Teen Titans #5 (September-October, 1966)
"The Perilous Capers of the Terrible Teen"
Writer - Bob Haney
Artist - Nick Cardy
Letterer - Stan Starkman
Cover Price: $0.12
It's been awhile since I covered the Titans, and figured finding a (really rough-looking) copy of this issue was as good a reason as any to revisit the kids.
I found my copy in a dollar bin... and it looked like the cover was all scraped up... bits of color are missing... just looked a mess. When I opened it up, I discovered that the color hadn't been rubbed off... it seems as though somebody was using this issue as a surface to paint something on! It should go without saying that the cover image I'm using here isn't my own.
Lord only knows what kind of toxic substance I just touched... if I don't post again, just assume it was lead poisoning that did me in!
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After our spoilery-Silver Age splash, we open with Wonder Girl trying out a few new hairdos... which amounts to her just piling all of her hair atop her head. Aqualad thinks this looks ridiculous, which... it kinda does, and teases her a bit. In turn, she grabs the water cool jug and dumps it all over him. He thanks her because, well, he's Aqualad... and he was probably just seconds away from doing that to himself anyway! Robin chimes in to inform the gang that "fun and games" are over, and it's time to get down to the important business of... answering their fan mail! The first letter comes from their sometimes-running-buddy, Speedy, who makes a bunch of arrow puns and says he looks forward to their next adventure. The next letter comes from Dr. Paul Turner from the Lacklock Camp for juvenile delinquents. He's got a problem, and he requests an audience with the Teen Titans... and so, off they go in a shoddy jalopy driven by "the guy who fed Paul Revere's horse". I wanna mention that the fellas refer to Donna as "W.G." here, which... while I'm sure is just there to aid in the lettering, really sounds awkward if you were to say it... not that awkward dialogue is altogether alien to Mr. Haney... but actually say W.G. out loud... double-you-gee. My mouth doesn't even wanna contort that way!
At Camp Lacklock, the Titans are swarmed by fannish campers. They just love their teen-age heroes! Dr. Turner arrives and brings the team into his cabin. Along the way we get a bit of history on the camp. It's called Lacklock after a tribe of... no, no it's not... it just doesn't have any locks. It's an open-air juvenile rehabilitation center, basically. Turner takes great pride in the success of his methods... however, it now appears that one of his "grads" might have returned to criminal activity. This is Eddie Whit, who Doc Turner believes might be the "master criminal" the Ant!
Turner claims that of all the Lacklock grads, he had the most hope for Eddie... and if it's true he's gone bad, he might have to reconsider all of his therapeutic methods, which could lead to Camp Lacklock... getting locks! Well, we can't have that! The Titans agree to look into it. On their way out they pass a group of teen-agers discussing the Eddie-hub-bub. It appears that even the resident campers' confidence is shaken. If Eddie can go bad, what hope is there for anybody else! In case I haven't made it clear, Eddie Whit is held in pretty high regard 'round these parts.
Now, this being a Silver Age story, you might imagine that the Titans run into the Ant on the very next page... well, you'd be right. The Ant has just robbed a bank and is escaping by... climbing a nearby building. I wanna mention we're getting a ton of wacky exclamations here... it's like every other panel has a "Suffering Sappho!" or "Jumping Jackfish!", it's pretty great. Anyhoo, Robin gives the orders, and Double-You-Gee is on her way upwards to lasso the insect. It doesn't go all that well.
Somehow in the, I dunno, five seconds that took... the rest of the Titans have made it to the top of the building. Robin repels down to get the drop on the bug... but that doesn't go all that well either. The Ant swings him around a few times before tossing him back atop the building. We should note that although the Ant is dangerous... he isn't looking to kill anybody.
Seeing that he's surrounded by Titans, the Ant jumps off the side of the building, pulls some acrobatics around a conveniently-placed flagpole... and lands flat atop a train as it barrels through a tunnel. Not a bad showing! I need to pay more attention to flagpoles when I'm in the city... if comics have taught me anything, it's that every building has at least a dozen of them attached.
Well, with the man himself miles away, the Titans decide to go a different route... visit Eddie Whit's home. Rather than knock, Robin suggests they make a "cool entrance" via the fire escape. Remember that folks, that's how you make a cool entrance. Anyhoo, inside they meet Danny Whit, Eddie's younger brother. He's excited to see a group of costumed teen-agers breaking in through his bedroom window and decides to share with them his life story. Ya see, he and Eddie's parents were killed in a train wreck... Eddie turned to unnamed bad stuff and wound up in Camp Lacklock, while Danny was sent to an orphanage. Eddie finally arrives... though Robin mentions (to Kid Flash) that he didn't hear the elevator. Wally heads to the roof where he finds a little storage shed.
He vibrates through the door and finds... (duh) the Ant costume! He returns to Robin and gives him the "bzzz bzzz". The Titans ask Danny to wait outside so they can begin their interrogation. Eddie doesn't take being confronted all that well, and just starts whuppin' the team! Even going so far as to dropkick Robin out the window... which, ya know, might have killed him... if not for the conveniently-placed clothesline, his acrobatic prowess, and the aid of the pony-tailed chick from Paradise Island. In the distraction, the Ant gets away... his thoughts reveal that there may be more to this situation than meets the eye.
As the Titans recuperate, Danny Whit reenters the room. He doesn't want to believe that Eddie's the Ant, but knows the Titans never lie (I think that's line item 3 in the official Teen Titans handbook). He gives them a bit more info on Eddie, including his current employer Zenith Caterers. And so, the Titans (and Danny) head out to perform some hi-tech surveillance. We overhear that Eddie's bosses at Zenith have set him up to be the Ant via blackmail. They've got some goods they threaten to spill to the police if he refuses to comply. Eddie agrees to do one more job... and it's going to be the biggest one yet! Keep that in the back of your mind... earlier today, the Ant robbed a bank... wait'll you hear what Zenith's got planned.
The Ant is to... rob a charity picnic. Okay, ya get it? Ants... picnics! Har har har. But seriously, wouldn't robbing a bank be a bit more lucrative (not to mention dangerous)?! Oh well, Kid Flash splits off from the team to chase the Zenith goons (and the Ant) to the park. I mean, c'mon... the heist is going down at the park. That's just adorable. The Ant leaps out of the caterer's pot, swipes the... picnic basket... full of dosh, and takes off!
When the Ant hops back in the Zenith van, he is shocked to find that the driver is... his brother Danny (who is probably too young to be driving... but whatayagonnado?)! Kid Flash runs alongside the van and vibrates into the cargo area. It's here we get the juicy details of the blackmail. Eddie is the Ant because the Zenith goons have information on... his brother Danny! It seems that while Eddie was in Lacklock, Danny fell in with a bad crowd... but, don't worry, they never broke any laws. Ya see, Eddie's been hornswoggled into being a costumed criminal all to protect his little brother (aww!). Kid Flash overhears the whole thing, and suggests he might be of assistance in returning the funds to the picnickers.
To aid in the Whit brothers' escape, Wonder Chick pulls the ol' switcheroo on the Zeniths by placing a detour sign on the road. It seems like this wouldn't work, as the Zenith van was mayyyybe two van-lengths behind the Whit van... but, I guess we'll allow it.
That night we join some Zenith geeks as they descend on the place they're sure the Whit's are hiding out... yup, Camp Lacklock! Well, of course they are... but they're not alone. The Teen Titans have their backs! After a brief skirmish, we wrap up with the Zeniths being tied to a pole, like so many baddies before them. Eddie spills the beans about his Ant-iness, and Doctor Turner assures him the only punishment he'll get is more time at Camp Lacklock! I guess it's back to the orphanage for Danny... but why let that ruin an otherwise happy ending?
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Man, what a silly story. Let's do it the great disservice of breaking it down!
Let's look at the Ant. If I didn't know any Titans history, I'd swear they were setting him up to be a new recruit to the team. I mean, dude's got crazy skills, and a moral code (of sorts). I was surprised that he really doesn't make any future appearances... outside of a flashback and in the Tiny Titans-verse. When the Titans are first informed that Eddie might be the Ant... they're all like "yeah, that dangerous criminal... we've heard of him!" which begs the question, why hadn't they already gone after him? I mean, how many banks does a costumed criminal need to rob before getting the attention of the Teen Titans?
We get a bit of nebulous characterization in that the Ant wouldn't let Robin fall from the side of a building... but had no problem drop-kicking him through an upper-story apartment building window. Unless Eddie didn't know his own strength... or was sure Robin would grab the clothesline... but that's just silly. Hell, if he was that confident in Robin's acrobatic ability, he'd have let him fall from the building... at least there was a flagpole he could grab on the way down, right?
Now... the picnic. I know I probably joked about this enough already, but... c'mon, a picnic? For his big "final" heist for the Zenith folks, the Ant is going to rob a pic-a-nic basket's worth of cash from a charity event in the park? Just hours earlier, he robbed a freakin' bank! It's so silly I can't even get mad at it!
I enjoyed the way the Titans interacted with each other. It really felt like (a middle-aged man's approximation of) teen-age camaraderie. The Titans razz one another every now and again, get distracted by things like hairdos and fan letters, but when push comes to shove, each Titan fills their heroic niche. This is a team you can't help but want to follow.
Overall, this issue was a silly Silver Age romp and I had a blast reading it. This is available digitally, and has been reprinted several times, including SHOWCASE Presents Teen Titans, Volume One, the Silver-Age Teen Titans DC Archives, Volume One and the recent Teen Titans Silver-Age Omnibus. Worth checking out.
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Joker: Last Laugh #1 (December, 2001)
"stir crazy"
Writers - Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty
Penciller - Pete Woods
Inker - Andrew Pepoy
Letterer - Willie Schubert
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Separations - Digital Chameleon
Assistant Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.95
Today we're going to discuss the opening chapter in the first line-wide DC Comics crossover that I went "all in" on. I'd been "in the thick of it" for awhile at this point, but there were still a handful of books I never would have grabbed if not for the Joker's Last Laugh branding. There's no way I would have grabbed titles like Azrael: Agent of the Bat, Harley Quinn, or Orion otherwise... so, this story was a pretty big deal for me. It's a time in my collecting-career I remember fondly... things felt new, exciting, and fresh... and, ahem, I found a way to put my "disposable income" to use.
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We open up at a crab shack in Maryland where Barbara Gordon has begrudgingly joined Dick Grayson for a day out of town. There's no beef between the two, it's just that she doesn't feel right being away from her Oracle duties... after all, she is the point of contact for just about every hero in the universe. Dick's all "you need this" and asks how useful she'd be if she went and got herself burnt out. It's hard to argue, but at the same time it reeks of justification. I tell myself from time to time that "I'm working too hard" to justify treating myself... but that's neither here nor there.
We shift over to Slabside Penitentiary where the Joker has just been informed that he has a terminal brain tumor, and isn't long for this world. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest idea to tell someone like the Joker that he's got absolutely nothing to lose, but whattayagonnado?
Well, the Joker's going to die... he knows he's going to die... so, what now? If you guessed "Prison Riot", you win the kewpie! A prison riot that Dick and Babs would have known about if not for the crab shack changing the channel on their television.
Back in Gotham at the Clock Tower, Black Canary arrives to check in with and share a Thai meal with Barbara... but, as we know, she's not home. Dinah heads into the communication room and sees the news of the riot... and sees that the Joker is behind the whole thing!
All of the Slabside inmates are wearing restraining collars, and through them, the guards can induce a measure of bodily effects... including extreme nausea. The guards are advised to, gulp, "prime the regurgitants" which just sounds foul. While many of the inmates rush to the nearest vomit-depository, the Joker stumbles across the one fella he's been looking for... Multi-Man!
We rejoin Dinah and learn she has enlisted the aid of Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, who at this point was a semi-retired on-again/off-again associate of the Birds of Prey. He was usually depicted as having a little bit of a paunch belly during this era, however, he looks lean and mean here... that ab-rocker must really work! They are on board the Bug and fast approaching the Slab. Canary says she'll hit the ground first to perform some recon.
Inside the Slab, Shiloh Norman flanked by a crew of elite guards are on the crawl. They learn that Warden Zimmer is currently trying to facilitate a surrender from the rioting inmates... which is probably not the best idea. It's here that we learn that the guards weren't aware that the Joker was behind the whole thing, as the shapeshifting Chiller had been lounging in his cell during the proceedings. Norman produces a Mother Box as a backdoor should things go "ca-ca". Oh yeah, he's the third Mister Miracle, by the way.
Back with Babs and Dick... they just can't seem to stop talking about "work". Barbara makes some salient points about the hypocrisy of the Bat-Family of crimefighters and the nature of good versus bad. She contends that if the bad guys are willing to kill... the good guys should at least consider it, if in the long run it will save more innocent lives. Dick's all "we don't do revenge", neglecting that what they do every night is pretty much just that. She contends that she was the only person to join "the party" without an axe to grind, and wound up being the worst for wear. What it comes down to is... she wants the Joker dead. Understandable... I'm guessing if I lived on DC Earth, I'd probably feel a lot safer if the Joker was six-feet under as well.
Back in the Slab, Joker's got Multi-Man pinned down. Now, ya see... back in the day, Multi-Man drank something called Liquid Light. This granted him the "power" to be reborn with a new set of superpowers every time he dies. Well, the Joker needs a very specific power, so it looks like poor Duncan's in for a lonnnnnng night. The Joker kills him over and over again... once (somehow) with an electric mixer... which is pretty gross.
After almost a hundred deaths, Multi-Man finally makes himself useful. The Joker approaches the rest of the rioters, and has his new toy burn a hole in the ground to drop them to the floor below. Then, for good measure, he kills Multi-Man again.
The baddies are now in the "K" block, where they keep the "baddest of the bad"... I guess this was an off year for the Joker if they weren't keeping him there as well! Norman is tracking their movement, and posits that they are looking to spring Dr. Polaris!
Black Canary is working her way through the ventilation system recording everything for Oracle's review. Warden Whatshisface attempts to continue his search for prison diplomacy, but runs into a brick wall... in the form of the immovable Black Mass. The Warden informs his guards to prepare the metagene inhibitor gas for the baddies in cell block K.
Speaking of whom, we shift to Doctor Polaris's wooden (nice touch) cell. The Hellgrammite nibbles his way through the ceiling so Joker and Company may enter. Joker produces Multi-Man... again, now in a minuscule form. MM hops into Polaris's collar and pops that sucker open. He then uses his own electromagnetic powers to pop the collars on his new running buddies.
Moments later, the K-Ward is flushed with the inhibitor gas... which Joker was counting on. Ya see, he knew they would first try the, bleargh "puke gas"... and knew that Regurgitant + Metagene Inhibitor = Well, a lotta laughing bad guys. Seems poor planning for a prison to have a pair of chemicals the mix in such a way, but whattayagonnado? This also tells us that this has gotta be the first time this place had a riot, right?
We pop back over to Dinah as she springs herself from the vents... where she is met by... well, you know.
Back in Gotham City, Babs and Dick return to the Clock Tower, where the latter is still going on about how much the former needed a day away from the grind. Welp, looks like you picked the wrong day, pal... because while you were stuffin' your faces with crab, some bad stuff was going down.
We close out with Norman weighing their options... knowing that they will need to contain these jokerized baddies. We end with the sight of Batman surveying the house o' ha-ha's.
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Kind of a mixed bag here.
Let's see... we can start with the Joker, I suppose. We learn that he's terminally ill, which is an interesting wrinkle to be sure... but, what can you expect to happen when you tell someone who already acts with abandon that he's got nothing to lose? If in the same position, I'm not sure I'd have told him. That's kinda like asking for a riot... right? The Joker's a pretty dramatic dude... why wouldn't he want to go out "in a blaze of glory", so to speak?
I do appreciate the Joker being depicted as a cartoonier baddie here. It seems these days we can't escape super-serious Joker stories... it's pretty nice to just have him acting silly. If this were written today, we'd get brutal scenes of each guard's families being slaughtered and posed on the couch for discovery or something.
That's not to say the Joker's not deadly here... I mean, hell... he kills Multi-Man like a hundred times! Speaking of which, that was a really neat bit. Stands to reason if you're reborn with new superpowers, you might find yourself a useful tool for a psychopath with designs on chaos. The scene of endless deaths, was gruesome in a cartoony way that didn't really distract from the tone of the story.
The mixing of chemicals that "Jokerized" the inmates... that was kinda weird, right? I mean, it looks like the Warden was just following their normal riot-containing protocol. Ya start with the regurgitants... and work up to metagene inhibition. If the Jokerization is the result of those two chemicals missing, it would stand to reason that every meta-riot would result in a whole lotta pale faces and laughter, right? I suppose this might be the first to get to this level. So weird.
It was neat seeing Shiloh Norman here. I can guarantee the first time I read this, I hadn't the foggiest idea who he was. Reading it back now, I just love how intermingled the various aspects of the DC Universe is/was.
Onto Babs and Dick. I dunno, they both felt a bit "off" here. I never think of Barbara (of this era) as a particularly bitter character... though, if she were, it would be justifiable. She always struck me as (perhaps too) optimistic... and fulfilled in her work. Hearing her thoughts on wanting the Joker dead, while... again, justifiable, don't ring true.
I can see Dick wanting to give Barbara a "day off", but I really don't see a fella as "prepared" as he is, going completely dark. I mean, you'd figure that they might have a mobile device of some sort that informs them when a huge alarm begins sounding at the Clock Tower, right? Just seems out of character/irresponsible for both of them to go completely "off the grid"... at least without a contingency plan. I mean, Dinah didn't know Babs was taking the day off, and they were partners! From what little I remember from the way this event ends, the out-of-character moments are just beginning.
The art was pretty good. This isn't the Pete Woods of today, and definitely feels like it's taking a bit from the animated series style. The villains all look great (and we do get a bunch of neat villain cameos!), as do Blue Beetle and Black Canary. Dick and Babs look like they were storing some of the crabs they dined on in their cheeks though. Just another example of their being "off"... at least to me.
Overall, this is an okay issue/story/event. Not one I'd say you need to rush out to track down or anything, but a serviceable Batman/Bat-Family romp. It is available digitally and has been collected in trade paperback.
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Justice League: Generation Lost #1 (Early July, 2010)
"Gone But Not Forgotten"
Story/Script - Judd Winick
Story/Breakdowns - Keith Giffen
Pencils - Aaron Lopresti
Inks - Matt Ryan
Colors - Hi-Fi
Letters - Sal Cipriano
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99
Today we're going to take a look at one of my first (perhaps the very first) DC Comics I picked up after an extended bout of unemployment.
My first visits back to the comic shop were pretty strange. I could look at the wall and see dozens of titles that I had decent-sized runs of... it was kind of overwhelming to decide what to get. I mean, I was out of work for about a year... and boy howdy, what a year it was.
Comics had always been a thing I found comfort in... and when I needed them the most... well, I could no longer afford them. Upon return I weighed all of my options... and decided I would just stick to my "can't quit" books... which means, Marvel (and more specifically, the X-Men books). I was 30 at the time, and figured it might behoove me to limit my comics purchases... and simplify my comics-caring. I came in as a Marvel guy... so those'll be the books I stick with.
It wasn't until I came across a thread on one of the comics "news" sites where disappointed Marvel fans began counting the actual pages of story we were getting for our inflated $3.99+. Now, I'm not a guy who counts pages... way I look at it, if I'm enjoying a story enough, that's all that ought to matter. As I looked through this thread, however... it became more and more clear that the "repudiable" comics news site was in Marvel's pocket. Fans were being flat-out mocked by Marvel "pros" and editors in the thread... and any posts with salient points were... deleted (or edited to mess with the context)!
I decided these weren't the folks I wanted to support... and so, looked across the street to DC Comics... where I saw a much, I dunno, friendlier bunch of folks. There was less cynicism toward the product... and more importantly, less vitriol toward the readership (that would come the following year... but that's a discussion for another time). I felt better about myself supporting a company that didn't appear to hate it's fans... or feel the need to strawman them to justify their shadier business practices.
And so, when I decided to shift back over to DC... I needed a good "jumping on point" to get my footing. I'd long been a fan of the Justice League International... and figured this series here would be as good a place as any to hop back in...
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We open a day and a half in the past... the believed/once dead Maxwell Lord is approached by a pair of police officers. They yell at him to stop... but he has a different idea. We get brought up to speed quite nicely here with intermittent panels showing scenes of Max's past... assembling the League, killing Ted Kord, taking over The OMAC Project, and ultimately... getting some chiropractic assistance from Wonder Woman. He uses his mind-control powers to force the officers to blow each other's brains out... and wipes away the resulting trickle of blood under his nose. A little exposition for folks unfamiliar with this era... we know Wonder Woman killed Max in the lead-up to Infinite Crisis... he would "rise!" during Blackest Night, and be one of the handful of characters to remain alive going into Brightest Day... and that's where we are.
We shift ahead several hours to the Hall of Justice where Superman has the floor. He is informing the media (and superhero community) about the apparent return of Maxwell Lord. Now, why all the hoopla? Glad you asked, when Max took control of The OMAC Project, he also found himself with full access of the Bat-Computer... which means he knows, ya know... pretty much everything... about everything.
We jump to the present, where Booster Gold is embroiled in battle with some armored mercenaries outside the former JLI Moscow embassy. He is shocked to learn that Power Girl had let those baddies escape and recapture them later to avoid a firefight in the city. Booster expresses a bit of justifiable frustration... he's been sent all over the world on assignments that don't appear to be very Max Lord-centric. It's almost as though he's being kept busy so he doesn't screw things up too much.
We shift to Ice's cruddy little apartment, and she's watching the news of Max's return while huddled against the wall. She unleashes a blast of... er, ice to destroy the television set. Her outburst is interrupted by a knocking at the door. It's a man with a laptop... and, I'm guessing this is supposed to be Fire on the screen, but it's not totally clear here. She finds herself dragged back into superheroics. Gotta say, some great work on her face/body language here!
We shift ahead a bit to a mission in the desert featuring Captain Atom, Fire, and Ice! They are flanked by several military vehicles as they track a signal which may (or may not) be Max Lord.
We rejoin Booster Gold at Rip Hunter's time lab. He is staring at recent photos of the returned Max Lord in various locations all across the globe. He is still annoyed that he's being left out of the "real" search... which prompts Skeets to posit that the League might be keeping Booster away for his own good. Perhaps fearing that he's a bit too close to the situation... and, ya know... he's got a point. Booster ain't hearin' none of that... and continues thinking aloud. He cites Max's own arrogance and suggests he would return to the JLI New York Embassy to "hide in plain sight".
Back in the desert, the trio is led to a cave by their radar tracking hoo-doo. Captain Atom enters in hopes of procuring Max Lord... but it's a no-go. Instead of finding his former boss... he finds a bomb! It explodes, but Atom is able to absorb most of the blast... he launches into the atmosphere to release it a safe distance from Earth.
Back with Booster... he's arrived at the JLI-NY Embassy, where he finds himself bombarded by electromagnetic pulses, which cancel out the powers of his suit. Before panic can set in... he's bashed over the back of the head with a rebar with a chunk of cement on the end. Looks like Booster finally found Max!
Now this next scene is... really good. Max continues to beat the hell out of Booster with the rebar... all the while lamenting the fact that he had no choice but to kill Blue Beetle. He says the act haunts him... refers to Booster as his friend... who he misses. It's pretty powerful stuff. He thinks back to his death at the hands of Wonder Woman... and suggests that if he was brought back, it must be for good reason... and he's convinced himself that his purpose is to "save the damn world".
He leaves Booster in a puddle of blood... and, as you might imagine, it looks quite dire. Michael manages to retrieve a communicator and send out an S.O.S. to Skeets. I remember reading this the first time and thinking that Max had just killed Booster... it seemed like when it came to Bwah-ha-ha Leaguers, all bets were off!
Booster wakes up some time later, and is surrounded by his former teammates, Fire, Ice, and Captain Atom. They are shocked to see the amount of blood loss... ant Atom searches the body for where he was hit. Booster is able to mutter that the pool of blood he is laying in... isn't his own!
And so, we shift to Maxwell Lord. He is stood before a tub of ice water and has blood being pumped into his veins by a machine. He's about to push the limits of his mind-control power... and knows that what he's planning he's gonna lose a lot of blood! He screams, blood goes everywhere, and he falls into the ice-filled tub. A wave sweeps over the entire planet... and we see that it's even affected the big guns of the DC Universe.
Captain Atom leaves Booster to follow the trail of blood... to the blood-and-ice-filled tank in the next room. Max is already long gone... and the blood is already congealing. Superman arrives in response to the JLI signal Booster had sent, and asks what's up. The gang tells him about the manhunt for Max Lord, to which he replies: "Who's Max Lord?" Uh-oh.
We wrap up with a shot of Max enjoying a drink and a smoke atop the roof of a castle. Looks like business is about to pick up!
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This is all it took to draw me back into DC Comics in a big way. I really enjoyed this, then and now.
Such an interesting concept for a story... I mean, Max Lord has the power to control minds, so why not attempt to control every single mind on the planet? What's more... if you have the potential to touch every mind on Earth (and beyond?) why make the people forget you, instead of I dunno, worship you? Well, that might get in the way of whatever it is Max has planned.
Let's stick with Max for a bit. His return to the living has affected him... as it would anybody. He feels that he was brought back for a specific purpose... a righteous one, at that! That scene between he and Booster was just crazy... Max telling him that he misses him was pretty powerful. He does a callback to walking Booster into the League, which is interesting, because even back then he was trying to pull a fast one, setting up the Royal Flush Gang to attack so Booster could save the day.
Use of the old International Leaguers is pretty perfect for a story like this. I mean, folks never really seemed to trust them completely, or hold them in as high a regard as the "magnificent seven". Even the other superheroes kinda raise their noses at them. We see that here with Booster's busy work, so he doesn't get in the way. We can look at that as the other protecting Booster who may be too close to the situation... but there'll always be that bit of doubt.
Being the only folks who can remember Max Lord opens up so many possibilities... and also facilitates them looking a bit loony. They're going to have to walk a fine line to not lose all credibility with the public and the superhero community... and it's going to be a lot of fun.
The art here is really nice. Lopresti has a very clean style and is able to convey so much emotion through faces. Just look at that Ice scene, that's almost Kevin Maguire level of facial contortion. Excellent stuff. My sole complaint art wise has got to be... the cover. To my mind, it's not terribly pretty. Fire and Booster look pretty twisted and evil. Everyone else looks cool, but those two really make me wince.
Overall, this is certainly an issue (and series) I'd recommend checking out. I think enough time has passed since the ending kinda got nyoinked away from us so they could usher in The New-52! that one could read this again and not be too annoyed (okay, I might be projecting). This issue/series is available digitally, and has been collected in a series of hardcovers... and those come without an awkwardly placed toothpaste ad (see below) slipping and sliding as you read the book! Worth checking out!
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