It Came from the 1990s: Turok, Dinosaur Hunter

The first issue of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter is now 30 years old, having been released by Valiant Comics in late April 1993. I’m going to take a look back at the first year of that series, which had some incredibly talented creators working on it.

Pencils by Bart Sears, inks by randy Elliott, and colors by Jorge Gonzalez & Carol VanHook

Turok, like the characters Magnus, Robot Fighter and Solar, Man of the Atom, was a pre-existing character that Valiant licensed and integrated into their own comic book universe. Turok had previously made his debut in Four Color Comics #596 from Western Publishing / Dell Comics, cover-dated Oct / Nov 1954.  Turok and his young friend Andar were Native Americans who wandered into a mysterious hidden valley occupied by dinosaurs, cavemen, and other inhabitants from eras long past. The ongoing series Turok, Son of Stone ran from 1956 to 1982.

In the Valiant continuity, Turok and Andar became trapped in the other-dimensional “Lost Land” which was eventually conquered by Erica Pierce, a woman from an alternate reality who had gained godlike powers and taken on the mantle of Mothergod. Pierce transformed a number of the dinosaurs in the Lost Land into cyborg “bionosaurs” that possessed near-human intelligence.

After Mothergod was defeated in the epic Unity crossover, the Lost Land disintegrated, and its various time-displaced inhabitants were deposited back on Earth, albeit in eras much different from the ones they had originated. Turok found himself in Columbia, South America in the year 1987, a century and a half after his own time. He soon discovered that the bionosaurs led by the vicious Mon-Ark, as well as large numbers of regular, unenhanced dinos, were also materializing around the globe. Even though Turok was now a man out of time in an unfamiliar world, he nevertheless felt compelled to protect it by hunting down the bionosaurs, who were making humanity their prey.

Written by David Michelinie, penciled by Bart Sears, inked by Randy Elliott, colored by Jorge Gonzalez and lettered by Tony Bedard & Ken Lopez

Turok’s arrival in the 20th Century was set up in X-O Manowar #14-15, published by Valiant in early 1993. It took me years to find those two issues because they immediately sold out everywhere I went, and Wizard: The Guide to Comics then began promoting them as “hot” issues, resulting in them selling for some really crazy prices.

I didn’t have any such problem with Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #1, though. That first issue, with its chromium-enhanced cover, had a print run of over a million copies, which meant it was everywhere! Valiant editor-in-chief Bob Layton had written, with co-plotter Jon Hartz, the two-part X-O Manowar story that served as a lead-in to Turok, Dinosaur Hunter. Layton brought in his friend and longtime collaborator David Michelinie to write the series’ first three issue story arc. Pencils were by Bart Sears, inks by Randy Elliott, and colors by Jorge Gonzalez, all of whom had also worked on those X-O Manowar issues. Tony Bedard & Ken Lopez did the lettering. Bernard Chang penciled the second half of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #2 over Sears’ layouts before contributing full pencils for issue #3.

I was already familiar with Sears’ work from Justice League Europe. He had this style that was simultaneously hyper-detailed and somewhat cartoony, and he specialized in extremely muscular men and well-endowed women. Sears’ work was definitely of the time, fitting in with the early 1990s superhero aesthetic. I always found his art to be fun & distinctive.

I was disappointed that Sears’ didn’t finish penciling the initial Turok, Dinosaur Hunter arc. However, the work by Bernard Chang on the second half was very good. Chang had only just gotten started in comic books a few months earlier, but he was already contributing quality penciling to several Valiant titles, and later in 1993 he became the regular artist on The Second Life of Doctor Mirage, where he did great work.

Written by David Michelinie, breakdowns by Bart Sears, finished pencils by Bernard Chang, inked by Randy Elliott, colored by Jorge Gonzalez and lettered by Tony Bedard & Ken Lopez

Michelinie’s story chronicles Turok’s activities immediately following his arrival in South America in 1987. Seriously outnumbered by Mon-Ark and his bionosaurs, Turok is forced to ally himself with a drug lord who provides him with the weaponry and men needed to wipe out the creatures. Although Turok ultimately succeeds in defeating Mon-Ark, he discovers the bionosaurs have begun to reproduce and spread out across the globe.

Since I hadn’t begun reading most of the Valiant titles until after Unity and I’d missed those two X-O Manowar issues, I was appreciative that Michelinie had spent the first few pages of issue #1 recounting Turok’s background. As I’ve observed before, that sort of “bringing new readers up to speed” feature unfortunately really isn’t done by most publishers any more, since most stories are intended to be collected soon after they’re completed.

I remember back in 1993 I found the first three issue arc on Turok, Dinosaur Hunter to be somewhat underwhelming, and I almost didn’t pick up the next issue. However, re-reading it this past week, I enjoyed it quite a bit more. That said, I still feel there was a serious uptick in quality in subsequent issues.

Beginning with Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #4 Timothy Truman became the series’ writer. I had only begun reading comic books regularly in the late 1980s, and as such had been unaware of Truman’s work until he wrote a very unusual Wolverine serial that ran in Marvel Comics Presents in late 1991, which saw Logan fighting monsters in the Canadian wilderness in the late 19th century. I actually met Truman at a big comic con in NYC in January 1992 and got my copy of MCP #93 signed by him. I was peppering him with questions about that Wolverine story, and with the benefit of hindsight, now knowing about the critically acclaimed work he had already been doing throughout the previous decade, he must have thought me a bit weird to have only known about him because of that story.

Nevertheless, I remembered Truman’s name, and over the next year and a half I began discovering his older work via back issues. I realized that not only was he a great writer, but also an incredibly talented artist. So, when I learned Truman was to be writing Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, I decided to continue following the series.

Written by Timothy Truman, penciled by Rags Morales, inked by Randy Elliott, colored by Bill Dunn & Erik Lusk and lettered by Chris Eliopoulos

I asked Kevin VanHook, who was the editor of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, if it was his idea to bring Truman onto the title. He responded:

“It’s hard to remember for sure because Bob [Layton] and I worked very closely together. I had worked with Tim on a book for Innovation called Newstralia.  I was aware of his love and knowledge of Native American culture and history.”

Whoever was responsible, it was a brilliant idea. Truman possesses a great interest in American history, especially the 19th Century, and he has a genuine love for & knowledge of Native American culture. I feel as if he invested the character of Turok with a real sense of authenticity.

Issue #4 jumps forward to the then-present of 1993. Turok has returned to North America to discover his people had been driven to near-extinction by the European colonists, and the remnants of the once-great tribes have been sequestered on reservations, their cultures almost forgotten. The government assigns Dr. Regan Howell, a cultural anthropologist & paleontologist, to serve as Turok’s guide in the modern world. Regan is incredibly sympathetic to Turok’s plight, but even she, a product of 20th Century America, cannot fully understand what he is going through.

Turok is reunited with Andar, his old friend. After the dissolution of the Lost Land, Andar had been deposited by a time portal back in the early 1900s. The now-elderly Andar asks his old teacher to look after his angry, impulsive grandson, who is also named Andar. Truman does a good job writing the relationship between Turok and the hotheaded young “Andy.” The former is very much the mature, knowledgeable, experienced figure who hopes to teach the young man about his forgotten heritage, while the latter has a pragmatic understanding of the modern world that Turok is lacking. I feel that the ensemble of Turok, Andar and Regan really helped to solidify the appeal of the series.

Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #4-6 were penciled by Rags Morales, paired with returning inker Randy Elliott. Morales had previously done some solid work for DC Comics. I really liked his penciling on Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, where he did a great job drawing the real-life settings of the American Southwest, the Native American communities, and the dinosaurs. Morales also showed some quality storytelling abilities here, making the extended conversations between the characters interesting. It’s the hallmark of a great penciler if he can render a “talking heads” scene to be dramatic, and Morales definitely succeeds.

Penciled & inked by Timothy Truman and colored by Paul Autio

As much as I liked Morales’ work on these three issues, I was thrilled when Truman not only wrote but also penciled Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #7-9. He was paired up with acclaimed, veteran artist Sam Glanzman on inks. The work by Truman & Glanzman on the three-part “People of the Spider” is absolutely gorgeous, with rich coloring by Bill Dunn.

In this arc Turok, Andar and Regan are brought in to investigate dinosaurs that are appearing in the New River Gorge in central West Virginia. The trio soon discover that a neolithic tribe that became trapped in the Lost Land has also been deposited in the present day.

Adding a bit of humor to the proceedings, Truman introduces Professor Challenger, the loud, ill-tempered grandson of the protagonist from the classic Arthur Conan Doyle novel The Lost World published in 1912. Just imagine Brian Blessed as a paleontologist charging across a hostile handscape, bellowing at the top of his lungs, and you have Professor Challenger.

I appreciated the comedy, because it added a certain levity to an otherwise-grim narrative. There is a genuine atmosphere of sadness & mourning to the issues written by Truman. It was previously established that the bionosaurs needed to be killed specifically because they were too much like human beings, making them cruel and power-hungry. The ordinary dinosaurs who are turning up in the modern world, even though they are undoubtedly dangerous, are nevertheless only operating according to their own instincts. The Clan of the Spider are also, in their own desperate way, attempting to survive in a world that is alien to them, and Turok perceives the very real threat that their culture will be wiped out just like his was.

Written & penciled by Timothy Truman, inked by Sam Glanzman, colored by Bill Dunn and lettered by Bethanne Neidz

There’s an unsettling scene at the beginning of issue #7 where Turok views the exhibit of Native American artifacts held by the university where Regan teaches. Truman really brings across just how distressing and sacrilegious it is for Turok to discover the bodies of his ancestors on display. It really does make me have second thoughts about all of those exhibitions of ancient civilizations held by institutions such as the Museum of Natural History and the British Museum. Are they preserving the past… or are they looting it?

I was disappointed when Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #10 came out to find that Mike Baron was now writing the series, because I really had been enjoying Truman’s work. I suppose the blow was softened somewhat by the return of Morales, Elliott & Dunn, all of whom were still doing quality work on the art & coloring. I also didn’t like that Andar and Regan were nowhere in sight, although at least Baron did pick up the plot threads of Turok’s dissatisfaction from the conclusion of issue #9. Baron’s story has Turok tracking down a ruthless crime lord who is slaughtering endangered species to sell their body parts on the black market.

Looking at Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #10-12 again, I was genuinely surprised to see that Baron demonstrate a great deal of sensitivity for the Native American position and for the importance of environmental preservation. It’s shocking because Baron is one of those comic book creators who in the last decade or so has really taken a hard-right turn politically. I definitely find it depressing to look back on the past quality work of writers like Baron who seemingly used to be sane & empathetic, but who now spend their time ranting about transgendered people and drag queens on social media. 

Whatever the case, Baron did write a good story, with a lot of fantastic action. It just wasn’t quite what I had come to expect from the Truman issues. That’s probably why I ended up dropping the series with issue #12. Of course, years later I learned that Truman returned the very next issue, and that he wrote Turok, Dinosaur Hunter on and off for the next few years straight through to the book’s cancellation with issue #47 in 1996. Well, there’s always back issues!

Written by Mike Baron, penciled by Rags Morales, inked by Randy Elliott, colored by Bill Dunn and lettered by Adam Niedwiecki

I did end up picking up one other Turok, Dinosaur Hunter issue, though. Turok Yearbook #1 was released in May 1994, featuring penciling by legendary artist Dave Cockrum. I had discovered Cockrum’s art on X-Men and The Futurians via back issues and immediately became a fan, and I was disappointed that he was hardly receiving any new work in the 1990s. I suppose that was one of the earliest occasions when I learned just how difficult it could be in the comic book industry, how the artist on a bestselling series might end up scrambling for work a decade and half later.

However it occurred, in 1994 Cockrum did get the jobs of penciling the Turok Yearbook and Harbinger Files #1, the latter of which revealed the origin of the Machiavellian master villain Toyo Harada. On both stories Cockrum was inked by Peruvian artist Gonzalo Mayo. I felt Mayo’s inks were a bit on the heavy side, but when I met Cockrum at a store signing around that time and asked him about it he told me he liked Mayo’s work. So I’ll defer to Cockrum’s judgment on this.

“Mon-Ark Lives” was written by Baron, colored by Wanderlei Silva, lettered by Adam Niedzwieki, and edited by Tony Bedard, with a painted cover by Eric Hope. The deceased bionosaur Mon-Ark’s cyborg brain case is acquired by the ruthless Omen Corporation, who transplant it into the body of a human being in order to access the highly-advanced data stored on it. This reckless procedure results in Mon-Ark returning to life, and even though he’s now inhabiting a human body he’s still the same ruthless would-be tyrant. Turok has to return to South America to once again battle his old foe.

Turok Yearbook #1 was an enjoyable story. Looking at it now, I really wish Valiant had given Cockrum additional work. He was a very talented artist and would have been a quality asset to their books.

Written by Mike Baron, penciled by Dave Cockrum, inked by Gonzalo Mayo, colored by Wanderlei Silva and lettered by Adam Niedzwieki

Nowadays I expect Turok, Dinosaur Hunter is best known as a highly-popular video game series released by Acclaim Entertainment between 1997 and 2002 following their acquisition of Valiant. Following the bankruptcy of Valiant / Acclaim in 2004, Western Publishing licensed Turok out to Dark Horse comics in 2010 and then Dynamite Entertainment in 2014. Western was eventually acquired, via a succession of corporate sales, by NBCUniversal, who are apparently the current owners of the character of Turok. Given all of this, it’s unlikely the Valiant run of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter is likely to be reprinted any time soon, if ever. Fortunately, most of the early issues had large print runs, and so back issues can be found for affordable prices.

Back Issue #144 from TwoMorrows Publishing has the theme of “Savage Lands” and will be shipping in late June. One of the articles, written by Bryan D. Stroud, will be on the 1990s revival of Turok. So if you found any of the stuff I discussed in this blog interesting, I highly recommend purchasing a copy.

A look back at the first year of All-Star Squadron

I discussed writer & editor Roy Thomas’ great fondness for the Golden Age of comic books when I took a look at The Invaders miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1993. That four-issue series brought back the World War II era team of superheroes whose adventures Thomas had previously chronicled in the mid to late 1970s.

Penciled by Rick Buckler, inked by Dick Giordano, lettered by Gasper Saladino and colored by Tatjana Wood

As much as Thomas liked the original Timely / Marvel superheroes from the 1940s, he has an even greater fondness for the Justice Society of America, the original superhero team, who were published by DC Comics in the pages of All-Star Comics from 1940 to 1950. In fact, Thomas was born on November 22, 1940, the very same day that All-Star Comics #3, the debut of the JSA, went on sale. Perhaps he was destined to become one of the JSA’s biggest fans. Whatever the case, some of the earliest comic books Thomas read were the All-Star Comics issues featuring the JSA which were published in the second half of the 1940s, and they made a huge impression on him.

It had long been Thomas’ ambition to write the JSA, but working at Marvel for the first decade and a half of his career he never had the opportunity. A dispute with Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter led Thomas to seek work with DC and beginning in 1981 he wrote & edited several titles for them. Among these was All-Star Squadron, a series set on the parallel reality of Earth-Two during World War II that featured not just the JSA but nearly every single costumed crime fighter from that era.

By the late 1980s Thomas was back at Marvel. I didn’t begin following comic books regularly until that time, and so I unfortunately missed all of the books Thomas did for DC, instead becoming a fan of his via his new work for Marvel. I also spent most of the 1990s searching through the back issue bins at comic shops and comic cons to assemble a complete run of The Invaders.

Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Rich Buckler, inked by Jerry Ordway, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Carl Gafford

I’m surprised it took me this long to seek out Thomas’ work on All-Star Squadron and its two spin-offs, Infinity Inc. and Young All-Stars. There’s a thrift store in my neighborhood that regularly has comic books for sale for a dollar each, and I’ve discovered some great stuff there. Well last November I came across a few issues of All-Star Squadron at that store. I really enjoyed them, and that really whetted my appetite for the series. Since then I’ve been working on assembling a complete run of the series. I acquired the early issues on eBay, but for the later ones I’m trying to see how many I can find the old-fashioned way. It’s a fun challenge.

The series actually made its debut in a special 16-page insert included in Justice League of America #193, cover-dated August 1981, which led directly into the first issue of All-Star Squadron a month later.

I commute to work on the subway, and my trip is usually about 45 minutes each way. After I acquired the first few issues of All-Star Squadron, I brought them with me to read, and I just barely managed to finish the first issue in the time it took to get from Queens to Midtown Manhattan. Thomas wrote very dense, verbose scripts for this series! Look at all that text!

Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Rich Buckler, inked by Jerry Ordway, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Carl Gafford

Seriously, I really lament the trend of decompressed storytelling at both DC and Marvel, especially as individual issues continue to have increasingly-higher cover prices. I definitely miss comic books like this where you more than got your money’s worth. I don’t think I’d mind comics costing so much nowadays if we still got this sort of value.

The initial All-Star Squadron storyline takes place on December 7, 1941, with Imperial Japan’s attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor serving as the backdrop. Per Degaton, the time traveling fascist, intends to utilize the chaos of that “day of infamy” in order to alter history and conquer the world.

I have to admit, I found it an odd decision for Thomas to launch the series with this story. Due to the JSA not encountering Degaton for the “first” time until 1947, all of the characters end up forgetting almost everything that takes place in the first three issues. That’s such a weird way to kick off your series!

Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Rich Buckler, inked by Jerry Ordway, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Carl Gafford

Thomas endeavored to have the history of Earth-Two remain as close as possible to our own real world. As such, he detailed why, following Pearl Harbor, the JSA and the rest of the newly-formed Squadron didn’t simply use their fantastic abilities to quickly win the war. Certainly when you have a series set in a world where Superman, Wonder Woman, the Spectre and Doctor Fate exist, you’re going to need to address that!

The explanation Thomas devised was that Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan acquired the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Grail, respectively, and the mystical energies of those two artifacts prevented the All-Stars from entering any territory occupied by the Axis powers. That meant they were forced to operate in the Western hemisphere and other unconquered countries, where they would only be able to prevent the Axis from advancing any further. Obviously still a formidable task, especially as the Naxis are revealed to have their own super-powered agents, but one that meant that, just as in actual history, the war in Europe and Asia would have to be won by ordinary men & women on the battlefield.

Issues five and six see a contingent of the All-Stars travel to Mexico to prevent a Nazi-backed coup that would install a fascist puppet government controlled by the Third Reich. This is then followed by a three issue arc in which the armored Baron Blitzkreig infiltrates the United States to stage an assassination attempt on President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill during a summit meeting in Washington DC. This later story enables Thomas to utilize a number of pages of artwork from the unpublished sixth issue of Steel, the World War II series created by writer Gerry Conway that was abruptly canceled four years earlier during the infamous DC Implosion.

Written by Gerry Conway & Roy Thomas, penciled by Don Heck, inked by Jerry Ordway, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Carl Gafford

All-Star Squadron #10-12 (June to August 1982) are, with the benefit of time, quite interesting. A group of well-intentioned scientists fakes an alien invasion in an attempt to bring an end to World War II and unite the world. Yes, it’s the same basic concept that Alan Moore would famously utilize five years later in Watchmen. It’s also the plot to The Outer Limits episode “The Architects of Fear” broadcast in September 1963, as well as “The Last War on Earth” in Weird Science #5 published by EC Comics in January 1951. And I’m sure there are few other examples of the trope out there. In Thomas’ version for All-Star Squadron, though, the scheme is subverted by Hawkman’s immortal arch enemy Hath-Set, who wants to rule the world himself.

Thomas ties a bow on the first year of All-Star Squadron with issue #13. “One Day, During War…” is set a month after Pearl Harbor, in mid-January 1942. The various All-Stars are afforded a brief pause in the ongoing hostilities of the war to take stock of all that has happened to them recently. It’s a very well-done character piece. When I met Thomas at Big Apple Comic Con a few months ago this was one of the issues I got autographed by him.

Thomas also utilizes this story to address the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment that erupted following Pearl Harbor, which led to the shameful interment of over one hundred thousand American citizens of Japanese ancestry. That is one of the qualities of All-Star Squadron that I appreciated, namely that while Thomas does utilize somewhat idealized depictions of real-life figures such as FDR and Churchill, he also did not shy away from the morally complex areas of the era.

Penciled and inked by Joe Kubert

Although various members of the JSA appear throughout the run of All-Star Squadron, Thomas very quickly placed the focus on much lesser-known Golden Age superheroes such as Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Hawkgirl, Robotman and the Shining Knight. He also soon incorporated Conway’s character Commander Steel into the cast, as well as introducing Danette Reilly, a female version of the ultra-obscure 1940s costumed crime fighter Firebrand. With her red hair and that first name, Firebrand was undoubtedly based on Thomas’ wife & writing partner Dann (formerly Danette) Thomas.

Thomas sought to place his own All-Star Squadron stories as smoothly as possible in-between the original JSA adventures. All-Star Comics had been published on a quarterly schedule for much of the 1940s, and that gave Thomas plenty of space in which to insert his new stories. Nevertheless, having the primary focus on Johnny Quick, Shining Knight, Robotman et al enabled Thomas to really develop those characters, and to plot out their story arcs, in a way that was not possible for the JSA members who had well-established histories to take into account. I also get the feeling that Thomas very much enjoyed developing the relationship between Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, playing them off one another and giving them a real sexual tension.

One other note on these stories: While reading through the early issues of All-Star Squadron it suddenly occurred to me that those comic books are now as old as some of the issues of All-Star Comics were at the time when Roy Thomas was referencing them in his stories. Yeah, it sort of blows my mind that we are now as far away from the 1980s and the 1980s were from the 1940s.

Forty years ago is a long time ago, right? Right?!?

The initial art team on All-Star Squadron was penciler Rich Bucker, inker / embellisher Jerry Ordway, letterer John Costanza and colorist Carl Gafford. Buckler had already been working regularly for a decade at this point, having established himself at Marvel both on the flagship series Fantastic Four and his own creation the cyborg anti-hero Deathlok in Astonishing Tales. Buckler was definitely an artistic chameleon. His penciling on All-Star Squadron is very much reminiscent of Neal Adams’ style.

Ordway, in contrast to Buckler, was very new to comics, and All-Star Squadron was his first ongoing assignment. It’s interesting to look at the evolution of Ordway’s style. His inks on the JLA #193 preview and the first issue of All-Star Squadron are very muted (part of that is probably due to several of Buckler’s penciled pages from the first issue getting lost in the mail, requiring Ordway to ink photocopies of them on vellum).

By the second issue, though, you can really see Ordway’s characteristic style & flourishes beginning to appear. Ordway was often required to bring Buckler’s pencils “on model” by making certain the clothing, vehicles, buildings, historical figures and other real-world elements were all accurate for the early 1940s.

Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Adrian Gonzales, inked by Jerry Ordway, lettered by Ben Oda and colored by Carl Gafford

Adrian Gonzales becomes the new regular penciler with issue #6, and Ordway remained on as inker. The two made a very effective art team. Initially I wasn’t sure how I would feel about Buckler departing the series so early in its run, especially as offhand I was unfamiliar with Gonzales’ work. But I found myself appreciating the collaboration of Gonzales & Ordway even more than I had the issues by Buckler & Ordway.

The unpublished Steel #6 had been penciled by the very underrated Don Heck and inked by Frank Chiaramonte. To be honest, I’ve never been overly fond of Chiaramonte’s work, and as such I’m glad the Heck pages were re-inked by Ordway when they were incorporated into All-Star Squadron #8-9. The combination of Heck’s solid, effective storytelling and Odway’s very polished, slick inking worked very well indeed.

Mike DeCarlo guest inked All-Star Squadron #13 over Gonzales’ pencils. The result is finished art rather different than when Ordway provided inks. But it suited the quieter, character-driven nature of that particular issue.

Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Adrian Gonzales, inked by Mike DeCarlo, lettered by Ben Oda and colored by Carl Gafford

Finally, looking at the covers, a few of them were penciled by Buckler and inked by Dick Gordano, another solid collaboration. Veteran artist Joe Kubert illustrated the covers for #2 and #7-13. Some of Kubert’s earliest work was drawing the Seven Soldiers of Victory, a team that included the Shining Knight, in the early 1940s. A few years later he regularly worked on the Hawkman chapters of the JSA stories in All-Star Comics. Given Kubert’s historic connections to those two Golden Age heroes, Thomas was undoubtedly happy to have him contribute to this series.

Kubert’s covers with their raw, shadowy inking definitely stand in contrast to the slick finishes Ordway was providing on the interior art, but I nevertheless liked them. He contributed several striking images.

Penciled and inked by Joe Kubert

As I continue in my quest to put together a complete run of All-Star Squadron — 67 monthly issues and 3 annuals, for those who are counting — perhaps I’ll take other looks back at this great series.

Star Wars reviews: The Mandalorian season three

Today is May 4th, aka Star Wars Day, so I’m taking a brief look at The Mandalorian season three. I enjoyed this one. While it was not as consistently strong as the previous two seasons, I still felt it was well done. Here are some of my thoughts on it.

1) Featured Players

Pedro Pascal is the actor who is credited as Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian, as he provides all of the character’s dialogue and is the man behind the mask on the extremely rare occasions when the character takes off his helmet. Pascal does a good job in the role.

However, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder also perform the role of Din Djarin. Officially the two of them are the “on-set doubles” for the Mandalorian, but I get the feeling they perform the majority of the character’s physical acting. So I’m glad to see the two of them now being featured much more prominently in the end credits this season.

It was also nice to see Katee Sackhoff promoted to a series lead this season. I really liked the morally ambiguous character of Bo-Katan Kryze that Sachkoff voiced on The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, and thought it was great that she was given the opportunity to reprise the character in live action on The Mandalorian last season. Sackhoff continued to do great work with the role. The writing by Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni continued the character’s compelling arc, giving Sackhoff some great material to perform.

2) The Quest is the Quest

It was set up in The Book of Boba Fett that Din Djarin was going to try to reach Mandalore to bathe in the “living waters” beneath the surface so that he could redeem himself for removing his helmet in front of others & rejoin his clan.

I’m sure that I was not the only viewer who expected that this quest would be the main focus of season three. Instead, Din reaches Mandalore in the second episode, and by the end of it he’s found the living waters. That allowed Favreau & Filoni to then spend the rest of the season building up to Din and Bo-Katan leading their fellow Mandalorians to take back their homeworld, something I really thought wouldn’t happen until at least next season.

As someone who greatly dislikes padded-out storylines, I definitely appreciate that The Mandalorian is a show that moves along at a fairly brisk pace.

3) Skippy the Jedi Droid Lives Again!

At the beginning of the season Din isn’t even sure if the air on Mandalore is still breathable, and he decided to acquire a droid so he can test the atmosphere. Somehow he comes up with the absolutely cockamamie idea of asking Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) to have his people rebuild assassin droid IG-11, who self-destructed back at the end of the first season. To Favreau’s credit, we don’t get a quick resurrection, and this turns out to be a really difficult task, requiring Din to look elsewhere.

Din’s next stop is Tatooine, where junk dealer Pelli Motto (Amy Sedaris) convinces him to buy astromech droid R5-D4 off her. When Pelli starts playing up R5’s value by claiming the droid is a hero of the Rebel Alliance, well, I’m sure we can all be forgiven for being skeptical, as Pelli is definitely something of a con artist… I mean, not five minutes earlier we saw her working with the Jawas to rip off some poor mark. Amazingly, though, New Republic fighter pilot Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) later locates Din and Bo-Katan by tracking R5, who he confirms was indeed part of the Rebellion. And during the battle to liberate Mandalore from the Empire, R5 ends up being incredibly helpful to Din.

R5–D4 is actually a very old Star Wars character. He was the droid with the “bad motivator” that the Jawas tried to sell to Owen Lars way back in the original movie. Peter David later wrote the EXTREMELY out-of-continuity story “Skippy the Jedi Droid” that was published in Star Wars Tales #1 by Dark Horse Comics in 1999. The story, which was both funny and poignant, revealed that R5 secretly had Force abilities and, sensing that R2-D2 had possession of the stolen Death Star plans, willingly blew his own top off so Owen would instead buy R2, which led to Luke Skywalker finding Obi-Wan Kenobi and saving the Rebellion.

Amazingly, almost two decades later elements of “Skippy the Jedi Droid” did become canon. In the short story “The Red One” by Rae Carson in the 2017 prose anthology From a Certain Point of View, we find out that R2-D2 convinced R5-D4 to sabotage himself by blowing up his own motivator, enabling R2 to continue with his vital mission.

In recent years quite a number of elements from the old “expanded universe” have been incorporated into Star Wars continuity, but this has got to be among the most unusual and unexpected. I wonder how soon until Tag and Blink show up?

“Skippy the Jedi Droid” from Star Wars Tales #1 written by Peter David, penciled by Martin Egeland, inked by Howard Shum, lettered by Vickie Williams and colored by Harold MacKinnon, published by Dark Horse Comics in September 1999

4) Penn Pershing Is An Imbecile

Geneticist Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) is definitely one of those people who, while undeniably a brilliant genius in his chosen field, is clearly lacking in any sort of practical sense. It certainly explains how he was manipulated into working for the Empire in the first place, as they undoubtedly appealed to his scientific curiosity to get him working on their unethical projects. Likewise, he’s so blinded by Elia Kane (Katy M. O’Brian) tempting him with the opportunity to continue his cloning research that he completely failed to perceive that she was leading him into a trap, even though I’m sure everyone in the audience saw that coming a mile away.

In any case, “The Convert” does seem to be setting up the idea that only just a few years after the establishment of the New Republic it’s already being plagued by the exact same problems that caused the Old Republic to fall. The fact that early on in this episode we see influential politicians at the opera house who seemingly don’t care about the differences between the Galactic Empire and the New Republic, and whose entire mantra is “Don’t get involved,” is another sign that things are not going as well as they should be for this new government.

Likewise, we see that Imperials such as Pershing who were paroled into in the amnesty program are being sent for evaluations with droids who just rattle off a series of boilerplate questions before rubber-stamping approvals. That’s a good indication that the New Republic is stretched thin for both personnel & resources.

I think all of this does help to explain why the Imperial Remnants are seemingly operating unhindered on the Outer Rim, and why someone like Elia Kane is so easily able to act as a double agent right at the heart of the government. It also sets the stage for the New Republic eventually turning a blind eye to the rise of the First Order.

5) The Best There Is At What He Does

I never really understood the hate for the character of Jar Jar Binks. Yes, he’s kind of an annoying character, but not all that much more than C-3PO. I honestly thought Jar jar was kind of funny. And I always felt bad that Ahmed Best became a convenient target for all of the angry fanboys because The Phantom Menace failed to meet their impossible expectations.

So I appreciated the fact that Best was given the opportunity to play a new role, Kelleran Beq, the Jedi Master who we see via flashback saved Grogu from Order 66, on The Mandalorian. Actually, I was watching “The Foundling” and I had no idea who he was, so I was wondering for the rest of the episode who had played that kickass Jedi. Then the credits rolled and the answer completely blew my mind.

I’m hopeful that Best will have some more opportunities to portray Kelleran Beq in additional flashbacks that explore Grogu’s missing past.

6) One Point Twenty-One Gigawatts!

I definitely enjoyed seeing the legendary Chrisopher Lloyd guest star in “Guns for Hire” as Commissioner Helgait. He only had a couple of scenes in the episode, but he definitely made the most of them. Glad to see that at 84 years old Lloyd hasn’t lost a step. And we can now add him to the list of actors who have worked in both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises.

As for Jack Black and Lizzo, well, neither of them was at the top of my list for people who I wanted to see guest star in Star Wars, but their appearances were brief and relatively effective, so I didn’t mind.

I’ve seen some people refer to “Guns for Hire” as a “side quest” with the implication that it’s a throw-away episode. The thing is, the episode is important for what it establishes about Din and Bo-Katan. We see that the two of them complement each other; each of them has a particular set of skills & knowledge and are able to do something the other is not, and it is only by working together that they are able to solve the mystery of what is causing the droids to go rogue on Plazir-15.

This leads into the final two episodes, where the various tribes & sects of Mandalorians are finally able to reclaim their home world by joining forces.

7) “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”

The contrast between the Shadow Council of the Imperial Remnants and the Mandalorians is striking.

On the surface the Council is united, with Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), Brendol Hux (Brian Gleeson) and the others playing lip service to “restoring order to the galaxy” but it very quickly becomes apparent that each of them are in it for themselves. Gideon sees the continuing absence of Grand Admiral Thrawn as a chance to seize power as the leader of a restored Galactic Empire, Hux jealously holds on to his forces & resources, and the other warlords look at the chaos as an opportunity to amass greater wealth.

Gideon is also much more interested in his own personal project to create Force-sensitive clones of himself than he is in the Empire’s master plan, the mysterious “Project Necromancer.” Presumably the Empire’s quest to capture Grogu in the first two seasons was a central part of the Project, but Gideon co-opted it to further his own personal ambitions.

(Having said that, if those closeness were so vitally important to Gideon, he really shouldn’t have left them unguarded like that!)

In comparison to the Imperials, we see that while Bo-Katan, Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher), The Armorer (Emily Swallow) and Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides) each have their own idea of what it truly means to be a Mandalorian, at the end of the day each of them wants what is best for their people. They disagree about the means, but they basically want the same ends, and it is only by working together that they are finally able to achieve those ends.

At first I was surprised when, after so much build-up, after the long path it took for Bo-Katan to finally reclaim it, the mythical Darksaber was so quickly, casually destroyed by Moff Gideon. But, honestly, in the end the Darksaber really didn’t matter. When it comes right down to it, the idea that whoever happened to win it in battle was the rightful ruler of Mandalore was a pretty crazy basis for running a government… you know, as opposed to all of the other crazy ways people try to govern.

Gideon was one of those who made the mistake of believing that the power of the Mandalorian people lay in the Darksaber, and he thought that either by possessing it or destroying it he would be able to conquer them. Bo-Katan, though, finally realized the truth: the strength of the Mandalorians was that when they finally set aside their differences and united they became much stronger.

In the end Gideon, who has no true friends or allies, only servants and slaves, is left standing alone. He’s defeated by Din, Bo-Katan and Grogu when they work together against him.

8) Credit Where Credit Is Due

Obviously there were a whole bunch of very talented people working with Favreau & Filoni behind the scenes to make The Mandalorian season three as good as it was. Noah Kloor also contributed to the writing. Rick Famuyiwa, Rachel Morrison, Lee Isaac Chung, Carl Weathers, Peter Ramsey and Bryce Dallas Howard were the directors for this season. And of course there were numerous artists & technicians creating all of the great visual & sound effects.

I want to give a shout-out to Shawna Trpcic, the costume designer for all three seasons, as well as for The Book of Boba Fett. With each season the show has become more ambitious in scope, with an ever-growing cast of characters. Trpcic has consistently done a fantastic job designing the costumes for all of them. I feel she did good work on the various Mandalorians themselves, providing them with a generally unified look while giving each individual his or her own particular details & qualities. Also, the costumes for Captain Bombardier and the Duchess in “Guns for Hire” were really stand-out creations.

So, good jobs all around.

Rachel Pollack: 1945 to 2023

I wanted to briefly note the death of fantasy writer Rachel Pollack, who passed away on April 7th aged 77 years old.

Pollack began publishing short fiction in 1971, and her first novel Golden Vanity was released in 1980. Her 1988 novel Unquenchable Fire brought her widespread recognition & acclaim and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel a year later.

Unquenchable Fire is a very complex, sophisticated story that examines faith, spirituality and feminism. I don’t even know how to begin summarizing the plot to the novel here, so I’ll just quote the New York Times obituary for Pollack, which describes the book’s premise thus:

“the story of a divorced woman in New York State who becomes pregnant with the messiah in a United States where miracles are commonplace”

I definitely feel it’s worth searching out a copy of Unquenchable Fire, as I found it to be a thought-provoking read. It is one one the books I’ve made sure to hold on to throughout the multiple apartment moves I’ve made over the past quarter century.

As with many comic book readers, I first became aware of Pollack’s work when she was hired by editor Tom Peyer to succeed Grant Morrison on the DC Comics / Vertigo series Doom Patrol. Morrison’s incredibly bizarre, surreal revamp of Doom Patrol with artist Richard Case in 1989 had been justifiably acclaimed. As such, when Morrison departed the series at the end of 1992, the general consensus was that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to follow on from him.

Doom Patrol #70 written by Rachel Pollack, penciled by Scot Eaton, inked by Tom Sutton, lettered by John Workman, colored by Tom Ziuko and edited by Tom Peyer & Lou Stathis, published by DC Comics / Vertigo in Sept 1993

Pollack wrote Doom Patrol beginning with issue #64, cover-dated March 1993. Initially working with Richard Case, Pollack was subsequently paired with artists Scot Eaton, Linda Medley and Ted McKeever, with striking cover artwork by Tom Taggart and Kyle Baker.

Among the themes Pollack addressed in her Doom Patrol run was transsexuality, a topic that in the mid-1990s was practically taboo in mainstream entertainment. Pollack herself was a transgender woman, and as such the subject was vitally important to her. She added the character of Kate Godwin aka Coagua, who in a 2103 interview she described as a “transsexual lesbian super-hero with alchemical powers,” to the series’ cast in issue #70.

Pollack remained on Doom Patrol thru issue #87 in early 1995, at which point the series was canceled. Perhaps that might be regarded as an indication that Morrison’s work on the title could not immediately be succeeded after all. Nevertheless, during Pollack’s two years writing Doom Patrol she crafted some incredibly distinctive stories.

Pollack’s work on the series has subsequently been classified by a number of people as underrated. Last year DC Comics finally released a Doom Patrol Omnibus collecting her entire run. Pollack’s issues can also be read digitally on DC Universe Infinite.

Doom Patrol #81 cover drawn by Kyle Baker, published by DC Comics / Vertigo in August 1994

I was fortunate enough to meet Pollack in June 1994 when she did a store signing with her friend and fellow writer Elaine Lee. I got the then-current issue of Doom Patrol autographed by Pollack. I found her to be a very interesting individual. At the time I was only 18 years old, and so I had quite a few questions about the mature subjects she had been including in her stories, and she very patiently answered my inquiries. It was at this signing that I found out about Pollack’s work as a novelist, which led me to seek out Unquenchable Fire later that Summer.

Following the cancellation of Doom Patrol, Pollack and Peyer reunited to work on a reboot of Jack Kirby’s New Gods for DC Comics. The two co-wrote the first six issues of New Gods, with Pollack then writing issues #7 to #11 solo.

Although her New Gods was much more of a mainstream project than Doom Patrol, it was still on the unconventional side. It’s a series that I will hopefully have an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at in an upcoming blog post.

The Vertigo Tarot written by Rachel Pollack and illustrated by Dave McKean, published by DC Comcis / Vertigo in 1995

Pollack was also a recognized authority on tarot, and wrote extensively on the subject. Neil Gaiman had consulted with Pollack when he utilized the tarot-reading sorceress Madame Xanadu in his own work, the four-issue miniseries The Books of Magic published in 1990. Subsequently Pollack wrote the text for The Vertigo Tarot deck, which featured artwork by Gaiman’s frequent collaborator Dave McKean and an introduction by Gaiman.

Pollack continued writing both fiction and non-fiction in the 21st Century. She was also a longtime, vocal activist for transgender rights.

For further information on Rachel Pollack and her fascinating works I recommend going to her website, which remains online.

Comic book reviews: Action Comics #1050

Today is the 85th anniversary of Superman. Created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, the Man of Steel made his debut in the pages of Action Comics #1, released on April 18, 1938 by “Detective Comics, Inc.” or, as it would soon be better known, DC Comics.

I suppose I’ve always liked Superman, and I followed his comic books regularly for much of the 1990s. But in recent years I’ve really come to appreciate the character and what he represents.

Superman is an immigrant, a survivor of a doomed planet, sent to our world as an infant by parents who hoped that he would find a better life here on Earth. He was raised by Jonathan & Martha Kent, a working class couple who taught him the values of honesty & kindness. He uses his incredible powers not for selfish ends but to help those in need, to save lives. In his secret identity of Clark Kent he is a journalist, an investigative reporter who seeks to expose crime & corruption.

In other words, Superman stands in antithesis against every dark impulse of humanity that has become grotesquely magnified in the real world over the past several years. He could easily rule the world, or destroy it, but instead all he wishes to do is make it a better place for everyone, regardless of who they are or where they are from. He is diametrically opposed to such cruel, selfish, concepts as “greed is good” and “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” and “always look out for number one.”

I’ve heard it argued that Superman is unrealistic, because if someone with his awesome abilities truly existed they would be anything but altruistic. But the point of Superman is that he is a metaphor for how we each have a duty, a responsibility to look after those of us who are less fortunate, who have been beset by calamity & injustice.

I haven’t followed any of the Superman titles regularly for a couple of decades, but recently I’ve been reading Action Comics due to it once again becoming an anthology series, one that is featuring work from creators who I like. I started picking it up with Action Comics #1050, an anniversary special that came out in December 2022. Looking at this issue again today, I feel it offers a good encapsulation of the virtues of Superman, and what he fights against.

“Project Blackout” is written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Tom Taylor & Joshua Williamson, drawn by Mike Perkins, Clayton Henry & Nick Dragotta, colored by Frank Martin, and lettered by Dave Sharpe. As with practically every book published by DC Comics nowadays, Action Comics #1050 was released with multiple variant covers; I happened to get the one by Alex Ross that pays homage to the iconic cover of the very first issue.

Admittedly the main purpose of “Project Blackout” is to hit the reset button, to restore Superman’s secret identity. This is accomplished by Lex Luthor, of all people, who utilizes the mind control powers of Manchester Black to wipe everyone’s memories. A narrative contrivance enables pretty much everyone such as Lois Lane and Batman and the Justice League who already knew Clark Kent was Superman before the big reveal to still retain that knowledge.

When I heard a few years ago that Superman was going to reveal his civilian identity to the world, I knew it was only a matter of time before DC would undo it; the only questions were when & how. Luthor as the vehicle to reset the status quo is an interesting, unexpected choice. Ah, well, at least Clark didn’t have to get his marriage to Lois Lane erased by the Devil, or anything crazy like that 😊

Actually, Luthor’s role in this reveals a great deal about his character, and his relationship to Superman. At first, Luthor tries to argue that he’s done this for Superman’s benefit, that by making everyone forget he’s Clark Kent it will help Superman in his mission to protect the Earth. This ties into Luthor’s whole self-image as a benevolent philanthropist who merely wants what is best for the world. And, as Luthor argues:

“The world needs to believe that you are a god. That you are above them… not one of them…”

Eventually, though, as Superman and Luthor come to blows, the latter finally admits to his REAL reasons. He grew up with Clark Kent in Smallville, knew him for years, and in all that time Clark never revealed who he really was to Lex. So when Superman finally revealed his secret to the world, it enraged Luthor, because when it comes right down to it, Lex thinks he’s better than everyone else, and if he didn’t deserve the truth, then no one did.

So really, when Luthor was arguing that Superman is “above” humanity, he was really talking about his own self-image.

Luthor really is the perfect arch enemy for Superman, because he is the Man of Steel’s twisted mirror image. As a brilliant scientist and a billionaire industrialist, Luthor could help make the world a better place; instead he is motivated solely by narsicism, by greed, by the need to have more, by a craving for control and worship, to transform the world into his own image. In other words, he’s everything that Superman is not.

Luthor the egomaniac perceives himself as the true “super man,” whereas Superman, underneath it all, will always think of himself as plain, ordinary Clark Kent.

It’s also interesting what this story reveals about Manchester Black. First appearing in Action Comics #775 (March 2001), Black was conceived by writer Joe Kelly as a deconstruction of the sort of violent, cynical, chain-smoking British anti-hero that Warren Ellis specialized in and had made so popular in the late 1990s. Manchester Black and his group the Elite brutally mocked Superman’s idealism, arguing that the Man of Steel was actually naive & ineffectual.

Two decades ago I felt that Kelly’s story was an anvilicious attempt to satirize the Authority and other “proactive” superheroes. In the years since, well, I’ve somewhat come around to Kelly’s way of thinking. The Authority and their ilk are much more uncomfortable to me in a world where a significant segment of the population mocks empathy and caring and rational intelligence, believing instead that anger and violence is the only answer.

The process that Luthor uses to wipe the world’s knowledge of Superman’s secret identity kills Manchester Black. Before he dies, Black admits to Luthor that at long last he’s finally come to respect Superman.

Luthor: When you fought alongside Superman up there… did he REALLY make a follower out of YOU, of all people?

Black: *SIGH* Yeah. I suppose he did. Sorry to disappoint you, mate. I drank the Kool-Aid. I fought and bled with him, and Ol’ Blue was all right in the end.

I appreciated this moment because it goes to the heart of why Superman doesn’t like to kill. It isn’t just because he values the sanctity of life, and because he doesn’t want to become as horrible as the people he fights. It’s also because he hopes that one day his enemies might become better people. And he knows that for most of them that will never happen, that they’ll remain monsters who the world needs to be protected from, but he still holds onto that hope.

Honestly, that’s the sort of idealism & optimism that I doubt I will ever be able to achieve. I look around and see so many terrible excuses for human beings who appear to be completely beyond redemption. I wish I could possess that hope, instead of despair.

Having spoken at length about the plot and characters in “Project Blackout” I need to at least comment briefly about the art & coloring. Perkins, Henry, Dragotta & Martin all do great work. Sharpe’s lettering is solid, and really stands out in the scene where an outraged Superman finds out about Manchester Black’s death.

I was especially impressed by Perkins’ contributions. He draws the opening and closing sequences of this issue. I recall first seeing Perkins’ art in the anthology series Negative Burn from Caliber Press in the late 1990s. That was followed by work for CrossGen in the early 2000s, and then some fill-in issues of Captain America at Marvel in 2006, among other things. I always thought Perkins was a good artist, but in the years since he’s grown tremendously. His art in Action Comics #1050 is incredible. I’m not sure what else Parkins is working on nowadays, but I’ll have to keep an eye out.

Plus, if he gets to draw the Superman titles again, I’ll definitely be happy.

In closing, happy birthday to one of the greatest fictional characters. Here’s to 85 more years of Superman… and beyond.

And let’s hope one day we can all live up to his example.

It Came from the 1990s: The Brave and the Bold miniseries

Welcome to another installment of this blog’s occasional feature “It Came from the 1990s” in which I spotlight comic books that were released between 1990 to 1999. One of my reasons for doing this feature is that as a teenage comic book fan the 1990s were MY decade. I started following comic books regularly in 1989 when I was 13 years old, and as such the comics of my high school and college years were released within the 10 years that followed.

This time I’m going to be taking a brief look at The Brave and the Bold, a miniseries published by DC Comics in late 1991 and early 1992 that subsequently fell into obscurity. I recently re-read it for the first time in many years, and found it to still be a good, enjoyable read.

The Brave and the Bold initially ran for 200 issues from 1955 to 1983. As per Wikipedia, it started as “an anthology series featuring adventure tales from past ages with characters such as the Silent Knight, the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, and Robin Hood. Beginning with issue #25 it became a “try-out” title for new characters & teams such as the Justice League of America. The series changed format yet again with issue #50, featuring team-ups between established DC characters. Finally, commencing with #74 and continuing throughout the rest of the run every issue of The Brave and the Bold had Batman team up with a different character each month.

For whatever reason, in 1991 someone at DC made the decision to revive The Brave and the Bold as a six-issue miniseries, featuring a team-up of three characters: Green Arrow, the Question, and the Butcher, with Black Canary appearing as a supporting character. DC promoted the project with a house ad announcing “The Return of the Original Team-Up Title.”

This incarnation of The Brave and the Bold is very much of the early 1990s. As with the Black Canary: New Wings miniseries that came out around the same time which I profiled previously, it was edited by Mike Gold, and it was very much of the post-The Dark Knight Returns era in which creators sought to bring a certain sense of realism to superheroes. I’ve always felt this approach worked best with non-powered costumed crime fighters, characters who already had one foot placed in a sort of quasi-reality. As such it’s not too surprising that Green Arrow and the Question were two of the most successful character revamps in the wake of TDKR.

Writer & artist Mike Grell reimagined Green Arrow as a shadowy urban vigilante who eschewed the trick arrows of his past, tackling street-level crime in Seattle. Following the successful three issue Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters miniseries by Grell in 1987, archer Oliver Queen graduated to a well-received ongoing series also written by Grell.

I suppose the Question might actually be considered a precursor to the anti-heroes who became so prevalent in American comic books during the 1980s. He had been conceived by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics in 1967 as a somewhat less-radical version of his creator-owned character Mr. A, a ruthless vigilante who adhered to moral absolutism and Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. The Question, aka investigative reporter Vic Sage, was nearly as much of a fanatic as Mr. A, but his actions were softened just enough that the Comics Code Authority wouldn’t reject the material out of hand. Clad in a blue trench coat, fedora, a blank face mask obscuring his features, the Question certainly possessed a distinctive appearance. 

Following Charlton’s demise in 1986 the company’s “action heroes” including the Question were purchased by DC. Writer & editor Denny O’Neil, who was at the opposite end of the political & ideological spectrum from Ditko, re-conceived Vic Sage as a Zen philosopher who fought to uncover political corruption. It’s subsequently been argued that perhaps O’Neil ought to have invented a brand-new protagonist rather than completely changing the thematic foundation of Ditko’s character. Whatever the case, though, The Question series written by O’Neil & drawn by Denys Cowan, which ran for 36 issues from 1987 to 1989, received a great deal of critical acclaim.

As for the Butcher, he is Native America ex-CIA operative John Butcher. Created by Mike Baron & artist Shea Anton Pensa, the character made his debut in a self-titled five issue miniseries published by DC in 1990. Other than a couple of back-up stories in Ms. Tree Quarterly, I believe The Brave and the Bold was his only other appearance to date.

Now that we’ve finally gotten the preliminaries out of the way, we can take a look at The Brave and the Bold miniseries, which was written by Grell & Baron and drawn by Pensa, with Pablo Marcos inking the fifth and sixth issues. Steve Haynie was the letterer and Julia Lacquement the colorist. Pensa drew the covers for the first two issues, with Grell providing cover art for the rest of the miniseries.

Oliver Queen, John Butcher and Vic Sage are each separately investigating an apparent alliance between a group of radical Native American separatists and the Irish Republican Army in the Pacific Northwest. The three men’s paths soon converge as they seek to uncover what has prompted this highly unusual association of extremists.

There’s a number of twists & turns in Grell & Baron’s plot as the three vigilantes attempt to find out what is actually taking place, and who is really pulling the strings behind the scenes. Along the way we have some interesting, and often humorous, interactions between the lead trio as they work together with various degrees of reluctance.

Grell & Baron’s story contains prominent social & political elements. One of the main issues that is brought up is the question of how Native American tribes, after centuries of persecution & genocide, should approach the future. The conservation of an embattled culture’s history & traditions while simultaneously working towards progress & modernity can be an exceedingly difficult balancing act, and understandably disagreements, often violent, are sadly inevitable.  And unfortunately there will always be forces that will exploit such dissention to their own greedy ends.

I’m not quite sure who was responsible for what in the plotting & scripting, although it’s fairly safe to conclude that Grell handled Green Arrow’s material and Baron managed the Butcher. No idea if one or the other or both of them wrote the Question, but there is a “special thanks to Dennis O’Neil” credit in the second issue, leading me to wonder if he might have at least given the story a once-over to make sure Vic remained in character.

John Butcher is scripted with a rather humorously sardonic voice which I enjoyed. In the first issue, commenting to Green Arrow and Black canary on the Native American independence movement he’s been investigating, Butcher offers the following opinion:

“I think the separatists are inviting disaster. It’s good to preserve culture, but radical attempts to create separate nations are confrontational and counter-productive. You got to go with the flow.

“Ain’t I a proper Republican! Personally, I don’t pay taxes. I must be a hypocrite or a libertarian.”

It’s interesting that, in keeping with the “grim & gritty” ethos that was very much at the forefront in superhero comic books, all three characters are willing to use lethal force. At the same time, Grell & Baron don’t glamorize the killing. It’s very much depicted as an unfortunately necessary evil, and there are two separate occasions when Butcher finds himself regretting that he had to kill an adversary. Having said that, the ending of the story does get very violent.

Reading this story in 2023, I did find there was the same problem of pacing that bothered me back when this miniseries was published over 30 years ago. The first five issues have the plot, and the mystery, unfold very gradually. Then with the sixth and final issue everything rushes to a conclusion.

Pensa’s artwork on this miniseries is definitely distinctive. I would describe his style as being simultaneously hyper-detailed and an exaggerated cartoonish quality. On the first couple of issues, barring the occasional oddly-constructed panel or awkward layout, Pensa does some genuinely beautiful, striking work. His covers for those two issues are also very strong. I felt Pensa’s pencils & inks and Lacquement’s coloring worked well together to produce some very textured, illustrative artwork.

Pensa’s art does seem to get somewhat loose & sketchy with the third and fourth issues, though. Perhaps this was why Marcos was brought in to provide inks on #5 and #6. His work certainly does give a different feel to the finished art.

I certainly enjoyed Pensa’s work on this miniseries. Whatever weaknesses there might be, Pensa’s storytelling for all six issues are very strong. For example, there’s a several page sequence in issue #4 in which the Butcher and the Question are fighting thugs on top of a speeding lumber truck. It’s almost dialogue-free, and Pensa does a superb job laying it out, making it a very tense, exciting scene.

Pensa’s career in comic books was relatively brief, beginning in 1986 and lasting roughly a decade and a half. He worked with Baron on several different projects during that period, and also penciled an issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

I imagine Pensa was one of the numerous talented artists who got their start during the indy comics boom of the mid 1980s, when wildly different styles were prevalent, but as the exaggerated superhero work of the early 1990s became so totally in-demand among publishers, opportunities unfortunately dried up and he had to find work elsewhere. From what little I’ve been able to find out about him, he also did work for gaming companies such as White Wolf. It’s a shame he didn’t have a more prominent, prolific career.

Grell is, of course, an absolutely incredible artist, and his covers for issues #3 to #6 are gorgeous. As I recall, during this time Grell was focusing mostly on writing and on cover artwork, but within a couple of years he was once again doing interior pages, too.

I met Grell and Gold at a small comic con in the mid 1990s, and I got the first issue of The Brave and the Bold miniseries signed by them. That was probably a somewhat unusual choice, especially as I know I owned a few issues of Green Arrow. But, as I explained at the start of this post, I didn’t start following comic books regularly until around 1989. This miniseries was among my first exposures to Grell’s work, so it had a certain sentimental value to me.

Although the majority of Grell’s run on Green Arrow was collected in a series of trade paperbacks by DC a decade ago, The Brave and the Bold miniseries has yet to be reprinted. I took a look on eBay, and copies of the comics can be found at affordable prices, so if you feel like seeking this one out it should be relatively easy to find.

Perhaps this miniseries wasn’t among Grell’s strongest work (reportedly his collaboration with Baron did not go smoothly) but it nevertheless helped get me interested in his writing & art, and to subsequently read a number of his other projects.

The Art of Mike Machlan

Comic book artist Mike Machlan passed away earlier this month. Machlan’s career in comic books lasted from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. He worked primarily as an inker, although he did do the occasional penciling job. His art had a fun quality to it.

Brian Cronin at CBR has already put together an in-depth obituary of Machlan. So here on my blog I’m going to present several examples of Machlan’s work that I feel demonstrate his skills as an artist.

All-Star Squadron #24 written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Jerry Ordway, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by David Cody Weiss and colored by Gene D’Angelo, published by DC Comics in August 1983

Machlan was a longtime friend of fellow artist Jerry Ordway. They were both from Wisconsin, and the two had met in the mid 1970s when they were working on fanzines and self-published comic books. Ordway broke into professional comic books first, and one of his earliest regular assignments was doing inks / finishes on All-Star Squadron. Written by Roy Thomas, All-Star Squadron featured the Justice Society and their numerous costumed allies fighting against the Axis powers during World War II.

Ordway assumed the penciling chores on All-Star Squadron with issue #19, and two months later on issue #21 (cover-dated May 1983) Machlan had joined him as the series’ inker. The two worked very well together, as can be seen by this superb splash of Batman page from All-Star Squadron #24 which evokes the character’s Golden Age origins.

All-Star Squadron #28 written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Mike Machlan and inked by Jerry Ordway, published by DC Comics in December 1983

Roy Thomas and his wife Dann devised a spin-off for All-Star Squadron. Set in the then-present of the early 1980s, Infinity Inc. would feature the sons, daughters & other successors of the JSA on Earth-Two. Other than the already-existing Power Girl and Huntress, the members of Infinity Inc. were new characters devised by Roy & Dann Thomas, Mike Machlan & Jerry Ordway. Machlan and Ordway worked closely together to design the visuals of the team members.

As Ordway recounted in Modern Masters Volume 13: Jerry Ordway, published by TwoMorrows Publishing in 2007:

“I think Jade and Obsidian were the two characters that were closest to me and to Mike, because we really had the most input on them. And there was some stuff that Mike did on his own. I don’t think I went over every one of those things, and he turned out a lot of sketches. He turned out Mr. Bones, a new Hourman, and a male version of Harlequin.”

Above is the double page promo piece by Machlan & Ordway that ran in All-Star Squadron #28 to promote the upcoming series.

Infinity Inc. #9 pencils & inks by Mike Machlan, published by DC Comics in December 1984

The initial plan was for Machlan to pencil Infinity Inc. with Ordway inking him. However, at the last minute the two artists switched roles, with Ordway penciling and Machlan inking.

Machlan did still get to pencil a few of the Infinity Inc. covers, which Ordway inked. Machlan also did the full artwork for a number of profile images of the various team members, which were published throughout the series’ run.

Continuing his account of Infinity Inc’s origins, Ordway explained:

“But then you had Fury, and then finally Silver Scarab. And I think Fury and Silver Scarab are pure Mike Machlan-channeling-Kirby kind of designs.”

Above is Machlan’s profile pic of Silver Scarab, one of the characters on which he was primary designer, which appeared in Infinity Inc. #9.

West Coast Avengers #29, written by Steve Englehart, layouts by Al Milgrom, finished by Mike Machlan, letters by Bill Oakley and colors by Gregory Wright & Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in February 1988

Ordway and Machlan both departed from Infinity Inc. after the series’ first year. Machlan went on to ink Chuck Patton and George Tuska on Justice League of America, and Rafael Kayanan on The Fury of Firestorm, as well as doing a few inking jobs for First Comics.

Machlan began working for Marvel Comics in 1987, providing finishes over Al Milgrom’s layouts on West Coast Avengers beginning with issue #24. I felt Milgrom & Machlan made a solid team. One of the best examples of their collaboration was West Coast Avengers #29. “Death Run” features Moon Knight on a single-minded pursuit of Taurus, head of the Zodiac crime cartel. Machlan’s finishes really helped to enhance the intense, moody tone of writer Steve Englehart’s story.

Marvel Fanfare #41 penciled by Mike Machlan, inked by Al Milgrom and colored by Greg Wright, published by Marvel Comics in December 1988

The anthology series Marvel Fanfare that Milgrom edited frequently featured pin-up galleries that spotlighted the work of different artists. Milgrom especially enjoyed giving artists who were best known as inkers the opportunity to contribute pin-ups, enabling them to demonstrate their penciling abilities.

Marvel Fanfare #41 had a gallery of Mike Machlan pin-ups which featured various characters & events from the Silver Age. A different artist inked each piece. In an interesting reversal of their roles on West Coast Avengers, Machlan was inked by Milgrom on the pin-up of Captain America and his rogues gallery.

Avengers West Coast #50 written & penciled by John Byrne, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Bill Oakley and colored by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in November 1989

In 1989 John Byrne became the writer / artist on West Coast Avengers, and the series was soon re-titled Avengers West Coast in a move to make sure the book would be stocked on the shelves right next to the main Avengers series, hopefully increasing sales.

Machlan remained on Avengers West Coast for several issues, inking Byrne’s pencils. Once again, I felt Machlan did a good job, complementing Byrne’s work. Above is a page from Avengers West Coast #50 featuring the continuity-shattering meeting of the Vision and the original android Human Torch.

Amazing Spider-Man #338 written by David Michelinie, penciled by Erik Larsen, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Rick Parker and colorer by Bob Sharen, published by Marvel Comics in September 1990

Machlan hopped over to Amazing Spider-Man in 1990, where he was paired with penciler Erik Larsen. I’m a huge fan of Larsen’s work, and I like the quality that Machlan brought to the finished art in those days before Larsen did his own inking. Machlan remained on Amazing Spider-Man for about a year.

Following this, Machlan worked on another Spider-Man project. Once again paired with Al Milgrom, he inked the four issue Deadly Foes of Spider-Man series in 1991.

Justice Society of America #1 written by Len Strazewski, penciled by Mike Parobeck, inked by Mike Machlan, lettered by Bob Pinaha and colored by Glenn Whitmore, published by DC Comics in August 1992

Machlan also began working for DC Comics again in the early 1990s. His main assignment saw him return to the heroes of the Golden Age with the all-too short-lived Justice Society of America series that ran for 10 issues between August 1992 and May 1993. I recently blogged about this great, underrated series. Machlan was a good match for series penciler Mike Parobeck.

The mid-1990s saw a major downturn when the inflated speculator bubble finally burst. Machlan, like a number of other comic book professionals, departed the industry to find work elsewhere.

While no longer working for any of the major publishers, in recent years Machlan did commission work for private collectors. He did several great pieces for fans Michael Dunne and “Marvel Two-in-One Guy” which can be seen on Comic Art Fans.

Although Machlan’s career in comic books only lasted about a decade and a half, he did really good, quality work during that time. Many fans, myself included, fondly recall his art, and were saddened by the news of his death.

Star Wars reviews: The Bad Batch season two part two

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two has come to its shocking conclusion. I previously blogged about the first eight episodes of the season and here are my thoughts on the second half.

In general I felt these episodes were more strongly consistent than than the first half of the season had been. Echo leaving the Batch to join Rex and his underground movement to help the clone troopers escape the Empire spurred a great deal of introspection in the rest of the group, especially the teenage Omega.

Clone Force 99 (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) may have started out as a military unit, but once they broke from the Empire and adopted Omega (Michelle Ang) they became a family, and the departure of Echo is keenly felt.

Episode nine, “The Crossing,” sees the remaining members of the Batch sent by Trandoshan smuggler Cid (Rhea Perlman) to a desert planet to retrieve some highly volatile ipsium mineral from a mine she purchased. While they are extracting the ipsium the Batch’s ship the Marauder is stolen. Without any supplies, the stranded group is forced to cross the harsh desert to reach a spaceport on the other side of the planet, only to find it abandoned. They are able to use the technology there to contact Cid, however the Trandoshan informs them she won’t be able to arrange for their rescue for several days. The Batch angrily reminds Cid of all the times they saved HER rear end, but she blows them off.

The group had been feeling increasingly uneasy at their alliance of convenience with Cid throughout the second season, but this feels like the turning point in their relationship.

“The Crossing” really stood out to me for developing the relationship between Omega and the emotionally repressed Tech. It’s a well-written scene that provides some long-overdue examination of the intelligent, introverted Tech. Baker and Ang do a fine job with the voice acting in this scene. And once again I’m amazed at how totally different Baker is able to make the male members of Clone Force 99, not just in their voices but also in their personalities.

In “Retrieval” the group discovers that the Marauder is still on the planet and are able to track it down by homing in on their droid Gonky. They discover the ship was stolen by teenager Benni Baro (Yuri Lowenthal) in an attempt to curry favor with Mokko (Jonathan Lipow), the brutal owner of the ipsium mine where Benni and numerous others work for literal slave wages.

Mokko is neither clever nor subtle, but like many other oppressors he’s discovered a secret to remaining in power: keep your subjects at each other’s throats desperately competing for scarce resources so that they’ll be too distracted to realize they’re being exploited. The Batch help Benni and the community overthrow Mokko. Regaining their ship, they’re finally able to depart the planet.

In “Metamorphosis” we are introduced to Dr. Royce Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson) and with a last name like that you just know this guy isn’t going to be pleasant. Indeed, the amoral Hemlock, previously expelled from the Republic Science Corps for his unauthorized experiments, is now a member of the Empire’s top secret Advanced Science Division at Mount Tantiss, tasked with unraveling the secrets of the cloning technology seized from the Kaminoans. Hemlock is using the surviving clone troopers as unwitting test subjects for his unethical experiments.

One of the transport ships belonging to the Advanced Science Division crash-lands, and the Batch, still smarting from Cid’s refusal to rescue them, only reluctantly agree to salvage the ship for her. Unfortunately they discover the cargo is alive & hostile, an attempt by the Empire to clone the incredibly dangerous Zillo Beast. Way back in The Clone Wars season two Chancellor Palpatine ordered his scientists to clone the Zillo Beast that attacked Coruscant. I always figured that writer Dave Filoni would eventually follow up on that somewhere or another. The Bad Batch, which is exploring the Empire’s efforts to pervert cloning to their own dark ends, is the perfect place to return to that subplot.

We shift our focus to former Batch member Crosshair in “The Outpost.” Still blindly following the Empire’s orders, Crosshair is assigned to the arrogant Lieutenant Nolan (Crispin Freeman) who does nothing to disguise his disdain for the clone troopers.

Nolan and Crosshair travel to Barton IV, where an Imperial supply depot is under siege by raiders. Mayday, the clone in charge of the base, is the opposite of Crosshair, regarding the inexperienced, haughty Nolan as unworthy of respect. Most of the episode involves Crosshair and Mayday arguing over what the clones’ role in the galaxy should be. Crosshair’s comment about not leaving behind “dead weight” is almost immediately thrown in his face when he steps on a pressure mine, and Mayday disarms it, saving his life.

The two clones locate the raiders, but in the ensuing battle an avalanche buries everyone. Crosshair manages to extricate himself and locates the gravely wounded Mayday. Crosshair struggles across the harsh frozen landscape to bring Mayday back to base for medical treatment. But when the two clones at long last make it back, Nolan tells them they’ve failed in their mission to retrieve the stolen supplies and refuses to help them. When Mayday succumbs to his injuries, a distraught Crosshair is furious, but Nolan responds that the clones are expendable. At last realizing exactly the sort of monsters he’s pledged his loyalty to, Crosshair shoots Nolan, killing him.

It’s been one of the central themes of this season how the Empire uses people. Previously we saw that Admiral Rampart did everything he was ordered to do, yet the instant he was no longer needed he was made a scapegoat for the Empire’s crimes and thrown to the wolves. Hemlock, rather than being outraged at Nolan’s death, is actually amused that Crosshair murdered his commanding officer and applauds the clone’s initiative, demonstrating that the Lieutenant, who saw the clones as expendable, was himself entirely dispensable. And one of the reasons why Hemlock is so desperate to unlock the secrets of the Kaminoans’s cloning technology is because he knows that if he doesn’t succeed the Empire will dispose of him.

In the next episode “Pabu” the Batch is once again assisting “liberator of ancient wonders” Phee Genoa (Wanda Sykes) on one of her capers. In spite of her seemingly blasé attitude, as well as her fondness for helping herself to other people’s property, Phee is much different than Cid, in that she regards the clones as friends. Learning that the Batch are attempting to cut ties with Cid, Phee takes them to the tropical island of Pabu, where refugees from numerous worlds have established a community. Phee is clearly offering them sanctuary.

When a natural disaster strikes, the Batch throws in to help save the lives of everyone on Pabu, and to rebuild the community. The contrast to the Empire is clear; for the Batch and Phee and the people of Pabu, friendship & community are invaluable, and it’s the responsibility of each individual to help others.

The second season moves towards its climax with “Tipping Point.” Echo and several other clones are actively working to rescue their brothers who are being shipped to Mount Tantiss for Hemlock’s experiments. One of the clones they liberate is Howzer, who has been a prisoner of the Empire since his refusal to follow orders back in the first season. I was wondering what was going to happen to him, so I’m glad we got an answer here.

Hemlock, having learned that Omega is the one person who Kaminoan scientist Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo) actually cares about, has Crosshair transferred to Mount Tantiss, hoping the clone can give him a clue where his former team is hiding. Crosshair breaks free and is able to  transmit a warning to the Batch before being recaptured.

That leads to the two episode season finale “The Summit” and “Plan 99.” Hoping to locate Crosshair, the Batch infiltrates Governor Tarkin’s (Stephen Stanton) base on Eriadu where Hemlock will be attending an important Imperial summit, so that they can place a tracking device on Hemlock’s ship and follow him back to his base. Unfortunately Eridu has also been infiltrated by Saw Gerrera (Andrew Kishino) who is determined to blow up Tarkin’s headquarters. The Batch, revealing they’re trying to locate Crosshair, try to get Saw to stand down, but he refuses, seeing Crosshair and the other clones Hemlock has imprisoned as necessary sacrifices in the war against the Empire.

As a result of Saw’s interference, the Batch are discovered and Hemlock’s ship with its tracking device is blown up. Tech sacrifices himself to save the rest of Clone Force 99, seemingly plunging to his death. The rest of the Batch, wounded and pursued by the Empire, flee to Ord Mantell, hoping Cid can help them. However Cid betrays them, revealing their whereabouts to the Empire in exchange for a reward. Hemlock captures Omega and brings her to Mount Tantiss in order to pressure Nala Se into working on the Emperor’s mysterious cloning project. Hunter, Wrecker and Echo manage to escape from the Imperial forces, but they still have no idea where Hemlock’s base is located, but they vow to track the mad scientist down and free Omega.

To be continued! Yipes, what a cliffhanger!

The Batch’s decision to go to Cid for help instead of returning to Pabu was baffling, since I’m sure everyone in the audience saw her betrayal of the team coming a long way off. The only thing I can think is that Pabu was too far away, the Batch needed immediate medical assistance, and so risked returning to Cid. But the script really ought to have made that clear.

It’s interesting that we see Cid attempt to rationalize her betrayal of the Batch, arguing that the team had put her at risk by returning to Ord Mantell, giving her no choice. That’s entirely in Cid’s self-serving nature, and sadly there are all too many people like that who will engage in that sort of self-justification, making themselves out to be the “real” victims. In the end Cid, was very much like the Empire, seeing Clone Force 99 primarily as assets to be utilized for her benefit.

In contrast, the Batch’s mission to find Crosshair once again shows just how important loyalty to family and friends is to them. It doesn’t matter that Crosshair previously turned his back on the rest of the team; he’s still their brother, both figuratively and literally, and they feel compelled to help him.

Tech’s death was a huge gut-punch. It really shows just how well this series developed Clone Force 99 from one-dimensional stereotypes into fully-realized characters over the past two seasons that it was so very painful to see him sacrifice himself, and to watch the others mourn his death.

The big question now – other than how will the Batch save Omega – is whether Tech is really dead. He fell from such a height that I can’t imagine how he could have survived. But we don’t actually see a body. And this IS the same series where someone once got cut in half and dropped down a pit, only to turn up alive later on. So you never know.

One thing’s for sure: I’m going to be in real suspense waiting for season three!

Joe Giella: 1928 to 2023

Joe Giella, a comic book artist whose career stretched back to the mid-1940s, passed away on March 21st. He was 94 years old. Alex Dueben of The Comics Journal referred to Giella as “one of the creators synonymous with the Silver Age of comics.”

Giella was born on June 27, 1928. He grew up in Astoria, Queens. He attended the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan. Giella was only in his teens when he began working in comic books, as his family was experiencing financial difficulties and the extra income he could bring in was desperately needed. His first credited work was for Hillman Publications in 1946. Soon after he was one of the many artists assisting on the Captain Marvel feature published by Fawcett, as well as working on staff at Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel. By 1948 Giella was freelancing for DC Comics, where he would spend the majority of his career.

Alter Ego #52 cover drawn by Joe Giella and colored by Tom Ziuko, published by TwoMorrows Publishing in September 2005

Giella was initially doing full artwork, but he soon began to specialize in providing inks / finishes over the pencils of other artists. In an interview with Jim Amash that appeared in Alter Ego #52 from TwoMorrows Publishing in September 2005, Giella how this came about:

“None of us started out intending to become inkers; we started out penciling. I was inking two to three pages a day, but I couldn’t pencil more than one. And you know, when you need money, you kind-of lean towards the inking. I could bring home $90 a week instead of $40. And after a while, you kind-of get typecast. To this day, I’m still slow at penciling, and I make up the time on the inking.”

Giella regularly worked for editor Julius Schwartz at DC. He was an inker on some of the last stories DC published featuring the original versions of the Flash and Green Lantern, and when the Golden Age superhero trend finally ended in 1950 Giella worked on a number of Westerns published by DC. He inked Gene Colan on Hopalong Cassidy, and inked Gil Kane on both the Trigger Twins feature in All-Star Western and the quite unusual The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog.

Mystery in Space #32, written by Gardner Fox, penciled by Sid Greene, inked by Joe Giella and edited by Julius Schwartz, published by DC Comics in June-July 1956

Another penciler Giella regularly worked with was Sid Greene, on the anthology titles Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures. The later title also occasionally had Giella inking Carmine Infantino on the sci-fi adventure feature Adam Strange.

In the second half of the 1950s, when Schwartz spearheaded the sci-fi tinged superhero revival of the Silver Age, Giella was once again one of his go-to inkers.

The Flash was reimagined as police scientist Barry Allen by Schwartz, writer Robert Kanigher and penciler Carmine Infantino in the pages of Showcase #4, which was cover-dated Sept-Oct 1956. That initial tale was inked by Joe Kubert, but when the Flash returned in the pages of Showcase #13 in 1958 inking chores were assumed by Giella and Frank Giacoia, and John Broome took over as writer with issue #14. When The Flash became an ongoing series again in early 1959 (beginning with issue #105, as it continued the numbering of the original Golden Age series) Broom, Infantino and Giella were the regular creative team.

The Flash #107, written by John Broome, penciled by Carmine Infantino, inked by Joe Giella and edited by Julius Schwartz, published by DC Comics in June-July 1959

Later in 1959 another Golden Age superhero, Green Lantern, was rebooted by Schwartz, writer John Broome and penciler Gil Kane, who introduced test pilot Hal Jordan as the new emerald ring-slinger. Giella inked Kane’s pencils, first on the three issue “tryout” run in Showcase #22-24 and then on the new, ongoing Green Lantern series that began in 1960.

Giella had also been inking both Sheldon Moldoff on the Batman and Detective Comics titles, although as with everyone else involved with the Dark Knight at the time they had to work anonymously, with Batman co-creator Bob Kane receiving the sole contractually obligated credit. Due to his work on the character, Giella was hired to provide the full artwork for the Batman newspaper strip in the mid-1960s.

Giella found the Batman strip to be a simultaneously enjoyable and frustrating experience. On the one hand, he very much liked Batman, a character he himself had grown up reading in the 1940s. On the other hand, the pay was low, the deadlines were brutal, and once again Giella was working uncredited, with “Bob Kane” appearing on the strip’s byline. As a result, he remained on it for only four years.

Giella continued to work for DC Comics on a variety of titles until the early 1980s. He also did the occasional job for Marvel Comics during the 1970s. In addition, Giella assisted Sy Barry on The Phantom newspaper strip for 17 years.

Giella became the artist of the Mary Worth newspaper strip in 1991. As he explained to Jim Amash, one of the appeals of taking on the assignment was that unlike on the Batman strip a quarter century earlier, this time he’d be receiving a byline on the feature.

Batman: Turning Points #2 written by Ed Brubaker, drawn by Joe Giella, lettered by Willie Schubert and colored by Shannon Blanchard, published by DC Comics in Jan 2001

In 2001 Giella returned to Gotham City with issue #2 of the five-issue miniseries Batman: Turning Points. Written by Ed Brubaker, the series explored the evolving relationship between Batman and James Gordon throughout the years. As the second issue was set in an era analogous to the Silver Age, and Giella was one of the oldest-living Batman artists, it was a nice touch to have him illustrate that chapter.

After retiring from the Mary Worth strip in 2016, Giella continued to draw. He was very much in-demand for commission illustrations and recreations from fans.

At times I feel Giella’s work was underappreciated. Gil Kane, who was notoriously critical of the inkers he was assigned, was not at all fond of Giella’s work. I’ve also heard a number of fans over the years refer to his inking as “flat.”

However, I certainly have a great deal of appreciation for Giella’s work. He’s one of those comic book professionals who I like to classify as “a good, solid artist.” He knew how to draw, he always turned in work of a professional quality, and he could always be counted upon to meet deadlines.

I also feel it speaks volumes that during his lengthy career Giella was called upon to provide inks / finishes over a wide selection of pencilers with very different styles, and he demonstrated the versatility necessary to do so. In addition to the aforementioned Colan, Greene, Infantino, Kane, and Moldoff, among the various pencilers Giella inked were Bob Brown, Dave Cockrum, Jose Delbo, Dick Dillin, Don Heck, Irv Novick, Bob Oksner, Frank Robbins, Kurt Schaffenberger, Joe Staton and Curt Swan.

Showcase #24 written by John Broome, penciled by Gil Kane, inked by Joe Giella, lettered by Gasper Saladino and edited by Julius Schwartz, published by DC Comics in Jan-Fen 1960

Looking back at the work Giella did over Infantino and Kane on those now-classic Flash and Green Lantern stories in the late-1950s and early-1960s, I quite like the tone & atmosphere his inking provided. I feel it gave a smoother look to the stories which John Broome & Julius Schwartz had imbued with a decidedly mid-20th Century “space age” sci-fi tone.

On those occasions when Giella was called upon to produce full art, he did very clean, polished work. His art on the Batman newspaper strip, Batman: Turning Points #2, the various commission illustrations he drew, and even a relatively staid soap opera like Mary Worth was all solidly done.

There are comic professionals who have expressed an appreciation for Giella’s work. On his Instagram account, the acclaimed, prolific artist Butch Guice posted a tribute to Giella that included this remembrance:

“Mr. Giella’s slick fluid ink lines graced many a favorite comic story from my youth, including a fond series of Batgirl stories (with pencilers Jose Delbo and Don Heck) he lent his inking skills in helping produce.”

June Brigman, who succeeded Giella on Mary Worth, also offered praise for the artist on her Facebook page:

“Joe was a consummate professional and an excellent draftsman. He did exciting, dynamic superheroes as well as the endless repetition of a syndicated comic strip and always maintained a high standard of quality.”

Detective Comics #502 written by Cary Burkett, penciled by Jose Delbo, inked by Joe Giella, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Gene D’Angelo, published by DC Comics in May 1981

I am genuinely grateful to Giella for allowing me to interview him for the article I wrote about artist George Klein, which saw print in Alter Ego #179, released in December of last year. Giella was one of the very few contemporaries of Klein who was still alive when I was preparing the article back in 2019, and as such he offered some valuable memories of his friend & colleague. I also appreciate that in 2020 Giella was kind enough to autograph a few comic books for me that I sent to him via his son Frank, who I’ve known for a number of years.

That’s something I noticed in practically every remembrance of Giella that has been written in the past week, the fact that the people who knew him came away with a uniformly positive view of the man. He really was a good person, and he will definitely be missed by friends and colleagues, as well as the fans who grew up on his work.

It Came from the 1990s: Justice Society of America part two

Welcome back. In my last post I took a look at the Justice Society of America miniseries published by DC Comics in 1991. That limited series was unexpectedly successful, and it led DC to bring the JSA back into current continuity, and to give them an ongoing title.

The Justice Society had previously been exiled to Limbo where they were destined to spend all of eternity fighting to prevent Ragnarök. The four-issue miniseries Armageddon: Inferno written by John Ostrander published in 1992 concluded with the demonic servants of the villainous Abraxis taking the JSA’s place in Limbo, enabling the heroes to at last return to Earth.

The ongoing Justice Society of America series launched in August 1992. Len Strazewski, who had written the miniseries, and Mike Parobeck, one of the pencilers on it, both returned to chronicle the JSA’s modern-day adventures, along with editor Brian Augustyn. They were joined by inker Mike Machlan, letterer Bob Pinaha and colorist Glenn Whitmore.

The JSA were very much the odd men out of mainstream superhero comic books in the early 1990s. Even though their time in Limbo had partially restored their youth & vitality, they were still much older than nearly all of DC’s other characters. The JSA had been the greatest heroes of the 1940s but now, nearly half a century later, they found themselves wondering what role, if any, they had to play in protecting the world from crime & tyranny.

In the first issue the JSA’s triumphant public return is violently interrupted by a giant monster sent by one of their old enemies. They are unable to stop the rampaging behemoth, and it falls to Superman to defeat the creature. To add insult to injury, Superman finds himself thinking how underwhelming his foe is:

“What a sorry excuse for a monster! Compared to some of the dangers I’ve faced, this is kid stuff!”

Obviously Superman doesn’t voice those thoughts to the JSA, heroes who he himself regards as an inspiration for his own battles against evil. Nevertheless, the dispirited JSA cannot help feeling like a fifth wheel.

As the series progresses, Strazewski depicts the various members of the team struggling to adapt to their new circumstances. He does a good job showing the different ways each of the crime fighters react, from Green Lantern and Flash enthusiastic belief that there is still a role for the team to play, to Wildcat’s skepticism and the Atom’s depression, with Hawkman & Hawkgirl deciding to quit the superhero biz entirely to return to their first love, archeology.

Unlike most comic book heroes at DC who were set in a “sliding timeline” where everything always happened within the past 10 or 15 years, the JSA have always had their origins rooted in the 1940s. As such they’ve been some of the few characters to have aged in real time. When they were revived in All-Star Comics in the second half of the 1970s writers Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz were first to lean into the idea of the Justice Society as an intergenerational team. Strazewski  continues that theme in this series.

We see Wally West, the young modern day Flash, seeking advice & guidance from Jay Garrick, the original Flash. Jesse Quick, the daughter of 1940s crime fighters Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, joins the JSA, with the team serving as her mentors. Johnny Thunderbolt adopts a teenage ward Kiku who discovers she has a rapport with Johnny’s mystic Thunderbolt genie.

I have to admit, back in 1992 I found the circumstances of the Justice Society somewhat difficult to identify with. I was only 16 years old, in high school, and the JSA were pretty much the same age as my grandparents. Three decades later in 2023, well, I’m now middle aged, I’ve got more than a few gray hairs, my joints are starting to ache, and I’ve got advertisements for AARP showing up on my Facebook timeline! So, yeah, I definitely find these guys somewhat more relatable!

The first five issues of Justice Society of America involve the team uncovering the machinations of their long-time adversary the Ultra-Humanite, a body-hopping mad scientist who now controls his own multinational corporation which he uses as a cover to conduct his experiments in genetic engineering. It’s a good, solid setup for the series.

The next two storylines do feel a bit rushed, though. In #6 and #7 the JSA go to Bahdnesia, the tropical island home of the mystic Thunderbolt, to investigate the disappearance of the native population. Then, in #8 to #10, the alien sorcerer Kulak, another old foe of the team, utilizes television broadcasts to hypnotize the entire world and turn it against the team.

I definitely think both of those stories could have used an extra issue. Unfortunately the series was canceled with issue #10. I’m guessing there was probably enough advance notice that enabled Strazewski to truncate the storylines he already had planned. Well, even if they both do end somewhat abruptly, at least they were told in some form or another.

There’s also what appears to be an odd continuity mistake in issue #10, a flashback to the team’s last encounter with Kulak featuring Doctor Mid-Nite, Black Canary, Flash and Green Lantern, with a footnote refers readers to All-Star Comics #2, published in 1940. I was wondering how that could be possible, since the JSA’s first appearance was in All-Star #3, and they didn’t actually work together on a case until issue #4. I looked on the DC Database and according to that “The Curse of Kulak” in All-Star #2 was a solo story featuring the Spectre. And the team fought against Kulak in All-Star Squadron #28, which took place in 1942.

I fielded the question on the Justice Society of America group on FB, and the general consensus was that this was supposed to be a previously-unrevealed JSA adventure, probably set in the late 1940s, and that someone incorrectly added a footnote to All-Star #2.

When I did my write-up of the Justice Society of America miniseries I didn’t comment on Mike Parobeck’s penciling, because I knew I’d be discussing it extensively here.

Parobeck had this really fun, colorful, cartoony style. After the 1991 miniseries he and Strazewski worked together on DC’s Impact Comics imprint, on a revamp of the Archie Comics superhero the Fly. I really enjoyed their work together on The Fly. Unfortunately the Impact line only lasted about a year and a half. I was disappointed at the cancellation of those titles. Parobeck also penciled an enjoyable Elongated Man miniseries in early 1992.

I’m glad that Strazewski and Parobeck had the opportunity to work together again so soon on the ongoing Justice Society of America series. Much like The Fly, I wish that had lasted longer.

Parobeck’s style was regrettably looked upon as “simplistic” or “silly” by too many readers in the early 1990s, as the hyper-detailed work of the Image Comics founders and those they inspired was ascendent in mainstream superheroes. That was a huge shame, because Parobeck’s work was just such a joy to behold. He had some dynamic storytelling abilities, and his covers were exciting and well-designed. It was definitely a pleasure to re-examine his work during my re-read of this series.

Parobeck did finally gain some much-overdue recognition when he became the regular penciler of The Batman Adventures with issue #7 in April 1993. That series was set in the continuity of the hit Batman: The Animated Series. It was specifically targeted to an all-ages audience, and readers were expecting an “animated” style, so Parobeck’s work was very warmly received.

Tragically, Parobeck passed away in July 1996 at the much, much too young age of 30. It’s been subsequently observed that he was ahead of his time, his work presaging the highly-popular “cartoony” styles of artists such as Mike Wieringo and Humberto Ramos.

There is one scene in Justice Society of America, though, where I was sort of left squirming. In issue #10 Kulak is molesting a hypnotized Hawkgirl with his tongue. That just feels so wrong when rendered in Parobeck’s cartoony style, and I really wish Strazewski hadn’t included it in his plot.

Like, ewww, dude! Geeze, what do you think this is, a Chris Claremont comic book or something? 🙂

AHEM! Moving along…

The main inker on Justice Society of America is Mike Machlan, another creator who had a prior connection to the Justice Society. Machlan had previously worked on several issues of All-Star Squadron, and he had co-created the spin-off series Infinity Inc. with Roy Thomas & Jerry Ordway which featured the sons & daughters of the JSA in the present day.

Machlan does a really good job inking Parobeck. I feel they made an excellent match. Machlan is another good, solid, underrated artist. Regrettably there seem to be all too many of those working in the comic book industry, never receiving the recognition they probably should have earned for their work. It’s certainly a shame.

I do want to briefly comment about the sudden cancellation of Justice League of America. There’s been some debate over the years as to the reasons. Officially, the reason cited by assistant editor Ruben Diaz in the lettercol of #7 was that, after the first issue did very well, sales then fell “substantially” on subsequent issues.

However, it’s been alleged that the series was actually selling well, and that other factors were at work. In a 1998 interview Strazewski had this to say about the cancellation:

“It was a capricious decision made personally by Mike Carlin because he didn’t like Mike’s artwork or my writing and believed that senior citizen super-heroes was not what DC should be publishing. He made his opinion clear to me several times after the cancellation. As a result, I think it would be nigh onto impossible that I will work at DC again.”

To the best of my knowledge Mike Carlin has never publicly commented on Strazewski’s allegations. Neither had Brian Augustyn, the actual editor of the series, who regrettably passed away last year.

Speaking only from my perspective as a reader, in general I’ve found Carlin to be a highly qualified editor. He was in charge of the Superman family of books when they had basically become a weekly series produced by four separate creative teams, something that must have been a logistical nightmare to maintain the schedule for, but one that he kept running smoothly for several years. Carlin also edited The Power of Shazam, which as I’ve blogged about in the past is one of my all-time favorite comic book series.

It does seem, though, that the cancellation gave someone at DC the idea that the JSA were passé. A year later in the 1994 crossover Zero Hour several members of the team were brutally, senselessly killed off, something myself and other readers found very disappointing.

But just as I feel Mike Parobeck’s artwork was ahead of its time, so to do I think the revival of the Justice Society was, as well. In 1999 writers James Robinson & David S. Goyer launched an ongoing JSA series, once which really developed the intergenerational aspect of the team. Strazewski & Parobeck’s creation Jesse Quick would become a prominent member of this incarnation of the team. JSA was very successful, and since then, the occasional absence due to DC’s periodic cosmic reboots aside, the original team of superheroes have never gone away.

So, while Justice Society of America may not have been a success in the early 1990s, it did set the stage for the team’s latter triumphs.

Unfortunately, DC has never reprinted the Strazewski & Parobeck series. I recommend searching out the back issues. They’re pretty affordable and easy to find.