Previews

The new edition of Previews, the comic shop catalogue is now out and ordering begins for comics starting in February 2015. I thought I'd share my thoughts on what I'll be ordering this month!



Black Hood (Dark Circle)

At long last the re-launch of the old Archie Comics characters begins with a crime-noir series featuring the Black Hood. It features a policeman whose scarred face following a gunfight makes him put on a hood and become a killer himself.

Given that Archie's new horror line Afterlife with Archie and Sabrina are critical successes, their new Dark Circle line should be worth a look!



The Multiversity: Mastermen (DC) 

The Multiversity #1: Directors Cut (DC)

A new chapter in Grant Morrison's excellent Multiversity series appears this time set on an Earth where the Nazi's have won the war and their version of Superman is called Overman! The old Freedom Fighters team exists on this world. So a welcome return to Uncle Sam, the Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Dollman and the Human Bomb as they battle the Nazi "heroes" Leatherman, Blitzen and of course Overman amongst others.

DC are also releasing a special edition of the first issue of the series highlighting the pencil work of Ivan Reis plus other features. This edition also includes a large fold out map of the multiverse. Strictly for the fan boys and girls I'd say!



Cluster (Boom Studios)

Small publisher Boom Studios is worth looking at and has produced some good titles such as The Woods and Wild Things both of which proved good reads. Their latest offerings include Cluster a science fiction series set in an era where mankind meets other races and war breaks out, In order to recruit troops criminals are given the option of serving in the army rather than prison. A ruse which reaches even minor offenders.

One group gets stranded and sets out to find the truth of what's behind Earth's wars.....



Divinity (Valiant)

Sticking to the science fiction theme comes this four issue mini series in Prestige format about a Russian astronaut returning from a forgotten space mission launched at the height of the cold war. He's changed and now is able to bend time, space and matter.

Oh did I mention he's a communist...

These are the titles I'll be adding to my "pull list" at the comic shop.

If you are interested and out of touch with the comics scene find a comic shop near you or go my local store: 30th Century Comics. They do mail order.

Wonder Woman: New storylines begin!

Wonder Woman #36 (DC)

Meredith Finch (w) David Finch (a)

After a story line lasting some three years since the reboot of the DC universe begun, Wonder Woman is to take a new direction under new creators. To summarise there has been a war in Olympus amongst the "gods" and it's ended with a number of changes. Ares, the "God of War" is dead and the his replacement? You got it, Wonder Woman.

The "First Born" is finally defeated and the "Last Born" has taken the throne, though being a bay his mom is with him for the moment. Until Zeus grows up again that is.

The males are back on Paradise Island and the Amazons are not happy even though they could not have won the war without them. However given their Queen and Wonder Woman's mother has been turned to stone the decision to keep them their lies with Diana as for the time being she's err.. the Queen.

Add to that her membership of the Justice League and Wonder Woman has got her hands full as off she goes to discover why so many people have died from unnatural weather causes.

The daughter of Zeus (as we have now discovered) is far from happy with all these responsibilities and lashes out at the Swamp Thing when she finds him at the scene of the crime.

A promising story, with guest stars a plenty in this first superbly drawn adventure.

Highly Recommended.



Superman/Wonder Woman #13

Peter J Tomasi (w) Doug Manke (a)

Now you did know that Superman and Wonder Woman were an item in the "New 52" and to cement their relationship DC have given them their own teamup book. Having just fought their way through the "Doomsday" crisis, Clark and Diana are off on a date that's what couples do isn't it?

Except these are the two most powerful superheroes on Earth. Their evening can't go without incident can it.....

Of course it doesn't.

Enter the Atomic Skull and Major Disaster, Clark and Diana's evening out comes to an end.

Combined with flashbacks to the attempted invasion of Earth as the two first meet this is a good issue to kick off with if you haven't given the title a try yet.

Did I mention Wonderstar?

Who he?

Highly Recommended.

Multiversity: Pax Americana

Multiversity: Pax Americana (DC)

Grant Morrison (w) Frank Quitely (a)

The latest chapter of Multiversity is probably the best yet. With action over the first three pages taking place backwards as President Bush is assassinated by a surprising character, this comic is worth reading more than once. It's very densely written and re-introduces the Charlton Comics action heroes from the 1960s (see post below).

See the Peacemaker under lock and key being questioned by the authorities, Blue Beetle chasing the Question. In fact see the side of the Question that became Rorschach in The Watchmen with lines like "I don't save bad guys".

And just what did happen to Captain Atom and why you shouldn't go anywhere near him if you find him.


If I have one complaint about this issue, it's simply there just wasn't enough of it and the whole parallel Earth deserves a series of it's own to continue and resolve the numerous plot lines that develop in this already oversize edition.

As for how it ended?

Next on the agenda is Multiversity: Thunderworld Adventures, Morrison's take on Captain Marvel/Shazam.

Can't wait.

Charlton Comics: Sixties Action Heroes Line

With the release of the latest chapter of Grant Morrison's Multiversity series I thought it time to have a look a t the characters he uses on this version of Earth in the New 52 "multiverse". These are from the short lived but fondly remembered Charlton Comics "Action Heroes line from the mid sixties.

The best known and longest running of their superhero line was Captain Atom created by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Space Adventures March 1960. He went on to have 12 issues of his own solo title oddly numbered 78 to 89 due to the policy of Charlton to continue numbering from previous and quite often unrelated series in an attempt to avoid postal charges.

 

The other hero that caught my attention in particular back in those days was the reinvention of the Blue Beetle.  Revamped by the great Steve Ditko these issues are particularly worth tracking down as the search for the original Blue Beetle leads Ted Kord to take up the mantle of Blue Beetle following the death of the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett.



In the first issue we see the introduction of The Question, a wee bit of an anomaly for the Comic Code controlled era of comics. In his one and only solo book published by Charlton, he leaves the villain of the story to die.

Many see the influence of Anne Rand's philosophy in this particular work. Nevertheless the shock ending does leave an impression on the reader.



The other heroes of the line did not particularly appeal to this young reader at the time, though they are worth a second look if you can find a copy.



The Charlton line of heroes were eventually purchased by DC Comics after Charlton's demise in the 1980's and Alan Moore had intended to use them as the basis for his opus The Watchmen, but after Dc realised how they would be used they made him create his own characters.

If you carefully examine this comic you will see how the various main players are based on the Charlton heroes.



Now that little trip through a small part of comic history is over it's time to read the latest issue of Multiversity.

Superman's Girlfriend: Lois Lane..right?

Lois Lane # 93 (National/DC Comics)

Robert Kanigher (w) Irv Novick (a) Curt Swan (c)

The Superman family of titles was at the heart of National/DC comics publishing programme for many years. Lois Lane is as far as I can recall the only "girlfriend" of any hero to get their own title just because of her relationship with a super-hero.

This particular issue published in 1969 is interesting as it seems to be a prophesy of what is yet to come in the twenty-first century. More on that later. Featuring a Superman/Wonder Woman team, Lois Lane seems out of her depth strength wise as far as this misleading cover shows.

In fact throughout the fifties and sixties DC had a habit of publishing covers that only sort of related what happened in the story. Some are more misleading than others. But great fun and sometimes worth purchasing for themselves!

For those of you not familiar with a little change that Wonder Woman went through here's the cover of the "new direction" the title went through as of issue 178.



Turns out that that the "Wonder Woman" that Lois finds herself fighting with is not what she seems. She's really a villain from the Phantom Zone and the real deal is being held captive by this evil doppelganger.

Lois and Superman of course are one of the most famous fictional couples of the modern age. But not everything lasts forever it would seem. Despite years of faithful pursuit and marriage DC comics New 52 reboot put an end to that. For now anyway.

Yup. Superman and Wonder Woman are actually an item. More than that they even have their own monthly team up book.



And the world knows! The secret is out.

Is there hope for Lois? Hints in some of the stories seem to suggest the age old romance will begin once again, but for now whilst Lois Lane remains a strong supporting character, it's Clark and Diana whose romance that enthrals the world.



For now.

Superboy: When Superman were a lad!

Superboy # 175 (DC)

Leo Dorfman (w) Bob Brown Murphy Anderson (a) 

Growing up in the sixties and seventies one of the comics that I regularly purchased with my limited pocket money was Superboy, adventures of Superman when he was a boy. Living with his parents Ma & Pa Kent in Smallville, Kansas Superboy was already a well established hero before he eventually upped an left for the big city or Metropolis as we came to know it.

This particular issue published in June 1971 contains one major story, Doomsday for a Super-Phantom plus a little two page short which I'll return to later.

One villain, Faustus part of a declining coven brings his declining family together to steal the powers of the boy of steel, but is forced to use modern scientific technology to enhance his (and their) magics to do so.

It fails at first, and off his relatives go leaving behind just one. A young orphan called "little" Asmo who has a bit more of the arcane powers in him than the rest rest of the clan, "uncle Faustus " included.

The story is fairly typical of the era with serviceable art and aimed at the still younger readership of the day and given that Superboy carried on until the mid eighties you can guess who inevitably won.

However the two pager at the back is also worth a read. Superboy first appeared in March 1949 as Dc cashed in on the popularity of the Superman franchise.



This meant of course that Superboy's adventures took place in the late twenties/thirties which caused a wee bit of a continuity problem and eventually they were set in the fifties. Ma and Pa Kent were also made to look younger.

How did this happen? The Superboy Legend we are told how an alien TV producer who uses pictures of real events in Smallville to create his show uses a youth serum to make the Kents younger.

It doesn't work well when his producers ask him to make a show of Superman where he needs erm, older characters. That's show business!

Still this issue and others like it were part of the mainstay of National/DC comics back in the day.

The modern Superman (including the latest "reboot" in the "New 52") doesn't appear in public until his "twenties" and Superboy is no longer part of the DC canon. Shame really.

There are other versions of Superboy, both clones, but they never live up the Boy of Steel himself!

Superman: The first radio show

In June 1938 the first issue of Action Comics appeared on the news stands featuring a new concept. The superhero.

Superman was born and went on to be an iconic fictional character around the world. Only a couple of years later as the rest of the world went to war, Superman became a long running radio show.

What follows is the first ever episode from 1940. As you will learn from the narration the early Superman was not quite as we know him today. He didn't fly, just jumped a fair distance, sometimes over buildings, could outrun a train and so on.

His other powers came later.

So without further adieu is a piece of history

Justice League 3000

Keith Giffen (w) J.M.Dematties (a)

Justice League 3000 is one of the more "left field" comics being produced by DC comics as part of their "New 52" universe. Advertised as the Justice League in the 30th century what we actually got was a bizarre group of individuals who thought they were reborn from the 21st century but something wasn't quite right.

Clones was the first though on every bodies minds but it turns out they are something different.

Something requiring a terrible sacrifice to bring in to being.



The hero's we meet are flawed. "Superman" is an arrogant tosser, "Wonder Woman" a wee bit of a psycho and after he is killed the Flash is a woman and she's actually from the 30th century.

The secret as now revealed (spoiler) is that a pair of ultra-intelligent twins (ones evil it turns out) have used DNA from the dead heroes to overwrite another human being so they become the hero.

In the latest issue Terry the evil twin plots his revenge by raising others on this basis. Bane, Sinestro, Zeus (don't ask), the Mirror Master and err... Lois Lane as a kind of Injustice League.



Not a suprise really, well except for the evil Lois Lane, but that's not the real mystery at the core of this story.

But first a recap, of sorts.

This is supposed to be the 30th century but there is no Legion of Superheroes. Earth is a prison planet.

So one asks is this an alternate future? A different dimension?

The mystery deepens as the anticipated return of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold takes place and these are the pre-New 52 versions according to gossip on the net, Blue Beetle is certainly not the alien symbiont of the new DC.

This book therefore suddenly becomes essential reading as the weekly Futures End and Earth 2 War books head towards Convergence next year.

More on that to come.

Back Issue Spotlight: Strange Adventures #122

Strange Adventures #122

Various (w) & (a)

Back in the early sixties DC published a range of science fiction and "horror" comics that were very much the product of a simpler age. I picked up a "fair" copy of Strange Adventures (Nov 1960) at a reasonable price though due to it being a bit fragile "cover wise" so I chose to read it flat on the table.

This edition contains three quite charming little tales, the first of which David and the Space Goliath was a modern take on the bible story with a twist. Think android with a dodgy stomach and you get the drift. The cure? Delivered by our version of David.

Quite charming.

The second tale loosely based on selling ones "soul" is Star Actor of the Space-ways about an ageing actor and an offer from a bunch of aliens he can't refuse, can he. All he has to do is impersonate an alien leader. But not for a good reason. It all works out in the end though as most stories of DC's family friendly series did in those days.

Finally we are treated to an appearance of Star Hawkins, a Private Detective in the 21st Century! This particular little adventure centres on his robot, Ilda in a little tale called The Case of the Red Hot Robot.

Also of interest are the adverts for other DC titles. An early adventure of the Justice league is given a full page splash and The Flash & Green Lantern are featured in mini-ads. The beginning of the DC universe. Those were the days though a little to early for me, I would have been 3!

Worth tracking down.

Superheroes Against Extremism

An interesting project by Jordanian comics creator Suleiman Bakhit that's well worth listening to.

We should all wish his project success!