Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Random Review Corner

More reviews as I read through the book, although I do not want to spoil these stories for anyone that may be tempted to grab this off your local stores shelf...Needless to say, I will continue to talk about them as I go.

Next month DC Comics will be launching an all new Batgirl #1, with Barbara Gordon returning to the role. Readers are split. Some preferring Babs in the role of Oracle, and others feeling that this is a move that is long overdue. Both camps are making good arguments. I’m looking at it as new interpretation of Batgirl and plan to buy it with no reservations. In light of the circumstances and debate, I am presenting a random review of one of the earliest stories I recall reading Barbara as Batgirl.

Story: “The Isle of A Thousand Thrills”

Published in Batman Family #3 January-February 1976

Writer: Elliot S! Maggin

Artists: J.L. Garcia Lopez and Vince Colletta

Opening splash page text: They’re back! The flame-haired huntress from Gotham, Batgirl, and the crimson-chested youth who learned his craft at the side of the Batman and grew to young manhood as Robin. Together again in a land where time whirls, flip flops and leap-frogs madly across history – as the Dynamite Duo find themselves battling for their lives in an “Isle of a Thousand Thrills!”

Synopsis: Dick Grayson and a fellow Hudson University student named Frank Gilbert are in Provincetown in anticipation of a big announcement from Major Montana. Mr. Montana is a film maker, cartoon director, novelist, magician, and wealthy eccentric. Congresswoman Gordon and Senator Cleary are in Provincetown investigating off-shore oil drilling (or something!). Dick goes out of his way to make sure that Babs doesn’t see him. He fears that if Robin has to go into action, she may put two and two together and finally realize his secret identity.

Major Montana holds a banquet and mysteriously announces that he plans to unveil a fabulous gift for the young and young at heart. The next day, Dick, Frank, and some college girls are eating at a seaside ice cream shop when the Congressional delegation walks in. While Dick is scurrying away to avoid Babs, a giant sea dinosaur attacks the shoreline. Robin roars onto the scene on a motorcycle. Batgirl appears on a rooftop and they go into battle against the monster, eventually chasing him back into the water. Batgirl and Robin jump into a rented motorboat to chase the sea monster. They are followed by several boats of tourists. They eventually come to an island, where no island was before. The Dynamite Duo and tourists battle a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spanish Inquisition Soldiers, and futuristic thought police with jet packs on the island. It is eventually revealed that the island is Major Montana’s gift. It is a place where normal people will be given the thrills of acting as heroes.

In the epilogue, Batgirl and Robin reveal that they have each deduced the other’s secret identities and part company with smiles on their faces.


My Reactions:

Not only was this one of the earliest experiences I had reading about Batgirl, but it was also my first exposure to the pencils of Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. I’ve been a fan for life. The drawings are crisp and clean. The action scenes are exciting to watch. Batgirl and Robin look like acrobats through and through. Graceful and fluid. The fantasy elements mix naturally with modern day Provincetown.

The story is simple and interesting. This is where the chemistry between Babs and Dick started for me. It’s a chemistry that remains as natural and unforced today as it was over 35 years ago. It’s a chemistry that I anticipate will be capitalized on in the new DC universe. Much of the current debate centers on whether Barbara will be recast as a “junior partner” by returning to the role of Batgirl. I don’t see that happening. Both she and Dick had already transcended that role in this adventure from 1975. They were clearly competent and capable of carrying a story. It’s a story that withstands the test of time.

well, I finished the Bat Lash Showcase. It's an interesting read. The art is great, even the stories that arre not by Cardy are good.

Bat Lash as a character is interesting. Once you see his origin story (how he came to lead the life he leads) he makes a bit more sense, and the whole "I'm a peaceful man pushed into violence to prevent violence" thing becomes very clear and understandable.

The stories by Aragones, O'Neil and Cardy were the strongest of the bunch, and those that came after seemed to be taken from an episode of Maverick.

There is quite a bit of stereotypical Mexican 'slang/speaking' that is a bit distracting at some points, but is not unlike watching a Speedy Gonzales cartoon, or a Cheech & Chong movie.

My overall opinion...Well worth the money spent, and would be worth the regular price. I think I may start tracking down the singles of his series...to see these in color. The black and white art is great, but seeing the cover for Bat Lash #2 on the coverof this collection, makes me want to see the fuill art in color as well to see the subtle changes that coloring can bring about.

You may have convinced me to pick up the Bat Lash Showcase!

EDE. It's a 9.99 book, and you can probably find it on a special somewhere cheaper than that...the art alone is worth the price though, and the fun interjected into the seriousness of the stories makes them a good read.

Cloak & Dagger: I loved these guys in the 80's, so I'll always see what they're up to. Spider Island crossover nonsense aside, (it's barely part of the story) this is its own story and it's all about character! (seriously, it's like a breath of fresh air) It's also about New York City as much as Daredevil ever has been. This is definitely the "The rent is too damn high/everyone lives in Brooklyn" NYC as much as their origins were steeped in the "Taxi Driver/Times Square is a cesspool" NYC back in the day.

The double narration could have been cliche and predictable, (I'm talking to you, "Superman/Batman") but here it's well-done and really gives you a sense of who these people are. And they're clearly recognizable as the same people, but modernized in a good, (non-pandering) way. This is only a mini, but we need books like this as ongoings!

^I'm actually thinking of grabbing this and your rec definitely helps Drake!

A series I'm surprisingly enjoying is Kirby Genesis by Dynamite. Everyone knows I'm a big Kirby fan but the series is actually much more of a Kurt Busiek series than anything. So I'd say regardless whether you like Kirby, I'd say it's more about how much you like Busiek's style. It's very Astro City / Marvels in usage of POV characters, ensemble cast and grandiose nature of it.

I'm enjoying seeing Kirby characters I only ever saw briefly (like his Topps universe stuff) and ones I've never been able to read (like Captain Victory). Like most of his creations the untapped potential is just so raw.

The art by Jack Hebert is very much in the mold AC's Brent Anderson with obvious Alex Ross influences. I'm liking it quite a bit.

Over the last coupla days, I read the TPB of Suicide Squad: From the Ashes, which collected the 8-issue miniseries "Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag". Not sure at all why they changed the name for the TPB. What mattered to me was at the time the mini was released, I was on a bit of a sabbatical from monthly comics and totally missed it. Had I been getting the monthlies at the time, this would have been a "must buy" as I was a HUGE fan of Ostrander's classic run on SS during the late '80s.

I eBay watched this for a long time, but never seemed to find the kind of bargain I like to get when purchasing back issues or trades. Finally, I got the trade as part of a large order from mycomicsshop.com in June. (I got it NM for $9 when the trade has a cover of $19.99!)

While it started out a little slow and somewhat confusing in its timeline, this story really started to click on all cylinders and show that John Ostrander still could tell a frickin' AWESOME Squad story that pulled no punches.

Drawing it was Javier Pina, a name I'm unfamiliar with but one who has a clean, realistic style. Some of the faces were a little inconsistent and less fully rendered at times, particularly with the character of Rick Flag. But overall, the art was fine and very pleasing.

This story took place after Capt. Boomerang's death (and before his Blackest Night resurrection), but Ostrander managed to work him into the flashback sequences that opened the story. And nearly all the other surviving Squad favorites were there as well: Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Nightshade, Amanda Waller and other notable alumni like Count Vertigo and Plastique. Boomerang's son, Multiplex and some obscure guys rounded out the cast.

Front and center was Rick Flag. Flag was one of the mainstays in the old series until he was apparently killed off a couple of years into the series' run at ground zero of a nuclear explosion. But we learn that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.

Flag is back and his loyalties to the Squad in question because also involved is one General Wade Eiling, who fans of Captain Atom's defunct Bates/Broderick DC series will remember very well. Eiling also showed up occasionally during Ostrander's classic SS run, and this appearance follows up on where Eiling was left by Grant Morrison during Grant's classic JLA run in the body of JLA for the Shaggy Man. Flag worked for Eiling prior to Flag joining the Suicide Squad. In this story we learn a lot more about Eiling's role in Flag's life.

So the Squad reunites to remove a deadly viral agent from the hands of a greedy corporation looking to sell it to the highest bidder. Eiling, conscripted into Squad service by his rival Waller plans to betray the Squad and throw in with the corporate baddies. Will Eiling have the last laugh?

Among the many things that makes this story great is the respect that Ostrander has for DC history. He uses Cliff Carmichael from the old Firestorm book. We see a little bit of Skartaris, home of the Warlord. Eiling was a great character that had fallen completely off the map after Morrison used him. All the nods to previous versions of the Squad and to its own rich history during Ostander's run.

Ostrander is a master at his craft, and this especially shines through in his dedication to character building. All the characters, major and minor, in this book get moments to shine. Two deaths that otherwise wouldn't have been a big deal for me simply were because Ostrander made me care about them.

Yes, this is Suicide Squad, so not everybody makes it out alive. It was a very suspenseful read with lots of great moments. (How deadly is Deadshot blindfolded? Pretty deadly, it turns out!) Bronze Tiger, Flag, Waller and even Boomerbutt, Jr. all have plenty of room to shine. I also liked the character of Rustam (who also survived the nuke that would have killed Flag) in this book quite a bit.

I loved this book! It's a shame that a long-awaited Squad revival is finally around the corner but without Ostrander being attached. At this point with John and with what looks like the crappiest version of Harley Quinn yet involved that it will be a hard pass.

A crying shame, I say.

Fish Police: Hairballs, by Steve Moncuse (volume 1)

This is a collection of comics published in 1985.

Fish Police is a noir-themed cop story, with Inspector Gill as the main character in a world populated by fish with arms and humanoid faces (and clothing, for the most part).

So it's a fish theme, with fish jokes and fish names (Dr. Calamari, Goldie, Angelfish, etc.). Gill is investigating the crime organization S.Q.U.I.D., which allegedly is producing a drug called Hairballs. This drug allows users to "live in a universe filled with people who walk on two legs" and S.Q.U.I.D. wants to invade and exploit this universe. Gill is fascinated, not just because of the potential crime, but because he was in fact once a human.

There is no explanation of how he became a fish, which I found frustrating. Perhaps it was in a separate issue not included in this collection?

The art is black and white and does a great job on the anthropomorphic fish.

It sounded unusual and wacky, but, honestly, I didn't love it. The jokes weren't that funny, the story wandered off at one point and the lead character was more of an immature goof than a hard-boiled detective.

Worth taking out of the library, if you can find it, but, personally, I wouldn't bother with a Volume 2 if there is one.

Lardy, my reactions to this were posted here! I also enjoyed it quite a bit!

Just read Image's Undying Love #4, the wrap-up to what is either going to be the first of a series of miniseries or the end of the arc before it goes on hiatus for an undetermined period of time.

Here's how Image describes the series in its solicited TPB collection of 1-4:

A tale of horror-action, equal parts vampire mythology and Chinese folklore, set in modern day Hong Kong. Ex-soldier John Sargent has fallen for a beautiful Chinese woman named Mei. The only thing keeping the star-crossed lovers apart: she's a vampire. To free Mei from the curse, Sargent sets out to destroy the vampire that made her. The only problem: Mei was turned by one of the most powerful vampires in history...

That's a pretty good description, I'd say. Undying Love is a more gritty, horror bent on the vampire genre (like American Vampire), so don't be fooled by the "Twilight" vibe of the title. This has been an entertaining, moody book with some strong action set-ups and a feeling of mythology. Setting it in Hong Kong is a welcome spin as the setting really distinguishes it from other vampire books.

I love the art by Tomm Coker here. It's a little reminiscent of Sean Philips' style (of Criminal, Sleeper and Incognito fame with writer Ed Brubaker) but is distinctive for its photo-realistic faces while also having a more abstract, scratchier quality to it. Co-writer (with Coker) Daniel Freedman is also the colorist, and his colors are simultaneously bright and gloomy, an effect that really enhances the look and feel of the book.

With the close of this arc, you get the feeling Coker and freedman have barely scratched the surface of their story. There's much to learn about John and Mei's pasts and what draws them together. We eventually see how they met, but there are a lot of blanks to fill.

They have an intriguing nemesis in Shang-Ji, who is barely glimpsed in the story, and his hoardes of vampire/shapeshifter assassins. The goal is to destroy Shang, so that Mei will be freed of her curse.

Even more intriguing are the mystical fox people who seem to be playing both sides and are very enigmatic like the animals themselves are. They are seen in the bookend issues, and we can tell by the end that they and their leader shen will play a prominent role in how this eventually ends.

This is a strong, impressive start to what will obviously be a finite saga. I will definitely be buying it whenever it continues. Hopefully, that will be very soon!

Project: Superman #2 was a decent read and earned its place as one of only two Flashpoint tie-in series (the other being Secret Seven) that I picked up. I did so because Scott Snyder co-wrote it and Gene ha was the artist. It's nothing groundbreaking or superlative, but it's a decent telling of this alternate timeline in which Superman was captured as a boy by the government and studied by them for military applications.

Here we get an apparent resolution to the storyline of a previous test subject and learn that this Kal shares a certain fondness for a certain Ms. Lane that the familiar versin has after young kal meets young Lois.

It's interesting to see Sam Lane take a paternal interest in young Kal as he tries to protect him from the more inhumane tests the Project attempts. The take that Sam always wanted a son is ironic given what he did in the forgettable New Krypton storyline.

A decent read. Nothing astounding, though. Wondering what the final issue may hold as the main conflict of the first two issues is seemingly resolved here. We'll see when I catch up to it!

"The Tomb of the White Bat"

Published in Batman Family#19 Aug/Sep 1978

Story: Denny O'Neil

Art: Michael Golden

Plot: Bruce Wayne accompanies a foreign ambassador on a bus tour through a snowy mountainous region in an effort to prevent his assassination. Also on the bus are the driver, the ambassador's secretary, and two body guards. One of whom Wayne suspects of being an assassin. The explosion of a snow packed bridge strands the group on the mountain. They are quickly shot at by superstitious mountain people. Wayne runs off into the hills pretending to be frightened by the shots. Batman emerges to confront the shooters, but is confronted by their over 100 year old matriarch, Granny Bleach. Granny Bleach tells the story of how she and her family came to be tasked with the job of keeping outsiders away from the home of the legendary White Bat. The White Bat is a vampire bat who drained a member of Granny's party over a 100 years ago.

The story goes back and forth between Batman's efforts to protect the ambassador from the assassin and battles with the mountain people. Mystery, super heroics, and the supernatural come together in the finale.

My Thoughts:

This is one of my all time favorite Batman stories. O'Neil brilliantly packs a lot of story into 20 pages. Part of the story feels like an Agatha Christy mystery, as Batman attempts to discover who among the colorful characters on the bus is the assassin. Part of the story feels like a classic Swamp Thing adventure as Batman interacts with the superstition of the mountain people, and the legendary bat. Batman is out of his usual element of the dark grittiness of Gotham. He is a dark figure in the snow and sunlight. Golden captures this contrast beautifully with images that propel this outing from a simple story into a timeless classic.

^ That story sounds awesome Jerry! And exactly the sort of Batman story I love. I much prefer when writers take Batman out of Gotham and play him off against antagonists in exotic an interesting locales.

I would love to read more 70s Batman too. I've only read a few issues from that period and judging by the covers alone, it looks like it could be my favourite Bat-era ever.

Makes me want to look for some of that 70s Batman! That was probably my favourite era for Bat stories.

I posted a review of Jim Gallagher\'s graphic novel , which I greatly enjoyed.

The Incal Classic Collection by Alex Jodorowsky and Moebius

This is probably the trippiest comic book I ever read. First published in the 80s, it is said to have had a massive influence on sci fi books and movies.

No doubt; it's full of incredibly beautiful artwork, illustrating complex worlds of the strangest things you could imagine.

The Incal is the story of a low-joe detective John DiFool, who finds a box which identifies itself as a living being called the Incal. It sends him on a mysterious adventure to, basically, save the universe, and achieve enlightenment along the way.

There's a good review with some of the artwork (not the most stunning, IMO) at ifanboy , which says as much as I could say about this book. Really, it sort of leaves you speechless. Truly recommended for fans of sci fi high weirdness.

Cobie, did you see my Undying Love review a few posts up yonder? You've been bugging me for one for a while....

I had missed it, but just checked it out. Very interesting! At first, I'd be hesitant to pick up another vampire related title but the Japanese aspect of it adds that dose of differentiation to give it that nice niche feel. The Japanese have such fantastic traditions in horror that enjoy seeing that combo of setting / genre.

I may pick up the trade when it comes out. It's also the type of story that is right up my brothers and sisters alley.

Tom Coker artwork is a big draw too from what I've seen.

Chinese, Cobie...Chinese.

I just finished

This is the complete run of Dr. Fate in More Fun Comics. Running from May 1940 to July/August 1944. In all 44 stories. Initially Dr. Fate was in the full mask we know and love (at least I love the full mask) Inza is there from the start, but she does not know who Dr. Fate is and neither do the readers. It is not until the end of More Fun #66 (April 1941) that Fate takes off his mask for both Inza and the reader. The following issue has the origin of Dr. Fate and give him the name of Kent Nelson.

The early Dr. Fate stories have him fighting eerie menaces and scientific menaces. He fights 3 sets of aliens and in one story destroys the planet of one group of aliens. Even Nabu in his origin story is an alien from the pplanet Cilia. Most of Dr. Fate's early opponents meet with death. The description of Dr. Fate's power varies. In one telling he possess the knowledge of matter/energy conversion. In his origin he learns the secret of molecular control of his body. He is shown consistantly able to fly, have fire or energy coming from his hands, and he has a telepathic link with Inza.

Then in More Fun 72 (October 1941) Dr. Fate goes from this to this

Interesting note: On the cover of More Fun 72 Dr. Fate has the full mask.

At this point Dr. Fate faces only gangsters. Although he does have one reoccurring villain, Mr. Who. Mr. Who is a scientist who created Solution Z. Solution Z mostly allows Mr. Who to grow to giant size, shrink, and assume the appearance of other people.

Dr. Fate's powers stabilize to flight and invulnerability. He continues to use a crystal ball and now has a ring that tells im where the croook has gotten to. Dr. Fate is give the weakness that he is vulnerable to gas. This transforms into him needing air (like who doesn't) but to the extent that even just having a noose put around his neck instantly has him swooning.

Then in More Fun 85, Dr. Fate becomes a medical doctor also. The stories do have him make the decision to become a MD and studying for it. There are two stories in this phase of Dr. FAte that stand out for me. The first involves a magic painting that allows anyone to step into it and explore a whole new world. The other has Dr. Fate temporarily losing his powers but still has to save a bunch of trapped miners. In the last story it looked like Dr. Fate was about to get the comic foil sidekick.

They are typical Golden Age stories and Golden Age art. Still an enjoyable read. The visuals are pretty typical too. The villain the Octopus had a good visual. The Clock had a cartoony appearance, but I liked the use of a pencil thin mustache as the hand of a clock on his face. See above

If you like Golden Age stories, this is a book you will like.

The Nightly News by Jonathan Hickman

Hickman's distinctive art just mesmerizes me. It's dreamlike - although this story is not sweet dreams. It's a bit disturbing; it reminded me of Scalped in that sense, uncomfortably violent but an incredibly good story.

TV news reporters, anchors and, eventually, executives are being gunned down by mysterious assailants. Their story unfolds and we learn that these are people who were wronged by the media, had their lives ruined and were recruited into a murder cult by a figure who calls himself The Hand of the Voice. The Voice directs the action, but we never see him/her; the Hand speaks for the Voice, trains the assassins and gives them their orders. The hunt is on to stop the murderers and a great cat and mouse game begins. But who is cat and who is mouse? At the end, we see who the Voice is - and it was a surprise to me.

Interspersed with the actual story are many half pages of facts about media control and manipulation. Nothing new to me, but it might be informative for young people.

^This is one I've been dying to read! Glad you read & reviewed it, FC. This is only 'must buy next' list of TPB's.

Continuing my Jonathan Hickman lovefest:

Transhuman by Jonathan Hickman, art by J.M. Ringuet

The subject is genetic engineering, specifically, the story of two companies, Humonics and Chimeracorp.

The book is presented as a documentary; Heinrich Dowidat is the interviewer/commentator. He takes us through the history of the two companies, both in a race to develop transhuman products. Things go badly, then worse: very dark, if you're a human. If you're a simian, however, then things could be looking up....

As with Hickman's other works, it's a very compelling, page-turning story, with a lot of gruesome events and a shock ending. (I wonder if Hickman is a misanthrope. He certainly brings out the bad side of humanity, although it's hard to argue that there aren't a lot of unpleasant people in high-stakes business ventures.) It's also a very "talky" book, as befits a documentary.

The artwork suits the story; it doesn't have the dreamlike quality of Hickman's own art - it's more gritty, lots of dark, or bland colours (olive green, grey, brown). There's only one fact sheet page, with the print so small, beige on olive green, I couldn't read it without daylight and a magnifying glass - my only complaint (and maybe that's just my eyes).

The last of my Jonathan Hickman GNs:

Red Mass for Mars, by Jonathan Hickman, art by Ryan Bodenheim

Earth, 2115: after devastating climate change, plague, terrorism and tech gone haywire, Earth's survivors have settled into a prosperous and advanced civilization. Marcus Farber Astorga, a superhero known as The Benefactor, foresees a threat from outer space which could wipe out human life, the Hun-Du, a parasitical pod-culture.

The other superheroes of Earth are assembled to fight the coming threat, but The Benefactor realizes that they need someone even more powerful: Mars, the ultimate warrior, who was exiled after murdering two criminals and two fellow heroes who tried to stop him.

This book is more upbeat than Hickman's other work, although not without more than a few atrocities. However, it's essentially the story of humankind fighting for its survival, sacrifice for the good of others and man's evolution towards something better.

There are a few nice nods to superhero history throughout the book. Although there are a number of different heroes, most of them remain one-note characters; only The Benefactor, Mars, a mage called Lightbender and a scientist Dr. Thaddeus White are developed. I was curious about the others, but it's a tighter story with this more narrow focus.

Of all the Hickman GNs, this one struck me as the most mainstream in terms of concept.

The art is lovely, highly detailed, with omnipresent starfield backgrounds and muted blues and reds. I don't really have the vocabulary to describe it adequately.

Loving that you've reviewed these Hickman creator-owned stories! He's quickly become one of my favorites so they're all on my must-read list.