In honour of the fact that I got a new dog yesterday, I give you this here strip from Adventure Comics No. 42:
Don't be fooled, though: I might have posted a comic about a dog so ugly that he can't win a contest that he is the only entrant in, but that implies nothing about my dog. My dog, in fact,
My dog will win all of the prizes.
Not sure why, but I just caught up on some stuff that I bought up to two weeks ago. Well, I'm pretty certain about why I caught up on it (I like comics and thus read them all the time) but why there were about six unread issues from each week remains a mystery. In any case, don't explode with surprise if something from a while back creeps into this here episode of JBC.
More Flashpoint Miniseries!
Why It's They're Here: Partially because I seem to be reading all of the tie-ins on this one (I fully intended to skip some of these thangs, but they all seem to feature just enough of my preferred characters to entice me into laying down the dollars) but mostly because they've been flinging out some pretty fun (if super-grim) twists and turns and alternate universe hooba jooba.
Non-Spoiler Summary: You know... alternate universe stuff. The world is changed and everything's different because of one little difference in the timestream.
The Very Best Thing About It: [BIG FAT SPOILERS IF YOU ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT FLASHPOINT SPOILERS] Despite the fact that this whole event is kind of stupid, there have been some neat alternate universe things going on in these books: Jimmy Olsen ending up as Cyborg's Pal in a Superman-free world; Evil Magic Dr Thirteen; skinny, kept in the dark his whole life Kal-El; Martha Wayne as the Joker to Thomas Wayne's Batman. There's a lot of neat ideas here that are perfectly-employed in such a consequence-free setting. Plus, Barry Allen having to be horribly electrocuted twice to get his powers back was inexplicably hilarious.
The Very Worst Thing About It: Reverse Flash Messes With Regular Flash Through Time Japery was an irritating plot in the Flash's own comic last year. Revisiting it here is agonizing - will the Flash dig deep and overcome his foe yet again? Probably! Reverse Flash is one moustache and one top hat away from tying Iris West to a train track in order to get the deed to an orphanage with an oil well underneath it and it is slowly killing me to read.
Who Made It: So many people.
Michael Moorcock's Elric: The Balance Lost
Why It's Here: Because Elric, that's why. Ye Eternal Champion, albino style, is one of the most entertaining tragic figures in fantastic literature.
Non-Spoiler Summary: In the classic Moorcock mode, the balance between Chaos and Order is getting out of whack and it's up to the variously tragic incarnations of the Eternal Champion to make things right. Featured Champeens include the titular Elric (murderous, mopey, albino magician-king and last of his people), Corum Jhaelen Irsei (maimed, mopey prince and last of his people, plus my fave Champ), Dorian Hawkmoon (Not quite as mopey - the one I know least about) and newest incarnation Eric Beck (hipster, game designer, albino).
The Very Best Thing About It: I haven't read all of the Moorcock-inspired comics out there, by any means, but I have read a lot and this issue captures a lot of the requisite themes better than most. Possibly because everyone involved wasn't incredibly high during the entire process, possibly for other reasons. Plus there are lots of neat Chaos critters that have the same creepiness that Guy Davis' designs often do.
The Very Worst Thing About It: No Oswald Bastable.
Who Made It: Chris Roberson, writer. Francesco Biagini, artsman. Stephen Downer, colours. Travis Lanham, Letters.
Tiny Little Reviews:
Mystery Men
Why I'm Keeping This Short: Because the second issue came out one or two weeks ago - this is one of the books that fell through the cracks for some reason. But still, David Liss and Patrick Zircher have done an excellent job of creating a Pulp-era Marvel comic, complete with brand-new (and well-dressed) heroes and villains. There are three issues to go and I shall be getting them all.
Secret Six No. 35
Why I'm Keeping This Short: Secret Six is a known quantity and a proven excellent comic. Too bad it looks to be ending in a coupleof issues. But Gail Simone don't shiv: she's taking Bane's excellent character arc to what should be an epic conclusion. Glee!
Moriarty: The Dark Chamber No. 3
Why I'm Keeping This Short: I'm running low on time. Briefly, the premise of this comic is that Professor James Moriarty managed to kill Sherlock Holmes on Reichenbach falls, and, his life having no meaning without a worthy adversary to challenge him, abandoned his criminal empire and sank into obscurity. Now, years later, a mad plot threatens London and Moriarty takes on the role of (anti) hero in order to save the day. Plus: one of the best depictions of Dr Watson I have ever encountered.
Okay, I'm not as sure about this one as I was about the obscurity of that Superman power, but I like using the superlatives.
Still, though: purple hat and cloak over top of his regular Bat-duds? Travis Morgan goatee? If this isn't the most half-assed of the Dark Knight's disguises then it's as least in the top five.
Shorty's hectic, mile-a-minute lifestyle finally catches up with him, leading to laffs:
Three things:
1. Shorty's friend showed a remarkable amount of patience. Followed by a well-executed revenge, of course.
2. Wearing a bow tie on a fishing trip is probably a warning sign of some kind.
3. I think that that fish might be a Nerf product.
- From Detective Comics no. 138
Superman is investigating a strange rash of disappearing objects and discovers that they were all made from steel produced in a certain factory. Sensibly, he goes there to check things out.
The next logical step, of course, is for Superman to examine the molecular structure of the steel to see if anything hinky is going on. Now, I have to assume that someone on the creative team either just plain had a neat idea or felt sorry leaving the rumpled old factory owner out of the action, because instead of just showing us what Superman sees in a POV panel, they had him make this startling revelation:
AND THEN IT WORKS!
Oh how I wish that this was something that ever came up again (not that I've read every Superman comic extant, but I have to assume I would have heard of it by now otherwise). I can only imagine panel after panel of Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen staring at Superman's eyes through magnifying glasses, or Lois trying to take pictures of Clark's eyeballs to see if he was using vision-based powers while pretending to cower in fear. Ah, well. A man can dream.
From World's Finest Comics No. 48.
You may or may not know the story of World's Finest Comics, so here it is: Originally an anthology book in the fine tradition of Action or Adventure or Detective, World's Finest featured the solo adventures of both Superman and Batman. Accordingly, every cover featured the two, plus Robin, engaged in some kind of wholesome activity, like sledding or playing baseball or shooting Nazis.
See? The scamps are such big fans of one another it just warms your heart. The three appeared on covers together for literally dozens of issues before they ever met up in the course of the story, after which such team-ups became the main thrust of the book. That, however, is unimportant when compared to just how many odd situations were represented in those covers. Case in point:
I just can't stop looking at this cover, my friends. I mean, I know that it's no unusual thing for any of these characters to help out a citizen in a time of trouble, but... these dudes are pretty clearly hitting on the above ladies, right? And Superman in particular... I don't want to sully the Man of Steel's image, but I reckon he might be angling to break in his new Fortress of No Strings Attached.
In any case: one of the greatest covers of all time.
Living Between Wednesdays is a place for people who love comic books and superheroes.
