Flash (vol.2) #16 (September, 1988)
"The Adventures of Speed McGee, Part 1"
Writer - William Messner-Loebs
Pencils - Greg LaRocque
Inks - Larry Malstedt
Letters - Steve Haynie
Colors - Michele Wolfman
Editor - Barbara Randall
Cover Price: $0.75
Welcome back, folks. Christmas is in the rear-view, and it's back to business as usual here at the Infinite Earths. In other words, it's safe to come back...
Now, several months ago we took a look at an issue of Flash that introduced the character "Speed McGee". Ever wonder what happened to him? Well, we're going to find out anyway!
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We open with Jerry "Speed" McGee recovering in his hospital room. He evidently has no memory of transforming himself into an eight-foot tall speed monster. He is visited by his estranged wife, Tina... who if you recall, has been fooling around with Wally. If you don't recall, no worries... this issue mentions that she and Wally are "sleeping together" several times. Anyhoo, the McGee's catch up, and actually have a pleasant conversation... lotsa laughing... so much so, that I thought for a moment might be revealed as a dream... or, like they were on the set of a sitcom. Wally's mom pops her head in the room to call for Tina. We can see that they have a pretty frosty relationship.
We shift scenes across the hospital, where Wally is attempting to entertain some sick children his speed-antics. Unfortunately, his recent run-in with Vandal Savage actually stripped him of his powers! We get a pretty interesting look at Wally's attempt at being a Superman-style hero, when he assures one of the kids that they'll get better really soon. They reply that their parents already told them that they're going to Heaven. Yikes.
Seeing Wally struggle with this unruly crowd, Mason Trollbridge (now there's a name!) steps in and does the whole "hide a quarter behind the ear" gimmick... only he says that the Flash did it so quickly they didn't even notice.
We jump ahead a little bit, and Trollbridge gives Wally an envelope that had been dropped off for him earlier. It's an eviction notice from the apartment he'd been sharing with his mother. Elsewhere, Jerry McGee is visited by Russian Doctors, Orloff and Bortz for a bit of observation. They inform him that Wally's speed is gone.
Back to Wally, who is making a frantic phone call to his landlord, Mr. Gilchrist. Dude tells him that his rent was too late, and it's time to go. Trollbridge has posited that Gilchrist was going to utilize strong-arm tactics to evict every last tenant, before turning "condo". Gilchrist gives Wally the "sucks to be you" before hanging up and attending to his baby daughter.
Then... we get this rather disturbing panel, where Gilchrist and the Flash are holding the child... and in the foreground are Vandal Savage and mobster, Nick Bassaglia. This is really quite off-putting.
Back to the hospital, where Wally's mom is chatting with Tina McGee. Tina expresses a renewed interest in fixing her relationship with Jerry... but feels like she owes it to Wally to stay with him, after all, he did save her life. Mrs. West suggests that a forced sense of gratitude shouldn't be what keeps a relationship together. Remember, she's not keen on this coupling in the first place.
At the very same time, Wally is checking out the butt of a cutie-pie nurse, and lamenting the fact that he's sort of "stuck" with Tina. He, like Tina, feels like this relationship is more a burden than anything else.
He is approached by Tina... who lets him off the hook! She tells him that she'll always love and remember him, but a relationship just isn't in the cards for them. Wally, in classic sitcom fashion, wonders how he might get Tina back. Wonk wonkkk.
Back to Jerry's room, where Gregor Gregorovich of the Blue Trinity busts in and grabs one of the doctors to bring back to Russia with him.
Wally arrives on the scene to try and talk the baddie down. Ya see, the Blue Trinity got all tied up in the Rudy West/Manhunters thing during Millennium, and they ain't happy. Wally, without his powers, gets beat up pretty bad. Gregor makes a phone call and talks in code for a bit before being told that his mission has been cancelled. He then charges toward "Speed" McGee... and collapses to the ground.
We wrap up with Wally and his mother returning to their apartment, where they are greeted by an eviction notice tacked to the door. The phone rings, and it's Mr. Gilchrist. He tells Wally that his daughter has been kidnapped, and begs him for help. Wally, get this, apologizes and tells Gilchrist that "Wally West doesn't live here anymore"! Stone cold.
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Something about this issue kinda disturbs me. There's an "unreality" to it, ya know? A couple of scenes in particular really kinda get to me.
First, the opening scene with the McGee's. The conversation they had felt so hammed-up that I was really expecting it to be a dream, or that they were going to be on a stage somewhere. Didn't help that the laughter got its own sound effect... I thought that might be from the "studio audience".
The other scene that bugged me was the page with Gilchrist and "Flash" holding the child. It almost felt like it was something we weren't supposed to see. As though a director shouted "Cut!" and we panned back to see the rest of the set. Gilchrist, who finds himself in a room with a scarlet superhero, a mobster, and Vandal Savage doesn't seem all that bothered. In fact, he's smiling!
Don't get it twisted, neither of these scenes were "bad"... just felt really weird with or without context.
The Tina McGee relationship? Ehh. Never felt like it was going to go long-term, and I'm happy to see it end. I probably could've done without Wally having the goofy sitcom reaction to getting what you hoped for... but not the way you wanted to get it though. I guess that speaks to his youth and immaturity.
On that subject, I appreciated Wally's fumbling and stumbling his way though that pep-talk with the sick kids. It really illustrates how young Wally is different from seasoned heroes like Superman, or even his own predecessor, Barry Allen.
The first few years of this series were all about Wally growing into his role as the Flash... so, seeing him have "growing pains" is really cool. These days, give a kid powers and a costume, they'll be too busy telling everybody (and being told) how "awesome" they are to worry in the slightest about the tribulations before them.
Another illustration of Wally's immaturity comes at the end. After receiving a frantic phone call from Landlord Whatshisface about his missing daughter, Wally tells him to go pound sand. That's not something any other superhero would ever do!
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good issue. It's definitely a different kinda Wally than we'd come to know and love in the decades that followed, but definitely enjoyable. This issue is available digitally.
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DC Comics Presents #67 (March, 1984)
"Twas the Fright Before Christmas!"
Co-Plot/Script - Len Wein
Co-Plot - E. Nelson Bridwell
Pencils - Curt Swan
Inks - Murphy Anderson
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Gene D'Angelo
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.75
Well, friends... we've survived another one! Three Annual Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths's's's's are in the books!
Merriest Christmas, and Happiest of Holidays to you and yours, Dear Reader!
To wrap up the event, we'll be revisiting one of the chapters from Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1 (1988) which we originally discussed way back on December 21, 2016 (as part of Super-Blog Team-Up, no less!).
Right now I'm probably about ten pounds heavier than I was when we started this event... so, let's get through the issue... so, I can jam a few more handfuls of cookies in my mouth while I still have the "it's Christmas!" excuse!
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It's Christmas Eve in Metropolis... and Superman lands next to a bell-ringer Santa Claus and a young boy with a toy dart gun. He fires a little plunger dart that attaches itself to Santa's nose... and then appears to fall into a trance. He calmly demands that Santa hand over all of his money. Superman nabs the pop-gun and gives it the ol' x-ray once-over. Somehow it has a secret mechanism that hypnotizes the trigger-puller. Superman then wraps the boy in his cape, and heads off to the Fortress of Solitude for more testing.
He gives the kid a full eye-exam, and snaps him back to reality. The boy's name is Timmy Dickens, and he recounts the last thing he remembers. He was snooping around the house looking for his Christmas gifts. He found a dart gun and a starship... when he fired the gun for the first time, he fell under a trance.
Superman then puts him under yet another trance... which facilitates Timmy telling Superman what his post-hypnotic suggestion was... hey, whattayaknow... it's the Toyman. Blech.
Superman takes the tot and begins the flight back to Metropolis... somehow the kid is still holding onto the starship toy... which blasts Superman in the face with a green ray. This causes the Man of Steel to drop into the snow like a rock... knocking himself out, as though he were Hal Jordan in the vicinity of a bar of soap.
Some elves... yeah, we all know where this is going... show up and carry Superman off. We shift scenes to the Toyman watching his monitor... which somehow captured Superman falling into the snow. That's some bad-ass camerawork, no?
We rejoin a groggy Superman as he stirs back to life... before him stand several elves... and, yup... the big man himself!
Santa Claus gives Superman the grand tour of his top secret toy workshop. A particularly funny scene follows in which Superman sees the new 20th Century Santa Claus monitoring system. It's elves putting together the naughty and nice lists by watching the kids (and a certain Toyman) on computer screens. That's pretty funny!
Superman watches as the elves craft toys as he and Santa lament the loss of the simpler toys of Clark's own youth... which segues into a mention of a super-simple Kryptonian toy that took brain waves and made them into a hologram. Simple toys... just like that! Anyhoo, Superman mentions that he lost that toy when Krypton exploded... because, pre-Crisis.
Superman still can't quite fly yet, so Santa offers to give him a lift on his sleigh. Superman tries to fly... but, flops into the back of the sleigh anyway. They head to Toyman's toy shoppe, the Big Shott Toy Store, and Superman decides to crash on in.
What follows is... well, way too many pages of Superman fighting toys. I mean, this goes on for like five pages and is horribly dull until Santa finally trips the Toyman up with some marbles, like he was that kid in Home Alone. He did that, right? Seems like something he would do...
Anyhoo, Superman and Santa Claus win the day... and all that's left is to replace the hypnotic gifts with the genuine Santa-crafted articles.
Superman and Santa share a few more words before Timmy "accidentally" blasts Superman with the toy starship again. Oof. Superman wakes up to find Timmy sitting over him, wrapped in his cape... was the whole thing a dream?
Superman deposits the tot and head home to his Clinton Street apartment. Surely the whole thing was a dream, right? Well... upon taking off his cape, Superman notices that there's something stashed there... it's the hologram toy from Krypton! He flips the switch, and it's... Santa, wishing Superman a Merry Christmas!
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Yeah... it's not the greatest of issues, but I can't help but to love it anyway! The Toyman, while incredibly lame, is really the perfect villain for this outing. I mean, who else could it be?
I mentioned this briefly during our look at this as a chapter of Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1, but I'm always going to be down with an issue that includes Santa, and doesn't flat-out dismiss him. Last year we took a look at the Larfleeze Christmas Special, which handled things a different way... and I hated that. I mean, the issue itself was fun, but I definitely did not appreciate the Santa-sitch.
Superman getting that toy he'd lost on Krypton was a nice touch. Really speaks to the magic of the Holiday. If you dismiss all of the silliness (and Toymaniness) this could be a top issue... it would also only be about three pages long... but, whattayagonnado?
Overall... I'm gonna say, if you come across this one in the wild, snap it up. I mean, who wouldn't want to have the novelty of Superman teaming up with Santa Claus (in continuity!) as part of their comics library? This issue is available digitally.
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O' Christmas Tree 2018:
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, DC Comics Presents #67, Superman (vol.2) #153, Spectre (vol.4) #12, Batman #598, Batman #596, Flash (vol.5) #17, Batman and the Outsiders #31, Captain Atom #13! Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review. Merry Christmas, Friends!
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Superman (vol.2) #153 (February, 2000)
"Say Goodbye"
Writer - Jeph Loeb
Guest Pencils - Mike McKone
Guest Inks - Marlo Alquiza
Letters - Comicraft
Colors - Tanya & Richard Horie
Associate Editor - Maureen McTigue
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $1.99
Welcome to the penultimate day of our Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths! I hope you've all enjoyed 2018's trip down Santa Claus Lane.
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It's Christmas Eve (just like in real life!), and Lois Lane is trimming the tree at the Kent Family apartment... talk about waiting til the last minute, right? She is lost in thought, and shares with us some "journo code". Ya see, Perry would always put a "-30-" at the end of her pieces when they were ready to print... I guess that's something folks in newspapers understand... and something that Jeph Loeb really wanted us to know that he knew as well? Fair enough.
We shift scenes over to the rooftop of the Daily Planet, where Jimmy and Superman are having a pow-wow. This is right off the heels of Jimmy running a story about there being a "Mrs. Superman"... which is something he is very sorry for. Superman shrugs it off, and reveals to his pal a wedding band. Ya see, Jimmy, Superman is married... so, quit makin' waves. Of course, Superman doesn't share the who's and how's of the situation.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of... Mongul! Well, Mongul's son... who is also named Mongul. Uh, not the guy behind the destruction of Coast City... nor the guy from For the Man Who Has Everything... but the son of that guy... ya dig? Whole thing would be easier if we could just call him "Junior", so we're gonna.
Mongul (Jr.) informs Superman that he needs his help. Turns out the world-eating Imperiex is heading toward Earth... and if they don't stop him, billions of lifeforms will die. Superman turns to Jimmy and gives him the phrase that pays, "Beef Bourguignon With Ketchup"... he tells him to go find the Kents and repeat that phrase to them.
Superman and Mongul, Jr. arrive in deep space... might be Saturn... might be another ringed-planet in another galaxy (I assume there might be one or two, right?). Suddenly the planet explodes... I think... so, yeah, probably not Saturn then? Amid the boom, we can see Imperiex's tremendous warship.
Imperiex doesn't seem all that worried when he notices Superman and Mongul, Jr.... in fact, he just goes about his work until it becomes clear that they probably won't be leaving him alone. Despite getting nailed by a tremendous blast from the baddie, Superman maintains that he and Mongul ought to remain diplomatic... and attempt to negotiate.
Junior ain't havin' none of it... he tells Superman that it's fight or flight at this point, the time for talking has passed... if, in fact it was ever there to begin with! They pile on Imperiex... and manage to stagger him... if only a bit. The baddie then launches Junior out of the fray!
Back in Metropolis, Jimmy passes the phrase that pays over to Lois. We learn that this is sort of an "I'm okay, and I'll get home as soon as I can" sort of message, that has origins in tornado alley, where Clark grew up. It was a special way to let family know you were still kickin'.
Back in space, Superman lunges after Mongul to save him from... I dunno, crashing into another planet or something. This ticks Junior off in a big way... he scolds Superman for taking his eyes off the prize.
And indeed, as Superman makes his way back to the site of the battle, Imperiex has already bugged out. At this point, Round 2 can begin... Mongul, Jr. attacks Superman from behind! He's still ticked that Superman had often humiliated his father.
They fight for a bit, and Superman winds up winning... duh. At that very moment, it just so happens that the Main Man is riding by! He notes that Mongul's got a pretty large bounty on his head... and so, Superman hands him over as a sort of Christmas gift. Okay, that was pretty funny.
We wrap up back at the Kent apartment where Superman has arrived just in the nick of time to grab a Christmas Eve kiss from his wife.
But then... an Epilogue! Imperiex returns to his home base... and we learn that, the being that fought Superman and Mongul, Jr. to a standstill wasn't Imperiex at all... only a probe of the real Imperiex!
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I feel like I'm using the word "breezy" as a descriptor a bit too often these days. Maybe I'm just looking at too many post-2000 books in a row... but, that feels like the right word to use. This doesn't necessarily feel decompressed, as it (for the most part) is a self-contained story... and doesn't so much seem like it's being stretched to fill space... the pacing, though, is smooth and fast. Might have something to do with Loeb's screenwriting background.
A few days back I talked about how much I enjoy those "quiet" downtime issues... and while this one was chock-full of action, it was very much a transitional issue... bridging between the first "beat" of the Berganza era and Y2K era "City of Tomorrow" Metropolis. It allowed us to both catch our breath and get a taste for what's to come. Really well done.
Let's look at Imperiex. Love this design! There's just something about it that feels, I dunno... substantial. Just looking at him, you know he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. Superman needed more threats like him at the time!
I always talk about these grand "rereading projects", and this era (through Our Worlds at War) is always toward the top of my list. It'll likely never happen... not anytime soon, anyway... but, it's always scratching the back of my brain. Rereading this issue makes me want to pull the trigger all the more!
The Lobo cameo really cracked me up. I'd completely forgotten that he makes an appearance here... and it's such a silly thing. Superman just hands Mongul, Jr. over to him as a Christmas gift. How cool is that? Loved it!
Overall, a pretty great issue. Mike McKone, who, back in the long ago, wasn't my cuppa tea... puts in some great work here. It fits in with the bubbly bombastic tone set by (series regular) Ed McGuinness, and I really dug it! This one's certainly worth a look... and it's available both digitally and collected in Superman: No Limits!.
Remember to come back tomorrow, if you can fit it into the festivities and we'll wrap our Third Annual Holiday celebration up!
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On the Eleventh Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, Superman (vol.2) #153, Spectre (vol.4) #12, Batman #598, Batman #596, Flash (vol.5) #17, Batman and the Outsiders #31, Captain Atom #13! Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review.
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