Mad Mad Modes of Moderns

"Mad Mad Modes of Moderns" from Young Love #61 (1967) by Ric Estrada

Oh romance comics! That's about as much commentary as I can give. Not because I'm dismissive of the genre, but I just don't know very much about it! Don't know much about fashion either.

Young Justice Halloween Party

"Young Justice Halloween Party" from Young Justice #3 (1998) by Peter David, Todd Nauck and Lary Stucker

When the Titans grew up, or were replaced by no-names or whatever was happening in that book, the real sidekicks and higher-end super teens could be found in Young Justice. A whole lot of fun the Titans stuff should have aspired to! Sadly, many of these guys would wind up in a Titans book eventually. Bad move.

Hey, I still need to watch the cartoon series!

Hang Time

"Hang Time" from Xer0 #2 (DC, 1997) by Christopher Priest, Chriscross and Tom Simmons

I read the entire series not so long ago, and liked it very much. Needs to be collected!

Children of the Bat

"Children of the Bat" from World's Finest vol.3 #6 (DC, 2013) by Paul Levitz and Kevin Maguire

While the World's Finest team will always be Superman and Batman back when they were real friends, the New52's use of Earth-2 Power Girl and Huntress, children of the formerly-Golden-Age Superman and Batman, come a close second. The series is quite literally a thing of parts. Originally designed with George Perez handling the lukewarm present-day sequences and Kevin Maguire doing the charming 5-years-ago comedy of sisters discovering their roles in a new world, that paradigm I suppose couldn't last forever. Artists come and go, and the Year 1 stuff was eventually phased out. Still, while I don't find the plots particularly memorable, I do like the relationship between the heroines enough to keep reading.

Dial H for Hero

"Dial H for Hero" from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #6 (DC, 1985) by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Howard Bender and Dennis Jenson

I've made my love of the original Who's Who plain over at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, both through overt tribute and through a series of posts called Who's This? which I consider to be a companion piece of the extremely fun Who's Who podcast recorded by blogging friends Shag and Rob! Do I need to go on? Yes, let's. In choosing which entry to use as a "splash", I instinctively went to vol.VI, which I've always considered my favorite. Why? Well, part of it is that at the time, my 9th-grade self had started toying with a concept I called the Super 7, which was a superhero team that changed each month, and whose members were drawn from each issue of Who's Who. The first team was from this issue. Further, the game was to attribute seven identities to myself and six friends, and WHY did our superhero identities change each month? It just now hit me: It's because the whole idea came up while contemplating the Dial H for Hero entry. The strip was an old favorite of mine, I'd just forgotten it was intimately related to the Super 7 thing! Well there you go.

Toxl the World Killer

"Toxl the World Killer" from Weird Mystery Tales (DC, 1972) by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer

How many such anthologies did DC have in the 70s? Answer: Too many. How many featured Jack Kirby work? Answer: Too few.

I CAN'T STOP!

"I CAN'T STOP!" from The Web #10 (DC, 2010) by Matthew Sturges and Roger Robinson

But the series, and the whole Red Circle brand, could. Oh DC, why try to gobble up all the superhero properties when you're not really going to really invest in them? The Archie heroes are much better off where they are now.

Dinosaur vs. Unicorn

"Dinosaur vs. Unicorn" from Warlord vol.4 #3 (DC, 2009) by Mike Grell, Chad Hardin, Wayne Faucher, Dan Green and Walden Wong

PLACE YOUR BETS!!! (The odds are on the raptor's side, I have to warn you.) Mike Grell returned to Warlord a few years ago, to resounding ambivalence. No one cares about Skartaris anymore, despite it being the only place dinosaurs fight unicorns.

Warlord Memories

"Warlord Memories" from Warlord vol.1 #65 (DC, 1983) by Mike Grell, Dan Jurgens and Mike DeCarlo

DC's most successful fantasy series (133 issues and 6 Annuals, with creator Mike Grell writing the first 6 years of it), it even had its own action figures. And I think that's mostly why I would try an issue here and there, but it never did capture my imagination. I suppose by the time I was deep into sword&sorcery, reading many novels and playing D&D, the book's best years were behind it.

Howdy, Compadres

"Howdy, Compadres" from Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice #3 (DC, 1996) by James Robinson and Tony Salmons

According to the rules I've set for myself, I should post a splash from Vigilante's recent ongoing, but wow did I find the first issue insipid. It didn't last long either. So instead, here's one from James Robinson's mini-series about the ORIGINAL, Golden Age Vigilante, set in that period. Oh yeah.

The Visitors Hate Station Wagons

"The Visitors Hate Station Wagons" from V #13 (DC, 1986) by Cary Bates, Carmine Infantino and Tony DeZuniga

The V comic could have shown us stuff that wasn't possible on a TV budget. Unfortunately, it never really surpassed scenes like the one above.

Universe in Crisis: Here We Go Again

"Universe in Crisis: Here We Go Again" from Trinity #2 (DC, 2008) by Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert

I know people were just about sick of DC's year-long, weekly comics series by then, but I quite liked Kurt Busiek's Trinity. It started as an exploration of what Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman meant as superhero memes, with some very nice interaction between them, and later became an alternate universe story - a Crisis of sorts - in a DCU that didn't have them in It. it was nice to have Mark Bagley drawing the DC Universe as well.

The Beating

"The Beating" from Tor vol.1 #1 (DC, 1975) by Joe Kubert

I love Kubert's work, and he makes Tor just about the best caveman strip ever drawn. (Sorry, B.C.!) The art is so gorgeous, the anachronistic dinosaurs and strange monsters thrill you rather than irritate you. The comic actually started in the 50s in a book called "1,000,000 Years Ago" which became "3-D Comics" with its second issue and finally "Tor" with its third (all from St.John). The original five issues were reprinted in the 70s by DC after an original issue (well, almost original, since it was expanded from an attempt at a Tor newspaper strip). Eclipse then reprinted the 3D issues and published a new story in Sojourn. I first encountered Tor in the gorgeous over-sized Epic mini-series and was more than happy to pick up a new mini-series from DC in 2008. Tor also appeared in Kubert's last published series, Joe Kubert Presents. Beautiful stuff.

Running

"Running" from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents vol.1 #2 (DC, 2011) by Nick Spencer, Cafu and Bit

In the last few years, DC never seemed content with their own stable of superheroes and tried their hand at various other properties, but it's debatable if they really gave any of them a proper shot. So we had the Archie heroes (Red Circle), pulp heroes (First Wave), Milestone heroes, and the integration of Wildstorm properties in the New52. And then there was DC's take on THUNDER Agents, which despite some A-level creators, never really worked for me. I AM enjoying the heck out of IDW's current iteration, lighter, funnier and tons more fun.

How to Follow Kid-Flash

"How to Follow Kid-Flash" from Teen Titans vol.4 #3 (DC, 2012) by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

I dislike Booth's art quite a lot, but this is a fun idea from the New52 Titans series. As for the series itself, Lobdell writes it like a convoluted X-Men book, with the authorities after the kids right in the first issue. Mutantmania in the DC Universe. Add terrible costume designs and an obsession with crossing over with other books (often, Lobdell's Superboy), and you've got a recipe for yet another bad Titans book.

New New Titans Together

"New New Titans Together" from Teen Titans vol.3 #99 (DC, 2011) by J.T. Krul, José Luis, Greg Adams and J.P. Mayer

Though it lasted 100 issues, I consistently heard bad things about this book, so stayed well away, picking up only the last couple issues because finally, it was getting good reviews. I was out of comics for Geoff Johns' 45 first issues, but I never hear anyone name TT as one of his good works (as opposed to Hawkman or JSA). Sean McKeever's run was panned. Is this franchise now writer-proof, i.e. can no one write a good Titans comic. So it's very strange to me that anyone (myself included) could enjoy J.T. Krul's issues when the guy had infuriated fandom with his Arsenal story not long before. But feel free to sell me on some early arc I'm not aware of.

More Wildstorm Than DC

"More Wildstorm Than DC" from Team 7 #7 (DC, 2013) by Justin Jordan, Tony Bedard and Pascal Alixe

The NAME of this short-lived New52 series (but aren't they all still "short-lived" at this point?) is that of a Wildstorm book (anything for Jim Lee to get paid extra), and a lot of its members are too - Fairchild, Grifter, Mr. Majestic, and John Lynch - with DC stars along for the ride - Black Canary, Amanda Waller, Steve Trevor and Deathstroke. Set before the events of "5 years ago" (i.e. Justice League #1), it joins Stormwatch in telling us the new DCU, young and fresh as it is, used to be the Wildstorm Universe behind the scenes. And I'm not sure I like these plug-ins having a longer tradition and history than DC's brightest stars. In fact, I know I don't.

Tarzan Eats Crocodiles for Breakfast

"Tarzan Eats Crocodiles for Breakfast" from Tarzan #211 (DC, 1972) by Joe Kubert and Burne Hogarth

Issue 211 makes it sound like Tarzan had a huge run at DC, but they picked up the numbering from Gold Key at #207. Still, they kept the license for some 6 years after that, also publishing Korak, Son of Tarzan, which later became Tarzan Family.

My Stuff!

"My Stuff!" from Talon #2 (DC, 2013) by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Juan José Ryp and Vincente Cifuentes

The Court of Owls event was a success, so of course it needed a spin-off. I wonder if Year Zero will too. To me, the "Talons" (good or bad) were never all that interesting. It seemed a great opportunity to introduce an Earth-1 Owl-Man to the DCU, and maybe put to rest the damn Crime Syndicate... So much for that. The Talon series itself just prolonged the already interminable Court of Owls, so I gave it a pass after some sampling.

Swamp Thing Mountain

"Swamp Thing Mountain" from Swamp Thing vol.4 #1 (Vertigo, 2004) by Andy Diggle and Enrique Breccia

Swamp Thing's fourth volume featured story arcs by Andy Diggle, Will Pfeifer and Joshua Dysart, and brought the elemental back to his roots (while Tefé was rendered powerless). Over its last year, the series actually dealt with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Given that I discovered all these writers later, I'm thinking of checking these storylines out at some point in the future.