Random Longbox

The Future of the DCU

2011-06-14T21:50:00.002-04:00

So I was honestly going to get the blog back on track today, as I'm over in Indianapolis for a couple of days on business. Usually, it's easy to get caught up and a couple of posts ahead of schedule while I'm stuck in a hotel room. Forgetting to pack your comic books, however, will put a stop to that.

Instead, let's take a quick look at the new solicitations for the DC reboot coming in September. I was curious to take a detailed look at the new books, and to see whether or not I'll be buying more or less books come September.

Strap yourselves in, as this is going to be a long one.

ACTION COMICS #1

Grant Morrison telling the history of Superman and the cornerstone of the DC universe. This is the pick that holds the whole reboot together. Morrison definitely has the chops to pull it off, so I'm all in!

I took an in depth look at the Superman solicits specifically on my other blog, so be sure to check those out here.

STATUS: Pulled

ALL-STAR WESTERN #1

The perennial western underdog survives the cut!

And to think, they're playing off of that notoriety by having Hex launch a western anthology.

It's good to see DC doubling down on good comics.

STATUS: Pulled

ANIMAL MAN #1

Here's a title that I wasn't expecting to see at all in the reboot, so it's inclusion is a pleasant surprise.

Jeff Lemire writing is an inspired choice, although I worry about him getting typecast as the go to "animal" guy.

STATUS: Pulled

AQUAMAN #1

Over the past year and a half, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis have really sold me on Aquaman. I never had anything against the character, but never really had much passion for him either. Seeing both Johns and Reis together for this relaunch hopefully means DC is serious about pushing him as a major player.

The blurb sounds intriguing with Aquaman renouncing Atlantis, and the debut of a new adversarial group with the Trench. I just hope that Mera makes the post FlashPoint jump.

STATUS: Pulled

BATGIRL #1

Here's a character that, in my opinion, didn't need fixing or a reboot. Oracle was a great character and the DCU is worse off for her loss.

But, DC managed to do the one thing that guarantees that I check this one out...they put Gail Simone on it. Her love for the character reinforces the fact that Barbara is in good hands and I'm in for the long haul.

Ardian Syaf has also progressed into a fine artist, so good vibes all around.

STATUS: Pulled

BATMAN #1

This here looks like a smart move to me, as Snyder seems to be getting the promotion to the head of the Bat-books while Morrison has his attention focused on a different corner of the DCU. Snyder has done nothing but good on Detective, so I look forward to seeing him handle Bruce on the main title.

Capullo seems like a good fit here, and it's nice to see a major talent with a reliable work ethic get the nod.

STATUS: Pulled

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1

This is obviously someones idea of a joke, right?

How many issues of the previous volume did we get? Two? Three? And now they get a new number one? Really? And you expect me to support this decision? Really?

I'm sorry, but that bridge was burned a long time ago.

STATUS: Skipped

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1

I was worried when the reboot announcement hit that that would mean the end of Damian Wayne, so I'm pleasantly surprised that's not the case.

Hopefully Tomasi and Gleason stick around for more than one storyarc. If they bail, then I'm probably gone too, as I'd like to see some consistency with this title. The creator shuffle at the end of the previous volume got to be too much.

STATUS: Pulled

BATWING #1

I honestly have no idea what's going on here, but I guess Judd Winick and Ben Oliver must've made a hell of a pitch for this one.

Mild curiosity gives this title one chance to impress me, as the creative team has proven hit and miss in the past.

STATUS: First issue, and then we'll see.

BATWOMAN #1

I guess we can finally trust the solicitation this time?

The long awaited and long delayed Batwoman solo title finally makes its appearance. I guess the constant "here today, gone tomorrow" street date has stalled my desire for this title somewhat. I'll still read it, but I long ago stopped looking forward to this one.

On the bright side, JH Williams has had plenty of time to build up issues in the can.

STATUS: Pulled

BIRDS OF PREY #1

I was a huge fan of this title from day one, and Simone definitely took ownership of this title during her time at the helm. This, on the other hand, is not the Birds of Prey that I'm familiar with.

My loyalty to the title gives Swierczynski and Saiz one story arc to get me fully on board, but from that cover I fear it's going to be a rough ride.

STATUS: Pulled for the first arc, then we'll see

BLACKHAWKS #1

I've never really much in the way of war comics, so the Blackhawks revival isn't doing much for me. The creators aren't people I'm familiar enough with, or a fan of, to take a shot on this one.

Maybe if I hear good things I'll take a look at this one digitally, four weeks behind.

STATUS: Skipped

BLUE BEETLE #1

Another pleasant surprise of a title I wasn't expecting to get another shot at. It's good to see DC not cutting loose all of their newer characters from the last ten years.

I'm interested to see what Tony Bedard does with the sci-fi aspects of the new Beetles origin, as it seems like a good fit to me. Ig Guara has a nice style that looks like it will meshly nicely as well.

Kudos, DC! I'm looking forward to this one.

STATUS: Pulled

CAPTAIN ATOM #1

This one here is really putting my proclamation that I'm going to buy every #1 issue in September to the test. Captain Atom I have no interest in, the luster has long since faded from J.T. Krul after his Blackest Night: Titans debut, and Freddie Williams III's digital style does nothing for me.

I'll probably pick up the first issue, but they're really going to have to knock my socks off for me to stick around.

STATUS: First issue, and then we'll see.

CATWOMAN #1

Judd Winick and Guillem March get one issue to impress me, as neither of their styles am I a huge fan of, especially March.

I really liked the Catwoman of Batman Incorporated, so I'm in to see where they're heading, but I'm gone if it's too bad girl for my taste.

STATUS: First issue, and then we'll see.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1

I love a good anthology title, so I'm all over this one. Brightest Day didn't do much to sell me on a Deadman book, and Paul Jenkins has yet to really write anything that knocked my socks off.

I'll still give it a shot, and I'm curious to see who they line up next. In all reality, I can't really see this one sticking around in today's marketplace. I wish they would have gone with a shorter initial storyarc, as five months seems an awful long time wait if Deadman's not your thing.

STATUS: Pulled

DEATHSTROKE #1

I have fond memories of Deathstroke's solo title from the 90's, so I'll definitely give this one a go.

Kyle Higgins seems to be getting all sorts of love from DC these days, and what I've read so far from him has been pretty decent. Hopefully we're seeing the rise of another go to writer in their stable.

Joe Bennet's kinda hit and miss with me, so hopefully this is one of the hits.

STATUS: Pulled

DEMON KNIGHTS #1

Paul Cornell + Jack Kirby + medieval madness = Instant pull!

STATUS: Pulled

DETECTIVE COMICS #1

The other main Bat-book sees Tony Daniel taking his writing and drawing talents across town over to Detective.

Nothing against Tony Daniel, but his style isn't necessarily my thing. And while I'm a fan of Batman, not enough to be a completest so I'm skipping this one.

STATUS: Skipped

THE FLASH #1

This one I didn't see coming, as I had heard no inklings that Francis Manapul had the itch to start writing. And Brian Buccellato? The writing team is a real wild card on this one. It could go off the rails real fast, although from all that I've heard the delays of the last series did not lie with Manapul and Buccellato.

I'm game, but the first sign of trouble and I'm bailing. DC has made mangling Flash relaunches a bit of a cottage industry, and I'm not sticking around through another one.

STATUS: Pulled

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1

I've been waiting for another Frankenstein title since the end of Seven Soldiers, so to see him getting an ongoing is awesome!

It's essentially Hellboy in the DCU, but I don't care. It's Frankenstein holding a Gatling gun! This is going to be good.

People better fucking buy this, because if I get less than a year before cancellation...I'm coming up swinging.

STATUS: Pulled

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1

Another interesting and out of the blue creative team, with Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver teaming up for the writing. I'm intrigued, but their two styles sure sound like oil and water to me. Maybe one of them will be writing Ronnie and the other one writing Jason? That would be interesting.

Yildiray Cinar is a rising star, so here's hoping this will be his breakout book.

I've never really had that much affection for Firestorm, but the creative team has me excited enough to give this one a go.

STATUS: Pulled

GREEN ARROW #1

I want to like a Green Arrow book, I really do, but I wonder if this is the one for me. The addition of Dan Jurgens on art probably puts this one in the pulled category. J.T. Krul gives me a moments pause, but I can probably find room for one of his books on my pull list.

That's a sharp looking cover, and I really like the costume redesign. I'm hopeful, but if the first story arc fizzles, then I'm out.

STATUS: First story arc, then we'll see.

GREEN LANTERN #1

If it ain't broke, it don't need fixin'.

The most consistently entertaining book on the market keeps its creative team intact. I'm good.

STATUS: Pulled

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1

There's plenty of room in my pull list for two Green Lantern titles, and the fact that Peter Tomasi is back makes this an easy pull. Pasarin's an adequate penciller, but I'll miss Gleason's pencils.

I'll also miss Kyle hanging around with Guy, as John Stewart just doesn't do much for me. Still, I love me some good space opera, so this one stays pulled.

STATUS: Pulled

GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #1

Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham have yet to really blow me away on the Green Lantern titles, but in all fairness to them, they came in right as Blackest Night was going strong. Here's hoping that this new start will do them some good, although their title will still be square in a post BN status quo.

I'll try this one, but with the other two GL titles hopefully going strong it's got a short leash to find its sea legs.

STATUS: Pulled

GRIFTER #1

The first of two former WildC.A.T.S team members to score their own ongoing, and this one seems like a logical first attempt. DC's never been shy about giving villains a shot at an ongoing title, but they haven't really plumbed the vigilante role lately.

I've heard good things about Nathan Edondson, so sure, why not...we'll give this one a go.

STATUS: Pulled

HAWK AND DOVE #1

As much as I want to read a Sterling Gates ongoing, I'm not so sure this is the one for me. Hawk and Dove are two of the blandest characters I know, and their starring role in Brightest Day did not do much to dissuade me of that opinion.

And Liefeld? I wish him all the best, but I've probably read all of the Liefeld comics that I ever wanted to read back in the 90's.

I guess I'll just wait around to see what title Gates lands on next.

STATUS: Skipped

I, VAMPIRE #1

Vampires in love.

I suppose somewhere there's a demographic for this title somewhere, but it ain't me.

STATUS: Skipped

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1

Geoff Johns and Jim Lee? This one's a no-brainer. I'm in, and if you're restarting your superhero universe, what better way to do it than with two gentlemen whose super-hero cred is unmatched in the industry. The only question that remains is how soon before the monthly schedule goes off the rails.

STATUS: Pulled

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1

I like the concept of a magic-based Justice League team, and this would seem to play to Peter Milligan's strengths, but titles like these never seem to last.

Mikal Janin's an unknown to me, so this is really up to Milligan to keep me on board. The first sign of bad-Milligan, and I'm probably bailing ahead of the eventual cancellation.

STATUS: Pulled

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1

Here's a little corner of the DCU that I've never really had much time for. I wasn't much of a DC reader when the original "Bwa-Ha-Ha" JL was in its heyday. I've never gone back and reread them, and honestly? It's not really my cup of tea, so I doubt I ever will.

This is being helmed by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti, so I'll give it a look just on that basis. Add that together with the fact that its got Booster Gold and August General in Iron, and I'm in.

STATUS: Pulled, at least for the first arc.

LEGION LOST #1

I've never read the original Legion Lost, so I don't have an emotional attachment to the title, but I happen to believe there's definitely room for two legion books out there.

I suppose some Legion members in present day is the logical choice, but haven't we already told this story twice in the last four of five years?

But with Pete Woods on art? I'm doubly sold, so let's see what happens.

STATUS: Pulled

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1

This would appear to be another case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Now, whether or not LOSH is broke is the big question. I happen to think it's been an exceptional title, but the recent sales would seem to think I'm one of the few who thinks so.

Either way, I'm glad that Levitz is still on board.

STATUS: Pulled

MEN OF WAR #1

The second of the two war titles, and I'm doing the same thing as with the first.

Skipping, but if I hear good things I'll hook up with this digitally.

STATUS: Skipped

MISTER TERRIFIC #1

This title was a welcome surprise. I've been a JSA reader for the last 12 years, so it's good to see Mister Terrific getting some attention. It's a shame there's no JSA title with the reboot, but this is a nice consolation prize.

I'm unfamiliar with either member of the creative team, so this one is pulled on the strength of the character alone.

STATUS: Pulled

NIGHTWING #1

This one's a shame, as Dick Grayson as Batman was the first time that I really got into the character. His return to the Nightwing identity means that I'm probably skipping this one.

The fact that Eddy Barrows is on art doesn't help, as (fair or not) his art is too closely associated with the horrible Grounded storyarc and now it just instantly turns me off.

Maybe if I hear good things I'll go digital, but right now I'm passing.

STATUS: Skipped

O.M.A.C. #1

Why am I giddily looking forward to this title?

I have no idea.

Didio and Giffen doing Kirby. It could work. It probably won't, but it could.

STATUS: Pulled

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1

Now here's a pick outta left field that has me intrigued. This is either going to be the best thing ever, or a total trainwreck.

I'm in either way to find out which way it goes.

At the very least, it'll look pretty with Rocafort on art.

STATUS: Pulled

RED LANTERNS #1
If you asked me what Lantern Corp I'd like to see spun out into their own series, the Red Lantern's would've probably been at the bottom of the pack. The rage aspect of the spectrum just doesn't seem strong enough to carry a series, but we shall see.

I'll try this one out, but if the bad Milligan shows up I'm out.

STATUS: Pulled, for at least the first arc.

RESURRECTION MAN #1

I have fond memories of this title from the nineties, but did I know I wanted this title back?

I'm not so sure.

I'll give it the first storyarc to see if the old magic is there, but if it ain't...

STATUS: Pulled, at least for the first arc.

THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1

Tony Daniel and Philip Tan, eh? I can't see me picking this one up. Nothing I've read from Daniel has really done anything for me, and Tan's work is not to my taste.

It's a shame, as I really liked the first couple of years of Hawkman stories in the JSA, and then in his solo title, but it's been a rocky road since then. I think maybe Brightest Day will be my coda with Hawkman for the foreseeable future.

STATUS: Skipped

STATIC SHOCK #1

I was a fan of the Milestone line of titles back in the 90's, but for whatever reason I've never read an issue of Static Shock.

Still, I hear nothing but good things about this hero. I suppose I've tried worse titles, so I'll give it at least the first issue and decide from there.

STATUS: Pulled for at least the first issue.

STORMWATCH #1

I was hoping that The Authority would find its way back to relevance during the reboot. Probably calling it Stormwatch takes some of the pressure off of it, so I got no problem there.

Having Paul Cornell and Martian Manhunter along for the ride makes me super excited to see where this title goes.

Another pleasant surprise.

STATUS: Pulled

SUICIDE SQUAD #1

So I guess this is our consolation prize for losing Secret Six?

In theory, I want this title, but I'm not too sure about the redesigns I'm seeing on the cover. King Shark is a hammerhead now? And is that Harley Quinn? Really?

I guess I'll give it a story arc to see where it goes.

STATUS: Pulled, at least for the first story arc.

SUPERBOY #1

Originally, I wasn't too kean on the fact that Scott Lobdell got handed three titles. A little hindsight and an interview later, and I'm coming around on at least two of 'em.

The fact that R.B. Silva is on board for art only helps.

I always like the clone aspect of his origin with his half Clark/half Lex DNA, so I'm looking forward to see how that plays out.

STATUS: Pulled

SUPERGIRL #1

Of the four Superman family titles, this is the one that makes me the most nervous.

Are we really getting angry and alien Supergirl back again? After Gates and Igle did so much to humanize her?

At least it'll look good with Asrar on art, and that costume designe is growing on me.

STATUS: Pulled

SUPERMAN #1

Like Supergirl, the costume changes are starting to grow on me. Honestly, he could be running around in Spider-Man underoos, as long as Superman is in the fucking comic book! Seriously, let's just get back to telling some good Superman stories.

I'm so happy that Jesus Merino landed the gig as regular artist. I can't wait to see him tackle the man of steel on a regular, monthly basis.

STATUS: Pulled

SWAMP THING #1

Oh, hell yes!

This is one of the few creative team announcements that they hit a grand slam on. This title has a strong legacy to live up to, but Snyder is a writer that I have complete trust in. And Yanick Paquette on art is another inspired choice.

Look at that cover!

This right here is in the top three of the reboot titles that I'm looking forward to the most.

STATUS: Pulled

TEEN TITANS #1

Here's the book that, rightly so, is getting its fair share of attention. Whether you like it or hate it, you can't deny that it got people talking about Teen Titans again.

Me? I think I'm falling into the "I'm not so sure" camp. Lobdell had about two hundred different past Titans to choose from, so I'm not sure we needed two more new ones. Plus Cassie as a theif? I don't know about that one.

It all seems a little needlessly extreme to me. Still, I'll probably give it a storyarc to convince me to stick around.

STATUS: Pulled, for at least the first arc.

VOODOO #1

While I'm happy to see the Wildstorm Universe finding a new home with the reboot, this title would not have been at the top of my list.

Still, I'll give Ron Marz and Sami Basri at least one issue to pull me in.

STATUS: Pulled for the first issue, and we'll see from there.

WONDER WOMAN #1

DC definitely can't be accused of playing it safe with this one. While Cliff Chang may seem like a no-brainer on art, Brian Azzarello writing is a real wild card. His superhero offerings have been hit and miss, so I'm desperately hoping this is one of the hits. Can these two recapture the Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality magic? I'm hoping so.

As for Wonder Woman's costume? I like it, although I was a fan of the last redesign and this one's not much different. One thing I did notice on the cover was a lack of the lasso.

Wonder Woman versus the gods, with swords and arrows flying? How can I not hope this works.

STATUS: Pulled

Whew...my fingers are tired.

So what was the final tally?

Out of 52 new titles, this is how it breaks down...

32 monthly pulls
7 titles I'm on for at least the first arc
5 titles I'll try at least the first issue of
8 titles I'm skipping completely

That seems to be a fairly successfull relaunch, as far as my pull list is concerned. Looking back at the last couple of months, I was hovering around 25 DCU pulls.

September is going to be an interesting month. I can't wait!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2011-06-02T08:42:00.004-04:00

Today marks the second birthday of The Random Longbox.

Yea! Woo hoo!

Unfortunately, 2011 has been a rather spotty year for posting so far.

Boo...hiss...

So yeah, has it really been since February since I update the RL?

I guess so. Over the past few weeks, I've actually been thinking alot about this, and my responsibilities here.

I'm sure you can squarely lay most of the blame onto my newest blogging adventure, Superman 101, which coincidentally enough just happened to debut in February. It's a daily blog, and while the posts are nowhere near as involved as a post for this blog are, keeping up a daily schedule takes a bit of resources. Resources which are obviously not being applied here.

The other factor leading to my unintentional suspension of this blog, was that my posts started to feel like book reports. And doing book reports on a weekly basis started to feel too much like homework. Who wants to do homework when you're forty years old?

So I've been mulling it over for a way to resurrect the Random Longbox into a shorter, punchier, more agile blog, while still maintaining the core mission of rereading my collection one book at a time and completely at random.

Hopefully, I'll have nailed out the details in the coming months and be back on track. Unfortunately, I'm heading into my busy time for work which means a fair amount of travel over a half-dozen states. We'll see how these two conflicting responsibilities iron themselves out over the summer.

In the meantime, there's always Superman 101 to tide you over.

As always, thanks for stopping by and making the Random Longbox part of your internet experience...even when I had nothing to say for months at a time.

You readers are the best!

TomO.

A depressing odds & sods...and Birds of Prey!

2011-02-27T19:58:00.001-05:00

How about a quick odds and sods before we get to picking the next random book to review?

It occurred to me today how much I miss Warren Ellis' old email list Bad Signal. Yeah, I know that there a zillion other ways to interact with him online, but there was something exciting and foreboding about seeing his name pop up in your inbox once or twice a day.

In the last two years I've gone from having three high quality, full service comic book shops within five miles of my house to now just one. The most recent closure was Comic Archives in Redford, Michigan which closed up shop last week. While it wasn't my weekly stop, it was a great place to supplement my regular shop and browse a different selection of small press stuff that didn't get shelved at my main store.

Back in the mid to late 90's, there was six or seven comic book stores within five miles of my house.

Looking at the sales numbers for January, it's no big surprise. It makes me scared to see February's when they're released.

I fear that I may be part of the problem as I like huge, universe spanning, grand dramas...the likes of which DC has been giving us over the last four or five years. You could make a strong argument that the big two need a new game plan to attract new and lapsed readers to the wonderful world of comic books, but as long as people like me continue to buy all things Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Blackest Night, and FlashPoint related...where's the urgency?

So yeah, blame me if you want to, but I also buy plenty of stuff with print runs under 10k. My guess is that it all evens out and the industry is in a downward spiral that's not so easy to pin on any one cause or genre.

So that was a lot more depressing than I had anticipated at the outset. How about a couple of quick positive ones to end on...

Superman/Batman has been surprisingly good over the last few story arcs. It almost makes up for the whole JMS fiasco...almost.

This is my 250th post here at the Random Longbox! Yea, me!

There we go, much better. Now let's get on with the show and get the next random book to review picked. Take it away, Randomizer...

...and that book is Birds Of Prey #35 from November 2001, published by DC Comics.

Damn, that is one nice looking cover by Phil Noto! Normally his stuff looks a tad stiff to me, but not this one. And judging from this cover, it looks like this is the story that brings back the old Canary Cry! If I remember correctly, that also means we get the bride of Ra's-al-Ghul (or something close to that, anyway).

See you in a day or two for the review, and we'll see how good my memory is.

Avengers Spotlight #40

2011-02-25T07:58:00.001-05:00

TITLE: Avengers Spotlight #40

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: January 1991

COVER PRICE: $1.00

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

I think my love for this title is entirely based on the premise of what it could have been, rather than what it ended up being. On paper, this seemed like a sure thing. You have what is essentially a Hawkeye solo-series mashed together with a second story featuring past and current Avengers who didn't have their own title.

All right, on second thought maybe that isn't necessarily the text book example of what a hit series could be. Hawkeye solo series don't have a track record of lengthy runs, with this title being the exception to the rule. As for the second story, whether you call them co-features or two-in-ones or anthologies, there's just no getting around the "not necessary" or "filler" label that so often plagues them.

No matter...in my perfect world this title would've just celebrated its 250th issue. But it didn't make it to its sestercentennial issue, it only made it to number forty.

That's right, this issue was the last one for Avengers Spotlight. The last four issues of the title broke format slightly and where single issue stories about characters other than Hawkeye. This particular one focuses on my all-time favorite Avenger, the Vision!

The fact that I don't remember anything about it other than the awesome cover by Steve Lightle doesn't bode well for this issue. Let's get reading and see what's up.

Re/Vision

Story: Len Kaminski and Carrie Barre
Penciller: Gavin Curtis
Inker: Dan Panosian
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Renee Witterstaetter
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Three pages of pseudo-computer tech speak is not necessarily the best way to set the excitement for what I'm sure is coming. We did learn two things, however. First, the vision can store about a terabyte worth of audio visual data. That seems woefully insufficient for a state-of-the-art android Avenger, but I suppose twenty years ago it was pie in the sky, wishful thinking.

Second, everything checks out okay except for this lack of purpose thing. I guess that's where we're heading with this story, to find a purpose for the Vision.

Who better to turn to when you need a little pep talk than Captain America. The man practically bleeds selfless leadership and guidance.

Then again, I guess he has a hot date to go antiquing.

An Avenger always has a backup plan, and for the Vision it's newspaper advice columns.

The Vision takes Ann Landers' advice to heart, and seeks out the counsel of a therapist to help him figure out his purpose. In this case, he seeks out the help of Miles Lipton, the pre-eminent researcher in artificial intelligence and consciousness theory.

His verdict? Use a handy-dandy holographic image inducer to go out into society and interact with real people.

On a sidenote, whatever happened to holographic image inducers? They used to be everywhere in the 80's and 90's, but have seemed to have faded away since then. I guess we really are a more tolerable society, eh?

While we pondered that bit of trivia, the Vision completed his assignment and is the process of checking back in with the good doctor to talk about what he observed when his programming hits a glitch.

Luckily for the doctor, the Visions internal systems can be accessed by a couple of stray blue wires hanging out of his back. It makes you wonder why Ultron never thought to do that...slacker.

Back at his lab, Miles figures out what is wrong with Visions programming. Ever since he was disassembled, wiped clean, and reassembled, the Vision has been without a human brain pattern to provide the non-linear aspect of his personality. In a bout of incredible coincidence, Miles just happens to have a brain pattern template saved on a floppy disk that he can use to help the vision.

The pattern belongs to his son, who has recently passed away under mysterious circumstances. And since his son is no longer alive, the Vision will not be conflicted about copying another living persons brain patterns. Just as they begin the process to download them, they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of some mobsters. It would appear that they where involved with his sons death, and they're coming back to put some more pressure on Miles to stop snooping around.

Seizing an opportunity when they see it, they "convince" the doctor to come with them and reprogram the now comatose Vision to work for them. He agrees, but unknown to them, he plans on doing the old "double-cross" with the programming while using the brain patterns of his murdered son to help the Vision find purpose.

Once online, the two hatch a plan to put a stop to the mobster's mad-cap scheme. And here, the Vision does something I don't think I've ever seen him do before. He turns as intangible as he can get and enters the body of one of the gangsters and takes control of his central nervous system?

Jumping from body to body, the Vision manages to put all of the gangsters out of commission and gets a confession from the head honcho that he is responsible for killing Miles' son in the first place. Hopefully the Vision spared a gigabyte or two to record the confession.

In the end, all's well that ends well as the Vision takes the first steps towards learning to function with human brain patterns again and Miles gets back to living his life knowing that justice has been done for his son.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN

I now realize why the only thing I could remember about this issue was the cover...and damn, that's a nice looking cover. It's really about the only thing worth mentioning.

The story itself was an interesting concept, but the execution just seemed a bit obvious and a tad too reliant on coincidences. I'll definitely give it a solid B+ for effort, but it just seemed to limp along from scene to scene without much drama. Same goes for the art, as it did what it needed to, but not much else.

I guess I can also understand why the series petered out after forty issues...there just wasn't much life to this issue. Although maybe that was an intentional meta-reference on the nature of programming versus emotion.

Yeah, probably not.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Dwayne McDuffie, In Memorium

2011-02-22T22:48:00.003-05:00

As I sat down this afternoon to collect some rambling comic book thoughts and pick a new random book to review, word broke that we lost another legend and that we lost him way too soon.

Dwayne McDuffie passed away at the way too young age of 49, due to complications from surgery.

The fact that it happened the day before the release of the critically acclaimed, animated adaption of All Star Superman (for which he wrote the screenplay) just underscores how much more he had to offer if only he was given more time.

His was a true talent that found success at not only Marvel and DC, but also with his own line of superhero comics that he co-created in 1992. As much of an unabashed superhero consumer that I've been over the years, it's the Milestone books that loom large in my memory and my longboxes.

Back in the early 90's, you couldn't turn around without bumping into a new imprint looking to cash in on the go-go world of flashy covers and leg pouches...lots and lots of leg pouches. Milestone was different, choosing to stress racial and cultural diversity, rather than double d heroines in thongs. For that, they kept their reputation intact long after the line had folded.

Being born into a middle-class Caucasian family, I never suffered a shortage of role models to look up to in the pages of comic books. Originally, I came to these titles looking not to be inspired, but to be entertained. Luckily for me, and it's a testament to the creators involved, I ended up being both entertained and inspired. I wasn't the only one as there was never a shortage of requests over the intervening years to bring the characters back, which eventually led to the characters return into the pages of the DCU (of which I have a few more thoughts on over at my other blog).

Rest in peace, Dwayne McDuffie.

You will be missed, but not forgotten.

One last bit of business before we call it a day, and that's to pick a new random book to review. I don't feel like too much pomp and circumstance today, so let's just get it done and get out.

...and that book is Avengers Spotlight #40 from January 1991, published by Marvel Comics!

See you in a day or two for the review.

Thor #365

2011-02-19T22:00:00.018-05:00

TITLE: The Mighty Thor #365

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: March 1986

COVER PRICE: $0.75

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

My first comic book collecting obsession was with The Avengers, so I have a lot of love for Thor. It took me a while, however, to begin reading his own title on a monthly basis. I started around issue #390, so I unfortunately just missed out on reading one of the best comic book runs of all time as it was coming out.

Or at least that's what I've always heard. I had every intention of picking up those back issues, but for some reason I never did. I blogged earlier about a collection from a friend of one of my in-laws that was given to me, and in that collection was about a dozen issues of Walt Simonson's run of Thor. I still haven't gotten around to reading any of them yet, but rest assured the Walter Simonson Thor Omnibus will be mine once it's released.

So long story short...The issue we're reading today is from that collection and I haven't read it yet, nor do I know what happens in it. I guess the only thing to do now is to read it!

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner or It's Not Easy Being Green!

Art & Story by Walter Simonson
Lettering by John Workman
Colors by Max Scheele
Editing by Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief Jim Shooter

So as it turns out, we have a bit of a special issue here and I didn't even realize it...it's the issue where Thor is a frog!

Throg!?

Did that name ever catch on? If the Clone Thor from Civil War got a cool nickname (Clor, obviously), I think it's only fair that Thor Frog should get one too.

Since it's a special occasion and all, let's break format and live a little. Download "Ain't Got No Home" by Clarence Brown and put it on your iPod and let's live blog this frog!

10:03 pm (page 1 panel 1) As the issue opens up, Thor is already a frog and is hopping through the sewers of New York being inexorably drawn to a pied piper and his soothing tunes.

10:06 pm (page 2 panel 2) Through the magic of thought balloons (take that, modern comics) we find out that Loki has transformed Thor into a frog, but he has nothing to do with the fellow playing flute.

Thor being Thor, he takes matters into his own hands and frog smacks the piper in the face and runs off with his flute!

10:09pm (page 3 panel 4) I think Walter Simonson is some sort of mad genius. I submit as proof this shot of a frog holding a magic flute in his mouth while kicking a dead rat into the gaping jaws of an alligator!

10:14pm (page 5 panel 1) So back in the surface world, it appears that we're in the middle of a battle between a pack of rats and a reservoir of frogs? And it appears to be played rather straight...seriously.

10:17pm (page 5 panel 3) The lead rats name is Ratso!

10:20pm (page 6 panel 1) Back up in Asgard, another altogether different battle wages as the citizens of Asgard gather to pick who will lead them during Odin's absence. To Loki's surprise, in walks Thor! After all, didn't he just turn him into a frog on Midgard?

10:22pm (page 6 panel 3) Loki manages to get the althing delayed for a week, enough time for him to investigate this fake Thor and to use his arrival to his advantage.

10:26pm (page 8 panel 1) Loki follows Thor and Heimdall to their private chambers, where he turns himself into a fly to better spy on them unseen.

10:27pm (page 8 panel 5) Am I the only one seeing a problem with Loki turning himself into a fly while Thor is currently in the body of a frog? Granted, they're on two different planes of reality, but I still question your judgement Loki.

10:31pm (page 9 panel 2) Back on Earth, the rats are on the offensive against the frogs for the control of Central Park.

And there's another rat named Rizzo...I should've seen that coming.

10:33pm (page 10 panel 2) They're in for a surprise however, as the alligators from the alley have followed Thor to the surface and have decided to feast on the rats.

10:36pm (page 11 panel 5) While currently trapped in the body of frog, Thor is still the hero and now he must find a way to alert the authorities that there are a bunch of alligators in Central Park before any innocents get hurt.

Unfortunately for him, the piper has found him and soon has his flute back and Thor on the run (or hop, so to speak).

10:42pm (page 13 panel 2) Back in Asgard, Loki has discovered the true identity of the impostor Thor. It is Harokin, working in concert with Heimdall, trying to stall the meeting until they can find the real Thor and bring him back to Asgard.

10:45pm (page 14 panel 5) On Earth, Thor catches a break as the Piper recognizes in this wild frog a kindred spirit. Taking his flute, he begins to play and leads the alligators back into the sewers, leaving the frogs in control of Central Park.

Is it me, or does the Piper look a little like a certain writer/artist named Walter Simonson?

10:51pm (page 17 panel 1) The council of frogs soon gather and unanimously elect Thor to be their king after his successful guidance helped them defeat the rats.

Unfortunately for them, Thor is destined to lead a different species.

10:56pm (page 18 panel 3) Thor soon finds his way back to his two faithful goats, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, who have stood watch over might Mjolnir during his absence.

10:59pm (page 19 panel 7) Urged on by Toothgnasher, he hops over to his hammer, determined to lift it and reclaim his birthright.

At just the same time, two of the wayward rats return seeking revenge on the frog who bested them.

11:01pm (page 21 panel 2) And here's the money shot we were all waiting for...

The Mighty Throg in all his resplendent glory!

11:03pm (page 22 panel 2) Did I mention that Simonson was a mad genius? Who else could get away with a shot of a frog dressed in Thor's armor while driving a chariot pulled by two flying goats?

Glorious stuff.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

The big thing we learned from this issue is that I was fool for letting this run stay unread for so long. I've always loved Walter Simonson's work, and this issue was the work of a man at the top of his game.

His Thor, while trapped in the body of a frog, was both majestic and heroic while his Loki was conniving and deceitful. What more could you want in a Thor comic?

It took twenty-some pages to get the return of Thor, so to speak, and the visual payoff was worth the whole price of admission. I wonder how easy of a sell it was for him to convince the editors to let him turn Thor into a frog, much less do it in a straight-faced manner that is remembered fondly by the readers, not jokingly.

Like I said, the man's a mad genius as he was also the same creator that replaced the members of the Fantastic Four with the likes of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Ghost Rider...and it worked just as well.

Unfortunately, this is the last issue of his Thor run that I have. To say that reading this issue has increased my anticipation of the upcoming Walter Simonson Thor Omnibus is a bit of an understatement.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

The trials and tribulations of a shared universe

2011-02-14T22:37:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking alot lately about shared super-hero universes. I know, I know...pretty heady stuff.

For the most part I'm all for them, but to some continuity is one of those "c" words that shall not be named. That's a little harsh, as in my opinion a little continuity is good for the soul. And here I stress the word "little". I'm not talking about basing your universe around some small bit of minutia that happened in the mid-80's, but rather letting your characters live and breath with actions and repercussions that are felt from title to title.

Granted, it doesn't always work flawlessly or with no hiccups, but hope springs eternal and I guess I'm the eternal optimist. I haven't always felt this way, but the economics of the current marketplace have gently pushed me in this direction. As more and more Marvel books migrated to four dollars, I found it easier and easier to give them up and put that money towards other books. Naturally, some of that money flowed to DC and the more DC books I got involved with, the easier it was to try another one...and another one...

The shared universe is a double-edged sword though...as easy as it is to get sucked in, it's almost easier to get pushed out too. It looks like the landscape that's coming up this summer is going to do nothing more than further entrench my habits.

Fear Itself and Flashpoint

Both of these company wide crossovers are promising big things and repercussions that spread across their entire line. Being the continuity connoisseur that I am, they pretty much have my name and number.

Flashpoint I'm very much looking forward to reading through week by week, mini-series by mini-series, and issue by issue. That fact that it's an alternate universe-ish type, time traveling epic means that as far as I know they're writing this story just for me. The fact that all the books are going to be three bucks means that I can afford to digest as much as the quality of the storytelling will allow. If it keeps on entertaining, I'll keep on buying.

Fear Itself I'm very much looking forward to keeping up with the spoilers on-line, while leaving the books on the shelves. I'm not the biggest fan of Matt Fraction's super-hero work, but the idea behind this series sounds like it might be more to his style. His stellar non-Marvel stuff still reads pretty good and gives him a lot of rope, but I just can't jump in with Marvel's price point. It's a shame, as this means that it's another Stuart Immonen series that I'm not reading.

So what's the point of this rambling, stream-of-consciousness diatribe?

I guess I just miss the good old days when you could afford to keep up with more than one super-hero universe.

God help me (and my wallet and my spare time) if the digital platform ever adopts a two-dollar price point. That is also a discussion for another day, so let's get to picking the next random book to review. Take it away, Randomizer...

...and that book is Thor #365 from March 1986, published by Marvel Comics!

Now we're talking! The last time the Randomizer picked a Thor issue is was smack dab in a mediocre run with a Ghost Rider guest appearance. We suffered through and gave it the old college try, but it wasn't a very memorable issue.

This time around we're treated to an issue from one of Thor's truly stellar runs, as this issue comes from smack dab in the middle of Walter Simonson's forty issue run. See you in a day or two for the review.

A very special Action Comics story

2011-02-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

The Day Superboy Became Superman!

Story: Geoff Brown
Pencils: Ross Andru
Inks: Mike Esposito

Here's the story from the second half of Action Comics #393, so if you missed the riveting recap...click here. You're here now though, so strap yourself in for one of the most over-the-top, overly dramatic Superman yarns around.

This tale definitely doesn't lose any time getting to the good stuff, as Superboy turns his back on the downtrodden in the slums of Metropolis as he has better stuff to do.

Wow, one semester at Metropolis University and he has already misplaced those mild-mannered, mid-western values that Ma and Pa Kent instilled upon him.

"Bleeding heart"?!

That's right, and it doesn't take Superboy long to show just how hardcore his new found beliefs really are.

Do you have neighborhood punks sneaking into your exclusive pool?

No problem...Superboy will just freeze them out.

Do you have neighborhood punks sneaking into your swank university cafeteria and eating all of your sandwiches and donuts?

No problem...Superboy will just take the food back from the hooligans starving younger siblings.

Do you have neighborhood punks stealing books from your library?

No problem...Superboy will take the books back, leaving the kids from the slums who are hungry for any sort of knowledge with nothing but discarded cigarette packs and empty liquor bottles to read.

Lucky for us, there's one person willing to stand up to the social injustice and Superboy himself.

Marla was a fellow student with Clark at the university, but she left after she witnessed how the fortunate treated the downtrodden. So worked up was she, that she started an impromptu academy in the slums to teach the kids what society refused to do.

Unfortunately for her, after Superboy returned all of the purloined books to their proper location, her borrowed storefront turned makeshift academy was slated for demolition. Nothing stands in the way of progress as the bulldozers are soon hard at work tearing down her school. In fact, they were in such a hurry that they neglected to make sure the building was empty first.

Uh oh...and I'm sure you can probably guess who was inside the collapsing building.

To help drive the point home just how unjust the world is toward the less fortunate, her injuries are fatal and no superpowers in the world can help her now. If only there was someone who could rise up and help these kids learn their true potential.

Yea Superman! He's going to rebuild the school and the area around the slum!

...or he's going to show them just how quickly he could rebuild it, if he wanted to. "Luckily" for them, Superboy would rather teach them a lesson in civic duty so that they can vote and petition their politicians for the changes they need.

Who's the deluded one now Superboy?

I guess it was me, as the new found political voice of the huddled masses was successful in getting the changes they needed, and in mere months the school is finished and the slums rebuilt.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

It's a sad state of affairs when I can read a comic book and believe a man can fly, but when it comes to politicians listening to (let alone acting in the best interest of) their poor constituents...that's just too much.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

If you enjoyed this look at Superman's past, be sure to check out Superman 101 for more of the same

Superman 101 begins

2011-02-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

We interrupt this regularly scheduled comic book review to bring you this piece of breaking news.

Beginning today, February 1st, the Random Longbox blogging empire expands twofold with the addition of a new blog helmed by yours truly. The regular readers of this blog are I'm sure familiar with the fact that I'm a bit of a Superman fan. They may have also noticed that blogging's been a little on the light side this past month.

Those two statements may not seem related on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you'll see that the reason my posting has been a little slower is that I've been devoting some of my time to getting my new blog up and running...one that focuses solely on the exploits of Superman!

Without further ado, let me present to you Superman 101.

It's a daily stream-of-consciousness trip through the 70+ years of Superman comic books and other oddities. The only rule is that Supes has to be somewhere in the image. Beyond that, anything is fair game.

So what are you waiting around here for, go check it out and spread some Kryptonian love.

(The web design is definitely still in a beta testing mode, so be nice. Then again, so it this one and it's going on two years old.)

Action Comics #393

2011-01-31T21:49:00.002-05:00

TITLE: Action Comics #393

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: October 1970

COVER PRICE: $0.15

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

Its actually been a long time since I've read this issue, so I can't tell you too much about it from just my memory. Looking at the cover, I'm sure there's some horribly contrived situation involving Superman and the parachuting Houdini that involves some overly complicated switcheroo that was commonplace during this time period. We'll get to the nuts and bolts of the story in a bit, but there's actually something else about this issue that makes it stand out (at least to me).

This very issue of Action Comics is the one that was on the stands when I was born! Now I'm no fool, and I'm sure that bit of information is entertaining for one or two people tops (and I don't even know if my mom reads my blog), but what is fun is checking out the books from your own birthday. Thanks to Mike's Amazing World of DC and his Time Machine, it's as easy as clicking a couple of links.

So while you go check that out, I'm going to get on with seeing whether or not Superman can save that little boy's father. Just promise to come back here after checking out your own birthday.

Superman Meets Super-Houdini!

Writer: Leo Dorfman
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: Murphy Anderson

High up in the sky, the citizens of Metropolis are being treated by a show of super-human proportions. No, it's not Superman...been there, done that. This time it's Hairbreadth Holahan doing a promotional stunt for his upcoming performance.

With his son working the crowd down below, Holahan struggles to break free from his chains so he can pull his chute before he hits the ground. But seriously, this is Metropolis and Superman is bound to show up to make sure that no one goes splat.

Fortunately for Superman, the only thing going splat is his sense of being needed as old Hairbreadth has made good his escape at the last instant. Back on terra firma the Holahans finish their promotional pitch, managing to get an invite from Superman himself to appear at the Metropolis Museum Fundraiser that he's hosting next week.

So was Superman really in awe of their abilities? Did they really manage to pull one over on him? Naaahhh, as a quick look with the old x-ray vision revealed their secrets.

Hey! Watch where you're pointing those x-rays, Superman!

Little does Holahan know, however, that his performance also caught the attention of the local crime syndicate in Metropolis. These guys are nothing if not thorough with their bureaucratic paperwork. Something looks familiar about this Holahan guy and a quick check of their files reveals that he's actually Mace Larkin, an escaped con who forged a new identity as an escape artist in an attempt to turn over a new leaf. They soon pay him a visit backstage at the fund raiser and coerce him into helping them break their boss out of prison, or else they tell Superman the truth about his past life.

Holahan reluctantly agrees, and the show continues with Superman using his heat vision to seal him inside a medieval suit of armor. No one could ever possibly defeat Superman's heat vision, right?

Wrong! It's only moments later that Holahan emerges from behind a curtain, free of the armor. The celebrations are short lived, as an alarm rings out through the museum as someone has stolen the Star of Asia Diamond that is also on display. Superman theorizes that it must have been Holahan who swiped it during his escape, and he soon finds out the truth...Hairbreadth Holahan is none other than escaped convict Mace Larkin!

Now inside a prison cell, Larkin is soon up to his old tricks as he's already working on way to bust out. Pulling a fake tooth from his mouth, he reveals it's actually a capsule containing a cyrogenic hyper-chemical which he uses to freeze the bars and make them brittle enough to shatter.

Taking Stoney Croy with him, the mob boss he's here to break out, they take to the sewers and are soon on their way to the old mob hideout.

I love the fact that Metropolis gangsters are a bunch of sentimental fools at heart!

Unfortunately for the assembled gangsters, the celebration is short lived as Superman reveals that Mace Larkin is actually Superman in a rubber mask!

Yes, that's right! It's all been an elaborate scheme of cross and double-cross as Larkin went right to Superman after being found out by the gangsters originally. They then worked up this plan to catch the gangsters at their own hideout! For his part in helping catch some of Metropolis' most wanted, Larkin is granted a full pardon for his past crimes, ready to resume his life as a reformed criminal.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Aside from the obvious lesson about redemption, we also got treated to a look at exactly how the switcheroo went down earlier in the issue. The experienced Silver Age readers out there probably caught this, but here's a peek behind the scenes for the sake of everyone else.

You can scroll back up and scope out the original panel of "Superman" sealing "Larkin" inside the armor to see how it played out at the time. Here's a free tip for you, it's always a good idea to pay close attention to the perspective of the action when you know something fishy is going on.

Now if that wasn't enough Superman action for you, we're treated to another story in this issue. It's a short little morality play concerning social justice and disparity, and it's so over the top and melodramatic that it needs its own post to truly do it justice. Come back tomorrow for "The Day Superboy Became Superman!"

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

If you're into this whole podcasting thing, give Superman in the Bronze Age a listen. It's a relatively new podcast, but the first episode featured an in depth look at this very issue.
Be sure to click over here for the second tale from this issue featuring Superboy.

Man (on the street) and Superman

2011-01-30T21:38:00.002-05:00

So it's been a crazy couple of days for big comic book news. While none of these may be "cracking the internet in half" big, put 'em all together and it's been a heck of busy time for the old refresh button. To get a better handle on the big picture, let's check in with the man on the street and get his reaction.

Sitting in for the average man on the street tonight is none other than yours truly, so let's get to analyzing...

First up is an item reported on Bleeding Cool, and while it's still a rumor I haven't seen much denial from the Marvel camp. According to the report, Marvel is going to be embracing the $2.99/20 page format for at least some of their books. Now I knew that with DC holding the line at $2.99 that that was far from the last word on the topic of pricing. My prediction was backwards, however, as I just figured that DC would lose patience waiting for the sales figures to justify the new price/page count and their prices would go back up to $3.99 before the end of the year.

So color me pleasantly surprised, but Marvel has a long way to go to win me and my comic book dollars back. As always, the devil's in the details as to how many and how prevalent the move is going to be remains to be seen, and I don't trust them as far as I can throw my Uncanny X-Men Omnibus. I can't imagine them going line-wide with this, so my default position will be to leave their titles on the shelves. I like a line-wide continuity in my super-hero books, and if I have to pick and choose what i read based on the whims of how much they think they can get away with, I'd just rather not be bothered. But if they did move just one book to the lower price/page count, let it be Ultimate Spider-Man, as I sure do miss that book.

Next up on the news ticker is an item that comes from a more reliable source, DC themselves. On their company blog, they announced that accompanying the Flashpoint mini-series will be fifteen (count 'em 15) mini-series running concurrently with the main one. This looks to be a bit of an Age of Apocalypse type set-up, with altered histories and timelines being explored in three issue mini-series. What remains to be seen is whether these are fifteen new titles, or if they are taking the place of existing titles for three months, or a combination of the two.

Now me? I'm a hardcore DCU enthusiast, so I'm on board for most (if not all) of these, but one definitely made the Superman fan in me gasp in excitement.

Flashpoint: Lois Lane And The Resistance #1-3

Hell yeah, I'm all over that title.

Finally, and while we're on the topic of Superman, there was a bit of late-breaking news on Sunday that the role of Clark Kent/Superman for the new 2012 reboot was cast. The lucky actor is none other than Henry Cavill. Now I have no idea who he is, but I guess he looks the part.

While being a die-hard Superman comic-book fan, I have a bit of love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with movie and t.v. adaptations of the man of steel. So far, however, I've not seen anything official announced concerning the latest movie that has yet to make me groan.

And with that, let's get to the job at hand and get the next random book to review picked from the longboxes. Take it away, Randomizer...

...and that book is Action Comics #393 from October 1970, published by DC Comics!

Wow, everything's coming up Superman today! In fact, if you could see behind the scenes here at RL headquarters, it's even moreso.

And on that cryptic note I'll take my leave, promising to see you in a day or two the review.

(But seriously, if you're a Superman fan make sure you check back here on Tuesday!)

Doctor Strange #2

2011-01-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

TITLE: Doctor Strange #2

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1974

COVER PRICE: $0.25

18 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

I love me some good Doctor Strange. Unfortunately, for as long as he's been around there's been a lot more chaff than wheat. Luckily for us, that Randomizer gave us a heaping helping of the good stuff. This was Doctor Strange's first self-titled series, and the first couple of dozen issues are some of my favorites.

The icing on the cake? The first half a dozen of those featured some truly epic art by Frank Brunner. There are three people that tackled the good doctor, that in my opinion are the holy trinity of Doctor Strange artists. Steve Ditko set the stage for Doc and his world in the Silver Age. Frank Brunner then came on and amped things up for the Bronze Age. And for the Modern Age, it doesn't get any better than Jackson Guice. That right there is about all you need as far as Doctor Strange is concerned.

The best of the crop from the 70's run are the issues that verged on the trippy. This issue falls squarely in that category as Doc is trapped in the Orb of Agamotto, fighting for his astral life while his body lies mortally wounded in the real world. The main protagonist for this particular story is the less than threatening Silver Dagger, but he's sidelined for the most part, as Strange desperately searches for a way out of the Orb.

Let's not waste any more time talking about it, and read it already...

A Separate Reality

Co-Plotters: Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner
Author: Steve Englehart
Artist: Frank Brunner
Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Frank Brunner
Lettering: John Costanza
Editor: Roy Thomas

And for those of you coming in late to the party, here's a recap of what happened last issue, right on page one.

So maybe the Silver Dagger stabbed him in the back instead of beheading him, but the dramatization is for the benefit of Clea who was taken prisoner by Silver Dagger last issue. It's his hope that seeing her beloved mistreated in this fashion, will break her spirit. Clea may be new to the realm of sorcery, but she's no dummy. She knows that if anyone can defeat the Silver Dagger, it's Doctor Strange.

Speaking of Doctor Strange, let's check in with him within the realm of the Orb of Agamotto.

Yikes...a winged, soul sucking space worm! Good thing Clea can't see this, as her confidence in Stephen would be sorely tested as his soul gets sucked up and swallowed whole.

What she doesn't know, is that Doc is about to get some help from some unlikely allies. First among them? The Silver Surfer.

So while the Surfer thinks he has arrived too late to save another victim of the Soul-Eater, what he doesn't realize is that the victim was Doctor Strange. Even without a mortal body, he is far from defenseless. Attacking the central nervous system of the creature, he manages to get himself vomited back to what passes for reality inside the orb.

Curiously, the Surfer does not recognize Doctor Strange. Since they've been team mates for the last two years, that can only mean that the Orb is pulling images from Doc's mind and making them manifest in its realm to interact with him. Their first task? Find his body, which has decided to go on a bit of a walkabout after having the soul sucked from it by the Soul Eater.

Following it's rambling footprints, they trail the mortal shell to a strange castle. What's even stranger is what they find inside the castle.

All right all you heroes, it's time to get crazy drunk on some off the Hulk's tea. And you don't turn down a cup of Hulk's tea, as that would make him angry...and you wouldn't like him very much when he's angry.

Reunited with his body, Doctor Strange is willing to throw caution to the wind and not only refuse Hulk's tea, but decides to leave the party early as well. Bad move, Doc.

Doctor Strange manages a spell or two of obfuscation that has the Defenders attacking phantom versions of himself. That leaves them wide open for a whammy of a spell that knocks 'em all unconscious, right as the Soul-Eater returns.

Luckily for Doctor Strange, not all of orb-created manifestations were quite as reactionary. With the help of the Silver Surfer and Valkyrie, they deduce that the Soul-Eater will keep on coming as Doc is the only one in the orb with an actual soul. To save himself, he must confront death itself at the center of the orb. Only then will he be able to free himself and return to the mortal world to save his beloved Clea.

With Valkyrie's winged horse as his guide, Doctor Strange closes out the issue heading right for the center of the Orb of Agamotto...sure of himself, and his actions, for the first time in a long time.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

First and foremost, never turn down tea with the Hulk. If he doesn't get his regular dose of caffeine, look out!

Do you think he favors green tea or gray? I guess it depends on what his skin color at the time is. Do they have red tea?

Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner craft a well done tale, putting Doctor Strange through a series of challenges where he must use his mind in a world where the reality is a warped version of his memories. It allows just the right amount of trippyness, while giving him plenty of foes to battle, both familiar and bizarre.

I always love a good Doctor Strange story where he's essentially fighting himself, or manifestations pulled from his consciousness or powers, and this one doesn't disappoint. The use of the Defenders as visualizations of the superhero world as seen through the twisted lens of the Orb is the perfect meta-commentary on the team itself. Strange, bizarre, and seemingly thrown together at random with nothing but a vague sense of camaraderie (or Hulk's tea) holding them together.

Frank Brunner's artwork is just as good as I remember, truly shining when he gets to let loose with dimensions and perspective inside the surreal world of the Orb. It's a shame that we only got five or six issues with him on the art, but it's a testament to his talent that they loom so large in my memory.

All in all, this was a heckuva book and definitely one of the highlights of the Bronze Age. I only wish that they could capture this sense of what makes a good Doctor Strange story and apply it to today's Doctor Strange.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

As always, there's only one place to go for all your other Doctor Strange internet ramblings...Neilalien
Or if The Defender's are your-- ahem --cup of tea, you need to go to The Defender's Fansite.

Mrs. Random Longbox meets the King of Atlantis

2011-01-23T22:54:00.001-05:00

A while back Mrs. Random Longbox, who happens to be a fine art photographer in her secret identity, was commissioned to take some photos. One of her specialties is taking pictures of old (and sometimes forgotten) toys, imbuing them with character and giving them a chance to come to life again.

So during the recent hectic summer festival season, my wife was approached by a fan who wondered if she could do the same for a favorite toy of hers, one filled with sentimental meaning. Never one to let a good challenge go to waste, she agreed and anxiously awaited the toy's arrival in the mail.

So what was that toy, and why does it warrant a blog posting all its own here? Take a look...

I don't know what's cooler...the fact that my wife was commissioned out of the blue to take pictures of an Aquaman action figure, or that she got such awesome pictures out of it.

Here was my favorite of the bunch...

While the wife liked this one...

Not to be outdone, here was my four year old son's contribution...

If you enjoyed this peek into my wife's portfolio and are curious to see more, or are looking to add some fine art into your life, click here and be sure to tell her that some crazy comic book blogger sent you.

And speaking of said blogger, it's been a week so let's get to picking the next random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Doctor Strange #2 from August 1974, published by Marvel Comics!

It's actually been almost a year and a half since we last go to read an issue from Doc's first series. It also has an appearance from one of my new favorite super teams, The Defenders. I haven't re-read this issue since I've discovered my fascination with the Defenders, so I'm looking forward to reading it again.

Plus, it's got some glorious Frank Brunner art. It's been over thirty years, but his rendition of Doctor Strange definitely ranks in the top three.

See you in a day or two for the review.

Wolverine #125

2011-01-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

TITLE: Wolverine #125

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: June 1998

COVER PRICE: $2.99

40 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

So here's a first for me (and it's also something I completely forgot about until earlier today). This post will actually be the second time that I've written an on-line review for this very issue. The sharper readers among you are all ready to point out that this is the first issue of Wolverine that we've reviewed here...and didn't I just mention that very same fact a post or two ago?

Well you're right, and to find that first review we're going to have to go way back to ye olden days of the internet. Back when we used to have to walk uphill in three feet of snow to access our dial-up modems in all of their 56 kbit/s glory. The year was 1998 and my isp was AOL. I can't quite remember too clearly, but they used to offer some sort of limited, five-page website/myspace like thing. Being the vanguard of the internet frontier that I was, I thought I could use it to throw up a review or two.

Also at this time, Claremont was making his first return to the X-Verse after his rather abrupt departure after relaunching X-Men back in 1991. What better issue to kick off my new review site with than this one?

Obviously, nothing ever amounted to that first foray into internet stardom, as I think I may have written three reviews before moving on. Who knows how different the internet would be today if I had stuck with it, eh? If I get some time this week, I'm going to do some digging to see if I can unearth a copy of that review. It's got to be on an old floppy disk somewhere, but the hard part is going to be able to find a computer that still has a floppy drive in this USB flash drive world.

So what did I think of the issue back then? I remember really liking it, and you know what? It still holds up pretty well upon rereading.

Logan's Run!

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciller: Leinil Francis Yu
Inker: Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Jason Wright
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/EM
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor in Chief: Bob Harras

Here's the thing...I've been pondering over how to approach this review for over a week. As I said earlier, it's a pretty good issue that still holds up, but for some reason I'm having a hard time getting a handle on making this an entertaining review.

I could do a straight summary but this issue is forty pages, and these are forty pages written in Chris Claremont's wonderfully wordy style. To make matters worse, the first ten pages are a dream sequence! Nothing makes me lose interest more quickly than having to read or watch somebody else's dream.

On top of that, Wolverine doesn't even show up until over halfway through the issue. What we have instead is sort of a This Is Your Life-like trip through the ladies of Logan's love life, with Jubilee as our guide.

Haunted by dreams of Logan in trouble, it's up to Jubilee to keep him safe from his pursuers. Who are the people chasing him? None other than all of the ladies that Logan has been close to over the years...Jean Gray, Rogue, Yukio, Psylocke, Tyger Tiger, Jessica Drew, and Shadowcat.

They're all decked out in Viper green, which makes you think that maybe she has something to do with all of this. Spoiler alert...she does, and it's up to Jubilee and Shadowcat to find out what it is and keep Wolverine safe at the same time.

So why does this issue work so well?

Let's find out, but here's the thing, I don't think I'm going to convert anyone over to being an X-Fan with this review. I completely understand why some people aren't and have no interest in being one. Hell, it's been six or seven years since I've considered myself one. But I cut my teeth on Claremont in the mid-80's, so I've always allowed Claremont (and his excesses) a rather long leash.

Instead, I'm just gonna take a rather stream of consciousness trip through this issue and point out what I did enjoy.

CHRIS CLAREMONT

This man is responsible for some of the most enjoyable comics in my collection. The 80's was a glorious time to be an X-Fan, and a big part of that can be laid of the feet of this man. Unfortunately, his track record since leaving the X-Men for the first time has been rather lackluster at best.

The Randomizer did us a favor and actually picked one of the highlights from this period for us to read. There's something about Wolverine that just seems right in the hands of Chris Claremont. I've never been that big of a Wolverine fan, but there's something about a Claremont Wolverine story that appeals to me.

That dialogue just shouldn't work when being read with a straight-face. There's a fine line between corny and bad-ass, but somehow he manages to straddle it with no problem.

It also makes his eventual reveal in this issue send chills up my spine.

You see, you read that dialogue in a vacuum and it's just gonna fall falt. But if you put it in a dialogue box with the arrow pointing at Wolverine...it's game, set and match! It also doesn't hurt to have the image drawn by Leinil Francis Yu. And speaking of...

LEINIL FRANCIS YU

I remember this guy starting out on Wolverine about a year before this issue came out, and he really had a style that stood out and made me a fan right away. Following Adam Kubert and Marc Silvestri on Wolverine is no easy feat, but Yu's style was very complimentary to what had come before, while at the same time being a little slicker and less aggressive.

From the opening shot of Jubilee on the run--

--to the debut of a couple of deadly ladies--

--to the Jubilee and Shadowcat fashion show--

--to the big throwdown between Viper and Logan--

--he gets it right every time.

JUBILEE & KITTY PRYDE

The Dick Grayson and Tim Drake to Wolverine's Bruce Wayne.

Wolverine needs a sidekick like Batman needs a Robin. He doesn't actually, but the fact that he has one humanizes him and brings him back down to earth. Some of my favorite Wolverine stories have also involved either Jubilee or Kitty Pryde. Throw 'em both together, and it's winner winner, chicken dinner!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN

I make no apologies here, but I don't think we've learned too much here except for the identity of a few of my biases towards what makes a good Wolverine story. Your mileage may very, and I'm pretty sure it probably does. I haven't read a new issue of a comic with Wolverine in it since Rucka's run, maybe? Somebody's enjoying them though, as he's what...in about a dozen different books these days?

That right there makes me glad that I have issues like these in my longbox collection to fall back on.

Now that I think of it, I think there is one thing that I've learned while rereading this. Even with all of the books that Wolverine's in, I think there is actually room for one more that I would actually read. Give me a Wolverine/Shadowcat/Jubilee team book, similar to a Birds of Prey type thing, written by Chris Claremont and I just might be tempted to break my current Marvel embargo.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

The straight truth about Sweet Tooth

2011-01-07T15:36:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick update on yesterday's post where I brought up the observation that the cover for January's Sweet Tooth #17 looked like a negative image of the DC Iconic cover treatment that the rest of the DCU is getting this month.

Well, Jeff Lemire has a healthy presence of the internet here and here, so I figured why not just ask him.

Here was his reply...

Ha! I actually never thought of that, but that's a great observation...but a total coincidence. I did that cover long before I ever heard of DC's icon month. Thanks for the email!

So there you have it. A coincidence.

Still, I love the way that the universe manages some small level of synchronicity in its randomness. It's one of the things that makes doing a random blog so much fun.

Thanks to Jeff for the super-quick reply and interaction.

And in conclusion...read more Sweet Tooth.

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong...or does it?

2011-01-05T22:19:00.004-05:00

Well, Happy New Year everybody!

I figured I better tend to the blog before too much of the year got past us, so I hope everyone out there is invigorated and ready to go, chomping at the bit to take on whatever 2011 throws at us!

Speaking of new things for this year, today was the first comic book day of 2011. As I was buying my stack at my LCS, I noticed something strange about the covers. Yeah, it's the first week of DC's iconic cover treatment for the month of January, but there was something else weird. Take a look...

Those covers do look rather nice, all laid out together. It really makes Sweet Tooth stand out. If you look a little harder though, I think Jeff Lemire might be having a little fun with us. Do you see it?

For the month of January, all of the DCU books have a blank white cover with the main character(s) of the book in a rather heroic pose, front and center. Sweet Tooth, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction and has a brightly colored background with the main character as just a blank white figure!

Bravo, Jeff Lemire...Bravo! I don't know if you did it intentionally or not, but it sure made me chuckle nonetheless.

Now, on the business at hand as it's time to pick a new random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Wolverine #125 from June 1998, published by Marvel Comics!

For someone who has a near complete collection of the one hundred and fifty or so issues of Wolverine's first series, it sure took the Randomizer a long enough time to stumble across one. He actually hasn't been that much of a stranger around here, having had a sleep-over at Dr. Strange's and escaping from Weapon X, but this is the first time he's shown up in his own title.

This issue is also the second in a row written by Chris Claremont that the Randomizer has pulled out of the longboxes. Coincidentally enough, I was actually just thinking about Claremont and Wolverine the other day. With Marvel pulling the plug on X-Men Forever 2, I was wondering if there was any title that Claremont could write that I'd still have an interest in reading. X-Men Forever has it's fans, but in all honesty it's a bit of a trainwreck. In fact, most of his team books have been rather scattershot in their approach to plot in the last decade. That got me thinking that I would actually be curious to see him tackle a single character book, and Claremont's style always seemed to suit Wolverine. Maybe it's the fact that they both think they're "the best at what they do" that connects them?

Be careful with what you wish for in the presence of the Randomizer, as you just might get it. See you in a day or two for the review.

Marvel Premiere #27

2010-12-29T10:51:00.001-05:00

TITLE: Marvel Premiere #27

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: December 1975

COVER PRICE: $0.25

19 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

Not much has changed since the Randomizer picked this book from among the random collection of forty books that I picked up during my LCS' Christmas Extravaganza. I still have never read a Satana book, nor do I have a clue who "The Tribe" is that is credited with the art on this book.

I could tell you that Satana is the brother of Daimon Hellstrom, and that this is her first appearance in FULL color, but anyone with google and five minutes of free time could tell you that. Let's just jump right in, ignorant feet first and see what we have in store for us.

Deathsong

Author: Chris Claremont
Artist: The Tribe
Letterer: Marcos Pelayo
Colorist: Janice Cohen
Editor: Marv Wolfman

The tale begins at the ending, as Satana stands at the scene of a horrific car crash, with a smoldering body lying nearby.

I'm assuming we'll get some explanations on how we got here and what it means, and it would also be nice if we got some answers about just who Satana is at the same time. Although, when the narrator has just as many questions as you, that's never a good sign.

With all of these questions, it's best to go back the beginning, as we catch up with the owner of the smouldering corpse, Deborah Hirsch, as she is on the run from an angry mob. Trying to lose them through the alleyways, she quite literally bumps into Satana, who has been drawn to this town by an occult sixth sense.

And really, when you bump into a total stranger through your own negligence, what better way to say "excuse me" than with a roundhouse kick to the head!

Unfortunately, her odd sense of decorum does her no good as Satana delays her just long enough for the mob to catch up to her and bind her in chains. Why chains? Because they claim she's a witch, and they intend to burn her at the stake.

You'd think the devil's daughter would be all for a good witch burning, but not this time. It's time to teach these townspeople some manners, so she makes him grovel like a pig at her feet.

Is "NURF" really the official sound effect for groveling?

As it turns out, she probably should have let them light the blaze as Deborah actually was possessed by the demon Dansker!

And who is Dankser?

He was also Satana's tutor in the ways of all things demony. Dansker used to rule the Netherlands until Lucifer usurped his command and bound him to his service. One of his chores was to "teach" Satana. The last time they talked was on her graduation day, where she attempted to best him in battle. Unsuccessful, her teacher left her beaten and humbled, vowing that he would always be her better.

Now that the Dansker is free in the mortal world, Satana decides it's time to settle some old scores. First, she needs to find where he has run to after he broke free. One stolen soul later from the last surviving townsperson, and she has her answer.

Here's where the story takes a turn into the-- surreal? Comical? Bizarre?

I can't decide, so what do you think?

That, in all of his bearded and bikini'd glory is Dansker. I know this was the seventies and all, and fashion took a certain liberty with common sense, but that's just weird.

You would think that if you have the power to put your head on a body, you could also spare some magical mojo for some more appropriate attire.

You also would've thought that Moondragon would not have taken kindly to someone copping her look. Granted, there's more hair, but tell me Moondragon hasn't wore that same one-piece.

This time, however, Satana is more than able to match Dansker's power. One well placed "SSZZZAA-KOW" later, and Dankser is brought to his knees.

Leaving him humbled and beaten this time, Satana turns his back on him and walks away. Dansker still has a little fight left in him, as he jumps into Deborah's car and tries to run Satana down, which proves the age old adage...if you can't beat 'em with magic, run 'em over with a car!

Summoning from the power of the basilisk that lies deep within Satana's soul, she lashes out and incinerates Dansker alive, host body and all. In the end, Deborah Hirsch's death was avenged by Satana. Yeah, she technically burned her body to ashes, but her soul was already damned by Dansker at that time. Someday her final battle with Dansker will come, and she will be able to take a true reckoning...someday...

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

For all intents and purposes, this is your standard "demon exiled from Hell, trying to find their way in the mortal world" type of story. This particular time around, the demon is the daughter of Lucifer himself. I wouldn't necessarily say she's guided by a sense of justice, but she does appear to have her own roughly admirable moral code to guide her.

Yeah, she avenged an innocent women's death and saved the life of a young boy in the process, but she did it by stealing another man's soul and condemning him to death. And while he wasn't free of guilt himself, he was actually trying to prevent his town from being taken over by demons. Granted, he was using methods straight out of the Salem Witchhunts, but is that a good enough reason to suck his immortal soul dry?

I suppose we'll leave that question to the philosophers and historians to decide.

Apart from the rather silly villain costume, this was a pretty decent issue. Chris Claremont is not a writer I normally associate with done-in-ones, but this one is not bad. There was only one spot where I rolled my eyes at the excessively dramatic narration.

Evil, a living testament to the darkness in men's souls...

Tell me that that description was never used for Apocalypse, or Mr. Sinister, or Magneto.

The art I rather liked as well, as it was very reminiscent of Marvel's house-style for their seventies horror books. It looks like at least two different artists handled this issue, but the transitions are well done and smooth.

As this story draws to a close, I can't say that I'm storming the halls of Marvel demanding she get her own series, but as a random issue read some thirty plus years after it was released, it was entertaining enough.

If you just can't get enough Satana, however, Marvel did us a favor with this issue and reprinted her first appearance from Vampire Tales #2. It's only four pages long, but it's by Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr., so it's worth taking a look at. Check the links out at the bottom of this post, as Pete from The Bronze Age of Blogs has a post that has some nice large scans of all four pages.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

The Bronze Age of Blogs gives you a nice primer on all things Satana

Post Christmas catch-up

2010-12-27T12:06:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone out there in internetland had a great "whatever you choose to celebrate" day! Things in the Random Longbox household were as close to perfect as you can get. Basically, any Christmas day from here on out where my basement doesn't flood is going to be a perfect Christmas. Not even getting one of these could put a damper on the holidays...

Here's a free holiday tip. Never take the initiative and point out something that people shouldn't get you for Christmas as, more often than not, it'll end up under your tree. And no, that isn't me in the pic. I'll still use it, don't get me wrong, I'm just not going to post any pics about it (at least not without a few more spiked egg-nogs).

Something that was similar to last year was that my local comic book shop was again having their Christmas Party Extravaganza. For ten bucks, you could buy a mystery box of twenty comic books. Randomly interspersed within the hundred or so boxes was a nice selection of key books including Amazing Spider-Man #300 and a bunch of first appearances from the Bronze Age including Moon Knight, Spider-Woman, and Morbius.

Like last year, I bought two boxes; but unlike last year, I didn't get lucky this time. No key books, but included among the 90's overstock were half a dozen fun bronze age books featuring Captain Marvel, Liberty Legion, and a few others that look like they'll be fun to read.

Since it's also time to pick another random book to review, we'll do the same thing we did last year and pick it from within the forty books that I got in my two mystery boxes. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Marvel Premiere #27 from December 1975, published by Marvel Comics! This particular issue contains a story featuring Satana, The Devil's Daughter!

As far as I know, I've never read a story featuring Satana and I know next to nothing about her (other than she's apparently the daughter of the devil). Another thing I know nothing about? The art credit on this book is given to "The Tribe". I've never come across them/it before. Is this a studio job? Or some sort of Alan Smithee situation? Maybe some kind reader will shed some light on the situation while I work on the review. See you in a day or two.

Resurrection Man #25

2010-12-26T15:57:00.001-05:00

TITLE: Resurrection Man #25

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: June 1999

COVER PRICE: $2.50

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

So I basically went through the concept of what this series was about with the previous post, but here's the Reader's Digest version of the Reader's Digest version that i gave you prior, if you're just tuning in.

Hero dies and is resurrected with a new superpower...and then dies and is resurrected with a new superpower...and then dies and is resurrected with a new superpower...etc...

Of course, this was the 90's so the hero was an amnesiac who spent the first part of his series figuring out who, and what, he was.

In theory, it sounds like a one-note series, but in reality it worked pretty well. Credit for that can be given to the solid creative team who, save for a fill in or two on the art, told the whole thing from beginning to end for the entire twenty-eight issues of the run.

As for what I remember about this issue...I have a vague recollection that at the close of this series, there was a bit of a mystery about whether or not the Resurrection Man was in fact the Immortal Man. I know, I know...The Immortal Man! From the Forgotten Heroes! It's hard to believe.

Who is the Immortal Man? I had no idea either when I first read this, so a little of the suspense was lost on me back then. Luckily, twenty years later I'm now the proud owner of the DC Comics Encyclopedia and know that he is one of Vandal Savage's antagonists and that he gained his powers from the very same meteorite that gave Savage his.

I actually recently reread the two-part story by Marv Wolfman and Gil Kane from Action Comics #552-553 that introduced the Forgotten Heroes back in 1983. True to their name, aside from another two-parter the next year in DC Comics Presents, they lay forgotten until this current storyline in Resurrection Man.

So is Mitchell Shelley in fact both the Resurrection Man and the Immortal Man?

Let's find out...

Millennium Then

Story: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art: Jackson Guice and Paul Ryan
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Carla Feeny
Editor: Frank Berrios

To bring everyone up to speed, here's the Forgotten Heroes in all of their glory (in case you have, ya know...forgotten).

For those of you keeping score at home, that's from left to right: Dolphin, Rick Flag, Animal Man, Cave Carson, Dane Dorrence, Congorilla, the Immortal Man, and Rip Hunter.

They've actually come a long way since their debut as a team back in 1983, with more than half of these guys getting a regular gig on an ongoing outside of this team. I guess no character is ever truly forgotten.

Anyways, as the issue begins, we're smack dab in the middle of a flashback as Cave Carson relates how they were on a mission in the past in the Pliocene Era to collect more fragments of the meteor that gave Vandal Savage his powers. And here's the main reason why I find Savage a less than compelling villain. It seems every time he pops up, the story has to revolve around that damn meteor. You think they would have found it all by now, but that's the story that we have, so let's just roll with it.

This particular piece is being guarded by the Forgotten Villains, so while the battle for the fragment is begun in earnest...

...the Immortal Man tries to outflank them and snatch the fragment during their fight. Unfortunately, he fell right into Savage's master plans, as the fragment was being guarded by a sabretooth tiger.

I had no idea that Savage was so scared of tigers, but he lets Immortal Man do the dirty work and then he takes the fragment for himself and escapes back into the present.

And it's in the present, where we catch up with Cave Carson who has just finished describing the flashback to Resurrection Man. He barely has time to process what's been happening over the last couple of issues when their base comes under attack by some cybernetic robots, courtesy of Vandal Savage.

The Resurrection Man uses his current super-power of steel skin to provide cover while the current members of the Forgotten Heroes make a hasty retreat as their base crumbles around them.

Boring through the earth in one of Cave Carson's diggers, the Forgotten Heroes have a moment of calm to discuss their next move against Vandal Savage. It would seem that there's another meteor similar to one that granted him his powers heading towards our planet again, and the Forgotten Heroes aim to get to it before Savage does.

Yea, another meteor in a Vandal Savage story! I'll let it slide, as at least they play to one of my weaknesses as this particular meteor is not travelling through space as before, but time! That right there, is why the Forgotten Heroes have tracked down the Resurrection Man. If he is, in fact, their old team-mate resurrected, then he should be able to sense the meteors presence like the Immortal Man used to. That should give them the edge they need to beat Vandal Savage at his own game.

Savage is no idiot, however, and he knows the Forgotten Heroes escaped his previous assault and are undoubtedly on their way here as well.

And just like clockwork, they arrive at the makeshift base that Vandal has created to await the meteor's arrival.

And just like clockwork, the meteor shows up shortly thereafter.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Unfortunately, we never did learn definitively whether or not the Resurrection Man was in fact, the Immortal Man resurrected. Even so, that sentence was fun to type out so I'll call that a win. I want to say that I don't think he ended up being one and the same, but I'm not 100% sure. At least there was only three more issues after this one, so if you're desperate for an answer it should only cost you a couple of bucks in the dollar bins.

That's actually a bit of a shame, as this series was pretty good and deserves a little bit more to its legacy than that. But alas, it never did quite catch on and the Resurrection Man has been more or less forgotten until very recently, appearing in a grand total of four issues over the last decade. One of those was not too long ago in the pages of Brightest Day #13, so if Geoff Johns has his eye on 'em maybe a comeback is right around the corner. Or not...as his comeback mojo seems squarely fixated on Aquaman at the moment (and speaking of Aquaman, stay tuned over the next two weeks or so for some bonus Aquaman content!!).

Overall, this was a fairly solid, if unremarkable issue. I would have preferred it if the Randomizer would have picked an issue with a little more meat on the bones, but it was fun nonetheless. It's been over a year since we've had a Butch Guice issue to page through and I always enjoy his work. Although I fear that nothing will be able to compare with the work he did on Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme in the late eighties

Abnett and Lanning are at their best when they are left to their own devices, not having to worry about tying into the flavor of the month crossover event, and that's what this series was about. Yeah, it had a brief detour into the 853rd century as a part of DC One Million, but it never hurt the overall storyline that they set out to tell. At its heart, it was a story about a man learning to become a hero.

And so now we say goodbye to the Resurrection Man once again, for what I'm sure will be another decade or two, but I wouldn't complain if he started popping up every so often once again.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Of rested and resurrected men

2010-12-17T22:29:00.001-05:00

As of about six hours ago, I did something I've never done before. My day job went through a few twists and turns this past year, which kept me on my toes more often than not. As a downside, I never got around to being able to take many vacation days. On the upside, I have more vacation days banked that I have to use than I have days left in the year to use them.

So today was my last "official" work day of 2010. I used the air quotes, for when you work in sales you never know when an opportunity is going to hit that you need to act on. I don't think I've ever taken more than a week off at any one time, so this is uncharted territory I'm heading into.

I'm also curious to see how this affects the blog. Will the life of leisure allow me to post everyday, or will I be too busy sleeping in to bother? We'll find out soon, I suppose.

We also have the holidays to deal with, and my annual Magic The Gathering four-way tournament next week. Back in the late 90's, I had a twice weekly Magic habit. Nowadays, it's once a year if I'm lucky.

Enough speculation about the future, let's talk about the hear and now and get with picking the next random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Resurrection Man #25 from June 1999, published by DC Comics!

It looks like its time for another well-remembered series from the 90's that I haven't re-read since its original release. I've blogged about my admiration for Jackson "Butch" Guice in the past, and he was the main reason that I collected this title originally.

It's a bit of a novelty title, with the Resurrection Man gaining new powers every time he dies and is resurrected. It's essentially a one-trick pony series, with a serious deus ex machina potential, but I do remember enjoying it more often than not.

The other thing it had going for it, was that it was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. These two just polished off their cosmic magnum opus over at Marvel, and are now staking their claim to back alleys of New York City with Heroes For Hire.

Resurrection Man is decidedly closer to a street level title than a cosmic one, so it should be interesting to read some of their work from ten tears ago. See you in a day or two for the review.

Avengers #150

2010-12-15T10:08:00.004-05:00

TITLE: The Avengers #150

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1976

COVER PRICE: $0.25

18 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

As I mentioned on the last post, I just recently reread this issue so the events are pretty fresh in my mind. It doesn't help, that this issue serves as a vehicle for reprinting bits and pieces of stories that any Avengers or Marvel fan should know by heart. And honestly, if you don't know what happened in Avengers #4, you should probably just hang it up.

I'll cut the non-Avenger reader some slack if they're unfamiliar with Wonder Man's introduction in #9, and I might even be lenient about ignorance with the first big wholesale line-up change in issue #16 if you catch me on a good day.

And you know what? Today is a good day, because this issue reprints those exact issues. So while we don't get a new Avengers line-up until the next issue, we are treated to some highlights of the first year and half of Avengers history, courtesy of Messrs. Lee and Kirby. If that wasn't enough, we also get a framing sequence by Steve Englehart and George Perez.

Let's get right to it, and in the interest of still having something to say when and if the Randomizer picks issue #9 or 16, I'm going to forgo the full on review and just geek out for the remainder of this issue and soak up all that Lee, Kirby and Perez have to offer.

Since this was the anniversary of 150 issues of The Avengers, let's see if I can find 150 things to geek out about in these eighteen pages. Everybody synchronize your watches, and we're off...

Awesome cover by Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia! That right there is just about the perfect Avengers line-up. Swap out Hawkeye for Hellcat, and I could read about these guys all day long.

It only cost two bits!

Great issue title. Avengers Assemble! It's also a great catch-phrase, but why does it work as well as it does? It's not like assemble is the most action-packed verb around, and it definitely doesn't translate to other super-hero teams nearly as well. Champions Congregate! Fantastic Four Forgather! Metal Men Muster! It's a true mystery for the ages.

Stan Lee

Jack Kirby

George Perez

Steve Englehart

John Tartag

Duffy Vohland

Dick Ayers

Denise Wohl

Artie Simek

I love time travelling villains

Irene Vartanoff

Archie Goodwin

Avengers Trope #41: The assembled mass of people and reporters outside of Avengers Mansion. I love this visual, as it really drives home the accessibility of these heroes. You couldn't do this with a moon base.

Yellowjacket. You can keep your Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Wasp, Scientist Supreme, or Dr. Pym identities. To me, Hank Pym will always be Yellowjacket (although I do kinda like the sound of that Scientist Supreme one).

Crazy wild coincidence! That just happens to be the 150th different costume that the Wasp has worn in her tenure with the Avengers so far.

Another crazy wild coincidence! I think I may have just made that last fact up out of thin air.

It's not named here, but one can only wonder if that is Korr that Yellowjacket is riding on.

The Wasp's fiery streak! She's come a long way in the past 118 issues.

A bonus shout out for referencing continuity from the previous year...and in a Marvel book, no less. Those were the days.

Jarvis' striped pants and tails. There's a butler who dresses for success.

Avengers Trope #81: Monogrammed chairs! Nothing says super-hero headquarters like monogrammed chairs.

Although, for each of them supposedly having chairs "especially reserved for them", it would appear that the Beasts and Hellcats are pretty interchangeable. One can only assume that their decals are waiting if they make the cut into the new line-up.

Appropriate that Iron Man's symbol is that of both iron and man.

Avengers Trope #68: Overly dramatic resignations!

But I guess when you're dealing with the god of thunder, you should expect a little bluster every now and again.

Thor's abrupt announcement leads us to our first flashback to Avengers #1 and the formation of the team, helpfully recapped by the local newscaster reporting from outside. It was pretty awesome that the news station had Kirby on staff to provide some artist's renderings of the action.

It turns out, it's actually George Perez that they had on staff. I just checked the panels that I assumed were reprinted from Avengers #1 with the actual issue, but they're not the same. So there you go, a little Perez after Kirby for you. Here's another...

I like how Iron Man keeps his options open. You know, just in case this whole Avengers thing doesn't pan out.

This was obviously the Hulk from his more verbose, catch-phrase spewing youth.

Overly officious membership by-laws.

Wait a minute...isn't everyone here? Couldn't you just do a show of hands and get the new chairman installed with an actual mandate behind him? We all know what happens when a leader gets appointed, rather than elected.

Here's Perez' take on Kirby's classic scene of a frozen cap from Avengers #4.

Followed shortly by a nice Perez ala Heck re-imagining.
There's something right about George Perez drawing Wonder Man. He's one of the few that can make his myriad of questionable costumes seem not quite so questionable.

With the flashbacks coming this quickly, it's only a matter of time until we're at the formation of the new Avengers in Avengers #16. And with it, our first glimpse of actual Kirby art.

And not a moment too soon, as the old Avengers seem to be in a spot of trouble!

Avengers Trope #92: Nothing says let me onto your team more than an "I just kicked your teams ass" introduction!

Hawkeye!

Flashbacks within flashbacks. Were there no editors back then. But it's Hawkeye, so we'll give him a pass.

And what of old Jarvis tied up in the corner? No hard feelings I'm sure, but we'll see how quickly your tea and biscuits gets delivered the next time your feeling a bit peckish, eh Hawkeye?

ZZZZZZZIT!

TWANNNNNG!

SSSSSSST!

Three arrows loosed from the same bow at the same time, and only one of them sounds like an actual arrow. Although in all fairness, I think that last sound effect is actually coming from the snake that Hawkeye used to tie up Jarvis' legs with, so we're all good. It's probably a good thing he was around to get that snake before something drastic happened, eh?

More by-laws! Good thing there's an employee manual to get the new members up to speed.

Watch that wandering eye, Jan! You know your man is a bit of a loose cannon, right?

One reformed villain joined up, so why not offer a spot to Namor, The Sub-Mariner?

Denied!

He'd come around in about a hundred issues or so, and end up palling around with the Avengers for a good few years. I actually have a lot of love for Namor in the Avengers as his arrival came right around the time I started reading the books on a regular basis.

Don't fret Iron Man, there's plenty of b-list villains hanging around that are just dying to join up.

Old-timey social networking at its finest. I long for the days when you could have a membership drive using the want ads.

Quicksilver's hair, the beta-testing for Logan's hairdo.

Self-deprecating Stan.

I guess even Stan gets tired of Magneto boasting in those early issues, as we have yet another flashback in a flashback dealing with the origin of Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch.

Old-timey social networking at its finest, part two.

I guess the equivalent today would be tweeting your request for membership to #avengersmemberdrive.

Quicksilver has lovely penmanship for someone who, and I'm only assuming here, writes really fast.

Captain America fighting jungle beasts! Why? Who cares, as we've had a real lack of action in this issue.

If only he would've fought a gorilla, we would've come full circle from our last post.

I guess this is still early in Cap's career, as he hasn't mastered the art of ricocheting his shield back to him with every throw. There's nothing more foolish than a super-hero picking his shield up off the ground.

Back in the states, Cap is still on his jungle high and looks to avoid the assembled reporters in true, man of action style.

Surely there has to be a secret door somewhere, eh?

Reunions!

Just because the other Avengers are kid-sized to Giant-Man, shouldn't give him permission to treat them as such.

Time-travelling villains! Although isn't there some sort of paradox being violated by having two disparate versions of the same character commenting about the same thing in real time?

Did I mention that I love time-travelling villains? Maybe I'll go back in time and mention it there too!

The drama...oh, the drama!

Really Rick Jones? I mean really? (with apologies to Seth and Amy)

Tip for Rick Jones on getting into the Avengers. Try robbing a bank or subjugating mankind first. It seemed to work out all right for the new line-up.

I think Tony Stark is the poster child for personal reasons.

Overly dramatic exits...

...and new beginnings!

And that brings the 150th issue extravaganza to a close. Let's see how we did on our quest to find 150 interesting things about Avengers #150. After totaling up the judges scores, it looks like we got to 69...so close, so close.

Lucky for you, you won't be going home empty-handed. That's right, along with the home version of the Random Longbox board game, every reader will also be going home with the identity of the new line-up that was teased in this very issue, but never revealed.

Here it is, enjoy...

(oh, and spoilers I suppose, for those of you not up on your 34 year old continuity)

As far as line-ups go, it doesn't get much better than that.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Gorillas in the mist of time

2010-12-08T14:31:00.004-05:00

Has it really been over three months since we've done a Comic Book Days of Wednesdays Past post? I guess we should probably rectify that.

For the new readers among you who may not be familiar with this...if it's Wednesday, and if it's time to pick a new random book to review, then it's also time to take a trip down memory lane to see what the kids were reading back in ye olden days. Let's fire up the Randomizer to pick a year from 1938-2009 and see where we start.

...and the first year up is 1956! So what books were on the spinner racks at the local five and dime 54 years ago?

It was Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #10! And in my mind, nothing screams fifties comics more than this title.

But here's an odd occurrence...How come every time the Randomizer stumbles across a Jimmy Olsen comic for this segment, it features a gorilla on the cover? And Jimmy in a leopard-skin toga?

If there's one thing the the comic book buying populace loves, it's apparently Gorillas. In fact, let's put that theory to the test to see if we can get another gorilla comic from the next random year that the Randomizer picks. Which just happens to be 2005!

This could be tough, as gorillas were nowhere near as in vogue this century as they were the last. Come on comic books, don't let me down, was there a gorilla on the cover of any comic books that were on the shelf 5 years ago this month?

Success!

Not only does Doom Patrol #7 have a gorilla on the cover, but it's got two of 'em...and one of them has four arms!

That right there is why I love comics!

Enough fooling around though, let's get to picking the next random book to actually review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is The Avengers #150 from August 1974, published by Marvel Comics!

And that makes two Avengers picks in a row! I don't mind though, as you can never read enough Avengers books. Especially ones from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. Comic booking just doesn't get much better than that. Interestingly enough, this one is also written by Steve Englehart, so we can do a little compare and contrast with his last book's mediocre performance.

I actually just reread this book within the last year, and while it looks like it promises a new Avengers line-up on the cover, it's a bit of a tease as this issue reprints parts of Avengers #4, #9, and a whole bunch of #16. For the uninitiated, these are three of the earliest books that feature a line-up change in the title.

Since that time, the new line-up reveal issues have become a staple of this title. Unfortunately, we don't get one here, and we'd have to wait until the next issue for that. Still, this book gives us a chance to look at some good Jack Kirby art, which we've yet to do here at the Random Longbox.

And not to end on a down note, but sadly enough there are no gorillas to be found in this issue either. See you in a day or two for the review.

The West Coast Avengers #23

2010-12-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE: The West Coast Avengers #23

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: August 1987

COVER PRICE: $0.75

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

Now, the West Coast Avengers...I have a lot of love for the West Coast Avengers. The funny thing is though, is that that the title has always been mediocre at best. Aside from the Byrne run in the 40's and 50's, and Roger Stern's original mini-series, I can't really think of another run on this series that sticks out for me. I'd probably give Roy and Dann Thomas the benefit of the doubt for the longevity of their run, and for the fact that they kept a personal favorite of mine around in the form of U.S.Agent.

So why does this title generate so much good will in my collection? First off, I've always assumed for the last decade or so that X-Factor was the first new title launch that I collected as a week-in and week-out comic book buyer. That turns out to not be true, as West Coast Avengers beat it to the punch by almost six months.

I'm sure that's part of it.

The other thing, is that it always featured some of my favorite Avengers.

Hawkeye? Naturally.

Vision? I, for one, loved the pale-Byrne Vision.

Scarlet Witch? I always dug her hex powers.

U.S.Agent? The Damian of the Avengers.

The Great Lakes Avengers? Their debut issue is one of my favorite books from the 80's.

These were all characters that didn't have their own book, so most of the time this title was the only place you could catch 'em.

But we're here to talk about this issue, and to tell you the truth, when I reread it to prepare for this review it turns out that I had literally no memory of this issue whatsoever. I'm sure the only reason that I remember the Mockingbird/Phantom Rider showdown was that it has gotten so much play in the recent issues of Hawkeye & Mockingbird.

So how could this issue have slipped through the cracks so completely, on a title that I generally read month in and month out? Let's find out...

Showtime!
Lost in Space-Time: Conclusion!

Writer: Steve Englehart
Penciller: Al Milgrom
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

As you can tell from the title of this issue, this is the last chapter dealing with a time-strewn team of Avengers. Hawkeye and that gang are stuck in ancient Egypt, while Mockingbird's being stalked in the old west, and the only one that can save them is Hank Pym and some WCA also-rans. And here we get my first clue as to why this issue is such a cypher to me. Hank Pym comes to the Fantastic Four for help, but why he comes dressed in disguise is beyond me.

That disguise is so good, it totally made me forget this meeting (or anything else about this issue) ever happened.

But seriously, doc...who told you that Phantom Stranger meets Where's Waldo was a good look? Fortunately for him, that's not the worst costume design in this issue.

With his help, Mr. Fantastic soon fixes up the FF's time machine so that Hank and company can act on a clue left for them by Hawkeye from over 5000 years in the past. Off they go, leaving the FF to look after Hank's fancy new Quinjet that's been outfitted with an artificial intelligence based on a loyal ant that he had known named Korr.

How could I have possibly not remembered that? It just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Now, remember that costume I mentioned earlier? Let's catch up with Avengers in ancient Egypt.

Look at that awesome costume on Wonder Man...and by awesome, I mean horrible.

Anything that makes this look downright dapper by comparison is a lost cause.

So the Avengers are on the run in Egypt, and end up taking refuge in a local temple. Coincidentally enough, it's the temple of the shunned god Khonshu, patron saint of Moon Knight. Trapped in the temple, with no hope of rescue anytime soon, Hawkeye sets out to build some weapons with which to arm the acolytes for the oncoming siege from the restless natives.

Wait a minute...Did that statue just wink at Hawkeye?

Two pages of tedious recapping of Moon Knight's origin later, we find out exactly why Khonshu was so keen on Hawkeye. He was only using him for his toys.

That's right...Hawkeye created the weapons that were handed down millenia later to Moon Knight. How could I have forgotten about something as random, coincidental, and completely out of the blue as that? I actually know the answer to that question, as I've never been able to muster up much enthusiasm for Moon Knight. I'm sure I probably saw these two pages and flipped forward until I got to the good stuff.

And speaking of good stuff, here's Mockingbird having her big throw down with the Phantom Rider. I don't feel quite comfortable cracking wise about her plotline here, so let's let her have her moment of vengeance and move on.

We're back to the present, just in time to catch up with Mr. Fantastic sending Hank Pym, Moon Knight, and ~~Firebird~~ Espirita back to rescue Hawkeye and crew.

It's nice to know that you can always count on Reed to help send you through time when you need it. He may have a snide comment or two about you after you leave, but he's got your back.

Now that we have a working time machine, this issue should be wrapped up in no time. A quick jaunt back to ancient Egypt sees the West Coast Avengers reunited. Unfortunately, most of their reunion is taken up with the Priests of Khonshu speaking gibberish about prophecies and fists and vengeance...and honestly, I just can't be bothered to wrap my head around it.

I'm with you Hawkeye, let's get movin' already.

Trading in his time machine for a form of transportation more appropriate to the old west, Hawkeye swoops in and rescues his girl.

Now, with the team finally reunited as a whole, they're off to the time stream one last time to head back to the present and deliver a good smack down to Dominus for sending them all back to the past in the first place.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

A couple of things, actually.

First, don't piss off Mockingbird. She'll take you down. Just ask the Phantom Rider, it's a long way down.

Second, don't underestimate Hawkeye. No sooner are you stuck in the past, and he figures out a way to get help that would do Grant Morrison proud.

Third, don't let Hank Pym or Wonder Man help you with your wardrobe. Ever.

I gave this issue a fair amount of grief during the review, but it wasn't that bad. It's biggest sin is probably that it's decidedly average on most counts. The only aspect of this issue that's had any lasting effect is Mockingbird's story, and that gets a scant four pages. All the rest is Hank and his crew talking about the emotional journey they've been on, and why this time they're good enough, smart enough, and doggone it people like them! And then there's all of that Khonshu nonsense.

So yeah, not much to see here. If you really want to know about Mockingbird's vengeance, pick up the Hawkeye & Mockingbird trade as you'll get a much better story out of it.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Burgers, with a side of Hope and Vengeance

2010-12-01T23:43:00.003-05:00

So I guess it's time to get you all off the edge of your seats, after I challenged you with a "somehow this has something to do with comics" picture from last week. At least I'm assuming you're all on the edge of seat and so caught up in the mystery, that you didn't have time to post any guesses.

Either that, or no one read the post and I'm sitting here talking to myself. The glass is half full today, so we'll go with the former.

First, a refresher of the picture that I posted.

Any last guesses? Nobody knows the significance of this burger joint?

Let me set the stage. Over the last couple of months, there's been quite a bit of action happening across the United States in the pages of Green Lantern. The Predator in Las Vegas, Nevada...Larfleeze in North Branch, Minnesota...and the Hope entity making it's presence known in Livonia, Michigan.

Now Livonia just happens to be this random blogger's home town, so that was kinda nifty seeing my home town get a little shout out in Green Lantern #56. Then, a couple of issues later, Geoff Johns and Dough Mahnke delve a little deeper into my neck of the woods.

I've eaten at that Bates Hamburger joint, and that same Bates is the one from the picture.

I know that Geoff Johns is from the Metro Detroit area (Clarkston, I think?) and that he went to Michigan State University, so I guess it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that he's eaten there too. Alas, I probaly never shared a barstool with him, as my Bates Burger joint of choice was about 10-12 miles away in Garden City. This Bates was always a little to "clean" for my liking. There's probably something to be said for cleanliness, however, as my old burger stand was demolished a good ten years ago and this one's still standing.

Before we get to picking the next random book to review, here's a bonus pic for you that was referenced in the very next panel from Green Lantern #58.

I'm sure there are a ton of dumpsters in Warren, Michigan, but I imagine this one's representative enough.

With that out of the way, let's get to picking a new book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is West Coast Avengers #23 from August 1987, published by Marvel Comics!

So for all of you that have been reading Hawkeye & Mockingbird--

Anyone? Anyone? Is this thing on?

Once again, I guess it's just me.

Anyway...one of the big plot lines in the recently cancelled series was a callback to the time when Mockingbird was trapped in the old west and was "taken advantage of" by Phantom Rider. Extracting her vengeance, she lets him fall to his death during their final showdown.

This issue just happens to be the very issue where that confrontation takes place. A very appropriate pick, if not a couple of months late. The Randomizer usually is more prescient with its timing, but it's been years since I've read this issue so I'll let it slide. Especially now that I'll be able to enjoy this issue after revisiting the topic so thoroughly over the last six months.

See you in a day or two for the review.

All-American Comics #1

2010-11-28T15:46:00.001-05:00

TITLE: All-American Comics #1

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: May 1999

COVER PRICE: $1.99

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

It's been a while since I've read The Justice Society Returns! mini-series, but I've always assumed in the intervening years that this mini-series was instrumental in bringing the JSA series back. After re-reading this issue, I don't think that's the case. This would appear from all intents and purposes to be a standard throwback tale in the original Justice Society style, albeit this one stretched out over nine issues.

For those unfamiliar with the format, it goes a little something like this. The whole team is confronted by, or introduced to, a threat. They then split up into smaller groups to accomplish their individual tasks...finally, regrouping to take down the bad guy.

The format of this miniseries is the same, but instead of smaller chapters featuring the individual group members, they get a whole issue to themselves. The opening and closing issues are both written by James Robinson and David Goyer, which I'm sure is why I originally picked this up on the strength of Robinson's Golden Age which was a surprise hit for me.

So yeah, it doesn't really tie in directly to the JSA title that would start up later in the year, but I still remember enjoying it. Let's see how good my memory is.

Cold Heart

Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Eduardo Barreto
Letterer: Kurt Hathaway
Colorist: Carla Feeny
Editors: Peter Tomasi and Dan Raspler

So here's the thing...I've been giving some thought about changing up how I do reviews. Do they always need to be blow-by-blow, page-by-page reviews? Not really, so I'll be messing with my style format on occasion when the mood hits me. They'll probably be shorter reveiws, which should allow me more time to get a few more up...but we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, let's get started.

THE ELEVATOR PITCH

During the waning days of WWII, the Justice Society is trying to defeat Stalker and his seven Disciples, who aim to end all wars on Earth by destroying all life on Earth. Green Lantern and Johnny Thunder are sent to stop one of the Disciples who seeks to disrupt the Yalta Conference. If you're unfamiliar with the finer points of WWII history, I'm sure this picture will ring a bell or two, ably reproduced by Eduardo Barreto.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Not really. The story is narrated by a GI soldier cum Iowa farmboy writing a letter to his family, who is suitably impressed by the arrival of our heroes.

Followed shortly thereafter by the nameless disciple, doing the bidding of the mad god Stalker, which was to kill all life on Earth in case you forgot.

OBLIGATORY FIGHT SCENE

Here's Green Lantern doing his thing...

...and Johnny Thunderbolt doing his...kind of...

Hmmm...I'm getting the feeling someone's going to learn a little bit about what it really means to be a hero.

Yikes, I guess he learned that the hard way.

AND HOW ARE THE REAL LIFE HISTORICAL FIGURES HOLDING UP?

Is that Churchill pushing the wheelchair bound FDR into the line of fire?

Luckily for Roosevelt, Johnny Thunder mans up--

--giving Green Lantern and the Thunderbolt time to finish the Disciple off.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL?

Pretty much. The heroes succeed and are teleported away by Doctor Occult to continue the battle against Stalker, and the Yalta Conference happens just like it's said to have happened in the history books.

And never you mind about any of that nonsense with superheroes, demons, and mad gods that you just read about...that part never happened. Or at least it never happened if you believe everything your government tells you.

It's just another war story that our Iowa farmboy will take with him to the grave.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

There's always more to history than what's written in the textbooks, just don't use a comic book to press your point. And you're just going to have to trust me on that one.

Ron Marz and Eduardo Barreto give us a pretty standard twenty-two pager. Nothing flashy or groundbreaking, but it tells a story and it tells it well. Both of these guys are pros, so you know at the very least you're getting a competant comic book. Unfortunately, that's about as much as we get.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the last decade has treated the Justice Society very, very well. On purely sentimental terms, I'd say that that time period has been the golden age of DCs' Golden Age heroes. It's through that prism of Robinson, Goyer, and Johns' vision that, unfortunately, this story is viewed. After all that they were able to do with the characters, this story just seems a little lightweight in comparison. I'd probably classify this mini-series as essential only for the Justice Society completists.

All characters and artwok reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Up next...All-American Comics #1

2010-11-26T00:08:00.002-05:00

It's Black Friday, so I'm sure everyone is too busy waiting in lines trying to buy a flat screen t.v. for ten bucks or trying to track down whatever hunk of plastic the kids today have decided that they just can't live without.

With smart phones being what they are, however, I suppose you could still be checking in with your favorite random comic book blogs while you're standing in line. Taking that into consideration, here's a quick post to keep you entertained...and challenged.

That's right, it's time for another installment of What Did I See While I Was Out On The Road The Other Day! As long time readers are aware, my day job takes me in-and-around four different states in the Midwest on a semi-regular basis. On occasion, I've been known to spy something comic book related in my travels.

Normally, I'd give you a multiple choice selection and pop up with the photo a couple of days later, like we did over here, here and here. This time, however, we're going to switch it up.

For this round, you'll get the picture first and you have to tell me what the comic book connection is. Everyone got it? Good, then on with the picture.

Now I expect this one is going to be a bit challenging, so I'm going to give you a little clue.

You better hope you can summon all of your willpower from the last couple of months in order to guess this one.

I'll give you a couple of days to ponder it, and I'll be back before the weekend's out to give you the answer. If you know the significance of this building, or are just feeling lucky, drop your answer in the comments.

Until then, let's roll the Randomizer out of the storage unit and dust off the mothballs so that we can fire it up and get a new random book to review. Take it away randomizer...

...and that book is All-American Comics #1 from May 1999, published by DC Comics!

Ahhh...the Justice Society. Up until recently, there were always two things that you could count on without fail during the aughts. The first was that Ultimate Spider-Man was one of the most consistently perfect comic book runs going. The second, and perhaps more unlikely, was that JSA was just as good, if not better (like when Bendis insisted on bringing Ultimate Daredevil into storylines).

And it all started here, with the nine part The Justice Society Returns! storyline that ran through a number of one-shot titles that resurrected long cancelled golden age titles. The issue we'll be reviewing this time around features the golden age Green Lantern and Johnny Thunder, both of whom will be making their debut appearance here at the Random Longbox.

Along for the ride is Eduardo Barreto doing the art. We've had the pleasure of ogling a cover or two, but this will be the first time he's done interiors for one of our reviews.

And speaking of covers, I've always liked the design on this mini-series with the oversized logos and Dave Johnson character work.

See you in a day or two for the review.

Superman (Vol. 2) #65

2010-11-24T22:01:00.005-05:00

I've been gone for a while, so why not open back up with a riddle.

What do you get when you combine three trade shows, multiple four state sales trips, vendor and sales meetings, and a new laptop that aims to thwart you at every turn?

All over the course of eight weeks?

The answer, it would seem, is a woefully unattended to and neglected blog.

So I apologize for the the spotty posting as of late, but my day job has been keeping me hopping. I think I'm finally through the crucible and ready to get back into the thick of it, so let's just get to it and revisit the long delayed review for Superman #65.

TITLE: Superman (Vol. 2) #65

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: March 1992

COVER PRICE: $1.00

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

The big memory I have of this title from its original release is specifically of me not reading it. The cover was striking, and it caught my eye on the shelf, but at this point I was mostly a Marvel guy and I didn't read the Superman titles. So I remember picking it up and thumbing through it, but I ultimately putting it back on the racks.

Little did I know that in ten short months I would be well on my way to being a regular DC reader, with collecting the Superman titles becoming a specialty. For those of you not in the know, Superman #75 was the culmination of the Death of Superman storyline. That issue is often tagged as the beginning of the end of the speculator boom, and while it may have almost doomed the industry, I haven't missed a Superman issue since so it must have done something right.

That, however, is a topic for another day and another random pick. For now, let's see what all the panic is about.

Head Man

Designer/Shaper: Dan Jurgens
Forms: Brett Breeding
Data: Hues
Hues: Glenn Whitmore
Navigator: Dan Thorsland
Architect: Mike Carlin
Superman Creators: Siegel & Shuster

This particular issue is the second part of the Panic In The Sky storyline. In the first part, Brainiac's skull ship has arrived at Earth and is wreaking havoc on Metropolis. With the element of surprise on his side, he's able to bring Superman to his knees. Not without a surprise of his own, Superman is able to break free from Brainiac's psionic assault with the help of Cadmus Labs. That's pretty much all we need to know to bring us up to speed, so let's see what this issue brings.

In deep space, the mysterious Metron is drawn to the planet Almerac. What he sees there unsettles even his calm demeanor, as he is witness to a planet annihilated and a population subjugated. Knowing the unmistakable signature of Warworld, Metron sets forth to warn the remaining populated worlds in its path, lest they suffer the same fate.

Unfortunately for him, Brainiac has other plans. In full control of Warworld, and with Supergirl and Maxima under his influence, Brainiac easily brings Metron to his knees with a psychic attack.

With his last bit of consciousness, Metron sends out his mobius chair to warn Earth as he lies defeated.

And if you were a space-time travelling, artificially intelligent chair, who would you go seek help from?

Why Superman, of course.

Still rebuilding from the previous encounter with Brainiac's ship, Superman is helping Cadmus dig out from the rubble when the chair suddenly appears. Barely do Superman, Dubbilex, and Guardian have time ponder it's arrival when Orion and Lightray come bursting through the wall.

With Motherbox as their guide, they're looking for Metron and are drawn here when his chair reappears. Superman explains that Brainiac is now in control of Warworld, and more than likely has Metron as his prisoner.

Ever the bastion of calmness and reason, Orion listens quietly and patiently as Superman and Dubbilex plan their next move.

Yeah, not so much. Barely do they hear about what has befallen Metron, and Orion and Lightray summon a boomtube to Warworld. As reckless and careless as their "plan" is, at least they're acting in character. If you can read the carryover dialogue box at the top of the panel from Superman, you can see that his great plan for defeating Warworld is to see how Orion and Lightray fare first.

Real heroic there, Superman.

So yeah, Orion and Lightray begin to lay waste to Warworld when they are stopped dead in their tracks by Supergirl and Maxima. Under Brainiac's control, and with the power of Warworld behind them, the two powerhouse heroines quickly subdue both of the new gods. Brainiac then begins to taunt Superman with another psychic attack. This time, using the image of his defeated friends to taunt him, Superman is driven to action once again.

Realizing that he needs to assemble his own strike force to take the battle to space, there's only one man who has the resources to get his team outfitted in time to intercept Warwold...Lex Luthor!

Sidebar time here...Not to derail things too much, but let's take a moment to appreciate the current state of the Superman books. Yeah, Superman may be well nigh unreadable, pandering to the lowest common denominator of ham-fisted emotional blackmail under the guidance of JMS...but at least we have Paul Cornell's awesome Lex Luthor in the pages of Action Comics. Back when I first started reading the Superman books, this was my Lex Luthor.

That's right...he was a bearded, well coiffed, philanthropist Australian clone of the original Lex Luthor. G'day indeed.

Being the good "mate" that he is, Luthor agrees to help and Superman begins assembling his team. First on his list?

Deathstroke The Terminator!

It's actually not as crazy as it sounds, for back in this time period Deathstroke had his own title and was played as more of a reluctant anti-hero rather than out-and-out psychotic villain. Still, I might have given Batman a call first. At least give him the first right of refusal.

Next up on the recruitment drive are two of the JLA heavy-hitters in Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Although I'm not even sure that Luthor is going to be prepared enough to have two dolphin sized space-suits for Aquaman's friends. One maybe, but two? That's seriously pushing my suspension of disbelief.

After a few more pages Superman has most of his team assembled, which you can see pictured over here in all of their glory.

Proving that he will not be outsmarted, Brainiac strikes again before Superman's team has time to formulate a plan of attack. Waiting underneath the waves of Metropolis harbor, Brainiac's skull ship ambushes Aquaman as he swims into town for the big meet-up. Ensnaring him in tentacles (which I'm sure Aquaman has never had any experience with avoiding in all of his time underwater amongst the cephalopods of the deep), Brainiac's ship rises to the surface ready to lay waste to the rest of the assembled heroes.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

First and foremost? Never decide to take a week off of posting on your blog, as a week turns to two, which turns to three, and before you know it two months have gone by.

As for what did we learn from this issue? Let's start with a reminder to not let Superman organize your next outer space strike force, as he's got an odd sense of which heroes work well in that environment.

Secondly, Dan Jurgens had been on Superman proper for a little under a year so far by this point, but he's already hit his stride and is defining the look of Superman that would dominate much of the 90's. I have a real soft spot for Dan and Superman, so I can't be sure that my opinions aren't overly biased, but reading through this issue makes me want to grab my Death and Return of Superman Omnibus off the bookshelf and start reading. Seeing as how I'm supposed to be getting this blog back on track, I'll leave the 800 page tome alone for now.

I've mentioned it previously here and here, but Deathstroke had one of the under-rated series of the early 90's, so it was a real treat seeing Dan's rendition of the character pop up in this issue.

Finally, Brainiac is one of my favorite Superman villains, so any story with him in any of his incarnations (yes, even the sideshow mentalist Milton Fine version) is a winner for me.

So to recap...there's too many things I like about this book that are completely subjective. Your mileage may very.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics.

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

You can find a nice recap of the entire Panic In The Sky storyline here.

Comic Shop Shenanigans

2010-09-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's going to be another day or two for the Superman #65 review to find its way to the internet, as my exciting day job as a Territory Manager for a maintenance and repair parts distributor has once again taken precedence. I'm in Cincinnati visiting some clients, but that doesn't mean that you should be deprived of some of the random comic book entertainment you so richly deserve.

So what do we have on tap for today in its place?

It's another fine installment of...

My Comic Book Shop Is Better Than Your Comic Book Shop!

That's a bold claim, so let's back it up with this.

My comic book store of fifteen years recently relocated, and no sooner did they get all the longboxes moved into their new Pop Culture Warehouse down the street when this mysterious image of Heath Ledger's Joker appeared on the roof of their old location.

Spooky!

And entirely coincidental, I'm sure.

Click over here to mess around with the google maps and see it for yourself.

If you ever find yourself in the metro Detroit area, I'd also recommend stopping by and visiting the fine folks over at Back To The Past in person. Tell 'em that the Random Longbox sent you, and marvel at their polite but quizzical expressions...

"The random what-now?"

I wouldn't, however, recommend climbing up to the roof of their old location as I'm sure that's frowned upon by several local ordinances.

Homage Files

2010-09-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

So I'm reading Superman (Vol. 2) #65 for the upcoming review, and I came across this nice looking splash page.

And as nice as that image is, it instantly reminds me of this one from Crisis On Infinite Earths #5.

George Perez is the undisputed master of massive super-hero group shots, and from looking at his shot here, it's easy to see why. The design work in that image is nothing short of amazing. From the angled perspective, to the circular border, to the varying levels of depth...there's something new to see each time you look at it.

That's reason enough that this image has stuck with me for the last twenty-five years, as there are plenty of iconic images that came from this series, but this one is one of my favorites. I had just started reading comics earlier the year and was mainly a Marvel guy, yet I vividly remember staring at this splash page again and again wondering just who everybody was.

Ahhh, to be a kid again.

Odds and sods and Superman again!

2010-09-06T10:15:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone out there (or at least all of my American readers) is enjoying the holiday today. The international readers among you can feel free to enjoy the day too, you'll just have to do it in a non-governmentally sanctioned way.

It's time once again to raid the longboxes and see what completely random book I get to review is, but first let's do a little odds and sods for the last couple of weeks.

Does this mean that I can stop having people getting all evangelical on me when I tell them that I have never read any Scott Pilgrim?

Here's a quick tip for the aspiring bloggers among you. Mention All-Star Wonder Woman somewhere in your posts on a regular basis. In the last month since I blogged about the Adam Hughes pin-up of the Jim Lee redesigned Wonder Woman from ten years ago, the phrase All-Star Wonder Woman has been the leading search term that brought people to my website. I would've thought this title fell completely off the radar, but I'm guessing if Adam Hughes ever gets around to finishing it, it'll be a top ten book.

So I was reading some old Defenders issues I bought after having such a good time with this one, and I came across this ad.

It's from 1977, and if I'm not mistaken that's Alan Moore trying to subvert the youth with his "magic". I guess that didn't pan out, and he decided to take a more circuitous route into the mind's of the readers by controlling the actual content of the books the next year.

So now that I've brought all of those pertinent observations to you, it's time to hit you with a little random goodness with a new book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Superman #65 from March 1992, published by DC Comics!

It took a while, but we finally hit managed to snag a Dan Jurgen's Superman book to review. Why is that such a big deal?

There were two books in the early 90's that made a huge impact on me and I'm pretty sure are the main reason that I'm still reading comics, instead of burning out during the speculator boom and crash. The first one was Neil Gaiman's Sandman, while the other was Dan Jurgen's Superman. Both of them re-invigorated my interest in comic books, but for wildly different reasons.

Neil Gaiman showed me how much more comics could actually do, by going outside the super-hero boundaries. Dan Jurgen's on the other hand, took an approach one hundred and eighty degrees opposite, but no less entertaining.

This particular issue lands us smack dab in the Panic In The Sky! storyline that ran through the Superman books at the time, with Brainiac wreaking havoc with Warworld at his command. We've been kind of lucky lately, with the Randomizer picking either the first or last issue of a story to read, but not this time. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy it nonetheless.

See you in a day or two for the review!

Fantastic Four #347

2010-09-02T23:42:00.000-04:00

TITLE: Fantastic Four #347

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: December 1990

COVER PRICE: $1.00

23 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

There's two things that I remember about this issue. One of them, it turns out, I've remembered incorrectly.

I'd always assumed that this issue was the start of Walter Simonson's run on Fantastic Four. I'd read a little bit of the Fantastic Four here and there, but never followed it with any sort of regularity. This issue was the start of me buying this title on a monthly basis, and I guess I always attributed that fact to jumping on at the beginning of Simonson's run, but it turns out that he started his tenure on this title back on issue #334!

As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I jumped on with this issue because it had Wolverine and Ghost Rider in it. Don't judge me...it was the early 90's and I was a naive comic book reader.

Luckily for me this was an awesome issue in the middle of an awesome run. Which leads me to the second thing I remember about this issue, which was that it turned me into a Fantastic Four fan. To put it more correctly, I guess I should say it turned me into a frustrated fan as Simonson would be off the title only eight months later.

To me, Simonson set the bar incredibly high with his run. Yes, It was wacky, goofy, and tongue in cheek; but most of all it was intelligent and incredibly entertaining at the same time. Not many other creators have managed to achieve that balance, which is why my collecting history with the title is full of holes.

The closest we probably got was with Waid and Wieringo's tenure earlier in the decade, which unfortunately had it's consistency marred by some overactive editorialial influence. John Byrne had a highly entertaining run, but I don't know how intelligent it actually was, while Hickman's run currently is striving for intelligent, but leaving the fun behind. I've never read any of Stan and Jack's original run (I know, I know...I'll get around to it someday), but I can only assume that it hit the mark seeing as how they were the ones that defined the target.

To me, Walter Simonson's short run is the apex of greatness, and the fact that there are twelve more issues that I never knew existed before today have me chomping at the bit to go do some longbox shopping tomorrow. In the meantime, however, we'll tide ourselves over rereading this issue.

Big Trouble On Little Earth!

Writing: Walter Simonson
Penciling: Arthur Adams
Inking: Art Thibert
Lettering: Bill Oakley
Coloring: Steve Buccellato
Editing: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This issue begins in space, as the silence between the Earth and the Moon is broken by the arrival of a damaged ship that emerges from lightspeed, only to crash land on Earth.

The attractive female pilot (hey, she's drawn by Art Adams...she's gonna be pretty) escapes with her life, swearing vengeance on those that betrayed her and marooned her on Earth.

We'll find out exactly who (and what) she is in a bit, but first let's check in with the Fantastic Four at Four Freedoms Plaza who are enjoying some down time after being away for the last couple of weeks. Like any typical family, however, there's some dysfunction hiding in the background.

Johnny seems to be infatuated with an alien woman that they met a few issues back, even though he's married to Alicia Masters. Johnny Storm married...I had forgotten all about that.

A human Ben Grimm seeks to console his girlfriend, Sharon Ventura, who is currently She-Thing and trapped in her rocky form. She-Thing...I had forgotten all about that.

That right there is the sign of a good writer. You got two things that by all rights should hamper your ability to tell a good Fantastic Four story, and he makes 'em work. So much so, that I had completely forgotten that they were even an issue.

Seeking to take advantage of everyone's distracted attentionzs, our mysterious crash survivor arrives at Four Freedoms Plaza. Using her ability to change shape and her telepathy, she easily slips inside and begins to take the FF down one by one.

Changing her from into Nebula, Johnny's blue-skinned alien infatuation from earlier, she appears before him and gets close enough to shock him into unconsciousness with a hand held taser device.

Similarly, she does the same thing to Ben. Only this time appearing as Johnny's wife, Alicia Masters, his old flame who fell in love with Johnny when Ben was off-world. He obviously still has feelings for her, as the shapechanger is able to take advantage of that to get close enough to use the same device on Ben.

...and we all know the conflicted feelings that Sue has always had for Namor.

Second verse, same as the first...and down goes Sue to the shapechanger.

After drugging She-Thing with a knock-out brew of tea, the mysterious alien sets her sights on Reed. It turns out that the alien actually has a little crush on Reed, and takes the form of his wife to seduce him into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately for her, Reed is too quick and notices her deception and manages to bend his body away from her taser at the last second. As perceptive as he is, however, he's never been that good of a hand-to-hand fighter and he soon finds himself unconscious with the rest of the Fantastic Four before he can alert the Avengers.

Meanwhile, we find out exactly who the mysterious alien attacker was running from as a Skrull warship enters Earth orbit, hot on her trail.

Scanning the planet for De'Lila, they soon find a plethora of Skrull-like lifeforms centered on a small island in the pacific. Cloaking their ship, they head to the island to investigate. Unfortunately for them, that small island is none other than Monster Island, which they find out the hard way.

It turns out that the monsters of Monster Island all have a primitive Skrull like brain, which was the source of the Skrull life readings. The Skrull in charge seems less concerned about why that is, than with using that fact to his advantage to smoke out De'Lila from hiding. Using neural disruptor darts, they tag each monster and teleport it to various cities around the globe. Using the disruptors to increase the ferocity of the monsters, they hope to drive up the mental stress planet-wide and flush her out.

Little do they know, there's a monarch of Monster Isle...and he's none to happy about the current turn of events.

Still in the form of Sue, De'Lila uses the FF's computers to familiarize herself with Earth's superheroes. Reed's files are complete enough that they allow her to pick and choose among them a group of recruits with which she hopes to achieve her destiny. Using her telepathy she sends a mental summoning out to the four heroes who soon arrive at the door of Four Freedoms Plaza.

The Grey Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider are soon brought in to see "Sue", who tells them the tragic (and altogether false) tale of how she returned home to find her home in ruins and the rest of the Fantasic Four dead or dying. Using one of her husband's inventions, she called to each of them to come to her aid to help avenge the recently deceased members of the Fantastic Four.

By now, the "new" members of the Fantastic Four have fallen for De'Lila's story and agree to help her find the monsters that did this. Playing right into her hand, she arms them with another of Reed's gadgets that will allow them to track down the energy signature of the attackers. Little do they know, the attackers they're being sent to hunt down are the Skrulls that are hunting De'Lila.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

This comic was as fun, if not more, than I remember. Maybe it's the fact that there is so little new Marvel that I find readable for three bucks anymore, that I'm starting to get nostalgic for the characters that I grew up with.

Or maybe it's the fact that it's been so long since I enjoyed a good Fantastic Four book, that this issue seems to shine a little brighter. Hell, it's been even longer since I've enjoyed a Wolverine book, that his brief appearance here actually made me miss the old canuck.

Whether it was any of those reasons, or an amalgam of others, this book just pleased me to no end. Even though the Fantastic Four get punked out relatively early in the book, it's got alot of the earmarks that make a great story...Skrulls, Monster Isle, crazy inventions, family drama, space travel, etc...

And speaking of the Skrulls...they're an antagonist I like best when they are played for laughs. They've never been the most dangerous of foes in the FF rogue's gallery, but they are entertaining none the less. The over-the-top inclusion of some of the 90's most overused guest stars let you know right away that this is going to be a fun issue. So with the Skrulls and Mole Man as the villains, we have the perfect blend of absurdity and comedy with which to have a little fun at their own expense.

This is the first part of a three parter, so unfortunately we have to spend most of our time setting things up. Luckily for us, we have Art Adams supplying the pencils for this issue, so even the dialogue heavy pages are fun to look at.

One thing that is distracting about the art, is that the combination of the paper quality and the coloring tended to give this book an over-saturated look on the page. I'd love to see this book recolored using today's technology, as I'm sure it would give Art Adams' beautiful pencils even more attention.

Now we just have to wait for the Randomizer to pick another book from this run, so that we can continue on with one of the best runs from the 90's. In the meantime, I'll be happily looking through some back-issue bins for the issues that I missed.

Holy crap! Simonson had Kang show up during his run?! How the heck did I miss that? Now I'm definitely hitting the comic book store tomorrow.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Sea serpents, bullets, and gimmicks!

2010-09-01T07:32:00.002-04:00

It's the first of the month, which means a a clean slate of fresh challenges that await us. It's also a Wednesday, which means a clean slate of new books to read. Before we get lost in the ongoing adventures of comic book day, let's take a trip back into the past to see exactly what the kids were reading in Comic Book Days of Wednesdays Past!

We've reset the Randomizer to pick a year from 1938 to 2009, so where's our first stop?

1954!

If you were growing up in the early 50's and took your dime to the general store, there's a chance you may have walked out with Out Of The Night #17.

At first, I was worried for Peter Parker on that cover. To begin with, I think he's been slacking on his mythological studies as I don't ever recall Minotaurs ever being drawn as sea serpents.

Secondly, it's a freaking sea serpent! Run!

Third, it's breathing fire! Oops, my bad...that minotaur serpent isn't breathing fire, but being hit by some sort of exploding projectile thrown by our hero.

In that case, I think he gets what he deserves. Anyone walking around an underground labyrinth with flaming projectiles is just itching for a fight, in my opinion.

Let's leave him to his fate and see what year we're off to next.

1942!

Yes, when political correctness was just a gleam in society's eye, we had Bulletman #9 on the stands. And really, who better to take on a pack of wild dogs than two heroes modeling themselves after bullets. As outraged as PETA is right about now, I'm sure you could take any cover of Bulletman from this time and make it seem vaguely inappropriate.

It's not as bad as it first looks however, as what I originally mistook for a hail of gunfire surrounding the canine bank robbing gang is just jewels falling from their ill-gotten gain.

Nothing to worry about here after all. Although it does remind me that it's been far too long since I've caught The Doberman Gang on cable t.v. Do they even replay that anymore?

So let's use the power of the Randomizer for good, and pick the next random book from my collection to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Fantastic Four #347 from December 1990, published by Marvel Comics!

Hey, it's our old friends the Fantastic Four! Remember them? They were the star of our very first review here at the Random Longbox, and they've been surprisingly absent in the intervening fifteen months.

Come to think of it, it wasn't even the "real" Fantastic Four as the book that we reviewed fell smack dab into the Heroes Reborn Jim Lee reboot. It's a good thing we get another crack at the FF, with the 616 version of them--

Wait a minute...is that Ghost Rider on the cover? And Gray Hulk?

Yes, it's the goofiest line up of the FF ever with Ghost Rider, Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine taking over for a couple of issues.

I could feign outrage at Spider-Man and Wolverine being part of the team too, but that argument's getting a little stale. Besides, if I remember correctly this storyline was a parody of sorts of cash-grabbing guest stars that were all the rage at this time, so their inclusion here actually makes sense.

See you in a day or two for the review.

I didn't need another excuse to read a comic book, but I'll take it.

2010-08-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

So if you believe everything the internet tells you, today is apparently the first annual Read Comics In Public Day. It's the brainchild of Brian Heater and Sarah Morean, and it's nothing more complicated than taking to the streets and reading your comic books loud and proud.

I've never been shy about reading my funny books in public, so this was a no-brainer for me. I'm actually working for the wife this weekend at the People's Art Festival in Detroit, but I did manage to sneak away for a moment or two to help the cause.

Even Mrs. Random Longbox found the time to enjoy one of her favorite books.

So now that you know what today is, what are you still doing reading this blog? Get up and head out into public with a stack of comics in tow!

As for me, it's back to work. I don't want the boss to see me slacking any more than I have already. I will, however, be back soon to announce the next random book to review (but the eagle-eyed readers out there among you probably already know what that book is).

DC Comics Presents #8

2010-08-27T23:54:00.004-04:00

TITLE: DC Comics Presents #8

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: April 1979

COVER PRICE: $0.40

17 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

I made a comment not too long ago about how there're very few characters or titles left where I'm actively trying to complete a collection, of which Superman is one of them. I also recently reached a point in my collecting with Action Comics and Superman where the majority of the holes that I have left now lie knee deep in the silver age or earlier. Needless to say, the higher price points have slowed down my collecting just a bit.

To help combat the Superman back-issue withdrawls, I set my sights on a lot of the secondary titles, with DC Comics Presents being the cream of the crop. About two years ago I found a complete collection of all 101 issues on ebay for a hundred bucks.

I've since read some here and there, but haven't gotten around to this one yet. So not only are we going in cold on this one, but this will also be the very first pre-"Alan Moore" Swamp Thing story I've ever read too!

Before we get into it, let's just take a moment to admire yet another awesome cover by one of my favorite Superman artists from this era...Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez! His Superman compliments what Curt Swan was doing at the time, but really amps up the athleticism and power of Superman without overdoing it. It's a very "Marvel" looking Superman.

So let's crack this thing open and see what we have in store for us.

"The Sixty Deaths of Solomon Grundy!"

Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Letterer: Ben Oda
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Editor: Juluis Schwartz

The story opens up in the sewers of Metropolis, as the Swamp Thing shambles through the underbelly of the city with a singular purpose. A recent newspaper article from the Daily Planet has led him here to search the sewers for Solomon Grundy. He's hoping that this "Marshland Monster" can provide some clue to his condition, and hopefully a way to reverse it.

It's worth noting at this point, that this issue is still relatively early in Swamp Thing's career. He debuted seven years earlier, but his series only lasted for twenty-four issues. This was also long before Alan Moore turned him into an elemental spirit of sorts, so what we have here reminds me a lot of The Incredible Hulk t.v. show...trapped in this savage form, he wanders the country using his scientific intellect to try to reverse the accident that made him a monster.

So now his travels have brought him to Metropolis, his hopes resting on finding Solomon Grundy, who recently gave Superman some trouble. Unfortunately for him, Superman has found him first.

Superman aims to capture Grundy once and for all, but Swamp Thing realizes that if he succeeds, then there goes his chance of finding a potential cure. He doesn't want to do it, but he must stop Superman from apprehending Grundy.

Superman could more than likely take each of these monsters out quite easily on their own, but together they manage to get the upper hand.

"Blum?" Here, let Grundy show you how you defeat Superman with a proper sound effect.

Leaving Superman alive but unconscious, the two brothers of the bog depart with Grundy following Swamp Thing like a lost puppy. Luckily for the Swamp Thing, they soon stumble upon an abandoned laboratory in the sewers. It's rudimentary, but should be adequate enough to analyze a skin sample of Grundy's. Metropolis was such a wonderful place in the 60's and 70's, as there was always an abandoned warehouse or laboratory around when you needed one.

Here, the two monsters practice for their way-off-Broadway revival of "The Odd Couple" musical.

Meanwhile, after regaining his consciousness, Superman heads to S.T.A.R. Labs with a sample of the sewer water from his recent battle for them to analyze. He needs to find out what is causing Solomon Grundy's recent reappearances.

While the scientists dash off to do the grunt work, it's time for Superman to lay the Kryptonian charm on Lois.

Wait a minute...did I miss an issue or sixty somewhere between the beginning of the Bronze Age and the Modern Age?

Apparently I did.

Alas, the life of a superhero can never be this uncomplicated, as Solomon Grundy reappears right outside of S.T.A.R. Labs.

But isn't he down in the sewers with the Swamp Thing?

No time to worry about that just now...go get 'em, Superman!

Speaking of Swamp Thing, he's finally done with his makeshift genetic experiments with negative results. Since Grundy isn't truly alive, there's no connection between the two of them, and thus no hope for a cure just yet. Just as Swamp Thing is about to break the bad news to Grundy, they overhear a news broadcast about Superman's recent defeat of Solomon Grundy, which filters down through the sewer pipes.

Grrr! Sewer pipe only get one channel...Grundy kill!

Grundy heads to the surface to confront Superman as the one true Solomon Grundy, when Superman finally realizes that he has a bigger problem on his hands. And wouldn't you know it, Grundy has cock-blocked him once again!

Superman rushes back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where they have managed to synthesize a chemical from the sewer water that Superman can use to destroy the army of Grundy's that are ravaging Metropolis. Swamp Thing emerges from the sewer just as Superman flies off to destroy the marauding marsh monsters.

During their short time together, the Swamp Thing realized that even though the Grundy beasts are not truly "alive", they don't deserve to die either. But as we've already seen, it's too late. Besides, Superman's only a man...with manly desires...and he's going to do what it takes so that Grundy will not interrupt him and Lois again.

He's not completely heartless, however, as he does manage to give a parting thought for the Swamp Thing, musing that one day maybe he'll be able to help him too. Hopefully, it'll be help of a more compassionate kind than he gave Grundy.

Cue "The Lonely Man" by Joe Harnell

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Apparantly Superman spent a lot of time in the sewers of Metropolis in the 70's, as the last time we reviewed one of his books from this era he was down there too. That one featured S.T.A.R. Labs also, which was also it's first appearance.

And here's another coincidence that just occured to me. That previous Superman/Swamp Monster/Sewer battle was written by none other than Len Wein, the creator of Swamp Thing, a full year before Swamp Thing's first appearance. Could that story have been an idea that stuck with Len Wein, eventually germinating into the Swamp Thing? Who knows, but the timing sure is freaky.

Anyway, we're here to talk about what we learned from this book, right?

Overall, there's not too much here that's really consequential to either Swamp Thing or Superman. It's a nice little done-in-one that pushes along both character's narratives, without really either deviating from what came before, or veering off into a new direction.

If you read this issue as an homage or a tribute to the work of Wein and Wrightson, then it's decent enough, if not a little on the light side. The artwork from Murphy Anderson is serviceable, but really doesn't aspire to give us anything other than the standard DC house style of the time. That's a bit of a shame, as the Swamp Thing is a character that definitely invites a little artistic experimentation.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Oh DC...you shouldn't have!

2010-08-23T07:43:00.004-04:00

So I'm drinking my coffee yesterday, plugging away at the New York Times crossword puzzle, while trying to come up with something new and exciting to talk about for today's preamble before we pick another random book to review. Nothing really moved me or was compelling enough this week that deserved a little spotlight, so I'm just about to give up and let the post ride for another day or two when I get to the clue for 56 Across...

"The lowest form of humor" per Samuel Johnson

SPOILER ALERT...the answer is PUN, as any lover of trivia, crossword puzzles, quotes, or paronomasia knows.

I happen to enjoy a little bit of wordplay, with the pun being a particular favorite, but I've never really been that adept at crafting them. I can, however, appreciate the effort that other people have.

So what the heck does this have to do with comics?

Well let me tell you.

Today is my birthday (number forty to be exact), and what book did the Randomizer happen to pick for me to review? Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is DC Comics Presents #8 from April 1979, published by DC Comics!

You see it, right?

It's my birthday, and the Randomizer got me a present in the form of DC Comics Presents!

All right everybody, you can stop your groaning now, but when was the last time DC ever gave you a present for your birthday? I'll see you in a day or two for the review, and we'll find out exactly what Swamp Thing was up to in Metropolis.

Doom Patrol #56

2010-08-19T23:45:00.001-04:00

TITLE: Doom Patrol #56

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: June 1992

COVER PRICE: $1.50

24 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

So there are things that I strongly remember about this title during the 90's, and there are things that I have no recollection of.

With the latter, one of the big mysteries is why I started reading this title in the first place. I'm pretty sure I had never read a Doom Patrol story before, nor had I ever read a Grant Morrison book prior to this one.

The only thing I can think is that I had just started reading Sandman the year before, which turned me on to comics of a more cerebral nature. It seems natural that this title, which had been getting its fair share of critical praise at the time, would be the next logical step.

What I do remember, however, is that this title turned me into a Doom Patrol fan to this day. I don't really have the budget to do much active collecting these days, but when I do there's still three titles that I look for -- Superman, Dr. Strange, and Doom Patrol.

This title also made me into a Grant Morrison and Richard Case fan. Both of these creators I still read to this day, although Case has been keeping a relatively low profile since Hunter: The Age of Magic wrapped up.

So what about this actual issue? It's funny, as I have fond memories of enjoying the heck out of this series when it was being released. When I think of good 90's comics, this one is always in the top ten. But I haven't ever re-read this run, and my memory of actual events that happened within it's pages have faded. Maybe I'm more sober now than I was in my mid-twenties, and the brain cells that got sacrificed were the Doom Patrol ones. I guess we'll never know, so let's just read this thing.

Down In The Well

Writer: Grant Morrison
Layouts: Richard Case
Finishes: Stan Woch
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Jon Workman
Editor: Tom Peyer

So here's the thing...Grant Morrison is a very polarizing writer on the best of days. He tends to drive fans to one of two extremes, with readers falling into either the "love him" or "hate him" camp. I happen to fall into the love him category, but I appreciate the fact that his stuff is not for everybody. I also appreciate the fact there are two different styles of Grant Morrison books. There's the relatively mainstream and straightforward stuff like his JLA run and...well...I guess his JLA run. I guess if we're in a charitable mood, we can throw his Batman run in there too, at least up until the Zur En Arrh stuff.

The other style involves his experimental stuff where he tends to bend the rules of convention and reader expectations. The Doom Patrol definitely falls into the latter category, so I'm actually going to break the review up into two sections. First up is the safe for all audiences, Reader's Digest version. If you get to the end of that, and feel like experimenting a bit further, there'll be a more in depth review for your entertainment.

The issue opens up with Crazy Jane, who has gone missing from the Doom Patrol on a quest to confront her father who had abused her as a child. When we catch up with her, she is holed up in a cathedral in Metropolis and has gotten herself in trouble with the local police force. Using her powers, she bursts forth from hiding, laying waste to the assembled police blockade out front.

Back at DP headquarters, Robotman and Danny The Street talk about recent events. Danny is concerned about an evil presence he has felt in the recent past that has suddenly gone missing. Robotman takes that as a good thing, brushing aside Danny's concerns in favor of trying to find out what has happened to Crazy Jane.

During his investigation into Jane's disappearance, Robot Man consults with one of her old doctors and finds out that her father has been dead for ten years! She suggests that Cliff heads to Metropolis, as that is where her Crazy Jane persona first manifested itself. If she's gone off the deep end, it's a good place to start.

It's too late, of course, as Jane has already fled Metropolis after her battle with the police. Her next stop is her childhood home, which is nothing more than an abandoned farm these days.

The memories of her abuse, along with her multiple personalities, start cascading through her mind. The main image triggered is from a time when her father threw one of her stuffed animals down the well to punish her. One of her stronger personalities comes to the forefront and forces her down the well to find it, which she does.

With her animal finally safe, she has visions of being at her father's deathbed, telling the doctor's to turn off his life support. With his evil finally behind her, she emerges from the well to a vision of a fairytale landscape, complete with an enchanted castle in the distance.

See? That wasn't so bad, was it?

That's the end of the SFW part of the review as we now say goodbye to the feint of heart. We'll catch up with you in a day or two for another random book to review, but for the braver among you, let's dig a little deeper into this issue.

So when I started reading this issue, I didn't remember a whole lot of what happened. I have to say, however, that as soon as I got into a few pages it all started coming back to me, and this particular issue is kind of an important one for Morrison's run.

Going back to the beginning, we find Crazy Jane in Metropolis at the cathedral where she was raped in the past. That trauma led to the first onset of her multiple personalities, which eventually gives her super powers, as each of her personalities has a different super power.

Cornered by the police, one of her personas moves to the forefront to deal with the situation. Consulting her wikipedia page, I'm guessing it's either Scarlet Harlot or Flaming Katy.

She leaves the assembled police force in ruins, which gives Cliff all sorts of headaches when he arrives in Metropolis to find her. For Jane, however, it's on to the next site of her trauma tour as she leaves Metropolis.

Before Cliff can begin his search, he has a little unfinished business with Danny The Street to take care. For those of you not in the know, Danny The Street is one of the stranger hero's in Morrison's Doom Patrol, which I guess you could say is the highest of compliments. True to his name, he's a street who happens to be sentient. His role in this story is limited to basically a harbinger of impending doom, as he tries to warn robot man of an evil presence that has gone m.i.a.

That's not the only foreshadowing of bad things to come, as we next find the irascible Willoughby Kipling being called to a meeting of the Knights Templar. He's late for the meeting, but is soon brought up to speed by the dentures of one of the older knights.

That's right, if the sentient hovering dentures of a templar knight tell you that Nostradamus' apocalypse is coming, you better listen. It's just Willoughby's luck that he's drawn the short straw and is tasked with helping the Doom Patrol deal with it.

We now get to the meat of the story, as Crazy Jane arrives at the farm that was her childhood home. Crazy Jane's story is a tragic one, and here is where it all started. When she was a little girl, she was molested by her father. As she walks in and around the crumbling farmhouse, the initial memories of that abuse start returning. One particularly painful memory was when her father punished her by throwing her stuffed lamb down the well.

Now that she's back at the farm, her multiple personalities struggle for control, eventually pushing her down the well to rescue her long lost stuffed animal.

Falling down the well, Crazy Jane spirals past multiple doors...one for every personality, I would presume. She eventually reaches the bottom of the well, where she does indeed find her long lost lamb, Harry.

Once reunited, Crazy Jane seems to find a new found peace. Perhaps it's the fact that she was able to do this for herself, without using one of her super-powered personalities. Her journey's not at an end just yet, however, as there is one more thing that needs tending to. With Harry safe and secure once again, it's time to bury the memory of her abusive father once and for all.

Her mind transports her to the vision of her father on his deathbed, stricken with cancer. She turns to the doctors in attendance and tells them to switch off his life support. With his memory truly and surely dead, there is just one final door at the bottom of the well that she must go through. Opening it, she finds a fairy tale world awaiting her, complete with enchanted castle.

It looks like there may be hope for Crazy Jane after all.

It's not all unicorns and rainbows for the rest of the Doom Patrol however, as the issue ends with Robotman returning to DP headquarters after failing to find Crazy Jane. What he does find is the dead body of Joshua Clay, a onetime member of the Doom Patrol who used to go by the name Tempest. He had retired from super-heroing but was here as the defacto team physician, a job which would ultimately lead to his rather grizzly death.

Who killed him? Let's check in with the last page for the cliffhanger ending...

That's right...it's Niles Caulder, a.k.a. The Chief.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Come on in, the water's fine!

If you're going to jump right into Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, you could do worse than pick this issue. Yeah, it's the culmination of a thirtysome issue long arc for Crazy Jane, but you really get everything you need to know with this issue.

The other high point, is that this issue sets up so many other storylines that really set the stage for Morrison's final arc. You get the death of a Doom Patrol member, the crazy Chief getting even crazier, Robotman in over his head...

I know I had a bit of fun with the blog posts leading up to this issue, but truth be told, this was surprisingly coherent and eerily straightforward. The big surprise was just how touching and heartfelt this issue was concerning Jane's journey. It started out incredibly depressing and morose with being forced to relive the beginning of her father's abuse. Throw in a raggedy stuffed lamb, and that just amped up the emotional investment. Luckily for Jane, and us, she finds the inner strength to deal with her trauma and come through stronger for it.

A big part of the effectiveness of this story belongs to Richard Case. There are a lot of artists that are lauded for their skills with making their characters act. Steve Dillon and Kevin Maguire are two that instantly pop to mind. I think Richard Case belongs right up there with the best of them, as there isn't a page in this issue that doesn't drive the emotional center of the story. And when all you have to work with for part of the story are a robot and a sentient street, that's saying something. It's too bad that Richard Case doesn't have a monthly book these days, as I'd definitely be on board for more of his visuals.

Looking back, I can easily see how this run turned me into a Grant Morrison and Doom Patrol fan. If I didn't have a "to read" stack that's sagging my bookshelf right now, I'd be back down in the longboxes pulling the remainder of Morrison's run to finish reading.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Who knew that Morrison's Doom Patrol was so conventional?

2010-08-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

So I'm what...one or two weeks behind on my review of Grant Morrison and Richard Case's Doom Patrol #56?

I thought I should at least pop up to let you know that I'm safe and have made it through the issue with no ill effects to my sanity or worldview. It was actually a rather straightforward issue, so I didn't even need to utilize my safeword. In fact, this issue may take the cake as the most mainstream and conventional super-hero comic book I've read for this blog yet. I'm probably exaggerating, but what other book have I read that allows me to post a pic like this one?

That's right, it's an honest-to-goodness superhero emerging from a telephone booth!

(Never you mind that the telephone booth is a method of communication for a sentient transvestite street who's actually a member of the Doom Patrol.)

In reality, I'm just recuperating from a very intense week and a half featuring a combination of day job responsibilities and helping Mrs. Random Longbox out at one of her outdoor art festivals. I didn't think it was possible, but I swear I have sweat off my body weight three times over during the recent heat wave that swept through the Midwest.

I'm taking another day or two off, but thanks for checking back during my sabbatical and I'll see you before the week's out for the long delayed Doom Patrol review.

Captain America...Renaissance Man?

2010-08-05T11:41:00.003-04:00

A while back I flagged this pic, and posed the question "What couldn't that shield do?"

Now, I think I was giving too much credit to the shield and not enough to Cap himself, after I came across this pic in the recent Punisher issue we reviewed.

Who knew Captain America had so many talents. I know the super soldier serum transformed him into the perfect physical speciman of a human being, but I was not aware that it also turned him into a virtual renaissance man!

Maybe the question should be what the hell was Cap up to in the 80's? Or more appropriately phrased, what wasn't he up to in the 80's? It's like he's Marvel's Ronald McDonald.

Keep your eyes peeled, loyal Random Longbox reading audience, and shoot me an email if you should ever come across any other of Cap's secret hidden talents. In the meantime, let's get the Randomizer fired up to pick the next book to review. Take it away, Randomizer...

...and that book is Doom Patrol #56 from June 1992, published by DC Comics!

And here I thought that pic of Cap tap-dancing was unsettling, but I can't even begin to comprehend what's going on on this cover by Simon Bisley. Let's see...naked chick holding a lamb, thigh deep in water being navigated by a biker wearing a rotary dial phone hat. If I was you, naked lady on the cover, I think I'd let that particular phone call go to voice mail. It looks like you have your hands full already.

Coming back to reality, and it looks like we're in for a treat with this one as Grant Morrison makes his first appearance here at Random Longbox. This series was also my first introduction to the mad genius of Morrison.

I'll be back in a day or two with the review, but until then I want you all to make sure that you're caught up on your medications (both prescription and otherwise) and that you have your safe words updated...for once we go through the looking glass that is Morrison's Doom Patrol, I can't be held responsible for your personal safety and/or sanity.

Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman #1

2010-08-03T23:12:00.002-04:00

TITLE: Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman #1

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: August 2001

COVER PRICE: $5.95

40 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

There's not a whole lot I remember about this issue. In fact, I don't even recall if this was good, bad, or just plain mediocre. I never finished collecting the whole series, so I'm guessing it left me a little cold.

It does have Jim Lee doing the artwork, so I'm going to guess that it at least looks good. It's a long issue, so let's just get right to it.

Just Imagine Stan Lee's Wonder Woman

Writer: Stan Lee
Pencil Art: Jim Lee
Ink Art: Scott Williams
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist & Separator: Alex Sinclair
Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston
"Just Imagine..." initiated by Michael Uslan

Right off the bat, and Stan Lee is throwing us for a curve. The story starts where...

Ages ago, there was a time of wonder, a time of mystery and miracles. Come back with us to such a time.

Sounds about right for the origin of Wonder Woman, eh? But then before we even leave the same panel, we find out we're not going to Themyscira, but to Lake Titicaca!

It would appear we've traded the Greek canon for one half a world away, as the son of the great Incan Sun God rises from the lake. He leaves to found the legendary city of Cuzco to honor his father. To complete his task, he has been given an enchanted staff of gold with which he will plunge into the earth at the fateful location.

He soon founds the legendary city and ushers in a glorious age of peace and prosperity, but that was then. Today, Cuzco has been ravaged by time and the once fabled city has fallen into ruin. It is here that we are introduced to Maria Mendoza as she bemoans the current state of the ancient city, being plundered by an unscrupulous archaeologist named Armando Guitez.

It is also here that she also meets Steve Trevor, and idealistic archaeologist working for Guitez, who is trying his hardest to make sure that the plundered treasures are actually being bought by museums. There conversation is cut short however, as they are forced to leave in a hurry as a rather ominous noise scares them off the dig.

Steve gives Maria a lift back to her nearby village, where her father is the local judge. She catches him between cases and confronts him once again about being on Guitez's payroll. Maria is nothing, if not a little headstrong, and she finally gets her father to tell her the whole truth about her birth and what happened to her mother.

On the night she was born, her parents were returning to their home when they were stopped by bandits. Disappointed that the couple had no money, a scuffle ensued and a shot rang out. Maria's mother was unfortunately shot dead. Moments later, the local policia arrive, but they too are looking for money in the form of a bribe before they catch the bandits. Disappointed that the farmer has no money, they take his truck, leaving the heartbroken man to bury his wife. He swears then and there that he will protect his daughter, even if it means making a pact with the devil.

That devil, of course, is Guitez who shows up right on cue. He's here to oversee a case that a local farmer is bringing against the policia. The farmer accuses the policia of being in Guitez's back pocket and doing nothing to help them. The villagers believe that a demon of some sort is attacking their farms, but the policia refuse to help.

Guitez gives the word, and the policia beat him to set an example for the villagers that Guitez has their best interests at heart, and it is best not to question his methods. It would also appear that Guitez is unhappy with Judge Mendosa's behavior of late, as he feels he has been too sympathetic to the locals. The policia leave, taking Judge Mendosa back to Guitez's compound.

Desperate to help her father, Maria tracks down Steve Trevor and enlists his help in getting into Guitez's compound. Once inside, Maria watches from the shadows as her father confronts Guitez about his lawlessness. He has finally seen enough and threatens to go to the local governor with everything that he knows. Guitez, not surprisingly, has other ideas.

Maria rushes to her father's side as he breathes his last breath. Guitez does a little gloating and boasts that Maria, as his new bride-to-be, is never going to leave his compound.

Remember when I said that Maria was a bit headstrong? Well a quick elbow to the face, followed by a knee to the groin, and she's soon running through Guitez's compound after leaving him doubled over in pain. As she rounds a corner, she's reunited with Trevor who convinces her that they must go to the dig as there's something there she has to see.

Trevor tells her of the legends of the city, and the fact that this is the site where the sun god imprisoned the evil spirits that threatened mankind. Guitez plans to harness those spirits to attain ultimate power. Trevor has been working behind the scenes to send key artifacts back to Los Angeles before Guitez can figure out what is going on.

Unfortunately for Trevor, Guitez now knows the truth and guns him down. As Trevor falls to the ground, he drops an artifact covered in runes that cracks when it hits the floor. Purple smoke starts seeping from the cracks, which soon coalesces into a huge purple demon. The thing of evil quickly dispatches the policia and turns toward Guitez when the two have a bit of a showdown

As the demon tries to absorb Guitez's soul, it finds that he will not be easy prey. In fact, it is Guitez who emerges the victor, now merged with the demon and possessing all of his power. More artifacts are crushed in the melee, and another newly released demon soon meets the same fate as the first, as Guitez absorbs it and becomes even more powerful.

Leaving Maria to her fate in the crumbling temple, Guitez heads out and makes for Los Angeles to retrieve the two missing artifacts and all of the extra power that they contain. As the building falls apart around her, she is surprised to hear voices that surround her talking about the chosen one and prophecies and such. A golden staff appears before her, and as she reaches out to touch it...a Wonder Woman is born.

This is the first time that we get a look at Jim Lee's redesign, so let's take a moment to break it down.

The first thing you notice is the color scheme. Gone are the red, white and blue, making way for a two-toned costume of white and gold. Seeing as how this Wonder Woman gets her powers from an Incan sun god, it's only natural that she have a bright and shiny costume. The gold is also a nice nod to the Incan heritage and legacy.

This Wonder Woman is very much a warrior, similar to how our Wonder Woman has been played within DC's trinity in the last ten years. Gone is the lasso, replaced with a shield and the enchanted glowing staff that was used by the Incan sun god himself.

Finally, Jim Lee adds a Captain Marvel-esque style cape which adds a touch of regalia to top the whole thing off. I really like this design, and it's a shame that this was pretty much the only appearance of this Wonder Woman, and her costume, that we ever got.

Back to the story, we find that Wonder Woman has used her powers to lift Steve Trevor from he crumbling ruins to the safety of a nearby hillside. It's too late for him, however, as with his dying breath he tells her that she has completed the prophecy. She is the chosen of the sun god, and the protectress of the Earth.

The Wonder Woman visage fades, leaving an exhausted Maria to contemplate another death at her feet. The only rational explanation is that she is insane, and she breaks down crying.

The voices soon return, reassuring her that she is not insane. And really, who better to tell you you're not crazy than the voices in your head! The voice soon tells her how to control her new powers, as she sets out to catch Guitez and stop his reign of evil.

Arriving in Los Angeles, Guitez is now more monster than man, consumed by the lust for the power contained in the remaining artifacts. As his private plane crashes, he is photographed by one of the local paparazzi. Now rampaging through the city, Wonder Woman finally arrives to subdue him.

The two tussle for a bit, when Wonder Woman instinctively uses her shield to block some flying rubble that Guitez has thrown at her. Shards of energy burst forth from the shield and disintegrate the boulder. She then twists the shards of energy into an interwoven, glowing cable. Wonder Woman finally has her magic lariat.

Wrapping Guitez tight with her lasso, Wonder Woman takes to the skies where she has the advantage. Guitez still struggles, now climbing the rope as she flies ever higher. Just as Guitez is about to reach Wonder Woman, she lets go of the rope and Guitez falls to his death as he is impaled on the lightning rod of a nearby building.

Victorious, but exhausted, Wonder Woman collapses on the hillside underneath the Hollywood sign. She awakes the next morning and decides to make this town her new home, as there is nothing left for her back in Peru.

In a bit of inspiration, and a nod to the Clark/Lois/Superman triangle, Maria heads to the office of the National Exposure magazine. There she applies for the job of assistant for the reporter who had witnessed the battle the night before. Her day job will now be to help the man who is trying to uncover her secret identity.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

When this book got picked, I was kinda disappointed as I didn't have too many fond memories of this series. In fact, I only ever picked up three of the dozen issues that they released. I realize that Stan Lee is one of the guiding figures and living legends of comic books, but he had pretty much finished writing for good when I started reading comics.

Thinking back, I probably morphed my memories of this series in with Ravage 2099, which was my first experience with reading a new Stan Lee series. Needless to say, Ravage 2099 didn't necessarily set the comic book world on fire, and my experience there probably negatively affected my enjoyment here.

Now, ten years later, I couldn't be happier that the Randomizer picked this issue to review as I had a heck of a lot of fun reading this. So much so, in fact, that I found myself googling the rest of the series to see what I had missed out on. Stan Lee, Dave Gibbons, and Green Lantern?! What the hell was I thinking not picking that up?

What we get in this issue, is 40 pages of pure fun. Stan Lee appears right at home working with a modern master like Jim Lee, and if anything, it seemed like he was almost restrained in his usual bombasticness (no Hyperbole Meter needed this time around, sorry). He takes the warrior aspect of Wonder Woman and supplants it in a completely different mythos, freeing her from the patriotic garb and theme that always seemed a little out of place once you take her out of the World War II era in which she was created.

It probably took a little too long to get Maria transformed into Wonder Woman, as it didn't leave too many pages left for the big fight scene at the end. But if you're going to have a bunch of new characters talking for twenty pages, you could do worse than have them illustrated by Jim Lee. This issue is classic Jim Lee, doing what he does best, putting an effort in that rivals his work on Batman: Hush. It was clean, smooth, and expertly paced. When the action did pick up, the visuals never let up for a second.

I realize that it may seem like I'm doing nothing but heaping platitudes on top of platitudes, but the only downside I see with this issue is that we never did get anymore of this version of Wonder Woman once this series wrapped up.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Tired of waiting for All-Star Wonder Woman?

2010-08-02T18:20:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody, I'm still working my way through the Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee Creating Wonder Woman #1 book for the next review. It's a little oversized, but I still hope to have it knocked out by Wednesday.

In the meantime, enjoy this alternate cover that was printed on the back cover by none other than Adam Hughes!

The way the All-Star line of books has been ~~mis~~managed, this may be as close as we're ever going to get to an All-Star Wonder Woman title by Adam Hughes.

Soapbox update and Stan Lee loose in the DCU

2010-08-01T23:01:00.003-04:00

It's not everyday that I use this blog with an agenda in mind. Normally, I just let the Randomizer lead me blindly through my longboxes one issue at a time. You can rest easy though, as today is not one of those rare occasions, but before we pick the next random book to review I thought it might be interesting to check back in on a couple of my more recent soapbox blog posts to see how things are progressing.

Most recently, I had blogged about the sorry state of comic book prices these days. It's been close to two months now, so have I crossed the line in the sand that is four bucks for a twenty-two page comic book?

Nope. Seven weeks in, and I'm still holding firm. The first major test was with the Avengers relaunch, as I was planning on picking up three of the four new titles. I bailed on the New/Bendis era after the third issue, so I was really looking forward to getting back into one of my all-time favorite franchises.

There have been around a baker's dozen worth of Avengers issues in that time, and I left 'em all on the shelf. It's Marvel's loss though, as from the word of mouth I've heard, I'm in no hurry to pick up the trades either.

As it stands, I'm probably dropping Marvel alltogether sooner, rather than later. What do they have...Two? Maybe three issues a week that are still three bucks? I'm down to only two titles that I still pull, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hawkeye and Mockingbird. The former is relatively self-contained, while the latter gives a mild reprieve to the overall Avengers disappointment.

I thought I heard, however, that H&M was going to be crossing over with another title? Thunderbolts, maybe? I guess I'll be down to one title when that happens. I'm sorry, but I like a shared universe. I like reading a wide selection of titles that all inhabit the same space. With Marvel embracing the four dollar price point, they are making that decision for me. It's all right though, don't cry too many tears for me as I'll always have my longboxes.

And lest you think this is a gang up on Marvel post, I also have to say goodbye to my favorite current title with this month's issue of American Vampire. I'm not the world's biggest vampire fan by any means, but Scott Snyder has put a nice little twist on the genre and wrote some compelling stories to boot. That Stephen King fella ain't no slouch either, but his pages are gone with the next issue while the higher price point remains.

I'm also going to be leaving a Green Lantern book on the racks when Emerald Warriors debuts. I think I have picked up every new Green Lantern book since Rebirth started. Geoff Johns has made me a devotee of the Corps, where there was little to no interest prior. Four bucks for an issue of the new title is too rich for me, and signals the beginning of the end.

In hindsight, it's actually been quite liberating. I buy less on a weekly basis, which leaves more time for both rereading the good stuff that I do get every week, and for spending more time on the blog.

The other big issue that got my dander up was the seemingly endless creative team shuffle in the Superman titles. We've only had a handful of issues come out with Paul Cornell and Pete Woods on Action Comics and J. Michael Straczynski and Eddy Barrows on Superman, so there's still plenty of time for Superman editorial to disappoint me yet again. And when they do, it's going to be especially frustrating as Cornell's Action issues have been nothing less than awesome.

So anyways...what are we here for again? Oh yeah, it's time to pick another completely random book to review. Take it away, Randomizer...

...and that book is Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee Creating Wonder Woman #1 from August 2001, published by DC Comics!

Well damn if that isn't the longest comic book title I've seen in a while.

And hey, it's Jim Lee redesigning Wonder Woman's costume! I'm getting this vague sense of deja vu.

When the Randomizer picked this title, I literally smacked my forehead with my palm. Jim Lee tried his darnedest to re-crack the internet in half last month with his pantsing of Wonder Woman, and here he had already done that exact same thing a decade previous.

After studying both of the redesigns (I'm going to refrain from re-posting the new image again for fear of drifting over into stalker territory with how often I've referenced it lately), I have to say that I dig 'em both. Yeah, there are little things I'd change, but there's a lot to like. I'm also beginning to wonder what's up with Jim Lee and undersized accessories (the jacket for the new design and the wrist shield for the old one).

I think the moral of this story is that maybe Wonder Woman's costume hasn't changed enough over the last 68 years.

See you in a day or two for the review.

The Punisher (Vol. 1) #3

2010-07-31T23:47:00.000-04:00

TITLE: The Punisher (Vol. 1) #3

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: March 1986

COVER PRICE: $0.75

23 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

As I sat down to begin the review and I looked back over the previous post where this issue was selected, I guess I kinda waxed eloquently a little more than I usually do. In fact, I didn't leave myself with a whole lot of anything new to write for the preamble here, but there are at least two other distinct thoughts that do came to mind.

To begin with, this is the first mini-series (or series) I remember reading that really surprised me when I initially read it. I had been reading comics for less than a year by this point, and being the brash punk that I was, I thought that I had seen it all. But here we had a mini-series about a borderline villain that was truly unlike anything I had read up to that point. Perhaps that's why I remember this series more for the feelings it evoked, rather than the actual content of the story.

Second, is that this series made me a Mike Zeck fan to this day. The surprising thing, however, is that there's not a lot of his work in my collection. I never did go longbox diving for his past work, but I always kept my eye out for his name in the credits. Unfortunately, he never did land on another series that I collected regularly, but his covers for Deathstroke, The Terminator were a big part of me deciding to collect that series.

Slaughterday

Writer: Steven Grant
Penciller: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor in Chief: James Shooter

The issue opens up as a gang war is raging across New York City. One of the mobsters involved, Santiago, is being watched by snipers on a nearby roof as he exits a cafe. As gunfire rains down around him, killing his two bodyguards, his driver pulls up and rescues Santiago before he is gunned down as well.

As Santiago swears vengeance on Ejszaka and his men for trying to kill him, his relief at getting out alive is soon replaced with despair as he realizes that the Punisher is driving the car that saved him. As they are chased through the city by more of Ejszaka's hitmen, the Punisher explains that he didn't save Santiago out of the kindness of his own heart. He's going to do something for him, by helping him stop the gang war.

Santiago soon realizes that he's not in a strong enough position to survive a protracted gang war, and he reluctantly agrees to call another peace conference with the other mob families in the city.

We soon get a small clue as to what the Punisher is up to as he returns to the apartment of his lady friend, Angela.

It seems the Punisher was the one that initiated the gang war, in the hopes that the various mob families would wipe themselves out. It didn't work out that smoothly, as too many innocents have been caught in the crossfire. Now, he just seeks to get the peace going again to bring stability back to the city.

Angela tries to convince him to join forces with The Trust, a shadowy vigilante organization that sprung him from jail in the first issue. Little does the Punisher know, however, the she is working for them and her apartment is bugged. As two members of that organization listen in, we find out that The Trust is getting impatient that the Punisher has yet to officially join their cause of wiping out the New York mobs.

Weary of groups, the Punisher tells Angela he'll think about The Trust, when he notices that someone is watching her apartment. He sneaks up on the car parked outside to find out that it is Tony Massera, the son of a respected mob boss. It's immediately apparent that this kid is no threat to the Punisher, but he swears revenge on the Punisher for killing his father. The Punisher walks away, condemning him to his father's fate if he should try to carry out his threat.

Back to his plan, the Punisher is on hand to personally "convince" several of the mob bosses to attend the hastily convened peace conference. Before he leaves the last one, he questions him about Marcus Coriander, a relatively new boss on the scene that he doesn't know much about. He gets the location of his office, but that's about it.

The Punisher heads back to Santiago's place to listen in on the peace conference. As the conference call begins, gunfire is heard on the other lines as the mobsters are all being gunned down at once. Santiago manages to hear one of the bosses implicate the Punisher as the gunman with his dying breath. As the Punisher steps out of the shadows of Santiago's office, it's revealed that it's an impostor in the Punisher's outfit. He guns down Santiago as the real Punisher comes bursting into his office, too late to save the one gangster willing to help him.

It's soon apparent that all of the mob bosses but Coriander are dead. He has done what the Punisher could not do, as he has eliminated all of the heads of the various mob families of New York. There now remains just one more thing for the Punisher to do, and that is to pay a visit to Coriander to finish things once and for all.

Across town, Coriander is anything but elated at the current turn of events. Yes, his competition is all but destroyed, but the Punisher remains. The army of Punisher lookalikes that he had sent out to do his dirty work have returned, and Marcus gives them orders to find the Punisher and kill him. He then leaves them to their target practice as he heads into his office.

Unfortunately for him, the Punisher is there waiting for him. During his interrogation, Marcus reveals that he is working for the Trust. If the Punisher kills him now, it will just be that much easier for the Kingpin to come back and reclaim his power and throne. As he struggles with the long term and short term implications of killing Coriander for all of the innocents that have suffered by his actions, Marcus grabs a desk lamp and strikes the Punisher in the head. That buys him enough time to burst out of his office, as he orders his men to kill the Punisher.

It's not really a fair fight, and the Punisher is soon back chasing Coriander as he flees his office building. As the Punisher closes in on him, Corianer opens fire. He misses the Punisher, but strikes and kills a little girl in the lobby.

Coriander escapes, as the Punisher is momentarily paralyzed by the horror of what has just witnessed. Flashbacks flood his mind of his family being gunned down in central park, and of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire from his time in Viet Nam. He soon snaps out of it, redoubling his efforts to make Coriander pay, when he catches up to him in an alley.

Distraught over what he has just done, Coriander is a mess. He gives up the name of the man who he's working for, just as he is shot dead by someone standing behind the Punisher. He turns to see that the shooter was none other than his lover, Angela!

It turns out that the Punisher was getting played all along, as the Trust was using him for their own agenda. They had hoped he would join them, but he was too much of a loner. Now, he is nothing more than a loose end that needs mopping up. As the Punisher struggles to make sense of everything, Angela takes aim and fires at him.

The Punisher collapses to the floor of the alley, finally realizing that he can trust no one before he loses consciousness.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

To tell you the truth, as this issue started out, I thought it was a little on the weak side. I was starting to get disappointed that it wasn't living up to the memories that I had of this being a good mini-series. As the issue progressed however, and we get to the mob conference, it really picked up pace and never let go.

It's at that point that all of the various storythreads and plot points begin to converge and the action ramps up. It was interesting to see the Punisher in a vulnerable position, as he struggles with the idea of working with a vigilante organization. The fact that the one person he let himself get close to was in on it from the beginning, makes the betrayal all the more painful, as we get a sense that the Punisher may be a somewhat sympathetic character after all.

The on-panel death of the little girl seems a little harsh, as it serves to remind the Punisher of the true purpose of his mission. Even today that scene is jarring, and I can only imagine how it played at the time. We had yet to be hit over the head with the "grim and gritty" characters that seemed to plague the early 90's, so I suppose we have this issue to thank for it. It's a shame that such a cliched genre movement would soon overshadow the character of the Punisher, as there seems to be real effort to play him as more than just a mindless vigilante here.

I suppose it's a testament to what Steven Grant and Mike Zeck started, however, that there has pretty much been a continuous stream of Punisher comics in their wake. Not all of them have been good, but there have been a few gems to be found over the years.

If there's one area of disappointment to be found here, it's sadly to do with the art. I don't seem to remember Mike Zeck being this inconsistent in the interior pages, but I found it really jarring from page to page, sometimes even from panel to panel. Maybe it's the fact that his covers for this series were so iconic, that I had assumed the same level of craftsmanship got carried to the inside as well. That's not the case however, but there's still work to be enjoyed between the covers.

All in all, it's good to see that one of the touchstone series from my "golden age" of comic book reading still, more or less, holds up to today's standards.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

Steven Grant's Paper Movies
Permanent Damage, a weekly column by Steven Grant
Mike Zeck's Homepage
Marvel Comics of the 80's just recently took a look at some Mike Zeck pencilled pages from this era, including the Punisher.

Punishing you with an excess of links

2010-07-26T23:53:00.002-04:00

Time for a little word association game to guess where I've been for the past week. I'm going to give you a bunch of words and/or phrases, and you have to tell me the first thing that pops in your mind, ok?

Endless travel
Vendor booths
Twelve hour days standing and walking
The Walking Dead
Comic books

That's right, I was at the 2010 ~~San Diego Comic Con~~ Redford I aRt Festival!

Regular readers should know by now that my wife is a fine art photographer after linking to her on-line shops now and again. This last weekend was our local art show that she happens to also be the artist coordinator for. That means that I got to man her booth while she hob-nobbed with the other artists in attendance. That's where the twelve hour days come in.

Immediately following that, I'm off on a three day/four state sales trip through the Midwest for my dayjob. That takes care of the endless travel and the walking dead.

And the comic books? Wouldn't you know it that the fellow artist in the booth next to my wife's had a husband who was cleaning out his shortboxes. Word travels fast that I'm a comic book guy, and he brought me up a gift of Batman #436-439 before the show was over. You gotta love the generosity and camaraderie of an artist community. Thanks again Ralph!

Overall, the show was a big success due in no small part to the great effort of the RPAC commitee to bring a respectable art show to our little hamlet outside of Detroit.

And since I happen to know someone high up in the organization, I've requested they not do it on Comic-Con weekend next year, so I'm pretty sure they'll put my request at the top of their to-do list for 2011.

Anyways, I'm back, but without a scanner until Thursday so no new review until later on in the week. What I can do, however, is this. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is The Punisher (Vol. 1) #3 from March 1986, published by Marvel Comics!

So this here title is one of the touchstones of my collection, as I'm pretty sure that this is the first title that I ever speculated on and ended up buying multiple copies of. I only bought two, so I wasn't that bad, but then again a month later I bought 5 copies of X-Factor #1. So much for restraint.

Before this mini-series started, I had never read an issue of anything with the Punisher in it before. All I remember is that awesome Mike Zeck cover to the first issue featuring the Punisher with his back to the wall, two guns blazing in a hail of gunfire. That's a cover I'm sure I'll remember until the day I die. That issue also started me on a path of collecting all of his previous appearances in Amazing Spider-Man, but for whatever reason I looked for them in reverse order. By the time I got to Amazing Spider-Man #129, it was well out of my price range. Live and learn, I guess.

His later attempts at ongoing titles never paid off for me, and I didn't collect his titles again until Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon came on board. That's a conversation for another day, so let's dig in and reread an issue from his original mini-series that I haven't reread in probably twenty years. I'm curious as all get out to see how it compares to the modern day Punisher. See you in a day or two for the review.

UPDATE: And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I got this post written I hopped on over to it's a Dan's world to see what he had to say today (as he's a quality daily blogger) and he's got this same issue highlighted as his Crazy Cool Classic Cover. Make sure you bookmark his sight and check him out, as he's good folk (and he's been known to comment around these parts on occasion).

The Mighty Thor #430

2010-07-21T07:32:00.000-04:00

TITLE: The Mighty Thor #430

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: March 1991

COVER PRICE: $1.00

22 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

We finally get an official Thor book to read and I'm kind of ambivalent, to tell you the truth. I love Thor, and I love reading Thor comics, but he is one of those concepts where I don't like reading mediocre Thor comics. On the opposite spectrum, there are some characters like Superman that I like so much, I'll read their crappy issues all day long. That's a good thing, as it appears I have a year's worth of wandering and pontificating Superman to look forward to.

Thor, on the other hand, has a lot shorter leash with me. Luckily for us, we've had some stellar Thor runs over the years, unfortunately for us, this issue falls squarely in the "meh" era.

Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz put in quite a lengthy run on The Mighty Thor, working on close to six years worth of issues together. The first two or three years of their run I remember fondly and have a lot of time for. The Eric Masterston/Thunderstrike stuff never really paid off for me, and I honestly didn't think I had that many issues in my collection.

Which leads me to the other thing that has me dragging my feet reading this issue. It was the 90's and speculation ruled the day, so I'm sure the fact that Ghost Rider guest stars is the reason I have this issue. I've long since soured on him as a character, so this is going to be a tough one.

Let's just get it over with.

The God, The Ghost, And The Guilty!

Plot, Words: Tom DeFalco
Plot, Pencils: Ron Frenz
Finished Art: Al Milgrom
Lettering: Spikeal Heisleropoulos
Coloring: Mike Rockwitz
Editing: Ralph Macchio

This issues starts off like any comic worth its salt should...in an abandoned factory.

And like any good Marvel book, there's a couple of team-mates beating up on each other. This time around it's the Wrecker exerting a little tough love on his Wrecking Crew.

It seems that last issue saw the Wrecking Crew mix it up with Ghost Rider when Mephisto suddenly appeared. What they were doing screwing around in Thor's book is anybody's guess. For some reason that spooked the Wrecker, who quickly transported the crew away. Back at their base of operations, Bulldozer calls him on it and the Wrecker doesn't take too kindly being called yellow.

The Wrecker is not the only one concerned about Mephisto, as both Ghost Rider and Loki ruminate about what his sudden appearance means. While Ghost Rider can only ponder the situation while he motors around town, Loki decides to pay the Prince of Lies a personal visit.

While discussing the reappearance of the Ghost Rider, it is revealed that Mephisto has actually set his sights on a particular immortal soul and that an alliance might be in order.

Back on the mortal plane, we finally check in with the star of the book as Eric Masterton is being confronted by two of his friends who claim to know his secret. Luckily for him, they just think he's an alcoholic, not the Asgardian God of Thunder.

The tension is soon broken by the arrival of Eric's ex-wife and son, who interrupt the make-shift intervention. The fact that one of his friends carries a small torch for Eric just makes the whole scene more awkward than it needed to be. Honestly, it's a little hokey and comes across as a bad episode of As The Midgard Turns.

You said it pal, not me! Well maybe I did, but I'm just glad we can move on now and let's get to the action.

Still nursing his bruised ego from earlier, the Wrecker takes advantage of Thor's nightly patrol and decides to give the boys some action. They'll take down Thor, and then finish the job they started previously with Ghost Rider. An ambush is set, and Thor soon finds himself on the receiving end of a ton of bricks.

One well-phrased "I say thee nay" later, and Thor is back on top going toe-to-toe with the Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew. Loki does some scheming of his own and manipulates the Ghost Rider to show up as well.

As the battle rages on, Loki takes advantage of the confusion to strip the Asgardian power from each member of the Wrecking Crew that was stolen from him at an earlier date. Eventually, it's just the Wrecker and Bulldozer left standing when the Wrecker decides to use his crowbar to send the two heroes into another dimension.

Little does he know that he's falling right into Loki's plans, as Loki redirects the Asgardian energy emitted from the crowbar to open up a doorway into Mephisto's realm.

While Thor and Ghost Rider mop up the demons, Loki is able to drain the last of his Asgardian energy that still remains within the Wrecker and Bulldozer. He leaves the comatose bodies of the Wrecking Crew for Thor to deal with, while taking the unconscious Wrecker back to Asgard with him to toy with at his leisure.

With the crisis averted, Ghost Riders leaves Thor to do all of the clean-up work as he rides off wondering to himself why the demons from Mephisto's realm looked so familiar to him. While we're speaking of Mephisto, he makes one final appearance as it's revealed that the immortal soul he is after is none other than Thor's, but I'm going to guess that the sharper readers among you have probably already figured that out.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Unfortunately, nothing much. Or at least nothing that makes me change the opinions I had going into this story. It's an average issue in an average run of Thor issues.

Technically, it's well done as the pacing and plot move along nicely. The dual schemers of Loki and Mephisto work off of each other nicely, but are never really given enough interaction this issue.

The fight with the Wrecking Crew was all right, but lacked any real tension. I never got the sense that it was going to turn out any other way than it did, which is a shame, as with Loki in the mix there should be some semblance of unpredictability to it. Thor and Ghost Rider barely seem to notice each other during the fight, making the whole pretense of the "team-up" seem mildly forced.

There were two other things that really stood out for me, that I didn't remember or notice the first time through. First, the drama with Eric's social life was so over the top I kept waiting for Conando to come bursting through the door. Alas, he didn't, and the comic was worse off for it as it tried to play the drama seriously.

Second, the coloring was really garish throughout this whole issue. There was zero subtlety or shading to it, and it just jumped out and punched you in the eyes with every other panel. It was a good thing for Thor that computer colors were just around the corner.

With all that said, I'm still looking forward to the next time Thor shows up, but would it kill the Randomizer to give me a little Kirby or Simonson?

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

Ron Frenz's official website

Just in case you hadn't read enough about Batman this week...

2010-07-18T22:07:00.002-04:00

So there sure was a lot of Batman news floating around the internet this last week, eh?

You don't like the current creative teams? Well here's some new ones!

You don't like the current crop of Batman titles? Well here's some new ones!

Can't get enough of Damian? Well look over here!

My favorite bit of news? It's gotta be Scott Snyder on Detective Comics as I've been enjoying the heck out of American Vampire, and can't wait to see what he brings to the streets of Gotham.

So back to business, and it's time to pick another random book to review. I actually had the bare bones of a Comic Book Days of Wednesday's Past post ready to go on Wednesday, but then Matt Wagner decided to answer a couple of questions for me about the issue we just read, and that had to take priority. Couple that with the wife's new ipad that showed up the day after that, and I guess I got a little distracted.

That doesn't mean that the post goes to waste, as our trip through the past brought up two Bat-books, coincidentally enough. So while Batman is still in the news, let's do a special All-Batman edition of Comic Book Days of Wednesday's Past.

Firing up the Randomizer with the years from 1938 to 2009, and our first stop is 1995. So what Bat-book was on the stands fifteen years ago this month?

So that's surprising.

No, not the Kelley Jones' cover for Batman #522, as he never fails to provide an impressive Batman cover. What is surprising is that Swamp Thing is on the cover. I would've lost money on a bet that he was off limits to the DCU at this time, being swallowed up by Vertigo as it were. What comes around goes around, however, as all signs point towards him making a return once again.

Back to the Randomizer, and this time we're off to 1956 and Batman #102!

Well, duh!

Who else is going to discover the Batcave but an actual caveman!

I think that's gotta be my new favorite cover.

It's such a wonderfully goofy idea, that you figure it's either gotta be a silver age story or a Grant Morrison issue. Lucky for us we live in a world of riches and have an issue of each available for us to read. I read Morrison's cave-man epic, now I need to track this one down.

So with that taken care of, let's get our next random book picked to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is The Mighty Thor #430 from March 1991, published by Marvel Comics!

So while Thor has popped up with some regularity around these parts, this is the first time we've had an issue from his solo title to read. I wish I could give you a heads up as to what we're in for, but this cover ain't ringing any bells. It's got Ghost Rider on the front, but so did every other book from the early 90's.

I'm actually surprised that out of the three dozen books picked from the 90's so far, it took us over a year to stumble across the spirit of vengeance. Luckily for us, I ebayed my Danny Ketch Ghost Rider issues away a couple of years ago, so all we'll probably ever get is the occasional guest star appearance like this one.

Come back in a day or two for the review, and we'll see what's up with The God, the Ghost, and the Guilty!

Matt Wagner Interview

2010-07-14T14:14:00.008-04:00

Normally, I'd be writing a post right about now to pick a new random book to review from my collection, but we have a special treat for you today instead.

If you've been following the blog recently you're aware that we've had a spate of Demon posts over the past week, and we're not quite done with Etrigan yet. I had such a good time re-reading this issue, that after I initially finished I went on-line to check out Matt Wagner's website for some more good stuff. While I was there, I took the opportunity to contact him with a couple of quick questions...and wouldn't you know it, he was kind enough to respond!

So without further ado, here's my two question interview with Matt Wagner.

RL: The Demon seems like such a natural fit for you, as your stories often have mystical elements running side by side the real world. Was your initial Demon mini-series something that DC approached you about, or was this character a favorite of yours previously?

MW: No, I was still something of a young fledgling when the Demon series came about. I had always liked the character and, in fact, had done a painted re-creation of the cover to #1 in Junior High School (long since lost).

I was just starting to get some renown via MAGE and GRENDEL when I happened to meet Dick Giordano at a convention. He invited me up to New York to give DC a pitch for whatever I'd like to approach. I originally took him a re-vamp of Batgirl but they'd already set plans in motion for THE KILLING JOKE and Barbara Gordon's crippling (my plot outline had her running for the Senate, necessitating a new Batgirl).

So, Dick asked me who else I liked in the DC stable of characters (it was kinda understood that I wasn't going to get a crack at any of the REALLY big guys at that point) and so I mentioned the Demon. Etrigan had just been featured in two issues of Alan More's seminal run on SWAMP THING during which Alan introduced the rhyming aspect of his speech. I thought that was incredibly cool and so Dick told me to go back home and come with a pitch for a DEMON mini-series.

I based the story on two incredibly beautifully drawn Demon short stories from BATMAN FAMILY where the legendary Michael Golden provided the art. I used the events of those stories as a springboard for the beginning of my series.

RL: What brought you back to the Demon for a second time with issue #22? Did you have more that you wanted to say with the character that you didn't get a chance to originally? Or was this just an opportunity to have a little more fun inside the DCU?

MW: As much as the situation I just described sounds like something of a dream opportunity for a young creator, the reality was a bit of a nightmare. DC at that point wasn't geared towards working with the new crop of independent creators that were cropping up around the edges of the industry and, honestly, I had no idea how to function within their corporate structures.

I don't want to rehash old problems here but the results were, I felt, a very fractured and overwrought series that didn't live up to my expectations. To this day, the original mini-series is probably the least favorite of all my published efforts...yet I'm continually surprised how many people have a real fondness for that run.

Well anyway, years later, Dan Rasplur was editing a new DEMON ongoing series and called to offer me a one-shot fill-in issue. I saw this as the perfect way to cleanse my creative palette of the grim experiences I'd had on the original series and so I endeavored to make that one issue the opposite of my initial take on the character. Whereas my DEMON mini-series was dark, dour and serious in so many aspects, I deliberately made issue #22 of the current series more of a light-hearted romp (which certainly still had horrific elements). I took the same approach with the verbiage as well; the first series was very word-heavy and the fill-in issue was written as something of a nursery rhyme.

So there you have it...my first foray into comics journalism.

I want to thank Matt Wagner for taking the time and being incredibly kind and detailed with his answers. I met him at a con about ten years ago, and he was nice enough to draw an extra doodle in my Season of Mists hardcover next to his autograph. It's great to see that he's as gracious with his time now, as he was back then.

The Demon #22

2010-07-13T13:10:00.000-04:00

TITLE: The Demon #22

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: April 1992

COVER PRICE: $1.50

24 pages

WHAT I REMEMBER...

I missed out on the debut and original run of The Demon, as it was just a little bit before my time. I only have a handful of the later issues, and most of those are from Garth Ennis and John McCrea's run. So when this issue popped up on the Randomizer, I had completely forgotten that it existed. That's no slight against Matt Wagner, it's just that I was such a huge Ennis fan during the 90's that I figured that him writing was the only reason I would've picked up an issue of The Demon.

Was I ever wrong. There's a handful of creators who were putting out exceptional work, month in and month out during the 90's, and one of those was Matt Wagner. It shouldn't come as a big surprise that it ended up in my collection, but I'm kicking myself that I let it sit unread for close to twenty years.

We already got a sneak peek of what we're in for yesterday, so let's just get to it and read this thing already.

Witch War

Written and Drawn by Matt Wagner
Colored by Bernie Mireault
Lettered by Todd Klein
Edited by Dan Raspler
Demon created by Jack Kirby

I've never been too good with the rhyming sound
But since that's the Demon's bit,
We'll toss the old iambic pentameter around
And see if we can get something to fit.

Yeah, don't worry...this whole review is not going to be in rhyme. I may be crazy enough to randomly read my comic book collection and blog about it one issue at a time, but I'm nowhere near foolish enough to do even one post in rhyme.

We are introduced to Sybil Haden at the outset of the story, as she begins the chain of events that would make her a full-fledged witch in the service of Lilith. All it took to start things off was for her to murder an older witch, so she could take advantage of the opening in the coven. Before long, she is marked by the devil and acquires a familiar in the form of a rooster.

All is well and good, until another upstart decides to take her place. She strikes out at Sybil, and her rooster takes the brunt of the assault and is left disemboweled.

Using all of the witchcraft at her disposal, she summons a council with Asmodeus, First Son of Lilith, and Archduke of Hell. She will have her revenge, but Asmodeus just laughs and sends her back to the mortal plane with nothing but the name of a lesser demon who just might be able to assist her. That demon, of course, is Etrigan.

Sybil sets out again to seek otherworldly help in her quest for revenge, this time setting a mystical snare for Etrigan, so that once he's bound he'll be forced to help her. Etrigan hears her summons and soon finds himself trapped within a mystical circle. As you can well imagine, Etrigan is none too pleased to find himself bound to help this young witch.

Sybil's binding spell was too good, however, and the Demon soon finds himself doing her bidding. It turns out that Annie Mojo, the witch who killed her familiar, did so to make of it a homunculus. Sybil will have her familiar back, so off the Demon goes to retrieve the homunculus. Nearing Annie's hovel, Etrigan gets a chance to let out his frustration about the current turn of events on Annie's zombie hordes that guard her front gate.

Once inside the witch's domicile, her traps and snare's are no match for Etrigan. Soon enough, he is face to face with Annie and her pig familiar, as well as the newly constructed little chicken-man.

With a belch of hellfire to distract the witch, Etrigan makes off with not only the little chicken-man, but also the swine familiar of Annie! Arriving back at Sybil's place, the Demon gives her her beloved little rooster-man when he gives her another surprise as well. She's none to pleased with Etrigan's extra prize, for a familiar is bound to the witch in such a fashion, that Annie Mojo can not be too far behind!

With Annie's arrival, a battle of witchcraft is soon engaged. Annie is able to use her spells to transform her familiar into a giant pig-man and sics it on Sybil. Desperate to turn the tide, Sybil undoes her binding spell on Etrigan in exchange for his help in defeating the pig-man. It's a deal, and the battle is on once again.

It's only when the last of Sybil's binding knots are undone, does Etrigan release his hellfire breath to burn the pig-man alive. Devastated, Annie Mojo is soon brought down by Sybil's witchcraft, and the battle is done.

All's well that ends well, eh?

Not so fast, as the Demon has one more score to settle with Sybil. He lets her know how unkindly he takes to being bound in service, and unfortunately it's her homunculus that bears the brunt of his dissatisfaction.

With that bit of business taken care of, Etrigan wishes her well and thanks her for a marvelous night on the town.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I think we may have a new contender for favorite single issue here at the Random Longbox, and it's rediscovering little gems like this that make doing this blog a heckuva lot of fun.

Matt Wagner takes an anti-morality play and puts the Demon smack dab in the middle of things. The fact that the Demon is a captive player in this drama puts an interesting little twist into the story. He's allowed to be as arrogant, brutal, and pompous as he wants to be and we're still allowed to root for him. The witches are the real villains of this story, and they're their own worst enemies. The Demon is little more than a force of nature doing what he's been bred to do.

The artwork by Matt Wagner is just about perfect. The comic has a certain tongue-in-cheek feel to it, and his artwork really brings out the irreverence and puts it center stage. All the while, you never get the sense that he's making fun of the genre, but he's definitely having fun with it.

So the next time you find yourself wandering down the aisles of your comic book store, stop by the "D" box and look this issue up. You'll be glad you did.

And if you don't? I think the Demon put it best when he went...

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics.

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

Matt Wagner's official website