Comics are Awesome III

[Sparky Prime]

Unnecessary to go back to if you ask me. I really like the current 'Rebirth' costume with a red belt instead of the trunks.

[andersonh1]

Unnecessary to go back to if you ask me. I really like the current 'Rebirth' costume with a red belt instead of the trunks.

I can live with the current costume, which essentially is the original with a red belt instead of red shorts. But I'll be happy to see the classic look return. I just prefer it to everything else they've tried.

How many Superman variations have we had since 2011? There's the new 52 t-shirt and jeans, the armored look with collar, the slight redesign from the short Geoff Johns/John Romita run, the t-shirt and jeans with the Fleischer S from the Truth storyline, the black suit pre-52 Superman wore when he was working behind the scenes, the first Rebirth Superman costume with blue boots and the current one. DC has done a lot of experimentation with Superman's attitude, power levels, look and family life in the last six years.

[andersonh1]

A never-published Siegel and Shuster story will appear in Action Comics #1000, after it was rescued by a very young Marv Wolfman.

https://www.newsarama.com/38291-the-los ... -1000.html

Several fans and I were on one of DC's regular Thursday afternoon tours when production manager Sol Harrison came wheeling a huge postal cart past us, filled with 'Written Off' artwork, mostly from the '40s. He was bringing the pages to the building's incinerator to destroy them; obviously, the small office DC had at the time was running out of space and they had to clear away room.

Sol asked the fans on the tour if we wanted any of the art. As fans, we all knew artwork was important, even if the professionals didn't. We all dove into the postal cart like Uncle Scrooge into his money bin and took everything we could, then scurried downstairs and traded in the building's lobby.

I had so many pages by the end of the day that I had to take a cab home from Manhattan to Flushing, Queens, which was very expensive for a kid. I don't remember if every page was stamped "Written Off" but most were.

The pages we got then were full pages, and uncut. I realized early on that I had gotten almost all the pages of a 12-page never-published Siegel and Shuster Superman story and managed to trade for the other pages. I still have that story and it has never been printed. The pages have "Written Off" stamped on them, as well as editing notes which were never corrected in the story. It has an incredibly good splash page with a full-page Superman shot on it.

Later, when I went to work for DC, I went through their library to try to trace the time period of that story. As best I could figure out, it must have been done about 1942. In 1947, I believe, the story was rewritten as a ten-page story and then redrawn by Wayne Boring and was published. Why the Siegel and Shuster version wasn't used, I don't know.

[andersonh1]

Both books this week are related, something I didn't expect. I probably would have read them in the opposite order had I known, but I'll summarize in the order I read them.

Action Comics #996
While Lois Lane hunts for her father in a hostile country, secretly followed by Jon, Superman and Booster Gold arrive on a planet a few decades in the future, where a statue to General Zod is prominent, and where Zods eradicator robots patrol and demand loyalty to Zod. Superman is more aggressive than usual this issue, and takes on robots and the Eradicator alike, before being confronted by General Zod's grown son. Superman and Booster need some parts to repair Booster's time sphere and escape back to the past, but Superman may have bitten off more than he can chew, just like....

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #37
Meanwhile, in the past, Hal and Kyle arrive on the same planet to investigate reports of exploitation of the stone age natives and the planet's resources, and find Zod, Ursa, the Eradicator and Zod's son. They're all too much for two Green Lanterns and nearly kill them, but Zod apparently wants the Corps to come investigate the disapperance of the two Lanterns. Meanwhile John Stewart nearly quits the Corps rather than take orders from the Guardians again, but Ganthet convinces him that what they're looking for is a second chance, and a legacy other than the one the dead Guardians left behind, and John relents. But none of the Green Lanterns are happy about the situation.

I like the interrelated storylines this week. They've paired up Superman and Hal a number of times in the last few months, and while they don't team up here, they're dealing with the same situation. Action Comics would seem to indicate that the Corps fail to dislodge Zod and family from "New Krypton", but the future is always in flux, and so is continuity, so there's no way to tell how permanent the situation is.

[Sparky Prime]

Meanwhile John Stewart nearly quits the Corps rather than take orders from the Guardians again, but Ganthet convinces him that what they're looking for is a second chance, and a legacy other than the one the dead Guardians left behind, and John relents. But none of the Green Lanterns are happy about the situation.

Best part of the issue if you ask me. Given what happened with the old Guardians, it's good to see that the Corps isn't all that happy with them taking charge again.

[andersonh1]

I agree, the idea that John and the others would not be happy about the Guardians is solid characterization, though with the caveat that since they worked for the Templar Guardians, they should at least trust those guys.

Metal #5
The issue reminds me of the whole series in a microcosm: moments of struggle and hope for the heroes, only to have it all taken away. And it happens many times over this issue. The three Justice League teams have split up to hunt down the last few traces of Nth Metal, and while they've had some success, it turns out to be a trap by the twisted Batmen who wanted to locate the metal and destroy it, since they're vulnerable to it. And both Batman and Superman are at the Forge of Worlds, fighting to find some spark of heat in this place where Universes are made, and trying to avoid death at the hands of the monstrously mutated Carter Hall. Metal continues to be one big "throw in everyone and everything and lots of seemingly disconnected continuity and make it work" storylines, which actually works quite well. The ending of this issue doesn't feel quite as bleak as the previous endings though, because it seems like Carter may overcome what's happened to him, and Diana refuses to despair, and Hal no longer has Starro blocking his use of the ring after Hal whipped him good, thanks to mental help from the Martian Manhunter. And Metal #6 is the final issue of the series, so the plot has to be resolved in some manner that doesn't involve Earth being sucked forever into the Dark Multiverse.

At its core, this is basically a Justice League storyline on a big canvas with some new ideas about DC cosmology thrown into the mix. The execution makes it work, and late issues that allow the same guy to draw the entire series was also a wise choice.

Flash Annual #1
I don't normally buy the Flash unless Jay or Wally are featured in that series, because I'm just not a fan of Barry Allen. This annual puts Wally West front and center, and could easily be an issue of his old series. The Titans have been disbanded, so it follows up the last issue of Titans. Wally is in Central City with the younger Wally and Barry, and the three of them stop the Top's latest rampage. Wally and Barry get into a verbal altercation over stuff going on over in the main book involving the death of Eobard Thawne (again) in the future, killed by Iris. Wally still has not told his aunt that he's alive, and with no Linda, no Titans and no job or life since the world had forgotten about him, Wally is at a loss as to what to do. He finally hits on going to see Frances Kane, an old girlfriend (who, as I recall, he was dating immediately post-Crisis and who appeared in the first few issues of his own series). Like everyone else, she doesn't remember him at first, but then her memory comes back. Problem is, she is also Magenta, an unstable personality with magnetic (I think) superpowers. There is the inevitable confrontation, but in the end Wally helps her regain all her memories, including their childhood together in Blue Valley, and she settles down and regains control. Wally has at least one more friend in the world, and he enlists Dick Grayson's help to get an apartment in Keystone City, before finally deciding to go and see Iris.

But while all of this has been going on in the present, the police in the future are investigating Thawne's murder, and they go back in time to bring Iris in for questioning. And it turns out that the villain orchestrating all of this is... Hunter Zolomon. Zoom. Story to be continued in "Flash War". I was glad to see an issue like this, since Wally is "my" Flash, the one I read for years. I never have been all that interested in Barry Allen, and even with all my enjoyment of the DC omnibus reprints, I've never been seriously tempted to get the Silver Age Flash volumes. I've read a few of those stories, and the character does nothing for me. So any time Wally West is the focus, I'm in. Might have to read Flash War when it starts.

[Sparky Prime]

I agree, the idea that John and the others would not be happy about the Guardians is solid characterization, though with the caveat that since they worked for the Templar Guardians, they should at least trust those guys.

The Templar Guardians hadn't really taken charge before though. They took a tour of the universe with Kyle leaving Hal in charge of the Corps, and had only recently returned to Mogo around the time Hal went rouge. They were just slowly starting to assume a role with the Corps when all disappeared. But with them assuming the old Guardians robes and roles now, even though this is largely an entirely different group of Guardians, I think John is right to be weary that they could be going down the exact same path.

[andersonh1]

As someone who's never read a thing Bendis has written, is this a good or bad thing? I hate to see Jurgens and Tomasi+Gleason go, because they've been doing a great job. But I don't know what to expect from Bendis. Looks like they're giving him what they gave Byrne back in the 80s.

https://www.newsarama.com/38427-bendis- ... steel.html

Newly-exclusive DC Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis is taking over the reigns of both Action Comics and Superman in July, according to new interview with Forbes, with a six-issue weekly series titled Man of Steel leading the way. Bendis, who comes to DC after a 17-year exclusive stint at Marvel Comics, returns to DC with a multi-year, multi-faceted deal that begins with a short inside April's Action Comics #1000. This Superman line takeover evokes the very similiar way writer/artist John Byrne was brought into DC following Crisis on Infinite Earths to reinvent Superman in in the mid-80s.

[Sparky Prime]

As someone who's never read a thing Bendis has written, is this a good or bad thing?

Difficult to say... Overall, I feel that Bendis starts out a story strong, but eventually looses his way with it. I loved his run on Ultimate Spider-Man, until around when he killed off Gwen Stacy. I thought it started to go downhill at that point. His event stories for Marvel I thought started out interesting (such as Avengers: Disassembled and House of M), but again, it seemed like his dropped the ball on the endings. He also seems to have problems with maintaining continuity, even if it's continuity he himself established.

[andersonh1]

Superman #40 was my only book this week. I guess they'll go back and start again with #1 once Bendis takes over. I'm long since tired of renumbering, but what can you do?

Superman and Jon are in the Fortress of Solitude observing the day of Krypton's destruction, and it's the classic dad trying to be serious while the kid is a bit distracted type of scenario, though Jon's enjoying everything there is to see in the Fortress and proud that he's half Kryptonian. A signal comes in that a planet is about to self-destruct in much the same way that Krypton did, and Superman goes to help, taking Jon with him (after some begging by Jon). But the inhabitants, far from being grateful, are determined to die because their god wants it to happen. Yes, it's the "religion is bad, science is good" plotline as the crazy aliens try to kill Superman and Jon, while one of the few scientists on the planet comes to their rescue, and enlists their help to save his people in spite of themselves. to be continued....

Not a big fan of this one. Doug Mankhe's art is great, as always, and I like the idea of father and son commemorating the anniversary of Krypton's demise, but the heavy handed message rubs me the wrong way, and the usually diplomatic Superman is quick to put his foot in his mouth and almost gets himself killed, so he's a bit out of character.