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Since I'm hoping there may be more posts to come in the FL Looks Back thread about Levitz's 70s JSA run, and since the Doom Patrol threads are all specific to certain eras, I'm going to review the Silver Age Doom Patrol in this thread.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: DOOM PATROL VOLUMES 1 & 2

The most offbeat series of the Silver Age, Doom Patrol continues to spark revivals more than 40 years after the end of the first series.

And that first series holds up surprisingly well, although Arnold Drake's writing and Bruno Premiani's artwork evolved along different paths, the former getting increasingly in-your-face with its campiness, the latter getting increasingly self-assured and hyper-realistic.

Except for the Brotherhood of Evil, most of the villains are interchangable monsters and they seem like an afterthought. The real meat of the series is the twisted soap opera of two feuding unconventional families, the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil, and the eventual destruction of both at the hands of a character who is constantly pulled back and forth between the two and who emerges as the star of the series. I'm talking about Madame Rouge.

Based on her rather conventional villainy and death in the early issues of New Teen Titans, I had never considered Madame Rouge a top villainess until I read the Silver Age Doom Patrol. She was a gem -- morally ambiguous, Euro-sophisticated, and possessed of a power both cool and creepy, like a female Plastic Man with looser morals. How nobody has revived her (Blackest Night doesn't count) is beyond me. And I know exactly how she could be revived, but I won't share that here, in case I decide to do a Madame Rouge fanfic.

None of the Doom Patrol revivals have been to my taste. Greg Burgas' comprehensive overview of the Morrison era is, in my opinion, more entertaining and more coherent than the era itself.

I would say that #23 was somewhat of an aberration in terms of its comparatively lower quality, Lash. Most issues are more cleverly written than that, so in a way, it might have earned another donut if it were another series, if that makes sense. REBELS is normally a solid 3-4 donuts.

However, the trend to shove the other characters more and more into the background IS a disturbing trend that's not just limited to this issue. That needs to be corrected A.S.A.P.!

re: REBELS #23 - Much as I enjoyed the two Doxes reluctantly working together, I think you're spot on with your criticism of that issue. The original L.E.G.I.O.N. developed the other characters much more, which made it a real team book. We've had glimpses of that in this series, but it's very Dox-intense - and now we're back to more Starro.

re: Doom Patrol Showcases - I love your description of the stories as a twisted soap opera. It's hard to surpass the appeal of the early Doom Patrol, high wackiness but accessible. I found Morrison's DP a little too weird at times. Also, the issues in which Steve Dayton is courting and marries Rita are some of the funniest.

The current series captures the original tone for me, although it has much darker underpinnings, which I find suitable to the times we're living in.

Kill Shakespeare, #1 & 2, by Conor McCreary and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art)

After seeing the movie Kill Bill, the writers started wondering what other Bills could be killed and came up with Bill Shakespeare as the most entertaining possibility.

This is a world inhabited by Shakespeare's heroes and villains from different plays. The story opens with Hamlet in Denmark; after he accidently murders Polonius, he flees for England. Pirates attack his ship in a storm, he is washed overboard and lands in the realm of Richard III. Richard enlists him to capture the quill of the wizard Shakespeare and thus free the land of the wizard's control - but first Hamlet must find this Shakespeare.

He sets off on this quest accompanied by Iago, is ambushed by supporters of Shakespeare and rescued by Richard and his men. Of course, Richard has ulterior motives and they're not very nice ones...

This is a lot of fun. The story is more complicated than I've presented here; there's good depth to the reading. You probably need some knowledge of Shakespeare's principal characters to enjoy it, but I don't think any great familiarity with the plays is necessary.

There's a trade paperback of issues 1-6 which I've ordered; the series - and the adventure - continues.

There

Thanks, FC.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review is that, as Premiani's art evolves and Rita's look changes, I think she begins to resemble Jennifer Garner more and more...except Jennifer Garner wasn't even born until three years after Doom Patrol was cancelled! And "Alias" itself was as much a twisted soap opera as it was an action/adventure show. Eerie.

Interesting. I actually found it not weird enough! Or rather, too acutely self-conscious to be truly weird. I will give Morrison credit for one thing, though -- he excelled in the portrayal of Robotman.

I'll have to politely disagree there. I think the times we live in demand ever more escapism.

Yeah, I have no problem with Dox being the main character (as he was in the old series), but this is still supposed to be an ensemble book. The prior series had very well-developed supporting characters, but Bedard is letting the current cast languish for the most part. Maybe Captain Comet, Starfire and Adam Strange get some memorable scenes, but all of the rest have been little more than wallpaper for a good while.

On the plus side, a review I read of 24 seems to indicate that there's at least some progress along these lines. Hopefully, it's with more than just those same three characters.

Something else else I’ve seen very little reaction to online (which is never a good thing) is DC’s Weird Worlds #1 which came out recently. All in all, I thought the first issue had some really great artwork on all three stories, but the actual stories themselves were a bit run of the mill.

I actually like the anthology format and would love to see it actually work for American superheroes one day. If one could thrive it would be the perfect place for new ideas to blossom, and I like the fact that with three features you get more bang for your buck. But what is often the case, anthologies are packed with many sub-par stuff as a way for the publisher to pad the issue. I wish rather than the three stories we had here, there was an anthology collecting all the best back-ups at DC: the Atom, The Spirit Black & White feature, and Justice, Inc.

The art was great on all three, though the Lobo and Tanga stories weren’t overly dynamic. The Garbage Man story by Ariel Olivetti actually was incredibly dynamic and gorgeous to look at though and I wonder if the character had his own single issue if he’d have a better chance?

Ultimately though, Garbage Man felt too much like a Swamp Thing / Man-Thing rip off (with parts of the Toxic Avenger thrown in), and Tanga is just Starfire with attitude and on restraint backed by humorous dialogue so far. The Lobo story is nothing I haven’t read 1,000 times before. I would have liked for these stories to be a bit more original—something to make me sit back and say ‘wow’.

I’m not sure if I’ll get #2—very likely I will not. Too bad, because as I said, I’d love for this format to actually work!

A few days ago, I read the finale of Time Bomb, a three issue series published by Radical Comics, written by GrayPal (Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti) and featuring art by Paul Gulacy. Well! What a terrific, satisfying series this was!

Plotwise, we have some familiar story trappings: Nazi doomsday device set off and a crack team sent back in time to prevent it from ever happening. We've seen elements of both before and maybe even combined together before, but with very few new ideas truly out there, what distinguishes one from the other is the story's execution. In my opinion the execution here was pretty impressive!

GrayPal adopt a tone and feel to their story that is very reminiscent of a classic James Bond-type spy thriller. We've got all the trappings here: futuristic gadgets, widescreen action, stuff gettin' blowed up good, dastardly bad guys (can't get more dastardly than Nazis, can ya?) and a good helping of sex appeal that's titillating without leaning to the pornographic.

Paul Gulacy is a perfect choice to illustrate the book. A story that's got a sexy, James Bond edge is right up his alley, if you're familiar with his work. He's got a flair for the dramatic and the sexy and has a sharp, clean line that is instantly recognizable. Sometimes his eyes look a little too much like they're staring at the reader, and occasionally his poses are a little stiff. But more often than not, Paul totally delivers the story. Many "hot" artists would be out of their element here, but Paul is totally in his.

The characters are not incredibly deep, as they rarely are in this kind of story, but they are effective and each have their memorable moments.

The story surprised me with some of its twists. I didn't, for example, expect to see Adolph Hitler pop up. I especially didn't expect him to figure so prominently in the unconventional resolution. I won't spoil it here, but in a way Time Bomb breaks some of the rules of the traditional time travel story by not leaving history alone exactly as we remember it. If you're reading these words and trying to read between the lines, I'd hazard a guess that you're absolutely wrong in what you might be assuming! I think that's a good thing!

Even though each issue was priced at $4.99 a pop, you get terrific value at 48 pages each worth of story. The book comes with the "mature readers" label, due to some violence, a little bit of nudity and plentiful usage of the f-word and other colorful metaphors. I wouldn't put any of these on the level of, say, a typical Garth Ennis book, so it's pretty tasteful and not over-the-top.

Time Bomb is a fun spy thriller with some roads taken that are expected and unexpected. I'm a fan of Paul Gulacy's art and was glad to see it here. If you're looking for a change of pace from superheroes and the supernatural and wouldn't mind a spy thriller with a few sci-fi aspects, then I think Time Bomb might be just for you!

Lardy's rating for Time Bomb: 4.5 Donuts (out of five)!

^You know, I thought about grabbing this but didn't and your review has me kicking myself for that. It sounds like a great read, and I *must* check it out! Definitely something I'll want to follow-up on.

(Comic Book Review Month is worth it if only for me to find one or two items I know Lardy is reading ).

I'm also a fan of Gulacy's artwork.

As Jonathan Hickman continues to make SHIELD and Fantastic Four as good as any series in comics, and his independent stuff being reviewed by other posters sounds incredibly cool, I’ve come to expect that everything he does is just quality stuff. His Ultimate Thor story arc reaffirms that theory, as it’s nothing short of awesome in the scope of what he’s doing and how carefully crafted the story is thus far, as it slowly builds together. Just when I thought I’d given up on the Ultimate U outside Spidey, I’m sucked back in.

Hickman crafts three separate storylines here: Thor in the present, per his Ultimates debut; World War II where Baron Zemo uses the sacred Norn Stones to enter Asgard, teaming with Frost Giants to storm their treasury; and the ancient past where the 1,000 year war between Asgard and the Frost Giants ends after the heroic trio of brothers Thor, Loki and Baldur help Asgard gain victory. Each one is fascinating and filled with brief character moments while obviously having a larger, more epic point to them. Hickman does a great job making you feel like what you’re reading is vitally important—especially here, since I don’t care all that much about the past and future of the Ultimate Universe.

He uses Dr. Don Blake interacting with the modern Thor in a very overt, scientific way but because of the regular Blake / Thor relationship you can’t help but be fascinated by it.

The Zemo / WWII sequence is taken to the next level with a major revelation at the end of #2 which ties in how the Nazis have a chance against Asgard (with the takedown of Heimdall).

The Ancient past does a better job showing the love and camaraderie between Thor, Loki and Baldur better than possibly any writer ever has on the main Thor title, making Loki’s eventual betrayal all the more tragic; particularly when Hickman shows exactly why Loki does it (a twist never used before at Marvel). The brief mentions / showings of Karnilla, the Warrior’s Three, Odin’s Ravens and others is also really well done.

I’m really enjoying this miniseries. I guess I can basically say that anything Hickman’s name attaches to now will be on my pull list.

Dark Horse released a one-shot titled The Occultist about a new magic-based protagonist, created by Dark Horse President Mike Richardson and Hack/Slash writer Tim Seeley. It’s a non-Gold Key character that is kind of being lumped in with the Jim Shooter/Gold Key relaunches going on (which are quite excellent). Unfortunately, while this was an okay start, it wasn’t anything spectacular and a lot of it was things I felt like I’ve seen before.

Magic-based protagonists are a dime a dozen these days, particularly teen/young adult ones. So the premise and situations were not anything new, which made it feel stale. Meanwhile, there was some brief characterization and introduction to a supporting cast, but it felt more like very flat, three sentence summary type characters that were not particularly interesting.

Even the artwork, by Victor Drujino, was good but nothing dynamic.

I like buying one-shots from Dark Horse because they usually are a complete story that are interesting for casual readers. This one is probably the first that failed to deliver for me, as it felt like the entire thing was going through the motions but there was no real soul to it.

I also caught up on Thor / Iron Man, which was a miniseries I was so looking forward to. It’s got everything I want: DnA on writing chores, two heroes I love in Thor and Iron Man, the High Evolutionary, and a bunch of other villains and concepts of Marvel lore. But after reading #2 and #3…the delivery just isn’t there.

I feel DnA are writing both Thor and Iron Man a bit off, as well as the High Evolutionary, who I thought they did a great job with in their space opera titles. The story itself seems disjointed and it’s suffering from too many characters having too little going on.

I’m pretty disappointed (also because I waited until I bought most of the series before reading it, like a sap). This could easily have been a 2-parter.

Prince Valiant by Hal Foster, Volumes 1 & 2

This is a real oldie - these two volumes cover the newspaper strips from 1937 - 1940.

I loathed Prince Valiant when I was a kid. It was one of the really boring newspaper comic strips that my mother thought was educational. Several decades later, my opinion has entirely reversed.

Hal Foster was grew up in Halifax; our local comic store Strange Adventures has had a bit of a push on his work. I was flipping through one of the collections and was so impressed with the art work, I bought the book.

The art is beautiful and richly detailed. I could just enjoy that and ignore the stories, but the stories themselves have a peculiar charm.

Prince Valiant is set in the medieval era, but Foster has taken history and myth, along with different time periods and jumbled it all together. There's lots of Arthurian legend mixed in with adventures in Rome, Scandinavia and the Holy Land, Atilla the Hun and Vikings. The adventure is appealing in its nostalgic innocence, yet there's a good measure of brutal violence (not graphic, but cheerily dispensed by Val) thrown in. I was surprised to see a fair number of scenes of naked or nearly naked men wrestling and bathing together, so maybe there was some subtext there, or the 1930s weren't as stuffy as I thought.

One distinctive aspect of Foster's work is the total lack of word balloons; all the story is told in text at the bottom of each panel.

The volumes are oversized and pricey, but if you find them in your library, I'd recommend taking them out.

After reviewing two other Stan Lee / Boom Studios comics which weren’t bad but essentially were a bit of a bust, I was pretty delighted when I read Starborn #1 and it ended up being pretty fantastic! Unlike the other two, which were incomplete stories where something was really missing, Starborn felt very fresh, fun and exciting. I put down the comic honestly wanting to read more. It had some very cool, deep characters, as well as an overall sense of intrigue that made me curious about the story and where it’s going.

Writer Chris Roberson really nails a great opener unlike the other Boom stories. It is full of energy, and I was surprised at how different the pacing is compared to his other comic I collect, I, Zombie. I think a lot of that is due to artist Khary Randolph, who has a very kinetic, high energy style that is full of ‘pop’. It is a bit anime, a bit cartoonish, and a bit in the mold of Mike Avon Oeming, but yet a very distinct style that is his (her?) own.

The lead character is a writer—which is usually a groan inducing occupation for a lead—but they actually make it work for once as an important facet of the story, rather than the typical self-indulgent crap we usually see.

I put down #1 feeling there is the potential here to have a great space opera series as well as a great down to Earth character piece. I think I’m going to be picking up the next issue!

Very cool! I've always wanted to check out Foster's Prince Valiant but never have. This is something I actually might consider buying for myself soon. (I'm getting through the massive first volume of Dick Tracy first, which is taking months).

Foster mixing up different time periods so the series has characters from all different eras makes it actually even more appealing!

Starting in 1996, DC had released an Elseworlds one-shot entitled "Superman's Metropolis", an intriguing melding of the Superman mythos with the silent film "Metropolis". Written by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier and Roy Thomas, and illustrated by Ted McKeever, the story was followed by a sequel in 1999, "Batman: Nosferatu", which melded Batman with the likes of "Nosferatu" and "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Roy Thomas did not help with this one. Finally, the series was finished with a third one-shot in 2003, "Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon", which melded the Wonder Woman mythos with the likes of "The Blue Angel" and "Dr. Mabuse". Although the Lofficiers intended to create a FOURTH one-shot.

The first of this series that I read was Blue Amazon in early 2006, the second was Metropolis, which I received as a Christmas gift in 2006, and Nosferatu, which I got in 2008.

The storyline is set in the city aptly named Metropolis, and it's the only city, or so it appears. It's origins have been time lost.

Since Blue Amazon was the first one I read, I want to review it, but I'll try not to divulge too much of what goes on, as it would spoil the first two. However, Blue Amazon was alluded to in Nosferatu by way of the appearance of Dr. Psykho's Palace of Sin, and a poster for "Diana as the Blue Amazon".

In this story, Wonder Woman is recast as Diana, a singer whose stage name is, aptly, the Blue Amazon. She works as a performer at the Palace of Sin, a seedy place run by Dr. Psykho. She is highly sought after by the men who attend her performances, but there are times when her songs are so soul shattering that some leave, shaken by her voice. Of course, Steve Trevor-Son chooses to listen to her with his eyes closed, although he does regard her beauty. Whereas Steve is an army official in regular continuity, here he's an architect whom is helping Lois, the wife of the Super-Man, learn about Metropolis' origins. Steve is captivated by Diana, and she returns the sentiment by how he doesn't lust after her like the others.

Make note, though, that Diana is not a cold and empty beauty as the name "Blue Amazon" would imply. The blue pertains to a sense of sadness, as Diana is an amnesiac and must deal with being "owned" by Dr. Psykho. As Metropolis' origins are a mystery, so are Diana's, and not even Dr. Psykho knows what they are. That doesn't mean he doesn't try though. To make matters worse, he makes some money after hours letting Diana be degraded via a whip. When Steve walks in on this, he blends into the crowd of men watching the torture, but stays to help Diana.

Now, the problem with this book is that it might be considered shorter than the other two, and Diana doesn't really receive that much exposure as the Wonder Woman after she fully awakens. She mainly plays the role of the enigmatic beauty, the singer, the blue angel seeking out her memories under the control of the disgusting Psykho. One could applaud her continuing resistance against Psykho's attempts to enter her mind, although this could probably be more attributed to the fact that she's an amnesiac. However, one can also consider in that, when Psykho attempts to kill Steve, the only person who showed her kindness and respect, it can be seen as a play on the legendary love that Wonder Woman is said to have.

We are also treated to the mysterious Cheetah, who is searching for Diana, but where did she come from? And why does she want Diana? Here, the Cheetah is more ghastly than her normal appearance.

The story deals with the secrets of the past, Metropolis' past, Diana's past, and the mystery of "The Time of Smoke and Soot". It also makes use of both the first and second book, specifically the Super-Man and the Nosferatu, although while this is spoiling a bit, the Nosferatu gets more fighting action than the Super-Man.

In terms of the art, Ted McKeever's style has changed since Nosferatu, as it did from Metropolis. The entire story is colored in a red tint, as Nosferatu was colored in grey, and Metropolis in a gold. There is one metaphor that could apply. Metropolis is the day, Nosferatu the night, and the Blue Amazon is sunset, or even dawn, but the tint is removed by the end. When Diana is first introduced in the Palace of Sin, she is colored entirely in a blue tint. On the cover, Diana is depicted in a costume that is a bit similar to a cross between her regular outfit and the leather she wore during the Artemis days. But in the story itself she simply wears a black bodysuit with a yellow "W". McKeever's lines can be considered a bit ugly at times, but he excels at portraying truly horrific villains and monsters, the Cheetah and Dr. Psykho are examples. One can also remember that since this is based on a German expressionist film, of course the art would look strange.

I applaud the twist used in revealing just where Metropolis is, but wish we would have had more exposure of Diana as Wonder Woman.

I'd have to give it a 4 out of 5.

So as a former graduate student with a focus in Roman History and a genuine love for it, I picked up Caligula #1 by Avatar. I fully expected it to be over the top violent and sexual, since I've seen the 70's movie, know full well Caligula's history and realize almost every Avatar comic has sex & violence. But you know, I was totally taken aback by just how much sex & violence there was--specifically, how much rape there was. It was basically non-stop.

I'm actually sure it's a pretty accurate depiction of life during Caligula's reign as Augustus. But you know, its just not what I want to read about in comics. I put it down and felt a sick to my stomach feeling I haven't felt since I was like 13 and reading my father's adult comics that I was supposed to.

Definitely a disappointment. I'd love for an ongoing series set in Roman times that doesn't focus on (A) Ceaser or (B) Caligula or Nero.

I also picked up Infinite Vacation by Image because of how freaking impressive writer Nick Spencer has been on everything he touches (see: Morning Glories, Thunder AGENTS, etc.). After issue #1, I can see this might be the most complex of all his stories and that is saying something! Spencer, like Jonathan Hickman, is not afraid to revel in the complexities and mysteries of his series which is what makes them so exciting. Here, we have the most off-beat thus far in what amounts to a really original premise for a story.

The lead character seems addicted to the 'Infinite Vacation', where you can purchase the ability to change your life to an alternate reality where a decision or moment of your life worked out differently. The implications of such an idea seem endless and Spencer gives us a huge dose of that possibility with #1.

For example, the lead character is Mark, and throughout the issue you meet numerous other Marks from other realities. Many of these, you don't realize at first its actually another Mark until its revealed to you. Mark sees a psychiatrist, who happens to be a Mark from another reality. When Mark questions some of the things happening to alternate Marks, the people who run the Infinite Vacation make sure he speaks to a customer service rep who is also a Mark from another reality since Mark knows how best to deal with Mark. Confused? You bet! But yet, in an awesome way.

Christian Ward does a great job on art, where he provides a pretty consistent, structured style in places and yet at points his art evolves into an almost hallucinogenic feel, which underscores the weirdness of alternate realities. It really works with the plot.

I'll admit--I only half understand whats happening...but I really want to know more!

^CBR gave Infinite Vacation #1 a 4.5 out of 5 star review!

I just got to Infinite Vacation #1 (second printing) in my ever-growing stack on Tuesday, myself. Another Nick Spencer smash hit, says Lardy! It felt utterly fascinating and original.

I also totally dug the sometimes psychedelic art! Ward's art is reminiscent of what Duncan Fegredo did in the 90's on titles like Enigma with Peter Milligan for Vertigo.

I have no idea where the story's going, except that it may turn out to be a multi-dimensional murder mystery? Maybe? In any case I'm onboard for the ride!

P.S. There's a gorgeous purple-haired chick in it who I'm kinda-sorta in love with at the moment!

JLA: A League of One

Hardcover graphic novel released in November 2000.

Story and painted art by Christopher Moeller.

Plot:

Wonder Woman learns of an ancient prophecy that foretells that the members of the Justice League will be killed in a battle with an ancient female dragon named Drakful Karkang. She secretly plots to take out all the members of the League so they won't be available to fight the dragon. She fights the dragon alone , in the name of the Justice League - as a League of one - in an effort to save the world, by defeating the dragon while sacrificing herself to save her team mates.

Art: A+

Beautifully painted and colored. The story contains fantasy elements that include the dragon queen, a race of gnomes who discover her, a young wood nymph and a young sea nymph who are childhood friends of Diana's. This book contains some of the most unforgettable fantasy images that DC has ever produced. There is a wonderful sequence in which the sea nymph transforms Diana into a mermaid.

The story takes place during the League's watchtower era. The sequences on the moon and in the watchtower are grand.

Wonder Woman battles Batman and Flash along the Amazon River while they are engaged in a battle with Poison Ivy. Gorgeous. The battle with Superman is spread out over seven breathtaking pages.

Story: B+

The fantasy elements are wonderful. Diana's determination is inspiring. Wonder Woman and Batman matching wits is gripping.
The conclusion is suspenseful, but leaves some unanswered questions.

Recommendation:

Well worth the money if you can find it. This is a model for how original graphic novels should be done.

It probably says a lot that I couldn't find a thread on LW for Fear Itself. Most of us are fed up with crossovers and LW has always been more DC centric. Much like Flashpoint, I've bought the first few issues of each crossover to see if my fears of them being bad would come true out of curiosity.

For Fear Itself, I think it's been a pretty weak product. Overall, the story seems pretty run of the mill, and the sense of dread and epic-ness of the threat is being told to us, rather than shown to us. Fraction's writing has never been my favorite and that continues here.

But in #3 what really did it for me was
<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">the death of Bucky. I have no idea if that is going to stick or not, since I don't believe things anymore. But I have to say, this is one of the worst deaths in years--and that's saying something! Not in the way it was done but just how pointless and un-dramatic it is. I'd rank it along Hawkeye's mindless death in Avengers Dissassembled. It really just felt lame</span></span>

I think I'm done with #3 and won't continue on. Not sure how Marvel could have ever greenlit this since its just so run of the mill.

agreed!

I was also displeased and fairly confused by Fear Itself #3. I wrote in the All Avengers thread a long and somewhat snarky review.

I compared Fear Itself #2 to Power Rangers.

Immonen's art is dragging me through the dirt. by that i mean i'm forced to read this story because his art is so great.

I don't want to post four times in a row in the Spirit thread so I'll just make mention here that artist John Paul Leon--who I had never heard of before--did an outstanding job on yhe latest issue. He's definitely in the mold of one of my favorites Marcos Martin with a hint of Darwyn Cooke influence.

The Spirit as written by David Hine continues to be utterly excellent.

Showcase Presents: Bat Lash

I've read the first two stories in this nice handy little collection. First off, let me say that I have always been interested in this collection since I found out that Nick Cardy drew the majority of it. It does not disappoint in the art department either for Showcase #76 and Bat Lash #1.

Showcase #76 - Our introduction to Bat Lash. Will he save the West - or ruin it? Well, if this story is any indication, he's gonna save it from itself. Westerns can be a mixed bag...hard to get the right balance of humor, action and romance. This book seems to do it all effortlessly. Sergio Aragones plots this story and Denny O'Neil scripts it. It's a pretty straightforward tale of a man moving through the waest looking for love (or at least a woman to have fun with), food, and some peace and quiet.

The man who loves peace and is willing to fight/kill for it gets a little overdone between this and the next book, but it's not too distracting. There is a nice little twist at the end that I honestly did not see coming with the reveal of the 'main' villain of the story.

Bat Lash #1 was another great straightforward tale of Bat Lash moving through the west breaking hearts and getting into trouble. Things are set right by the end, and Lash is off for his next adventure.

Now, I cannot say enough about the art in these stories. This is one collection that does well in black and white. (I think only Kubert's work is more fitting of the format, at least for the DC showcase series.)

Overall, I am liking the book a lot more than I thought I would, and I figured that OI would at least enjoy it for the art if nothing else...thankfully, the stories are surprisingly fresh and fun.