DC Bloodlines: Superman

Showing posts with label Superman. Show all posts

Sunday, January 26, 2025

2018 Houston Comicpalooza JLA JAM Superman segment by Sanford Greene

Once I finally committed to doing a Justice League of America "Magnificent Seven" commission, the obvious place to start was the Man of Steel. He was the largest figure on the reference piece, and I needed someone who could communicate his "bigness." You needed to be able to tell that it was Kal-El without taking an "L," because most of his costume would be cropped out. I'd enjoyed Sanford Greene's Marvel work, mostly on Luke Cage, but I thought it'd be interested to see if he could bring out the Big Red S's inner farm boy. I think Greene nailed it, capturing both majesty and humble honor scout sweetness. It might have helped that he'd actually had experience drawing Superboy in the animated series adaptation The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, which had flown under my radar.

Unfortunately, this was something of a "cursed" piece overall, with lackluster contributions and year+ absences in the possession of folks I wasn't always sure that I was ever going to get it back from. I didn't want to start posting portions of the jam until I knew where it would end up, and it wasn't finished until fairly late last year, a better than six year total turnaround. Also, the one scan I had of Greene's portion before the other contributions came in turned all of his lovely shading into something like a water stain, with only the edges showing, so I had to re-scan and clean up a later incarnation. Nice to finally roll this out!

2018 Houston Comicpalooza JLA JAM Segments

Sunday, May 19, 2024

JLApe: Gorilla Warfare (1999)

In Legends of the DC Universe #19 (August, 1999,) the arrogant and generally disagreeable "Gordon Matthews" infiltrated Manchester Junior High School in Alabama to act as a rival to Bart Allen. Meanwhile, Max Mercury investigated the theft of four gorillas from the Manchester Monkey Business School, which trains simians for show business. Max discovered three of the apes raising an international ruckus while wearing helmets that siphoned from the Speed Force. The fourth gorilla was in the custody of "Gordon Matthews," who revealed himself to Impulse as Gorbul Mammit, the son of Gorilla Grodd, looking to continue his legacy feud with the Flash Family. Having kidnapped Bart's young friend Carol Bucklen, he intended to transfer her mind into the "seductive body" of the fourth gorilla, to make her intelligent enough to serve as his bride, but Impulse foiled the scheme. Grodd was amused, but felt that the boy was thinking too small. A cute story by Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt, Pop Mhan, & Romeo Tanghal.

Elsewhere, relations between Gorilla City and the human world heated up and cooled down inside a week, with the assassination of Solovar and the rise of the Simian Scartlet that launched hostilities against the United Nations in JLA Annual #3. Then gorilla agents assailed Bludhaven and Atlantis in Batman Annual #23 & Aquaman Annual #5. As explained by Martian Manhunter in his second annual, "Led by simian sorceress Abu-Gita, apes invade the island nation of Themyscira." [Wonder Woman Annual #8]

"In Central City, the Flash, Max Mercury, and Impulse are enslaved by the long-time outlaw called Gorilla Grodd-- to charge his Speed Force reactor, providing the morphic resonator array with a power source to substitute for The Eye of Poseidon." J'Onn isn't usually a sexist, but he missed listing Jesse Quick. Walter West, an older version of Wally from a darker timeline, had lost his battle for self-control after being turned into "Flashorilla." Despite having four super-speedsters on the scene, none were fast enough to avoid getting turned into gorillas themselves. They were then put on treadmills to power another attempt to further spread the ape-conversion process. "Chimpulse" actually started to figure out that he'd been duped into Grodd's service, but then got distracted by unlimited access to bananas. More typically, Chimpulse got distracted from the distraction, and needing stimulus beyond running in place, returned to philosophy. His questioning of Grodd's plan played poorly with the pleebs, but won over the speed-apes. Further, while evading capture, Impulse vibrated through a wall and reverted to human. It was deduced that the Speed Force assists in reforming speedsters under this type of circumstance, and reset their matrix to its default. The speedsters then dismantled Grodd's apparatus, but the super-gorilla himself evaded capture. "The Apes of Wrath" was by by Brian Augustyn, Doug Braithwaite, and Robin Riggs. The Flash Annual #2 (October, 1999) was a cute story that the artists did their best to play for laughs, but their basic style is still too seriously inclined for the material. It just creates a Roger Rabbit effect of mashing cartoons against real world humans that don't quite match up.

Martian Manhunter continued, "In Washington, the smuggled components of the gorilla-built war machine dubbed 'Grogamesh' are assembled. Piloted by Ulgo, Grogamesh kidnaps Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, and is defeated by Superman." Despite being played for villainy in early episodes, Ulgo had a legitimate urge to avenge his slain uncle, which was exploited by Abu-Gita, who concealed the more sordid aspects of her magical incantations. In Metropolis, the Monk of Steel was failing to control his feral inclinations, but was swayed by encountering his wife. Her first suggestion to find the scientist Emil Hamilton didn't pan out, as he had gone full ape, so Supermonkey decided to "kill or cure" by flying near to the sun. There was a fake-out when he appeared to grow to Titano proportions, but he had in fact reverted to Kryptonian, and the giant was the fur-covered Grogamesh. In battle, that was burned away, revealing the metal bohemoth beneath the facade. In fact, those pelts were key to resolving said battle, as they were made from the skins of a thousand sacrificed apes, as part of Abu-Gita's plot to more literally invoke the heroic legend of Grogamesh. As a modern moderate, Ulgo was disgusted by this betrayal of his principles, and began to understand that he had been misled. Oh, and Young Justice turned up too late with a giant exploding banana, just in case. Against the odds, Superman Annual #11 (October, 1999) managed to immediately recycle the pun title "The Apes of Wrath," this time by Abnett & Lanning, and Joe Phillips with Faber & Stull. Phillips already trends toward a cartoonish art style, so here he simply had to lean into it. It helps land a few good bits, like a variation on the "it's a plane" dialogue, exclusively in grunts.

The Gorilla incarnation of Kyle Rayner was unable to restore himself to humanity on his own, so he was assisted by J'Onn J'Onzz in Green Lantern Annual #8 (October, 1999). "Thanks to my rather duplicitous efforts, Green Lantern was restored to normal, as has been the rest of the JLA." In fact, the entire episode of Gorilla Warfare was then resolved in Martian Manhunter Annual #2 (October, 1999)...

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Milestone Worlds Collide

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Julia Raul returns to join Diabolu Frank for the finale of our JLMay 2023 / Milestone Media trilogy of episodes. Since the previous shows tended toward paired character spotlights, we have to take a kitchen sink approach now, looking at the first year-plus of the series Blood Syndicate & Icon and the earliest Shadow Cabinet, including its launch event "Shadow War." We also return to Hardware and Static through to the intracompany event "Worlds Collide," restoring our theme and mandate by mingling in with DC's Superman Family of titles (well, the creative teams that aren't afraid to drive through the dark side of town, anyway.) Along the way, we talk Vixen, Black Canary, Green Lantern John Stewart, Steel, and more. In case you missed it, these episodes have covered every story from the trade paperback The Brave and the Bold: Milestone, which means it's time to visit the early issues of Xombi, including David Kim's team-up with the Crispus Allen incarnation of The Spectre from The Brave and the Bold #25 in the story "Annihilating Angel" by John Rozum & Scott Hampton.

JLMay 2023 will cover the third volume of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold (2007-2010), which ran 35 issues. There's only 31 days in the month, so we'll run a list of all the issues with links to the podcasts intent on covering them until the actual shows turn up, individual or in groups...

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Monday, May 1, 2023

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Black Lightning & Static

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Five years later... somebody else covers Legion, because DC Bloodlines is back to Black with coverage of African-American & Latin heroes as part of a multitudinous podcasting crossover event! just Julia Raul joins Diabolu Frank for an exhaustive discussion of Jefferson Pierce, A.K.A. Black Lightning, with an emphasis on his 1995 solo series (collected as Brick City Blues) and live action television show of 2018-21. Then they move on to Virgil Hawkins, of the 1993 Milestone Comics series Static (with a brisk overview of its first year) and the 2000-2004 animated show Static Shock. Finally, the two heroes team-up for 2009's "Last Time I Saw Paris" by Matt Wayne & Howard Porter from The Brave and the Bold #24.

JLMay 2023 will cover the third volume of DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold (2007-2010), which ran 35 issues. There's only 31 days in the month, so we'll run a list of all the issues with links to the podcasts intent on covering them until the actual shows turn up, individual or in groups...

I'm a big fan of Richard Dragon. Here is my favorite panel from issue 1. #SometimesThinkHeIsTalkingToMe pic.twitter.com/LvWCGMjiBv
— Anj (@dranj70) April 6, 2018

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Wednesday, October 13, 2021

DC Special Podcast: DK Encyclopedia Diaries 9

Volume VIII
The Drunken Guide To The Characters Of The DC Universe

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A
Asmodel 26

L
Legion of Super-Heroes 1

S
Superboy 0

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DC Comics Encyclopedia, DC Special Podcast, Asmodel, JLA, Justice League, Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, Superman

Monday, August 23, 2021

2021 “Justice League Extreme #1” fanfic commission art by Brad Green

About a year ago, our friend Siskoid started a new podcast called Who's Editing, a thought experiment "in which Siskoid and his guest... open an issue of Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe and imagine a line of books based solely (and obligatorily) on the heroes found within." I've been said guest on one occasion (with more to come;) coloring within the lines there and early on. However, after a few editions, I found the novelty of participating in the premise on a regular basis wearing off, as I wanted to play more with the continuity of the given characters, rather than focusing on the elevator pitch aspect. So my own personal comments-only side game, essential scrawling unwanted graffiti on the bathroom walls of Siskoid's forum, became less Who's Who and more DC Challenge. Basically, I slowly developed an overarching narrative for a theoretical ongoing line of books under my editorial stewardship, communicated through fake solicitation copy from a Previews-style order catalog, incorporating typically several variations on the concepts offered in each sequential issue of Who's Who. Unlike Who's Editing, it involves all the entry concepts, not just the heroes, and I put an emphasis on New 52/Rebirth continuity from the past decade, because that's my biggest DC Comics blind spot. It's way more interesting to research stuff that's unfamiliar, and to find ways of incorporating counterintuitive/unpopular elements.

The Justice League edition, "Volume XII," was of particular interest to me. Part of the core premise for "my" universe was that the JLA had been killed in a Boom Tube incident during a major conflict between Apokolips and New Genesis. Since the demise of the League was the tipping point for all the circumstances in my meta-narrative, the arrival of a new League twelve volumes in would presumably be a big deal. In one of the few moments of planning well in advance, I knew that I wanted to deny a typical changing of the guard member rotation. The roster has been reshuffled so many times for real that doing it on something with no rules lacked ambition. I felt like you had to do something dynamic with the premise, as well. I didn't even want to have a book with the title of "Justice League." While I semi-backslid on both of those plans, with The Satellite League being a revival of the Bronze Age interpretation of the JLA, and feeling the need to expand on the '90s Extreme Justice title to include the word "League," but I'm still happy with the twists I have in mind.

In the case of "Justice League Extreme," I hit on the notion that if I was going to replace the JLA, why not literally staff the team with infamous replacements of the classic League from "The Dark Age of Comics?" To my knowledge, it had never been done before, despite most of these temporary stand-ins being active around the same time in the early-to-mid nineties. That was actually the foreseeable problem, because many of these characters were tied to specific storylines and periods, often bearing temporary looks, rarely drawn by the same artists or together. I could copy and paste preexisting images into a Chromium Colorforms group shot, but in the hyperstylized EXTREME '90s they would obviously be visually at odds, unnaturally posed, and require tons of reference/paint work. Thanks to the pandemic, I haven't gotten many art commissions over the past two years, and thanks to my paranoia, I'd rather not have any shipped to my home by mail. I'd considered fully digital art in the past, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore that avenue on a project where the lack of physical art would be beneficial. No way could I get a quality seven-figure drawing from one artist over a convention weekend for a reasonable price. In digital, with a reasonable time frame, at an agreeable per-negotiated rate, would be vastly preferable.

Unfortunately, being a jackass, I lollygagged for at least half a year between realizing what I wanted to do and actively pursuing it. Via an online service, I browsed through dozens of available artists, but the clear favorite for this project was Brad Green. Not to be cutting, but the only people still drawing in a "90's style" were either period superstars with outrageous quotes or, y'know, objectively bad at art. I wanted a modern (also good) artist who could evoke the excitement of the nineties and render all those (literally) edgy looks, but without turning it into a pastiche. I also wanted someone with the aesthetic of American super-hero work, who could juggle seven figures in kinetic poses that could look like a legitimate offering from a major publisher in 2021. Brad Green was my only choice that checked every single box, and the only artist I contacted, so I'm really glad that he was game.

Among the four Supermen that arrived after "Doomsday," Steel had been a part of the Morrison/Porter JLA alongside the electric blue Superman, while The Eradicator was in the Outsiders. Cyborg Superman was revealed almost immediately to be evil, so the only team he ever joined was the Sinestro Corps. "The Metropolis Kid" grew into the Post-Crisis Superboy for over 100 solo issues and serving on numerous teen teams. Eradicator felt the most appropriate for the theme here, but I'd forgotten about the plan when I abused and disposed of him earlier on. It worked out though, because no one character could encompass "Reign of the Superman," so I now had an excuse to do a mash-up of most of them, with a New 52 spin to boot. "Do Eradicator but make him Cyborg" is a pretty lousy bit of art direction, but Green killed it with the mingled elements and the cool exagerated arm (then topped himself with the glowing energy effect.)

Green Lantern was the easiest choice for this piece. I could have reached from some obscurity out of the quarterly anthology, or brought back Warrior, but in truth Kyle Rayner was the most successful '90s replacement. He revitalized the franchise and was its champion for over a decade, until DC seemingly sabotaged him in pursuit of restoring Hal Jordan after thoroughly assassinating his character. While the subject of some fan debate, I personally love Rayner's original Darryl Banks design, but I understand that many hate it and find it hard to draw. Brad Green had no such issues, at least from my view of his results. Sadly, I'd forgotten about having written a first draft of the "Extreme Justice" copy with Kyle as the Omega Lantern, to acknowledge the modern White Lantern trajectory of the character. The design still sings, but more so with the green, and I was a jerk for asking Green to change the colors after he'd already done the flats. He still made it work though, and even added a neat energy effect.

Dark Flash was the toughest choice for this piece. Wally West was the earliest replacement out of the gate, in the '80s, and was a conservative standard-bearer. Nothing much "extreme" about that. Wally had been replaced by Bart Allen, but that was a blip, and then again by Barry Allen, the guy he had himself replaced. All wore the same essential costume. I toyed with using minor future Flash John Fox, but his suit is hideous, and he was as much of an uninspiring reach as my other candidates. I finally landed on the short-lived grimdark alternate future Walter West, who at least looked good, though his stint had negligible impact in comparison to these near-contemporaries. Smartly, Brad Green focused a lot of attention on the Scarlet Speedster, from his foreground positioning in a "flashy" running pose to his determined expression and probably the heaviest concentration of rad crosshatching of any hero. Would could have been a (forgive me) also-ran is instead a highlight of the piece.

Brad Green could have stopped work at several points in this process and I would have been perfectly content with the result. There was a finished "pencils" stage with a lot of rough energy squiggles and loose cape outlines that already exceeded my best hopes going in. The figures were already extremely well balanced, detailed and numerous without feeling crowded or static. Green wasn't satisfied though, redrawning Artemis from scratch, one draft leaving her hair and costume details in blue-line sketch form. That one was then "inked" into a final draft with a digital background, and I was done. No further work needed. I'm happy. Another time, all the colors were flats and Kyle Rayner was still a Green Lantern. I still feel bad asking him to change that so late in the game, but he made it work regardless. We ran out of time and I tweeted and linked to a version that still had some flats as the version married to the "blurb" posting. Again, I was done, and said so, but the artist wasn't. He added more tones, muted the debris to emphasize the figures, added energy effects... he just kept at it until he had a piece that DC should be so lucky as to publish themselves. I hope he runs off some prints to sell at shows. I'd buy one even if I hadn't had a hand in its creation. These results are absolutely glorious, I'm bowled over by how excellently this turned out, and it was an absolute steal to boot. I'm so giddy with this piece that I want to do more in digital for this project. For variety, I'll probably try out some different artists and approaches, but I'll actively seek out more opportunities to work with Green again. I doubt I'll ever come up with anything else this demanding, but I don't need to in order to appreciate the pleasures of his style and careful craftsmanship. I can't recommend him highly enough for your own prospective commissions!

“Justice League Extreme #1” by Brad Green

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Aquaman & Batman @ Justice League Detroit
Artemis @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

DC Special Podcast: Warner Bros.’ Zack Snyder's Justice League's DC's Murderverse (2021)

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Meanwhile... Illegal Machine, Mr. Fixit, & Diabolu Frank talk about the four hours of appeasement to a toxic fandom and/or AT&T's opportunistic grift trading false hopes of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse to bump soft HBO Max subscriber numbers in a pandemic. Cards on the table, we all liked both versions of Justice League, but that won't stop the shade or temper the sizzling hot takes. Equal opportunity offense is our stock-in-trade, and business is good. Both sides can eat a big fat di--rector's (un)cut. #Justice4SilasStone

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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

DC Special Podcast: Bat-Crisis on Metal Earths in a Finite Industry

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit & Diabolu Frank talk Batman: Dark Knights: Metal, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the impending death of the North American comic book industry...

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

DC Special Podcast: Warner Bros.’ Justice League (2017)

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Meanwhile... Diabolu Frank, Mr. Fixit & Illegal Machine are unsurprisingly not unanimous in their assessment of the first ever JLA motion picture...

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Monday, March 27, 2017

DC Special Podcast: Justice League Unite Trailer (2017)

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit, Illegal Machine, & Diabolu Frank talk about the first official trailer to the 2017 Warner Brothers Justice League film for about twenty times longer that the trailer actually runs, and the CGI is nowhere near as bad as our audio.

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Monday, February 13, 2017

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: You May Call Me Doctor Mist!

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The ancient immortal African mystic Doctor Mist was introduced in a cameo on the last page of 1978's The Super Friends #12 before continuing into appearances in The Super Friends #13 & 45-46 before officially forming the Global Guardians in DC Comics Presents #46. We cover these comics to varying degrees, but our primary focus is the supposed true story of "Nommo," appended to tales starring Zatara and Zatanna. Is Dr. Mist one of the most powerful and important figures in the history of the DC Universe, or a sad and lonely fraud? You decide, and you can follow along with our reading of 1988's Secret Origins #27 at The Secret Origins Podcast.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: The Green Fury meets The Super Friends

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After slipping to an unintentional monthly schedule with some uncomfortable elements and unfortunate timing, the DC Bloodlines Podcast returns for a thirteenth episode set on breaking its unlucky streak (and nearly broke Diabolu Frank with all the editing it required.) In this novel edition, special guest Pekita Trotamundos helps produce a two-person radio drama in the style of ABC-TV's 1979 Saturday morning favorite, The World's Greatest Super Friends. This is meant to reflect the early appearances of Brazil's premier super-heroine in the DC Universe, Beatriz da Costa, originally known as The Green Fury! Later known as Fire, she was created by E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon for the comic book tie-in Super Friends #25, cover-dated October, 1979. After that brief cameo battling Superman, The Green Fury went on to appear in issues #42-44, with her origin finally revealed in a full length starring role in the series' final issue, the August 1981 cover-dated #47. Foregoing the usually biting commentary and contemporary music soundtrack, this episode is a loose adaptation of these stories featuring scores culled from numerous cartoon favorites of the era. However, there is a political subtext that's hard to miss. For a peek at the early Beatriz da Costa in action, here's a look at sample pages from The Super Friends #43 at Scans_Daily.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Myriad!

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This episode looks at the New Blood Myriad and the Cyborg Superman, neither of whom debuted in 1993's Superman Annual #5 (the only instance of that occurring in the Bloodlines annual event that was specifically created to introduce new characters.) Getting to know Hank Henshaw means going back to 1990 to cover Superman #42, Adventures of Superman #465 and especially Adventures of Superman #466, followed by Sasha Green's first (and technically last) appearance in Superman #77. Next we get to the actual story "Myriad!" followed by her cameo in Bloodbath Special #2 and her quasi-posthumous mentions in 1994's Action Comics #696 & 700 plus 1997's Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7. Finally, an overview of Frank's reading of Superman comics overall, as well as the career of Hank Henshaw specifically. This one gets political, so if you're still hypersensitive about the concept of President Trump, take heed. Bonus: Our podcast's debut appearance of the most successful New Blood, Hitman! You can follow along with our reading of the annual at Scans Daily.

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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: The Vixen is a Lady Fox

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Finally, the DC Bloodlines Podcast reveals its greater scope than just one 1993 event, but rather a mandate to cover the under-served DCU by looking at the earliest published (and especially the unpublished) comics of what was intended to be the first super-heroine series for a character of African decent, Mari McCabe: The Vixen! We start with the aborted 1978 first issue created by Gerry Conway & Bob Oksner from the second Xeroxed collection of "Cancelled Comic Cavalcade" and the rejected early '80s "The Power Squad" proposal before her accessible comics debut in 1981's Action Comics #521 and her second team-up with Superman in 1984's DC Comics Presents #68, plus supplemental material from Back Issue Magazine #40!

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

DC Special Podcast: The Joke That Keeps On Killing

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit, Illegal Machine, & Diabolu Frank look at the controversial 1988 Batman: The Killing Joke prestige format one-shot that has gone from one of the most revered works of a new wave of mature readers books to a (mostly) direct-to-video animated film and an albatross around the neck of DC's attempts at outreach to modern women not in refrigerators. While the comic and flick are a touchstone, this is less an individual critique than a debate about the treatment of prominent females in comics. But bro-ier than that sounds. Beyond Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, we also talk Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, Rafael Albuquerque, and more. We also go broader than Barbara Gordon to other imperiled heroines like Supergirl, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Cassandra Caine, The Huntress, Bat-Girl, Batwoman, Superwoman, and yes, Sansa Stark. If you're not up to date with Game of Thrones or Orange Is The New Black, this episode may be even more problematic for you than usual.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

DC Special Podcast: Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad (2016)

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Meanwhile... Diabolu Frank, Illegal Machine & Mr. Fixit are indentured through explosives implanted in their spines to endure a Suicide Squad mission, and the word cloud is swollen with "gross."

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Sunday, July 17, 2016

DC Special Podcast: Dawn Of Justice Ultimate Edition

Coarse Language: Listener Discretion is Advised

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Meanwhile... Illegal Machine & Mr. Fixit revisit Batman v Superman, this time in the extended length edition favored by the director and joined by Diabolu Frank. Come join us in jeering the DC Extended Universe debuts of Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman while we try to find any peanuts left to pick out of this thoroughly canvassed turd!

We Think You're Special!

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If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

DC Special Podcast: Rebirth Pain

Coarse Language: Listener Discretion is Advised

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Meanwhile... Mr. Fixit & Diabolu Frank talk briefly about DC's latest not-a-reboot, Reberf, its shallow talent pool due to past brush-ups, as well as the shift at Vertigo from a creative doorway to a mail slot. If you're super-duper excited and positive about the direction of DC Comics, you're listening to the wrong podcast. There's nothing but bellyaching and backbiting here.

Apparently @rolledspine hits a certain...spot. pic.twitter.com/Im1P7NiT0d
— Michael Bailey (@BaileysPodcasts) March 8, 2016

We Think You're Special!

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Tweet us as a group @rolledspine, or individually as Diabolu Frank & Illegal Machine. Fixit don't tweet.
If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Edge of Steel

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STEEL YOURSELF! Here is the first in what will become a recurring instance of bifurcated broadcasting, as we not only look at the prickly New Blood known as Edge, but also the rookie super-hero who hosted Tom O'Brien's debut in Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #2, Iron John! Well, you might not remember that short lived moniker, but surely you know Dr. John Henry Irons, the armored engineer who stood as part of the titular quartet from the epic storyline "Reign of the Supermen" who briefly replaced the Last Son of Krypton following his presumed death at the bony hands of Doomsday. We'll cover Steel's earliest career from his cameo in Adventures of Superman #500 through his star turn in Superman: The Man of Steel #22-24, as well as an overview of his role in the DC Universe. You can follow along with our reading of the annual at Scans Daily.

This episodes non-paying advertisers:

Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
Email Diabolu
If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Outbreak

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Almost a year after our secret trial episode during Super Blog Team-Up #6, The DC Bloodlines Podcast begins in earnest during another blog/podcast crossover, #BestEventEver, devoted to the 1993 DC Comics annuals. In that vein, Diabolu Frank spends this episode discussing the history of comic book annuals and the direct sales market leading to The Chromium Age, including "Doomsday" "Knightfall" & "The Clone Saga," before circling in on the 1993 character generating spectacles at DC and Marvel Comics. Going forward, we'll look at each of the New Blood characters approximately but not always exactly according to their order of appearance, as well as the (sometimes barely) more established super-people they're paired with on either a weekly or biweekly basis (I'm keeping my options open.) Plus, we'll keep an eye on DC's 2016 revival mini-series as that comes out...

1992 Alien Parasite Designs by Arthur Adams

#BestEventEver

Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
Email Diabolu
If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

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Monday, May 1, 2023

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Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Monday, August 23, 2021

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

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Monday, March 27, 2017

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Monday, February 13, 2017

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

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Sunday, July 17, 2016

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Thursday, July 7, 2016

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Thursday, April 14, 2016

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Thursday, March 31, 2016

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Ray Palmer

The Blackhawk Squadron

Ben Turner

Adam Blake

The Doom Patrol

Ralph Dibny

John Stewart

Cynthia "Cindy" Reynolds

Helena Wayne / Bertinelli

Sandra Woosan

J'Onn J'Onzz

Buddy Blank

Vic Sage

John Henry Irons

Cisco "Paco" Ramone

Mari Jiwe McCabe

Diana Prince

The Blood Pack

New Bloods?

Bloodbath

Justice League Blogosphere

Teleportation Tubes

Blood Traces