Action-Plus: Ambush Bug (October, 1984)
"Police Blotter"
Writer - Robert Loren Fleming
Pencils - Keith Giffen
Inks - Bob Oksner
Colors - Antony Tollin
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Julius Schwartz
From: Action Comics #560
Boy, did yesterdays piece on Joe Kubert's The Redeemer go over like a lead balloon! I was quite taken aback as to how nobody gave a crap about it. I suppose that's just another indictment that I really don't have the foggiest idea what comics enthusiasts might be interested in. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk (and many, many wasted hours), it's not like I'm going to "One Punch" y'all a few times a week. Anyhow, let's head back into Action-Plus.
Interestingly enough, this Ambush Bug back-up actually gets the cover of the issue! That didn't happen all that often... pretty neat!
--
Clark Kent enters A. Bug Enterprises, a detective agency in a bad part of town. Inside, he finds Ambush Bug mopping the floor. He thinks to himself how odd it is that Arkham Asylum would ever let this "fruit fly" out.
Ambush Bug dramatically gets into his detective gear... trench coat, fedora, and cigarette! He hops onto his side of the desk... and notices something. There's something sorta familiar about this Clark Kent. He bears a striking resemblance to... nah, couldn't be.
Following up on his hunch, he walks behind Clark and gives him the cape approximation of a wedgie... still uncertain, he licks his finger and adjusts Clark's spit curl. The jig is most definitely up. The Bug laughs at the feeble civilian disguise (perhaps some meta-commentary?) and Superman beats a hasty retreat.
We are then treated to Ambush Bug's secret origin. Irwin Schwab was just a normal man who was raised by television... it all gets twisted when he visits the Metropolis Library for the first time. He discovers that "real life" is just like a "movie of the week"... and vows to rid the world of social problems.
The next morning, Clark Kent wakes up from an Ambush Bug dream filled night... he just can't shake the Bug out of his head!
We shift scenes to Arkham Asy... State Hospital. Inside, Schwab's former clinician (Derwood) is lamenting the release of his most high profile client. Bud Lipschitz, the Director of Arkham promises him some very early 80's replacement clients to make up for it.
Later that day we watch as Ambush Bug takes the law into his own hands when he "arrests" a Buick whose meters had run out. The day is saved!
We wrap up with Bug visiting Clark at the Galaxy Building while dressed as a Samurai... Clark plays the perfect straight-man here for all of A.B.'s nuttiness. It's alluded that this is the Bug's "first episode" and he promises to commit hara-kiri at the end of his sixth.
--
This back-up story... which, let's face it... was the selling point for this issue, was pretty neat. It's amazing to see a character not unlike the contemporary Deadpool in 1980's DC Comics. I like the idea of Ambush Bug being something of a comedic foil for Superman... I'm not used to seeing Superman (especially of this era) being so bothered/rubbed wrong by somebody. Seeing him in the position of the "straight man" in a comedy duo was really a lot of fun.
When I first put this one together, back in 2016 or so, I was hoping that maybe Ambush Bug would've gotten some love in the post-Rebirth DC Universe... which, I don't think ever happened. To my knowledge, the last time we saw him prior to Rebirth was in was the Convergence: Supergirl/Matrix mini-series, which was decent if I recall correctly... and before that, his stint as a news reporter for the Channel 52 bits that used to clog the back pages of the early New-52 era books.
What's really sad is, if they had decided to bring him back... fans today would see him as nothing more than a Deadpool-ripoff. Hmm... maybe that's why they didn't?
Action-Plus: The Atom (June, 1975)
"Nightmare in Gold!"
Writer - Martin Pasko
Pencils - Dick Dillin
Inks - Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Edits - Julius Schwartz
From: Action Comics #448
It's gonna be a short one today... uh, no pun intended.
Wasn't planning on dipping back into the Action-Plus well quite so quickly, but this weekend has turned into a podcasting X-Travaganza... and I just didn't have the time to dig for the next installment of the "To Catch the Predator" series of Green Lantern posts.
On the podcasting front... if you do follow my audio exploits, I got somethin' cookin'... I can't say with certainty that it's going to be "big", but I can tell you, it's going to be "long".
Stay tuned, my friends!
--
It's time for some Action-Plus, starring the Atom! We pick up with the Ray Palmer starting to turn into gold... a result of his lab assistant, Enrichetta (groan) Negrini dreaming about him. Ya see, anything she dreams of (for the time being) transforms into gold. Luckily, Ray transformed into the Atom... which halted his transformation. Ya see, Enrichetta (groan) was thinking about Ray not the Atom. Ya dig?
The Atom follows some coffee stains to the basement door and down a flight of stairs, whereupon he finds Enrichetta... dreaming, and surrounded by a pair of nogoodniks... and plenty of gold. She begins dreaming of the bad guys... which begins their gilded transformation.
The Atom uses this to his advantage, and proceeds to beat the bad guys up. Worth mentioning that Ray's arm is still golden, so his punches pack a bit more of a wallop right now. Ray notices that Enrichetta is wearing a Philosopher's Stone that once belonged to an Alchemist... and deduces that must be the reason for the gilding. He yanks it from her neck... and it gets stomped on by one of the baddies... reversing the spell.
The day is saved, Enrichetta reunites with her boyfriend Roberto... and Ray hangs up on Jean Loring when she suggests they see some movies with "gold" in the title. Wonk wonk wonnnnnk. (wow, twice in one post!)
--
Welp.
This back-up... ehhhhhh... you know how I sometimes feel about back-ups, and this Atom short did nothing to change my stance. This seems like a decent enough idea for a story, but it isn't given any room to breathe. The whole story could've been told in a single page... even forfeiting the bottom panel to shill Hostess Cup Cakes.
Action-Plus: Great Frog (June, 1974)
"Young Man With a Drum!"
Writer - Elliot S! Maggin
Pencils - Dick Dillin
Inks - Tex Blaisdell
Edits - Julius Schwartz
From: Action Comics #436
It's time for some Action-Plus starring Green Arrow Great Frog! Yeah, Ollie gets enough shine in the world of comics analysis, and so we're going to give this one to the hottest rock group of the Bronze Age... we got Roy Harper on drums... and a couple otha' guys doing other musical things... it's Great Friggin' Frog!
Great Frog is one of those weird Bronze Age deals that I have a very strange fascination with... can't explain what I dig so much about Roy Harper in a band... but I do!
--
We open with Dinah giving Ollie a clue she found regarding a fencing ring. It's a "professional quality" guitar string, which was found in an expensive camera which was stolen from Milwaukee... but fenced in Star City. Ollie decides to look into some local rock bands...
... including, Great Frog! It looks like they're performing in front of a packed house... of gravel. We'll just assume those are heads and not rocks, right? Anyhoo, Ollie is surprised to see his old ward Speedy beatin' the tom tom on stage... which sounds much more disturbing than it actually is.
Ollie heads backstage to take a look at Great Frog's equipment... he finds a snare drum with a false bottom... which conceals, you guessed it... expensive cameras! Seems whoever's behind this ring, is using unwitting rock bands to transport stolen goods. It's actually not the worst idea... though, it is a pretty big conclusion to jump to, ain't it? I mean, it wasn't all that long ago that we learned Speedy was a junkie, right? Might stand to reason that he's a willing accomplice, right? Nahhh... Ollie's certain that Roy is well aware of the situation, and is conducting his own investigation at the same time.
After the show, Ollie goes to confront Roy about the shady dealings... almost giving him a pat on the back for his "undercover" work. Just then, Roy's "agent" Archie enters the backstage area and demands to know what a "costumed clown" is doing there. Roy responds by... socking Green Arrow in the face!
On the way out of the dressing room, Roy (very obviously) tosses some sort of device at the "kayoed" Green Arrow. When the rest of Archie's goons go to "dispose" of Ollie, they get their butts kicked.
We move ahead to the offices of the Mammoth Booking Agency where Roy is invited to join up full time in their operation... which includes both stolen goods... and drugs! Also counterfeiting, but I don't think Speedy was ever addicted to that. No sooner do the Mammoth folks spill the beans, than Green Arrow bursts through a window. Ohhh, so that's what the device was.
Ollie and Roy proceed to beat up the Mammoth guys... while Roy monologues about how they've been taking advantage of kids. Ollie's all "yeah, I figured that out four pages ago". Finally, the boss man agrees to talk.
After the Mammoth's are hauled off to jail, Ollie pulls Roy aside and lectures him on the dangers of being too headstrong. He tells Roy that if he ever feels like he's in over his head, to let him know. Yeah Ollie, just like when he was strung out, right? You were real helpful then. Roy calls him on his BS, and walks away.
--
This back-up... you know, when covering an entire issue, I usually just "tolerate" the backups... however, with this one... the greatness of Great Frog notwithstanding, we actually get some followup on the "temperature" of the Roy/Ollie relationship. This feels like vital and necessary reading if you were a fan of those characters. Roy and Ollie's relationship has been shaky for a little while at this point... and it's neat to see them sorta-kinda confront that.
I did find it interesting that cynical old Ollie's initial assumption is that Roy must be conducting an investigation... rather than being a party to the crime-ring. I mean, he'd been burned by Speedy before... so, it wouldn't be outta the realm of possibility that he'd relapsed. I like that Ollie didn't even consider it. These days, it feels like Roy is pretty much defined by his heroin addiction... seems like everybody second-guesses his motivations, assuming he's doing whatever it is he's doing just to score his next "fix". It was refreshing to see that wasn't the case here.
I dig that Roy kinda tells Ollie off at the end. It makes complete sense. The guy who's offering him help, is the same guy that booted him from his house while he was addicted to drugs! Kinda speakin' outta both sides of yer mouth there, Ollie.
The art here was pretty great. Dick Dillin isn't one of those artists I can immediately identify from his work... but, any time I see it, I love it! There's a fella we lost way too soon.
Overall... a fun backup (a fun issue overall, actually), that might just be worth the hunt... don't let it break your bank though... unless you're a Great Frog completionist (and if you're not, you should be!). I suppose if you wanna be a trade-waiter, there's bound to be a Great Frog Omnibus in the works... right? Right?!
Action-Plus: Air Wave and The Atom (October, 1981)
"Catastrophe by Calculation!"
Writer - Bob Rozakis
Pencils - Alex Saviuk
Inks - Vince Colletta
Colors - Tom Ziuko
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Julius Schwartz
From: Action Comics #524
Wasn't planning on dipping back into the Action-Pluses just yet... but, have been bogged down in research for an upcoming piece that I'm really excited to be able to share. Doin' a ton of physical-media research on this one... my entire office floor is covered in early-80's Comics Journals, Amazing Heroes, not to mention more contemporary comics history-focused mags like Back Issue!, Alter-Ego and what-not. It's gonna be a fun one... but, it's also gonna be a lonnnnng one.
Til then, however, it's time for some Action-Plus! Please keep reading... ya boy is lonely! Would it help if I said this one featured Hal Jordan?!
--
Time for some Action-Plus, starring the Atom and Air-Wave! We open during the trial of supervillain The Calculator. A Professor Hyatt is on the witness stand, and states that the Calculator broke into his lab to steal his "Hurricane Harness".
The Calculator sits by his attorney, and whispers "Where is the Hurricane Harness?"... which is picked up by the... get this... Micro-Speaker he'd planted in Hyatt's ear... soooo, Hyatt answers the question, perhaps thinking the Prosecutor asked it? I guess?
The court goes into disorder... and the Calculator releases a Computerized Cacophony... in the form of the Space Invaders video game... which causes enough of a distraction for him to escape.
Ray Palmer, who is also present, uses the opportunity to shrink down. The Calculator throws him to the side on his way out... well, that was super-effective. Anyhoo, the Atom decides to make a phone call to his pal Hal in Dal...las. Hal Jordan that is... but not that one. We're talking Air Wave here folks!
After a pit-stop at the Watchtower, the two heroes confront the Calculator before he can swipe the Hurricane Harness... annnnd, it's pretty academic. Air Wave does his thing and shorts out the Calculator's... er, calculator. The end.
--
This back-up strip... was a thing that happened... and a thing that I read. Really, outside of the neat Space Invaders effects, not a whole lot to discuss here. The Calculator is handily beaten by the super-team of the Atom and Air Wave. Not bad... but not really much to say.
I feel like Hal and Ray might be a fun little tandem... and I bet I'd probably dig reading a collection of their team-ups, but this one-off really left me wanting!
Action-Plus: Lori Lemaris, Mermaid of Atlantis (September, 1977)
"The Weak Link!"
Writer - Elizabeth M. Smith
Pencils - Win Mortimer
Inks - Frank Chiaramonte
Edits - Julius Schwartz
From: Action Comics #475
It's time for another Action-Plus piece that I've rescued from the vast Chris is on Infinite Earths Archives. I promise this feature won't just be rehashes... and I'll start peppering in some never-before-seen stuff before long.
But for today... I've got a bit of a confession to make. Ya see, I've become kind of obsessed with the DC Near Miss feature! And so, I've been spending much of my free-time compiling research for those pieces. They are surprisingly time-consuming, but in that weird way where if while I'm puttering away and look up to check the clock, I'm shocked to realize that like hours have passed! Man, I wish that idea came to me before I started grad school!
Anyhoo, I hope you're all enjoying that feature... and I hope that this Action-Plus piece is new (or new enough) to most of you!
--
Today's Backup isn't just any back-up... it features Lori friggin' Lemaris. This is bound to be excellent. As we open, she is caught... oh boy, in a fishing net. She's nyoinked out of the drink by a group of Russians illegally fishing inside the United States' 200-mile fishing limit. International intrigue at its finest!
She tries to telepathically call out for help... but Superman and Aquaman are out of reach. During some casual conversation, one of the fishermen says something about a "weak link" (hey, that's the title of this story!) and it gets her to thinking... she might be able to telepathically control one of these numskulls... and that's exactly what she does.
Fueled by suspicion, the Russians fight among themselves long enough for Lori to... uh, telepathically use their radio to call the authorities.
Then she calls her friends of the sea... and they take care of business. I mean, really... if you could summon a giant octopus, a sperm whale, and swordfish (by name!)... wouldn't you just lead with that? Why all this "weak link" nonsense?
We wrap up with the arrival of the United Nations Security Force... and they arrest the baddies. They ask Lori to come on board too... to which, she reveals that (Holy Mackerel) she is part fish.
--
Well... Woof. I mean, it's not like this was poorly written or anything... but, I gotta say, I feel it really didn't require quite so many pages. After only a couple, it started to feel like a Dagwood sandwich... just so many unnecessary layers.
Find the weak link! Radio authorities! Call sea-pals! Certainly didn't need all three... especially not the one the story was named for! Why get the Russians to argue? Lori's a telepath... she could radio the UN anytime she wants! Or, better yet... just telepathically contact them! The Russians wouldn't have a clue until it was too late... and by then, Shamu would've capsized the boat anyway!
Action-Plus: The Private Life of Clark Kent (August, 1977)
"One for the Money!"
Writer - Ben Toomey
Art - Kurt Schaffenberger
From: Action Comics #474
Of all the Bronze-Age backups, I've gotta say some of my favorites come from "The Private Life of Clark Kent". They're just so... I dunno... weird.
Just these stories that, if they were never told, you wouldn't even miss 'em... but, it's just so cool that they exist nonetheless. Just imagine Superman writing into his diary like the end of an episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. or something. I gotta wonder if he signs off from his entries with "XOXO, Clark".
Speaking of Doogie... I was digging through some old boxes in my garage a few months back, and came across something my friends and I worked wayyy too hard on back in high school. It's the way to play the theme song to Doog's show on your touch-tone phone! Give it a try, and lemme know!
--
For this peek into the always fun The Private Life of Clark Kent, Clark shares the diary-entry of a time he purchased a lotto ticket from his usual newsstand. His newsagent is a fella named Benny, who has a real knack for numbers... he immediately memorizes Clark's numbers.
The next day as he goes to enter the Galaxy Building, Clark is bumped into by a frantic Benny! He tells Clark that they're all sold out on The Daily Planet... which seems a bit far-fetched, but our man plays along.
Later on that day, Clark returns home. The doorman informs him that a he let a telephone repairman into his apartment to fix a street-wide outage. Clark, rightfully suspicious, heads inside. He peeks out his window and sees a man reading the latest edition of The Daily Planet... complete with the winning lotto numbers, his winning lotto numbers! Of course, this is Benny lurking outside... waiting for his opportunity to "cash in". That bump at the Galaxy Building was no accident, ya see... and there was no telephone "outage" either!
Clark decides to give Benny just what he's looking for... and "accidentally" bumps into him on the street. Benny fumbles in Clark's pockets for what must've been minutes before procuring the winning ticket and rushing off to "cash in". Clark gives a knowing look to the "camera" and makes a phone call to the Lottery Commission.
We join Benny as he tries to redeem the Million Dollar ticket... which, upon inspection is revealed to be counterfeit! Clark shows up and reveals that Benny'd been "had"... and also that he sent the winning ticket to the Metropolis Orphanage... just like he does every time he plays the lotto.
--
I'm always kinda tickled at the idea of Clark Kent keeping a handwritten diary. Especially in the pre-Crisis world where he kept that giant journaling... thing back at the Fortress of Solitude. Gotta wonder, is he keeping secrets from that diary?
The lotto story is as good as any... stakes are (relatively) low, and we get to see what an altruistic fella Clark Kent is. It's funny though, we kinda "get it" because we know he's really Superman... gotta wonder, what do the people of Metropolis think when they find out Clark Kent just gave away a million bucks? I mean, that's a pretty big deal... and likely something that would come up a few more times, right?
Also, Clark's an anchor of the evening news and local celebrity... this would almost have to be a major news item, right? Seems kinda, I dunno... dangerous... almost inviting people to dig into Clark Kent's "story". Adjusting for inflation that's over four-million bucks in current-year monies... you gotta figure people would be interested in such a selfless act, right? Ehh, that's probably just some of my patented "thinking too hard about old comics".
