "verily". Comet tells him to cut it out with the purple prose, and snatches the disk the geeks were trying to swipe. Of note, he takes a look some of their weaponized inventions and suggests that they're wasting their talents on petty theft... which is true!
The police show up, and Comet introduces himself while handing over the reclaimed loot, and learns that it's... a computer game?! Ay yai yai. Our man muffles some laughter while ingratiating himself to an officer. It's funny, the cop immediately accepts him as an ally... seems almost adorably naive, but it's neither here nor there. Comet asks how they found them so quickly, and is advised that the serial-slasher Applejack has struck again right across the campus... this time his victim is a girl named Vicki. Comet is immediately concerned, as that's his girlfriend's name. Luckily (for him), it's a different Vicki. His Victoria (Johnson) is currently reporting on the tragic event KNOQ News.
And so, we shift to Ms. Johnson. After delivering the report and the cameras turn off, she asks her detective friend Ben if he can share some more information about Applejack... ya know, "off the record". He says no... but does anyway. Well, at least he tried to keep confidential information... confidential. We learn that Applejack has a sort of macabre "calling card", wherein he leaves a note next to the victim... written on skin! Upon seeing the handwriting, Victoria produces a note that had been left for her, from someone claiming to be Applejack. Looks like somebody's got a crush...
We rejoin Comet as he flies over Evergreen, Washington... luckily he's feeling nostalgic because it provides him the impetus and opportunity to recall the events of his super-hero origin! Picture it, Alaska... I dunno, a little while ago... Rob (the soon-to-be Comet) arrives at his parents' research facility. He plans to break the news that he'll be leaving Alaska in order to try out for the Quintook Mariners, a Triple-A ball club. Unfortunately he doesn't get the opportunity, as his parents are nowhere to be found, and the place has been left in shambles.
Rob checks the entire area for signs of his folks, without finding diddly squat. He tries to radio out, but there's no signal... and so, he decides to climb up a radio tower to futz with the satellites... at which time, it explodes!
When he comes to, he finds himself trapped under the twisted steel of the radio tower. Attempting to push it off his person, he begins to panic... which somehow triggers his new kinetic blasty super powers!
Freed from the wreckage and after a "test flight", Rob accidentally causes another explosion. Later, the authorities arrive... however, they seem more interested in what Rob's parents were researching, and less with the fact that they appear to have been abducted!
Once the interrogation wraps up, Mark decides to fly back to Evergreen to try and wrap his head around this strange event. His first stop is his girlfriend Victoria's place. She's upset that he has been gone for ten weeks and never wrote her once... which confuses him, as he'd sent letters every week. Hmm. Anyhoo, they have a brief and somewhat uncomfortable chat, during which Rob sorta hints that he'd like to stay with her... but she shoots him down.
And so, Rob heads... home? I thought he needed a place to stay... didn't expect him to have a giant empty house he could use. While home he reads up on the Applejack murders... and decides, hey... I should maybe do something about him. And so, the next day he heads back to Victoria's to a) apologize, and b) announce his intentions.
She is, understandably incredulous... and so, he decides to show her his all-new powers. She is, understandably freaked-out... but they're able to power through.
We shift to later that night, with Victoria in bed. Her phone rings... and the machine gets it. It's Detective Ben, and he is calling to tell her that in light of the Applejack note she'd received, the PD has set her up with two patrolmen to keep a watch on her place. At that very moment, someone enters the room and leaves... another note.
We jump ahead to the next day's news program. Victoria reports that the two patrolmen watching her home... were killed! Oh, and some nut left her another note. Well, to be fair... she refers to Applejack as a "twisted menace".
... and, speak of the devil... it turns out that this news report is being watched by... Appleja-- eh? Waitasec, this is Applejack?! Bwah-ha-ha-ha... what a goofball! I'm sorry, this dude looks ridiculous. Anyhoo, that's a wrap!
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This was pretty good!
I'm surprised I dug this so much... it wasn't at all what I was expecting, though I can't put into words exactly what I was expecting. I dunno, I guess I just expected it to feel kinda flimsy and dated before its time... but it didn't!
During my initial flip through, just from looks alone it felt like a Marvel comic... no big surprise considering the Tom Lyle art. I've always dug his work, so that was a welcome sight. It wasn't much of a surprise to see Mark Waid listed as scripter, as I recall him being a part of the (semi) recent Red Circle relaunch over at Archie Comics... but, again... another welcome sight!
The story we get here is quite well told. It's always something of a challenge (re)introducing an established character to new or lapsed eyes. It's a fine line between going with 22 pages of origin retelling/revamping... or attempting to intermingle an actual present-day narrative, while providing at least a passing mention of how our hero became... a hero.
What we get here is a great introduction... followed by some reflective exposition... then a cliffhanger ending that kinda pulls it all together... all peppered with breadcrumbs for future revelations. Great! I think there were some convenient facilitators in the mix... like Rob deciding to take on Applejack out of nowhere, but no biggie, it moves the story along.
I think if I were to pick a single nit... hoo boy, Applejack looks ri-damn-diculous. I mean, woof. I was expecting like a play on Jack the Ripper... not a dude carrying a spooky staff and wearing a noose for a tie. He might as well be wearing a shirt that says "EVIL". Now, to be fair... we do learn that Applejack was a slasher from a century ago, who was hung back in 1898... so, I think we can assume that some of his "fashion sense" is in tribute to the original... or, perhaps he's possessed or something. Either way though... he just looks silly. The rest of the characters, and The Comet especially, look pretty great though.
Worth checking out? Sure, I'd say so. It's a comfortable read with storytelling that feels like a mixture of 1980's Marvel and DC, and I think a lot of folks would enjoy it. Am I motivated to continue a read-through? Well, I'm motivated to fill in the holes I have in the line and give it a fair shot, so... yeah, I guess so! From the looks of it, this has not been collected and doesn't appear to be available digitally... so it's single issues (not floppies) only. Luckily, the !mpact line is a cheap-o bin staple, and this shouldn't be terribly difficult to stumble across.
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Superman (vol.3) #1 (November, 2011)
"What Price Tomorrow?"
Writer/Breakdowns - George Perez
Penciller/Inker - Jesus Merino
Colorist - Brian Buccellato
Letterer - Carlos M. Mangual
Associate Editor - Will Moss
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99
I had this whole intro planned out... and mostly written, however by the time I got to my "point" it felt a rather out of place for the humble blog. The quick of it is, I just learned that a fella I followed on YouTube for years has passed away... not anyone I knew personally, or had very many exchanges with... but still, it stinks.
I dunno... I'm not a talented enough writer to truly put my thoughts on this subject into words so I'll just end it here. RIP Emer.
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We open in Metropolis with a view of the iconic Daily Planet building. A history lesson informs us as to what an institution the Planet has been to Metropolis for well over a century (almost two!)... which is the perfect time to, er... implode it? Our focus shifts to the all-new Daily Planet building, which I'm guessing is actually the Galaxy Communications building... perhaps? Whatever it is, it's way too overblown to be the home of just a humble newspaper... or maybe not, what do I know?
The implosion of the old building is being aired during a gala event taking place at the new one. Here we meet new Planet owner Morgan Edge, who gets a new look, along with the core (or our core) Daily Planet staffers... well, minus a couple... neither Jimmy Olsen nor Clark Kent is nowhere to be seen.
That's because Clark's currently hovering above the ruins of the old Daily Planet building. Oh, Clark Kent is still Superman in this The New-52! world... spoiler alert. Jimmy's also there filming the wreckage alongside a young lady named Miko. Miko tweets (erg) out that Superman was just seen... and we shift to the soon-to-open Metropolis Astrodome, where a pair of security guards are dutifully... watching the news. On another one of their monitors they see an bit of flame, which vanishes just as soon as it appears.
We rejoin Superman in the air. His super-hearing is picking up Morgan Edge's address at the gala... it's here we learn that W-GBS is getting some new call letters to commemorate it's acquisition of the Daily Planet... PGN, "Planet Global Network". He flashes back to an argument he had with Lois about the merger. Lois is adamant that it's the only way forward... after all, print is dying (this was during DC's first month of same-day digital comics), Clark feels that Galaxy is too scummy a company to be in bed with. It's revealed that as part of the merger, Lois is getting a big executive promotion to Vice-President of New Media, which may have something to do with her stance. We also learn that she had been both a news anchor and newspaper reporter to this point, and Clark would be her replacement going forward.
We get a brief aside to an alien blowing a horn, which comes with a footnote to check out Stormwatch #1... an early attempt at New-52! cohesiveness that we will ignore, before returning to the Astrodome where one of the security guards is investigating the odd vanishing flame.
Back with Superman... in the distance, he sees a news chopper and police helicopter converging, and figures it would behoove him to check it out. What he discovers is a couple of masked geeks trying to steal a tanker truck. One mentions that they thought Superman was "out of town", which we get the impression is a widely-held belief at this point.
Back at the gala we meet Ms. "Izzy" Izquierdo, the new publisher of the Daily Planet. She assures Perry White that he's still the "final word", as she intends to be hands-off in her approach. News of the tanker-theft hits the party, and Lois in her capacity of VP must act. At the same time, Superman has swooped under the tanker and has carried it into the sky.
Back at the Astrodome... that flitting flame, goes boom!
We rejoin Jimmy, Miko, and a cameraman as they are hot on the trail of Superman and the tanker. Superman's trying to reason with the clown-masked geeks... and threatens to just hurl the tanker into orbit. He gives them until the count of three to disarm... however, by the time he reaches "two", the tanker... goes boom!
The Metropolitans watch in shock from the ground below. All anyone can see via the televised news footage is a ball of flame. Superman recovers from the blast, and sees his present threat... a fire creature?
Over the next several pages, we see Superman and the fire creature duking it out. Lois calls to her news chopper, and tells them to fall back... much to the annoyance of Morgan Edge. She isn't willing to risk any lives to get the story, buuuut... that's not the woman Edge hired.
Back on the street, Superman has fallen back to the old-Daily Planet ruins and fetches the old-Daily Planet globe, which he hurls at the baddie! Wow, that's actually what happens on the cover!
In the distraction, Superman spears the fire fella into orbit... where, without oxygen it gets snuffed out with the quickness. There is no humanoid form underneath the flame... it was a being composed entirely of a mystical fire. Upon extinguishing, the fire below also goes out... leaving no evidence of having even burned in the first place!
We wrap up with the biggest gut-punch of the issue. Clark heads down a hallway in an apartment building and buzzes a doorbell. Behind the door is... Lois Lane! They chat for a bit before being interrupted by Jonathan... Lois Lane's boyfriend! Welp, that answers that.
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Ehh...
This feels less like a Superman comic and more like an... Ultimate Superman comic. Lemme 'splain... Now, being a dude who is almost completely hung up on continuity and lore, it may come as a surprise that I really... really enjoyed Ultimate Spider-Man when it first hit shelves. It didn't matter to me that we were getting re-imaginings of many stories we'd already read... it didn't matter that it only took about three minutes to read an issue (but upwards of a year to finish a story)... it was just good writing and characterization with great art. It also helped matters greatly that the "real" Spidey books (Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker: Spider-Man) were also still coming out every month. With The New-52! and this "Ultimate Superman", there were no "real" Supes book coming out to lessen the sting... this was now the only Superman we were gonna get... and that sucked.
As a fella who was there (maaaaaaan), I remember anytime any annoyed/hurt DC Comics fan would express their annoyance or disappointment we would get the come-back (from pros, fans, and people who pretend to care about comics alike) of "Those old stories are right there on your shelf... nobody's taking them from you" which is not only condescending and dismissive... it totally misses the point. Sure, those stories are there... but they no longer matter. There are comics fans (like myself) who need these stories to matter. We've spent so much time (and money) investing in these stories, and to be told (in so many words) that they never happened... really sucks. Ya gotta remember, we were told at the onset of The New-52! that these versions were the "onlys"... the pre-Flashpoint stuff never occurred, not even on a parallel Earth... these were it.
As a first issue... it's not that great. DC really rode the fence here, taking for granted that non-comics readers might not know who all the Daily Planet staffers are... or care about them. This doesn't feel especially new-reader friendly to me... there's just too much relying on the past to truly move forward. I know they were bound by this nebulous/ridiculous "five year timeline", but... I gotta say, if I were new to comics and snagged this... I doubt I'd have any interest in coming back for the next issue. Even as a seasoned fan, the writing is kinda on the wall... it feels like we're eventually going to get a Lois and Clark relationship... and we'll go through the motions to get a 21st Century take on Superman's greatest hits (just like what happened for several Ultimate Spider-Man story arcs). Of course, we'd soon learn that they just had zero idea what to do with Superman.
While I didn't enjoy this, there are some positives. Up until the gut-punch ending, this could have very much been Superman (vol.1) #715. We open with the all-new Daily Planet/Galaxy acquisition/merger, which... could've happened (again) in the pre-Flashpoint world. Morgan Edge's race-shifting is what it is, but doesn't need to be addressed... hell, you can throw a "Junior" on the end of his name and everything'd be cool. We learn that Superman has been "away", which... hell, could've been a reference to his Grounded walkabout. This could have very easily been just "the next issue" until the ending. To my mind, that's a plus.
Also, the art. Jesus Merino is incredibly talented and mixes some great dynamic action with some nice-looking talking heads. I'd say that the art is definitely the high point here. That's not to say Perez' writing was poor... not at all, it's just not the story I wanted to read. I don't think any writer would be able to make this a story I'd want to read... and I'd wager after this, I'll never read it again.
Overall... it's hard for me to give this a recommendation. It's this story, and those like it that made me go from buying nearly every DC release... to picking up maybe 2-3 comics a month. It may be worth it as a novelty... as it's interesting to see what kind of story (and what kind of Superman) DC thought would bring the new/lapsed readers flooding in (which they did... for a month or two). This series had the misfortune of standing beside Action Comics Volume 2 (by Grant Morrison/Rags Morales) which was going to give us the new-est origin... much of which, it appears Perez wasn't privy to. If you absolutely need to read a New-52! Superman book, Action Comics is probably the one you should pick up.
Boy, this was a babbly "review"! Sorry 'bout that!
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Justice League of America #138 (January, 1977)
"Adam Strange--Puppet of Time!"
Writer - Cary Bates
Art - Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.30
I've been in Arizona a long time... and I still can't get used to school starting in early August. Today my school teacher wife reported back to active duty... and it still seems wrong. I mean, it's the first day of school, and it's 108-degrees outside... yeesh.
In my head, kids are still off until the day after Labor Day in September. That's where I got my negative association with Jerry Lewis... something I was hoping to pass down to my kids.
Oh well, let's talk some pre-Crisis League.
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We open with Alanna Strange recording herself speaking into a microphone about... guilt. She claims that it's her fault that five members of the Justice League have been doomed. This leads us into a flashback scene wherein Mrs. Strange visited the JLA Satellite with some dire news. It turns out the Zeta Beam that sends her husband Adam to and from Rann has been a bit on the wonky side of late.
Now, instead of the Zeta Beam simply sending Adam back and forth from Rann, it's sending him throughout space... and time! She shares a story Adam had told about seeing the Flash and his wife Iris hanging out in the year 2971, like they do. He goes on to explain that during his last Zeta Beam trip he learned that the real menace to the Earth is... him!
Batman and Flash take this information (delivered by a tri-fold projection of Alanna Strange... which seems like a really inconvenient way to say "3D hologram", but whattayagonnado?). They send out a distress signal, which is answered by Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. In learning the threat (and following a Superman-scan of time), they... decide to head into the 73rd Century... just like that (imagine me snapping my finger here). It's crazy how in the span of ONE panel, we've got the League hopping through time.
Upon arrival, they find themselves staring down a large red great ball 'o fire. Flash and Wonder Woman immediately set about taking care of it... while Batman and Aquaman decide to "sit this one out" (Aquaman's words). Superman, however, gets nailed with a blast of green energy... which causes him to pull Diana and Barry off the job. Turns out the fireball isn't a danger... it's simply a 73rd Century street sweeper!
Suddenly, Adam Strange flies in... I guess he didn't get the memo about the street sweeper, because he's firin' his blaster at the ball o' fire... whiiiiiich, somehow supercharges it and turns it into "real" fire, causing quite the incendiary mess. What follows is a tremendously weird scene in which Wonder Woman and Flash team up to make a super-speed fan... with Diana holding the Lasso of Truth in her mouth while spinning in circles. Just crazy! Adam then confronts the League and blasts Superman... which, c'mon... that don't even tickle!
Wellll... it might not tickle, but it's effective! The blast actually sends him flying back, almost clobbering his teammates. In the distraction, Adam flees... and the League is visited by Green Lantern (of the 73rd Century). He's the fella who zapped Superman with the green energy earlier... which filled him in on several of the secrets of this far-flung future. Here, he tells the League about Adam Strange... the most destructive menace on Earth!
Ya see, things aren't exactly as they seem in the 73rd Century. Things that look terribly dangerous and threatening to 20th/21st Century eyes, are actually helpful and/or necessary to survival. Like the fireball being a street cleaner, for example. Also, their air purifiers look like tornadoes... very dark and sinister-looking tornadoes. When Adam Strange arrived, he immediately tried to calm the winds... ya know, thinking he's performing a heroic feat! Well, this Green Lantern took exception to that, for obvious reasons... and attempted to explain the situation, by zapping him with green energy. Before he could set things straight, Strange was pulled back by the Zeta Beam. When he returned, they had "Round Two"... in which Green Lantern found that his energy blasts were now redirect-able via Adam's ray-gun!
As the League and Lantern try to plan their next move, Superman suggests perhaps the Lantern consult his ring (which, you'd assume he'd have already done... but no!). The ring proclaims that Adam Strange, from all his Zeta Beam jumping, has residual zeta-particles in his body, which both amped up his power levels... and warped his mind (that's always the way)! He now sees anyone who stands in his way as a menace... and unfortunately, he's now packing a ray-gun with "infinite" power.
Suddenly, they see Adam heading to his next... I dunno, "gig"? It's a skyscraper that is spewing water all over the place threatening to flood the city below... or, so it would seem. Green Lantern explains that it's actually a special liquid that is routinely sprayed to keep the molten rock under the city from exploding. So, yet another terrifying sight with necessary benefits. Adam starts... shooting the liquid with his ray-gun to instantly evaporate it. The League heads into action... well, all but Batman who would rather they maybe... ya know, make a plan of action.
Over the next several pages, Adam Strange systematically takes out each member of the League... and Batman falls into a fissure in the Earth caused by the special liquid being evaporated.
Finally, Batman is able to pull himself out... and it's down to he and Adam Strange. Batman has a pretty decent plan here... he's been observing the fight(s) up to this point, and something that stood out. He attracts Strange's fire, and dodges each blast... and each one appears weaker than the last (they are slimmer, for instance). By the time Strange is finally able to land a shot (grazing Batman's shoulder) it is too weak to do much damage.
Then, after all that build-up... Adam tosses his ray-gun aside, and apologizes for the damage he's done. Wait, what? Just like that? He helps Batman to his feet, and then the League delivers him back to present-day Rann. We close out with Alanna still recording her audio-missive into the microphone. Adam comes up behind her with an odd look on his face and lays his hand on her shoulder. Once again, she claims to have doomed the Justice League! Looks like we ain't outta the woods yet!
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Well... that ending was kind of abrupt, wasn't it? I mean, Adam's gun runs out of juice... and it's all over? I get that he was affected by the Zeta-residue, but still... just so sudden. Everything built up to... literally the last page where things just flip.
Now, I don't know a whole lot about Adam Strange... he never seemed all that interesting to me. In the relatively recent Justice League United, he (and Alanna) played a pretty big role, and still... didn't do all that much for me. I really dig his design, and Dick Dillin (and Neal Adams on the cover) does a great job making him look super cool.
The 73rd Century is a pretty weird place, ain't it? I mean, they certainly have history books, right? You gotta imagine they would maybe not make their beneficial dealies look positively terrifying. First, I mean... a fireball as a street sweeper? Not only is that incredibly silly... you'd have to figure that sucker would be "branded". There'd be a LexCorp7000 sticker on that bad-boy before it went out on it's first sweep.
The air-purifying tornado... eh, I think it could've been designed to look less like a natural disaster... but, whattayagonnado? Maybe in the 73rd Century they have their packages delivered via flaming meteorite slamming into their front yards. Nothing to be alarmed by... that's just that thing I ordered online! 73rd Century Earthquakes are just part of amusement parks, and tidal waves are the way cranberries are harvested. Totally normal stuff here, folks!
Silliness aside, these bits did facilitate the conflict. We've got Adam acting heroically... to a fault, where he sees anyone who steps in his way as a threat. Fair enough. The future Green Lantern was a neat touch, as he provided the necessary exposition... and saved us from the League learning (likely through contrived means) that everything isn't as it seems.
My only real quibble here is the abrupt ending.
However, the epilogue was really neat... haunting even. I'm not sure if Adam Strange was supposed to be looking... strange here, but his face was pretty sinister. The fact that he was saved, and yet the League still faces peril is an interesting enough wrinkle to make me want to come back for more.
I'm finding that Dick Dillin is kinda sneaking up on me... such a fantastic artist, who has been off my radar for so long. He draws such great faces, for the women in particular. Just really great stuff.
Overall, this is a weird and fun little tale that I'd say is worth your time. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to have been collected nor been made available digitally as of this writing. If you can get a hold of it for a decent price, I'd say it'd be a great addition to your longbox.
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