All-Star Superman #9

It's that time again! It's time to look in on the Man of Steel in his supposed last adventures!

The story begins right after the events of the last issue, in which Superman managed to free himself from Bizarro World/Htrae with the help of Zibarro. He ends up landing near a circus tent. And naturally, being Superman, he's more worried about accidentally scaring people than any injuries on his part.

Page 201, Panel 4

He flies off, unaware that he's been...replaced.

(uh oh)

Superman flies back to Metropolis, and notices something...odd. The damage that Metropolis endured during the Bizarro rampage seems to not only have been repaired, but the city looks better than ever. Among its skyscrapers of concrete, steel and glass are crystal spires. Even the Daily Planet has got itself a makeover.

Page 203, Panel 1

Superman is...understandably confused.

(huh)

He could not have been gone that long. But time dilation can be a pain. He switches back to his Clark Kent clothes and is confronted by Perry White, who wonders where he's been in the last two months. 

(what)

Turns out in the hiatus, two new heroes have popped up in the City of Tomorrow. But they're not in the city at the moment. They're busy preventing a volcano from erupting and giving the nearby villages a lava bath. However, these two new heroes had another purpose behind it.

Page 205, Panel 5

Meet Bar-El and Lilo. Like Superman himself, they survived the destruction of Krypton. And much like Supes himself, the yellow sun has given them great power. Bar-El thinks this area would be a great spot for a capital city of a New Krypton. It's a nice spot. It's scenic, climate is nice, and there are some great views of the ocean. Lilo disagrees, thinking they could have just cleared the people out of Metropolis and started there. Less work. 

Superman spots them and asks if they need help. Showing their arrogance, they think it's the wind. Our man recognizes them. Bar-El and Lilo, Krypton's first astronauts. They were believed to be lost in space for decades. That's how they survived Krypton's destruction. The two are familiar with Superman, as his deeds have made him into a legend on Earth. They wonder why he never returned to Earth. That's because it's Superman's home. He was raised here. Clark mentions Jor-El, and they remark they have heard of him. A young dreamer, an ineffectual man. They're not surprised Kal-El takes after him. He could have made Earth into a new Krypton, instead of leaving it like this. Clark points out that he had no right to impose Kryptonian values on anyone. Also, he was a baby when he arrived on Earth. He had no values to force on anyone. As he was a baby.

(I'm just saying)

They head back to Superman's Fortress, where to his shock, they've taken over the place and redecorated it. As they show him around, Bar-El and Lilo remark that they have the right to conquer this world as on this planet, thanks to its yellow sun and weaker gravity, they may as well be gods to the Earthlings. They mock the Kandorians trapped in their Bottle City, even say that the criminals trapped in the Phantom Zone have more dignity than the Earthlings. Bar-El is disgusted with Clark, as he sees him as just as much of a softie as Jor-El. At least Jor-El never went native. Bar-El then starts laying Mighty Punches on the Man of Steel.

(fight fight fight)

They toss Superman into the Moon so hard it threatens to crack the Moon in half. Keep in mind, at this point, Superman is far more powerful than that. Scary, huh?

(scary)

Anyway, the two Kryptonian astronauts seal the moon by stealing some bridges and using them as essentially giant staples. The next day, Clark Kent arrives at the Daily Planet. Steve Lombard uses a lighter to literally light a fire under his butt, because he thinks it's funny.

(roll eyes)

But like in the Bronze Age comics, Clark gets a bit of payback by lighting Lombard's toupee on fire with his heat vision.

Page 215, Panel 2

Not that's comedy. Bar-El and Lilo find Superman there, and the arrogant astronauts are rather disgusted by his living among the humans as if he's one of them. Lombard, ever the brilliant intellect, thinks they're talking about him. But before they can expose Superman's secret identity to his Daily Planet coworkers, Lilo suddenly feels...weak. She starts to fall to the ground. Superman catches her. He examines her and notes that the minerals in her body are turning into Kryptonite.

(how)

You see, Kryptonite (at least the green variety) as we know it came about thanks to shards of the planet Krypton passing through a radioactive cloud in space. The radiation in the cloud altered the molecular structure of the shards, turning them into radioactive rocks of death. Bar-El and Lilo must have traveled through the cloud in their years in space. They're literally being poisoned to death by their own bodies. Superman asks them to let him help them. They may have been jerks, but they're still Kryptonians. They're still Clark's people. 

He takes them to the Fortress of Solitude, where they can interact via a device called a "thoughtscreen" (the Kryptonite poisoning has made them blind). Bar-El is shocked by this, as after all he's done, Superman's been nothing but kind. Superman explains that's because of his Earth parents. He may have been a child of Krypton, but he's just as much a child of Earth. Kal-El is the best of both worlds. 

Bar-El finds himself feeling proud of Kal-El. His heart grows three sizes this day, telling Clark that Krypton's heart lives on in the Man of Tomorrow. Clark admits that Bar-El was right about one thing: he's the son of a scientist. It's his nature to observe and learn. Maybe he could be more active. But now is not the time to dwell on that. His kin are dying.

There is a way to keep them alive. Like Mon-El before them, putting them in the Phantom Zone can do this, but it has to be their decision. Bar-El just asks Clark to put his hand in Lilo's. They agree to go, seeing this as another adventure. And like all their adventures in the past, they'll undergo it together. As Superman activates the projector, he promises to find a way to save them. But until then, the Zone will have some law and order. The last panel is of the two astronauts arriving in the Zone, a smirking Bar-El cracking his knuckles. Welcome your new wardens, skels.

I enjoyed this little one-off story. If I have one real criticism of the writing, it's that Bar-El and Lilo's humbling came about a bit quickly. But this is a one-off tale, so it can be forgiven. As for the art, well, I've talked about Frank Quitely's art in the past, and I don't feel the need to repeat it. My views on it have not changed. Great storyteller, but his renditions of people are very uncanny valley to me, yada yada yada.

When I think about it, I think Bar-El and Lilo inspired the portrayal of Jor-El and Lara in James Gunn's Superman movie. I mean, it does make a bit of sense. Gunn has credited All-Star Superman as one of the inspirations behind his movie, so I can see the slight resemblance.  

  

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (1982)

With February being Black History Month, I wanted to review a comic that focused on an African-American character. With the series WandaVision on Disney+, I saw an opportunity to showcase an African-American superheroine who I don't think got to appear here before now: Monica Rambeau, aka the second Captain Marvel, Photon, and most recently, Spectrum.

 Unlike Carol Danvers, Monica has never gotten her own ongoing series. However, that didn't mean she fell into obscurity. She's been a member of the Avengers (even got to lead the team for a period of time and was the team's first Black member), been a part of the more comedic team known as Nextwave, and most recently has been a member of the Ultimates. She's also made many appearances in various other comics over the years, mainly connected to the Avengers. And considering that both Captain Marvel and WandaVision have been making her more of a household name, I figured we should take a look at her origins this week. So let's look at Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16!

The cover is a John Romita Sr./John Romita Jr. piece, and it's pretty awesome, in my opinion. It shows Spider-Man, the Thing, and the Avengers reacting to a figure bursting out of the ground as a blast of light. It gives the impression that whoever this is, this person is a big deal, and we should keep an eye on them. 

"Who's That Lady?"
Writer: Roger Stern
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: John Romita Sr.
Colorist: Stan Goldberg
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter 

The story begins with Peter Parker at a bus station. He's waiting for his friends Harry Osborn and Liz Allen-Osborn to arrive when a lady sets off his Spider-Sense.

Peter decides to follow the mysterious woman, who walks into a rough part of New York City. Peter worries about this, as no native New Yorkers spend a lot of time there if they can help it. A pair of hoods try to make off with her purse, but the lady is also a bit of a tiger. She easily dispatches the men with a handy bit of judo.

Spider-Man swings down to compliment her, but she blasts him away.

That's gotta hurt!

The woman looks over the unconscious superhero, and naturally, he'll be alright. The woman then changes into a silver-and-black outfit. Spider-Man wakes up to see the woman blast off in a streak of light. He climbs up a nearby building with his wall-crawling ability and finds that the Empire State Building has lit up like the Fourth of July. 

Monica Rambeau is amazed by the sheer size of New York City. It's so different from her native New Orleans. So, how did our heroine end up like she did? Well, her tale begins at the headquarters of the New Orleans Harbor Patrol. She's been passed over for promotion to captain...again. And she wants to know why.

Her boss claims that he only has so many captain vacancies to fill, but Monica believes that he doesn't want a woman being the captain of a patrol boat. They argue, and she stomps away to her office. It's here she meets up with an old friend of her grandfather's: Professor Andre LeClare. He's a physicist who's considered a bit of a crackpot. His theories did get an audience in a South American dictator named Generalissimo Ernesto Ramirez. Ramirez funded LeClare's research in drawing energy from other dimensions...for the purpose of creating weapons.

When LeClare discovered this, he fled South America. Undaunted, Ramirez hired a former assistant of LeClare's named Felipe Picaro to continue the research. Picaro has been doing so on an old oil rig located off the Gulf of Mexico. LeClare fears that any potential weapon created from his work could make the atom bomb look like, in LeClare's own words, a wet match. LeClare couldn't get anyone in the US government to believe him, so he's come to Monica for help. 

She's unsure what she can do, as she's a harbor patrolman, not a government official. LeClare is hoping she could find a way to get the government's help...and he's aware that Monica has a reputation for being...unorthodox in her work. Monica gets an idea...

The next day, Monica and LeClare are heading to the rig on a speedboat. The plan is a basic one: She'll check things out, and if there's anything fishy, they'll head back and alert the Coast Guard. The speedboat arrives at the rig, and guards from the ne'er-do-well corporation Roxxon are there to greet it. They tell the speedboat to go away, so Monica goes into her "beach-bunny" act, giving the guard boys quite the view.

This gets the attention of Picaro, who lets Monica on board and tries to turn on the charm. The two have a picnic, and an alarm goes off. Turns out LeClare snuck on board the rig in an attempt to shut down whatever Picaro has going on in the rig. Picaro drags Monica with him, as he's convinced she's involved. She comes to the rig and an alarm goes off? Yeah, that's no coincidence, and he realizes that.

Picaro decides to show what his new device can do. He's gonna blow up Fort Benning, Georgia. Because he can. Monica gives him an elbow to the gut and smashes at the machinery with her fists.

This is why you bring a crowbar with you everywhere...

Her attack makes the machine explode, and she is transformed into a streak of light. She makes her way to the New Orleans waterfront, materializing on the docks. A confused Monica makes her way to a warehouse with a radio. She doesn't realize that the radio is unplugged...but that's no problem! She unknowingly powers it up, giving the radio a lot of transmission power, enough to call a Coast Guard ship out in the Gulf of Mexico. 

It's a bit chilly for a bikini and robe, so Monica goes to scare up some clothes. She discovers that she's in a storage shed full of costumes from Mardi Gras. Using some of the clothes, she cobbles together a costume to help keep her identity hidden. 

"So, what should I call myself? Photon? No... Spectrum? No..." 

Monica returns to the oil rig, noticing that the guards are out cold. She runs down and sees Picaro shoot LeClare. She then gives the renegade scientist a kick in the gut. The injured LeClare tells Monica that the machine has created a hole between universes that is getting bigger. If it's not stopped, it'll grow large enough to cause the destruction of the Earth. The newly-empowered heroine then feels herself getting sucked into the hole, but she feels the hole getting smaller. It's as if her body is absorbing the energies that created it.

Picaro wakes up and prepares to give LeClare another bullet, one he hopes will kill the old man this time. Monica is able to free herself form the hole, closing it and giving Picaro a nasty shock. She then gets the injured old man and herself out of there. The authorities will be here soon, and they'll have a lot of questions.

As they leave, one of the guards calls her "Capitan est Maravilla". Basically, Captain Marvel. Two days later, a hale and hartier LeClare comes to visit Monica in her office at Harbor Patrol HQ. He's ran some tests on Monica, and discovered that she now has the power to transform herself into any energy on the electromagnetic spectrum. Infra-red, visible light, X-Rays, ultraviolet radiation, that kind of thing. He's also given her a gift: A version of her makeshift costume from unstable molecules (The substance the Fantastic Four's costumes are made from). Monica is reluctant to take the suit, as she has no desire to be a superhero. LeClare tells her this is her destiny, and she's made the papers, with them giving her the name "Captain Marvel".

Monica goes to her boss's office, and tends her resignation. And all that was a few weeks ago.

She's come New York City for some help. Her energy levels are rising, and she fears that she'll cause an explosion. As such, she heads for the Baxter Building. She finds the building a wreck due to the events of Fantastic Four #242 (May 1982). Basically, a being called Terrax wrecked the place. She meets Ben Grimm, who informs her that the previous Captain Marvel, the Kree superhero Mar-Vell, had passed away months earlier.

"Don't worry, kiddo. You'll get on the superhero gossip grapevine soon enough..."

She needs Reed to help her deal with the energy buildup inside her. Unfortunately, Reed and Sue are on vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Ben uses the computer to call Avengers Mansion. They have some science guys there, maybe they can help. Monica uses her powers to travel to the Mansion, where Iron Man is on duty.

"Tony, did you try and download an emulator on the Avengers' computer again?"

Her arrival unintentionally overloads Iron Man's armor, and triggers the Mansion's security system. Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' butler spots our heroine over the fallen Golden Avenger. She tries to explain herself, but her body starts to glow. Spider-Man arrives and tries to web her up, but she's able to destroy it. With the help of his Spider-Sense, Spidey KO's her, but Iron Man and Wasp arrive to explain the situation. Spidey and Tony rig a way to leech out Monica's excess energy reserves using Tony's armor, Spidey's webs, and some cables. 

"Tony, this is no time to pretend you are a spooky ghost."

Wasp tells Spidey "You know, she might explode, we better get out of here." No problem, Janet! Spidey whips up a webbing shield. With the help of Spidey's webbing and Iron Man's repulsors, Monica is able to channel out the excess energies she's holding inside her. Ben Grimm finally arrives at Avengers Mansion (even superheroes have a tough time getting cabs in New York City), fearing that the worst may have happened. But he doesn't need to worry.

"Man, you Avengers can party!"

...where were the other Avengers when Monica arrived? Maybe they were all out doing other things? Anyway, Spidey can't stay, he's got a bus to catch. He makes it to the bus station, but it seems that he missed them. The Parker Luck strikes again...NOT.

Yup, they had to take a different bus, and Peter was just in time to meet them. Hey, even the Webhead deserves a break every now and then. The story ends with them going to get some lunch.

I enjoyed this story. Even though this is a Spider-Man comic, Monica is the clear star of the show. We get a great idea of who Monica is. She's a tough-as-nails woman, but her gaining superpowers makes her feel like she's in a bit over her head. I also liked that the story allowed her to sort of get to meet some of the heavy hitters of the MU, mainly the Avengers. Perhaps it was foreshadowing her future membership? Roger Stern did bring her into the Avengers during his time writing the book...

John Romita Jr. turns in some great art here. It's really interesting to see how much his art resembled his father in style at this point. Although I can't help but wonder if that's because Romita Sr. inked the art here.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Captain Marvel: Monica Rambeau. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! See you next time, when we join a new Thor in his first adventure...

Squadron Supreme #5 (January 1986)

Welcome back to Earth-712, everyone! The home of the Squadron Supreme, Earth's Greatest Heroes! For many years, they protected their world from threats too great for one of them to handle. When their world fell into chaos, they took matters into their own hands and tried to be its saviors...but they may end up becoming its tyrants.

Previously on Squadron Supreme: The Squadron Supreme dealt with a militia. During that event, Golden Archer nearly got killed, which led him to decide to propose marriage to his beloved Lady Lark. During that time, Tom Thumb unveiled a new device to reform criminals: The Behavior Modification machine, for the B-Mod. It let to a debate over the ethics of such a device. After Lark turns down the proposal, Archer secretly uses the device to brainwash Lark to make her love him again.

The cover is pretty good. You got the villains Quagmire and Foxfire standing in front of a screen showing a bunch of people in a cage, and there's Lamprey lying across it, looking creepy.  The Squadron Supreme is horrified by this. It's a great cover.

"Turnabout"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Bob Hall
Inker: Sam De La Rosa
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Golden Archer finding himself...in a bit of a bind.

He's hit with a ray fired from a gun that's being held by a man who looks like something from the nightmare of people who fear doctors. The ray puts him under some sort of hypnotic spell, and it's used as a convenient way to recap the events of the last issue. There was a bit of a problem, though.

The altered Lady Lark...became rather smothering. Evidently, using a machine to turn someone into a lovesick fangirl has some bad consequences. Who'd have thought this? Archer certainly didn't, as shown in this panel here:

I love that panel so much. Lady Lark's pose and expression is hilarious. Just look at Golden Archer's face. It says it all. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, really. He also recalls that the rest of the Squadron began to notice Lark's change in behavior. I imagine Arcanna and Blue Eagle would've noticed it the most. Anyway, Archer runs off, only to end up being purloined like a priceless pearl necklace. Then, the perpetrators of Golden Archer's kidnapping are revealed.

Say hello to the Institute of Evil, the vile villains who stand against everything the Squadron Supreme stand for. Dr. Decibel, the Satantic Sonic Surgeon! Ape-X, half-ape, half-tank, all-evil! Quagmire, the tar-wielding terror! Foxfire, the diva of destructive light! Lamprey, the power-absorbing perpetrator of mayhem! Shape, the rubber rapscallion!

Considering that the Squadron Supreme pay homage to DC superheroes, I wouldn't be surprised to see some DC influences in these villains, too. Dr. Decibel seems like a mix of Dr. Polaris and Sonar. Ape-X reminds me of Gorilla Grodd or Ultra-Humanite. Lamprey is a clear homage to Parasite, and Shape could be argued to be a take on Clayface. Foxfire and Quagmire seem to be completely original. As is it just me, or does Foxfire seem inspired by Grace Jones? I mean, a black woman with a blonde flattop, that's is something Grace Jones would do back in the 80s.

So, why has the Institute taken him? Well, Ape-X is very curious about the B-Mod machine, and wants to learn more about it. I would ask how she knew about it, but considering the length of time between issues, it's not implausible to say that she learned of it somehow.

The scene shifts to a prison in...Upstate Vesperia. I have no idea what state Vesperia is supposed to be. The warden introduces the Squadron members Hyperion and Arcanna to a man named Calvin Maroney. Maroney is a big-time criminal, serving a life sentence for kidnapping, homicide, and weapons smuggling.

Hyperion tells him that if he undergoes the B-Mod treatment voluntarily, he will be given parole. Maroney wonders what will happen to him on the outside, as so one will hire him with his record. Hyperion reassures him that he'll be given a new home and job.

I love the panel with Hyperion and Calvin there. The grin that Hyperion has is somewhat unsettling, considering what they're going to do with the criminal, even though it's voluntary in his case. Maroney undergoes the B-Mod treatment, and he says he feels great, like a big weight has been lifted off of his mind. This further shows the unsettling nature of the B-Mod machine.

They let Calvin go, and Arcanna realizes that they won't be able to B-Mod all the convicts today. They pack up the B-Mod and leave, planning to finish up tomorrow. Hyperion has some new jobs for the warden and his staff once the prison is closed down. Arcanna then realizes something: What if they meet a warden that is rather uncooperative? Hyperion assures her they'll get to that bridge when they come to it.

In Mechanopolis, Sigmund (Seriously Gruenwald, you couldn't use real place names? What on Earth is this place supposed to be?!), the Whizzer says goodbye to his wife and daughter. Mrs. Stewart laments that Whizzer is spending less and less time with them lately, due to the increased responsibilities of the Squadron. In less than an hour, he reaches Squadron HQ for their meeting.

Dr. Spectrum reports that neither he nor Lady Lark have found the missing Golden Archer. Hyperion makes a remark that they can't have a repeat of Nuke's disappearance, which...has an effect on the wielder of the Power Prism.

I did like this bit. It shows that what Dr. Spectrum is going through, the guilt and feelings of failure over the death of Nuke, is not something that magically goes away in a short period of time. However, Hyperion gives him the assignment because he's best for the job. Wouldn't Whizzer be just as good? He's super-fast. He could cover a lot of ground rather quickly.

Tom Thumb reports that he can have two more B-Mod machines by the week's end, but he needs some help around the lab. Hyperion realizes the Squadron are rather packed with work (no one said running a country was easy), and suggests cancelling all leaves for the immediate future. The Squadron objects to this for various reasons. Whizzer and Arcana barely get to spend any time with their families as it is, and Amphibian gets landsick if he doesn't get to return to the ocean. I guess Amphibian here was just like the Silver Age Aquaman, requiring hourly showers. Hyperion scraps the idea, but states the Squadron do need some help.

Back at the Institute's hideout, the villains make their plot to get their hands on the B-Mod machines, using data that they...extracted from the Golden Archer. Ape-X orders Lamprey to abduct Arcanna's husband and children. Foxfire will get Howard Shelton, Power Princess's husband. Quagmire will get the Whizzer's wife and daughter. Dr. Decibel and Shape will go and obtain Blue Eagle's mother. Knowing what to do, the members of the Institute of Evil roll into action.

I can imagine Quagmire getting all protective of his motorcycle.

Quagmire: Shape, stop eating your bloody cookies near my motorcycle! You're getting crumbs on it!
Shape: Shape sorry. Shape just think your cycle is pretty.

The next day, Tom Thumb is working in his lab, and he asks Aida to play some Dvorak for him. She suggests "New World Symphony", and he's all for it. He takes a moment to relax, where he starts coughing. Aida gets worried, and he reassures her he's alright. The computer suggests that he tell the others about his illness, but Thumb refuses. He has no desire for anyone's pity. Aida responds that they may be able to help him, but there's an intruder alert.

Aida's systems are jammed, so Thumb himself goes to the monitor bank to check it out. He notices the screens are covered in darkness. He then hears more noise, so he activates his force field belt, grabs an experimental neuron-scrambler, and goes to check it out. And he finds trouble.

The Institute of Evil are in the HQ, and are giving the place their...own idea of remodeling. Tom Thumb tries to fight them off, but the Institute's power and numbers overwhelm him. Lamprey absorbs the power of his forcefield and Quagmire traps him in a black tar-like substance, which is actually stuff from the Darkforce dimension. Aida sees this, and sends a distress signal.

The rest of the Squadron hear the distress signal, and fly off into action. Dr. Decibel and Quagmire take Tom Thumb to the B-Mod machine, and prepare to use it to brainwash Thumb into joining them.

Lady Lark, Doctor Spectrum, Blue Eagle, and Arcanna arrive at Squadron HQ, and try to fight off the Institute. In a nice touch, Spectrum is forced to use his Power Prism to protect himself from Shape, despite his reservations and fears. Tom Thumb points out a monitor, showing the Squadron's families in a cage. The Institute make their demand: If the Squadron don't surrender, their families die.

Power Princess and Amphibian also surrender "offscreen", then Hyperion and Whizzer arrive. Hyperion gets ambushed by Lamprey, who absorbs his power. Whizzer tries to help, but Blue Eagle stops him, telling him they got his family. A horrified Whizzer freezes, trying to decide whether to aid the Squadron or save his family, and then makes his move.

The Institute continue their plans anyway, preparing to brainwash Hyperion, the most powerful member of the Squadron first. Meanwhile, Whizzer is running to his home, wanting to confirm that the Institute really have his family hostage. He then realizes, "Wait, I can just call them!" Since it's 1985, he finds a payphone and calls them. No answer. He calls his neighbor and asks to check on them. The neighbor confirms that his home was broken into, and they're gone. With a scream, he rips the phone's cord in half, and runs to a police station. He asks the officer to take him to where they have kept their guns impounded.

He returns to the Squadron's HQ, and sneaks in thanks to a special entrance designed for Amphibian. He then makes it to the meeting room, and opens fire.

The Squadron leaps to the Institute's defense, and Whizzer runs out of ammo, only grabbing one clip out of desperation. He plans to get Thumb, but Lady Lark knocks him out. They B-Mod the speedster, and then head out to...wherever the Institute was hanging out, the Squadron's captive families in view. Ape-X congratulates the other members of the Institute on the success of their mission. Hyperion expresses pride in joining the Institute's ranks, and then...the trap is sprung.

The Squadron hand the Institute a royal walloping and rescue their families. Hyperion asks Tom how come the B-Mod didn't work on them. Thumb explains that since he's the cautious sort, he programmed the B-Mod machines with the Squadron's own brain patterns, so the machines couldn't alter them. It's actually pretty smart of Tom to do that.

I admit, when I first read this, I thought it created a bit of a plot hole. If the B-Mod can't alter the minds of Squadron members, how was Golden Archer able to brainwash Lady Lark? However, Tom saved himself, by revealing that he couldn't tell Hyperion when he got cautious. Which would basically say he made that programming after Golden Archer fried Lark's mind. It also makes sense considering people's casual ignorance of Tom throughout the mini. He was too busy to confront Archer, and he probably felt no one would listen to him about his suspicions about Archer, so he took matters into his own hands.

Anyway, Hype congratulates Doctor Spectrum for overcoming his aversion to fighting a bit. Whizzer apologizes for his actions, and says he'll accept any punishment for his actions or resign from the team. Hyperion reassures Whizzer that errors happen, and in the end, no harm was done. However, Whizzer feels that he's lost the team's trust.

This was a good issue. I do like the introduction of the Institute of Evil. They were a great way of expanding on the Squadron Supreme's world. It makes sense that a group of heroes like them would have a batch of villains they fight. It's also nice to see a good old-fashioned heroes versus villains story here. The story also has a great personal stake as the Squadron is trying to save their families, their revealing their secret identities biting them in the butt. Bob Hall has really upped his art game for this issue.

Next time, we take a look at a hero who watched over the streets of Metropolis's roughest neighborhood while Superman fought the biggest monsters and madmen. Yup, we're going to take a look at the first adventure of Black Lightning...

Captain America #372 (Early July 1990) - Review

Hello, and welcome to Classic Comic Showcase, the segment on my blog where I look at an old comic and see if it is good or not!

Comics can draw from all sorts of things for inspiration from stories. One source of inspiration they have turned to since the Golden Age is well...current events. Many of the longest-lasting superheroes emerged around the time of World War II. One of them was the First Avenger, Captain America!

Appropriately, Captain America's creative teams have drawn from the headlines for stories. Post-9/11, Cap dealt with terrorism. In WWII, he dealt with the Nazis. And in the early 90s, he dealt with the War on Drugs, one of the big issues of the time.

I also would like to correct a little mistake. In my last comic review, I said we would take a trip to 1991. I made a mistake, this issue came out in 1990. Yeah, it may be no big deal to many of you, but it does bother me a bit. You may also notice that this issue was said to come out in EARLY July. I'm reviewing this issue from the Streets of Poison Epic Collection (By the way, I LOVE the Epic Collection line, and I'm trying to get every one I can, even the Star Wars ones), and according to the issues collected, Captain America must've come out twice a month for a while. The series went back to monthly with October 1990's Captain America #378. I'm not sure why that is, maybe the comic had a surge in sales for a while. Or maybe it was for the story. I don't know.

"Sold On Ice!"
Mark Gruenwald - Writer
Ron Lim - Pencils
Danny Bulanadi - Inks
Joe Rosen - Letterer
Steve Buccelatto - Colors
Ralph Macchio - Editor
Tom DeFalco - Editor-in-Chief

The comic begins with Captain America flying through New York City in his skycycle. I'm guessing the other Avengers saw Hawkeye using one and thought "Hey, Clint's on to something, we should make those for everybody!".

"Did I leave the oven on in Avengers Mansion? Ah, this'll bother me all day..."

Cap thinks about taking Diamondback, his Catwoman to his Batman at the time on a spin on it when he sees what appears to be a costumed person watching the building she is residing in with binoculars. Amusingly, that person is singing "Bust a Move".

"Hey, I love that song! Maybe he's up for a duet!"

Cap discovers that it is Boomslang, a member of the Serpent Society...who are essentially a supervillain trade union. I love the concept. They're not to be confused with the Sons of the Serpent, Marvel's answer to the KKK. Anyway, Boomslang realizes that Cap is behind him, and freaks out.

"OMIGOD! CAP'S AFTER THE PIZZA ROLLS! I HAVE TO GET SOME BEFORE HE EATS THEM ALL!"

Cap chases after him, and desperate to hide, Boomslang runs into an alley. Gunshots are heard, and Cap discovers a group of gang members have shot the supervillain. You'd think the members of the Serpent Society would make sure their costumes are bulletproof at the least.

"Oh my God, they killed Boomslang! You bastards!"

The gang members, feeling cocky and being stupid...Seriously, this is Captain America! This guy has battled super-villains and beings that would make those punks wet themselves! Anyway, being stupid, the punks try to shoot Cap. Cap demonstrates his being the real deal by whupping the gang members' butts, and then gets the wounded Boomslang to a hospital, where there's a 50/50 chance he will pull through. If he does, he'll be very thankful he's part of a union. Actual benefits and all that.

His mood soured by these events, Cap decides to go back to Avengers HQ and relax when one of the Avengers' ground crew tells him something is up with one of the other workers: one Fabian Stankiewicz. Yes, at the time, the Avengers had a ground crew to help with maintenance of the Quinjets and the Mansion and the like. I always liked this concept, and it's a real shame current Avengers team don't use such a crew. Or if they are, they don't really give them any spotlight.

As for Stankiewicz himself, he has an interesting history. A mechanical genius, he started out as the supervillain Mechano-Marauder out for attention, only to get his butt kicked repeatedly by the Avengers. After a while, he got tired of getting his butt handed to him by the Avengers, so he tried to become a superhero called Mechanaut. He failed to join the Avengers, but Captain America offered him a spot in the ground crew, figuring his inventive skills would come in handy.

Fabian's been acting weird and hasn't slept in days, so Cap wants to see if he is alright.

Cap checks up on him, seeing him building something. He also notes that Fabian, normally rather chunky, has slimmed down quite noticeably. Fabian explains that he is working on a debugging device. When Cap asks what its for, Fabian immediately goes bugnuts.

"The Jeffersons have unleashed horses in my brain bootybootybooty I AM BATMAN!"

I love that panel. I don't know why. Maybe because it makes me think of Beavis. Heh heh, heh heh, fire fire fire, heh heh, heh heh, heh heh...

He thinks Cap is an impostor, so Cap asks if he is on something. After initially denying it, Fabian admits he is using drugs. He says he used them to help him deal with the pressure he felt working for the Avengers. He always felt he never truly earned the team's trust due to his supervillain past, and the high allowed him to work harder than ever. He explains the drug is called Ice, and it's essentially crack on steroids. He pleads with Cap not to kick him out, as the job was his life. Cap reassures him that he won't kick him out, as long as Fabian agrees to go to rehab.

Cap also explains that the Avengers are role models, and they can't tolerate illegal substance use. This makes Fabian retort that Cap technically owes his own abilities to a drug: The Super-Soldier Serum.

"How is that different?" "Uhhh...IT JUST IS! Now let's get some ice cream."

Later, at the scene of the crime, two men arrive at the site of Cap's battle, no, utter curbstomping of the gang members.

"I don't care if you're supposed to go under the pole! I'm steppin' over! I can't bend that low, man!"

These two men are called Lowlife (the white guy), and Groundchuck (The black guy). How did these two guys get those names? I'm guessing Lowlife got his name because, well, look at him. He looks like the creepy guy you find at street corners who want to show you something cool. And Groundchuck got his name because he really likes meat. That makes sense. A ground chuck is a cut of steak, after all.

The two men are sent packing by an unknown woman in spandex.

"Lowlife, you know I HATE cosplayers!" "Dude, they're not bothering anybody."

Cap does some research on the drug Fabian was taking. The drug is called Ice, a form of meth.

"Computer screens hurt my eyes."

Something about that computer screen does bother me, though. Besides that it's clearly plain text on a bright green panel. It says that it was only a matter of time before the drug reached the American mainland from Hawaii. Yeah, I think that entry was a little late as Cap discovered that Ice is in New York City already.

There is something about that scene I do like, though. Cap recalls a point Fabian had made about the Super-Soldier Serum that made Cap what he was being a drug in itself. Cap admits Fabian may be on to something, as despite the fact that the Serum only benefitted him and he never suffered because of it (Cap was a sickly person before the Serum), so technically, he used a drug, too. He also wonders if the Super-Soldier Serum may have been a forerunner to illegal steroids. In the Marvel Universe, that would not surprise me if that was true.

He decides to start doing something about the drug problem. Yeah, because a complex problem like that can easily be solved by shield-slinging.

We cut to a jail cell with unusual accommodations. After all, the prisoner himself is unusual. Spoiler Alert: It's Bullseye.

"Just because I will remorselessly kill someone with it doesn't mean I don't deserve solid food!"

Bullseye's jail cell is specially designed so he can't use any objects in it to kill anyone, as he is a remorseless killer, and he can use any object with lethal force. The comic says the ACLU were fighting against this, which makes me wonder if they are even the slightest bit aware of who this guy is and what he can do, I think they'd be understanding.

Despite the special measures, Bullseye is able to get out by knocking his head against the wall and loosening one of his teeth. When the guards come to his aid, he is able to overpower them, and uses one as a hostage to escape.

"FREEDOM, HERE I COME!"

Back at Avengers Headquarters, Cap finds out where Fabian got his Ice, and uses a disguise to meet the dealer. In a moment of cleverness, Cap takes advantage of a pusher mistaking him for a disguised Punisher.

"So...you got any of that Street Fighter thing the kids are into these days?"

Using the ploy, Cap is able to, make a long story short, find the warehouse where the Ice is supplied from. Unfortunately, the warehouse is not refrigerated, so they have to move the Ice quick, or it will all melt away. Yeah, bad joke, I apologize.

Cap bursts in, noticing that no one is there...except for one man, calling himself Napalm. He explains he can do this really cool party trick, but only one time. What's the trick?

Kablooie.

"We're going out with a BANG, baby! WHOO!"

Will Captain America survive this? Well...yeah. He does.

The rest of the issue is a backup tale, focusing on Lemar Hoskins, aka Battlestar. He is camped out in front of the West Coast Avengers compound in Palos Verde, California. Yes, the Avengers had a West Coast-based team for a while in the 80s and early 90s. It was a concept I always thought was really cool, and it would be nice to see one of all the Avengers teams running around these days be based on the West Coast.

Hoskins finds his target: John Walker, aka USAgent, who was a West Coast Avenger at the time. He uses a special sniper rifle to get his attention. Walker claims to not recognize him, even though they were old friends. Hoskins recaps to Walker about their friendship and their time working together, and even Walker's time as Captain America when Steve Rogers quit in the "Captain America No More" storyline. Hoskins himself first got the superheroic identity of Battlestar during that time.

He also recaps Walker's faked assassination, which is another story. Hoskins explains that he got suspicious of Walker's death when his body disappeared from the morgue, and he got Valerie Cooper to confess that Walker was alive, but claimed he was undercover. All he wants to know is why this happened, but Walker claims he is not him.

Hoskins insists he is, even reminding Walker of his birthplace and family...including his dead parents. Yeah, during his time as Captain America, Walker's ID was exposed by two embittered former friends of his, and an ultra-right-wing group known as the Watchdogs kidnapped his parents. Walker tried to save them, but died in the process, making Walker go crazy for a while.

Walker loses it, screaming his parents are not dead, and whacks Hoskins right in the face. Hoskins vows to make him see some sense. The backup tale isn't much more than a recap and reminder of Walker and Hoskins' history together, and Mark Bagley's art is very well-done. I see no real issues with it.

Captain America #372 is...an interesting comic. It's not a bad comic, just...an interesting one. Mark Gruenwald was known for using Cap to explore various social and political ills, so it's not surprising that he would want to explore the scourge of drugs. One of my favorite parts of the issue is the description of Bullseye's cell. I thought it was very clever, as well as the revealing they tranq the man before giving him a bath and medical checkup. I like little clever moments of genre-savvy like that.

The issue is a set-up issue, the beginnings of the "Streets of Poison" storyline, and it does its job. Not a bad little comic. If you find the Streets of Poison Epic Collection, pick it up. I love Mark Gruenwald's Cap run, and I think you may enjoy it, too.

And here's my previous comic reviews:
- Action Comics #644 (August 1989): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/action-comics-644-august-1989-review.html
- The Punisher Annual #4 (1991): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-punisher-annual-4-1991-review.html
- Skull the Slayer #1 (August 1975): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/skull-slayer-1-august-1975-review.html
- Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/fantastic-four-1-november-1961-part-1.html (Part 1), http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/fantastic-four-1-november-1961-part-2.html (Part 2)
- Marvel Preview #4 (January 1976): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/marvel-preview-4-january-1976.html
- Spider-Man 2099 #1 (2014): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/spider-man-2099-1-september-2014.html
- New Warriors #1 (2014): http://randomrockinblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/new-warriors-1-2014-my-first-comic.html

Action Comics #644 (August 1989) - Review

I love 80s comics. I don't know why, but I do. However, the majority of 80s stuff I have read from comics' Big Two I have never read in actual floppy form. I have a massive trade paperback collection, where I have gotten to read many of the Big Two's 80s output from that time.

I struggled to find a comic to review for this blog when I saw my copy of Superman in the Eighties, a trade collecting a sample of the Man of Steel's adventures during the time of neon, jazzercise, and glam metal. I leafed through it when I read quickly through the last story in the book, and I decided, "Hey, I'll review this one!"

The scans come from said trade paperback. It's a good trade if you can find it, collecting some of the best Superman tales from the Me Decade. It also contains a great introduction by the legendary Jerry Ordway, who worked on Superman back in those days. There are only two issues I have with this trade: the pages are printed on what seems to be the same paper regular comics were printed on. Also, the trade has a cover gallery, but they are not of the comics collected in the trade. I had to go to Google to find the cover of this comic. You may have to go online to find a copy as it is from 2006. I was lucky to find this on the shelf of a comic store at a local mall.

The late 80s, much like the last couple years, were a fresh start for the Man of Steel. When Crisis on Infinite Earths hit, Superman was given a reboot. Many elements of the mythos were removed for various reasons, like his teenage career as Superboy (as a consequence, his adventures teaming up with the Legion of Super-Heroes were considered non-canon), and the removal of Supergirl and many of the Kryptonians he encountered over the years (It was felt that they were redundant). History repeats itself, indeed. So, let's look at Action Comics #644!

"Doppelganger"
Plot: George Perez and Roger Stern
Script: Roger Stern
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Brett Breeding
Letters: Bill Oakley
Colors: Glenn Whitmore

I love the cover. It grabs the eye by showing what looks like Superman, yet not. The costume is all wrong color-wise. He looks menacing, with a shadowed face except for evil-looking white eyes and standing in rubble. I think it was drawn by George Perez, so that has cool points already for me. I know there is an accent mark over the first e in Perez, but I have no idea how to type it, so my apologies for that.

This comic starts with Superman flying back to his boyhood home of Smallville, Kansas. He was called there by Lana Lang, saying someone called "Matrix" was becoming a handful.

"Did I leave the super-oven on in the Fortress of Solitude? Ah, that's gonna bother me all day..."

He discovers that Murry's Place, a small business in Smallville, I'm assuming, was wrecked. And nothing else was. The cops and building inspector explain that it happened at night, and one deputy was said to have joked that only Superman himself could've caused such destruction, but he was in Metropolis, so he couldn't have been responsible. The Man of Steel figures Matrix was behind it...and for some reason, he also deduces that Matrix was posing as him.

We also get a bit of a recap of who Matrix is and how...Matrix came to Smallville.

Your new Supergirl for the upcoming 1990s! Enjoy, fans!

Yeah, the Superman creative team really liked Supergirl, and wanted to revive the character (Kara Zor-El was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths). However, the higher-ups did not want her to be a Kryptonian, because at the time, they felt having her be a Kryptonian would hurt Superman's branding as "The Last Son of Krypton". Personally, I would've just said she was the "Last Daughter", but that's just me. I'm silly like that.

So, to get around it, they came up with this origin for the Post-Crisis Supergirl. Essentially, she was a shapeshifting artificial lifeform created by an alternate world's Lex Luthor to help liberate said alternate world from three tyrannical Kryptonians. She used psychokinetic abilities to mimic Superman's powers. Yeah, comics are weird.

She ended up the only survivor of that world, and as such, Superman decided to take her to his so she wouldn't be alone. He also left her in the care of his parents because he figured, "Hey, they raised me, they won't have any problems raising another being from another world." Then, Superman was having some personal troubles and needed to leave Earth for a while, so he asked Matrix to keep an eye on his parents for him. No pressure.

"You want me to what? What's going on?"

Based on that panel, one can assume Matrix has been hanging out with Walter White. Anyway, Superman also reveals that Matrix has been living as Clark Kent (evidently as a strange way of doing what Superman asked him/her to do), and somehow blew up his apartment...which was not mentioned earlier in the comic. Okay. How did he learn this?

Lana tells Superman that Matrix has come back to the Kent farm, and Ma and Pa Kent are trying to calm him down.

"After breakfast, I'm going to the Robinson Crusoe shipwreck cosplay party!"

Matrix rants about staying on the farm and helping Ma and Pa work on it, Superman observing from outside. He tries to think of a way to convince Matrix that he is not Clark Kent, but Matrix suddenly starts saying what Clark is thinking. Matrix panics and sees Supes out the window, then blasts him.

"Oh, my God! That man's got my face! And a much nicer outfit!"

Superman recovers and finds Matrix has taken Lana and the Kents away. It's revealed he has taken them to an abandoned quarry. The three try to convince Matrix he isn't Superman, but Matrix is too confused, even changing his tattered clothes into a darker take on Superman's classic costume.

"Please tell me I got Superman's costume right...Oh. I am NOT good with colors."

Using his visual powers, Superman follows Matrix's heat trail to the quarry. Matrix rants about a recent kidnapping she was a victim of thanks to Lex Luthor, which he could not know about because the Kents never told him about it. Superman realizes that somehow his and Matrix's minds have linked up, which explains how Matrix can remember things and was able to say what was on his mind earlier. Despite this, Superman is able to ambush the crazed Matrix.

"*Kool-Aid Man crashing noise* OH YEAH!"

Superman checks on his parents and Lana. He then tries to get Matrix back to his senses, but Matrix is too convinced he is the real Superman, and they start to fight. The fight uses some of the trademark Perez tricks, including the usage of panels to help move the action.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"

We briefly cut back to Metropolis, where Karen Faulkner at S.T.A.R. Labs is trying to contact Superman. The reason, the Will Payton Starman needs his help.

"That's okay, I can wait. I'll just stand here with my hands behind my back..."

Back in Smallville, Superman and Matrix's brawl take them back to the building the Kents and Lana were hiding in. They try to flee the collapsing building, but Lana is injured by rubble. The Kents try to get her out of there, but the fight is causing the building to collapse.

Superman hears Ma Kent's cries for help, and saves them from the falling building.

"Man, if I wasn't Kryptonian, this would hurt."

Superman confronts Matrix, explaining that during a self-imposed exile in space (long story), he had been given a Kryptonian artifact called the Eradicator. Matrix had accidentally activated it somehow, and it caused their minds to be linked. Matrix hallucinates that Superman is a Silver Age-styled General Zod, threatening to find a way to destroy his new world. Matrix completely flips out and blasts Superman with psychokinetic energy. In an AWESOME sequence, Superman takes the blast, and just marches right up to Matrix and talks him down.



"IMMA BLAST YOU Ah, crud."

Matrix realizes how much he has screwed up, and decides to leave Earth to find himself, and as penance for disgracing the name of Superman.

"Did I leave the oven on in Smallville? Ah, that's gonna bother me all day..."

This comic isn't a bad story. It has an epic fight scene and we get to see Superman go back to his boyhood home. Its big weakness is that it has trouble standing on its own. You really are going to have to have read previous comics to have a full idea of the story. The fact that I did not see any editor's notes about what issues previous events happened in does not help.

As for the art? It's George friggin' Perez! What more do you want?! His art is incredible here! It's wonderful to look at! It's actually one of the highlights of this book, it's very pretty to look at. His layouts are really neat, too.

Do I recommend this book? Again, it's not a bad story, but it does have a bit of trouble standing on its own. As for the trade I got this issue's scans from, Superman in the Eighties, pick it up if you find it. It's got some neat stories in it. For my next review, I want to take a slight jump forward to 1991 with Captain America as he takes his first steps into the Streets of Poison...