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Post by chaykinstevens on May 1, 2021 15:36:22 GMT -5
After featuring Batman-related lead stories in '93 & '94, Showcase seems to have switched to Superman-related leads in '95 & 96. Other characters featured include Supergirl, Eradicator, Mongul, Lois Lane, Steel, Superboy, Shadowdragon and Brainiac.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 2, 2021 8:39:21 GMT -5
I haven't read this stuff since it originally came out and my memory is non-existent on this stuff; but, did want to comment on one thing. Rose & Thorn. Thorn, in and of herself may not feel like much of a character; but, as you seem to indicate, when you meet Rose, you understand what the hook of this character was, when she appeared in the 70s (as opposed tot he original Rose & Thorn, from the Golden Age). My cousin had one of the Lois Lane issues, where Rose &Thorn acted as a back-up feature and it grabbed me immediately. There was a real hook to the Multiple Personality Disorder, which was given an organic and believable motivation. Then, you saw it in action as the meek little Rose gives way to the assertive and dangerous Thorn, who goes out and busts heads, fighting the hoods of the 100. She was beautiful, dressed like a stripper and she busts heads; and adolescent male dream! There was something that could get a guy to read a Lois Lane comic, aside from Superman or the seemingly endless bondage covers that permeated the series, at one stage (there is about a year in there where that was a constant cover feature). The feature got some mileage beyond that, but it got pushed into the background more and more. They were trying to revive it again; but, I think DC had the wrong people handling the feature to have made it more than just a storyline or a supporting character. I think Matt Wagner showed the kind of thing that could have been done, with Grendel, as did sister-in-law Diana Schutz, in the Grendel mini, Devil's Child. John Ostrander and Kim Yale would have done something interesting with it, as they did with Enchantress, in Suicide Squad. I really need to check out those earlier Lois Lane stories now. I assume Thorn is in this book now because of Jurgens, who also included her in his Booster Gold title on four occasions. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 2, 2021 11:23:57 GMT -5
Rose & Thorn debuted in Lois Lane #105 and remains as the back-up feature until #130. The letters page continued to be called "Letters to Lois & Rose," until the end, in #137 (when the title was folded in with Jimmy Olsen and renamed Superman Family). The basic premise is that Rose Forrest's father, a police officer, was killed by a criminal gang, The 100. When Rose sleeps, the thorn personality asserts itself and prowls the streets, hunting for the 100. In the final Lois story, she tracks down one of the men directly responsible for her father's death. She was brought back a little bit later, in the Superman titles, hunting for the newly revised 1000. In her first story, she appears as a guest star in the Lois Lane story, rescuing her from some members of the 100, who have broken out of prison, with Lois as hostage. That was followed by the Rose & Thorn story, which illustrates the origin f Thorn, as Peter Forrest is murdered by the 100, after breaking up a protection racket. Rose suffers a breakdown, but eventually is released from a hospital and a friend tells her about a vigilante, the Thorn, who has been attacking the 100. We then see Rose sleeping...  She goes through a hidden door in her brownstone, which leads to a passage between buildings, to an abandoned costume shop, where the blonde Rose dons a brunette wig and a green outfit, to become Thorn. She then rescues her friend from an attack by the 100, corners some more in a bowling alley and then returns home and reverts back to the Rose personality.  Robert Kanigher wrote the series and Ross Andru and Mike Esposito drew it. In her second story, the 100 try to poison her boyfriend, a detective, and end up poisoning Rose's dog, who paws through the roses that the hood sprayed with the poison. Thorn rescues the detective from a trap and leaves two of the gang impaled on the needles of a huge cactus! Thorn would leave numbers as she took down each member of the 100, then sometimes wake up as Rose, with unknown injuries, from her hunts. The 100 also cut a check to charity, in exchange for a gold coffin that is placed at a funeral home (whose director is affiliated with the 100), with a note that it is for Thorn, when they get her., so that is looming around for issues. The Lois comics were revamped a bit, but they were still weird, gimmick stories, like one where she is transformed into a black woman (swiped from the book Black Like Me), but Rose & Thorn made a more realistic contrast to her more fanciful stories (though there was some attempt to do more grounded stories with Lois). Still, it's early 70s Code-approved comics; so, it's not exactly Death Wish and its not quite as experimental as something by Steve Gerber or Don McGregor. For DC, though, it was quite a change. |
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Post by shaxper on May 2, 2021 12:12:51 GMT -5
Adventures of Superman #485 (December 1991)  "Out of the Mist" (Blackout Part 5) Script: Dennis Janke (plot); Jerry Ordway (plot, script) Pencils: Tom Grummett Inks: Doug Hazlewood Colors: Glenn Whitmore Letters: Albert DeGuzman Grade: D+ Given five issues to depict a major blackout and its effects on the people of Metropolis, the Superman Office spends one issue creating the problem, two issues having Superman play out a comedy on a lost desert island, and only one issue actually exploring the fallout in Metropolis before the power is restored. And now, in this final chapter, space is just utterly squandered. First, even though Superman's memory was clearly jogged by Lois' kiss last issue:  that apparently didn't happen now:  causing Janke and Ordway to spend the issue inside of Clark's mind as Dubbilex helps him restore his memory unnecessarily slowly as Clark begins reliving random villains and moments from the past five years. This could have made for a meaningful anniversary issue, but instead its arbitrary and poorly paced. In the end, this story really wasn't about Metropolis' blackout at all, despite how the early chapters may have set things up. Instead, this was a forgettable story about Superman losing his memory, being played for comedy, and then getting his memory back. A total waste of a five issue crossover. With one issue left in "1991," I have to hope the Superman Office has something better planned for next year. Important Details:- Mr. Z is still on the island that time forgot with no memories of who he was:  - Lex Luthor II appears to have plans for Professor Hamilton:  Minor Details:- This is the first time it becomes glaringly obvious that Ordway has been drawing an older looking Superman with gray hair (on the covers only) for a few months now. Next issue will have him looking even more aged and gray. He's been doing this since Adventures #483, though Superman was never in primary focus on those covers, making this depiction less obvious. Considering how much sooner covers needed to be submitted before stories were scripted, I wonder if there had originally been a plan for Superman to take long-term damage from his encounter with Parasite in Adventures #482, the last time Ordway drew a young-looking Superman on the cover. - More evidence that the purpose of this story full of elementary school humor and erotic art was to attract a new audience that wasn't already following these books: this is the first time in ages that an editorial note like this is made, and it's made twice in this issue:  - Though John Byrne has famously said of Action Comics #593, "If you want it to be a porno flick it was a porno flick. If you don't, it wasn't," Ordway seems pretty sure it was a Porno flick:  Whoops. They wrote SIX ninety two and SIX ninety three...And really, of all the memories Ordway could jog for this unnecessary issue, we had to be reminded of this AGAIN? Dan Jurgens felt the need to bring Sleeze back only ten months ago. Some truly bad ideas need to be left unremembered. In the end, "1991" has been one tremendous disappointment for the Superman Office, and I doubt the final issue of the year (coming next) can do much to change that. Here's to "1992"... |
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Post by Duragizer on May 4, 2021 20:21:03 GMT -5
I don't recall Lois being a D cup prior to this issue: Only for that panel, too, if the other panels showing her with a more modest bust are anything to go by. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 4, 2021 21:24:52 GMT -5
I wonder if Mr Z has ever heard the Kinks' "Lola?"
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Post by SJNeal on May 10, 2021 21:10:41 GMT -5
Superman: The Man of Steel #6 (December 1991)  "Mismatch" (Blackout Part 3) Script: Louise Simonson Pencils: Jon Bogdanove Inks: Dennis Janke Colors: Glenn Whitmore Letters: Bill Oakley Grade: C+ Check out that cover one more time. No. Not that part. I mean, if you don't look too carefully, which title is this? For the past five issues, "The Man of Steel" has been almost as large as the Superman logo itself. Now, suddenly, it's utterly tiny. My guess is that the lack of quality in this title has begun to catch up with its reputation. While some folks were still doing home subscriptions, pull lists at local comic shops had mostly taken over by this point, and so a title like this one likely couldn't coast on the hype of its first issue for eleven subsequent months. So what does the Superman Office do in response to rapidly sliding sales? Try to trick the casual reader into thinking this is a different title and offer up a ton of t&a to boot. Can I point out the uncomfortable irony that the only Superman title blatantly using a mostly naked woman to sell a comic is also the only one written by a woman? I guess the cover has a bit of a Harlequin Romance feel to it, but there's no question of which character gets more hyperssexualized within the book:   I wonder if Bogdanove is a fan of Frank Frazetta, as Lola-Le bears a strong resemblance to Luana, perhaps the one film in all of history that (thanks to Frazetta) is better remembered for its movie poster than for the movie itself:  Anyway, there is a definite sense of desperation in this issue. Whereas Ordway, Stern, and presumably Jurgens (we'll find out next issue) are working hard to explore the complexities of Metropolis in Crisis, Simonson and Bogdonove get the far simpler and less consequential chore of depicting what happens to an amnesia-plagued Superman in the meanwhile. It's a simple tale that requires no real understanding of what is happening in the other titles, and whereas Stern depicted Superman and Mr. Z's journey with an absurdist humor, Simonson and Bogdonove dumb it down to the level of a Looney Tune:     Sex and elementary school humor; I have to wonder whether this is a reflection of Simonson and Bogdonove's limited tastes or (more likely) a desperate appeal to win new readers to the Superman titles. Make a cover that will draw in Superman fans who have stopped following this title, and make an interior that will draw folks only reading Man of Steel into reading the other Superman titles. Not a bad idea. Still, this fourth title has been a thorn in my side for six issues now, and this issue continues to feel like an aberration -- it just doesn't match what's happening in the other three meticulously aligned titles. Take this panel, for example:  It's actually likely the finest panel Bogdanove has yet drawn for this office. It's well composed and tells a clear story, Lex Luthor II's domineering image attempting to impose order over Metropolis, while the powerful figure standing on the lamppost below tells us its not working, and Lois and Prof. Hamilton flee below all this, apart from the madness. Here's the problem: That's NOT the situation in Metropolis at all. All of Metropolis came out to greet Lex Luthor II, who is presented as a benign benefactor and not some maniacal domineering madman. While Metropolis is still in chaos, people ARE listening to him and awaiting his help. Bogdanove doesn't seem to know that, working only from Simonson's script with seemingly no knowledge of how this story is being depicted across the other three sister titles. And while Simonson and Bogdanove do get the opportunity to check in on two more Metropolis residents in this issue, it's hardly the worthwhile experience Stern gave us with Gangbuster and Thorn last time around. I'd been really looking forward to seeing what Bibbo's up to, and the answer is apparently "Not much". He's sitting around in his bar, entirely unaware of and unconcerned with the chaos outside, and does nothing to earn the two pages he is given in this issue:  The Guardian shows up and does even less, crashing through Bibbo's window, articulating a need for Superman, and then leaving. It seems like Carlin assigned these two characters to Simonson and she just did as little with them as possible: "Let's get back to the t&a!" It does seem like Carlin is beginning to understand that this title isn't working. I sincerely appreciate that it got pushed off to the side in this event, tackling none of the main plot in its twenty two pages beyond a brief recap, but that's not a lasting solution. Simonson and Bogdanove still feel like square pegs in a round office six months into this experiment, and that's a major disruption in an office that prides itself on inter-title alignment. Regarding the tiny "Man of Steel" on the cover; I think your (appropriate) distaste for the book in general might be informing your conclusion.  If anything, I think they were trying to make sure we knew which book it was by showing the full sub-title. If it had been regular font, their heads would have blocked everything but the first "M" and final "el". That's my theory anyway.  |
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Post by shaxper on May 10, 2021 21:39:31 GMT -5
Regarding the tiny "Man of Steel" on the cover; I think your (appropriate) distaste for the book in general might be informing your conclusion. If anything, I think they were trying to make sure we knew which book it was by showing the full sub-title. If it had been regular font, their heads would have blocked everything but the first "M" and final "el". That's my theory anyway. Here's how the cover would look with the usual logo:  I can see your point, but I still instantly recognize enough of it to know which book this is, whereas I keep thinking the cover we were given is an issue of the regular Superman title because we instinctively read left to right and then stop to look at the image interrupting the lettering: With the first cover, the brain at least instinctively understands that there is a subtitle to "Superman" before taking in the artwork and abandoning the logo. |
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Post by SJNeal on May 10, 2021 21:46:18 GMT -5
^ ^ ^ Ah, that subtitle is bigger than I thought!  |
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Post by shaxper on May 17, 2021 9:58:06 GMT -5
Well folks, last week I began working on a review for Action #672, the finale for "1991". I was so impressed by the story and excited to explore how well it redeemed an otherwise problematic year when I was interrupted.
I put it to the side and finally found time to work on it again this morning. I was interrupted again and somehow managed to lose everything I'd written in the process.
I'll get back to it soon. Just didn't want anyone to think I'd moved away from this thread. It's been my goal to finish 1991 since last year, and its immensely frustrating to be stalled one issue before the finish line.
We'll get there soon enough. And, with such a strong ending to 1991, I now have renewed faith that 1992 may blow me away.
Thanks for your patience all, and I'll see you soon.
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Post by badwolf on May 17, 2021 10:59:10 GMT -5
Though John Byrne has famously said of Action Comics #593, "If you want it to be a porno flick it was a porno flick. If you don't, it wasn't," Ordway seems pretty sure it was a Porno flick: Jerry needs to re-read the story and refresh his memory. The only questionable "porno" did not involve Superman at all, only Barda (the tape Darkseid shows Scott Free, which we never actually see.) By the time he got hold of Superman Sleez found that he couldn't make him do anything. |
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Post by shaxper on May 17, 2021 13:05:29 GMT -5
Though John Byrne has famously said of Action Comics #593, "If you want it to be a porno flick it was a porno flick. If you don't, it wasn't," Ordway seems pretty sure it was a Porno flick: Jerry needs to re-read the story and refresh his memory. The only questionable "porno" did not involve Superman at all, only Barda (the tape Darkseid shows Scott Free, which we never actually see.) By the time he got hold of Superman Sleez found that he couldn't make him do anything. The ending of that story strongly implied Superman and Barda had been intimate on camera, with Barda insisting the whole ordeal should be forgotten. |
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Post by badwolf on May 17, 2021 13:36:42 GMT -5
Jerry needs to re-read the story and refresh his memory. The only questionable "porno" did not involve Superman at all, only Barda (the tape Darkseid shows Scott Free, which we never actually see.) By the time he got hold of Superman Sleez found that he couldn't make him do anything. The ending of that story strongly implied Superman and Barda had been intimate on camera, with Barda insisting the whole ordeal should be forgotten. Superman and Barda both admit that their memories are cloudy, so from their perspectives they don't really know what happened. But we see objectively on panel that when Mr. Miracle busts in Sleez has only managed to make them kiss. |
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Post by shaxper on May 17, 2021 14:58:25 GMT -5
The ending of that story strongly implied Superman and Barda had been intimate on camera, with Barda insisting the whole ordeal should be forgotten. Superman and Barda both admit that their memories are cloudy, so from their perspectives they don't really know what happened. But we see objectively on panel that when Mr. Miracle busts in Sleez has only managed to make them kiss.  Seems pretty clear to me that something happened, and Barda doesn't want to talk about it. |
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Post by badwolf on May 17, 2021 15:12:29 GMT -5
Superman and Barda both admit that their memories are cloudy, so from their perspectives they don't really know what happened. But we see objectively on panel that when Mr. Miracle busts in Sleez has only managed to make them kiss. Seems pretty clear to me that something happened, and Barda doesn't want to talk about it. It doesn't seem clear to me at all. They both admit they're not sure what happened!
What is clear is that they are still sitting next to each other doing no more than kissing when Scott breaks it up.
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If anything, I think they were trying to make sure we knew which book it was by showing the full sub-title. If it had been regular font, their heads would have blocked everything but the first "M" and final "el". 
