Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "dc-comics"

The Greatest 1950's Stories Ever Told by Mike Gold

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects a wide sampling of 1950s comics when Superheroes were in decline. Given that, its a little surprising how many superhero tales made the cut: There are stories for Superboy, Superman and Batman, Batman (alone), Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Silver Age Flash and Green Hornet, and also stories featuring Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

The superhero tales are mostly very good. The "Super-Batman" is certainly one of the better team ups in World's Finest, the Green Arrow two parter features art by Jack Kirby and one of the most solid stories of that somewhat lackluster title. The Wonder Woman story is a bit more so-so with Steve Trevor being extra-creepy in a revised origin for Diana Prince.

Outside of superheroes, the book features westerns, science fiction, fantasy, comedy pieces, horror comics, one spy comic, and one romance and one war comic. The Westerns ranged from forgettable to pretty good. The most bizarre one was with a character named Johnny Thunder (not the same as the Justice Society character of the same name) a school teacher whose father wanted him to be a Deputy Sheriff. Instead, our hero pretended to be a school teacher and helped his father fight injustice as Johnny Thunder, leading his father to be ashamed of his son. What was the reason for this? Maybe, that could be explained in the intro rather than complaining about McCarthy in the intro.

Tommy Tomorrow was entertaining silver age style science fiction while Captain Comet was boring. Both Shining Knight and Viking Prince were both enjoyable. The Viking Prince piece was notable for having DC incorporate Thor and his hammer into a story, seven years later before the Norse gods became a Marvel thing. The comedy pieces were cute and worth a chuckle. I did wish they could have reprinted some Adventures of Jerry Lewis or Adventures of Bob Hope comics. The horror comics in Phantom Stranger and Johnny Peril seemed to be typical of tehe era. The Spy comic featuring King Farraday was one of the highlights of the book as a nice action thriller. The romance comic was good but I felt that as a genre wasn't well-represented and deserved more than one story. The war comic featuring Sergeant Rock was a great World War II story. Rock does a good job in the era before DC's greatest war characters (such as Haunted Tank) would come along.

Beyond that, the book featured a couple miscellaneous Adventure comics. Given that the Blackhawks stories were published throughout the 1950s, it's hard to believe that the best DC could find was the oddball tale included in this volume. This also features the first Challengers of the Unknown Story from Showcase #6. The Challengers with their lack of individual personality can be a little bit boring. However, the first story is actually a lot of fun and certainly worth including the whole 24-page story.

Overall, this book is not a perfect collection of 1950s DC comics but it contains of good comic reading with generally strong stories from well-known series that it highlights as well a lot of forgotten series that are worth a read.



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DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories: 11 Tales You Never Expected to See! by Otto Binder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


During the Golden and Silver Age, most DC comics reset back to normal. Continuity existed, but on a very basic level that allowed villains to recall their last encounter. At the end of the day, you reset to Status Quo. No one got married, no one important died.

That's why Imaginary Stories were so powerful. While the results of the stories were said to be "imaginary" as far as impacting continuity, it was in Imaginary stories that readers got a chances to see actual plot changes and shake ups of the Status Quo or to imagine how things might be different. I'm going to divide my review of the stories by character:

Captain Marvel: This story from 1946 was actually from Fawcett for Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam, I guess) and it's a terrifying little tale as Captain Marvel encounters atomic war and for once Earth's mightiest mortal is essentially powerless to stop it. In one scene, he saves a woman from the blast only for her to die from the radiation. Powerful stuff and well-drawn and written.

Flash: The Flash tale included in here is a tad dumb. The Flash debated not wearing a mask as the Golden Age version hadn't (opting for a helmet that hid his hair. However, he had a daydream where that went wrong and it changed his mind. Really? Somebody spent 7 pages writing that?

Supergirl/Jimmy Olsen: As is typical for Jimmy Olsen tales, this is a comedy of errors. Supergirl gets amnesia, meets Jimmy Olsen and falls in love with him as her secret identity and then becomes convinced he has to woo him as Supergirl. Okay, but not great.

Batman: The Second Life of Batman (1959) asks what would have happened if Bruce's parents hadn't been killed. The results are somewhat dull. The second, "Batman's New Secret Identity" is a tale "by Alfred" imagining that Batman's secret identity is revealed so he established another one (for some reason instead of just being Batman all the time.) Despite the bad premise, the story plays out to be a solid adventure.

Superman has got the mother lode of imaginary stories and they're here and they are amazing. "Mr. and Mrs. Clark (Superman) Kent" is from Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane and is light comedy imagining what if she got her wish of marrying Superman by marrying Clark Kent. "The Death of Superman" from 1961 tells the tale of Superman's demise and it tells it with pathos and a lot of emotion even though its imaginary. "The Amazing Story of Superman Red and Superman Blue" is the type of story that would have ended the comic as Superman splits into two equally good halves, turns Earth into a Utopia free of evil, resolves all his relationship issues, and ends crime as we know it, and Lex Luthor even gets his hair back. It's wish fulfillment and the type of story that would end the comic and the DC Universe, but for happy endings you can't beat it.

"The Three Wives of Superman" takes a look at if Superman decided to marry and the resulting string of tragedies that occurred. Although, he could have prevented some of it by not proposing to his Second Wife Lana in the middle of her wedding to Lex Luthor thus leading Luthor to become evil again, but nobody's perfect. Finally, there's "The Fantastic Story of Superman's Sons" which avoids getting into the Lois/Lana debate by always keeping "mother" grayed out and we're introduced to sons "Kal El II" and "Jor El II." Kal doesn't have superpowers, while Jor El does leading to a friction and the boy's quest to find his place in the world. Again, a very emotionally satisfying tale.

The final tale features Superman and Batman in, "Superman and Batman-Brothers" from 1964. The story's premise was somewhat weak as inexplicably authorities in Gotham decided to give an orphaned Bruce Wayne to the Kents. However, it gets interesting with Clark observing Young Bruce at school and even feeling a bit jealous. The end does feel weak, but it's still worthwhile.

Overall, this is a nice book with some of the greatest imaginary stories (particularly the Superman ones) showing you SIlver Age heroes in a different way. While Marvel's What If and DC's new Elseworlds have surpassed these stories for complexity and variety, the ones in this book are still classics worth reading.



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The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 2 by James Robinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This Second Volume of Starman stories really finds Jack Knight coming into his own. The book collects Issues 17-29 and Annual #1 of Starman along with three stories from Showcase '95 and '96.

The book has a great amount of balance. The book has some noirish moments and a few edgy stories but at the same time offers up a big helping of nostalgia particularly with flashback stories to Ted Knight, a guest appearance by an aging Wesley Dodds who goes back into action as the Sandman and the book also includes a class Christmas issue.

At the same time, the stories have a very modern edge with well-done art (particularly for the era) as well as some fascinating characters. The Shade continues to be an eminently fascinating anti-hero. They battle some solid villains including a serial killer and an evil demonic poster (although the resolution of that plot was a bit non-sensical.) More importantly, Jack progresses as a character and begins to embrace his heroic side. Overall, a very satisfying second Volume of this series.



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Secret Origins, Vol. 1 by Jeff Lemire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects four Issues of Secret Origins, examining the origins of DC Comics characters in the New 52 universe. This first volume contains well-known characters such as Batman and Superman as well as the lesser lights of the DC Universe and even a villain.

The book surprised me by being able to wring a bit of emotional tension out of the Superman origin story. I also liked the Green Arrow and Red Robin origins. I'm a less a fan of Hal Jordan and Harley Quinn's origin. Hal Jordan is portrayed as being a disrespectful brawler before finding the ring, and otherwise it's unremarkable. With Harley Quinn, they go over the top and give her a bunch of serious mental issues prior to becoming a psychologist and ending up in Arkham. It's a bit trite that a psychiatrist needs a therapist herself even if there is a fairly large kernel of truth to it. It'd make sense for her to have some minor issues before going to Arkham, but they went over the top.

Other than that, the book was mostly forgettable. The stories were okay but rarely conveyed any great sense of epicness or made you want to read these characters books. For DC fans, it's still a legitimate as a definitive resource on where your heroes came from. until the Rebirth Universe takes full effect anyway...



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Crisis On Infinite Earths 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition by Marv Wolfman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Crisis on Infinite Earths is the ultimate big comic book crossover book. It brings together the entire history of the DC Universe in the same 12 issue Maxi-series. The story is massive but it's not impenetrable. The more you know of the DC Universe as it existed pre-Crisis, the easier the story was to follow.

The art by George Perez is epic and breathtaking perfectly suited to the task of this major event. While, there are some pages that just seem full of moving from one character to another, it handles it's major cast including the Flash, Superman, and Supergirl, as well as the Harbinger, Monitor, and others very well. There are several pages that actually brought tears to my eyes.

The book manages to chart a new course for the DC Universe while being respectful to what's come before. The book was planned out over the course of several years, which allowed it to have a good flow and an understanding of DC Continuity. The story is creative and epic, as well as written with a lot of love and care.

I held off for a long time for reading this volume because the worst thing to come out of Crisis and that is the slew of gigantic crossover events. Yet, reading the book, I see that what has made comic books that tried to imitate Crisis so often be disappointing is that they're, in many ways, the opposite of Crisis: disrespectful to the past and to the characters being written about, unoriginal, boring, and with poor art work. To top it all off, most serve to actually make continuity more convoluted rather than less.

Crisis on Infinite Earth works as a classic and probably the biggest comic book story to be a true classic. It's the one giant companywide crossover that actually worked even while the imitators failed miserably. This book is a must-read for any serious Superhero fan.



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Nightwing, Volume 1: Better Than Batman by Tim Seeley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Nightwing: Rebirth, Nightwing 1-4 and 7 and 8. This book started off somewhat awkwardly in the Rebirth story and Issue 1. While each story has had a lot of narration to establish the status quo for new readers, this book it felt a tad excessive, even over-indulgent and egocentric on Dick Grayson's behalf. In addition, some art seems a bit off, particularly on Doctor Leviticus.

But then the story gets going. Dick has agreed to work for the Court of Owls as Nightwing because they they have implanted a bomb in Robin (which he has secretly removed), but he wants to play things his own way, not killing or walking on the dark side. However, the Court of Owls wants to bend him to their way, so they give him a partner in the thief Raptor, a man who isn't what he seems, insists that everything Batman has taught him is wrong.

The rest of the book is very interesting as Dick tries to take down the court of Owls and figure out Raptor. Dick is put through the ringer and the nature of Raptor, and the Raptor's true identity takes the book into some deep waters and probes questions like how far should you tow the line between light and darkness, whether you do short term harm to play the long game, the nature of justice (should it be focused on law or on "Robin Hood" style robbing from the rich to give to the poor), as well as the idea of family and adoption. It's about those things, but it doesn't stop being a superhero saga either, which makes it work.

If you like a deeper story or Dick Grayson, this is a good one to check out. It is worth noting that this book unlike other DC Rebirth books doesn't have some ongoing puzzle or hook to keep you reading, but I think the overall quality of the writing is sufficient is for that after the first couple of issues.



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Titans, Volume 1: The Return of Wally West by Dan Abnett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


DC Rebirth's key plot was the return of the original Wally West, one of DC's most beloved characters who was sidelined with the launch of the New 52. This book continues his story as he is able to get his best friends , The Titans to remember him and then face off against the man who made him disappear.

This is a solid story. The writing really taps into the emotion of Wally West, who has lost so much and the ideas of friendship, love, and heroism make this a compelling story from start to finish. It ranks up with the Superman stories for really capturing the emotion of this admittedly fantastic situation.

If the book has any pitfalls, it may be that for a team book, it's too Wally West focused. You only get vague impressions of the rest of the Titans and who they are. Hopefully, they'll be fleshed out more in future volumes. Overall, this is still a very impressive and enjoyable read.



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DC Meets Looney Tunes by Tom King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Six sections featuring six separate meet-ups between DC Comics and Classic Looney Tunes characters. Each features a 30 page comic in DC Comics style and then an eight page Looney Tunes piece:

Legion of Superheroes/Bugs Bunny: Easily the weakest story in the book. The Bronze Age Legion tries to bring young Clark Kent to the future to save Supergirl but grab Bugs Bunny instead. The story has a lot of one note humor about angsty teenager superheroes are. Bugs has a few good moments, but the story feels mailed in, not helped by a back up feature that retells the main story in Looney Tunes form.

Martian Manhunter/Marvin: The Martian: Marvin travels to our dimension to destroy the Earth and the Martian Manhunter is determined to stop them. I liked the enhancements to Marvin. They took the classic design and made the character more awesome and battle-ready without altering the basic look. However, beyond showing how the Martian Manhunter is noble, the main feature doesn't have much to it. The back up feature which had Marvin wondering why he didn't have powers like the Manhunter was a lot more funny.

Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil: The story does a good job of making Taz fit into the DC Universe and providing a plot where Wonder Woman tricked him in the past and needed his help to defeat Circe. It's a fun tale, followed by a weird little romp where Wondy Tells Taz a mythical story.

Lobo/Road Runner: This is when the book gets awesome as Wild E. Coyote and the Road Runner are introduced into proper existence with a backstory that's totally plausible for the DCU and it explains everything about their origin and why the Coyote has been tracking him for so long. I even love that they identified how he was a dead-ringer for the Ralph the Wolf in another cartoon. He decides to hire Lobo to kill the Road Runner, but the Coyote has to take Lobo's current contract---killing Kilowog. It's ludicrous but wonderful as the Coyote's efforts to kill Kilowog go as you'd expect, but Lobo and the Road Runner are hilarious. I love the ending which gives hope for the Coyote, if not to have a happy ending, then to at least get a new beginning.

Jonah Hex/Yosemite Sam: Yosemite Sam is introduced as a prospector who has hit rich but needs Jonah Hex to play bodyguard. This is a fun Western and wriiter Jimmy Palmiotti does a great job finding a way to make Sam likable. But the highlight of the book is Foghorn Leghorn, who still looks like a rooster but is a fighting circus freak who steals the show.

Batman/Elmer Fudd: The Crown Jewel of this entire effort finds Elmer Fudd as a hitman who sets out to kill the man who killed his beloved girlfriend, "Bugs the Bunny" but Bugs puts the finger on the man he claims really killed Silver St. Cloud---Bruce Wayne. It's a noir story told in Elmer Fudd's speech impediment with all the Looney Tunes characters written as people. Elmer Fudd is legitimately imposing and tragic, but there's a lot of humor and imagination in that. If every story tried this hard, this book would have five stars.

Overall, the quality fo the book varies, with it moving from the painfully mediocre start to the brilliant conclusion. If you do love DC Comics and the Looney Tunes characters, there's plenty in here to enjoy.



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Adventures of Superboy Vol. 1 by Don Cameron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Superboy's earliest comic appearances from 1945-47 in 8-11 page stories in More Fun Comics 101-107 and then Adventure Comics 103-121.

The comics are fun stories, most of which are less about crimefighting and more about Superboy's efforts to help others, in particular kids. Superboy is very much a selfless role model In one story, he ensures no one will show up for Clark Kent's birthday by ensuring a big party is thrown for a girl at school whose dad's been subject to nasty rumor. In another story, Superboy helps a blind boy avoid being chiseled by a couple crooked toymakers.

The stories also teach morals, one teaches kids about the pitfalls of games of chance, another features a man who denies the wisdom of old proverbs and pays the price for it.

There are some things you can complain about. The book often messes with continuity. It has Superboy being raised in Metropolis. In one story, it's acknowledged to be set in the post-World War II even though Superboy should be about 20 years in the past, and the one story where Superboy helps out a know it all kid is a bit too silly even for this book.

Still, I think it works. It's not meant to be earth-shaking stuff. It was a comic to capture kid's imaginations, have fun, and teach some good morals. Superboy does that in these early stories and only regret that DC hasn't published more of them.



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The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives, Vol. 2 by Mort Weisinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 5-8 of Leading Comics, featuring the Golden Age mostly non-superpowered Seven Soldiers of Victory with Green Arrow and Speedy, Crimson Avenger and Wing, Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Vigilante, and Shining Knight. Like the JSA, they came together to fight whatever problem of the quarter had come up.

Issue 5: A wealthy man known as the Skull rescues convicted murderers from prison and asks in return that they track down gifts that money can't buy. The team splits up and fights the murderers, many of whom die in ironic ways. The story is about average for a typical JSA/Seven Soldiers crossover of the era. Grade: B-

Issue 6: "The Treasure that Time Forgot." This is a bit different as the Seven Soldiers go after some lost treasure to get it to the government. However, this is really different from any big team up like this I've read as bad guys try to turn them against each other through impersonation, we have misunderstandings, hero battles and hero team-ups. Usually these stories read like five adventures with a framing device. This reads as one whole story and does a lot with its concept. Really fun. Grade: A

Issue 7: "The Wizards of Wisstark:" The Seven Soldiers are whisked off to a fantasy land where the rightful wizards are being overwhelmed by false wizards. Once again, you have a more continuous story and a break from the traditional format with heroes working together. Grade: A-

Issue 8: "Exiles in Time": A tiny mob boss known as the dummy disperses the Seven Soldiers throughout time to rid himself of them and they have to get back. This is a more traditional format. Still, it's a lot of fun as we see our heroes in different historic eras. One of my favorite parts is the team up between Green Arrow and Speedy and the Three Musketeers. Overall, a lot of fun. Grade: B+

Overall, while the first story is kind of bog standard, none of the stories of the bad and the middle two present a more interesting approach to storytelling than most team up books of the era. Well worth reading



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