zilch
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Post by zilch on Feb 26, 2015 8:35:27 GMT -5
The inclusion of a Matt Savage story is also interesting, though probably much more interesting now than it was then. The story is just a western about Matt Savage: Trail Boss. A few years later, though, the character Scalphunter was created, and it was eventually revealed that Scalphunter was Matt Savage's son. It was further revealed much, much later (in James Robinson's Starman of all places) that Scalphunter's son is Steve Savage: Balloon Buster, the WWI ace who had his own strip in All-American Men of War. None of that continuity existed at the time this Matt Savage story was reprinted, but it gives the story a lot of extra texture now. This was pretty much un-retconned when somebody actually READ the first Matt Savage story, with it taking place after the Civil War and with Scalphunter being an adult before the War, well... The Scalphunter/Balloon Buster thing is still a thing, though... wonder if Steve Savage ever ran into Enemy Ace? |
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Post by foxley on Feb 26, 2015 15:48:32 GMT -5
The inclusion of a Matt Savage story is also interesting, though probably much more interesting now than it was then. The story is just a western about Matt Savage: Trail Boss. A few years later, though, the character Scalphunter was created, and it was eventually revealed that Scalphunter was Matt Savage's son. It was further revealed much, much later (in James Robinson's Starman of all places) that Scalphunter's son is Steve Savage: Balloon Buster, the WWI ace who had his own strip in All-American Men of War. None of that continuity existed at the time this Matt Savage story was reprinted, but it gives the story a lot of extra texture now. This was pretty much un-retconned when somebody actually READ the first Matt Savage story, with it taking place after the Civil War and with Scalphunter being an adult before the War, well... The Scalphunter/Balloon Buster thing is still a thing, though... wonder if Steve Savage ever ran into Enemy Ace? He certainly did. Star Spangled War Stories #181 -182 to be precise. You can read a review of it here: imthegun.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/steve-savage-balloon-buster-v-enemy-ace.htmlI think they clashed again at least one later time too. |
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Post by dupersuper on Feb 26, 2015 20:52:49 GMT -5
There was a Batman annual (Legends of the Dark Knight, I think) by James Robinson in which Batman researches their WW1 rivalry.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Feb 27, 2015 21:45:08 GMT -5
May 1976
Superman #302: Lex Luthor somehow zaps Superman's pituitary gland so he grows huge - except his brain, which stays the same size. So the bigger Superman gets, the dumber he gets, as more and more brain power is dedicated to running his giant body. Before he turns into a complete moron - moreso than usual - he calls The Atom for help, since, you know, size changing. The Atom has no clue what is happening or how to fix it, but he does give Superman a walkie talkie and basically remote controls stupid Superman through a battle with Lex. In the end, The Atom tricks Lex into thinking he himself has been affected by the size-change virus, so Lex turns the whole thing off to save himself. THE END!! My Grade B. Despite the presence of The Atom, I enjoyed this a lot more than it deserved, I think. Not sure why.
Action Comics #462: Karb-Brak is about to die, unless Superman leaves thep lanet. Superman doesn't, so instead, they fight about it. Before Karb blows up, though, he comes up with a plan: He somehow teleports Superman to the year 1776 and in the process brainwashes him into forgetting his present day life. How? Comic books, that's how. Don't ask any more dumb questions. TO BE CONTINUED!! In the backup story, Krypto - yes, Krypto! - stops a crime, then gets approached by the producers of the Johnny Nevada show to endorse a new brand of dog food in exchange for charity money being donated to animal shelters. Krypto agrees. THE END!! My Grade: C. The "Doghouse of Solitude" was the best part of the issue. So... that says it all.
Superman Family #178: Lois decides to subject herself to experiments where her body parts are replaced with bionics. Why? Because then she'll be super, and thus able to marry Superman. Why else would a woman do anything? Unfortunately, things go wrong and she turns into a total freak. Luckily, she then happens to meet a race of intelligent robots from outer space, who agree to reverse the process with their superior technology. THE END!! My Grade: F. See below. Warning: possibly unbalanced rant incoming.
Notes: Lois Lane has consistently been the most entertaining strip in the Superman family of comics - and often, the only entertaining one. But this month's story sent me over the edge for one simple reason: The whole "I can't marry Lois because she doesn't have powers, and therefore would be in danger from my enemies" is the single stupidest conceit in all of comics and I cannot abide even one more story that uses it as a jumping off point. ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP! It's 1976 guys, Lois has been around for more than 35 years! Get a new idea! Just one!
All Superman has to do to solve this "dilemma" is to reveal his secret identity to her and marry her as Clark. That's it. That solves everything. In fact, it reduces the danger to her because people would no longer think of her as Superman's girlfriend. In fact, what the eff guys. Since Lois is publicly known to be Superman's girlfriend, or at least love interest, how is she in any less danger already than she would be if they actually got married?
DC, you just suck. That's the only explanation I can come up with for this crap a) existing in the first place and then b) being beaten to death by one utterly moronic story after another for decade after decade.
I don't mind it when they have to bend logic or reason temporarily to tell a good story, but destroying all logic permanently to tell a terrible story for 30 years is beyond the beyond. That's alls I can stand, I can't stand no more. Any story that ever mentions this again gets an automatic F grade from me, and the creators will be reported to the government. The end.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 27, 2015 22:06:37 GMT -5
I love Superman #302! It's not the most compelling story out there but it's good ol' goofy fun.
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Post by paulie on Mar 1, 2015 0:30:41 GMT -5
May 1976Superman #302: Lex Luthor somehow zaps Superman's pituitary gland so he grows huge - except his brain, which stays the same size. So the bigger Superman gets, the dumber he gets, as more and more brain power is dedicated to running his giant body. Before he turns into a complete moron - moreso than usual - he calls The Atom for help, since, you know, size changing. The Atom has no clue what is happening or how to fix it, but he does give Superman a walkie talkie and basically remote controls stupid Superman through a battle with Lex. In the end, The Atom tricks Lex into thinking he himself has been affected by the size-change virus, so Lex turns the whole thing off to save himself. THE END!! My Grade B. Despite the presence of The Atom, I enjoyed this a lot more than it deserved, I think. Not sure why. Action Comics #462: Karb-Brak is about to die, unless Superman leaves thep lanet. Superman doesn't, so instead, they fight about it. Before Karb blows up, though, he comes up with a plan: He somehow teleports Superman to the year 1776 and in the process brainwashes him into forgetting his present day life. How? Comic books, that's how. Don't ask any more dumb questions. TO BE CONTINUED!! In the backup story, Krypto - yes, Krypto! - stops a crime, then gets approached by the producers of the Johnny Nevada show to endorse a new brand of dog food in exchange for charity money being donated to animal shelters. Krypto agrees. THE END!! My Grade: C. The "Doghouse of Solitude" was the best part of the issue. So... that says it all. Superman Family #178: Lois decides to subject herself to experiments where her body parts are replaced with bionics. Why? Because then she'll be super, and thus able to marry Superman. Why else would a woman do anything? Unfortunately, things go wrong and she turns into a total freak. Luckily, she then happens to meet a race of intelligent robots from outer space, who agree to reverse the process with their superior technology. THE END!! My Grade: F. See below. Warning: possibly unbalanced rant incoming. Notes: Lois Lane has consistently been the most entertaining strip in the Superman family of comics - and often, the only entertaining one. But this month's story sent me over the edge for one simple reason: The whole "I can't marry Lois because she doesn't have powers, and therefore would be in danger from my enemies" is the single stupidest conceit in all of comics and I cannot abide even one more story that uses it as a jumping off point. ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP! It's 1976 guys, Lois has been around for more than 35 years! Get a new idea! Just one! All Superman has to do to solve this "dilemma" is to reveal his secret identity to her and marry her as Clark. That's it. That solves everything. In fact, it reduces the danger to her because people would no longer think of her as Superman's girlfriend. In fact, what the eff guys. Since Lois is publicly known to be Superman's girlfriend, or at least love interest, how is she in any less danger already than she would be if they actually got married? DC, you just suck. That's the only explanation I can come up with for this crap a) existing in the first place and then b) being beaten to death by one utterly moronic story after another for decade after decade. I don't mind it when they have to bend logic or reason temporarily to tell a good story, but destroying all logic permanently to tell a terrible story for 30 years is beyond the beyond. That's alls I can stand, I can't stand no more. Any story that ever mentions this again gets an automatic F grade from me, and the creators will be reported to the government. The end. You pretty much sum up DC superhero comics from 1966-1986 right here. Read once or twice they have plenty of charms but then you get the same thing over and over again. And this is from someone who counts Brave and the Bold and World's Finest amongst their favorite series. |
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Post by messengerattack on Mar 9, 2015 12:23:20 GMT -5
This was pretty much un-retconned when somebody actually READ the first Matt Savage story, with it taking place after the Civil War and with Scalphunter being an adult before the War, well... The Scalphunter/Balloon Buster thing is still a thing, though... wonder if Steve Savage ever ran into Enemy Ace? He certainly did. Star Spangled War Stories #181 -182 to be precise. You can read a review of it here: imthegun.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/steve-savage-balloon-buster-v-enemy-ace.htmlI think they clashed again at least one later time too. Hey, foxley, I appreciate the link to my blog that's been looking at, among other things, the adventures of Steve Savage, Balloon Buster! Savage did, indeed, meet up with The Enemy Ace again - 1st in a 'Balloon Buster' serial in the back of The Unknown Soldier #s 262-264, then in an 'Enemy Ace' 3-parter in Unknown Soldier #s 265-267. In the 'Balloon Buster' serial, the two WWI aces actually team-up to save the sight of a blind French boy. Part one of this story is re-capped here. The two again become antagonists in the 'Enemy Ace' strip, and at the risk of giving too much away, it don't end well for B.B. |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 10, 2015 22:34:06 GMT -5
June 1976
Superman #303: Superman is flying past STAR Labs when he sees some new supervillains, Thunder and Lightning, attacking. He fights them for a couple seconds, then Thunder literally punched him into space. On the way back, Superman notices a bunch of disasters around the globe and spends a couple minutes saving people all over. By the time he gets back to Metropolis, the bad guys are gone - and STAR Labs is accusing Superman of dereliction of duty. Turns out, some numbnuts named Whirlicane - who apparently just fought Superman a couple issues ago in Action, even though I've completely forgotten him - was behind the attack and the new supervillains. Superman tussels with them a second time and discovers that a) Thunder and Lightning are the same guy, switching powers; and b) he's a robot built by Whirlicane. Superman tells Lightning that he's just a robot, whereupon Lightning blows himself up - killing Whirlicane in the process! OOPS! I sense a flaw in your plan, Superman. My Grade: B-.
Action Comics #463: Stuck in the year 1776, Clark Kent does some 4th of July stuff, then suddenly remembers he's actually Superman. After saving Christmas America, he just whisks himself back to thepresent, because: Superman. He then fights Karb-Brak until Karb drops dead of his alien space fever. ONce he's dead, Superman drags his corpse to the fortress of solitude, and in a matter of about three panels, he brings him back to life, memory wipes him, hypnotizes him into thinking he's a regular Earth man, and then drops him down in his new life, none the wiser. Four issues to finish a fist fight, three panels for all that. Okay then. My Grade: C. I liked the 1776 stuff, but... really.
World's Finest #240: Uh. Okay. Might want to drop some acid before you try to read this. Fair warning.
Dig this, chums.
Superman goes nuts and starts acting like a big knob. The people of the world turn on him, except Batman, who decides to sleuth out the reason for it. Complete random chance allows him to literally stumble upon Van-Zee, Superman's Kandoran double. Batman chases him back to the Fortress of Solitude, where Batman gets inside through some really simply use of ice. I guess it's not that impenetrable after all.
Once inside, Batman shrinks himself down and sneaks into Kandor, where he discovers that the Kandorans have named Superman king. However, King Superman has developed a Jekyll and Hyde disorder, and every time he leaves Kandor, he becomes the Hype version. So Batman convinces Van-Zee and the others to imprison their benevolent King Superman in Kandor forever.
However, they fail to do so. Superman escapes and causes havoc across Earth. So the leaders of Earth charge Batman with a grim task: Return to Kandor and assassinate Superman! Batman does just that, fighting his way through Kandor's defenses and finally murdering Superman with a poison handshake.
Just then! Superman's corpse enlarges to huge size, smashing the bottle Kandor is trapped in. And it turns out that all of this has been orchestrated by... an evil cat Superman has been keeping inside the Fortress. The cat attacks the surprised Kandorans...
...and then Superman slaps the cat silly. No, none of this was part of some weird plan - all of it actually happened exactly like I just said, including Batman assassinating Superman. But once Superman was dead, his cells "couldn't hold the microwave beamer's reducing effects and expanded back to normal size! But bursting free of Kandor made them invulnerable again... and since anything invulernable can't die, I returned to life! Nature doesn't allow contradictions!"
Wow. That is flat out the most bizarre thing I have ever read. Well done, Bob Haney. My Grade: Hall of Fame Haneyness. The Haney By Which All Others Will Be Judged.
Notes: Gerry Conway's latest Superman story, in Superman #303, gives us a little bit of a surprise ending, as Lois invites Clark Kent over to her apartment for a candlelight dinner. She also brings up what a cool guy he was back in #297. So it seems as though Conway is trying to move forward a bit with a new status quo between Lois and Clark based on that story, which is cool. Though I doubt it will last, or be referenced in any stories written by anyone else. Just a guess based on previous storylines.
Both Action and Superman stories this month ended with Superman killing his opponent. Did Zack Snyder write this stuff?!
This issue of World's Finest is an all-timer. Hard to imagine anything topping this one.
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Post by paulie on Mar 11, 2015 9:52:07 GMT -5
Oh I don't know Scott... Have you read Haney's script for #246? The one with Superman's twin brother whose plight gets the JLA to turn against Ol' Supey? I think Haney might have decided to throw away all pretense of writing a standard comics story around 1977. His comics career only had about 18 months left at this point.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 11, 2015 17:04:54 GMT -5
I dunno. Isn't the general consensus among career Haneyologists that Brave and the Bold # 54 is the Bob Haneyest comic of all time? I can't imagine anything topping Mister Twister.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 11, 2015 21:37:13 GMT -5
I dunno. Isn't the general consensus among career Haneyologists that Brave and the Bold # 54 is the Bob Haneyest comic of all time? I can't imagine anything topping Mister Twister. Did that story include a microscopic Batman murdering King Superman because of the machinations of an alien housecat? I rest my case. |
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Post by Action Ace on Mar 12, 2015 15:08:47 GMT -5
Oh I don't know Scott... Have you read Haney's script for #246? The one with Superman's twin brother whose plight gets the JLA to turn against Ol' Supey? I think Haney might have decided to throw away all pretense of writing a standard comics story around 1977. His comics career only had about 18 months left at this point. The Haney supernova on his way out was glorious. I'm very thankful I was reading as a six/ seven year old at the time. I enjoy that story, #239 and #240 to this very day. |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 12, 2015 18:19:15 GMT -5
Something very important happened in Superman #302, but it was so seemingly minor that I didn't notice it until now. And I'm guessing most of the fans at the time didn't notice it either. But it was an absolutely huge deal for those who did notice it, and it helped reshape the entire comics industry. Here it is:  Yes, right there under the Superman logo is a new blurb: Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. I thnk we've gone over this before, but a brief recap: In 1975, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, with the help of Academy of Comic Book Arts president Neal Adams, used the pubicity over the announcement of the live action Superman movie as the springboard for a lawsuit against Warner over Superman's rights. Long story short, even though they didn't have much legal standing, Adams knew that DC would be convicted in the court of public opinion, and leveraged this to get a settlement that provided Siegel and Shuster lifetime pensions, health care, and "created by" credits on every bit of Superman related merchandise made going forward. This episode also was the launching point for the battle over creators rights, which still persists today. Superman #302 is the first issue with the "created by" credits, so in its way, is a bit of a watershed issue in the history of comics. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 12, 2015 19:12:12 GMT -5
I bought that issue when it came out and was very pleased to see the creator credit for Siegel & Shuster. I was a member of the Academy of Comic Book Arts at the time and still have the membership card signed by Neal.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Mar 13, 2015 0:09:35 GMT -5
July 1976
Superman #304: Superman gets blasted by a laser that somehow almost takes him out. Instead, it zaps him, Jon Ross (the kid from the infamous pedo cover on Action #457) and a random scientist lady with some sort of super whammy. The STAR Labs a-hole who reamed out Superman last issue shows up and reams him out again, so Superman throws a tantrum and splits. Turns out, the laser affected him because the Parasite was nearby and draining his power. Parasite has a new trick, see: A power prism that amplifies his drainage. So to speak. Long story short, though, the prism is shorting out and blasting random people with Superman's power - and Parasite's power, meaning he's accidentally draining himself. Superman saves the day by clobbering the prism, restoring the innocent victims and putting Parasite down for the count. But the prism is unaccounted for at the end - waiting for some bored writer to pick up the plot thread down the road. THE END!! My Grade: C.
Action Comics #464: Superman is fighting some putz. Meanwhile, a kid's parents are killed in a scene eerily similar to Batman's origin. Later, the same putz shows up again, and while Superman is fighting him, a nearby STAR Labs assistant is hit by lightning and gains super speed, just like Flash. Superman tries to tack down both kids, and sends a message to batman and Flash - but when they show up, they ARE the kids. They explain that their histories have been rewritten - and Superman is next. TO BE CONTINUED!! In the backup, an Australian guy visits Metropolis and Clark is roped into giving him a tour. Naturally, the guy wants to see Superman; and so he does several times, never knowing his escort is actually Superman himself. Ho hum. My Grade: B-. The setup in the main story is pretty interesting. But interesting ideas is never the problem. It's the terrible resolutions. I expect next issue to be a massive let down.
Superman Family #179: Jimmy runs into Lucy Lane, the biggest fifth wheel in comics. She seems... hypnotized, though. Just then, a weird wave of fear sweeps over the male population of Metropolis. Superman whisks Jimmy and Lucy off to the Fortress of Solitude, where he learns that an alien race of angry feminists infected her with a fear agent in order to conquer all men. Superman flies off to deal with this, but then Jimmy learns the truth: It's Superman who was actually infected and is spreading the fear. So Jimmy dons his Flamebird costume, grabs his utility belt from Kandor, and flies off to battle Superman! Amazingly, Jimmy kicks Superman's ass eight ways from Sunday, because a) his weapons are Kryptonian and b) Superman develops his own phobia - fear of Jimmy. Lucy takes this opportunity to make out with a helpless Superman, and this snaps him out of it because she's Lois's sister her lipstick was coated with an anti-fear agent by the male aliens battling against their female oppressors. Superman then makes out with Lucy again in order to find out of Jimmy still has feelings for her. He does. And nobody thinks any of this is weird, but I wonder how Lois reacts when she hears them try to explain this stuff. My Grade: B-. It was kind of cool seeing Jimmy battle Superman.
World's Finest #241: The premise of this issue is amazing. A rocket filled with random people, rather than trained astronauts, is shot into deep space to see if they can survive for 90 days. Among the crew: Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent.
Apparently they're assuming that Metropolis, Gotham and the JLA will all be fine without Batman and Superman for 90 days. And if that's actually the case... are they even needed at all?
But I digress.
Anyway, just a couple days out and suddenly, Earth vanishes. Superman goes out to check on it, and sure enough, Earth has exploded. Everyone freaks out, but luckily, Clark and Bruce have a plan. Unfortunately, it's a totally idiotic plan. They fake their own suicides, then return in costume, claiming they escaped the destruction of Earth because they were on the JLA satellite.
Superman then spends a couple weeks building an exact replica of Earth out of materials he gathers from space. They land the rocket with the plan of repopulating humanity.
However, they can leave behind old grudges. And when a benevolent alien lands, they attack it! Superman and Batman are so disgusted, they fly off, leaving the others to their fate.
Just then! A giant, angry alien - who apparently was a stowaway on one of the chunks of space debris Superman used to build New Earth - attacks! The other alien fights it, but the humans run away. They end up feeling guilty, so they rush out to help, but too late. Also, they are powerless against the giant angry alien, but that's okay, because Superman and Batman return and kick his ass.
They then discover that the Earth blowing up was a hoax perpetrated as a psychological test. Superman and Batman weren't in on it; they were just stupid and Superman somehow never noticed Earth was still right over there the whole time he was flying all over the solar system to get materials for his New Earth.
They leave New Earth and return home, and nobody ever thought once about the fact that there's a perfectly habitable and pristinely untouched exact duplicate of Earth in our own solar system just waiting to be colonized. THE END!!! My Grade: H+++++
Notes: Superman #304 includes a cover blub that says "The Man of Steel's Deadliest Foe is Back -- The Parasite!" Of course, thanks to the nonsense that was #299, we know that "deadliest" means "yet another guy Superman can take out in one panel without really even trying." How are we supposed to take any of these villains seriously after that mess?
In this same issue, Conway again has a bit of romance between Clark and Lois, so it looks like he's going to run with the seed planted in #297. Good! I'm still not really expecting this to go anywhere, though.
Lucy Lane... honestly, I can't even remember is Lois knows yet that she's alive. I don't want to look to find out either.
There's an announcement in the lettercoumn of this month's Superman Family that the title is doing so well they are going to an 8 months a year publishing schedule instead of 6 months a year. Hard to understand why the title would be that popular, honestly.
The crazy concept of this month's World's Finest highlights the strengths of Haney's approach to things. The idea only make sense in a What If?, but it's so cool - Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne in a sci-fi astronaut thriller, trapped aboard a rocket with a cast of strangers, each with their own secrets. It's worth giving up any semblance of logic for this sort of stuff.
Of course, the story doesn't make any sense at all, even if you concede that both Superman and Batman are total fools, which is the only way it can really be read. But so what. Comic books!
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