Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 84

The Best Superhero Animated Series of All Time #7: The Tick

This 1994 television series easily lands on my list. How could it not with the influence it's had on my own work.

The Tick as a Superhero parody was simply top notch. The series couldn't take itself too seriously but one thing I'll say for the Tick. It had better continuity than Darkwing Duck. When Chairface Chippendale put his initials on the moon they stayed there, and when a partial repair was made (and more damage done by Galactus parody Omnipotu) that was reflected too.

The show carried over many gags from the Comic books but came up with quite a few that were original to the Animated Series. The show had zany concepts. What other hero has been beat up by his own mustache or has faced down a team of Swiss terrorists, or had to struggle against the evil of the world's most comfortable chair.

Admittedly, not all their humor worked, but when it did, it was golden. "Alone Together" (sadly not released on US Region 1 DVD) was hilarious Galactus parody.

I'll add that the one big thing on my wish list is to see all ten of Season 3's episodes on DVD, and it's a shame that it hasn't been. Is there anything else left to say about The Tick.

Oh yes.

Spoon!!!

Book Review: Showcase Presents Booster Gold

Showcase Presents: Booster Gold by Dan Jurgens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A character that has shown up in various DC animated series is Booster Gold, a fame-hungry and money-hungry superhero. He's also been portrayed in various elseworld and event comics as even more unflattering.

So who is this real Booster Gold? This book gives clues as it contains all 25 issues of his original series by Dan Jurgens from 1986-88, plus a crossover with Superman in Action Comics #594, and an entry from Secret Origins #35.

The book is actually quite good. If you associated the 1980s with the darker Batman stories or John Byrne's often disturbing take on Superman, this book is different in many ways.

Often times, Booster Gold in battle reminded me a bit of the Silver Age Marvel characters with wise cracking characterization. Indeed, in battle , he's as good as any other superhero.

It's once the action fades that Booster's problems appear. Booster is focused very much on the bottom line of money, fame, and women. This isn't to say that's his sole purpose, but he's concerned about image and fame.

Six issues in, Booster's origin is revealed and it turns out to be a doozy. His supersuit was stolen technology from the 25th century where he worked at a museum at a security guard and stole a time machine to come back to the 20th century and become a superhero. In some ways, this quest could be seen as a quest for redemption. He had been a promising college football quarterback for Gotham City in the future but had thrown it away in a point shaving scheme.

By the time I reached the end of the book, I'd begun this differently. It wasn't so much an effort to make up for his mistake as it was to reclaim the type of life he'd wanted had he made it to the NFL, which makes for a character who is extremely flawed.

This isn't helped by him trying to make his way in Metropolis as a competing superhero to Superman and Superman clearly doesn't approve. I do have to admit that this does leave me feeling a little sorry for him. And Booster does care genuinely about several people, though way too often, he puts concern for others in the backseat of his own ego and career

Whatever, you think of Booster, the stories are solid with a mix of superhero action, time travel, and human drama as Booster is put through his paces. The one bad thing about the book was that the last two issues (Issue 24 and 25) come as weeks 3 and 7 of DC's Millennium Event, so a lot of stuff is disconnected and we don't fully know what's going on.

The book does make me curious to learn more about some DC comics from this era particularly Blue Beetle and Justice League International. As for Booster, he's like a lot of people in real life in that he's doing a lot of the right things for all of the wrong reasons. In real life, it is doesn't much, but with superhero comics, it definitely does which is why the character has a limited appeal.



View all my reviews

Book Review: Essential Fantastic Four Volume 4

Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 4 by Stan Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This volume collects Issues 64-83, and Annuals #5 and #6 of Marvel's first family. The book has some good issues, some odd ones, but overall comes out ahead.

Issues 64 and 65 classically introduce to the Kree Empire, first through a Sentry robot and then through Ronan the Accuser, a key moment in Marvel history.

Issue 66 and 67 are a somewhat so-so story about under earth people kidnapping Alicia for nefarious purposes. Not a great story.

Fantastic Four Annual #5 is a great annual. It's a 30 page story with the FF, the Inhumans, and Black Panther teaming up to find Pyschoman and some other villains plus a special announcement that Sue and Reed are expecting. It also includes a 12-page solo story for the Silver Surfer as he matches up with the vilainous Quasimodo.

Issues 68-71 are classic. While there have been other "Ben Grimm" turns evil stories, this was perhaps the most epic with a lot of twists and emotional tension.

After Issue 71, Reed and Sue decide to cut out on the FF but that's cut short when the Watcher has to summon them as the Silver Surfer has decided to start blowing things up to start world peace and the FF has stop in Issue 72.

Issue 73 is fun but somewhat gratuitous. Doctor has tricked the FF into fighting Daredevil and Spidey comes in along with Thor to even the odds. So it's a nice exhibition that's actually pretty pointless.

Issues 74-77 has Galactus returning to Earth to get the Silver to help him find a planet to eat and if he can't be found, Galactus will break his word and eat Earth. This forces the FF to go into a microscopic world to find the Surfer. It's a fun plot though to long-term Marveldom, it remains pretty inconsequential at the end.

Issues 78 and 79 are probably the definitive Grimm becomes human again stories. Ben regains his human form but has to make a tough decision when lives are on the line in Issue 79.

Issue 80 is a somewhat blah issue with the return of Wyatt Wingfoot as the FF deal with criminal trying to take advantage of Native American superstition. Haven't seen THAT story a thousand times.

This leads into the absolutely phenomenal Fantastic Four Annual #6 in which Reed levels with Ben and Johnny. Both Sue and the Baby are in danger because of the cosmic rays and the only to be found is in the negative zone and a battle with Annihlus. The nearly fifty page story is really an epic with emotion, awesome action, some fantastic splash pages, and one of Lee's greatest stories as we truly expand the Richards family.

To round out the book, Issue 81 has Crystal proving her worth to be on the FF and then heading back to her family to get them to sign off, only to find out Maximums has taken over the Inhumans. My big complaint with this one is that the FF had little to do with the efforts to remove Maximus as they were imprisoned for most of Issue 83.

Overall though this collection is just as good as the first three. It had fewer of the epic stories like Doctor Doom taking over the Silver Surfer's power and there were a few stories that were lame.

However, the story of the pregnancy of Sue Richards really trumps that. The "family" part of Marvel's First Family really stands out. Reed who, after getting married, seemed like a jerk to sue is much better as a father-to-be, dedicated to the survival and safety of wife and son.

And there's this great sense of love and loyalty as Reed and Johnny go into the breach, risking their lives in the Negative Zone. And Ben's decision to remain the thing is moving.

Speaking of moving, Jack Kirby has some great art here. The full spread picture of Sue and Reed is perhaps the most emotional, but some of them are also beautiful action spots like Reed, Johnny, and Ben travelling through the Negative Zone and several thrilling battle shots.

The collection isn't without its flaws. In addition to the weak issues I've already mentioned, I still don't have a sense of Crystal as a character and her powers are used so infrequently, it's hard to even remember what exactly they are.

Still, for its portrayal of the original FF and their strong family ties, this book is a must read.




View all my reviews

The Best Superhero Animated Series of All Time #8: The 1940s Superman Cartoons

This is about the best animated series, but that doesn't necessarily mean television. # 8 on the list is a series of animated shorts by Fleischer/Famous Studios featuring Superman.

These 17 shorts are glorious with great art that stands out from most cartoons of the time. It's a fantastic style. While the 1990s Superman cartoons may have been more proficient, what the 1940s cartoon used was more memorable.

These were 7-10 minute episodes, so the plots were not terribly complex, but they were well-written. The creators knew what viewers expected and gave kids and adults who might no admit to watching the films a thrilling experience. So you get Superman punching a comet, Superman fighting mechanical monsters, Superman committing sabotage in Japan.

You compare to this to other shorts even of later era, and you'll find they don't measure up. I was very disappointed in the 1960s New Adventures of Superman because even though they had Bud Collyer as Superman and the same episode length, they didn't have that focus. They didn't have an awesome Superman theme.

The 1940s Superman cartoons captivate the imagination and provide a solid dose of action, adventure, and fantasy that stands up very well more than 70 years later.

Amazing Spider-girl Volume 3: Mind Games

Amazing Spider-Girl - Volume 3: Mind Games by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 13-18 of the Amazing Spider-girl and begins where the last book left off. When an offspring of the Carnage symbiote bonded with her baby brother Ben and her father hesitated to do it, May had no choice but to use a sonic weapon that saved her brother but caused him hearing loss. She also earned the scorn of May's friend Moose Mansfield because the Carnage symbiote had promised to cure his father's cancer. To make matters, she loses her boyfriend in Issue 13 as he's tired of her disappearing acts and for some reason her friend from the Fantastic Five,Franklin Richards, is now dissing her.

This all plays into the plans of the Hobgoblin, who believes she has the key to bringing down the Black Tarantula, his rival to be the new Kingpin of crime. Hobgoblin hires mind-controlling villain Mindworm in Issue #14. With May feeling insecure and guilty, she becomes prey to Mindworm and begins to hallucinate and is tricked into using her powers to attach innocent people.

This leads to a true masterpiece in Issue 15 which actually marked the tenth anniversary of the creation of Spider-girl. Mindworm had gathered that a doctor was important to her-the doctor who could help with Ben's hearing loss. May, at the same time is being drawn in by Mindworm, and struggling to come to herself and to help her baby brother. In process, she gets the entire MC2 universe to come in to help with the search, including some that hadn't been seen in the new title. This issue is a turning point for May and is really one of those issues that captures the Spirit of what made Marvel great.

The rest of the book is simply awesome as Spider-girl ends up dead in the middle of the battle for control of the New York underworld, and a team up with an old enemy. I haven't enjoyed Spider-girl this much since Spider-Girl - Volume 11: Marked for Death, the 11th volume of the original series book. Hopefully this park marks Spider-girl hitting her stride. It's simply Amazing.



View all my reviews

Book Review: Essential Spider-man 4

Essential The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 4 by Stan Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Amazing Spider-man issues 66-89 Annual #5.

Issues 66 and 67 feature a battle with Mysterio that's basically just a typical Mysterio story.

Amazing Spider-man Annual #5 begins in medias res with Spider-man battling bad guys in Algeria and then flashes back to Peter Parker discovering a newspaper article that indicated his parents were traitors. He tries to ignore it, but isn't able to and sets out to prove them innocent, and he travels to Algeria to do so with aid from Mr. Fantastic. However, to succeed, he'll have to go through the Red Skull.

The problem with this story is that even a double sized annual didn't have enough space to tell it right. The story begins strong with the initial fight scenes and the pathos of thinking his parents traitors and then is rushed towards the conclusion with some unbelievably convenient plot contrivances. This would have worked better as a three part story in the magazine.

The back up features for the annual are solidly enjoyable including an amusing story, "Here We Go-A-Plotting" which portrays Stan Lee and John Romita and Larry Lieber trying to brainstorm a Spidey plot.

Issues 68-74 are tied together loosely by the Tablet of Time beginning with the Kingpin's attempted theft of it. During this plot arc, Spidey thinks about keeping it once he's accused of stealing it, finally has enough of J Jonah Jameson and finally belts the editor, and ends up battling Shocker, Man-Mountain Marko, and finally the tablet in the hands of SIlver Mane. This story has its flaws, but its definitely a Spider-man classic.

The Tablet of Time story leads into Spidey encountering the Lizard for the third time. It's hard to differentiate a whole lot about this battle versus the prior two. The big difference though is that a crucial point, the Human Torch flies into save the day just when Spidey was about to neutralize the Liard, and now Spidey has to get the Torch to back off so he can handle the Lizard his way, which was kind of interesting for pointing out that sometimes interferring superheroically can actually be a bad thing.

Issues 78 and 79 focuses on Hobie Brown, a black youth who wants to be a superhero, decides to temporarily become a supervillain to get more cash and ends up fighting Spider-man. This series was cut short due to Marvel's very short-lived decision to stop multi-party stories.

Issue 80 followed with a nice one-shot story with the Chameleon. Issue 81 introduced the Kangaroo, and Issue 82 was a so-so story with Electro which built up to an easy victory for Spider-man, albeit a Pyrrhic one.

How short lived was Marvel policy on Muli-part stories. Issue 83-85 featured the Schemer, a villain determined to take down the Kingpin. The story ends in a bizarre melodramatic way.

Issue 86 is the weakest in the book as Black Widow fights Spider-man to see if she can beat him and force him to tell her the secret of powers. Really, the magazine is an advertisement for the Black Widow getting a solo strip in Marvel Tales.

Issue 87, the book picks up again as Peter reveals his secret identity to a room full of people believing he's dying.

Issue 88 has Doctor Octopus escaping prison and hijacking an airliner. In Issue 89, only Spidey is smart enough to figure out that Ock isn't dead and the issues ends on a cliffhanger with Spidey falling and the words, "Next Issue: And Death Does Come." And that's how the trade ends. Really Marvel? Really?

In the end, this book is enjoyable but it's not as great as the prior volumes. In earlier volumes, Stan Lee was coming up with epic stories, characters, and dilemmas for our heroes. Here he's settled into a comfortable pace. The stories are still good, just not great. The status quo essentially remained the same for nearly two years of this book.

My edition could have benefited by having Spectacular Spider-man #2 but even that couldn't have made this a five-star volume if for no other reason than the ending.

These are good Spider-man stories no doubt, but a bit of letdown after the greatness of the first sixty odd issues.



View all my reviews

The Best Superhero Animated Series of All Time #9: Darkwing Duck

There's so much that's so memorable about Darkwing Duck from the theme song, to his dramatic entrances, "I am the terror that flaps in the night..." that it's a standout in this genre.

Originally conceived of as a send up of spy stories called Double O duck, Disney changed its mind and Darkwing Duck instead became a send up superheroes.

The writers based their stories on their experience reading silver age comics, so Darkwing Duck had a whole 1960s Batman feel to it at times. They'd also do silver age stuff with imagining Darkwing and Negaduck having ancestors who battled each other during the pirate era, or having an imaginary origin of Darkwing told by a maybe ghost of Darkwing who was masquerading as a janitor in a museum in the land of the Jetsons. (Like I said silver age.)

He had a fun rogues gallery filled with great characters such as Quackerjack, Megavolt, Negaduck, the Liquidator, Reginald Bushroot, and Taurus Bulba. The show also retained some of the spy stuff with Darkwing serving part time as an agent of SHUSH and often going toe-to-toe with Agent Steelbeak.

However, beyond it's humor and great villains, the series also had a serious side. Darkwing in his secret identity of Drake Mallard adopted the rambunctious Gosalyn and serves as a single father. Trying to love and care for a child on his own, and unlike Batman with Robin, he tries to keep her away from crimefighting with limited success.

Darkwing has his share of faults including his massive ego and as a parent, he can be controlling and sometimes smothering. Most episodes teach a solid (and usually unforced moral message).

If the series has a weakness, it's that Darkwing Duck's primary power is that he's a cartoon character. who rather than dying when you drop something heaving on him, flattens like a pancake or goes up and down like an accordion. This makes the perils Darkwing in harder to take serious than the death traps of the 1966 Batman TV show. Still, this is definitely one of the bests.

Book Review: Starman Omnibus, Volume 1

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 1 by James Robinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 0-16 of James Robinson's acclaimed 1994 Starman series, a book that starts out really strong but loses some luster as the book goes on.

The first story is Issues 0-3. Jack Knight is a seller of antiques and collectibles. He's the son of Ted Knight, the original Starman. His brother has taken on the Starman mantle but is killed off in Issue 0 and Jack is pursued by one of his father's old enemies, the Mist.

Jack is an interesting character to say the least. As he's into antiques and old stuff, you'd think he'd be the first to want to carry on the family tradition as Star Man, but he's really trying to define himself. In this book, he esches a costume beyond goggles and getting a Starman tatoo on his chest. He also makes it clear he won't go on patrol but if he decides to go into action...villains watch out. He seems like a character rife with potential with a lot of growth and not sure who he's going to be or who he's going to turn out.

The book also reintroduces the Shade, a character who was famous as a Gold and Silver Age villain who here has basically settled in Opal City and wants to keep things quiet and safe. Thus he becomes an ally of Jack Knight and is really probably a bit of an anti-hero.

Issues 4-11 are really a series of character two pieces. There's only one real two parter here. Of these eight issues, two don't even focus on Jack Knight with one being a story of the Shade meeting us with Oscar Wilde and another telling as story of his father's hunt for a dangerous Manson-like klller that ended in someone committing murder.

If the book was building up to anything, it appeared to be Issues 12-16, the sins of the Child story arch and unfortunately, that story is problematic as the story is bad. Issue 12 ends with our hero in little more than his underwear and about to be shot and then the next three issues are all told about supporting characters experience the same including some that have nothing to do with the events of our hero's predicament. And when we get back to Jack in Issue 16, we get a denouement that's far from satisfying.

The book concludes with one of the most spectacular pieces of rambling disconnected prose in which Robinson explains the source of his work on Starman and wonders off in a thousand directions.

That said, there's a reason why I gave this book four stars. Even when he was wandering off on a side trail, it was usually a pretty interesting one. The one shot stories were also solid for the most part.

Robinson has flaws and I can't help but wonder if he'd taken too much positive press to heart as some gimmicks seemed overdone, particularly the discussion of films by enemies during battles/fights.

I'm curious enough to probably pick up the second volume and see where this story is going. The characters are intriguing and I wonder who Jack Knight will become. This book left me intrigued but not sure I'd like the answer.



View all my reviews

Adventures of Powerhouse Ebook Sale

The entire Adventures of Powerhouse ebook series is on Sales at Smashwords with each book being 50% off with a coupon code.

That means the entire three first books will be available for $5.75.

Buy one, two or all three at Smashwords in any ebook format.

Book Review: Invaders Classic, Volume 2

Invaders Classic Vol. 2 by Roy Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This second volume collects Invaders stories from Invaders #10-#21 and Annual #1.

Issue 10 has a brief recap of the battle with Baron Blood that ended the previous book and left the elderly Union Jack unable to continue. However, that's only a framing story for a reprint of a golden age Captain America story from Captain America #24 which was pretty entertaining but also not what the book was about. As Roy Thomas explained, the staff was struggling with the demands of going to monthly publication with everything else already on their plate. This would be a theme throughout the rest of the book particularly towards the end.

Issue 11 has actual dealing with the consequences of the battle with Union Jack done for and his daughater Jacqueline struggling in the balance until the android Human Torch provides her a transfusion which gives her superpoweers. However, the Invaders are then attacked by a Jewish scientist who has been forced to serve the Nazis to keep his brother safe.

Issues 12 and 13 features the Invders going to Warsaw with a decent story that has a bit of a deus ex machena in it.

Issues 14 and 15 finds the Invaders encountering a new group of British heroes who displace the Invaders as their honor guard. The story was meant to be a commentary on patriotism and the danger of going overboard, but it's an okay though not great story.

The Annual is what makes the difference between this book being three and four stars. The Invaders were based on a concept introduced by Thomas in Avengers #71 where the World War 2 heroes battle modern Avengers. The Avengers issue told the tale from the Avengers perspective, but this version explained things from the Invaders perspective and it began with a golden age split up where the Big three (minus Toro and Bucky) split up to take on foes individually until they are whisked away to face the Avengers. Thomas also uses this story to explain some incongruities such as why the Avengers were in 1942 and Cap was using a 1941 shield. This is the type of fun fan bonanza that Thomas wrote so well.

Issues 16-21 are consumed with a story that begins with the kidnapping of a comic book artist who fictionalized Captain America's origin story, the birth of two Nazi Super Soldiers, and the reintoduction of the Destroyer (although it appears this Destroyer was different from the one in golden age comics), and Hitler guest-starring in several comics. This was a good story, but not great. The Invaders spend great parts of the first four issues chained up and are continually recaptured and Cap shows some uncharacteristic bad judgment as a plot contrivance. Still, this was a solid story with some good scenes

In the end, this collection of Invaders stories had its moments but the book suffered from Marvel demands on other books and a lack of focus as to where this story should be going. Still, it's an enjoyable romp through Marvel's Bronze Age Golden Age comic.



View all my reviews