"We are also of the cloth." Superman (2025) thoughts

The last attempt to create a cinematic universe from DC Comics properties resulted in the pretty good film Wonder Woman in 2017 and, uh, a whole lot of forgettable detritus.

At this stage, having seen DC twice attempt to roll out a slow-burn universe that attempts to ground itself in realism, I'm definitely ready for a change. James Gunn's Superman (2025) is certainly a change; I knew from his Guardians of the Galaxy films that he had a unique take on super hero properties, but is he really the kind of creative person to help build up an entire interconnected universe of films? That answer is, thankfully, 'yes.' And can he front a super hero story around an old-school stolid property like Superman, the very character who started the genre? There the answer is, 'no,' which is why the film is peppered with people like Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl, Metamorpho and Guy Gardner.

At this point, I think - as Grant Morrison did with All-Star Superman - that the story of Superman is well-trod and well-known so there's no need to repeat his origin story - which is Gunn's take. The harder part is to get his character correct; it's hard for me to pin down how well Gunn did in that aspect since Clark Kent is barely in the film (maybe that's because films usually spend more time on Clark than Superman) but he's absolutely the Superman of the comics, especially by the standard of All-Star Superman - that he's powerful enough to handle most problems but doesn't always know the best path for applying his power. And, of course, he cares deeply for people. David Corenswet has the right mix of earnestness and toughness.

As a launching point for DC's latest attempt at a shared universe of films, I like the idea of coming in with the universe already well-inhabited and with a rich history of existing super heroes and villains, to say nothing of the tropes particular to Superman (his folks are still alive; he has his Fortress of Solitude, Krypto and Supergirl; and, in a very rare development, the Daily Planet not only has Lois Lane and Perry White but also Jimmy Olsen, Cat Grant, Steve Lombard and Ron Troupe, characters who are usually slighted by the films).

The film's version of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is a bit over-the-top - great for this film, but already possessing so many resources and such power that it's hard to see where he could go in any future films - it might actually be better to not revisit the character in this franchise. It's not the best interpretation of Luthor (Clancy Brown remains the standard) but again, it's recognizable as a version from the comics (All-Star Superman once more) and he has all the hubris of the best versions of Luthor; plus, he's loathsome, which creators sometimes forget is an important part in writing a villain.

I remain skeptical about the guest-starring heroes - they're fun and tell you something about how this time, the world is over-populated with heroes rather than totalling maybe a half-dozen guys. They distract from Superman, but they filled in some of the most enjoyable parts of the film. I am enough of a Mr. Terrific fanboy that I actually got excited when he donned a comics-accurate version of his leather jacket. And Nathan Fillion could probably make reading the telephone book entertaining, to say nothing of giving him one of comicdom's biggest jerks (Guy Gardner) to play around with.

I don't know if I'm interested in more stories set in this universe but I do know I like what I saw in this film and not against seeing more.

Happy National Comic Book Day!

As today is National Comic Book Day it seems appropriate to pause and consider one's thoughts towards that medium. Comic books have been frequently disparaged in our society but the recent huge appeal super hero films have obtained in Hollywood motion pictures have granted the super hero genre - and thereby, comic books - a familiarity and prestige they have often lacked, to the point that the super hero film's 'cinematic universe' style is what every Hollywood studio now seeks to exploit.

Comic books have used every possible genre type in their pages, but super heroes are the one genre which comic books themselves gave birth to; for virtually every other genre represented in comic books there is a clear source of adaptation from another medium, be it prose, film or dance. When Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 he was essentially the first super hero - or at least the first character whose attributes fit those we came to associate with super heroes: he was powerful, wore brightly-coloured tights and used his power to help the defenseless. As the super hero genre came from comic books it makes sense that they dominate the medium...

...To the extent that the medium persists, that is. Super hero comic books hit a peak thanks to World War II as many of them (such as Captain America) were created specifically to combat Hitler. With the war's conclusion, the heroes struggled to define their goals and audiences lost interest. The genre picked up some steam in the 1960s and finally broke out in a big way due to the hit 1989 film Batman, but within a decade of that picture the industry nearly slit its own throat as a speculator-based comic book economy crashed; comics retreated to their familiar niches.

Today, sales of super hero comic books are in a state of constant decline as the corporate owners try desperately to reignite interest in the characters by changing their powers/origins/genders/ethnicities, only to eventually succumb to the inherent entropy of the audience. The arrival of a Captain Marvel motion picture has a large number of fans stoked; meanwhile, the character's comic book has been on life support for years.

Perhaps the super hero comic book business has become too insular, too repetitive, the same ideas played out over and over by increasingly jaded creative teams to an increasingly jaded audience. Perhaps it could be instructive to look back to where the genre began, to the creators who originated the super hero tropes which are now being subverted, deconstructed or taken for granted. The early super hero comic books were crudely made and would happily cannibalize each other's ideas even as today's arguably do. But for Captain America's creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby you see a hero designed to face a real threat - not a metaphorical/allegorical stand-in for that threat either - Captain America was created as a response to Adolf Hitler.

This is true as well of Joe Shuster & Jerry Siegel when they originated Superman. Look to the first appearance of Superman and you find a hero very concerned in the issues of the time for the prewar US. In Action Comics #1, Superman has four separate unconnected adventures in a mere 12 pages! First, he prevents an innocent person from being executed; second, he rescues a woman from her abusive husband; third, he battles organized crime; finally, he combats war profiteers.

The concerns of the USA in the late stages of the Great Depression are not the same as those which we have today. In some ways, super hero comic books of today are still grappling with issues of late 1930s USA, such as their conception of organized crime or foreign wars. But even there in Action Comics #1, Superman was concerned with upholding legal justice (preventing an innocent woman from being executed) and social justice (turning the tables on an abusive husband).

At times I wonder if super hero comic book creators can see the trees from the forest. In the past, there was certain content which super hero comics could not (nor should have) addressed directly, but today there is no particular subject matter which ought to be avoided, particularly as the super hero genre is read overwhelmingly by adults, not children. At one time, it made sense to discuss racial troubles through the metaphor of mutants, as the X-Men did; but today's issues surrounding race would be better served by telling stories about those races and their difficulties.

If you want to write a super hero comic book but don't want your voice to be lost in the throng of a hundred other voices, this is my advice to you: Write about the time and culture which you live in. Do not think that the problems of today cannot be overcome because, after all, Simon & Kirby witnessed the fall of Hitler. In spite of it all super heroes have a capacity to inspire audiences, even the jaded Wednesday warriors at your local comic book shop.

My sincere thanks to Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster for granting comic books a character, a genre and a whole system of tropes which have kept this lovely medium afloat over the last 80 years.

Looking back at Superman: The Animated Series

I had begun the 1990s as a devoted fan of Marvel Comics, but by the mid-90s my interest in Marvel waned, and with it comics themselves. Around that time I began paying more attention to the animated television program Batman: The Animated Series. Although Batman was a character who I'd never particularly liked in comics and I was well out of reading DC titles I gradually came to admire the lush, stylish animation and the depth of storytelling on that series.

I was fortunate enough to flip over to the WB in time to see the premiere of Superman: The Animated Series, a program which I didn't realize had even been in the pipeline until I saw it on the screen. As opposed to Batman, Superman was indeed a character who I'd enjoyed in the comics and I was pleased to see the same creators who had led Batman (chiefly Bruce Timm) were bringing that same level of craft to the program.

During Superman's second season the program became The New Batman Superman Adventures as Batman moved from Fox to WB with brand-new episodes. The problem, however, was that I never knew when new episodes of either program would air and the merged title was now appearing 6 times a week on WB's schedule (Saturdays was often a 1.5 hour timeslot!). Various episode of both series slipped past me, until finally I went to college in '98 and didn't see the remaining episodes; Superman: The Animated Series aired its last new episode in 2000.

Recently I bought a DVD collection of the entire Superman: The Animated Series and it was somewhat revealing to see the episodes together in order. I feel that the show started off with a very strong first season, but the remaining years carried a lot of flab. Tim Daly voiced a fine, likeable Superman; Dana Delaney was a joy as a feisty, smart-mouthed Lois Lane; the other supporting characters were very recognizable, but tended to keep to the background (has anyone ever written a terrific Perry White story? if so, I haven't read it).

I think the problem with Superman: The Animated Series is its villains. Don't get me wrong, Clancy Brown is perfectly cast as Lex Luthor and Luthor's characterization (based on the Byrne-Wolfman interpretation) was spot-on; Corey Burton was great (perhaps underutilized?) as Brainiac and their concept of Brainiac being quasi-responsible for the destruction of Krypton was actually a pretty good revision of Superman's history; Malcolm McDowell had a fine voice for Metallo, though the villain only had a couple of good stories - as the creators noted, a villain who carries Kryptonite in his chest can end fights against Superman far too quickly.

But then there's the rest; I mean, they did their best with Parasite, I guess. The creators had done such a fine job making the villains on Batman: The Animated Series compelling that it's strange to see how many villains on Superman misfire. Of course, the creators didn't think too highly of Superman's comic book rogue's gallery; according to Bruce Timm:

"Once you get past them [Luthor, Brainiac, Metallo, Parasite] suddenly you're in the realm of 50 year old guys who are a little overweight, wearing business suits."

There are other Superman villains from the comics who turned up on the show - Mr. Mxyzptlk was terrifically funny in his first episode; Bizarro was a great mixture of humour and pathos; Titano was... well, a giant ape (too bad they skipped on the Kryptonite vision, it's the most interesting thing about the comics version). Maxima was, for some reason, renovated into a joke character and Kirby homage, to the extent that she didn't resemble her comics counterpart much at all beyond wanting to mate with Superman. They used Phantom Zone villains but avoided General Zod for some reason (did they think he was overexposed?).

But as to those overweight guys in business suits, Toyman was completely renovated into (as the creators noted) a veritable Batman villain (it's surprising he never teamed up with their Mad Hatter or Baby Doll). The other Superman foes of that type (Prankster, Puzzler) were nowhere to be seen; the type of villains Timm was referring to were primarily cerebral threats to Superman, and as they had remarked before how difficult it was to write Riddler stories on Batman, it's no surprise they wanted to avoid similar characters.

And thus, they brought in Intergang and Darkseid from Kirby's Fourth World stories. That wasn't a bad idea at all - Darkseid debuted in an issue of Jimmy Olsen, to be sure; Superman was part of Kirby's original Fourth World stories and they kept pretty closely-aligned to his universe over the decades.

There were also original villains: Livewire, Volcana and Luminus. None of them are much to write home about - Luminus was somewhat interesting as the idea of Superman battling holograms was a different type of threat... Volcana's story was a weird X-Men/Men in Black homage that didn't catch fire (applause, please). Livewire might've worked if she weren't exceptionally and deliberately irritating; she was an attempt at giving Superman a wise-aleck foe similar to the Harley Quinn character developed on Batman but she was seldom funny and never sympathetic, the two qualities which made Quinn succeed.

And then there are the guest stars. Batman seldom dipped its toes in guest stars during its Fox run - there's Zatanna in one episode... pretty much it. Yet in the first season, the Superman creators brought in Lobo for a two-parter (Lobo was a very popular character in comics at the time). Then season 2 brings in the Flash with his foe Weather Wizad; soon after there's Dr. Fate and his foe Karkull; season 3 has the Legion of Super Heroes; Green Lantern (with his foe Sinestro); Aquaman; plus five episodes given over to Batman and his foes.

The guest appearances start coming closer together in the final season, but more than that, I suddenly realized how little Lex Luthor was seen in that season; through season 1 and most of season 2 Luthor was seldom absent, appearing even in episodes where he wasn't the threat (such as the season 2 episode "Target").

So, is Superman's rogue's gallery really all that shallow? I suppose of those villains they didn't use on the show there is Terra Man, the Kryptonite Man, the Atomic Skull, Silver Banshee, the Ultra-Humanite, Master Jailer... but there were also episodes of Superman which didn't rely upon a great super-villain, namely two of my favourites: first, "The Prometheon," a story where the threat is a giant alien which is drawn towards heat - in that episode, the alien is simply a great problem which needs to be solved rather than beaten in a fight (the alien also has no dialogue); the second, "The Late Mr. Kent," a brilliant script in which Clark Kent is believed dead and Superman has to solve his 'murder.' Similarly, Batman featured plenty of great episodes which didn't depend on the hero's rogue's gallery: "P.O.V."; "The Forgotten"; "I Am the Night."

I find Superman loses steam quickly; that first season still holds up pretty well; a friend of mine considers the entire program simply "a test run for Justice League." If you've never delved into the DC animated universe programs I would certainly recommened you start with Batman - it's the best; Superman might be the least among those shows but there are enough strong episodes to redeem investing your time in the program. Uh... maybe skip most of season 3 except for "Knight Time," "Unity" and "Legacy," though.

What's your favourite Aerosmith song, Superman?

"But the world needs us -- we six can't think of ourselves anymore --" Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

My father owned a single issue of DC's Strange Adventures featuring the Atomic Knights. The visual of the characters - men in medieval knight armour riding upon giant dalmatians in a post-apocalyptic world - struck my fancy. DC has collected the Atomic Knights into one of their massive black and white Showcase Presents tomes, but because there weren't actually that many Atomic Knights stories, they loaded up the book with various other stories set in the same continuity. How is the book as a whole? In short: it's too much and too little. Let's examine Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights!

The series is divided into six sections in the table of contents, sections which are mostly bound together by theme. Part of the problem of this book - something which becomes evident the more you read - is that these stories were not originally conceived as sharing a continuity with each other. It's something the fanboys and the editors threw together after the fact, out of a strange desire to link DC's future timelines together. "Pre-Disaster Warnings" opens the book with a few time travel stories set in then-contemporary times. The first is a three-parter about a man from the post-apocalyptic future journeying to present times and telling people about the world to come. After that, the section contains a Superman story in which Superman is manipulated into creating a divergence in his timeline's future so that the Legion of Super-Heroes continuity and Great Disaster continuity exist in separate timelines. It's the kind of fanboy continuity obsession I understand all too well, given my own history with the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Someone thought it was important to explain how DC could have two very different futures - ignoring the fact that truly neither of them will ever become the DC Universe's present. The inclusion of this Superman story seems very ill-judged to me as it's deeply entwined with Jack Kirby's Kamandi #29, a story which revealed what had become of Superman's indestructible costume in that future world. Continuity mavens claim Kamandi and OMAC's futures belong to the same timeline as the other stories reprinted here, but, notably, this is not a Kamandi or OMAC collection. The book would be improved if this Superman story were eliminated and it published in a Kamandi volume instead, it's strictly for the continuity dorks (no offense, fellow dorks).

The "Day After Doomsday" section features a series of short (1-2 page) stories which appeared in odd ducks like Weird War Tales through the 70s and early 80s, but are not presented in print order because... I think some continuity nerd figured out a chronological sequence for them? Anyway, these were conceived of by Len Wein and are essentially cruel tales about the post-apocalyptic world, often riffing on abused tropes from the sub-genre. For instance, the last man on Earth is named Adam; he meets the last woman who is named... Gertrude. In another, a man finds a vending machine but he has no dimes - what a tragic twist! - but then he breaks it opens and finds - nothing but dimes! - what a doubly tragic twist! Steve Ditko drew a few of these, including one where a man is killed by radioactive hippies. I'm making that one sound more entertaining than it is. Anyway, there's also some very early Frank Miller and overall, you do get a few good dark chuckles out of this series.

The "Tales of the Atomic Knights" section is the main event, the John Broome/Murphy Anderson Atomic Knights adventures which appeared in Strange Adventures from time-to-time in 1960-1964. The series is set in 1992, following an atomic war in 1986 which has decimated humanity and destroyed most crops and animals around the world. The lead character is a former soldier, Gardner Grayle; he teams up with teacher Douglas Herald, Herald's sister Marene, twin brothers Hollis and Wayne Hobard and scientist Bryndon Smith. Discovering a set of armours which have developed tremendous resistance to radiation, the six put on the armours to defend a town of survivors from the people preying upon them, then set out to explore the worldwide devastation, battling giant monsters, mole men and Atlanteans (Atlanteans are the recurring enemies, believe it or not). Along the way they find a pair of dalmations which have been mutated to a tremendous size and they become the heroes' steeds (with a litter of pups promising more giant dogs to come). The stories are fairly typical of DC's adventure hero team books and, settting aside, are much like Challengers of the Unknown. The best thing about the series is Anderson's luscious artwork; he made the post-apocalyptic world look like a storybook.

The "Gods Return" section has a few problems. It opens with Jack Kirby's Atlas story from First Issue Special #1. I don't know who decided this was a post-apocalyptic tale, because it strikes me as a story set in the distant past as it is basically Kirby doing a Conan adventure. It never connects to the continuity of the other tales in this book and ends on a cliffhanger to boot; I love Kirby, but it doesn't really belong here. The remainder of the section is devoted to the 12-issue run of Hercules Unbound from 1975-1977. It opens with World War III causing Hercules to be set free from an island where he'd been chained up for several thousand years. Hercules ventures into a world of mutants and battles Ares, who lords over the mayhem. The first six issues are by Gerry Conway and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and it's a decent enough series (though the World War III timeline in Hercules doesn't actually fit the Atomic Knights', despite what continuity nerds have established).

Conway & Garcia-Lopez left after #6 and in came David Michelinie as writer for #7-9, then Cary Bates for #10-12 with Walter Simsonson on art for the remainder. Initially, Simonson was inked by Wally Wood who seriously overpowered Simonson's pencils. It's notable particularly in Wood's ever cleavage-happy females, who don't look remotely like Simonson's women. Layton inked one issue but finally Simonson took over full art for the last two issues and they look pretty much as you'd expect; it's big, glorious Simonson art with gods at war. These latter issues are also where the continuity tie-ins come in - issue #10 guest stars the Atomic Knights (providing the cover for this Showcase collection) and picks up a dangling contintuity matter from OMAC.

The "More Tales of the Post-Apocalyptic World" section has a bunch of man-animals back-up strips from Kamandi - no idea why they're here when Kamandi is otherwise absent. There's also a stray "Day After Doomsday" tale.

Finally, the "Alternate Endings" section. This opens with a Superman/Atomic Knights team-up story from a 1983 issue of DC Comics Presents. Like the earlier Superman story, it's a bit problematic. In this, Superman meets the Gardner Grayle of his own reality, who turns out to be a soldier in a virtual reality machine. The story claims that all of the Atomic Knights stories (and Hercules Unbound) were merely delusions of Gardner's atomic war-obsessed brain. Superman enters this virtual reality and makes various cutting remarks at how unbelieveable the Atomic Knights' world is (as if believability ever stood for anything in the DC Universe; your rogue's gallery includes a giant ape with Kryptonite eyebeams, Supes!). Heck, part of Superman's case against the Atomic Knights is that their Hercules has the wrong hair colour (horrors! I hope someone was arrested over it!). The story is, ultimately, an attempted deconstruction of the Atomic Knights. In the climax, Gardner sums up what appears to be the authors' view of the Atomic Knights:

"This whole project was misguided from the start -- trying to figure out how to live in a post-holocaust world... how to keep making war in it! To believe that civilization can continue in the face of that cataclysm is a fantasy... a fantasy as monumentally false as the one you helped me to give up here today! The task before mankind isn't to survive an atomic war! It's to work in this world we're living in to make certain such a war can never begin!"

Yeah! In your face, speculative fiction authors! Hang your heads, Broome and Anderson! You have been scorched by the creators of Blue Devil! Of course, the weird thing is that Kamandi still existed in the DC Universe after this story. And OMAC. More amusingly, the true holocaust of 1986 at DC Comics would be the event Crisis on Infinite Earths, another attempt by DC continuity geeks to force the entirety of DC Comics to "make sense," but instead created problems which persist to this day. Forget about learning how to stop atomic war - DC needed to learn how to survive publishing ennui.

The book concludes with a text piece written by continuity chairman Paul Levitz for the Amazing World of DC Comics at a time when Hercules Unbound was still being published. In it, Levitz tries to make sense of the "Great Disaster" continuity, using various notes from Kirby and Conway about where their series fit in, but it includes details which never made it to the comics (Levitz claims World War III in Hercules Unbound was started by Darkseid; Cary Bates would later make it the "anti-gods").

As a whole, this is a decent enough collection; the Atomic Knights were fun and Hercules Unbound is interesting, especially when Simonson enters. "The Day After Doomsday" stories were good - but the other continuity detritus surrounding this book would've been better excised. There is ultimately something very sad about reading pre-Crisis stories which were so, so obsessed with continuity matters which Crisis would ultimately render moot. To this day, DC seems determined to seek out stories which have their own continuity or personality and stamp it out until those stories conform to the line-wide narrative.

Young Fears 15: Superman III

Each October I like to run a series of Halloween-themed posts on this blog. All this month, I'll be telling anecdotes about things which frightened me while growing up.

Today we suffer from something of a super hero film craze with multiple adaptations appearing on big screens each year. When I was growing up, there was only one super hero whose movies made an impact and that was the big red 'S' himself, Superman! The films starring Christopher Reeve were absolute favourites of mine for a time. Because of my age, the first one I saw in the theater was Superman III, the notoriously campy affair featuring Richard Pryor as Superman's nemesis. I'm not certain if I even understood at the time that Pryor was supposed to be funny; I definitely didn't see the humour of the "evil" Superman scenes, despite it being blindingly obvious to any adult.

But while the scenes of the evil Superman unsettled me, there's one moment in the film which outright terrified me; it arrived near the climax when Pryor's supercomputer snared a woman and grafted machinery into her body, transforming her into a drone with which to attack Superman. The scene of her transformation was way, way too intense for me when I first saw it in the local drive-in theater. Kids today have it easy - CGI effects are so obvious fake that such a scene wouldn't be as traumatic today. But man, this scene hit my terror of body horror square between the eyes. Consequently, I didn't avoid the movie in later years because of Richard Pryor - I avoided it because of that damn climax!

Unearthed: All-Star Comics#63

Three years ago I initiated the "Unearthed" feature on this blog with a look back at All-Star Comics#62, a comic from my childhood. I noted then that I had never read the subsequent issues to find out how the story ended; happily, in the intervening years I've obtained a copy of All-Star Comics#63 and it pleases me now to crack it open.

The story left off last issue with Superman & Supergirl encased in lava by the creature Zanadu, who had kidnapped Hawkgirl. Meanwhile, someone had brainwashed Wildcat to attack Hawkman. The other members of the Justice Society were likewise engaged in subplots, centered around Doctor Fate's recent near-death.

The cover (by Rich Buckler & Wally Wood) feels a little off with its ridiculously immense Solomon Grundy; at least the presence of the Fiddler here lets us know he was the one playing the music which brainwashed Wildcat.

The story is titled "The Death of Doctor Fate" and the creators are Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen & Wally Wood. Notably, this confirms that series author Gerry Conway was indeed on his way out in the previous issue. Therefore, this issue ought to be fashioning something a little more stable, direction-wise.

Under the Fiddler's instructions, Wildcat easily beats Hawkman unconscious; Solomon Grundy simply stands and watches. They helpfully note they're representing the Injustice Society, the JSA's foes, but why are they attacking now? They have nothing to do with the Zanadu threat. That said, heck, it makes a lot of sense - why should villains respect the queue? If someone ever told Doctor Doom to attack the Fantastic Four while they battling Galactus we'd probably see no more Fantastic Four stories.

Of course, the Fiddler ain't exactly Doctor Doom; he stops playing his fiddle which releases Wildcat from his control, giving Wildcat an opportunity to beat him up. Let's face it, Wildcat may be little more than a cranky old boxing freak, but without his instrument the Fiddler's just an old freak. Grundy steps in at this point and Wildcat has no hope of beating him, but Power Girl & Superman arrive to save him. This moment feels like quite a misfire - the threat of Zanadu has (somehow) been pushed to the rear for the fight with Grundy & the Fiddler. Although Superman describes how they escaped the trap, it isn't depicted. The duo quickly finish the fight with Grundy by throwing him into a volcano (overkill much?).

Although Power Girl & Superman escaped their own prisons off-panel, they explain they didn't do the same for Hawkgirl - thus, truly nothing has changed since last issue; the (unclear) menace of Zanadu was simply deferred. We do, however, get a simply terrific close-up of Superman's face - very Woody, a rendition quite evocative of Joe Shuster. The likeness is a visual reminder that the Superman appearing in this comic is supposed to be the Golden Age Superman; that term really had some play in the early 70s nostalgia craze - the Golden Age of Film, the Golden Age of Radio, the Golden Age of Comic Strips and the Golden Age of Comic Books all experienced a boost in reputation. This image is so good, even Wildcat's presence doesn't ruin the panel.

The scene shifts to Egypt as the Flash & Green Lantern are searching for some means to help save Doctor Fate's life on the flimsy reasoning that because Fate's origin happened there, there must be a cure. Egypt seems a little too big for them to stumble across a cure, but they do stumble across a man upon a winged horse, thus furthering the man and his unusual horse from the previous issue. However, that's as far as this subplot moves for now. The man on horseback remains unidentified (yet obviously the Shining Knight to those with long memories).

Returning to the Justice Society of America's headquarters, Doctor Fate is still hooked up to a machine which the Star Spangled Kid is using to channel cosmic energy to save his life (for some reason they put Fate back into his costume between issues). Doctor Mid-Nite (also back in his costume) and Hourman both watch helplessly and, man, Wood makes these two look great! Their darker colours really seem to suit Wood's lines. As they're my two favourite JSAers, I couldn't be more pleased. However, the heroes themselves have little to be happy with - Fate's brain activity ceases and the machines are shut off. Doctor Mid-Nite is so distraught by Fate's death that he rips off his mask and decides to give up being a hero, even as Hourman and the Star Spangled Kid are heading out to face Zanadu, who has mysteriously reappeared in New York.

At this point, Zanadu is pretty much a lost cause so far as a villain goes; he's been kept off-panel for most of the story while both his power level and goals are unclear. In this fight, Hourman gets to fly and shoot energy blasts thanks to the Star Spangled Kid, who surrounds him with an energy field to do so (but why? why not simply attack Zanadu himself?). The fight leads them back inside the JSA's base and Zanadu's presence causes Dr. Fate to wake up, as Zanadu is an agent of chaos while Fate represents order. Fate strikes Zanadu down while Hawkman saves Hawkgirl (off-panel). This causes Zanadu to lose focus on his power, having needed Hawkgirl to channel his energies to conquer the world. Fate then encases Zanadu within a block of amber, leaving him precisely where he had been at the start of the previous issue. Frankly, the best part of this fight is how Kirby-esque it becomes at times, likely because of Giffen's presence on pencils. Not only does his Zanadu look like a Fourth World character, but he gives Fate some impressive "Kirby crackle."

With the crisis past, we move into a one-page epilogue, wherein Superman announces his retirement from the Justice Society (a group he barely ever interacted with anyway) and insists his cousin Power Girl be promoted in his stead; Wildcat thinks this is an upset, but it settles the friction which Superman & Power Girl dealt with in the previous issue. The scene shifts again to the Injustice Society as the Icicle informs his (unseen) teammates they'll strike at the Justice Society through their weak link: Hourman! Wait, Hourman? The fellow who only rejoined the team last issue? Ah, whatever.

Thoughts: Considering that in the previous issue Conway was on his way out and Levitz in, it held together much better than this issue. This is a decent but unremarkable super hero story redeemed mainly by the artwork. The problems of the previous issue are dealt with too easily; how will Wildcat escape the Fiddler's control. Uh, the Fiddler stupidly lets him go. How will they save Dr. Fate's life? Zanadu steps near him and he instantly gets better. What about the Flash & Green Lantern's quest? Nothing to do with Fate's revival, as it turns out. And what of Power Girl & Superman being imprisoned by Zanadu? They get out of it off-panel. And what of Zanadu himself? He can't hold his own against the Star Spangled Kid, much less Dr. Fate. Fights are treated as curbstomps (Wildcat vs. Fiddler, Superman/Power Girl vs. Solomon Grundy, Dr. Fate vs. Zanadu), rather than aiming for high tension or serious peril for the heroes.

Perhaps Levitz was still clearing the deck of Conway's plots so he could get his own started, in which case the series might improve in the following issue. Even then, there's not much of a hook; more of the Injustice Society, when one of their most powerful members couldn't give the Society a decent fight? The very idea of Hourman as the weak link doesn't hold water; surely the Wildcat, the team's resident sourpuss and irritant is the weak link; heck, you could argue Power Girl is a weak link because of her short temper; Hourman's demonstrated nothing since his return except for a general sense of competance which only Hawkman & Superman have matched.

Still, man... that Giffen/Wood art... beautiful! Also, Wildcat was tolerable, which I consider a minor victory.

Unearthed: Superman Salutes the Bicentennial

I was not alive in 1976; I am also not a citizen of the USA. From what I gather, the Bicentennial celebrated in the States was a year-long 4th of July party, spawning musical extravaganzas, celebratory documentaries, and, of course, Bob Hope's Star-Spangled Spectacular Special. All of this no doubt healed the wounds of a nation so recently released from the shackles of the Vietnam War, free to remind themselves of the time when they were the plucky rebels battling the forces of imperialism.

Obviously, the comic books had to become involved; Jack Kirby returned his signature creation Captain America in time for the Bicentennial, crafting an immense arc usually known as the "Madbomb" story, wherein Cap battled the Royalist Forces of America, descendants of the Loyalists who considered themselves the only "true" Americans. Further, Kirby launched the tabloid-sized and all-out gonzo Captain America's Bicentennial Battles, in which Cap journeys through time and space, living and reliving moments of US history.

Not to be outdone, DC Comics also published a tabloid-sized Bicentennial comic featuring a great patriotic hero - in fact, a patriotic hero who was beloved all the world over (Captain America still being rather obscure in '76). Thus, let's turn back the pages of time to 1976 and Superman Salutes the Bicentennial (Limited Collectors' Edition C-47).

The cover promises us "6 tales of heroic history celebrating the Spirit of '76! Plus: gallery of Presidential portraits" and "Bicentennial newspaper." Let me tell you, this book delivers everything the cover promises - but not as you might expect.

I hope you enjoy that grand cover of Superman with the eagle on his arm because you won't get much more than that - rather than having Superman engage in a giant-sized story, Superman is merely the host to a batch of reprints; he appears on the first two pages (art by Curt Swan) to introduce the book's real star: Tomahawk!

Tomahawk (and his sidekick Dan Hunter) appeared all over DC Comics from 1947-1972. Although Tomahawk appears to be an American frontiersman of the Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie type (both being men who came the century after him), he actually held his adventures during the days of the Revolutionary War. My father bequeathed his collection of Tomahawk comic books to me when I was teenager and although they came from later in the series run (by which time Tomahawk had become the leader of an entire team of sidekicks called the Rangers, becoming a veritable 18th century Blackhawk), I found them to be harmless fun. Come to think of it, those comic books were likely my first exposure to the Revolutionary War - it's not as though I ever had to learn about it in school. The final ten issues of Tomahawk actually featured his son, Hawk, in an attempt to capture an older, hipper audience; despite some fantastic Joe Kubert covers, it didn't pan out. Tomahawk struck troubled waters at the same time as many other comic books which lay outside the super hero genre; it only seemed to convince publishers to place more emphasis on super heroes.

Anyway, the "6 tales of heroic history celebrating the Spirit of '76!" are 6 reprints from 1950s Tomahawk stories which were particularly close to the events of the Revolutionary War; George Washington himself features in many of them. One story involves an early submarine, the Turtle, straight out of the history books!

There's also an interesting 13-page sequence telling the battle of Valley Forge through the art of Fred Ray (artist of the Tomahawk stories reprinted here); it was originally published in 1951 and didn't originate from DC (Ray evidently self-published it), but DC wanted something related to '76 so... there it is! There's also a celebratory biography of Fred Ray, which is a nice touch (plus, it takes up another page).

The "Bicentennial newspaper" turns out to be a two-page "Bicentennial Planet" text feature, which is kind of cute. However, the "gallery of Presidential portraits" is actually the back cover of this book. Not exactly a cheat, but not the spirit of the cover blurb (or '76?).

If you slapped down your $1 in 1976 expecting Superman to have fantastic adventures celebrating US history, you'd be quite disappointed; however, as a Tomahawk fan I'm quite pleased. In fact, this appears to be the single least expensive entry in the Limited Collectors' Edition series, probably because Tomahawk fans aren't especially numerous.

Unearthed: Action Comics#593

It's been awhile since I ran an "Unearthed" feature, but with a new Superman film on its way, I wanted to look back at one of my first Superman comic books. I can only barely recall my very first Superman comic - I know it involved Superman & Hawkwoman, but the book itself was thrown away too long ago. I didn't begin following Superman myself until 1987, during the reign of writer-artist John Byrne, who masterminded both Superman and Action Comics.

Although Byrne occasionally ran continued stories between his two Superman comics (and even less frequently included Marv Wolfman's Adventures of Superman), the two books usually held separate continuities. While Byrne's Superman involved Clark, Lois, Luthor, the Daily Planet and their various running subplots, Byrne's Action Comics tales were usually self-contained team-up stories. Coming so soon on the heels of DC Comics' Crisis on Infinite Earths and its revised continuity, teaming Superman up with various DC heroes provided a means to reintroduce characters to the readership and reestablish their connection to Superman (if any). Although Byrne's time on the Superman franchise was a major landmark in the character's history and featured possibly the most significant revision of his backstory, ultimately Byrne was gone within just two years!

Action Comics#593, featuring a team-up between Superman & Mr. Miracle (actually continued from the previous issue's Superman & Big Barda story) is a little notorious amongst comic book fandom - this is the story where Superman and Big Barda become porn stars! You can see a fairly apoplectic video review by Linkara here. This was where I began following John Byrne's Superman, thanks to the copy given to me by my grandmother on my birthday.

Yes, my grandma gave me a comic book where Superman became a porn star. Thanks, grandma!

I can't believe just 16 years later, I'm suddenly wondering why Barda's feet aren't touching the ground on this cover. I mean, she and Superman appear to be about the same height in the story within, so how is this possible? Is Superman standing atop a steep ramp? Or hovering about 2 inches from the ground?

Our story ("the Suicide Snare") opens with a fairly neat 9-panel grid page of Mr. Miracle assembling the doorknob to his front door to prevent a bomb from going off; it's an extreme form of home security, but also a neat way of establishing Mr. Miracle's prowess at evading traps (even traps he evidently places in his own home to test his abilities). I should mention, while this comic book was my first exposure to Mr. Miracle, I did own his Super Powers action figure, so I was eager to see what the hero was like.

Mr. Miracle enters his house with his diminuative aide Oberon at his side; however, instead of finding his wife Barda waiting for him, Mr. Miracle is greeted by Darkseid, sitting in an armchair sipping wine. Seriously, I wouldn't kid you. Even though Keith Giffen's Ambush Bug mocked the idea of Darkseid's ubiquity in DC Comics all the way back in 1985, it seems no one got the memo as Darkseid would continue to make appearances like this up to present times. Darkseid sipping wine in Mr. Miracle's living room is about as menacing as Darkseid serving Ambush Bug a hamburger in Ambush Bug#2. Ah well; in 1987, I knew of Darkseid through the Super Powers figures and Super Friends cartoon show, so at least he was a familiar face.

At any rate, Darkseid hasn't come to start a fight with Mr. Miracle... heck, Darkseid's power level is such that if he actually fought his enemies, they'd be killed... and then their friends would avenge them and we wouldn't have Darkseid stories any longer. So Darkseid is best left uttering impotent threats rather than picking fights. Darkseid hands Mr. Miracle a VHS tape and instructs him to watch it. We don't see what's on the tape, but instead watch as Mr. Miracle's face becomes increasingly troubled; Oberon describes some of what they're seeing, notably recognizing Big Barda in their video. Their shared surprise indicates something terrible is happening to Barda on film, but it's left to our imagination to determine what. This is the "porn" part, but it's not explained at a level this nine-year old could have figured out.

Darkseid explains his "agents" acquired the tape from a shop in Suicide Slum, a crime-ridden section of Metropolis which became very popular during the Byrne era. I wonder who exactly Darkseid sent as his "agent." I think Desaad wouldn't look too out of place in an adult video store - the clerks would probably assume the hunched-over ugly guy in the cloak was a flasher or something.

Our attention turns to a porn director named Grossman (a very subtle name) although the exact nature of his job is, again, left vague for the kiddies. Grossman is visited by a little green creature in a trenchcoat named "Mr. Smith." That could be an alias! We can quickly infer from dialogue Grossman made the film of Barda seen earlier with "Smith's" help; Grossman notes he's had "thousands" of orders for the tape. "Smith" then introduces Grossman's next star: Superman! At first, Grossman doubts this could be the real Superman, but "Smith" explains Superman is "completely" in his power and demonstrates by having Superman smash a desk. Grossman likes the idea of using Superman in his films, but wonders how "Smith" controls him; "Smith" refuses to explain but mentions his goal is to earn enough money to "forge my army!" One wonders why a fellow with mind control powers needs to finance himself through the porn industry; why not simply mind control an executive and have him empty his corporation's coffers into "Smith's" hands?

Grossman wonders who he could possibly use as Superman's partner when "Any co-star's gonna wind up looking like my desk!" Ah, yet another pervert who spent too much time thinking about Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex." "Smith" reminds Grossman they already have a superhuman woman making pictures for them: Big Barda (garbed in a bikini costume)! I have no idea what I thought Grossman and "Smith" were talking about back in 1987; I was a naive child then (I'm a naive man now).

Our story returns to Mr. Miracle, who glides over Suicide Slum wearing "aero discs" on the soles of his boots (easily my favourite thing about Mr. Miracle's gadgets). As he searches, he recalls his origin, which was a very nice treat for me and continued to my growing interest in the character; in just two pages, Byrne summarizes the plot points of Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle series. We also learn Miracle is carrying a "Mother Box" on his right shoulder; the device somehow can sense danger; just as he checks it to learn there's "no immediate danger," Mr. Miracle is jumped by a gang of men who beat him over the head with a club, throw him into a sack, tie up the sack with chains, throw the sack into a dumpster, weld the dumpster shut, then drop the dumpster into the river. On the very next page, we see Mr. Miracle: hale hearty and not trapped inside a dumpster. "Mother Box was right... there was no immediate danger." This goes unexplained for a few pages and again made a great impression on me as to Mr. Miracle's abilities.

On a meager soundstage, Grossman is trying to direct Big Barda & Superman, but finds Superman's reactions are very unnatural; he and Barda haven't even removed their clothes, they're just sitting together on a bed (further ensuring we 1987 kiddies wouldn't figure out what the story was really about). "Smith" realizes since Superman is essentially subject to hypnosis, he can't perform any action he wouldn't normally; "Smith" attributes this to Superman's particular "strong moral fibre," so one wonders how Grossman successfully made a Barda picture earlier? Is Barda's moral fibre lacking? Having suffered through a childhood on Apokalips as one of Darkseid's servants, surely Barda's own natural resistance to being dominated would be awfully strong?

"Smith" amps up his power, his own thought balloons helpfully explaining he's an empath who feeds on the emotions of others: "The base emotions. The dark, hidden depravity buried deep in the core of every human soul." He tries to increase Superman's "depravity," then. However, Mr. Miracle has finally arrived and leaps into the room via a skylight. "Smith" wonders how Miracle survived his trap, but Miracle explains he used a cutting laser in his "multi-cube" to escape his bonds and cut a hole through the bottom of the dumpster while the flunkies were still welding it. As I'd later learn, this was a tradition inherited from Kirby's Mister Miracle stories.

"Smith" attempts to control Miracle's mind, but Miracle explains he was trained to resist anyone "less powerful than Darkseid." Again, then, how did "Smith" control Barda? "Smith" makes a run for it; before Miracle can stop him, an octopus-like Ash-Crawler attacks the hero, having been evidently held nearby by "Smith." I don't know if the Ash-Crawler originated in Kirby's "Fourth World" comic books - heck, I don't know if Sleez (the true identity of "Smith") originated with Kirby either (checking online sources... no, Byrne created him). Evidently Mr. Miracle's arrival broke Sleez's control over Superman & Big Barda, because Barda comes to her husband's rescue, reaching inside the creature and crushing its brain. Mr. Miracle apprehends Grossman, but Superman has already departed after Sleez.

Superman follows Sleez into Metropolis' sewers, somewhat inhibited by lead pipes which restrict his x-ray vision. Superman finally hears Sleez and flies after him, but Sleez declares, "Are you a match... for a match?" Striking a match, Sleez causes an immense explosion in the sewer, burning away most of Superman's cape (a Byrne tradition!). Sleez has seemingly been destroyed (but since he must have known the explosion couldn't kill Superman, we readers assume he caused the explosion to cover his escape).

By the time Superman returns to Mr. Miracle & Big Barda, Barda has resumed wearing her full costume. The trio compare notes, piecing together Sleez was one of Darkseid's former henchmen who'd been banished to Earth. Miracle supposes Darkseid told him about Sleez because he "Couldn't be bothered with it himself!" I don't get that - how does Darkseid have enough time on his hands to review Sleez's activities, sit around Miracle's living room sipping wine and talk Miracle into pursuing Sleez, but not enough time to finish off Sleez himself? Or dispatch one of his own minions to deal with Sleez? He can be bothered with pulling Miracle's strings, but not getting off his fat duff?

Barda notes in the previous issue (via a footnote) Superman had tried to stop her from attacking Sleez and wants to know why; Superman won't explain, which is a bit confusing for those of us who began the story with this issue, but the last page illuminates Superman's reasons. Finally, Superman addresses what went on between he and Barda while under Sleez's mind control; their memories are clouded and Barda isn't inclined to explore what happened. So, it's a healthy dose of suppression for everyone!

On the final page, Clark Kent visits a clinic where some old people are being treated; we quickly learn these people were all victims of Sleez, kept alive by a connection to his life force. Clark assumed they'd be dead if Sleez died in the explosion; their survival indicates Sleez yet lives...

Overall, it's interesting to note what a small impact Mr. Miracle has upon this story; his biggest moment is leaping through a skylight and causing Sleez to run away. The Ash-Crawler is killed by Barda, Superman chases after Sleez, Darkseid sets the plot in motion... I love seeing Mr. Miracle go through the paces, but I wish there'd been more for him to do; there's no reason he couldn't have entered the comic searching for Barda in Suicide Slum.

As to the Superman/Big Barda porn: per Sleez & Grossman, Superman's willpower prevented him from giving in, but Barda? We never learn what exactly she did on film and she's not inclined to review it in her own mind. Whatever Barda did is left to your imagination (you buncha preverts!). I don't think it's too outrageous - this is the most kid's friendly-possible story you could get out of a super hero being brainwashed into becoming a porn star. Of course, I would later discover the previous issue was somewhat more egregious.

Ultimately, the story and art still hold up for me (although there are a few colouring errors). But it's a very light story, what with spending two pages on Mr. Miracle's origin recap and the length of time spent maneuvering the characters into place. It's average Byrne, which is pretty much better than any other "average" comic book.

Happy birthday, Superman!

Last Wednesday my friend Jay asked if I would be going to work today, suggesting to me since February 29th doesn't "really" exist, we shouldn't have to work. I answered, "But Superman's birthday is February 29th! That's like saying Superman isn't real!"

I don't know why this day of all days has been designated as the Man of Steel's date of birth... but what the heck, it's an excuse to eat cake. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster's Superman has come a long way in these last 74 years: radio, television, movies, cartoons, video games... I hear he might even be appearing in comic books!

Although he owes a debt to the likes of John Carter and Hugo Danner, and while masked men like the Phantom and the Shadow preceded him, Superman is essentially the first super hero. Therefore, today is really the birthday of the super hero. As someone whose spent nearly all of his life admiring super hero fiction, I'm pleased as punch to give Superman - and thereby all super heroes - his due.

Mmm, punch...

One Year Later: Five Years Later

At present, the comic book communities are all a fluster with the announcement that DC Comics is rebooting the DC Universe in September, starting 52 different titles over with new issue #1s. This will be the most recent DC continuity reboot since the previous DC continuity reboot.

Obviously, DC's reboot is an opportunity to court new readers. It's debatable whether they can truly reach beyond the typical comic book shop audience and lure new faces to the hobby, but they can certainly win over a few lapsed DC fans or mostly Marvel fans. The real opportunity to grow their fanbase will be on the internet, since part of this new publishing initiative is to put everything they print on sale digitally the same day as the print copy.

For those of us who already follow DC Comics (and I do, to the extent of Xombi, I suppose), it does prompt one to wonder how September's titles will be markedly different than what DC has been publishing for the past few years (other than a revised continuity). I mean, if I wasn't willing to buy Green Arrow by J.T. Krul before, why would I start buying Green Arrow by J.T. Krul now?

Some fans are wondering if its necessary to dump DC's heavily convoluted back story in order to win over new readers. Wouldn't a simple line-wide jumping-on point be sufficient, never mind jettisoning all which has come before? After all, by the time issue #2 of any title ships, it has officially begun building a back story.

Well, I'm reminded of 2006's One Year Later. Again, I'm not very devoted to DC Comics and I don't interact with DC fandom, but in '06 I went from picking up just the occasional DC Universe limited series to jumping in on four different DC Universe series, all because of One Year Later.

One Year Later followed on the heels of the Infinite Crisis crossover (which I didn't read) and proposed that between shipping months, an entire year had transpired for the stars of the DC Universe. Titles branded "One Year Later" would resume their characters' adventures with (allegedly) new (hopefully) exciting (undoubtedly) different stati quo. New costumes, new faces behind the costumes, new team lineups, yakata, yakata. I don't know if One Year Later was intended to be a "hook" to non-comics readers, but it seemed like a decent hook to the typical non-DC fanatic (so states this non-DC fanatic).

From the few reactions I observed online, I found a lot of upset fans. Rather than winning over new audiences, One Year Later seemed to alienate the core readership. Titles which had been struggling prior to OLY went belly-up in its aftermath and retailers complained about steady titles turning weak.

Five years later, I'm finally ready to share my own observations; journey with me now through the misty veil of history to the time man called...One Year Later.

Blue Beetle#1

Following the death of Ted Kord (the long-running Blue Beetle) just prior to Infinite Crisis, the torch is passed to Jamie Reyes, a Hispanic Texan teenager who accidentally inherits the (supposedly) mystical scarab which inspired Kord to become a crime fighter. Reyes discovers the scarab can fashion a suit of protective armor and generate a wide variety of weapons. The series was the brainchild of John Rogers but for several issues was co-written by Keith Giffen, apparently because Rogers wasn't strong enough on his own (five years later Rogers still doesn't have many credits to his name) and Giffen's connection to Ted Kord would evidently soften the blow over killing Ted Kord (which some fans are still sore about).

I didn't quite like Blue Beetle at the start; I enjoyed the humour, but the early issues delved into the scarab's connections to DC's world of magic, which was just turgid. Once it dropped the mystical angle, the series finally fired on all cylinders.

This series...works amazingly well. I don't think it would be controversial to suggest it was the biggest winner of OYL. Although it was eventually cancelled after 36 issues, it still performed better than Ted Kord's 1980s series (a series which benefited from two line-wide crossovers and Kord's Justice League membership, no less); Reyes is still the Blue Beetle at present (I suppose that may change come September?) and by the time Rogers completed his run with issue #25, the series had become a darling of the internet.

Superman#650

Having lost his powers in Infinite Crisis, Clark Kent has lived a normal life for a year and found it to his liking; however, Lex Luthor is scheming (isn't he always?), so Clark has to get his Superman on again, somehow. This series was co-written by Kurt Busiek & Geoff Johns and the initial story ("Up, Up and Away") crossed over with Action Comics.

Although this series was a collaboration, I couldn't always be sure which parts came from Johns and which from Busiek; both are lifelong fans of the super hero genre who love continuity and back story. That said, when Green Lantern asks Clark to join the Green Lantern Corps...yeah, I was suddenly reminded who one half of the team was.

For me, the highlight of the initial story was how Clark and Lois' relationship was handled, showing mutual respect for both characters and both characters mutual respect to each other. Clark's eventual repowering is also a lot of fun as he starts out back at his 1938 power levels and continues to gain strength. Each chapter of "Up, Up and Away" left me eager to see the next part, so it was certainly doing its job.

Busiek remained with Superman for a little while past this story. Although I wasn't very interested in his running storyarcs, I really enjoyed his done-in-one Superman stories, which reminded me of Busiek's Astro City work. You know, if the Superman series told a great done-in-one story every month, I'd probably buy it a lot more often. Heck, if every DC comic told done-in-one stories, I'd probably be in to buy them every week.

Hawkgirl#50

With Hawkman having recently died in...Infinite Crisis? His one-time lover Hawkgirl assumes the lead role and quickly finds herself in an occult mystery.

I was interested in Hawkgirl because Walter Simonson (author of my favourite Thor stories) had been brought in as writer. Joining him as artist was Howard Chaykin, whom I've never really warmed up to, but I was interested to discover in interviews how the two men were studio mates in their early years. I was intrigued to see what their collaboration would be like.

Hawkgirl#50 did not make a fan of me. The titular character only appears in costume during a dream scene, spending the rest as something of a plainclothes detective. Perhaps this was to accommodate Chaykin, who isn't really a super hero artist (but then why place Chaykin on a super hero series?). I also didn't have a good sense of what was at stake - Hawkgirl is solving a mystery, there's something to do with her nightmares, something vaguely occult happening, but I couldn't associate with the setting, characters or mystery. This was my only issue of Hawkgirl, a series which lasted just 17 issues under its new direction.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis#40

With Aquaman having...uh...gone away because of...Infinite Crisis? A young man with similar water-breathing powers is the new Aquaman and sets out for a romping fantasy adventure under the sea.

I was sold on this title as soon as I learned Kurt Busiek and Jackson Guice were the creative team. Reading advance interviews, I was very interested in the direction Busiek described as his Aquaman would have gained his powers through experiments as the original 40s Aquaman had (the latter Aquaman having become increasingly mystical). Not having read Aquaman in the past, I was happy to get in on the ground floor of a what would (essentially) be an all-new character.

Unfortunately, I wasn't in on the ground floor. This issue made all sorts of vague references to the earlier Aquaman, but wouldn't explain what had become with him. Also present was King Shark, who I guess was an Aquaman villain? I quickly realized I was missing key information as a neophyte to Aquaman's world. When I checked online reactions to this issue and saw all the talk about how the original Aquaman was really the Dweller in the Depths (the new Aquaman's octopus-faced mentor...no, seriously), I was aghast; I'd missed the clues entirely due to not being an Aquaman fan. I just...get a little upset at this comic even now. I so wanted to like it, but its land under the sea went over my head (thank you creative writing 101). Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis ran 18 issues.

Over all, I was won over to Blue Beetle and enjoyed a few good Superman stories, so One Year Later was a success to me in that sense; heck, I went from zero DC Universe titles to two. But when I hear how DC's September creative direction will be a great jumping-on point for new readers I still can't help but think, "yeah, Hawkgirl#50 and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis#40 claimed the same thing." Well, the proof is in the pudding. Meet me back here in September, we'll see if I take the bait. Pudding as bait? Lousy metaphorical cliches...

Considering 2010: Comics

During 2010 the flow of comic books into my home took on a crazed life of its own. Marvel themselves provided me with a hefty supply of titles, but I also bought into plenty of graphic novels and continued to branch out into other publishers' work.

So, I think it makes the most sense to divvy up 2010 into what I most enjoyed from Marvel...and everything else.

MARVEL

Many years ago (before I was a freelancer) I toyed with the idea of telling the story behind Jeff Mace, the man who (via retcons) served as Captain America circa 1946-1950. I was fascinated at the idea that he was a normal man filling in for a believed-dead hero at a time when no one (including readers) cared about super heroes. Fortunately, Karl Kesel has finally told this story in Captain America: Patriot and he hit on every point I wanted to see covered. This book hits the notes of continuity perfectly (which as a handbook writer I'm still impressed by), but I felt it also did a fine job of characterizing Mace and his personal struggles filling a role he didn't really want for people who don't really want him. Also, Kesel's Sub-Mariner is an absolute delight.

I'm constantly impressed at the work editor Stephen Wacker does on Amazing Spider-Man, employing some of my personal favourite writers (Mark Waid, Fred Van Lente, Roger Stern, Dan Slott) and teams of excellent artists, most notably Marcos Martin. In recent issues, I was stunned to find how much I enjoyed Humberto Ramos' art, having been disappointed with his work almost a decade ago. However I felt about the Ramos of 2001, the Ramos of 2010 is worth following!

As part of a research assignment, I went over Peter David's X-Factor, which I don't normally follow. I already knew some of the details of his most recent storylines, but it was eye-opening to read them for myself. In particular the X-Factor Special: Layla Miller which detailed the young mutant Layla surviving in a totalitarian future, X-Factor#39 with the birth of Jaime Madrox's son and X-Factor#40 featuring Madrox's grapple with life were some of the best stories of David's on this title.

Like so many on the internet, I loved Roger Langridge & Chris Samnee's Thor: the Mighty Avenger, sadly cancelled after a mere 8 issues. Written in a stand-alone continuity intended to bring in fans of the upcoming movie (who will, I guess, get to buy the trade paperback anyway), this is the best Thor comic I've read in about 15 years. The gentle humour and fun characterizations are part of what makes it so engaging, but more than anything it's that Langridge takes nothing for granted - nothing. He doesn't waste the reader's time and he doesn't invest in characters or scenes that aren't worth investing in. Every page and every panel matter to the story, so they matter to me.

Avengers Academy is Christos N. Gage's new series to replace Avengers: the Initiative. The concept - superhuman teenagers considered potential super villains being taught to be heroes by the Avengers - has endless potential. Although the series spun out of the Initiative it's actually the spritual successor to Brian K. Vaughn's Runaways as a series about teenagers grappling with their morality.

Even though Greg Pak returned to Incredible Hulk last year, I felt it wasn't up to the standards of Pak's earlier Planet Hulk or World War Hulk. Well, with an exception: Incredible Hulk#611 in which the Hulk battles his son Skaar led to an exceptional pay-off not only for readers of Pak's work, but for anyone who followed Bill Mantlo or Peter David's Hulk.

Fred Van Lente is always good (and needs to get his Comic Book Comics to ship regularly), but I felt his best work in 2010 was on the mini-series Shadowland: Power Man, featuring a teenager who adopts Luke Cage's old "Power Man" handle, along with Cage's old "Hero for Hire" job. Van Lente crafts a believable picture of life in Harlem...or, at least, the Marvel Universe version of Harlem where you're as likely to meet a ninja as anything.

...EVERYTHING ELSE

Sticking with super heroes, I've been giving Grant Morrison a sober second look lately by trying out some of his most esteemed work. So far that's included All-Star Superman, WE3 and the beginning of his Animal Man. I'm definitely learning to appreciate his writing, although I prefer him on stand-alone projects rather than his shared universe work at Marvel and DC. All-Star Superman has at least three panels which struck me with their visual, emotional power; I want to see more of his work. I blogged some more about WE3 here.

2010 was also the year I discovered Joe Sacco via Palestine, Safe Area Gorazde and Footnotes in Gaza. With all the flat-out fiction I read, it's nice to experience something of the real world in my comics. Sacco's work has done a lot to educate me on Israel and Bosnia and inspired me to learn more; it also helped inspire me to commit myself to a mission in Angola for 2011. After all the suffering I witnessed in Sacco's books, I felt the need to get overseas and help people. I blogged some more about Palestine here.

From Sacco I took an interest in How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden. This is an autobiographical story where the author goes on a birthright trip to Israel and confronts her prejudices about the Israelis. She never really confronts the issues about Palestine which formed her beliefs so her story's finish is a letdown...but that's real life, eh?

After promising myself for years that I would delve into Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, I finally took the plunge in 2010 and it's been providing me with some of the most consistently enjoyable stories on my bookshelf. With more than 20 volumes of trade paperbacks in print Usagi seems daunting to outsiders, but as fans in the know promised me, you can start almost anywhere in the series and find the story easy to flow into; I'm currently devouring the snake at both ends, working my way through the trades in order while buying the new issues as they ship.

The concept of a cat-man who solves crimes sounds simplistic, right? It is. What isn't is the art of Juanjo Guarnido, whose ability to render a lush, verisimilitudinous "funny animal" version of 50s noir made Blacksad an instant favourite. The fact that John Blacksad has whiskers is a tool to catch your attention, and it certainly worked on me. I'm eager to see more of Blacksad as it's translated. I blogged some more about Blacksad (and Usagi Yojimbo) here.

James Turner's Warlord of Io seems to have run its (troubled) course, drifting from serialized print format to electronic-only to trade paperback. It's much more plot driven than Turner's earlier Rex Libris, but the plot - video game crazy Zing being named emperor but facing an immediate coup - serves to introduce all sorts of fun characters, situations and opportunities for Turner to flex his artistic muscles. I blogged some more about Warlord of Io here.

Two of my favourite humourous writers came out with projects in 2010: Jim Rugg with his blaxploitation satire Afrodisiac and Bryan Lee O'Malley with Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour. Actually, while Afrodisiac is straight-up satire on every page (to the point where you can predict the outcomes - Afrodisiac gets every woman because every woman wants him; lather, wash, repeat), O'Malley's final Scott Pilgrim took itself with a smidge of seriousness when it came to Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers' relationship (as in the previous volume).

I took a gamble on American Born Chinese, but considering it had already won a few awards, it seemed like a safe bet. This book collects seemingly-unconnected tales about people who want to be something other than what they are (notably the titular Chinese-American protagonist). I can't know how growing up Asian in a mostly-white society feels, but I empathized with the feelings of otherness and ultimately, it's why I read fiction - to gain insight into other people's experiences.

For decades now, Batton Lash has been producing Supernatural Law - currently on the web - yet it's seldom brought up in comic book circles and the collections are difficult to locate. Happily, I found the volume Sonovawitch! in which Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre, represent a man accused of bewitching a woman to love him. In reality, he's a victim of his witch mother, who just wants her son to get married. Sonovawitch! is just one of the stories collected in that trade but it's typical of Wolff & Byrd's misadventures; I look forward to finding the rest of the series.

Finally, I delved into two well-described titles by John Ostrander: Grimjack and the Spectre. The Grimjack Omnibus was a nice little tome with interesting mash-ups of detective, horror, science fiction and comedy; my favourite was a story where Grimjack was hired by a vampire to catch his killer. Ostrander's Spectre may be the best of his work I've read; over 60 issues he delves into Jim Corrigan, a murdered police man bound to the spirit of vengeance, cursed to combat evil until he understands it. Corrigan's journey through the series, particularly his grief at losing his closest mortal friend, a fight with Superman that's unlike any I'd seen before, the character's philosophical and theological discussions with the level-headed Father Craemer and that final issue, with Corrigan's funeral...seek out the Spectre; back issues can be difficult to locate, but it's well worth the effort.

Tomorrow: books!