Justice League of America #219 (October, 1983)
"Crisis in the Thunderbolt Dimension, Part One"
Writers - Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway
Pencils - Chuck Patton
Inks - Romeo Tanghal
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Gene D'Angelo
Editor - Len Wein
Cover Price: $0.60
Today we're going to look at a story I've been meaning to cover here for like a year and a half. I was reminded of this one while Reggie and I were putting together our five/six-part Crisis on Infinite Earths special during the Summer of 2017 to commemorate the 50th Episode of the Cosmic Treadmill.
Up until then, I'd forgotten several of the particulars of Black Canary's move from Earth-2 to Earth-1. Heck, I still probably couldn't speak on it with any authority... which is why we're going to take a closer look at this arc over the next couple of days!
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We open with a gaggle of gaudy terrorists making, ya know terroristic threats. They want ten million bucks in a Swiss Bank Account, or else a five-block radius will go boom. Unfortunately for them... it's that time of year where the Justice League and Society have their annual get-together!
Barry and Jay make short work of the geeks... and even cap off the "battle" with a bit of a flourish. Jay makes all of the bullets ricochet away and form the letters J-S-A on a nearby wall. Barry gets a dig in by corrected the "S" to an "L". The Police all recognize the "tin hat" Flash as the one from the old comic books... and don't seem all that weirded out by the fact that he's standing before them, drawing breath.
As the Flashes head off, we get a quick and dirty regarding the multiple Earths, with Jay suggesting it's a matter of chauvinism that relegated the Golden-Age Earth as "Earth-2" instead of "Earth-1".
The Speedsters rush off to a transport capsule atop a tall building in the city so they can return to the JLA Satellite. Before they can enter, however, they find themselves attacked by a bolt of lightning! Turns out, this is Johnny Thunder's T-Bolt Genie... who goes right after Barry, leaving him kayoed and comatose.
Aboard the Satellite, the heroes hang out. Firestorm is off to the side wondering why Power Girl is "blanking" him. Guess the poor kid doesn't own a mirror. After some prodding from Hourman and Elongated Man, Ronnie decides to give it another go. Unfortunately, before he can, the Satellite is attacked by T-Bolt!
The Genie immediately attends to the Earth-1 heroes (minus Red Tornado and Black Canary... for reasons we'll discuss in a sec), leaving them all just like Barry Allen... kayoed and comatose. It isn't until Dinah lets loose with a Canary Cry that T-Bolt vanishes.
Moments later, Jay arrives with Barry. The remaining "awake" heroes fill each other in about what they'd just experienced. Huntress informs the team that the Transmatter Machine they use to jump between Earths has been destroyed... and they all try and figure out just what's going on. It seems as though T-Bolt only attacked people who were born on Earth-1. Dinah grew up on Earth-2, and Reddy was built there (though, he's also a robot... so that might have something to do with it). Dinah shares a bit of her origin, just in case we're not familiar with it.
She would join up with the Justice Society during their run-in with a goofy-looking sonuvagun called Aquarius. During the fight, Dinah is very nearly killed... until her husband, Larry Lance jumped in front of a blast meant for her! After this, Dinah would relocate to Earth-1... and also, discover that she had the "Canary Cry" power!
Back in the present, the heroes suggest calling in some reinforcements... however, it would appear as though they're all kayoed and comatose as well! Well, except for Batman... gotta keep him strong (or maybe he's just an Outsider at this point).
Suddenly news from around the world pours in to the Satellite. It seems that villains from Earth-1 are teaming up with villains from Earth-2 to cause all sorts of mischief! The heroes rush off to attend to these threats, leaving Black Canary and Starman behind to look after the Justice Leaguers.
Once they're all gone, however, Starman has a suggestion on how they might better help out... they could... head into the Thunderbolt Dimension and try and confront T-Bolt head on! It doesn't take much convincing... and before we know it, they do just that.
Also, before we know it, the heroes are attacked by T-Bolt... and Johnny Thunder himself!
With the heroes now captive of T-Bolt, Johnny decides to introduce them to a pair of guests... Larry and Dinah Lance... under glass?!
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I tell ya what... where were Roy and Gerry when DC was getting ready to launch The New-52!? I swear, these might've been the fellas to actually make it all fit/work. Then again, I suppose if DC wanted The New-52! to "work" long-term, they probably would've used more than a packet of Jell-O Pudding to lay the initial foundation.
This was a really good issue... which, isn't much of a surprise. The JLA/JSA team-ups are usually a fun diversion chock full of historical nods to continuity and what-not. This issue/arc is no different. Seeing the characters catch-up... especially Dinah, since she originated on Earth-2, was a treat. Even when Dinah was explaining the length and girth of Ollie's arrow... and by "arrow", I mean... well, arrow... getchure minds outta the gutter.
The art by Chuck Patton is pretty great. He does a wonderful job on the heroes, again... particularly Black Canary. Feel like Patton's one of those artists who doesn't get mentioned as much as he ought to.
Not much more to say about this issue without reflecting on how it all winds up... it really is a set-up for what's to come. I had a really good time with it, and would bet many'a DC fan would too! This issue is available digitally.
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Letters Page (featuring current Sr. VP of Vertigo Comics, Hank Kanalz):
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Flash (vol.5) #23 (July, 2017)
"The Color of Fear, Part One: Hello"
Writer - Joshua Williamson
Artist - Carmine Di Giandomenico
Colors - Ivan Plascencia
Letters - Steve Wands
Associate Editor - Amedeo Turturro
Editor - Brian Cunningham
Cover Price: $2.99
Hey everybody, I come to you today... one-year older... one-year wiser? Ehh, one-year older.
For yes, today is my thirty-coughth birthday... and to celebrate, we're going to take a look at an issue featuring Barry Allen's Birthday Blowout!
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We open in the 25th Century, at the Flash Museum. A voice is narrating over a visual of some familiar-looking costumes... and when it gets to Eobard Thawne, it reveals that the future remembers him as the Flash's best friend! Well, we know better than that. Back in the present, Barry is in the S.T.A.R. Labs Morgue, where he stands over the crunchy and dehydrated corpse of Thawne. Remember he was zapped by some baby-blue energy during The Button. Barry's convinced that Thawne isn't dead... just severely slowed-down. His little monologue is interrupted by a pair of lab techs... and so he leaves. That's okay though, he's actually got somewhere else to be anyway!
Like his Birthday Party!
After getting the big Surprise!", the guests seem to all go back to their business. Forrest approaches Barry to talk his ear off, during which he can't help but flash back to the recent The Button arc. The man with the tin hat... Batman's Flashpoint letter from Thomas Wayne... ya know, all that stuff.
Barry watches Wallace walk by, and mentions that they're not on the best of terms at the moment... he wants Barry to tell Iris that he's the Flash. All he can think about though, is how much danger that might put her in. With folks like Thawne in the Universe, anyone who knows the secret is put at risk! He imagines Zoom busting through this very Birthday Party... and murdering everyone there in a matter of microseconds.
Singh and Hartley head over to snap Barry out of his daydream... but can't get him to reveal what he'd been thinking about. Henry Allen makes an attempt, which is just as unsuccessful.
Then, a very special guest arrives, with a regifted model plane under his arm... Hal Jordan! The Hard-Travel... er, wait, that's not them.
Hal is introduced to Iris, and does that whole "You're too good for this guy" routine, before she starts to harangue Barry about being distracted during his party. An uncomfortable Hal actually wishes for an alien invasion (under his breath) in order to interrupt this discussion...
... and he almost gets his wish! Though, instead of aliens... it's just a whole lotta Multiplex!
Barry and Hal rush off to change into their "work duds". On the way, Barry asks Wallace to bring Iris home right away. Wally puts up a struggle... and reminds me of the way he's depicted in the Teen Titans book... as one of the worst characters ever! Just punch this little goof, Barry!
After a pretty lazy two-page spread of Flash and Green Lantern in costume (I mean, it's just the two of them in front of a flare-y computer background... did we really need to waste two pages?), we find out that Multiplex is there looking for a girl he's fallen in love with. She insists that they've only had a single drink together at this point... so, our man Danton's what we in the biz call a "fast worker"... or, a "damned creep", either descriptor works.
Flash and Lantern show up and start cleaning house. Unfortunately, Multi-plex won't quit multi-plying... until finally, he becomes like... just a mass of multies. Like, ya know when someone shines a light in a cave, and something like a billion spiders scatter away? Like that.
While Hal and Barry deal with that... Wally brings Iris back to the "safety" of her home. Only one problem with that... somebody's waiting for them!
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Ya know... I really wanted to be "all in" on the post-Rebirth Flash book, but it felt like every time I cracked open an issue, I'd see some evil speedster staring back at me. Felt like every time out, Barry would have to fight someone who might be faster than him... which isn't a bad idea, but... feels just so overdone at this point.
I remember this issue in particular. When I get my bundle of books from DCBS every month or so, I enter them into my obsessive-Excel spreadsheet. Part of that is getting issue titles (which more books need to use these days!) and the writer and artist. Upon flipping to the last-page (where too many books now put their credits) I'm faced with Eobard Thawne. C'mon... again/still? And, I gotta say... I was so damned excited for this issue to see how they'd follow up The Button.
Is this some sort of "thing" from the Flash TV show? Is it just Barry fighting an "evil speedster of the week" every time out? Because, lemme tell ya... this is getting tiresome!
Let's talk Thawne for a bit. I swear, the only time I was able to make sense of/differentiate between what a Professor Zoom and Reverse-Flash was, was during the middle-part of the Geoff Johns run. I'm so far removed from all that, that I couldn't, with any authority, speak to who's who and what's what. I could've sworn they were two different guys... but, now they're not? Can't really hold this against them, not having read as much of the recent stuff as I perhaps should.
I mentioned a "lazy two-page spread" during the synopsis. Now, I hate judging art... not being much of an artist myself, I feel weird about giving an opinion one way or another. Though, Di Giandomenico really ain't one of my favorites. I recall his work making All-New X-Factor over at Marvel rather a chore to read. Though, if I'm being honest, the story wasn't exactly great shakes in that book either.
That "spread" though... just feels so unnecessary. I can only assume that Di Giandomenico really wanted to draw a big image of Hal and Barry in costume... or, the writer assumed this would look a lot better than it actually did. I'll include it below...
We discussed a post-Rebirth issue last week as part of the Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths. During that piece, I mentioned how much better nu-Wally was written here than in Teen Titans... where he is often the worst thing on the page. Well, that's all changed here. It's not quite as bad as in Titans, but he's really so very annoying here.
It must sound like I hated this issue, huh? Well, no... I thought all of the Barry stuff was great. Loved how he was so lost in thought that his own narration boxes were cutting off other peoples' dialogue balloons... that's a great little detail that I appreciated.
Also, the Barry stuff is just the most interesting... especially coming off The Button, lackluster ending and all... it was still (supposedly) the "next step" in the Rebirthening of the DC Universe. Well, hopefully Doomsday Clock will be done within the next 2-3 years so we might finally see what the "next step" could be.
Overall... a fine issue, though disappointing if you were expecting any concrete follow-up to The Button. The art is a bit distracting and Wally is a little jerk. Other than that though, this could be worth a look.
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The Two-Page Spread:
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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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