What a FULL day, today! And no... not in a bad way! My girlfriend and I KILLED a 5K nature walk, had a delicious no-wait lunch at Steak and Shake, I helped her with some Victoria's Secret shopping, and she helped me with buying new shoes at Kohl's. And to top it all off, she treated me to a late anniversary gift: 3 tabloid comics of my CHOOSING! So added to my collection are DC's "Superman and His Incredible Fortress of Solitude", and Marvel's "Giant Superhero Team-Up" and "Spider-Man Vs. The Hulk at the Winter Olympics"! Good reading times, ahead! And ironic, since I just wrote about Marvel friendships, yesterday, and will be touching upon how one aforementioned DC character handles a rotating friendship roster in his own title that lasted from 1978 to 1986. Obviously, I must be talking about Jack O' Lantern. HAH!
People are usually under the impression that Kal-El broke ground for nearly EVERYTHING in the DC Universe. Not quite so. You see, Kal and Bruce Wayne HAVE been buddying up since about the 1940's in stories being featured in either "Superman" or "Action Comics", which then lead into them being regular co-stars in the long-running "World's Finest Comics". (And can you people remember that time when Superman and Batman were FRIENDS?!? And called each other thusly?!? Yeah, it was sometimes silly to see them both hanging out in costume, but they were also two great tastes that went GREAT together! Now it's all about adversarial relationships. People: LET "DARK KNIGHT RETURNS" GO.) But Batman... contrary to ALL modern characterizations... was the FIRST one of the World's Finest duo to expand his circle of friendship, back in 1967 when he inherited the long-running comic, "Brave and the Bold", to feature Batman teaming up with various elements of the DC Universe. Sure, continuity rules for the book made NO sense, otherwise how do you explain Batman teaming up with Sgt. Rock so BLOODLY OFTEN?!? But seeing a healthy rotation of familiar faces like Aquaman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and etc. socializing with the often brooding "creature of the night" was a treat!
For Superman's 40th. anniversary in 1978, sure... a little film NO ONE saw starring Christopher Reeves, directed by Richard Donner would make for a nice gift, but DC Comics saw fit to give Superman a regular team-up title to highlight his building popularity. Thus was born the subject of today's blog entry: highlighting unique issues of "DC Comics Presents"! But before I begin, a little bit of plugging: I've not communicated with him about this, but I want to tell you people about a fun, and SHORT, podcast hosted by Russell Bragg called
DC Comics Presents Show. The goal of his show is to cover EVERY issue of "DC Comics Presents" in discussion, including annuals, and he provides background for the guest star of the issue, so check it out if you so wish!
DC Comics Presents #1: The book that started it all, and featured the first of a two-issue arc written by Martin Pasko and featuring faultless artwork by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (PRAISE BE HIS NAME). I will admit, the whole alien warfare aspect of the story is mostly forgettable. (Two races of aliens, BOTH splinters of the same species but with differing evolutionary paths, seek alternate time travel paths to either stop their galactic war, or give one side a decided victory.) But their threats to Superman and the Flash are fairly credible, and their use in the story is inventive: One side chooses the Flash as their champion, and if he succeeds, he can save humanity. Another side chooses Superman as their champion, and they offer him the chance to save Krypton with his success. And thus begins the set-up for a Superman/Flash race against... LITERAL... time. But in the midst of this crossover, we get appearances by the Legion of Superheroes, Superboy, and a brief battle against the Reverse-Flash! This is the start of two books worth of Bronze Age fun and adventure!
DC Comics Presents #17: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (PRAISE BE HIS NAME) returns to the book after about a 4 issue initial stretch to illustrate a VERY fun story written by Gerry Conway, the very CREATOR of the fusion of Professor Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond: Firestorm. (Soon to be a major feature in CW's "The Flash"!) The gist of this issue involves Firestorm's arch-villainess, Killer Frost, escaping from her imprisonment, and using her frost powers to mind-control Superman into a battle against the Nuclear Man. Of course, this DOES eventually lead to a team-up, because unlike Marvel's version of the team-up, this battle is not based on haphazard enmity, but on mental manipulation, but seeing how a character that can manipulate basically ANYTHING in reality deals with another character who is a solar-powered POWERHOUSE is great! Plus, you can't beat the dynamic illustration of this conflict... along with the appeal of Killer Frost. (I'm sorry, but for a woman that's a living ice sculpture, she is H-O-T.)
DC Comics Presents #27: This was the second issue in a punctuated run by Jim Starlin... Y'know, the guy that created that Adam Warlock guy for Marvel, and another certain Mad Titan, Thanos. Not like you'll ever see THAT guy in a series of Marvel movies... The previous issue MAY be worth more, because of its free insert of a preview for Marv Wolfman's and George Perez's "New Teen Titans", but THIS issue begins a exciting trilogy that featured the very first appearance of Mongul, housekeeper to Warworld, wielder of a Sinestro ring, and the yellow guy that made Alan Moore a lot of bank when he made famous the statement in a Superman special, "For the Man Who Has Everything". In this trilogy, Mongul seeks the keys to Warworld, protected by J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter. But to get Superman to put his dukes up against J'onn for control of the key, Mongul kidnaps some of Superman's friends... and Steve Lombard... and holds their lives for ransom. So this issue IS a bit more Marvel-like in its conflict source, but aside from the AWESOME artwork by Starlin, this issue PROVED that the Martian Manhunter was on an even-keel with Superman for power levels. SERIOUSLY!!! Superman, himself, even claimed that it took nearly everything he had to put J'onn down for the count, and to provide Mongul with the operational Warworld key. But as for the conclusion to that storyline... look to the next stellar issue! Just not the one I'm about to write about.
DC Comics Presents #61: OMAC is... a PUNK ROCKER! (Well, that Mohawk would've helped establish his rep at CBGB's during the Punk prime!) But Len Wein partners his writing talents with another nigh-godly comics' artist, George Perez, to tell the story of how Superman met the One Man Army Corps, to square off against a Terminator-esque giant killer robot who seeks to destroy a figure from its past to complete a mission. This issue not only kept OMAC from slipping ENTIRELY into obscurity, but it proved that maybe George Perez should have been drafted as a regular Superman artist for a stretch of time before the first "Crisis". Seriously, this is one of the most dynamic and fast-paced issues of the series' run! Check it out if you can!
DC Comics Presents #81: Between a previous issue, and this discussed one, they have taught me how to appreciate Keith Giffin's wit and sense of style and humor... along with appreciation for the TRULY unique character known as Ambush Bug. (You kids think Deadpool was the first guy to break the comic book "fourth wall"? HA! Ambush Bug was DEMOLISHING comic walls to comment to us real readers little more than a decade previous to the creation of the "Merc With a Mouth"!) And this issue deserves REAL special mention, because not only do Superman and Ambush Bug square off against the lethal terrorist, Kobra, but their personas end up switching bodies. So you have the MASSIVE oddball weirdo in Superman's body, and Superman trying to figure out how to operate Ambush Bug's costume, and not being quite so "super". I kid you not when I say I was literally laughing-out-loud at a local Biggby's Coffee when I was reading this issue!
DC Comics Presents #91: In a way, this last issue I discuss is... unique. You see, it's not an issue I particularly recommend as a GREAT read. And while I don't want to knock Tom Mandrake, it's not exactly a stunning artwork issue. If anything the very last issue of "DC Comics Presents" would have deserved more of an "excellent" issue highlight. But this issue is just SO WEIRD, I COULDN'T not mention it! Here's the deal: it's meant to be a follow-up issue to the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event. Not like you'd really be able to tell, because Clark Kent's, and Superman's, existence feels JUST THE SAME as it did before the "Crisis" hit the DC Universe. But how can you tell things have changed? Because such pivotal characters to the Crisis, like Lady Quark, Harbinger, and EVEN Pariah, are just wandering the city as "normal people". Yep... They go clubbing, try out food, and attempt to have fun in this new universe. They also fight a COMPLETE Mort of a villain called the Volt Lord that plays on Lady Quark's grief over her lost husband... with REALLY no solid reason why this should affect her so profoundly. Like I said, this is not really a masterpiece comic, but it's a VERY unique showcase of how DC MEANT well for the post-Crisis changes they had in mind, but some changes would take a few years to become more refined. So if you want a hoot about Crisis continuity, check this issue out!
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