Weekly Dose of Weird Bonus Feature!

You might recall in last week's Weekly Dose Of Weird that I mentioned a sweet in-house subscription ad for one of my favorite titles, Weird War Tales. Well, I got my scanner hooked up this morning, so he is a little Bonus Feature for you guys. Enjoy! (Click to magnify the weirdness to pulse-pounding depths!)

Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Vault of Evil #19 -- I think I saw this in a movie once... it starred Abbott and Costello though.

I. "Inside The Tomb!" -- Two Egyptologists walk out of a crypt and promptly collapse as if in a waking death. Their partner, telling his girlfriend not to worry, enters the crypt and fumbles to the solution: his cohorts were hypnotized by the Pharaoh's mummified mentalists, their staring eyes still powerful some thousands of years after their death.

II. "Beware! The Ghosts Surround Me!" -- A German thief turns on his partner and hides out in an abandoned house. Needless to say he is surprised to find that the house is a weak point between two dimensions, and he has a conversation with spectral aliens! He's not conerned, since they can't touch him, but these things never work out well: when the police find him, it's only a matter of time before he discovers that he now exists in a limbo state between the two worlds.

III. "Strange Doings in Cell 4-B!" -- A viscious con is celled-up with an old man who seemingly has the power to wish whatever he wants into existance. The young con forces the old man to conjur him weapons and a getaway car, but just as he and his buddies are going to make their escape, everything vanishes. Should have gotten there sooner, as the wished-for items only lasted while the old man did.

IV. "The Evil Eye!" -- A shunned old hag is avoided like the plague -- literally -- thanks to her "evil eye." Driven from her hovel, she winds up in an old farm house, and discovers the strange object called a "mirror"... and promptly brings doom to herself in the process.

Overall Weird Factor: 2 (out of 5)

Not a bad reprint mag, as Marvel was known for at this time, featuring tales originally from Uncanny Tales, Strange Tales, World Of Fantasy, and Astonishing Tales. The second and fourth features are the best, while the first one is somewhat disappointing in that it really is not even close to the cover image, honestly. It's funny reading these, because just reading the anthologies makes it seem like Marvel was phoning in their Wierd stuff from this era, but of course that is not true; all the Weird talent was working on the Horror books like Werewolf By Night and Tomb Of Dracula. Also of note is a subscription coupon inside, which details just how many titles Marvel offered in 1975: 59 normal comics, plus Giant-Sizes and magazines. Yikes!

Luke Cage & Iron Fist Fantasy Series

Inspired by Frank's little "fantasy booking" of the DCU, I've decided to share a similar project I undertook (admittedly on a smaller scale) a few years back.  In the midst of "Avengers: Disassembled," I accepted a challenge on a Heroes For Hire message board to create a new HFH series.  I took this literally, and wrote the following plots/summaries for the never-gonna-happen Luke Cage & Iron Fist series, which was rendered moot when Cage became a member of the New Avengers, and later Fist got his own title.  Anyway, this is the first half of the two years worth of plots.  If you guys like this part, I will post the second half.  Enjoy!  

#1 "The Boys Are Back In Town!" -- The setting: Modern day MArvel Universe. Cage is working a case in Midtown, his old stomping grounds, when he runs into DW Griffith. Turns out that DW was willed the Gen Theatre after his uncle's passing, and DW sold the theatre to a big developer firm (it IS in Times Square) and made some big bucks! Luke and DW reminisce for a while, until the conversation turns to Danny. Luke laments than he hasn't seen his old partner since he moved out west...

Cut to Iron Fist busting into a Denver warehouse which is being used as a chopshop! Danny busts up the operation, but finds out that it is just one of many satelite operations controlled out of New York. 'Looks like I'm heading back home...' Danny thinks to himself, as he begins the cross country trek back to the East Coast.

Meanwhile in Manhattan, Luke is closing in on his prey: a flunky for a up and coming drug czar who has been making his presence known as of late. After Luke makes short work of the flunky's securty and makes some thinly-veiled threats, the flunky gives up that his Boss is not just in drugs, but has his fingers in all sorts of pies at once, effectively linking him to everything from numbers rackets to protection. With Jessica working on the "official" end of the investigation, Luke tracks down the supposed whereabouts of the "Street Lord," only to run face first into... Iron Fist!

The man who Cage was after is the same man Fist is looking for. Happy to see each other, the two men exchange information and agree to join forces to take down this guy. Cage and Fist make their way into the swank midtown office of their target, busting their way through heavily armed guards and into the armored (!!!) office of their employer, who is sitting with his back to the boys in his office chair at his desk.

"Alright, we've taken down all your goons, punk..."

"...So we suggest you show yourself!"

The man obliges, turning slowly, saying, "Now now gentlemen. Let's do try to be civil. This is my place of business." And as he turns he reveals himself to be... POWER MASTER?!!

Cage and Danny stare in shock. "No way... you're dead!" "Oh yes. Such a nuisance, that." And with that, the fight is on! A knock down, drag out brawl ensues, but in the end Power Master escapes. Luke and Danny go to Luke's place in Harlem to clean themselves up and sort things out, and end up talking about the old days and the old business. Luke gets a devilish grin, to which Danny can only look on in puzzlement as Luke grabs his cell phone, and makes a call to DW Griffith...

#2 "His Mother's Keeper" -- The first new case the Heroes For Hire take is an unusual one -- hired by a pimp to protect his ladies from a killer stalking the streets of Manhattan killing prostitutes. Faced with the life these women lead, Danny is shocked and appaled, while Cage puts on his best "not my problem" face. When they track down the maniac, he turns out to be the mentally unhinged son of a prostitute, taking vicarious revenge on his mother.

#3 "Midtown Mayhem pt.1" -- After several small businesses run by Palestini-Americans are bombed, a group of store owners get money together to hire Cage and Iron Fist to find the culprit. Without any real leads, the Heroes set a trap for the bomber, hoping to flush him out. When they find him, however, they are shocked to discover that the man is like a walking anti-tank squad! Enter: WRECKAGE!

#4 "Midtown Mayhem pt.2" -- Wreckage is revealed to be a former Army anti-armor specialist who, after the Gulf War, settled down with his Israeli wife. But when she was killed by a suicide bomb while she was visiting family, he snaped, and decided to bring his brand of "justice" to all those he blames for her death! Cage and Iron Fist are game, but can they stop Wreckage and his arsenal of explosives before any other innocent people are killed?

#5 "Road Trip!" -- Picking up a bounty for an escaped convict, Luke and Danny hit the road down South to make what they think will be some easy money. But nothing is ever easy for the Heroes For Hire, as they run into everything from road hazards to crazy chilli cooks to crocodiles! Will the boys survive their stint in Dixie -- and will Dixie survive their visit?

#6 "High Rollin'" -- The Heroes are hired by a multi-millionaire real estate developer who has had some strange goings-on taking place at his new, state of the art hotel in Midtown. Electrical systems seem to short out for no reason, and workers are nearly killed in an elevator accident -- saved only by the timely intervention of Luke and Danny. Who is behind these acts of sabotage? Would you believe... The Ghost?!

#7 "He Doth Stride Across The Earth..." -- Tracking down a lead on Power Master's syndicate, the smash front after front until they arrive at the Syndicate's nerve center. The Power Master himself is on hand, but informs the boys that he won't dirty his hands with their blood, leaving that to his "associate" Caesar! Cage and Iron Fist are in for a rude awakening, though, as Caesar is not only as fast and agile as Iron Fist, but as tough and invulnerable as Cage! In the end, Caesar and the Heroes fight to a standstill, and Caesar escapes. When Cage and Iron Fist reinvestigate the area, the nerve center is gone without a trace.

#8 "Close To Home" -- Cage agrees to take a case brought in by a little girl -- for a nickel. The girl is afraid for her mother, who is dating a man who can be as sweet as a puppy one minute, and a brutal sadist the next. Danny warns Luke that this is a matter best left up to the police, but Luke refuses to listen, hiding the girl and her mother in his apartment and going after the guy himself. What Luke doesn't know is that the guy's name is Calvin Zabo -- AKA Mister Hyde!

#9 "Due Process" -- Hired by a grieving widow to bring her husband's killer to justice, Luke and Danny head to some seedy neighborhoods to track down the young man she thinks is responsible. One problem: He's innocent! So says Daredevil, who listened to the kid's heartbeat and knows he is not lying when he said he didn't commit the crime. And he's not about to let them take the kid away without a fight!

#10 "Street Justice -- Its street level action as the Heroes For Hire and Daredevil bust heads and take names in their search to find the perpetrator of the cold blooded shooting they were hired to investigate last issue. Once they find the shooter though, will Daredevil's insistance on letting the law take its normal path be enough to counter Luke's desire to turn the guy's face into hamburger?

#11 "The Razor's Edge" -- While Luke and Jessica take a much needed long weekend in the country, Danny tries to take it easy as well. But his plans are dashed as he is attacked, seemingly out of the blue, by Scimitar! The two clash time and again, culminating in a brawl around, on, and in the NY Public Library. Who is behind this attempt on Danny's life? And more importantly, will he survive?

#12 "S.M.I.L.E. Time" -- Double Sized Issue. The Heroes For Hire arrive at their office one afternoon only to find the unpredictable Gordy sitting inside, waiting for them. Seems that S.M.I.L.E. has a use for them, as Gordy explains that the largest European arms dealer is in New York -- and packing some serious hardware for the highest bidder. Luke and Danny infiltrate the auction site, and find every conceivable sort of scum, villian, and generally not-so-nice type trying to get ahold of the weapons!

Yeah, I don't think anyone would actually buy this series, but hey.  You never know, right?

What Looks Good?

Hope you got all your comics from last week read (I'm looking at you, Lilbones!), because it's that time of week once again!

Link: http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/newreleaseskf.txt

Justice Society of America #16 -- I can honestly say that I did not see the last issue ending the way it did.  But I would definitely like to see more of Citizen Steel doing the "unmoveable object" routine.

Tor #2 - I think DC should take more chances and publish off-beat stuff like this title.  The first issue was quite good, and really quite different from anything else I have read in a while.

The War That Time Forgot #2 -- See what I said for Tor.  I'd really like for DC to bring back just one War anthology title -- I'd write an 8-page WTTF back-up for a very reasonable rate!

Invincible Iron Man #2 -- Everybody's favorite cool exec with the heart of steel faces the threat of "Advanced Genocide Mechanics" and the son of Obadiah Stane.  Oooh my.

Nova #14 -- As a general rule, having the Silver Surfer show up as a guest star is a good thing.  That goes double for Galactus.

So what looks good to YOU?

Discount Bin Finds -- "Steel, The Indestructible Man" #2

My blog-pal Frank asked if I could take a look at Steel #2 after he looked at the first issue. Frank, ask and ye shall receive!

Our story opens with Hank Heywood, USMC, writing in his journal about reconciling with his pacifist girlfriend Gloria, daughter of Dr. Giles Gilbert, who helped Hank become Steel thanks to their "bio-retardent" formula. Gloria doesn't want to think about the war, pretty handily setting her up to get dumped at some point, I imagine. Anyway, Dr. Gilbert himself ponders how the vigilante Steel showed up right after he helped "fix" Hank... but how there just couldn't be a connection between the two events.

Meanwhile, everyone's second favorite Commander Steel nemesis who happens to be a Baron -- that is, Baron Death, out of costume -- and his henchman Bruno pay a visit to Dr. Moag, an America First member who was researching a strange device he happened to create which could transmute inorganic matter into animated, controllable golems. Thinking that selling this technology to the Germans -- oh, excuse me, the Prussians -- during wartime is a bold move for peace, Moag gives them a demonstration. But when Bruno tries to push the doctor away and steal the device, Moag is shoved into the beam (of course!), and trans-morgified into a blue-and-black skinned brute. Luckily, his clothes also morphed into a supervillian costume, as he quickly found that he could control and transmutate any item with any mineral content, and dubbed himself the Mineral Master.

Checking back in with Steel, Hank is performing a stunt to show off his usefulness to the Brass. (Huh?) Leaping from one plane, Steel body-glides down to a lower plane, almost losing it in a cross-wind but utilizing his iron-grip to grab the wing and make it. Once on land, we get to meet some more members of the supporting cast, including the doubting Senator Kulhammer, his daughter and obvious rival love interest Kathy, and her wormy newspaper-man beau Edward Runyon. The Senator blows the whole thing off, claiming it was a trick, while Kathy slips Steel a note documenting her interest. Steel is not left much time to ponder this, though, as Mineral Master hits the scene to destroy an airplane hangar. Ranting about how he would destroy the world's machines of war, he was confronted by Steel, who the Master called a "war hawk" in his rage. Battling on a rising ledge of stone, Steel eventually took a spill, but luckily the Senator's car broke his fall.

The Mineral Master would pop up the next day, taking over a radio station and broadcasting his ravings for all in the New York metropolitan area to hear. Hearing this from his desk at the base, Private Heywood snuck off, leaving his requisition forms behind, and ran from Long Island (although, I am not sure what USMC base is on Long Island) to Manhattan in 20 minutes. Busting in on the still-ranting Mineral Master, Steel rushed his foe, crashing through the wall and into the thin air of 40 stories up. The Master used his powers to transmute a handy save, while Steel, remembering how he gripped the plane's wing, digs his hands into the exterior wall and slows his fall. Unfazed, Mineral Master pulls a Green Arrow and busts out a trick arrow, transmuting a lamp post into a small ballista to attack The Indestructible Man. Steel redirects the projectile, only for Mineral Master to demonstrate his superiority by once again transmuting the arrow into twittering birdies. Showing surprising insight to a guy he had been in contact with for about 10 minutes all told, Steel deduces that the Mineral Master needs to be in contact with the Earth to be at full power; one heavy fist-fall later and Steel had hoisted the Master up above his head, pressing him straight up. For twelve hours, Steel presses Mineral Master high, until slowly his foe's powers fade, and he is unceremonously dumped on the street. Steel, exhasusted from his exertion, is left only to consider that love and being a soldier, indestructible or otherwise, just cannot mix.

This issue was my first proper introduction to Steel, and I just happened to find it in the 3/$1.00 bin at the Borderlands sale in 2007. Luckily, Dr. Gilbert helpfully retells the hero's origin for those of us who came in late. Anyway, it's pretty plain that this is a second issue; with the origin done and recapped, we get the introduction of a new villian, the ongoing machinations of the "big bad," a general idea of the series formula, and a few new supporting characters to round out the cast. Conway has a lot of enthusiasm for the character and the story, and doesn't play things too far from the norm for a patriotic-type character. This portrayl is aided by Don Heck's pencils, which give the story a vintage much more, how do you say, "classic" than the 1978 publishing date would typically suggest. The Captain America influence shines through all the way, but in a good way that is not too derivative, overall -- at least as non-derivative as these things can be given the ubiquitous nature of Cap.

Mineral Master is a pretty good villian, his goofball appearance not withstanding. The twisting of a pacifist into a lunatic is something of a novel change of pace from your typical Ratzi-goon types who normally get punched out by WW2 era heroes. His powers make him a formidable opponent, and his weakness would allow him to easily have returned had the series not gotten the axe. Interesting also is how Steel defeats him; it's commonplace in Superhero comics to showcase how physically strong your hero is, or his great durability, or agility, or intelligence. But it is a relatively rare case where you see his absolute endurance, as you do here. It is a cool switch-up which plays to further round out Steel's powers (and a bit of character as well) moreso than if he had simply punched Mineral Master into submission.

There's some awkwardly handled elements as well, unfortunately. The interplay between Gloria and Hank is stiff and blatant; it's obvious that they cannot be together because of her isolationist pacifism and his moral outrage. So the reader simply marks the time that they are together and moves on, since we know that he'll meet a girl better suited soon enough. And soon enough comes quickly indeed, as we are introduced to Kathy Kulhammer (in tow behind her milquetoast fiance) not even 10 pages later. Yeah, it's early on in what I am sure Conway thought would be a long running story, but the interplay is rough. Similarly, Dr. Gilbert's denial of Hank being Steel just sounds silly, although that storyline would at least turn itself around fairly quickly.

All in all, though, this issue was more than enough to make me a fan of the character and drive me to learn about the dubious legacy that he has had. Using this as a template to the series formula, I have no doubt that, as I said on Frank's Justice League Detroit blog, had the DC Implosion not gone down, that Steel, The Indestructible Man would have probably run for about 50 issues of hardcore, Nazi-busting action. Not the greatest run, but certainly respectable, especially given the relatively tough sell of WW2 era stories in general.

Commander Steel is waiting for the right concept for a revival. After his disaterous series of appearances in Justice League of America, he needs a new lease on life to redeem him. I think Frank has a point in the Commie-Smasher concept. But even if it's just the further adventures of the man busting up Fifth Columnists or smashing things up behind enemy lines, there's more Commander Steel stories to be told, and the concept is just sound enough to deserve it.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to work on my pitch.

What I Read This Week

Well, it seems that the links below didn't work as well as I thought via email, so hopefully these will work out better!

Action Comics #865 -- After Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Superman's rogues gallery has traditionally not been the strongest.  A change to that staus quo starts here as Geoff Johns and Jesus Merino pull a "Rogue Profile" on Toyman.  Who is Winslow Schott?  Is he the gentle toymaker who was pushed into a life of crime?  Or the cold, monsterous child murderer?  Johns made these types of tales on of his trademarks on Flash, and it works equally well here, as we feel some sympathy for Toyman while at the same time not too much sympathy.  I really liked Merino's rendition of the grotesque "classic" Prankster as well.  About the only complaint I have from this issue is the cover by Kevin Maguire, which looks nothing like any version of the Toyman seen within.  Worth picking up if you like the classic Superman foes.

Justice League of America #21 -- I picked this one up on a recommendation from several people, including Lilbones.  And, I must admit, as a prelude to Final Crisis (see below), this is a pretty enjoyable comic book.  The talky bits with the "Big Three" were a little tedious, and somewhat hard to follow, but the balance of the issue, dealing with the Human Flame and Libra, were very well done; I'd have taken that part of the issue as a sort of Final Crisis #0.  McDuffie's script meanders a bit at first, but settles down in the second half, while Pacheo's style is well suited to the action elements.  Still not really an issue of Justice League, but otherwise worthwhile reading.

Final Crisis #1 -- Or, Grant Morrison and JG Jones Destroy The DC Universe.  Well, honestly it doesn't come to all that in the first issue, but as far as first issues of such things go, this one is quite good.  Beginning with Metron giving Anthro the gift of Knowledge (in the form of fire) and then following "Terrible" Dan Turpin hunting down some missing kids, and seguing into Libra demonstrating a sample of his power, I thought that this issue crammed a lot into it's page count and made me hungry for more.  And that's pretty much all I asked of it.  Two points.  First, the death which we have all known about for such a long time happened in such an unusual way that I was unsure what to feel about it, and still am.  I mean, I know it's comic book death, but the handling of it was a little... odd.  And secondly, DC is using the "low gloss" paper which has shown up on a few other projects I have seen from them lately, including House of Mystery.  This paper rocks!

Futurama Comics #37 -- Stuck on a farming plnet inhabited by giant robots called the (wait for it) Transfarmers, Fry and Leela, along with super-stud Zap Branigan, must find a way to escape or else end up as victims of a pest-control protocol.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, Bender has a few magnetic problems of his own.  Any comic which opens with a whole planet acting like Pac-Man, features a barn turning into a giant robot, and a plan by Zap Branigan to build an army though "making it" with the women is pure gold.  

Dead, She Said #1 -- Another pickup thanks to Lilbones' suggestion, this pairing of Steve Niles and Bernie Wightson seems pretty obvious after the fact.  Following gumeshoe Coogan, who seemingly had a very bad night, as he tries to find the guy who shot him, leads down a lot of weird alleys in the big city, as well as out in the coutry.  Some nice hard-boiled stuff, with big heaping helping of strange mystery on top of that.  So far, this one has a lot of potential for awesomeness.

The Pick Of The Pile is a tough call, mainly between Final Crisis and Dead, She Said.  I am going to give it to Final Crisis just because of the anticipation that I have had for it, which the issue itself did nothing to deflate.  Dead, She Said was quite cool as well, and a very welcome surprise since I knew nothing about it going in.

So what did YOU read this week?

Everybody's Linking For The Weekend

Well, sorry this is late, but the file got left at work on Friday, making it hard for me to post it. But I am trying out the post-by-mail feature of Blogger and see if that works! So if the links don't come out right, please forgive me and I'll fix them later on. EDIT:: I fixed the links.

Rick gets us started with the letterhead of one of my favorites, Weird War Tales.

The J'Onn J'Onzz Memorial Service.

BONUS GAME: Frank takes a look at the debut of Steel, who's life would only be slightly less painful than his grandson's.

Hey, lilbones... this fish is smiling at me!

Scipio has a really good point with this post.

And finally, rob! shows off an... Aquaman themepark ride?! Dude, that's awesome!