The New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980)

When I was looking for a comic to write about for this week, I thought I'd take a look at a DC book. After all, I am fond of DC. I also had discovered that it had been quite a while since I looked at a certain team of teenage/young adult superheroes, the Teen Titans. In fact, the last time I did look at a book focused on them was all the way back in March 2023 when I looked at The New Teen Titans #8 (June 1981). Well, technically, I also looked at JLA/Titans #1 (December 1998) back in April 2024, which was the first part of the Technis Imperative story. It's a story I consider very underrated. If you ever get the opportunity to read it, do so. It's great. 

When I realized that, I thought "Yeah, maybe I give the Titans another bit of spotlight on my blog." So, here we are. Let's look at The New Teen Titans #2!

The cover is a George Perez piece. It's really cool. It shows off the new villain Ravager and gives the impression that he's going to be a big-time threat to our heroes...that is if the shadowy man in the background doesn't whup for taking the credit for his actions. That made me chuckle, it's like something out of a stereotypical soap opera.

"Today...the Terminator!"
Writers: Marv Wolfman, George Perez
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story begins with a strange-looking man standing before a group of people in purple cloaks and hoods.

"...this is the weirdest session of D&D I have ever seen."

The cloaked figures are the HIVE, aka the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination. Yeah, they're debuting here, too. They're your standard superhero universe terrorist organization determined to rule the world. And Deathstroke the Terminator is in no mood for their theatrics. All he wants to know is who they want him to kill.

Naturally, since this is the Titans' book, Hive hired him to kill them. Slade demands payment in advance, but they tell him "No dead Titans, no money". Slade doesn't like those terms, so he decides to leave.

However, the HIVE have no desire to leave him alive. The room's automated defenses activate and try to turn the mercenary into Swiss cheese. Thing is, Slade Wilson is no ordinary merc. He's faster. Stronger. Tougher. And just too ornery to be taken down easily. He makes short work of these defenses. The Terminator grabs his sword to do a bit of beheading. People who refuse to pay him in advance and then try to kill him gets him in a beheading mood. Thing is, the HIVE folks who tried to hire him...were not there at all. Wait does that mean they...were ghosts?!

Not really, they were holograms. This leads Slade to wonder if they were really trying to kill him or test him. But it doesn't matter. He's still alive and his own man. Not to mention he has better things to do right now. Like polish his bottle cap collection. Or catch up on that book he was reading. He was really enjoying that book. I don't blame him. I'm a fan of Clive Cussler's works, too. 

As it turns out, the HIVE were testing him. As he battled their defenses, they scanned him, learning all about his biology, his abilities, even his shoe size. Because somebody at the HIVE is obsessed with shoe sizes.

We next look in an apartment in Manhattan. A young couple named Carol and Grant are having a bit of an argument. 

"I'm telling you Carol, the Cocaine Bear is good people! You're just species-ist!"

As you can see, Grant's been hanging out with a bad crowd. Naturally, Carol is very concerned and 2frightened. She fears he'll end up just like his father and brother. Grant is not happy to hear that, angrily grabbing her arm...and ends up blasted. 

To be fair to Grant, he was unaware "broccoli" was a slur on Tamaran.

It pays to have superhero friends. Donna Troy advises Grant to leave. He does so, but not before warning that he has friends as well, and he'll be back. Not only back, he'll also take care of Starfire and Wonder Girl.

Yeah, I doubt we'll see him again. But onto other issues. Kid Flash (Wally West) runs up and announces there's another emergency to take care of. The two Titan-ettes follow their speedy comrade in the air, Donna lamenting that she can't understand what Starfire is saying. Yeah, well. Starfire is a warrior, not a linguist. Also, it's the 80s, so the Rosetta Stone language-learning program doesn't exist yet. Fun fact, the first version of the program would be released in 1992, thanks to the rise of CD-ROM technology.

Anyway, the three join the other members of the New Teen Titans: Robin I (Dick Grayson), Cyborg, and Beast Boy. Those three are observing a theft at a pharmaceutical warehouse. The six Titans, even though they've been together less than a week, have already shown that they work pretty well as a team. It's discovered that the driver (and the thieves) are all robots.

Starfire goes...a little crazy with her starbolts on the robots. Robin tries to stop her, as she is destroying valuable evidence and clues. However, he fails. 

He notes that the orange alien seems to really enjoy fighting. He wishes that there wasn't this big old language barrier between them. It makes sense, Starfire is not an Earth girl, after all. But the orange-haired warrior has a fix for that.

This is how Starfire greets every Robin.

Yup. A big ol' smooch, and Starfire now magically knows English. Well, she explains that it just takes a bit of physical contact. She just chose to kiss Robin because she thought he was cute and it'd be fun. So, that's that problem magically solved. And to make things better, Cyborg found one of the robots. A bit water-logged, but otherwise undamaged. 

They're going to need help from S.T.A.R. Labs, in particular Silas Stone, Cyborg's father. Problem is, since Silas turned Victor Stone into a, well, cyborg, the former athlete wants nothing to do with him. He'll still make arrangements for them to talk to said labs, so it's not a major roadblock. Unseen by the Titans, they're being observed by Slade Wilson. The man is quite impressed. He can see why HIVE wants to be rid of them, even though working for them is still not appealing to him. 

As he returns to his penthouse in the East Side (presumably to polish his bottle cap collection), the scene next shifts to an island in the Mid-Atlantic. Grant Wilson lies down on a slab as someone tells him they're going to make him powerful enough to wreck the Titans. There are risks, but Grant is aware of them and is still ready to undergo this. 

Elsewhere, the young human/demon hybrid known as Raven is calling out to someone.

"Now go away, Raven! I'm watchin' my stories!"

She pleads for forgiveness for something, but Star-Eyes there is like "Nah", and blasts them away. 

We next go to Blue Valley, home of Wally West. He's been doing a bit of thinking. You see, he basically retired from heroics so he can concentrate on his college studies. But here is again, back in the yellow-and-red suit of Kid Flash. Maybe deep down, he missed being Kid Flash. After all, heroics can get in the blood. He finds Raven in his room. She tells him that she just needed some sanctuary, if even for a moment...but then reveals she said too much and vanishes. 

Teenagers can be overdramatic. Wally wants to know if Raven messed with his mind. Spoiler alert, she did, more on that later. 

We next look in on Robin and Beast Boy, who had been known as Changeling at the time. They're relaxing at Steve Dayton's mansion (Garfield Logan's stepfather). Dick Grayson is no stranger to living in a mansion himself. After all, he's Bruce Wayne's ward. But Dayton's mansion makes Stately Wayne Manor look like a shack. Meanwhile, Donna introduces Starfire to the concept of a swimsuit. Kid Flash goes to join them in the pool.  

Over in STAR Labs, Cyborg's father examines the robot and tells him that it's damaged beyond repair. 2And presumably, he can't identify who built the thing. Victor, who is still dealing with being, well, a cyborg, snaps at Silas, accusing him of not caring about anything but himself. As far as Victor is 2concerned, Silas is a sociopath that only cares about advancing science. He stomps away, a regretful Silas's thoughts revealing that the accident that caused Victor to become a cyborg...is also killing him. 

Victor stomps away, grumbling that if it weren't for Silas, his mother Elinore would still be alive, and he'd still be human...and then he gets hit with an explosion.

And the source stands revealed.

"I'm gonna beat this cyborg, and look good doing it!"

An empowered Grant Wilson, now the Ravager. He shows to be quite the tough customer. As he tries to strangle Victor, he rants that the Titans ruined his life. They destroyed his home, caused his girl to dump him, and now he's going to make the Titans pay. Uh, yeah, they didn't wreck your apartment, aliens did. And they didn't make Carol leave you, she chose to leave because you were on your way to beating the tar out of her, man. 

Victor does have one weapon that knocks the Ravager off his feet: his sonic cannon. It has Ravager on the ropes, but Slade comes to the rescue with a gadget that temporarily disables Cyborg. He grabs Grant and flees. 

We then next go over to the Dayton Mansion. Our young heroes discuss the need for secret identities. Gar finds the concept to be a pain. Also, considering that he is green, he wouldn't be able to have one. Wally West likes having his because it protects his family. Donna Troy doesn't conceal her identity, yet nobody's figured out she is Wonder Girl yet. Must be Amazon magic or something. 

Starfire points out that she doesn't need such protection, considering her parents. Which makes sense, she's a warrior princess. Literally. And the fact that she is also orange. But her family is very far away, and she believes that she'll never see them again. She says she cannot return to them. Wally points out that Superman or the Green Lanterns can take her home. After all, especially in the case of the GLs, space is their thing, and Superman's had his share of adventures in the Final Frontier. A teary-eyed Starfire is about to explain why, but Cyborg shows up. Way to ruin the mood, Vic!

But seriously, he's there to alert his teammates about the Ravager. Remember, this is the early 80s, and cell phones aren't remotely as ubiquitous as they are now. We next go to a townhouse in Manhattan. Slade watches over Grant as he recovers thanks to his enhanced metabolism. Grant is surprised to see Deathstroke. He says he's aware of the man thanks to his father. I'm assuming that Grant means his adopted father, as Slade is his biological father. Slade somehow knows Grant's enhancements are going to kill him and warns him not to use his new owners. However, Grant is not listening. He took an assignment to destroy the Titans, and he's going to do it. He's better than Deathstroke, and he will prove it!

Consumed by his desire for revenge against these heroes he barely knew a week earlier, he makes his way to the Dayton Mansion, where the Titans are waiting for him. And then Slade shows up, deciding to have a nice father-son battle with the Titans. 

"Time for a father-son beat-off! ...and I immediately regret saying that."

Just as the HIVE hoped. The two super-mercs....well, one super-merc and a super angry guy take on the Titans and give them a surprising challenge. 

As Slade fears, Grant's powers are burning him out and killing him. Raven then arrives, commanding Slade to take Grant out of there. The reason she formed these new Titans is coming, and they have more important things to worry about. Slade blames the Titans for is death, and Raven rightly points out that they did not kill him. But the thing is, in Slade's line of work, that's not how it works. Grant took a contract against the Titans, and that is why it's their fault he's dead. More on this later. 

In an epilogue, Carol goes to visit Grant's grave. Slade and Wintergreen watch her mourn. It's revealed that Slade took up the contract to honor Grant. Wintergreen says it's a shame that he never got to know Grant. But Slade knows Grant well enough. Like father, like son. The HIVE watches this, thirlled they got Slade under their thumb. For now, anyway. 

I enjoyed this comic, even though there were some things that made me scratch my head. I enjoyed the scenes with the Titans relaxing at the pool. I got a good laugh out of Donna trying to get Starfire to put on a swimsuit. I also enjoyed some of the storylines that were going on. It felt like every member of the team, save Robin, Changeling, and Wonder Girl, had something going on. Which made sense. After all, keep in mind, at this time, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire were new characters, so it was logical they'd get the lion's share of the focus. I also liked setting up 

I did think that Grant's turn to becoming the Ravager was rather...quick. He only debuted in the first issue, and I'd like to have seen him more pre-Ravager. Maybe over time, the Titans keep unintentionally complicating his life, driving him crazy and making him become the Ravager. I love the implication that the HIVE deliberately botched Ravager's empowerment to bend his dad Slade to his will. It kind of makes sense, considering the HIVE wanting Slade to work for them to eliminate the Titans.

As for Slade taking up the contract, I was confused by that. Slade claims it was to honor his son, but...he didn't want to work for the HIVE originally. Not to mention, nobody forced Grant to turn to the HIVE for his empowerment. I also get that the HIVE was trying to manipulate Slade into working for them, but there had to be an easier way. Why not kill Grant and frame the Titans? I mean, that would be simpler and set up a more complicated relationship between Slade and the Titans. 

George Perez turns in some very fine artwork as usual. While it's not as...evolved as it would be in his work on Avengers with Kurt Busiek, it's still very nice to look at. It's astonishingly detailed, and it has a good sense of storytelling in places.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 1999 trade paperback The New Teen Titans Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Metroid Ravenous Trailer, My Thoughts

Samus Aran is back, in a wild new adventure! Co-developed by Spanish company MercurySteam (who also helped make the last game in the series: Metroid Dread) and Nintendo EPD, Metroid Ravenous is the eleventh mainline game in the Metroid series. Not much has been revealed about the story of this game, so maybe this trailer will reveal something! Let's take a look!

I imagine Samus is thinking right now "Do you have any blasted idea how long it took me to get all the way up there?! Now I have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN!"

Never tell Samus the odds!

Yup, the gameplay is classic Metroid. 

SAMUS NEEDS MOAR DAKKA!

Hey, the counters from Samus Returns! Makes sense they'd be here, as MercurySteam was involved with that game, too. I've got to finish it one day...

Yeah, you wouldn't want to get eaten by that thing. 

OOH, THAT HAS GOTTA HURT!

Aw, man. This game looks so cool. Samus looks so dynamic. 

I think it would be such a funny running gag if Samus kept asking if people were going to eat things.

Whoa, what happened to her armor?! Is this like some kind of werewolf transformation? Is she becoming a monster? I think I need to play Dread...

Oh, Samus isn't just hungry, she's HANGRY. ...Who forgot to give her sandwiches?! Did Ridley steal her sandwiches? 

Well, this game looks like it'll be a lot of fun! A shame it's not coming to the Switch, but at least I have a reason to pick up a Switch 2 down the line. Seriously, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Switch was right there. Anyway, I heard nothing but good things about Dread, so I think this will be, too. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give it some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

What is Labor Day, you ask? Well, the American Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, which is when Canada also celebrates their own Labor Day. It marks the end of the summer, and it's a federal holiday here. It also means a three-day weekend.

What is Labor Day? Well, it's basically to honor and celebrate the working person, the people who work hard to build, to heal, to create, and to feed. A day to express gratitude to the worker and remember their contributions to the country.

So, how did Labor Day get started? Well, in the late 19th century, the growth of trade unions and labor movements led to a call to celebrate the working person. In 1887, Oregon became the first U.S. State to declare Labor Day a public holiday. 29 other states would do the same by the time 1894 rolled around, in which Labor Day became a federal holiday, signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. You can learn more about the history of Labor Day here.

The labor movement is the reason we have a minimum wage, Social Security, a 40-hour work week, Medicare, and even family leave. So when you celebrate this day, think about this...and thank a working person. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! Thanks for reading!

Marvel: The Lost Generation #4 (November 2000)

It's that time again! It's time to rejoin the First Line as we see their history from their death to their birth. Last time, we saw the Line deal with an old enemy of the Black Fox's, alongside the Mighty Thor, before the humbling he got in the Marvel Age. As we go further back in the Line's history, we end up seeing the First Line, and the United States, suffer a horrific tragedy. You'll see what I mean as we look at Marvel: The Lost Generation #4!

The cover is a John Byrne and Al Milgrom piece. It's pretty neat, if a bit basic. The "main event" of the cover is what appears to be a pair of monsters fighting it out. And we also got members of the First Line staring at this in confusion. I think. I mean, I admit, I'm confused, too. Who are these monsters? Why are they fighting each other? Well, only one way to find out! Read the comic!

"Lightning in The Day"
Writers: Roger Stern and John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story starts in 1947. A spaceship has crashed on Earth. In particular, the American Southwest. Inside the small ship are a pair of Skrulls.

"Ohh, this is the last time we drink Contraxian ale before flying..."

Meet Velmax and his commander, Zuhn. You may know Velmax as the First Line member Effigy. But this is some years before he helped found the group, and decades before he'd embrace Earth as his home. 

The Skrulls got shot down trying to silence an Earth aircraft that spotted them. When they leave the craft to examine it, Zuhn gets shot by another Terran.

"Holy smokes! ...y'all ain't gonna probe me, are ya?"

Velmax tries to scare him off by taking the form of a monster. It does work, as the human flees in his truck. Velmax witnesses the man's truck crash into a...rock or something? I don't know. The Skrull soldier goes to investigate and finds the man dead...and based on the smell of alcohol, he was also dead drunk.

Yeah, this is why you don't drink and drive, kids. Especially when you're fleeing from aliens. Velmax learns about the man by checking his wallet. The man served in the Army (presumably during World War II) and was cited for distinguished service. The Skrull then goes to bury him, presumably to help hide any evidence. His name? Jacob "Jake" Scott.

Yeah, there was a "real" Jake Scott. It was not an identity created by Velmax from whole cloth. He literally took the identity of a dead man. But that was in the past.

We next jump ahead to the First Line's base. The time? 10:15 AM, Rocky Mountain Time. The date? November 21, 1963. Nightingale senses that something very bad is about to happen. Beverly, aka Liberty Girl, asks if one of the voices in the healer's head ha4s become precognitive. It's not a premonition or anything like that. It's more like the mysterious healer feels strange resonances, feelings of imminent danger and loss. Basically, this day is giving her a LOT of bad vibes. Gee I wonder why...

Liberty Girl, being the savvy sort here, decides tell "the boys" about this. Who are said "boys"? Why, the Carney Boys, of course! Patrick Carney, the Yankee Clipper, and his younger brother Timothy, aka Kid Justice.

"I am the KING of the pommel horse!"

Yes, this is a younger Tim, long before he became the more serious Mr. Justice. He's a cocky teenager, thinking he can take on the world. He and Patrick are taking on a training robot created by the Black Fox. The robot is able to toss around Pat, despite his power belt giving him superhuman strength. Tim tries to sneak up on the Fox, but true to the Batman pastiche that he is, he magically saw it coming. 

"MY NOSE! MY BEAUTIFUL PERFECT NOSE!"

Fox tells him experience taught him this, and Tim will learn as well...if he lives long enough. Tim angrily storms out of the training room. He's about as fed up of Black Fox's Mary Sue nature as we all are.

 

It's here that Liberty Girl and Nightingale enter. Black Fox questions Yankee Clipper's decision to make Kid Justice a member of the First Line considering his attitude. But that'll have to be tabled for now. After all, there's some dark clouds coming. It's here we go next to the Northwest Territories of Canada, in particular a Chipewyan reservation outside of Yellowknife. A young man is lifting a large log by himself, showing that his strength matches his size.

🎵"Doo doo doo, carrying a log, doo doo doo..."🎵

Tired of the men's taunts, the powerhouse swings around the big log and slams it on the ground, scaring them off. He the finds himself in the company of Pixie. She's not just impressed by his strength, but the extraordinary self-control he showed with it. She's been watching this man for a few months now, and she believes that he is ready...and she just flies off with him. 

"You got nice muscles! PIXIE WANT SNU-SNU!"

This young man turned out to be one Sam Matonabbe, aka the future Oxbow. Yeah, this is how they met. I am not joking. This is one of the funniest moments of the whole maxiseries. 

Meanwhile, back in the First Line's HQ, the team at this time are gathered up (Black Fox, Yankee Clipper, Liberty Girl, Effigy, and Kid Justice) to hear about Nightingale's little bad feeling. She believes some great tragedy will hit within the next 24 hours...in Dallas, Texas. 

Yeah, if you're a bit of a history buff like I am, and you've been following this story so far...November 1963? Dallas? Yeah, alarm bells should be going off in your head, too. Effigy puts it together as well.

In Irving, Texas, a man named Lee is preparing a rifle to go hunting. He is caught by a woman named Marina. The two have an argument, and he angrily leaves, slamming the door.

The scene goes to an industrial plant east of Dallas. This plant is part of an aerospace company called  Winget. A man named Winget, presumably the head and founder of the company, has hired a man named Luke Garrow for a job. But first, Winget has a special device that he wants to show Mr. Garrow. It's a device that transforms him into a monster.

"I liked this shirt, man!"

Yup, this man is Howler. You may remember him from issue #6, where he was involved (and seemingly killed) battling the First Line on the Moon in 1969. You may also notice that his fur is white, whereas in his last appearance, it was yellow. Yeah, according to Howler's entry in the Marvel Appendix, this was because Marvel dumped shoddy production on the maxiseries, seeing it likely as an afterthought. I imagine his fur color was changed to yellow to make him more distinct in appearance from the First Liner Yeti, who was a white-furred monster-man himself. From an in-universe perspective, it can be theorized that Garrow regularly used this device after the events of this issue, and it changed his fur's color. That's what the Appendix theorized, and I'll go with it because it does make sense.

Yeah, sorry. Just wanted to give a bit of clarification. Anyway, Winget reveals that much like Mr. Garrow, he himself has the power to change shape. He is a supervillain known as Chimera, and he uses his own shapeshifting power to get one up on his corporate competitors when legit tactics fail. He proposes a partnership, which Garrow is all too happy to agree to.

That night, the two shapeshifters head towards another building. They find a guard sitting at a station. Garrow thinks this will be easy. One guard? Not a problem for a man with his power. He swats the guard away, only to find said guard is a dummy. Not "dummy" as in a stupid person, but a dummy like an actual mannequin. You know, the ones you see in windows of clothing stores.

Turns out the First Line saw this coming and set the two shapeshifters up.

Indeed it is. Chimera is understandably confused and decides, "Welp, time for me to hit the ol' dusty trail!"

During the fight, Black Fox explains that Garrow, being a fugitive wanted in several states (presumably for his activities as Howler), and that's why the First Line is there. He was spotted in the area, and the FBI called the Line in. Chimera realized the FBI are in Dallas because of the President's visit. The Line pursue the green shapeshifter. Liberty Girl tries to lure him in her direction using her cape like a bullfighter. Thing is, she's no Bugs Bunny, and Chimera is no Toro the Bull. 

Yeah, that's going to leave a mark. Liberty Girl is badly wounded, Nightingale going to do all they can to save her. Effigy continues the pursuit, wondering if this was the tragedy that the super-healer foresaw. He battles Chimera, the two shapeshifters using their powers to assume a variety of monstrous forms. Effigy is forced to impale Chimera, only to learn something shocking...

"I always knew you'd get me killed one day, Velmax..."

Yeah, Chimera was Zuhn, Effigy's old commanding officer. 

It's here we learn what happened to him after he was shot by the real Jake Scott. Velmax placed the injured Zuhn in a healing pod to keep him safe until it could fix him up from his gunshot wound. But then, the Army showed up. Velmax assumed the form of Jake Scott and gave them a story about evil aliens that he shot, and they dissolved like sugar in coffee. From there, Velmax maintained his cover, using Scott's lack of immediate family and good military record to start a career in politics. It took years, but he eventually got high enough federal clearance to find the craft they crashed to the Earth in. 

He had discovered that it had been taken apart and sent to various facilities. Velmax had also discovered that the healing pod that Zuhn was lying in was seemingly destroyed in a lab fire. Zuhn reveals that was obviously not the case. He had managed to get healed up and set that fire deliberately to cover his escape. A dying Zuhn's final question to Velmax is this: Why become Effigy and play superhero with the First Line? What as the point? Velmax tries to explain that he himself is not sure. Perhaps his years of living here has had an effect... 

It's at this point that Cassandra Locke arrives. Yeah, remember her? She's been doing a bit of time-jumping throughout this whole thing. She looks in on the First line mourning Liberty Girl. The Yankee Clipper goes to warn her about something, but her time-travel belt reacts to his power belt...

"Oh no, we triggered the Skittle Effect! We're all going to taste the rainbow!"

Both Cassandra and Patrick Carney vanish, and Nightingale is left rambling about circuits, death...and destiny. Timothy Carney is left confused. Where's Patrick? Is he dead, as well? Thing is, folks...we'll learn where Pat ended up in the future. I promise. Effigy assures the cops and FBI that Chimera won't be a problem ever again, which is true. Unlike many villains who return from the grave in stories, Chimera will stay dead, dead, dead. Forever.

The First Line head back to their headquarters with Liberty Girl's body. Effigy whispers that he never expected her to be their first casualty. Ever the optimist, he Black Fox expected it to be Kid Justice. The two discuss what to tell the press, as they'll be all over this...

...well, except for one thing. The date is November 22nd. The time is 7:50 AM. The man we saw earlier, Lee Harvey Oswald, walks into a Dallas book depository, and his actions will heavily shadow the Line's first major tragedy...

I did enjoy this comic. The theme of tragedy is prevalent in this issue, considering the historical event coming in the foreground, the death of Liberty Girl, and the disappearance of the Yankee Clipper. 

Stern and Byrne cleverly used real-life history to pull a tragic twist. We expected the big tragedy to be the First Line failing to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but it tuned out the tragedy was not only the Yankee Clipper vanishing, but Liberty Girl also being the first member of the Line to die in battle.

Yeah, the death of Liberty Girl can be seen as a bit of another "Women in Fridges" moment, much like with Miriam in issue #, but at least Beverly here got to have some dialogue, some interaction with the other First Liners, and also some idea of her personality, if it was just basic stuff. She was a brave and fearless young woman who clearly loved being a hero. I could also imagine that she and Nightingale were friends. So, her death, combined with her encounter with Cassandra Locke in this issue...yeah, it would affect her mentally. We also get the idea that she and the Carney brothers were close, this being the catalyst for Kid Justice to become the more serious Mr. Justice we saw in earlier issues.   

Also, I can imagine that some would find it a bit iffy about using the Kennedy assassination as the background to this story. But it does make sense. In general, the Marvel Universe's history is very similar to real world (Issue # not withstanding), so it makes some sense that the Line would have witnessed Kennedy's death. It makes sense they would have tried to prevent it...if they could. This story is clearly an excuse for the Line to not prevent it. Yeah.

My opinion on John Byrne's art here hasn't changed. Still better than the Liefeld imitators. 

If you want to read this for yourself, you'll have to find the back issues somewhere. This maxiseries was never collected into a standalone trade. It was collected in a 2018 omnibus: The Marvel Universe by John Byrne, Vol. 2. So, yeah. I would like a trade collection of this maxiseries myself. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!