Daredevil #233 (August 1986)

Daredevil. The Man Without Fear. First appearing in Daredevil #1 (April 1964), he was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. Daredevil is Matthew "Matt" Murdock, an Irish-American Catholic lawyer from Hell's Kitchen in New York City. As a boy, he saved the life of a man from an oncoming vehicle. However, a radioactive substance fell from the truck and splashed his eyes. He would end up blinded, but there was a side-effect. The substance mutated him, causing his other four senses to become superhuman in acuity, and also causing him to gain a "radar sense", which helped him compensate for a lack of sight.

In the late 1970s, writer Roger MacKenzie took over the book. Using his background in horror comics, he started to take the book in a darker direction. Halfway through the run, McKenzie would be paired with a young artist named Frank Miller. Miller had a dislike for McKenzie's scripts, so he would be fired off the book, leaving Miller to write it as well as art.

With Miller in the driver's seat, the 1980s would see Daredevil be transformed into a dark anti-heroic character. The run would have aspects of film noir, and ninjas (It was the 80s, everything was better with ninjas in the 80s). Sales of the book would rise rapidly, and Miller's run would be regarded as one of the greatest runs for the character, if not some of the best comics Marvel was putting out in that decade. It would be an iconic run that would influence Daredevil's portrayal for decades. Miller was responsible for much of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's modern mythos, introducing the Hand, Elektra, establishing Murdock's Irish-American heritage and Catholicism, and revamping Daredevil's radar sense to make it more realistic.

One of those stories in that era was called Born Again. Basically in this story, Wilson Fisk, aka former Spider-Man villain the Kingpin, arranges to have Matt Murdock's life be destroyed and for him to descend into madness after he learns of his secret identity as Daredevil. Despite this, Murdock survives. He finds a new job as a diner chef in Hell's Kitchen. Desperate to kill the former lawyer, Fisk sends a super-soldier named Nuke to Hell's Kitchen to draw him out, assaulting Hell's Kitchen itself. Murdock suits up as Daredevil once again to take the fight to the super-soldier, and that's the point we'll take a look at. With that out of the way, let's take a look at the final Daredevil issue by Frank Miller: Daredevil #233!

The cover is an interesting one. The placement of Cap and Nuke makes some sense, as they both are super-soldiers. However, I do think that Cap should have been placed on Daredevil's side as he was hardly on Nuke's side in the actual story. Still, it's a good cover.

"Armageddon"
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
Inker: David Mazzucchelli
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story beings with...well, what else should a story called "Armageddon" begin with? An explosion.

I see the issue is dedicated to Jack Kirby. I wonder why, Daredevil wasn't a Kirby creation. Anyway, The Man without Fear himself is trying to find cover from Nuke. The super-soldier is hanging on a helicopter/gunship, firing at him with his custom-made weapon. The pilot tells Nuke that they're pulling out, as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen has vanished. Nuke refuses and leaps down, saying he'll find him, ranting the entire time about "our boys". Daredevil's super hearing picks up Nuke's heartbeat, noting it's too fast, wondering if he's on amphetamines.

Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, watches this joyfully. Wesley, his assistant, tells the crime boss that Nuke's rampage is all over the news, and pleads with him to stop it. Kingpin does not, as he is enjoying the show far too much. Daredevil tries to engage Nuke, but it's no good. The super-soldier is able to easily shrug off a kick to the jaw, and Daredevil gets a gun butt to the face in response. The gunship fires at him as well.

The Devil of Hell's Kitchen tries to use his marital arts skills to paralyze Nuke, but it's no good. There's something rather wrong with Nuke's body, like there's something artificial about it. He can't seem to hurt Nuke...but Nuke can hurt him. In desperation, Daredevil tries to break Nuke's arm, but he can't. He decides to stop "being clever" and kick him off the building. Ben Urich spots this and gets a photographer, an Irish woman named Glorianna O'Breen to capture the fight on film. On the way down, Nuke lands on some power lines, getting electrocuted. He then lands on a police car.

That kind of fall would have killed a normal man. But Nuke is anything but a normal man. It barely phases him. He continues firing his custom gun at Daredevil. However, the devil is able to take a leap and smashes Nuke further into the police car. Ben Urich notices the car is on fire, and tries to get Glorianna to safety. If that car fire hits the gas tank...

BOOM.

The car blows up, but Daredevil is able to leap to safety, getting Nuke's gun. Ben's coat catches fire. Nuke emerges from the fiery wreck, his body ablaze, but refuses to go down. Glorianna tries to help Ben while Daredevil breaks the gun's butt trying to give Nuke a broken face. The gunship fires, causing Glorianna to get shot. Enraged and saying "No more", Daredevil fires the gun at the helicopter, blowing it up.

Then out of nowhere, they appear. A man dressed like the American flag calls for a medic for Glorianna. He then yells for the fires to be put out, as they could hit a gas main. The scene falls to silence as a Norse God of Thunder, depicted almost covered in shadows, calls for the rain. The only ones speaking are Daredevil and Nuke. Daredevil has his hand on Nuke's throat, demanding he confess he was sent by the Kingpin. Nuke is begging for a "white", a pill that calms him down. However, a man in an iron suit demands that Daredevil hand him over, as he's got federal authority. Matt backs away, and Captain America looks away from Nuke in sadness and shame.

I do like the way the Avengers are shown here. Born Again was a street-level story, and it makes sense to portray the Avengers as these almost god-like figures that tower over Daredevil. Thor, being an actual god, being shown as almost completely covered in shadows is a nice touch. It's also a nice touch that the "Big Three" of the Avengers: Cap, Iron Man, and Thor are the ones used. Their appearance here also makes sense. With Nuke on the rampage, this has become more than just a street-level story. Nuke is a big problem, an enhanced super-soldier on the rampage that Daredevil can't beat on his own. His regular tricks don't work. He can't injure him with his martial arts skills, and I doubt his billy club would have been helpful to him, either.

Anyway back to the story. In another building, the Kingpin is having a conference with some other gangsters in the sauna. One of them, a Mr. Glazer, is furious about the rampage. It caused a lot of damage, which really hurts the organization's drug trade. He then goes on to rant that the Kingpin is screwing up and letting his obsession with Murdock overcome him. He thinks that Fisk's losing his wife Vanessa may have unhinged him a bit...then Glazer realizes with horror that he just pressed one of Fisk's Berserk Buttons. Fisk explains this to Glazer by grabbing his throat and choking him to death with one hand.

Dawn then breaks. Foggy Nelson races to a church, not realizing Matt Murdock is right behind him. The nuns in the church are caring for some of the victims of Nuke's rampage, including Glorianna. Sister Maggie, a nun at the church who helped nurse Matt Murdock back to health earlier (And is also Daredevil's mother, long story), tells Matt that he needs to go get some rest. Matt finds Karen in the church, and the two share a kiss. In the background, Foggy and Glorianna are conversing about the pictures she took for Ben Urich. Matt senses something outside, and heads up to the roof.

Yup. Captain America has been tracking him. Matt wants to know what the Sentinel of Liberty wants. Cap just wants to know who Nuke is, but Matt retorts he should ask the military, his employers. Cap explains that he doesn't work for them, and that all he was told was that Nuke was a terrorist. Matt doubts that, as he was too well-made. There are plastics in Nuke's skin, his body doesn't burn easily, and he's only partially human. Whatever Nuke is, he is not human. Matt does wonder what the big deal about him is to Cap. Cap's answer? "He wears the flag", referring to Nuke's American Flag facial tattoo. Matt leaps away, remarking he hadn't noticed. Get it? Matt is blind.

Ben Urich looks at the Daily Bugle copy, happy with the headline and Glori's photo of Nuke on the front page. And the scene shifts again to...this building.

Yeah, a big black building with a big eagle-and-shield logo on it. You'd think the military would want to house themselves in a building less obvious. Inside, the Kingpin is talking to a general that is on his payroll. The general assures Fisk that the Nuke problem will be handled. Captain America bursts into the office, holding up a copy of the Daily Bugle. He demands to know who Nuke is. The general tries to use flattery on Cap, saying that Cap isn't cleared to know about Nuke, and going on about how Cap is held in the highest regard because of his commitment and loyalty, yada yada yada. Cap, being Cap, has no patience for the general's butt-kissing, and reminds him of one thing:

This moment here has become a bit of an iconic one for the Star-Spangled Avenger. It really does help encapsulate the character. Back with Daredevil, he has another problem. The diner he worked at was one of the buildings wrecked during Nuke's rampage, and the insurance company refuses to pay on the policy. Insurance shenanigans are still a thing in a superhero universe, sadly. I would not be surprised if shadier companies did stuff like this more often. Matt suggests suing them, but the owners are reluctant as they think it won't help anything. Thanks to this, Matt and Karen are unemployed. Karen notes that Matt has something in mind.

Meanwhile, back at the big black military building, Cap is in an elevator with a guard. He tell the guard to take him to the vault. The guard tells him that Cap doesn't have the clearance, but gets KO'd. Up above, Nuke is being given a blue pill. You see, Nuke is given different pills for different things. When he's given a red pill, he's amped to fight. A white pill calms him down, and blue pills keep him calm. The pills would be retconned as placebos.

Anyway, Nuke is constantly demanding a red pill. The general tells him that he's got to stick to whites and blues for now. The general tries to pacify Nuke by telling him that he's being relocated for his own protection, not because he did anything wrong. Nuke begs to stay, as he is an American, and America is his home. The general tells him that Nuke can serve his country better overseas, where the enemy is. Nuke insists the enemy is in America.

Down in the vault, Captain America is hacking a computer to find out more about Nuke. He tries not to get resentful at the computer, as that's something old men do. He pulls up some files on Project: Rebirth, the government experiment that made skinny sickly Steven Rogers into the All-American Super-Soldier he is today. He discovers there were attempts to revive the program after him, and one of them turned a man named Frank Simpson into Nuke. Meanwhile, Nuke is getting...rather antsy.

He's ranting about how the press is making people feel ashamed of "our boys", and attacks a guard. A doctor tries to tranquilize him, but it doesn't go well. He shoots the doctor and the guards and breaks his cuffs. The general tries to calm the super-soldier down, but Nuke tells him he won't let the general down. He opens up the doctor's medical bag, and finds a container of pills. He downs a bunch of red pills. In the vault, Cap is still processing what he just learned, when he hears alarm klaxons. Daredevil suits up. He said he had a plan...

We also see the Kingpin accepting an award from a Businessmen's Association, the narration revealing that he obtained it through...rather insidious means. Despite this, Kingpin still feels haunted by Murdock. His assistant Wesley alerts him about Nuke. Speaking of Nuke, he's fighting his way out of the big black government building, but he runs into the unstoppable force: The Mighty Shield of Captain America.

Nuke proves to not be a very good immovable object, as Cap sends him through the building's wall. The two super-soldiers then full through a nearby building's roof. Meanwhile, Daredevil had beaten up some of Fisk's goons. They were running a gambling scam, that funneled money into the "technically legitimate" side of the Kingpin's financial empire. Daredevil also takes the money, planning to use it to rebuild the diner. Yeah, Daredevil showing more of his anti-hero side here, folks. And based on the last panel of the story, he may have given the money to the diner owners. You'll see what I mean. He then hears a phone ring. Daredevil listens in and learns that Nuke has escaped.

As he goes to check it out, Cap wakes up and starts thinking about life before WWII. He finds Nuke, clearly injured by the fall. The dazed super-solder mumbles he'll hold the line, but Cap picks him up. Daredevil hears some helicopters...and the radio chatter between them. Cap tries to take Nuke out of the building, but one of the helicopters fires at them when they get out in the rainy night. Daredevil tries to save them, but Nuke gets shot. As Cap stops the soldiers, Daredevil steals a cab and tries to drive Nuke to a hospital. However, Daredevil is blind, and the windshield and rain are making his radar sense useless. He picks up Nuke's heartbeat...and it's not good. He tells Nuke that he's going home, and the super-soldier dies in the back of the cab.

Daredevil realizes there is still one purpose the now-deceased super-soldier can serve. In a helicopter, Cap spots Daredevil's cab...and something else on a roof. The Kingpin is alerted to Daredevil's making off with nuke. Kingpin realizes Daredevil is heading for the Daily Bugle. He thinks Nuke must have overcome the Man Without Fear, and calls for his gunmen on the Bugle's roof. However, Cap dealt with them. And Daredevil delivers a present to Ben Urich.

"Oh hey Ben, how ya doing, buddy? Got a dead body here for ya." Thanks to this, the next few weeks do not go well for Wilson Fisk. One of the hitmen on the Daily Bugle's roof names Fisk as the responsible party for Nuke's rampage. He is under legal assault on various sides, from disgruntled ex-employees to even the Senate. His lieutenants obey his orders much more slowly, realizing Fisk has lost much of his fearsome unstoppable aura thanks to Daredevil. He's also become seen as a villain by the people thanks to this. As he works out, he plots revenge on the blind lawyer who brought this on him.

As for Daredevil himself? Well, he may have to deal with Fisk again in the future. But for now, he has found himself a moment of genuine peace and happiness. The story ends with Matt and Karen happily walking down a street in Hell's Kitchen, his inner monologue basically stating who he is. He is Daredevil, and he protects Hell's Kitchen.

Hey look, Mazzucchelli signed it. That's pretty cool. And as I said, I think we can assume that Matt gave the money he stole from Fisk to the diner owners to rebuild, so he and Karen can have some regular work.

This issue is awesome. It is an amazing climax to one of the best Daredevil stories ever written. It's action-packed, and like a film noir, there is a tragic element to it. Nuke is a bit of a tragic character, as it is clear that despite his rampage, he is also not quite all there in the head. It's what helps make his death powerful. Some may not like the idea of Cap playing such a big role in this issue, but it does make sense for his character here. Cap would not stand for such corruption in the military himself (Remember, he himself is a military man), and considering the context of the story, his role is rather minor. The ending is very nice. This was Frank Miller's last Daredevil issue as writer, so it has the feeling that he's cleaning up some final stuff, and preparing a new status quo for the next writer. Reading Born Again does make me feel a little sad in retrospect, considering how far Miller has fallen in quality as a writer nowadays.

Mazzucchelli's artwork is very well done. He was a good choice for this story, as his art has a grittier style that fits it very well. If you want to read it yourself, Born Again was collected in trade paperback form.

Next time, join me as we return to the DC Universe, as the Crisis on Infinite Earths rages on...

Solo: A Star Wars Story Trailer, My Thoughts

The Star Wars movie train is rolling along! Last month, I looked at the teaser trailer for Han Solo's...well, solo prequel movie, and now the full trailer is out! Let's take a look!

The trailer begins with a shot of the sky. The guitar twanging gives it a very Western feel. It's appropriate, as Westerns inspired Han Solo.

That shot of Han and his blaster is totally from a Western. Ten parsecs and draw, pilgrim.

O hai, Lando. Hustling, I see. I wonder if he ends up winning the job of Cloud City administrator in a poker game. Knowing Lando, he probably did.

Kind of weird seeing Emilia Clarke without the white hair, blue dress, and in a setting that has actual technology.

Seeing the people walking in the desert with waht looks like suitcases makes me think of Spaceballs for some reason.

So, Han's joining a criminal crew as a getaway driver, huh? I wonder if this film will explain the Kessel Run. And Woody Harrelson is awesome.

What happened to Paul Bettany's face?

Man, the Millennium Falcon looks so different without the decades of grime and jerry-rigged repairs.

Heh heh, Star Wars homaging The Great Train Robbery. Awesome. This film is supposed to be a "space Western", after all.

Wait, that Wookiee that Chewbacca is with. That would be so hilarious if that was revealed to be Mallatobuck. You know, his wife from the infamous Holiday Special.

Chewbacca's 190? Han is right, Chewy doesn't look a day over 88. What's his secret? I'm guessing pushups, situps, and plenty of juice.

Oh, man! This movie looks like it'll be a ton of fun! I want to see this!

Text Play: Pokemon Mega Adventure #5

Welcome to my fifth entry of my Text Play of Pokémon Mega Adventure!

We have arrived at Koriyama City, a place that seemed to be much more happening and has more stuff to do than Anomi City. And considering we went through a forest, I thought the first thing to do was hit the Pokémon Center, and heal up.

Hey wait, that guy at the PC in the corner. He looks kind of...familiar. Wait a second....

Oh, you gotta be kidding me. It's Ash. Ash Ketchum. Ash Ketchum. As in, the protagonist from the anime series. He somehow knows who I am (How does he know who I am, anyway?), and he's announced he just beat the Gym leader here. Oh, that's cool. Any tips? That could be helpful to me in finding out how to beat the Gym leader. What element or elements do they specialize in? Turns out he was talking to his mother and his Sceptile. Did Ash ever have a Sceptile? I'll go check. *goes to Bulbapedia* Oh...he did. He had it since it was a Treecko, too. Okay. That checks out.

Wait a minute, why isn't Ash my "rival" here? It would make a lot of sense. Ash is a well-known character thanks to the anime, and it would be perfectly in character for him to travel around a new region like this, having adventures of his own and the like. Well, he says Serena is waiting for him, so he must be journeying through Kalos at this point.

The old man in the Pokémon Center said he was a member of a Pokémon Fanclub. And they have a building they regularly meet in. As such, he invited me to a meeting. Hey, I'm a Pokémon fan, this could be fun. So, there I went!

One of the members of the Fan Club, a little kid, offered me a Treecko. So, I figured, why not? And here it is!

The kid was not kidding when he said that the Treecko had an unusual ability. In my experience, Treeckos tend to have the ability called "Overgrow". But this one has the ability "Unburden". Basically, if you give it an item to hold, it's Speed will go up. That's kind of neat. One guy at the Pokémon Fanclub offered me a Haunter for a Rattata. I traveled all the way back to Route 1 to get another Rattata, as I was not giving him my Rizzo. Once I got the trade, it became a Gengar.

That is perfectly normal. Haunter evolves into Gengar by trading. Which leads me to worry. I have a Geodude on my team. Once it becomes Graveler, I can't trade anything with it, so it can't evolve completely into a Golem. Oh, dear...

The final Pokémon I got was an Egg from the fan club's president. Knowing my luck, it'll hatch into a Togepi or an Eevee or something like that. At least with Eevee, I can breed it to collect Eeveelutions.

With that business out of the way, I can go do something else. But what, exactly? Well, a kid at the Pokémon Center did mention a place called the Pokémon-vn Academy...so, why not go there next?

Huh. There's a cave right near there. I'll have to remember to check that out sometime. This academy is huge on the inside. Must use some of the TARDIS's tesseract technology on the inside. There's a library area, which is really neat. According to a student, someone who is the "Akiba Champion", a person named Luan, comes along to give lectures here. Is Akiba the name of this region? I have not heard the name of this region at all in the game, and the site doesn't say. I'm going to say this region is named Akiba from now on. Hope you all have been enjoying my journey through Akiba so far, folks.

Yeah...this game still has some issues with the grammar in the dialogue. The academy has a storage area, and a Battle Room, where I presume Pokémon practice battle techniques. I wonder how they do certain techniques like Surf or Dig in a place like that.

I went up the stairs to the Principal's office. He introduced himself as Larren, and I asked about admission. Turns out that there's only a certain time to do it, and there are a lot of rules and regulations. Huh. You have to do this yourself, it's to be seen to be believed. I don't think Larren is quite right in the head. There is also a lab in the Academy. It's not much, just the scientists doing scientist stuff. One of the scientists does provide some correlation to the region being named "Akiba", as he mentions he's working on an "Akiba Pokedex."

I checked my Egg, and it was moving around a bit. There's another house in town.

Yup, it's May's house. Can't go inside, though. Door is locked. I guess nobody is home. Maybe she's out exploring or working for Professor Birch. There are another couple of houses right below, and a man standing between them explains that his brother can give me something special. A man in one of the houses gave me some Mystic Water.

There's also another house just outside of town, that is abandoned. It's locked up, no going inside.

I'm betting the inside is a haunted house, or something like that. That would be awesome. And would be a great opportunity to add some Ghost Pokémon to my collection.

Elsewhere in town, I learned the Gym Leader here is named Trung, and he's also a popular Pokémon Cosplayer. It's funny, but it does make sense. In these games, Pokémon are so prevalent in people's lives, it makes sense that everything they do would revolve around them in some way. I can imagine that in Alola, Mimikyu is a popular Pokémon for cosplayers. They can make special little costumes for them.

I figured since there was a cave in town, why not explore it? And inside, I found this.

There's a Feraligatr! I'm going to catch it!

Ah, it's Trung in a costume. Makes sense, he is a Pokémon Cosplayer, after all. I wonder if that happens to him often, people trying to catch him because people think he's a Pokémon. And I'm wondering if that Feraligatr costume is a hint of something.

He gave me HM01 (Cut), which allows me to cut that tree that prevented me from getting to his Gym. I learned that his Gym specializes in...wait for it...Water types. Yeah, first Gym was Rock-themed, and second is Water. The idea this game was originally a fan remake of Red and Blue is gaining more traction in my mind. If it was intended that Trung's costume was foreshadowing of his Pokémon specialty, well...that's pretty clever.

Well, I'd better get some Pokémon ready to take him on, then. Join me next time when  I face Trung for the second Badge!

Pokémon Obtained:
- Treecko
- Egg
- Haunter (Evolved into Gengar)

Upgrade Trailer, My Thoughts

What would happen if you took the Punisher, and put a computer chip inside him that enhanced his abilities, his aim and fighting skills? Well, Blumhouse is planning to answer that question with their film Upgrade. Let's take a look at the trailer!

So...this film takes place in the future?

Standard Paul Kersey-style origin, only the Paul Kersey of this film gets crippled.

Putting a microchip in a quadriplegic guy's broken spine that can restore his ability to walk. I can see absolutely nothing going wrong with this.

*preacher voice* HE CAN WALK! HE HAS BEEN HEALED, PRAAAAISE THE LORD! */preacher voice*

So, the man can have conversations with his spinal computer chip. I get the feeling that this will not end happily. A shame, because you could have some fun with this. Man and chip travel the country, helping people by fixing their cars and having adventures in the process. That would be such a great 1970s-style TV show.

Okay, so if the chip takes control, the man becomes a butt-kicking machine.

Ow. I imagined getting knifed the way we didn't see would hurt.

Dude has a built-in Arm Cannon. Like Mega Man, only with bullets.

Computer chip, do not lie. You were totally modeled after a ninja.

Well, this film seems pretty fun! I'll give it a looksee!

America vs. The Justice Society #1 (January 1985)

The Justice Society of America. The world's first superteam, they first gathered together in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940-1941). Born from the minds of Sheldon Mayer and Gardner Fox, the team brought together several pre-established characters from not just DC Comics, but also All-American Publications (Like the Jay Garrick Flash, Al Pratt Atom, and the Alan Scott Green Lantern), making it also the first inter-company crossover. The JSA would also be involved in the debut of Wonder Woman. However, at the time, she was portrayed as the group's secretary and didn't really participate in adventures with the rest of the team until late in the group's comic. Yeah, it was the 40s.

The JSA were rather popular in the 1940s, however that would be brief. Their adventures would seemingly end when superhero comics fell out of popularity in the 1950s, ending the Golden Age of superheroes.

However, it would only be a period of dormancy for the elder statesmen (and women) of superheroes. In the late 1950s, DC ushered in the Silver Age of Superheroes with the debut of the Barry Allen Flash. A few other Golden Age characters would be given modern updates for the time. The new Green Lantern became test pilot Hal Jordan who used his power ring as a member of an intergalactic police force. The new Atom would become Ray Palmer, a scientist who gained the ability to shrink in size thanks to a piece of a star. You'd think that with the space race being a thing at the time, they would have revamped Starman then, too. They would introduce an alien Starman in the 1970s, Mikaal Tomas, though. He's also one of DC's few gay superheroes.

And during that time, Barry Allen would get to meet Jay Garrick in the classic story "Flash of Two Worlds" in Flash #123 (September 1961). This revealed that Jay and the rest of the JSA were native to an alternate universe, giving birth to the DC Multiverse. I talked about the Multiverse a bit in my Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 review. The story got lots of fan mail from older fans excited about the possibility of the JSA's return, and younger fans who were curious about them. This would lead to the revival of the JSA, in the form of the revival of All-Star Comics in the 1970s, and annual team-ups between them and the Justice League from 1963 to 1985.

With the 1980s came Roy Thomas. Thomas was known by fans at this point for his work with Marvel Comics, writing X-Men, the 1970s Invaders series, and Avengers. He wrote the classic Avengers story Kree-Skrull War, and for everyone who watched Age of Ultron, he co-created the Vision. In 1981, Thomas came to DC. Thomas was a big fan of Golden Age superheroes, especially the JSA. As such, he essentially became the caretaker of the Golden Age heroes during that time, writing two series: All-Star Squadron (Which focused on the adventures of DC's Golden Age heroes during WWII, much like his Invaders work for Marvel), and Infinity Inc. (which focused on the JSA's children and heirs). During this time, All-Star Squadron #20 (April 1983)'s letter column featured the first appearance of the term "retcon".

So with that, let's take a look at a sampling of Thomas's 1980s JSA work, the first issue of the 1985 mini-series America vs. The Justice Society!

The cover is awesome. You got the JSA standing on a giant open book held by a large Batman, reacting to his accusing the JSA of treason. The cover of the trade to this recolors Batman and the book to grey, making him look like a menacing statue. It's a menacing cover and it gets the attention. I like that the cover shows exactly what you're going to get: Batman accusing the JSA of treason from beyond the grave. I like to think the members of the JSA used on this cover is not coincidental. Hawkman, Atom, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman, and Batman. They're JSA members that had counterparts in the Earth-1 Justice League.

"I Accuse!"
Writer: Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas (Co-Plotter)
Pencilers: Rafael Kayanan, Rich Buckler, Jerry Ordway
Inkers: Alfredo Alcala, Bill Collins
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Letterer: David Cody Weiss
Editor: Roy Thomas

The story begins with a newspaper with a shocking headline.

A diary has been published that was believed to have been written by the then-deceased Earth-Two Batman, claiming that the JSA were allies of Hitler during WWII. The Earth-Two Superman angrily tosses the paper aside and addresses the rest of the JSA: Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Wildcat (Ted Grant), Atom (Al Pratt), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Robin (Dick Grayson), Wonder Woman, Dr. Mid-Nite (Charles McNider), Hourman (Rex Tyler), Dr. Fate, and Johnny Thunder. The team are hiding in their old headquarters in Civic City instead of their newer brownstone in Gotham, as they need to come up with a plan to fight these charges.

Dr. Mid-Nite suggests that perhaps this is someone posing as Batman. Wonder Woman thinks that whoever did this timed it wisely. A few months earlier, some of the JSA nearly wrecked the world thanks to falling under the influence of something called "The Stream of Ruthlessness". Dr. Fate thinks they should examine the "facts". Superman agrees, although he does wish the whole team was here. Another JSAer (It's not seen which one) shuts that down, saying that involving the younger JSAers like Power Girl makes no sense, as WWII happened decades before they were born. Also, the Sandman isn't there because he's still recovering from a stroke. The Original Man of Steel recounts how this mess all started. He was in his office at the Daily Star. On Earth-Two, Clark Kent became the editor of the Daily Star. He was hoping for an interesting story to print, and he must have wished on a Monkey's Paw or something.

A man plops a book on his desk, with Batman's logo on it. I would question that Batman would do something so...obvious, but considering the man loved putting a bat theme on things, it makes a bizarre form of sense. And besides, it feels like something a Golden Age superhero would do. The man is revealed to be a Dr. Nichols, a past associate of the late Dark Knight. Several months before he died, Batman paid him a visit. The Caped Crusader explains that he wants to entrust the old man with this journal in case he died. Nichols not just got a journal, but some spools from a wire recorder. Nichols was told to never read the journal or listen to the recordings. But if he died before this day, Nichols was told to turn them over to Clark Kent.

After he leaves, Kent examines the journal. The handwriting is indeed Bruce Wayne's, and he even has pasted in some photos. This was blogging back in the day, folks. Except no else read the entries. The journal starts talking about the rise of the superhero, beginning with Superman. The journal then recalls a 1940 adventure when a group of those early "mystery men" were recruited by a British agent to take on Adolf Hitler himself in Berlin. The madman was armed with the Spear of Destiny, an artifact that was believed to have stabbed Jesus Christ in the side as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion.

Hitler tried to convince the burgeoning JSA to betray their country and fight for him. He does so with his known oratorical skills (and I like to think that holding the Spear of Destiny helped).

Hitler sent some Valkyries to kill Franklin Roosevelt later on. Superman (who wasn't in Berlin at the time of the supposed recruitment of the JSA to the Nazi cause), stopped a long-range German bomber over Washington DC. One of the Valkyries attempted to kill FDR with her spear, but the Atom was able to stop her, getting injured in the process. Batman's journal claimed that he actually just stumbled clumsily into her path. The rest of the JSA then faked stopping the Valkyries, and believing that it was real, FDR gave them his approval. On that day, the JSA was born. Superman realizes this retelling is a twisted take on the real origins of the Justice Society.

The journal would go on to tell distorted versions of some of the JSA's early adventures, like an adventure to raise money for war orphans really being used to fund the Nazis, and the like. Batman's journal also tells the tale of the JSA rescuing some scientists from supposed Axis agents, and among them was an assistant named Per Degaton.

Keep an eye on him, folks. If you've read this story already, then yeah. The scientists were hoping to obtain a formula from the future that would help make the US bombproof. The Golden Age, everyone! It's so delightfully wacky. The formula worked at first, but the journal claimed the JSA sabotaged it so that it would fail later. This event would convince Batman to renounce his supposed oath of allegiance to Hitler. The journal then refers to the wire recordings, which Superman uses his powers to "read".

The recording is of President Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins, then-Secretary of Commerce and one of FDR's closest advisors. They discuss where the JSA are, as something bad is coming. It turns out to be the attack on Pearl Harbor. The night of the attack, Batman visited FDR secretly. He confessed his sins to the President, and became the President's mole in the JSA. A few nights later, the JSA disbanded for the duration of the war. You see, they disbanded so they could become an extension of the Armed Forces as the Justice Battalion. Batman's journal points out that the group stayed fighting the Japanese despite the Germans being the priority at the time, and Superman remained at home, as it were. This was because at the time, Hitler had the Spear of Destiny. If the JSA invaded Europe, he could use the spear to take control of them.

Superman is shocked, and thinks Batman had gone insane. It's not hard to believe so. At one point, Batman fell under the control of the Psycho-Pirate (Remember him from the Crisis reviews I've been doing? Same one). During his control, he went crazy and tried to arrest the JSA as outlaws. He did clear them when he went back to normal, but who's to say there may not have been lingering effects?

Superman continued to read, seeing distorted takes on various early JSA stories, including their battles against various supervillains, the Freedom Fighters' going to Earth-X, and their reunion at FDR's funeral. The Original Man of Steel can't believe it, but it's clearly written by Batman, even using his special left-handed script Batman used to help protect his secret identity. The twisted tales portray the JSA as rival criminals to the Injustice Society of the World. The journal even twists the JSA's retirement in 1951 due to a HUAC-esque committee, led be a Senator O'Fallon, demanding they unmask. Senator O'Fallon died not long after this, the journal insinuating that the JSA killed him so he wouldn't investigate their wartime activities. The 1950s would go on.

The journal continues to recount the JSA's return to action in 1963, battling the immortal madman Vandal Savage. Then it would recount the grown-up Robin's joining the JSA alongside the Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl, who was essentially Earth-2's Supergirl. Batman himself had pretty much hung up the cape and cowl by then. The journal then ends with the time Bruce Wayne, who had become Gotham's Police Commissioner since the death of Jim Gordon, tried to arrest the JSA while under the Psycho-Pirate's control. Not long afterwards, in 1979, Bruce Wayne would don the Batman suit one last time, battling a superpowered criminal named Bill Jensen. Jensen was given powers by a sorcerer named Frederick Vaux. Yeah, not quite the epic way of going out you'd expect a Batman to go out, huh?

Dr. Fate would use his magical powers to make the world believe that Bruce Wayne and Batman died separately so it could preserve his, Robin's, and his daughter Helena Wayne/Huntress's secret identities. Clark asks Jimmy Olsen, and demands he verify it. He apologizes for the diary being published, but the JSA aren't angry about it. He's just doing his job. Fate reminds Superman that the truth will come out, but the JSA do want to know why Batman would print all those lies about them and their early adventures. They don't have the time to plan a defense, as the army arrives

The army wants to arrest the World's First Superteam, expect for Superman. However, the Man of Steel tells them if they have to arrest the JSA, they have to arrest him, too. Robin also starts to demand his own arrest as well, but Superman convinces him to not do so, as they need someone to find out the truth, and since he was too young to be accused of treason in the 1940s, he in in the best position to find out what is really going on. But Robin is not alone. In the trees, the arrest is being witnessed by the late Batman's daughter: Helena Wayne, The Huntress.

After the JSA are arrested and carted off, Huntress reveals herself to Robin. The two of them discuss the diary. Robin is really confused. Bruce Wayne's word carries a lot of weight for Dick, but he does want to assume the JSA are innocent. He also knew Batman a lot longer than Helena did. Helena is convinced the diary is a lie, despite her being his biological daughter. Dick understands, but he refuses to be a part of anything that means defaming the Batman, even in the grave. Helena gives Dick a hug, and the former Boy Wonder hopes that he and the Huntress can still talk. So does she.

Another group is watching the JSA get carted off: Infinity, Inc. They were a team of young heroes composed of the JSA's children and heirs: Jade, Obsidian, Fury, Silver Scarab, Northwind, Nuklon, and the Star-Spangled Kid. They're shocked by it, but Star-Sangled Kid is optimistic they will be cleared. Obsidian suggests that perhaps the charges are true, but get a threat of a fat lip from Silver Scarab for it. Fury suggests they break the JSA out of jail, which Scarab is all for. Nuklon and Northwind would rather wait for the dust to settle. Northwind thinks that since the JSA willingly surrendered, they have a plan of their own. The Infinitors look to Star-Spangled Kid for advice, and he tells them to stay put, and he'll get them the best legal help he can afford.

News of the JSA's arrest spreads throughout the country, eliciting various responses. But one person is rather overjoyed by it.

He reveals he's the son of Senator O'Fallon, and he's the owner of a newspaper called the Capital Globe. He was convinced the JSA were evil, and killed his father to cover it up. Only the Capital Globe suggested this, and he's worked his whole life so he could own the Globe, and basically get back at the JSA for it. He yells at one of his reporters to dig up more dirt on the Golden Age Guardians. The reporter, as he leaves, wonder if maybe O'Fallon himself engineered this whole "Batman Diary" thing. O'Fallon gets another idea, and demands to speak with the Attorney General.

In Washington, a young woman wearing a purple 80s suit walks into a building where the JSA are being held. Her name: Helena Wayne, attorney at law, with a side of superheroing as the Huntress. A couple of guards accompany her to meet the JSA. She's going to be their legal defense for their trial. Hourman wonders why Dick Grayson isn't with her, as he's practicing law again. Helena explains that he's feeling pretty confused right now. Hawkman wonders what Helena plans to do for her defense, and she says she is willing to use her father's...troubles in his last days if she must.

Green Lantern notices his ring's power charge has run out. Hourman remarks that his dosage of Miraclo, the drug that allows him superpowers for one hour at a time, wore off hours ago as well. Wildcat punches the wall in rage, screaming that they're doing this to wear down and lock up or vaporize them. Dr. Midnight and Superman are able to calm him down.

Helena reminds the JSA that there are two charges against the JSA that this congressional hearing are interested in. One is treason, and the second is sabotage of the bomb defense system mentioned earlier in the issue in 1941. This hearing is also just an inquiry to see if there are any grounds to try the JSA for treason in the first place. Flash tells Helena the real story.

At the time, the Flash was a much younger man, battling criminals in his native Keystone City. After showing some hoods what for, a policeman tells the Fastest Man Alive that Gotham City's police commissioner wants to talk to him. He arrives at Gotham, and finds Green Lantern waiting for him, alongside a couple of other men, with one being Commissioner Gordon. And Batman is on his way.

The diary did get this part right. According to Flash, after they were recruited by "Smythe" on their secret mission to Berlin, they first went to Scotland. There, they dealt with a Nazi named Helmut Streicher, who had set up a hidden base there as a back-stop for a Nazi invasion. The three heroes wrecked the base, but he was armed with an advanced giant robot which creamed them. When they woke up, they found themselves in the presence of Adolf Hitler himself, armed with the Spear of Destiny. And he was planning to kill them with it. However, Hourman and Dr. Fate would save the day, thanks to their being late for "Smythe"'s summons. Gives new meaning to the phrase "fashionably late", huh?

Hitlen then uses the Spear to summon some Valkyries, and they headed out towards Great Britain. The future JSA members headed out to stop them. Hitler took the opportunity to order an invasion fleet from occupied France to attack England. However, Dr. Fate prepared for that. He arranged a little "welcoming committee" in the form of Hawkman, Sandman, and the Atom.

Wait, is that Wonder Woman's lasso Atom is holding in that panel? Anyway, they also had the Spectre on hand to help. Yup, the embodiment of God's Vengeance wanted to smash some Nazis. The nine heroes were able to chase the Valkyries to Washington DC. It was a tough fight, not helped by a German experimental super-bomber sent to attack the Capitol. However, the JSA would get more help in the form of the Man of Steel.

The Atom got injured battling the Valkyries, but the man is a scrapper. One of the Valkyries managed to reach the White House. She tried to turn President Roosevelt into Norse shish kabob, but the Atom came to save the day, taking the blow for the President. Roosevelt was impressed by the work of these costumed "mystery men", and as such, convinced them to work together. Superman was the one who gave the JSA its name.

Jay then clarifies the second charge: Sabotaging the bomb ray. He says the diary is correct in the JSA saving a group of prominent scientists from some agents, but they were Nazi agents, not Soviet. In fact, the diary offered no proof they were Soviet. You'd think Batman would have included proof. Jay has no idea why the bombproof ray failed on its second attempt. Even the scientists weren't sure how it failed. After the project was scrapped, the Brain Trust went their own separate ways, all working on their own time travel-related inventions. But their paths would cross the JSA's in later years.

Yeah, you read that right, a Dr. Doome. No wonder he became a supervillain. A police officer walks in and brings in a TV, saying the JSA are going to want to see this. A newscaster reveals that the Congressional committee that is investigating the treason charges has got their own legal counsel.

Yup, Dick Grayson. The ward of Batman. And since Helena Wayne, Bruce Wayne's daughter, is the lawyer for the JSA...yup, we got some family drama coming in. Meanwhile, Grayson is furious at Senator Hoskins, the committee's chairman. He wanted to tell Helena this himself, but the story got leaked, and they had to cover it quickly. Grayson agreed to do this because if the JSA are guilty, he wants them to get punished. This was why the committee wanted him to be their legal council. The story ends with Senator Hoskins revealing that also has a surprise for Dick. They have a man they intend to use as their chief witness, the man who convinced Hoskins the JSA committed treason. And who is this man?

It's the Wizard, former member of the Injustice Society of the World, and raging egomaniac. He's all too happy to help put the JSA away.

This issue was rather enjoyable. We're seeing the JSA going though something that to them, must be horrific: Their names dragged through the mud and their service to the world during WWII being questioned. And even worse...it's done by one of their own, a former member that is long dead. I can imagine that this must have been a shock to those who were following the JSA at the time.

We also get some family drama being set up with Robin and Huntress (both children of the Batman) being on opposing sides of the issue thanks to their legal work. As a nice treat, we get to see a twisted take on the beginnings of the JSA, as well as a recap of some of their history. It's a thing through this mini-series. But it does serve a purpose here, as the JSA is trying to clear its name. This allows us to see the "real" history of the Golden Age guardians.

The artwork is done by multiple artists, but I didn't really see much of a difference between them. It's enjoyable art. If you want to read this story yourself, it was collected in a trade in 2015.

Next time, we join Daredevil as he reaches his rebirth...

4th Anniversary!

Hello, everyone! Today is very special day, as it's my blog's 4th Anniversary!

That's right, it has been four years since I started this little blog. It has been quite a journey. I have enjoyed every minute of writing on this blog. When I started writing this blog four years ago, I admittedly had started it really out of boredom. It was my 30th birthday, and I had wanted to write a blog for a long time.

I'm a big fan of Linkara's web show Atop The Fourth Wall, but I wasn't very comfortable with the idea of putting myself on camera to talk about comics or anything else I liked. But I did remember another old blog that is sadly no longer active: Dave's Long Box. I loved that blog, and I highly recommend it, but I do have to warn you, he does use adult language. He curses a lot. I only hope my blog can be a tiny bit as humorous as they are one day.

Anyway, remembering Dave's Long Box, and I had discovered a love of writing in college, so on my 30th birthday, I thought...screw it, I'm gonna start a blog. Nobody may read or care about it, but it'll be something to do, and much like David Campbell, I had a comic book collection. So, why not talk about it...and other things I like or catch my interest? I have just realized that with this fourth anniversary, I have actually outlasted Dave's Long Box by a year. Wow. Haven't gotten to his entry count yet. He's written just over 550 blog entries, and I have just gotten to 400. But that's alright. I hope wherever Dave is, he's happy and if I could thank him in person, I would. One of his funniest reviews was his review of Punisher #2 (August 1987). He also did a hilarious review of Thor #499 (June 1996), a comic that he considered so bad, he had to break it into two parts.

As I also mentioned, I'm a big fan of Linkara, and his show Atop the Fourth Wall. It's a great show if you love comics, and he also has reviewed various other things thanks to his Patreon subscribers. He is one of my big influences when it comes to his reviews of comics. If you like seeing bad comics roasted, give him a view. His Retrospectives and Secret Origins months are fun reviews, too. Give his show a try, you will not regret it. Like me, he's celebrating an anniversary this year, too. His 10th. Thanks, Linkara. You are one of the reasons I went on this blogging journey.

Admittedly, starting on this blog had been slow. I had been a bit lazy and barely posted. But over time, I found myself getting into a bit of a groove with the blog. I've written comic reviews, and given my thoughts on various trailers, even did the occasional movie review. I also am doing Text Plays of the Pokémon fan game Mega Adventure, inspired by J. Michael Shearer's Text Plays. If you like RPGs, give them a read. And I want to do more.

I'd love to talk more about movies I love, for example. Once I get a new TV, I can do more movie reviews. I would also love to put up a short original story or two once I can come up with one. And I would also love to do a Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence, another great Pokémon fan game. It's really worth one now that it's finished. I have so much I want to do.

I also want to say thanks to everyone who's been reading my silliness and enjoying it over the past four years. I have had a ton of fun writing on this blog, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon. It's been a blast from the start, and here's to many more years!

Happy Easter!

Hello, to all my blog readers! I just want to wish you all a happy and wonderful Easter Day today!

Easter is basically the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after he got crucified. Here in the United States, where I live, the holiday often falls on a Sunday, so it has not been declared a federal or public holiday. State and federal employees don't work on Sundays anyway, that's why. And many cities hold Easter parades. You can read more about Easter, it's history, and it's traditions here.

One of the symbols of Easter is the Easter egg. The egg is meant to symbolize rebirth and new life, which makes sense, considering what Easter is supposed to represent. Another Easter symbol is of course, the Easter Bunny. Originating among German Lutherans, the Bunny is a Santa Claus-like figure who gives colored eggs (and originally toys) to good children. You can read more about the bunny here.

Today is also April Fool's Day, so I'd take anything you read today with a big ol' grain of salt.

I guess this year, you can spend the day that that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus by playing pranks. Just the way the Bible intended, ha ha. :) Have a great day, everyone!