Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 69

Book Review: Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos

The Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos by Jim Starlin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Rebirth of Thanos chronicles the return of this intergalactic mad man/menace prior to the big event, the Infinity Gauntlet after his final defeat back in the 1970s. This book collects Silver Surfer vol. 3 #34-38 and Thanos Quest #1 and #2.

The Silver Surfer issues are a bit stretched out. The Silver Surfer faces Thanos in Issues 35 and 38. Issue 34 is a nightmare the Surfer has that leads into the Surfer's first encounter with Thanos and Issue 38 is the final encounter. Issue 36 sees him flying to Earth and accessing the Avengers database for clues on Thanos since when the Avenger battled Thanos the first time the Silver Surfer was exiled to Earth and then the Surfer runs into the Impossible Man. Issue 37 has him meeting with Mentor (the father of Thanos) and then Drax the Destroyer and tangling with him.

The Silver Surfer issues are good, but the story does feel padded. A story about Thanos doesn't need comic relief in the Impossible Man or in Drax either (because that's what that story turns into.) and there's a lot of backstory in Issues 36 and 37 but much of that was necessary when dealing with a dangerous villain that has been hidden for two decades.

Tahnos Quest was a series of two double length comics telling how Thanos built his Infinity Gauntlet by taking each of the Infinity Gems (in the 1970s they were called Soul Gems) from its demigod possessors. We get a look at how dangerous Thanos is without an effective hero to oppose him. He can be charming, deceptive, and ruthless. This book portrays him as both a fanatical devotee of death and a clever sociopath who wants the death of half the lives in the Universe. This does a great job setting the stage for the Infinity Gauntlet as it becomes clear that Marvel heroes are all in for a great challenge in the next miniseries.



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Book Review: DC/Marvel: Crossover Classics, Volume 4

DC/Marvel: Crossover Classics 4 by Ron Marz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After a disappointing Third Volume in the Crossover Classics, this Fourth Volume sees a return to Premier team ups of some of the most memorable characters in the DC Universe:

Green Lantern/Silver Surfer; Unholy Alliances: Silver Surfer finds himself fighting DC Universe Villain Cyborg and runs into Parallax (aka. Hal Jordan, the former DC Universe Green Lantern, now a current prominent Green Lantern, who had turned evil.) and the two are drawn into an alliance. Meanwhile Thanos goes to Earth and gets Kyle Rainer, the then-Incumbent Green Lantern to battle Paralax.

This idea, which to fully appreciate, you have to have some basic idea of what was going on in the DC Universe back in the 1990s. The Parallelism between Paralax and the Silver Surfer is interesting and it makes perfect sense that they'll come together. The art has some amazing panels. It's very imaginative and holds together dramatically. A bit continuity heavy, but still a winning story. Grade: B+

Darkseid/Galactus: The Hunger: Written by John Byrne, whose best known for his work on Superman, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer among others this features Galactus trying to feed on Apokolips with a Silver Surfer who has not yet encountered the Fantastic Four and is still Galactus' loyal herald. It's an epic that's mostly enjoyable. I've got mixed feelings on Byrne's artwork, but if you love it, than you'll love this story. You have the New Gods, Silver Surfer, and Galactus. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't make much sense other than showing how evil Darkseid can truly be. It makes the exercise kind of pointless. Still, I'll go with a Grade: B

Batman and Spider-man: New Age Dawning: This is the second Batman, Spider-man team up and features two classic foes: Ra's Al-Ghul and the Kingpin. Kingpin's wife is dying of Cancer and Al-Ghul has a cure but wants the Kingpin's cooperation in his latest quest to save the world by destroying it. The Kingpin wouldn't normally sign on but he's really hard pressed. This is a very clever tale with Batman and Spider-man being the only White Hats in a story that's, in effect, populated by morally ambiguous villains. I didn't like how the story played Al-Ghul as Quasi-religious as an explanation of his actions and had mixed feelings on the art for Mary Jane, didn't quite capture her vitality. Still, this is perhaps one of the most cleverly written crossover and I loved the ending. Grade: A-

Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction: Superman finds a message from Jor-el that implicates Galactus in the destruction of Krypton, so he flies to the Marvel Universe. When he's captured by Galactus and made the new herald, it's up to the Fantastic Four to rescue Superman and stop Galactus with the Cyborg Superman playing a key role. There's a lot to like about this. I love the visual of Franklin Richards watching Superman on TV in the Baxter Building. You see a more modern version of the FF in action which has good and bad points to it. I'm somewhat non-plussed on Cyborg Superman as a villain in this epic struggle. He really plays too big of a role. Still, the interaction between the FF and Superman is quite enjoyable. The art is superb. Overall, I'll give this story a Grade: B+



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Book Review: Blue Beetle, Volume 2: Road Warrior

Blue Beetle, Vol. 2: Road Trip by Keith Giffen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 7-12 of the first Blue Beetle series with Jaime Reyes. This volume is all about Jaime coming to terms with his powers and understanding where they come from. He'll trackdown the granddaughter of the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, have a strange space adventure involving magic.

This book is interesting. There's so much to like about Jaime. He stands in contrasts to all of the angsty characters out there. His family is even more different. He's told his family about his secret identity and they're okay with it (within reasonable parameters) and even his erstwhile sort of mentor Peacemaker better not run afoul of them and should show his parents respect. Awesome. I also enjoy Peacemaker as a character.

There's some great art, a fun story, and a good mystery that builds, through the book. Other than some issues with strong language by a few secondary characters, this book is almost kid-friendly, which is rare.

Overall, this is an enjoyable and interesting tale with a character that showed definite promise.



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Book Review: Essential Amazing Spider-man Volume 7

Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 7 by Gerry Conway

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Amazing Spider-man Issues 138-160, Giant Size Spider-man #4 and #5 and the Amazing Spider-man Annual #10. The first more than half of the book is the end of the Gerry Conway era as represented in Issues 138-149 and the two Giant Sized issues, Archie Goodwin wrote Amazing Spider-man #150 and then handed off the book to Len Wein who wrote Issues 151-160 and Amazing Spider-man Annual #10. The art chores are handled mostly by Ross Andru with assists from Gil Kane (Spiderman #150 and AS Annual #10) and Sal Buscema (AS #154 and #155)

The Conway era was great for Spider-man. Taking over for Stan Lee in Amazing Spider-man #111, his run took the character in the new directions with the death of Gwen Stacy (in the previous volume.) In this book, we get the start of the clone saga which has gotten a bad name, but that's due to the botched 1990s attempt to bring back the saga. Conway's final 12 issues work through the mystery of who the Jackal is as a question that's occasionally in the foreground but is always working through the background. During Conway's run we saw the return of Mysterio and the Scorpion plus Spider-man taking on some unique 1970s villains like the Grizzly and the Cyclone.

In Giant Sized Spider-man #4, we have a team up between Spidey and the Punisher which is notable for the lack of rancor that typically accompanies the team-ups these days. Giant-sized Spider-man #5 has a team up with Man-thing (because every Marvel hero in the 70s had to team up with Man-thing.)

Conway told great tale and built a very good arc. Whatever, the problems with the follow up, the original was a nice piece of 1970s storytelling. While I think one reason he killed off Gwen Stacy, he didn't know what to do with her, he did manage to really solidly establish the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane that would be so important for decades.

Archie Goodwin's Issue #150 is an enjoyable issue that manages to put a period on the end of the Clone saga.

Wein's writing is far more varied. We saw the return of some old villains, but also a few intriguing issues without premier Supervillains. Issues 153 and 155 are the type of things you'd see in a Batman comic of the era. Issue 153 has a scientist being blackmailed by men who kidnapped his daughter and the story is somewhat with a great tearjerker ending. Issue #155 is a full fledged Spider-man whodunit that fixes a hanging thread from a Daredevil story. Issue #156 has Spidey having to thwart robbers at Ned Leads and Betty Brant wedding. I enjoyed all these issues, though #156 was probably the weakest.

Returning supervillains was a big focus of this one as this era saw the return of Shocker (#151 and #152), Sandman (#154). Doctor Octopus and Hammerhead . (#157-#159.) The final issue of that arc has a team up between Spider-man and Doctor Octopus which is surreal. Wein brings back these villains without them feeling old or cliched.

He introduces a villain of his own in Amazing Spider-man Annual #10 where we meet the Human Fly, another villain created courtesy of J. Jonah Jameson and a mad scientist (ala the Scorpion.) However, this felt more than a retread, partially because it had a fascinating first part where Spider-man foiled the future Human Fly's attempt at kidnapping.

Finally, we have Amazing Spider-man #160 where Len Wein ties up the biggest loose end from the Conway era-the Spider-mobile. Spider-man had left the car in the river and in the book's finale, it's out for revenge. It's a great final chapter to that silly saga.

Overall, this was a great era for Spider-man and a great collection full of wonderful action, some good character moments, solid art, and great writing.



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Is Spider-man "Uniquely Sixties"?

One thing I loved about the comic book collections on DVD-ROM Marvel put out a few years ago is that it allowed you to see the whole comic including Ads and (most importantly to me), the letters columns. This lets you see exactly how the fans of the era viewed the comics you're reading. Some of them were written by people who would be famous and others are insightful.

Consider this one from Bernadette L. Bosky of Green Castle, Indiana in Amazing Spider-man #143 (1975) where the big debate is whether Peter Parker should graduate after 9 years as a college student. She makes the case that like Doc Savage and the Shadow are "uniquely thirties" that Spider-man is "uniquely sixties" based on the many experiences he had. That Spider-man shouldn't be considered to be the product of every generation based on all the experiences he went through in the 1960s which were so formative.

Of course, Marvel has tried to make him youthful for every generation with new television series and comics including, "Ultimate Spider-man," the TV show. While I'm not sure I'd agree with Bernadette that he's uniquely Sixties, I do wonder if the basic core idea of Spider-man
fits with our twenty-first Century world.

Spider-man's principal core idea is that, "with great power comes great responsibility." However, this wasn't a simple situation for Spidey in the 1960s because responsibility wasn't easy. He didn't just have responsibilities as Spider-man, but as Peter Parker. He was a nephew, a student, and an employee as well and he had to balance all these responsibilities with that of being Spider-man. And it was these efforts that would land him in trouble. It was the conflict not between selfishness and responsibility but between responsibility and responsibility. One key responsibility was his need to provide for his Aunt May which meant taking photos for the Daily Bugle, which meant that Peter Parker assisted in the vilification of Spider-man in order to be Spider-man and provide for his Aunt. Because he seems to be so flighty, he's derided by Jameson as an irresponsible teenager when in fact, Parker is a character who embodies responsibility.

It feels like in more modern adaptations of Spider-man we've lost that idea. In both the Amazing Spider-man movie and the Ultimate Spider-man cartoon show, having a job is not a worry for Peter Parker and perhaps most importantly, taking care of his aunt isn't either. Both productions made Aunt May quite a bit younger and not the feeble woman with a weak heart in the comics. In Amazing Spider-man, she was able to return to work. In Ultimate Spider-man, she's a full power career woman who is almost completely absent from her nephew's life and adventures.

These changes to Aunt May are meant to reflect more modern sensibilities about women. "Women are powerful, capable, strong, don't need a man to take care of them." Aunt May is woman, hear her Roar!

However, this is not a reasonable approach. The Sam Rami Spider-man films or the previous animated programs didn't treat Aunt May as a character that represented every woman, but as a specific woman who was elderly and frail, who'd built her alive around her family and was concerned about her nephew, even while she faced problems in her own body. Every woman isn't like Aunt May, but there are plenty of women who are like her. However, their existence is not politically correct, so it's been decreed that Aunt May needs to comform to this idea of a modern woman who takes care of herself and even (in Amazing Spider-man) is prepared to take care of her nephew's education.

The problem is that in doing this, they've fundamentally made things easier, too easy for Peter. They've undermined the conflicts that underpin the character and eliminated the need for him to really be mature and deal with a host of conflicting responsibilities. In other words, they've made him a less interesting character with whom we have less reason to sympathize with.

I don't think Spider-man is "Uniquely Sixties." I've read some solid Spider-man tales from the 1970s and 80s as well. And I can think of material from the 1990s and even 2000s that was fairly good. However, I do think as expectations of young men decline and new reboots of Spider-man follow suit in bows to political correctness, the core of what made Spider-man so great is slowly eroding.

Book Review: Superman: A Nation Divided

Superman: A Nation Divided by Roger Stern

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


A Nation Divided is a frustrating comic. It has an interesting premise: Superman lands on Earth in the 1840s and ends up fighting in the Civil War for the North in 1863, where he discovers his powers. I give Roger Stern credit for not going the Dave Gibbons route and insert a Lex Luthor doppleganger who just happens to have Krytonite. Superman does what you'd expect and roots the South with far less bloodshed and the war ends with a far less bloody Gettysburg.

From there, my big question is what happens? How does this change the shape of America, and of Lincoln? Does a Superman raised with 19th Century midwest values, most likely raised against the backdrop of "Bleeding Kansas," the pre-Civil War skirmish over slavery that set the stage for the 1860s election and the War, differ from a 20th Century Superman? What could the team of Abraham Lincoln and Superman bring to the world? If Superman was similar to his normal self, that would be one of the greatest combinations of goodness the world has ever seen, or would it still be?

And here's an interesting question, could Superman helping the union to a quicker victory actually prolong slavery? While Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, it only applied to those states in rebellion and didn't ban slavery but rather freed existing slaves. The "border states" (slave states that stayed with the North) could still have slaves and could feasibly replenish the Southern slave population. Lincoln himself said he'd be happy not to end slavery if it kept the Union together.

On the other hand, with Lincoln alive, we may have seen a reconstruction that was far gentler on the South and far more generous. Slavery would certainly eventually be on the road to abolition in a decade or so due to changes in the economy that were accelerated by the War. However, without the heavy handed reconstruction which was enabled by a long and bloody war and the assassination of Lincoln, might full emancipation for all and Civil Rights have come with far less fighting and anger leading to more harmonious race relations today?

These are among the fascinating ideas which Mr. Stern's story doesn't address. Now to be fair, this is a Prestige comic book, and not a 300 page novel or a treatise, but if you're going to tell an alternate history as an ELseworld tale, you need to tell how this "What If?" scenario would affect the world or the superhero. Instead, Stern completely avoids the implications and imagines Superman discovering a message from his Kyrptonian parents that leads him to (in effect) become the Lone Ranger. What a waste of a good premise?



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Book Review: Golden Age USA Comics, Volume 2

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age U.S.A. Comics, Vol. 2 by Syd Shores

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've reviewed a lot of Golden Age comic book collections, but few have left me scratching my head as much as this book, which collects issues 5-8 of Timely's USA Comics.

The fact is that no single feature appears in all 4 issues, though a few appear in 2 or 3.

The highlight of the book is, without a doubt, the full length Captain America stories in Issues 6-8 and adventures of the Destroyer in Issues 6 and 8. The cover for Issue 7 is particularly iconic with Bucky parachuting in with Captain America firing a machine gun at the enemy. Ah, now that's what boys want! :)

Beyond that, the book is a hodgepodge of weirdness. There's the usually amusing Jeep Jones. The bizarre and varied adventures of Sergeant Dix, the non-sensical weirdness of three strangely dressed "Victory Boys." The utterly bizarre Blue Blade who (as World War II demanded) fought the Axis shirtless and with a sword. We have two new "Secret Stamp stories" which has the Secret Stamp moving beyond his typical repertoire of ferreting out spies that refuse to buy stamps. And then there's the lead character least likely to be revived by Marvel any time in the future. ("Japbuster" Johnston.) There's also a few one shot stories. I liked, "Death in the Coral Sea" in Issue 6 which centers on American sailors trying to survive a sinking.

Overall, these aren't the best Golden Age stories, but it gives you a flavor of the era: The mix of great stories, patriotism, stories that are offensive by modern standards, silly stories, stories so bad they're good, and stories so bad they're bad. You'll find a little bit of everything in this book.



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Book Review: Superman: The Silver Age Dailies: 1961-1963, Volume 2

Superman: The Silver Age Dailies: 1961-1963, Volume 2 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects 27 months of Superman comic strips from August 1961-November 1963. These stories were adapted by Jerry Siegel from a wide variety of different stories published in Action Comics, Superman, and Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane.

The stories reflect perfectly the silver age goofiness of Superman and are a lot of fun. The only story that hasn't been reprinted in its original form was, "The Man With the Zero eyes" which features Superman's x-ray vision emitting cold instead of heat.

The best stories in are, "The Day Superman Broke the Law" which fines Superman visiting a smalltown where a City Councilman tries to get Superman charged with technical violations of the law for some other nefarious purpose. "When Superman Defended His Arch-Enemy" has Lex Luthor landing on a world where robots rule and being charged with "the murder"of an android setting up a situation where Superman has to prove Luthor has the right to a trial and then defend him. The twist ending is classic. "Superman, Please Marry Me" is probably the most meta story in the book. A comedian makes a record in which he pokes fun at Lois' matrimonial pursuit of Superman and later makes another mocking an imarginary marriage. Given that most of the Lois Lane comic was full of these stories, it's definitely interesting. I love Superman's thought, "Poor Girl. I don't blame her for being upset! It must be humiliating to lovely, celver...and yet to be laughed at by everyone."

The downside is that this book has some pretty repetitive storylines. Of the twenty stories in the book, four involve amnesia with Superman getting amnesia twice, Lois Lane once, and Perry White once. There's also two or three super masquerade plots. Overall, despite some repetitive moments, this is another fun collection of Superman comic strip stories.



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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Volume 1

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Vol.1 by Nick Abadzis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book features adventures of the 10th Doctor set sometime after Series 4.

To start off with, let's talk about the art: Wow! Elena Casagrande nails the art. Her likeness of Tennant, of the TARDIS interior is perfect. She puts so much into each character. The art throughout this is incredibly complex and rich. I've rarely seen a comic look this good unless it was painted by Alex Ross.

The stories are fairly good. Gabby makes a great new companion. She's a likable and interesting character who you can easily relate to. The stories were fairly clever themed. I'd like the first one centering on New York's celebration of the Day of the Dead, and the second one on another planet involving a reclusive artist and her insane assistants. There were some decent concepts, with the second story revisiting the idea of block transfer mathematics from the Fourth and early Fifth Doctor era without seeming too wistful.

The biggest problem is that while Casagrande captures the physical appearance of the Tenth Doctor, Abadzis really struggles that Doctor's unique voice. There are a few parts of the book that are a bit verbose, and I should there are some elements in the second story parents might find problematic. Still, this is a gorgeous book and gives a wonderful new look at Titan's 10th Doctor Title.



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Showcase Presents: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents: Superman Team-Ups Volume 1

Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents: Superman Team-Ups by Len Wein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Superman and Batman had a team up book together, World's Finest dating back to the 1950s. Batman had a team up book with everyone other than Superman joining him beginning in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, DC had experimented with turning World's Finest into a comic featuring generic Superman Team ups with characters other than Batman, but that didn't work out. Giving Superman an additional was a better idea and that's why DC Comics Presents was born. This book collects Issues 1-26 of this series spanning issues from 1978-80.

Superman in this era is fun, but no longer the goofy Silver Age hero. I like this version of Superman and there's a lot of fun to be had in this book. The first six issues are the best as it opens with a Flash team-up. No, it's not a round the world race, but a nice science fiction opera where the two heroes are forced to fight. The story with Adam Strange, a Silver Age favorite is also beautifully done in Issue 3 as Superman and Adam Strange have to stop a threat to Rann and to Earth.

The book features team ups with Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (twice), the Legion of Superheroes, Superboy, Swamp Thing, Hawkman, Mister Miracle, and more. The book starts out with mostly A-listers, but B-listers dominate the second half with characters such as Black Lightning, Firestorm, Deadman, and Phantom Stranger getting to play opposite Superman.

The stories of variable quality. The 18 page limit often led to head scratching stories like Issue 19. Issue 18 was interesting for its exploration of magic as science. The only on-going story arc was of aliens kidnapping the son of his old friend Pete Ross, the Legion of Superheroes urging him not to rescue the boy since he was fated to lead their Army and Superman deciding not to do so when he failed in his first rescue attempt. Then Pete Ross turns evil. This occurs in Issues 13 and 14 and is then revisited in Issue 25. Issue 26 with the Green Lantern is also a solid story with the Green Lantern's power ring being taken by an evil shapeshifting alien.

Overall, this an enjoyable comic and if you like Superman, with a bit of a lighter touch, this is a great book.



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