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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 28, 2019 17:23:24 GMT -5
JLA #140 “No Man Escapes the Manhunter!” (March 1977)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: Blue-masked powerhouse The Manhunter poots on Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary until they are unconscious, then carries them to the Himalayas to meet his boss the Grandmaster, who says that Green Lantern is guilty of a severe crime. GL eventually confesses that during a recent space patrol, he accidentally destroyed an inhabited planet, Orinda. Manhunter unmasks himself, revealing Mark Shaw, former public defender attorney. He’s not thrilled with the thought of executing GL, and eventually an Oan Guardian shows up with a ring battery and a command that GL get busy at exonerating himself. Superman, Batman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman take a rocket (not Hawkman’s ship, but a previously unused JLA satellite rocket) to a planet near where Orinda used to be. There, they rescue another Oan Guardian from green-skinned Arabs led by Governor Tozad, who argues that Hal Jordan’s admittedly dire error has discredited the whole GL Corps forever. Seems like an overreaction! Next it’s off to Moraga, the moon of the destroyed planet, where the JLA fight not just a space dinosaur, but a cyclops space dinosaur! It turns out to be an illusion, which gets Batman thinking: If this moon hasn’t spun off into deep space, what is it orbiting? The “destroyed” planet must be there invisibly. Governor Tozad curses Batman’s deductive powers and reveals himself as a Manhunter and part of a plot to depose Oa from its role of galactic police! To be continued… My Two Cents: Whew! Englehart certainly didn’t skimp on plot, and I left out quite a few points in the interest of brevity. These issues are all double sized now, and this is only Part One of the story. DC publisher Jenette Kahn lured Englehart to DC to “do for JLA what you did for Avengers,” and he accepted under the condition that JLA could be 33 pages to allow for both action and character development, and that he get the Batman book as well. Englehart is leading us to think that GL didn’t really commit genocide. But he thinks he did. So… I guess he wasn’t going to tell anyone? Not very heroic! Englehart is engaging in some Gold/Silver/Bronze Age spanning revisionism here, adding to a long and convoluted story. Once upon a time, a private investigator named Paul Kirk appeared in Adventure Comics #58-72 (1941-42) in a series called “Paul Kirk, Manhunter.” The following issue (#73, in 1942) Paul Kirk’s series was replaced by one starring a new Joe Simon/Jack Kirby masked, costumed crimebuster, “Manhunter,” whose name was Rick Nelson. But one issue later, his name was changed to Paul Kirk! Obviously tweaking for quality improvement was more important than continuity. His adventures continued through issue #92. “Manhunter 2070” put the character into a sci-fi setting in 1970 issues of DC Showcase. Then Walter Simonson was the writer/artist for a new modern-day Manhunter as a backup in Detective Comics #437-443 (1973-4). Although the protagonist wore a garish Superhero costume with Cockrum-style flared epaulets, he was a spy character, the leader of a squad of assassin clones. Simonson named him Paul Kirk, intending the clones to be derived from the original Manhunter Paul Kirk, not the original “Paul Kirk, Manhunter.” Confused yet? Anyway, this new Manhunter teamed with Batman to bring down his corrupt masters, and died in the process. Steve Englehart is resurrecting the Manhunter brand as a cosmic society of grim-and-gritty bounty hunters/executioners, more Punisher than Batman, competing with the more law-driven Green Lantern corps, with a skintight red costume similar to the one worn by the Kirby/Simon Manhunter. He has a Starman-style power rod with all sorts of useful abilities, and his mask gives him physical prowess. Future issues will imply internal modifications as well. Green Arrow asks Green Lantern to “turn on that big green love-light,” probably a reference to the Grateful Dead’s 1969 song “Turn on Your Love-Light.” Wonder Woman continues to give lip to everybody, even Superman. Flash meanwhile makes light of the team’s impending demise from a shrinking force field box. It was a good joke, gallows humor. Your Manhunter background is a bit mixed up here. I did a thread about the evolution of Manhunter, mainly beginning with the Goodwin/Simonson series, which you misattribute solely to Simonson. You are correct about the Golden Age hero. Originally, Paul Kirk, manhunter, was a detective feature, in Adventure Comics. When Simon & Kirby came to DC, it was replaced by a superhero Manhunter. Simon & Kirby liked to create their own characters, so they called him Rick Nelson. I can't verify; but, would be willing to bet, the editor wanted a tie in to the previous character and he was renamed Paul Kirk. As I said in my thread, Rick Nelson must have gone to a garden party, to reminisce with his old friends; so, Paul Kirk had to take over. Now, here's where you are getting a bit mixed up. Archie Goodwin had taken over as editor of Detective Comics, around the time they became 100-PG books. Since he had extra space, he wanted to create a feature to contrast Batman. He wanted brighter colors and something more global. he came up with a revived Manhunter, and got Walt to draw it. Walt was pretty new in the business and had done a couple of war stories for Archie; so, he knew he could draw this kind of material; but, he had been pigeonholed as a sci-fi guy, on the basis of his school project, which was the original form of the Star Slammers. Archie plotted the stories and broke down the panel progressions, using multiple, small panels to expand time and fewer panels to speed up the action, making the best use of each 8 page story. Walt credits Archie for the layouts, saying he learned a ton from Archie. The series was a massive critical hit, winning multiple SHAZAM Awards (precursor to things like the Eisner's). Archie had taken a job at Marvel; but, was able to give his serialized story an ending, having the character crossover with the lead feature, Batman, in an epic conclusion. The character appeared done, at the end. Flash forward a couple of years, to First Issue Special #8, where Jack Kirby created a new Manhunter, Mark Shaw. This character was the latest recruit to the Cult of the Manhunters. This was a secret society, dating back to the Middle Ages, who acted to protect people from evil. The then-current Manhunter was old and slowing down and barely defeated the criminal, Chopper. Mark Shaw is a public defender, whose client was framed. An uncle steers him towards the Manhunters and he is recruited into the society. He is given the uniform and the baton weapon. The story ends with him bringing the crooks to justice; but, nothing more followed. Until Englehart, that is. Kirby implied that the old Manhunter was Paul Kirk, ignoring (or probably not knowing about) the Goodwin/Simonson series. Engleheart added the cosmic connection to the Manhunter cult, which gets further expanded in part 2. My original Manhunter thread is here. It was my first review thread, on the board, covering from Paul Kirk up through Kate Spencer. Mark Shaw would return during the Millennium crossover, which draws its central plot from this two-parter. he then got his own series, for 2 years and turned up in the Kate Spencer series. There was an unrelated Manhunter, ccoming out of Zero Hour, but who was disposed of, going into the Spencer series. Mark Shaw turned up there, before carrying over to Spencer. There were two Paul Kirk Manhunter connections, elsewhere: Secret Society of Super-Villains and Power Company. SSSV had a Manhunter clone in the group, in the first 4 issues. Power Company had another clone, who rebelled against the Council and went his own way, eventually turning up in South Africa, as Kirk DePaul. That Manhunter was part of the Power Company group. Kurt Busiek at least had the consideration to run the idea by Archie Goodwin, to get his blessing, before running with the character, which is more than Gerry Conway did (though I doubt Archie cared). Archie & Walt were working on a Manhunter coda story, when Archie passed away. Walt finished it as a silent story, which was included in the trade edition reprint of the original (which reprinted the Manhunter Baxter reprint of the entire storyline, originally published in the mid-80s).
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Post by Farrar on Feb 28, 2019 17:31:45 GMT -5
I was pleasantly surprised to see what Dick Giordano could do left to his own devices and, presumably, given more time and money. Here's a sample of his work on pencils and ink from the adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula as found in Dracula Lives #5: More and more, I like Giordano on his own than as an inker. And, really, he's at his best at things besides superheroes (Batman being the exception, since his adventures are usually--and best when--kept at "ground level"). As an inker, he tends to overpower.
I liked the Rose and the Thorn back-up feature that appeared in the Lois Lane comic for a while; and there was a particular R&T story that had some really striking art by (I thought) Adams as penciler with Giordano inks. When I got back into comics a few years ago I started looking for the issue. Well, turns out it was all Giordano! Here's one of the panels I'd remembered, from Lois Lane #112.
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Post by rberman on Feb 28, 2019 18:58:37 GMT -5
Your Manhunter background is a bit mixed up here. I did a thread about the evolution of Manhunter, mainly beginning with the Goodwin/Simonson series, which you misattribute solely to Simonson. You are correct about the Golden Age hero. Originally, Paul Kirk, manhunter, was a detective feature, in Adventure Comics. When Simon & Kirby came to DC, it was replaced by a superhero Manhunter. Simon & Kirby liked to create their own characters, so they called him Rick Nelson. I can't verify; but, would be willing to bet, the editor wanted a tie in to the previous character and he was renamed Paul Kirk. As I said in my thread, Rick Nelson must have gone to a garden party, to reminisce with his old friends; so, Paul Kirk had to take over. Now, here's where you are getting a bit mixed up. Archie Goodwin had taken over as editor of Detective Comics, around the time they became 100-PG books. Since he had extra space, he wanted to create a feature to contrast Batman. He wanted brighter colors and something more global. he came up with a revived Manhunter, and got Walt to draw it. Walt was pretty new in the business and had done a couple of war stories for Archie; so, he knew he could draw this kind of material; but, he had been pigeonholed as a sci-fi guy, on the basis of his school project, which was the original form of the Star Slammers. Archie plotted the stories and broke down the panel progressions, using multiple, small panels to expand time and fewer panels to speed up the action, making the best use of each 8 page story. Walt credits Archie for the layouts, saying he learned a ton from Archie. The series was a massive critical hit, winning multiple SHAZAM Awards (precursor to things like the Eisner's). Archie had taken a job at Marvel; but, was able to give his serialized story an ending, having the character crossover with the lead feature, Batman, in an epic conclusion. The character appeared done, at the end. Flash forward a couple of years, to First Issue Special #8, where Jack Kirby created a new Manhunter, Mark Shaw. This character was the latest recruit to the Cult of the Manhunters. This was a secret society, dating back to the Middle Ages, who acted to protect people from evil. The then-current Manhunter was old and slowing down and barely defeated the criminal, Chopper. Mark Shaw is a public defender, whose client was framed. An uncle steers him towards the Manhunters and he is recruited into the society. He is given the uniform and the baton weapon. The story ends with him bringing the crooks to justice; but, nothing more followed. Until Englehart, that is. Kirby implied that the old Manhunter was Paul Kirk, ignoring (or probably not knowing about) the Goodwin/Simonson series. Engleheart added the cosmic connection to the Manhunter cult, which gets further expanded in part 2. My original Manhunter thread is here. It was my first review thread, on the board, covering from Paul Kirk up through Kate Spencer. Mark Shaw would return during the Millennium crossover, which draws its central plot from this two-parter. he then got his own series, for 2 years and turned up in the Kate Spencer series. There was an unrelated Manhunter, ccoming out of Zero Hour, but who was disposed of, going into the Spencer series. Mark Shaw turned up there, before carrying over to Spencer. There were two Paul Kirk Manhunter connections, elsewhere: Secret Society of Super-Villains and Power Company. SSSV had a Manhunter clone in the group, in the first 4 issues. Power Company had another clone, who rebelled against the Council and went his own way, eventually turning up in South Africa, as Kirk DePaul. That Manhunter was part of the Power Company group. Kurt Busiek at least had the consideration to run the idea by Archie Goodwin, to get his blessing, before running with the character, which is more than Gerry Conway did (though I doubt Archie cared). Archie & Walt were working on a Manhunter coda story, when Archie passed away. Walt finished it as a silent story, which was included in the trade edition reprint of the original (which reprinted the Manhunter Baxter reprint of the entire storyline, originally published in the mid-80s). Good information! Thanks for the clarification. For whatever reason, this JLA appearance of Manhunter Mark Shaw chose not to reference his previous Kirby appearances. The bit about Shaw being a lawyer came out of left field and played no role in the story, making it odd to mention at all. Now I know why; it was just a bit of continuity with Shaw-Manhunter's other recent appearances. DC Editorial should have done something to prevent Kirby's work from colliding conceptually with Goodwin/Simonson's recent work. I guess they just left Kirby alone.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 28, 2019 21:24:08 GMT -5
It's not blatantly stated that the aging Manhunter,who precedes Mark Shaw is Paul Kirk; but, his age suggests that it could be him. It is kind of inferred that is Paul Kirk by later writers and readers. Englehart actually takes care of that assumption right away, in part two. However, down the road, he will weave Paul Kirk back into the Manhunter society, retconning his origin, while also connecting the Quality Comics Manhunter to the society. Millennium would present all kinds of Manhunter covert agents, as a hook to the crossover; but, one that fell apart, logically; and, did so quickly. The Manhunter Secret Origins issue does a better job of weaving the entire history together. I get the sense that, by that point, DC didn't are what Kirby did, so long as he fulfilled his contracted page quota. The bloom was well off the rose by the time of Manhunter and Kirby's other First Issue Special stories (see my First Issue Special thread). Kirby would soon return to Marvel. I'm not even certain anybody at DC even remembered the Goodwin/Simonson story, until Conway stuck the clone into the SSSV and DC was launching the Explosion, which was supposed to include Dynamic Classics, which would feature popular storylines, including the O'Neil/Adams Batman and Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter. Only the one issue was released, before the Implosion.
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Post by Chris on Feb 28, 2019 23:54:19 GMT -5
To add to the Manhunter Madness... here's a page from All-Star Squadron #31 (March 1984) - I learned more about 1940s comics from this series than I ever wanted to. Also note that Rascally Roy Thomas made Starman aka Ted Knight cousins with Phantom Lady aka Sandra Knight, despite the fact that they were originally published by different companies. As i wrote in another thread (which I can't find now), you can take almost any random DC Comics event and add "Roy Thomas retconned it in the 80s" and have at least a 50% chance of being right. The two Manhunters appear again in part of a massive 4-page spread (really!), and one cannot help but snicker at the look on their faces... Manhunter-Q - "I'm gonna get you, sucka!" Manhunter-DC "Didn't hear nothin'." On a side note, don't The Whip and Mr. America look like brothers in a Men's Wearhouse" ad, with Zatara as their cousin who owns the place?
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Post by rberman on Mar 1, 2019 8:10:45 GMT -5
JLA #141 “No World Escapes the Manhunter!” (April 1977)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: The Flash and Wonder Woman take the JLA rocket back from the Moraga moon. Grandmaster, the Manhunter leader, turns off the satellite’s life support, and Flash collapses. Wonder Woman uses her lasso to command the Dharlu, which has been enslaved within the JLA’s computer console since issue #130. She forces it to break the force-field which Grandmaster placed around the satellite, then return to its cage within the JLA computer. Back to the grindstone, slave! The Oan Guardian on Moraga tells Superman and Batman that the Guardians originally created robotic Manhunters who rebelled against Oa and were banished throughout the galaxy; the Oans subsequently began the Green Lantern Corps with living soldiers, while the robot Manhunters continued to plot the downfall of Oa from their hidden base of Orinda, the very planet that GL was accused of destroying, now invisible. Superman and Batman attack the whole planet full of Manhunters and deactivate its invisibility machine, restoring the good name of the Guardians of Oa. Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary escape Manhunter base and fight Mark Shaw, the recent Manhunter recruit, in the desert outside. Wonder Woman and The Flash teleport down from the satellite to help. The heroes disguise themselves as Manhunters and confront the Grandmaster. Mark Shaw switches sides and attacks Grandmaster also, revealing him to be one of the original robot Manhunters manufactured ages ago on Oa. Shaw wants to be a superhero now, but Superman threatens to keep tabs on him just in case. My Two Cents: These double-length issues leave room for a lot of plot and a lot of action as well. Englehart takes the opportunity to indulge in some world-building back-story for the Green Lantern Corps. Batman declares himself and Superman “the World’s Finest” team. Subtle plug! Wonder Woman apologizes to unconscious Flash for being so prickly since Englehart started writing. Fine, but maybe wait until he awakens? Then she accuses him of being chauvinistic because he’s married. I guess Englehart doesn't have a very high opinion of that institution. Also, I’m pretty sure that sitting on Flash's back is not an adequate substitute for CPR. OK, the Dharlu… It’s pretty clear that it’s a sentient being—now identified as female— enslaved to keep the JLA computer running properly, plus additional duties whenever someone with a magic lasso sees fit to assign them. This is frankly nuts. This appears to be its last appearance; we can guess that future writers found it morally outrageous and chose to pretend it never happened. Sort of how the Guardians ignored the Manhunters… <iframe width="7" height="10.060000000000002" style="position: absolute; width: 7px; height: 10.06px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 5px; top: 43px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_68836709" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="7" height="10.060000000000002" style="position: absolute; width: 7px; height: 10.06px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 297px; top: 43px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_75854291" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="7" height="10.060000000000002" style="position: absolute; width: 7px; height: 10.06px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 5px; top: 485px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_59864043" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="7" height="10.060000000000002" style="position: absolute; width: 7px; height: 10.06px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 297px; top: 485px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_73408149" scrolling="no"></iframe>
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 1, 2019 15:01:20 GMT -5
Here's where Englehart seriously messed with Manhunter. Now, they are androids, created by the Guardians of the Universe, to be their agents, until they were corrupted by power. The Guardians rectify things with living Green Lanterns (cause living things don't become corrupted by power) and we get Millennium, in a decade and a really bad taste in our mouths. Not because of the android Manhunters; but, because of some really big leaps in logic to tie the Manhunters into every DC book. It didn't work and the big reveal of the series, the new Guardians, were massively underwhelming, at best, and offensive, at worst.
Mark Shaw will turn up again, here, down the road.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2019 17:13:25 GMT -5
Steve Englehart inserted himself into JLA #139 as Esteban Corazon (Steven Heart) to apologise for having mocked then during his run on the Avengers. Later, during his run on Fantastic Four, Englehart revealed the villain Diablo's real name to be Esteban Corazon de Ablo (Steven Devil-Heart).
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2019 17:27:41 GMT -5
JLA #141 “No Man Escapes the Manhunter!” (April 1977) #141's title was actually "No World Escapes the Manhunters!"
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 2, 2019 1:24:43 GMT -5
The Englehart story was adapted in the first season of the Justice League cartoon, complete with Kanjar Ro added. You also see some of the Green Lantern Corps. Jon Stewart substituted for Hal Jordan. No Mark Shaw. Shaw did turn up in The Batman, with the Manhunters, in a modified form. Would have loved to have seen the Goodwin Simonson series adapted into a Batman TAS two-parter or as one of the DC direct-to-video moves. Hell, motion picture would be nice. You'd need to rework the costume; but, not really much else.
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Post by rberman on Mar 2, 2019 6:56:03 GMT -5
JLA #142 “Return from Forever!” (April 1977)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: A nice day at sea for Aquaman, The Atom, and Elongated Man is interrupted by a crashed spaceship containing a babe who claims to be from Earth, despite her green skin and her Shayera-sized disc earrings. No mere earthling has ear lobes that strong! The Earth’s constant barrage of human radio transmissions has birthed an artificial intelligence, The Construct, who inhabits a robot body and lives in a base deep underground. He threatens to destroy Miami with a “Thanotron” death ray unless Willow is surrendered to his custody. How does he know about her, and what does he want with her? We never learn. Elongated Man and Aquaman destroy the Thanotron in Miami… While The Atom protects Willow when The Construct improbably takes control of a pile of rocks on a desert island, shaping them into a golem who emits death rays somehow. Meanwhile, the rest of the JLA return from their space adventure last issue. Wonder Woman gets offended when Superman suggests everybody could use some rest. The Flash and Green Arrow ask Superman to kick Wonder Woman out of the JLA, or at least see a doctor for some psychiatric help. Well, that escalated quickly! My Two Cents: The issue’s title refers to Willow, who reveals that she was snatched from Earth to be the bride of a space god; he has merged with her, and now she is pregnant with a messianic figure. Now, I’m no expert in 70s Avengers, but this is just Englehart importing the Celestial Madonna story into the DCU, right? In that story culminating in Giant-Size Avengers #3 (1975), Mantis the space hooker gets married to an alien plant which has been imbued with the personality of her dead boyfriend The Swordsman, and they fly off to create some sort of Messiah whose nature was never explained. It takes Englehart basically this whole issue of JLA to re-introduce Mantis in this new context as Willow (a name signifying her new status as a tree instead of a bug), and he doesn’t push the ball any further down the field. Did editorial refuse to let him proceed? I can’t think of any other reason he would go to all this effort to move his story from Marvel to DC and then drop it. It’s also reminiscent of the Moonshadow series (1985-6) which J.M. DeMatteis did for Epic Comics, in which a divine alien claims an Earth girl for his bride and sires the titular protagonist, who is an autobiographical stand-in for DeMatteis. Englehart next unshelved the Celestial Madonna under the name Lorelei in his 1983 Image Comics series Scorpio Rose #2. She lives with her young son in the “Willow Mantic Heights” (Willow + Mantis) of Willimantic, Connecticut (likewise). In the process of shoehorning Mantis into JLA, Englehart fumbles the plot of his own tale. The Construct is a cool idea, a disembodied AI composed of radio waves, and I believe that such a being could animate a robot body. A pile of rocks on a desert island, not so much, and Willow has no basis for thinking that this rock body’s destruction would harm the A.I. that was animating it. Wonder Woman last issue was making heartfelt apologies to The Flash for snapping at him, but now she’s taking offense again, to the point that Green Arrow is calling her a name which is definitely not “witch.” The frequent reversals are causing me to lose confidence that Englehart understands where this drama is headed. This is a focus issue on The Atom. He’s been feeling underused and leaps at the opportunity to be Willow’s bodyguard. There’s a nice exchange in which Willow gets him to quit his belly-aching by pretending she’s ready to give up, forcing him to rise (or more accurately, shrink) to the occasion.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 3, 2019 2:42:36 GMT -5
JLA #142 “Return from Forever!” (April 1977)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: A nice day at sea for Aquaman, The Atom, and Elongated Man is interrupted by a crashed spaceship containing a babe who claims to be from Earth, despite her green skin and her Shayera-sized disc earrings. No mere earthling has ear lobes that strong! My Two Cents: The issue’s title refers to Willow, who reveals that she was snatched from Earth to be the bride of a space god; he has merged with her, and now she is pregnant with a messianic figure. Now, I’m no expert in 70s Avengers, but this is just Englehart importing the Celestial Madonna story into the DCU, right? Was she wearing earrings? I hadn't noticed...... And, yep, this is Englehart reviving Mantis.
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Post by rberman on Mar 3, 2019 7:39:49 GMT -5
JLA #143 “A Tale of Two Satellites!” (May 1977)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: Superman asks Wonder Woman why she’s so easily offended these days. She replies, “I’m not easily offended!! How dare you?? I quit!!” Other JLAers get mad at Green Arrow and The Flash for allegedly driving her away, and one by one, they all stalk off in a huff, leaving Superman alone on the satellite to wonder what he did wrong. I think this is the scene that Kurt Busiek was lampooning in the issue of Astro City in which Samaritan and Winged Victory go on a disastrous date. Teleporting down to Earth, and still seething, Wonder Woman encounters Mark “Manhunter” Shaw, now calling himself the Privateer and dressing like a pirate, complete with mustache and eyepatch. Arr! He’s chasing villains Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, but Wonder Woman assumes he’s helping them, and the villains escape during the heroes’ Misunderstanding Fight. He buys her lunch, but she keeps getting offended by innocuous comments. When she beats him up, he realizes their date is over. OK... maybe this is what Busiek was parodying. Or both. Remember how Construct’s defeat last issue seemed improbable? Englehart thought so too I guess, because Construct is still alive and kicking, and soon re-assembles the whole Injustice Gang on Libra’s old satellite base ( JLA #111). Present are Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mirror Master, Chronos, and the Tattooed Man. Construct also seizes control of Wonder Woman’s mind (a power that would have been very useful last issue) and causes her to beam up to the JLA satellite to fight Superman. He’s forced to surrender to the control of her magic lasso when she threatens to launch America’s nuclear arsenal from the JLA satellite’s computer controls. Why exactly does the JLA satellite have that ability, when an alien Dharlu with a grudge is enslaved within the computer? Don’t ask me! The others JLAers figure out that the Injustice Gang is involved, so they attack the Gang’s satellite, catching them by surprise and defeating them soundly. Wonder Woman returns to her right mind. But Construct is still out there somewhere… My Two Cents: For once, a cover showing two heroes fighting actually reflected the interior story well. Englehart is certainly doing his best to bring Avengers-style internal conflict to the JLA—to an unprecedented degree. I was pleased to see Construct return since (1) he’s a cool villain concept, and (2) his defeat last issue seemed too easy. Also, hats off to Englehart for playing a long game concerning Wonder Woman’s odd demeanor, even if Construct’s mental domination powers are wildly inconsistent in their application so far. Possessing machines makes a lot of sense for him; possessing people (or a pile of rocks, like last issue), not so much. Much of this issue is consumed with individual JLAers having random encounters with various villains who teleport away mid-fight to join Construct’s team. It’s a bit formulaic, but it still seems much more organic than the clichéd Silver Age “JLA assembles only to split into squads headed for distant points of the globe” stories. There’s more of a sense that the JLA are simply living their lives and find the need to assemble to fight a big menace. Assembling just to split up is dumb and requires constant plot contrivances. Black Canary’s minced vulgarity today is “Bullfeathers!” Black Canary also makes a reference to TV sitcom “Welcome Back Kotter” and earns an appreciative footnote from Joe Orlando, editor of DC’s comic book adaptation of “Welcome Back Kotter.”
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 3, 2019 11:45:48 GMT -5
See how bad-ass Mark Shaw is? He doesn't even need depth perception!
In Millennium, Shaw would reappear, as the privateer, before resuming the name Manhunter, in his series. Even Ostrander ignored the eyepatch issue.
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Post by rberman on Mar 4, 2019 6:16:28 GMT -5
JLA #144 “The Origin of the Justice League--- Minus One!” (July 1977) Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. Frame Story: Green Arrow is troubled by an inconsistency in JLA history. How could Green Lantern have been part of the first JLA adventure in February 1959, when he did not get his ring until September 1959? A recording by J’onn J’onzz holds the answer… The Story: First comes a three page recap of J’onn’s arrival on earth, courtesy of Dr. Erdel’s “Robot-Brain” machine. When Dr. Erdel dies, J’onn is obliged to tinker with the machine, trying to figure out how to activate it to return him home. When White Martians led by Blanx the Warlord threaten J’onn on Earth, he drives them off with a fire which also destroys Dr. Erdel’s machine. Days later, the Flash intrudes upon another encounter between Blanx and J’onn, preventing paranoid citizens from shooting rifles at the combatants from skyscraper windows. But The Flash himself is relatively new on the scene, and the citizens are dubious, so he calls established heroes Batman, Robin, and Superman to vouch for him. Then they call lots of other heroes to help! Too many to handle at once in fact. That means it’s squad time… Squad One: The Blackhawks, Plastic Man, and Jimmy Olsen attack a country house with their jet fighters and get machine gun attacked in return. When they storm the house, it’s empty; the occupant, Rip Hunter, has teleported away with his time machine. Jimmy Olssen complains, so they dump him in a trash can. Ha ha, nerd! Squad Two: The Challengers, Vigilante, Robotman, Congo Bill and Lois Lane chase a suspicious figure into the woods. Oh, it’s only Adam Strange, looking for his latest Zeta beam engagement. Sorry, dude! Squad Three: Batman, Robin, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman are in this group, which obviously becomes the basis of the future JLA. Rex the Wonder Dog and journalist Roy Raymond are along too, and I must say I now find the JLA impoverished by failing to induct Rex, whose nose proves indispensable in this adventure. Good dog! At Ferris Industries, they meet very normal test pilot Hal Jordan and prevent a bunch of White Martians from boarding an experimental rocket. The not-yet-JLA meet J’onn J’onzz at this point, and he asks to join their team. No way, they say. Martians are too unpopular right now. Let’s all meet together in six months and see how it goes. This explains the date discrepancy, including the first adventure sort-of including Hal Jordan before he was Green Lantern. Aren’t you glad we got this all cleared up? Continuity Notes: Oh yes, this issue is all about the continuity. Julius Schwartz makes a pre-emptive strike about anyone wondering where the September 1959 date came from, and why Green Lantern hasn’t aged in the intervening 18 years: “Anyway, that was the cover date of GL’s first appearance in Showcase #22! Remember – We’re dealing here with comic mag time! And comic heroes have their own ways to stop the clock and avoid aging!” The JLA origin story was originally told “In JLA #9.” Concerning Martian Manhunter’s origin, “The following comes from Detective #225!” Blanx and the White Martians conquered Mars and attacked Earth. “It was in JLA #71.” Green Arrow missed the Martian manhunt because he and Speedy were on Starfish Island at the time, as told in “ Adventure #256.” Adam Strange’s Zeta Beam is “A secret the JLA learned in Mystery in Space #75!” Martian Manhunter was on Earth recently, “As recorded in recent issues of Adventure and World’s Finest!” My Two Cents: We use “fanboy” to disparage comic book professionals who are more interested in reliving their own youth as enthusiastic collectors than in telling a good story today. I’m not sure which side of the line this story falls on, obsessed as it is with a niggling detail that arose because JLA #9 was loose with its claim that the JLA origin story took place “three years before” rather than just two and a half. I wonder whether Englehart was commanded to work in all the vintage heroes and decided the path of least resistance was a flashback story, rather than trying to work Congo Bill into the Bronze Age. The Earth is apparently turning beneath the JLA satellite: “Africa rolls by far below.” I thought it was in geosynchronous orbit over Metropolis in previous stories. Was I wrong?
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