Reviews, ruminations, and (occasional) ramblings.
Justice League of America #146 – “Inner Mission” – Steve Englehart/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin
This one follows immediately after last issue, with a resurrected Red Tornado being mobbed by the Justice League. But not everyone is thrilled to see old Reddy back from the dead; Superman is suspicious since last time Red Tornado came back from the dead, it was part of a plot by T.O. Morrow. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 146, Superboy & the Legion 231, All-Star Comics 68”
Superman #315 – “Good Evening Superman: I’m Clark Kent … and You’re Not!” – Martin Pasko/Curt Swan/Dan Adkins
This one continues from last issue, showing us what’s happening after the plague ended in Central City. Superman and Supergirl go to the Fortress of Solitude and send Nam-Ek into the Phantom Zone. Supergirl takes off, leaving Supes to relax. But his downtime is interrupted when an alarm goes off warning him that SKULL is making a move. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 315, Action 475”
Batman #291 – “Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?” – David V. Reed/John Calnan/Tex Blaisdell
This is the beginning of a four-part story about Batman being dead and different villains trying to take credit for killing him. We start out with the news that Batman is dead, but nobody is able to agree on where or how it happened. So Batman’s Rogues Gallery convene to hear testimony from villains claiming to be Batman’s killer. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 291, Detective 472, Brave & the Bold 136”
Flash #252 – “Double Dose of Danger” – Cary Bates/Irv Novick/Frank McLaughlin
This one starts with Sue Dibny (wife of Ralph Dibny aka Elongated Man) recounting the story in a flashback. We see a scuzzy-looking dude sneaking up on Sue and propositioning her. She kicks his ass and it turns out to be Ralph testing his gangster disguise. No wonder Dr. Light got so close, Sue probably thought he was Ralph fucking around. Ralph puts his face back to normal (or what passes for normal with him) and prepares to go undercover to infiltrate the hilariously-named Chane Gang. But just as he’s toasting Sue with a shot of Gingold, he disappears. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 252, Wonder Woman 234, Green Lantern 96”
Justice League of America #145 – “The Carnival of Souls” – Steve Englehart/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin
This one starts out with a guy named Count Crystal calling up a demon (Azgore) and offering to sacrifice the souls of the Justice League in exchange for power—as you do. Azgore agrees, but says the League has consistently beaten all the other sorcerers who challenged it, and it Count Crystal doesn’t get the JLA’s souls, Azgore will take his instead. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 145, Superboy & the Legion 230, Warlord 8”
Superman #314 – “Before This Night is Over, Superman Will Kill!” – Martin Pasko/Curt Swan/Dan Adkins
This one continues directly from last issue and there’s a lot of plot convenience in the first few pages. We get a recap of the story so far: Amalak sent an alien named Jevik to a news conference to infect everyone with some kind of space plague and Superman figured out Jevik was “disguised” as a stray dog that Steve Lombard’s nephew Jamie picked up. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 314, Action 474”
Batman #290 – “Skull Dugger’s Killjoy Capers” – David V. Reed/Mike Grell/Vince Colletta
This continues the story from last issue and we get a quick recap; Skull Dugger can’t feel joy so he built a machine to steal joy from others right at a moment of exhilaration, but it has the unfortunate side effect of killing them (and leaves a skull-shaped mark on their foreheads). Batman figured it out, but thanks to one of Dugger’s machines, the Caped Crusader now feels intense agony any time he’d normally feel joy. Continue reading “Comics Review: Batman 290, Detective 471”
Flash #251 – “Vengeance on Ice” – Cary Bates/Irv Novick/Joe Giella
This issue continues directly from last ish—sort of. Last issue we clearly saw Iris getting frozen by Golden Glider, using her brother’s new cold gun (as revenge for Flash’s hand in her boyfriend, the Top’s death). But now we see Flash escape from the energy cage Glider had surrounded him with, just a little too late to save Iris from her frozen fate. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 251, Wonder Woman 233, Jonah Hex 3”
Justice League of America #144 – “The Origin of the Justice League—Minus One!” – Steve Englehart/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin
This is a retelling of the JLA’s origin. Of course, the JLA’s origin has been retold and rebooted a million times since, but back in 1977, this was kind of a big deal. I’m not sure how well this fits with later JLA origin stories, especially JLA: Year One. A bunch of heroes team up with the JLA in issues 11 and 12 of that maxi-series, but it’s obviously not the same story. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 144, Superboy & the Legion 229, All-Star Comics 67”
Superman #313 – “The Only Way You’ll Save the Earth … Is Over My Dead Body!” – Martin Pasko/Curt Swan/Dan Adkins
This one continues from last issue with a recap of what’s been going on; the journalists’ conference, the mysterious epidemic, Superman fighting Nam-Ek, and he and Supergirl confronting Amalak on his spaceship. Amalak gloats to a chained Supergirl that Superman taking Nam-Ek to Earth to cure the plague won’t work because it’s spread too much. Amalak figures Superman will be so distraught at not being able to save all the people that he’ll fall apart emotionally. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 313, Action 473, Black Lightning 3”