Mother Panic #1 (2017)

Mother Panic #1 (January, 2017)
"A Work in Progress, Part 1"
"Gotham Radio, Scene One: 1621"
Writers - Jody Houser & Jim Krueger
Illustrator - Tommy Lee Edwards
Back-Up Pencils - Phil Hester
Back-Up Inks - Ande Parks
Back-Up Colors - Trish Mulvihill
Letterers - John Workman & Deron Bennett
Editor - Molly Mahan
Special Thanks - Shelly Bond
Curated By - Gerard Way
Cover Price: $3.99

Had an idea that I thought might be pretty cool.  For those who know (or care), there are a handful of new releases I cover for Weird Science DC Comics... and if there was one book that made me want to run (not walk) away from comic book reviewing... it was early Mother Panic.

I hate, hate, hated this book... and would get agita at the thought of not only reading... but writing about this book.  It was definitely the low-point in the Young Animal line for me.  Fast-Forward a year-and-change, and it's just about the only Young Animal book I can stand to read!  Go figure.

As I currently quite dig the book (comparatively), I thought it might be only fair to revisit the first issue of the series, and maybe give it our first-ever Discussion, Review, and Retrial.

To check out my original thoughts on Mother Panic #1 (from November 9, 2016), click here.

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We open with Violet Paige returning to Gotham City after being away for some major surgery.  Upon arrival, she is greeted by her waiting public.  Ya see, she something of a dilettante (also referred to as a "celebutante")... so, she's more or less famous for being famous.  She's kind of a jerk.

We flash back to when Violet was a child.  She's about to go on a hunting trip with her father... and it's made plainly clear that her mother might not be quite in her right mind.

We shift scenes to an older man taking his bodyguard to a storage facility of sorts in order to show him a piece of artwork he'd had commissioned.  The bodyguard, Dom, finds the piece... interesting.

Back to Violet, she's about to head into some kind of high-society party.  As she enters, she flashes back to that hunting trip she'd taken as a young girl.  She and her father are accompanied by another man... it's the fella who commissioned the art.

Back in the present, Violet is at the bar.  She is approached by a reporter who wants to ask her some questions about the "mysterious" death of her father some fifteen years earlier.  She politely tells him to back off.

It's made pretty clear that she is there to find that man with the art.  We'll call him Hemsley... because that's his name.  Hemsley, however, is looking for Dom... for some reason.  He calls some other bodyguard-types to fetch him... because, as they put it: He (Dom) witnessed something he wasn't ready for.

They proceed to beat the hell out of him... until...

Mother Panic swoops in and takes out Hemsley's men.  There is a mess of symbolism between her blows... which really feels "too cute by half" at this point.  When the dust settles, she grabs Dom and takes him away... just as a certain other Gotham Crusader arrives on the scene.

She takes Dom to her compound... and learn that while Violet's (oh yeah, Violet is Mother Panic... not sure if that's been made clear) father is dead... her mother yet lives!  She's still quite mad though.

We shift back to Hemsley who is frantically seeking the artist from whom he'd commissioned the work... claiming that it could get her "caught".  He is allowed to pass though... this, hole... into a white room full of... other holes.  Not sure if this is supposed to be on a separate plane of reality or whatever.  Even with the benefit of hindsight, I'm not entirely sure.  Anyhoo... this is where we meet Gala, the blood-painter... who, well, paints with blood.

Back at the compound, Mother Panic has Dom chained to a toilet so she can question him about Hemsley.  He doesn't appear to be terribly useful at this point.

We close out with a vision of a large burning home.

Our backup features a radio personality waxing philosophically... well, it would seem deep if he were in junior high school, but whatever.  He talks about gratitude... and claims that he is thankful for... the Batman.  At which time, he is murdered in the studio.

This short-feature closes out with a hooded man saying "Thanksgiving".

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I guess time doesn't always "heal old wounds", because I still really didn't care for this.  I mean, it's clear that Violet's churlish and flat-out unlikable character is kinda the point... but, that doesn't necessarily make it any more fun to read about her.

A lot of these panels feel like they were written "for the retweets".  I mean, there's literally one where Mother Panic says "F*** the Bat"  How adorable, right?  That's gotta be worth a few retweets... maybe some Tumblr re-whatevers.  It's full of many of the things that I'd cite as "mature" in comics... when I was 13.  Today, however... some two decades-plus later... it just makes me cringe.

One of my main complaints about this book (the first time through) was the over-dependence on cursing... I get that I'm very likely not in the age-range this book was looking to attract... but, when I read this... I feel kind of embarrassed.  This is the kind of book I wouldn't want my wife to see me reading, because... a) it's rather petulant, and b) it might inform her opinion on what "mature comic books" entail.

Now, with all of that said... I cannot deny that this has many of the "nuts and bolts" a first issue of a comic book ought to have.  This was definitely the easiest to follow of the initial Young Animal offerings, with only a bit of flashbacking and symbolism to really have to parse... instead of all the psychedelia from the rest of the line.

The art here... ya know, I remember really liking it the first time through... but, this time around I find it a bit too scratchy and unclear for my liking.  Perhaps I've just been spoiled by the more cartoony/comic booky artists this book would have later on down the line.

Overall... still not a fan of these early issues of Mother Panic.  I was hopeful that my current enjoyment of the book/character might allow me to have a better appreciation for the initial outing... but it only makes me realize just how large a leap in quality this book has made over the past year and change.

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Et-Cetera:

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The Spirit #13 (2008)

The Spirit #13 (February, 2008)

"One Hundred!"

"Family Treasure"

"The Cold Depths of the Icicle Heart"

Writers - Glen David Gold, Denny O'Neil & Gail Simone

Pencillers - Eduardo Risso, Ty Templeton & Phil Hester

Inker - Ande Parks

Colorists - Alex Sinclair & Jim Charalampidis

Letterer - Jared K. Fletcher

Assistant Editor - Kristy Quinn

Editors - Ben Abernathy, Scott Peterson

Cover Price: $2.99

Hey, it's the shortest day of the year... right?  So, howsabout we take a look at three short stories to really get us into the holiday Spirit.  See what I did there?  How's that for a stretch!

Full disclosure before we begin.  I might be killing my "comics historian" cred here, but I know next to... er, make that absolutely nothing about The Spirit.  Other than he was created by Will Eisner.  I always thought he looked cool... but growing up in the 90's, the only way (that I knew of) where I could read his stories would've been to cough up fifty-bones for an Archive Edition.  That just wasn't going to happen.

So, with that said... we'll try and get through best we can.  My apologies ahead of time if I miss any obvious connections or references.

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Our first story opens on Halloween (well, that's not the Holiday I had in mind) with a gaggle of goons (called the Argonauts) all dressed as The Spirit.  In between some... fairly annoying dialogue (including a gag about Emily Blunt which refused to end), we learn that they have stolen one-hundred blue azure diamonds.  They plan to cut through the zoo as they cross Central City (probably not that Central City).  While there, they visit a monkey cage... which facilitates another Emily Blunt joke... and also allows one of their number to break rank.  Ya see, one of these Spirits was actually... The Spirit!

A fight takes place in this tangle of trench coats... and in the struggle, the bag of diamonds falls into the tiger cage!

We rejoin The Spirit (should I refer to him as just "Spirit" or is it always "The Spirit"?) as he meets with Commissioner Dolan.  He's advised that there's only one person capable of of nabbing the diamonds, and it's a girl grown woman named Felicia Stripe.

And so, we join the pair back at the zoo.  Felicia greets the Tiger, Vida... and laments the fact that there are only ninety-eight of them left in the world.  Suddenly a Spirit-dressed Argonaut arrives to confuse the proceedings... in the struggle, the tiger becomes agitated... and is ultimately shot.

Back at the office, Spirit and Dolan discuss what just went down.  Spirit looks at the gun that shot the tiger... and learns, the hard way, that it wasn't loaded with bullets... but a sleep agent.

Turns out Ms. Stripe just kayoed the big cat to take her back to her own wildlife preserve.  One year later... we see that, thanks to her, there are now 100 tigers.

Our second story opens with an old woman being dragged into a car by a nogoodnik.  Luckily, The Spirit was in the vicinity... and pops in for a rapid rescue.  Spirit recognizes her as Sonia... an immigrant from East Klovonia that Dolan had told him about.  Apparently she's looking for a buried family treasure in the "Rowdy Forest".

She and the Spirit hop into his car and head out to search.  Along the way, The Spirit realizes that she might just be talking about the Wildwood Cemetery... get it?  Rowdy Forest... Wild Wood.  A half-hour later, they arrive... and our man proceeds to dig.  While he works, a pair of baddies arrive.

The Spirit uses some shovel-fu to make short work of them.

With the geeks out of the way, the Spirit continues to dig... until he finds the buried treasure... a photograph of Sonia's Aunt.

The Spirit notices that while the photograph is quite old... the frame looks brand new.  He pulls the photo out... revealing a bearer bond (with plenty of zeroes) hidden behind it!  Sonia nabs the loot and rushes away.

We wrap up some time later with the revelation that the riches have gone to Sonia's head.

Our third and final story opens with "Ice" McQueen shaking down a local man who looks a bit like Alfred Pennyworth for "protection money".  The Spirit witnesses this go down, and attempts to intervene... only to have his lights knocked out by a blackjack.  This story uses a pretty neat "dialogue" gimmick... we'll talk more about it below.

"Ice" ponders her next move... and decides it might behoove her crew to dispose of The Spirit in the nearby frozen lake.  And so, they tie a cinder block to his body and hurl his unconscious body from a bridge.

Luckily, the shock of cold is enough to wake our man up... and he pulls himself from the slushy drink.  Not so lucky, he's forgotten who or where he is!

He's eventually taken in and given clothes by some hobos... and almost remembers who he is.  He's got all the letters, just doesn't know the order.  What happens next isn't entirely clear.  There's a man (maybe Dolan?) crying at the bridge... who is approached by a police officer... who goes to beat him with his billy club... I think.  I dunno... either way, The Spirit is there to save the day.

Another hobo fills The Spirit in on what's gone down... and suddenly "Ice" McQueen and her gang strike again.  Our man is able to win this round... and in so doing, remember who he is.

We wrap up with... The Spirit giving a hobo his hat... "Ice" behind bars... the bad cop being reamed out... and the Spirit lounging by the warmth of his fireplace.  I guess that's as "Christmassy" as we're going to get this time around.

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Well... some "Holiday Special", eh?  I guess "Holiday" is vague enough to get away with not having a single Christmas story included, right?  I mean... it's not like we'd have any hint from the cover as to what might be inside... right?

Anyhoo...

What we do have here is three fun stories.  As mentioned, I have no frame of reference for anything Spirit-related.  I don't know his backstory... hell, I don't even know his real name (if he even has one!).  That said, I enjoyed this... for the most part.

Before going into detail... I wanna give it up for the art.  All three stories look fantastic.  I feel like this is the kind of style you want for a character/world such as this.  Really... excellent stuff!

Now... let's start with the first story.  Never-ending Emily Blunt gag notwithstanding, this was pretty neat.  Though, there is this odd dissonance here.  The Spirit talks very much like a detective in a pot-boiler mystery... talking about "the two types of girls" out there... however, this story takes place during the present day.  Was this fella frozen in ice like Captain America?  I dunno... is he a relic from the 1940's thrust into the present?

The play on the "100" was pretty clever.  The whole time you assume that the title is referring to the azure diamonds... when really, it was about the endangered tigers.  Thought that was a cool twist.

The second story was a cute little affair.  Nice balance of humor and action... we get to see the Spirit doing some of the more unglamorous aspects of his work.  Digging up graves is probably not on anybody's short-list of fun things to do.  At the end, it was all a gag... the poor immigrant woman turns into a hawty socialite.  Silly fun.

The final story... well... I really wanted to like it.  I think the gimmick employed was a great one... very creative work using symbols and "hieroglyphs" in lieu of actual dialogue.  My only problem was... I couldn't follow the damn thing!

It started out straightforward enough... however, gets muddled (at least for me) during the climax.  Maybe if I had a better familiarity with the cast it would help... I just don't get why an officer would attack the man on the bridge.  Also... I couldn't keep the hobos straight... how many were there?  Was it the same guy all along?  What about the dude from the beginning who looked like Alfred?  Why was he running up with a shovel toward the end?  Dunno... maybe I'm just too dense.  That's always a possibility.

Overall... if you're looking for a good Christmas story... I'm sorry, but you're not going to find it here.  If you wanna have a little bit of noirish fun, however... give this a look.  I think I'll keep an eye out for Spirit books of this vintage should I come across 'em in the cheap-o bins.  It doesn't look like this one's available digitally... I'm pretty sure DC no longer has the rights to the character.  Shouldn't be too hard to track down, though...

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Green Arrow (vol.3) #2 (2001)

Green Arrow (vol.3) #2 (May, 2001)
"Quiver, Chapter Two:  Long Time No See"
Writer - Kevin Smith
Penciller - Phil Hester
Inker - Ande Parks
Letterer - Sean Konot
Colorist/Separations - Guy Major
Editor - Bob Schreck
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Cover Price: $2.50

When last we left Ollie, he looked like a hobo and was using arrows gimmicked with garbage!  Can't leave us hanging like that... so, let's see where this one is headed.

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We open in Star City.  It's a normal mid-week party for some of the nogoodnik elite... sorta like a 2000's take on evil yuppies by the looks of it.  Suddenly a "young girl" arrives, doesn't look terribly like a young girl... but we'll play along.  She runs into a bouncer and is delivered to a back bedroom where the creepy Councilman Dreyfus is waiting for her.  Ya see, he was a nerd growing up and beautiful girls like her would never pay him any mind.  Now that he's got the moneys and the powers, he can make girls like her do whatever he wants... and so, he begins to mount her... while snapping Polaroids.  Classy!

Luckily for the young lass, this party was under the surveillance... of our main man.  He makes short work of all the guests and security before popping into that back room.  Well, actually... he leads with an arrow... with a timer on it!  tic-tic-tic...

Ollie proceeds to threaten the Councilman until another heavy attempts to intervene.  In the distraction, Dreyfus begins to flee.  After kayoing the guard, Ollie fires a bolo arrow through the wall, and snares him up.  He turns to the young girl and tells her to vamoose, but not before giving her a business card for the Star City Rec Center.  This next part is pretty neat, the Councilman produces a cell phone... which positively mystifies Ollie.  He thinks such technology ought to be reserved for Batman.  We'll talk about that more in a bit.

The police arrive, and Ollie makes like a tree... but, not before posing Dreyfuss along with some COCAINE??! and a photo of him attempting to make it with an underage girl.

We follow the young girl, who we learn is named Mia... Green Arrow fans ears should be perking up there... back to her apartment, or at least the apartment of her pimp/boyfriend, Richard where she's staying at.  He asks how the night went... and she tells him.  He makes with the "caring boyfriend" deal, saying he'd kill anyone who messed with her... which leads her to ask, if he cares so much... why does he make her hook?  She then tries to quit... which causes him to freak out.  He fears that she will lead the cops straight to his door... something he can't risk.

Mia ain't no shrinking violet (er, not that one) and so she, with relative ease, judo tosses the creep and pins him to the ground.  She then... get this... uses his knife to... sever the tendon between his thumb and pointer finger... which makes me twinge in places I didn't even realize I had!  I like that Mia is being portrayed as having both strength and street sense here.  It stands to reason, since she's been "on the streets", that she'd likely pick up a way or two to protect herself.

We rejoin Ollie as he returns to the mansion of Stanley Dover, where he's been staying.  I'm guessing Dover might be who he saved at the end of last issue.  I really wonder how I would have received this had I been more knowledgeable of the DC Universe back in 2001.  I mean, they say "Stanley Dover" here... Smith's not hiding where we're headed!  Inside, we see that Mr. Dover has helped set Ollie up with arrows and gear, ya know... get him back on his feet.  He asks if Dreyfus had any connection to the Star City Slayer who has been causing young people to disappear of late.  Ollie's not convinced... and just thinks the Councilman is a scumbag.

They continue their chat, and it's pretty neat.  Stanley asks how superheroes afford their gear, seeing as though Ollie's already used his time-bomb and bolo arrows.  He asks if Ollie has checked in with Green Lantern... but he's sure "the little blue guys" have him gallivanting in space, which... at this point, there's only one little blue guy... and one guy with a green ring, and he ain't Hal Jordan!  Stanley asks about Black Canary... to which, Ollie says she can more than take care of herself for a few weeks.  Weeks?  Hmm.  They flip on the television, and it's a news report about Green Arrow's latest escapade with the Councilman... the reporter wonders if Star City's Emerald Archer is "back in action"... to which Ollie replies "I never left." Hmm... innnn-teresting.

Stan and Ollie (d'oh!) aren't the only ones watching the news... we shift to the Batcave, where Batman immediately notices the precise angle with which the arrows are embedded into the wall.  That's not Connor's shot... it's Oliver's!

We wrap up with a visit to who we might assume to be... the Star City Slayer.  He's in a cloak, and draining the blood from a young boy to feed... his monster.  Hmm... it's amazing reading this a second time through, it's all so telegraphed!

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Loved this!

Where do we start?  I suppose we can address the 500 lb pink monster in the room first.  It's been, like I said yesterday, 15 years since I read this.  Back then, I was still (relatively) new to the DC Universe... like, I had a decent handle on the mainstream, but if you were gonna come at me with Stanley and his Monster, or Angel and the Ape, or Fox and Crow... I'd have come back at you with a blank stare... and might have asked you to stop making up titles.

That being said, just about everything went over my head the first time through.  I'd love to hear from anybody who smelled what Smith was cookin' from the get-go... so, if that's you please reach out.  I wanna know if you received this story differently than those of us without knowledge of what was to come.  I mean, reading it now, it's anything but subtle!  It's still great, but it's (minus the twist) totally telegraphed.

The introduction of Mia Deardon was well done.  I'd forgotten that she showed up this early on.  For some reason I always associate her with Smith's next arc... though, there might be other reasons for that.  Like I said above, she handled herself quite well... and damn, slicing a tendon is among the more brutal things.  I remember my Earth Science teacher had messed hers up slicing a bagel... and it's something I still think about every time I slice a bagel!  Made me cringe then... and still makes me cringe today.

Ollie not understanding that he's been "off the table" is a great touch.  I really like the idea that he thinks he's been gone no more than a few weeks.  I mean, even if this came out in 1998 as originally intended, Ollie would have been gone about three years "real time".  Adding in the delays, I'd say Ollie was gone more like five to six years.  Either way though, this works great!  It opens us up to some great moments of "discovery", which I'm already looking forward to revisiting.

Batman is still the smartest dude in the room... even (and especially) when it's someone else's book.  I know I complain about that quite a bit... but, here it kinda tickled me.  I like that Bruce is so cognizant of Oliver's style and technique that he can identify an arrow he let fly at a glance.  It's something I totally buy, and doesn't feel at all like a reach.

My only little quibble is, we read that Mia is no more than fifteen... and that's something the art didn't really show me.  To be honest, when I saw her on the first page, my first thought was that it was Black Canary going under cover.  In flipping through again, there are bits where she looks a bit younger... but my first time through, and until the reveal, I was sure it was Dinah.

My minor complaint from last issue, the over-wordiness, is still sorta there, but far less noticeable.  In last issue's "letters page" (which was basically an apology letter from Smith to address the delays) he himself mentions that he over-wrote a bit.  This issue did feel far more breezy and the dialog was not as repetitive, or "using a lot of words and saying nothing", which, as a writing technique is (c) and TM Chris is on Infinite Earths, Inc.

Overall... another high recommendation.  We're basically dodging interesting concepts at every turn.  It's clear Smith had this mapped out to a "t", and I'm already chomping at the bit to get into the next issue.  This book feels new, even today... some decade and a half hence.  If you haven't already, definitely give this run a look.

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