Outsiders (vol.2) #1Ω (November, 1993)
"Ashes & Blood"
Writer - Mike W. Barr
Pencils - Paul Pelletier
Inks - Robert Campanella
Letters - Ken Bruzenak
Colors - Stuart Chaifetz
Editor - Bill Kaplan
Cover Price: $1.75
Well, yesterday we closed out a year with an "alpha" issue... so, today we'll ring in the new one with an "omega"... why not, right? Who we hurtin'?
While we're talkin' bout it... Happy New Year friends! Welcome to perhaps the only place on the internet where the only mention of anything Gregorian will be Geo-Force's nephew, the Crown Prince of Markovia! Don't worry though, I won't try and impress upon you that he doesn't matter (while coming across all smug and self-satisfied)... although, as far as this story is concerned, he really doesn't.
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We open with Katana in a Markovian hotel room she's sharing with Halo... who happens to be in an iron lung. I'm not exactly sure the whens, whys and hows of Halo's current condition... but, it'll be a moot point by the end of the issue (or, if you've already read Outsiders (vol.2) #1α, it already is!). Anyhoo, they're in town... er, country, for the Christening of the Crown Prince of Markovia, Gregor Markov II! They're not the only ones either! The Briggs's's's (that's Looker and her husband, natch) are also present and accounted for! We see them enjoying themselves while chatting up Brion's ladyfriend, Denise.
The Christening goes off without a hitch, Queen Ilona presents the child, and he is Christened. With what we know from the α issue, you'd figure she'd wanna be kept as far away from Holy Water as possible, am I right? Anyhoo... everything goes swimmingly, and the Royal Family retires back to the Palace.
Brion and Ilona chat for a bit, before Geo-Force heads back to the festivities. Once he's gone from sight, our man Roderick shows his ugly mug. We get a little insight as to the collusion between he and the Queen... and learn that she will eventually be made immortal (don't bank on that!).
Brion rejoins his ladyfriend, Denise... and sorta-kinda asks her to marry him in the most casual way possible. Before she can answer, however, he receives a phone call from Gardner Grayle, the Atomic Knight! He's working on a way to help restore Gaby to normal(ish).
We shift scenes back to the Queen, as she addresses her council. She intends to share the news of Prince Brion's betrayal on television... and they're not entirely on board with this decision, probably because it's bunk. No matter though, she does the thing anyway.
Katana is watching this unfold on television while eating her dinner. Once the bombshell is dropped, she realizes that she's "on the clock". It's a good thing she decides to "arm up" too... as she's immediately attacked by a group of (what else?) vampires! Meanwhile back at the Palace, we see that Roddy has taken care of the Councilmen.
While Katana beats back the horde (gotta say, Pelletier delivers an awesome-looking Tatsu!), the Briggs's's are also attacked by the vampies! After getting slammed into a wall, Lia Briggs transforms into... Looker, and she goes absolutely ape! Another wonderfully-drawn scene... this Pelletier guy, I tell ya.
Looker, who is with Greg Briggs and Brion's maybe-sorta-fiance Denise, uses her powers to get them to leave... making them think they're all leaving together. This sequence wasn't the clearest to follow, but not nearly as confusing as it could've been.
Looker rendezvous with Katana and helps her finish off the last of the vampires... one of which is carrying an automatic gun of sorts! Gotta remember, this was the 90's. Anyhoo, some of the errant gunfire happens to hit Gaby's iron lung. Okay, that there was a sentence I never thought I'd write... and one that has stopped this piece in its tracks while I giggle uncontrollably. Apologies to anyone currently in an iron lung.
Tatsu freaks out that Gaby will suffocate without the artificial oxygen... but Looker ain't all that worried. She lifts Gaby out of the device, makes her look into her eyes and... bingo-bango, she's all good again... she just looks like a member of Power Pack now.
The ladies suit up and head off into action... which brings us right up to that scene we saw yesterday, where Geo-Force and the three newbies break in under the castle walls... only to be interrupted by Roderick.
You know what's coming next, a big ol' Outsider on Vampire skirmish... this time out, however, we follow Looker inside the castle... where she runs into Roderick who had just done the televised neck-snapping thing.
We wrap up with Roddy... plunging his fangs into Lia's neck, which brings us right to the same exact ending as in the α issue!
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Okay, I know I was pretty down on this one yesterday... and I still kinda am. I mean, the story isn't any great shakes... but there's something about these characters that just draws me in. Though, I'm sure the fantastic art is doing at least some of the heavy-lifting.
Let's touch on the "gimmick" for a second. While yesterday's α issue was definitely an "incomplete package", I feel like it gave a more "complete" look at what was going on. Like, if you had to choose only one of these to read, the α issue would/should likely be the one.
This one provides a good amount of flavor... but, outside of the Halo recovery and Lia getting bit... it's not terribly necessary. They could have (and perhaps should have... for narrative sake) just made Outsiders (vol.2) #1 an over-sized issue and tacked an extra 50-cents onto the cover price. Of course, that's not going to juice sales like the α/Ω gimmick... but, it would sure read a lot better!
I'm not even sure how well this performed on the market. I'm missing the issue of Wizard that would have had the Top 100 the month this came out... but in subsequent months Outsiders (vol.2) doesn't even chart! That is to say, there were at least 100 better-selling comics on the market. Not a great way to kick off a new series... though, the market was a strange and interesting thing back in the long ago.
Narratively speaking, I can only really compare this to the storytelling method in the final season of Lost... that "flash-sideways" or whatever the called it. We're getting bits and pieces... but, it's not so much exposition or background information... we're getting the same amount of info, just in a really odd (and unsatisfying) way.
Really, the best thing about this issue... and I hate to go all gushy-fanboy here, but... it's Paul Pelletier's art! It's crazy to consider, dude was so good back in 1993... and has only gotten better! I'd say if you came across this in the bins, it'd be worth a look for the art alone. The fact that it's a gimmicky 90's relic... well, it might be worth grabbing for novelty's sake as well. Like I said yesterday, this is available digitally from DC... and it's an all-in-one (α/Ω)! Also like I said yesterday, I'm actually tempted to grab it, if only to see if they played around with the pagination... though, I couldn't imagine that they would.
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The α and Ω of Covers:
covers by Travis Charest
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Outsiders (vol.2) #1α (November, 1993)
"Blood & Ashes"
Writer - Mike W. Barr
Pencils - Paul Pelletier
Inks - Robert Campanella
Letters - Ken Bruzenak
Colors - Stuart Chaifetz
Editor - Bill Kaplan
Cover Price: $1.75
Happy New Year's Eve, friends!
We're going to be doing things a little oppositty here at the blog... we're going to close out 2018 with an "Alpha" issue, and ringing in 2019 with an "Omega" issue! That's right, back in ye old 1993, DC decided to release two different versions of Outsiders (vol.2) #1! Oddly enough, this happened two years before the Marvel event I usually blame for the Alpha/Omega issues, Age of Apocalypse! Good on ya, DC, rolling out the irritating stunts first!
Now, it is New Years... so, we do have a decision to make. Are we going to be more annoyed tomorrow by people quoting Neil Whatshisface Tyson about how "New Years Day is meaningless" or are we going to be more annoyed by the people who express outrage at those quoters?
Makes me wonder, before we had social media... how could we so effortlessly and carelessly attempt to ruin other peoples' good time? That's what we in the biz call "Progress", my friends!
Anyhoo, let's knock this one out... I've got about 18 hours of Twilight Zone episodes I've seen skatey-eight hundred times before waiting for me.
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We open in Markovia, where a vampire has decided that his next feast will be on the Outsiders. He wanders passed a cave, where he gets the attention of a rather large bear... who decides its next feast will be on the vampire. A man (who we'll meet in a bit) watches the whole thing go down, and seems more than pleased to see the vampire get his.
The following morning, we head to a different part of the country, where a pair of fellas named Barron and Wylde are visiting in order to try and sell the Markovian Royal Family some security. They are greeted by Brion (Geo-Force) Markov... who hands over a gift as a sign of a warm welcome. There's a bit of a hiccup here, as Barron's assistant, Wylde slaps the package away... just as it explodes! Wylde says that it looked different from the other packages he wrapped... which would imply that they brought it with them, though here, it's clearly Brion giving it to them.
Inside the palace, the security salesmen meet Queen Ilona... wife to Brion's late-brother, Gregor Markov. She is wheelchair-bound, and recently gave birth to Brion's nephew, Gregor, Jr. The salesmen show their stuff... and it's a pretty unimpressive-looking suit. Upon seeing the suit, Brion shoots them down. Ilona isn't pleased with being upstaged in front of the salesmen, and reams him out in the next room. She says he "contradicted her", which I didn't see happen... maybe that's a scene from the Ω issue?
Anyhoo, Queen Ilona decides it might be best for Brion to have some "time away", and he doesn't seem all that bothered by that. After he leaves, we see that this dialogue has been witnessed by a vampire named Roderick. It's revealed that they (Roddy and Ilona) were behind the bomb in the package... which, again, makes me wonder how Wylde noticed it? Anyhoo, they realize they want Brion out of the picture, and figure they'll have an "accident" befall him during his time away.
We jump over to Brion as he unpacks at his Summer cottage (complete with armed-guard at the door). The place is attacked by a swarm of vampires! Brion is able to hold his own, and even winds up staking a few! Before the last one "dies", it tells its would-be target that vampires have infiltrated the country... and it's already too late. Brion suits up.
Back at a hotel, Charlie Barron is trying on the "Technocrat" suit, when he receives a call from his wife. The phone cuts out, and so he and Wylde decide to have a look around to see what's up. Once outside, they find themselves pursued by bear! Wylde unloads his pistol into its gut... which doesn't do much to slow it down. The bear rips away at his belly, at which time Wylde jabs a knife into its throat... killing it. But, ya know... he's probably going to die from his injuries anyway...
... or is he? Enter: that dude from the beginning of the issue. We learn that this man goes by the name Faust... as in Sebastian Faust, son of Felix. This is his first appearance, so... bags and boards at the ready! Anyhoo, Faust says it isn't too late to save Wylde, and gets to work with the hoo-doo.
The result is a disturbing amalgamation of Wylde and the killer bear. Before our man-beast can get a good look at himself, the trio are descended upon by... vampires! Technocrat is able to take them out with some electrified darts.
Back at the Castle, Roderick prepares Ilona for her upcoming appearance on Markovian television... where she will announce that Brion Markov is a traitor to their people.
Speaking of Brion, once he enters the area, he finds himself attacked by vampires Wylde! It's a short-lived skirmish, and they are able to straighten things out pretty quickly... like in a matter of a panel or two.
The now-foursome heads toward Castle Markovia, and digs themselves in under the walls. Once inside they meet... the rest of the Outsiders! That's Halo, Katana, and Looker. If we wanna know how they got here, we're going to have to check out Outsiders (vol.2) #1 Ω... which we will, tomorrow. Anyhoo, they're reunion is interrupted by the pontification of Roderick!
He sends some vampires out... which means we get a couple of pages of Outsider on Vampire action... including holy water! While this goes down, Brion gives chase to Roddy... who leads him right into Castle Markovia's in-house TV/Media center!
Now here's where it gets clever. Roderick wraps his hands around Ilona's throat... Brion rushes over to pull him off of her... just as he does, however, Roderick snaps Ilona's neck! Now, what's so clever about that? Well... Roderick's a vampire, and so he isn't picked up by cameras... which means, all of Markovia just saw Geo-Force snap the neck of their beloved Queen!
Roderick takes advantage of the shocked Brion, and smacks him around a bit before taking his leave. When Geo-Force comes to, he heads into the hallway, where he is greeted by the rest of the Outsiders... who inform him that Looker has been killed! The following day, news of the apparent assassination has spread globally!
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Ya know, I talked about a choice we have to make up in the preamble... and now, I'm met with another. What's more boring? A whole lotta vampires... or a whole lotta zombies? Luckily, that one can (and will) end in a tie.
Gotta say, up to the very end of this issue, I just wasn't feeling it. It was written in a rather confusing way... which, I mean, we could "write off" as being fleshed out in the Ω issue. That is, if some of these boggling bits actually are! I get that this is a gimmick, and I understand why they did this... I mean, during the early-to-mid 90's, DC figured out a way to release two #1 issues in a month (week, even!). It's a great way to juice sales, but that doesn't make it a satisfying read.
We can look at the torrent of Team Titans #1's... each with a variant origin story. Scuzzy move? Sure... but, you didn't need to buy all five to keep up with the ongoing narrative... the origin bits were just added flavor to flesh out characters who (I'm guessing) DC assumed would be around for a long time. With this stunt, we're losing out on half the story... and, I mean... there are footnotes saying "Confused? Well, you wouldn't be if you read the other half of this story!" That's kinda lame, innit?
Okay, enough of the gimmick... what about the issue itself? Markovian intrigue never really rocked my socks, but the way this one wrapped up was incredibly clever! It really took me aback for a moment there... the entire world thinks Geo-Force snapped the Queen's neck! Really well-done, and really compelling.
The new characters we meet here are... fine. Faust, Technocrat, and Wylde... decent enough, I guess. The latter two won't really get much play outside of this title... which might be for the best. I will say that it is refreshing to see new (non-derivative) characters introduced any-which-way-we-can though! We don't get enough of that anymore.
I'd be remiss not to mention that (despite the Image-looking cover) this issue is drawn by my main man, Paul Pelletier! Just love his work... though, his Halo kinda looks like she should be starring in Power Pack at this point. Everything else though, is tops!
Overall... this is a bargain-bin book at this point, and one that shouldn't be too terribly hard to track down. I always look at this volume as the "forgotten" one. It doesn't get all that much play. I'd say this is worth checking out for the art, and the twist ending! This issue (α and Ω together in one file) is available digitally. I'm almost tempted to grab it myself to see how it's paginated!
I'll close out today by being just the latest person to wish you a Happy and Safe New Year. There'll be a lotta jerks on the roads tonight... don't add to their number!
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Justice League of America #107 (September-October, 1973)
"Crisis on Earth-X!"
Writer - Len Wein
Pencils - Dick Dillin
Inks - Dick Giordano
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.20
Been in a bit of a Crisis-y mood the past couple of days... so, let's go even further back in the annuls of the Justice League/Justice Society team-ups... and meet us some Quality characters while we're at it!
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We open with members of the Justice Society getting ready to load into the Transmatter Machine in order to perform a little interdimensional travel... nothing bad could come of this, right? I mean, the Transmatter Machine almost never goes wonky... right? Ahem. At that moment, in the JLA Satellite hovering over Earth-1, they too are preparing to load into their Transmatter Machine. Not sure why both teams need to get in, if they're planning to have their get-together on Earth-2... but, whattayagonnado?
Red Tornado, originally from Earth-2, expresses interest in returning there alongside the Justice League. Green Lantern puts the kibosh on that, because the Transmatter Machine has only been tested thus far using inanimate object and live subjects. I guess a robot is somewhere in between? Okey doke. Anyhoo, Batman, Elongated Man, and Green Arrow file into the Machine... and Ollie mentions that he feels a bit of a draft in the box.
Then, simultaneously on both Earths... the Flashes of their respective teams press a button, sending their teammates... somewhere. Again, not sure why the Earth-2 heroes (which included the Golden-Age Superman, Sandman, and Dr. Fate) needed to get in the box to begin with... but, not much we can do about that now! Was this just supposed to be a trade? Maybe it was just a test.
Anyhoo, the dimensionally-lost heroes wind up arriving on an Earth none of them recognize. We learn straight away that this was likely Red Tornado's fault. Ya see, he stowed away in the JLA's Transmatter Machine (which explains the breeze Ollie felt). This threw everything outta whack and sent the heroes to... a world where Nazi tanks roam American streets?!
Superman is almost giddy at the prospect of wackin' some Ratzis... and hops right into the fray! Everything looks to be going swell, until one of Dr. Fate's "enchantments" is deflected by the baddies, and winds up walloping Superman!
Then, one of the Nazi tanks emits a high frequency sound, which boggles the heroes' minds and bodies enough to temporarily take 'em out.
Before the Nazis can swarm, they are cut off by... Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters! They make short-work of the tanks (and men in 'em) which makes me wonder why they just haven't taken down the Reich themselves? They certainly seem up for the job! Once the dust settles, they carry the heroes of Earths 1 and 2 back to their secret hideout, located behind a propaganda poster of The Fuhrer.
Here, it's explained that on this Earth, the Axis Powers won World War II. Evidently, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt succumbed to a fatal heart attack in 1944... and the government kinda fell into disarray... delaying several "projects". For example, by the time American nukes were completed... Germany also had 'em, leaving the world in a stalemate... and so, the war rolled on for decades! Then, at some point in the late 1960's... it all ended. Ya see, Hitler's "brain boys" concocted a mind-control ray to make everyone fall in line. Everyone, except the Freedom Fighters, that is. They have an "immunity" to the ray... which I gotta assume came in the form of a funky flu shot.
He then introduces us to the members of his team... which is a good thing, since this is their first DC Comics appearance (and perhaps their first appearance anywhere in over a decade)! The team consists of the Human Bomb, Doll Man, The Ray, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, and of course, Uncle Sam.
Ollie interrupts the introduction and asks why the Freedom Fighters just haven't destroyed all the mind-control devices. Sam explains that they're hidden via a "mental block", meaning... they could be just about anywhere, and nobody would be any the wiser. I guess that immunity-inoculation only goes so far then? Dr. Fate digs a crystal ball outta... well, outta a pile of refuse from the looks of it, and figures he might be able to hoo-doo up the location.
Black Condor isn't sure they should trust these gaudily-dressed interlopers, but Uncle Sam puts him in his place with the quickness. Now, this is a team-up issue... so, you might know where this is headed. Dr. Fate deduces that the mind-control devices are in three different locations (Eiffel Tower, Mt. Rushmore, and Mount Fujiyama)... which means, it's time to split up! The heroes (sans Red Tornado) blink outta sight.
We pick up with the team of Batman (Earth-1), Dr. Fate (Earth-2) and The Ray and Human Bomb (Earth-X) as they're stood before the Eiffel Tower. The Ray decides to take point, and head up to the top of the Tower... where he is greeted by, you guessed it, Nazis! After kayoing a lot of 'em, one manages to trigger an alarm... which causes a whole lot more to come pouring out from a nearby door. I've never been to Paris, but I didn't realize there was so much room atop the Eiffel Tower!
By now, Batman has... get this... climbed the entire height of the Eiffel Tower. The Nazis, who have kayoed the Ray, unload their rifles in Batman's direction. Lucky for him, they're pretty bad at this, and only wind up shooting through his cape. Batman seems, perhaps a bit too relaxed during this situation. With the Nazis distracted, Dr. Fate and Human Bomb arrive to take care of business.
When the final Ratzi is knocked out, the heroes turn their attention to those doors the baddies came pouring out of. They're insanely thick, and would take forever to bust through... that is, if you're anyone but the Human Bomb! Bomb punches right through the wall with an explosive right.
Inside, they find themselves stood before the mind-control device... and it's massive! Surely, there's some sort of physical sleight of hand at play.
The machine whirs to life, and after scanning the fellows stood before it, creates humanoid life-forms to take 'em out. If you look quickly, you'd swear this machine just created the Metal Men!
We get a few pages of the heroes fighting the synthezoid baddies... it's a stalemate until they realize (by accident) that each bot is tailored to its target... and so, the heroes just shift from battling one bot to another, and it's academic from there.
With the synthezoids taken out, the machine... does what it should've done in the first place... it attempts to control the heroes' minds! And it works!
Well... sorta. The heroes walk in lock-step toward the machine... and, all at once, karate-chop the thing to pieces! The hell did we just witness?
Well, Batman explains that while they were mind-controlled, they still completed their mission via "reflex action". Ya kidding me with this? Oh well... it's a moot point anyway, because we learn that the heroes' Mind-Control Machine was in another castle.
We wrap up back on Earth-1. Jay Garrick is communicating to Hal Jordan, who by now realizes that the missing heroes aren't on either Earth. He fears they might be dead... which is a really lame cliffhanger, since we already know they're not!
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I'm usually kind of a sucker for the "break into groups and seek out the MacGuffin" type of story... but, this... ehh, maybe it's just my own fatigue, but this just didn't do it for me. Just didn't feel any urgency... maybe it's the inactivity of the Freedom Fighters... maybe it's the ease with which Dr. Fate was able to triangulate the locations. I dunno.
I am still a sucker for introducing new/existing characters into the mainstream. Part of me wishes DC did something similar to this upon acquiring the WildStorm characters. I think that would've been a lot cooler than what wound up happening... and might've opened up some fun possibilities.
Now, Earth-X... always a weird one. Many folks know that this was originally going to be called "Earth-Swastika" (DC actually already established an "Earth-X" in the pages of a Jimmy Olsen comic (above) a few years prior), which... I mean, would be considered "edgy" today, but I wonder how that would have been received back in the early 1970's? I mean, we'd only be a few decades removed from World War II at that point. I suppose we'll never know! And, ya know... that might not be a bad thing.
The Freedom Fighters characters, not the most exciting group'a folks... but, still neat to see them. It's funny seeing the Golden-Age Superman take part in this adventure... he's a bit more "froggy" than his Silver-Age counterpart... and really seemed to be stompin' for a fight with the Nazis!
Overall... decent-enough story, but the prospect of watching another couple of teams face off with Mind-Control machines over the next issue or two, just doesn't do it for me. Also, what a lame cliffhanger... oh no, Hal thinks the heroes (who we spent the entire issue with) are dead! Yawn. This issue is available digitally, and has been collected as part of Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 3.
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Letters Page (featuring Mike W. Barr!):
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