Direct Course #10

Action Comics #508

 “Clark... I don't expect you to understand what I did today!" -Jonathan Kent

The Secret World of Jonathan Kent 

by Writer: Cary Bates, Penciller: Curt Swan, Inker: Frank Chiaramonte, Letterer: Ben Oda, Colorist: Gene D’Angelo, Editor: Julius Schwartz.  Cover by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano.
                           

Catching the reader up to date, we are told that Jonathan Kent died many years ago.  We then see that he is alive again in the present time of 1980, this fact hammered in by showing Clark and his father laying flowers down on his mother’s grave.  His father’s grave nowhere to be seen, as Jonathan stands beside Clark.

Flying off from the Smallville cemetery, Superman carries his father into his apartment building through an open window.  Jonathan questions if Superman is still with Lana Lang, his girlfriend from when he was still Superboy.  Before Superman can change back to Clark Kent, there is a knocking at his apartment door.  Jonathan goes to answer it, in order keep the visitor distracted while Superman changes back to Clark Kent.  The visitor turns out to be twin sisters named April and May Marigold, who are two of Superman’s neighbors.  They question how Jonathan can be there, him being so old.  Before anyone can figure out what they mean, the sisters turns on the TV.  Lana reports from news station WGBS that “...Every able-bodied person over the age of 30 years of age has left Metropolis!”

After hearing this news, May and April leave and Clark changes back into Superman to get to the bottom of this.  Superman flies out the window he came in, leaving Jonathan alone at his apartment.  He heads towards the out skirts of the city, where the over-30s are massing.  Recognizing Perry White, Morgan Edge and Steve Lombard, Superman goes down to meet them. While they try to figure out what’s going on, Superman hears a voice calling to him, telling him that this has something to do with a something called “please power.”

Following the voice through the sewer, Superman finds that it belongs to none other than that dirty hippy, Starshine.  Superman grabs hold of Sunshine, questioning if it was him who caused this exodus.  Instead of answering, Starshine uses his please power to command Superman to respect him by making him bow before his dirty hippy feet.

Back at Superman’s apartment, a pair of lanky, orange-skinned, humanoid aliens appear before Jonathan Kent.  They tell him that although it will not hinder their arrangement, a problem as occurred with their involvement with him.  For you see, after an adventure back in Superman’s youth, Jonathan had helped the two aliens beings out.  Afterwards, they decided to grant Jonathan a reward for his help “--A subconscious desire you are not even aware of!”  This desire was to see his son Clark Kent after he had become an adult.  Unfortunately the spot that they materialized Jonathan in, just happened to be where a dirty hippy got tossed to.  As the orange vapors were accidentally inhaled by Starshine it granted him powers to bend peoples wills to his. By saying one word, he can make anyone in the world do what he says.  Before dissipating, the aliens inform Jonathan that the “Rega-Mist” cannot by reversed.  Jonathan asks them to grant him the power to be able to see what his son sees.  They comply and then disappear.  In Jonathan’s mind, he can see his son Superman completely battered and bruised.  He can almost sense where Superman is and touches upon a certain name, that of Lois Lane.

Hurrying straight over to her apartment, Jonathan rings the buzzer.  Lois answers, claiming that she’s taking care of a sick friend.  Jonathan barges in, finding Superman completely beat-up and laying on her couch.  Superman explains that Starshine forced Superman to beat himself up with his own fists.  Jonathan tells him not to worry, but calls him son right in front of Lois Lane.

Realizing what’s just transpired, Superman questions why his father just blurted out his secret. Lois immediately figures it out, while Jonathan tells him that he should trust him. He’s seen a lot in the way Lois cares for Superman, so he figures it’s not that big of a deal if she knows. After Superman brushes by his father on his way back out the window, Jonathan tells Lois that she took the revelation well, and that she reminds him a lot of his Martha.  Lois reveals that she just might have already figured out Superman’s secret for herself, and is “smart enough not to let on!” She tells Jonathan that she’s so glad she got to meet him, giving Jonathan a small peck on the cheek.

Meeting with Starshine again, Superman offers him a small gift to make peace with him. Opening it, a remote-controlled muzzle flies out and attaches itself around the dirty hippy’s mouth.  Unable to speak clearly now, Starshine struggles with the muzzle while Superman informs him that only his strength can remove it.  Superman tosses the hippy into the air, spinning him round and round with his super-breath, until he lands back onto the ground.  On the ground, Superman rushes over to Starshine and presents a pocket-watch in front of his eyes.  Using super-hypnotism, Superman lulls the dirty hippy into a trance where he tells him he will restore the over-30's back into Metropolis and never use his please-power again.

Later, Clark Kent arrives almost late at the WGBS studio to cover his new shift with Lana.  He had been searching all over for his father, but could find no trace.  Lana tells Clark that they are reporting Superman stopping Starshine.  Before the show starts, Lana hands Clark a note that his father had left with her.  It explains that he’s gone back to Smallville and asks that he’ll come visit him after his news cast.  When the show begins, Lana announces that it is March 6th 1980. Clark thinks that her date is wrong and that it is really the 7th.  She goes on to say that their top story involves a typhoon that swet through the Sea of Japan.  Clark knows this can’t be right, as he does the letter his father left him disappears from his hand.  Everything from the last day has started to disappear from Clark’s mind.

Hovering in the sky above, the form of Jonathan Kent is told by the aliens that they had to freeze time in order to grant Jonathan his day of seeing his son.  Reverting back will destroy all evidence of him having been to earth that day, and everyone will forget.  As Clark leaves his news job, Lana tells him that she’s reserved a table at the restaurant Marcel’s for them and Lois. Clark turns her down, saying he’s needed elsewhere.  Outside the building, Clark is approached by a dirty hippy, begging for some change.  Hearing this, Clark remembers his appointment and flies off to Smallville.  Clark visits his father in the Smallville cemetery, at the tombstone which is once again in place.

Bearings

• The events the aliens talk about with Jonathan Kent happen in The New Adventures of Superboy #5 (1980)

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

I thought this would be a little better than last issue, and in some parts it is.  I like the small drama the best of Superman’s secret being explicitly exposed to Lois.  That was great seeing Superman’s tension.  I also really like Lois in here, her and Jonathan got the best characterization of anyone.

We still have that dirty hippy Starshine.  They still didn’t give him much characterization to him, other than being a dirty hippy.  He’s such a stereotype, we don’t know his motivation, why he’s become a hippy, why he’s poor, any of that.  We get the backstory of how he got his please power, but we get no information on why he feels so entitled.  With other villains you don’t always need that because they have their own certain charm that brings its own dimension to the character, like Lex Luthor or Parasite. But this guy has none of that.

The aliens are neat, it makes me wonder what Jonathan did for them in the pages of Superboy.  That everyone forgets what happened is a bit of a cop-out I guess, but I think it’s saved a bit by having Lois reveal that she may already know Superman’s secret, so it doesn’t really matter if she forgot this incident.  That’s the big thing I was alluding too last post.  Lois has figured out on some level at least, the Superman and Clark are the same person.

So Superman must be under 30 at this time in order for this story to work. And if Superboy is around 16 years old in the Superboy story judging by the cover of issue #1 of New Adventures of Superboy, and this takes place in 1980 as stated by Lana Lang, then the Superboy stories of this era take place in 1967 or so. But we know Superman was around in stories that take place before then. This is why I try not to pay attention to time continuity in comics.  They have a completely different time scale than ours and instead of getting hung up on those kind of things, I think it's smarter to behave towards these things like you would in comic strips; like Peanuts, for example.  They existed for about 50 years, but none of the characters age much beyond the year of 8 or so in that time. Why does it matter so much if Clark or Peter Parker were once teenagers, but have been 20 to 30 somethings for decades? As long as their age fits whatever story is being told with them, what does it really matter? These things are fictional, and are not restrained to your notions of reality.

Quotes

“Can you dig where I’m coming from, man?” -Superman

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #9

Action Comics #507

 “Well, Clark --Care to make a last-second guess?" -Lana Lang

The Miraculous Return of Jonathan Kent 

by Writer: Cary Bates, Penciller: Curt Swan, Inker: Frank Chiaramonte, Letterer: Milt Snapinn, Colorist: Gene D’Angelo, Editor: Julius Schwartz. Cover by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano
                         
After a report on how Superman saved an ocean liner from a typhoon, Clark Kent and Lana Lang sign off from their six o’clock news show at WGBS.  Clark tries to sneak out of the building so he can change into Superman, when Lana stops him.  She tells him that she’s reserved a dinner for both of them at a restaurant called Marcel’s, and there will be a third person joining them, but leaves the revelation as a surprise for Clark.  Clark and Lana take taxi to the restaurant, where they are greeted by a waiter to their seats. On the way to the table, Clark recognizes the back of the man’s head who is waiting for them, but can’t quite place it.  It is none other than Clark’s foster father, Jonathan Kent, who should be dead.

Shocked at the presence of his father, Clark clearly remembers both of his parents having died. Jonathan acts as though he is fine, and that him and Clark have been keeping a correspondence over the years.  Clark assumes that Lana and other members of the news team are pulling a prank of some kind, but then Jonathan starts revealing information to him that only he could know.  Furthermore, he thinks that Lana must be under some hypnotic trance that this fake Jonathan has conjured, because she was at his funeral too.

As this strange event occurs, a few blocks away a long-haired man wearing a poncho has his hand out for money.  A middle-aged, well-to-do couple walk by him, correctly identifying him as being a dirty hippy.  He reveals that they are correct by saying his name is Starshine. The couple walk past him, giving him no money, when he suddenly screams at them “BOTH OF YOU... GIVE ME ALL YOUR VALUABLES... ...PLEASE!"  All of the valuables that the couple wear cannot handle the size of his font, and the items suddenly fly off right into his arms.  Starshine bags all of their possessions up like a hippy Santa, and tells them that he’s going to go take a jetliner in first class now.

Back at Marcel’s, Lana and Jonathan are reminiscing over her and Clark’s childhood.  Clark tries to out his dad, by bringing up a beloved memory of him finding a rabbit.  Jonathan recalls what Clark is talking about in detail, Clark still not believing him, checks both Jonathan and Lana’s pulses to find out that they aren’t lying.

Meanwhile, Starshine is tossed out of a bank for asking one of the guard if he has any change to spare.  After being told to go take a bath because he’s a dirty hippy, Starshine yells at the bank to give him all of its money.

At Marcel’s again, Clark uses his microscopic vision on the glass his father drinks from.  Apparently Clark has his father’s fingerprints memorized, and uses this to realize that this man must be his father somehow.  Suddenly their dinner is interrupted by a commotion outside, Clark uses his x-ray vision to look two blocks away where he sees the bank being robbed.  Trying to find some excuse to leave, his father suddenly creates a diversion like he used to when Clark was Superboy, so that his son can leave without raising Lana’s suspicions.

Flying away from the restaurant, now in his Superman garb, Superman approaches the bank the dirty hippy is robbing.  All of the money is just pouring out in a pile around Starshine, while the guards warn that they will shoot him.  Superman arrives, and tells the officers that he’ll handle it. Upon asking the dirty hippy how he’s making the money come to him, Starshine just offers Superman to slap his filthy hippy hand.

Superman attempts to remove Starshine from the sidewalk.  Fed up with Superman, the dirty hippy tells him “...so buzz off and take the slow boat to China--”  In response to this, Superman flies off into the sky at an alarming speed, leaving the hippy on the ground.  Superman then flies all the way to the Pacific Ocean, where he finds a very slow boat headed towards China.

Using his telescopic vision, Superman notice the coast to China is about 200 miles away.  Instead of waiting all day to reach it, he uses his super-breath on the sails creating a massive wind to sail the boat to the coast.  Once in China, the spell seems to have lifted, so Superman flies all the way back to Metropolis in search of Starshine.  At the bank the hippy was robbing, tell Superman that all of the money was returned to the bank.  As they attempted to arrest the dirty hippy, he muttered something under his breath and was suddenly gone.  Superman then passes by Marcel’s, but finds out Lana and his father have left.

Flying to Smallville, Superman changes to Clark Kent so that he can go into the cemetery without arousing anyone’s suspicions.  Clark approaches his mother’s tombstone to lay down some flower, but realizes that his father’s is missing. Confused, Clark visits his boyhood home, which should be under the care of Chief Parker, who retired and lives there. Inside the house, Clark finds a bunch letters written in his own handwriting, with personal detail only he himself could know.  Finally accepting that his father must be alive somehow, Clark changes back to Superman.

In Metropolis, Jonathan Kent is trying to find Clark’s apartment.  He questions a couple of men for where a street is, when they grab and pull him into an alley. They whip out guns, and demand all of Jonathan’s money.  A sudden wind blows between the men, when Superman appears, blocking the guns’ paths to his father.  Superman juggles the two men around and then tosses them out into the street, when a cop car pulls up behind them to arrest the two men.

Up in Clark’s apartment, Superman and his father talk about what just happened, when Superman finally smiles accepting that his father is alive somehow.  Just outside of the city, the dirty hippy, Starshine, is yelling at the city. He complains that all the over-thirty year olds are making all of the decisions, or something.  He then shouts, “Everyone over thirty-- Get out of Metropolis and stay out-- --PLEASE!”

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

I’m back.  Sorry it’s taking so long between posts lately, I just needed a little break from super-heroics.  I’ve been reading The Invisibles, which I plan on covering the first 12 issues of after I’m done with this round of DC in a couple of posts’ time.  I know it’s still DC since it’s Vertigo and all, but it’s not in the larger continuity of DC or Marvel, so it’s fair to me. I figure that’s how I’ll be doing things for the foreseeable future.  A round of Marvels, a round of DCs and then a round of something from another place: Vertigo/Dark Horse/Image/etc.  Who knows? maybe I’ll even do some Crossgen.  And then I’ll repeat the cycle.

Originally, I was just going to cover this issue, but then I realized the next part of this story has a major event in it, so I plan to cover that one as well.  I like this story, except for the parts with Starshine. All of the Jonathan stuff is pretty intriguing.  If I were Superman, I’d go consult with Batman to see if he knows what’s up, being the expert on dead parents and all.

The parts I didn’t like with Starshine, are mainly due to the fact that they don’t really tell us anything about him, other than that he’s a dirty hippy and has some kind of vocal or word imposing powers.  Kind of like Zatanna, but shouting “PLEASE!", instead of saying things backwards.  The only part I liked with him is when he interacts with Superman, telling him to go to China.  Cary Bates can do a much better job of characterization than this, just look at Jonathan Kent here, or check out his run on Captain Atom (which I will cover as my final DC issue for this round.)

Quotes

“Those are definitely Pa Kent’s fingerprints!" -Superman

“What a weird day this has been!" -Superman

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #8

World’s Finest Comics #238

 “Chivalry is not dead! It merely sleeps..." -Batman Jr.

The Angel with a Dirty Name 

by Bob Haney writer, Dick Dillin & John Calnan artists. Cover by Ernie Chua & John Calnan
                         
On this particular night, Batman Jr. and Superman Jr. are cycling around at night on a bicycle built for two (yes, really), when they come upon a woman being attacked. She is being attacked by two people in costumes, with giant comedy and tragedy stage masks (which I’ve always felt a bit creepy). The sons of Superman and Batman beat the two men away, and ask the lady why they were attacking her. She responds that her name is Dora Redson, and they were part of her entertainment act, but her van broke down, so she was unable to pay them. Batman Jr. suggests to the young lady a smooch for saving her, but she turns around to plant one on Superman Jr. instead “He’s the super one, so he rates a super kiss!”

After explaining that she was on her way to Kingman Prison, to put on a show for the inmates, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. offer their services. Superman Jr. uses his strength to help repair her van, while Batman Jr. looks on annoyed that all of Dora’s attention is focused on Superman Jr. They all pile up into Dora’s van after it’s repaired, and take off towards the prison, as the attraction between Dora and Superman Jr. grows.

On stage at the prison, Batman Jr. and Superman Jr. are dressed up in the same costumes that the men they had beaten up were in. Superman Jr. dresses up as a character called Gog, and Batman Jr. dresses up as a character called Magog. The play involves Magog planting a bomb to destroy a town, and then Gog saving the town by tossing the bomb into the air, where it explodes harmlessly. After the play is over, the two heroes get changed to meet Dora afterwards in the warden’s office.

As the sons of Superman and Batman walk through the warden’s door, they are immediately accused of aiding the escape of one of their convicts, Superman villain Lex Luthor. The police tell the two heroes that Dora was his accomplice, driving away with him a half hour ago. Fed up with all the accusations and arguing, Superman Jr. bursts through a barred window, in search of the girl he had such feelings for. Grabbing Batman Jr., Superman Jr. flies off.

The two young heroes suddenly come upon Dora’s van, parked alongside a huge space ship in the middle of nowhere. Inside of the ship, Dora claims that her real name is Ardora, and she is Lex Luthor’s daughter on the planet she’s come from. It’s a planet dubbed Lexor, which they named after their greatest hero, Luthor. She says she was kept hidden from Lex by her mother, because her mother was ashamed that she had bore him a daughter instead of a son, but she promises to prove her worth. As they blast off into space, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. sneak into the ship before the hatch closes for takeoff.

On their way to planet Lexor, Ardora reveals to Luthor, with the two heroes overhearing everything, that she had planned his escape from the prison, by traveling as a puppet show for her cover, she could use the bomb prop to hide Luthor inside of. After Superman Jr. hurled it into the sky, he jumped out with a parachute strapped on, making his escape. The two men attacking her, was also part of the ruse, because she knew Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. were close by to get their attention. After hearing all of this, Superman Jr. still can’t help but have feeling for Ardora.

As they travel closer to Lexor, Ardora explains to Luthor why she needed to break him out of prison. On her planet, a horrible plague that causes gigantism has spread throughout her people. She believes that Lex Luthor’s scientific knowhow could help them out. Luthor ponders that he knew this would happen all along, he deliberately planted the gigantism plague on her world using a “time bomb” to trigger it. He did this knowing they would need to free him from prison, so he could escape earth justice. He knows there is an antidote waiting at his lab on Lexor, the only thing he didn’t account for, is having a daughter.

After the spaceship lands, Lex and his daughter are stood before a statue of himself. The people welcome him to their planet, just as a person suffering from the gigantism stumbles around them, and accidentally destroys the statue of Lex Luthor. Lex turns around to see his wife, who is also suffering from the gigantism plague. Promising to find an antidote, Lex heads for his lab.

Meanwhile, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. have slipped out of the spaceship during the commotion. They walk through some strange looking flowers, when the flowers suddenly give off an alarm. One of the guards who arrives to take the heroes, explains that the siren flowers react to the specific colors of Superman’s costume. Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. try to fight off the swarming guards, but Superman Jr. realizes that the planet has a red sun, so his powers are greatly diminished under it.

Stuck under a force field light before a crowd, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. are unable to move out from it. Ardora tells them that she’s going to wait until her father is done working on the antidote, so he can decide their fate. Superman Jr. tries to moralize with Ardora, telling her that on their planet Lex does terrible things (like stealing 40 cakes), but she doesn’t want to hear any of it and runs off. Before she runs off, Superman Jr. expresses his feeling for her, when she goes Batman Jr. assumes he was using psychology on her, but Superman Jr. tells him that he meant it. A man in the crowd berates Superman Jr. and his father, Batman Jr. exclaims what a crazy world this one is.

Finding his lab, Lex Luthor discovers that a meteor has struck his lab, and ruined all of his equipment. In his anger and sorrow, Luthor loudly regrets having made the gigantism germ, with an antidote taking weeks to prepare, and by that time the plague will have hit everybody on the planet. Coming into the cave lab, Ardora hears what Luthor has said, and regrets ever becoming a scientist to impress him.

Commanding Luthor to make an antidote, Ardora decides to help him. She points out that they need a particular element, but it exists only in the venom of a beast called a Terror Lizard on Lexor. They live in the Lost Zone, which nobody has ever returned from. Instead of using a machine to temporarily give Luthor Superman level powers, they decide to use the two Super Sons. Bringing the two heroes to the lab, Lex holds a ray gun on Superman Jr. Firing it bathes him in a yellow light, that makes his skin filter out the rays of the red sun. Repowered, Superman Jr. agrees to help Luthor and Ardora find the lizard they need, and extract it’s venom. With Batman Jr. riding on his back, Superman Jr. travels through the skies of Lexor.

On their way to the Lost Zone, Superman Jr. crashes into some kind of magnetic sky barrier. Making it on foot now, the Two Super Sons make it across a boiling bog, right before a gigantic dragonfly snatches up Batman Jr. Batman Jr. pulls off a weird extrusion on the bug’s abdomen, that causes it plummet down to the ground with him. After Superman Jr. saves Batman Jr. from falling, an avalanche is suddenly triggered on a nearby crag. Superman Jr. quickly digs a trench under them, and flattens Batman down into the hole while he’s on top. Coming up unscathed from the rubble, a giant lizard attacks the two of them. Superman Jr. recognizes it as the Terror Lizard.

As the Superman Jr. is lunged at by the Terror Lizard, he suddenly starts to grow bigger. Superman Jr. now has the gigantism plague. Plunging his wrist into the lizard’s mouth, he allows for the lizard to bite him. As it does, Superman Jr. starts shrinking back to normal size, the venom in the Terror Lizard seems to have worked. His blood full of the lizard venom, Superman Jr. knocks the beast out. Back at Luthor’s lab, Superman Jr. allows for Lex to draw his blood. Using his body as a vessel for, Superman Jr. has carried the antidote inside himself, so that Luthor can use it “All I need remove is one pint of your blood that contains enough venom to make the antidote for all the plague sufferers!"

With everyone restored back to normal, the Two Super Sons prepare to leave, expecting trouble on Luthor’s end to get him to return with them. Luthor appears before them, ready to willingly go back with them. Superman Jr. uses his x-ray vision to see that Ardora has a gun pointed at Lex’s back. Boarding the spaceship with Luthor, Superman Jr. bids farewell to Ardora, who asks Superman Jr. to remember her.

Bearings

• The planet Lexor and the adventure involving the real Superman and Lex Luthor here, happened in Superman #168

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• This is probably the strangest story I’ve covered so far. I like the main plot of Lex Luthor and his daughter. A classic tale of betrayal. Then along come Superman Jr. and Batman Jr., at least Superman Jr. seems more involved in the story, but Batman Jr. just doesn’t really do anything. We don’t learn very much about him, except that he likes the girls, and gets annoyed that they all seem to like Superman Jr. instead. It’s entertaining seeing them interact together, but it doesn’t service the story very much beyond that.

• That being said, I love all the crazy Lex Luthor stuff, it almost makes up for the heroes. Lex Luthor planned a plague to devastate an entire planet that thinks he’s a hero, just so that they would be able to break him out of prison so he could cure them, that’s genius. Crazy genius! All foiled by a meteorite, and an unexpected daughter. I also like how he just sort of takes the whole situation in stride, without questioning all the strangeness. The daughter is really well developed too, you can feel some of the emotional weight behind her, when she overhears what Lex was really up to all along.

• I can’t help but thinking that Lex Luthor may have kept some of Superman Jr.’s blood after extracting it.

• The things on Lexor are pretty neat. The flowers are strange, but I like them because they’re strange.

• I didn’t recognize the play featuring Magog and Gog. I got a lot of biblical information from wikipedia about them, but nothing about a specific play like this came up. Magog and Gog are either places or people or both, and they will make the world come together and turn on God towards Armageddon. But Armageddon is just another word for change, and change happens all the time, so I guess every day is Armageddon. Either way, I still don’t know what this play is. I recognize the name Magog from Kingdom Come, this isn’t the same depiction as him, but I wonder if this inspired, or was rattling around in the backs of Alex Ross or Mark Waid’s minds when they created him for that story.

• From what I’ve read online, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. have a very odd history, and I think I’m going to explore at least one story involving them per DC cycle. This is my first time reading a story with them in it, and although they aren’t very intriguing here, I read about where they come from and what happens to them, to make me eager to explore more. This is what one of the primary objectives of comics should be!

Quotes

“He’s the lifter... I’m the lover!” -Batman Jr.

“What sweet revenge on Superman, his own son fooled into helping me!” -Lex Luthor

____________________________________________________________________

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #7

Batman #234

(Aug 1971)

 “That is for the coin to decide!" -Two-Face

Half an Evil 

by Denny O’Neil story, Neal Adams & Dick Giordano artists, Julius Schwartz editor. Cover by Neal Adams & Dick Giordano.
                         
At the Gotham City Merchants’ annual parade, a group of criminals dressed up as clowns stick up the people on a hot dog float. This goes unseen by the audience, from the commotion of the parade. The clown do not want money, as they hold a woman at gunpoint on the float, another clown severs the tethers with a knife to a massive hot dog balloon, that advertises “Janus Hot Dogs Doubly Delicious.” With the balloon drifting up, a helicopter stands by to take it. The crowd mostly assumes this is all part of the parade.

That night, the Bat-Signal goes up to summon Batman. Another public servant named Mr. Reeves, questions why Commissioner Gordon would summon Batman. The man says that if he shows up, he’ll fight him for meddling in city affairs. It is just then that Batman overhears this while sneaking in through a window. He waits for the man to turn around as he punches the air, leans over him to give him a “Boo!” and the man runs off, leaving Batman grinning and Gordon trying to sustain his laughter.

Gordon tells Batman about the odd robbery of the hot dog balloon. Batman was summoned because it seemed like such an odd crime. He only vaguely has some idea of who could have perpetrated it, when a cop barges in to tell Gordon that the alarm at the Nautical Museum has just gone off. Batman takes off through a window, following the police cars on their way there. Leaping through a window of the museum, Batman goes in search of the criminals.

Inside the Nautical Museum, Batman rounds a corner to find the criminals in their clown costumes. They look to be the same two men from the parade robbery. Seeing Batman, the one of them shoots at him, but he misses. Batman kicks the gun  out of his hand, when the other clown prepares a smoke grenade for him. Seeing this, Batman holds him back from throwing it, until the smoke overtakes the clown himself. Making it through the smoke, Batman chases after the other clown, who obtains a metallic rod to club him with. Batman fights him off, and manages to unmask the clown.

Once the clown is unmasked, Batman threatens to harm him if he doesn’t tell him who he is working for. The criminal replies, “I dunno... I swear I don’t! He’s a weirdo... Face hidden all’a time...” Batman then asks the crook what they were stealing, he reveals was a book of “The Diaries of Captain Bye.” This information makes Batman realize who it is that’s behind these crimes.

At the Gotham City Docks, a man in shadow flips a coin as he’s talking to the criminal who fled the museum with the diary. He explains that he needs the diary to locate a lost treasure he learned of when he was imprisoned. The coin he flips will decide which side of his nature will prevail, the whole side, or the scarred side meaning his evil nature will rule out. He flips the coin, it lands scarred side up, so he will commit to taking this treasure for himself. He is none other than Two-Face.

On the balcony of his penthouse, Bruce Wayne reminisces with his butler, Alfred. By this time, he has figured out that it is Two-Face behind these crimes. It was his obsession with dualism that gave him away, stealing the hot dog float named after Janus, with the slogan “Doubly Delicious.” Bruce goes on to tell Alfred of Two-Face’s origin. He was a district attorney named Harvey Dent, during testimony of a particular gangster, the gangster threw a vial of acid in his face, scarring it on one side. The injury drove Harvey mad, and gave him this obsession with dualism. At one point plastic surgery managed to revert him back, but after an explosion he was scarred unrepairable yet again. Looking through a marine encyclopedia, Bruce discovers that there is a two-masted schooner across the river, that once belonged to Bye. He surmises that is where Two-Face will head next, and races after him in the Batmobile.

As Batman arrives at the marina, some guards start firing at him. He manages to take them all out, before approaching the dock. When Batman sees the schooner slightly in the distance, it suddenly explodes, sinking the vessel to Batman’s astonishment. Batman is completely baffled as to why Two-Face would blow up the vessel. After gaining some composure, he steels himself to figure it out.

After the explosion, we see a man asleep called Billy the Tramp floating in the water right on top of where the boat sank. The boat rises back up out of the river, with the man still comfortable perched, asleep, in the crow’s nest. Batman climbs into the schooner as it rises, he has figured out that based on the tide-charts, if something was sunk, but not entirely, near the pier that he was at, it would drift over to this location. Swinging to hide in the sails, Batman has also figured out that Two-Face needed that hot dog balloon to put in the ship’s hull so that he could raise the boat back up.

As Batman finally notices Billy asleep in the rigging, Two-Face climbs aboard behind him. When he prepares to rescue the man, Batman is clobbered from behind by Two-Face. Two-Face binds his wrists back around the mast of the boat, but Batman keeps his muscles expanded so he doesn’t get tied too tightly. Revealing that the hot dog balloon is still full of gas which he suddenly releases to sink the schooner with Batman on it, he cracks open a moulding which contains the treasure, gold doubloons.

While Two-Face escapes, Batman calls out to him about the man asleep in the rigging “Are you going to let him drown-- an innocent, old man?" Two-Face replies that it is no concern of his. Batman continues to goad him to do the right thing, and as he leaves Two-Face flips the coin. It lands whole side up.

Two-Face rows back to the schooner, and climbs the rigging to save the old man. When he climbs back down, he sees that Batman has freed himself. Two-Face attempts to attack Batman, but this the Batman, and he knocks Two-Face right out. Batman carries both Two-Face and the old man off of the sinking ship, and onto the row boat.

Bearings

• This is the first time Two-Face has appeared in nearly two decades in Batman comics. His last appearance which Bruce mentions, is back in Batman #81 in 1953. I'm guessing the Wertham stuff may have had something to with that? Maybe? Being a criminal who sometimes does good things.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• This is a tremendous issue, reintroducing Two-Face for the more modern (of early 1970‘s) audience. There’s a reason Two-Face has such a presence that persists after his appearance here. Although he isn’t always used as well (hello, Batman Forever), he still makes a lasting impression on the audience. He has such a tragic origin, and when he’s written well, he always seems like he could be on the brink of reform. Unlike the Joker, or Croc, or The Mad-Hatter whose lives are steeped in madness, Two-Face seems like he could be made good again (and has occasionally) which makes him so compelling an opponent for Batman. The two of them have similar backgrounds, who seem forced into the roles that they play now, based on their personal tragedies. Bruce Wayne can’t give up being Batman, because he needs to show himself through the world, that crime is not safe. Harvey Dent can’t give up being Two-Face, because he needs to show himself through Batman, that two sides are better than one.

• I think a villain like Two-Face was bound to exist in the universe. Everywhere you look there is some kind of duality. You have the hero versus the villain. Superman and Batman. Green and yellow. Order and chaos. Hawk and Dove. A defined good and evil. Earth-1 and Earth-2 (there are more earths, but these are the two earths that primarily interact with one another) Creators and readers. Two-Face has given up his decision making, in order to fully embrace the duality. Which is why he worships his coin, and follows it when it tells him which of his nature should be at work.

• There are still some tiny signs of the silver age lingering here. I’m with Batman for the most part, but the way he figures out what happened with the sinking schooner seems pretty quick and convoluted. There’s no sense of time between it’s sinking and when Batman finds it resurfacing, which leaves me a little confused.

• Despite all of the fun Two-Face and Batman sleuthing, my favorite bit in the entire issue is when Batman scares off the guy in Jim Gordon’s office. I think Batman should have a sense of humor, than just be the grim dark knight all of the time. He can still be that, but enjoy a chuckle every now and then. I think despite all the death and destruction that comes with it usually, Batman secretly appreciates Joker’s sick humor, and that Joker knows this. Which is why he’s such a great archenemy for Batman. As seen at the end of The Killing Joke.

Quotes

“Ugly, you’ll die... Ugly as the accident that made me a freak!" -Two-Face

____________________________________________________________________

"I've also been trained as a detective!" -Robin

Vengeance for a Cop 

by Mike Friedrich writer, Irv Novick pencils, Dick Giordano inks

A policeman, named Robert Beeker, introduces himself to the audience while he’s on patrol around a college campus, when as suddenly as he’s introduced, he is shot down. An ambulance quickly responds, loading the injured officer into their vehicle as Robin looks on. Robin overhears a witness talking to a cop, that he saw a tall, long-haired, young man fleeing the scene of the shooting afterwards.

Days later, after Robert has been discharged from the hospital, Robin pays him a visit. Robert tells him that he was lucky, and the bullets went clean through him, so there wasn’t too much damage. Robin wonders if there is some way he can help him. The wounded officer tells him that he would like for Robin to get in contact with his daughter, Nanci. Nanci ran away to a commune, and he misses her, not understanding why she’d leave.

Later at the commune, Robin has managed to track Nanci down using the letters she sent to her father. Robin tells Nanci the he’s there to bring her home to her father. but she refuses. Nanci tells Robin that she refuses to return to “that violent, repressive society that her father defends.”

Getting nowhere, Robin prepares to leave, when he recognizes someone. It’s a girl named Terri Bergstrom, who Robin suspects has some kind of psychic power, and she is there searching for someone too. She also happens to have a note for Robin from Batman “New evidence suggests suspect in Beeker case fled to Van Winkle commune! Be on alert!”

It is then that a man named Pat Whalon shows up, Nanci points out that he is her boyfriend, and her father doesn’t know anything about him. The tall, long-haired man offers Robin and Terri to join him in the commune. As Terri and Robin follow Pat and Nanci, another tall, long-haired man blocks their way on a bridge over a small stream. Pat calls out to him as Jonathan, who says he’ll only let Robin pass is he duels him using staves.

Jonathan and Robin battle over the stream. Robin thinks he’s starting to feel like Robin Hood facing Little John. After a few dodges, Jonathan finally knocks Robin over into the stream. Jonathan helps the boy wonder back up out of the water. He tells Robin that even though he won, he still passes their test, and will allow him to join their commune. While they were fighting, Robin has deduced who the shooter was back on the campus. Robin points his finger, but the other members of the commune tells him he can’t take anyone off of the commune, unless they agree. And they don’t. The reader is left wondering who Robin pointed to.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• I didn’t really like this story. Mike Friedrich has done a lot better than this, this just felt too small and all over the place. The allusion to Robin Hood and Little John really doesn’t work when it’s blatantly pointed out this way. The mystery doesn’t get resolved until next issue, even though Robin already knows who did it. The hippies have really annoying dialogue, Robin doesn’t have much of a personality in here, other than being concerned. It really feels like it’s trying to be a PSA to runaways, and treating the police force with more respect, that Robin just happens to be the conduit for. It’s very disappointing compared to the main Batman story.

• I also don't buy Robin being beaten by this hippy guy. Robin has trained for years with Batman, and I've seen him overtake enemies using a staff before this.

• The art is pretty good though. The fight over the bridge looks pretty.

• The final story in this issue is a reprint of a story in Detective Comics #335 called “The Trail of Talking Mask” but I’d rather cover it fully if we come to the issue it was originally in, than in a reprint form.

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #6

Green Arrow #45

 “My home is somewhere else.” -Green Arrow

Raising a Rock as... 

by Mike Grell writer, Rick Hoberg penciller, John Nyberg inker, Steve Haynie letterer, Julia Lacquement colorist, Katie Main associate editor, Mike Gold editor. Cover by Mike Grell.
                         
In Dinah Lance(Black Canary)’s florist shop in Seattle, officer Kaz drops by. He says he’s just there to follow up on the purse snatching from last issue, however it’s obvious he has other romantic intentions. Dinah reveals that she is aware of what he’s really up to, but she still has to turn him down. As officer Kaz leaves, Marianne comes into the store. She wonders why Dinah turned the man down again, she tells Marianne that if she went out with him, “It would mean I’ve given up on Oliver.”

Over in Wales at a salvage yard owned by an Irish gentleman named McLaurrie, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Tom Jones are gathering up steel I-beams that they can use to rebuild the structure that Mr. Barton’s men destroyed last issue. Barton’s men won’t be able to cut through the metal with their chainsaws this time. McLaurrie tells the men that he saw some of Barton’s men looking beaten up in town. Guessing that they were behind it, he offers them both a bit of liquid courage to face the days ahead against them.

At the site of the ruins at Tom Jones’ property, a man named Angus drives up to meet Ollie and Tom. He tells them that he has had enough of Barton as well, and agrees to help them against him. More locals start to show up, helping Tom raise the stone ruins that Barton’s men knocked down last issue.

That night at a local pub, Tom, his family, Oliver and Angus, sit around a table talking. Tom tells them that in three days, they’ll have somebody from the British Museum over to confirm the site as a historical landmark, thus negating any deals with Barton. Tom’s wife Laurel, takes Oliver by the hand and drags him out to the dance floor with her as Tom watches on with a hint of despair in his eye.

The celebration is cut short, when Barton himself enters the pub along with a lady by his side. He introduces her as his negotiator Miss James. “It will be her job to persuade you to sell me your land.” Tom still refuses, arguing that she won’t convince him in any manner. Mr. Barton vaguely threatens Tom, telling him he doesn’t want to lose his other eye around all his equipment. He then also points out the closeness growing between Oliver and his wife, really getting under Tom’s skin. After stirring such menace based on these peoples’ flaws, Barton leaves with his negotiator.

While driving his family and Ollie home, Tom reveals to the archer what happened to his eye. It wasn’t him being some kind of soldier, it wasn’t taken out by a sheik for spying on a harem, or any of the other urban legends floating around. Instead, he was working on one of his sculptures without any safety goggles on, and a piece of marble struck him there, causing him to lose it. Ollie jokingly replies, “I like the one about the harem better.”

Early the next morning at McLaurrie’s Salvage, to prove that he’s really irish, McLaurrie sings Danny Boy as he opens the place up for the day. As he passes by a pile of wrecked cars, a bulldozer on the other side knocks the pile over on him. Driving the vehicle is none other than the negotiator, Miss James.

After McLaurrie’s funeral, people are less inclined to join with Tom and Ollie. Oliver his still adamant as ever to help out Tom and his family. As they start raising more ruins, Laurrie runs over to them holding sheet of paper. She tells them that their son Tommy is missing, and she found this paper which is a Bill of Sales. As Tom races to his house to get a gun, his wife pleads with Oliver to get him to stop. She’s afraid of what might happen to Tom if he confronts Barton.

Ollie finds Tom in his house gathering up weapons. Trying to talk sense into Tom, Ollie asks him what would happen to Tommy and his wife, if he should die, or to Laurel if both he and Tommy died. Tom responds “I know you’ll look after her, Ollie. Probably better than I--” At this, Ollie interrupts with a resounding “NO!” and punches Tom in the face. The two of them get into a brawl, until Ollie knocks the man out.

Gathering up his bow and quiver, Oliver tells Laurel goodbye and leaves their home. At Barton’s office, they are getting impatient for Tom to show up. Suddenly a green arrow flies in through a window, hitting Barton’s desk. In through the window emerges Oliver Queen, bow drawn. Miss Jones tells him that he could have been the heir to Tom Jones’ land, along with a home, a wife, and a son. Ignoring her, Ollie calls out for Tommy.

Miss Jones summons a man named Arthur to come out. On a floor above the office, a strong looking, bald man appears holding the boy, with a knife to his throat. Oliver states, “You know, Arthur ...the thing that amuses me about a 200-pound slime-bag hiding behind an 80-pound boy... is how much sticks out around the edges!” Firing his bow mid-sentence, Ollie pierces the man in the throat, making him drop the knife, and the boy slipping free. Miss Jones raises a revolver to fire at Tommy, but Oliver hits her in the hand making the shot go wild.

With Tommy in tow, Oliver makes his way back to Tom Jones’s home. The boy asks if Ollie can stay with them, but he says he can’t. This isn’t his home. As the Joneses have a tearful reunion with the rescue of Tommy, Ollie walks off towards the sunset in search of somewhere else and himself.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• This is good, but I kind of like the setup more in last issue than the payoff here. The end of last issue made it seem like Barton was hiring a mercenary, which he did in the form of Miss Jones, but she doesn’t make that big of an impact as a character. If it was somebody we already knew, like Merlyn, or somebody else hired from the League of Assassins, the threat might feel a bit more dire. Here it was just some random nothing lady, who we never get any back story on at all. Everything else was about as good as last issue, with the characterizations and dialogue, so she ends up really standing out.

• Again, I can't help but be a bit reminded of the Walking Dead when reading this, how the drama of this story plays out. It has several complex people inside of a very simple sort of story, which makes it more compelling when you feel like you can identify with some of the characters. Compelling isn't always the same thing as entertaining though, which one of the problems I have with some Walking Dead stories.

• A major part of the story is about where you don’t belong. At the end of the story, Oliver Queen realizes he has to move on in order for this family to function now that he’s helped them take care of their main problem. Tom doesn’t realize that he can’t help Tommy, until Ollie beats it into him. The beginning part with Dinah, Marianne and Officer Kaz is also about this, when Dinah refuses him again.

• The artwork is as good as last issue. There are a lot less landscape type scenes, and more action oriented layouts. There are really good uses of color at work here. When Barton shows up at the pub, there are a lot of blue and gray tones to emphasize the end of the peoples merriment and warmth. Then when Barton starts insinuating how close friends they actually are, there’s more of a hellish tone, with the walls and people licked in tints of red.

Quotes

“Funny how many of yours were once mine.” -Barton

“They can be controlled once they’re frightened.” -Miss Jones

“You lose!” -Green Arrow

____________________________________________________________________

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #5

Green Arrow #44

(March 1991)

 “Funny, it seems a bit ...fragile to me." -Mr. Barton

Rock and Runes (part 1) 

by Mike Grell writer, Rick Hoberg penciller, John Nyberg inker, Steve Haynie letterer, Julia Lacquement colorist, Katie Main associate editor, Mike Gold editor. Cover by Mike Grell
                         
Dinah Lance and her friend Marianne are walking down a Seattle street, Marianne enjoying the cool, brisk, autumn air. Dinah is much less cheerful, pointing out the smell of urine from an alleyway. Suddenly, a couple of thugs run by them, snatching their purses. As they attempt to flee, Dinah and Marianne fight back and kick their asses just as the cops arrive. After detaining the criminals into a police van, one of the officers approaches the ladies. He introduces himself as Aloysius Kazcinski, but says they can call him Kaz. Complimenting them on their help, Kaz recognizes Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary) as being Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)'s girlfriend, but that he hasn’t seen him around lately. Dinah confirms that he hasn’t, to which officer Kaz offers to take her out for dinner, but she turns him down. Walking on down the street, Marianne tells her friend the she should have gone with him. Asking if Dinah has heard from Ollie, “I don’t have any idea where he is or where he is. I doubt he does either."

In a forest, a young boy with a bow and arrow is trying to be quiet while chasing after a rabbit. A figure approaches them, scaring the rabbit and the boy off. It’s Oliver Queen, coming up the country hillside of Wales. The boy races to his home, passed some statuary, and straight to his mother and father who are waiting outside. Oliver approaches them, asking the father, who has an eyepatch, for a drink of water. The father shows him to a sculpted fountain, Oliver scoops the water out with a ladle and drinks. Oliver is then told that he must leave, the father does not want any trouble to come to his family. The father tells Oliver that if Mr. Barton sent him, he shouldn’t expect a warm reception, but Ollie denies knowing anyone by that name.

As Oliver leaves the family’s place, a car rolls up behind them. Out of it comes Barton and a couple of other men. They ask the father, whose name is Tom, if they’ve changed their minds yet about his offer. Tom refuses, saying that they will not take his land “I told you before, you and your real estate scavengers can find another piece of land to rape." Barton offers him a rose, saying he could retire on what he pays him for the land, and never have to worry about selling his art again. Tom refuses again, and Barton tells him that he can’t support his family on what he makes with his art, crushing the rose in front of them to drive the point home. Grabbing a hammer off of Tom’s work table, he raises it and threatens to smash one of his works, when an arrow darts by knocking the hammer out of Barton’s hand.

Rising out of the nearby forest, Oliver makes his presence known to Barton. With Barton questioning who he is, Ollie replies that he’s there to give young Tommy some archery lessons “Today’s lesson is sitting ducks.” Barton recognizes he’s American, and tells him that he should leave. Ollie refuses, with Barton backing down he gets into his car and drives away, warning that he’ll be back.

Oliver now aware of what has been going on, and his lukewarm reception by the family, they introduce themselves properly to the man; Tom Jones, Laurel Jones, and Tommy Jones. They invite Ollie into their home for dinner, which he graciously accepts. During dinner, they discuss the problem in more detail with Mr. Barton. He wants them to sell the land, because it has a small brook on it, which Barton wants to dam up to create a lake. This would destroy the trees, and flood over half of the property. Aside from that, he also wants to keep it intact so that his son Tommy can inherit it.

After dinner, Tom guides Ollie to another reason why he won’t sell. He leads him to a holy site built by the druids, an ancient area built in the second or third millennium BC. According to the runes, this was place where heroes would come and rest and drink from the spring. Or at the very least, it’s a device for calculating a lunar eclipse. Tom wants to get the site raised, restored and then recognized as a historical site, which would make Barton unable to flood the area. Tom tells Ollie that nobody will help him, because everybody else owes their livelihood to Barton in some way. He offers Ollie food and lodging, if he will help him get this straightened out.

The next day, Oliver is using a large trebuchet-like structure of Tom’s to pull the ruins up out of the ground. While Tom is away getting supplies, his wife Laurel offers Ollie some lunch. While inside the house, Oliver and Laurel get to know each other a little more. Laurel tells him about her life up to this point, Ollie tells her about America with a cynical view on it “Must have been a hell of a place at some point in time before all those people showed up.” After getting a little closer, Tommy interrupts them to ask if Ollie will show him how to shoot with his bow and arrow.

Outside their house, Oliver admires Tommy’s bow. He tells him that his dad helped him make it with his sculpting talent. To start off, Ollie gives the boy a block of wood to toss high into the air. As he does, Oliver and Laurel steal a glance of attraction to each other. Ollie then aims and fires an arrow up at the block, piercing it right in the center. After feeling a bit guilty about the moment shared between him and the boy’s mother, Ollie suddenly hears the sound of chainsaws.

Rushing over to the ruins site, Oliver witnesses Barton’s men in the middle of knocking down the ancient stones and tearing down the wooden structure Ollie was using earlier. Ollie attacks the men, one of them tries to retaliate with a chainsaws, but Ollie avoids getting hit and punches the man out. More men come after Ollie, one holding his arms back while others start hitting him in the face. Tom finally arrives in his truck, quickly getting out he joins Ollie in the brawl. Eventually the two of them fight all the other men off, Barton’s men limp away in defeat. Looking at the destroyed wooden structure, Ollie offers to replace it with a metal one that their chainsaws won’t cut through.

That night as the family plus Ollie celebrate their victory for the day, over at Mr. Barton’s he talks to somebody on the phone. He wants Tom gone, the unknown person on the other end says that they’ve worked for his father before. They don’t need to know how or why in order to get the job done.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• A friend of mine was talking to me about the Arrow TV show last night, so I thought I’d cover something with him in it today. I’m not too familiar with the character before Kevin Smith brought him back, except that he has a huge on again off again relationship with Black Canary and he’s been around since the 40‘s. I know his origin for the most part, I just wanted to read a simple story with him in it to begin.

• This was really good, if a bit simple and reminded me a bit of a procedural show from the early 90‘s. Like if Murder, She Wrote was about Green Arrow instead of Angela Lansbury’s sleuthing. The characters in this story are so much more complex and interesting than the ones I was talking about in The Flash story I wrote about a bit ago.

• The art in here is magnificent. The colors really stand out, and are so vibrant you can almost feel the crispness of the countryside weather, and feel the warmth once Oliver is welcomed inside the home. There’s a nice yellow background when Marianne and Dinah are attacked, emphasizing the suddenness of it all.

• My one minor gripe is that they don’t mention the lady Dinah is with by name at all. I had to go look it up on the DC wiki to write this. Which is fine if you’ve been reading the series, but this is your first issue like it is mine of Mike Grell’s run, you’d be scratching your head wondering who she is.

• There’s a common theme here of Oliver making people flee from him. When we first see him, he makes the rabbit Tommy is hunting run away. He makes Tommy run away to his home. He makes Barton run away, and he with Tom makes Barton’s men run away. I think this is where his attraction to Laurel comes from, because instead of fleeing when they’re alone together, she opens herself up to him instead of hiding like everything else.

• I really like how the dialogue is used in this story. There are no narrator boxes, no thought balloons, they don’t talk an over “realistic” manner like people try to do in modern comics. The symbolism and thematic tones work a lot better when you don’t just blatantly tell the audience what’s going on. This is one of the reasons Walking Dead is so successfully these days. I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I understand why certain things in it work the way they do. You know the characters based on how they act and react, as opposed to knowing exactly what they are thinking. You don’t want a huge climactic event followed by a character thinking “This is so awesome!” It just ruins any tension or atmosphere that you try to establish. Stuff like that usually takes me right out of the story.

• I’m going to cover the next part of this story in my next post, then I’ll cover the Two-Face issue from Batman I mentioned. Once I get to 11 of these posts, I think I’ll cover something outside of both DC & Marvel Universes, and then post 11 Marvel things and go back and forth like that, so I don’t get tired of either place.

Quotes

“That’s what happens to dreamers-- They find reality or rude awakening.” -Green Arrow

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.

Direct Course #4

Justice League of America #73

(Aug. 1969)

 “I... I'll do my best!" -Red Tornado

Star Light, Star Bright-- Death Star I See Tonight 

by Denny O’Neil, Dick Dillin & Sid Greene
                         
Deep in space, a very long time ago, a group of sentient suns hold court over their fellow sun called Aquarius who has committed some sort of crime. The suns take away all of Aquarius’s powers, except for the very basic needed to sustain it’s life. Drifting for eons, it’s hate being fueled the entire time, Aquarius eventually reaches earth.

On earth, the Justice League consisting of Batman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Hawkman and Superman at this moment, are gathered around a red robot from Earth-2 (an earth located in another dimension) who they call Red Tornado, is telling them the tale of how he got there; Back on the earth that he comes from, in an early spring evening at his observatory, a man named Ted Knight who is also the superhero Starman, is gazing through his telescope at the stars when he sees a strange anomaly in the sky. Donning his costume, Starman flies up to meet it. He fires his cosmic rod weapon at it, to no effect. Using a greater charge, Starman blasts the strange being, only for the blast to reflect back and hit himself at a greater power level. When punching it fails to work, the anomaly now in the form of some giant being, grabs Starman’s cosmic rod and keeps it, knocking Starman back to earth.

At that moment, Dinah Lance (alias Black Canary) and her husband Larry are just arriving at Ted’s observatory with some dinner for him. It’s at that time that Starman crashes back down through the glass dome of his observatory from space. Dinah quickly changes into her Black Canary outfit, and searches around the building to see if she can find what is amiss. Suddenly her husband approaches her from behind with a block of wood in one hand, and menace in his eyes.

Acting on instinct, Black Canary reaches behind her to disarm Larry. Larry suddenly wakes up out of his trance-like state, unable to remember anything between Starman falling and Black Canary attacking him. Utterly confused, Black Canary decides to use the signal on her belt to summon the rest of her team, the Justice Society of America. In this story, the members are Doctor Fate, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Wonder Woman, Doctor Mid-Nite and Superman of Earth-2.

On Alan Scott’s way to Black Canary’s summons, he passes by a big neon billboard for a movie featuring some kind of fantasy knight. The neon knight suddenly comes to life and starts attacking Alan Scott. Using his ring, Alan forms a sword to battle the neon knight, and after a small duel tears the neon knight apart. Flying off, Alan guesses that this has something to do with Black Canary’s call.

Doctor Mid-Nite on his way to the summons, comes upon a boy and his father standing outside of a toy store. The young boy sees figures of Doctor Mid-Nite in the window, and desperately wants one. After his father points out that Doctor Mid-Nite is heading their way, the boy whines, “Aww, I don’ want Doctor Mid-Nite in person! I wanna doll!” The young boy goes on a tantrum, tripping over his father, smashing a car’s window, and tearing down a lamp post with his bare hands. Doctor Mid-Nite approaches the kid to get him to stop, but the boy slugs him in the gut. Doctor Mid-Nite tosses one of his blackout bombs to momentarily blind the boy so he’ll stop. And just like that his strength vanishes, as quickly as it came.

Up in the sky, Doctor Fate is also following the summons, when a group of very dark clouds start to surround him. The clouds start raining fire down upon Doctor Fate, making him cast an ectoplasmic aura around himself for protection. He fires an astral bolt at the clouds, but they fight back with more intense fire. Using a two-handed bolt attack on the clouds, he manages to make them disperse. Drained of energy, Doctor Fate creates a cushion out of his astral energy to safely fall down on.

The rest of the Justice Society rush over to Doctor Fate after he lands. Doctor Fate looks up “Behold! The dark fog has pursued me!” Moving like a thing alive, the “fog” reveals it is indeed alive, for it is the banished sun Aquarius. It has recharged itself to full power, using the energy stored in Starman’s cosmic rod.

Aquarius tells the Justice Society that he was banished from the rest of the suns, for he is too in love with chaos to follow order, that he attempted to upset the natural working of the universe. Doctor Mid-Nite quietly diagnoses the being of being manic depressive, with a slight touch of schizophrenia. Larry tells the group that he’ll keep Aquarius talking, while they figure out a way to deal with it.

Larry asks Aquarius what is plans are now. The sun tells him that he’s been testing their world, by sowing the seeds of disorder around a bit. He claims that his absence has robbed him of his self-confidence. He plans to destroy the earth, before turning his attention to the universe itself.

At that moment, Superman, Wonder Woman and Red Tornado arrive ready to fight. Superman tells Red Tornado that it might be best if he sits this one out “Look, Red Tornado, I have nothing against you personally-- But you have a way of ...well... botching things!” Wonder Woman agrees. Red Tornado angrily watches, wondering how he’s ever going to get better is they don’t let him fight.

Superman flies to Aquarius, telling him that he must surrender. Hitting the giant sun being, Superman is astonished when Aquarius rises back up without any problem. Aquarius tells Superman that he had planned to delay earth for a bit, but he’ll destroy it right now instead. He then blasts Superman out of the sky with Starman’s cosmic rod, which is magic based and hurts Superman more seriously than kryptonite.

Wonder Woman sneaks up behind the being, to try and swing her lasso over the cosmic rod, from Aquarius’s grasp. After she misses, Aquarius begins to glow and emanate a massive amount of heat from his body. Wonder Woman retreats for fear of getting burned, and Aquarius claims this is more fun than he’s had in eons.

While trying to wake Superman back up, the rest of the Justice Society muster up the courage to rush the giant being. Suddenly Aquarius glows all the more, and unleashes energy spreading across the entire world, touching everything in its unstoppable path. The entire earth fades into nothingness.

Inside an ectoplasmic bubble that Doctor Fate created mere seconds before, the Justice Society have just witnessed the end of the world. Holding them in their shield bubble, Aquarius that they will perish just as their earth has. However, the sun being is too depleted after unleashing such energy and must wait to build it back up in order to destroy the heroes.

Unseen by Aquarius, a small red robot soars away. Doctor Fate telepathically tells Red Tornado that he must travel to Earth-1 and bring the Justice League back with him, in order to save everything.

Back on Earth-1, we learn that Red Tornado has been there for about two weeks, before the Justice League would listen to him. Hal Jordan proclaims that they have no time to start blaming themselves, as the team sits together to figure out a plan to rescue the Justice Society and Earth-2.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• I was originally going to do another Batman related post, doing the return of Two-Face in the 70‘s (also by Denny O’Neil), but this story grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. I’ll do that one soon though.

• While I was writing this, my brother brought to my attention that there are sun beings like these represented in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I haven’t really read a lot of Sandman myself, but I appreciate it being around. He tells me that in it, the Rao sun being of the planet Krypton is sort of talked into creating Krypton and Superman by Despair of the Endless.

• I really like this story, I can see how somebody like Grant Morrison is inspired by comics like this one when he was growing up. Animate, sentient suns, the way the Justice Society eventually bands together is reminiscent of the old golden age All-Star Squadron, where each member would go on a separate adventure that are mostly only tangentially related. Each member gets their own little character moment or beat.

Quotes

“Oh, well, if I’m having a fantasy, I might as well make the most of it!” -Doctor Mid-Nite

“Aquarius has just transported the people and object of earth to another dimension-- Another plane of exitance! There they will remain as long as we continue to exist-- For their only link with reality is our minds! Only our consciousness is checking the flood of chaos-- Of nothingness-- Aquarius has loosed! For when we perish-- All is lost!” -Doctor Fate (I know it’s rather long, but I thought this entire monologue was quite interesting in a meta-textual sense.)

____________________________________________________________________

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked DC/Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.