Month: December 2017

Year End (P)review

Olde Tyme Gulliver
Mais où sont les singes d’antan?

Welcome to the wrap-up for 1978, which also marks the end of my first year of blogging. The end of the year is traditionally a time for looking back (as with this olde-tyme photo of Gulliver), but I’d also like to look ahead. 1978 has been fun and there were some pretty cool stories, but I’m looking forward to reviewing some 1979 comics. Because of the DC Implosion in late ’78, DC canceled a bunch of titles and cut the page counts of their existing comics drastically. So 1979 is a pretty stable year, at least for my purposes; I’ll be reviewing thirteen titles, all but one of which were monthly (the sole exception being Detective Comics, which was bi-monthly, but mega-sized). I’ll be reviewing three comics per post (except for the posts with Detective Comics, where there’ll be four), so it’ll be easier to keep track of when your favourites will be reviewed. As for specifics, keep reading. Continue reading “Year End (P)review”

Lost Girl Reviews: Season 4, Episode 4

Lost GirlEpisode 4: Turn to Stone

This one starts with Bo and Dyson sparring in an old gym. Bo’s still worried about Lauren, but Dyson says it’s better that she can’t be found, with all the craziness that’s been going on. Bo is also sick of lying low and wants to get out and do something, but Dyson reminds her the Una Mens are trying to police the Fae and will probably kill her as soon as they catch her. Continue reading “Lost Girl Reviews: Season 4, Episode 4”

Comics Reviews: Flash 268, Wonder Woman 250, Green Lantern 111

Flash 268 coverFlash #268 – “Riddle of the Runaway Comic” – Cary Bates/Irv Novick/Frank McLaughlin

This is one of those fake-out issues where they show you the “guest stars” on the cover, but they never appear in the actual story. You’ll see what I mean as we go on. This issue starts with Barney Sands (twelve year-old neighbor of Barry and Iris Allen) looking all over the place for an old comic he lost. Elsewhere in Central City, Flash is tracking down someone named Griselda, who turns out to be a bear that escaped from the zoo. Griselda almost wastes Flash, but he uses super speed to dig a hole in the ground and trap her. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 268, Wonder Woman 250, Green Lantern 111”

Comics Reviews: JLA 161, Superboy & the Legion 246, Warlord 16, Jonah Hex 19

JLA 161 coverJustice League of America #161 – “The Reverse Spells of Zatanna’s Magic” – Gerry Conway/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin

This one starts with the JLA (all 13 of them) taking a vote on electing a new member—Zatanna. Green Arrow is taking it pretty seriously, but Zatanna shows up before they can count the votes and blasts the ballots to ashes. (Any readers paying attention will notice that Zatanna recites her spells normally, instead of backwards like she always has before. That is what’s known as a “clue”.) Zatanna tells them she doesn’t want to join their lousy club and the more they try to reason with her, the snottier she gets. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 161, Superboy & the Legion 246, Warlord 16, Jonah Hex 19”

Lost Girl Reviews: Season 4, Episode 3

Lost GirlEpisode 3: Lovers. Apart.

This one starts with Dyson and Clio (the Elemental) appearing on the Death Train. Dyson’s in some pain from shifting dimensions and Clio whistles in his ear to cure him. A weirdo conductor shows up, but when Dyson mentions Bo’s name, the whole train shakes. Continue reading “Lost Girl Reviews: Season 4, Episode 3”

Comics Reviews: Superman 330, Action 490, DC Comics Presents 4

Superman 330 coverSuperman #330 – “The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis” – Martin Pasko/Curt Swan/Frank Chiaramonte

Have you ever wondered why nobody can tell that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person? After all, a pair of glasses is hardly a convincing disguise. We’ve all laughed about it at some point, and we’re not the first ones to do so. I can only imagine that this particular story was cooked up in response to all the people saying “Glasses? That wouldn’t fool anyone!” We start with a satellite falling from orbit and heading straight for the WGBS Building. Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Jimmy Olsen urge Clark to change to Superman and stop the satellite from killing them all. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 330, Action 490, DC Comics Presents 4”

Comics Reviews: Batman 306, Detective 481, Brave and the Bold 145

Batman 306 coverBatman #306 – “Night of Siege” – Gerry Conway/John Calnan/David Hunt

This one starts with some shifty dudes unloading boxes from a boat in the middle of the night … definitely suspicious behaviour. Batman seems to agree, since he shows up and beats the hell out of them. The boxes are full of heroin and Batman realizes the boat is from a ship called the Golden Girl II. He goes to check it out, sneaking aboard the ship and cornering the owner, Hannibal Hardwicke. Apparently Hardwicke has been suspected of being behind the heroin traffic around Gotham for a couple of years, but he always managed to wriggle out of the grasp of the law. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 306, Detective 481, Brave and the Bold 145”

Comics Reviews: Flash 267, Wonder Woman 249, Green Lantern 110

Flash 267 coverFlash #267 – “Heat Wave’s Blaze of Glory” – Cary Bates/Irv Novick/Frank McLaughlin

This one starts with Heat Wave giving us a recap of last issue: Heat Wave went to a criminal shrink and found out he had a phobia about cold because of a childhood incident. He overcame the phobia by breaking into the home of an Arctic explorer who’d been cryogenically frozen, then luring Flash there and swapping him for the frozen explorer. So now Flash is trapped in a cryo-tube, not due to be woken up for decades—or longer. Heat Wave also unmasked Flash, but didn’t recognize him as Barry Allen (though he thought there was something familiar about him). Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 267, Wonder Woman 249, Green Lantern 110”

Comics Reviews: JLA 160, Superboy & the Legion 245, Jonah Hex 18

JusticeLeagueofAmerica_160_cover (Copy)Justice League of America #160 – “Crisis From Tomorrow” – Gerry Conway/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin

This one continues from last issue, which was pretty wild. Apparently the Lord of Time built a kick-ass computer that’s so powerful it can actually stop time; unfortunately, he didn’t realize what a monumentally stupid idea that was until after he built the computer. Now he wants to shut down (or destroy) the computer, but he’s afraid it’ll go all 2001 and kill him if he tries, so he’s worked out some convoluted plot to have the JLA and JSA do it for him. He’s calculated that if the JLA/JSA are defeated by five heroes from the past (Jonah Hex, Miss Liberty, Enemy Ace, Black Pirate, and Viking Prince) they’ll come back stronger and more determined and be able to smash his time-threatening computer. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 160, Superboy & the Legion 245, Jonah Hex 18”