Power Man #48

by Chris Claremont and John Byrne



I'm not exactly sure but this may be the first time Luke Cage meets Danny Rand, Misty Knight and Coleen Wing. This issue is epic non-stop action as he fights all three of them to the point where Rand's home is completely demolished. Of course the title character isn't really the badguy and he's being forced to do so to save his friends. I'm looking forward to reading the conclusion.

I finished reading The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson a few nights back. It's a gently entertaining and thought-provoking story, which follows the adventures of a young, 50th-century woman (and those adventures include something as seemingly pedestrian as going shopping at one point) who longs to escape her mundane life and travel the galaxy.

Just like with Charley's War in the pages of Battle Picture Weekly, the Halo Jones strip used to bore me silly when it was appearing in 2000 AD back in the '80s, but again, just like Charley's War, I've found a new appreciation for the strip upon re-reading it as an adult. Not that Halo Jones is a patch on the masterpiece that is Charley's War, of course, but it's certainly much, much better than I recall it being back in the mid-80s.

Halo Jones herself is a fairly vanilla protagonist, to be honest, who is upstaged by a lot of the strip's supporting cast for much of the time. She's not always the most sympathetic character either, despite clearly having a good heart: she makes mistakes, she does stupid things, and she can be very self-absorbed. But therein lies much of her appeal: she's a true "everywoman", as opposed to one with special powers or special character traits. I can quite see why some commentators have called Halo Jones the first feminist comic character.

Moore does an awful lot of world building in the strip too, but he never panders to the reader with much in the way of explanations. You're dropped right into the 50th-century and left to figure out the jargon and other references for yourself -- which is a simultaneously confusing and highly rewarding experience. Ian Gibson's art is of its usual, highly stylised quality, and you'll either love it or hate it, depending on your tastes. Myself, I'm definitely a "lover", but I can totally see that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

Overall, I found this to be a quietly entertaining and comforting read. There's really not much in the way of traditional sci-fi action in The Ballad of Halo Jones (although she does get embroiled in a planetary war in the third book), so if you're looking for big explosions and alien monsters then this probably isn't for you. However, I feel that the strip more than makes up for that with moments of real emotional insight and some surprisingly heartbreaking elements too, such as with the character of Glyph; this asexual and pathetically fragile character, who has undergone gender reassignment so many times that it doesn't know what sex it was originally, is routinely and rather callously ignored by Halo and the other supporting cast members, even when Glyph is saving their lives.

The Ballad of Halo Jones is definitely one of Moore's more minor works, but it's also one of his most human and, because of that, it's found an unexpected place fairly close to my heart.

I just read the Superman vs. Wonder Woman treasury. Amazing. I loved it. As most may know, Superman is not my cup of tea but it was a beautiful thing to read. The artwork was fantastic and the story was very entertaining.

I'm up to Sub-Mariner #33. Byrrah, Dr. Dorcas and Krang return! And Namor puts them in their place!

This issue ends with Namor and Dorma announcing that they are now - finally! - engaged. Thus prompting one of the big mistakes that Marvel made with some of their secondary character in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

They decided to kill Dorma rather than tie Namor down. I'm not sure what issue it happens in or any of the circumstances because I've never read that one.

I can see sort of see the reasoning, that tying Namor to Dorma would put a damper on the free-wheeling Namor, who is used to neglecting the kingdom and wandering around and fighting underwater villains and occasionally being abducted by Dr. Doom. And the romantic attachment between Namor and Dorma had just gone on for so long and really wasn't going anywhere.

So ... get them engaged and kill Dorma. I think it happened on their wedding day.

I think there were other options. Develop Dorma's character. Give her the power of regency (as Namor's queen) over Atlantis when Namor's away. Come up with some Atlantis ritual that Dorma must go on before she gets married. I can think of a lot ways around these problems.

I feel that getting rid of Dorma was problematic in ways that getting rid of Gwen Stacy wasn't. I still think that killing Gwen was kind of lazy, but Spider-Man was a great series after they did that, with Peter having a much better reason than usual for being depressed. But the real strength of the aftermath of Gwen's death was Spidey's supporting cast. Mary jane was the go-to love interest, but they could have developed a relationship with old flame Betty Brant or brought back Liz Allan. And there are plenty of other supporting characters to provide the drama and the complications in Peter's life - Jameson, Aunt May, Flash, Harry.

But Dorma - she's not quite the only supporting character in the series, but she's just about the only one with any longevity (as of 1970 or so) who can really provide the substance that a comic book hero needs. The other Atlantis-based characters - Ikthon, Seth and Vashti - all have their uses but they just can't compare with the history that Namor and Dorma had together.

In the air-breathing world, Diane Arliss had been around a lot, and I like her, but I think Namor always needs a really strong Atlantic-based character to really play off of.

I guess Namor did OK after the death of Dorma - or did he? The series lasted a few more years, and when it was canceled, he was in Super-Villain Team-Up ... for 15 issues.

But the future success (or lack of it) of his series is not what I'm talking about. I think Dorma had a lot of potential as a character who could have been very interesting if developed. I think all comic book heroes benefit greatly from having long-term relationships of one kind or another with their supporting characters. Superman needs Lois. Batman needs Alfred. The Thing needs Alicia.

Dorma had been around since Marvel Mystery Comics #1 in 1939! (I didn't know that. I thought her first appearance was the first Fantastic Four Annual and I was double-checking that online.) I don't think she appeared that much during the Golden Age, but she was there. Her death seems like a kind of knee-jerk reaction from a writer who didn't really want to deal with her.

Its a darn shame!

This is one of my earliest Avengers issues. Found it and #52 and #62 bagged together as used copies at a Salvation Army. These along with early Marvel Triple Action reprints were what made me an Avenger's fan for life. for the longest time until the 80's and LCS's came into town I was missing out on issue 78. True Silver age Greatness!!!

The Brave and the Bold #135



This may be when Haney official jumped the shark. 

The gist of the story is that Ruby Ryder has hatched a plot to inherit the estate of a long dead scientist by placing a robot duplicate of a "humanoid" created by said scientist in a time capsule placed their by, yep, the dead scientist. Unfortunately the real humanoid was somehow in suspended animation beneath the capsule, awakens, and immediately destroys the robot. Batman and the Metal Men link the robot to Ryder, but Ryder has seduced the real humanoid and succeeds in proving to a court (in a hilarious scene) that the humanoid is human and should have legal rights, thus allowing him to inherit his creators estate. The story ends with Ryder and the Humanoid claiming that Wayne built his building on the scientists original property, making it theirs. 

What really makes this story so absurd is how Haney writes Batman. First, he inexplicably has the hots for Ruby Ryder during this story (the same one that tried to kill Plastic Man awhile back) and actually gets jealous when she seduces the humanoid.

What really took me out of the story was Batman failing to notice a giant robot holing a large parchment. The robot is clearly holding a parchment that's the will that Ryder will later use to prove the legal claims, but Batman doesn't notice it and even fails to notice it after its been examined in the Metal Men lab! The real humanoid comes back and steals it, out of its hand, while its lying on the table. Batman's excuse to Gordon when the humanoid steals it is that "In all the excitement, I never checked what was on it!" The World's Greatest Detective, folks. 

I enjoy it when Haney is creative and a bit wacky, but this is just too much. Aparo's art is as stellar as ever and he deserves better than this.

Just a half hour ago tonight just now whatever I re-read my copies of Marvel Milestone Incredible Hulk # 1 and Spider Man Classic # 1.

Anyone know if the Gargoyle was brought back to life or not?