Tag: Ruminations

Well, that’s 1981 finished; there were some pretty cool comics that year and 1982 promises to be even better. As usual, I’ll put the comics I’ll be reviewing into groups and give you a little info on what to expect.

Batman, Detective, Brave & the Bold: By 1982 Gerry Conway was writing both Batman and Detective and he really kept a tight continuity between the two books. Many stories are continued from one book to the next and back again, which gives the overall narrative a nice flow, and lets Gerry develop sub-plots more organically. In 1982, Batman will be dealing with Poison Ivy’s takeover of Wayne Enterprises, the political machinations of Boss Thorne, and the return of some old favourites as antagonists (Deadshot, Maxie Zeus, Two-Face, and a certain spirit who turns out to be more corporeal than anyone thought). In B&B, Batman will team up with the likes of Hawkman, Rose and Thorn, Metal Men, and the Nemesis saga will be concluded in spectacular fashion.

Superman, Action, DC Comics Presents, Warlord: Supes will be taking on some classic villains (Brainiac, Parasite, Terra-Man) plus some newcomers (Colonel Future, Syrene and Lord Satanis, Jackhammer). He’ll also pay a visit to Kandor and Marv Wolfman will bring in some of his pet characters (HIVE, Omega Men) to vex the Man of Steel. In DC Presents, Supes will team up with heavy hitters like the Legion, Firestorm, Captain Marvel, Global Guardians, and the New Doom Patrol. Travis Morgan will do what he does best in Warlord, run around wasting people and hanging out with scantily-clad women. His daughter Jennifer will take a more active role in the story and Morgan will meet his own evil twin.

JLA, Legion of Super-Heroes, New Teen Titans, All-Star Squadron: In JLA we’ll see the big 200th issue (with the return of a certain Emerald Archer to the team), the Demons Three, Hector Hammond, and a huge three team crossover with the JSA and All-Star Squadron. The Legion will take on Dr. Regulus and the Khunds before getting into the classic Great Darkness Saga storyline. The Titans deal with the Brotherhood of Evil and their old frenemy, Red Star before meeting some new friends and foes … Vigilante, Brother Blood, and Blackfire, not to mention the Omega Men (those guys are everywhere). In All-Star Squadron, we get the aforementioned crossover, plus Kung, Hastor, and new hero Commander Steel.

Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex: In Flash, Colonel Computron makes a return appearance, along with old favourites like Captain Boomerang, Grodd, and even Goldface . Wonder Woman meets new enemies Silver Swan, Aegeus, and Dr. Psycho, fights Blockbuster, and teams up with a bevy of super-heroines. GL goes on a long sojourn in space, facing various menaces. Jonah Hex is reunited with his estranged wife, Mei Ling, and goes to China for an adventure.

Starting with the June cover-dated issues, I’ll also be adding the Fury of Firestorm comic to my list; I’ve never read it before, so everything will be new to me, but I’ve enjoyed Firestorm’s adventures enough so far that I want to read more. Hopefully the characters will get more development in the full-length format. I’ll put the Firestorm reviews in with the Batman bloc, just to keep things balanced. 1982 is also the year DC started putting out Annuals. I’ll review whatever Annuals came out that year for the titles I cover, but instead of slotting them in between the monthly reviews, I think I’ll wait and do them at the end of the year.

So that’s what to expect in the next six months or so. DC had finally (for the most part) gotten past the goofy Silver Age stuff and was finally starting to tell some really deep stories with compelling characters. I hope you’ll join me to discover (or rediscover in some cases) some of these classic stories.

Well, that’s another year gone by. DC’s comics in 1980 were a bit of a mixed bag. Stuff like Batman, Legion, and JLA had some cool storylines and great art, foreshadowing even better stuff to come. Other comics (Superman especially) seem stuck in the Silver Age, giving us goofy aliens and imaginary stories that don’t mean anything for the characters. Now that Marv Wolfman is writing Action and Green Lantern, and Gerry Conway looks like he’s getting a bit more serious on Wonder Woman and JLA, maybe those titles will get better. The following is my preview for the comics I’ll be reviewing from 1981. As usual, I’ll divide them into the groups they’ll appear in during my reviews, some of which I’ve re-arranged from the 1980 pattern. Continue reading “1981 Preview”

Okay, I know it’s not actually a new year calendar-wise, but blog-wise I’ve finished 1977 and I’m ready to move on to 1978. There were some pretty good stories in ’77 and I think ’78 promises to have even more. Here’s a quick preview of what I’ll be covering for 1978. Basically, I’ll be reviewing the same titles as I did for 1977, with a couple of additions.

Batman, Detective, Brave and the Bold: Bats will be facing some classic villains this year, including Joker (in the famous “Laughing Fish” story), Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, and a new, more deadly version of Clayface.

Superman, Action, DC Presents: Supes takes on some heavy hitters like Brainiac, Parasite, Solomon Grundy, and Amazo. I’m adding DC Comics Presents to my reviews. I read it on and off as a kid and always considered it to be “Superman Team-up” much as B&B is “Batman Team-up”. Only four issues came out in ’78, but it became a monthly by the end of the year.

JLA, LSH, All-Star Comics: In JLA we get the end of Englehart’s run and the beginning of Gerry Conway’s long (five and a half years!) unbroken run as writer. Some cool stories too, with the debut of Ultraa, a Dr. Destiny tale, a JSA team-up versus Lord of Time (with some historical guest stars), and Zatanna joining the League. The Legion deals with the Earth War against the Khunds and Dark Circle, and we say goodbye to the JSA, since All-Star is canceled. More on that in a bit.

Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: As I mentioned in my 1977 preview, none of these comics was ever a big favourite of mine, but they have their good points. Flash will be taking on Black Hand, Golden Glider, and Heat Wave, among others. GL goes on the road and meets some interesting people, and we finally get back to Earth-1 Wonder Woman stories.

Warlord, Jonah Hex, Black Lightning, Firestorm: What can I say about these three? Travis Morgan continues his quest to return to Shamballah (and Tara), Jonah Hex continues trying to clear his name, and Black Lightning continues the fight against Tobias Whale and the 100. Unfortunately, Black Lightning is also canceled this year.

And I decided to add Firestorm to the list too. I’ve never been a huge fan, but this blog is about reading comics that I’m unfamiliar with, so I figured I may as well check those early issues out. When I (someday) get to the early 80s, I’ll be adding that ongoing Firestorm series to my list, so I guess I should read this one first, as it introduces the character, along with important villains like Killer Frost, Multiplex, and Hyena. It’s by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, both of whom I generally like, and it’s only five issues, so what the hell.

Why did Firestorm run only five issues? Well, DC was trying to expand in 1978, but they kind of overextended themselves and were undercut by Marvel. That led to the infamous “DC Implosion”, an ironic nickname given in jest at their earlier “DC Explosion” promotion. So, a bunch of titles, including All-Star Comics, Black Lightning, and Firestorm were canceled. Al Milgrom ended up losing his editorial job too, though he kept providing art (including some really good covers). You can tell by the number of reprints that year that things were a bit chaotic behind the scenes at DC. In fact, Detective Comics was actually supposed to be canceled, but was saved at the last minute by merging it with Batman Family. So from Detective #481 (at the end of 1978) through #495, each issue has at least five different stories. Which means more work for me, I guess.

But I enjoyed reviewing the 1977 comics and I’m thinking I’ll like 1978 even more. There are a lot of cool-looking stories coming up, many of which I’ve never read, so I’m really looking forward to checking them out. As you can see, even Gulliver is excited, though I suspect he’s just anxious to see Titano, the Super-Ape. I hope you’ll join us for the 1978 DC comics reviews, starting Friday … it should be a blast!