Armageddon – 2419 A.D. (1928) and The Airlords of Han (1929)

Oddly enough, this cover to Amazing Stories
for August 1928 depicts not “Buck Rogers” but
rather E. E. “Doc” Smith's The Skylark of Space.

By Philip Francis Nowlan (originally published in Amazing Stories, August 1928 and March 1929, reprinted many times since, usually together)

I was a huge fan of the “original” Buck Rogers as a child, my parents having given me a huge coffee-table sized collection of almost random comic strips, both dailies and Sundays, The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century (1969) 'round about 1970 or so. It was without a doubt the very first collected comic material that I ever owned. And I loved it, spent many glorious hours reading and rereading it, until the big, heavy door-stop of a book (which I still have) nearly fell to pieces. (The first few years of the dailies are available here.)

Chase (DC, 2011)

Reprints Chase #1-9 (Feb-Oct 1998) plus other materials to 20o2.

I finished reading this collection a couple of weeks ago after allowing it to sit unread on my shelf for a very long time, always intending to get to it but never actually doing so until toward the end of last month I picked it to be my “between-months” reading – what I read once I've finished my monthly mail-ordered comics before the next month's box comes in. I had initially been drawn toward it because Cameron Chase, Agent of the Department of Extranormal Operations, has been a major player in the New 52 Batwoman series virtually from the beginning, and this “cult favorite series from the 1990s” (back-cover blurb) was plotted and pencilled by the same writer-artist as produces the latter-day series, J. H. Williams III. I had, of course, encountered Chase herself in previous appearances here, there, and yonder through the years, most notably in Birds of Prey a few years ago, and I figured this would be a good way to get up to speed on the character.

Dynamite Comics – June 2013

Reviews, commentary, general reactions, and random notes on the Dynamite Entertainment comics that were released during April (mostly) that I received near the beginning of May. Caution: Spoilers ahead! [Link to previous month.]

Cover D by Sean Chen

Masks #6 of 8

Frankly, not a whole lot happens here except that the Master gloats over his plan. I still think he's the former District Attorney who was once the masked crime fighter known as the Clock, and that ultimately there will be a confrontation between him and the more recent D.A. Tony Quinn, the Black Bat.

I have two friends also buying this series. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much the only one enjoying it, I think. And the truth is that there's not much here. Were I not such a fan of the original source material and characters – even some that this series pretty much introduced me to, such as Miss Fury and the Black Bat, I can easily see myself agreeing with them.

Reviews

Iron Man Three (2013)

Directed by Shane Black

I got back earlier today from seeing the newest Iron Man movie, a week after it debuted. Last weekend was eaten up by various other activities, duties, and happenings, some good, some not so good. Then this was finals week. But I finished up yesterday and turned my grades in, putting a particularly grueling semester behind me.

My first reaction is that I liked it, very much. I'm such a fan of the first Iron Man movie that I can't say this one is better, but I enjoyed it every bit as well. That is not something I could possibly say about number two, not even during the initial viewing. And frankly, as you may have gathered over the course of a couple of years, more often than not my first impression of a movie like this is positive. Sometimes I even look back at my own reviews after the passage of some length of time has given me a bit of perspective and frankly a bit more objective opinion and thin, "Boy, I was too kind!" Not just movies – I'm the same way with just about anything. But my enjoyment of the first movie has not faded but has rather grown from the initial through repeated viewings, most recently in a cable-channel rerun last weekend. On the other hand, what was a “meh” reaction to the second upon seeing it in the theatre has grown into active dislike as I've caught bits and pieces (never the full movie) in reruns. On the third hand, so to speak, I do look forward to seeing three again.

DC Comics – May 2013 – New 52 Month 19

Reviews, commentary, general reactions, and random notes on the DC Comics that were released during March that I received near the beginning of April. Caution: Spoilers ahead! [ Link to previous month ]

I think the biggest news to come out in recent weeks has been with the on-line previews of the new solicitations that will be published in the next issue of Diamond's Previews. What was assumed to be DC's first “mega” event of the New 52, probably drawing in everything like Blackest Night or Flashpoint did, seems not to be all that. In fact, instead of being presented as an independent miniseries with tie-in issues within various regular series, plus maybe some specials and ancillary miniseries, it is simply rotating through the three Justice League titles – JL itself, Justice League of America, and Justice League Dark. Which is not a good thing. I know for a fact that it is driving at least one new reader away, who had recently came on board Justice League as the putative flagship book of the DCnU starring the big names (well, and Cyborg...) but finds the book steadily departing from that ideal and attempting to compel him to buy two other series that he has no interest in! 'Way to go, DC!

Also notable, although there was little fanfare, was the addition of new verbiage to the “created by” credits for the Superman books. I first noticed it on Smallville Season 11 – “SUPERMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster / By Special Arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family.” It seems to be a result of recent developments in the ongoing legal case.

DC keeps creating public relations faux pas for itself and giving the real impression that the lunatics are running the asylum. The specific examples are quite frankly too irritating to detail, so I won't.

I'd rather write about the comics....

Quick Hits

Since for one reason or another, I've been negligent in blogging some of my various readings of late, here's a quick catch-up post, in no particular order.

The Power of Shazam (DC, 1994-1999)

I actually mentioned this a while back, that I took back up reading my two library-bound volumes of this great 1990s series starring the original Captain Marvel (and the entire Marvel Family, plus various other Fawcett characters and cross-overs with contemporary DC characters) about halfway through the first volume back when I was down for a week with what I'm calling The Flu. It's wonderful. While I could quibble with certain decisions that were made in the updating (e.g., “CM3,” Mary Marvel as another “Captain Marvel,” her white costume rather than red, the concept of the Power being divided between however many of the three that have invoked it, to name the most important “quibbles”), as far as I'm concerned this is the best-ever “modernization” of the characters that DC has ever managed to accomplish, largely due to the efforts of Jerry Ordway. It certainly puts the current abomination appearing in Justice League to shame. It captures rather than turns-on-its-head the simple charm of the original, albeit in a way that easily satisfies the modern comics reader.

The Birth of the Modern Mythology

Happy Birthday, Superman!

I couldn't pass this up, taking notice of the official on-sale date* of the original Action Comics #1, dated June 1938 but on-sale 18 April 1938 -- 75 years ago today.

Cheers! ... Now go read it for a mere 99 cents at Comixology!

* Note:  Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics, my customary go-to source for this kind of information, lists the approximate on-sale date as 3 May 1938, but enough other sites are commemorating it today (e.g. here and here) that I'll happily follow suit.  And the fact is that the old newstand distribution "system" was so haphazard that I doubt there was any such thing as a meaningful "official on-sale date."

MAN OF STEEL Trailer 3

I think this is the first post I've ever made just for a movie trailer, but I want to a) call attention to it (and be able to get back to it easily and quickly -- because I'll be wanting to do that, and frequently, over the next few weeks); and b) make just a couple of off-the-cuff comments.

My comments, in no particular order...

1)  I like it.  My comment on a Facebook thread was simply "WOW.  Just ... WOW."  It looks great.  It does not completely allay my worries, that were just last week rekindled by an Internet article regarding this week's Entertainment Weekly issue.  But in itself, it does seem to strike the right tone and balance of down-to-earth character development and slam-bang super-heroics.  Look at that last scene -- You will believe that's two Kryptonians fighting!

2)  Along those lines, I approve of the excision of the lines from an earlier trailer, where Clark asks Jonathan, "Should I have just let them die?," and Jonathan replies, "Maybe."  I just cannot imagine Pa Kent saying such a thing.  No.  Just No.

3)  I'm always a bit leery when the Christological elements of the Superman mythos are pushed too far (as all too frequently happened in Smallville).  They're very clearly present in the mythos, and very clearly here in this movie, though.  But I really wish a single word had been added to Jor-El's response to Lara:  "How [will they kill him]? -- He will be a god to them."  Yes, I know it's very personal, but I would not have cringed so if Jor-El had said, "He will be like a god to them."

There's plenty else that could be said, but these are my quickest comments.

The Comic Book Blog has a good breakdown of the scenes and images in the trailer.

14 June seems a long ways away....

Cheers! ... and Thanks for reading!

Dynamite Comics – May 2013

Reviews, commentary, general reactions, and random notes on the Dynamite Entertainment comics that were released during March (mostly) that I received near the beginning of April. Caution: Spoilers ahead! [Link to previous month.]

Cover A (25%) by Alex Ross

Masks #5 of 8

This issue seems to be an even more radical departure from the original pulp trilogy, but I guess that's only to be expected given the different dynamic resulting from the protagonists being a “league” of heroes rather than a single central figure. In fact the Spider himself does not appear – he's missing in Albany, and by issue's end the Green Hornet, Green Lama, and Miss Fury have all been captured in their civilian identities, while the Shadow, Black Terror, and Kato are in an intense battle with the Black Police in the same very significant building, whose most notable resident is lamentably absent.  Separately, this issue marks our first time seeing the Black Bat and Zorro in action.

I take the very last page, showing Britt Reid, Jethro Dumont and Marla Drake before what I take to be the mastermind of the Empire State, to also drop a huge hint as to his identity – the Clock, a former hero himself (see issue #3): “In a better world, we would have been allies, you and I. / But it's clear that I'm the only one willing to do what is necessary.”  And he holds a pocket watch.

This issue also seemed to go even more quickly. That's my main complaint with this series – each chapter is too sketchy a read. Would it strike me so had I not read the original? How will it read as a collection?

Reviews

Spinner-Rack Memories!: Action Comics #388 (May 1970)

Not a dream! Not a hoax! And not an “Imaginary Story”! For April Fool's Day, I have posted to my other blog a story that I remember fondly from my childhood, one that is chock-full of zany Silver-Age wackiness. Including yet another marriage between Superman and Lois Lane.

For a few minutes of levity, head on over to Spinner-Rack Memories to see the day Sgt. Rock tried – repeatedly – to kill his rival-in-love Superman by such fool-proof methods as dousing him in chocolate syrup and pelting him with five-day-old garbage (or did he miss a day? – could that be why it didn't work?)...

Cheers!

The Historicity of Christianity

I don't normally just link to other blogs' posts, but this is just so well put that I when I saw it a couple of weeks ago I saved it for today.  It's one of those things that I wish I'd written myself:  "The Historicity of the Resurrection of Christ" by Mark Musser.  Basically, the way I usually put it to my students, "The life of Jesus is better documented with earlier, more reliable sources than is the life of Julius Caesar."

It's well worth reading.

Happy Easter!

DC Comics – April 2013 – New 52 Month 18

Reviews, commentary, general reactions, and random notes on the DC Comics that were released during February that I received near the beginning of March. Caution: Spoilers ahead! [ Link to previous month ]

The news coming out of DC – or rather about DC, 'cause DC themselves are being rather mum except with excited “great news” type damage-control announcements that invariably turn out to be premature or not the whole story at all – seems dominated these days by continuing word of chaos among DC editorial. The most disconcerting came within a handful of days just this past week (I'm starting this on 25 March) was that Andy Diggle is leaving Action Comics after only one issue as Grant Morrison's successor. Since Diggle's announced plans and vision for the greatest super-hero of them all seemed a step in the right direction, this is bad enough. Worse was the corollary news that Tony Daniel was to take over writing the title as well as art. The anguished “NOOOOOOO” you may have heard mid-week was me. Daniel is a decent artist. His writing in the New 52 has invariably sucked, and frankly before that was seldom more than adequate. Yeah, I couldn't wait to see Action Comics end up looking like the first year or so of Detective Comics. A couple of days to contemplate that bleakness was followed by the announcement that, no, Daniel won't be lasting but a three-issue arc then moving on to a preplanned, “major” project. No word that I've seen so far as to what Action Comics might look like four months hence ....

During roughly the same period came word that Joshua Hale Fialkov, whose writing I've really liked on the just-ending I, Vampire would not be taking over Green Lantern Corps – because editorial sucker-punched him with the mandate that John Stewart die. Fialkov walked and made no secret why. Whereupon DC crawfished and announced that there are currently “no plans” to kill off John Stewart.

See? Chaos. Do those people have a clue? It's ultimately quite disturbing, especially with rumors coming out of Bleeding Cool of other lame stunts under consideration – “Villains Month” in which, e.g., Batman #24 would be renamed “Joker #24” for that month only; mass cancellation of sixteen titles to be replaced by four weekly titles. And how is that last supposed to help?

Morons.

The only thing to do is sit back, not think about that kind of stuff, just read and enjoy what we're getting … where it's enjoyable. Some's getting a little marginal on that score, though.

On to the comics....