Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 96

Short Story: Crisis of the Multiple Powerhouses, Part One

Powerhouse hurtled towards the ground at top speed as he smashed through the underground bunker shattering and mortar as he stood in the stinking filth of the underground lair.

“Fournier!” Powerhouse stuck a heroic pose in his metallic armor with rocket pack on his back. “I’m here in your filthy lair.”

A voice came from a box. “I’m sorry, I just signed the lease on this thing. I should have known better than to rent from a swamp monster.”

“Never mind that, villain. Where is Major Speed?”

“You have more pressing problems to deal with. You’ll be defeated.”

Powerhouse rolled his eyes. “You’re going to use your silly forcefield again.”

“No, you see, the only thing that can defeat Powerhouse is an alternate version of him from another dimension. I have the portal. Every single choice anyone makes creates an alternate universe, and there are an infinite number from which I can draw someone who can defeat you.”

Fournier leered. “Meet your evil self.”
In a flash of light, a muscular version of his alter ego, Dave Johnson appeared carrying a tire iron and swung it at him.

Powerhouse dodged, tripped the guy, and imagined him tied up. “Yeah, that was a challenge.” He glared down at his evil twin. “What did you do that for?”

Evil Dave cursed.

Powerhouse slapped him. “What would grandpa say?”

“The geezer died in a plane crash when I was two, and my old man died when I was four. Then my old lady made off with the geezer’s dumb comic collection and left me.” Evil Dave cursed his whole family.

“Why did you attack me?”

“You look like some stupid superhero. The only comic character I’ve ever liked is the Joker. He inspired me to get into a life of crime. I want to see the whole world burn!”

Powerhouse shuddered. His grandpa lived until he was ten and left him his love of heroes to give him a good example. “It’s too bad.”

Evil Dave cursed.

Powerhouse grunted. Evil Dave at least would never acquire superpowers. A guy with a long criminal record couldn’t pass the security check to work for the FBI and get the warehouse cleaning job that allowed him to get the powers.

A floating hologram of Fournier appeared wearing his lab coat and suit. Fournier straightened his pink bowtie “Behold, the next evil incarnation!”

A version of Dave in a power suit walked out, staring blankly. “What am I doing here? Mother will be most disappointed in me.” He stared at Powerhouse “My word, you are a rarity: a superhero I haven’t gotten murdered.”

Powerhouse blinked. “Murdered? With what?”

“Editorial demands. I’m a horrible person, and most displeasing to everyone. Mother tells me this all the time.”

“Mother? I’m you from an alternate universe. My mother provided minimal supervision and then ran out when I was eighteen.”

“You are so fortunate. Mother was taking that course until I turned eleven. At a yard sale, she bought a book that taught her how to mold me after her ways. When I won the lottery, mother invested the winnings and turned me into a billionaire for her own evil purposes. She caught me reading comic books and vowed to purge me of the habit by making me owner of a comic company and having me issue editorial mandates that were horrendous. Captain America was killed by a gunman when being brought to trial on preposterous charges. Spider-Man sold his marriage to the devil and was replaced by one of his chief villains. Mother also made me force numerous comics featuring everyone talking incessantly about their feelings, calling it character development.” Powersuit Dave fell to his knees and hugged Powerhouse’s legs.

“Please let me stay here. I want to live in a universe where Spider-man isn’t Doctor Octopus.”

So do I. Powerhouse sighed. “Um, I have bad news.”

Fournier’s hologram re-appeared but this time he was wearing a green and purple jump suit, his head was shaved and he was standing against a psychedelic window. “Okay, third time’s the charm.”

Powerhouse objected. “Villain, watch your mouth. That’s a cliché And have a care, I know a certain villain who wouldn’t appreciate you stealing his look.”

Out of the portal appeared a man in a bulletproof black suit, an emerald colored dress shirt, and emerald dress shoes. “Who dares bother the Dark Spirit of Justice?” He sniffed and covered his nose. “And who died in here?” Air fresheners appeared all over the lair.

Continued here

Comixology Has Mark Waid Sale

Comixology, the electronic comic store has a sale on titles by one of my favorite writers, Mark Waid.

I specifically recommend the Captain America stories that make up the "Operation: Rebirth" and "Man Without a Country Story Lines." And of course, there's Daredevil, Issues 1-6.

Book Review: Superman Batman Generations

Superman & Batman: Generations, An Imaginary Tale by John Byrne

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


John Byrne comes up with a truly great concept for an imaginary story: Superman, Batman, and their associated cast aging normally from their origins in the 1930s to the present.

There are eight stories collected in this edition beginning with 1939 and continuing on to 1999 and then taking a jump into the distant future. There's a lot to like about this mini-series particularly in the early going. The 1930s and 1950s tale are the best.

While most modern incarnations of Superman and Batman imagine Superman as good cop and Batman as bad cop. The 1930s Superman was quite as aggressive as Batman and the two hit it off quite well. The 1950s story of Batmite and Mxyzptlk battling to prove whose hero was the best was a classic Silver age pastiche.

The serial began to go downhill with the 1960s story and the injection of anti-war politics as superheroes declined to win the Vietnam War for Richard Nixon because Vietnam was different than World War 2 and less clear cut. However, the heroes hadn't won World War 2 for the U.S. either. Byrne delves deeper by portraying Superman's non-superpowered son as a war criminal.

The 1979-89 serials were the worst as Superman is defeated by the bad guys in a way that's ignominious at best and really dark and depressing. Then the 1999 and 2919 (yep you read that right) basically turns the two into demigods, although a flashback to 1929 showing Bruce Wayne as the first Robin fighting along Superboy in Gotham city was actually pretty good.

Overall, it left a bad taste. The anguish inflicted on Superman was extreme. The success of Luthor against Superman was almost complete vengeance. We get to see the this happen but Byrne fails to create any emotional space for readers to actual feel anything about it one way or another except to feel down about our heroes.

Then the end with Superman and Batman still living and in good health after everyone passed away suggests that the point of a generations story was missed. This type of story should be about the passing of the torch and how the principles that Batman and Superman believe in and the example they set blazes a trail that their descendants follow. Instead, they become the point and live on, but both as compromised heroes. Both survive only because of technology from some of their worst enemies. In the end we're left with an imaginary tale that at best suggests that there's less to the imagination of John Byrne that meets the eye.

In addition to the story elements, his drawing of Lois Lane was horrible. She's never looked worst than in this serial which emphasizes her smoking in a way that is far from attractive for whatever reason.

Byrne's project could have been great, but in the end it fails on an emotional level, it fails to inspire, and instead we're left with a soulless pointless story that never takes enough time or space for its readers to feel anything. The result is a mess.



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Book Review: Essential Captain America Vol. 1

Essential Captain America, Vol. 1 by Stan Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In Avengers #4, Captain America, the hero of World War II was found floating in ice in Suspended Animation. In Tales of Suspense #59, Captain America got his own series as one of two stories in Tales of Suspense magazine opposite Iron Man. In addition, Captain America took over Tales of Suspense in Issue 100 and the book was renamed Captain America and this book has Issues 100-102 plus a story from Issue 10 of the 1940s Captain America magazine.

The book goes through various stages. The first four 10 page Cap stories were set in the 1960s. These were just great stories of Captain America taking on contemporary challenges. Then from Issues 63-71, the book shifted to World War II flashbacks as writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby retold some classic Cap Stories including Cap's origin and early battle, and rewrote the first Red Skull story and several additional ones as well as inserting brand new story into the Golden age about Greymoore Castle.This was driven by Stan Lee's dedication to continuity and the thought that a hero couldn't be in one place in Tales of Suspense and another in the Avengers. At the same point in history, everyone with their own series left the Avengers except for Cap whose stories in Tales of Suspense were from the past.

However, this didn't last and the 27 of the remaining 28 10 page stories are set in the present, as are all 3 of the Captain America Magazines.

Perhaps the best to break this down is to look at the elements:

The Captain: Captain America is a great role model hero. In battle, he's selfless, determined, and never gives up. He's plucky, courageous, and humble. He's always trying to do what's right. He's the most believable idealist in the Marvel universe. The hero could be a stereotype but Lee gives him some wrinkles. Everyone he knew is dead or much much older. He struggles with the regret of losing his late partner Bucky. He desires compassion, love, and normalcy. Even at one time, he hangs up the SHIELD. Unlike with Spider-man, you don't feel it's angst or uncertainty, but the tiredness of a fighter, who still finds the strength to do the right thing. So Cap is both thoroughly admirable and thoroughly human.

The Villains: Modok and Applied Idea Mechanics feature in a few stories, as well as the Adaptoid, a robot created by AIM that can assume the identity and powers of Cap and the other Avengers. Batroc the Leaper was a Cap villain that appeared in three issues and Cap also faced off against an appaently resurrected Baron Zemo. In addition, Cap mixes it up a few times with Nazis, Commies, and with garden variety hoods.

And then there is the Red Skull. Of 44 stories in the book, Cap faces the Red Skull twelve times and spends three more issues battling the Skull's sleeper robots when the Skull was believed to be dead. While I think most of the villains were good, it was the Skull that made the book.

In so many ways, Skull is the perfect counterpoint to Captain America, an almost exact opposite. The two figures are perfect for a match up of good v. evil. They are polar opposites and they're battles are nearly perfect. His plans, ambitions, and arrogance know no bounds. Their's was a rivalry for the ages and its on full display here. We also get to see the introduction of the cosmic cube.


The Supporting Cast, Guest Stars: Cap's fellow Avengers show up for a few cameos. The big recurring guest star is Nick Fury who helps get Cap into a few adventures. In addition, he meets Agent 13 a female Agent of SHIELD who isn't quite well-developed early on. They're both in love with each other, but she insists that SHIELD and their duty must always come first. So yeah that romance is doomed.

The big highlight in terms of guest heroes is a team up with Black Panther in Tales of Suspense #97-Captain America #100 that led to the Black Panther joining the Avengers.

The book is not perfect by any means. There are a few plot holes. For example, under the Red Skull, the Nazis built Doomsday robots (the Sleepers) that would devastate the Earth in 20 years if the Nazis lost. The last of these could literally destroy the Earth. My question. Why didn't they use this during the war? There's also the writer's not giving Agent 13 a name for the longest time. Maybe the coming of Get Smart made them finally identify her as Sharon Carter so they wouldn't look like they were copying them.

However, for the era, this is a minor point. When Cap stories were good, they were amazing, exciting, and inspiring. When they were off little. They still weren't that bad. Plus you have the art of Jack Kirby on most pages, plus Stan Lee wrote all of them making this just a great product for its time and a wonderful read for fans of the Shield-slinger.




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Book Review: Showcase Presents Superman Volume 1

Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This monster sized 560-page collection contains 17 months of Superman stories from June 1958-November 1959.

To enjoy this book, you have to understand Superman of this era. The Superman Stories of the early Silver Age are not primarily considered about Superman's rogue's gallery or finding some challenge that's physically equal to the Man of Steel. Very few stories in this book are about that. What made Superman stories interesting to folks in the late 1950s was that the books were about Superman. Superman has a ton of superpowers and is the type of scientific genius/troubleshooter who could give modern-day Batman a run for his money.

But the guy's got problems. He wants to maintain his identity as Clark Kent and keep his job at the planet. He's got countless villains after him and Kryptonite seemed to be plentifully available. Superman's problems are different, though, so more people will empathize with Peter Parker being bullied then Superman having his head turned into a lion.

Simply put, Superman is pretty interesting guy and complaining about quality of villains is like whining about the quality of opponents the Harlem Globetrotters play. No one is there to see the Washington Generals. Same thing with Superman. Who cares if he's taking on Sinister Thug #20. The writers make it seem interesting.

So what does this book have? It features issues of Both Superman and Action Comics. The Action Comics story would usually be 12-13 pages long. The Superman books were longer but usually came with three stories eight-to-nine pages in length.

Superman firsts and old favorites: DC's decision to begin in 1958 wasn't arbitrary. Some pretty amazing things happen right off the bat. Action Comics #241 introduces the arctic Fortress of Solitude. In the course of the book, we see the first appearances of Brainiac, Metallo, Supergirl, the bottled city of Kandor, and the adult Bizarro. In addition, Luther comes in for several appearances. All very amazing stuff to see all these firsts.

Comedy: People always talk about unintentional humor in these books, but I think there's plenty of intentional humor, such as in "Superman Joins the Army." when a headstrong Captain is determined to have Superman drafted and treated exactly like any other soldier. Hilarity ensues. There's the story where Superman forgets his identity of Clark Kent, so he adopts another identity as a British man-name of Clarence Kelvin. Superman in this book has its serious moments but is far more light-hearted.

Emotion: There are some pretty moving moments in the book. There's the story in which the Kents (deceased during the Silver age) travel forwards in time to meet their boy. Superman gets all emotional and takes them to the Fortress of Solitude. They're disappointed when they found the room dedicated to Superman's parents is for Jor-el and Lara. However, Superman had a special one for his Earth Parents. Superman says to them, "I have two sets of parents and love them both dearly...I can never thank you enough for having adopted me." Very sweet. Another favorite scene is when Superman finds himself with a head of a lion. Lois Lane's interest in Superman often seems shallow and a little creepy but when she kisses him while he's got the head of lion, it's absolutely beautiful.

Untold Tales of Superman and Imaginary Stories: Some of the Superman magazines included Untold Tales of Superman. These range from so-so to fascinating. None is better than, "The Girl in Superman's Past" that has a college-aged Clark Kent considering ending his career as Superman to be with a beautiful girl in a wheelchair in a beautiful story. There's also a full-length Adventures of Superman that was dedicated to imagining Clark Kent's life had Krypton not blown up. It's an early pre-cursor to the Elseworlds stories that DC has released in recent years.

Not every story is "Super" but most of them are great and these 17 months of comics are highly entertaining. See Superman battling Lex Luthor as the Kryptonite Man and Jimmy Olson has a crazy battle with Superman with a nice surprise twist.

The book's not without its flaws. My personal pet peeve is "*choke*" being used repeatedly to show emotion. But other than that, this really is light and unbelievably fun. Silver Age Superman is a courageous, funny, smart, and sweet Superhero, and definitely makes for some worthwhile reading.



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Book Review: Superman in the Fifties

Superman in the Fifties by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This continues with a decade-by-decade look at the man of steel from Superman in the Forties.

The 1950s were an era of dominance-and survival for the Man of Steel. Rivals from the 1940s such as Captain America and Captain Marvel met with demise, leaving Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman the dominant super heroes.

The book is welcomed, because most of the 1950s has not received a comprehensive reprint with Superman Archives stopping in the mid-to-late 1940s and not picking up again until 1958. So the early 1950s stories are a particular treat in that way.

The late 1950s were important as it saw many key events in Superman's life (which are covered here). Among them: Superman has his first encounter with Brainiac and he finds Kandor, the Kryptonian Capitol City which Brianiac had shrunk in hopes of returning it to his own home world. Superman also meets Supergirl, Krypto, and the adult-versions of Bizarro and Lana Lang.

Some of the stories of the book seemed more "typical" than outstanding (exs: Superman gets amnesia and Jimmy Olson gets in trouble.) Some such as "The Three Supermen from Krypton" which featured evil Kryptonia survivors seemed a tad rushed by the limits of the comic book and I couldn't help but wishing that more time had been taken.

However, that can be forgiven when some of the great stories in this book are considered. My favorite s are the two part Bizarro arc from Action Comics #254 and #255 and Superman's Super Magic Show from Action Comics #151 which featured a great early supervillain team-up between the Prankster, Lex Luthor, and Mr. Mxyztplk who aimed to humiliate Superman. And of course, there's the heart-warming, "The Girl Who Didn't Believe in Superman" from Superman #96.

I'd give it 4.5 stars, but for Superman I'll round up.



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Book Review: Superman Sunday Classics 1939-43

Superman: Sunday Classics 1939-1943 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book contains the first nearly three and a half years or so of Superman strips that appeared in Sunday papers. These run parallel to the Daily Strips that have been collected in other works.

The multi-part series are solid golden age Superman stories told over the course of several weeks. There are no story lines that are poor though a few seem more improbable than usual. The last five strip stories turn solidly towards World War II as Superman helps out fundraising in Hollywood and on various national defense projects,including helping a young man grow up to face the challenges of war time.

If you're a fan of the Golden Age Lois Lane, this is also a great book because she features prominently in every strip. Her extreme bravado is particularly pronounced in the series entitled Luthor: Master of Evil in which Lois attacks Clark for not wanting to go out into the midst of a Hurricane.

The art in that particular story is superb, particularly the scenes with Lois and Superman in the hurricane. It's Golden Age Comic art as good as it gets and makes the book a great read for fans of Superman.



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Book Review: Superman Chronicles Volume 1

The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This story tracks Superman's first fifteen stories beginning with Action Comic #1 through Action Comics #13 and also includes the New York World's Fair Comics #1 story and a few pages that Superman #1 added to its reprints of the stories in Action Comics #1-#4.

These fourteen stories features Superman as defender of the weak against a variety of foes including munitions dealers who Jerry Siegel charged with starting wars to line their own pockets, heartless mine owners, gangsters, and slum lords.

Superman's tactics were far rougher than they would become as Superman became a little more mild during the 1940s. Superman,like Batman struck fear in the hearts of criminals. Though Batman needed a cool name and a scary costume, all Superman needed to was to keep dropping and catching suspects until they talked.


Superman's rough edge would begin to get out of line. In Action Comics #8, he decided to solve the problem of slums by tearing them down forcing the government to rebuild as they had during recent hurricanes. The police responded by putting a warrant out for him for understandable reasons.

From here, Siegel made Superman even more forceful culminating in Action Comics #11 which sees the Man of Steel declare war on "Reckless Drivers." Declaring war involves forcibly seizing control of a radio station to broadcast a warning and then destroying all the automobiles in the police impound lot, among other very destructive acts. The stories serve as an almost cautionary tale of the danger of someone with unstoppable and no humility. It reflects the brashness of a 23-24 year old writer. Thankfully Superman would grow in the 1940s into a character that inspired by hope than by fear.

However, despite the more menacing Superman in this book, there are some fun stories in here. My Absolute favorite is Action Comics #6 which features an agent pretending to represent Superman and selling merchandising rights for the Man of Steel, which turned out to be prophetic of the merchandising machine Superman would become. Action Comics #7 features another story of Superman helping out somebody whose just in trouble and needs help. Action Comics #13 introduces the Ultra-Humanite, the first real supervillain, though we only get to meet him briefly.

Overall, this is great for adult Superman collectors who want to read all of his stories. For kids, I'd probably recommend Superman in the Forties for a more balanced look at the Man of Steel.



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Book Review: Flash of Two Worlds

The Flash of Two Worlds by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Silver Age of comics in DC began with replacements for some Golden Age characters such as the Flash and Green Lantern. The question of how to deal with this in continuity was a difficult one but it was answered in in Flash #123 and so was born the DC multiverse.

The plot of the first Flash of Two Worlds story (collected here along with five others) as published in 1961 is that the adventures Jay Garrick, the original Flash were captured by flash writer Gardener Fox because when he dreamed, his mind tuned into the vibrations of the Alternate and read by Barry Allen who became inspired to take on the identity when he acquired superpowers. Both Flashes are so fast that they can travel between alternate earths by vibrating at the correct speed. It's all wonderful science fiction stuff that would define the core of the DC universe for two decades.

The first story is fun had Barry Allen fighting Garrick's villains. The second story from ninth months later felt a lot more contrived as a flimsy premise brought Jay Garrick to Allen's world.

The other stories were a lot more fun. There's a 1963 story featuring Vandal Savage, and a 1965 story featuring a rematch with Shade who has discovered how he too can cross between dimensions. Finally are two stories from 1967 with Barry married and still trying to hide his secret identity. In, The "See-Nothing spells of Abra-Kadabra," Barry has to get help from other heroes including the alternate Earth Flash when a 64th century villain makes it so he can see no crime or danger. Then both Flashes and Kid Flash are kidnapped by an alien and transported to his world in, "Doomward Flight of the Flashes."

Overall, this is an enjoyable collection showcasing the start of one of the great concepts of the DC Universe before it got done to death that's well worth a read.



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Fly Another Day Free Today for Kindle

The first book in the Adventures of Powerhouse series, Fly Another Day is free for the Kindle today. Also, if you like audiobooks, if you download the Kindle version, you can get the audiobook download version for $1.99.