Awesome Files: Something I Never Expected

DC is releasing a Showcase Presents volume of Secrets of Sinister House, AKA The Sinister House Of Secret Love.  Even more of a treat, this volume collects the entire series, all 18 issues.  Here's the solicitation text:

DC's classic gothic horror/romance from 1971-1974 is collected for the first time in this value-priced collection. This moody, atmospheric volume collects THE SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #1-4 and THE SECRETS OF SINISTER HOUSE #5-18.

Now, I know the Romance angle of this series was dropped after the name change, but the fact that DC is collecting these truly obscure titles really puts a smile on my face.  Can Showcase Presents: The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love/Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion be far behind?

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Weird War Tales #24 -- Death can be pretty darn fashionable when he wants to be.

I. "The Invisible Enemy" -- Lieutenant Oberst is a model Nazi -- without remose or conscience, he orders a gypsy and her child to death, and as a result is cursed to die... by tiger! Despite being haunted by tiger-filled nightmares, Oberst continues on with his brutal campaigns, cheating death time and again, until he is forced to guard a subterranean supply depot. Turning on his own men for their cowardice, Oberst guards the depot for years, until he is eventually discovered by miners ten years after the war has ended! But the madness is too far gone for Oberst, as he even sees his saviors as tigers, and runs, ending up tumbling off of a building. His fall directs him onto a statue of tiger, proving once more than irony is one of the fundamental powers of the universe.

II. "The Last Battle" --In the year 2080, the Dictator rules all of Earth with an iron fist. But, he wants to be loved by his subjects, not feared. To this end, he has his generals devise a phony war against Mars, complete with a raid against the Red Planet... one which the Martians, secreted under the surface, do not take kindly to.

Overall Weird Factor: 3.5 (out of 5).

Two fairly standard stories get a boost here by very strong art, done by Ernie Chua up front and Alex Nino in the back. Nino's work especially has a strong psychadelic factor to it which really adds a lot of flair. The cover, with it's bold colors, is very nice as well. It's issues like this which are why I have such affection for this title: even your average, run of the mill installment has surprises and a lot of entertainment value lurking within.

What I Read This Week

Once again, it's two -- two -- two weeks in one here at the Bunker!

The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks #0 -- Moonstone relaunches their Phantom series with this special-priced retelling of the origin of the first Phantom, wherein he was shipwrecked by the Singh Brotherhood and helped lead the Bandar from captivity.  As a preview of things to come this is neat and worth reading if you are interested in the adventures of The-Ghost-Who-Walks.

Batman And The Outsiders Special #1 -- Setting up the new status for the Outsiders team, as well as introducing us to new members the Creeper and Owlman (sort of).  Tomasi seems to have a solidly defined plan on where he wants to go, and Kubert's work is every bit as nice as it was on Last Will And Testament, so it's a shame that he is not doing the monthly book (although I understand the rationale).  Top notch all the way.

Batman #686 -- Part 1 of "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" is different from what I expected it to be, but still really enjoyable reading.  I like Gaiman when he takes on "mainstream" superheroics and once more with the Kubert.  Stinks that I have to wait so long for the conclusion over in Detective!

Batman Confidential #26 -- Featuring the comic book debut of King Tut!  As they say in showbiz, "WILD!"  With a rash of murders taking place in Gotham City by a self-styled pharoah who tells his victim riddles as he does them in, Batman immediately suspects the Riddler.  But he is locked up tight in Arkham Asylum... right?  Really fun detective romp as Bats tracks down King Tut before he kills again.  I wouldn't mind this Tut becoming a regular part of the Bat Rogues.  (Maybe I should polish up my Shame story pitch?)

Kull #4 -- Kull and Brule go on the offensive against the Snake-Men, with predictably bloody results.  A bare-chested, blood-soaked S&S comic in the best tradition of the genre, this is a tale of two men putting aside their ancenstral grudges to kick snaketail and take names.  Nelson and Conrad are really hitting their stride, and I hope we see more of the Valusian King from these two.  This is a badass comic book.

Black Lightning: Year One #3 -- The new origin of Suicide Slum's defender continues, as we learn more about Gambi's history with Jefferson's father, and the 100 make their big move against Black Lightning.  I am still enjoying this fast-paced and fresh-sounding series, although it looks like my "Fire Man" prediction may have been wrong.  May have.

House of Mystery #10 -- "Love Stories for Dead People" comes back to where it all started as the mysteries of the basement are explained and Miranda and her nightmares take center stage.  The backup tale, depicting young Fig's adventures in the world where stuffed animals move on their own, is equal parts charming and heart-breaking.  Every time this title comes out, it makes me smile.

Invincible Iron Man #10 -- Tony Stark has to go on... the... run... zzzzzzzzz.  Someone wake me up when this coma-inducingly boring story is over.  So far we have had three issues of the exact.  Same.  Thing.  This title really is becoming the Iron Man title for people who are not Iron Man fans.  Even Larocca's art is starting to turn me off.  I had to wait two and a half weeks for Marvel to send me this?

War Of Kings: Darkhawk #1 -- Chris Powell is trying to put his life back together and overcome his dangerous anger issues.  But things look like they are taking a turn for the worse when an alien -- who looks a lot like his alterego of Darkhawk -- crashes into his Long Island neighborhood.  Cebulski seems to like the character and spends a lot of time fleshing out Chris and his issues.  I am not familiar with artist Harvey Tolibao beyond his work on the Iron Man Annual from last year, but his work is very flashy and effective. Also features a full-color reprint of Darkhawk #1, which I also enjoyed.  (I think that may be a longer post at some point, by the way.)

Futurama Comics #41 -- Fry, Leela, and the Professor volunteer at Amy Wong's soririty's (that is, Kappa Kappa Wong) kids summer camp, only to find that the camp is brainwashing kids to be President Nixon's new intergalactic army!  Hilarious effort from the fine folks at Bongo.

The Pick Of The Pile is Batman And The Outsiders.  I almost gave it to either House of Mystery or Kull, but the overall package of the Outsiders Special carries the banner this week with it's great mix of story, page design, and characters.

So, what did YOU read this week?

Holiday Blogging

Well Sir, I liked my post so much from last Christmas that I decided to repeat myself. And any of you who have ever met know that I do love to repeat myself. Over and over and over again.

Have a happy and safe Christmas, folks, and enjoy this clip from Justice League of the Martian Manhunter learning what Christmas really means.

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Secrets Of Haunted House #6 -- Didn't Luke Cage fight this guy once?

I. "The Contest" -- (Frame Story) Destiny welcomes Cain and Abel into his Garden to spin stories to frighten mortals, and we shall be the judges.

II. "Grave Situation" -- A posh Londonite vampire awakens after a short nap and tries to find a pretty girl to dine with. All he gets is a double dose of woman's lib, followed by a bothersome bit of sunlight -- eclipses are bad like that.

III. "A Deadly Allegiance" -- All-around bad guy Peter is partners with the mysterious torture master Mr. Black. They retrieve information about the whereabouts of a payroll heist from one victim, then Peter eliminates the rest of his gang, leaving him and Mr. Black to get the loot. But when they find the loot, it's booby trapped, and Peter is suddenly left alone... betrayed by his cloven-hoofed compatriot.

IV. "Valley Of The Giants" -- Rurik the Viking raids the English countryside but feels they are unworthy of a challenge. An old soothsayer predicts doom for the Viking at the hands of giants. Defiant, the Vikings sail off, only to be caught in a storm and wind up in Arabia. There they leave of a lost city of ivory, deep in the Valley of the Giants. Rurik leads his mean into the valley, where they are ambushed and slaughtered by tiny pygmies. Truly, there were giants in the valle,y but they were the victims, not the executioners.

Overall Weird Rating: 2 (out of 5).

Secrets of Haunted House ran for about 7 years, but it's lack of name recognition amongst its DC stablemates makes it more obscure. Most fans only know of Destiny reading his book from Gaiman's Sandman. But this is a perfectly servicable horror/mystery comic, although the last segment is the least interesting but longest, so that is a strike against it. Oddly, though Destiny introduces a challenge between Cain and Abel, saying that he cannot tell a story, only to measure one's fate, he introduces that third feature. Go fig!

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Weird War Tales #112 -- There are seven things wrong with this cover. Can you name them?

I. "The Medusa Sting!" -- In Egypt, the Creature Commandos are on a mission to harass Rommel's Panzer lines in order to buy General Patton enough time to set up his counterattack. After downing a Luftwaffe fighter, the Commandos take refuge inside a pyramid, where they find a gorgon-headed mummified queen, the spitting image of Dr. Medusa. All of the Commandos save the doctor then drink of a potent wine, which shrinks them down to the size of dolls! Carrying them in her hair, but now seemingly useless at their size, Dr. Medusa makes the charge on a Panzer encampment on her own, but is helped by her pint-sized comrades who team up to fire a machine gun and help wipe out the camp, giving Patton the time he needs. The Commandos return to normal thanks to the venom of the snakes in Dr. Medusa's hair, who had bitten the team while the doctor carried them.

II. "The Head Of The Battalion" -- During the French revolution, an ambitious lieutenant has all of his superior officers added to the list of traitors who shall meet Madame Le Guillotine. Now the commander of the battalion, the lieutenant leads his men into battle, only to find himself along against an army of headless corpses -- along with the ghosts of the officers he murdered! Startling his horse, the ghosts lead the lieutenant into a trap, complete with a wire, which decapitates the lieutenant and reunites his spirit with his unhappy former comrades.

III. "Nine Lives Are Not Enough!" -- A GI liberating France in the later stages of WWII saves a black cat from the Nazis, and is rewarded by the cat's mysterious owner with nine lives. Now a reckless hero, the GI throws himself into every situation, dying each time but returning thanks to his gift. Rising to the rank of sergeant, the GI now has other men's lives in his hands. Saving one of his Privates by diving on a grenade, the GI uses his last life... only to be reborn as a black cat, given another chance for his sacrifice.

Overall Weird Rating: 4 (out of 5).

A good introduction to the Creature Commandos, who really are pretty similar to the Losers except that they are all monsters. Kanigher seems to enjoy writing them and that shows through. The other two segments are also well done, making this a strong issue all told, even if I was a little skeptical up front because of the Commandos, whom I had never read before. Adding to the Weird Factor is an ad for the Swamp Thing film, as well as a clasified ad in the block used to hawk comic book catalogs which appears to be hand written -- and very badly at that!

Randomness: "Zero Month" Promotional Flyer

You'd be amazed what you can come across cleaning out all your junk from when you were a kid. Case in point, this promo piece for the "Zero Month" gimmick spinning out of Zero Hour. Judging from the card stock and the fold, I believe this was stuck between pages of a comic as an insert, but I don't remember for sure. It's really amazing to me to look at the kinds of books DC was pushing back then, everything from Deathstroke, The Hunted to R.E.B.E.L.S '94. Most bizarre to me are solo series for both Damage and Gunfire. Even more bizarre is that I liked Gunfire based on his appearance in Showcase (either '93 or '94), but had decided to go with Fate instead as the new title to read after Zero Hour -- a decision I do not regret!


I have more like this, so get used to this feature for a little while, nyah!

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Weird War Tales #61 -- Man, I tell ya, Skeletor's really hanging in there. That or the Red Skull spilled bleach on his head.

I. (Introduction) -- Death welcomes us to the final frontier, where he is the only one who can truly "win" the struggle of war.

II. "Mind War" -- Commander Aaron Haley and his first mate June defend Earth against the Troahians by using a "ment-scan" device to create ships and soldiers from Haley's own mind. Dogged by his wily Troahian foe, Haley takes the fight deep into enemy territory, tricks his opponent and blasts him to pieces. But the battle will never truly be over, for Commander Haley is trapped in his own mind, reliving the same hallucination thousands of times over, held in a Troahian mental facility years after the fall of Earth.

III. "The Mercenary" -- Meet Dave. Dave is a workaday mercenary in the year 3002, leading his crew below the gilded Upperworld to the remains of Lowerworld. Dave and his crew hunt down the vermin who refused to be Subtracted from the population with the Finalsleep, and so the mercenaries have to go on S&D (Search and Destroy, natch) duty. Dave's crewmate Ben wants to cut out for lunch, but chow is the last thing on Dave's mind, cornered and ambushed by an army of Lowerworld dwellers, his anti-radiation mask gone and cut off from his crew... going to be late getting home tonight, Dave is.

Overall Weird Rating: 4 (out of 5)

Ah yes, the infamous "you only brought 6 dollars to the Con" issue of Weird War. As a themed issue (a trend promised to continue in the letters page by editor Paul Levitz, now the publisher of DC Comics), this is very enjoyable. The science-fiction stories are a change of pace from the ghosts and skeletons which traditionally star in this series. The introduction has a great rendition of Death in a space suit by Howard Chaykin, who also handles the art on "Mind War." Very worthy issue if you can find it.

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Ghosts #111 -- The Burton Method? Which Burton? Tim Burton? Corey Burton? Jeff Burton, maybe?

"The Burton Method" -- Psychologist Professor Burton has devised a device which projects a patients deepest barriers and defenses as imagery, allowing them to view the obstacles and overcome them. Showing that his insecurities play out as a sword and sorcery tale, the Professor fends off the criticisms of his colleagues who think he is doing this for personal gain and to make "The Burton Method" famous. The Professor laughs them off, until suddenly the muscle-bound projection of his mind bursts from the view screen and stabs him dead -- a product of Burton's own deep-seated death wish being achieved by overcoming the mental barriers preventing him from doing it himself.

"The Last Kung-Fu Movie" -- Kung-Fu idol Lee Cheng falls to his death from a Hollywood penthouse after drinking a spiked drink, given to him by his producer to help settle his star's nerves. When Cheng's wife begins to ask questions, she too is killed. Missing their star, the producer and his lackey splice outtakes of Cheng together with body doubles to produce more films, all of which are blockbusters. After his sensei sacrifices himself, Cheng's reanimated corpse rises from his grave, takes vengeance on those who killed him, with the producer ending up dead in a noose of his own film.

"Shrieeeeeek!" -- Harland Frigby sets a mousetrap in his house, and ends up catching one in it -- alive. His wife Alice takes pity on the creature, and lets it go outside, but Harland lets the neighbor's cat in the yard to kill it. On his way to meet with his mistress, Harland is visited by the now-literate talking ghost of the mouse, who threatens to terrorize his family unless Harland takes care of the mouse's wife and children. Harland refuses, thinking the ghost will haunt his wife and send her to the nut hatch, allowing him to be with his mistress. But the mouse haunts the mistress instead, who looses control of her car, then hits and kills Harland. With his mistress herself being committed, Harland is left with an eternity of being haunted by the mouse -- a ghost haunting a ghost.

Overall Weird Rating -- 3.5 (out of 5).

A very good issue for the later days of Ghosts (this being the second to last issue). Then again, any comic book which features a kung-fu zombie will get a thumbs-up from most readers, I imagine. Also amusing at the titles of the kung-fu "epics" they produce, including Kung-Fu Krippler, Kung-Fu Rabbi, Kung-Fu Kretin, Kung-Fu Disco, and my favorite, Gidget Goes Kung-Fu. They just don't make em like that anymore!

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Weird War Tales #32 -- You know, I don't recall there being any giant monsters in World War II.  That's something I would have remembered.

I. "My Enemy, The Stars" -- A private blows off his buddy's horoscope reading, but twice in a row it proves prophetic.  After spotting a huge column of Nazi hardware rolling towards him, the private is hit, and soon starts to imagine that the constellations themselves are coming to his aid, smashing the German armor.  He awakes in the morning to find a field of destroyed tanks, but neither his unit nor any other takes credit for it.  The stars saved him... and he was rewarded with the Silver Star.

II. "The Day After Doomsday" -- In rural Britain, nothing much seems to change... except when radiation from wars of men seep into the groundwater, causing the humble farming couple who drink from their well to shrink and become chicken feed.  Don't worry; the chicken's will get their's soon enough, what with no one to feed them.

III. "A Glutton for Punishment!" -- During the Crusades, a harsh, greedy and portly Christian Commander is approached by a ghostly Saracen, who makes a devil's deal with him: for his soul, the Commander will never go hungry, and will never die unless he asks to.  Continually wounded and maimed as he drives his men harder and harder towards Jerusalem, the Commander is finally abandoned and then left for dead after the Saracens attack with Greek fire.  Reappearing to collect the man's soul, the Commander spits that the Saracen is breaking the deal by letting him die, so the Saracen bows... reattaching the Commander's hands to his thighs and leaving him, so if he wants to eat, he'll have to rely on the pity of others.

IV. "Mission Into Madness!" -- 3 OSS men land on a tiny Japanese island.  Two distract the soldiers encamped there, while the third sabotages some computer equipemnt -- namely the controllers for the robotic soldiers the other two were distracting!  There's no computer that can match the human brain... for now.

Overall Weird Factor: 4 (out of 5).

A superior issue this time out.  All four of the features have an aspect which stands out, and they are all very different, making this a fun read.  The first feature, with the stars themselves descending from the Heavens to fight the Nazis, is quite striking in spots, and the third feature looks almost like something Graham Ingels would have done for The Haunt of Fear.  The two shorts are both well done, especially the last one which really does throw a twist in there (the use of "tiny Japanese island" in the opening narration is a major misdirection).

Fair Trade: Tor V.3

Having been introduced to Tor only very recently (pretty much when I stumbled upon that same Dial B For Blog post about the DC Explosion which introduced me to the awesomeness that is Beowulf, Dragon Slayer), I was unaware of the rich history Joe Kubert's hero from the time of "one million years ago."  I just thought it was a short-lived DC series about a caveman.  Boy, was I wrong!  And, while this is the third volume of three hardcovers collecting Kubert's body of work on the character, this book (checked out from my local library) does a lot to expand upon the mythos of the character and my knowledge therein.

This volume begins with the first issue of the DC Explosion series, which itself was a reworking of Kubert's comicstrip proposal.  But this is not some simple panel swapping: Kubert created full page tableaus for his strip panels, formatting the story with not only a comic book design sense but also adding plenty of new art and information to digest.  The story, involving a young Tor running into a strong youth from another tribe, is incomplete here, but is a tempting introduction to the lush world Kubert created.  (I have all six issues of the DC series, so I am not concerned about the story being "incomplete" at the moment.)  The light and somewhat washed-out coloring, clearly a product of the mid-70s, helps the overall look of the issue, even if its on substantially better paper.

The bulk of the volume is Kubert's four issue Tor series from Marvel's "Heavy Hitters" line from the early 90s (a choice I applaud, since DC could have easily just reprinted their own series and left the Marvel work out).  This story is a very important one in the history of Tor in that it was the first to introduce really fantastical elements.  Sure, Kubert had bent the truth a little bit by having some dinosaurs appear previously, but it clearly was meant to be the last remnants of the thunder lizards -- well past their heyday and trying to hold on in the face of Man.  But this story introduces a tribe of scaly, lizard-like Men, whom Tor encounters when he witnesses them sacrificing a young woman to their gods of thunder and fire deep within a volcano.  The girl survives, thanks to Tor's help, and the two are soon embroiled with both the lizard Men and their strange reptilian god, as well as fighting the Hairy Men who murdered Tor's father and took over his tribe.  This series originally appeared on glossy paper, so the deep colors and moody inks Kubert employed are transferred perfectly.  The story is exciting and visceral -- the kind of stuff one would consider for a Tor screenplay, if such a thought wasn't too outlandish to consider.

Also included are some short backup stories, as well as sketches and thumbnails from Kubert's roughs on the Marvel series, with notes from the artist.  There's also a great foreword by Roy Thomas, and an introduction by Kubert.  The book itself is oversized, which really lets the reader study the detail work which Kubert pours into each page.  The fact that the entire book is Kubert's work makes for a consistantly beautiful primitive world, filled with creatures both familiar and alien, but all believably so.

If you are interested in trying some heroic stuff which isn't your typical Superhero or S&S fare, then definitely see if you can pick up a copy of this volume, or one of the two previous ones.  I know I am hunting them down, much as I sought out the original DC series, and am eagerly awaiting the next two issues of the current DC series.  Tor is a classic of the 4 Color world which should appeal to most comic book fans, and this volume, despite being the last in it's line, makes for a good introduction.

4 Color Cinema

Batman: Gotham Knight

Since about the time I was in the fifth grade, DC Comics has always had a solid, well-established foothold in the world of cartoons and animation.  Springing up as the show that would not die (Batman: The Animated Series, although it is always amusing to note that the show was simply called Batman until Fox decided to advertise it as such), and continuing in various forms and formats over the years, the "DCAU" as it is commonly referred to has moved in a new direction in the last few years, pushing more into DTV (or as some technophiles like to say "Direct to DVD") feature films.  The titles released under this new umbrella (Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, and Gotham Knight) have all had unique art direction and visual styles, setting them up as discrete, individual films rather than as a series adaption or continuation.  Knight ups the ante even further, by bringing in six seperate styles to the film, with each one handled by a different creative team and animated at a different studio.  The result is a sort of "jam" film or psuedo-anthology, with six smaller features adding up to one larger story.  The overall effect, though, is more uneven than anything else, leaving all but the most hardcore viewer disappointed.

The story is roughly that of the intermezzo between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as Gotham City continues to suffer from corruption and crime, even as Batman emboldens the citizens and takes the fight to his opponents.  The first vingette is "Have I Got A Story For You," a twist on the classic tale of several kids exchanging thoughts on who or what they think Batman is.  This leads directly into "Crossfire," where officers (Crispus) Allen and Ramirez must escort a prisoner to Arkham, and wind up in (natually) a crossfire between Sal Maroni and the Russian mob.  Batman gets some new technology in "Field Test," in the form of a small electromagnet which can redirect small arms fire, but the test turns out to be a failure during a mission.  "In Darkness Dwells" finds Batman in the sewers of Gotham chasing Killer Croc, only to end up face to face with Scarecrow and his strange brainwashed cult of homeless.  This encounter leaves Bats physically and mentally beaten-up, so he flashes back in "Working Through Pain" to his time in India learning to manage and control his pain.  Finally, Batman must overcome his injuries to stop the assassian Deadshot, who is gunning for Lt. Gordon.

The main problem I have with this film is it's episodic nature which leaves most of the segments unfulfilling.  "In Darkness Dwells," for instance, teases us with Killer Croc only to gives us literally less than a minute with him, since he is not the "purpose" of the segment.  In a similar vain, "Field Test" feels completely unrelated to the other segments, and is almost like a "fill-in issue" in the middle of the movie.  The animation is hit-or-miss for me, but I am not an anime fan so I am not the target audience.  This technique worked better in The Animatrix, which was all "side stories" and didn't try to be a larger narrative.  That method might have been a better choice than the "sum of the parts" technique used here.

The voice acting has always been one of the strong suits of the "DCAU" and that is no exception here.  It's great to hear Kevin Conroy as Bats and Bruce again, and the juxtaposition of his voice and Bale's grumbling in the theatrical films is alarming.  Jim Meskimen evokes Oldham's Gordon without aping him, and his Deadshot is menacing and dangerous.  And who can forget vocal madman Corey Burton, who plays both the Russian and Scarecrow to great effect.  (Interesting side note, evidently Martha Wayne is played in flashback by none other than voice director Andrea Romano.)

On the whole, I didn't care for Gotham Knight.  It didn't serve either of it's primary functions, which would be to first entertain me, and second to get me to want to see The Dark Knight, so I have to deem it a failure on those levels.  But, as I have said, I am not the biggest Batfan in the world, and my taste for anime is very, very limited.  So I am probably not the best litmus test for this film, given it's very specific genes.  If you really like Batman, or enjoy anime and the different art styles, then this may appeal to you.  But it sure didn't appeal to me.

What I Read This Week

Captain Britain and MI13 #4 -- Hey, you know Doctor Who?  That show that used to be popular and then got cancelled and then came back and got even more popular, on both sides of the pond?  Everybody likes Doctor Who, right?  That would explain why this series is trying so darn hard to be Doctor Who.  After the really unethused reaction I had to the first issue, I said I would give it the first storyline to win me over, and it I have done that, and now am dropping the title.  Disappointing.

Tiny Titans #7 -- It's Titans in Space as Starfire is called home to clean her room!  But will her friends get in trouble for being away from home for days on end!  Plus, the debut of the Tiny versions of the Brain and M. Mallah!  The extra this month is a pinup page by Franco, which is a nice change of pace.  Very fun as usual, with a really funny cameo by some members of the Justice League.

The Pick Of The Pile is a no-brainer with Tiny Titans.  Some folks may enjoy the "Excalibur-via-Cardiff" take in Captain Britain, but I am not one of them.

So what did YOU read this week?

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Ghosts #108 -- This looks like something out of The Haunted Mansion. Then again, that moon makes it look like a Helloween album.

I. "A Chance!" -- (Framing Story) Squire Shade introduces us to Charlie Davis, professional wrestler on his last legs. Charlie will try to win the deciding fall by living out three very different lives...

II. "Trick Or Treat!" -- A biker named Brute and his gang bust up a graveyard, including prying a decorative head off of a mausoleum. Turns out the tomb belongs to the caretaker, who has been searching for the diamonds his brother hid herein. The bikers steal the head and rough up the caretaker, who is then egged on by his spectral brother to go after them. He does, and retrieves the head... not noticing the diamonds spilling out of it. Lose one for Charlie.

III. "Iconoclast!" -- A paranormal debunker is in the middle of northern Idaho is put on to a local haunted house. When the spooks inside seem all too real, he is able to disbelieve them into disappearing -- along with the entire house as well. Charlie wins.

IV. "The Face Of Truth" -- A research professor discovers how to seperate the body and soul, but his jealous administrator tosses him in the device and claims the work as his own. When his colleagues want proof, he shows them the device -- with the dead professor inside! What looks like a hoax is revealed to be true when the professor's spirit reaches through the device and kills the administrator, who takes the secret to his grave. Charlie didn't do so well.

V. "Brain Cells" -- In a story seemingly unrelated to our poor grappler, two criminals and a corrupt police officer blast off a prison asteroid, only to run into a strange being of pure energy. Explaining that his people learned to leave their physical bodies behind to travel great distances, the being teaches the fugitives the trick and they whisk away to the being's home planet -- which is without war, poverty, or crime thanks to chemical brain treatments. Wanting the formula to control other men's minds, one of the criminals steals it, and the three blast off as energy to their ship... which has been found by the police, who are disposing of the seemingly dead bodies. The cop and the younger crook manage to regain shape, but the older one who had stolen the formula finds himself destined to remain non-coporeal for the rest of time.

VI. "A Chance! (part two)" -- (Framing Story) Charlie is pinned, and loses his last shot at glory. But, he swears, this is a new opportunity, and this time he will make something of himself. Squire Shade ominously adds "The Beginning."

Overall Weird Factor: 4 (out of 5).

The writing must have been on the wall for the title, which would would last four more issues. The framing device is very odd, but unique at least. The fifth feature, with it's bizzare hard-left turn into science fiction, and the third, with some lovely Johnny Craig art, are the best segments.

What I Read This Week (A Little Late)

There's a lot of these, and my time is short at the moment, so this is a special "ES" edition -- that is, "Extra Short."

Final Crisis #3 -- I am really enjoying this series for it's depth and really unpredictable twists and turns.  The cliffhanger in this issue is one of the best ones I have ever seen in an "event" comic like this one.  

Hawkman Special #1 -- Hawkman has to face the perils inside of his own mind if he has any chance to survive.  Starlin has some definite ideas for the character of Hawkman, but it's a bit uneven on the whole.  I'll put more detailed thoughts over on Being Carter Hall.

House of Mystery #4 -- Fig learns what the "locals" do to unwind in the House, while exiled witch princess Daphne tells the tale of she and her white tiger bodyguard Floyd deal with the "real world."  Great fun in a very Vertigo manner.

Storming Paradise #2 -- The invasion plans begin to form up as the Allies bomb the Japanese beachfronts, and then the potentially most bloody landing ever takes place.  Harsh historical fiction, which should satisfy War comic fans.

Tor #4 -- Escaping from the subterranean tentacled beastie Tor and the female ran into last issue, it's out of the frying pan and into the fire -- then pack into the the frying pan.  Kubert's caveman epic is so timeless that it doesn't matter when he created it, the quality never slips or wavers.

War That Time Forgot #4 -- The GI Robot loses his diefied seat, while Colonel Jape finds himself under an apparent mutiny.  This series alternates between rip-roaring and slightly goofy, and this issue is the latter.

Invincible Iron Man #4 -- Tony Stark tries to put together a plan of action to deal with the rapidly mobilizing strikes of Ezekial Stane, while Pepper Potts recovers quite surprisingly from her injuries.  More of a quiet issue than the last few, but still pretty good.  Remains second-place to the senior title, which is of course why the senior title is changing format.

Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #2 -- Tony meets up with Elsa Bloodstone as Fin Fang Foom is reborn in Sin City.  Very pretty Granov digi-painting covers a pretty lightweight story.

Venom: Dark Origin #1 -- It's a trip down memory lane as Eddie Brock has to deal with hsi desire for fame, his anger, his cowardice, and the pursuit of the "truth."  I really didn't care for Eddie being portrayed as a coward, and while the cartoony artwork was unexpected, it is not exactly out of style for the character.

The Pick Of The Pile is Final Crisis.  Obvious, perhaps, but sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice.

So what did YOU read this week?

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Witching Hour #13 -- I don't blame the guy.  If there was a spider with a human skull on my nose, I'd be freaked out too.

I. (Host Segment) -- The Three Witches have guests for their New Year's Eve party; namely, Cain and Abel, whom they entertain with tales of terror, each in their own method, only to be met with critique.  Later, the party is crashed by the Mad Mod Witch from Unexpected, of all people.

II. "The Maze" -- Schlub Harold Martin Beedle cannot remember who he is or how he ended up in this strange labrynth, only that a strange voice continually goads him onwards.  Finally, he is given his reward: a large block of cheese, as the lab rat of a pair of aliens.

III. "The Accursed Clay!" -- Scultper Arthur Delano, rejected by all the museums, runs across a stranger who offers him magic clay with which to sculpt four statues.  Sculpting his first statue, he finds that he sculpts the face of a man who drowns the same night.  The second night, he sculpts a man hit by downed power lines, and the third, a man hit in the head by a meteorite.  Refusing the sculpt the final piece, the stranger returns and forces him.  Delano sculpts the stranger's face, who thanks him as he expires -- being a wizard cursed to wander the Earth until your visage is duplicated forever as a house for your soul will do that to you.

IV. "The Rush-Hour Ride of Abner Pringle!" -- On the night of Paul Revere's ride, a fourth ride, Abner, falls off his horse and sleeps for almost 200 years.  With a little prodding from our host Cynthia, Abner awakens and tries to warn the thoroughly 70s people of Concord that the British are coming.  With the police trying to commit him, Abner flees, and manages to knock himself out on the same tree... just in time to miss the massive British army marching into town.

V. "'The Witching Hour Mistree' By Egor" -- (Text Story) A pretty princess locked in a castle in a bog by a wizard is rescued by the "nobell" prince and his trusty (but rusty) blade.  Upon fighting through the dangers of the bog, the prince pulls the stake from the vampire princess's heart, just as the full moon turns him into a werewolf... "and they ate happily ever after."

Overall Weird Factor: 4 (out of 5).

This one is just strange on all sorts of levels.  Cain, Abel, and the Mad Mod Witch show up for no real reason, but it's funny to see them all interact.  The first story has the extra added weirdness of a mini text commentary running in the bottom gutter.  The cover, which is not even close to anything inside, is the creepiest part of the issue, though.

Aquaman Needs YOUR Help!

You guys may have seen this link previously, but please click on over and Save The Aquaman Hoodie!  I'd prefer a Commander Steel one, but this deserves to get made!

http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/its-a-cold-day-in-atlantis-save-the-aquaman-hoodie

Retro Review: Zero Hour

Time itself seems to be unraveling.  Or, more to the point, vanishing, from the past forward and the from the future backwards.  The Time Trapper finds himself, well, trapped, then a time-displaced Wally West seemingly runs himself into oblivion trying to stop the wave.  Even Pol Manning (AKA Hal Jordan) cannot contain the awesome force as it churns through the centuries.  Back in the present, alternate timelines seem to be converging -- Barbara Gordon stalks the streets of Gotham as Batgirl, and there's a seemingly infinite number of Hawkmen all coexisting together.  The cause of all this chaos?  Extant -- formerly known as Hawk.

Waverider of the Linear Men rallies the troops, taking teams all over the world to stop the entropy wave before it completely wipes out all creation.  But as more and more time falls victim to the wave, everything seems lost and hopeless -- especially when the true villian, Hal Jordan, makes his presence known.  Jordan, fresh off of going crazy in "Emerald Twiglight" and destroying Oa, has a plan to snuff out all time... and recreate it, only better.  A world where Coast City was never blown up, and the heroes didn't have to suffer such great hardships.  Who can stand up to the well-intentioned madness that has possessed the greatest Green Lantern of all time?  And if they do manage to stop him, what shape will the entire history of existance be in afterwards?

I'd love to give a better synopsis of the story, but I am unable to do so.  I don't mean I can't sit down with the issues and try to type out everything that happens.  I mean I cannot make heads or tails of more than half of this stuff, and if I try to, my head is going to hurt even more than it does already.  Zero Hour was the first big DC Event I ever read, and it didn't make any sense at the time.  Guess what?  It doesn't make a whole lot of sense now, either!

I'm not entirely convinced that anyone short of Dan Jurgens --who wrote and penciled the series, with Jerry Ordway on inks -- himself can truly identify just what the heck is going on in this series.  It's very steeped in the "now" of the DCU (that is, the DCU of 1994), and that is a problem for sure, but it goes beyond that.  The story jumps back and forth like a jack rabbit, leaping from one partially-explained plot point to another with a reckless abandon that leaves the reader bewildered.  Towards the end it devolves into one skirmish after another, as Waverider and the other heroes jump from second to second trying to avoid being wiped out by Parallax's Entropy Wave (which would make a cool name for a Super move in a fighting game), but it's just mindless after a while.

There's some stuff which stands out.  Barbara Gordon's return as Batgirl is great, for one thing, because her motivations ring true.  What makes this timeline any more "real" than her own?  Why should she have to die just because "she doesn't belong here?"  The "last stand" of the Justice Society is memorable as well, if only because it ended up being the basis for the JSA revamp a few years afterwards (although it is interesting to note that part of Zero Hour's supposed purpose was to phase out the Society, and wound up making them more viable), as well as setting the stage for Robinson's Starman series.  The foldout timeline of the DC Universe in the last issue is pretty cool, too, even if a lot of it no is longer valid.  And of course the whole insane reveal of Jordan as the big bad, though I know ticked off his fans, stands as a memorable and critical part of the history of the DCU and of the character's personal chronology -- just ask Geoff Johns.

But beyond that, Zero Hour as a whole is a jumbled, confusing mess.  One gets the feeling that Jurgens had an idea for an awesome 12-part epic that got shrunk down into five issues, because nothing is given enough time to percolate and develop, and whole thing just collpases on itself very quickly.  As if to add insult to injury, a lot of the changes introduced herein were themselves summarily wiped out during Infinite Crisis, so it doesn't even have a lot of historical significance going for it at this point.

Do yourselves a favor, and skip the headache on this one.

Becoming The Hawkfan

Today, it gives me great pleasure to launch my second comic book blog: Being Carter Hall.

Inspired by rob's Aquaman Shrine, Frank's Idol-Head of Diabolu, Adama's Dispatches From The Arrowcave, and Rick's Plastic-Man Platitudes, I present my own character-specific blog, focusing on the Aerial Ace himself, Hawkman, and his partner Hawkgirl.

The difference, though, is that I am just getting into collecting Hawkman -- so you'll be able to follow along as I build up my Hawk Fan cred!  So hopefully you'll click over and check it out.  Thanks!

What I Read This Week

Justice Society of America Annual #1 -- Last time in Justice Society of America, Gog sent Power Girl back to Earth-2!  But this is not the Earth-2 we all know and potentially love.  Who is the Justice Society Infinity, for one thing?  And why does Power Girl not remember how she "left" this world in the first place?  Johns and Ordway are game here, with Johns seemingly really pushing for a strong subplot for Power Girl as well as a way to address the new Earth-2 createsd in the wake of 52.  Ordway's pencils are nice in a classic sort of way, but don't always jive with the modern coloring techniques applied to them.  I was disappointed that this was the start of a mystery moreso than a homecoming, but at least it is an intriguing mystery.

Joker's Asylum: Two-Face -- Two-Face meets his opposite number in a man scarred in a remarkably similar manner to him, but instead of becoming a criminal, the man has become a respected member of society.  Harvey, of course, won't stand for this and sets up a social experiment of sorts to determine the true nature of the man, and by extension of Man himself.  Excellent "done in one" by writer David Hines and artist Andy Clarke, which does a great job of encapsulating just what the character of Two-Face is all about, both his neurosis and his philosophies.  The art is evocative, and really well suited to a dark, mean-spirited story like this one.  Fans who recently became interested in Harvey Dent via The Dark Knight will enjoy this story, as will more seasoned Two-Face fans like myself.

Project Superpowers #5 -- The Dynamic family moves to quash the return of the Superpowers on national TV, but the gambit backfires, forcing them to break out a different tactic -- swaying the public opinion.  The main problems with this title as I see it are that the characters which I am interested in -- who have some spotlight this time out, at least -- are not the ones which Ross (and thus Jim Krueger) is interested in telling stories about, so my interest wans as the series goes on.  The art, by Carlos Paul, remains very nice, and I am going to stick with this series until the end, but it's going to tale a big uptick in entertainment factor for me to continue with any of the spinoffs or sequels.  

Caliber #4 -- In what is becoming a theme, the art here is gorgeous, but the story is a big mess.  Very confusing (where did the trapped miners come from, exactly?) and hard to follow overall; I am hoping a read-through of the entire series will be more enlightening.

The Pick Of The Pile is Joker's Asylum, which barely edged out JSoA.  Being self contained almost always helps an issue out in my book, and this issue did so in a very satisfying manner.

So what did YOU read this week?