Review: Beowulf #2

Hi again, Anj from Supergirl Comic Box Commentary  here, once more taking over DC Bloodlines to review some of DC's 1970s fantasy comics. I hope you have it in you to bear with one more look. I have already reviewed Stalker #1 and #2 as well as Beowulf #1 here. It was pure serendipity that put Beowulf #2 in my hands just 2 weeks ago, a find in the bargain box at my local comic book store.

As I said when reviewing the first issue, had I read this issue as a very young boy, it would have been imprinted on my brain. Crazy battles, beautiful women, and a noble savage hero? What more could an impressionable young boy ask for? The truth is this sense of nostalgia, knowing how a young Anj would have devoured this book, makes me look at it with a more gentle critique.  And this issue is so crazy I sort of chuckled my way through it. It is definitely 'over the top' and sometimes that works, like it did here.

But moreover, this comic is such a nonstop roller coaster ride of the most wild fantasy concepts. Writer Michael Uslan isn't rewriting Beowulf here; he is absolutely going crazy here taking the hero to bizarre and unexpected places. It is just crazy enough to make me want to find the other issues of this run (6 in total). And Ricardo Villamonte stretches his legs a bit here as the landscape varies. Yes, he has a more classic photorealistic illustration style. But he also gets the chance to get a little wild as Uslan's scripts drift far away from the original Beowulf text.

Remember that last issue ended with Beowulf on his way to Castle Hrothgar when his foil Unferth used black magic to send Beowulf and his men to a swamp loaded with satanic crocodile men.

Sinking in the muck, Nan-Zee the comely Scyfling warrior that Beowulf freed from Satan's control last issue, advises the warriors to not fight the sand, instead allowing it to engulf them. It seems a little quick for Beowulf to be listening to her like this, but he must sense she knows what she is doing. And just like that Beowulf and his men sink into the mire.

In the meantime, we find that Grendel is suffering some angst as he tries to figure out just who he is. Of course in the Beowulf, Grendel is simply a cannibalistic monster, a spawn of Cain. To have him trying to come to grips with who he is was an interesting way to go. It seems daily Grendel asks his mother why he is who he is. Daily? Can I say 'poor Grendel'? Maybe he wants to be something more than killer.

But before he can even come to grips with these thoughts, before he can say he wants to be something else, Satan himself invades Grendel's mind, telling him to again go to Castle Hrothgar and kill the Danes.

I don't want to say this makes Grendel a sympathetic character, but it certainly gives him some strange depth.

For those thinking that Beowulf was simply going to drown in the swamp, you haven't read many comics. Much like the 'siren nest' in Beowulf #1, the swamp was actually a doorway directly into hell. Nan-Zee recognized this from her years as a 'slave maiden of Satan'. Now why you would want to actually go to Hell rather than try to get out of the swamp is a different question. I know I would rather get back on terra firma and fight croc-men than battle my way out of the underworld.

So the straight path to Castle Hrothgar has taken a detour.

And here is one of the more memorable moments in the book for me, one I am sure I would have loved as a kid.

Facing Medulus, a three-headed Hell hound, Beowulf loses all sense of nobility and some might say humanity. He becomes a pure instrument of savagery, filled with a 'burning rage of vengeance'. He bludgeons and gores the hound to death with his horned helmet, the skull of a minotaur, until its 'off-white ivory is painted bright red with satanic blood'.

I mean, look at that third panel, Beowulf chanting 'death' as he grips the helmet. Yes, if an old Anj is pleased a very young Anj would be very pleased. That is twisted, awesome, and somehow cleared by the Comic Code Authority.

In the aftermath of that battle, with Beowulf talking about how they cannot rest a moment, how they must be as vicious as their demonic opponents, Nan-Zee decides to get amorous. Yes, she will teach him how 'softness' now and then is a good thing. Looks like there is a place for some pleasure and passion in this den of evil.

Nice little art tricks here, their bodies in complete silhouette. And all that sort of action is off-screen, much like in Conan books.

Later ...

The team meets yet another 'slave maiden of Satan', this time a giant fire woman, naked but for some well placed licks of flames.

The men's responses are hilarious. Beowulf sounds jealous of his harem (knowing Nan-Zee was once there). Meanwhile one man wants a blond. Umm ... she's 40ft tall and made of fire and wants to kill you! Maybe you shouldn't be cat-calling!

Regardless of the tomfoolery, she is tough to beat, being red hot and all. Only Nan-Zee knows the answer; the demon's power lies in her hair. After a quick coif by Nan-Zee, the demon needs to retreat. And that retreat leads the team deeper into Hell.

Again, I would have been giddy about this as a kid.

After beheading a dragon, the group walks into Hell's throne room and have a conversation with Satan himself. They are talking to Satan!

Okay, that is pretty sick. I like the throne. It is either resting on the backs of slaves, a pile of skulls, or both.

Satan then goes on to talk of how he is bored in Hell and needs amusements to pass the time. And when he heard the happy noises from Castle Hrothgar, he sent Grendel there to end the party. He doesn't come right out and say he is Grendel's father but he does say (and I quote) that he "... er, knew his (Grendel's) mother once."

And in another loony moment, Beowulf gets sick of being called a 'toy' for Satan's amusement and actually assaults the Devil, cutting off Satan's ear.

Beowulf cut off Satan's ear!!! THAT JUST HAPPENED!!!!

That is crazy. And wonderful. And inspired.

That angers Satan. But rather than kill Beowulf and his men, the Devil lets the warriors go, transporting them to Hrothgar's land. But he gives them a quest, a Satanic game for them to play. Beowulf must drink the ambrosia of the zumak fruit  and then drink the venom of the black viper. Only then can he defeat Grendel. If Beowulf does not complete these quests, Grendel will continue to kill with impunity.

Nice swirling chaotic feel to this splash page.

Back at Castle Hrothgar, Grendel goes on his second rampage. I wish I could explain it but these were my favorite panels of the book. Grendel just effortlessly tosses this Dane out the high tower window. This is another example of a part of this book that I would have dwelt on in my childhood. That is just horrific.

Grendel does ask Hrothgar if this man is his 'favorite'. I suppose it could be the comic equivalent of Aeschere the trusted advisor of Hrothgar killed in the Beowulf poem. But Aeschere is killed by Grendel's mother in that work.

Beowulf arrives at the castle, transported there by Satan. Grendel contemplates attacking but he is held in check by Satan who wants the Geat to go on this quest for venom and ambrosia. The quest could bring Satan more amusement than a battle right then would.

At some point, Uslan must have realized that he wanted to insert some parts of the actual poem's story. We see a brief retelling of Beowulf and Unferth's confrontation over his swimming contest with Breca as the characters lounge in the Mead Hall. It actually mirrors the poem nicely and briefly, even Beowulf's rebuke of Unferth's unsavory battle survival skills.

In some ways this is also inane. What could Beowulf be thinking? "Hmmm, just a couple of hours ago Grendel tossed some guys out of windows while I was cutting Satan's ears off. I know ... let's chill out and get drunk!" I think I would want all my faculties available and be on guard at all times.

The decision gets made to head out on Satan's quest. Grendel must be defeated. And Hrothgar makes Unferth join Beowulf's team. In the poem, Unferth ends up respecting Beowulf, giving the Geat his family sword Hrunting. So maybe Uslan wants to show how the two end up becoming comrades in arms.

Okay, as I said before, this comic was a complete guilty pleasure which made me feel like I was 9 years old again, reading comics until the covers came off. It is filled with all the things that make fantasy books great. But add to that the nuttiness like squaring off against Satan and I knew this was a winner. I was so giddy reading it, I have to give it a high grade. It's like saying I enjoyed the movie '300' ... it isn't an Oscar winner, but it was a flat-out awesome time.

And I'm not the only blogger here at DC Bloodlines that liked the book. Here is Luke's review of the whole series, which sounds like it gets ever crazier. From  El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker:http://ljaconesbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/discount-bin-finds-beowulf-dragon.html

Overall grade: A (if you are in the right mood)

Doom Patrol #2 (September, 2004)

In the new origin of Larry Trainor that will be forgotten within two years and directly contradicted within four, dude was supposed to fly a spaceship around the sun under the guidance of Niles Caulder. Something went wrong, and he ended up flying the failing ship right toward the control center Caulder and Rita Farr were working out of. Caulder remote ejected Trainor, who refused to do it himself in hopes of guiding the ship away from where his friends could be killed. Frustrated, Trainor projected the Negative Man for the first time to carry the craft to safety. Fatigued, Trainor felt better when the Negative Man returned to him, only to learn it also made him intensely radioactive.

Flashback: That part where the enlarged Rita fell through a wall? Happened again. The new kids joined the fight, with Vortex being clever enough to create a portal toward a solar light source. Unfortunately, while in possession of metahuman bodies, the vampires were safe from the sun.

Elsewhere: In Antarctica, a science project went awry without my hanging out until issue three or later to follow-up.

Flashback: The same exposition the punk kid teleporter gave last issue.



Presently: The Chief explained to Nudge and Faith how to separate the vampires from the metahumans, the sun hit the bloodsuckers, and they erupted in flames. The punk kid teleported to Castle Crucifer with Negative Man in pursuit. Larry continued talking amongst the Patrol about the stuff he was doing as Negative Man, until the pain of separation caused the energy wraith to go crazy. The Doom Patrol followed up, and found Green Lantern John Stewart trying to contain Negative Man while Batman saw to Martian Manhunter. With Larry's arrival, the wraith settled down, and returned to Trainor. Larry was concerned about the attack on Manhunter. "Fortunately, I was able to render myself intangible just at the moment he struck at me. He did no damage." Come to think of it, most of that was still a flashback, after all.

The punk kid wormhole guy tossed Batman aside and tried to escape, but Rita Farr had figured him out through subtle clues, and killed the vampire with sunlight. The Sleuth from Outer Space offered, "Excellent deductive reasoning, Miss Farr. My compliments." Trainor apologized for the attack on J'Onzz, and everyone went their separate ways on good terms. Bruce Wayne later blew twelve million dollars buying Castle Crucifer and having Green Lantern tear it down.

In the aftermath, Faith remained to train Nudge in the use of her powers, and Rita told the Chief that her group had decided not to rat him out for using Nudge as bait. "It's not something you are ever going to do again."

"Hearts of Darkness" was by John Byrne with Doug Hazelwood. The book remained all exposition, but little plot and no soul. Byrne's trying to be clever with the timeline by visiting different areas at different points, but it just feels like two issues of wheels spinning.

Comicpalooza 2011

I'm a poor full time student, so going to Comicpalooza 2011 was a bad idea for my wallet. Still, there was an artist at the show that had owed me a piece for over a year who had agreed to finally deliver, and I was kind of OCD about getting some new commissions this year. I was still wavering on attending up to the last week, and had to juggle several social obligations and anemic finances, but finally got there on the last day of the con. It was way up on the third floor, and then past all the plush halls from last year to a large auditorium where several sporting mini-arenas had been laid out.

I pressed on through to a second auditorium, which had been laid out as an intentional maze of tables and draped backdrops to force attendees to go through the entirety of artists' alley before being offered multiple avenues to dealers and special events. There were some sort of flight simulators, an area for laser tag involving inflated obstacles, an awful lot of steampunk paraphernalia, and other assorted oddities. Here's a breakdown of my non-commission related observations, activities, and purchases...

Sports: There was MMA training, and practice with padded escrima sticks. It took less than ten minutes to be completely over roller derby. I managed to miss Doomsday Wrestling, and Muggle Quiddich looked lame. Would a radio-controlled Golden Snitch be that difficult to put together?

Authors: I had no intention of getting tied down talking to writers, but after spending eight hours on the floor, I would have been happy for any distraction. However, these guys must have all been wearing tarps of invisibility or been at panels, because I never saw/recognized a single one. I'm not saying I could pick Fred Van Lente out of a line-up though, so there's that. There was a Chris Sims there, but not the blogger, and how sad is it that the latter trumps some cat from Wizards of the Coast in my book?



Cosplay: There was a guy in zombie make-up running around telling puns while carrying a fake heart. I think he was promoting a booth that applied zombie make-up to con-goers. One couple went as mummies wielding axes while swathed head to toe in black with no visible eye holes. The floor must have been at least eighty degrees, so that was heroic. I hit a solid costume contest while I was waiting for a commission. A totally in character Captain America won best male cosplay, Black Widow took best femme, some whacked-out version of the Joker had best villain, and Noir Spider-Man & Kingpin took best group. Personally, I really liked the Dalek, who received some sort of bonus prize. Fella even had some kind of voice box and automated wheels. I tried to get pictures of a Supergirl for Anj, but they all had horrendous red eye, and I missed a Donna Troy. I asked a Green Lantern John Stewart to pose, and that turned out better. I ran into Wonder Woman and Superman later on the con floor, and asked them for a shot under better lighting.

There was a lot of group cosplay. I tend to like the steampunk stuff, but Star Wars is a total snooze, and why are people still hung up on the Ghostbusters? Is it just that you can be authentically overweight in those coveralls? There were also a bunch of cos-vehicles, including an ECHO-1 and the jeep from Jurassic Park.

Comics: I picked up a nice fat stack of 21 random Bronze Age Wonder Woman comics, including all three parts of the "Judgement in Infinity" arc I've wanted to read since it was first advertized in 1982. Scored the first 18 issues of Comico's "Justice Machine." I re-completed my set of "Wild Dog" after a few decades apart, plus 3 out of 4 "Power Comics" issues (reprints from an African publisher of work by Bolland & Gibbons.) Filled in some "Blue Devil" gaps, caught the '80s Goodwin/Simonson "Manhunter" reprint and "Countdown Special: The Atom." Bought the only three copies of "Amazing Heroes" I could find, a set of the "Roots of the Swamp Thing" mini-series and a few odds and ends. I paid no more than a quarter for each, and most were 5 for $1.00.



Artists: Arthur Suydam had an expansive booth full of poster sized prints. There were a good deal of zombies. I'm glad that's working out fort him. Larry Elmore worked off a modest table with his own prints across the way. Dirk Strangely had a ridiculously tall booth that I studious avoided. I don't get the appeal, especially after twenty years of Tim Burton crap.

Publishers: In the eight years I ran my shops, I never had much luck selling stuff like Hate or A Distant Soil, despite some effort. I'm sure Bedrock City Comics Company manages to move some units, but I've never found Houston to me very responsive to books published outside Diamond's Premier section. There were a lot of bored people manning indie booths, and I passed them often collecting commissions, so I really had to keep my "homeless people" eye aversions rapid to avoid getting sucked in. Twee and Goth seemed to be a very popular theme. A guy named Jason Poland rocked the former, vaguely reminding me of the Matt Smith Doctor. He managed to wrangle me, so I had to look at his mini-comic and straight up own my lack of interest. In case you're less mean than I am, you can try Robbie and Bobby here. It's a comic strip about a boy and his robot, which is not a selling point to a grinch. I never spotted him at the con, but one small press publisher was an irregular at one of my shops. He used to work as a bouncer, and once shattered a '90s plastic glow-in-the-dark Green Lantern ring on some unruly guy's face.



Celebrities: I could care less about autographs, and I find the prospect of forced small talk with minor celebrities extremely off-putting. Still, it's kind of neat to breath the same air as famous people, so whenever I passed that way, I'd cast a glance toward the signing booths way in the back of the show floor. I don't know who Dan Braverman is, but I saw him wandering around the grounds once or twice. James Hampton is a con regular, so for the second year in a row, I gazed at him for a few seconds from 100+ feet away as he signed some dude's glossy photo. I think Peter Mayhew was the only Star Wars guy that showed, but I didn't actually lay eyes on him. I've seen him once or twice at other cons, and a guy that big is tough to miss. I heard someone say he had some kind of debilitating fall or something. I also never saw Sean Maher, but I got a good look at Sam Trammell. He's a smallish guy, but just as handsome in real life as on TV. A big deal was made over Edward James Olmos, but I missed him entirely. Some girls were giggling over their Devon Murray pictures, but my girlfriend's being a Harry Potter fanatic (damn you ABC Family weekend marathons) just made me want to run the other way. Marina Sirtis is holding up well, and seemed very affectionate with her fans, standing up and shaking hands. I overheard folks saying nice things about Tony Todd as well, but there was only so close I wanted to get to Candyman.

Film: There were a lot of no-budget horror filmmakers hocking their wares, with one in particular creating a micro haunted house on the con floor that provided enough shade to allow for a decent screening. They had a number of cosplayers around, including a blond girl in the Halle Berry Catwoman costume. For some reason I was constantly crossing that chick's path. I'm sorry, but I'm Team Pfeiffer, so that get-up bugged me.

By mid-my-day I was tired enough to eavesdrop on a group conversation involving an angry organizer in the blessedly air-conditioned lounge area. She was dealing with one director who kept stealing her personal audio equipment, which was preventing bands from playing, because the idiot filmmaker insisted it was better for screening his flick to twelve guys in attendance... Yes, even though there was better equipment available, optimized for clarity over projection, perfect for a film in a small room. Plus, he'd sent her a bunch of threatening text messages, so she was trying to track him down for a confrontation, but he kept hiding from her. Con drama is so much more fun when you're not remotely involved. Plus, no loading longboxes of unsold comics into a van. There were some anime people, but if it doesn't involve schoolgirl outfits and untoward tentacles, I really don't care.

Music: Passed on all of them, including Adam WarRock and some American J-Pop, which given the last sentence of the previous paragraph, was probably best for everyone. Plus, I heard they were having sound problems...

Who's Dat: Marshal Kafka

PERSONAL DATA
Real Name: Kirovan Kafka
Occupation: Bandit Marshal
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Leader of his own mercenary army
Base of Operations: Central Europe, The World To Come
Height/Build: Approximately 6'0" and stocky
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: OMAC #3 (January-February, 1975)

HISTORY
Marshal Kirovan Kafka commanded his 100,000 strong mercenary army within his own unnamed Central European nation and against territorial neighbors. Massacre was their specialty, as Kafka played out his dream of becoming a Caesar. Those dreams were crushed by the One Man Army Corps, who used his own advanced weaponry and the incredible resources of Brother Eye to demolish the bandits and capture their leader. Kafka was turned over to the Global Peace Agency to be tried for war crimes at the Court of Justice. Kafka was charged with the following:

• Mass Homicide: 3 Counts
• Execution of Prisoners: 9 Counts
• Conspiracy to Invade: 2 Counts
• Intent to Subjugate and Enslave: 12 Counts
• Design and Execution of Mass Terror upon Civilians: 3 Counts
• Use of Weapons Outlawed by International Agreement: 2 Counts

Kafka was unrepentant, laughing at the charges and threatening more deaths when his avenger arrived at the super-court. True to his word, a doomsday creation had been unleashed against the court, but was redirected into space by OMAC. Kafka was last seen being escorted to confinement.

POWERS & WEAPONS:
Marshal Kafka had an enormous army and spectacularly advanced arsenal at his disposal. These included remote guided rockets, massive tanks, vertical take-off planes, barrages of barbed cannonballs, armored golf-carts, and a heavily armed mobile bunker weighing seventy tons. All of Kafka's forces were geared for mobility, so that all of his resources could be redirected on short notice to overwhelm any opposition. Kafka also had a bioengineering program with which he created an astonishing creature of unidentified construction with a nigh-impervious exterior that could project intense flames and sonic waves.

Quote:
"I'm not impressed by your gimmicks or speeches... Marshal Kafka will dictate peace! ...By the power of his weapons!"

Created by: Jack Kirby

Coming Soon on DC Bloodlines...

The Taskmaster
The Prince
The Warrior
The Elemental
The Enigma
The Crusader

Together, these Six shall stand firm against all of Earth's enemies.

Welcome To The Edge.

Review: Beowulf #1

Hello again! It's Anj from Supergirl Comic Box Commentary and once again I have dusted off a 1970's DC Comics fantasy book to look at here at DC Bloodlines.

As I have said before, I love the idea of this blog. How great for there to be a site where the depth of DC Comics can be explored by multiple bloggers with different viewpoints and passions. And I am glad when time allows me to come here and post about some non-Super related topic.

I mean where else would I feel welcomed when I want to talk about Beowulf #1?

My interest in the 1970's DC fantasy books was rekindled by Gail Simone's treatment of them WonderWoman #20-23 back in 2008. In that storyline, Stalker organizes Diana, Claw the Unconquered, and Beowulf into a group to fight the demon god Dgrth.

Simone and artist Aaron Lopresti really shine here, showing Diana to be an extremely capable warrior but also armed with compassion. And clearly the two creators have as much a love of DC lore as any fan.

Here is a scene from the opening chapter of that arc, where Diana first meets Beowulf. He initially thinks she is an agent of his enemies, sent to trick him. He attacks. Diana is eventually able to reason with him.

The look of Beowulf is exactly that of the 70s comic. He is shown to be a ferocious fighter, nearly unstoppable. But unlike the cursed Stalker or the unhinged Claw, Beowulf is shown to have a sense of nobility, a deeper sense of ethics. While Diana fights next to all the warriors, she relates best to Beowulf.

And so ... on to the comic.

Beowulf was written by Michael Uslan and penciled by Ricardo Villamonte.

Here is the opening page of the book, a very nice montage page by Villamonte with some minor exposition about the world that Beowulf lives in. It is really a lovely page, Villamonte showing he is up to the artistic task on the book. I mean, a devil head, a comely woman, a warrior swinging a mace ludicrously too big for his frame. It all works ... it would still work today. My description sounds like a video game cover.

If I had seen this in my youth, it would have affected me in many many ways. I would definitely want to collect every issue that came out.

One thing I found amusing about the issue was the letters page. While it included short bios of Uslan and Villamonte, it also talked about the actual literary work Beowulf. DC made sure to say that while elements of the book would mirror the 'real' Beowulf, that Uslan would be given some leeway to explore other aspects of the character. He might also 'fill in' areas of the story, adding to what existed. The funniest line in the column was DC telling the reader that they should not use the comic to help write a book report. I guess it was a simpler time.

The comic starts off with classic Beowulf moment. The devil Grendel lurks in his swamp and cannot rest. He hears the joy coming from Castle Hrothgar and that happiness causes him great pain. Whatever he needs to do to shut off that noise he will do ... and that means blood will be spilled.

This is not at all how I imagine Grendel in my mind. I always think of him as a more ogrish, distorted human, but human. So this much more monstrous version of Grendel, orange fur or orange scales, was different for me.

His reasoning reminds me of the Grinch, someone who wants to stop Christmas from coming because of the noise down in Hooville.

As for Beowulf, we meet him on the battle field. He and his men are wading through enemies, slaughtering the army of the Franks.

With that battle won, Beowulf is greeted by a bard of some sort, an insane appearing minstrel/raconteur who tell him in cryptic verse about how a Satan spawn is attacking his father's friend's land.

Bound by honor, and his belief in the Teutonic ideal of 'lof' ... fame that will keep your name alive forever, he boards his ship and sails to Hrothgar's lands. As I said above, this code he follows is the core of Beowulf. He is often called the 'noble savage' in the book.

Meanwhile back at Castle Hrothgar, the raucous festivities of the mead hall continue on.

Interestingly, the minstrel that was just speaking to Beowulf is shown singing here as well. In fact, his songs are in praise of Beowulf and his great deeds. This irritates Unferth, a member of the court. Unferth seems to have some hatred in his heart for Geats such as Beowulf. But he is appropriately chastised by the lord of the hall.

Hrothgar knows that the 'wandering minstrel' has traveled far beyond just the lands. The soothsayer admits that he is a servant of the gods, of Wyrd, and that his words speak the truth (even if it is hidden in tricky verse).

Hrothgar also knows that Beowulf is worthy of the praise. Beowulf's exploits are already well-known.

But the party takes a sudden bloody turn when Grendel arrives. Invulnerable to the Frankish weapons, Grendel simply plods through the hall killing as many men as he can get his hands on. It is a great scene with great art. I especially like the panel showing shadows on the wall leaving the bone-crunching details of those murders to my imagination. Sometimes that works better than showing me everything.

Temporarily sated, Grendel leaves the hall and goes back to the peace of his swamp.

Beowulf's voyage to Hrothgar's unfortunately does not go peacefully.

En route, the ship gets lured towards rocks by a siren's song. The crew falls sway ... but not mighty Beowulf. He throws himself into the water and that shock clears his mind. He then swims to the crags to confront the siren face to face.

Showing incredible will power, he does not succumb to her magic and takes her out.

But there is more here than meets the eye.

The woman was not a siren after all but a lure. And this is no simple rocky outcropping; it is a doorway to Hell itself, guarded by demons. Now I'm not sure where that massive rocky club comes from but Beowulf has it and wields it effectively bashing in the skulls of the monsters.

The demons have numbers though and just as the last demon is about to eviscerate Beowulf it is killed, run through by the woman Beowulf just punched. I like twists like that. It is suddenly clear there is more to this woman than just being a 'damsel in distress'.

She tells Beowulf that she is a Scyfling warrior  who was trapped by the demons and forced to obey them.

The great Geat laughs at such an idea, a woman warrior, let alone a Swede. But her skills are pretty evident as she does what no one has yet done in the book ... landing a blow and knocking Beowulf off his feet.
But our hero isn't dispatched that easily. The tables turn quickly and suddenly the roles are reversed. Hmmm ... you can cut the tension with a knife.

With nowhere to go, she joins the crew hoping for a ride back to land.

After that small side adventure, the ship finally lands in Hrothgar's realm. Beowulf meets one of the Hrothgar's messengers and they plan their trek back to the mead hall.

But Unferth, skulking in the shadows, doesn't like that idea. He was so easily defeated by Grendel. If Beowulf vanquishes the monster, Unferth will be ridiculed. Rather than think of what is best for the kingdom, he thinks about himself. Using dark magic, he changes the lay of the land, creating a false road that will lead Beowulf and his men into the dangerous swamp lands.

And the evil spell works. Suddenly Beowulf and his men are hip deep in the bog, surrounded by lizard men, disciples of Satan.

What a cliffhanger! Good enough that when I recently saw Beowulf #2 at a local comic shop I bought it. You probably will be seeing more of that book soon! I have to say I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, but not nearly as much as I like Stalker.

Certainly, the art is radically different than what Ditko did on that book. This is much more traditional 'sword and sorcery' art. And the story is actually a bit denser than I expected. Exposition is written in rhymes and poetry at times.

But outside of place names, character names, and the idea of 'lof', this could just as easily have been a Conan book. Beowulf #2 takes many strange turns making me think that if I see other issues of this short series, I'll be there.

As I said, my interest in these characters was reignited by Simone and Lopresti. Here we see how deep their vision and respect for these books go. This Grendel is the same Grendel as in Beowulf. And they fight on a bone lined bridge much like was saw in Stalker #2.

We only catch this glimpse of Grendel in Simone's arc. We never see a fight. I wonder if Simone had sequel in her mind.

Since I have touched on Simone's arc so much, I figured I would let the cat out of the bag. In the end of Wonder Woman #23, Dgrth is beheaded. The four warriors kill him on an ancient stone table. I love Diana's words here: "I lowered my sword into the empty sockets of his eyes until I hit the living meat underneath." Chilling. Lovely. I miss Simone's Wonder Woman.

I'll thank Diabolu Frank again for spearheading the creation of this blog. Glad I was able to help these last three weeks. And I'll continue to try to post here more. Suggestions?

Overall grade (Beowulf): B (raised half a grade due to art)
Overall grade (Wonder Woman 'Ends of the Earth'): B+ (knocked down half a grade because Dgrth gets taken out to easily)

Doom Patrol #1 (August, 2004)

The four-armed gorilla Nudge was going ape, and his handler Nudge couldn't chill him out. A hunk of machinery flew at the group, but Faith used her telekinesis to redirect it upward. Newton's law states that wasn't such a hot idea, so Vortex opened his mouth to keep any weight from coming down. The four young metahumans had been ordered to remain at the flier aircraft while the Doom Patrol investigated their converted prison base on Key Mordaz, Florida. They decided to get in on the case.

Martian Manhunter informed, "Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash... they have all returned to their homes on Earth. And you have been without sleep for at least seventy-two hours." Batman snorted, "I've gone longer, J'Onn." The Dark Knight Detective still didn't feel the Crucifer case was closed. When the Sleuth from Outer Space suggested the Doom Patrol was the loose string, Batman replied "No-- I trust Niles Caulder, their leader. I would not have let Faith go off with them if I didn't." One, trying to rehabilitate the Chief's sorry reputation by having making Batman say something that naive is just wrong, and two, boy is Batman bossy these days. "J'Onn... you know I wouldn't ask this unless I felt there was no other way. You're Martian telepathy... d'you think you could..." Yes, he said "d'you..."

Faith and the pre-Doomers learned three of Caulder's inmates held in the prison were loose. "You mean this Doctor Caulder guy keeps people locked up here? Isn't that a violation of all kinds of civil rights?" Nudge blew that off with Caulder's rationale that the public good outweighed "that sort of thing." An enlarged Rita Farr suddenly fell backwards through a wall. This set up a flashback to the cliffhanger at the end of the Doom Patrol's backdoor pilot JLA story arc "The Tenth Circle." The Chief was bound up on a wall surrounded by three vampires. In an expository flashback during an expository flashback, a punk metahuman kid explained that he had been helping Crucifer out with his wormhole powers, affording contact to the rest of the Circle and access to other dimensions. The punk was the reason Crucifer was able to teleport from Canada to Castle Crucifer, and how he himself had reached Florida. The punk released Caulder's three metahuman prisoners, and helped members of the Circle take possession of their bodies.



Barrage was a naked bald guy who fired energy cannons from out of his hands that could blow Negative Man to pieces. Magalith was a stony freak who dealt Robotman Cliff Steele some damage, but not enough. Rubber Maid, who had a past relationship with Cliff, managed to tie him up with her malleable body. The battle of three-on-three seemed prone to stalemate.

The Manhunter from Mars had mentally allowed Batman access to reflection on the battle with "crystal clarity." The Dark Knight realized that there was a missing metahuman working with Crucifer, and Green Lantern volunteered to help track him down. "Always impressive, John Stewart." All three were soon at Castle Crucifer, and before Batman could "jimmy" the lock, J'Onn J'Onzz passed immaterially through. One opened door later, and "Welcome, gentlemen. Enter freely, and of your own will." Stewart snickered, wondering when the Martian had gotten around to reading Dracula. J'Onzz missed the rhetorical element, and explained his familiarity with Earth culture after decades here.

The Manhunter's telepathy found the house deserted, until the punk kid turned up out of nowhere, followed by Negative Man. At first, the energy wraith tried to chat, but then screamed in pain and attacked J'Onn J'Onzz...

"Baptism of Blood" was by John Byrne with Doug Hazelwood. There's less dialogue than in the preceding Chris Claremont scripts, but Byrne on his own is no less corny. Jerry Ordway's inks are sorely missed, as the new embellishment hews too close to Byrne's rushed, loose, bland pencils. Faith is still dressed like trash, the villains could not be less generic, and the team pretty much shares a single milquetoast personality. Pity the poor reader who bought a first issue expecting more than to walk in on chapter seven of an uninspired story from an over the hill creator with a painfully out of date take on this "new" super-team.

Who's Dat: Doctor Skuba

PERSONAL DATA
Real Name: Sandor Skuba
Occupation: Rogue Scientist
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: Seaweed (daughter,) Apollo (son-in-law)
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Secret lair
Height/Build: Approximately 5'10" with slight build
Eyes: Black
Hair: None
First Appearance: OMAC #7 (September-October, 1975)

HISTORY
Sandor Skuba was a genius "lone wolf" atomic researcher. As noted by the infallible Brother Eye intelligent satellite, "Skuba has mastered the atom. He can literally manipulate the form of matter." Among his accomplishments was the ability to reform human life to the shape of his wishes, developing beings of "manipulated, unstable atoms," such as his aesthetically superior daughter and son-in-law. Later, Skuba devised a means of compressing millions of tons of water into a foot long rectangular "bar," then neutralize the weight so that it could be carried and stored with relative ease. Aided by his daughter and son-in-law, Doctor Skuba began stealing The World To Come's natural bodies of water, in a bid for global influence.

OMAC was sent to investigate Doctor Skuba, and with the direction of Brother Eye, located his hidden base within a large volcanic rock island. OMAC was remotely observed by Doctor Skuba, who determined his allegiance to the Global Peace Agency, and recognized OMAC as having benefited from the same matter manipulation process as his children. Using a specialized weapon, Skuba was able to revert OMAC back to his original form of Buddy Blank, leaving him powerless. Skuba then focused his attentions on locating and combating Brother Eye. In the conflict that followed, Brother Eye was imprisoned in slag metal by Doctor Skuba's equipment, which was explosively demolished by the strain. Skuba's entire island was destroyed, and presumably the doctor with it.

POWERS & WEAPONS:
Doctor Skuba was responsible for a slew of inventions, including the Weight Neutralizer, Neutro-Gloves, small bars into which the atoms of entire oceans could be compressed, a flying ship capable of carrying enormous weight, dematerializing rays, and a mountain headquarters with formidable automated defenses.

Quote:
"You can be made into a powerful instrument for what I detest most! --The law and order of lesser men!"

Created by: Jack Kirby

Review: Stalker #2

Hello, Anj from Supergirl Comic Box Commentary again.

Last week I wrote a post about Stalker #1, a 1970s DC Fantasy title that last 4 issues. Written by then fledgling writer Paul Levitz and drawn by industry superstars Steve Ditko and Wally Wood, the first issue was a fast paced sword and sorcery story that set up the premise of Stalker and gave us a couple of good hooks to get us to come back.

I enjoyed Stalker #1 enough that I thought I would share my thoughts on Stalker #2.

Stalker was recently seen again in the DCU in the 'Ends of the Earth' storyline which ran in Wonder Woman #20-23. In that story, Gail Simone has Wonder Woman meets Stalker in the DCU and is brought to his world. There she meets other DC fantasy heroes Claw the Unconquered and Beowulf. Together the heroes find and defeat Dgrth, the demon lord of Stalker's world and the claimer of Stalker's soul.

Throughout that tale, Diana takes on the aspects of these heroes, becoming soulless  and craving the kill (like Stalker) and actually manifesting Claw's demon hand. I have waxed poetic about Aaron Lopresti's art while on Wonder Woman. Here is a great cover showcasing the different battle outfits he put Diana in as she walked through that world of DC fantasy titles.

I think the purpose of this blog was really to delve into DC's vast history. And if there is one thing I love about DC it is that there is a sense of legend, a sense of a common past. It is why homages and Easter eggs crop up in some issues, a nod to the greatness that has come before.  So I loved that Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti cared enough to not only write this story but to really do the research on the characters, draw them as they were drawn, continue their stories as they were written. Even the name of the arc, 'Ends of the Earth', echoes Stalker's quest of getting to the World's End. Stalker lasted 4 issues, Beowulf 6, Claw the Unconquered 12. But even if brief, they are still part of the tapestry of the DC Bloodline.

As we learned in the Stalker #1, Stalker gave his soul to Dgrth and in return received tremendous combat skills as well as the ability to have his revenge on the Queen who made him a slave. When Stalker realizes that life without a soul isn't all it was cracked up to be, he decides to track down Dgrth and force the god to rescind the deal. It won't be easy as he will need to travel to 'World's End'.

Here, at the sea of World's End, Stalker is tracking Prior F'Lan, one of Dgrth's high priests. F'Lan will be able to tell Stalker where he can find Dgrth.

Getting to F'Lan isn't easy. First Stalker must dispatch a multi-armed demon guard manning the bridge that leads there.

Nothing spectacular here although I did like that Stalker used the bones that form the bridge's hand rail as his weapons to defeat the monster. A similar bridge is seen in the Simone arc, another small nod to history that only a few will acknowledge.

But again, this victory is hollow. The lack of a soul makes joy and happiness an impossibility. There can only be hate.

With the guard defeated, Stalker enters the Dgrth  temple that F'Lan presides over. Pretty wuickly, he is discovered. Unfortunately, despite his demon-given combat prowess, Stalker is overcome by F'Lan's guards and thrown into prison. He will be sacrificed to Dgrth in the morning.

Not surprisingly, not everyone is not treated well in F'Lan's temple. There are slaves here, mostly young women drawn in a classic Wally Wood style.

Wishing to be freed from her life of slavery, one of them decides to help Stalker. She slips him a small dagger and tells him that on the sides of the cliff where he is to be killed there are many nooks that he may hide in. All she asks for in return for helping him is her freedom.

The next morning, Stalker is taken to the cliff to be sacrificed. In what I thought was a nice twist, Stalker actually played along hoping that Dgrth himself might show up to bear witness. Maybe gods manifest often down on this world?

When the demon god does not show up, Stalker makes his play, killing the guards and presumably jumping off the cliff to his death. Naturally, he has found one of the crevices the woman told him of and is able to hide there safely.

Meanwhile, back at the temple, somehow the woman's assistance is deduced and she is tortured. The 'Wheel of Infinity' certainly sounds diabolical.

Unable to deal with the pain, she divulges the site of the cliff's shelter.

This is another example of Ditko's and Wood's excellent art. First, the lower left panel reminds me of Wood's later portrayal of Power Girl. But the layout of the last panel is wonderful. The woman looks utterly defeated, her right hand clenched in a fist as though she is angry that she gave in, her hair down dejectedly; she just looks defeated. That is a lot of information conveyed and that's without even seeing her face. More importantly, the angle looking up from the floor with F'Lan in the background. It is as if we are on the floor too, sharing her defeat. Nice!

Of course, Stalker is alive and well. He makes his way back to the temple, killing F'Lan's guards. Terrified of being killed himself, F'Lan finally tells Stalker how he can get to Dgrth, via a gate to Hell on the Burning Isle.

Stalker decides death is too good for F'Lan. Instead he decides that justice would be for F'Lan to suffer the temple's tortures. Stalker straps him into the Wheel of Infinity and activates it, knowing F'Lan will now spin 'till the end of time'. I love the 'nooooooooo!'

Some twisted heroics there. I like it!

And here is another interesting twist. We see Stalker leave the temple with the woman by his side. I assumed that she would end up being a supporting character, maybe the love interest. But instead, she is sent away by Stalker ... a most chivalrous thing to do. What good would it do for her to now be free only to stay with him and travel to the gates of Hell. That was unexpected. And as someone who has read comics forever, it is good to be surprised!

I also found it interesting that we never find out her name. We don't know Stalker's name either. I wonder if it was intentional on Levitz's part to leave the heroes of the book nameless.

Of course, for all I know, she is in the following issues. I don't own Stalker #3 or #4.

And so Stalker continues on his quest to regain his soul.

As for Stalker's fate in the Wonder Woman story. Diana ends up defeating Dgrth. But in the end, it turns out that Stalker was a traitor. Unable to win his soul back, he had made another deal with Dgrth offering the demon god the souls of Diana, Beowulf, and Claw in return for his own. In fact, in the first issue of the arc, he actually steals Diana's soul for himself.

With his plot revealed and Dgrth defeated, Diana reclaims her soul leaving Stalker once again a hollow shell of a man. What a bitter ending for this cursed being, neither hero nor villain. Have I mentioned that Aaron Lopresti's art was fantastic? He is the only reason I am tempted to get the upcoming JLI book.

As I have said before, Silver Age reviews get a softer look from me. While Stalker #2 was not as strong as the opening chapter, it was done well enough to make me poke around for the other 2 issues of the book.

Overall grade: B

My List of 52 #1s

I decided to keep my own personal count of DC's September relaunches, but thought I'd share as I update. There's less that twenty slots open, so if your preference hasn't turned up yet, better write your congressman straight away...

1) Action Comics #1 possibly by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales, involving hideous accessories, but at least he finally ditched the tightie redies.

2) Superman #1 by George Pérez. Didn't that already happen twenty years ago?

3) Batman #1 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo. A rising talent and a former gig name artist that helped keep Spawn one of the top selling comics in the nation for years. I expect this one will go over very well with the fans.

4) Detective Comics #1 by Tony Daniel. For those keeping score, that's a demotion. Don't try to fob off the blame on I-Ching, dude.

5) Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang, in a slightly worse version of the current costume (sans jacket) and possibly involving stuff I hate like blood swords and smooching Superman.

6) The Flash #1, by Francis Manapul, with stupid looking out of date Ultimates piping added to the costume.

7) Green Lantern #1, which will be for Geoff Johns as The New Teen Titans was for Marv Wolfman Post-Crisis, a sacred cow staying the course. With Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy, ever since Blackest Night.

8) Green Lantern Corps #1 with Guy Gardner, John Stewart and more by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna.

9) The New Guardians #1 with Tony Bedard & Tyler Kirkham, led by Kyle Rayner.

10) Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The one home run for me, with a freakin' awesome cover that highlights what a scary, dangerous place the ocean is.

11) The Savage Hawkman #1 by Tony Daniel And Philip Tan. The downgrade from an actual writer rumored (James Robinson hit by retaliatory action for his loose lips?) to the guy who created The Tenth is the kiss of death for me. 

12) DC Universe Presents initially starring Deadman, by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang (anyone remember The Second life of Dr. Mirage?) with Ryan Sook covers.

13) Firestorm #1 by writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone with artist Yildiray Cinar. That came out differently than I expected. I won't slight Cyberfrog's EVS since he's aided by Gail Simone, but that new Firestorm Red/Firestorm Yellow/Firestorm Voltron looks seriously funky.

14) Legion of Super-Heroes #1 by Paul Levitz & Francis Portela.

15) Batman and Robin #1 by Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason, who must be really pleased to have gone to the creative team of a bold relaunch from the dudes running late as $%#^.

16) Batman: The Dark Knight #1 by David Finch, who gets to be the guy who was so late, he's early. Then when he's late again, he'll be "retro."

17) OMAC #1, by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen. By an amazing coincidence, I just finished writing three months worth of weekly "Thank God It's OMAC" posts right here.

18) Batwoman #1 by J.H. Williams. Doi.

19) Catwoman #1 by Judd Winick and Guillem March. Whoever was first asked clearly chose the bad news first.

20) Batgirl #1 by Gail Simone and Ardian Syaf starring Barbara Gordon. That's why you do universal reboots. The costume isn't bad, but her classic look was so great, I'm kind of ticked at Batwoman for co-opting it.

21) Birds of Prey #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz, because ditching Gail Simone worked out so well last time. Seriously, that Black Canary costume is worse than the hideous '80s suit infamously put to the fire on a Brian Bolland cover. I guess that's a piss poor Poison Ivy and... Katana? Rose Tattoo? Dinah's departure killed volume one, but this looks to straight up slit II's throat right in front of her, like that dude from The Longbow Hunters. How's that for a visual?

22) Teen Titans #1 by Scott Lobdell & Brett Booth. Red Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, unnamed others, and a bucket of slime dumped over the title's former fans. So very icky.

23) Green Arrow #1, because he needs another mulligan. JT Krul continues with Dan Jurgens. I smell doom.

24) Red Lanterns by Peter Milligan & Ed Benes. That story broke so long back, I'd forgotten about it. Knowing Benes, Atrocitus will begin wearing chaps.

25) Justice League International #1 by Dan Jurgens and artist Aaron Lopresti. Jurgens' previous JLI run with most of these characters was contemptuous, so I'm going to give this a pass. I will say I'm glad the Vixen got a totally random spot, though she does technically rep for an African nation. Also, it's good to see Guy back where he belongs, and Jaime Reyes allowed to exit the shadow the terribly redesigned Booster Gold casts. Let the kid be his own Blue Beetle. August General in Iron makes perfect sense to me as a representative of China, and as a mixer if Guy is truly reformed. Only Donna Troy is a real oddball, but they damned well better fix her origin this time, and make her a Themysciran representative.

26) Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows. Where else to put Dick? I have this long history of wanting to buy Nightwing comics without actually doing it, and I'm not sure that this is going to break my streak. The new suit isn't bad, but I don't look at and say Adult Robin as much as Male Batwoman, not to mention Seeing-Eye Daredevil. I think Barrows brings sexyback, but does this Higgins mother know how to act, because I never heard of him.

27) Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder & Yannick Paquette. Solid team there.

28) Captain Atom by JT Krul and Freddie Williams II with cover by Stanley “Artgem” Lau. I'm pretty sick of the "corrupted by power, struggling with madness" angle.

29) Mister Terrific #1 by Eric Wallace and artist Roger Robinson with cover by J.G. Jones. I don't hate Wallace of much as most people for his molten va-jay-jays or splitting of the Atom, because I thought he handled a badly dealt hand with a modicum of grace. Also, I pegged Mr. Terrific as a token character a decade back, and have had to eat those words, so I think I'll give Mr. Terrific (with the fantastic Roger Robinson) a shot. I just hope he gets his jacket back.

30) Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Sometimes you forget the obvious ones.

31) Superboy #1 by Scott Lobdell, which seems a might soon, but what the heck?

32) Animal Man #1 by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman. Totally called this one at random. I don't get a Morrison vibe, and I think you really need it.

33) Red Hood & The Outlaws by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort. A team book with Jason Todd, Arsenal and Starfire. Every book you wish were getting published but doesn't will have you groaning "but they did that?!?"

34) Batwing #1 is by Judd Winick and Ben Oliver. There is no way that this is not a mini-series. Not art, though.

35) Static Shock #1 by John Rozum and Scott McDaniel.

36) Voodoo #1 by Ron Marz and Sami Basri. Voodoo was my favorite of the WildC.A.T.s, but I didn't like her solo under Alan Moore, so what chance has Ron Marz got?

37) Justice League Dark by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin starring John Constantine, Deadman, Shade the Changing Man and Madame Xanadu. This had better be a mini-series, because the League brand does not have the cache it did in 1989 or 1998. Really, this is just a big old ship of three Vertigo rejects and Hellblazer, not at all far removed from the Sentinels of Magic.

38) Demon Knights #1 by Paul Cornell and Diogenes Neves involving medieval heroes. Totally a mini-series.

39) Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #1 by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli. Stars the walking dead. Smells like one, too.

40) Resurrection Man #1 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and artist Fernando Dagnino. The old book was pretty alright, but there was obvious fishing for any possibilities for this "dark" supernatural line, and I expect this will be another finite series.

41) I, Vampire #1 by Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino, obviously pandering to the Twilight crowd by combining the sparkly metrosexuals with lupine shirtlessness.

42) Supergirl #1 by Michael Green and Mike Johnson. Kara Zor-El In shorts, as skirts and thongs have been banned by editorial edict. I worry about her. I'm absolutely certain she has a place at the CW-DC, but she's also one of those characters most in danger of being radically altered for the sake of a soundbite.

43) Legion Lost #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods.

44) Hawk & Dove #1 by Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld. I assume Liefeld was selected because Deadpool gave him some cache, and because the last Hawk & Dove ongoing was launched on the strength of response to his breakthrough art on the mini-series. Of course, that was decades ago, and we all know Marat Mychaels will be drawing this thing by #4. I guess Mychaels is already working on The Infinite #2 for Image.

45) Blue Beetle #1 by Tony Bedard & Ig Guara. No offense, but what's so different now from when this title was canceled a couple of years ago?

46) Grifter #1 by Nathan Edmondson with art by CAFU. Are those Daemonites or White Martians?

47) Deathstroke #1 by Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert. Much, much?

48) All-Star Western #1 starring Jonah Hex by same ol' creators Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Moritat.

49) Suicide Squad #1 starring Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark by Adam Glass & Marco Rudy. So long Secret Six, and King Shark, who sticks out liker a sore thumb in any death pool.

50) Sgt. Rock and the Men at War #1 by Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick. Not a bad creative team, but a lousy take on the property.

51) Blackhawks #1 by Mike Costa and illustrated by Ken Lashley. You may not know this, but the Squadron celebrates its 70th birthday this year. This isn't such a bad looking way to acknowledge that, and way more than I was expecting from DC.

52) Stormwatch #1 by Paul Cornell & Miguel Sepulveda.

Now for some speculation in the months to come:

Justice Society of America #1 by James Robinson (finally?)

Vigilante #1 by Darwyn Cooke. I'm not thinking this is actually in any way remotely likely.

Shazam #1, because DC hasn't had a major Marvel Family failure yet this decade.

Cyborg #1. Got to start somewhere with legitimizing this. If only Tony Isabella didn't have some sort of participation on Black Lightning. There are few black super-heroes I find less interesting than Cyborg. The dude was disfigured through an accident by his scientist father, rebuilt as part robot by same, and whined about it for years. He's no dummy, but he's still basically a jock who routinely busts up his gear and has to have far bigger brains repair him every few years. His human parts have held up way better than they should have (excepting the few years he spent in a vegetative state while his armor acted independently,) and he doesn't actively get on my nerves, but we're still talking Red Tornado Lite™ here. Actually, Red Tornado at least has two solo mini-series under his belt to Cyborg's one, which makes him twice as eligible, right?

The Outsiders #1, featuring the Huntress, Power Girl, and any other major recent cancellations/surprising M.I.A.s?

Superman Beyond #1 by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz?

Superman/Batman: World's Finest #1.

My Greatest Adventure #1 starring Kevin Maguire's Tanga and Aaron Lopresti’s Garbageman?

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, since Spencer isn't around anymore. How were the sales again? Maybe they'll give this one a few months or never.

Plastic Man by Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver. Please? With sugar on top?

The Question #1?

Xombie, since it got a lot of critical buzz, and a six issue volume 1 would fit nicely in a trade before launching volume 2.

A lot of this just feels like the rearranging of deck chairs. It's the same people who couldn't sell us one DC title doing a different one. I'm waiting for some left field creative choices to blow me away, like Chris Ware on 'Mazing Man, Joe Hill on Swamp Thing, or Adam Warren on Power Girl. Something really cool to make me think this is in any real way different from the whimper of One Year Later. I continue to feel like DC Comics is being run by Sidney Mellon and Dan Pussey, which is not a place I want to be.

JLA #99 (Late August, 2004)

Through Nudge's contact with Manitou Raven, the Manhunter from Mars was eventually able to determine Crucifer's origins and an overview of his activities across centuries, including the nature of his arrangement with the insectoid creatures that rendered him "effectively unkillable." Since Vortex's wormhole was still open, Nudge led the JLA and the (still unnamed) Doom Patrol back through it to Castle Crucifer. Green Lantern John Stewart neutralized Vortex, until Nudge and the Martian Manhunter spoke out in his behalf. The Flash released Crucifer's human child prisoners from their basement cells, then contacted the authorities to see to their well being. Vortex then opened a portal to Barnes, Saskatchewan, so that most of the heroes could confront their prey. Martian Manhunter requested, "With your go-ahead, Batman, I would like to stay behind... and try to find some means to liberate Superman. We cannot afford to have Crucifer use him against us further."

The spell to free the Tenth Circle from their other-dimensional prison was ruined by the arrival of the super-heroes, but Crucifer still had a team of metahumans and a possessed town at his disposal. Most were subdued by the super-groups, but a number of vampires and other persons of interest managed to escape, including Crucifer himself. The Lord returned to his castle, where he was impaled by Vortex. Since there was no effect, Crucifer turned on the youth, but was then addressed by a sword-wielding Wonder Woman. In defense of Crucifer, Superman shattered the sword, and the vampire decided that he would turn the Amazon into his queen. Red blood was vomited out of Crucifer's pained throat, even though the just-arrived Nudge called it as green. Either way, "Wonder Woman" turned out to be the Martian Manhunter in disguise, and his alien blood had dealt Crucifer some damage.



The Atom and Rita Farr had just been kickin' it in the other dimension, waiting for the Chief to give the word, before finally, simultaneously, from opposite directions, they karate kicked Crucifer's heart box to pieces so that it reverted back to his chest on Earth. No, I don't know how that worked, or why they didn't just bring it back with them hours ago, or why they couldn't have staked it right there. Superman, while holding a crucifix, then punched Crucifer in his bloodless love muscle. Somebody should have picketed the DC Comics offices over that. Not religious people, but activists for the ethical treatment of comic book readers who kept buying this series after Joe Kelly left.

Later, Manitou Raven was already back at the Watchtower without explanation to deliver more exposition and shed a solitary tear over pollution. Faith, still dressed like an Oklahoman lot lizard, was feeling well enough to become Nudge's new mentor in the upcoming Doom Patrol spin-off series, which began with a two-page prologue involving those escaped vampires having captured the Chief, but only after the Doom Patrol had left the Watchtower alone, even though they were totally going to drag the JLA into a guest appearance anyway. Batman told a joke about Crucifer's heart being in the right place. In a metatextual moment, the JLA silently stared in horror and the petrified readers returning the terror-filled gaze. In Jesus' hallowed name, we beg thee, why?



Man, what a stupid resolution to a progressively more terrible story. Rather than tell the tale, Manitou Raven facilitates a massive expository data dump on all things Crucifer, so that the JLA never actually has to uncover evidence through a proper investigation. This forces a six page prelude to the cliffhanger from last issue, so pity the reader who bought this in trade paperback with the expectation of a single seating experience. Not that the cliffhanger mattered, because how exciting was the premise? It's the World's Greatest Super-Heroes plus the Doom Patrol on a small town football field against a handful of unnamed immature metahumans, some bloodsuckers, and townies. Whoop-dee-do. Hey, how is it Manitou Raven managed to leave a door open for the Atom to the exact point in the right dimension where Crucifer's heart was located. Also, why did the Chief make the Atom and Rita wait to smash Crucifer's heart, since if it had been back in the vamp's chest earlier on, Vortex would have killed him. That would have saved J'Onn J'Onzz some neck pain, but wait, why didn't Crucifer decide to make Wonder Woman his vampire queen in their first encounter? It would have been a lot more impressive having the Man of Steel and the Amazing Amazon on that football field. Hold up-- would that have even worked, given Diana's divine and not entirely human origins? Plus, after everything Wonder Woman had gone through, she never got to avenge herself against Crucifer? Also, hasn't the solar energy held by Superman's bodily cells killed vampires in the past? Additionally, where did Manitou Raven come back from at the end of the story, and how did he manage that? By the way, was anybody impressed with the Doom Patrol's performance here, or learning that the last two pages of this six-part story forced the reader to continue to a two part coda in their new series? Ooo-ooo, let's ship Faith off to the book where this creator dresses her like a hoochie-mama and sidelines her for an entire story arc, only to gank her after four issues for a different bad series nobody wanted, to insure that there is only one woman left in the JLA? Most importantly of all, who in their right mind figured generic ass vampires were enough of a threat to tie up the JLA for an issue, even before adding a second super-team? Holy Hanna, this thing got horrid in a hurry!

"Heartbreaker!" was blessedly the final chapter of "The Tenth Circle" to afflict mankind. It was foisted upon an unwitting populace by John "Hates You" Byrne, Chris "Bore" Claremont, and Jerry "The Bystander" Ordway. Did I mention they had one of the black kid metahumans call John Stewart "Homes?" That happened.

Who's Dat: Buck Blue

PERSONAL DATA
Real Name: Buck Blue
Occupation: Mugger
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Crime Cabal
Base of Operations: Electric City
Height/Build: Approximately 6'2", average
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: OMAC #5 (May-June 1975)

HISTORY
Buck Blue was a mugger who kidnapped people to turn over to the Crime Cabal. Blue was captured at a video arcade by OMAC, and forced to lead him to "the Terminal," where the kidnap victims were sold as surrogate bodies to the highest bidder. Unbeknownst to Buck Blue, his own girlfriend was taken by Fancy Freddy Sparga for use by the Godmother. Buck Blue was outraged at the offense at first, but was tempted to look the other way for a substantial fee. OMAC took the decision out of Buck Blue's hands, pressing him to lead a trek through abandoned subway tunnels against mutated guards and heavily armed resistance from the Crime Cabal. Finally, the pair smashed their way to the Terminal, where Buck Blue turned on OMAC. However, a Peace Agent disarmed Blue, and his girlfriend was liberated. Buck Blue was then taken into custody by the Global Peace Agency.

POWERS & WEAPONS:
Buck Blue could handle a firearm, as available.

Quote:
"I can use this bird's heater."

Created by: Jack Kirby

Review: Stalker #1

Hello everyone. It's Anj from  Supergirl Comic Box Commentary. When Diabolu Frank set up this blog and  asked me to join, I was honored. I am a long-time DC fan, a true fanatic for over 3 decades, and loved the idea of having a place where I could occasionally post a review of a non-Super book as well as discuss some of the dustier parts of the DCU. I don't post here as much as I would like to but I thank Frank for giving me a place to go when struck by the muse.

But a review of Stalker #1? I don't know if it can get dustier than that. So why this post?

Stalker, as well as Beowulf, and Claw the Unconquered, and Tor, and Tarzan were fantasy books that DC put out in the mid-70s. I wasn't reading comics back then but I have bought enough comics from that time period to know the characters by name just from the ads within the issues. And, as odd as it sounds, I always thought that 70s DC fantasy was sort of a hole in my knowledge. None of these books lasted a long time but they certainly had tremendous talent associated with them. Tor was written and drawn by legend Joe Kubert. Claw the Unconquered was written by Dave Michilinie with art by Ernie Chua and later Keith Giffen (some of Giffen's earliest work). And Stalker was written by then neophyte Paul Levitz and drawn by mega-legends Steve Ditko and Wally Wood!

I put the idea of looking for these issues in the back of my head and frankly it got lost in the old mental warehouse. 

In 2008, Gail Simone was in the midst of an underappreciated run on Wonder Woman. One of the arcs ran from Wonder Woman #20-23, a 4 issue story called 'Ends of the Earth' in which Diana teams up with Stalker, Beowulf, and Claw the Unconquered to battle Dgrth, the demon god from Stalker.

It was a great arc, showing Diana as a warrior with compassion. It was very interesting to see her interact with these characters - the noble Beowulf, the cursed Stalker, the angry Claw. And it allowed Simone the opportunity to also delve into those 70s stories. After I read the story, I remembered my prior idea of investigating these stories in their original series.

The story ends with a great battle between Wonder Woman and Dgrth in Washington D.C. It ends quickly ... maybe too quickly ... but it is fantastic.

And I have said it many times before, Aaron Lopresti might be the perfect Wonder Woman artist for me. His Diana is everything she should be strong and beautiful, powerful and regal. Lopresti just rocked on this book.

And in this arc, he gets to draw Diana in a variety of battle outfits, variations of her costume for the more medieval settings of  northlands, deserts, and jungles. With such varying settings, Lopresti really gets to stretch his legs.

But that arc came out in 2008. Despite rekindling my interest in those fantasy comics, it wasn't until a recent convention that it finally came to fruition ... at least a little. As I was leaving the Boston Comic-Con, I walked past a dealer with a box marked '70s DC books, $1'. How could I not thumb through the box? And there I discovered, in near mint condition, Stalker #1 and 2, and Beowulf #1. Just a great purchase.

And so ... the story of Stalker ...

I have to say, I expected this to be a clunky read but was surprised at how good the first issue was.

Levitz gets us right into the action, the first several pages shows Stalker working his way into a well guarded castle, defeating palace guards, and the throwing a dagger at the castle's Queen, the blade embedding itself into the throne right next to the Queen's face.

We have really no idea who these characters are or what the motivations are behind Stalker's assault. But it certainly grabbed me.

I also liked the opening little blurb above. The idea of a 'nameless' hero always intrigues me like in the some of the best Clint Eastwood westerns.

And I thought this was just a great hook for the series. There was a note on the dagger. Stalker writes of being wronged by the Queen and taking his revenge by killing her a year and a day later.

I can imagine, had the series continued long enough, a sort of countdown feeling as that day of reckoning approached, how the Queen would become more desperate to rid the world of Stalker as that day approached. That unraveling of the Queen would have been fun to watch.

It turns out that Stalker has some history with the Queen. Living in abject poverty, the nameless boy who would become Stalker runs up to the Queen one day and begs to join her court, to become a knight and soldier in her army. The Queen 'accepts' the boy's request but instead puts him to work as a slave inside the palace, scrubbing floors and hauling trash.

Years later, the boy shows his courage and confronts the Queen saying he wished to be a knight, not a slave. The evil Queen orders him to be flogged. But before the beatings can happen, the now young man escapes and wanders into the land, coming across a temple devoted to the demon god of warriors, Dgrth.

Wishing to become a warrior, the nameless young man prays to Drgth who appears to him.

Dgrth promises to give the boy all the gifts he would need for a new life ... expertise in all forms of combat, unerring marksmanship, the ability to follow any trail while leaving no trace. And he would give him a name ... Stalker. But all these gifts had a price.

Stalker must hunt those Dgrth asks him too. And he has to give Dgrth his soul as payment.

Feeling dead already, Stalker accepts.

I will talk about Steve Ditko later, but I love this panel. Look at how Stalker looks like a marionette whose strings have been cut while his soul shrieks as it is pulled free. Fantastic.

And just like that, Stalker becomes a soulless warrior.

His first act with his new skills is to return to the palace and leave the Queen that note. And while there, Stalker kills the man who tried to beat him earlier.

However, the victories and revenge isn't as sweet as Stalker thought it would be. His lack of soul makes any positive emotion unavailable. He feels no joy ... no relief. Suddenly this deal doesn't sound as good as it did.

Stalker returns to a Dgrth temple hoping to rescind the deal. Unfortunately, Dgrth isn't there, only a faithful priest. Determined to regain his soul, Stalker kills the priest, hurling him into a fire pit.

Again, another great scene here as Ditko changes the point of view, moving the angle from above the battle, to parrallel, to below the battle, to back above. That adds some energy to the scene, especially that last panel as we sense the height the priest is plummeting down.

The issue ends with Stalker vowing to find Dgrth and regain his soul.

Boy, there is a lot of story in that one issue. It is amazing just how much was in those issues. This story would probably be a 6 issue opening arc these days. More importantly, it did just what a first issue should do for me ... gave me some back story, and gave me a great hook to come back, the parallel stories of Stalker's quest for his soul as well as his quest for revenge against the Queen.

Levitz does a good job here with dialogue, letting us feel Stalker's emotions as he moves from pauper to slave to soulless warrior.

I could write many posts gushing about Steve Ditko's work. I can't afford early Ditko, so this 'middle' Ditko will have to do. He clearly has a great sense for panel composition, using close ups, wide shots, and points of view to add to the story. I see mostly Ditko here. But Wally Wood is another legend. I can't believe the two of them worked on this together.

I tend to read these Silver Age issues with a different critical sense. I tend to be kinder when it comes to overlooking some of the sillier aspects. But truth is, I would probably read this book if it came out today. I really thought the story and the ongoing plotlines were interesting. This was definitely ... definitely ... worth $1.

Overall grade: A