Justice League of America #58 (8/11)

“Eclipso Rising, Part Five: The Destined and the Dying”

Begins with a one-page prologue that I'm not sure what it has to do with the rest of the story. Probably just not following it closely enough. It does feature Lydea Mallor of Talok VIII – an interesting shoutout to DC continuity – Legion of Super-Heroes' Shadow Lass, Lydea herself part of the old 1990s L.E.G.I.O.N. series … one of the other Talok planets is where Mikaal Tomas the blue Starman in the JLA is from, and I do seem to recall that being a point in an issue a couple back ….

Anyway, the Earth is experiencing devastation due to the splitting of the moon (last issue) – and on the sundering moon the Justice League is going directly up against Eclipso and his thralls in the Emerald City. Here it gets a bit confusing. At least this time the League isn't just standing around talking like last time … at least for the whole issue. No they do so intermittently in a series of discontinuous flashbacks that I can't quite put in any logical narrative order (seriously – at one point it seems to branch off in two separate directions!) - but the gist is that Batman (Dick Grayson) and Obsidian have figured out that Shade is not held in thrall by Eclipso in quite the same way as all the others, so Congorilla (who is also big game hunter Congo Bill) shoots a bullet from one of Blue Lantern Saint Walker's ring constructs into Shade's brain as a carrier for the Atom (who at times looks vaguely Asian – did the artist think he was drawing Ryan Choi, R.I.P.?) and Starman so they can do something to break the control. Meanwhile, as a feint, the rest attack as if to free the captive angel Zauriel while the real attack is by Donna Troy, directly on Eclipso himself. The reason, according to Saint Walker, is that somehow the almost infinite load of grief and sorrow that Donna carries with her can be marshalled into a power of light that can overcome the darkness. It doesn't work – on the last page, Eclipso literally slashes Donna's silver lasso to pieces and then brutally impales her on a broadsword. “Now, who's next?”

So – Donna Troy appears to be dead – again. It's happened before. Depending on her rather fluid backstory, maybe a well-nigh infinite number of times. I really didn't see it coming, however. Not that I expect it to “stick” - or would have expected it to stick were this continuity to … er … continue. But there has been no indication that there will be any Donna Troy in the DcnU or any “Wonder Girl” except a blonde that I'm sure (maybe even announced as) Cassie Sandsmark (in the solicit for Teen Titans #1). Even so, the way this death was carried out I'd be surprised if that's all there is to it even within this story arc. Or maybe this is meant to be a departure from the normal “epic” death in comics or any other heroic literature – just a quick, meaningless, ineffectual casualty of battle as most are in the “real world.” But then there's the tone of the first few editorial lines of the letter column: “Whew, what an issue! We can't believe our Donna is dead. Again. Sigh. She just has the worst luck, doesn't she?” Might as well just say it ain't gonna stick. And they point toward Flashpoint where “[m]aybe she'll fare better ….” Just have to wait and see.

One thing I do like about James Robinson: He brings in all kinds of DC lore and backstory – even a decades-old issue of The Brave and the Bold which had Atom taking a journey into the brain of Bruce Wayne Batman to give it a kickstart when he was essentially brain dead. He also (I guess it's the artist following his directions) brings in all kinds of obscure characters – I refer to Lydea Mallor and her connections above; there's also the hot chrome-skinned Bulletwoman from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory; and a bunch of others I can't even name. Of course he plays a lot with his JSA and Starman characters – e.g. the Shade as well as Mikaal Tomas – but he also keeps very clear that this is a distinct Batman from Bruce Wayne. That leads to probably the funniest line in the book: He's outlined his plan for Atom and Starman to invade the Shade's brain, but it won't be by the normal method. Atom is delighted: “No swimming through a sea of snot, tears, or earwax? Guys, I love this Batman.”

The art by Daniel Sampere, Miguel Sepulveda, and Wayne Faucher (but solicited as by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund – at least they did change the cover copy to reflect reality this time) is pretty good overall. One thing I must comment on, however – this has annoyed me with the way Donna's been drawn from the beginning of her appearances in Justice League – doubtless longer, and not unique to her, just for some reason more apparent. It's front and center on the cover this time – really, what woman would go into battle wearing a top like that, with the V-neck cut down practically to her navel? Yeah, it's comics and I don't mean to be a prude – and I know that the overendowed heroines skimpily dressed is pretty much de rigeur – but Donna always looks like she's going to fall out of her costume at any minute and breasts will then be flopping all around. It's made more ridiculous by the fact that, for all artists' skills (generally) it also usually doesn't look remotely realistic. I'm not talking about the fact that women's costumes often look more like what appears in the body-paint section of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition than real fabric of any kind. Using the cover again (but there are more extreme instances inside) look at the inconsistent width of the sections coming down from Donna's neck across her breasts. The part that's facing the viewer is unrealistically narrow, not much more than a strap (gotta show as much cleavage and outside as possible!), while the cup that's “covering” the breast that's more in profile looks like it's twice as wide! The artists really need to work on getting their perspectives right. They also need to work on consistency from panel to panel – Donna evidently has time between pages 6 and 7 to run off and change into a new costume because in two poses from almost the same angle (from behind and to the right of her) on the former page her costume has two over-the-shoulder straps coming straight down her back, on the latter page it's now a halter top with no such straps! Uhhh... What's the job of an editor? Is it to say, “Oh well, it doesn't matter – fanboy's too dumb to notice anyway?”

Actually, I did enjoy this issue as I generally have all of Robinson's run on Justice League of America. I don't think he's been announced for anything in the DCnU, but there is a long-rumored Shade series he's supposed to be working on.  I wonder how that will fit into DC's plans for the future - especially as it plays out of his renowned Starman series that right now is in a sort of limbo as to its status in DCnU continuity along with all the old Earth-2/JSA/"legacy" characters.  Hopefully it's not been scuttled.

The Spider vs. the Empire State, Book Three: Scourge of the Black Legions (2009)

By Norvell Page (writing as Grant Stockbridge). Third book of “The Black Police Trilogy,” originally published in The Spider #62 (November, 1938). See first book here and second book here.

Original magazine cover

Taking up mere hours after The Spider at Bay, the triumphant recapture of New York City from the Black Police proves shortlived as federal forces finally move in – on the side of the “lawfully” elected government. The Spider and his supporters are forced to flee once more. Desiring to stand out more as a symbol for the resistance to rally around, Richard Wentworth – still “pretending” to be the Spider – dons a green cape, which of course also makes him a target. After freeing a young woman in Westphalian who, along with others, is being used as a human shield, and rallying the town to resistance, Wentworth is brought down by a sniper's bullet. Word goes out that the Spider is dead! His supporters are rounded up. The resistance appears doomed. It is not, of course – so far that's just the first few chapters!

But darker days ensue, even as Wentworth is found to have survived, recuperates quickly, and frees his closest band of supporters once again. But the federal forces in the state of New York are hampering the freedom of the totalitarian regime to complete its program of pillage, and Wentworth discovers a horrific plan to divert the federal government's attention elsewhere into dealing with a disaster.  A desperate flight – a mismatched dogfight in the nighttime sky above a Pennsylvania dam – but one bomb dropped from an attacking plane gets through and starts the inexorable crumbling of the dam. A desperate race through darkness – by car, finally by horseback – and Wentworth manages to save a pitiful few from a single town as the dam breaches altogether and a wall of water inundates the region, drowning thousands. Dogged determination continues to drive Wentworth back to New York and the fight – which seems lost yet again as his dwindling army is once more captured – and once more rescued – and again captured – and freed ... – a spiraling cycle of loss that ultimately brings a once-more wounded and flagging Wentworth face to face with the man in the mirror, the Master, in a final confrontation against the backdrop of a popular uprising in Albany itself.

Somewhat incredibly, in a short appendix, we see that the status quo has been restored (as it must be for this formulaic series to continue) with legitimate government restored and Stanley Kirkpatrick back once more as Commissioner of the NYPD. A once-more robust Wentworth's facade is even secure - “Of course, I'd like the [sic – recte to] claim credit for that kill in Albany – the Master, I mean. The doctors will tell you, I was found unconscious in the streets, and there was no green cape, no face of the Spider, nothing. No, I guess the Spider put one over on us after all, Kirkpatrick” (p. 417). And Kirkpatrick goes along with it – swallowing the story that the Spider, long inactive while Wentworth merely acted the part, had returned in the end. Their adversarial alliance against evil – two good men standing shoulder-to-shoulder on either side of the thin line between lawful authority and outlaw vigilantism – will continue for another five years through almost sixty more adventures.

* * *

I had thought I might develop some deep historical commentary on this fairly obscure allegory of the 1930s, when parts of the world were indeed succumbing to totalitarianism and there were indeed such leanings even here in the United States. But upon finishing this story I went back and reread Krabacher's historical introduction and he does it much better than I could. This is definitely not my area of historical expertise – even though I do live in Louisiana where Huey Long, invoked again and again through this tale, ran an ostensibly similar political machine. It was very interesting following a couple of Krabacher's leads off into a little (fairly superficial) research. Concern about a developing “home-grown fascist” sentiment inspired a number of cautionary tales similar to this – one main difference I'm sure being that such things as Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel, It Can't Happen Here, couldn't possibly reach the heights of outlandish melodrama and over-the-top pulpish escapades that Norvell Page excelled at – page after frenetic page! The one difference I think to be immediately apparent between the “Party of Justice” and “The Black Police” state in New York and anything in the “real world” is that there is no political or social ideology underpinning the former. It is a criminal enterprise, pure and simple – a band of thugs marshalling the example set by Mussolini and Hitler – and Long, pretty explicitly – into the service of monstrous greed. Perhaps I'm naïve, but I doubt that without some kind of deeper, albeit perverse, “ideal” driving it such an undertaking could possibly reach the horrific heights that this one does. But I have no doubt that the refrain of “It couldn't happen here” has been chanted in many times and places as driving events give way to the dread realization that it has happened here.

The one quibble that I have with Krabacher's valuable introduction is what I consider to be an erroneous although as I understand it prevailing equation of “fascism” with “right-wing” ideology - “The Party of Justice is clearly taken from any of a number of the American right-wing organizations, such as the National Union for Social Justice, that flourished at the time” (p. 16). For what it's worth (and a colleague of mine who does specialize in modern history rather than my own ancient/medieval period deeply disagrees with me here), accepting the common usage of “left-” and “right-wing” as “liberal” and “conservative,” I consider such movements to be more malignant outgrowths of the “left-wing” of the political spectrum than the “right-.” (Perhaps I'm overly sensitive. I'm pretty conservative, and I'm not infrequently flogged with the label of “fascist” by my liberal colleagues. Generally, it's done good-naturedly, but it does get annoying at times and does, I believe, betray how some terms lose most if not all of their true meaning in common antagonistic discourse.) A succinct summation of the connections between “left-wing” ideology and Nazism as well as other pernicious movements can be seen in the Amazon.com customer review of Erik von Kuhnelt-Leddihn's Leftism Revisited: From De Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot entitled “Demagogues can choose the class, the race or any other flag,” dated 17 September 1999. I believe I was present at the exchange between “A Customer” and Professor von Kuhnelt-Leddihn in 1998 mentioned therein – I'm pretty sure it followed a presentation by the good professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The timing is about right; I'm fairly certain I know the writing style of that unnamed reviewer; and I do remember the subject being addressed at that time, when it left a deep impression on me.

That bit aside, The Spider vs. the Empire State has been a fascinating read overall. Let me end by quoting Krabacher's conclusion to this volume: “[T]he Black Police saga demonstrates that for all their escapist elements the pulps could also be more complex, reflecting the events, concerns, and anxieties of their times. A bit distorted, perhaps, by the need to thrill, but nonetheless recognizable even today” (p. 17).

Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #1 of 3 (8/11)

Okay. Another drawback of the pre-order system that I use: Had I known that this Brightest Day Aftermath as it was announced several months ago would end up being The Search for Swamp Thing, I would not have gotten it. I've never cared for that character. (He doesn't even have a cool, funny name like “Man-Thing,” his Marvel Comics counterpart … whose name was even funnier with the publication of Giant-Size Man-Thing!)  

Nor have I ever cared for – mainly because I have absolutely no familiarity with – the character of John Constantine who it turns out is front and center. But one of the twists at the end of the year-long biweekly series Brightest Day a couple months ago was bringing these two characters who have not been properly part of the DC universe but rather part of the “subset” DC-imprint “Vertigo” universe, back into the mainstream. (Get this: John Constantine's own title, Hellblazer, is poised to become the oldest unrenumbered DC comics title in a couple of months when Action Comics, Detective Comics, and Batman reset the odometer to #1 – Hellblazer will be at issue #283, if I'm counting right. If that's not a hell of a note...? – forgive the pun....  To show how old I am, I remember Superman #200 coming out - both it and Batman are well into the 700s now, at least for a couple more months.)

So. I got it anyway. How is it as an issue? Meh. Basically, Brightest Day left Swamp Thing, the embodiment of “the Green” or some kind of life-force of planet Earth, as the embodiment of the White Lantern force of Life (because green is the color of Will, you see … no? …). But Swamp Thing, who (if I understand it correctly and I probably don't) was once a reanimated vegified (?!) scientist named Alec Holland, before he wasn't (John Kerry: “I voted for it before I voted against it...”), has apparently gone all eco-terrorist.... Zzzzzzz.... Oh! … uh … Constantine's trying to track him down, invades the Batcave and assaults Alfred trying to get Batman's help, further endears himself to Batman (I think it's Dick, but who knows or cares?) by smoking in the Batmobile, 

who also calls in Zatanna, who apparently has a history with Constantine that didn't end well.... Zzzzzzz....  Huh? ... Wha-? ... Oh ... Yeah, Superman's on the cover, but he doesn't appear in the issue – Oh, wait – Superman is in a couple of ads. And a very annoying Subway sandwich shop advert-comic-insert right in the middle of all or most of this month's DC comics.   I guess that counts.

 And besides, at one point Hawkman was supposed to appear on the cover in Zatanna's place … did Constantine and Hawkman have some kind of relationship in the past? That might've been interesting... Is that your mace or are you just happy to see me? (I'm kidding, Dr. Norge!). Well, the point is, Hawkman's nowhere to be found either.  There were also several other variations previewed with various figures blacked out. Gotta cultivate that mystery, right?

I'm not familiar with either the writer or the artists on this issue. Both are passable – actually, the art is not bad at all. And Vankin takes a story that was doubtless dictated to him, at least in its broad strokes, and does a workmanlike job with it.

One other thing I'm noticing on the cover. Who's the only one casting a shadow? Batman. Why? Because he's Batman! (Say it with Christian Bale's voice from The Dark Knight - “I'm Batman.”) (Actually, that brings to mind another clever bit in the Batgirl issue I read a few days ago. Stephanie and Beryl [the English heroine "the Squire"] are chatting after their adventure - which will cause Stephanie to be late to her rendezvous with Batman ...

... Imagine her voice lowered in an appropriately gravelly manner.)

Hey, sometimes in this hobby you do end up feeling like you let the publisher pick your pocket. When that happens, all you can do is find some kind of fun in it.  But when I find myself entertaining myself more than this comic did, well.... 

Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis

11:26 am ET, Friday 8 July 2011

In about two weeks, ever how long this final mission lasts, the United States will no longer have an active manned space program. That is something I never thought I would see. I've said it before, I'll say it again. When a nation turns its back on its frontiers, it inevitably goes into decline. The Roman Empire is the best example. When Roman expansion ended, about the time the Empire was proclaimed, it was only a matter of time.  

Legion of Super-Heroes #14 and Teen Titans #96 (8/11)

“False Dreams”

This is a continuation from the previous issue of a multipart story pitting the Legion of Super-Heroes against their nemises the Legion of Super-Villains, led by Saturn Queen. Things are starting to come together in the various story threads. Harmonia Li is still intent on taking Star Boty and the multiversal energies to save her own world. Where is she from? Well, we find that she is from the “World of Wisdom,” “Utopia.” The world that is the object of the Villains' quest. Why? Well, it seems that Immortus – some kind of android construct that Ultra Boy and Wildfire are still fighting – previously had “a vision of three worlds that balanced the universe that it wished to destory. One of faith that it thought already shattered – one of will, beyond its power for the nonce [Oa?] – and a world of wisdom ….” By her own admission, Li's “foolishness at the Time Institute has placed [her world] in mortal peril.”

Saturn Queen and the Villains do gain access to the power of the blue flame (another object of their quest in issues past) to open a path between worlds and appear at Utopia. They are greeted by a figure who identifies himself as “Master Kong” - shocking the Coluan villain Questor: “B-but you're dead … for thirty-five hundred years as measured on your homeworld … thousands of them before Terrans even discovered space flight.” “Master Kong” - “Kung Fu-tsu”? - “Confucius”? In any case, they are not here in search of wisdom, but to bring destruction.

Nonetheless, Green Lantern Mon-El via a ring-construct that he can dispatch on independent missions (!) brings the various groups together at the end – but along the way Dream Girl has a vision that seems to indicate that it will be Star Boy who gives his life (as rumored will happen, mainly because one or more Legionnaires always bite it when the Heroes face the Villains – Karate Kid way back in the first story arc of the “Baxter series” in the 1980s, more recently several of the “Threeboot” Legion in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds). And the next issue is named “False Victory” ….

One idea that has been bandied about on the message boards is that “Immortus” is one and the same as the old Doom Patrol villain General Immortus. Having no exposure to him, I have no idea. I have faith it's going to all make sense in the end.

“Beast of Legend”

I guess if I knew much of anything beyond the fact that the Ramayana is a great Hindu epic poem having something to do with duty and the requirements of dharma, this story incorporating its mythology might mean something to me. Of course, it might also help if one of the main characters' names was not mysteriously changed here - “Rankor” appears to be the character called “Ravana” in the Ramayana. Ravana is the primary antagonist of the poem, who kidnaps the hero Rama's princess Sita, but is ultimately defeated by the light of Rama and his ally the monkey-king Hanuman.

Ravana ... er... Rankor
... er, whatever ...

We find all this out in a rather ham-fisted way on the first page, which recounts a time in the past when the father of the new character Solstice (“light”) is telling his young daughter the story: "At his throne sat the Lord of Darkness. Rankor was – in a word – a monster. A demon with ten heads – each one more evil than the next. … The great Rama sensed anxiety in his heart as Rankor's gaze burned with hatred. But Rama found strength in his ally, the monkey king Hanuman. He held his ground, steeling his resolve. His light would endure.” And of course it's all echoed in Solstice's lines at the very end of the issue: “... [M]y light will endure …!”

Of course, along the way we've got to get a “monkey king” – look at the cover. Beast Boy unleashed. Takes him a while to hit on that transformation, however. Basically, this issue is a big fight for the first half until Garfield turns into a big green ape. To make sure we get the point, Solstice cries, “You look like … a monkey king!” They free the team, who have been out of action for the past couple of issues, and are still weakened as the enemy rallies and attacks. And Raven still has some unidentified problem with Solstice. How long are we going to drag this out? Actually, I think it's just one more issue....  Please tell me it's just one more issue.

Frankly, I've not been that impressed with the Teen Titans book since I started picking it up monthly a few issues back. If it weren't ending anyway in just a few issues I'd probably drop it. That's sad. It was so good, for so long, but it's just been cruising for so long after that....

Oh yeah.  How about a little truth in advertising on the cover?  The inside art is not Scott and Hazlewood.  It's Jose Luis pencils and a couple of inkers.  It's okay in itself, but there's entirely too much of this  disparity between solicited story and what appears, between solicited creators and who actually does the work.  It gives a real impression that they're flying by the seat of their pants up there at DC Comics.

Batgirl #22 and Supergirl #65 (8/11)

“Batgirl: Batman Incorporated – Five Minutes Fast”

It seems months ago (because it has been) that news was dropped in-story that the returned Bruce Wayne Batman's assignment for Stephanie Brown would take her to the United Kingdom – the implication was a full-blown relocation which (as Anglophile as I am) I would not be in favor of given the slow but successful building of a supporting cast in the Gotham City setting that has been accomplished. Well, now (with only a couple issues left in the series anyway, which is a separate issue so to speak) it appears that this is merely a mission. In this issue Steph exits Heathrow directly into an all-but-impromptu team-up with Beryl Hutchinson, the Squire, sidekick to the Knight, another element of the “Batmen of All Nations” that Grant Morrison brought back into continuity in the last couple of years, last seen in the wonderful little 6-issue mini-series by Paul Cornell, Knight and Squire. And madcap antics ensue as one of Britain's own rather colorful villains, the Orphan (because “he always wants some more”), steals the Greenwich Mean – which we discover is not just the standard upon which the world bases its time, but is actually a plug sealing a crack in time opened by “a nasty bit of business during the Blitz.” By stealing the Mean, Orphan freezes time so he can kill his defenseless arch-enemy, the Knight. Batgirl and Squire are caught in the effect, however, therefore are not frozen in time and are able to thwart the Orphan's dastardly plan – which makes Stephanie late for her meeting with Batman. “Care to explain...?” To be continued in Batman Incorporated #9.

It's another winner of an issue. Dang!, I'm going to miss this series. I don't think Bryan Q. Miller is currently associated with any post-Flashpoint series that's been announced. Huh-wha-? Don't let this guy go, DC! Here we're treated to, among other things, typically witty dialog (and monologue - “No, Ms. Brown, I don't care about the slap*. Uh-huh,” Stephanie mutters as she realizes she has “apparently twenty minutes to cross a city I've never been to before with someone I've never met to get to a hotel I never knew existed. … After ten hours in coach.” [Editor's note:  *Check out the Bruce Wayne: The Road Home trade A.S.A.P. (the Prof's hint – Bruce had it coming)]), character development and humorous repartee between two teen heroines who have a lot in common but some real differences in their cultural backgrounds as well as their situations (Stephanie is jealous of how close a team-mate Squire is to the Knight; Beryl is jealous in her turn because Batgirl is “most certainly not a sidekick”).  And the issue rounds off with a nice reduplication of the first page that by its structure conveys as well as anything could how Stephanie, tired and longing for a bit of shut-eye at the beginning of the issue, still does so but is no more likely to get it any time soon at the end.

“This is Not My Life, Part 1 of 3”

This is the first part of the last story-arc for this title before September. I was frankly a little disappointed. It's not bad. It's just not that good either. I'd had higher hopes that this title might go out on a high point, having read good things about DeConnick's writing (but never read anything by her). Everything just seemed a bit off – characterization of Kara and Lois for one, but also the art which is almost charicaturish at times [hmmm, my computer didn't balk at that “word” so maybe it is a word...], a weird blend of overly detailed – downright ugly finger-knuckles that were so prominent as to be distracting – with cartoony poses and distorted facial expressions. Maybe it will all work out in the next two issues, but ….

The plot, in a nutshell: Lois convinces Kara (as Linda “Lane” - why not just go with her existing earthly identity, Linda Lang?) to go undercover on the campus of Stanhope College (nice throwback to the pre-Crisis Supergirl) because someone is abducting students of a certain profile. Turns out (of course) the plot is deeper than the five missing students Lois knows about. Kara quickly meets a rather creepy dude who has figured out an algorithm to predict the victims, the next of course being himself, who promptly disappears.

There are a lot of potential new and quirky supporting-cast members introduced here – was this initially conceived before the “relaunch” was firmed up? And I get the feeling that given time, DeConnick could get her feet on this book. If so, maybe one reason it's just not grabbing me is that we know she's not going to get time, and it's all going to mean nothing in a couple more months.

Otto von Habsburg, R.I.P.

A few days ago I posted about beginning to work my way through the 1970s BBC docudrama miniseries, Fall of Eagles. I awoke this morning to news that the last living link to that late-19th-early-20th-century age has passed. Archduke Otto von Habsburg, eldest son and heir to the beatified last Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I, died peacefully in his sleep on Monday 4 July 2011 at age 98. Requiescat in pace.

Young Otto with granduncle
Emperor Franz-Josef, 1916

Last Crown Prince of Austria, lifetime statesman and tireless advocate of a united Europe, defender of traditional values, the family, and the Faith, the Archduke will be remembered by many of my students from an anecdote I share to illustrate the thoroughly Catholic identity of the Habsburg Dynasty. Otto von Habsburg is considered the father of the European Parliament, as a member of which in 1988 he participated in one of the more colorful incidents in that body's history. Pope John Paul II was speaking before the Parliament. Ian Paisley, Northern Irish Protestant firebrand, unfurled a sign proclaiming, “The Pope is the Antichrist.” Among those manhandling Paisley from the Parliamentary chambers was 70-some-odd-year-old Otto von Habsburg, upholding his family's centuries-long tradition of defending Holy Mother Church.

Some links:

Biography at Wikipedia

Obituary at The Telegraph

“Good Night, Good Prince,” by John Zmirak at Crisis Magazine

“Otto von Habsburg Remembered as Great Defender of Christian Values,” Catholic News Agency

Batman #711 (8/11)

“Pieces, Part Two: The Long Way Back”

Two Face claws his way out of a shallow grave, refusing to believe that Gilda is really alive and working with Mario Falcone. He is captured by the Riddler but they end up in an alliance because Riddler tells him that Gilda is being held by Falcone against her will. Harvey needs his coin. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson Batman is on their trail – but finds that Catgirl didn't get out of the Gotham vigilante game and is indeed right in the middle of things.

A few things: 1) One thing that I don't really like that Tony Daniel is doing is reverting Riddler back into a criminal. I really liked him better as he was for the past several years, skirting the line between law and outlaw, setting himself up as a consulting detective and a bit of a foil for Batman. When played right, that has been pretty entertaining. I've always found the Riddler to be no more than a ho-hum villain. 2) The addition of this putative daughter Enigma is not really helping things either. Catgirl kind of grew on me, but the exponentiation of numbers of costumes in Gotham sometimes gets a bit ridiculous. 3) Although I'll surprisingly miss Dick Grayson's tenure as Batman (who would have thought? - sounded like a dumb idea when first floated a couple of years ago), I will not miss always having to identify whether this Batman is Bruce or Dick. 

4) On the other hand, you've got to give it to a hero who punches the bad guy in the gut so hard he instantly projectile barfs last week's lunch! You don't mess with Batman, whether he is Bruce or Dick!

Batman and Robin #24, Birds of Prey #13, Red Robin #24, and Superman #712 (8/11)

“The Streets Run Red, Part 2 of 3: Exit Strategy”

Continues directly from last issue. The overall theme is that the ultimate aim of the grueling training regimen that the Bat-family endures is to be adaptable. They never know what threats they may be faced with and must be prepared to “think quickly and act quicker.” It's a lesson Jason Todd recalls from his youth as the second Robin, and that Dick Grayson Batman emphasizes to Damian Wayne, the current Robin. By the end of the issue, being adaptable has led to the latest Dynamic Duo entering into an uneasy alliance with their sometime opponent, Jason, who takes up again his identity as the Red Hood. “This sucks,” Damian proclaims. “Nobody knows that more than me,” agrees Dick.

“Hostile Takeover, Part Two of Two: No Sentence Shall Be Commuted”

Continues directly from last issue. Since Oracle has lost contact with the team infiltrating “Junior's” headquarters, it's up to Huntress and the Question to head to the rescue. Meanwhile, Junior beats the snot out of Dove and Black Canary – seriously injuring the former. She seems all but immune to the Canary cry. We find a little more about Junior – “that she was some awful prodigy that ran the entire west coast crime syndicate, with nothing but a phone and a notepad. … That's the problem. There's nothing. No e-trail, no paper breadcrumbs... She's done exactly the thing I can do the least about.” (See more about this truly sick character here – even though I read the first collection of the current Secret Six series a couple years ago, I didn't make the connection right off.) Desperately, playing on Catman's obvious feelings for Huntress, Oracle consults with him, and is finally inspired to another avenue of attack: “There's only one thing that Junior hates,” Catman informs her. “Exposure. She hates to be seen.” - Oracle's monologue: “Okay. Okay. The who freaking weirdo unmappable building is offline, not computerized... No data flows in or out. But it still has the basic human needs covered, and they are computerized, by the grand municipality of Gotham. That's heat, water, sewer, and … And the lights.” The lights burst on – blinding Junior – just as Huntress enters the fray and kicks her down a stairwell shaft. The Birds get Dove to medical attention in time. The issue closes with Oracle relieving Canary of field leadership (“You haven't been the same since … well, since the divorce [from Green Arrow]”) in favor of Huntress – and vowing that they will take on Junior again: “We ... have one good reason to go back. She hurt my girls. And if it takes forever, she's going to pay for that. Who's in?”

But it won't be next issue, apparently – which is announced as a two-parter by another writer, Mark Andreyko, who spotlights “the original Phantom Lady's return to Gotham City!” The preview cover image looks like it will be either set in the past or at least recall the earlier World War II era as part of its plot. A two-parter will run out the pre-September issues. Looks like this was Gail Simone's swan song on the Birds.  Will this hanging plot thread ever be taken up again? Things like this will be a litmus test as to how much a “reboot” the post-Flashpoint relaunch will really be.

“7 Days of Death, Part Two: It's Not Paranoia...”

Finding himself the real target of the “Assassination Game” (last issue, not that I really gave much of a synopsis there) – fighting for his life, Tim Drake muses over the question of “why do so many people make killing their life's work--?” Thoughtful young man, although maybe this isn't really the place...? By the end he finds that it's his inquisitive nature that has led to him being “targeted for death in this tournament....” Captured by a couple of babe-o-licious assassins (if you ignore the brunette's black-void eyes with dark energy pouring from them), he finds that it's because he “seek[s] to learn too much. The secrets surrounding the ancient art of killing are meant as a divine promise to knowledge and power – and can not be usurped by one who strives for order. It is unexpected irony that to obtain these ancient secrets, you must die tonight … because I wanted nothing more from you than the very essence of life, Timothy. Though your flesh dies now, know that your spirit will be honored – and you will live on – through the child you are about the give me...” She drops her clothes and Tim's eyes bug out … “Next: What a Way to Go!”

“Lost Boy: A Tale of Krypto the Superdog”

This is a rather irritating practice that seems somewhat more prevalent these days than in times past, although that may be more of an impression created by us simply having more information about upcoming issues than was once the case – a last minute change from the solicited story to a “file” story. I first suspected that what happened here was that DC realized at some point that their current schedule was going to have “Grounded” ending in July, with a “lame duck” issue coming out in August before the “relaunch” of September. Oops. Way to guarantee sales in the tank! Better to pull a “bait and switch” in June and put the “lame duck” issue out then, with the climax of “Grounded” coming out as the climax of the current series – I thought that may have been their reasoning. But inspection of the solicitations doesn't really support that theory. Here are the original solicitation texts:

Original solicitation for Superman #712 to appear in June: Meet Los Angeles’s newest super hero in the latest Chapter of “Grounded”: Sharif! But Sharif discovers that in today’s current cultural climate, some people don’t want his help – they just want him gone. Can Superman aid Sharif and quell a prejudiced public, or are there some problems too big even for the Man of Steel to solve?

Original solicitation for Superman #713 to appear in July: What could possibly make The Man of Steel decide to stop being Superman? Superboy and Supergirl catch up with him in Portland, Oregon, and they want answers!

Original solicitation for Superman #714 to appear in August: Superman hits Seattle for his last stop on his “Grounded” walk across the country, and it is in that city where everything will come to a head! The mysterious woman who has been following Superman all year makes a desperate final move, one that may cost the Man of Steel that which he holds most dear!

Three more parts of “Grounded,” three more months (June-July-August) to get them out. I really don't know what's up. If there are really three more parts to the “Grounded” story, DC has a scheduling problem if they don't want the conclusion to be delayed until after the relaunch. Or, I have seen some speculation online that DC is not wanting the controversy that will doubtless attend the publication of a story with a Muslim/Arabic hero encountering American prejudice – a story that arguably would be meaningless in a couple months anyway. Whatever. We'll see if the “Sharif” story actually appears.

Anyway, the current issue as it stands was written and filed away some time ago by Kurt Busiek. It's a charming little tale of Krypto's anguish after the death of Connor Superboy in Infinite Crisis and the subsequent disappearance of Superman during the gap between that story and the “One Year Later” period that followed. A lot can be done without dialog (since Krypto can't talk, and we don't get the “cheat” of listening in on his “thoughts”). Makes you really feel for the pooch, especially in the last panel which has him lying morosely on an asteroid next to where the Smallville DPW manhole cover had come to rest when he and Connor last used it to play Frisbee-catch. If it had still been J. Michael Straczynski scripting “Grounded,” this probably would have been a superior story to that … but Chris Roberson has been doing very well picking up the pieces there so maybe not. Oh well. It's a good story in itself, but just another interruption to "Grounded" (this is the third or maybe fourth - I'm not bothering to look it up).

Just because every time I read a Krypto story I always think of it, here's a link to a great one:  Starwinds Howl, by Elliot S! Maggin, who also wrote a pair of great Superman prose novels back in the late 1970s-early 1980s.

Batman Incorporated #7 (7/11) and Booster Gold #45 (8/11)

“Medicine Soldiers”

Bruce Wayne Batman's expansion of the “Batman Incorporated” franchise in preparation for a looming conflict with “Leviathan” takes him to an American Indian reservation where one of the heroes he has inspired by his example, Chief Man-of-Bats – a character who dates all the way back to Batman #86 in 1954 and was brought into the modern mythos (along with all the other members of the “Batmen of All Nations”) by Grant Morrison a few years back in the “Island of Mister Mayhew” trilogy (Batman #667-668 in 2007) – has been captured by an agent of Leviathan. Batman and Man-of-Bats' son and sidekick Little Raven to the rescue!

That's pretty much the plot, against which we see another corner of the DCU as envisioned by Morrison who brings everything ever published into a vast meta-continuity. Nothing is out of bounds, no matter how goofy it may appear on the surface. Everything can be and must be made to fit in some way. This is great stuff! Along with some great commentary on the generally poverty-wracked conditions that prevail on many of the reservations with attendant social and crime problems, we also get a great view of what Bruce refers to as “Batman on a budget.” In context it doesn't come off as condescending as that seems when I wrote it. Bruce is actually admiring the ingenuity of Man-of-Bats and Raven. “It doesn't have to take millions, does it? The idea works.” The idea of “Batman Incorporated.”

“Turbulence, Part Two”

Taking up immediately from last issue, Booster is having a rough time of it defending himself against the monster that had cleaned his clock years ago and gone on to kill Superman – Doomsday – whom he discovers is not a mindless beast in this world. Well, he is, but under the mind control of General Nathaniel Adam (whose DCU counterpart is Booster's JLI teammate Captain Atom). Booster manages to get away, but in the process rescues a young refugee from the Flashpoint-universe's Greece, Alexandra Gianopoulos – who unknown to him is herself some kind of metahuman. While hiding, Booster manages to hack into a computer system and get more or less up to speed on the nature of the world in which he finds himself. He realizes that it is the doing of Flash's enemy Professor Zoom. Detecting some trace of chronal anomaly at Wayne Manor, he heads there, only to be attacked once again by General Adams Doomsday. Alexandra has followed Booster and disrupts the link between Adams and Doomsday – uh oh! Booster now faces a mindless killing machine!

For some reason the name "Alexandra Gianopoulos" sounded familiar to me, but apparently she is a totally new character introduced in this issue.  I'm sure this is not a throwaway character.

Batman and the Outsiders #40 (7/11)

“Land's End”

I received my June comics yesterday. This one had been delayed from its scheduled release during the previous month. Honestly I don't know why. It's not like a whole lot of work was put into it. It is a very lame final issue for a series that should have been put out of its misery a while back. I stopped buying it months ago, only picking this one up because of the Batman connection. Only this last issue is actually titled “Batman and the Outsiders,” and supposedly it was to tie into the ongoing Batman Incorporated story.

Quick history: This is a title (or rather series of titles – it's been canceled and restarted Lord knows how many times) that just has never worked for me except for a brief period a couple years ago. I bought the very first Batman and the Outsiders comic thirty-odd years ago when it replaced the great Batman team-up title Brave and the Bold. I didn't stick with it long then, not really finding any of the characters that interesting, nor the concept, one of the earlier examples of Bruce Wayne being a bit of an ass and giving up on the Justice League, breaking off to form his own team that he could dominate. I only picked up occasional issues as part of crossovers and the like until a couple of years ago when the latest series was retooled in the wake of Bruce's apparent death. Following instructions left by Bruce, Alfred recruited basically the original Outsiders who together, it was argued, combined aspects of the “mix” of talents and characteristics of Bruce himself in a team. And that worked, at least for a while, under the pen of a really good writer, Peter Tomasi. It didn't really garner great sales, however, so they tried something new yet again. And for me, the wheels spun off really quick.

The last year or so has, if I understand it correctly since I only read the first couple of issues, the team fractured and fighting against itself, against the backdrop of a now-megalomaniacal Geo-Force who is also the king of the little DCU Balkan country of Markovia. Apparently that led to a major confrontation last issue that culminated in Batman somehow having to step in and interdict a US nuclear strike against the kingdom (!). Not that, I gather, that last bit was even told in the pages of the previous issue – I'm not certain because, again, I didn't read it, but my impression is that we only find that out in Batman's inner monologue and memories. And from there this issue basically comprises a series of double-page spreads as Batman reminisces about the history of “his” team, until a final confrontation where he takes back over the team and puts Geo-Force in his place simply by the weight of his personality. And he takes “his” team and goes home, leaving Geo-Force to mull over the ruins of his country in a few pages that are obviously written to draw out some sympathy for the super-hero king. Talk about going out with a whimper. It falls flat, probably because I have nothing invested in the character. It could well be Didio's writing. Who knows. I don't want to pile on the “hate Didio” bandwagon, but I've honestly been unimpressed with his tenure as muckety-muck at DC, and what few examples I've seen of his writing have seemed pedestrian at best. I'll say no more. I've given way too much time to writing the blog entry for this issue as it is.

I take that back - in one area Dan Didio has impressed me, or at least entertained me.  As a high-placed "muckety-muck at DC," he has over the past few years conducted a number of sessions at various conventions, including the big San Diego and New York Comic Cons, where if nothing else his sheer love of comics and of DC in particular shines brightly.  So I think his heart's in the right place even if the execution of projects he heads or oversees often fall short.  Sure, he's got a rep for not quite being straight with the fans, playing it a bit too coy and clever, but he seems better suited ultimately in a cheerleading role than as a creator.  Just my humble opinion.  Or not so humble.  Whatever.

And I do want to identify a couple of positives with this issue, as well.  First, there's the cover, which is a bit of an homage to the very first, original Batman and the Outsiders #1 cover by the great Jim Aparo.  Second, there's the exchange near the beginning between Batman and government agent Amanda Waller after he stopped the nuclear attack:  "I'm guessing you hacked into our system."  Silence from Batman.  "Heh, always knew you had a back door into NORAD."  Then, after a bit more repartee, her parting shot is, "[w]hile you do, I'll close that back door you found."  The screen goes dark - as Batman mutters, "Good luck finding the rest of them."

Superman Earth One (2010)

Let me begin by stating right up front that I am not a big fan of J. Michael Straczynski. To be sure, I consider Babylon 5 to have been a brilliant television series marred in its ultimate execution only by forces beyond Straczynski's control (the uncertainty surrounding whether he would be allowed a fifth season as his story structure demanded compelling him to wrap up the major driving plot-lines at the end of the fourth season before finding out that the series would get that fifth year). And I have read other things by him that I have greatly enjoyed – the first two of three volumes of Rising Stars (the third, however, so ruining the series as a whole for me that I gave all three away), some of the issues of the six-year run of Spider-Man that he did. But far too often I've found that JMS, in my opinion, gets a little too carried away with his own importance and lapses into preachiness to the detriment of the story he's trying to tell. He also has – Spider-Man notwithstanding – a notorious tendency to leave projects unfinished for extended periods. Rising Stars was one such delayed project, and when he returned to it after several years his vision had obviously changed – such that the last volume became nothing more than a left-wing anti-George Bush diatribe, even to the extent of changing certain story elements that had been established earlier rendering the end inconsistent and basically incomprehensible. Few books have actually made me angry upon completion, but that was the case with Rising Stars volume three. I have not read his current Wonder Woman stuff; I have read his current run on Superman and found the earlier issues (which he plotted and wrote) far too self-important and yes, “preachy,” while the later issues (resulting from another of his instances of not sticking with a project, in this case necessitating a shift in writer because you can't just leave Superman with an extensive gap in publication!) in which the scripting duties were taken over by Chris Roberson (based to some unknown degree on JMS's plot) have been far superior, recapturing some of the magic of the greatest superhero of all. Basically, my practice has been that if JMS takes over a title that I read I will at least give it a chance – I don't just reject it out of hand – but conversely his name on a project is not in itself going to be a draw for me. (That's exactly why I was reading the current JMS Superman run but not Wonder Woman – I was already reading Superman but not Wonder Woman.)

Having said all of which, when Superman Earth One, an out-of-continuity “reimagining” of the Superman legend, was published with great hoopla last year, I passed on it. I figured I would get it sooner or later. I did hear all kinds of good things about it. Well, “sooner or later” is here. One of the things I like about the Science Fiction Book Club is various deals and specials that are occasionally offered, such as a couple weeks ago “Buy 2 at Regular Club Price and Get the 3^rd for $1.99.” And for a lot of these kinds of items the “Book Club Editions” are indistinguishable from the Publisher's Edition. So I pre-ordered the latest Dresden Files novel, Ghost Story (to be published next – err, I guess it's later this month now – July), along with Alex Ross's Project Superpowers vol. 1 from Dynamite Comics – and Superman Earth One. I got the two graphic novels a couple days ago.

Straight up: I really liked Superman Earth One. Here we have a very realistic portrayal of a 21st-century Superman, how the self-centered youth culture of the past couple of generations conflicts with the sacrificing ethos of the Kents that so famously formed Clark Kent into a hero. It was not inevitable. This Clark is a young man unsure what to do with his life. He is somewhat emotionally scarred by his ever-present sense of being different and isolated since a very young age, now tempted to focus his powers on being happy. No, it's not the easy contrast of a diametrically opposite character from what we're used to. This Clark was raised by the Kents, after all. He is a good person.  But other influences and the effects of a lifetime in hiding, of self-denial, have also gone into his formation. In the end, of course, when necessity arises in the form of an alien invasion, he does make the right choice and takes up the mantle of hero.

There are many nice touches throughout this story, showing that JMS has given a lifetime of thought to a rationale for the idea of Superman. My favorite was Clark's exchange with his mother, when she presents him with the costume she has fashioned for him from the red, blue, and yellow blankets: “Isn't it a bit too … I dunno … colorful?” he asks. - “I tried every dye I could,” she answers. “But the material from the ship doesn't change colors. In the long run, it's a good thing … People will be looking at the colors instead of your face.” - “Wouldn't it be easier if I had a mask or something?” - “Yes, it would … But you can't ever wear a mask.” - “Why not?” - “When people see what you can do, when they see how powerful you are, they're going to be terrified. A mask would only add to that. They'll need to see your face, so they can see that there's no evil in it … to see the gentleness and decency in you … and know that they have nothing to fear. The mask – the mask is what you'll have to wear the rest of the time.” There are other such gems and character pieces throughout.

I don't have any idea if such was the intent, or how much this graphic novel will influence the movie that is currently in production, but this story as presented would make a perfectly good Superman movie … in most respects. The weakest element is the villain, not so much in concept, (highlight the following to see spoiler) that his people destroyed Krypton and he is here to finish the job, but rather in design. Although Shane Davis' pencils as inked by Sandra Hope are very nice, at times beautiful, the design of “Tyrell” (not that hot a name, either) is pretty bad and would come off looking downright stupid in live action. I've seen him referred to as a combination of the DC anti-hero (actually, I'm not sure he's even that much a “hero”) Lobo with the members of the rock band Kiss. But my first thought was that it was a male version of the DC villainess Silver Banshee. Either way – FAIL. And that wasn't quite the only artistic faux pas. Sometimes certain pages were just too static, looking more like posed pin-up shots than natural snapshots of action. I'm thinking first of when we first see Superman “standing” in the sky in full costumed glory; then when he has just re-energized after being rescued from red sun radiation by Lois and Jim (not Jimmy, not in this book). Otherwise, however,“beautiful” as I described it above applies very well, not least because of the superb coloring work of Barbara Ciardo – generally muted, natural, but with a decent pop when appropriate.

Although I'm very interested to see what Grant Morrison has in mind for Action Comics #1 come September, which will apparently tell the new origin of Superman and hence the beginning of the age of super-heroes for the new post-Flashpoint “DcnU,” part of me almost wishes that this were that story. It does lay a perfectly good foundation that begs to be followed up. (It shows that a good "tweaking" of the iconic costume is possible without the somewhat radical redesign seen in the early images for September.  [I'm rather conflicted about the red Speedos - they are both essential to that iconic appearance and perhaps the most ridiculed element.  Personally, I would prefer they stay, for Superman alone.])  Reportedly JMS and Shane Davis are hard at work on a sequel – that was in fact the purported reason given when the writer bailed on the regular Superman title as well as Wonder Woman, to allow him to focus his energies on volume two. And there are obviously unanswered questions to be resolved – (highlight the following to see spoilers) Why did the unnamed enemy who gave the Dherons the means to destroy Krypton do so? - Why was there the condition that the Dherons should let no single Kryptonian survive, compelling Tyrell's long hunt that led him to Earth? I have a theory – the one time we see that enemy, in silhouette, although we can't see the top of his head I bet it's bald.... In any case, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting Superman Earth One, Volume Two, “sooner” rather than “later.”  J. Michael Straczynski has, to a degree, redeemed himself in my eyes. There's no doubt he can be a great writer.  I still have my doubts as to whether he can really stick with a regularly scheduled project to the end, and I sincerely hope he doesn't try to turn later volumes into a forum for some “message,” but for now I'm looking forward to seeing how this story will progress.

Cheers!