Action Comics #806 (October, 2003)
"Hungry Ghost, Part One: Blood, Broads and Bushido"
Writer - Joe Kelly
Penciller - Pascual Ferry
Inker - Cam Smith
Guest Art - Karl Kerschl
Colorist - Guy Major
Letters - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Tom Palmer, Jr.
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.25
You see that on the horizon?
That be the finish line for our #Action100 Endeavor, because, dear reader, we are in the "home stretch". Heck, we've already lapped the "home stretch" as today we are about to begin the, a-hem, penultimate installment!
That's right... this is our 99th discussion of Action Comics... and, perhaps most shockingly... we're right on time!
Barring my being hit by a bus, our 100th discussion will be this Wednesday... April 18th, the 80th Anniversary of Superman and the release date of Action Comics #1000!
Now let's learn some street magic, yo.
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We open in the gentrified Suicide Slum. Remember this is "City of Tomorrow/Y2K"Metropolis... so even the worst parts of town have a neat hi-tech sheen to 'em. In one of the apartments is Traci 13... or Girl 13... or Girl¹³... who knows. Anyhoo, she's chatting with, I wanna say her father, about what she's been up to since arriving in Metropolis. She's met Superboy... and, well, that's about it. Worth mentioning she has a large iguana named Leroy... and very odd undergarments. She is advised to ixnay her agicmay... and maybe get a job.
We follow her around town as she goes about her morning (I think it's morning) routine. While out she overhears a couple of passionate sports fans talking about their favorite team. This appears to annoy her greatly, so she wriggles her nose and forces them to kiss. That's pretty mature.
Suddenly screams fill the air... Traci turns around to see what's up and finds Superman splatted into the ground, with a spear run through his chest! She rushes over to check on him, and magicks up a green whirlwind to whisk them to the safety of the underground.
We shift scenes to Second-Lady Lana Lang... is that what we call the Vice-President's Wife? Second-Lady? I suppose I could Google it, but I don't want to find out that that's not what we call them. Anyhoo, she's hunting for an apartment in Metropolis... which she claims will be used for "retreats" for her "Foundation". Lois-on-the-spot smelled news, and so, she's there too. Worth noting, Lois looks like she miiiiight be 16 here.
Lois knows there must be more to this story than that, and decides to pry as best she can. Lana finally lets it slip that she and Pete are getting a divorce. She then requests that it be kept "off the record".
We shift scenes again... this time to John Henry Irons' Steelworks. This is post-"Our Worlds At War", so the man himself is dead... for now. We join his niece Natasha, who is chizzatting with her rewizzired rizzobot Kelex. It's pretty cringy stuff here... and since this was writting in the early 2000's, I'm not sure much of it is meant to be ironic.
Kelex rizzeccomends that Natasha try to pick up her Uncle's hammer... which she is surprised to learn she is able to do! The hammer than proceeds to speak... letting out a "Hammer Time", which makes her cringe just as hard as I've been cringing these last two pages!'
We shift scenes over to The Daily Planet where Jubilee considers hitting "send" on the Lana Lang/Pete Ross article. Wait... that's not Jubilee... that's Lois! I'm tellin' ya, this could be any high school intern! Anyhoo, she thinks back to a chat she had with Clark in bed... thankfully, she looks "of age" in the flashback... and decides that she's going to publish.
And so, we check back in with Lana... whose beans have just been spilled. She is greatly displeased, and is trying to spin the story best she can.
Suddenly, Traci 13 and Superman appear at her (Lana's) feet. Traci didn't know where else to go... and since she saw Superman and Lana on the news, figured this might be her best bet. She also needs nutmeg... and since Lana is in full Bree Vandecamp mode here, Traci figures she just might have some.
Back to the Steelworks, and the Hammer is still reading John Henry's recorded message to Natasha. He wants her to go to college, become a doctor or lawyer... anything but a superhero. He also knows her well enough that she'll probably try her hand at heroing anyway. And so, he's created something special for her.
Back at Lana's, Traci 13 is trying to get into Superman's head to see who or what put him in such a state. We hop into a flashback... Superman is taking care of a group of ninja-flavored nogoodniks. When the dust settles, he saves a woman who is about to be garroted... only for her to slump to the ground anyway. This distraction proves to be enough for Gaki, a "hungry ghost" to impale him with her staff.
We wrap up with Natasha Irons in her brand new Steel costume arriving... and insisting that Traci 13 back the eff off.
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Well... this was, uh, weird... right?
I suppose we should just addrizzess the elephizzant in the rizzoom right off the bizzat. There was some scarily-cringy dialogue in here... and the thing of it is, I'm not sure if it's meant to be! I mean, if this book were to come out today... then, yeah... this is definitely "for the laughs". Back in 2003, though? I'm not so sure. I really wish I could remember how I "received" this issue back when it first released.
Another thing worth mentioning (again)... man, did Lois look young here. I swear I thought that was Jubilee in the Daily Planet scene... complete with bubble gum! That's gotta be one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to shared-universe storytelling... lack of consistency in character appearance. Anything from hair length to body type... when the characters drastically change in appearance (and back again) from chapter-to-chapter, it just bugs the hell out of me. I know Lois didn't look like a teenager in all of the books at this time. Then again, by the turn of the century, character bibles and "style sheets" were probably already considered a passe relic.
It seems like this is kind of a throwaway story... doesn't quite feel like it belongs in Action Comics. Though, when I look at the last page of the book, there's an advertisement for the launch of Superman/Batman... which is clearly where all of the "important" things are going to be happening for the next little while. I suppose that allowed the regular "Super Team" to flex their storytelling muscles a bit... and explore not-so Super-centric story threads. That's fair enough, I suppose.
Overall... this is a weird one to recommend. Despite the characters not being completely "on model", the art here is pretty great. If you're in the mood for a Superman-flavored story that isn't necessarily about Superman, this might just be worth a shot.
That's it for today... but remember to check back Wednesday (4/18) when we finally cross the #Action100 finish line!
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Green Lantern (vol.3) #118 (November, 1999)
"Women"
Writer - Ron Marz
Penciller - Darryl Banks
Inker - Anibal Rodriguez
Color & Separations - Rob Schwager
Letterers - Chris Eliopoulos
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $1.99
Just love this cover... I mean, look at Kyle's face as he tries to hold Donna and Jade apart! That's kinda the very definition of an s-eating grin, ain't it? It's like we can almost read his mind here.
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We open with Kyle in fantasy mode... making out with his ex-girlfriend, Donna Troy. In reality he's at a showing of his work at an art gallery with his current girlfriend Jade. Ya see, Donna decided to attend too, and the very sight of her got our Mr. Rayner's old juices flowin'. Jenny's not at all pleased, as you might imagine... not so much that Donna decided to show up, but for the fact that she knows Kyle's heart "skipped a beat" when he saw her. Kyle claims he needs "closure" with Donna... so Jenny storms out.
Donna and Kyle then reconnect... and it's rather awkward, for reasons we're about to go into. They run out of small-talk with the quickness... again, for reasons we're about to go into.
Donna seductively poses and recalls her time as a hero... which is a sorta clunky way to drop exposition, but it works in a pinch for folks unfamiliar with her character and story. She mentions having blamed herself for the death of her ex-husband T-Long and son Robert.
As they walk through the Village, Kyle finds a book of Anton Corbijn (a Dutch Photographer) photos that he'd wanted to get Donna for her birthday while they were together. He laughs about the lengths he went to to try and procure it... which is something that Donna has no recollection of.
Ya see, here's the thing... after a run-in with Dark Angel, Donna was stripped of all of her memories. The life she's living now is based on a reconstruction of Donna Troy from Wally West's memories. Kyle and Wally aren't exactly the best of buds here... so it's not really any surprise that the Kyle and Donna relationship might've gotten the short shrift when it came to the reconstruction info-dump.
Kyle attempts to give her the quick and dirty on their relationship... which kinda smells of desperation. It's as though he isn't sure what he wants. Does he want Donna back? Does Donna even want to be back? After all, she walked out on him. Is he happy with Jade? Is there any way he can have both? What I'm trying to say is, we've got quite the konflicted Kyle.
Donna then tells Kyle that he's not the only one who "moved on", since she's now knockin' boots with Roy "Speedy" "Arsenal" Harper. As you might imagine, this displeases Kyle greatly. To which, Donna throws Jenny in his face. This is such a weird scene... I mean, it's pretty great because it's so confusing. It's as though both Donna and Kyle are dealing with all of these unexpected bubbled up emotions... and their only "release" is to get mad at one another.
Well, maybe that's not their only release.
When Kyle asks if the kiss stirred any old memories, Donna drops the final insult with a "no". Donna suggests that the kiss was a mistake and suggests Kyle go find Jenny.
And so, Kyle proceeds to wander the streets... alone. This is where the Day of Judgment tie-in occurs. If you recall, Kyle had a brief run-in with Enchantress during the opening chapter. Well, here it is again... in long-form. For brevity's sake... they fight a bit, Kyle kvetches about getting home to his girlfriend... and Enchantress lets it slip that the End of the World is coming.
We wrap up back at Kyle and Jenny's apartment... where Jenny is waiting for her boyfriend to return. When he doesn't, she leaves him a note... and leaves.
--
What a great issue... well, at least until the Day of Judgment stuff snuck in and ate up the last third of it.
I wanna talk about just how real the Donna and Kyle stuff felt... because, if we strip away the power rings and Gods and Dark Angels... we get some very human interaction here. Least I think so.
We have a couple of confused young people... neither really knows what they're looking for... or if they're happy with what they have. I mean, let's look at Kyle. Donna walks out on him... he meets and falls for Jade, they shack up... then Donna briefly strolls back in to his life, and he's left questioning everything. It looks like he's all but ready to drop Jade and run back to Donna... if only she were available.
Because, she's with Roy. This is where it gets even more interesting. There's this odd passive-aggressive repartee here... Kyle wonders why she bothered to show up if she was already spoken for... not that their "getting back together" was ever really back on the table. Donna's defenses then kick in, and she calls Kyle out for shacking up with Jenny... when, really... she has no right to say anything about Kyle "moving on". She's the one that ended things.
It's this intensity... this weird, irrational intensity between the two that makes this such an incredible scene. All of these emotions bubbling to the surface... all of this regret... all of this confusion. It's really just so well done. They're mad at each other... but they're really grasping for reasons to be mad. I think we've all been there. Halfway through every sentence you blurt out, you ponder why you're even speaking at all. All you're doing is making things worse...
... or just dragging it out longer. Ya see, when we opened this story, the watchword was "closure". Kyle wanted closure with Donna due to the weird way their relationship broke down. Perhaps neither Kyle nor Donna is/was quite ready to "tie a bow" on their relationship. Closure... when you think about it, can be as drawn out a process as you allow for it to be. You can literally be in perpetual closure for the rest of your life, without actually "tying that bow".
I feel like Donna and Kyle might not have been ready to put their baggage behind them at this point. I mean, I'm no expert, but a romantic and passionate kiss (in the rain, even!) doesn't really say "we're done" to me.
But really, you guys... this was one hell of an issue, Marz and Banks deliver yet again... but then, Day of Judgment. We've already discussed that event in long-form... so, you can get my thoughts on it elsewhere on the blog. Basically, it didn't rock my socks... but I also can't get mad at it. In this issue though? It was most unwelcome. I would have loved another half-dozen pages of Kyle and Donna hashing it out... but, the crossover gods demanded the post-staples sacrifice... and unfortunately, they got it!
Overall... I'd say, even in spite of the shoe-horned crossover, this was an amazing issue... and one I would highly recommend. For your convenience, this bugger is available digitally.
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Action Comics #875 (May, 2009)
"the sleepers, Part I"
Writer - Greg Rucka
Penciller - Eddy Barrows
Inkers - Guy Jose & Julio Ferreira
Colorist - Rod Reis
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Wil Moss
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99
One of the neat things about writing about Action Comics is, even if you're not necessarily in the mood to write about Superman... you can find a bunch of issues that don't even feature him. Such is the issue we'll be discussing today.
While on the subject... as we draw ever nearer to the end of our #Action100 Endeavor, I am kinda bummed that I didn't get around to covering any Action Comics Weekly. On the face of it, seems like it would be a good time... but, lemme tell ya... synopsizing those short stories, and making the piece "flow" (not that my pieces ever really "flow") was quite a challenge. I couldn't tell ya how many times I started writing a piece for Action Comics Weekly #601. It's one of the very few books that actually "beat" me.
Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll get a running start and give it another go.
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We open in Sydney, Australia in the office of one Mr. Carter... a big-wig for the Empire Communications Network. He's on the phone with an assistant and is looking for some sort of a scathing expose on the Kryptonians of New Krypton. As he wraps up his call, he gets walloped by... Nightwing (not that one)! Flamebird arrives right behind him and calls him out for his impetuousness.
As they yak, Carter recovers and attacks! He believes (as does the world) that Nightwing and Flamebird are normal humans in super-powered suits. He promises that they aren't prepared to deal with what he really is.
A fight rages on... with Carter eventually grabbing Nightwing by the throat. He is taken aback when the kid starts speaking to him in Kryptonese. This distraction proves to be just enough for the Kandorian Dynamic Duo to regain the advantage.
They manage to capture Carter, who is in actuality a Kryptonian Sleeper Agent named Tor-An. Job well done, Nightwing proclaims "One Down, Five to Go!"... before noticing that his partner might be a little worse for wear. They disappear into the skies before they are spotted.
We briefly check in on Metropolis, where Lois is watching footage of the event we just read. She furrows her brow. Thrilling.
We then shift scenes to General Lane's Project 7734, where they too are watching the footage... in an attempt to positively identify Flamebird. Unfortunately for them, the image is too degraded to match up.
Next stop, New Krypton. Alura is rather annoyed that her Chief of Security Thara Ak-Var has flown the coop... but not before abducting/rescuing Lor-Zod (Chris Kent) from the Phantom Zone. They don't yet know that Thara and Chris are currently Nightwing and Flamebird. Anyhoo, she sends Ursa (Lor-Zod's mother) off on the retrieval mission.
Over at the Fortress of Solitude, Nightwing and Flamebird deposit Tor-An into their version of the Ghostbusters' Containment Unit... or, ya know... the Phantom Zone.
Chris heads off to change clothes, as his current ensemble is in a pretty bad state, and he's too bashful to do so in front of Thara. While he's off, Thara takes a gander at the rest of their intergalactic hit-list.
Her viewing party is interrupted by an off-panel shout. It's Chris... who has been struck with a sudden (and apparently painful) growth spurt. He explains that this might be a byproduct of having spent time in the Phantom Zone.
We wrap up with Ursa's arrival in the Fortress... where she looks to be ready to kill Thara... if not both of our new heroes!
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Not a whole lotta meat on these bones... but enjoyable enough.
I've said it before, but I didn't stick around all that long for the New Krypton saga... so, it was rather a pleasant surprise to learn that Nightwing was our pal Chris Kent. I was afraid he was never heard from again after "Last Son".
I think his depiction here was pretty great. Over-zealous in his attack on Carter/Tor-An... his bashfulness around Thara... even his innocent mention of how pretty she looks in her costume. Just seems like a really good take on the "kid hero".
I still can't really go "all in" on Zod... any time he's mentioned, I become instantly bored. At least we didn't get a hilarious "Kneel Before..." bit. Kudos to Rucka for that. The story also looks pretty damn fantastic. Barrows is absolutely wonderful.
Even though I really dug this... the fact that it is so decompressed really hinders my ability to recommend it. I mean, I've got the next issue within arm's reach... so, I think it might be easier for me to forgive the lack of "meat" here... but, if we were to hop back to 2009... I doubt that I'd have been satisfied.
This kind of book brings me back to a time where I forced myself through my buy-pile. Just blasting through each book in order to get to the next one... and the next one, and so on. This book wouldn't have really "moved my needle", and I feel like the most satisfaction it would have given me, is putting it back in the polybag... happily knowing that I can move on to the next book in the pile.
Overall... I liked it. Not enough really "went down"... but it's a decent enough "part one". Not sure I'd recommend picking up just this issue... but then again, not having read this through, I'm not sure I'd recommend picking up the whole magilla either!
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Justice Society of America #3 (June, 1991)
"Vengeance from the Stars! Chapter 3: Dead Air"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Penciller - Mike Parobeck
Inker - Rick Burchett
Letterer - Janice Chiang
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Editors - Brian Augustyn & Mike Gold
Cover Price: $1.00
Had so much fun yesterday, I figure why not take another look at the 1991 Justice Society of America limited-series? I have a feeling this one is going to give all new meaning to "rings and arrows".
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We open... well, the same way we did last issue. Alan Scott is delivering the news of the intermittent blackouts via GBC news. He is more than a little bit irritated when the network's emergency back-up generators go on the fritz and they lose air. Like, I don't wanna say he goes full-on "we'll do it live!" but he does throw a little fit. Gotta wonder though, if there is a city-wide power outage, who is he hoping will even see the broadcast? I dunno. Anyhoo, the GBC staffers are then alerted to a bright light coming in from the window... and when they check it out, they find out the reason for the generators losing their juice... Sagittarius has struck!
And so, Alan slips into his office so he can "Lantern-up".
Outside, Sagittarius is in some sort of odd state of nirvana... just sucking up all the energy. Alan arouses the constellation construct with a caffeinated one of his own. Sag' doesn't appreciate being bothered while he, uh... feeds? So a fight is on.
In the alley down below we revisit Black Canary being walloped by the blackjack.
Then... the GBC staffers run right by shooing the nogoodniks, the kayoed Canary... and Solomon Grundy out of the way so they can shoot the Green Lantern/Sagittarius bout for the news. You couldn't ask for a more aloof group of geeks!
In the sky above, Lantern and Sagittarius continue their energized brawl. When Sag' goes to nyoink an arrow from his quiver, Alan recognizes the pose (and the design on his "outfit"), and identifies the baddie as the constellation Sagittarius.
We jump back to Ted Knight's Observatory, where our shadowy big bad is on the phone with the nogoodniks who kayoed the Canary. It's clear this is all connected... the baddie suggests coming at Green Lantern with wood... because that's his weakness. Ted, nearby in a wheelchair, promises that the Justice Society will still win the day.
Back in Gotham, Lantern manages to wrap Sagittarius up in a construct-straitjacket. And so, the archer transforms into a giant eagle... which, I didn't know he could do (I guess it has something to do with the Symbology... which I remain clueless on).
Alan ensnares the big bird in a construct cage... just long enough for Solomon Grundy to hurl a (wooden?) phone booth right at him!
Alan is smashed from behind by the booth, which messes with his concentration... dissipating the bird cage. The Sagittarius Eagle then sucks up the rest of the GBC generator juice.
The nogoodniks plop Alan down next to Canary... but that's not good enough for Grundy. He'd like to kill Green Lantern straight away. Thankfully, the Sagittarius Eagle has other ideas... and takes off with the heroes.
--
After revisiting this issue it's suddenly a little bit more clear as to why this hasn't (to my knowledge) been collected. Things happening concurrently in subsequent issues... might not make for the clearest trade-reading experience. Actually, considering the way DC Comics used to mutilate stories for trade collections back in the 1990's, I'm almost glad this didn't get collected! Could you imagine how this might've been reworked? What might've been omitted? Yikes!
I think this issue gave us a little bit more "meat" than last... though, it was largely also just a fight scene. We got some added "flavor" with the goofball GBC staffers, which was pretty cool. We also get a bit "more" from our shadowy big bad. All in all, I felt a bit more momentum this time around.
I think what a lot of folks will notice straight away is the JSA debut of Mike Parobeck. I gotta say, his talents were completely wasted on me the first time around. I really didn't go for the animated style... I think I felt like it came across as "cheap"... like Archie or something. Ehh, no accounting for an early-90's X-Men kid's tastes, right? In revisiting this, I've really found an appreciation for his work. It's just beautiful... and really makes this team stand out from everything else that was on the shelves. There's definitely a "retro" feeling here... but not in an "old fashioned" kinda way... ya know? It reminds me of old "pop-art" advertisements. The same way something like the Fallout games do.
Overall... this was a good time, and I'd even go so far as to say that it made me appreciate the issue that came before even more as well! Most definitely worth a read.
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Letters Page (courtesy of CompuServe on-line):
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That be the finish line for our #Action100 Endeavor, because, dear reader, we are in the "home stretch". Heck, we've already lapped the "home stretch" as today we are about to begin the, a-hem, penultimate installment!
