Detective Comics #604 (September, 1989)
"The Mud Pack, Part One: Men of Clay"
Writer - Alan Grant
Penciller - Norm Breyfogle
Inker - Steve Mitchell
Letterer - Todd Klein
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.00
Here's one I've wanted to cover for a little while now. I happened upon about a 50 issue run of Detective Comics of this vintage in a Half-Price Books quarter-bin back in 2010. It was one of those situations where I must've looked like I was stealing something... because I was figeting like all get out until I got my receipt. It was pretty early into my cheap-o bin diving "career", and I thought the store must've made a mistake... turns out, they just don't know or care about comics!
In our current post-Rebirth landscape, Detective Comics (back at it's legacy numbering!) is from all appearances a team book. One of those team members just happens to be Clayface (I) who is the star of the issue we'll be discussing today... which may or may not have influenced my pick (yeah, it did).
What's more, in addition to Basil Karlo, we're also going to check in on several other Clayfaces... other Clayfaces? Yeah, this threw me off when I was initially acquainting myself with the Bat-books of this vintage. I remember always seeing the Roman numerals after "Clayface" whenever they were mentioned online... and was surprised to learn that several individuals went by the name!
Let's get muddy...
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We open with a clay figurine of Batman being gently placed on a table... we'll come back to that later. The story proper begins at Arkham Asylum... more specifically, the quarters of Preston Payne AKA Clayface III. He's in the middle of an argument with his "wife", who is in actuality just a mannequin. Apparently "she" is the only thing keeping him in check. Some guards on monitor duty get their giggles watching the quarrel... which tragically ends in mannequin decapitation!
Payne realizes what he's done... mannequin uxoricide... and completely loses it! A crew of orderlies head toward the quarters to sedate him... yet before they can he takes them out. One orderly manages to fire off two tranqs into Payne's chest before having his own head smashed into a wall. With the "threat" neutralized, Payne kneels down, and passes his clay-curse on to one of the orderlies.
We shift to the streets of Gotham where Batman is taking out a crew of generic purse-snatchers. In the distance, the Bat-Signal illuminates the night sky. He makes quick work of the geeks, and is already on his way before the police arrive. One street over, the Batmobile passes an odd man in a hat and trench coat...
Our focus shifts to the odd man. He walks the streets carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder. He reminisces of past accolades and accomplishments... including a stint in the clink for murder. His thoughts are directed toward a "Matthew".
He stalks his way over to the abandoned La Scala Theater, where he encounters a pair of street thugs. They try and steal the sack, and are surprised to see that it's full of what appears to be dirt. Then they get a look at the man... shocked by his grotesque face, they are easy (and surprisingly bloody) kills for our man.
We join Batman on his trip Arkham-bound. He's talking over the recent event with Jim Gordon. Here we get a recounting of Preston Payne's origin... he had severe deformities, and sought to change that by injecting himself with a sampling of the second Clayface's blood. Instead of being cured, Payne became the third... and potentially the most dangerous, Clayface. A beast who hungers to pass his curse onto others...
Back at Arkham, the guards are walking the grounds in search of Payne. Knowing he'd been at least somewhat tranqued, they don't expect him to get all that far. They manage to happen across him... only to find that they aren't the only ones looking for him. A woman, who appears to be Looker from the Outsiders also has "dibs".
Rather than talk it out, Looker uses her mental powers and forces them to tranquilize one another. She then employs her telekinetic powers to carry Payne off.
Back at the La Scala, our trench-coated friend is trying to use his bag of clay to bring life back to Matthew Hagen... the second Clayface. He messes about, shaping the clay into the form of a man... however, is unsuccessful in his attempt.
Meanwhile, Batman arrives at Arkham. He follows the trail taken by whoever abducted Payne, and is surprised to see that the most likely suspect would be a woman. Inside, he watches a video feed captured earlier in the day. Payne received a visit from... Looker. The pair did not speak... they only stared at each other.
We wrap up this chapter at the La Scala, as Looker and the unconscious Preston Payne arrive. Once inside "Looker" reveals herself to be, in actuality... Sondra Fuller, Clayface IV, or Lady Clayface if you prefer.
What follows is a meeting of the Mud Pack... led by the original Clayface himself... Basil Karlo!
The first order of business is fame and fortune... the second, killing the Batman. We conclude with Karlo plunging his blade into the clay figurine from the open.
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This was a great start to the Mud Pack storyline. I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting all that much... most of my experience with Clayface comes from the animated series... when I learned that there was more than one in the comics, it kinda made the concept feel cheap to me. Wish I read this story way back then!
I really appreciated the opening pages where we watched Clayface III losing his cool and "killing" his "wife"... the way it was presented, it made him a completely sympathetic character. He's not really so much a bad dude here, more a victim of circumstance... and a testimony for curiosity killing... or further disfiguring, the cat.
I really can't say enough how much I enjoyed this issue. Story was awesome, the art was awesome... just a great table-setting issue. Our villains are introduced, and their mission statement is clear... kill Batman. Can't go wrong with that concept! If I'm recalling correctly, this story gets really dark... and I can't wait.
The entire four-part story is available digitally via DC Digital. They're priced at $1.99 a piece... so for eight bucks you can get the whole shebang. This is definitely recommended, and is on my personal wish-list for a collected edition.
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Letters Page:
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Bonus Pin-Up:
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Action Comics #560 (October, 1984)
"Meet John Doe"
"Police Blotter"
Writers - Paul Kupperberg & Robert Loren Fleming
Pencillers - Alex Saviuk & Keith Giffen
Inkers - Dave Hunt & Bob Oksner
Colorists - Gene D'Angelo & Anthony Tollin
Letterers - Ben Oda & John Costanza
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.75
Here's one I've been meaning to look at for awhile now. Semi-recently my buddy Mike Carlyle put together a great piece on Ambush Bug for DC in the 80s, and I was hoping to discuss this issue then... only, I couldn't find it. I had it, but for whatever reason, it wasn't in any of my Action Comics boxes... I didn't really look too hard for it, after all, there's a ton of stuff I want to discuss here... and I figured it'd eventually get its due.
Did a bit of digging through boxes today... looking for an unrelated book, and wouldn'tcha know it... I found this issue among a mish mash of other DC books. Figure, now's as good a time as any to give this one a peek.
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Our first story opens with a prisoner escaping from prison. He claims to have been "in" for 22 years, and has been planning to bust out for quite a while... loosening some bolts one turn a day for a month... now that's dedication.
From here, we shift scenes to Superman approaching the Fortress of Solitude. I gotta say, he seems to hit the Fortress in just about every pre-Crisis issue I've looked at lately. I never knew it was so ever-present during this era. Anyways... he's returned with a rock sample to add to his collection. He places it right next to his (prominently shown) sample of Anmesium... hmm....
Shortly, Clark Kent arrives for his gig at WGBS-TV. Upon arrival, he's informed that there's some goings-down at the Police Station in Carroll County, concerning a costumed villain. That's all Clark needs to hear, once his boss (?) Josh Coyle turns his back, he's out of his civvies and has taken to the skies.
Seconds later, he arrives in the 'burbs... and confronts the apparently super-powered John Doe. The villain's super-powered weapon seems really counter-intuitive... he appears to get his seismic power from a pair of cuffs he wears on his wrists... not like bracelets, mind you... like actual handcuffs. This dude just got outta prison, he's really gonna pursue a criminal career while wearing seismic handcuffs?
He tries to throw Superman off the chase by dropping some explosive charges on the crowd below... which, is also kind of odd... you'd figure the police (seeing as though this is occurring at the Police Station) would have maybe... cleared the area? It's a moot point, as Superman quickly catches the charges and crushes them in his hands... unfortunately, in the time it took him to do so, John Doe levels the station into a mass of rubble.
Doe turns his attention toward Superman, and suddenly Supes forgets how to fly! He plummets and smashes into the ground. He's not harmed, as he's still invulnerable... but for the moment, he's forgotten how to fly! It's almost as though he's got amnesia...
The moment is short-lived, as Superman remembers he can fly... he heads off in chase of John Doe... who is currently holed up in a cruddy warehouse talking to somebody he refers to as Monitor... wait... what year is this? Is this the Monitor? Like, Crisis on... holy cow, it is. Why in the world would the Monitor be wasting his time with a geek like John Doe? Wow... anyhoo... we learn that the Monitor is responsible for Doe's gimmicks.
The next day, Clark has a meeting with Perry White at the Daily. Planet. This is during a time in which Perry is separated from his wife. Following the meeting, Clark returns to his office and appears to forget his Clark Kent persona... he tears off his civvies and hits the sky.
That evening he runs into John Doe who is attempting to tear up the Metropolis Courthouse. During their brief skirmish, Superman forgets that he's invulnerable to Doe's attacks. In an insane scene, we watch Superman tuck his tail and run... get this, he seeks refuge under a nearby parked van. Friggin' nuts!
Moments later, he regains his memory... and tosses a manhole cover at Doe... damaging his vibro-cuffs. Doe flees, and Superman briefly forgets his Superman persona... and wonders why Clark Kent would be wearing such an outlandish outfit.
The next morning, John Doe is attempting to break back into prison (yeah, John Doe is the guy from the beginning...) in order to trash the place. Superman is there waiting for him, claiming that his recent appearances telegraphed where he would go next. Superman grabs Doe by the wrists and literally crushes the vibro-cuffs. The day is saved... but the mystery isn't quite solved!
Later Superman returns back to the Fortress... and uses his super-vision to notice a hairline crack in his rock collection case... the case that held the, say it with me... Amnesium. Wah wah wahhhh....
Now, with that out of the way... on to the main event.
Clark Kent enters A. Bug Enterprises, a detective agency in a bad part of town. Inside, he finds Ambush Bug mopping the floor. He thinks to himself how odd it is that Arkham Asylum would ever let this "fruit fly" out.
Ambush Bug dramatically gets into his detective gear... trench coat, fedora, and cigarette! He hops onto his side of the desk... and notices something. There's something sorta familiar about this Clark Kent. He bears a striking resemblance to... nah, couldn't be.
Following up on his hunch, he walks behind Clark and gives him the cape approximation of a wedgie... still uncertain, he licks his finger and adjusts Clark's spit curl. The jig is most definitely up. The Bug laughs at the feeble civilian disguise (perhaps some meta-commentary?) and Superman beats a hasty retreat.
We are then treated to Ambush Bug's secret origin. Irwin Schwab was just a normal man who was raised by television... it all gets twisted when he visits the Metropolis Library for the first time. He discovers that "real life" is just like a "movie of the week"... and vows to rid the world of social problems.
The next morning, Clark Kent wakes up from an Ambush Bug dream filled night... he just can't shake the Bug out of his head!
We shift scenes to Arkham Asy... State Hospital. Inside, Schwab's former clinician (Derwood) is lamenting the release of his most high profile client. Bud Lipschitz, the Director of Arkham promises him some very early 80's replacement clients to make up for it.
Later that day we watch as Ambush Bug takes the law into his own hands when he "arrests" a Buick whose meters had run out. The day is saved!
We wrap up with Bug visiting Clark at the Galaxy Building while dressed as a Samurai... Clark plays the perfect straight-man here for all of A.B.'s nuttiness. It's alluded that this is the Bug's "first episode" and he promises to commit hara-kiri at the end of his sixth.
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Well... the first story was kind of a slog. Not all that great, and the plot twist (as it were) was telegraphed a mile away. From the moment Superman dropped off that chunk of rock right next to his sample of Amnesium, it was pretty clear the way this story would go. The John Doe character was a decent enough villain of the month... but not a whole lot more. Him being connected with The Monitor of all people... that was quite interesting! I had to read those panels a few times... I thought there was no way that this was that Monitor. Like the Crisis on Infinite Earths Monitor... crazy stuff!
The back-up story... which, let's face it... was the selling point for this issue, was pretty neat. It's amazing to see a character not unlike the contemporary Deadpool in 1980's DC Comics. I like the idea of Ambush Bug being something of a comedic foil for Superman... I'm not used to seeing Superman (especially of this era) being so bothered/rubbed wrong by somebody. Seeing him in the position of the "straight" in a comedy duo was really a lot of fun.
I'm hoping that maybe Ambush Bug gets some love in the post-Rebirth DC Universe... The last thing I remember him being in was the Convergence: Supergirl/Matrix mini-series, which was decent if I recall correctly... and before that his stint as a news reporter for the Channel 52 bits that used to clog the back pages of the early New-52 era books. What's really sad is, if he were to come back... fans today would see him as nothing more than a Deadpool-ripoff.
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Letters Page:
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Superman (vol.4) #1 (August, 2016)
"Son of Superman, Part One"
Writer - Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller - Patrick Gleason
Inker - Mick Gray
Colorist - John Kalisz
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Andrew Marino
Group Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Okay, seems I've found the "right" Rebirth this time... let's see how everything old becomes new again as the post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint Man of Steel reclaims his colors!
With this being a newer book, the synopsis will be far less in depth... don't wanna completely ruin the experience...
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We open with the... if you'll pardon the editorializing... real Superman standing at the grave of the fallen New-52 Man of Steel. He's thinking over recent events, and is trying to make sense of it all. He ultimately decides that he will reclaim the mantle of Superman.
The Smiths... formerly Whites... formerly (and really) Kents (or Lane-Kents?) have themselves a farm upstate from Metropolis. Their young son Jonathan watches his father attend to the laborious farm chores with ease... and appears to be rather in awe. They share a discussion about chores... and Clark makes Jon promise not to use his burgeoning powers when he's not around... or to take the easy way out of hard work.
Jonathan's cat Goldie spies a mouse, and beelines after it. Jon playfully gives chase, until a large bird of prey swoops down and scoops up the little feline. Jon loses his cool, and lets out a tremendous blast of heat vision in the direction of the bird... barbecuing it... and his cat in the process. We see a young blonde girl in the distance, who seems to have witnessed the entire event.
Later, the Smiths share a family dinner... when that same blonde girl should knock on their door. She introduces herself as Kathy Branden from the neighbor farm... and my Lana Lang senses are tingling. She comes bearing gifts of fresh milk, and li'l Jon is pretty tongue-tied the whole time she's there. Whether he's got himself a crush... or he recognizes her from the field, I dunno. Maybe both?
Once Kathy leaves, Clark and Jonathan get into an argument over the importance of secret identities. Jon calls it an excuse to lie... and Clark ain't hearing it. He sends his son to his room. Never thought I'd see Superman grounding his son... maybe in an "imaginary story", but never the real-steel-deal. This is fun (and different) stuff.
Later that night, Jonathan is looking out his bedroom window... and sees his father, in full Superman attire having a meeting on their lawn... with Batman and Wonder Woman. There is one panel here, where the heroes realize that Jon is listening in... and it's terrifying. They all (his dad included) glare up at him. Masterfully crafted by Gleason... as this can be taken as just Jon's interpretation of the scene, rather than what actually occurred. Like, why would the Trinity try and scare a young boy? Jon, however, could easily be scared by them... without them even trying.
Jon scrambles away from his window, knocking over a lamp... he sits in his darkened room, until his door swings open. What he sees is Superman... who says he's "coming with" him...
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I'm not gonna lie... when I started reading this one, I began getting flashbacks to the "resumed" era of Flash (volume 2) where Wally becomes the Flash post-Infinite Crisis... and has his twin children as sidekicks. I really didn't enjoy that... those kids annoyed me in just about every panel they were in. I didn't so much mind that Wally was a dad... it's just those kids... ugh.
Where this series differs from that is Jonathan isn't annoying... and he actually seems like a real kid. Like, check out the scene when Kathy shows up at dinner... the way he's wriggling uncomfortably in his clothes... that's perfect! His frustration(s) over having to keep secrets feels genuine as well. I will say that I was expecting/hoping for a Superman adventure here... but, seeing my Superman back in any form or fashion is enough for me. That having been said, it's pretty difficult for me to give an unbiased review here.
I'm hopeful that the Jonathan stuff will not overtake this title for the foreseeable future... and will hopefully just branch into the upcoming Super Sons title (and heck, maybe even into the next incarnation of the Teen Titans)... and this title will primarily feature Superman doing super-things... like in Action Comics.
This book does a great many things right... it shows the father-son dynamic between Clark and Jonathan. It adds a supporting character, who may wind up being a friend or foil to Jon. It shows how Jon is processing all of the new information he's been given over the past little while... just imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing your dad talking to Batman and Wonder Woman. That could be the most awesome... or most terrifying thing in the world, and this story captured that incredibly well!
Speaking of terrifying... man, did that Goldie scene really bug me! I mean, it definitely got the point across... and made total and complete sense, but... man, I hate seeing anything happen to somebody's pet. Seeing the just... assault of emotions on Jonathan's face really put the scene over though. Is he mad? Sad? Scared? Disappointed? All of the above??? Just a great (and awful) scene.
All told, I am very happy with the new status-quo on the Superman family of titles, and am hopeful that these books will march on with the high level of quality established in their opening chapters. Recommended for certain... if you're been away from DC for awhile (like say, since the Fall of 2011, hmm...), it's safe to come back... Welcome Home.
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