Wonder Woman and the Justice League America Volume 1 (1993-94/ Collected 2017): written by Dan Vado, Chuck Dixon, and Bill Loebs; illustrated by Kevin West, Mike Collins, Chris Hunter, Greg LaRocque, Rick Burchett, Ken Branch, and others:
DC repackaged these early 1990's Justice League America issues to put Wonder Woman's name above the title. Which is fine. It's an undercollected era of DC's super-group, so whatever helps it sell!
Wonder Woman takes over as leader a few months after the Death of Superman event removed the Man of Steel from the group. The surviving members, most of whom took a beating at the hands of Superman-killer Doomsday, are still pretty traumatized. Booster Gold needs new armor, his 25th-century duds having been shredded by Doomsday. Blue Beetle is still recovering from his own physical and emotional trauma. Fire still hasn't regained her fire powers. Former Green Lantern Guy Gardner, now wielding Sinestro's yellow power ring, is unusually pissy even for him.
The group gets asked by the United Nations to intervene in an African military coup. There may be no super-villains involved in the coup, but that rapidly changes. The Extremists show up. Or maybe The New Extremists. A sort-of generic group of super-villains, they're working for a sinister mastermind who won't be revealed until the next collected volume.
The JLA makes its way through several problems, from alien fugitives to problems in member Ice's frozen Northern kingdom. The Extremists and the political problems in Ice's homeland are both part of a larger strategy from a mystery figure. Guy Gardner's ultra-belligerence is not -- it's something from his own book crossing over into JLA. We also get a chapter from perhaps DC's least-loved title-wide crossover of the 1980's and 1990's, Bloodlines.
New writer Dan Vado keeps things chugging along with what is really a Marvel-level of angst and superheroic sorrow. New regular artist Kevin West is certainly a competent penciler, though he's outshined in a one-off appearance by Mike Collins. The JLA was never really an 'Art book' -- it's hard enough to keep all the costumes straight, I think! Overall, it's a solid slice of 1990's superheroics, complete with some truly hair-raising costumes and hair-styles. Recommended.
Wonder Woman and the Justice League America Volume 2 (1994/ Collected 2017): written by Dan Vado, Gerard Jones, and Mark Waid; illustrated by Marc Campos, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, Sal Velluto, Ken Branch, and others:
Wonder Woman leads the Justice League America against the somewhat wiggy Cult of the Machine. But that's just the warm-up for the six-part crossover with Justice League Europe and Justice League Task Force as the three Leagues must join forces in the Day of Judgment story-line to save the Earth from the Overmaster and his Cadre.
Primary JLA penciler Marc Campos does a decent job throughout, though he's occasionally overwhelmed by a desire to do unusual page lay-outs that compromise the reader's ability to understand what the Hell is going on. But he does seem very energetic and enthusiastic. Because the book crosses over with two other titles, the artists change between Day of Judgment chapters, which can be a bit discombobulating.
Wonder Woman does her best as team leader. There's a sly visual nod to Watchmen at one point which I like a lot. Booster Gold screws up. Blue Beetle gets off the mat. Vandal Savage gets to be non-threatening for once. Co-writer on Day of Judgment Mark Waid seems to do a practice run for the Quintumvirate of Kingdom Come with a trio of immortals here debating what to do about Earth's potentially dire fate.
Overmaster never comes into complete focus as a villain. He's like Galactus if Galactus were into eugenics rather than planet-eating. Superman and Batman are completely absent from the shenanigans because of events over in their own books. They should probably have appeared for at least a cameo, given the stakes, but editors can be really, really fussy about appearances of their characters in the books of other editors. This is how one sometimes ends up with a Justice League or an Avengers that would have problems defeating the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Oh, well.
One of the period-specific curiosities here (well, other than a book called Justice League Task Force, a name it shared with a video game of the time) are repeated references to Wonder Woman's loss of the ability to fly. Clearly this happened in her own book. We're told again and again that she can no longer fly, but never is it explained further. Get this woman an Invisible Jet stat! Recommended.
JLA: Tower of Babel (2000/ Collected 2001): written by Mark Waid, D. Curtis Johnson, John Ostrander, and Christopher Priest; illustrated by Howard Porter, Drew Geraci, Eric Battle, Ken Lashley, Prentis Rollins, Ron Boyd, Mark Pajarillo, Walden Wong, Steve Scott, and Mark Probst: Mark Waid began his run on JLA [Justice League of America] back in the year 2000 by pitting the League against its greatest enemy yet.
Of course, that enemy was a founding member of the League itself who came up with secret contingency plans to take out every member of the League in the event of an emergency. Unfortunately, that founding member's security wasn't as secure as the member believed. A super-villain gets the information and uses it, crippling the world's mightiest heroes as part of a plan to wipe out as much of humanity as possible so as to save the Earth.
Who is that member? Well, technically it's a spoiler. All I'll say is that it isn't Aquaman.
Waid's contemporary Silver-Age grooviness and knack for superhero characterization and plausibly implausible super-scientific threats make this particular story arc sing. Departing JLA penciller Howard Porter handles most of the art duties in his usual craggy, energetic style.
The fill-in issues and stand-alone stories by other hands collected here are all very enjoyable as well, especially the opening story penned by D. Curtis Johnson, which reads like a lost JLA story from the Denny O'Neil era of the 1970's. Highly recommended.
JLA: Syndicate Rules (2004-2005/ Collected 2006): written by Kurt Busiek; illustrated by Ron Garney and Dan Green: Among other things, the Syndicate Rules arc is a sequel to JLA/Avengers, also written by Kurt Busiek. This is never stated completely outright because DC doesn't have the rights to actually name the Avengers in a DC-only book, but there it is regardless. And it's really a fine sequel to that gigantic, over-stuffed, bombastic, hyper-enjoyable DC/Marvel crossover. We even get two artists then mainly associated with Marvel, Ron Garney and Dan Green, on the art duties.
This is also a follow-up to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's JLA: Earth-2 graphic novel, which introduced new versions of the evil, alternate-Earth Crime Syndicate of Amerika to the early-oughts DC Universe. They're evil, anti-matter versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and company first introduced way back in the 1960's when Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky did the Justice League of America.
Anyway, Busiek is one of the masters of extrapolating and expanding and expounding upon comic-book continuity without making that continuity ponderous or onerous. And he's an expert at the necessary short-hand of mainstream superhero characterization. Syndicate Rules rings some interesting variations on old JLA/CSA stories while also adding new dimensions to this inter-dimensional tussle. Busiek also manages to give Silver-Age Green-Lantern-foes The Weaponers of Qward an interesting back-story while also making them a real threat to villains and heroes alike.
Ron Garney and inker Dan Green do nice work on what for them were unfamiliar characters at the time. This is an extremely action-packed saga, and Garney and Green render the action in convincing, epic fashion throughout. An enjoyably rousing, clever, and beautifully plotted story arc. Highly recommended.
The Flash: Born to Run: written by Mark Waid and Tom Peyer; illustrated by Greg LaRocque, Humberto Ramos, Pop Mhan, Jim Aparo, Bill Sienkiewicz, Wayne Faucher, and others (1992, 97; 98/ collected 1999): Long-time Flash writer Mark Waid explores the origins of what was DC Comics' third Flash, Wally West, who started his super-speed career as Kid Flash, protege (and eventual nephew) to Barry Allen's Flash.
This is an enjoyable Year One story-line made somewhat unusual by the age of the hero in question experiencing his Year One as a superhero. Wally West is about 10 when he gains super-speed powers in an accident almost identical to that which created Barry Allen's Flash. That this all seems like too much of a coincidence for a 1990's comic-book reader or writer looking at an origin story from the early 1960's is addressed throughout the story, though the origins of this 'coincidence' will only be explained in another book.
The super-speed action is fun and nicely thought-out, as it pretty much always was during Waid's tenure. Waid fleshes out the early back-story of Wally West with indifferent parents and a desire to flee his small Nebraska hometown. Waid's characterization of Wally, Aunt Iris West (soon to be Iris Allen), and Barry Allen is deft and sympathetic. The art is solid, meat-and-potatoes comic-book storytelling, though a story in which legendary Jim Aparo is inked by legendary Bill Sienkiewicz is a rare artistic treat. Recommended.
The Flash: Dead Heat: written by Mark Waid; illustrated by Oscar Jiminez, Jose Marzan Jr., Humberto Ramos, and Wayne Faucher (1995-96/ Collected 1999): What's really a one-year Flash story-line kicks off here with some major ret-conning introducing a whole new Flash villain who's actually been around for a long time. That's the self-named Savitar, a maniacal speedster who wants access to the Speed Force all to himself and who will kill everyone else with super-speed to secure that access.
Ah, the Speed Force. Introduced by long-time Flash writer Mark Waid, the Speed Force is a quasi-mystical energy/realm existing beyond the speed of light that gives super-speedsters their speed. Run too fast and you become part of it. Savitar and his ninja-like worshipers have to go after Wally West's Flash because he has the most direct connection to the Speed Force in their time period: basically, he's the reigning avatar.
Over the course of six issues, Savitar and his people force Wally to round up all the secondary speedsters of his time to defeat Savitar's plans and stop his killing spree. As noted, ret-conning abounds, but the explanations and exposition go down smoothly. The art by Flash artists Oscar Jiminez and Jose Marzan Jr is straightforward and pleasing, while the manga-influenced, big-heads-and-big-eyes of Impulse penciller Humberto Ramos (two of the six installments appeared in Flash spin-off Impulse, the Kid Flash of the 1990's) is really a matter of taste for the reader. Recommended.
The Flash: Race Against Time: written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn; illustrated by Anthony Castrillo, Oscar Jiminez, Jim Cheung, Sergio Cariello, and others (1996/Collected 1999): The story begun in The Flash: Dead Heat concludes here. The climax of that story-line hurled Wally West millennia into the future, unbeknownst to girlfriend Linda Park and the rest of his loved ones in the 20th century. While Wally tries to make his way home, 27th-century speedster John Fox makes the moves on Linda Park after he arrives in the 20th century as a fugitive from his century.
Problems soon develop for both Fox and Wally as they struggle to adapt to their new centuries. With enjoyably straightforward art, we visit several time periods with Wally while Linda and Fox try to solve an on-going mystery back in the 20th century. Two old Flash villains, a mysterious new Flash villain, and the wife of deceased Flash Barry Allen, Iris Allen, figure into the mystery. And unfortunately for the 20th century, John Fox doesn't make a very good Flash regardless of his attempts to woo Linda Park. Recommended.
The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian Archives Volume 1: written by Roy Thomas, Lin Carter, and Robert E. Howard; illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Tony DeZuniga, Pablo Marcos, Tim Conrad, Jim Starlin, and others (1971, 1973-75; collected 2007): This first reprint volume of Marvel's black-and-white Conan comics magazines that started in the 1970's peaks right at the beginning, with quintessential Conan comic-book artist Barry Windsor-Smith illustrating several tales. He's terrific on what's almost a vignette about a teen-aged Conan, "The Frost Giant's Daughter." And he hits an all-time high with an adaptation of the Conan novella "Red Nails." There's a reprint volume devoted entirely to Windsor-Smith's colour and black-and-white Conan work for Marvel, if you're so inclined.
The rest of the volume, almost entirely written by long-time Conan scribe/adapter Roy Thomas, is mostly high quality as well. Thomas' Conan was always more stereotypically heroic than Robert E. Howard's original, but he can still be a bit of a jerk at times. Highlights include the oft-imitated crucifixion of Conan from an adaptation of Howard's "A Witch Shall Be Born" and an original team-up with Howard's female barbarian Red Sonya. John Buscema, who penciled more Conan stories at Marvel than anyone else, gives us his older-looking Conan throughout, with Tony DeZuniga and others ably inking Buscema or drawing him themselves. It's too bad these volumes weren't reprinted at their original magazine-page size, though -- the art and lettering can get a bit cramped at points in the comic-book-page dimensions of the collection. Recommended.
Dr. Spektor Volume 1: written by Mark Waid; illustrated by Neal Edwards and Christian Ward (2014): Enjoyable reboot of a Silver Age Gold Key hero about whom I know absolutely nothing. Veteran scribe Mark Waid gives us a master of the mystic arts who's also a TV personality and a bit of a knob. The art is competent, though never particularly mystical or surreal. It's a book about a magician that could use an injection of the surreal and the non-representational on the artistic side. Lightly recommended.
Superman: Camelot Falls Vol. 1 and 2: written by Kurt Busiek; illustrated by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino (2006-2007; collected 2009): Lengthy Superman story that appeared intermittently in about a year-and-a-half's worth of Superman comics gets collected here, with art primarily by Carlos Pacheco and story by Kurt Busiek. It's among the finest Superman stories of the last 25 years in both art and story. Pacheco is a clean, dynamic penciler with just the right hint of whimsy in his art. Busiek's Superman is forthright and stalwart though occasionally plagued by doubt.
Busiek riffs on a Superman story from the early 1970's, "Must There Be A Superman?", as Superman discovers that the presence of he and his fellow heroes will ultimately lead to the destruction of all human life on Earth. Or will it?
Busiek brings back Atlantean super-magician Arion to present a superhero-tinged version of Vico's cyclical view of history. There will always be a Rise, there will always be a Fall, there will always be another Rise, and so on, but the prevention of that Fall by Superman and friends will cause the Fall to build in power until when it comes, there will be no subsequent Rise again. Humanity will perish in the turbo-charged wave of darkness. Arion wants Superman to retire intentionally so this future won't come to pass. But if Superman won't retire, Arion will retire him forcibly and then start the next wave of darkness himself before it builds any further. To Arion, the ends justify the means, no matter how many billions must die to ensure humanity's survival.
It may sound grim, but Busiek keeps things hopeful throughout: Arion may be wrong. And Superman remains heroic and dedicated to preserving life, as he should. Busiek introduces a new villain for Superman, Khyber, who grows on one over the course of the story. He is in many ways an attempt to give Superman his own Ra's Al Ghul, an immortal enemy with designs on global domination and a patience born of immortality. Only the name, which seems to be an attempt to meld the historic and ongoing importance of the Khyber Pass with the sounds-similar 'Cyber,' is a bit vexing. Well, unless Busiek is playing with the Cockney rhyming slang construction of "Khyber Pass" as a stand-in for "Ass" (or "Arse"), which would be hilarious. In all, recommended.
The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction: written by Mark Waid; illustrated by Paul Smith, Loston Wallace, and J. Bone (2013): The only real disappointment with this early 1940's crossover between the L.A.'s Rocketeer and Central City's The Spirit is that classic X-Men, Dr. Strange, and Nexus artist Paul Smith only ended up drawing one issue before bowing out. Loston Wallace picks up the baton admirably in issue 2 -- Dynamite should look at putting him on one of their pulp-hero titles, as his style works very well with retro-action -- and J. Bone finishes up on issues 3 and 4 in his pleasingly exaggerated, cartoony style.
Mark Waid's writing here is excellent, as it has been throughout his work on the resurrected Rocketeer comics. He'd also be a good pick for some pulp heroes over at Dynamite. One of the interesting things that Waid portrays throughout is that the Rocketeer, while a character 40 years younger than the Spirit in reality, is in the chronology of the two heroes the one who's been doing super-heroing for a longer time when they meet. That superheroing experience doesn't stop the Rocketeer from bring freaked out that the Spirit lives in a crypt within a cemetery, however.
The initial 'hook' riffs on either the beginning of Stephen King's The Colorado Kid or on the first chapter of a Doc Savage novel from the 1930's, Devil on the Moon -- take your pick -- but the destination is much different. Waid also gets a lot of comic mileage out of the byplay among the supporting characters of the two heroes, along with one perfectly understandable reaction to wearing a heavy metallic Rocketeer helmet inside for too long. In all, an enjoyable romp. Recommended.
Harbinger Volume 1: Omega Rising: written by Joshua Dysart; illustrated by Khari Evans and others (2012): Enjoyable reboot of the early 1990's Valiant line's entry in the telepathic superman sweepstakes. Joshua Dysart keeps things moving while also supplying quite a bit of background and characterization, along with a likeable protagonist who does one truly awful (but understandable) thing early and then tries to make up for it ever afterwards.
Thankfully, there's an emphasis on the science-fictional and political aspects of the whole 'secret race of telepaths' concept, with more traditional superhero battles taking a back seat. The art, mostly by Khari Evans, is clean and straightforward, and he seems to have a nice command of panel-to-panel continuity. Recommended.
The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom: written by Mark Waid; illustrated by Chris Samnee (2012): Waid and Samnee try their hands at what I think is the first multi-issue Rocketeer storyline since late creator/writer/artist Dave Stevens' second Rocketeer serial of the late 1980's. Waid captures the breezy, 1930's pulp quality of Stevens while adding a couple of new characters to the cast.
Waid also brings in yet another established pulp character to the Rocketeer's world without ever quite naming said character due to copyright concerns (Doc Savage and his assistants Monk and Ham appeared this way in the first Rocketeer adventure, with the Shadow and his associates following suit in the second; Disney replaced Doc Savage with Howard Hughes for the 1991 Rocketeer movie). Here, it's Doc Savage villain John Sunlight. Also dinosaurs. Samnee's art reminds me more of Steve Rude than Dave Stevens, but that's fine -- it still looks pretty good, and pretty much period-appropriate. Recommended.
Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo: written by Joe R. Lansdale; illustrated by Timothy Truman and Sam Glanzman (1993): Long-time horror and Western writer Joe Lansdale's first outing on DC's Western anti-hero Jonah Hex is a lot of grimy fun, with Tim Truman and Sam Glanzman supplying suitably gritty, violent visuals.
Looking to avenge the murder of a fellow bounty hunter, the disfigured Civil War veteran fights what may or may not be a supernatural threat hiding within a travelling carnival. Can the boss of the carnival actually animate the dead, or are his tricks explainable through rational means? In any event, Hex finds himself stuck between Apache raiding parties, a bounty on his head for a murder he didn't commit, and what appears to be Zombie Wild Bill Hickok.
The Truman/Glanzman art team is squarely in the tradition of Hex's longtime illustrator Tony deZuniga without being imitative, and as this miniseries was aimed at adults, they're allowed a lot more leeway to depict violence and its consequences. Jonah Hex himself is, as always, oddly noble. He may have started life as a knock-off of Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name, but he's his own character now. Recommended.
Tomorrow Stories Volume 2: written by Alan Moore; illustrated by Melinda Gebbie, Kevin Nowlan, Jim Baikie, Rick Veitch, Hilary Barta, and others (2000-2002): One of two books in Alan Moore's ABC Comics line of the early oughts that resurrected the anthology title, with this one leaning more heavily on comedy and pastiche than the other (Tom Strong's Terrific Tales). Kevin Nowlan's art on the Jack Quick series won him an Eisner Award for art, and it is a heckuva performance from an artist who doesn't do that much pencilling.
The different strips that appeared over the course of 12 issues tended to be parodies and/or homages to either very specific antecedents (Moore and Rick Veitch's Greyshirt is a stylistic homage to Will Eisner's Spirit both in writing and in visuals) or more general comic-book and pop-culture sources (Jack Quick parodies 'smart kid' strips and books, The First American parodies patriotic superhero strips, Splash Brannigan homages both Plastic Man and the Mad comic book of the 1950's). The Cobweb, with its sexually adventurous female crimefighter, spreads a wider net, allowing for everything from 19th century woodcuts to fumetti with talking action figures. Recommended.
