Books That Are Easy To Digest

No personal life ramblings, for today.  It's kind of hard to elaborate on a Saturday where I suspect I caught a splinter of a virus from my girlfriend, who caught it earlier this week.  Thankfully all it left me with was a bubbling stomach, and crazy sinus issues.  Nothing worse than that, as of yet!  And yesterday's choice of topic was rather calculated, because after this difficult week, if I was going to end another weekend of posting for this blog, I wanted to give it a proper high-note.  And what better way than to tackle a book format that SOLIDIFIED my love for comics in my early teens, despite the trends and fashions of books around that time frame.  What's even better is that these books you could LITERALLY fit into a large-ish pocket to read ANYWHERE!

DC Comics wasn't a "spring chicken" to the digest format game when they launched their "Best of Blue Ribbon" line in 1979, to offer up some store shelf competition to those Riverdale Teenagers.  The company not only had a rough digest program featuring "Tarzan" reprints in 1972, but they also produced black-and-white standard paperback collections of some of their superhero titles in 1977.  That called for VERY awkward formatting of stories; panels were clipped, so that you had 1-2 panels of a story per page.  (And the only book I own from this paperback line was a "World's Finest" collection.  I know two of the three stories featured in that were a tale of Bruce Wayne supposedly being the REAL "Superman" of the team, and a battle against the STELLAR villain, Moonman.)  But from 1979 to 1986, DC Comics ran WILD with the Archie Comics formula, producing two separate digest lines, and since they were SUPER cheap when I started visiting comic stores... and you all know well my love for large-page count comics... I knew I had to start collecting these books!  Some of them were pretty fun to read, some were... eh... there.  (Owning the VERY last issue of "Adventure Comics" is not exactly a great mark, considering the book ended on a bunch of very tepid reprints.)  But today I wanted to bring up a few digests that had left a definitive impression on me, even about 20 years removed from purchasing some of them!

Blue Ribbon Digest #11: I've talked about this particular story in one of my earlier blogs, in that this detailed one of the most famed crossovers of the Justice League of America with the Justice Society of America, in search of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, to save humanity.  I mean, that cover copy is near IMPOSSIBLE to resist!  I've often heard podcasters talk about team books being their comic "gateway", because instead of reading a book featuring one singular superhero, you can buy a book that features MANY heroes at once!  Well... Can you beat three comic issues that featured 33 TOTAL SUPERHEROES?!?  Sometimes the DC Digests operated in this rough "trade paperback" fashion, reprinting an entire story from multiple issues, and those were special occasions.  To round out the page count, they did also reprint the first appearance of the Tornado Tyrant, who would have ties to Red Tornado... who sacrifices his android body for this story.  (It's not a spoiler, because he DOES get rebuilt... and if memory serves me right, it's within a publishing year of this three-parter!)  So, not only do you get a prelude tale for our noble Mr. Roboto, you ALSO get a three-issue epic!  Totally worth every penny.

Blue Ribbon Digest #14: Batman books are sort of a "gimme" for any comic fan's reading options.  Granted, Superman was sort of THE headliner of the DC Digest line, but Batman was no slouch for the pocket book approach.  I believe this one earned many years of my favoritism, because not only did it give me some solid Batman adventures to read, but those very tales were dedicated to five of his noted villains, ALONG with a one-page origin story for his rogues following each story.  Some were, admittedly, weird choices.  (Those Riddler and Catwoman stories are kind of wet squibs.)  But I appreciated the unusual pick of a Joker story that WASN'T the standard Neal Adams/Marshall Rogers interpretation.  (It also had the cool gimmick of having Batman fighting off the effects of Joker's laughing gas.)  And it's not like we're cheated of Adams/Rogers material, because they're attached to the Two-Face and Penguin stories.  Also, for added fun in this collection, in the middle of the book, there is a double-page spread (Hello, Wendi!) featuring the then-total of Batman's rogues gallery, and back inside cover photo reference guide to their names.  This book was a GREAT mixed-bag offering of Batman's conflicts with his repeat offenders!

Blue Ribbon Digest #8: I may, or may not, be correct in my assumption that this issue was my first introduction to the Legion of Super-Heroes, but let's just ASSUME it was.  Let me recycle back to my comment about team books being generally more appealing to single-character stories, because you get to see more heroes in action.  That ALSO applies to teams you may not have heard about in the past!  This issue contains two key struggles against the group of assassins known as the "Dark Circle", along with my generally associated Legion main villain group, the "Fatal Five".  I also believe the book contains a BRIEF guide to some of the Legion members featured in some of the stories.  But I KNOW you also get stories featuring the stellar artwork of Curt Swan, and the beginning of the modern Legion popularity from stories written by Jim Shooter.  Considering there's at LEAST two two-part stories in this collection, we ALSO have another rough "trade paperback" collection of certain stories, which is never a bad thing!

Blue Ribbon Digest #34: This digest was posted by dear friend of the blog, Scott of Married With Clickers , as an evening reading choice of his in a Facebook comic group I'm a member of.  This was also the genesis of this particular entry, because this reminded me how much FUN I had reading this particular digest, and the DC digests in general!  And this book I KNOW was my first introduction to the team of Gold, Tin, Mercury, Lead, Iron, and Platinum, those shape-shifting creations of Doctor William Magnus.  Written by long-time "War Comic" maven of DC, Robert Kanigher, and featuring artwork by the always-exciting Ross Andru, this book is unique in that it only features TWO stories.  But they are VERY dense stories, featuring battles against the Fire Mantis... or I THINK that's what its name was... and that lovable living vat of toxic chemicals, Chemo.  This was the one and only digest dedicated to those beings of the element table, but it was an interesting choice from the usual DC hero listings.  Plus, you also got for free a factoid page about how the metals these "Men" were made of effect us in REAL LIFE!

Blue Ribbon Digest #13: This book is a TEENSY bit of a misdirection.  If you were like me, and saw this cover, your mind was BLOWN!  The DC heroes and villains... in a massive team battle... of BASEBALL?!?  WWWWHHHHOOOOAAAA!!!  And at the very least, the cover copy does not lie, because this particular baseball story IS featured in the digest!  (The villains are notorious cheats, of course, but as you can see, umpire Uncle Sam does not put up with their shenanigans.  This story also gave me first introductions to certain DC villains like Felix Faust, the Huntress, and Sportsmaster.)  But I remember thinking, "Gosh!  I wonder what other superhero sports stories will feature into this digest!".  The answer to that question is... no more super sports stories.  Sigh... I'm not going to slight the stories reprinted from the "Strange Sports Stories" comic series from the early Silver Age of comics, but when you buy a book based on that cover premise, you want EVERY tale to feature cape-and-cowl crowds playing the field!

Blue Ribbon Digest #32: As I mentioned earlier, Superman was the KING of the Digest line!  I believe I once heard he headlined NINE individual issues in the series run.  Many of them featured specific themes, such as adventures of the Daily Planet staff, Superman Vs. various aliens, Superman travels through time... and this collection, which featured Superman's more memorable fisticuffs.  What made this digest so memorable for me was that it featured all-out SLUG-FESTS for Superman and his villains.  I do enjoy stories where the Man of Steel has to use his cleverness and resources to solve a conflict, but sometimes you just want to see Kal-El unleash his strength against a foe that can stand level with him.  And this book presents you with battles against Luthor creation, the Galactic Golem, that undead resident of Slaughter Swamp, Solomon Grundy, the power-leech, Parasite, granulated copy of the Man of Steel, the Sand Superman... and Vartox.  Oh, dear Vartox... You of the excellent chest hair, and SLIGHTLY passing resemblance to Sean Connery from "Zardoz"... How ridiculously awesome you are as a character...

Blue Ribbon Digest #10: This was actually my most recent digest purchase, from about March or April of this year.  Of course, buying digests THESE days from ANY source is going to cost a LOT more than the dollar or so I used to pay for used digests when I was about 12 or 13 years old.  But this was not only a digest I never knew existed, it also bore the distinction that it featured a character I never even knew had even ONE digest dedicated to.  For those not in the know, this details a particular story arc... yes, ANOTHER rough "trade paperback" collection... featuring the heroism of Travis Morgan AKA Warlord, in the time-lost land of Skataris.  "Warlord" was an interesting book in that it combined elements of traditional sword-and-sorcery with some Science Fiction, and creator/writer/artist Mike Grell was also able to push the boundaries of standard code-approved books with this title, featuring many a scantily-clad female companion, along with brutal violence.  In this volume, Warlord comes into conflict with his regular nemesis, Deimos, and even battles against his own SON!  Excellence all around!

Blue Ribbon Digest #31:  Last, but not least, is a proper bookend to my digest discussion, and a follow-up to one of my absolute favorite digests of all time.  This volume was a reprint collection of four stories... two of which were sequential issue sequels... featuring the first introductions of new members to the esteemed Justice League.  Leading off was the story that established Dinah Drake/Black Canary to the group, after being transplanted to Earth One after another JLA/JSA crossover.  This issue also started laying the seeds of the relationship that she would share with one Oliver Queen/Green Arrow.  The two-parter of the digest begins with Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man seeing his election into the teams' membership, and after battling against "Stay-Puff Marshmallow Men" created by the sinister Professor Ivo, the team is saved by a living Red Tornado... after having been blown up REAL good for that "Seven Soldiers" storyline!  After Red Tornado manages to shake himself free of Ivo's scheme, and save the captured team, he is ALSO granted membership into the JLA.  If only an android could cry...  (That sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?)  Finally, our last featured elected member is Zatanna, which was also her general reintroduction into comics after a mid-60's inter-comic crossover detailing her search for her missing father, the master magician Zatara.  If you don't recognize the mistress of backwards magic words from her appearance... don't feel TOO bad.  Remember that in the 70's and 80's, she was presented in two semi "heroic" costumes, before she was returned to her standard magician's outfit... and lovely fishnet stockings...  WHAT?!?  Anyways, one missed opportunity this book had was if they had waited to publish this volume a few more years, the last new entrant to the "classic" Justice League could have had his election story reprinted in this book... The fusion being of Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein that is BEST known as Firestorm the Nuclear Man!

Hard Weeks Can Feel Like H'el On Earth

Oy vey... I won't weigh you readers down with the bloody details of this week, but let's just say from Wednesday to Friday, I've probably given myself enough mental and physical stress from work than I probably have these past 6-ish months of unemployment.  I suppose in these cases, you can't win for losing, even if it does result in a paycheck.  Oh well... As my lady keeps telling me, it's just an episode in my life, and I should be able to move on to something "better".  It's kind of funny, because I COULD have written an entry this past Tuesday, since I was scheduled to have that day off.  But I was having a difficult-enough time to schedule my topics for the weekend, alone.  And I should apologize in advance if today's entry, in particular, proves to be "muddled" in execution, since I'm writing this on about 5 hours of sleep, due to an uneasy stomach, trying to ease out my physical aches from the work week, and mental stress from bad dreams.  BUT I will tackle this blog entry, because maybe it will settle my nerves to a degree.  And I hope you all will still enjoy the results!

Today I intend to return to the world of the "New 52" DC Universe.  This graphic novel/story arc was a library book I checked out on the very day I was granted my new job.  I tackled the progression of the story during weekend periods with my girlfriend, whenever she was out to work, or when she was busy with something else.  The "New 52", as I somewhat discussed in my 3-year anniversary entry, has been a mixed bag for long-established characters.  Some, like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, were beneficiaries of GREAT creative fortunes in their individual books.  The forefather of the DC Universe... the character that turned 75 years old, as of last year... outside of Grand Morrison's touch on "Action Comics", and supposedly the new Geoff Johns/John Romita Jr. "Action Comics" run, Superman has been rudderless in his creative direction.  It felt like the "Superman" title, itself, was the creative whipping-boy of the DC publishing line.  George Perez... THE George Perez... walked off the title, due to creative differences.  Dan Jurgens... one of the KEY elements of Superman's 90's popularity wave... was poorly utilized as a fill-in creator.  Yes, it felt like DC Comics executive decisions were more deadly to Kal-El than Kryptonite could EVER be.  BUT a crossover event between "Superman", "Supergirl", and "Superboy" sought to give the Kryptonian family circle a 75th birthday bash!  Did... it succeed?

Here's the basic "elevator pitch" for the event.  Superman manages to battle a creature in Metropolis, which ticks Supergirl off REAL bad.  Turns out the creature is Kryptonian in origin.  What occurs next, after some investigation into the creature, is that Superman and Supergirl happen upon Superboy... who is given a MASSIVE whammy by a being claiming to be another Krypton explosion survivor called H'el.  H'el's story... as he tells it... is that he was personally selected by Jor-El to inaugurate space explorations to find a world for Krypton's population to settle on after the impending planetary explosion.  Superman doesn't like the cut of H'el's jib, nor the fact that he evicts Superman from his OWN Fortress of Solitude, or even the fact that apparently H'el is piecing together a device that drains energy from our planet's sun for the purpose of traveling back in time to pull Krypton into Earth's spot.  Humanity?  Gone as the result!  So what about the other Super-Family members?  Superboy has to wear Superman's armored suit, because H'el separated his very genetic clone structure, so that unless he's not protected by the suits defenses, Kon-El's very body will unravel itself.  Supergirl gets MASSIVE fan-girl crushing on the misshapen... but noble... H'el, and couple that with the fact that she's been MISERABLE with her stay on Earth ever since she first arrived, she sees no issue in helping H'el out with his plan.  (They also make time to "suck face", occasionally.  Yeah... That image is not really helping my uneasy tummy at the moment...)  We also spice this mixture up with the threat of an alien herald in the Arctic region that has sounded a horn to alert Galactus... er, I mean "Oracle"... to Earth to judge the entire planet, due to H'el's threat.

Now, let's talk about how each individual title manages to hold up its end of the storytelling.  We begin with "Superman".

"Superman's" end of the crossover was almost the definition of "middle of the road".  On the one hand, Kenneth Rocafort's artwork was EXCELLENT.  He has a great stylistic touch, and I would have been curious how he approached a pre "new 52" version of Superman.  He even gets the bulk of handling other elements to the story, such as depicting the Justice League, and he even gets the ONE major issue where the Clark Kent identity gets an actually great character moment.  So I give a huge thumbs-up for Rocafort's contributions.  As for Scott Lobdell... Y'know, he's an old hand at crossovers.  He was part of the X-Men team during the crossover CRAZY period for the "Merry Mutants" in the 90's.  But the difference between that period, and this event, was that there was FAR better interconnectivity at Marvel than there seemed to have been at DC.  I'm not saying Lobdell did a bad job with his piece of creativity for "H'el on Earth", but you get the feeling he was left trying to piece together hot messes from one SPECIFIC title, in particular, and the effort shows.  But again, I give Lobdell credit for providing us readers with an EXCELLENT Clark Kent moment, an appearance by Lex Luthor that could be seen as a "Hannibal Lecter" riff, but it works, and provides the character of Superman the sense of leadership in this event that he really NEEDED to be effective.

Next up, we're gonna tackle... EASILY... the weak link in the event chain, "Superboy".

I enjoyed Tom DeFalco's Marvel material.  He gave us some EXCELLENT years in "Mighty Thor", and if it weren't for him, "Spider-Girl" wouldn't have even been a "thing" for anyone to follow!  And you get the impression he was brought onto this book to attempt to save a sinking ship.  Because the "Superboy" end of the crossover is pretty AWFUL.  This book was launched by the other side of Scott Lobdell... the one that took a soup of BAD 90's clichés, and scooped it into the genetic mix that created the whiny Kryptonian clone that resulted in Kon-El.  Gone are the glory days of Conner Kent, the character that launched from the original "Reign of the Supermen".  DeFalco is also not helped by the really... REALLY... sub-par artwork by R.B. Silva.  I don't knock on the man, but I cannot help but note that Silva's artwork is... pretty lackluster compared to the "Superman" and "Supergirl" sides of the crossover.  And the character of Superboy is such a drag to read about, that I couldn't care less about his actual fate for the story.  Although I did enjoy the development of his traditional "tactile telekinesis" powers, his entries in the event felt the MOST disconnected of the storyline.  It also didn't help matters that his title featured one Annual crossover issue.  Calling it a "chapter" of the storyline is like calling the author's acknowledgements of an average novel an integral part to the story.  That "Superboy Annual #1" felt like a WHOLE lot of nothing in connection to "H'el on Earth".  Maybe copies of copies really DO turn out faded, after all.

Finally, we have the final book of the crossover event, "Supergirl".

The former writing team of Michael Green and Mike Johnson worked MAGIC from the very start of "Supergirl".  It was amazing that they were able to take a character that would be deemed, in other hands, as supremely unlikable, and made Kara Zor-El sympathetic and EXCITING to read about.  And Mahmud Asrar is a SUPREMELY talented artist, able to tell a story effectively and energetically.  Supergirl's side of the story nails the longing Kara has for the return of Krypton, and the manipulations that H'el lays on her... or is it GENUINE concern for his plans... are engaging.  Plus, Supergirl gets some of the BEST action beats of the crossover, with fun showdowns against the Flash and Wonder Woman.  If you notice my notes aren't as extensive on this end of the crossover, it's because it's hard to keep repeating how GREAT Supergirl as a title has been, up and down.  I suppose I could just write an entire paragraph containing the word "Great", over and over again.

In summation, this event ends up as a VERY uneven mixture.  You can see it's a chowder of one EXCELLENT element, one foundation element that does generally hold, and one piece of bland tofu as another element.  What also doesn't help the story are these key barriers:

• The character of H'el brings me to mind of a generic Japanese role-playing game villain.  He's supposed to be a "sympathetic villain", who is also massively cruel and callous.  His ending is ALSO very JRPG in tone, if you people have spent countless hours on "Final Fantasy", and can catch my drift.
• Why, why, WHY, was the element of Oracle brought up in the story?  Notice I didn't talk about Oracle all that much in ANY of my writings?  That's because that story element DOES NOT MATTER.  Even with the galactic stakes associated, Oracle just is a complete non-factor.
• The story DOES NOT HAVE AN ENDING!  SERIOUSLY!!!  We get a kinda-ending, but the event actually lead into a sequel event, "Return to Krypton".  I've not read that one yet, because of two reasons.  1. As far as I know, it has not been traded as of yet.  2. Do I REALLY want to revisit the ramifications of this event?

All in all, for people that were VIOLENTLY opposed to Zach Snyder's "Man of Steel", I feel even they could concede that that film made for a better birthday gift for Superman than "H'el on Earth" turned out to be.  My recommendation?  Read from the library, as I did, and judge for yourself.  But I would NOT recommend you rush out to buy the single issues or graphic novel collection.  Fer cripes' sake, that money could go to a nice dinner!

 

Marvel Anarchy In The U.K.

No personal preamble for today, thankfully for you readers.  I mean, I GUESS I could publically state that ice cream parlors around where my girlfriend lives are utter WUSSES about the season!  Seriously, while I could eat ice cream year 'round... and often do... there's NO REASON to call the start of the "Fall Closing Season" at the beginning half of September.  Grow a backbone, people!  Sigh...  Anyways, off to today's topic, which is a trip across the pond to visit a particular creative branch of the "House of Ideas" I eagerly explored during my late 90's periods!

Marvel Comics in the United Kingdom was not a new concept by the arrival of their original "Marvel UK" material in the 1990's.  In fact, according to the ever-wise Wikipedia... and in their episode about a British Spider-Man story, a podcast called Hey Kids, Comics! ... Marvel Comics from the United States were the FIRST American comics to be somewhat regularly reprinted through various companies in the U.K. since 1969.  But again, those were reformatted reprints of material that had already existed.  In due time, across the late 70's, original material from England began being published alongside their standard U.S. reprint fare, with original "Star Wars" stories, a "Doctor Who" comic series, and maybe best known as a vanguard character for the U.K. expansion, Captain Britain.  One could even lay claim that the REAL seeds of the 90's "Marvel U.K." development were begun when "Transformers" became a British exclusive title... after interest in the toy and cartoon line waned in the U.S... and writer Simon Furman introduced a new character to the cannon, the cybernetic bounty hunter, Death's Head.

In 1990, the Marvel U.K. editor-in-chief, Paul Neary, was tasked by their American investors to create a new division of characters for possible stateside expansion.  Thus was born "Marvel U.K.".  The unique thing about Marvel U.K., as a whole, was how drastically tonally different it was to the standard American Marvel product.  For a majority of their titles, they had a decidedly Sci-Fi/Fantasy bent over traditional superhero adventures.  And sadly, despite MANY talented creators... and some "okay" creators... and their efforts to spice up their Marvel contributions with "And now for something completely different", the "Marvel U.K." line uniformly withered and died as early as 1994.  (Though I SWEAR I saw materials advertising a revamping of many popular characters from the Marvel U.K. Universe around 2012 or so.  If anyone wishes to "school" this "fool" on that creative initiative, just lemme know via a comment to the blog!)  But for those four years of existence, I had dipped my toes into many various pools of Marvel U.K. creativity, and I wish to discuss some of my travels with you!  So let's start at the beginning!

Death's Head II: Dr. Evelyn Necker... NICE name... created a robotic assassin code-named Minion, and tasked it with destroying the original Death's Head machine.  Minion succeeded, but handy-dandy personality assimilation allowed for the spirit of Death's Head to live on in his new Minion body.  Welcome to the world a bouncing baby Death's Head II.  I was introduced to the character via a four-issue mini-series that not only helped establish many of the Marvel U.K. concepts... connections with a corporation known as the Mys-Tech group..., also not only setting into place the figurehead status of Death's Head II in association with Marvel U.K., but ALSO setting the unfortunate template of TRYING to cross over the Marvel U.S. characters as often as possible into their series to generate added sales.  I mean, it DID technically work with "Death's Head II", because his story was set in an alternative future timeline, for the most part.  And his initial mission of assassinating Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards did help establish the overriding of the Death's Head personality.  But as we all know from practically EVERY title that Marvel published in the 90's, if you want to "drum up" sales, Wolverine had to show up MORE than a few times.   But being a character that was meant to be to Marvel U.K. what Spider-Man was for Marvel U.S., I SUPPOSE he was the most successful of the lot, having a four-issue mini-series, a sixteen issue "ongoing" series, and an intended quarterly title that only lasted one issue called "Death's Head II Gold" to his credit.  And he did generate another title I will be discussing in a few.  But I also have to give "Death's Head II" credit for giving me an introduction to the writing stylings of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, along with the AWESOME artwork of Liam Sharp! 

Motormouth/And Killpower

If you took the power-set of Black Canary, placed them as a cybernetics-enhancement into a teenaged street urchin with a nasty mouth on her, and later teamed her up with a genetically enhanced super-soldier who is LITERALLY only a child in chronological age and mentality named Killpower, and you have the dimension-spanning adventures of the gutter-mouthed Motormouth.  Her comic span lasted twelve "ongoing" issues, and she did manage to cross over into many of the major "Marvel U.K. events, of which I shall discuss later on.  Her dimension-hopping was due to a pair of sneakers that matched her DNA pattern for activation.  And I'd say Motormouth's series was the more "post apocalyptic" of the "Marvel U.K." titles I read, with her often dealing with the grittier sides of their universe.  And her power-set involved a microchip installed into her body that would make her "verbal assaults" into literal concussive blasts from her mouth.  If memory serves me right, Wolverine did NOT show up in her book as a guest, but the title did feature various U.S. luminaries such as Nick Fury, the Punisher, and another "hot" mutant of the time, Cable.  But what made "Motormouth" a title of note for me was that it was the first time I was exposed to the artwork of Gary Frank.  I MAY have seen his work on "Incredible Hulk" around the same time, but I still more closely associate my being aware of his stylings in this particular title.

Black Axe:

I sadly have VERY little recollection of a lot of this book, aside from being fooled by the cover art into thinking that John Romita Jr. was actually going to be a regular artist on the title.  Plus, that GIGANTIC cyber-axe look AWESOME!  But I remember distinctly that when I opened the cover of that first issue... the artwork was utter slop, and the character didn't prove to be very memorable at all.  According to my internet research, Black Axe was a twist on the "Immortal Warrior" concept, having existed throughout all of mankind's major conflicts, and adapting to the times.  Apparently Black Axe couldn't adapt to his own title without a first-issue appearance by Death's Head II, and he couldn't survive the conflict of being a rather lame title that lasted only seven issues.

Death's Head II/Killpower: Battle Tide

Are you all ready for gratuitous fighting and guest appearances?!?  Then face the demonic embodiment of warfare and vengeance, as it threatens to envelop the universe in TWO mini-series that happen to feature the tag team of the former Minion and the pre-teen super being, along with appearances by Hercules, Hulk, Wolverine, Psylocke, AND Sabretooth!  In a way, the concept of the "Battle Tide" is kind of similar to the "Warworld" concepts that would be refined in the Post-Crisis "Superman" books.  The demonic force would recruit various aliens it encounters, and pits them against each other in galactic gladiatorial battles to determine which combatants would be strong enough to form a conquering army.  I was never wholly actively aware that there were two SEPARATE mini-series, because the publishers didn't provide any cover copy delineating any series difference.  But as a whole, for a round of mindless action and brawling, I really enjoyed... well... WHATEVER "Battle Tide" mini-series I actually read.

Death's 3

With Death's Head II being the Marvel U.K. "superstar", the attempts to expand his brand were many.  Aside from this title, which involved Dr. Necker... huh-huh... developing two separate assassin cyborgs named Death Metal and Death Wreck, the former being a "T-1000-esque" being and the latter a misshapen brute of a machine, there was another two-issue series using Death's Head II to introduce a character called Die-Cut.  Picture a humanoid bald male in a MASSIVE power-suit with a circular saw hand appendage, and you have Die-Cut to a tee!  I bring up these series as an example of how Death's Head II was intended to be a springboard to a wider universe containing his creative "seeds". 

Last, but not least, we shall discuss Marvel U.K.'s premiere "event" that featured universe-wide interaction with their American brothers!

The Mys-TECH Wars

The Mys-TECH Company board leaders were made up of a grouping of seven immortal mages, that sold their souls to Mephisto... y'know, the breaker of solid Marvel Universe marriages... for their power and agelessness.  They first were properly introduced to the Marvel U.K. line in a series called "Warheads", but their tendrils touched EVERY character that had a lasting foundation in the universe.  The events of the Mys-TECH Wars involved their progressing their global domination schedule with an assistance of a demonic army, and the opposing force consisting of all the Marvel U.K. heroes, along with a GOOD cross-section of Marvel U.S. characters!  (I believe the key to their involvement in the conflict is the use of Nick Fury as a sacrifice to the demonic army the Mys-TECH board wishes to summon.)  As with many of the Marvel U.K. titles, this book introduced me to another artist that would achieve later fame.  You may, or may not have, heard of a lil' someone by the name of Bryan Hitch, who drew all four issues of the mini-series.  And like most Marvel events, at the conclusion, the universe is set right after MASSIVE heroic sacrifices are made, and all memory of the cataclysm are wiped from the participants, outside of a handful.  Le, sigh...






  

Catching Gals In His Spider Web...

TECHNICALLY I could have resumed a somewhat daily schedule, this past week, of posting.  I'm actually amazed that the most rough day I had at work was just Monday, solely.  (That's not just because of a solid work injury, or two separate rejections for other employment opportunities, or the loss of my parents' sweet cat, Smoky.  RIP, lil' buddy...)  But I think, mentally, while I still hold this job, I want to make sure that I keep to a weekend schedule, JUST IN CASE I have another stretch of days that just totally wipe me out.  But hopefully before year's end, I can reach my 100th. post.  And for that post, all of you faithful readers will have the chance to enter a contest that will net you a winning package of goodies so GREAT, Richie Rich will look on with envy.  (Or maybe he just does that because I will never, ever, EVER write an entry about him.  Sorry, folks, but those Harvey Comics characters never did anything for my reading tastes...)

So this Saturday's entry brings you a profile on a character's various relationships.  I remember on my first episode of the short-lived "Gentleman's Guide to Comics" group podcast, I listed this particular character as my number one favorite.  Certain factors... shifting interests in other "Top 5" characters, shifting qualities in the stories I've dug further into featuring the character, and the realize that I can't always deal with a character that's EQUAL to my own professional successes... have changed that regard, but there's no denying the linking character I talk about will still hold a fond regard in my thoughts.  We all generally associate him as the archetypical "underdog" hero.  The one put upon by great power, great responsibility, and drastic twists of fate.  But one thing we keep forgetting is his amazingly GRAND luck with attracting ladies!  Yeah... Having attractive women constantly walk into one's life is a pretty "lousy hand", eh, Mister Parker?  So today, I'll be talking about the various experiences I've had reading about the women in Spider-Man's life!

1. Betty Brant

 I'm trying to remember if she was technically the second or third "Spidey-Gal" I encountered from my readings, but she was one of the first steady women in Peter Parker's life.  When Peter became a regular fixture at the Daily Bugle, he began laying the foundations for interest in the fetching "cougar-kitten" secretary of J. Jonah Jameson.  I say "cougar-kitten", because TECHICALLY Betty was an older woman than Peter Parker, but I'm guessing it was more along the lines of being 4-6 years older.  (So her partially dating Peter while he was still in high school isn't so blatantly creepy in that regard.)  What was she like as a partner for Peter?  Well... She tended to be rather ditzy... but let's be honest: Stan Lee was NEVER great at writing level-headed females.  After her brother perished in a battle between Spider-Man and the Scorpion, she often voiced her hatred towards the Friendly Neighborhood Wall-crawler, so that secret identity wasn't a great thing to reveal.  It also didn't help that Aunt May Parker... AKA the SOURCE OF ALL SPIDER-MAN EVILS... constantly hassled Betty.  I'm betting this pressure led to her suddenly "finding" Ned Leeds to enter her life.  Weird that they went off to Europe to elope, then took nearly TEN REAL LIFE YEARS to actually marry.  But hey, love works in mysterious ways.  But it's not like Betty exited Peter's life completely.  When Ned died as part of the whole "Hobgoblin" situation, she began extending her magic typing fingers towards Peter.  When Peter's clone, Ben Reilly, became part of a VASTLY OVERLONG saga, she figured if she couldn't ensnare the genuine article, why not go for the Xerox version of her romantic endeavors?  I DO know she survived into the "Brand New Day" era of Spider-Man, but I don't think she's nearly as integral in Peter Parker's life.  But if memory serves me correctly, she DID start up a fling with Flash "New Venom/Coke" Thompson.  Symbiotic webs snare the ladies just as effectively, methinks...

2. Gwen Stacy

You just knew it was going to be a "snap" to mention Gwen Stacy as a part of Peter Parker's life.  (Bad taste?)  Again, she was still NOT the first "Spider-Lady" I encountered.  Plus... and to be fully honest... the main piece of Spider-Man history that she occupied for MANY years of my life was the event of her death.  Even after having read her earlier appearances before she perished during the climatic battle between Spider-Man and the Norman Osborne "Green Goblin"... this may sadly still remain the most memorable moment of her character in my regards.  I believe it's when Peter Parker enters college that he first crosses paths with the head-banded one... and under the pen/co-plotting of Steve Ditko, she began her life MUCH more harsh than most fans would remember.  (But I guess if you're a classmate/friend with Harry Osborne, who was MUCH more of a obnoxious jerk for his first introduction, you'd be a bit of an "Ice Queen" in temperament.)  But there was something about the character of Peter Parker that attracted Gwen Stacy.  Alas, the curse of being Spider-Man causes complications in Peter's relationships, because after her father... Captain George Stacy... died while saving a child in the middle of a Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus battle, she garnered the Spidey-Loathing sense.  But until another character we shall discuss took up the romantic spotlight of Peter's intentions, Gwen Stacy was potentially the most committed relationship Peter Parker had established before her death.  The implications even went so far as to suggest he was going to pop the engagement question to her!  Gwen's post-death legacy is rather... complicated.  She served as a clone, a "floating head of guilt", and most disgustingly, an apparent fling for Norman Osborne to help sire two children that took up the "Goblin" legacy.  Ugh... I feel a bit of bile rising in my mouth over that.  But apparently Gwen Stacy will be returning... AGAIN... only this time as a legit "Spider-Woman" for an upcoming Spider-Man crossover.  I'm still finding myself annoyed that writers can NEVER seem to let Gwen Stacy rest in everlasting peace for TOO long, but oh well...  At least she looks REALLY cool in her new Spider-Person costume!

3. Felicia Hardy

I became aware of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat in a weirdly roundabout way.  I DID know vaguely of the Black Cat's existence in the Marvel Universe, because the time period I started reading the book, she was engaged in a relationship with Flash Thompson as a spite-dating situation to make Peter Parker jealous.  (Man... For a guy that started off as a Parker bully, you can't help but feel BAD for the fact that Flash is sort of "sloppy seconds" for all of Peter's ex-girlfriends!)  But I started learning more about her character in a slightly altered form through the 1990's FOX Kids "Spider-Man" animated series.  And it was latter "Essential" volumes of the "Spider-Man" titles that I started learning the comic origins of Felicia Hardy.  Felicia is different from practically ALL of the women that will be listed in this entry, because while she LOATHED the concept of Peter Parker, she wanted a relationship with SPIDER-MAN!  That's right, she was the only woman in Peter's life that wanted to be exclusively involved with his heroic identity!  She's also a solid Spider-Friend, through their many relationship ups-and-downs, with her luck altering powers that she received through Wilson Fisk's scientific plotting.  After she was THRASHED in a three-way battle between Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and The Owl, Peter decided that he couldn't deal with her placing herself in the middle of every one of his conflicts, and risking her life.  Plus, the fact that he picked up on the "Kingpin" connection, and how Peter was growing weary of a relationship where he really couldn't be himself, and it was a ticket to Splitsville!  But to this very date, Black Cat has been a part of Peter Parker's many twists and turns in life, even if I do believe she is still in an adversarial position from the time that Peter's body was taken over by Doctor Octopus, and the way that Peter layethed the smackdown on Black Cat during that time span.  Remember, fellas, hell hath no fury, and all that...

4. Deb Whitman

Deb, Deb, Deb...  I became aware of her... either through Essential volumes of "Web of Spider-Man" or "Spectacular Spider-Man".  But she was around during the period where the woman we MOST associate with Peter Parker was out of the picture, Gwen was long departed, and Felicia was busy being her flighty self.  But if we all thought the Black Cat was the unlucky lady that crossed Peter's path... we had not yet met a fellow student advisor at Empire State University named Deb Whitman.  I liken her to the one MAJOR "doormat" of Peter's life.  You see, whenever Peter had to split for Spider-Business, she would go on these mental trips of self-doubt of her importance to Peter's life, and his willingness to establish a relationship to her.  Of course, she never TALKED about any of this with Peter Parker.  Because that would make perfect sense as adults in a COMIC BOOK WORLD.  Nope, she just kept internalizing these doubts.  But until a latter ret-con for a character we're STILL GETTING TO... be patient... Deb was the character that was the most close to piecing together the Peter Parker and Spider-Man connection.  But with great knowledge comes... great mental breakdowns, and separations from the stress she feels that Peter Parker causes in her life?  As if that weren't enough, during the time period where Peter Parker revealed his identity to the world in the wake of "Civil War", Deb Whitman must've decided to emerge from her neurotic shell as a vengeful Valkyrie of the pen, publishing a novel about her time in a relationship with Peter Parker as a personal attack against this revelation.  Gee... Taking things a bit too hard, aren't we, Debby?  But then again, maybe it was for the best that Peter Parker didn't have to deal with Deb Whitman reaching that sort of boiling point in an active relationship status!

5. Carlie Cooper

"Brand New Day".  Brand new girl.  Semi-same issues Peter had with Deb Whitman, only with a woman that was less neurotic, and more hinging along being aggressively psychotic.  But at least after the "Spider-Island" event, Carlie became more of a tolerable character... after she split with Peter Parker.  But she was yet ANOTHER lady in the chain of "like Peter Parker, had NO use for Spider-Man" relations.  One factor she did have over the other ladies was that, due to her law enforcement position, Carlie was more than capable of taking care of herself.  (She does earn added points for attempting to gain a position in a roller derby team.  I'm sorry, but I will ALWAYS have a soft spot for "Derby Dolls".  You ladies rock!)  Her major relationship failing was that, remember all the issues Deb Whitman internalized?  Well, Carlie was not shy in EXTERNALIZING her issues with Peter Parker in many shouting matches.  ... Solid relationship foundations, eh?  But after she gained Spider-Powers, like the rest of New York, then lost them after the Spider-Queen's machinations failed, Peter was taken to task by Carlie about his involvement with Spider-Man, and she was not satisfied with his explanations, and another relationship bites the dust.  She DID, however, continue on as a participant during the "Superior Spider-Man" period, with her deductive reasonings tingling from the changes in Peter's personality.  That tends to happen when you're being controlled by one of your most deadly adversaries in Doctor Octopus.

6. Mary Jane Watson/Parker

Joe Quesada be damned: to my reckonings, despite all retroactive continuity developments, for my time of reading the "Spider-Man" titles, Mary Jane Watson will ALWAYS be the definitive Spider-Man woman.  And what an interesting path she took to become such a solid part of Peter's life.  (Before editorial mandates and Mephisto arrangements altered that... *Wet fart noise*)  She began as a mystery woman that Aunt May was constantly trying to set Peter up with.  At least she was a TOTAL mystery when Steve Ditko was involved with "Amazing Spider-Man", so much so that we never saw her face!  But when "Jazzy" John Romita Sr. stepped up as regular Spider-Artist, we found out that Peter Parker DID hit the jackpot with this red-headed tiger!  However, she had a LOT of personal growth to achieve over the years, with her starting off creative life as a go-getter party girl with utterly INSANE "hip" dialogue.   It took the death of Gwen Stacy for Mary Jane to begin being transitioned into a romantic interest for Peter Parker.  And even THEN she had to walk away to "find herself" after one marriage proposal from Peter.  But after things with the Black Cat and Deb Whitman fell through, Mary Jane returned from her global sojourn to become a whole and stable woman, and after much discussions, we entered the 1987 much-publicized wedding of Peter and Mary Jane.  Spider-Man tied the KNOT!  HOLY COW!!!  And for nearly 20 years, with some hiccups in the middle of things, Peter and Mary were THE solid couple of comic-dom!  Their relationship survived threats to Mary's life from Peter's Spider-Man existence, a pregnancy and miscarriage, and the supposed death of Mary Jane.  (It was more of a disappearance, and a REALLY stupid story at that.  John Byrne may generally be a great artist, but no denying that his late 90's and early 2000's writing was... bizarre at best.)  "One More Day" ended Peter's sweet existence, but even since the start of the "Brand New Day" era, Mary Jane has never been far from Peter's life.

Justice's Gonna Lose Its Mind In Detroit... ROCK CITY!!!

(A brief aside: I hope that somewhere Gene Simmons' uncanny ability to find and sue the pants off of ANYTHING that refers to KISS without his direct involvement doesn't seek out this piddling lil' blog.)

Another weekend edition arrives in your hands... through SOME media device or another... and today's blog serves as a mirror to yesterday's entry.  If you remember, I went into more detail than your average writer would even CARE to do so about the Avengers/Avengers West Coast splinter group, Force Works.  But the main difference between yesterday's discussion, and today's, is that today was NOT created from a fracturing of an existing group.  This was wholly intended to usher in a new era for a LONG established example of a super-heroic team.  But this particular era usually tends to spark one of three reactions for fans of the teams' legacy:

1. "Ugh!  THAT team?  They were bloody awful!"
2. "Wait... Who?"
3. From Geoff Johns: "Man, they are gonna be GREAT in the 'New 52'!"

1984 wasn't just the year that "Big Brother" watched all of us, nor was it the debut year of the annual "WrestleMania" event.  After 232 issues, and one annual, the "old guard" of the Justice League of America was dissolved, after a Martian invasion of Earth.  Aquaman... who acted with a UNIQUE leadership drive that wasn't much present for him during this time-period... declared the League to be exclusive to members that could wholly devote themselves to full-time membership.  So... say goodbye to the "Big Guns" of Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the Flash.  I'm FAIRLY certain Batman was already busy mentoring the... ugh... Outsiders during this period, anyways.  So that left established members Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and the Elongated Man to lead the way to the brand new recruits, of whom I shall detail:

• Vixen- Mari McCabe actually was somewhat established in the DC Universe before this point, appearing in a few issues of "Action Comics" and "DC Comics Presents".  She also started life in a very Catwoman-esque appearance, while sidelining in her civilian life as a supermodel.  But the mid-80's dictated she switch over to a VERY Wolverine-inspired appearance for her introduction into the Justice League.  But her power-set had not changed, at least; a mystic totem she wore around her neck allowed Mari to emulate the power of any animal she could call upon.  For example, she could call upon the power of flight from a bird, or speed from a cheetah... etc.
• Steel- Henry Heywood III was NOT pre-established before his Justice League tenure, but the legacy of Commander Steel HAD existed in the days of World War Two... On Earth 2.  (He transitioned to Earth One... AKA "General Earth" after the first "Crisis".)  Heywood the First was a willing volunteer to have his entire body mechanically enhanced to battle the Axis powers.  Heywood the Third... Well, it wasn't exactly a "consensual" transition.  But Grandpappy knows best, so the new Steel had the same mechanical-enhanced body, which allowed increased strength and a measure of invulnerability.
• Gypsy- Let's put the Stevie Nicks song aside for the moment, and talk about Cynthia Reynolds.  A runaway, with LEGIT Romani heritage, she is first introduced with Steel and our next member in "Justice League of America Annual #2".  Her powers... outside of being WHOLLY oblivious to her massacre of fashion... were chameleon illusion castings, and an imperfect sense of precognition.   So she was kind of like having a package of Mystique and Deanna Troi in one teenage person.  But if you eyes aren't rolling yet, wait until the last of the new recruits...
• Vibe- Paco Ramone... Sigh... I cannot count the ways how you are one of the most reviled Justice League members in existence.  Even the female Doctor Light had more supporters than you did!  Maybe it was because of your TRULY grotesque costume?  Maybe it was because your attitude, as written by Gerry Conway, was utter garbage?  All we can say, for sure, is Paco gave up the life of being a gang leader, and gave up even REMOTELY looking "cool", to join forces with the Justice League.  He carries the ability to manipulate sonic vibrations, seismic abilities... and my "favorite" according to Wikipedia, "superb breakdancer".  The cast of "Breakin'" had better WATCH OUT!

It should come as NO surprise that this team was launched as a response to the popularity of "New Teen Titans" and "Batman and the Outsiders", AKA the "Youth Team Wave".  And in a way, this title also reflects "Force Works" in the fact that it was VERY limited in its existence.  Aside from participating in the crossover events, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Legends", the JLD's life span lasted 29 issues... but UNLIKE Force Works, this team did manage to eek out two extra-length annuals.  But while "marital" problems were cited on my research, I want to say Aquaman left the team after a year because even HE couldn't stand being the leader of this new squad of goofs.  But this allowed Martian Manhunter to test out his forthcoming leadership capabilities for the Justice League International/America that would arrive after "Legends"!  And this particular run DID manage to squeeze in some classic JLA villains to square off against the new kids.

For example, my favorite one-android JLA, Amazo, faced off against the re-established JLA team!  This also managed to fit in a reunification with Aquaman to his most HOT wife, Mera!  Ironically, this would not be the only time the Detroit leg of the Justice League would square off against a creation of Professor Ivo.  ... And the next time out, it would NOT fare too well for many of the members.  But before that...

It wouldn't be a Justice League team if Desparo didn't thrust his finned head into the team's good intentions.  This threat proved to be so severe... or maybe the team proved to be SO ineffectual... that the Batman had to return for a four-issue battle with Desparo, who managed to gain control over the forces of the Underworld.  ... Because that's what space aliens do, right?

"Legends" proved to be the team's last hurrah, as Earth's heroes were under assault by the plottings of Darkseid.  Darkseid's ultimate plan for this event involved the manipulation of regular people on Earth's perceptions of our superheroes, with the end goal being total distrust of ALL Meta Humans.  The JLA managed to team up with a previous member, Firestorm, and a member of the future-based Legion of Superheroes, Cosmic Boy, to tackle the mammoth being known as Brimstone.  (It ultimately took the Suicide Squad to batter down the skull-faced flame mountain.)  And there's a certified reason why at the end of the "Legends" event, we had to have a new Justice League team established...

For a final four-issue event, Professor Ivo... See, I TOLD you he would return... sent an army of androids to assault the Detroit team.  And it's hard to keep members on the team when two members die in the confrontation.  So, tears were shed when Steel perished.  And I'm sure EVERYONE break-danced on the grave of Vibe.  (I know I WOULD!)  Thus, the regular "Justice League of America" title that lasted a grand total of 261 issues drew to a conclusion, and the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis run of "Justice League America/Europe/International" was given life.

The funny thing is the legacy of the Detroit league... as MASSIVELY unpopular as it was... still had long shadows!  Vixen would show up in titles on occasion after "Legends", and would later return to become a FULL-TIME member of the post "Infinite Crisis" Justice League of America team.  Gypsy would have a brush with the "Justice League Task Force" title run, and eventually become a member of the Birds of Prey.  Steel had to wait until the post "Infinite Crisis" Justice Society of America relaunch to be resurrected in the person of Nathan Heywood, who was given the Steel "treatment" to recover from injuries received during his run as a college football player.  And hell... even VIBE came back... first as a living corpse in the "Blackest Night" event, and then as part of the "New 52" universe.  ... Because we were just ITCHING to see Vibe come back.  So... say what you will about the team: Noble experiment?  Utter failure?  Not even worth remembering?  But they were a bridge to two specific eras of the Justice League, and it all took place in the ONE major American city that currently is in the throes of bankruptcy.  (We can just blame it all on Vibe and Gypsy.)

Does Force, Indeed, Work?

Welcome to the... for a little while... first entry of the weekend-exclusive editions of the blog!  Since I'm now actively employed, my life's grown a little bit complicated... and A LOT more tiring... for the standard every-single-day blog writing.  (I won't complain about having a job, but I can CERTAINLY hope what I'm currently working on isn't going to be my career.  My legs, after three days of heavy physical labor, are pretty well shaky and worn, with enough scabs and bruises to make modern comic coloring techniques JEALOUS of my body's ability to create colors!)  So I decided to switch gears for however long this employment period lasts to weekend writings, where I've plenty of time, and renewed energy, to guarantee you're not just reading a lot of hastily assembled gibberish.  I can already hear some readers thinking, "You mean this is NORMALLY 'high quality' material?".

To mark the beginning of my becoming a member of an established team, I shall drag out a topic I DID actually have in mind for this week.  It deals with a long-lived Marvel team that had it's own title shot down... BUT that wouldn't stop them from reorganizing, redesigning their looks, and even taking on a NEWBY, like myself!  But alas, this "noble experiment" led to an unusual creative result from a talented writing duo, a highly rotating writing team, and a title that lasted 1/5th less issues than the title it originally generated from!

"Force Works" rose from the ashes of "Avengers West Coast"... or is that "WEST COAST AVENGERS"... in July 1994.  Yep, we're square in the middle of the 90's for the launching of a newly "relevant" take on the West-SIIIDE Avengers.  (To prove how 90's this book was, it was actually previewed in a black-and-white Ashcan issue.  For those not in the know, Ashcan comics were about the size of a standard trade paperback novel, and feature about 10-pages of either a sneak-preview story, sample pages from the first issue, or character profiles.)  Carry-overs from the WCA team included:

• U.S. Agent- Remember him from another blog post a few days back?
• Spider-Woman- No, not the standard red-and-yellow Jessica Drew, but the black-and-white styled Julia Carpenter, who first appeared in "Secret Wars #6", and had a BRIEF run as a member of the former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants... soon to be Freedom Force... before proving her mettle to the Avengers.  By the way, last I checked, Julia transitioned over into becoming the new Spider-Man mystic exposition deliverer... Madame Web!  (But during her Avengers tenure, she was a single mother whose powers included the creation of psionic webbing, and the standard... er... "Spider" powers.
• Scarlet Witch- After the Vision was dissembled, then reassembled, then finding out her twins with the Vision were constructions of the villain, Master Pandemonium... and a LOT of personality switches, Wanda Maximoff pulled herself together enough to become a stabilized leader of the new Force Works team.  While her probability-altering mutant ability and sorcerous hex powers were intact, her costume... Well... It must have shrank DRASTICALLY between the finale of "West Coast Avengers" and the launch of this issue.
• Wonder Man-  I don't even know WHERE to begin with the legacy of Simon Williams to this point.  Seriously, he can be just as confusing... and ANNOYING... of a character to backtrack a sensible history for as Kang proves to be.  ANYWAYS... He's the team powerhouse by default, his mortal frame powered by ionic energies. 

You may be wondering where two West Coast Avengers stalwarts are in this line-up.  Mockingbird was pretty much deceased near the wrap of the WCA title.  (And this was after a failed rescue attempt of her immortal soul from the clutches of Mephisto in the red-foil covered 100th. anniversary issue!)  And with his then-loving wife deceased, Hawkeye ceased being an active Avenger for a time.  (He DID show up for the title on occasion, but never as a full participant.  It was more like being a bitter grouch about losing his team, and brushing up against the semi side-leader, Iron Man.)

Another change you may have noted, on a cosmetic angle, was how different U.S. Agent looks for this title.  After being drafted by Tony Stark for the "Force Works" project, John Walker wanted to establish an identity more separate from Captain America.  Hence, the new costume, and the Stark Industries-powered gauntlets that could create "ionic shields" and force blasts.  Yep... 90's!  Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning designed for this team to be less of a "defensive" force, and more of an aggressor.  ... I'm still REALLY confused where that actually played out for any of the book's run, but hey, whatever works! 

But other than the first issue featuring a REALLY complicated cover gimmick... which involved strategically folded sections that, when unfurled, created a nine-page poster cover... the book DID manage to start off with a bang.  LITERALLY, a bang!  After the first of many run-ins with Kree terrorists that the team squared off against, that first issue featured the team's first casualty of war.  Wonder Man gets blowed up by the Kree terrorists REAL good!  But while I question a LOT of Abnett/Lanning's decisions with the book, the one solid credit I gave them was that... not ONCE in the 22-issue run of the title... Wonder Man was never returned to life.  I don't believe he was even resurrected once until the Kurt Busiek/George Perez "Avengers" run of the late 90's!  To fill in that gap was a character that kind of acted like a surrogate Vision in terms of human understanding, and a surrogate Shatterstar for how battle-driven he was.  Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Century...

Century was pulled into this dimension by accident from the team's first adventure.  (I WANT to say it was a combination of Scarlet Witch's hex powers, and Spider-Woman's webbing.)  This led to the team actually going back to the dimension of Century's capture, where they do battle with some standard insectoid aliens.  (As you do in any given Sci-Fi sequence.)  Century's character arc through the series was trying to piece together the mental blocks that his kidnapping placed on his brain.  He also was integral to uncovering a multi-issue conspiracy instigated by a Recorder android the team captured from the Kree terrorists.  And Century's main power contribution was from his dimensional pole-ax... named Parallax, probably because the creators realized Century was SO naturally forgettable, DC wouldn't bother taking copyright infringement action for the namesake! 

In the course of the team's adventures, Force Works had at least two or three rematches with the imprisoned Kree terrorists, along with two repeat bouts with characters that were NOT AT ALL mirrors of the then-current Croatian civil war situation in real life.  Ugh...  The team WAS involved in at least one major crossover called "Hands of the Mandarin".  And as you can guess, it involved Iron Man's movie-star nemesis.  Only it was his standard comics Chinese heritage, with dragon-hands to replace the alien-ringed hands he once possessed... then lost.  Force Works' part in this crossover between "Iron Man" and "War Machine" involved them battling a group of Chinese villains the Mandarin recruits, who are COMPLETELY not worth bothering researching about.  I can feel safe in saying they more likely than not didn't show up for repeat appearances.

The title's life didn't even get a chance to last into the last major Avengers crossover, "The Crossing".  But "Force Works' " cancellation may have been a saving grace for THAT event, which featured time-travel, an evil Tony Stark, and the plottings of Kang the Conqueror.  (Grr... That Kang...)  But while the book felt mediocre, even compared to the REALLY lackluster final period of "West Coast Avengers", it's kind of a shame the series didn't even live long enough to see ONE annual be published.  But I would like to theorize that without the Avengers name attachment, and the glut of books being published in the 90's, this was just naturally ear-marked to fail.  (I even wonder how a full-on relaunch would fare today, in a Marvel Comics environment where it feels like EVERY OTHER book they publish is Avengers-related!)  But maybe it was also due to the fact that "Force Works" was a book that included the HORRIBLE revision of War Machine's armor for the 90's that also signaled its downfall...

Still, while "Force Works" may have faltered as a comic series, the team DID achieve a weird form of immortality... in cartoon syndication!  The 90's "Iron Man" cartoon launched at the same time the updated "Fantastic Four" cartoon did, and they were packaged together as the "Marvel Action Hour".  Each segment featured opening narration by STAN "THE MAN" LEE, and while Tony Stark was the likely star of the series, this show was almost a stealth series for the Force Works team!  SERIOUSLY!  Not counting for the fact that Hawkeye is a member of the team, and Wonder Man is completely excluded for mention, the party was in full swing for the entirety of the "Iron Man" series.  Even Scarlet Witch's rather "revealing" costume made the cartoon cut!

Not every incarnation of the Avengers can always work, no matter how you "force" it.  (I HAD to make the pun.)  And I'm sure if you saw Abnett or Lanning at a convention these days, and asked them about this book, you might get a blank stare in return.  But while the book was a muddled goulash, it wasn't an massively irritating read.  Just not really memorable... at ALL.  But compared to the subject of tomorrow's blog, you may be regarding Force Works in the same legacy of the Justice Society of America in comparison!

Captain America's Kickin' Compadres

 

As the Beatles once sang, "I get by with a little help from my friends."  This proves to be the same for superheroes.  Either it comes in the form of founding a team of like-minded crime fighters, or establishing a link to the "civilian" world to keep yourself from going TOO crazy.  (And if you go that route, you probably will seek the road of a juvenile "sidekick" to share your adventures with.  Am I right, Mr. Wayne?)  But sometimes a team of crusaders isn't enough for you, and you need to establish occasional "executive assistant" partners for your regular adventures.  No one mastered this hiring policy better than the Star-Spangled Avenger himself, CAPTAIN AMERICA.  And today, we turn the spotlight to Steve Rogers' partners-in-crime-crushing!

JAMES "BUCKY" BARNES- Right from the start, in "Captain America Comics #1", Bucky was there by Captain America's side.  It only took Captain America's first comic to fade away in the 50's to initially take Bucky off the table, and THEN Cap's revised origin in his 60's solo book relaunch to cement in our minds... for at least MANY years... that Bucky perished in an attempt to defuse a bomb launched by Baron Zemo.  Bucky wasn't exactly "super-soldier" material to start with, but as an orphaned "mascot" to Steve Rogers' platoon in World War Two, he proved MORE than capable in combat and the art of killing.  But that act of sacrifice was later to be NON-fatal, when Bucky was reprogrammed by the Soviets to become their own cybernetic assassin, Winter Soldier.  But if you know anything about leading to current Captain America continuity, you know all about Bucky's transition away from being a standard mind-wiped assassin, to replacement to a thought-deceased Steve Rogers as a new Captain America, to being thought dead... AGAIN... in the wake of the "Fear Itself" event... WHEW... to returning to live as the Winter Soldier persona.  Regardless, as long as Captain America exists as a Marvel Universe figurehead, so shall the shadow of Bucky's influence shape Steve Rogers' existence.

SAM "FALCON" WILSON- "Captain America #117" introduced Captain America's first REAL modern partner.  (The appearance of Rick Jones as "Bucky" for the Jim Sterenko run of Captain America does NOT count... Because I really... REALLY... dislike Rick Jones and refuse to give him credit for much of anything.)  According to Wikipedia, Sam Wilson also holds credit as the FIRST African-American superhero.  Beginning life as a community volunteer, Sam's life takes a decided turn for the worst, and he assumes the role of "Snap" Wilson... GANG MEMBER.  But after being lured to an island trap by the Red Skull, and assisted by Captain America, Sam assumes the heroic identity of Falcon, and becomes a solid Captain America ally to this very day!  (Well... Until the book launches where we ALL know Sam assumes the role of a new Captain America.  Thank you, overt comic book news coverage.)  I'd say the predominant elements of Sam Wilson's comic book existence can be boiled down to these notes:

• Social worker for a long time to his native Harlem community
• Owner of his own animal assistant, the falcon Redwing, who is so well trained that their bond may as well be PSYCHIC.
• Falcon's main attribute being his flight wings, which allow him to soar on air currents for extended periods of flight-time.

Sam Wilson's longevity has made him a vital part of the Captain America universe for nearing 40 years of EXISTENCE!  Obviously, with Sam Wilson making headlines as the next heir to the Captain America legacy, it's obvious this Falcon has wings that won't quit!

JACK "NOMAD" MONROE- The concept of Nomad is a bit... complicated.  You see, the persona of Nomad was FIRST introduced by Steve Rogers, when he distanced himself from a government conspiracy, and disavowed the Captain America identity.  In general, the first "appearance" of Nomad was "Captain America #180".  Then briefly in the 1980's, the identity of Nomad was resurrected by the Red Skull for three issues of Cap continuity as a sabotage ploy.  But while Jack Monroe would be the next man to assume the Nomad role in "Captain America #282", he FIRST technically appeared as the 1950's replacement Bucky for a government-created Captain America in "Captain America #153".  UGH!  HEADACHE!  Anyways, let's just push past all that crazy continuity...  Anyways, from Jack Monroe's 1980's assumption of the costumed Nomad role, his character started to chafe more at Captain America's association with another compatriot Steve would later gather... and I shall talk about in a few...  All this boiled to a head, and after transitioning into a more hard-line vigilante, along with adopting a baby from a drug-addicted mother... whom he renames "Bucky"... Jack Monroe sheds the superhero identity, and becomes a "hard traveling hero" for his own title run.  (This should also be known as SUPREME 90's material, with Jack adopting long hair, stubble, a trenchcoat, and a bad attitude.)  Unlike many of the other compatriots that travelled with Captain America, Jack Monroe is the only one with a... thus far... definitive ending, assassinated by the Winter Soldier in Ed Brubaker's "Captain America #7".

DEMOLITION MAN- Possibly the best example of "charity" in comic books, Dennis Dunphy first showed up in "The Thing #28", then debuted OFFICIALLY as the affectionately-known "D-Man" in "Captain America #328".  Dennis Dunphy started his life as a professional WRASSLER with augmented strength from the Power Broker.  Augmentation came at a price, which involved regular "fixes" of his treatment, and being at the beck-and-call of the Power Broker's schemes.  After being booted by his wrestling organization, and abandoned by the Power Broker, he teamed with Captain America to help squash the evil mastermind's goals.  (This also lead to the change in identity... which proves that with great power SHOULD come fashion sense... but that isn't always the case.)  Demolition Man would become a semi-regular follower of Captain America's agenda for years.  It wasn't until D-Mam became an Avenger... and supposedly hit the big-time... that fate came a'callin', and he perished in a VERY similar way to Bucky's fate, crashing a sabotaged plane.  (And during the "US Agent" saga, D-Man may have been a faithful supporter of Steve Rogers, but Jack Monroe REALLY disliked having this "kiss-up" hanging around!)  That was FAR from the end for D-Man for some time, as Dennis was also found in a similar way to Steve Rogers; suspended animation in an Arctic ice floe.  Upon being released, D-Man spent YEARS being known as the bedraggled/homeless "nutcase" with the crazy costume.  Ironically, much like Nomad, who BARELY tolerated the lovable goof, Dennis Dunphy met a thus-to-date permanent fate at the killing hands of Sharon Carter, after being brainwashed into becoming a new Scourge of the Underworld.  Geez... When does the fun begin for Cap's buddies, again?!?

JOHN "U.S. AGENT" WALKER- ... Alas, the good times have yet to start rolling in.  (You'd almost thing Sam Wilson was the most LUCKY Captain America buddy, in that his life has been relatively low on trauma!)  But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the tale of John Walker.  He who first began life as Super-Patriot in "Captain America #323".  This is ALSO an ironic similarity to Nomad's background, because while John Walker was installed as Captain America in "Captain America #333", after Steve Rogers was ousted by a Superhero Activities government group, Steve countered that ousting by creating the identity of "The Captain", which would THEN serve as the foundation of the U.S. Agent identity.  John Walker's character was best described as "focused" and "forceful".  But then again, wouldn't YOU be if you were pressured into thinking that you were superior to Captain America by your representative... who is also linked to that BLASTED Power Broker..., and during your run as Captain America's "replacement", your parents were killed by a militia group, while your former partners helped delay their rescue?  After Steve Rogers and John Walker battled for the Captain America identity, John Walker would later be installed into the Avengers West Coast team as a "watchdog" under the U.S. Agent identity.  John Walker eventually shook off the manipulations, and became a full-fledged Avenger.  He even carried over his involvement with the West Coast foundation by transitioning over to "Force Works".  (To be talked about, later this week.)  I'll not belabor John Walker's legacy onto you, because he's had MANY further adventures on other teams: Omega Flight, New Invaders, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers...  But unlike Nomad or D-Man, John Walker may fade from the spotlight, occasionally, but he somehow finds a way to resurface.

LEMAR "BATTLESTAR" HOSKINS- The same time that John Walker was placed in the position of a new Captain America, Lemar Hoskins was recruited to become a new "Bucky".  (And if you can't see why the character was NOT FEELING the new identity, maybe you should study up on your poor taste history.)  Lemar also has ties to the Power Broker... who I SWEAR I may stop bringing up for the next entry.  Thusly, Lemar was also given the same strength-augmentation procedure that our other candidates were exposed to.  But during John Walker's run as Captain America, Lemar begins to establish his own identity as a partner to the new heroic identity in the guise of Battlestar.  Battlestar even carries a variant on Captain America's World War Two non-circular shield, and while Battlestar hasn't been in the forefront of Marvel Universe activity, Lemar still remains on the playing field.  I wish to mention two genuine off-beat episodes in Lemar Hoskins' life:

1. Being a member of Silver Sable's "Wild Pack" mercenary group.
2. Partnering with Dum-Dum Dugan and Howard the Duck in a "Marvel Zombies" prevention event. 

RACHEL "DIAMONDBACK" LEIGHTON- My eyes are going crossed for all of these VERY detailed backstories for people involved with Captain America's crusade for justice in America.  Still... Soldiering on... Diamondback first came to life in "Captain America #310", where Rachel almost became Captain America's "Catwoman" in terms of their relationships and partnerships.  Diamondback started off as a member of the criminal group, the Serpent Society.  But once she crossed paths with Steve Rogers in combat, let's just say she was... "excited" by Cap's performance.  Her association with the Serpent Society was effectively ended when the Hydra leader... Viper... ousted control from regular team leader... Sidewinder.  Staying loyal to Sidewinder, but at the same time, seeking to get to know her "stars and stripes" better, Diamondback began cultivating a relationship with Captain America.  (There was also a VERY odd episode where she switched personalities with Dazzler for the "Atlantis Attacks" event...  Let's not talk about that.)  But while Captain America had Diamondback's heart, her past belonged to the mercenary Crossbones.  This lead to the occasional stalking by the spurned ex-lover/contracted killer of Captain America.  The main issue with this relationship is that Diamondback was always trying to convince Captain America to stop being such a "SQUARE", but Steve Rogers recognized that it would take a LOT to really reform Rachel Leighton.  This leads to an eventual parting of ways... but by no means a lessening of regards of her feelings towards Steve Rogers.  But Rachel's path takes her into the schemes of Norman Osborn, and she serves as a recruit/trainer in his "Avengers Initiative" program, where she starts a relationship with Constrictor.  All paths tend to lead back to Steve Rogers... even IF they're instigated by the schemes of the Red Skull... and lead to the death of Rachel's physical form, and transition into a biomechanical being.  Ah, love...

I know there were MORE partners to Captain America's vision of keeping the peace, but I wish to touch upon one more... and this one is a CERTIFIED oddity.  (This also comes with the realization that I am writing a BLOG and not a novel...)

RIKKI "BUCKY" BARNES- Remember that crazy alternate reality Franklin Richards created... to be written about more in detail for a future blog entry?  Well, in that reality, a willful dance student named Rikki Barnes finds out her brother is involved with a Neo-Nazi group that is ultimately linked to the Red Skull.  But unlike our reality's Bucky, Rikki Barnes relies on her... er... "dance training" to supplement her fighting abilities.  And for 12 issues of the "Heroes Reborn" era Captain America... and occasional returns to the universe through various mini-series, Rikki Barnes appears to assist her STARS-AND-STRIPES buddy.  (But don't weep if you feel like you've missed out on an integral piece of Captain America history: YOU HAVE NOT.  Rikki Barnes was your standard "sassy" teenager that apparently could become the next Bruce Lee with knowledge of a few pirouettes...)