Category: Graphic Novels

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Captain America Sam Wilson volume 1: Not My Captain America


By Nick Spencer, Daniel Acuña, Paul Renaud, Joe Bennett, Mike Choi, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Belardino Brabo & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9640-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

Created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in an era of national turmoil and frantic patriotic fervour, Captain America was a dynamic, emphatically visible response to the horrors of Nazism and the threat of Liberty’s loss. Consequently, the concept quickly lost focus and popularity once hostilities ceased. The Sentinel of Freedom and Champion of Democracy faded away during post-war reconstruction, only to briefly reappear after the Korean War: a harder, darker Cold Warrior hunting monsters, subversives and “Reds” who lurked under every American bed.

He abruptly vanished once more, until the burgeoning Marvel Age resurrected him just in time to experience the Land of the Free’s most turbulent, culturally divisive era. He became a mainstay of the Marvel Revolution in the Swinging Sixties, but lost his way after that, except for a politically-fuelled, radically liberal charged period under scripter Steve Englehart.

Despite everything, Captain America evolved into a powerful symbol for generations of readers and his career can’t help but reflect that of the nation he stands for…

Devised in the fall of 1940 and on newsstands by December 20th, Captain America Comics #1 was cover-dated March 1941, and an instant monster, blockbuster smash-hit. The Sentinel of Liberty had boldly and bombastically launched in his own monthly title with none of the publisher’s customary caution, and instantly became the absolute and undisputed star of Timely’s top-selling “Big Three” (with The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner.)

He was, however, one of the first to fall from popularity as the Golden Age ended.

During that initial run, his exploits were tinged – or maybe “tainted” – by the sheer exuberant venom of appalling racial stereotyping and fervent jingoism at a time when America was involved in the greatest war in world history. Nevertheless, the first 10 issues of Captain America Comics remain amongst are the most exceptional comics in history…

You know the origin story like your own. Simon & Kirby revealed how scrawny, enfeebled patriot and genuinely Good Man Steven Rogers – after being continually rejected by the US Army – is recruited by the Secret Service. Desperate to stop Nazi expansion and Home Front mischief, the passionate kid joined a clandestine experimental effort to create physically perfect super-soldiers.

I have no idea if the irony of American Übermenschen occurred to the two Jewish kids creating that mythology, but here we are…

When a Nazi infiltrated the project and murdered the pioneering scientist behind it, Rogers was left as the only successful result and became America’s not-so-secret weapon. When he was lost, others took up the role and have periodically done so ever since. I might be wrong, but as I recall every substitute and replacement was white and male…

Over decades the story unfolded, constantly massaged and refined, yet essentially remaining intact. In 2002 – and in the wake of numerous real-world scandals like the revelations of the “Tuskegee Experiment” (AKA Tuskegee Syphilis Study 1932-1972) – Robert Morales & Kyle Baker took a trenchantly cynical second look at the legend through the lens of the treatment of and white attitudes towards black American citizens…

The result was Truth: Red, White & Black (link please): a hard-hitting view of the other side of a Marvel foundational myth that forever changed continuity: one using tragedy and injustice to add more – and more challenging – role models/heroes of colour to the pantheon.

As Marvel expanded and reached market dominance in the 1960s, its publications ceaselessly whittled away at the unacknowledged colour bar in comics. At this time, many companies (choked to bursting point with seditious Liberals and even some actual Intelligentsia!) were making tentative efforts to address what were national and socio-political iniquities.

However, issues of race and ethnicity took a long time to filter through to still-impressionable young minds avidly absorbing knowledge and formative attitudes via four-colour pages that couldn’t even approximate the skin tones of African-Americans or Asians…

As in television, breakthroughs were small, incremental and too often reduced to a cold-war of daring “firsts”. Excluding a few characters (like Matt Baker’s Voodah) in jungle-themed comic books of the 1940s-1950, Marvel clearly led the field with their black soldier in Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos team – the historically impossible Gabe Jones who debuted in #1, May 1963. So unlikely was Gabe that he was automatically and so helpfully re-coloured “Caucasian” at the printers, who clearly didn’t realise his ethnicity but knew he couldn’t be anything but white.

Jones was followed by an actual African superhero when Fantastic Four #52 (cover-dated July 1966) introduced The Black Panther. Throughout that intervening period, strong, competent and consistent black characters – like The Daily Bugle’s city editor Robbie Robertson (Amazing Spider-Man #51, August 1967) and detective Willie Lincoln (Daredevil #47, December 1968) – had been gradually and permanently added to the regular cast of many series. They were erudite, dignified, brave, proudly ordinary mortals distinguished by sterling character, not costume or skin tone: proving that the world wouldn’t end if black folk and white folk occupied the same spaces…

The first “negro” hero to helm his own title had already come (and gone largely unnoticed) in a little-regarded title from Dell Comics. Debuting in December 1965 and created by artist Tony Tallarico & scripter D.J. Arneson, Lobo was a black gunslinger in the old west, battling injustice just like any “white hat” cowboy would.

For Marvel, the big moment came in Captain America #117 (September 1969) as, during an extended battle against the Red Skull and his sinister Exiles, artist Gene Colan got his wish to create the industry’s first official African American superhero: Sam Wilson, The Falcon…

After a few cautious months, he returned, became Captain America’s friend, student, partner and – after decades – ultimately his replacement…

Finally, change was acceptable. As the 1960s ended, more positive and inclusive incidences of ethnic characters appeared, with DC finally launching a black hero in John Stewart (Green Lantern #87, December 1971/January 1972) – although his designation as a replacement GL could be construed as more conciliatory and insulting than revolutionary.

DC’s first solo star in his own title was Black Lightning, but he didn’t debut until April 1977, although Jack Kirby had introduced Vykin in Forever People #1, the Black Racer in New Gods #3 (March and July 1971) and Shilo Norman as Scott Free’s apprentice/successor in Mister Miracle #15 (August 1973), whilst Archie Goodwin engineered Marvel’s biggest triumph with the launch of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire in the summer of 1972. A year later, Black Panther won his own series in Jungle Action #5 and Blade: Vampire Hunter debuted in Tomb of Dracula #10. At last, black people were part and parcel of a greater continuity society, not separate and isolated chimera on the fringes…

This big change came from incremental advances slowly achieved against the backdrop of a huge societal shift triggered by the Civil Rights movement, but even though it all grew out of raised social awareness during a terrible time in American history (yes, even worse than today’s festering social wars), kids and other readers knew something special was happening and they must participate…

Nearly half a century later, following a convoluted but generally steady and steadfast career, multi-talented flying superhero Sam Wilson was a tried and true star: holding a succession of civilian jobs – from social worker to architect to politician – whilst his true vocation was being a superhero, singly, in partnerships in the Avengers and as part of S.H.I.EL.D.

Recently: After spending 12 relative years in hellish time-bent Dimension Z raising a child and saving its indigenous people from sadistic Hitlerian uber-geneticist Arnim Zola, Steve Rogers finally returned to Earth to discover mere hours had passed in the “real” world.

Barely pausing, he went straight back to work, stopping deranged, drug-dependent US supersoldier Frank Simpson (AKA Nuke: a covert Captain America from the Vietnam era) slaughtering men, women and children in the nation’s name. Rogers was then sucked back into spy games: confronting former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent/messianic socialist Ran Shen, who aroused a sleeping dragon for its power to reshape the world to his liking. As the Iron Nail, he tried to destroy greedy, exploitative, destructive capitalism using tools and techniques taught him by Nick Fury (Senior) and Chinese iconoclast Mao Zedong…

Rogers won that war of ideological wonder warriors at the cost of his faith and lifelong purpose of his existence, but fell victim to Dr. Mindbubble: ready, able and extremely willing to share his terrifying expanded sensibilities with the corrupt Establishment world…

Already disgusted by the procession of appalling creations his country has devised in the name of security, Cap’s peace of mind took another big hit when S.H.I.E.L.D. admitted Mindbubble was theirs: a countermeasure to possible rogue super soldiers, but one mothballed when the cure proved worse than the anticipated affliction…

When the so-very-mad Doctor triggered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ultimate doomsday weapon, Captain America and The Falcon did what they always did to save the world. Ultimately though, it was Rogers, resolute and alone, who fought his greatest battle to save innocents and a nation he embodied but no longer trusted…

What the Falcon rescued from the rubble, Rogers was no longer Captain America at all…

In the aftermath, and as part of publishing relaunch “All-New, All-Different”, weary, worn-out enfeebled Rogers got a desk job as security supremo whilst Wilson was promoted to Captain America. Sam picked up the shield, rebuilt his wings and promptly proved himself by stopping a plot to destroy humanity perpetrated by Helmut Zemo, Baron Blood and Hydra: executed by Sin, Batroc, Taskmaster, Armadillo, Crossbones and a host of other old foes…

Here, though, we’re concentrating on a true fresh start as our so-patient hero officially launches his new role. Gathering Captain America: Sam Wilson #1-6 (cover-dated December 2015 – April 2016), it’s scripted by Nick Spencer (Spider-Man, Astonishing Ant-Man) and initially illustrated by Daniel Acuña (Eternals, Wolverine, Black Widow) & Mike Choi.

During his last exploit the “black Cap” had lost sidekick Nomad, formed a potent alliance with wonder warrior/deadly detective Misty Knight, and became a very public figure in all his identities. Now, as he flies coach from Phoenix to New York that celebrity comes back to bite him…

As a public hero, Wilson wanted to try new things and employed Knight, former ally Dennis Dunphy (Demolition Man) and digital whistleblowing vigilante The Whisperer to run a full-time support team. After again beating Crossbones, Wilson repurposed his role as national symbol and defender by taking a public stand on numerous social and political issues. Generating a storm of right-wing dissent and anti-minority hate-speech, he then doubled down by creating a hotline where literally anybody could ask for Captain America’s help…

Pilloried in the media, he soldiered on, despite being inundated by nutjob notices from across the nation. His idea paid off when someone who really needed help made contact…

In Arizona, immigration was always a hot topic, but when Wilson learned young Joaquín Torres had been abducted by ultra-racists The Sons of the Serpent for helping the Mexican community, Captain America got involved…

The kid was one of many minority ethnic Americans helping immigrants, so the Sons had given him to evil genius Karl Malus to use in his experiments. Although the desert end of the human pipeline was quickly crushed, it took some time for Cap to track the kid down. By the time he and Knight had crushed a legion of villains and worked their way up an abhorrent chain, Torres had been cruelly and continually mutated, merged with Wilson’s animal ally Redwing and infected with vampirism, and was well on his way to becoming something unhuman…

Slow, patient work revealed connections to corporate America and just more “business opportunities” for unchecked Capitalism, and led to utter catastrophe after Malus turned Wilson into a science-derived werewolf and himself into a shapeshifting horror in the manner of Venom and Carnage.

Inevitably – and with Joaquín’s help – Knight, D-Man, Whisperer and “Cap-Wolf” stop Malus, only to find the war against the weakest was orchestrated by reptile-themed old foes working with big business. Rebranded “Serpent Solutions”, the former Serpent Society of supervillains sought to control Wall Street and the world, using tactics perfected by Hydra and AIM.

Their campaign kicks off in a tense tale limned by Paul Renaud & colourist Romulo Fajardo Jr., as supposedly reformed “bad-girl” Diamondback plays both sides when the embattled heroes act to expose the snakes’ scheme…

With double-dealing double crosses, unchallenged racial hatred and unchecked greed unleashed, the good guys are completely overwhelmed until the Serpents’ latest victim takes charge of his destiny and the newest incarnation of the Falcon flies to the rescue: claiming his own share of justice and retribution in a spectacular all action finale illustrated by Joe Bennett, Belardino Brabo & Fajardo Jr.

With covers and variants by Acuña, Renaud, Óscar Jiménez Steve Epting, John Cassady & Laura Martin, Mahmud Asrar and Evan “Doc” Shaner, this epic reworking of an American Tale is wry, witty, controversially outspoken (for a mainstream comic, at least) and superbly rewarding: a saga of the Black Cap which laid much of the groundwork for today’s screen informed Sentinel of Liberty. It might be Not My Captain America, but it’s definitely one all fans should see.
© 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Batman by John Ridley: The Deluxe Edition


By John Ridley, Laura Braga, Olivier Coipel, Nick Derington, Dustin Nguyen & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1779511263 (HB/Digital)

Like his immediate progenitor Superman, the Dark Knight has transcended lowly populist origins to join a metafictional literary landscape populated by the likes of Tarzan, Romeo and Juliet and Sherlock Holmes, as well as similar graphic upstarts including Mickey Mouse and Popeye. As such, his universal recognition factor outside our industry means he gets to work in places and scenarios that don’t always appeal to traditional funnybook audiences.

That means everyone thinks they know Batman and has their own story to tell about him…

It’s a propensity of the property that DC has always been willing to push to that fact. Probing the many, many worlds of Batman has always paid off for the publishers (and games-makers/movie and TV producers/toy vendors, et al) who have all in their own ways expanded Bob Kane & Bill Finger’s original concept since 1939. Just check out The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Beyond or Gotham By Gaslight to see how he inhabits many worlds and how powerfully successful the process can be…

Of course, the prime culprit and beneficiary of this plasticity will always be the comics makers themselves. Over decades, DC has constantly delivered an infinite variety of Gotham Guardian, in wild new worlds or fanciful locales not so different from mainstream continuity or what we consensually accept as the “real world”…

Following mega-event Dark Nights: Death Metal, all previous aspects of DC comics continuity were reactivated (re-legitimised?) after years of adulteration, alteration and revision. It resulted in a vast, multiversal repository of story potential, with one future-set sector designated the Future State.

An editorial pause, palate-cleanse and fresh jumping-on point, the project delivered stories of apparently-familiar characters and properties in near or distant settings, subdivided into already-proven divisions such as Future State: Wonder Woman, Future State: Justice League and Future State: Gotham…

Meanwhile…

The evolution and assimilation of non-white, non-standard characters – defined and othered by skin colour, religion, ethnicity and who loves whom – into most regions of mass media had been described as “measured progressiveness” by author and screenwriter John Ridley. You might know him from novels like Stray Dogs, The Drift and What Fire Cannot Burn; screen works as varied as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Cold Around the Heart, U Turn, Three Kings, Static Shock, Third Watch, Undercover Brother, American Crime or 12 Years a Slave and comics such as The American Way, The Other History of the DC Universe, Superman Red & Blue and Black Panther.

His premise is especially true and effective in comics, where incremental firsts have always been applauded and encouraged – and rightly so, as the industry was traditionally aimed at kids and has always been at the forefront of progressive thinking and action. However, it has also suffered from a tickbox mentality where true change has been slow to materialise and hard to sustain.

We can say “first black superhero”, “first gay hero”, “first interracial marriage” or “first same-sex kiss”, but other than offering a glimmer of acceptance, and recognition, what has really changed?

It’s certainly better than an all-white, all-male milieu where “different” equates to “lesser than”, where more than 50% of the populace – and who knows how much of the readership – doesn’t conform to supposed “norms” and are so often reduced to eye-candy, or plot props, and relegated to useless bystanders, victims or bodycount fodder, but so seldom even competent villains, who at least have some agency…

For the longest time those attitudes were tacitly enshrined on funnybook pages – and not even for sinister reasons – but what appears to simply be an unconscious acceptance of an unchallenged status quo…

Nevertheless, incremental progress did happen – in comics at least – and after assorted dalliances with Dark Knights of color, in 2020 Future State: The Next Batman picked up mainstream Bat-lore, gave it a shake and twist and sparked an ongoing divergent scenario where black characters inherited the whole spotlight to further the legend…

Originally released as Future State: The Next Batman #1-4, the experiment became as self-sustaining as comics can get. This deluxe edition gathers that initial storyline, augmented by follow-up material from Batman Black & White #3, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1. There’s also a new story…

It begins a few years from now. Bruce Wayne is dead, his armourer/advisor Lucius Fox has inherited all his money and sits precariously at the top end of a stratified and dystopian city. The beleaguered GCPD are reluctantly and unwillingly bolstered by the Mayor’s private security forces. The Magistrate is a paramilitary force of “Peacekeepers” with only one job: killing on sight anybody wearing a mask…

Directly answerable to Mayor Nakano, the hunters are absolutely no help against escaped inmates of Arkham or the usual criminals infesting the city: expending their energies in pursuit of an apparent resurrected legend and inflicting immeasurable collateral carnage. Despite all this, the night still belongs to a punishingly combative “Bat”, who saves who he can despite the forces aligned against him…

The Fox family have recently reunited, with patriarch Lucius (CEO of Wayne Enterprises and now the most powerful employer in the city) struggling to adapt as his wife Tanya uses all her legal acumen to back and legitimise the Mayor’s stance on vigilantes. She cannot get past the injuries her eldest daughter Tam suffered at the hands of Gotham’s bad people: a situation echoed in son Luke (former superhero Batwing) and youngest daughter Tiffany.

Especially adding to the tension, prodigal son Tim has recently returned from a life no one knows of. He has changed very much and even abandoned his own name: only answering to “Jace” now. No one really knows yet if he’s welcome, or what he really wants…

Written by Ridley and illustrated by Nick Derington and Laura Braga, with colours from Tamra Bonvillain & Arif Prianto, the saga follows a new Dark Knight as he spectacularly battles street-gang proliferation, rapists, outraged vengeance-takers, child-killers, run-of-the-mill murderers and ruthlessly ungovernable law-enforcers.

In his wake, ordinary cops like Renee Montoya and Adriana Chubb struggle to square the circle of duty vs orders vs the apparently obsolete concept of justice in a Gotham so far beyond what qualifies as a “Police State” that it’s impossible to know who to trust …unless it’s an outlaw in a mask…

Morally ambiguous and emotionally complex, but with a strong element of human heart at its core, the saga of a fresh force for Reason and Right in a very nasty place caught on: spawning an extended epic (we’ll get to Future State: The Next Joker, Gotham, Second Son, I Am Batman and the rest in the fullness of time) to score the big prize – an alternate incarnation able to stand on its own spiky, combat-booted feet…

That success is confirmed here by a selection of short pieces beginning with wry romp ‘The Cavalry’ as Ridley and illustrator Olivier Coipel see the new guy survive a bad situation thanks to the late arrival of a masked teen assistant in the grand manner, as seen in Batman Black & White #3.

Never pausing until it’s over, Coipel & Matt Hollingsworth & Bennett unpick ‘Family Ties’: painfully probing the trigger event that changed Lucius Fox after he was tortured by psychopathic sidekick Punchline and rescued by Batwing in Batman: The Joker War Zone #1, before a Coipel pin-up from Detective Comics #1027 (November 2020) escorts us to a new “old” vignette.

Set years ago when Robin was a white boy just starting out – and courtesy of Ridley, Dustin Nguyen, John Kalisz & letterer Tom Napolitano – ‘3 Minutes’ details a moment of scary clarity and responsibility accepted when Lucius Fox first helps Alfred Pennyworth save a hero…

With covers by Doug Braithwaite, Ladronn, Coipel, Tomeo Morey and Ben Oliver, Batman by John Ridley offers thrills, chills, challenges, revelations and all the surprises you’d expect from a tale of the Dark Knight: any and all of them…
© 2020, 2021 DC Comics, All Rights Reserved.

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Invincible Iron Man Epic Collection volume 10: The Enemy Within 1982-1983


By Denny O’Neil, Roger McKenzie, Peter B. Gillis, Ralph Macchio, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Paul Smith, Luke McDonnell, Jerry Bingham, Mike Vosburg, Marie Severin & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8787-5 (TPB/Digital edition)

Tony Stark is a super-rich supergenius inventor who moonlights as a superhero: wearing a formidable, ever-evolving suit of armour stuffed with his own ingenious creations. The supreme technologist hates to lose and constantly upgrades his gear, making Iron Man one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe.

However, in Iron Man #120-128 (March to November 1979), the unrelenting pressure of running a multinational corporation and saving the world on a daily basis resulted in the weary warrior succumbing to the constant temptations of his (originally sham) sybaritic lifestyle. Thus, he helplessly slipped into a glittering world drenched with excessive partying and drinking.

That dereliction was compounded by his armour being usurped by rival Justin Hammer: used to murder an innocent. The ensuing psychological crisis forced Stark to confront the hard fact that he was an alcoholic …and probably an adrenaline junkie too.

That crux landmark story ‘Demon in a Bottle’ saw the traumatised hero plumb the depths of grief and guilt, bury himself in pity, and alienate all his friends and allies before an unlikely intervention forced him to take a long, hard look at his life and actions…

A more cautious, level-headed and wiser man, Stark resumed his high-pressure lives, but he could not let up and the craving never went away. Then in 1982 author/editor Denny O’Neil made him do it again, with the result that Marvel gained another black superhero at long last…

It was the start of a period of legacy heroes inheriting the mantles, established roles and combat identities from white and mostly male champions, and was certainly a move in the right direction…

This grand and gleaming chronological compendium navigates that transitional period, re-presenting Iron Man #158-177 and Iron Man Annual #5: episodically spanning cover-dates May 1982 through December 1983, as the title experienced an uncomfortable number of creative personnel shuffles before settling on a steady team to tackle the biggest of changes…

It starts with Iron Man #158 as O’Neil, Carmine Infantino, Dan Green & Al Milgrom breeze through the motions as a deranged junior genius attacks modern technology from his literal man-cave by tapping the latent psychic power of his ‘Moms’…

Roger McKenzie, rising art star Paul Smith & inking collective “Diverse Hands” stepped in to relate what occurs ‘When Strikes Diablo’, as the Fantastic Four’s alchemical nemesis infiltrates Stark International to steal the techno-wizard’s resources and obsolete suits, only to unleash a mystic menace beyond all control…

With pressure mounting and threats everywhere, the craving for booze painfully manifests in ‘A Cry of Beasts’ – by O’Neil, Steve Ditko, Marie Severin & Green – as Stark’s party-persona collides with hot, willing babes …until an attack on his factory by the sinister Serpent Squad reminds him of his priorities.

Preceding Iron Man Annual #5, and by O’Neil, Luke McDonnell, Mike Esposito & Steve Mitchell, a brief encounter with newcomer hero Moon Knight sees Stark at odds with rival rich man Steven Grant (one of four people comprising the edgy new crusader) in ‘If the Moonman Should Fail!’

Frenemies at first sight, the Golden Avenger and Fist of Khonshu swallow their differences to save mutual friends held hostage by Advanced Idea Mechanics, after which the extra-length Annual extravaganza sees Iron Man in Wakanda where The Black Panther must defeat mysteriously resurrected nemesis and determined usurper Eric Killmonger…

Crafted by Peter B. Gillis, Ralph Macchio, Jerry & Bingham & Green, the action-packed ‘War and Remembrance!’ reveals an old foe methodically manoeuvring Stark and Iron Man into an inescapable trap, which closes tighter in Iron Man #162 as O’Neil, Mike Vosburg & Mitchell expose ‘The Menace Within!’ as a trusted employee sabotages S.I.…

There seems to be more than one campaign to crush Stark, and – as O’Neil, McDonnell & Mitchell become the regular creative team – ‘Knight’s Errand!’ opens an extended gambit with another hidden plotter turning ruthless capitalism, corporate raiding, advanced weaponry and an obsession with chess into a war for control of the company.

Up first is fast-flying tech terror The Knight who makes short work of Tony’s bodyguard, pilot, friend and confidante James Rhodey, but the real threat comes from a new acquaintance and future companion, covertly hollowing out Stark at close hand. Rising in the rankings after defeating the hovering horseman, Iron Man barely survives the ‘Deadly Blessing’ of The Bishop after his security team digs up leads to the plot in Scotland…

In IM #165, the trail leads to Jamie, Laird of Glen Travail and another deadly duel of devices, but the true purpose is to destabilise Stark by abducting Rhodey in an effort to coerce his capitulation. The resultant ‘Endgame’ seemingly goes Stark’s way, but the battle is fought on many levels by a distanced player secretly commanding the Laird: one with a cruel emotional counterpunch long-prepared to destroy the hero from within…

After a brief interlude offering original art pages from issues #161, 163 & 165, the stories resume and tensions mount on ‘One of Those Days…’ as old foe The Melter attacks Stark’s New York facility. Rhodey is recuperating in Scotland and Stark yet again faces enforced inactivity in the land of sublime alcoholic beverages, so he abruptly abandons his friend and jets home to stop the supervillain. He also learns his brilliant head of security Vic Martinelli has uncovered the identity of one of the hidden players attacking the company: chess grandmaster turned armaments entrepreneur Obadiah Stane…

With Rhodey missing again in Scotland, the newcomer wants all Stark’s creations and in the most hostile of takeovers, has used every trick in the book – from honey traps to guided missiles and abduction to intoxication – to seize the advantage…

‘The Empty Shell’ sees that nefarious planning bear evil fruit as Stark finally cracks under interminable pressure and one last betrayal, leading to a crushing fall “off the wagon” and into the gutter in ‘The Iron Scream’.

Permanently drunk and deprived of all judgement, Stark dons his armour to clash with Machine Man, even as far away, Rhodey makes his own life-threatening break for freedom and home…

As chaos ensues at the Stark plant, a major player debuts in the form of junior employee and minor boffin Morley Erwin, who’s on hand for Stark’s reunion with Rhodey and an aghast witness to one of the smartest men alive willingly crawling into a bottle and trying to drown away his pain…

That process begins in #169 as ‘Blackout!’ sees Stark simply give up when confronted by volcanic B-list villain Magma, and sleep through the moment Jim Rhodes steps up – and into – the role and armour of Iron Man…

The new era properly begins in #170’s ‘And Who Shall Clothe Himself in Iron?’ (cover-dated May 1983) as the former military airman promotes Erwin to the role of tech support adviser to help him pilot the most complex weapon he’s ever used to defeat Magma and save a far from grateful Tony Stark…

In the aftermath, the inventor just walks away: letting a new hero flounder even as, in the shadows, Stane gradually completes his takeover. Alone, isolated and under resourced, Rhodey and Erwin stumble into a heist in ‘Ball and Chain’, after seeking to arbitrate a domestic hostage situation triggered by Asgardian-powered supervillain Thunderball not knowing when no means no…

They are then duty-bound to intervene when Stark – completely off the rails – is arrested. However, his drunken debacle is only the start of their woes, as one the souse’s most murderous enemies tries to exact ‘Firebrand’s Revenge!’ and an entire hotel goes up in flames.

Thankfully Captain America is on hand to give the new guy in the suit a helping hand, but the distraction is just what Stane needs to seal his deal…

Homeless, broke and close to death on the streets, Stark is then accidentally saved by his conqueror, who lays the seeds of his own eventual downfall by dragging the lush to a grand takeover ceremony. Also attending is the new Iron Man who gets a lead to the woman who tempted and crushed Stark: an operative of freelance espionage ring The Sisters of Ishtar. This time both Stane and Rhodey learn that ‘Judas is a Woman’…

During this period every effort to turn Stark around fails: shot down by his self-sabotage. Now however, his friends must pause their personal interventions as the national and international repercussions of Stane’s triumph grows. Refusing to let a ruthless war profiteer benefit from Iron Man tech, Rhodey and Morley take drastic steps: stealing all the old kit and prototypes from Stane International. They are blithely unaware Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. share those opinions and are making their own clandestine arrangements in ‘Armor Chase’ (inked by Sam de LaRosa)…

A three-way clash escalates in O’Neil, McDonnell, & Mitchell’s Iron Man #175 as all ‘This Treasure of Red and Gold…’ ends up dumped deep in the ocean: purportedly beyond human reach. Nobody seemed to think that maybe water breathers like bellicose Atlantean renegade Warlord Krang might be in the market for a weapons upgrade dropped right in his lap…

Still operating under what can only be described as trial-by-fire period, Rhodey dives right in, triumphs again and even makes a new friend…

Stark’s own deep descent is marginally arrested after befriending an elderly “un-homed” guy on the streets in ‘Turf’, even as far away Iron Man meets the Sisters of Ishtar again and has his first encounter with something not of this Earth…

This tome pauses for now with a transitional tale loaded with portents of bad times to come. After meeting Erwin’s even smarter sister Clytemnestra, Rhodey looks – after a chat with Heroes for Hire Luke Cage & Iron Fist – into forming a rather unique start-up company in ‘Have Armor Will Travel’. The idea only truly gels after he’s hired to bodyguard an officious unflappable official in South America and encounters – and survives – deadly armoured mercenary Flying Tiger. However, in all the furore, our hero barely notices that he’s having headaches almost constantly these days…

To Be Continued…

With covers by Bob Layton, Smith, Jim Starlin, Ed Hannigan & Al Milgrom, Bingham & Brett Breeding, McDonnell, Brent Anderson & Mitchell, the bonus section includes ‘Original art and covers’, the cover for The Many Armors of Iron Man collection by McDonnell, Mitchell, & Frank D’Armata and contemporary House ad from Marvel Age #12.

As comics companies sought to course correct old attitudes and adapt their wares to a far wider and more diverse readership than they had previously acknowledged, some rash rushed decisions were made that did not suit all the fans. Thankfully, that never stopped the editors and publishers from trying and the wonderful results are here and everywhere in comics because of it. Go read and enjoy and see how it all began to change.
© 2017 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection volume 2


By Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Pepe Larraz, Sarah Pichelli & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9779-9 (TPB/digital edition)

After Marvel’s financial and creative problems in the late 1990s, the company came back swinging. A key new concept involved remodelling and modernising their core pantheon for the new youth culture. The Ultimate imprint abandoned the monumental, slavish continuity which had always been Marvel’s greatest asset, giving its revamped players a separate reality to play in. Varying degrees of radical makeover appealed to a contemporary 21st century audience and proved a godsend as base material for the new Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Peter Parker was once again reduced to a callow, nerdy high-school geek, brilliant but perpetually bullied by his physical superiors. There were even fresh, fashionable, more scientifically feasible rationales for the fore-destined spider bite which imparted those patented, impossible arachnoid abilities.

His uncle Ben Parker still died because of the lad’s lack of responsibility. The Daily Bugle was still there, as was bombastically outrageous J. Jonah Jameson. Now, however, in a more cynical, litigious world, well-used to cover-ups and conspiracy theories, arch-foe Norman Osborn – a corrupt, ruthless billionaire businessman – was behind everything.

Any gesture towards the faux-realism of traditional superhero fare was surrendered to the tried-and-tested soap-opera melodrama which inevitably links all characters together in invisible threads of karmic coincidence and familial consanguinity but, to be honest, it seldom hurt the narrative. After all, as long as internal logic isn’t contravened, subplots don’t have to make sense to be entertaining.

After a short, spectacularly impressive career, original outsider Peter finally gained a measure of acceptance and was hailed a hero when the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man valiantly and very publicly met his end at Osborn’s hands during a catastrophic super-villain showdown…

Soon after he died, a new champion cast in his image arose to carry on the fight…

Written throughout by Brian Michael Bendis, this collection concerns controversial new kid Miles Morales in material published before mega-crossover events Time Runs Out and Secret Wars merged select remnants of the Ultimate Universe with mainstream Marvel continuity. It specifically re-presents Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #13-28 (October 2012 -December 2013) and sidebar release Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1.

In the aftermath of Parker’s last moments, African American/Latino child prodigy Miles was revealed to have gained similar powers. The freshly empowered 13-year-old quickly adjusted to his astounding new physical abilities whilst painfully discovering the daily costs of living a life of lies and how an inescapable sense of responsibility is the worst of all burdens…

The revelations here begin by spinning back to the relatively recent past when industrialist Osborn repeated the genetic experiment which first bestowed incredible powers on Parker via the accidental bite of artificially mutated spider. Unfortunately, the deranged mastermind failed to anticipate a burglar waltzing in and carrying off his test animal as part of his haul…

After grade-schooler Miles got into prestigious, life-changing Brooklyn Visions Academy Boarding School by the most callous of chances, the boy reluctantly accepted life is pretty much a crap-shoot… and unfair to boot.

Feeling guilty about his unjust success and sorry for the 697 other poor kids who didn’t get his lucky break, he set off to visit his uncle Aaron. The visit had to be secret since his uncle is a “bad influence” …and a career criminal …

Whilst there, a huge spider with a number on its back bit Miles and he began to feel very odd. He also started fading from sight…

Suddenly super-fast and strong, able to leap huge distances and become invisible, Miles rushed to consult geeky pal Ganke, a prodigious nerd already attending Brooklyn Visions. Applying “scientific testing”, the self-proclaimed hero-expert confirmed Miles was now similar to Spider-Man but could also deliver shocking, destructive blasts through his hands.

When Morales headed home, Ganke continued researching and deduced the connection to the wallcrawler, and began pushing his pal into being a costumed crusader just like him. Sadly, after Miles intervened during a tenement fire – and saved a mother and baby – shock set in and he swore never to use his powers again…

Time passed: Miles and Ganke had been dormmates at the Academy for nearly a year when a major metahuman clash rocked the city. Troubled, Miles headed out and witnessed Spider-Man’s murder. Seeing a brave man perish so nobly, he was again consumed by guilt: if he had used his own powers when they first manifested, Morales might have been able to help save a true hero…

As part of the crowds attending Peter Parker’s memorial, Miles and Ganke talked to another mourner Gwen Stacy actually knew Parker and offered life-changing insights to the grieving boys …and a phrase which altered the course of Miles’ life: “with great power comes great responsibility”…

This compilation follows Miles and his close circle of confidantes from crushing but commonplace tragedy and peril into total chaos and carnage as America succumbs to a second Civil War following shattering global crises. In the Land of the Free and Vanguard of Democracy ineffectual leadership and rogue elements in power converge and whole swathes of ordinary Americans secede from the Union…

Now a day resident at Brooklyn Visions Academy Boarding School, Miles spends only weekends at home and is coming to terms with some unpleasant truths. Foremost is that he has secrets to keep from his parents, but also poisoning the air is the fact that his father used to be a street-thug and now passionately hates costumed heroes like the new Spider-Man.

Uncle Aaron – AKA costumed super-thief The Prowler – has been secretly grooming Miles ever since some of his loot bit the kid, making him a super-strong and fast potential asset who can walk up walls, turn invisible and deliver a devastating venom charge through his hands… Illustrated by David Marquez, the action commences as the patiently manipulative creep tricks Miles into attacking Mexican gang-lord and prospective new Kingpin of Crime the Scorpion. However, during a blistering raid on the gangster’s plush new club, in the heat of battle, the novice wall-crawler at last realises Aaron isn’t reforming or making amends, but simply taking out opposition for his own attempt to take over New York’s underworld…

Events come to a tragic head when Aaron accosts Miles at school: blackmailing him by threatening to tell his father all about Spider-Man. It goes badly and results in a devastating showdown. Hardened by years of criminal experience and equipped with an ingenious arsenal of gadgets he murdered underworld armourer The Tinkerer for, Aaron goes crazy, determined to end his rebellious nephew. The fight inevitably escalates, endangering a busload of civilians who all see the neophyte wall-crawler first save them before apparently killing the Prowler in a horrific explosion…

Meanwhile in the wider world: In the wake of the global inundation, ongoing internecine strife amongst the covert ops community, and deadly brushfire wars all over the planet, ousted spymaster Nick Fury regained control of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s army of agents and officially-sanctioned super-squad The Ultimates as well as clandestine task-force The Avengers, just as civilisation started coming apart at the seams…

Metahumans had become governments’ prime and preferred “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and personal superpowers were the focus of a terrifying global arms race. In Asia, emergent federated nation SEAR dissolved into bloody conflict soon after developing a serum that randomly sparked fantastic abilities in ordinary humans. The plan had been to win the human arms race but events quickly overtook the leadership when they tried to further tip the scales by simultaneously releasing a virus to neutralise those genes that triggered natural mutations.

With a plague preventing the birth of any more mutants and lab-produced metahumans roaming the streets, SEAR collapsed from internal dissent and open warfare.

From the conflict, dual metahuman nations were established and both Celestials and Eternals began offering super-powers to anybody brave or greedy enough to want them…

When WWII super soldier Captain America vanished, the gods of Asgard, who had been dragged from their heavenly halls and marooned on Earth, were slaughtered by a new fantastic race called the Children of Tomorrow, whose appearance presaged a deadly fight for control of Earth by The Maker – actually disgraced former superhero Reed Richards. The deranged genius had created a high-tech Dome where enhanced time, forced evolution and ruthless scientific augmentation enabled inhabitants to hyper-develop thousands of years in the space of days.

War against the Dome involved most of Earth’s metahumans, allowing corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Flumm to oust Fury and coerce Bruce Banner into attacking the future city. The Hulk’s assault went tragically wrong, however, as The Maker convinced the man-monster to switch allegiances. The American President, distracted by one too many crises, allowed genocidal anti-mutant activists to turn the southwest into their own hunting preserve, inspired by the hate-filled preaching of Reverend William Stryker…

With Sentinels and militias controlling Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma – and carrying out a successful campaign of extermination – Texas declared its independence. Many other States saw rich opportunity and followed suit, even as the President launched the nation’s entire nuclear arsenal at the ever-evolving Dome…

The nuclear fusillade and a metahuman attack could not obliterate the Dome, but the component-intelligence of the living city was badly damaged. In retaliation, Richards unleashed the Hulk and a very special Child of Tomorrow he had cultured without the knowledge of the Dome’s hive-mind. The child detonated with nuclear force in the Capitol, utterly eradicating Washington DC and the American government. Although the Dome was no longer an urgent threat, President Howard – who only the previous day was the earnest but under-qualified new Secretary of Energy – was in well in over his head.

With a nuclear-armed Texas threatening the Union, Sentinels rampaging through the southwest and militant local militias sparking rebellions all over the country, President Howard declared martial law as the nation splintered around him. Flumm was also rapidly losing his grip and could not handle more bad news when word arrived that Captain America had returned from his self-imposed exile…

For fuller comprehension readers are strongly advised to consult companion Ultimate Comics series X-Men and The Ultimates. These will greatly enhance understanding of the parlous state of this alternate universe in its darkest hours…

With the USA ripped apart by a rash of local rebellions and actual State secessions, this binary publishing event – designed to create a jumping-on point for even newer readers – opened for Miles with ‘Divided We Fall’ as the Sentinel of Liberty stops in New York long enough to learn that there’s a new – barely teenaged – wallcrawler.

Keenly aware that the previous Spider-Man died saving him, Captain America overreacts and hunts down Miles, just as the boy is trying to deal with the flak and aftermath of Uncle Aarons death and accusatory final words. Troubled that he may indeed be “just like him” Miles faces hostile media bombardment after being accused of murder – and is unsure whether or not he’s actually guilty as charged…

A lunatic battle against opportunist thief Batroc the Leaper provides cathartic relief for the troubled boy but things get complicated all over again after during a shocking, surprise confrontation with May Parker, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson changes Miles’ life forever.

Peter Parker’s loved ones have been following the new boy’s short career and now they give the poor kid their full support and approval – as well as the original martyr’s web-shooters and secret formula. At last Spider-Man will be a web-spinner again… unless the furiously outraged and indignant America shuts him down for good…

The clash of wills is only resolved when the rampaging Rhino breaks loose, and Spidey saves the day, forcing the Star Spangled Avenger to compromise and grudgingly permit the kid to carry on… under strict adult supervision and training.

The saga culminates with 4-chapter epic ‘United We Stand’ (illustrated by Marquez & Pepe Larraz) as Civil War explodes west of the Rocky Mountains. In locked-down New York, Spider-Man gets a huge boost when he learns from the cops that he wasn’t responsible for the Prowler’s death. However, even as the ebullient arachnid rushes to enlist in the Ultimates’ push to retake America, his own strait-laced father is arrested for breaking curfew. The horrible ramifications of this misunderstanding will bring the loving, concerned parent to the edge of insanity…

Cap is still trying to make his exuberant underage volunteer go home when a devastating attack by Hydra-backed separatists plunges Miles into the thick of the action. Reassured by the boy’s conviction if not capability, the Sentinel of Liberty at last welcomes the new kid to the team.

Events quickly overtake everybody, however, as President Howard is informed by seditious elements of his own government that he has no official mandate to rule. In the middle of the war, the overburdened leader calls an emergency Recall Election…

With the plebiscite campaign and daily battles on every news channel, the tirelessly combative Captain America is elected to the battered nation’s highest office. He was utterly unaware that he was a candidate, but without breaking step, the hero graciously accepts before getting back to the job of re-Uniting the States…

With President America in the vanguard – as usual – the scene shifts to Casper, Wyoming for the final battle against a million-strong militia manipulated by the secret magical mastermind behind the entire crisis. Sadly, Spider-Man is elsewhere, lost and near death…

The boy had partnered with constantly objecting Spider-Woman Jessica Drew – who obnoxiously insisted he was too young to be there at all. Far worse than his wounds and prospects is Miles’ suspicion that she might have been right all along…

Fighting was fast and furious, and after a spectacular skirmish the Amazing Arachnid saved the President’s life but was knocked unconscious. He awoke wounded and lost in the flat vastness of Wisconsin with a Hydra-controlled Giant-Woman trying to squash him like a bug.

Nobody was there to witness his most impressive victory ever, but even though he was feted all the way back to New York as the victorious Union forces began the long, tedious job of consolidating power whilst attempting Reconstruction and Reconciliation, Miles had bigger problems.

As the juvenile wallcrawler recovered in the aftermath of the second War Between the States, Miles now had even bigger secrets and a far more complex double-life to keep from his folks.

That internecine conflict almost destroyed the Republic but has left the traumatised public in no mood to tolerate mysteries or put up with unexplained, potentially dangerous characters and vigilantes. Moreover, something had happened in his absence and his father was acting really, really strangely…

A new era dawns in jump-on tale ‘Point One’ (illustrated by David Marquez from Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1) as unscrupulous reporter Betty Brant uses her considerable investigative skills to establish a link between The Prowler, the new Spider-Man, the genetic experiments of Norman Osborn and a guy named Morales…

As she digs deeper, following the brief career of the new hero, Brant not only uncovers the remains of the genegineered spider that transformed Miles, but also learns far more than she should have from disgraced Oscorp biochemist Dr. Conrad Marcus, as well as engendering the unwelcome interest of scientific monolith Roxxon Industries and a brutal, relentless shape-shifting monstrosity…

Illustrated by Sara Pichelli, 4-part epic ‘Venom War’ opens in the days of reconstruction following the War. Child prodigy Miles and best-bud/superhero trainer Ganke are back at Brooklyn Visions School. Miles spends weekends at home, as he and his confidante attempt to master Peter Parker’s web-fluid formula and wrist-shooters the inexperienced newcomer “inherited”.

As a macabre monster raids and wrecks Roxxon HQ, in Manhattan homicide cop and former SHIELD agent Mariah Hill investigates the bloody murder of a journalist. Interviews at the Daily Bugle all point her to the Davis/Morales home in Brooklyn…

Miles’ dad Jefferson Davis has become an involuntary and extremely camera-shy celebrity because of his stand against secessionist organisation Hydra. When a film crew bursts into the family home he understandably goes ballistic and kicks them to the kerb, but his fury is futile in the face of a towering, metamorphic horror called Venom, which chooses that moment to attack the person it thinks is Spider-Man…

The next chapter opens seconds later as the beast lunges. In the family home, Miles suits up and springs into action…

The clash is savage and terrifying. As the TV parasites carry on filming, Jefferson joins the severely overmatched Spider-Man, only to be smashed and broken like a bug…

The Arachnid kid goes crazy but his best efforts – and a fusillade of shots from just-arrived cops – are useless. Only after the shattered lad employs devastating venom blasts does he succeed in driving off the amorphous atrocity…

The shocking struggle is broadcast all over the world. Elsewhere in Brooklyn, two girls cherished by the original webspinner immediately drop what they’re doing and rush to the scene.

Now Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson arrive at the crime scene ready to share their experience in keeping secrets, just as attending detective Mariah Hill reaches the conclusion that the shell-shocked boy crying on the stairs is Spider-Man…

His mother Rio Morales is in the ambulance taking Jefferson to hospital and Miles is in no state to fend off questions from an experienced SHIELD interrogator or even speak to his equally traumatised buddy Ganke, but Gwen and Mary Jane certainly are and quickly shut down the situation and terminate the interview.

As they explain all the ghastly secrets of Venom and its connection to the Parker family, speculation leads the youngsters to the idea that maybe the genetic quirk which made Peter Spider-Man might be repeated in the Morales family…

Deep below their feet, the shapeshifting symbiote reconstitutes. Soon it breaks out of the sewers to consume more humans. The consciousness in charge of the marauding terror hasn’t given up its search for Spider-Man and soon invades the hospital where Rio – a nurse – is waiting for word on her husband…

The shocking conclusion begins with news of the assault reaching Miles. Hill – convinced she is right – gives Miles crucial advice for the battle she knows is coming. By the time Spider-Man reaches the medical centre, Venom has carved a bloody swathe through the patients and doctors and the consequent clash is terrifying to behold…

With bodies dropping everywhere Miles eventually finds a grotesque and dreadful way to stop the beast and expose the villain within, but in the aftermath realises the awful cost has been another person he loves…

As the ruthless boss of Roxxon now makes Spider-Man his only priority, in Brooklyn Miles wakes from a deep sleep and realises his life has changed forever. At last he understands the horror and tragedy which underpins the legend of Spider-Man. This time though, the response to a death in the family is not guilty defiance and an urge to make things right, but a crushing, total surrender…

This collection concludes “One Year Later” with ‘Spider-Man No More’. Miles and his surviving parent have struggled on. The kid has buckled down to study and normal life. He even has a steady girlfriend. In all that time Spider-Man has not been seen…

Things change when Jessica Drew confronts him and delivers a new costume that Miles furiously rejects.

Fate seems to conspire against him, He wants nothing to do with those days but everywhere there are reminders. Ganke still hasn’t forgiven him and at a Chinese restaurant his server is Gwen. Uncomfortably catching up is bad enough but when the eatery is blown up by battling superteens Cloak, Dagger and Bombshell, the pressure for Miles to get involved becomes intolerable…

In the time that he’s been grieving, Roxxon have been busy: abducting kids and employing maverick geniuses Layla Miller, Nathaniel Essex, Samuel Sterns and Arnim Zola to experiment on them to create biddable superhumans. Emulating the efforts of Norman Osborn has borne some profitable fruit but when two of their most successful experiments broke free, it started an avalanche of trouble…

Now people are dying all over again as Cloak & Dagger hunt their creators, but still Miles can’t pick up his burden again… until Jessica shares her own origin with the traumatised champion…

Prowling the city, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman seek the vengeful teens and stumble into Bombshell – another Roxxon project – and an alliance against the Corporation grows. Sadly, CEO Phillip R. Roxxon no longer had faith in his “Brain Trust” and outsourced clean-up to a deadly and infallible fixer designated Taskmaster…

He easily overcame the spider heroes and Roxxon refugees but could not compete with the white hot rage and black vengeance of Cloak & Dagger, and only served to direct the angry youth brigade where they needed to go.

The climactic clash might have been legally indefensible and essentially only a short-term triumph, but it definitively proved Spider-Man would always defend those in need and showed Miles what he was morally capable of…

To Be Continued…

This titanic tome volume also offers a gallery of covers and variants by Jorge Molina, Adi Granov, Sara Pichelli, Rainier Beredo, David Marquez & Justin Ponsor plus original art and assorted stages of cover production by Marquez.

Bendis and his collaborators crafted a hugely impressive and fresh take on alternate Earth team-ups: drenched in warmth and tragedy, brimming with breathtaking action and stuffed with light-hearted, razor sharp humour.

Elevated far above most formularized Costumed Dramas, the story of Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales is one of the best superhero sagas of the 21st century: addictive, evocative suspense and easy-going adventure that is the essential Spider-Man. Tense, breathtaking, action-packed, evocative, suspenseful and full of the light-hearted, self-aware, razor sharp humour which blessed the original Lee/Ditko tales, this second Spider-Man is here to stay …unless they kill him too…
© 2019 MARVEL

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Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection


By Jim Starlin, Mike Friedrich, Steve Gerber, Steve Englehart & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-30290-017-5

50 YEARS!! It’s been five decades since this tale was first told! If you don’t know why, you have a real treat in store…

As much as I’d love to claim that Marvel’s fortunes are solely built on the works of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, I’m just not able to. Whereas I can safely avow that without them the modern monolith would not exist, it is also necessary to acknowledge the vital role played by a second generation of creators of the early 1970s. Marvel’s eager welcome to fresh, new, often untried talent paid huge dividends in creativity and – most importantly at a time of industry contraction – resulted in new sales and the retention of a readership that was growing away from traditional comics fare. Best of all, these newcomers spoke with a narrative voice far closer to that of its rebellious audience…

One of the most successful of these newcomers was Jim Starlin. As well as the topical and groundbreaking Master of Kung Fu – co-created with his equally gifted confederates Steve Englehart & Al Milgrom – Starlin’s earliest success was the epic of cosmic odyssey compiled here.

Captain Marvel was an alien on Earth, a defector from the militaristic Kree. He fought for Earth and was atomically bonded to professional sidekick Rick Jones by a pair of wristbands allowing them to share the same space in our universe. When one was here, the other was trapped in the antimatter dimension designated the Negative Zone.

After meandering around the Marvel Universe for a while, continually one step ahead of cancellation (the series had folded many times, but always quickly returned – primarily to secure the all-important Trademark name), Mar-Vell was handed to Starlin – and the young artist was left alone to get on with it.

With many of his fellow neophytes, he began laying seeds (particularly in Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and Daredevil) for a saga that would in many ways become as well-regarded as the Jack Kirby Fourth World Trilogy that inspired it. However, the Thanos War, despite many superficial similarities, would soon develop into a uniquely modern experience. And what it lacked in grandeur, it made up for with sheer energy and enthusiasm…

This epic compendium gathers and collates Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #25-34, Marvel Feature #12 and pertinent extracts from Daredevil #105. It collectively spanning February 1973 to September 1974, and concludes with the landmark Marvel Graphic Novel #1 from 1982: thus re-presenting Starlin’s entire input into the legend of the Kree Protector of the Universe and one of the company’s most popular and oft-reprinted sagas.

The artistic iconoclasm began in Iron Man #55 (February 1973) where Mike Friedrich scripted Starlin’s opening gambit in a cosmic epic that would change the nature of Marvel itself.

Inked by Mike Esposito, ‘Beware… Beware… Beware the… Blood Brothers!’ introduces formidable and obsessive Drax the Destroyer: an immensely powerful apparent alien trapped under the Nevada desert and in dire need of rescue thanks to the wiles of even more potent extraterrestrial invader Thanos…

That comes when the Armoured Avenger blazes in, answering a mysterious SOS, but only after brutally dealing with the secret invader’s deadly underlings…

All this is merely a prelude to the main story which begins unfolding a month later in Captain Marvel #25, courtesy of Friedrich, Starlin, & Chic Stone wherein Thanos unleashes ‘A Taste of Madness!’ and exiles Mar-Vell’s fortunes change forever…

When ambushed by a pack of extraterrestrials, Mar-Vell is forced to admit that his powers have been in decline for some time. Unaware that an unseen foe is counting on that, he allows Rick to manifest (from the Negative Zone) and they check in with sagacious scientific maverick Dr. Savannah. Suddenly, Rick is accused by the savant’s daughter (and Rick’s beloved) Lou-Ann of her father’s murder…

Hauled off to jail, Rick brings in Mar-Vell who is suddenly confronted by a veritable legion of old foes before deducing who in fact his true enemies are…

Issue #26 then sees Rick freed from police custody to confront Lou-Ann over her seeming ‘Betrayal!’ (Starlin, Friedrich & Dave Cockrum). Soon, however, he and Mar-Vell realise they are the targets of psychological warfare: the girl is being mind-controlled whilst Super Skrull and his hidden “Masterlord” are manipulating them and others in search of a lost secret…

When a subsequent scheme to have Mar-Vell kill The Thing spectacularly fails, Thanos takes personal charge. The Titan is hungry for conquest and needs Rick because his subconscious conceals the location of an irresistible ultimate weapon.

Jones awakens to find himself ‘Trapped on Titan!’ (Pablo Marcos inks) but does not realise the villain has already extracted the location of a reality-altering Cosmic Cube from him. Rescued by Thanos’ hyper-powered father Mentor and noble brother Eros, the horrified lad sees first-hand the extent of the genocide the death-loving monster has inflicted upon his own birthworld. Utterly outraged, he summons Captain Marvel to wreak vengeance…

Meanwhile on Earth, still-enslaved Lou-Ann has gone to warn the Mighty Avengers and summarily collapsed. By the time Mar-Vell arrives in #28 she lies near death. ‘When Titans Collide!’ (inks by Dan Green) reveals another plank of Thanos’ plan. As the heroes are picked off by psychic parasite The Controller, the Kree Captain is assaulted by bizarre visions of an incredible ancient being. Fatally distracted, he becomes the malevolent mind-leech’s latest victim…

Al Milgrom inks ‘Metamorphosis!’ as Mar-Vell’s connection to Rick is severed before the Kree is transported to an otherworldly locale where a grotesque eight billion-year-old being named Eon reveals the origins of universal life whilst overseeing the lifelong soldier’s forced evolution into an ultimate warrior: a universal champion gifted with the subtly irresistible power of “Cosmic Awareness”…

Iron Man, meanwhile, has recovered from a previous Controller assault and headed for Marvel Feature #12 to join Ben Grimm in ending a desert incursion by Thanos’ forces before enduring ‘The Bite of the Blood Brothers!’ courtesy of Friedrich, Starlin, & Joe Sinnott, after which the story develops through an extract first seen in Daredevil #105.

Here enigmatic and emotionless super scientist Madame MacEvil tells her origins and foreshadows her future role in the cosmic catastrophe to come. When Thanos killed her family, the infant Heather Douglas was adopted by Mentor, taken to Titan and reared by psionic martial artists of the Shao-Lom Monastery. Years later when Thanos attacked Titan and destroyed the monks, she swore revenge and took a new name – Moondragon…

Subsequently returned to Earth and reconnected to his frantic atomic counterpart, the newly-appointed “Protector of the Universe” confronts The Controller, thrashing the monumentally powerful brain-parasite in a devastating display of skill countering exo-skeletal super-strength in #30’s ‘…To Be Free from Control!’ after which #31 celebrates ‘The Beginning of the End!’ (inked by Green & Milgrom) as the Avengers – in a gathering of last resort – are joined by psionic priestess Moondragon and Drax. The latter is revealed as one more of Thanos’ victims, but one recalled from death by supernal forces to destroy the deranged Titan…

The cosmic killer is then revealed as a lover of the personification of Death: determined to give her Earth as a betrothal present. To that end he uses the Cosmic Cube to turn himself into ‘Thanos the Insane God!’ (Green inks) who, with a thought, imprisons all opposition to his reign. However, his insane arrogance leaves cosmically aware Mar-Vell with a slim chance to undo every change, and the last hero brilliantly outmanoeuvres, defeats and apparently destroys ‘The God Himself!’ in the cosmically climactic Captain Marvel #33 (inked by Klaus Janson)…

With the universe saved and a modicum of sanity and security restored, Starlin’s run ended on a relatively weak and inconclusive note in #34 as ‘Blown Away!’ – inked by Jack Abel and dialogued by Englehart – explored the day after doomsday…

As Rick strives to revive his on-again, off-again musical career, a new secret organisation called the Lunatic Legion sends Nitro, the Exploding Man to acquire a canister of deadly gas from an Air Force base where old pal Carol Danvers (long before her transformations into Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird and ultimately Captain Marvel) is head of Security…

Although the Protector of the Universe defeats his earth-shattering enemy, Mar-Vell succumbs to the deadly nerve agent released in the battle. The exposure actually kills him but he will not realise that for years to come…

In 1982, The Death of Captain Marvel was the first Marvel Graphic Novel and the one that truly demonstrated how mainstream superhero material could breach the wider world of general publishing.

Written and illustrated by Starlin with lettering by James Novak and colours from Steve Oliff, this tale concluded the career of the mighty Kree Champion in a neatly symmetrical and textually conclusive manner – although the tale’s success led to some pretty crass commercialisations in its wake…

As previously stated, Mar-Vell was an honoured soldier of the alien Kree empire dispatched to Earth as a spy, who went native: becoming first a hero and then the cosmically “aware” Protector of the Universe, destined since universal life began to be its stalwart cosmic champion in the darkest hours.

In concert with the Avengers and other heroes, he defeated death-worshipping Thanos, just as that villain became God, after which the good Captain went on to become a universal force for good.

That insipid last bit pretty much sums up Mar-Vell’s later career: without Thanos, the adventures again became uninspired and eventually just fizzled out. He lost his own comic book, had a brief shot at revival in try-out title Marvel Spotlight and then just faded away…

Re-enter Starlin, who had long been linked to narrative themes of death. He offered a rather novel idea – kill Mar-Vell off and actually leave him dead. What no fan realised at the time was that Starlin was also processing emotional issues thrown up by the passing of his own father and the story he crafted echoed his own emotional turmoil.

In 1982, killing such a high-profile hero was a bold idea, especially considering how long and hard the company had fought to obtain the rights to the name (and sure enough there’s always been somebody with that name in print ever since) but Starlin wasn’t just proposing a gratuitous stunt. The story developed into a different kind of drama: one uniquely at odds with contemporary fare and thinking.

Following the Thanos Saga, Mar-Vell defeated second-rater Nitro but was exposed to experimental nerve gas during the fight. Now years later he discovers that, just as he has found love and contentment, the effects of that gas have inexorably caused cancer in his system. Moreover, it has metastasized into something utterly incurable…

Going through the Kree version of the classic Kubler-Ross Cycle: grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, the Space-Born hero can only watch as all his friends and comrades try and fail to find a cure, before death comes for him…

This is a thoughtful, intriguing examination of the process of dying observed by a being who never expected to die in bed, and argues forcefully that even in a universe where miracles occur by the hour sometimes death might not be unwelcome…

Today, in a world where the right to life and its intrinsic worth and value are increasingly being challenged and contested by special interest groups, this story is still a strident, forceful reminder that sometimes the personal right to dignity and freedom from distress is as important as any and all other Human Rights.

No big Deus ex Machina, not many fights and no happy ending: but still one of the most compelling stories the House of Ideas ever published.

Augmenting the sidereal saga, a number of now-mandatory bonus bits include Starlin’s exploded-view map-&-blueprint of Thanos’ homeworld Titan; original cover art from Captain Marvel #29 plus original art and the 3-page framing sequence for the reprint issue #36.

Other extras follow: the all-cosmic hero cover to fan-magazine F.O.O.M. #19; the all-new covers, back covers and bridging pages for prestige reprint miniseries The Life of Captain Marvel (as well as the humorous introductory ‘Editori-Al’ strips cartooned by Al Milgrom) and much, much more.

A timeless classic of the company and the genre, this is a tale no full-blooded Fights ‘n’ Tights fan can be without.
© 1972, 1973, 1974, 1982, 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Black Lightning


By Dennis O’Neil, Gerry Conway, J.M. DeMatteis, Martin Pasko, Paul Kupperberg, Dick Dillin, George Tuska, Rich Buckler, Marshall Rogers, Mike Netzer/Nasser, Romeo Tanghal, Joe Staton, Pat Broderick, Dick Giordano, Gerald Forton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-7546-4 (TPB/Digital edition)

Black Lightning was the first African American superhero to have his own solo DC title. It launched in 1977 and ran for 11 issues.

When former Olympic decathlete Jefferson Pierce returned to the streets of Metropolis’ Suicide Slum to teach at inner city Garfield High School, he was determined to make a real difference to the disadvantaged and often troubled kids he used to be numbered amongst. However, when he interrupted a drug buy on school grounds and sent the dealer packing, he opened everyone around him to mob vengeance and personal tragedy…

When the ruling racketeers – an organised syndicate dubbed The 100 – came seeking retaliation, one of Pierce’s students paid the ultimate price. The traumatised teacher realised he needed the shield of anonymity if he was to win justice and safety for his beleaguered home and charges…

Happily, tailor Peter Gambi – who had raised Jefferson and taken care of his mother after the elder Pierce was murdered – had some useful ideas and inexplicable access to some pretty far-out technology. Soon, equipped with a strength-&-speed-enhancing forcefield belt and costume, plus a mask and wig that completely changed his appearance, a fierce new vigilante stalked the streets of Metropolis…

This second outing gathers a flurry of back-up and guest appearances from May 1979 to October 1980, garnered from various titles the urban avenger prowled in after his solo title folded. They cumulatively comprise World’s Finest Comics #256-259 and #261, DC Comics Presents #16, Justice League of America #173-174, Detective Comics #490-491, 495-495 and The Brave and the Bold #163 plus pertinent material from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3 (1985) and Who’s Who in the DC Universe #16 (1992).

Following an informative Introduction by character originator Tony Isabella reprising Black Lightning: The In-Between Years, the (relatively) down-to-earth superhero antics recommence in ‘Encounter with a Dark Avenger!’ (courtesy of Denny O’Neil, Dick Dillin & Frank Chiaramonte, as seen in World’s Finest Comics #256).

Here the electric warrior is manipulated into a potentially fatal confrontation with equally fervent urban vigilante Green Arrow. As the heroes clash, neither is aware the 100’s ousted boss Tobias Whale is behind their mutual woes…

That short yarn saw Black Lightning as GA’s guest star and served as a prelude to ‘Death Ransom!’ (WFC #257), beginning Pierce’s second (strictly backup) series. Crafted by O’Neil, George Tuska & Bob Smith, it sees a fateful, brutal clash with The Whale, resulting in a wary ceasefire for the archenemies as they unite to destroy a swiftly rebuilding 100 cartel…

Of course, a scorpion’s gotta sting and the alliance only lasts one issue before Whale betrays Lightning’s trust and another innocent dies in ‘The Blood of the Lamb!’ (O’Neil, Rich Buckler & Romeo Tanghal, from World’s Finest #258)…

Issue #259 offers a labyrinthine conundrum as the hero and a horde of gunmen act on a deathbed tip-off, converging on a seedy welfare hotel that might be ‘The Last Hideout’ (O’Neil, Marshall Rogers, Michael Nasser/Netzer & Vince Colletta) of a legendary criminal and his ill-gotten gains. Sadly, only the masked vigilante cares about collateral casualties…

‘Return of the River Rat!’ (O’Neil, Tanghal & Colletta, WFC #261) ends this back-up run on a mediocre note as school chaperone Jefferson Pierce is fortuitously on hand for a river cruise party, just as an exiled mobster attempts to sneak back into the USA by submarine…

A co-starring role in DC Comics Presents #16 (December 1979) finds the street-smart urban avenger and Superman facing a heartsick, violently despondent alien trapped on Earth for millennia in ‘The De-volver!’ (O’Neil, Joe Staton & Frank Chiaramonte) after which the loner gets a nod of approval from Superhero Big Guns…

Justice League of America #173-174 (December 1979 and January 1980) sees a smart 2-parter with a twist ending as the League seek to induct the mysterious, unvetted vigilante.

After much fervent, self-righteous and smugly privileged debate, they decide to set their still-unsuspecting candidate a little problem to prove his worth.

However, as a vermin-controlling maniac unleashes terror upon Metropolis, the ‘Testing of a Hero’ and ‘A Plague of Monsters’ (Gerry Conway, Dillin & Frank McLaughlin) takes the old recruitment drive in a very fresh direction and delivers disappointment all around…

Still Not Quite Popular Enough, the hero was found tenure in the more moody but grounded Detective Comics, beginning with #490 (May 1980).

Here Martin Pasko, Pat Broderick & McLaughlin reveal how ‘Lightning Strikes Twice Out!’ as a protracted clash with a ruthless Haitian gang led by Mama Mambu leads to Pierce’s kidnap and loss of his powers and gimmicks in concluding chapter ‘Short-Circuit’ (Detective #491).

A corrupt Senator stealing oil shipments to finance a private army and planned takeover of America is foiled in separate-but-convergent investigations conducted by Black Lightning and Batman in ‘Oil, Oil… Nowhere’ (Paul Kupperberg & Dick Giordano from The Brave and The Bold #163, June 1980) after which J.M. DeMatteis & Gerald Forton assume creative control of the Lightning’s path in Detective Comics #494…

‘Explosion of the Soul’ (cover-dated September 1980) sees the streets haunted by a murderous junkie-killing vigilante, with all Pierce’s investigations leading inexorably back to one of his students…

Ending on a dark note of tragedy, ‘Animals’ (DeMatteis & Forton, Detective #494) then sees the Suicide Slum School Olympics turned into a charnel house when a juvenile street gang seizes the girls’ hockey team and demands safe passage and new lives in Switzerland. When Black Lightning intercedes, events escalate and not everyone gets out alive…

Supplemented with a cover gallery by Ross Andru, Giordano, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams & Dillin, with fact-packed background and data pages about ‘Black Lightning’ from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3 (1985) and an updated entry from Who’s Who in the DC Universe #16 (1992), this is a potent package of fast-paced Fights ‘n’ Tights thrillers no thriller fan could resist.
© 1979, 1980, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Marvel Adventures Iron Man volume 1: Heart of Steel


By Fred Van Lente, James Cordeiro, Ronan Cliquet, Scott Koblish, Amilton Santos, Gary Erskine & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2644-7 (Digest PB/Digital edition)

In 2003 the always-experimenting House of Ideas instituted the Marvel Age line: an imprint updating classic original tales and characters for a newer, younger readership. The enterprise was tweaked in 2005, with core titles morphing into Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. The tone was very much that of the company’s burgeoning TV cartoon franchises, in delivery if not name.

Supplemental series included Super Heroes, The Avengers, Hulk and Iron Man. These all chuntered along merrily until 2010 when they were cancelled and replaced by new volumes of Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man.

Most of the re-imagined tales were collected in gleefully inviting digest-sized compilations and digitised: thus was the case with this engaging ensemble featuring the first four forays starring the gadget-laden Golden Avenger.

In original mainstream continuity, supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed his profile many times since his 1963 debut when, as a VIP visitor in Vietnam observing the efficacy of weaponry he’d designed, the arch-technocrat wünderkind was critically wounded and captured by a local warlord.

Put to work with the spurious promise of medical assistance upon completion, Stark instead built an electronic suit to keep his heart beating and deliver him from his oppressors. From there, it was a small jump to a second career as a high-tech hero in Shining Super-Armour…

Conceived in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, at a time when the economy was booming and “Commie-bashing” was America’s favourite national pastime, the emergence of a suave new Edison using Yankee ingenuity, wealth and invention to safeguard the Land of the Free and better the World seemed an obvious development.

Combining the era’s sacrosanct tenet that technology and business in unison could solve any problem with the universally enthralling imagery of noble paladins battling evil, Invincible Iron Man proved an infallibly successful proposition.

Over subsequent decades Stark has been depicted as a liberal capitalist, eco-warrior, space pioneer, civil servant, statesman, and even spymaster: Director of Earth’s most scientifically advanced spy agency – the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

For most of that period his best friend and frequent stand-in was James Rhodes, a former military man who acted as pilot, bodyguard, advisor, co-conspirator and occasional necessary conscience. “Rhodey” even replaced Iron Man when Stark succumbed to alcoholism and eventually carved out his own chequered career as remorseless mechanised warrior and weapon of last resort War Machine…

Here Rhodey is reduced to a technical support role and joined by a supporting cast member of a much earlier vintage. Secretary and hyper-efficient factotum Pepper Potts has been in the picture since the seventh IM adventure (way back in October 1963): evolving from love-struck typist into a businesswoman and hero in her own right. Here a middle ground is struck and she’s Stark’s trusted Executive Administrator, confidante and general dogsbody…

Culled from Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1-4 (July-October 2007) this machine-tooled tranche of explosive yarns is written throughout by Fred Van Lente, with colours from Studio F’s Martegod Gracia and lettered by Blambot’s Nate Piekos. It also serves up a ‘Cover Gallery’ by comics legend Michael Golden.

As ever, these stories are intended to bring newcomers up to speed on key points and characterisation whilst updating the material and opens with ‘Heart of Steel’ – winningly illustrated by James Cordeiro & Scott Koblish – which once again modifies the technological wizard’s origin in tune with modern sensibilities…

When a huge robotic monster attacks Manhattan, Stark suits up in his latest miracle-armour to tackle the terror. The clash sends his mind racing back six months to the moment when the spoiled multi-billionaire idol and (non-superhero) smug brat was publicly challenged by esteemed scientist Gia-Bao Yinsen.

That venerable sage accused Stark of selling war-weapons to anybody with enough money, thereby letting them be used to destroy the island of Madripoor…

Upset by the confrontation, the young genius shrugged it off until summarily abducted by techno-terrorists Advanced Idea Mechanics. They wanted him to build more death-toys for them and were pretty sure he would cooperate. Tony’s heart was grievously damaged in their attack and only AIM’s doctors could keep him alive…

Locked in a top-of the line lab/workshop, Tony found old Yinsen was also a prisoner and together they devised mobile, weaponised life-support units to fight their way to freedom. Ultimately, Yinsen didn’t make it, but his final words changed Stark’s life forever…

As also illustrated by Cordeiro & Scott Koblish, Iron Man’s greatest enemy is then reintroduced in ‘Enter the Dragon’. When Stark’s Chinese factory is suddenly depleted of its entire workforce, he charges to the rescue, clashing with supreme mech-genius the Mandarin. He is a direct descendent of Genghis Khan who intends topping his ancestor in the world-conquest stakes…

Employing his monumental mechanical wyrm to attack the Great Wall, the maniac makes a pretty good start until Iron Man gets heavy…

Potts takes centre-stage in ‘The Creeping Doom’ (illustrated by Ronan Cliquet & Amilton Santos) as the Stark jet touches down in a desert wilderness to interview genetic engineer and botanist Samuel Smithers. The recluse has a few radical ideas about revolutionising global Agribusiness, but sadly, by the time they arrive, he’s moved beyond the need for investors, having merged with his verdant creations to become a marauding Plantman intent on seizing the world for the floral kingdom.

The only use he has for meaty organic matter is as mulch and compost, but underestimates the sheer animal cunning of his adversaries…

Wrapping up the mechanical marvels is ‘Hostile Takeover’ (with Cordeiro & Gary Erskine making the pictures) wherein Stark Board member Justin Hammer tries to maliciously manipulate stock and gain control of the company.

His method is flawless. Hire the infallible Spymaster to hack Iron Man’s armour, sending Tony’s “bodyguard” on a destructive rampage through the city – with Stark helpless inside it – and just watch the stock price fall until it’s time to make his killing.

Hammer’s big mistake was assuming Pepper and Rhodey are the sort of servile flunkies he preferred to hire for Hammer Industries…

Rocket-paced, spectacularly exciting and enthralling with plenty of sharp wit to counterpoint the drama and suspense; these riotous super-sagas are a splendid example of Iron Man’s versatility to delight Fights ‘n’ Tights fans of all ages and vintage.
© 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Batman Adventures: Mad Love Deluxe Edition


By Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, with Rick Taylor, Tim Harkins & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-5512-1 (HB/Digital edition)

Harley Quinn wasn’t supposed to be a star… or even an actual comic book character. As soon became apparent, however, the manic minx always has her own astoundingly askew and off-kilter ideas on the matter… and any other topic you could name: ethics, friendship, ordnance, true love…

Created by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, Batman: The Animated Series aired in the US from September 5th 1992 to September 15th 1995. Ostensibly for kids, the breakthrough television cartoon revolutionised everybody’s image of the Dark Knight and immediately began feeding back into the print iteration, leading to some of the absolute best comic book yarns in the hero’s many decades of existence.

Employing a timeless, all-embracing visual style dubbed “Dark Deco”, the show mixed elements from all iterations of the character and, without diluting the power, tone or mood of the premise, reshaped the grim avenger and the extended team around him into a wholly accessible, thematically memorable form that the youngest of readers could enjoy, whilst adding shades of exuberance and panache only most devout and obsessive Batmaniac could possibly object to…

Harley was first seen as the Clown Prince of Crime’s slavishly adoring, extreme abuse-enduring assistant in Joker’s Favor, which aired on September 11th 1992. She instantly captured the hearts and minds of millions of viewers.

From then on she began popping up in the incredibly successful licensed comic book and – always stealing the show – soon graduated into mainstream DC continuity.

After a period bopping around the DCU, she was re-imagined as part of the company’s vast post-Flashpoint major makeover: regularly appearing as part of a new, gritty-but-still-crazy iteration of the Suicide Squad. However, at heart she’s always been a cartoon glamour-puss, with big, bold, primal emotions and only the merest acknowledgement of how reality works…

Re-presenting the 1994 one-shot Batman Adventures: Mad Love, this slight and breezy hardcover is made up of mostly recycled material – including writer Paul Dini’s comfortably inviting Foreword and co-plotter/illustrator Bruce Timm’s effusive and candidly informative ‘Mad Love Afterword’.

However, a truly unmissable bonus treat for art-lovers and all those seeking technical insight (perhaps with a view to making comics or animation their day job) is the illustrator’s full monochrome ‘Original Layouts for The Batman Adventures: Mad Love’: displaying how the story materialised page by page. There’s even previous and variant covers to earlier editions and unused painted back cover art plus highly detailed, fully-annotated colour guides for the complete story, offering a perfect “How To”  lesson for aspiring creators…

All that being said though, what we want most is a great story, and that magnificently madcap mayhem commences after Police Commissioner James Gordon heads to the dentist. When Batman easily foils the Joker’s latest manic murder attempt, the mountebank of Mirth pettishly realises he’s lost his inspirational spark.

He’s therefore in no mood for lasciviously whining lapdog Harley’s words of comfort or flirtatious pep talks…

As the Dark Knight reviews his files on the Joker’s girlfriend and ponders on how Harleen Frances Quinzel breezed through college and came away with a psychology degree that bought her a staff position at Arkham Asylum, in the now, the larcenous lady in question has gone too far in the Joker’s lair. The trigger is comforting sympathy and telling her “precious pudden” how his baroque murder schemes could be improved…

Kicked out and almost killed (again), Harleen harks back to her first meeting with the devilishly desirable crazy clown and how they instantly clicked. She fondly recalls how her original plan to psychoanalyse the Joker and write a profitable tell-all book was forgotten the moment she fell under his malign spell. In that moment she became his adoring, willing and despised slave…

She also realises that Batman too-quickly scotched their budding eternal love by capturing the grinning psycho-killer she secretly aided and abetted, both before and after she created her own costumed alter ego…

In fact, Batman always spoils her dreams and brutalises her adored “Mistah J”. It’s long past time she took care of him once and for all…

Driven by desperation and fuelled by passion, Harley Quinn appropriates one of the Joker’s abortive schemes and tweaks it.

Before long, the Gotham Gangbuster is duped, doped, bound and destined for certain doom. Sadly, the triumphant Little Woman hasn’t reckoned on how her barmy beloved will react to learning she has done in mere hours what he’s failed to accomplish over many bitter years…

Coloured by Rick Taylor and lettered by Tim Harkins, the classy, classically staged main feature plays very much like a 1940s noir blend of morbid melodrama and cunning crime caper – albeit with outrageous over-the-top gags, sharply biting lines of dialogue and a blend of black humour and bombastic action. This story easily qualifies as one of the top five bat-tales of all time.

A frantic, laugh-packed, action-driven hoot that manages to be daring, deranged and demure by turns, Mad Love is an absolute delight, well worth the price of admission and an irresistible treasure to be enjoyed over and over again.
© 1994, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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A Very DC Valentine’s Day


By Cecil Castellucci, Amanda Conner, Andy Diggle, Paul Dini, Ray Fawkes, Phil Hester, Kyle Higgins, Collin Kelly, Alisa Quitney, Jackson Lanzing, Peter Milligan, Ann Nocenti, Steve Orlando, Jimmy Palmiotti, James Robinson, Mark Russell, Mairghread Scott, Tim Seeley, Simon Bisley, Ben Caldwell, Aaron Campbell, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Mirko Colak, Andrew Currie, Javier Fernandez, Julio Ferreira, Julius Gopez, Sanford Greene, Stephanie Hans, Bryan Hitch, Frazer Irving, Kelley Jones, Nic Klein, Emanuela Lupacchino, Guillem March, John McCrea, Jaime Mendoza, Inaki Miranda, Robson Rocha, Thony Silas, Cam Smith, John Timms & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1401287665 (TPB/Digital edition)

After generations of incorporating seasonal occasions, milestones and themes into their regular chronology, in recent years comics publishers have started releasing special issues and compilations to single out those sale-enhancing moments. For DC, that process really began during their New 52 reboot…

Regrettably eschewing their own vast back catalogue of magnificently-limned genre romance material (still… maybe one day, hey?) the home of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman released all-new anthologies exploring the many roads to and ways of loving.

In 2018, three one-shots – Young Monsters in Love #1, Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special #1 and Harley Quinn Valentine’s Day Special #1 – were tangled together as a celebratory tome which might entice less traditional fans…

We begin with Young Monsters in Love #1, which hit stores on February 7th 2018 carrying an April cover-date. It opens with a tale of Man-Bat wherein Kyle Higgins, Kelley Jones & colourist Michelle Madsen expose the bestial inner monologue of Kirk Langstrom’s ‘“Nocturnal Animal”’ as the self-mutated science renegade seeks to rekindle his romantic relationship with ex-wife Francine…

Tim Seeley, Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cam Smith also explore that theme of stability lost as Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. reviews his centuries-long relationship with “The Bride” in ‘Pieces of Me’ whilst Clark Kent and his son Jon learn a few hard truths about love and loss in ‘Buried on Sunday’. It’s a potentially shattering lesson for the Man of Steel and Superboy who seek to ensure that Solomon Grundy does not wallow in the eternal despair of bereavement as sensitively detailed by Mairghread Scott, Bryan Hitch & Andrew Currie…

Disgruntled Teen Titan/peripatetic ghost buster Raven discovers ‘The Dead Can Dance’ on a long-deferred Prom Night(mare) by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing & Javier Fernandez, after which Paul Dini & Guillem March expose the cruel traumas of elementary school bullying when Deadman saves a lonely boy crushed and nearly killed by the annual purgatory of card-giving in ‘Be My Valentine’…

Swamp Thing loves and loses another frail and fragile human contact in the beautifully eerie ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ by Mark Russell & Frazer Irving, before Steve Orlando & Nic Klein push the parameters of amour and self-sacrifice when queer cop Maggie Sawyer seeks to stop a potential bloodbath as Monsieur Mallah & The Brain (of the Brotherhood of Evil) seek a way to further their impossibly complex relationship by looking backwards in ‘Visibility’…

Andrew Bennet (I, Vampire, by Alisa Quitney & Stephanie Hans) then experiences painful revelation when forced to accept a new role for his ever-maturing disciple in ‘The Turning of Deborah Dancer’, whereas Etrigan – The Demon – brutally challenges the entire infernal host to reach Jason Blood’s lost love in ‘To Hell and Gone’ by Phil Hester &Mirko Colak.

Amidst the madness of WWII, the warped wooing closes with a distressing brush-off letter to the Creature Commandos’ man-made vampire in ‘Dear Velcoro’, by James Robinson & John McCrea.

Heralding a shift from dark dilemmas to costumed courting – courtesy of the contents of Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine’s Day Special #1 (originally cover-dated April 2013) – our soap-opera sagas start with Catwoman reminiscing over her first meeting and troubled history with Batman in Ann Nocenti, Emanuela Lupacchino & Jaime Mendoza’s ‘Think it Through’…

Aquaman & Mera uncover unrequited love and reunite unquiet separated spirits in ‘The Lighthouse’ (by Cecil Castellucci & Inaki Miranda) before Batgirl Babs Gordon lets her guard down with a certified bad boy in Ray Fawkes & Julius Gopez’s ‘Dreamer’.

Superhero teammates Apollo & Midnighter revisit their first “ mad moment” mid-mission in ‘Seoul Brothers’ by Peter Milligan & Simon Bisley, whilst paragon legacy hero Nightwing makes all his old mistakes again with new foe/ally/love interest Ursa in ‘Another Saturday Night’ by Kyle Higgins & Sanford Greene…

One of the biggest and most touted draws of the New 52 was the sidelining of Lois Lane and shocking romantic entanglement of Superman and Wonder Woman. Here, Andy Diggle, Robson Rocha & Julio Ferreira depict the ultimate power couple in the early, exploratory stages of that relationship and learning via a shocking game of ‘Truth or Dare’ …until spiteful sirens and a possessed god of love violently object…

The final third of this torrid tome sees lunatic love bandit Harleen Quinzel hog the limelight and steal the show with an extended epic from the Harley Quinn Valentine’s Day Special #1: released on February 11th 2015 and once again cover-dated for the month of All Fools…

Written by Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti, and collaboratively illustrated by John Timms, Ben Caldwell, Aaron Campbell, Thony Silas and colourists Paul Mounts & Hi-Fi, ‘Just Batty Over You’ offers an hallucinogenic rollercoaster ride of passions and perplexing playfulness as The Joker’s former main squeeze espies and is enthralled by super-sexy Bruce Wayne who is a prize in a charity dating auction…

She determines to make him hers and the abduction part goes off pretty much as required. However, complicating the scheme is Harley’s own meandering grip on reality, Bruce’s many jobs and secrets, so very much over-applied and shared narcotic inducement, hench-folk who can only see the billionaire’s vast dollar-value and the perpetual interference of briny costumes activists The Carp and Sea Robin, who really want everybody to heed their message of marine environmental crisis…

Daft, delightful and delivered with perfect timing and elan, this lustful lark caps a supremely frothy and inconsequential diversion to charm casual and fully committed thrill seekers in equal amounts.
© 2013, 2015, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!: Family Affair


By Mike Kunkel, Art Baltazar, Franco, Byron Vaughns, Ken Branch & Stephen DeStefano & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-49650-290-2 (HB/Digital edition)

After the runaway success of Jeff Smith’s magnificent reinvention of the original Captain Marvel (Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil ) it was simply a matter of time before that iteration won its own title in the monthly marketplace. What was a stroke of sheer genius was to place the new Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! under the bright and shiny aegis of the company’s young reader imprint – in what used to be the Cartoon Network spin-off section.

This collection re-presents the first dozen issues, spanning cover-dates September 2008 through March 2010 and opens on a most familiar world, slightly askew of the mainstream DC Universe. These frantically ebullient and utterly contagious tales of the orphan Batson and his obnoxious, hyperactive little sister Mary – both gifted by an ancient mage with the powers of the gods – could play out in wild and woolly semi-isolation hampered by nothing except page count…

Billy Batson is a homeless kid with a murky past and a glorious destiny. One night he followed a mysterious figure into an abandoned subway station and met the wizard Shazam. The ancient guardian of good granted him the ability to turn into an adult superhero called Captain Marvel.

Gifted with the wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles and speed of Mercury, the lad was despatched into the world to do good: a noble if perhaps immature boy in a super man’s body.

Accompanied by talking tiger-spirit Mr. Tawky Tawny, Billy tracked down his missing little sister, but whilst battling evil genius Dr. Sivana (US Attorney General and would-be ruler of the universe) he impetuously caused a ripple in the world’s magical fabric through which monsters and ancient perils now occasionally slip through. Currently, the reunited orphans are trying to live relatively normal lives, but finding the going a little tough…

Firstly, without adults around, Billy often has to masquerade as his own dad and when he’s not at school he’s the breadwinner, earning a living as a boy-reporter at radio/TV station WHIZ. Moreover, little Mary also has access to (most of) the Power of Shazam, and she’s a lot smarter than he is in using it… as well as a real pain in Billy’s neck.

Animator and storyteller Mike Kunkel, inspired creator of the simply lovely Herobear and the Kid, leads off this collection: writing, drawing and colouring a breakneck, riotous romp over the first four issues reintroducing the new Marvel Family to any new readers and, by virtue of that pesky rift in the cosmic curtain, recreating the Captain’s greatest foe: Black Adam. In case you’re wondering, Steve Wands did the lettering…

The villain was once the mightiest man alive but was banished for abusing Shazam’s gift. However, after the damage to reality Billy caused, he’s back but nowhere near the Man he was…

This time the evil predecessor of the World’s Mightiest Mortal is a powerless but truly vile brat: a schoolboy bully who returns to Earth after millennia in limbo, ready to cause great mischief – but he cannot remember the magic word that activates his evil adult self…

This hilarious tale has just the right amount of dark underpinning, as the atrocious little thug stalks Billy and Mary, trying to wheedle and eventually torture the secret syllables from them. When – inevitably – Black Adam regains his mystic might and subsequently liberates the petrified Seven Deadly Evils of Mankind from their imprisonment on the wizard’s Rock of Eternity, the stage is set for a classic confrontation.

Along the way to that climactic clash there’s oodles of sheer hilarity as Billy’s troubles are magnified by increasing demands on his time by overzealous teachers and Principal Strikta wanting to conference with his “dad”, whilst his journalistic partner and mentor Ms. Fidelity seems romantically attracted to his older body – which is still piloted by Billy’s pre-teen mind…

It’s no comfort at all that Mary is still thinking up better and cleverer ways to use the powers they share and that she might be the Wizard’s favourite, but the real problem is Theo Adam…

The returned terror might be stuck in his child form, but when he joins Billy in class, it soon becomes clear that the bully is sticking painfully close just in case one of the emergencies he’s orchestrated allows him to overhear Billy shouting out that word…

Inevitably all Billy’s worries come true and Black Adam regains his powers, leading the resurrected Seven Deadly Evils against humanity. Happily, although outpowered, out-fought and at his lowest moment, Billy comes up with a plan…

Pitched perfectly at the young reader, with equal parts danger, comedy, sibling rivalry and the regular outwitting of adults, this first storyline screams along with a brilliantly clever feel-good finish, perfectly setting up the next all-action comedic challenge…

From issue #5 (September 2009) writing team Art Baltazar & Franco (Franco Aureliani) – collectively responsible for the incomparably compulsive madness of Tiny Titans and Superman Family – took over the legend-spinning, and artists Byron Vaughns & Ken Branch limn the first bombastic tale as convict Doctor Sivana unleashes a stolen atomic automaton against the two kids he hates most in the world in ‘Mr Who? Mr. Atom!’.

The destructive giant robot rampage was simply a ploy to cover his escape from prison. Although the mighty marvels overcome the onslaught thanks to input from its creator, Billy has a bigger problem to solve. He has a tremendous crush on Ms. Fidelity but she barely notices him whenever his heroic alter ego is around and even when he’s not…

‘To Be King’ then pits the champions of Fawcett City against primordial super-caveman King Kull: a physical and mental giant trying to reconquer the planet he ruled in millennia past. Older fans of gentle fantasy will be enthralled and delighted here by the singular art of Stephen DeStefano, who won hearts and minds with his illustration of Bob Rozakis’ seminal series Hero Hotline and ’Mazing Man – both painfully, criminally overdue for graphic novel collections of their own…

The King’s defeat is singular and shocking, but the young warriors are unaware that Sivana has again benefitted from their actions and is now weaponizing Kull’s remains…

Encroaching disaster is everywhere. At the Rock of Eternity, Shazam is helpless to prevent the Seven Evils from slowly awakening again and senses another hidden enemy in play. Calling on long-sidelined shapeshifting tiger totem Mr. Tawky Tawny, he inadvertently tips off evil genius Sivana and leads him to the Batson’s home. The wicked misfit even captures the tiger-man and uses him to power a newer, deadlier Mr. Atom in the Byron Vaughns illustrated ‘Deception Reception’…

With (the original) Captain Marvel on the ropes, ‘Come Together!’ sees Sivana press his attack, deploying enslaved Kull to back up his killer bot, before being again outsmarted by Mary Marvel whose grasp of physics saves the day and the tiger…

Another classic villain is revived as Shazam’s observations of Earth hone in on a deadly arsonist just as Billy begins acting strangely …like a jerk or perhaps pubescent schoolboy…

As Mary talks things over with recuperating houseguest Tawky-Tawny, they realise they haven’t seen Billy for some time, only his increasingly obnoxious adult alter ego. The crisis comes to head in ‘Fire Fire Everywhere!’ as the hero appallingly overreacts to the firebug, employing excessive force and accidentally creating an Arson Fiend…

‘The Legacy of Mr. Banjo!’ also channels a Golden Age bad guy as Billy and Mary stumble into a bank robbery perpetrated by Axe, the teenage son of the Axis agent and using his mystic music to mesmerise mortals into parting with their money. Although Billy is wilful enough to shrug off the spell it takes a pep talk from Ms. Fidelity to give him the edge needed to free Mary and stop Axe…

One good thing about the clash is that Billy is clearheaded now and realises he must not say his magic word ever again…

With Mary and Tawky-Tawny in tow, Billy heads for Shazam’s citadel and  proper diagnosis. The result is the freeing of an evil duplicate in ‘Mirror Mirror’, but the stupendous battle between hero and reflection is just a prelude to the final clash as the fight exposes the long-hidden secret villain in ‘Mr. Mind Over Matter!’ and Billy and his sister must stop both the wicked worm and its Monster Society of Evil with brains not brawn…

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!: Family Affair is ideal for bringing kids into comics: funny, thrilling, stylishly illustrated and perfectly in tune with what young minds want to see. Moreover, with another major motion picture adaptation set to premiere in March, it’s a timely moment to get reacquainted with the Big Red Cheese …and the Little Babybel…

Incorporating a full cover gallery and a Kunkel variant, plus a key code for those pages written in the ‘Monster Society of Evil Code’ this is an addictive treat for all readers who can still revel in the power of pure wonderment and still glory in an unbridled capacity for joy.
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