Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

Breaking this book into unresolved vignettes makes this a less satisfying read than Brown’s previous Zomblog.

By Sam Christopher

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

TW Brown is a good writer. I reviewed another book of his a few months ago, Zomblog, which was an excellent novel written in the form of a diary. That novel began a little before the rising of the dead and continued through to a cliffhanger ending that I really want to see the continuation of someday (hint, TW, hint). I thought the characters in that book were well fleshed out and interesting, although I also thought the story had a bleak outlook on humanity as a whole. An outlook I usually only share completely if I delve too deeply into our political structure, but that’s a story for another time. The point is that Brown knows how to structure a story and keep it moving, along with providing good, believable characterization.

But then we have this book. Dead: The Ugly Beginning is basically a series of vignettes centering on the early days of the zombie rising. It’s not… well, it would be easy to say it’s not as good as Zomblog, but it would be more accurate to say I just liked the other book better. There’s nothing wrong with this book at all, I just liked the one continuous story of the other book better. That’s just a personal preference. This book has good characters and some really interesting situations, I just thought it would have been better if they could have been developed more than the episodic nature of the book allowed. But that’s what we have. I guess my real complaint here is that there is no resolution to any of the “major” vignettes. The smaller, couple page tales are usually resolved in one fashion or another but the longer ones, the ones we go back to, are not. Although at least the guys made it out of their “pilgrimage” to Pittsburgh—Romero’s hometown—alive. Again, this is a personal complaint, having nothing to do with the quality of writing.

I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t like the book. I did. Very much, actually. My complaints have more to do with not getting enough from the book as opposed to not liking what we did get. I just wish we knew what happened with Steven and Thalia and crew after they narrowly escaped the Army camp massacre, Juan. Mackenzie and Margaret (if the two women didn’t eventually shoot him anyway), Kevin and Mike—two of the boys from the Pittsburgh excursion mentioned above—and whether or not they managed to find the three kidnapped women… Have I piqued your interest? I hope so. This is a book that deserves to be read, and I look forward to anything else this author puts out in the future.

Buy This as an eBook from Amazon.com

By Sam Christopher

Great Stories from SF/Fantasy History in Comics:

First, there’s the continuing saga of Ender Wiggin, the hero of the seminal novel Ender’s Game, in Marvel’s Orson Scott Card: Ender in Exile #3. Here we see Ender and Valentine still on course for Shakespeare Colony, with all the scheming and plotting surrounding the future governor of that colony. Alessandra listens to her mother and nearly ends her friendship with Ender, while her mother, of course, is also scheming to get hitched to Admiral Morgan. They’re playing both sides of the fence, although Alessandra only peripherally gets that. Then there’s Admiral Morgan himself, with his plot to take power on Shakespeare, usurping it from a kid he thinks can’t possibly be up to the task. He thinks this kid just can’t be devious enough and hard enough to take true power and control of a colony. Boy, is the admiral in for a surprise! Adapted by Aaron Johnston with Pop Mhan handling the artwork, this is another fantastic chapter in the Ender chronicles.

Then there’s the final chapter in the Joe R. and John L. Lansdale-led, Kevin Colden drawn IDW adaptation of Robert Bloch’s fantastic tale Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper #3. Wow! What a great story! And I never have read it before. I guess I was thinking about that one for Dangerous Visions. Hollis and Jenny talk to John about Eustace. Was that cryptic enough? This is another great tale that I really hate to say too much about because you really should read it, especially if you haven’t read the original story. It may be too late now to get the first couple issues but there’s a trade coming, I have no doubt. If you didn’t get this series, get the compilation. Or you could call me and I could read it to you the way Andy used to read bedtime stories to Otis the Drunk: “Fe Fi Fo Fum”, said the giant. “I smell the blood of a Englishman.” Poor Jack—he didn’t know what to do… Sorry, that scene just stuck in my head a day or two ago and won’t leave. Anyway, read this story first chance you get—Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper not Jack and the Bean Stalk. You won’t be disappointed.

Finally, we have the ultimate installment of IDW’s adaptation Bram Stoker’s Death Ship: The Last Voyage of the Demeter #4. This was an excellent story when set to art and comics movement. In this final chap we get to see the captain, as last man aboard the ship, do his best to confound the monster that has beset his crew. The end is touching, and even the captain’s confrontation with the demon is interesting in its own way, with a hint of dreaminess and subtle sadness. There was something profound in this story and this adaptation that punched through the four-color vulgarity that permeates this uniquely American art form. Something… beautiful that is difficult to quantify. Writer Gary Gerani and artist Stuart Sayger have done a magnificent job with this book. If you haven’t been getting it two things: One, I told ya SO! And two, get the TPB!

By Sam Christopher

The Gods of Marvel:

Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente wrap up the story of Vali, the Prince of Mischief, trying for ultimate power in Prince of Power #4. This wasn’t a bad story but Amadeus Cho’s secret plan for stopping Thor from stopping Cho was lame. And I mean extremely lame. “You can’t hurt me with lightning because I’m holding a capacitor”? Come ON! I loved the whole thing with Delphyne talking to Athena and working her way out of the clutches of the Olympus Group, and I, of course, loved the ending, which wasn’t at all unexpected. Well, other than it being the springboard to another storyline starring… well, that would be telling. I also enjoyed Thor’s likening Cho to Loki; I thought that was very good storytelling and also very true in Marvel’s interpretation of Loki and their characterization of Cho himself. Anyway, very good and a lot of fun. Other than the “capacitor” thing. Just lame.

Thor walks through Hell to find the sword that Loki forged in Thor #613. More, Tyr, the doubting God of War, and Hela, the resigned Goddess of the Dead, stage a holding action against the Disir while Thor tries to find the one weapon the Disir fear. Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Kelda pines away for Bill and this leads to her having some less than happy thoughts about the current ruler of the realm. And this leads me to wonder about Heimdall. He’s been keeping an eye on Kelda, knowing her grief, and I’m wondering how he doesn’t know what she’s planning. Of course, it could be that the intrigues and privacies of his fellow gods have long ago caused Heimdall to “tune out” much of what he would normally hear and see so he can concentrate most of his abilities on the performance of his duties at the end of Bifrost. However that turns out to be explained—if writer Kieron Gillen thinks to explain it at all—I am looking forward to the fruition of this particular thread. I don’t even mind if they drag it out a few issues. I think it’ll be worth it. Back to Thor’s quest through Mephisto’s realm: I loved the way he answered the riddle at the beginning, I loved the way he figured out the whole thing with his mother, and I looooooooved the ending of the quest. I had a feeling, though, that would be the way it ended. I also loved what Mephisto said to him, too. And then there was Tyr’s screwing up of his courage in the face of a certain fate that is worse than death. This is just more of the excellence we’ve come to expect from this writer on this book. And Richard Elson’s artwork, while lacking the majesty that characterized the Djurdjevic days on the book, is very well done and brings out more of the human side to the gods.

Bob Layton’s ending to his own Hercules saga comes to us in the pages of Hercules: Twilight of a God #4. As final issues go this one is a doozy. Herc figures out a way to stop the Galactus Black Hole from devouring the entire Andromeda Galaxy, while the grandchildren meet the leader of the terrorists. We also see the Recorder’s new look and Skyppi finally figures out what he wants “deathlock” himself into. There’s so much here, so much that looks so cosmic and so cool, with new characters and old characters in new forms… I loved it. I loved this whole series but this ish especially was just so much fun to read. It reminded me of the earlier Herc series from Layton, and the graphic novel. The end was just perfect, too, for this kind of story. It made me want to see more although we most probably never will. And that’s too bad. Mr. Layton, Ron Lim, I salute you both. If you need encouragement you definitely have my vote for another series, too.

And then there’s Thor For Asgard #1. This out of continuity story seems to take its cue from the Reigning storyline that basically killed the last Thor series, the one before the current one. Here we have Thor on the throne of Asgard and Balder dead, Asgard in the middle of its worst winter in godly memory (so much for global warming) and Odin gone to Midgard to try and find an answer. We also see the gods trying to keep the Jotuns at bay and… well, this was good, and I will check out the next ish, but it’s nowhere near the fun that Thor Mighty Avenger is. This is written by Robert Rodi with decent though unexceptional art by Simone Bianchi.

By Sam Christopher

Heroes in Groups:

The crew of the USS Enterprise must combat a most insidious computer “virus” in Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge #3. The ship puts into Starbase 17 for resupply and routine maintenance—this after a priceless opening vignette with Spock teaching McCoy how to play 3-D chess. Starbase 17 happens to be run by Andorians. If you watched the Enterprise tv show (which I admit took time to grow on me) you’ll remember that the Andorian’s natural enemy is Vulcans, but that’s not mentioned here for some reason. Instead the writing team of Scott and David Tipton go with the more TOS-friendly Tellarites as the Andorian object of hate (from “Journey to Babel”). Anyway, their maintenance on the computer system leads the Enterprise crew to some unwarranted suppositions, while the naturally suspicious and from-calm-to-irate-in-a-millisecond Tellarites do the rest. Another very good rendition of the crew by the Tipton boys; they just do an excellent job with these characters. One can “hear” Scotty talking to the captain here, just as the aforementioned scene with McCoy and Spock has the perfect pitch for their TOS relationship. Kirk is likewise dead-on here. Federica Manfredi’s artwork is good here, though not exceptional. At least, unlike some of these series, it’s pretty easy to tell which character you’re looking at.

Next, get ready to laugh with Justice League: Generation Lost #8. Okay, they’ve disguised themselves as Rocket Reds and broken into Checkmate in order to access their computers to find Max Lord. They’ve been caught and are literally under the guns of the world’s most powerful and far-reaching secret organization. What to do? Well, obviously, you get your only true Rocket Red to talk your way out of this mess. “I am leader of Red Rebel Battalion. Ve lie down for Checkmate no more. You, who make claim of international body, but do not recognize Communist ideals!” Black King’s answer: “China’s got an office on the second floor, so I don’t know what you’re—.” RR rejoinder: “Oh, I believe THAT when I am to see that!” Hysterical. Unfortunately, off-the-wall weirdness and nonsense can only take one so far. But our team does escape, after which the White King arrives and writer Judd Winick shows us he understands all too clearly how our government really works. Anyway, the upshot of all this is that the team gains some newfound respect for Rocket Red and then there’s the end of the ish… which you’ll have to read if you want to know what happened. Artist Aaron Lopresti does his usual fine work as penciller. This series has thus far been a great surprise. I originally started it just because of its tie-in with Brightest Day, one that I didn’t think would last very long frankly. It is getting more and more interesting, however, as it goes on and I find myself looking more and more forward to it.

And, since one good JL story deserves another, we move here to the last chap in “The Dark Things” storyline that has encompassed the last few issues of JLA and JSA in Justice League of America #48. Pretty good. Moving on… just kidding. This is a very satisfying ending for this tale from James Robinson and Mark Bagley. It’s a cool story in that, while it is almost all battle scenes, there’s still room for some characterization and exposition, most notably Mr. Terrific providing the explanation for why magic affects Kryptonians the way it does. Don’t know if it’s right or not, but the machine he had the “Kara Twins” build to counteract the Starheart’s effect on PG (and, presumably, Supergirl, too, although it never happened here) seemed to work. I like the way Robinson finds the time to give a little characterization to virtually everyone in the story, plus the fact that it does tie in with Brightest Day in the story of Jade and Obsidian (the latter of which we never saw at the end of the story and now I’m wondering if he’s all right). And, of course, it affirms something I’ve been thinking for awhile and that is that Alan Scott is the most powerful being in the DCU, rivaled I would guess only by The Spectre. All told, excellent story and interesting epilogue that portends another good story for the future.

We see some more of the early days of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics #517. Saturn Girl is feeling kind of left out in this tale, as she sees Rokk and Garth being much more comfortable both with the trio’s newfound celebrity and their roles as heroes. Several things happen here to bring her to an understanding of what’s really going on with them all, not the least of which is the fruition of an attraction, and maybe not the one longtime Legion readers know about. The second story here is the one about the Atom and I frankly have a hard time getting into it. I don’t hate it but… well, as I said in another review I really miss Superboy and the Legion being in Adventure.

And then there’s the finding of the twins in Legion of Super-Heroes #4. Earth-Man’s rejection of the Green Lanterns leads to Sodam Yat and Dyogene arguing before Dyogene goes off to do what I thought he was going to do in the first place. The Titanians, meanwhile, are being welcomed—sort of—on Dream Girl’s homeworld of Naltor. Of course, it’s hard to be very welcoming of someone who starts off by saying they hope they don’t doom your world the way they did their own. Not a statement that inspires confidence. The Lightning Twins and Imra find Garth and Imra’s twins on the planet Avalon, where they have to battle a minion of Darkseid for the lads’ freedom. All of this and Sun Boy whining that the Legion needs an election for new leader while simultaneously whining that he’s not up for it. Oh, and speaking of Earth-Man, he reunites with some old friends here—and does something they don’t expect. Interesting threads galore from writer Paul Levitz, with the help of several thousand artists it seems.

Next, we go from many threads to the collapse of all timelines into one. This is the story of Nathaniel Richards in Fantastic Four #582. All Nates have been collapsed into one timeline and given the Highlander Imperative by Immortus. Also in this ish, an adult Valeria from the future has tea with Susan Storm-Richards and tries to explain to her why Franklin and Val have to try to restart the Universe at the end of time. Of course, we can’t know what actually happened… or will happen… even though we see some of it. I’ll go out on a limb and say the Marvel Universe will still be around for awhile. Cool story but it feels like they’re just marking time before the start of the greatly anticipated “Three” storyline. Which starts next ish.

And speaking of time travel and teams and Immortus (sort of), we get to see time-spanning two ways in Avengers #4. First, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America and Noh-Varr go into the future Kang spoke of and find some familiar faces in (nearly) unfamiliar spaces. Meanwhile, back in the present, Spidey, Thor, Hawkeye, and Spiderwoman meet Killraven, who brings some tripod “friends” along. Not that the tripods are any real threat—just a little exercise for the God of Thunder. Unfortunately, just as Thor is finishing with the ‘pods and getting ready to rejoin the crew he spies a much greater threat to the Earth. Skipping ahead again, we find that the single most familiar face we didn’t expect to see—unless, of course, “we” looked at this issue’s cover—is doing something that sounds unconscionable. I say “sounds” because apparently John Romita Jr. ran out of ink here and they had to run a black panel over writer Brian Michael Bendis’ having “our” Tony Stark scream.

And Avengers Prime #2 doesn’t have time travel but Cap and Shellhead have to be thinking they’re trapped in a world of the past. Separated in the Nine Worlds, Steve, Tony and Thor do what they think they need to to reunite with their friends. Thor finds himself confronted with the Enchantress and her minions, while Steve meets an apparent nice lady among the roughnecks of, I think, Alfheim (that’s what it looks like, anyway), and Tony seems to have forgotten that the Royal Family is never universally loved, even in a land where they literally are gods, especially among the trolls. Of course, when the menace Enchantress speaks of finally shows up you’ll probably, as I did, say the name as you turn that page; it’s really the only thing that makes sense given the evidence we’re shown. An excellent story thus far by Brian Michael Bendis with the usual ho-hum greatness of Alan Davis’ artwork.

Rolling into Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20, we find Big Barda breaking into the Batcave so that Bats will help her find Mr. Miracle. This is a fun story, filled with the team-up derring-do we’re used to seeing in this title. There are New Gods and Apokaliptian villains, heroes tied to missiles and all manner of Indiana Jones-type rescues and… well… just child-like FUN. But there’s also a subtext in this ish, one that finds The Caped Crusader questioning the nature of personal relationships in the super-hero business. He openly speculates that even Scott and Barda’s relationship is a hindrance to their mission. By the end, though he decides that their love is actually a plus but then wonders if he could ever find someone like Barda, someone who would do anything for him and vice versa. It’s actually a rather poignant occurrence in this “kids comic”. Oh, and then there’s a second story where The Dark Knight and Martian Manhunter fight the White Martian General H’Ronmeer again. I guess this was tossed in for those who might fear the first story was bringing about a DC version of Spidey Intellectual Stories.

And, finally, the Soul Eater takes a beating in Angel #36. Of course, not before she reveals something about Spike that no one wanted to hear. Seems he is again soulless, although to hear him tell it he’s just a little off his game. This entire installment is all about the crew getting rid of the Soul Eater. They try everything, even slitting Illyria’s throat – hey, it happens—before Angel finally does what needs to be done. Then we have the second story, where Eddie Hope is getting ready for Gunn’s death when… but that would be telling. More and more good stuff from Bill Willingham and Bill Williams, with Elena Casagrande and Brian Denham, respectively, handling the artwork.

By Sam Christopher

World’s Finest Week:

In the final issue of the series, Superman: Secret Origin #6, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank relate the story of Supes’ first battle with General Sam Lane and Metallo. I liked John Byrnes’ take on that personally, but this was all right. The general here also tells Lois that Superman is an alien, something that no one had thought of. I guess that makes sense for the DCU, where they’d had all manner of “mystery men” going back to the ‘40s and they weren’t all aliens. In fact, as far as the public knew probably none of them were. It’s just not something that would come up often. Now if Supes were to show up here, with all those powers the very first thing most people would think—after it was proved his powers weren’t some elaborate hoax—is that he’s an alien. Anyway, this was overall a very good series, as one would suspect from Johns and Frank. There’s also a cool little frame in this ish where Superman looks pretty much exactly like Chris Reeve. Nice.

Then we get to the Lex Luthor tale in Action Comics #892. Lex has hired Deathstroke to protect him as the whole Luthor team heads for Antarctica in search of more evidence of the Black Ring. They find a sphere of dark energy, one that causes an emotional response of haywire in anyone within proximity. Story’s all right, and at least we get to see Lex’s battle armor. Well, that and we get to see yet another mind controlling villain who will probably figure heavily into this story. There’s also a Superboy backup in which the Teen of Steel (does anyone really call him that anymore?) and the Teen Titans battle… Smallville itself? I don’t know what is really going on here but it does lead directly into the new Superboy #1 coming in November. I liked what they did with the character in Adventure Comics. I still don’t understand why that series of Superboy ended. But then I miss the old Tales of Suspense and Adventure Comics and Tales to Astonish. Marvel and DC both used to have titles that featured various heroes rather than giving those heroes their own books. Marvel did it because of their distribution deal with National Publications at the time, and DC had it going on to give characters who might not make it on their own a shot. I think Superboy can carry a title if done right but I still miss him in Adventure.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2 continues its official “The Search for Batman!” emblazoned across the cover. Rip Hunter’s “discovery” of Claw led, of course, to a brief battle with the latter. Luckily for Rip, this brief battle had no attachment with any reality-based programming, or the unarmed Rip Hunter would have been gutted and slaughtered by the swordsman Claw. I don’t know which incarnation of Claw we’re getting here, either. The character seems to change with each appearance. Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman, meanwhile, try and figure out how to find Hunter while helping anyone who needs it while also not doing anything to contaminate the timeline. This last imperative is one that only Booster seems to have. This leads to a great scene where BG once again has top pretend to be the clown he no longer is, allowing Hal to look upon him with disdain in order to protect BG’s cover as guardian of the timeline. Oh well, at least Bruce Wayne knows the truth.

Detective Comics #868 continues the story of the Impostor Joker and the Jokerz. The Jokerz are ordered to rob all the banks and just throw the money to the street, proving once again that most people don’t really understand the story of Robin Hood– although in this day and age at least I J’s definition is closer than it used to be (and far too close for comfort, but that’s another story). Meanwhile, the Guardian Bats are also on the street, killing Jokerz—who are mostly just kids on a drug bender—left and right in an effort to “help”. Bats and Commissioner Gordon are caught in the middle of all of this. During the ish, Dick decides he needs to feel the effects of I J’s Joker Venom concoction. This leads to him and Alfred having a little tiff, which is kind of funny, really. It looks like the head Guardian Bat is Jason Todd to me, but there have been so many villains of Batman who are able to duplicate Bats’ abilities there’s really no telling.

A little more background on Bruce Wayne comes our way in Batman #702. In this installment we see Bruce preparing for his showdown with Darkseid. I don’t really think much of his “figuring out” that Darkseid will retaliate against Batman by sending him back in time with his Omega Beams. I really have to say that I think this is totally lame. I don’t care how brilliant “The World’s Greatest Detective” is supposed to be, NO ONE could figure on something like that. The only other thing I would say here is that Bats should have shot Darkseid with a flintlock; he tells everyone his “essence of bullet” can be fired from any gun. I just think it would have been cooler coming from an old, non-lethal looking weapon rather than the futuristic gun he shot the New God with. Well, I’d say that and that I’m not that sanguine about the notion that Bruce’s parents were shot with this bullet. I’ve always thought Bats works far better as a non-cosmic hero and this notion makes him more cosmic than he needs to be. For me anyway.

By Sam Christopher

Chicks in Charge:

The Spectacular Spidergirl #4 brings an ending to the Gang War storyline in this mini from Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. It also brings an ending to several characters, not only the obvious ones. And I mean a true, most likely final ending. Even though she doesn’t die here, I see no way that April can come back as anything like a viable character on the side of right after this. I know why she did what she did—and I have to say that I find it hard to argue with it here—but there’s just no way May can ignore it, especially given what April did to Mary Jane. We can only hope that American Dream and Darkdevil recover completely here. One thing about this series is that with it being set outside the established Marvel Universe anything can happen to anyone really. Of course, they try and keep the tone lighter but bad things still happen to good people. And to bad people. I enjoyed this series, I don’t know how much that’s worth, though, because I love this character and this world they’ve put her in. I just hope we can look forward to seeing her adventures for many years… to… come… What’s this?

Yes, then they almost immediately hit us with Spidergirl: The End, a one-shot designed to… well, I guess tell us a cool Spidergirl story. It doesn’t really end anything. I mean, it shows us the end, shows us the far future, where Spidergirl is gone and there’s something strange going on with the people there. You get that much after just a couple pages, the rest you have to get through the tale. And it is a very good story. Not very original but still fun to read and a neat twist on things. Now, even though I still can’t see Mayhem just picking up and carrying on as a hero if she comes back I can at least see Spidergirl and the rest trusting her. I wonder, though, if our heroes will somehow learn what the whole thing was about. Just like I wonder if Wes is supposed to be Mayday’s Mary Jane. Ah, well, a thousand questions, a thousand questions… with any luck, DeFalco and Frenz will get to work answering them with this character and her wonderful supporting cast very shortly.

Now we’ll shift gears a little and go from the girl in the costume who fights a killing machine to the girl in the costume who fights the… killing… machine. Well, I never said any of this was original, folks. Power Girl #15 has PG doing battle with a machine that uses a human mind for its matrix and then evolves to the point where it can destroy an entire city bare-handed. She FINALLY gets what I was thinking the whole time, although she doesn’t do what I would have done with the info. Karen contacts a guy at her office, one who very nearly went to jail before coming to work for her, and asks him to hack into government computers and find out anything he can about C. R. A. S. H. He, after telling her that if her company survives its current financial crisis he will quit, tells her that the thing has a four hour expiration and that it’s not alive in any way. I would have taken the thing and threw it in the Sun immediately. She decides to try and keep it busy for awhile. All this before another villain who should be very well known to Karen but isn’t (and that hint should tell you who it is) shows up and changes everything.

And speaking of throwing people into the Sun, Supergirl does something along those lines in order to take care of her “alter ego” in Supergirl #55. Seems that Bizarro #1 sent his “cousin” Bizarro Supergirl away from Bizarro World so she could escape from something they call the Godship. In this ish, Kara fights with her imperfect double until given a hand by Doctor Light. Of course, then writer Sterling Gates has to turn everything completely on its head for an ending that sees us set up for at least the next issue and maybe for a few installments. And even though it seemed to come from out of the blue I have to admit that I think I know what’s going on. I could be wrong, though, and I don’t mind at all waiting for a month to find out. Also, while I have no real problem with most of Jamal Igle’s artwork here I have to say I hate the way he drew Perry White. I don’t know why—like I said I like his art on this title mostly—but there was just something about his depiction of Perry that I really hated. I guess we all have our ways of looking at things.

“What do you call a Brythunian who marries a pig?” “A social climber.” He’ll be here all week, folks. That was a line from Dynamite’s excellent Classic Red Sonja Re-Mastered #3. This fun story from Savage Sword of Conan #23 was originally written by Roy “The Boy” Thomas back in the great Silver Age of Marvel in the ‘70s. It was also adapted from a novel—something I didn’t know—by David C. Smith and Richard Tierney. I really thought it was influenced by Rush’s “The Necromancer” from their Caress of Steel album, and maybe there is some of that in there. Also, we have some pretty cool vintage Esteban Maroto artwork to look at here. Back in the time when this story was originally being read by readers looking for a little more adult fantasy than could be afforded by any book that had the Comics Code stamp on its cover, Marvel’s black-and-white magazines were a treasure trove of great stories that you just couldn’t find anywhere else. The writers and artists here were usually left to their own devices as to what they wanted to write. As long as what they wrote sold they were left alone for the most part. I think it’s really cool that Dynamite is doing this for these Red Sonja stories, I’m just wondering if Dark Horse might not be prevailed upon to do something like this for Conan.

And the next one’s about a girl we never see in the book, although they do talk about her a lot. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley is all about Riley having been asked by Buffy to join the team and help her save… I think everyone who reads the book knows and if you don’t read the book what the hell is wrong with you?!? Anyway, the cool thing here is that this is written by Buffy tv series scribe Jane Espenson. It’s not the first comics thing she’s done or anything, not even the first Buffy thing she’s done in comics by a long shot. It’s just cool. That is all. And it’s also cool that this story is so good. It is essentially a story of Riley and his wife discussing a decision he needs to make. Only thing that would have been cooler is if he had had to shoot a witch or something to prove himself to Twilight. Or if Andrew had been there, too. Everything goes better with Andrew.

J. Michael Straczynski’s run on the Amazon Princess continues with Wonder Woman #602. Here we have Diana meeting some of her people hiding out in a temple to Aphrodite. Diana actually speaks to one of the gods—could be Aphrodite—and denounces them angrily for not coming down in person to help against the men outside waiting to slaughter the Amazons as they try and escape. I don’t know. It’s early yet so I want to give Joe the benefit of any doubt I have here. I mean, this is only the second part—third if you count the prequel from WW #600—so there’s a lot of stuff we haven’t seen yet. I just can’t help but think back to Gail Simone’s run and how much more interesting it always seemed than this. And that was without any of the mystery that all of this tale seems shrouded in. I don’t hate it. Maybe it is just because it’s so early and the mystery is still a long way from fruition. We’ll see.

“This stuff stinks worse than a dead dog’s butt!” Thus says Harley Quinn in Gotham City Sirens #15. Poison Ivy has been seduced by an alien plant lifeform whose mission is to make Earth safe for the colonization of his race. And to do that, of course, they need all the humans on the planet dead. All but maybe Ivy. Maybe. The other girls try and talk their friend out of her part in this and… well, let’s just say it’s a good thing they are friends, because I see no way Selina or Harley could go ten seconds in true head-to-head pitched battle with Ivy. It’s all okay, though; everything works out for the best and they don’t even have to burn Gotham to the ground. They do that just for fun. Just kidding. I don’t know if the creative team of Tony Bedard and Andres Guinaldo will continue on this book but we readers could do a lot worse.

By Sam Christopher

Bat-Family Digest 1:

Dick Grayson comes up with a plan for throwing Vicki Vale off the Bat-Trail in Red Robin #15. It means Tim Drake getting shot and spending months in physical therapy but, hey, you can’t make an omelet, right? And Damian is no help, even though his solution to the Vale problem offers even more permanence. And when Alfred Pennyworth reminds the boys that Bruce would always just have someone impersonate The Batman to throw someone off the trail, who didn’t think of the tv show, where Alfred himself would dress as Bats and holler at Commissioner Gordon through a voice device from across the parking lot: “Why are you so far away, Batman?” “I have a cold, Commissioner. No use spreading germs.” “You do look worn, old friend. Get plenty of rest.” Excellent plan, though… so long as you’re not the one getting shot. Good stuff as always for this title.

Steph and Proxy battle it out with Clayface in Batgirl #13. Steph has the day off from school and that means only one thing: ping pong. Well, then it means something else, too, and that’s the crux of the matter. Batgirl and Detective Gage—or “Detective McHandsome”, as Proxy calls him—try to prevent Clayface from tearing up a newly-renovated block of the Gotham financial district (and, yeah, Steph also finds it odd that she’s the closest “Bat” to that site). Gage does his part by trying very hard to get killed while Batgirl pretends she’s Mr. Freeze by the end. I don’t know, this story was all right, and I know they’re going to come down just a little from the big “Batgirl Begins” storyline they had going from the beginning of the book. It just seemed like some fluff to me, even though they tried to give us some good characterization for Gage here. Maybe this will pay off well sometime soon.

The Two-Face storyline continues in Batman: Streets of Gotham #15. It should be concluded. I just see no way… I mean, all the way through the book you see it coming. It has to end the way it does. Has to. No one can be pushed that far without a snapback. And no one—except The Joker… and Ra’s al Ghul… and Lex Luthor… and… well, never mind that thought altogether. I like Harvey as a villain, and I like seeing people in fiction pushed to their limits in an attempt to stretch them into a new mode but I really think Ivan Brandon has overplayed this. I can live with it, of course, but I have to say it’s kind of sub-par in its “over-the-topness”. Guess we’ll just have to see what comes in the next installment.

The secret of all ages rests within the pages of Azrael #11. Michael again gets pounded by The Crusader and Morissey dies and Father Day is tortured and Khalid betrays the name of The Keeper… and the single most important feature of Christianity is said to be a lie. All because the Shroud of Turin in the DCU is said to be the genuine article. Confused? Yeah, me too. I thought this story was very good in the last ish but I have to say it kind of fell down here for me. It could still be all right. I just didn’t think that much of this chapter. It reminded me of why Rick Veitch left Swamp Thing. And that was sad.

Then there’s our step outside the established DCU—at least I think this one isn’t in continuity—in Batman Beyond #3. Terry and Bruce argue while “Hush Beyond” tries to kill Terry, Calendar Man, and anyone else connected with the Bat in any way. Terry complains about not having a life outside of The Mission and Bruce complains that Terry isn’t committed enough to The Mission, all the while The Mission consuming both of them throughout the story. My only real problem with Bruce here, though, is that he keeps threatening to turn off the suit while Terry is out working in it. It just seems to me that that would be amazingly dangerous and stupid. I know he wants Terry to tell him what’s going on but… I just think cutting the power and leaving the new Batman at the mercy of whatever madman he’s facing, so far as Bruce knows, is a little harsh punishment for the guy being a mildly rebellious teenager. Not saying this story isn’t good, or even this chap. On the contrary, I find the whole thing very interesting so far. Just something I thought of while reading this one.

By Sam Christopher

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, eternal agitator Harlan Ellison returns to comics this week with a four-part mini for IDW. Harlan Ellison’s Phoenix Without Ashes #1 begins the story of Devon, an outsider who only seeks the truth… and the love of a beautiful young woman named Rachel. The year is 2785 and we are shown what appears to be a human colony world run by the pseudo-Amish. Marriages among the small populace are set up from birth by “the Creator”, which appears to be a small computer interface the leading citizen, Elder Micah, accesses and relies on to keep the people in line. Our young man Devon has fallen in love with a girl set to marry another and finds that his love for her will not allow him to keep silent. He is, of course, censured and banished and punished and… you get the idea. All of this before Devon ends up on the run from a cadre of torch-carrying townspeople after sneaking into the rectory at night and discovering that, as usual, someone in government has their thumb planted squarely on the scales of justice.

Harlan fan or not, this is something that really should be read. I know that Ellison’s original story idea for the old tv series The Starlost was titled “Phoenix Without Ashes” but since I’ve never had the opportunity to catch any of that series I can’t really say how closely this resembles that. Given HE’s proclivities, however, and his reported disdain for what “the suits” did with The Starlost, it wouldn’t be any surprise to find that this is Ellison’s own uncensored version of that story. That would be cool with me, as it might serve as the jumping off point for a set of series maybe, set in the universe we are shown here. We can only hope a writer of this talent continues to provide us great stories and illumination of the human condition for many years to come.

Oh, and if I might share a word about Alan Robinson’s artwork on this book that word would be: Perfect!

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By Sam Christopher

Past Masters on World’s Finest:

First, we have the great Cary Bates bringing the beginning of a three issue Elseworlds minseries with Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1. In this story, as you can probably guess by the title and certainly by the cover, Jor-El not only saves his only son from the destruction of their home world but their entire family as well. They come to Earth full-blown, with all manner of super science at their command. They settle in Metropolis and use the crystals that in another reality Kal used to form the Fortress of Solitude to build their own home, a “Baxter Building” of sorts. I call it that because for much of the ish Lara and Jor reminded me of no one more than Sue and Reed Richards, except that Jor often seemed to be… well, a little more distant than I would have thought given the other characterizations of him through the years. It almost seemed for a little bit like we were about to read how Brainiac was controlling him. It could still happen; there are two issues left. Anyway, I first remember Bates as the writer who visited Central City in an ish of The Flash from the ‘70s and saved The Scarlet Speedster from… I think it was Dr. Alchemy. That’s the first time I ever remember seeing Bates’ name on a book, but at that time I didn’t pay a lot of attention to that kind of thing. “I was only a kid”, as the Rush song says. After that I took a little more notice, especially after Elliot S! Maggin barely stopped Cary from killing off the entire JSA and JLA together. After that display of power I will certainly not say anything derogatory about the guy here. Nice touch in this ish: Julius and Jean Schwartz showing up on a list of possible foster parents for Kal-El (you just have to read the book to understand it). Renato Arlem’s art is fine. Not special but it does fit with this story. I look forward to the rest of the set.

Then we get to Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey #2. This ish was good… but… I don’t know. I like it but it surprised me in that it finished the story of his early exploit on the train. I kinda thought that would be a thread that ran through the whole series and now it seems that it’s over almost too quickly. Of course, I’m sure there’s more to the story than what we’ve seen so far, and there’s still the over-arching story of Ra’s al Ghul and Kirk Langstrom. If I had a real complaint at all it would be that I’m not sure I want to see Bats get shot every single issue. Has been cool so far, though. And Adams has my complete confidence. He’s been there, done that. Wish I could get that Muhammad Ali vs. Superman statue. I had the Treasury Edition of the book back in the day and I am thinking of getting the new hardcover. (Well, new to me anyway, since the first I heard of it was in the ad here.)

Next, we roll into J. Michael Straczynski’s run on the Man of Steel with Superman #702. In this installment of the “Grounded” storyline the Last Son of Krypton (sort of) walks through Detroit, Michigan, and finds a bunch of lazy, surly Teamsters… just kidding; that was from an ep of The Simpsons. Supes does walk through Detroit, though, and finds a cadre of hidden aliens with great medical technologies. They’re hiding from a tyrannical regime on their home world and taking nothing from our society, living completely off the grid and completely separate from their neighbors. The Big Red “S” does something here that I find unconscionable. He basically blackmails them into using their technology to form a business to bring their medical knowledge to the world. Problems: One, their hiding from an evil alien power structure that they imply strongly is searching for them. I think broadcasting their presence here is stupid. But that’s kind of a longer range problem, and living in fear is not a good thing so I can let that go. The main problem is that Supes strong-arms these guys into doing something they do not wish to do. That is an unconscionable breach in a free society as far as I’m concerned, and that’s even though I agree with him that they should help others. I think you should always help someone who needs it if you can; I just don’t believe I should be allowed to force your compliance with my moral code. End of sermon. Coolest part about this, though, is that this is shaping up to be a thought-provoking look at what it means to be a hero and an icon and an idol for this character. I am sure Joe Straczynski is happy with that. Also, Eddy Barrows’ artwork is really great for this story. His facial expressions and body positioning just work very well for the more understated tone here. And the few “super-hero” action sequences we get here are well-drawn and move organically with the rest.

And , finally, we get to master scribe Len Wein’s ode to DC Comics, DC Universe: Legacies #4. Here we are shown the genesis of the Silver Age of Heroes, with its emphasis on the teen sidekick and the team. Barry Allen’s exploits as the new Flash brings Jay Garrick out of retirement, just as the formation of the Justice League of America shows the heroes of the defunct Justice Society of America the value of their continued existence. We are shown that nearly every city gets its own team of heroes at this time, while every hero seemingly gets his own rogue’s gallery. It seems like a nearly psychedelic age of wonder and merriment, even more innocent in some ways than the earlier Golden Age, albeit with more glitz and glam. During this time, too, our narrator goes to bat for his wife’s brother with the parole board. There’s something about these characters—the narrator and family—that seems familiar to me. I haven’t tried to look up the names because I want to be surprised when I see who they are. Anyway, the backup story of the Bicentennial reunion of the heroes of WWII was also excellent, even though their version of Rock’s demise doesn’t jibe with other accounts—as in a recent ish of Booster Gold. Either way, another fun chapter in this latest history of the DCU.

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By Sam Christopher

This one is kind of scattershot…

First we’ll talk about Justice League: Generation Lost #7. Good issue. Moving on… Okay, okay, I can tell you a little more, I guess. The gang comes up with a plan to infiltrate Checkmate, a plan that involves all of them becoming Communists. And yeah, it’s not bad, even though I do spend an inordinate amount of time reading this book trying to figure out how Captain Atom stays with them. I realize he probably feels obligated to protect the world from Max Lord, and these are the only people on the planet who remember the guy. Which is a problem, too. I find it difficult to buy that Lord could really use his mental powers to just erase his existence from every mind on Earth but to have him be able to do the same with even aliens who weren’t on the planet when he did it seems a little too much, even for a comics story. Maybe there’s something we haven’t seen yet, a machine he’s using to boost his power or something completely different behind all this. I enjoy the book for now and that’s enough for now.

Next, we see Booster, Beetle, Barda, and Miracle ( and I had such a good alliteration going; maybe Barda should have married Batman, or Batroc… never mind) battle Heironymus the Underachiever for the Almost-But-Not-Quite Book of Destiny. Heironymus, it seems, has hatched a plan to make him the Ruler of All Universes. All he has to do is woo a sorceress who has a problem with “incompetents and morons” and old Heiro, unfortunately, meets both criteria, according to her. Of course, he also has a Doomsday Device aimed at their planet and threatens to destroy it if she doesn’t do what he wants. Meanwhile, Beetle is waxing a little too eloquent on his wants in regard to Barda. It’s elliptical, but still easy to see. And funny, of course. All of this is tangentially related to the storyline in JL: Generation Lost, in that Booster is only in this past mess because he went back in time to bring back some kind of incontrovertible evidence of Max Lord’s existence. But he got caught up with the joy of seeing his best friend again and… well, who among us wouldn’t do the same given the chance? This is a lot of fun, something I am glad to see for this title that I almost was ready to give up on at one time. Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis have breathed new life here and we can only hope it continues.

Gail Simone and Ed Benes keep dishing out the goodness in Birds of Prey #4. Dinah finally figures out who the “White Canary” is and decides to take the gloves completely off. Or the muzzle in this case. Meanwhile, Oracle takes a walk with Creote and Savant to the edge of the precipice, both figurative and literal. Luckily for us, there doesn’t appear to be a Lazarus Pit bath in her near future. Also, Pengy turns out to be a little less injured than we were led to believe, and he does something to Zinda that… look, I understand the “no kill” policy in the Bat books but I have to say that Huntress should have done something here to test that. A crossbow bolt to the face would have been an appropriate response in this case, I think. Anyway, I am really getting more and more enthralled with this new BOP series. It _almost_ makes up for DC making us spend the last couple years without one at all. Almost.

Writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Fernando Pasarin have a Brightest Day start-up title going next with Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1. I wasn’t too thrilled with the preview DC gave us for this. It seemed like the same ol’ “Guy Gardner flies off the handle and tries to smash the Universe” crap they always seem to end up with when making GG the focal point of a story. But this first ish was much different than I expected, giving us a new dimension to the character in a way by just giving him something specific to do. Guy and Ganthet are, ostensibly, going to explore some of the sectors of the Universe the Guardians have for some reason neglected to look at over the millennia. At least, that’s the official story. Truth is that this somehow has something to do with the pact we saw these two making with Atrocitus awhile back. I also have to believe the Guardians do know something about what these guys are going to find in these “new regions” but are allowing them to think otherwise for reasons of their own. I know it’s early, and I know there’s a lot of room for it all to fall down, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the way this story has started and am looking forward to the next installment already.

As for our main title, Brightest Day #7 is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY cool! Finally, our heroes (and villains) appear to be given something specific to do. And all from the bite of a cheeseburger. Yep, it starts out in a burger joint and ends up encompassing the world. It’s all still episodic and fragmentary but there’s finally a real sense of the story moving toward something. If I have any problem with anything in this story, though, it’s Professor Stein’s pronouncement that we’ve somehow reached the “third and final stage of Firestorm”. I don’t know why, but something about that just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it’s because they seem to change the focus of the character every couple appearances, a long-standing problem. I’m not going to complain here, though, because the rest of this story is so fantastic. Here we’re shown the reason the being known so far only as The Entity granted these specific people a second chance at true life. We’re shown what they’re supposed to do, if not the reasons behind their actions. I’m guessing that will all become clear at some point soon. The only one I didn’t really get was Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang, as it would seem to me that The Entity could have gotten anyone to do that. Maybe there’s a price The Entity must pay to have people do things for… him? It? He/it does say that life is a gift, and he talks about having returned Eobard Thawne’s in return for R-Flash allowing Barry Allen to escape the Speed Force. At least we now know why Max Lord is back, and that makes sense.

And then we have Brightest Day #8, where the mystery of the “other” Last Green Martian is further explored by J’onn and M’Gann and the history of Hawkworld is revealed. I have to say the humans on Hawkworld sure sound like us. Not that that’s a good thing. Hath-Set seems to have thought of everything, and these are the Hawks—killing them off is something DC seems to do for sport every now and then—so he may actually get his way at the end. I’m not going to say much about the reveal of Queen Shrike at the end. I didn’t really see it coming but then I had no reason to look for it. I’m not sure that character has ever been shown before in the DCU. Could be wrong, though. No matter what, this is still a good chapter in this tale which I do think will change the status quo of the DCU for years to come. May even take a few years to get through the story itself at this rate. Not that I’m complaining. I can read Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi for years if that’s what it takes for them to get through a story.

Moving to Green Lantern Corps #51, we see that writer Tony Bedard has another trick in store, a little something from the Antimatter Universe. This will probably come to fruition a few issues from now but it is an interesting twist in the making. The rest of this chapter of the “Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns” follows true to form as Henshaw blackmails Ganthet into attempting to free the Alphas from their programming and make them who they were once more. Of course, by the end of the book we see one way to do it and since the Cyborg Superman says he has no problem with its particular consequence I’m wondering now if that isn’t how this story might end. I guess that’s a tale for next ish.

Finally, in Justice Society of America #42 we get the penultimate chapter of “The Dark Things”. Faust made a telling observation about the heroes’ captor in the last chapter and that observation is tested here, with Dr. Mid-Nite of all people settling the issue with some quick thinking and stealthy movement. Jennie and Todd “get together”, so to speak, while the “super-team” of Kara and Kara (sorry, couldn’t resist) battle the Starheart itself to a standstill. Well, they fight it until a more pressing issue draws it away. They’re hampered, of course, by the body it wears. Anyway, this is the best kind of story, the kind where you can’t wait to see how it all turns out while at the same time not wanting to see that ending because it means the story is over. Justice League of America #48 is going to be fun.