Reviews, ruminations, and (occasional) ramblings.
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”
Batman #289 – “Sign of the Skull” – David V. Reed/Mike Grell/Vince Colletta
This issue starts with the villain narrating the story. He tells us his name is Cosmo Dugger aka Skull Dugger, and he has anhedonia, which means he’s incapable of feeling joy. He recounts how he was attending a baseball game and used an invention to steal the joy from the batter who hit a home run. Unfortunately, that killed the player, which seems to have come as a surprise to Skull Dugger. Continue reading “Comics Review: Batman 289, Brave and Bold 135”