Trivia Quiz #16 Questions (Jeopardy Style)

1. Ace, Prof, Rocky and Red.

Q: Who are the Challengers of the Unknown?

2. The Gloom Room A-Go-Go.

Q. What was the name of the bar owned by the Kingpin where Mary Jane Watson was a dancer? (In ASM #59-60)

3. The Green Goblin and Captain Stacy.

Q. Who were the two people in the Silver Age to discover Spiderman's real identity of Peter Parker?

4. Edward Nigma.

Q. Who was the Riddler?

5. The Super-Adaptoid, Amazo and the Composite Superman.

Q. Who were the three villains who had the respective superpowers of all members of the Avengers, Justice League of America and the Legion of Super Heroes.

Dan got all five correct! Terrific job, Dan, I really thought I'd stump everybody with #2. Thelonius Nick and Michael Rebain scored four of five. Lito S got three; he was close on #5 but the Composite Superman was not an android as I discussed here.

More about →

Modern Silver: The New Frontier Part II

The second book opens with the Martian Manhunter being transported to Earth by Dr. Erdel. Darwyn Cooke (the writer and artist for the series) clearly intends to follow the chronology of the Silver Age DC heroes, and thus MM is the first to appear, as he was in Detective #225 (November 1955). We see that Wonder Woman and Superman are both involved in missions in Southeast Asia, although it appears that they don't care much for each other. Diana has freed some women from the "rebels" who then turned on their captors and killed them. Superman is appalled and threatens to tell "the undersecretary".

This sequence appears to place in Vietnam, and from other context later we can see that it's in the mid-1950s, so Cooke has done some time compression. We learn that a police scientist named Barry Allen survived a close call with death when he was nearly hit by lightning that splashed some chemicals on him.

The Martian Manhunter has become John Jones, Detective. He teams up with Slam Bradley to try to rescue a young boy who has been kidnapped. They arrive to find that Batman is already fighting the kidnappers and they assist in the rescue of the youngster.

In the next sequence, Ted (Wildcat) Grant is boxing against Cassius Clay (later known as Mohammed Ali) in Vegas. This again gives us the time period as the very early 1960s, as Clay has not yet become the champion, but he has turned pro (which he did after the 1960 Olympics. Improbably Grant ends up beating him. Of course the real Clay was not beaten as a professional until the first Ali-Frazier fight in 1971.

After the fight is over, Captain Cold shows up to try to steal the purse. But he screws up by freezing Iris West while she is on the phone to her fiance. Barry (as the Flash) hotfoots it to Vegas and foils Cold's robbery attempt.

The politics in this issue is handled much more indirectly. Oliver Queen storms off when Lois Lane denounces the Flash as being every bit the criminal that Captain Cold is (for violating the laws against being a superhero). Of course, this is contra Queen's personality late in the Silver Age, when he never backed down from expressing his political opinions.

At the end of the story we learn that Chuck Yeager has arranged for Hal Jordan to get a job at Ferris Aircraft. We can see that he yearns for excitement.

Comments: Overall this issue is mostly a stage-setter. The characters are beginning to move into position, but the major plotline has only been hinted at so far. The Flash sequences are delightful:



But Cooke still has some characters to introduce before the series really takes off.

More about →

Friday Trivia Quiz #16: Jeopardy Style

Okay, as in Jeopardy, I will give you the answers, you have to provide the question. Please be sure it is in the form of a question:

1. Ace, Prof, Rocky and Red.

2. The Gloom Room A-Go-Go.

3. The Green Goblin and Captain Stacy.

4. Edward Nigma.

5. The Super-Adaptoid, Amazo and the Composite Superman.

More about →

The Modern Silver Age

Although the Silver Age of Comics ended (in my estimation) about 38 years ago, the market is still served via Archive Editions (DC) or Masterworks (Marvel). In addition, several modern comic book series have been produced to provide new looks at the Silver Age characters. Three that I have specifically in mind are the Silver Age series produced by DC around 2000, 1963 by Alan Moore, and The New Frontier, released by DC in 2004.

I thought I would take a look at that last series over the next few days. I will say right up front that while the series has a few unfortunate flaws, it comes with my highest recommendation. It is a fine achievement in storytelling and captures the essence of the Silver Age while clearly reflecting modern sensibilities as well.

The name, "The New Frontier", refers to a phrase used by John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention:

We stand at the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.

In the title it evokes the same era in comics, as DC began the great revival of superheroes that became known as the Silver Age.

The story begins with the Losers, several of DC's Silver Age WWII characters, stranded on an island with a T-Rex. This evokes the rather oddball "WWII and dinosaurs" era of Star Spangled War Stories in the mid-1960s, although the Losers (Captain Storm, Gunner, Sarge & Pooch and Johnny Cloud) came along later. The T-Rex kills all but Johnny Cloud, who avenges his fellow losers:



It is basically a digression from the real story, but isn't that the point? The DC war comics of the 1960s are certainly nowadays considered a digression from the really interesting superhero era. Which gets underway in the second part of the first book, when a young man meets Colonel Chuck Yeager:



There is a moment in every great comic where the reader suddenly realizes that this is going to be really good. For me it came a few panels later, when it is revealed that the young lad who idolizes Col. Yeager is Hal Jordan. It's the missing piece of the puzzle, the moment where we understand why Hal became a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft in the Silver Age. It may seem minor, but an additional piece of characterization for one of DC's major SA characters that fits what we already know and yet adds depth to the character? Priceless.

This highlight is followed by a bit of tedious political correctness that has apparently become part of the DC mythos. We are told through an Iris West feature article that the Golden Age comic heroes of the DC Universe were banned and either retired or hunted down during the McCarthy-inspired "Red Scare" of the 1950s. This merges Earth-1 with Earth-2. We hear that Roy Raymond got caught up in the blacklist and that's why his show was canceled. We also learn that Richard Nixon was behind it all, and Superman was the enforcer of the edict against superheroes.

The negative of this nonsense is that it wasn't true. DC's Golden Age Superheroes were not forced to take a dirt nap by anything other than consumer (lack of) demand. Roy Raymond's series was canceled in 1961, well after the Hollywood Blacklist had been broken.

When this tedious bit is followed by the revelation that Hal has become a young fighter pilot in Korea, but that he refuses to shoot down enemy pilots, I resumed my skepticism that the story was going to prove pleasing. Fortunately I was wrong, but this was a silly attempt to shoehorn in the prohibition against killing. Perhaps we can buy Hal's refusal to become an ace, but how do we understand his commanding officer's acceptance of same?

The last part of the first issue weaves in Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Hal actually does kill an enemy soldier, but solely because he cannot remember Korean for "The war is over."

Comments: This issue has some terrific moments but also slips into an annoyingly PC view of comic history at the end that actually had me wondering if it was worth continuing. If you get through the first book and are wondering as well, definitely read on. There will be more annoying moments, but the good parts outweigh the bad by a large margin.

More about →

#078.Indrajal Comics 32

Dear Divish,
Look
Outside
It's So
Pleasant !
Sun
Smiling
For
You !
Trees
Dancing
For
You!
Birds
Singing
For
You !
Because,
I told them
All To Wish You..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ajay's son Divish Misra is going to be 6 years on 15th November.
Mostly AJAY's scans either Divish or Parishi (his daughter) sends me, he just opens his mail, rest work they do.
Studying in class 1st, DAV , Dayanand Vihar, Delhi.
Hobby - Just playing and sending me comics by email, very good spoken English, knows computer very well.
He loves Phantom very much because of his Guns. Likes very much FREW specials or Annuals which are very special in their cover / thickness etc.

Hindi version is already posted in blog. It was reprinted as "V24N51-1987-Phantom-Return of the Dead Genuises" which is already available online.

184-1973-Phantom-The Brain Seller

It's an Ajay's contribution.








This is a new & complete version.

262-1976-Phantom-Merchants of Death Part 1(new)


It's an Anonymous contribution.












This is a new version.

263-1976-Phantom-Merchants of Death Part 2 (new)


It's an Ajay's contribution.








V20N15-1983-Mike Nomad-Splinters of Rage



It's an Anonymous contribution.






Some more coming attractions:

* by Anonymous





* by Ajay

More about →

Bloggy Comic Book Goodness Elsewhere

It's been awhile since I've pointed out the excellent posts going on around the comic blogosphere, so here's a taste:

Mark Engblom's got a pair of posts up on his ten favorite comic book robots of all time. I'm disappointed that neither the Doom Patrol Robotman or the Star Spangled/Detective Comics Robotman made the cut, but he did include the Metal Men. The Vision is a bit of a cheat (he's an android, not a robot), and I was inclined to feel the same way about his #1 selection, until I watched the little video that he included with the post. Okay, he qualifies!

Booksteve's Library has a post on a series of Bob Hope shows in Cincinnati. Which reminds me, I really should put together a post on the Bob Hope comics of the Silver Age. I'm not sure how much involvement old "ski-jump" nose had with the comics that bore his name, but they're actually quite funny and entertaining.

The Groovy Agent has a post up on Don Newton and the Phantom that I recommend. Newton's art was unfamiliar to me, even though he apparently worked on Batman at one point, but it is indeed beautiful.

The Fortress of Fortitude points out a Charlton comic where Steve Ditko reprised his Doctor Strange character (albeit with another name). Ditko has always been one of my favorite artists, and it is my opinion that his Dr Strange stories were among the most beautifully illustrated books in the Silver Age, so it's a real treat to read a "new" Ditko Dr Strange. Note: After clicking on a page, click on the magnifying glass, otherwise the text is hard to read.

Four Color Media Monitor has a post on the demise of several Batman-related books (Birds of Prey, Robin, and Nightwing) and speculation on the upcoming Batman, RIP series. If you want to know why I pay almost no attention to current comics, it's because of what DC has done with Batman over the last two decades. I focus on the Silver Age because it's the last era in comics where heroes were worth emulating and provided their readers with a strong moral code.

Along the lines of my recent post about defining the Silver Age, I Believe in Bat-Mite has a post defining the 1950s Batman as extending to the end of Jack Schiff's run as editor in May 1964. This is a good argument and one that I essentially agree with. I've been meaning to put together a post on the four distinctly different Batman eras of the 1960s; maybe this will get me busy on the topic.

Note: Friday Trivia Quizzes will return, although maybe not every week; I just felt like I was running out of good questions.

More about →

Single Issue Review: Star Spangled War Stories #132

In honor of Veteran's Day, I thought I'd cover one of DC's war comics. Star Spangled #132 has the oddball distinction of being one of those rare comics that actually was printed twice. Star Spangled Comics started out as a superhero book, featuring the adventures of the Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy. When that feature proved insufficient to sustain sales, DC added the Newsboy Legion, a Simon & Kirby creation. Eventually interest waned there, and DC began a series of (terrific) stories featuring Robin, the Boy Wonder. In the late 1940s SS fronted Tomahawk, a western feature that quickly graduated to his own magazine; then in the early 1950s DC pushed "horror" stories in keeping with the trends. Eventually the book switched to a war format, and became Star Spangled War Stories with #131. That lasted until #133, when DC, for reasons unknown, decided to reboot the numbering, although even there they screwed up as they started with #3 even though there had been three issues before that.

The end result is that there are two separate comics known as Star Spangled #132, the one issued in 1952 and the one issued in 1967. The one I am going to talk about actually falls outside the Silver Age, being published in September 1952.

The cover story leads off the issue, and it's terrific. Hank Miskov is a major-league hurler who won game seven of the World Series in memorable fashion, tossing the first no-hitter in the history of the fall classic (this was before Don Larsen accomplished that feat for the New York Yankees). However, his elation turns to disappointment as he's drafted into the army to do his part in World War II. He's worried (as shown on the cover) that he'll ruin his arm. Fortunately he meets a fellow recruit named George Harris who's a big fan and who volunteers to do the risky work for him. Miskov quickly earns the scorn of the rest of the soldiers for his refusals to risk his arm, but Harris still idolizes him. Inevitably:



Well, you can probably guess the rest of the story right there; inspired by George's sacrifice, Hank becomes a lean, mean, fighting machine, wiping out Germans by the score with his throwing arm and a box full of grenades, and when the war is over, he has the inspiration he needs in a jam:



Comments: A wonderful and inspirational story. About the only flaw I can see is that they show Miskov throwing grenades overhand, which of course probably would have ruined that million-dollar arm. Because (at the time) DC's war stories were almost exclusively one-shots, they needed terrific characterization presented very quickly, and this tale delivered it in spades.

The next story in the book is an offbeat number called Suicide Detail. Trip-wire Wiggins is the army's best man at laying anti-tank mines, but he's also something of a jitterbug and loves to listen to popular music, which drives his commanding officer batty. But things turn grim as his company is trapped by the Germans and the only way out is through a minefield that Wiggins had laid earlier. He can't remember the pattern he used until he hears a fellow soldier playing guitar. This jogs his memory and he successfully leads the men through the mines.

Comments: Cute little story and a good change of pace.

The Braggart of Company B is the third yarn in the book, and it concerns George Pringle, a PFC who continually regales his squadron with tall tales about his heroism in action. But in a twist on the old "boy who cried wolf", when Pringle actually does do something courageous, nobody believes him.

Comments: Okay story, nice art by Jerry Grandinetti, one of DC's top war artists.

The text story is a good one, about the training fighter pilots undergo at the old Williams Field Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona, written by Air Force Lieutenant Joseph Jarrett.

The final story concerns a mail clerk in the army who never receives any mail for himself. This is another aspect of the war stories that DC published; they tried to cover every occupation in the military, not just the fighting men. In this one, a soldier is anxiously awaiting news of the birth of his first child, but the mail never seems to come. Finally a postcard arrives for the soldier; it's a boy! But the proud papa is under fire on the front lines, and the mail clerk decides to risk his own life to deliver the message.

Moved by his bravery, the rest of the company decides to see to it that the mail clerk gets some mail of his own:



Comments: Another wonderful and heartwarming story.

More about →