DCU : The Original Universe

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Took a break from reading X-Man(Terry Kavanagh is a terminally dull writer. Ugh.) and finally finished off James Robinson's pre-Flashpoint/New 52 JLA series. I read issues 47-60.

47-48. The end of a crossover with JSA where Alan Scott's Starheart turns evil and his kids combine into a giant evil Starheart monster. Kind of crap.
49. Donna Troy and Jade visit San Francisco and get attacked by some Silver Age villain who's in prison.
50-53. A new villain named The Omega Man from another dimension attacks Washington DC. The CSA and Tangent's Green Lantern are also involved. Semi decent.
54-59. Eclipso wants to kill God, so he coerce all the Shadow-based heroes and villains. Then he tortures Zauriel to lure The Spectre to the moon and kills Spectre. Then he SPLITS THE MOON IN HALF. The JLA has mere minutes to stop Eclipso and weld the moon back together. As you know, I'm not Robinson's biggest fan, but this arc was pretty good.
60. Emo final issue where all the JLA members quit and Donna and Dick shutoff the lights in the Watchtower. The DCU rebooted the next month.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Finished up my extensive run of various Outsiders series, from the first 1983 series to the final issue just before Flashpoint rebooted.

Batman and the Outsiders came about after The Brave and the Bold ended after 200 issues in 1983. DC wanted to replace it with another Batman book (B&B was essentially Batman Team-Up) and writer Mike Barr and artist Jim Aparo took 3 existing heroes(Batman, Metamorpho, and Black Lightning) and added three brand new characters, GeoForce, Katana, and Halo. After roughly 20 issues Jim Aparo left the book to work on a new project and newcomer Alan Davis came aboard as artist and stayed on until issue 36. The new project Aparo left for was...

The Outsiders. Back in 1985, DC tried an experiment where they took some of their more popular titles and "upgraded" them to Direct Sales only series with higher prices printed on better Baxter paper. New Teen Titans was the most famous of these, but Legion of Super Heroes and Outsiders also got the treatment. The catch was, the earlier Newsstand series would continue on for another year before beginning to reprint the Baxter issues. So BATO continued until issue 38, and 39 would reprint issue 1 of the higher priced Outsiders 1.
So, continuity wise, issue 39 was coming out at the same time as issue 24, complete with Editors Notes on events that hadn't occurred yet in the original BATO series. Including Batman quitting in issue 32, and the "first" appearance and origin of new teammate Looker. She was a member of the team in the Baxter book and hadn't even appeared in the regular book yet!
It was kind of like that issue 25 stunt Image pulled off years later, except well done. Anyway, after Batman quit, the title changed to Adventures of the Outsiders and ran until issue 46. The final 8 issues just being reprints of the first 8 issues of the Baxter series.
The Baxter series itself ran for 28 issues and ended with the Millennium crossover event in 1988. Aparo did majority of the art, with a young Erik Larsen doing the last couple issues.
Mike Barr wrote every one of the 66 issues of that first run. And edited every issue as well. I guess that was a thing at DC in the 80s with writers editing their own books. I seem to recall Wolfman doing the same thing on Teen Titans at the time. Regardless, it made for interesting Letters Pages with Barr interacting "directly" with readers. I had already read 1-18 last year, so I read 19-46 of the first series, and aside from a few missing issues, the entire Baxter series.

The team wouldn't return until 1993 when in the aftermath of the Death and Return of Superman story, all the ersatz Supermen got their own books. Superboy and Steel got ongoings and Eradicator got to lead a new Outsiders team, again written by Barr with art by Paul Pelletier. The series only lasted 24 issues and was pretty weak. I bought 1-12 back in the 90s, so I caught up on the second half of the series.

The next incarnation was the 2003 series which was the fallout of the Young Justice and Titans books ending. Geoff Johns restarted Teen Titans, and Judd Winick restarted Outsiders. That series lasted 50 issues and ended with a series of oneshots which led into

The 2008 Batman and the Outsiders series. However, Batman again dropped out and the became just The Outsiders with issue 14 until it ended with issue 40. Dan DiDio himself was writer for most of the last run. And honestly, it wasn't that bad. I had less trouble reading those than I did the 1993 series. I had the full 2003 run and 1-25 of the 2008 run, so I only read the final year's worth. It's apparent DiDio knew the DC Universe was ending because he tied off a lot subplots from ALL the previous series. He even has Batman cryptically say "The next time we meet will be under different circumstances." in the final issue 40. In the New52, I don't even think the Outsiders ever existed as a team.

The highlight of the entire read was definitely Aparo's and Davis' work. I do believe it's Alan Davis first "American" Comics work. Aparo drew a badass Batman, especially when he'd have a slightly evil smirk on his face, like he knew everything and you knew nothing.

It was also fun to read Dick Giordano's 'Meanwhile' Columns. This was just before the first Crisis, and in one column he mentions an Alan Moore project with the Charleston Characters and also a Batman project Frank Miller is working on. Hmmm...wonder if either of those ever amounted to anything...

[RoIIo Tomassi]

A few 'P' titles.

First up, A Plastic Man oneshot from 1999 written by Ty Templeton and a host of artists on different short vignettes. A humorous satire issue in the vein of Ambush Bug or Marvel's What The-?! series. Decent.

Power Girl. From the 2009 series. The first 12 issues were by Palmiotti and Gray and artist Anda Conner. Judd Winick took over writing with issue 13 which is where I started reading. His books were basically a tie in with his Justice League: Gen Lost series where Max Lord made everybody except a handful of ex JLI members forget he existed. Power Girl doesn't remember Max but he's messing with her secret identity's work, friends, etc. Which makes one ask, if you went to the trouble of erasing yourself from someone's memory, why would you then stage an elaborate ruse and dangle it like a carrot for them to investigate, knowing it would lead to you? Eh. Despite that huge plothole, it's a fun read.

Power of Shazam. After writing and drawing a 1994 GN reintroducing Billy Batson/Capt Marvel into the DCU, Jerry Ordway wrote this 1995 ongoing. Ordway deftly balanced the 50s style of lighthearted Silver Age storytelling, and keeping the series in the 'modern' DC Universe. I read the first 20 issues of the 47 book run. He reintroduced Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr into the series, as well as Talky Tawny and other supporting characters. It was also some of Curt Swan's last work as he would do pages of a few issues. He died just before issue 19 came out. Other than the painted covers, Ordway did hardly any of the art, leaving it to Peter Krause and Mike Manley, with Gil Kane and Swan doing GA 'flashbacks' in certain issues. Overall, it was a nice little series.

Next up, some old Power Pack issues and then this box is finished.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Started the next box, and it turned out to be the 'M' box preceding the two (M-P and P-S) boxes I previously went through. I'm not doing it deliberately, honest. Anyway, this book is majorly just books that start with "Marvel". Of which there are many. So I read the few DC books first.

Madame Xanadu. This was a oneshot from 1980. I discovered Madame Xanadu from the 2008 Vertigo series and absolutely loved it. And particularly Amy Reeder's art. So when I found this old issue by Englehart and Rogers, I was quite delighted. "For Collector's Only" on the cover was quite hilarious. So, what--Fuck you, Casual Readers? Ha ha.

Magog. A 2009 shortlived 12 issue ongoing by Keith Giffen and art by Howard Porter and later Tom Derenick. Scott Kolins finished the final two issues with story/art. Considering Magog was originally created by Mark Waid as a criticism/parody of Liefeldian 90s characters and then Geoff Johns tried "legitimatizing" him in JSA, Giffen makes a solid effort. But, well, lets just say if the teeth on the gears arent set probably to begin with, the machine will never run smoothly. Giffen kind of writes him a super powered Punisher, in that he's very no nonsense and butts heads with his fellow capes a lot.

Majestic. After a 2005 mini, Wildstorm's resident Superman pastiche got a 2005 ongoing that lasted 17 issues. I only have the first three issues, which doesn't do much more than whet my appetite. But what I read was good.

Man-Bat. Bruce Jones "reintroduces" Man-Bat into the Bat Mythos with this 2006 mini. It's set right after the 'One Year Later' event and Hush and Black Mask are vying for criminal control when Man-Bat starts killing people, including Francine Langstrom and her two kids. Batman suspects some , but not all, the killings are a copycat killer. So he's enlisting Langstrom's help intrying to prove Kirk only killed SOME of the people. Ridiculous and bleak. Ruins a great anti-hero for shock value.

Manhunter. The 2005 series starring Prosecuter Kate Spencer. Written by Marc Andreyko and art by Jesus Saiz. This was DCs little 'can do' series. Didio kept the book going after its sales dropped and warranted its cancelation. And even after it finally got canned, they worked to bring it back a year later before it ended for good with 38. I missed out on the first 20 or so issues the first time around and worked hard to finally find them. Kate cobbles together a hero uniform from a discarded Darkstars outfit, Azrael's Bat Armor gauntlets, and Manhunter's power staff(all items she found in evidence lock up) so that she can track down supervillains who've perverted the Justice system and kill them. Its a joy to read because Kate has no idea what she's doing at first. In fact, her young son finds her staff in issue to and puts himself in the hospital. Eventually, a subplot begins where somebody starts killing off all the other previous Manhunters (Golden Age Dan Richards, Paul Kirk/Kirk DePaul from the 70s, Mark Shaw from the 80s series, Chase Lawler from the 90s series) and ties all the Manhunter series together. Great stuff and highly recommended.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

The last of the 'M' box.

An issue I was missing from Metal Men by Duncan Roleau. I didn't much enjoy the other 7 issues of this 2007 series. But I hate having incomplete...anything.

And lastly Mighty Crusaders. Both the oneshot and the six issue mini, both from 2010. DC got the Red Circle/Archie heroes back in 2009 and amidst much hooplah plopped them into their DCU. First with 4 oneshots by JMS spotlighting The Shield, The Web, The Inferno, and The Hangman. They followed those up with ongoings for The Shield and The Web, with backup features in those books for the other two guys. Neither series lasted longer than a year. So they made a last ditch effort at a team book in a oneshot. Which segued into the miniseries which was their last appearance in the DCU. And I think the rights reverted back since then, because Archie or a third party is doing Digital First books with characters now.

The series itself was okay, but nothing spectacular. If they hadn't mentioned WayneTech and had a minor supporting role for King Faraday, I wouldn't have even known this was happening in the DCU proper. And working the Tunguska Event into your backstory is a peeve of mine. Its like three or four different storylines lead back to that Event. It's like when an immortal character in the fictional universe gets outed as Jack the Ripper. Six different people can't have been Jack the Ripper. It's weak ass shit and it yanks me out of the story.

[anarky]

I don't mind using major historical mysteries like Tunguska or Jack the Ripper. Well, as long as it only happens once per universe, or they have a damned good explanation.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

But that's just it. I think Mr. Sinister has taken credit for the Ripper. And I think it was a Dr. Strange villain. And the Thunderbolts went time traveling and did it. Mephisto might be in there. Probably more.

And Tunguska is a dimensional rift, or aliens, or some secret Spy bullshit...

Fuck all of 'em.

We should make a Comics Pet Peeves thread. Another one I hate:Nanobots. Fuck nanobots. They're like the science version of magic.

[vynsane]

And Tunguska is a dimensional rift, or aliens, or some secret Spy bullshit...

Fuck all of 'em.

We should make a Comics Pet Peeves thread. Another one I hate:Nanobots. Fuck nanobots. They're like the science version of magic.

these gripes are inapplicable to Atomic Robo, however, because Tesla.

[anarky]

Atomic Robo only has one architect, though. He's not going to forget (I assume) that he explained Tunguska in Atomic Robo and attribute it to Bob the Super-Powered Dog. Marvel and DC have had hundreds of writers over the years, but apparently need to hire a few fanboys to watch their continuity for them.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

A couple books from the 'S' box that aren't Spidey or Super. Or Suicide Squad.

Starman.Just a few issues from the late 80s with the Will Peyton version. Nothing exceptional or hideous. Except Tom Lyle's rendition of Superman on issue 14. Terrible.

Starman: The Mist. A oneshot from the 1998 "GirlFrenzy" series of oneshots. In this one Starman's sometimes nemesis The Mist has her kid kidnapped by Black Hand and she and Mary Marvel have to team up to rescue the brat. Tediousness from James Robinson.

Starman/Congorilla. Oneshot from 2011 that teams up the two titular heroes(this Starman being the gay blue one) to help find a Gorilla from Gorilla City. A tad better, but still Robinson.

Stars and STRIPE. Issues 10-13 of the 14 issue run from 2000. One of Geoff Johns first regular writing gigs. Courtney, the main character is supposedly based on Johns' dead kid sister.

Strange Adventures. A couple issues I was missing from the 2009 Cosmic Opus by Jim Starlin starring most of DCs cosmic B-stringers. I had read the rest of it already so I just flipped thru these real quick. I already knew how it ends.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Some more 'S' books.

Suicide Squad. Nine random issues from the original Ostrander series that ran from '87 to '92. This book is underrated and has plenty of fans for good reason. I'm missing 5 issues for a complete run.

Suicide Squad. The 12 issue revival series from 2001 misses the mark. Giffen was trying to go for a funny angle here and it doesn't suit the title. I only read the first six issues.

Superboy. A few issues from the 1994 series, as well as the 4 Annuals, 2 "Plus" issues, and the DoubleShot issue. Nothing exceptional, but Kesel had a solid run on the series for the most part. He wasn't groundbreaking, but he did well. I did finally read the issue where Superboy's GF Tana Moon was killed. That was intense.
I also have a prestige Suberboy/Robin book by Dixon, Kesel, and Grummett that looks awesome, but I'm waiting to find the second part before I read it. Seeing as how Grummett was the original artist on BOTH characters' ongoings, not to mention a personal fave, I'm looking forward to finding it. It's called Worlds Finest 3.

Debating on whether to jump back into all those Spidey oneshots or delve into a different box and come back to them later.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Instead of going back to Spidey, I decided to tackle Peter David's Supergirl series from 1996. It ran until issue 80 in 2003. I had issues 46-80 from before and I thought I had read them, but apparently not. The last couple years, I've been filling in issues 1-45 and except for 44 I now have a full run. So I read the first 43 issues.
David took the 'Supergirl' idea and really shook it apart and tried something new. He took the "Matrix" version of the character that had been floating around the DCU post-Crisis and the Byrne reboot and turned her into a fallen "Earth Angel" from Heaven that combines with a mortally wounded young woman named Linda Danvers. The merged entity isn't quite Matrix/Supergirl and isn't quite Linda, but has the memories of both. There's a lot of religious undertones throughout the series as Supergirl figures out she's an "angel" now.
Having not read the last half of the series yet, I don't know where David was going with the character, but I noted the end of the series coincided with Jeph Loeb "reintroducing" the Kara Zor-El version in Superman/Batman. Now, I'm sure lagging sales had something to do with it as well, but they probably torpedoed David's series at somebody's request (Didio and Johns and all them fools were getting Boners for Silver Age at the time) to make room for the "real" Supergirl.
SO, a couple months later, Peter David started a "Mature Readers" series called Fallen Angel. It was basically a non-Vertigo book about a character that was verrry similar to the Supergirl character he had developed for 80 issues. The DC series was short lived, but eventually he took the series to IDW as creator owned title. I didn't know this book existed until a week ago when I was looking up Supergirl trivia. So that's why it was cool I found the first 13 issues of the DC run on Saturday.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

After I finished all them Ultimate books, I delved into the rest of the T-U-V-W box. From DC I read

I finished the Time Masters miniseries. I had already read 5 of the 6 issues, so reading issue 3 was more of a completist mentality so that I could file it away. I honestly can't remember how the book ended. I think it teased the impending Flashpoint series.

Titans 24-38. After the original Titans all left, the book turned into Deathstroke and his band of assholes. Besides the character assassination of Slade and Roy Harper, writer Eric Wallace really just sucked for the entire run. The Flashpoint reboot was almost a blessing if this is what Slade was reduced to being a looney asshole.

Triumph. A 4 issue mini from 1997 starring the time lost Justice Leaguer. Some interesting left field ideas about Super Heroing by writer Chris Priest. Not amazing stuff, but a decent little series. The character eventually died in some big Event or something.

Wednesday Comics. I tried reading the first issue. And while some of the stories looked intriguing (Batman by Azarello and Risso, and who wouldn't want to read classic Sgt. Rock drawn by Joe Kubert?) I couldn't wrap my head around trying to read 16 stories all simutaneously, one page at a time. And the other alternative would be to unfold all 12 issues and read each story all at once, going back and forth between all 12 issues 16 times. And frankly, some of the serials lost me after the first chapter. Who wants to read Metal Men by Didio? Plus, when I refolded issue 1, it didn't have that unfolded crisp neatness to it anymore, and frankly doing that to the other 11 issues didn't seem worth the hassle. There is a hardcover collection of the entire series that would probably be easier to read if I ever see it at the library or in a discount box for $5 or whatever. But for now, they'll sit in the box unread.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Started another random box this week. It's the 'G thru I' box, starting with Guy Gardner, the a bunch of H books, before finishing with a large chunk of Hulk books and Impulse, and some Iron Fist series. This is most everything (DC) up until the Hulk stuff.

First up, Guy Gardner Reborn. The 3 issue Prestige Format series by Gerry Jones and Joe Staton.
It takes place after Guy lost his ring to Hal and went on a quest for Sinestro's Yellow ring. Along the way he plays (and spoofs) the Punisher and teams up with Lobo for a bit. Led into Guy's ongoing series. Which I haven't read yet because I'm looking to find a few more issues before starting.
Also had an issue of Guy Gardner:Collateral Damage, but I couldn't stomach an entire Prestige issue of Chaykin's big chinned "art".

Grifter/Midnighter 6. The final issue of a 6 issue mini with two macho gun toting aholes making gay quips at each other. Eh.

An issue of Harley Quinn where she fights the devil or something.

Hawk & Dove. This is the 5 issue reboot of the characters from 1997. Embarrassingly awful work from Mike Baron. The first five pages are just awkwardly attempting to introduce the two main characters and makin up their back story at the same time. I was surprised this was Mike Baron because it was just sad and awful.

A couple issues of Hellblazer. Never really got hooked on this Vertigo title.

Helmet of Fate. After Infinite Crisis, magic in the DCU got ruined and rebooted, so Dr. Fate's helmet was tossed into the cosmos. This was a series of oneshots focusing on Detective Chimp, Sargon, Zauriel, Ibis, and Black Alice coming in contact with the Helmet before it eventually found its new owner, the 11th Dr. Fate(and like fifth person names Kent Nelson...really DC? You don't think that strained credulity?!) introduced in Steve Gerber's final work, Countdown to Mystery. The Detective Chimp issue was my fave, but you can never go wrong with Detective Chimp. The Sargon issue was by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton. They're the 30Days of Night guys right?

Finally, I read History of the DC Universe by Wolfman and Perez with a sense of sadness and bittersweet irony. It was a two part Prestige series released right after Crisis on Infinite Earths that rewrote the new DCU's history starting at the beginning of time and going into the 30th Century of the Legion. Perez's artwork is fanfuckingtastic.

[anarky]

Up until the weird "Warrior" shit (which wasn't bad per session, just wrong for the character), Guy Gardner was fucking phenomenal.

Edit: "per session"? What the fuck? "Per SE!!!" This thing does have fucking autocorrect!