Comic Fortress

Nov. '86 - Teen Titans Spotlight # 4

2006-07-09T20:47:00.000-04:00

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artists: Ross Andru & Larry Mahlstedt

I always thought the Teen Titans comic had lost a lot of its excitement around this time so I was surprised when this comic started. The Titans must have still been a big seller since they were awarded this spinoff title and made the first appearance in Action Comics when it would soon become Superman's team-up title under John Byrne.

This series started off with a Starfire two-parter that dealt with apartheid in South Africa. This Spotlight on Jericho was much more the traditional super-hero story. It gave us more background on Jericho, revealing a past girlfriend believed dead. I enjoyed the character of Jericho though a mute character in a comic is tough. They never showed his thoughts and he never spoke so Wolfman always did a lot of narration in the comic to tell us what Jericho was thinking rather than the reader 'hearing' it from him directly.

In this Spotlight, Jericho's old girlfriend's father was a bad guy who faked his death and his daughter's death because they were wanted by the Hive. The fake deaths were planned by Jericho's mother who never told her son that his girlfriend was really alive. The girlfriend comes back for help when the Hive finds her.

Nov. 86 - Swamp Thing # 54

2006-06-26T21:46:00.000-04:00

Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Rick Veitch & Alfredo Alcala

There isn't much that can be said about Swamp Thing that hasn't been said before. Alan Moore's work on this title was incredible. I started buying this series when I was 15 right off the convenience store spinner rack. When you're used to super-heroes, this title was quite the change for a 15 year old. It certainly dealt with more mature themes then I was used to in my comics.

This particular issue was another good one. This one was interesting for the fact that Swamp Thing never appears in it. He was presumed destroyed in the previous issue. Abby was coming to terms with his death and there was no indication that he was still alive. With comics you never presume death, especially for the title character, but what Alan Moore would do next with the character was unexpected and fascinating.

Nov. '86 - Son of Ambush Bug # 5

2006-06-21T19:17:00.000-04:00

Ambush Bug was a character that was started by Keith Giffen in the Superman titles. He was funny in those. There is an issue of DC Comics Presents with Superman, Ambush Bug and the Legion of Substitute of Heroes that is just hilarious. And his first mini-series was really good. With this second mini-series I was disappointed. The first series had some semblance of a plot which held it together. This one just seemed to be jokes thrown in - some funny, some not - with no cohesion.

I re-read them now with no real joy or interest. I know when I re-read the first mini-series I spend a little more time really looking at each page to try and catch all the little jokes put in the panels. Not so with this series.

Nov. '86 - Secret Origins # 8

2006-06-20T21:14:00.000-04:00

Writers: Paul Levitz, Roy Thomas
Artists: Tom Mandrake, Murphy Anderson

This comic started off alternating issues between golden-age origins and modern origins. Around issue 6 it became double-sized and combined the two into each issue. Roy Thomas was retelling golden age origins in chrnological order. Being a fan of his work on All-Star Squadron is what made me pick up this title. He had a way of making the story feel like an older story while at the same time adding in things to make it fit in better with current times. I've said it before but it is a shame DC couldn't let All-Star Squadron continue in its own universe away from the results of Crisis. DC brought the JSA back shortly after making them go away and with Infinite Crisis recognizes that multiple earths once existed so maybe someday I'll get my wish.

The second story was an origin of a Legionnaire. The art was good, done by Tom Mandrake, fresh off Batman. I think prior to this we only knew the basics of Shadow Lass's origin so this fleshed it out a bit.

Nov. '86 - Roots of the Swamp Thing # 5

2006-06-18T16:13:00.000-04:00

Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Berni Wrightson

This was a series that reprinted the early issues of the original Swamp Thing series. Excellent comics, each issue reprinted two of the old series. They are true horror comics with Swamp Thing sometimes a bystander to what's going on. They are similar to the work Alan Moore would later do in Swamp Thing. In a lot of his issues, Swamp Thing wasn't the protagonist of the comic but may have just happened upon the horrific situation.

This was a very affordable way to read some great comics. This issue also includes the first appearance of the Swamp Thing from House of Secrets #92. The origin and look of Swamp Thing would change a bit but the premise remained intact.

Nov. '86 - Outsiders # 13

2006-06-12T21:13:00.000-04:00

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Artists: Jim Aparo, Joe Staton, Jerry Bingham, Steve Ditko & Jerry Ordway

This was a comic I started buying originally because it starred Batman. When it became The Outsiders without Batman I kept buying it because Barr had created great characters with individual voices. As wacky as some of his stories got, the characters were always consistent. The art was great too, done by Jim Aparo. Unfortunately, he couldn't do a whole issue himself (these deluxe format titles were 28 pages of story). This resulted in a lot of backup stories that didn't add a lot.

I notice I don't seem to have the next issue after this one so for some reason I stopped buying it but I can't remember why. I am definitely adding it to my list to watch for in the back issue bins at the next comic show I attend.

This issue had the Outsiders trapped on an island after defeating a bad guy in Africa. There was a lot of good character interaction and it was interesting to see them use their powers to escape the island.

The backups consisted of a pinup of Halo by Joe Staton, an explanation of Geo-Force's powers, and a short story featuring Black Lightning.

Nov. '86 - Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe # 12

2006-05-15T19:25:00.000-04:00

I was shocked to find out that Marvel is reprinting this series in their Essential format. The information is 20 years old now and its not really entertaining reading. When it came out I bought it because it was a great way to get up-to-date on everything that was going on. Buying it now would only get you within 20 years of being current. I wonder how much has actually changed in the 20 years between then and now.

There was quite a difference between DC's handbook, Who's Who, and Marvel's version. DC was very light on information. They would tell you what powers a hero had. Marvel was very heavy on information. They would tell you what powers a hero had and how those powers worked. It some spots it got very technical. How do you explain Dr. Strange's abilities? Marvel's also had more of a consistent look since Joe Rubinstein inked every figure. DC had a much more varied style in Who's Who. If you needed information on a character, Marvel's Handbook would certainly have it. It made a great reference book. For a comic to sit down and read, Marvel's was not easy. Not a comic you could do in one sitting. But that wasn't the purpose of it.

Nov. '86 - Nightmask # 1

2006-05-09T20:32:00.000-04:00

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciler: Tony Salmons
Inker: Bret Blevins

This was another of the New Universe titles launched this month. This one was about a boy with the ability to enter people's dreams with the help of his sister. Their parents did dream research until they were killed in a terrorist attack at an airport which left the sister in a wheelchair. The first issue had him entering the dreams of the terrorist that planted the bomb to try and prove his guilt.

I never bought this title past the first issue. It didn't grab my interest as much as D.P. 7 and Justice. It only lasted 12 issues so evidently it failed to capture a lot of people's interest. I'm interested to see what Warren Ellis does with newuniversal which is supposed to be his re-creation of the New Universe.

Nov. '86 - The New Teen Titans # 25

2006-05-09T20:07:00.000-04:00

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciller: Eduardo Barreto

Mento had assembled The Hybrid, his version of the Doom Patrol. He had taken three people and changed them into hideous creatures based on mythology. Mento had really gone off the deep end since Crisis. He had been used by John Constantine in the battle in Swamp Thing that had been a magic version of the Crisis. The fight left him insane. He was using The Hybrid to battle the Titans and kill his step-son, Changeling.

The Titans had just recently got back together after breaking up some issues before. It was a tough time to like the comic. The characters were not friendly to each other and they were all doing their own thing. It was beyond personality conflicts which can make for interesting reading (like Alpha Flight did - a team that wasn't totally a team). This group just wasn't talking! Not they were back together and had much to resolve. Mento was chasing them and Nightwing was missing.

The comic had lost its way for a while. I don't know if it was because George Perez had left or because Marv Wolfman was busy writing Crisis on Infinite Earths. With this storyline it seemed to be getting back on track.

Nov. '86 - The New Mutants # 45

2006-04-23T19:11:00.000-04:00

This was a good single issue story by Chris Claremont. The new mutants attend a dance at the local school. There they meet a new student of the high school. He's being teased because he's the new guy. His school-mates anonymously send him a X-Factor phamphlet claiming he's a mutant and they're going to call X-Factor to come get him. The irony is he really is a mutant and thinks his secret has been discovered. To try and hide the fact he's a mutant he tells some mutant jokes which offends the New Mutants. Now he's alienated his potential new friends, too. With no one to turn to he commits suicide.

The New Mutants find out after his death that he was a mutant and reflect on the knowledge that that could have been them if Xavier's school hadn't taken them in.

It was a good, emotional story. Claremont did an excellent job of making us feel for the new student in the space of one issue. The art was good, too - pencilled by Jackson Guice and inked by Kyle Baker. Baker's inks helped maintain the Sienkiewicz look who had really left an imprint on the comic with his distinctive style.

Nov. '86 - The Marvel Saga # 12

2006-04-22T22:40:00.000-04:00

This was a series I enjoyed a lot. It's goal was to tell the history of the Marvel universe in chronological order. By showing bits from all the comics being published at a particular time it created a tapestry to show the progression of the universe. It would use panels take right from the original comics and then Peter Sanderson would add narration to bridge the gaps. It was interesting to see the development of Marvel as the characters began appearing in other titles when cross-overs were still something special.

In this issue, #12, it covered around February 1964. The Fantastic Four were fighting the Mole Man, Iron Man took on the Mandarin and the Avengers discovered Captain America frozen in ice.

It's too bad this series didn't last long. It ended at #25. I'm familiar with many of the older Marvel comics since they get reprinted the most frequently. But later times that don't get as much attention would have been fun to take a look at.

Nov. '86 - Man of Steel # 3 & 4

2006-04-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

This was the mini-series that re-introduced Superman to the DC Universe. It was the first origin reboot done post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was written and drawn by John Byrne who had been very successful at Marvel. It was published bi-weekly which was unusual for a DC or Marvel comic at the time.

The idea of the reboot was to strip Superman down to the basics, return him to 'Last Son of Krypton' status. Gone were Supergirl, Krypto, Kandor, Phantom Zone villains, etc. Of course, they would all be brought back over the following years (and far quicker than the time it took to introduce them the first time around).

Two good things that Byrne did with this reboot were keeping Clark Kent's parents alive and his redesign of Lex Luthor. With the Kents still alive into Clark's adulthood, he had someone to talk to about his powers which added a lot of humanity to his character. Lex was changed into a wealthy businessman that practically ruled Metropolis before Superman's arrival. In issue 4, Superman's involvement caused Luthor to be arrested like a criminal which started his hatred of Superman. I found that more interesting than being mad at Superman because he made you bald.

Issue 3 had Superman and Batman meeting for the 'first' time. Superman wasn't sure of Batman's methods and Batman was distrustful of Superman. Metropolis and Gotham were portrayed as two totally different cities where Gotham's darker side required a darker hero. They were not the World's Finest team after this first meeting. They would develop a respect for each other in the future.

Nov. '86 - Mark Hazzard: Merc # 1

2006-04-18T09:10:00.000-04:00

Another of the New Universe launch titles, this one had no fantastic elements in it at all. Mark Hazzard was a mercenary for hire. He ignored all the people and events in his life except for his job. His mother had disowned him, he was divorced, and his son had gotten used to him never being around. All that mattered to him was his missions.

This comic was written by Peter David and the artist was Gray Morrow. Of the eight New Universe titles I would probably rate it third. I never bought beyond the first issue when it first came out but would be tempted now to pick it up if I saw it in the 50 cent bins at comic shows.

Nov. '86 - Lords of the Ultra-Realm # 6

2006-04-17T21:51:00.000-04:00

Lords of the Ultra-Realm was a mini-series written by Doug Moench and drawn by Pat Broderick. The premise was that there was another world that was totally black and white, good and evil. It was ruled by 14 lords, 7 good, 7 bad. Each one represented a different emotion - Bliss, Rage, etc. As these emotions increased and decreased on Earth, the respective lord become more and less powerful. This mini-series focused on a human who becomes one of the lords and his adventures on Earth and the other world as the bad lords attempt to take over their planet.

It was a good story for a mini-series but I don't think it ever would have lasted as a ongoing series. There was one Special that came out the following year. The art was really good by Pat Broderick who had previously done Firestorm and would later do Captain Atom.

Nov. '86 - Legion of Super-Heroes # 28

2006-04-17T21:24:00.000-04:00

I am a big Legion fan; have been for a long time. 'The Great Darkness Saga' was the first storyline I read that I thought was truly an epic. I like the Paul Levitz run on the title and enjoyed the '5 Year Later' title done by Keith Giffen. It's a shame that the Legion has had to go through so many reboots in the last few years. I'm not sure they've ever gained anything by doing the reboots. I don't think it got DC any more readers to the title. It probably cost them some of the long-time readers who found it tougher and tougher to like the title. I am enjoying the current run by Mark Waid although I wonder where he's going with Supergirl showing up.

One of the great things about the Legion during the 80's was the letter column. Since the fans were so dedicated, the letters column was intelligent and Paul Levitzs always answered the letters with honesty. This issue he admitted creating new villains wasn't his strong suit. It was refreshing to see that kind of response - sort of behind the scenes info.

This issue was a trip to Star Boy's home world. We find out that his world has a planetary champion - one hero who is given anything he wants to serve his world. It was interesting because the reader was used to Earth which had over 30 heroes on it with the Legion; rarely did we see what other planets did to keep heroes at home.

So Atmos, the current champion, had disappeared. The Legion was called in to try and find out what happened to him. Unable to locate him, Star Boy was drafted to replace Atmos and become his planet's new champion. Adding to the situation was his relationship with Dream Girl which was having its difficulties. These difficulties were added to when he decided to stay on his planet.

Nov. '86 - Legends # 1

2006-04-15T13:37:00.000-04:00

DC has stated that they did this mini-series to open up their universe after Crisis reduced the size of it by eliminating the multiverse. I think it was more a case of them seeing how successful their first company wide crossover was and deciding another one would do well, too. This one certainly didn't have the lasting effects that Crisis did. The story began and ended and nothing changed. Some good did come from it - Justice League, Suicide Squad, Flash but no deaths or reboots.

The villain was Darkseid and he decides that if he can discredit the heroes in the eyes of the population the Earth will be easier to take over because others won't be inspired to greatness. The plan didn't make a lot of sense. I think if the Earth was in danger heroes would fight whether they were accepted by the people or not. That's why their heroes. They don't do it for public acclaim.

The heroes featured in this were a group you wouldn't normally see together - Flash, Changeling, Firestorm, Captain Marvel and Cosmic Boy (on vacation from the 30th century). The Justice League (Detroit version) also appeared.

The comic was drawn by John Byrne, new to DC from Marvel. It made sense to put him on the big crossover considering his popularity at the time and his recent switch in companies.

In this first issue, Captain Marvel's lightning causes the death of a villain and he vows never to use his powers again, giving Darkseid some opening success.

Nov. '86 - Kickers, Inc. # 1

2006-04-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

Another of the New Universe titles launched by Marvel, this was written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Ron Frenz. I have a great fondness for their run on Amazing Spider-Man but this title never made it passed the first issue with me.

The star of the comic is Jack Magniconte, a quarterback on a pro football team. His brother owns a company called Sports Power Plus which sells nutritional programs to sports teams. The brother has developed a machine which artificially grows muscle mass just like using steroids. Jack decides to use the machine before it has to be submitted for testing and without knowing the side effects. It works on him, too well, and he finds himself with super speed, strength and reflexes. Football is no longer a challenge for him and they easily win the championship game. Later on his team-mates find out what has happened to him and they all use the machine and so does his wife. To provide a challenge in his life, Jack decides to form a company with his team-mates to help people with unusual problems and creates Kickers, Inc.

I have a problem with the story when Jack uses the machine to give himself an edge in football and it works with no side effects. I know it's a fantasy but the fact that he knew he had too much of an advantage and still went out and played the championship game and crushed the competition sends a bad message to young readers. And then he lets his team-mates use the machine and his wife! It's like supplying steroids to his team-mates! If there had been some consequences to their actions I might have felt differently about the comic. This one took the exact opposite approach. It shows the players doing product endorsements, music videos, commercials and basically living a great life because he used this machine.

This comic isn't staying in the collection. It's heading to the trade-in pile. The used bookstore downtown will do 2-for-1 trades on comics. As I re-read the collection I'm pulling out the ones I don't want to keep and trading them in for ones I do want to read.

Nov. '86 - Justice # 1

2006-04-13T14:37:00.000-04:00

This was another of the New Universe titles launched by Marvel to celebrate their 25th anniversary. This line was intended to be the 'world outside your window' with only a few extraordinary things added. The main character of this comic was one of those extraordinary things added.

Tensen was transported to Earth from another world. Where he came from he was their version of a police officer. The difference was, on his world, he was judge, jury and executioner. He was able to read the auras of people and if someone had a bad aura he would kill them. In this issue he manages to kill 7 people. Their aura announced them as bad so they got blasted!

This was written by Archie Goodwin and held enough interest for me to buy a few more issues. This, along with D.P. 7, were the only New Universe comics that I bought past the first issue. The first issue had some mystery indicating that Tensen may not be the only one from his world on Earth. Also, I thought his seeing every one as good or evil, no grey, might lead to some interesting conflicts.

Nov. '86 - Infinity Inc. # 32

2006-04-04T19:23:00.000-04:00

Much like All-Star Squadron, this title had a tough time because of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This comic dealt so much with what it would be like to be the children of heroes that when the parents were removed from continuity the series lost something. The characters were certainly interesting on their own but it was the only title I can think of that dealt so much with two generations of heroes. The first storyline was even called "Generations".

There was one character, Fury, who was the daughter of Earth-2 Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was totally removed from continuity - she never existed! So how does Fury exist? Roy Thomas had to deal with questions like these. Instead of being an unique group on Earth-2, they were now on Earth-DC. Located in Los Angeles, they shared space with the Outsiders and the Green Lantern Corps.

The title was still very enjoyable. I own the entire run. But as a big fan of All-Star Squadron, Earth 2, and what Roy Thomas was creating I was disappointed to see this title have to adjust so much.

Todd McFarlane was the artist of Infinity Inc. at this time. He was pretty new at this point but it's hard to mistake those capes. His page layouts were really good too with character drawings outside the panels. There was a lot of enthusiasm displayed in the art.

Nov. '86 - The Incredible Hulk # 325

2006-04-04T19:01:00.000-04:00

I started buying this title when John Byrne took over. His time on it was very short - 6 months- before leaving to do Superman at DC. I remember Byrne talking at one time about his 100,000 (or was it 10,000?). This was the number of fans that would follow him to each project that he did, thus increasing the circulation. I guess I was one of those number. I bought Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, Hulk, Superman and Next Men (from Dark Horse) because he was doing them. I stopped buying this title very soon after he left and have only recently been picking up issues from the 50 cent bins. That's where I got this one.

Al Milgrom took over as writer/artist when Byrne left. I enjoyed Milgrom's art on Avengers but on this title I thought it was awful. My guess is that he was rushed to do it with Byrne's departure. The art on this issue was by Steve Geiger and it was much better than the previous issues done by Milgrom. I did think Milgrom was telling a good story and I am going to continue to hunt for more of these back issues.

Bruce Banner and Hulk had recently been rejoined after being physically separated in Byrne's run. No one is sure if the Hulk is gone for good. Milgrom began introducing subplots with the Hulk-Busters, Doc Samson, Rick Jones, SHIELD, Betty Ross, and Thunderbolt Ross plus a mysterious green creature on the loose. Not having a lot of the later issues I'm not sure where he went with all this but I was intrigued by what I read in this issue.

Nov. '86 - Hawkman # 4

2006-04-03T20:28:00.000-04:00

In the 1980's, DC published mini-series featuring the lesser known characters from the Justice League. Sort of tryouts to see if there was interest in an ongoing series. Atom had one and so did Aquaman, Green Arrow and Red Tornado. Hawkman also had his chance to shine, in The Shadow War of Hawkman. Written by Tony Isabella, he created a new mission for Hawkman and Hawkwoman. The people of their home planet, Thanagar, were secretly taking over the Earth by assuming positions of power. The Thanagarians possessed a device called the Absorbascan which enabled them to read the minds of Earthlings. Because they had this device, the Hawks were unable to tell their fellow humans about the invasion because, as soon as they could make any plans, the Thanagarians would know about it.

This gave the Hawks a new purpose. They were forced to stop this invasion without any help. There was enough interest in the mini-series for them to graduate to a regular ongoing series that lasted 17 issues. The ongoing picked up where the mini-series left off. They were trying to stop the invasion while their opponents fought dirty. They blackmailed humans, hired the Hawks' enemies and revealed the Hawks' secret identities. It was a good concept for a series. Something that made Hawkman different from the other superhero comics out there.

Nov. '86 - Grendel # 2

2006-04-01T18:10:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of Matt Wagner's work. He wrote what is my favourite comic series, Sandman Mystery Theatre. A piece of his original art from Batman/Grendel is hanging on the wall in front of me. I have a tattoo of Batman on my arm that is based on a Wagner drawing of the character. So when I saw the first 10 issues of Grendel at a comic show last year on sale as a set, I was quick to pick them up. I had bought the first two when they came out originally in 1986 but never saw any issues after that.

This series started out focusing on Christine Spar as the newest Grendel. I don't have a lot of the later issues but I know it changes in focus later on. I've only read the first two issues so far and they have been great. Matt Wagner didn't do the art in these first issues. It was done by the Pander Brothers who were very stylish. I remember when I was reading these issues back in '86, how different it was from the normal DC/Marvel fare.

Spar's son has been kidnapped by a Kabuki actor. She realizes many boys have been kidnapped by him but she doesn't know why. The actor, Tujiro XIV, was very strange. When she breaks into his hotel room and finds a briefcase full of eyeballs, we begin to wonder how strange. Definitely different from Batman!

Nov. '86 - Green Lantern Corps # 206

2006-04-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

This series changed a great deal after Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Guardians had stepped down as mentors for the Green Lanterns. The Lanterns were told that they no longer needed to patrol a certain section of the universe; they could now go wherever they wanted. As a result, 7 Green Lanterns set up shop on Earth, only two of them native to the planet. Having 7 Lanterns on one planet created an instant super-team!

Steve Englehart was the writer of this with Joe Staton on art. I think of this comic as similar to Englehart's West Coast Avengers - an enjoyable comic but not ultra serious. Staton's artwork allowed for very expressive faces and gave the comic a slightly cartoony look. The alien Lanterns were good as they tried to adjust to life on Earth. There was no way for them to adopt secret identities since they looked definitely alien so they were Lanterns all the time. A headquarters was set up for them to live at and where people could find them for help.

The villain of this issue was Black Hand who had the power to absorb the Green Lanterns' power. He was defeated by Kilowog who beat him with his bare hands, showing he didn't need the ring to be effective.

Nov. '86 - D.P. 7 # 1

2006-04-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

To celebrate the 25th annivesary of the birth of the Marvel Universe, Marvel decided to create a new universe. It would reflect the real world with only a few fantastic elements. They launched eight titles, most of which didn't last very long and weren't very good. Jim Shooter, then head of Marvel, blamed it on budget cutbacks that limited the money spent on creative people.

I bought all the New Universe first issues when they came out to see what the fuss was about. This and Justice were the only ones I bought past that first issue. D.P. 7 had a concept similar to mutants in the regular Marvel universe. Certain people started developing weird abilities and some of them went to a clinic seeking help. The seven main characters were in a therapy group together. Finding out the head of the clinic wanted them for his own purposes, the 7 escape and live on the run.

The seven characters were very different from each other in backgrounds and personality. It was an enjoyable comic seeing them trying to survive together. Mark Gruenwald was the writer who did an excellent job on the Squadron Supreme limited series. The art was by Paul Ryan who wasn't a fancy artist but did good work.

Nov. '86 - Elfquest # 16

2006-03-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

My wife is just terrific! Not only does she put up with the 7,000 comics occupying space in our house but she actually reads and enjoys some of the titles I buy. Right now she reads Fables, Y The Last Man and Runaways.

Elfquest is one title that I always said she should read. We are both readers of fantasy books so her enjoying Elfquest seemed like a natural. She's never really got into it, though. I think the problem is since it's an older series it's a little overwhelming to see all the back issues to be read. I think she likes the current titles that only take a 20 minute commitment once a month. Which is too bad since Elfquest is a very enjoyable read for someone that enjoys fantasy.

The series starts with a group of elves, the Wolfriders, who are forced to leave their home and after a long journey find another group of elves who have developed a different life than the one they have. This leads the Wolfrider leader, Cutter, to wonder if there are more elves out in the world. He and his friend, Skywise, begin a quest to find these other groups and try and reunite all the tribes.

The world that Wendy and Richard Pini developed for their comic series is incredible. You can tell the series was a labour of love for the pair. The comic felt like a real story because there was always developments and changes. When you're used to reading Superman and Batman where the comic is supposed to go forever and nothing ever really changes this title was definitely different.

Nov. '86 - Electric Warrior # 7

2006-03-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

This was a very interesting series written by Doug Moench. He was no longer writing Batman and Detective Comics but still had a full workload with this title, Lords of the Ultra-Realm, and Slash Maraud. The latter two were limited series but this particular one was ongoing; unfortunately it only made it to issue 18.

The idea behind it was a future world where the richest and best of society lived in towers high above the ground. People who failed to contribute enough to society (or lacked enough money to stay in higher levels) would find themselves bumped down levels. The worst of society lived on the world's surface with nothing but what they could scrounge for food and shelter. There was another group who lived primitively but happily away from the cities. They lived in the forests and lived off the land. The set up of society is similar to the one found in David Wingrove's Chung Kuo book series.

Robots were used as security and to perform all labour for peple living in the upper towers. One of these robots gains independence and sentience and breaks from society. Finding himself in the lower levels, the Warrens, he befriends them and begins to question the whole structure of society. Meanwhile, the leaders of the upper society discover a threat to civilization coming from space and begin kidnapping people from the forest to experiment on in hopes of creating something that can combat this threat.

There were characters from all three societies that were focused on. All sides were represented by Moench. At the start of the series, it was assumed that the title character would be Warrior 9-03, the one that had gained independence. However, in this issue he gets 'killed', totally taken apart in a battle. So he was not to be the Electric Warrior for very long. I remember reading an interview with Moench where he said that he wanted this title to always be changing so that every 50 issues or so the focus of the series would be totally different. With the 'death' in this issue of who I thought was the main character he was backing up his statement. Unfortunately, the title wouldn't last long enough to see what other changes he would make.

Nov. '86 - Detective Comics # 568

2006-03-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

Just like the Batman that was published in November '86, this issue felt like a fill-in. It had already been announced that Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis would be taking over the title. This was just something to keep the title going until their run could start. I would have much preferred another month or two of Doug Moench writing instead of what we got.

The villain this issue was Penguin. His latest crime was stealing birds that were genetically changed to be huge. He of course fails at the end and was defeated rather easily. This was also a Legends crossover, again dealing with the concept of heroes and whether they were necessary in society or a hindrance, holding people back from developing their own potential.

All in all, a unremarkable issue. The Barr/Davis run was much looked forward to!

Nov. '86 - Daredevil # 236

2006-03-20T20:30:00.000-05:00

This issue of Daredevil was written by Ann Nocenti. She would become the regular writer of Daredevil and did a good job, I thought. It couldn't have been easy replacing Frank Miller. The art this issue was done by Barry Windsor-Smith so of course it was incredible!

The story was a follow-up to a previous story from Miller's run about a soldier named Nuke who was sent to Hell's Kitchen to kill Daredevil. In this new story another soldier, with abilities enhanced by the government, has to be stopped before his powers take control of him and endanger others. The agent sent to stop him is Black Widow, who enlists the help of Daredevil.

I collected Daredevil for quite a while and saw a lot of good issues. Right up past # 300 I thought was a really good run for the title. Once he gets the new costume I started to drift away. I didn't come back again to the Brian Michael Bendis era so I missed a good 10 years. I have a couple of the issues when it was a Marvel Edge title but that's it. Not sure if I'll ever fill in all the holes in the collection or if the stories are even worth having. I don't hear that time period talked about much.

Nov. '86 - Cloak and Dagger # 9

2006-03-20T20:18:00.000-05:00

This is a series that I've collected entirely through quarter and fifty cent bins in the last two years (except for the Secret Wars II crossover issue; I bought every crossover issue of the limited series). I have the complete series now - all eleven issues! I started looking for it because I enjoyed the storyline (the heroes trying to elminate the drug trade) and the art always seemed good. This issue was no exception as the artist was Art Adams. Other artists from past issues were Whilce Portacio and Marc Silvestri.

Cloak and Dagger have followed a shipment of drugs from New York to France. It's staggering to think they've gone to this much work to try and track down one shipment of drugs; a drop in the bucket for the drug trade just in their neighbourhood. It was an interesting story and their relationship was interesting as well. Dagger just wanted to go back to a normal like but Cloak, I think, preferred their new life to his old one. He was also dependent on her light power to maintain his sanity so he was always slightly manipulating her to keep her around.

Nov. '86 - Classic X-Men # 3

2006-03-19T16:50:00.000-05:00

Classic X-Men reprinted the X-Men from the start of Giant-Sized X-Men #1 when the new group was introduced. Each of these reprints included new material written by Chris Claremont that would add to the original story. In this issue and the previous one this extra material was illustrated by John Bolton who is just incredible.

This issue reprinted #95 where Thunderbird died. His powers were all duplicated by Wolverine so I think that was the reasoning behind him getting killed. This early on, Claremont was getting a good handle on the X-Men giving each of them a different personality. That was something he did very well. I really enjoyed reading the X-Men up to the Secret Wars II crossovers. They really got messy at that point and seemed to lose focus. Before that, X-men was one of my favourite reads each month.

Nov. '86 - The Bozz Chronicles # 6

2006-03-19T15:57:00.000-05:00

Bozz Chronicles was published by Epic Comics, a part of Marvel Comics. Epic was a forerunner to Vertigo at DC. A lot of the comics were creator-owned and many of the titles were non-superhero based. They made some good comics but I think I was too young and too interested in superheroes to appreciate what they were doing. I latched on to Vertigo when they started a few years later. If I had been older when Epic started I probably would have bought more of their titles. This was one I did buy when it came out and I was happy I did.

The title character was an alien who crashed on Earth in Victorian Era London. Intellectually years ahead of humans he grew bored on Earth and attempted suicide. He was found by a prostitute who quickly realized there was an opportunity. She opened up a detective agency that kept Bozz's mind active while making money and keeping her off the street. The cases they took were never simple crimes. There was always demons and magic involved.

This was the end of the limited series. If it had continued I would have kept buying it. It was really funny and being set in Victorian London created interesting situations for the characters, especially the prostitute, Amanda Flynn. She was a very independent woman in a time when that wasn't a quality noticed in women. Also, she always had dual motives in keeping Bozz interested in their cases. She didn't want him killing himself because she liked him but she also was enjoying her new lifestyle and didn't want to see it end.

Nov. '86 - Booster Gold # 10

2006-03-19T15:43:00.000-05:00

Booster Gold was a new character created by Dan Jurgens who did the writing and artwork on the series. It was an interesting concept. A person who was as much interested in the fame and fortune that came from being a superhero as he was in helping people. It also showed the consequences that came from being a famous hero since the villains all know where your office is and who your friends are.

Booster Gold was an athlete from the 25th century who threw a football game for money and ended up stealing a time machine and equipment to begin a new life in the past. So it could definitely be said that he was a flawed character.

The current storyline involved the criminal group The 1000 who Booster had previous involvement with. This issue began their campaign to remove him as an obstacle to their goals of world domination. They kidnap both Gold's business manager's daughter and his secretary. They also discover his powers are beginning to fade as he uses them.

This series didn't last a long time but Booster lived on in the new Justice League. It looks like he will again be in the spotlight in the new weekly series, 52.

Nov. '86 - Blue Devil # 30

2006-03-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

When this comic started it was advertised as a return to fun comics. And it was fun in the beginning. Somewhere along the way it lost the focus and went from fun to just silly. I kept buying it out of habit (I must have had more disposable income back then than I do now) but it certainly wasn't the same comic it started out like. Other people must have agreed since the next month it was cancelled.

This issue had Blue Devil taking on Flash's rogues. The rogues are interesting since some of them had actually turned good at this point. The comic opened with them at a memorial service for Flash, the Top, and Mirror Master. That part was good. It quickly dropped from there as they decide to create a tour at a movie studio to make some cash. Then they decide to rob the studio. There's a fight between good rogues, bad rogues and Blue Devil. End of issue.

When I'm buying an ongoing series I expect there to be some development and some progression with the story and the characters. If that kind of series in some months gives me just a story but it's still entertaining I'm okay with that. But with this comic, every month was just a story and they weren't that entertaining. The development and progression had stopped a long time ago.

Nov. '86 - Blue Beetle # 6

2006-03-19T15:05:00.000-05:00

One thing you notice when you go back and read comics from the 80's is how much things have changed in 20 years. This comics is full of captions describing what it is you're looking at on the page, something you never see now. In this comic if there's no dialogue in a panel then there is three or four captions. The other is thought balloons. You never see those any more in comics but this one is full of them. I don't know why things changed. Maybe to be more like movies since they don't have thought ballons or captions. I know I've heard people say why do you need a caption to tell you the sun is setting when you can see in the picture that the sun is setting. But sometimes it's good to hear how the writer described it. A good writer should be able to add to the picture rather than just repeating the picture verbally.

Blue Beetle was the first of the Charlton characters purchased by DC to get his own comic. The Question was soon to follow, as was Captain Atom. I don't think the rest got their own series. Peacemaker had a miniseries and Nightshade was a regular in Suicide Squad.

Blue Beetle was a fun comic. The writing and artwork both reflected this. Len Wein was the writer and I never thought of this as a really strong comic but it was enjoyable. Some comics I was reading at the time would leave me thinking about it when I was done. Ones like Watchmen, Daredevil and Swamp Thing. This wasn't one of those comics. I'm not saying it wasn't good because it was but it was fun adventure not a thought-provoking comic. The art was done by Paris Cullins who had previously done Blue Devil. He really added to the comic. He made it look fun, if that makes any sense, with people's facial expressions.

This issue had an appearance by the Question as the two of them faced the Muse, someone trying to organize Chicago's gangs under him. It was obvious who the Muse was if you read the comic. I'm not sure if the writer thought that would be a big mystery or not. Again, it was fun but not heavy on the thinking part.

Nov. '86 - Batman # 401

2006-03-19T14:49:00.000-05:00

This was the start of a new era for Batman. Denny O'Neil had returned to DC after a stay at Marvel and was the new editor on Batman. It wasn't a great start as this issue was not very good. It seemed like a very weak fill-in issue. The assistant editor wrote it which supports that idea. It's like they were just filling time until Batman: Year One could get started in #404. The art was good though, done by Trevor Von Eeden.

Doug Moench had been writing both Batman and Detective Comics for the three years prior to this and I thought he did a great job. He kept things fresh and interesting for three years. After reading this issue I was really worried about still buying Batman because it didn't come close to comparing to Moench's run.

This was the first crossover with the Legends mini-series. All of the crossovers dealt with the idea of heroes and whether it was good or bad to have them around. It was all a plan by Darkseid to eliminate heroes by turning the public against them. You got some interesting discussion from characters wondering if the existence of heroes caused regular people to not be heroic and whether heroes caused as much trouble as they tried to fix. Sort of sounds like what Marvel is doing now with Civil War but Marvel is doing it on a much bigger scale. Legends didn't have any lasting effects at DC. It was nothing like Crisis. It did lead into the new Justice League, the new Flash and Suicide Squad so for that I am thankful.

So this issue was just a regular adventure with Batman and Robin, nothing exciting, nothing new. In the letter column the writer talked about how much she wanted to use the Magpie character because of her potential (she had previously appeared in the Man of Steel miniseries). I just saw a crook with wacky hair who liked jewels. The fact that she's never appeared again that I can remember shows how much potential she had.

Nov. '86 - Avengers # 273

2006-03-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

This was a great series written by Roger Stern. He had an ability to create menaces big enough that it took a group like the Avengers to defeat them. I was disappointed when he was removed from this series (in 1988 or '89?). He added a lot of character to the series. The Avengers didn't all get along and there was real emotions displayed by all of them. Black Knight was attracted to the Wasp and got jealous. Hercules hated taking orders from the Wasp who he saw as totally ineffectual.

The membership changed a lot during Stern's run but it never seemed forced. You'd read the comic for six months and then realize there were two new members but you had to think when it happened. It never seemed forced, more of a natural evolution.

The art was stellar too, done by John Buscema and Tom Palmer. Characters looked great and they did a great job with facial expressions. Also, they took the time to complete the panels. I notice with a lot of artists that they spend so much time drawing characters that the background gets left blank. But with these artists you always know where the characters are and what they were doing. I've read that John Buscema didn't like doing superhero comics but you couldn't tell it from reading this.

During this time, the Masters of Evil were reforming. Their membership was huge, easily outnumbering the Avengers. This issue is when their plan was put into action. They took over Avengers mansion, capturing Jarvis the butler in the process. This began a great storyline with a lot of action and drama.

Nov. '86 - West Coast Avengers # 14

2006-03-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

This series was just goofy fun! It had wacky villains, bad costumes and weird situations. One villain was Master Pandemonium. He had a hole in his chest that he was trying to fill by finding demons who had pieces of him (or something like that). When he was threatened his legs and arms would change into demons and leave his body to fight for him. So you'd have him floating in the sky, his costume flapping in the breeze since his arms and legs were gone!

Wonder Man had the worst costume I have ever seen on a character. It was a red and green bodysuit with the jet packs on the back and a big W on the front. It was just awful. Hank Pym hung around as their butler!?! He'd answer the phone, run errands, etc. Which was an odd situation for someone who was a founding member of the Avengers.

The comic was entirely different from the regular Avengers title which was serious super-hero adventure. But I kept buying it because you had to see what they would do next. Steve Englehart wrote this. In the 70's he was really big. His run on Justice League of America (I think it was a year long) was incredible. Real character development which was a change from most issues of that series back then. Here the feel was totally different. It was similar to his Vision and Scarlet Witch limited series which had just finished. Much more light-heartened, visits from many characters, very hopeful. You never felt like things were ever that dangerous.

Nov. '86 - Alpha Flight # 40

2006-03-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

This was a series that I started buying around # 19, enjoyed it and picked up all the back issues to get caught up. I'm Canadian and it took place in Canada so that definitely added to the enjoyment. John Byrne had an interesting approach with this comic. It was a team book but the team only got together about once a year. The rest of the time they were each off on their own adventures. Then early in the series (# 12) he killed off their leader, Guardian. That was certainly different.

Byrne left this comic after # 28 to do Incredible Hulk and the team from Hulk came to this comic. I kept buying it to give the new creative team a chance and because I enjoyed the characters. I wasn't as impressed with the new team as I was with Byrne. The characters 'sounded' different. It seemed they had made changes in their personalities and it didn't click with me.

I've often wondered what would have been different if Byrne had kept doing the book:
-would Heather have assumed the identity of Vindicator and wore the costume like the new creative team had her do or would she have stayed as the leader but not been in the battles?
-what was his take on the origin of Puck? The new team showed him as a normal sized human who was possessed by a demon which caused his short stature and long life. Byrne showed Puck endured a lot of bodily pain but never said why.
-would he have kept given subtle hints about Northstar's sexual orientation? When would Byrne have finally revealed the truth or would he ever have come right out and said that Northstar was gay?

This issue was the conclusion from last issue's crossover with Avengers. The Avengers and Alpha Flight had attacked Atlantis to rescue Marrina, a former Alphan and the love of the Sub-Mariner. They did successfully rescue her but Sub-Mariner had to give up his rule of Atlantis. This issue ended with the marriage of Sub-Mariner and Marrina which I thought would have been a bigger deal but I don't remember too much being done with it.

Nov. '86 - Fantastic Four # 296

2006-02-27T15:06:00.000-05:00

All of the Marvel comics had an identical cover theme this month of November 1986. It was the celebration of their 25th anniversary (marked by the publication of Fantastic Four # 1). All the covers included the outside frame of various characters and a head shot of a character in the center. DC would do something similar in the 90's with just a head shot on all of their covers.

This issue was giant-sized to celebrate the anniversary. The Thing had been away from the team since the first Secret War. Reed was feeling increasing gult; both because Thing had been away from the team for so long, and because of his condition in the first place. He decides to find the Thing to finally settle things with him and tracks him to Monster Island. There, Thing has joined with the Mole Man to live out his life there with others that humanity has shunned.

It ends up Mole Man was plotting to expand the size of his underground kingdom at the expense of some real estate on the surface world. He's stopped by the Fantastic Four and Thing leaves Mole Man to rejoin the FF.

The issue reads like something out of the 60's, dialogue-wise, which I guess is to be expected since Stan Lee was involved with the issue. There were some good parts to the story: Mole Man's imaginary life he had created where he was loved and respected by beautiful people (hologram creations) and the plight of the Thing was demonstrated well. He was tired of always being the monster and the raw deal life had given him. Losing his girlfriend to the Human Torch could not have been easy.

I had started to collect this series when John Byrne was the writer/artist and was a big fan of what he did. I was not impressed with what followed after his departure and stopped buying it shortly after he left. This issue was one of the reasons why. I thought Byrne had done a lot to develop the characters and this issue seemed really a step back. It could be they were going for the old-fashioned feel since it was a celebration of the anniversary but I don't think it came off well.

Nov. '86 - All-Star Squadron # 63

2006-02-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

This was another series that was on its last legs in November 1986. With the end of Crisis and the elimination of Earth-2 this series really got the short end of the stick. Many of the Earth-2 heroes that had an Earth-1 counterpart were completely eliminated from history. What Roy Thomas had been building for the past 5 years was unravelled because of Crisis and all the changes it made. This series was soon to be replaced by Young All-Stars as Thomas attempted to restart with heroes that weren't touched by Crisis.

While gearing up for the reboot the last few issues of All-Star Squadron presented origins of various characters that had appeared in the series. Up for this issue was Robotman. He was a doctor who was shot by mobsters and his brain placed in a robotic body he had been developing. During the series Thomas had done a good job presenting Robotman as a tormented character. He still had human emotions but was unable to express them because of the body he was stuck in.

This was a great series and I'm happy to have the complete collection. Thomas was covering about a month in "real time" for each year's worth of stories. It took place during World War II and the history he presented was great. It was one of those comics that was educational and entertaining. It's too bad that Thomas wasn't allowed to continue this comic in its own little world outside of what DC proper was doing. To be able to go through the entire war and see what Thomas would have done would have been an incredible experience.

Flashback Nov '86 - Justice League of America # 256

2006-02-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

This is from the 'Justice League Detroit' era of Justice League of America. Of course, by the time of this issue, they had been kicked out of their Detroit headquarters and were meeting in the mountain that they used back in the 60's.

The plot involved someone named Adam who had kidnapped Zatanna and somehow stolen her magical powers. The homo magi power was too much for him though, and he was being driven insane. It was up to J'onn J'onnz, Zatanna and Gypsy to save him.

JLA was the first comic I ever collected. Of the original series, I have every issue except 9 of the really early ones (which I've read in reprints but will never buy now). The only reason I was still buying this comic in 1986 was a sense of completion. It had strayed a long way from the original reasons I bought it as a kid. To have one comic where you could see all the big heroes was a pretty cool thing for a 10 year old who only had $1.00 to spend on comics. This version of the JLA certainly didn't have 'all the big heroes'. I wasn't enjoying this comic at all. It's the only time I've continued to buy something I didn't like just to have a complete series.

I wasn't enjoying the artwork from Luke McDonnell. It just didn't seem "big" enough to be on JLA. On the other hand, when he started drawing Suicide Squad I thought his art was great for that series. It had a gritty look which matched the tone of that series.

The mini-series Legends started this month (Nov '86) and the end of that series introduced the new Justice League so this version of the League didn't have long left to live. The new League by Giffen and DeMatteis was hugely popular. I don't think there was anyone missing the Justice League Detroit version.

Flashback - November 1986

2006-02-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

In my re-reading the comic collection I am up to the month cover-dated November 1986. I'm always amazed at the size of the monthly stacks from this time period. They're pretty large. I was working two paper routes and I think almost all that money went to comics. I remember as a teenager thinking how great it would be to be done school and working full-time and be able to have more spending money for comics. Of course now they're four times the price so the increased spending hasn't really resulted in more comics. In actual fact, the number of comics has gone down. When I was 16, I couldn't imagine paying $4.00 for a regular monthly comic. (I mean I paid that for Dark Knight when it came out but that was special). Now $4.00 is the norm. Back then they were selling for a $1.00.

I try not to think about that too much because it's really depressing. I can buy a paperback book for $10.00 and it will entertain me for a month or two. Or I can spend that same money on two comics and be done them both in less than an hour. Honestly, if I wasn't already a comic reader I don't think I'd get started in the hobby. My wife and I spend money on video games, books and DVD's and they are a lot better value for the money than comics are. I've said before that I like the production quality on today's comics but if going back to newsprint would knock the price down, I'd be all for the lower quality.

I have trouble believing that the comic readership is actually growing. I know numbers are up but I tend to think that's the current readers buying more (because there is a lot of quality stuff being done) rather than brand new readers coming into the market.

Of course, I could never stop buying them now. I love them too much. Wednesday's are something I always look forward to.

So here I was, all set to talk about November '86 and instead I bitch about the price of comics. Just another instance of me getting old (both because I drift off topic and I say how much things go up in price).

Survivor

2006-02-03T17:57:00.000-05:00

Watched the first episode of the new season last night. Was alright, typical Survivor. Can't decide if the Exile Island will be a good twist or not. It will be interesting to see how tribes decide who is going to the island. The immunity idol, if found, will certainly come in handy for somebody.

I can't figure how these contestants get picked. I swear that some of them must get picked for comic relief. Cerise has never stayed outdoors, doesn't like the outdoors, but is on Survivor. They have to pick her knowing we'll get a chuckle out of her situation.

And do these contestants shut off their brains when they get on this show? At tribal council, Tina is asked if her tribemates are doing enough and she says 'no'! Why would she say that?!? Even if it's the truth, saying it is not going to make her any friends. And this early in the game you need friends. Better to say we're all pulling our weight and shut your mouth. I did think Cerise was going to get the boot until Tina opened her mouth and said that. People don't like hearing their lazy.

Heard from a friend that Cerise makes it to final four. She's kept because she's not seen as a threat. Based on the first episode I can agree with that.

This is like the 20th running of Survivor. Everyone knows by now that you need a fire, you need water, and you need a shelter. The sooner you start, the sooner the fire is going. Playing baseball really isn't a priority. But its what the young guy group decides to do. Where are their heads at?

So I'll be watching every episode, and like every other season, wondering how the people most capable of survival get voted off while others continue on.

Comic Collection

2006-01-31T18:46:00.000-05:00

I've been collecting comics for 26 years now. I've got about 7,000 of them. All in boxes, sorted chronologically. They start in 1961 and continue to the present day. They fill what used to be a closet but with the doors removed is now known as the comic fortress as my wife calls it.

I've been spending spare time re-reading them; deciding which incomplete series I'd like to fill the holes in and what comics I could trade in and not miss. There is definitely more of the former than the latter which is why the collection continues to grow.

They're sorted by date so everything from July 1985 is together and next would be all the August 1985 comics and so on. So as I'm re-reading them, I'm reading a month of comics together just like when I bought them. As I fill holes in the collection they slot into the right month. Organizing them this way makes it easier when you reach company-wide crossovers, too!

Right now I'm up to the comics cover-dated October 1986. It's interesting to read them like this because you forget what all was happening at the same time. You forget that at the same time Dark Knight Returns was coming out (a great comic) so was Dakota North (awful comic). While DC was putting out really fun comics ('Mazing Man) there was the really serious as well (Watchmen). The period I'm reading now was a great time to be a comics reader. The original Crisis had finished, Dark Knight had just come out, Watchmen was going, Frank Miller had just finished his run on Daredevil, and DC was restarting a lot of their characters so things were exciting.

I'll spend some time typing in my thoughts about what I'm reading as I go. With 7,000 comics there's always something to say.

Global Trivia Challenge

2006-01-30T19:45:00.000-05:00

I've joined this website, funtrivia.com. It is completely free and it is full of trivia quizes. What is really great about the site is the Global Trivia Challenge.

It runs every six hours. They have 15 categories to choose from, you pick 5, and answer 15 questions in each category. You are graded based on how many questions you got correct and how fast you did the quiz. As you get points you are moved up the ladder of the first level. Once you reach 100%, you move on to the next level. There are 10 levels. It has been running since December, I think, and the furthest anyone has gotten so far is level 8. It should take a few months more until this challenge is over and a new one starts. As you move up levels, the questions get tougher and it takes more points to advance in your level.

There are currently over 29,000 people participating in this challenge. The movement up the levels is determined partly by how well you do at the trivia but also by how often you play. The more you play the faster you'll move up the levels. That's a slight drawback since I can only play twice a day (I have to work and sleep) while I'm sure there are others playing 4 times a day. To help adjust for this they have created a second ranking which compares you to everyone else based on how well you did and not by how often you play.

There is also a hardcore version for the real trivia players. The site randomly chooses the five categories for you, you only have 90 seconds, and you have to get at least 9 right. Otherwise you don't get any points. I was doing this in the previous challenge but switched to normal mode for this one. It was getting a little too frustrating never scoring any points.

The site is great fun if you're a fan of trivia. They track all kinds of stats so you can measure your progress. There is also daily trivia games and quizes on all sorts of topics. The site keeps track of all your quiz playing as well if you want to compare yourself to others.

Daredevil # 81

2006-01-28T13:01:00.000-05:00

This is the last issue for Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. They've been working on the title for five years and it has been a great run. You hear some complaints about the work of Bendis but I think you have to admire his commitment to titles he works on. He's been on Ultimate Spider-Man since its start, this title for five years, and he plans on staying on New Avengers for a long time.

I've read on message boards that some readers were disappointed with the way this series ended. They were hoping for more of a final ending. I think the story ended the way it should have ended. Here was someone, a lawyer, who, after being accused of being Daredevil, lied to everyone by denying it. He had someone impersonate Daredevil in court and put them on the stand knowing they weren't the real deal. He has certainly committed his share of crimes. I think it follows that eventually he is going to get caught and he's going to go to jail. He could only run for so long.

I look forward to Ed Brubacker and Michael Lark's work on the series. I was a big fan of Gotham Central, their collaboration at DC. Matt's experiences in jail should make for some entertaining reading. I don't know how Brubacker is going to get Daredevil out of jail know that's he there. I will certainly be continuing to buy the series to find out.

Reading Room

2006-01-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law loaned me a book recently. It's a book that normally I wouldn't give a second look in the bookstore; it's a romance and I've never been interested in romance books. This one has an interesting twist, though.

It's called 'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger. The male character in the book, Henry, periodically and uncontrollably, gets transported through time. He is in his 30's when on one of these trips to the past, he first meets his future wife (when she is just a child). He sees her many more times while she is growing up. He is always a different age when he sees her.

One of the early twists in the book is that she meets him in normal time when they are both in their 20's. The twist is, that while she has known him her whole life, at that time in his life he had yet to meet her. His first meeting with her wouldn't happen for him for a few more years.

It is things like that which make the book interesting. He has to decide how much to reveal to her about their future and always be guarded as to what he says. He is conflicted between wanting to steer things in a certain direction and wanting events to take their natural course. For a devoted fantasy fan like myself, who has read many other books involving time travel, this one takes a different approach. It really concentrates on the effect it has on individuals. I'm only about 100 pages in to the book so far but it has captured my interest. I'll definitely be passing it on to the wife, another fantasy fan.

Happy Birthday!

2006-01-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

He retired recently and he and my Mom have moved back to where they grew up. They are around family and old friends and seem to be enjoying the experience after being away from home for so long. They live further away now so I won't be seeing them as often as I used to but with phones and email we keep in touch. We've even started using MSN Messenger after prodding from my sister.

Dad and Mom both have given everything they could to their kids and provided us with a good foundation to grow up in. I consider myself very fortunate with the life I have now and that has a lot to do with them. The ability to be self-sufficient, make good decisions, and have a successful marriage can largely be attributed to them. And I still call them to get advice and just to share news and get their reaction.

Dad is only partly retired since he got a part-time job shortly after moving. I hope he's not working too hard and takes time to enjoy his birthday.

PS. I tried to work in the term 'auspicious occasion' but wasn't sure how to make it fit (inside joke for the family).

Lost

2006-01-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

We bought the first season of Lost on DVD on Boxing Day. We had never seen the show but had heard a lot about it (I think we were afraid to jump in mid-season since the show was building up each episode). It sounded like a show that would appeal to the wife and me.

We're about 12 episodes in now and the show is incredible. I know we're coming to this revelation awfully late since the show is already into its second season but better late than never.

Watching it on DVD is great! No commercials, we can watch a new episode every couple of nights, and the commentaries really add to the show. The only disadvantage is we have to plug our ears and make loud noises whenever we start to head anything about a current episode.

We have spent time discussing theories and ideas about what is happening on that island. Watching it has been a great experience!

2006-01-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

So, I'm 35 but I swear I'm turning in to an old man. Everytime I go into a store or see a new product on TV I'm left thinking "How do they do that?"

This weekend we bought a water cooler. It's got three temperature settings. You can have room temperature, cold, or hot water. And it's instantaneous. No waiting. Whenever I want a hot drink, there's no need to boil the kettle. The water is there and it's ready. I find this amazing! It used to be, on a commercial break, we'd run upstairs to plug in the kettle and then return on the next commercial break to make the tea. Now, I can run up, pour the water and be back before one commercial is done. For someone who likes his TV, this is pretty good!

On Boxing Day we bought new phones. They're two handsets that only require one phone jack. I have no idea how they work but they do. One sits upstairs plugged into the phone jack. One sits down in the basement, no phone jack, but it rings. I know it's getting a signal from the upstairs phone (just like a cordless can be away from the cradle) but, still, it's amazing.

Any day now I expect to start using the phrase 'new fangled' to describe everything I don't understand.

All-Star Superman # 2

2006-01-21T18:27:00.000-05:00

This has got to be, without a doubt, the best Superman story since Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". I read this with real enjoyment. This is a reason for creating the All-Star line. Like they described it - creating iconic stories using great creators.

I just do not get the same feeling from reading All-Star Batman; and Batman was the one I was looking forward to more. But while A-S Batman, to me, has been a disappointment, A-S Superman has been a great surprise. Superman being portrayed as someone so relaxed and confident seems so natural and so right. He's invulnerable, he should be confident.

Some of the moments I particularly enjoyed:
- the new key to the Fortress
- Lois not believing he was Clark
- his pet Suneater

The Silver Age feel to this comic is really noticeable with Superman's gadgets and trophies that don't get an explanation; they're just there. Comics today seem to be plotted much tighter than older comics. Everything is more deliberate. Everything that is in them is there for a reason. And while I like that because it creates suspense and makes me pay more attention when I'm reading a comic, it's refreshing to see a comic that takes a different approach. I remember reading letter columns where someone would write in and ask 'where did this come from' or 'what's the history on this' and the answer from the editor would just be 'maybe there's a story in there someday'. I got the same feeling from reading this issue. The suneater is there, we don't know where it came from, probably won't find out. Here's a future Superman. What's his story, don't know. While I wouldn't want this for every comic, it's a nice change of pace.

Eagerly waiting for the next issue! Hope the creators can keep this going for a long time!

Spoilt!

2006-01-21T17:48:00.000-05:00

There is a site called Spoilt! that performs what I think is a very useful service for comic readers. They accept and post contributions of plot summaries for Marvel and DC comics. Considering the price of comics today and the number of titles being published it is impossible to buy everything. Their site allows you to keep informed about what is happening.

I've had one posting on the site and have sent in another. I thought it was interesting to try and summarize the issue for someone else. Let's me employ English skills I've forgotten since high school. Also, I have a lousy memory for remembering plots from one month to the next. Jotting them down seems to help that.

For those that think the site might make people buy fewer comics because they can read the summaries for free, I think it would have the opposite effect. Someone might read a summary and be intrigued enough to pick up a copy of the title themselves. I certainly haven't bought fewer comics since finding the site.

I think they would be glad to have more contributors if someone had the time and interest.

The Second first post

2006-01-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

I collect comics; have for 25 years. I read websites devoted to comics and blogs where people talk about comics. I always find it interesting to see what other people thought about something I just read. Sometimes I still find it interesting that people are actually reading the same things I read.

When I started reading comics, other than the comics letter page, there was no way to see what people thought. I didn't no anyone else that read comics. Now it's so different. So I wondered, do I have anything new to add to everything that is out there?

The answer was probably not! But I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see if I had anything to say. And the wife was going out with a friend today so I had time alone to try setting up a blog and thinking of things to say.

First post

2006-01-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

First post to try this out. Will have more to say later.