Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 64

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks, Mighty Thor, Volume 3

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor, Vol. 3 by Stan Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Thor stories from Journey Into Mystery #111-#120 and Annual #1

The Thor stories begin by finishing a story involving Cobra and Mister Hyde from the previous book. Then in Issue #112 we learn of one of Thor's battles against the Hulk in an awkward way as he happens to be flying by and overhear a group of young people talking and explains a private (undocumented battle he had with the Hulk in Avengers #3. It's really cheesy. Issue 113 has him deciding to give up being Thor but then the return of the Grey Gargoyle changes his mind.

The book then enters a very long interconnected storyline running from Issues 114-120 involving he and Loki engaging in, "The Trial of the Gods" and it's aftermath. It really is a very intricate storyline that has one story running through it but a lot of twists and turns along the way including Loki forced to try and save Thor.

Clearly, Lee and Kirby were enjoying playing around with Norse mythology. This is true in the main Thor titles and also in the Tales of Asgard shorts which Marvelizes a lot of Asgardian legends, most of them center around younger versions of Thor and Loki, playing to the popularity of Loki as a villian (although there is one explaining the "true" version of Little Red Riding Hood.)

Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 features a battle between Thor and Hercules when Thor crosses into Olympus. The story is your standard, "two heroes stumble onto each other and fight story," but it helps that it's drawn by Jack Kirby who provides superb art on every page of the book. The Annual also features a map of Asgard with a map pointing to a shopping center. (Yea! Verily.)

My biggest complaint is that the book ends in awkward places with both the Thor stories and Tales of Asgard at a high tension "to be continued" place. But to be fair, it may have been hard to find a good stopping place on this one. As is, this is a very fun and creative book and I look forward to more.




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Book Review: Showcase Presents All Star Comics, Volume 1

Showcase Presents: All Star Comics by Paul Levitz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The original run of the Justice Society of America ended with All Star Comics #57 in 1951. The JSA were retired with sales of Superhero comics lagging and a new group of heroes emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s but with the brilliance of "The Flash of Two Worlds," it was established the Golden Age heroes existed on Earth Two while our Silver Age friends existed on Earth One and the old JSA got together with the Justice League of America every year and finally got their own title back with the return of All Star Comics.

While in modern day Superhero comics, no one needs much of an excuse to create a whole new Issue 1, despite a lapse of twenty-five years in All-Star Comics, the Justice Society's Adventures try to pick where they left off in All Star Comics #58 and continue on through Issue 74 before having a run as one of several features in Adventure Comics #461-466 and DC Special #29. Unfortunately, the JSA couldn't just go back.

There's a lot of interesting features in this book. It includes the first appearance of Powergirl, aging of Superman and Batman into middle age with Bruce Wayne (as Gotham City Police Commissioner) declaring war on the JSA in the best storyline of the book. DC Special #29 offers in untold JSA origin story with an absolutely stunning full page picture of Superman punching through a squadron of Nazi planes. Indeed, even when the storylines let you down (as they often do) the artwork remains very good throughout the entire book. We also have the Huntress taking a big role as a bit of a Batman surrogate for the new generation, and the Psycho-Pirate is a solid villain in several stories. Also being set on Earth 2 allowed DC to play around with the universe and kill off a famous hero who they never would in main continuity.

However, the book is one of the weaker Showcase Presents collections I've read. Due to success at Marvel with characters who bickered rather than being "Super Friends," many Superhero books were being written with heroes who didn't get along and weren't always the best people to be around. However, trying this tact on the first Superhero team from a company known for iconic role model heroes, it doesn't feel right and it's hard to like most of these characters. The Flash abandons his team in the midst of a battle, Powergirl begins as a hypersensitive 1970s Comic Book feminist who takes everything as a sexist slight and thinks that the less men who are on the team the better as there will be less men to compete with her. She does mellow out later on but it takes a while. Wildcat is constantly facing mortal injury. No one on this team is all that likable which makes the stories a challenge. This isn't help by a 17 page book length and a roster that just kept changing. You also do see the book blame the end of the Justice Society in the 1950s on the Red Scare (despite any real foundation in this story) which is certainly a lot better tale than "low post-war Circulation."

Overall, this book has some charms but it also has plenty of reminders of why the Justice Society's 1950s revival was so short lived.



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Book Review: Daredevil, Vol. 2: West Coast Scenario

Daredevil Vol. 2: West-Case Scenario by Mark Waid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Mark Waid's great run on Daredevil continues with this book which collects Daredevil #1.50, a Fiftieth Anniversary Issue, and Issues 6-10 of the latest Daredevil series.

The fiftieth anniversary Issue features three stories. First off is a sort of, "What If..." story from Waid imagining an older Matt Murdoch having lived in San Francisco as mayor, retired, and married to Kirsten with a son much different from him, It's a nice little story with a great twist at the end.

Second is an illustrated text story by Brian Michael Bendis which reminds us of how depressing Daredevil used to be. The issue wraps up with a lovely tribute to Mike Murdoch. Back in the 1960s, Matt pretended to be his own twin brother Mike to throw his friends off the fact that he was Daredevil. Mike was then fun and somewhat carefree character. The story is lovely tribute to how wonderful and messed up that whole plot thread was.

Issues 6 and 7 feature a tale that's spun off from "The Original Sin" storyline in the Marvel universe (though reading the storyline isn't required to understand it.) The story answers what happened to Matt's mother. It also called into question the decency of Matt's Father (which had me mad until I saw how the story played out.) On a a character level, it's a very solid tale that fills in a hole in the Daredevil mythos. The plot angle of the new Wakandan government arresting nuns is a bit convoluted and political and plays out with a bit of a comedic flourish. I also have to comment that Daredevil's second West Coast sojourn didn't last longer than his first is that the writer did keep having him have business in New York He's drawn back like a magnet.

Issues 8-10 have two threads running through them. Kirsten's publisher Dad offers Matt a book contract which causes him to think about all of the problems in his life and question whether happy Matt is anything but a facade. The other sees the return of the Purple Man who seeks to reclaim hsi children who all have his gift for emotional manipulation and once empowered are fully immune from his charms, so that they can honestly react to him. The plot is solid and psychologically engaging.

Overall, this is another great collection of Daredevil comics made even better by the inclusion of the Fiftieth Anniversary material.




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Book Review: Batgirl, Volume 2: A Knight Alone

Batgirl, Vol. 2: A Knight Alone by Kelley Puckett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The second volume collects Issues 7-11, 13 and 14 of the Cassandra Cain Batgirl stories. Issues 7-9 focus on the aftermath of the events in the prior story where she lost her amazing skills that allowed her to anticipate her opponents moves when she was given the gift of communication. Her costume has been taken away by Batman who doesn't think she can be safe. These stories show how important being the best is as it leads her into a confrontation with a Lady Shiva and Batgirl shows there's little she won't do to be good for as long as she can. How her skills are returned is a bit of a cheat, but it's interesting.

The rest of the book is made up of one shots. Issue 10 features a frustrated man with a gun in an alley. Batgirl is kind of an ineffectual afterthought. Issue 11 focuses on Cain's lowlife father David who escapes from the hospital but not from trouble. Issue 13 sees her give a young criminal an opportunity to go straight by saving him out of costume and Issue 14 ends with a new milestone in Cassandra's life as a result of that decision.

Overall, despite some merely okay stories, I enjoyed the book because Cassandra continues to be just an amazing character.




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Book Review: Superman Chronicles, Volume 10

The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 10 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The final paperback Superman Chronicles book collects Superman tales from Action Comics #53-55, Superman 18 and 19 and World's Finest #7 covering late 1942,'

It's not quite as good as its predecessors which isn't to say there aren't some good stories in it.

World's Finest #7 features a fun but somewhat cheesy "And Then There Were None" take-off with one guest after another being bumped off.

The lead off story of Superman #18, "The Conquest of a City" is a tale meant to arouse public dedication to the war effort. Nazis take over Metropolis by pretending to be concerned citizens pretending to be Nazis to simulate a take-over. There's a flaw in their plan but it's wonderfully bonkers and Superman finds it.

Superman #19 has four stories in it and each is a gem. "The Case of the Funny Paper Crimes" has newspaper comic strip characters come to life and it's up to Superman to fight them, which is surreal because at the time, Superman was a newspaper strip character (in addition to the comic books.) "Superman's Amazing Adventure" has Superman crossing dimensional lines and is the first story of many in which we're faked out into believing Lois has learned Superman's secret identity. The ending is a cop out but it's the first of many which I guess makes it a landmark copout.

"The Canine and the Crooks" finds Superman protecting a dog who's been targeted by criminals, "Superman, Matinee Idol" finds Lois and Clark going to a theater to watch the premier of the Paramount Superman cartoon shorts (which were actually in theaters at the time of release) and Clark has to get Lois out of the theater for those portions in which his secret identity is shown. This does imply that Lois is the only one who doesn't know.

The book wraps up with, "A Goof Named Tiny Rufe" about a cartoonist who is desperate for ideas and manages to find one for a new strip in a young country bumpkin couple. However, when they're about to get married, the strip is imperiled and the cartoonist tries to break them up. Saving the young lovers is a job for Superman.

Sadly is not all so good in this book. Even the Luthor tale, "The Heat Horror" in Superman #18 was disappointing compared to his previous appearance. Though at this point , Luthor was being overused. (The story was also hurt in my opinion by Lois taking over as Editor for a day, saying it was too much and asking to return to the lovelorn column.) The search for effective foes for Superman continued in this book but both The Snake (Superman #18) and the Night Owl (Action Comics #53) were disappointing so-so stories.

Also landing in the sub-par category would be the story, "The Man with a Cane" (also in Superman #18) and Jerry Siegel's attempt to write a Superman ghost/pirate story in Action Comics #54.

Still, there's more good moments than bad and when Superman is good in the 1940s, it's brilliant with fun and often surreal tales that hold up very well.




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Book Review: Young Justice, Voume 4: The In

Young Justice Vol. 4: Invasion by Greg Weisman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Young Justice #20-#25. The second season of Young Justice was set five years after the first. This series seeks to fill the gap. It tells two separate stories: One, an event that happened just after the end of Season One and the second is an event with multiple alien invasions occurring at the same time, days before the start of Season 2.

Overall, this is a solid book. It's certainly not essential as you can understand the TV series without it, but it allows you to see events the TV show only hints at which makes it a winner for fans of the series. The book can be a bit confusing. That's not helped by the multitude of characters or the fact that the comic is trying to tell both stories over the course of six issues, so it's easy to get lost.

Still, this is an enjoyable book with a lot of Easter Eggs to reward fans of Young Justice.



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Book Review: The Tick and Arthur: The Complete Works

The TICK and ARTHUR The Complete Works by Sean Wang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects a year worth of Tick comics. Durihng this year, Sean Wang's regular Tick series, "The Tick and Arthur" alternated with issues of the anthology series, "Tick: Heroes of the City."

The first three Issues of "The Tick and Arthur" begins as an epic crossover event featuring Paul the Samurai and a host of villains and heroes, the return of Oedipus (now wanting to be called Ashley) and the Ninjas from the original Tick series. It includes a few retcons and a host of villains. The ninjas are hilarious but from a fan perspective, it was probably not the best way to start given that the Tick Luny Bin mini-series had just come before that.

Issues 4 and 5 are a lesser story in which the Tick and Arthur find they have some imitators-the Flea and Doyle. (Yes, really.) The story has some fun moments around side kickers and some somewhat uncomfortable moments with a superhero abducting a child to be a sidekick which is meant to parody Batman. I'm borderline on it.

Issue 6 finds the new Superhero team the Tick and Arthur formed being confronted by Chainsaw Vigilante, but they all have to team up to fight an invasion of killer intelligent trees. It's inspired Tick goofiness.

The first three issues of, "Heroes of the City" features three stories. The first is the Tick, prompted by Arthur complaining he doesn't understand what it's like to be a sidekick, renting himself as a sidekick to weird superheroes. Essentially each story is the same as the Tick totally undermines the existing hero. Thankfully, it doesn't long enough to become repetitive.

The second are solo stories with Arthur, which are actually quite fun. It's nice to see Arthur taking a lead role, even kicking a bit of tale.

Finally, are the tales of Myndi, the Pom Pom Protector. It's an absolute hilarious story of a cheerleader themed superheroine. I enjoyed it and was disappointed with an ending that suggested, "It was all just a dream."

Issues 4 and 5 featured a two part story featuring Paul the Samurai and Ashley, each featured a two page Tick and Arthur story, and two other features with miscellaneous heroes.

The Paul the Samurai and Ashley story had some good moments, but Paul just doesn't work as a regular team. The Tick story for Issue 5, "The Savage Tick" was kind of ordinary, but Issue 4's Brunch is probably one of the most hilarious short Tick features I've ever read. The other features with characters ranging from Red Eye to the Crazy Blue Rocket, Hand Grenande Man, and Man-Eating Cow were merely okay.

Issue 6 is an all Tick and Arthur issue that has the Tick concluding that he and Arthur need secret identities and day jobs. In many ways, this hails back to the earliest Tick stories. It was actually pretty fun.

Overall, this book is a real mixed bag in terms of quality and style. I didn't enjoy it as much as, "Big Blue Destiny," but there are still some good moments. There's one story where having read The Tick Specials The Complete Works would have made it easier to understood, so I do recommend that.



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Book Review: Essential Amazing Spider-man, Volume 8

Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 8 by Len Wein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After Stan Lee and Gerry Conway's superb runs on the Amazing Spider-man, it's safe to say that Len Wein's 30 issue run on the title was middling by comparisog n.

This book collects, the final 2/3 of that run from Amazing Spider-man 160-180 along with Issues 181-185, Amazing Spider-man Annual #11 and Nova #12.

The book retreads a lot of old territory with reviving villains such as the Molten Man The Lizard, the Kingpin returning with stories very similar to what's gone before. The same can be said guest appearances by the Punisher. We have the return of the Green Goblin (#176-180) with a story that will give long-time readers deja vu as it is reminiscent of so many other Spider-man stories (though there is a twist but the book makes it too obvious.) We also have a new spider-slayer. The Rocket Racer is Wein's chief contribution to Spidey's rogue's gallery and he isn't that great of character.

There were a few interesting twists in Wein's work including J Jonah Jameson almost discovering Spider-man's secret identity. Still, at this point, Bill Manlo was doing far more interesting stuff on third Spider-man series, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-man and one of the more interesting stories borrowed the hitman from that book so they could have a battle royale with the Punisher and Jonah atop the Statue of Liberty.

There are also a two part team-up between Spidey and Nova which stangely enough is a whodunit.

Despite its lack of originality, I enjoyed Wein's work. Wein gets all the characters right. This is crucial because in the 1970s there were so many changes to comics (many of which were misguided) that actually knowing your character and having them right was a tough challenge, though at times they did get a little melodramatic. (See Liz in Spider-man #180) Plus Ross Andru's art is really well-done and it's on nearly every page (except for Nova #12, the Annual, and #181.)

To non-Wein material, the Annual was scripted by Bill Manlo from a plot by Archie Goodwin and it's about Spidey taking on a movie role where there's mayhem on the set. It's, of course, not Spidey's first foray into movies even in an Annual (Amazing Spider-man Annual #4), but this one shows some lessons have been learned. For example, Spidey demands cash because he's had difficulty cashing checks made payable to the order of Spider-man. It's a fun story.

Amazing Spider-man #181 was written by Manlo with art by Sal Buscema and it's called (for obvious reasons, 'Flashback') and it's an extended story in which Spidey has a flashback over his whole career, shedding no new light on anything. It's a bit lazy way to come over the transition to the new writer.

Marv Wolfman takes over at Amazing Spider-man #182 and #183 and we're given an origin for the Rocket Racer and introduced to the Big Wheel. It's an okay story though I'm not certain I buy the Rocket Racer as some sort of blackmailer. Spider-man #184 and #185 features a good story of Spider-man battling the White Dragon which feeds into the Martial movie trend of the era. We also get to see Peter graduating (sort of) in Amazing Spider-man #185. Wolfman tries to revive the idea of the "Parker luck," leading to a somewhat downbeat end, but it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with Peter not keeping track of his stuff.

Overall, a mixed bag but still good enough reading because it may not all be original but its Spider-man.



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Book Review: Showcase Presents Batman and the Outsiders

Showcase Presents: Batman and the Outsiders by Mike W. Barr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Batman and the Outsiders finds Batman finding his own Superhero team and quitting the Justice League after the Justice League refused to compromise World peace to go in and rescue Batman's friend, Lucius Fox and by and by he ends up forming his own superhero group, "The Outsiders." Which is composed of two heroes who had been around a while but not quite become star characters (Black Lightning and Metamorpho.) as well as several newer characters.

There are some character moments as well particularly with Katana, Black Lightning, and Halo. What also makes the stories really work is that most of them are two part tales. Given the length of a single issue in this book is 23 pages (+1 page for cover), that gives 46 pages to tell a story which works really well for a comic book.

It should be clear that this book is part of its time when the New Teen Titans and X-men were up and coming stars, Batman and the Outsiders tried to tap into that same market but wasn't quite as good, but that doesn't mean it wasn't without merit.

What is problematic is the Batman and the Outsiders Annual which has the Outsiders battling group of evil metahumans who think they are heroes, but are really tools of a right wing plot It's a plot that goes to great lengths to illustrate how any conservative imagining a liberal conspiracy dominating the media is way off based as proven by this by this left wing biased comic book...Kind of ironic when you think about it.

Other than story, the stories are pretty good. The art by Jim Aparo is well-drawn. There's a bit of decline in quality in the issue Aparo doesn't work. Still, the book works far more often that it doesn't and overall this is a fairly enjoyable collection of comics.



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Book Review: Ultimate Comics Spider-man, Volume 2

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol.2 by Brian Michael Bendis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Ultimate Comics Spider-man Issues 6-10 and sees Miles continue to learn about his powers while his uncle Aaron (The Prowler) battles the Scorpion. There are very few battles in this story. The Scorpion, a far more scary and imposing villain than why you saw in the 616 Universe makes his presence known and battles the Prowler, while Miles has a battle with Omega Red who (while not a top tier baddy) is still a challenge.

Mostly the book is about Miles still developing as Spider-man. I like the idea of him watching "YouTube" videos (or the overly sensitive trademark generic version they use here.) Still, being a Brian Michael Bendis story, you have to brace for a lot of text and lengthy conversations, which is quite unusual, and I really wished it'd been a bit less.

Still, I'm enjoying the character and liking the direction of the book, only I wish it wasn't so talky sometimes.



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