Blog 2.0

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Feb. 22, 2011 -- “DC and Marvel better look out, because here we come.”

So sayeth Jon Goldwater, CEO of Archie Comics, about the venerable publisher’s plans. While DC, Marvel and Archie comics all date back to the late 1930s, Archie has always been the quiet one, staying out of the news while dutifully turning out G-rated laughs for the tween set.

Until now.

“I’ve been here about 18-19 months,” Goldwater said in an interview. “We kicked up a little dust, to be honest with you.”

And the results have been seen in the headlines, where it’s obvious that Archie Comics is leaping from wherever it was culturally into the 21st century. 

“I wanted to make Archie and the gang a reflection of what’s going on with kids today in high school,” Goldwater said. “I wanted to be realistic within the confines of … what would be in Riverdale. I just wanted to give a representation of what kids deal with in high school, what they deal with in their home lives, what they deal with with their friends, and their relationships, and all the things that are going on in their lives. Which are pretty complicated, for goodness sake. We really wanted to sort of show that.”

And what they’ve done since Goldwater arrived is one breakthrough after another:

* Archie was the first publisher to launch its own standalone app. Goldwater says this was a result of his background in the music industry, which waged a losing battle against the Internet: “The one thing I knew is that we had to embrace new technology.”

* Veronica #202 introduced Kevin Keller, the first openly gay Riverdale teen, “something that we’re extraordinarily proud of,” Goldwater said. It will lead to another first: Archie Comics will publish its first miniseries soon, starring Keller.

* Archie #600-605 explored two possible futures for Archie, one married to Veronica, and one married to Betty. Both stories continue in the new Life with Archie magazine.

* Archie #608-609 featured the first interracial romance in Riverdale, when Archie of The Archies and Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats shared an interlude. “You know what happens when bands are on tour together on the road,” Goldwater laughed. “Things happen.”

* In January, the company announced it was dropping the Comics Code after more than 50 years of submitting its books for Comics Magazine Association of America inspection. Archie was the last publisher still using the Code, so its withdrawal effectively ended the CMAA, after decades of being its staunchest member.

Does that mean Archie is no longer safe? Not at all – Archie will remain G-rated. But how far will they push the envelope?

“You push it as far as you want to push it within the integrity of the characters,” Goldwater said. “These characters, even though they’re high school students … have a 70-year history. So when a mother or a father or a kid or whoever picks up an Archie comic, there’s a certainty in that comic. They know what they’re getting. But what we want to do is, we want to sorta push it as far as we can within that certainty.”

The hits will keep on coming. Archie had leased its superheroes to DC Comics, but that deal has ended, so “Red Circle” characters like The Shield are returning. Archie is also working with the legendary Stan Lee, co-creator of most of Marvel’s superheroes, on a secret project. Archie Babies, the company’s first original graphic novel, will be just the first of many. Abrams, Dark Horse and IDW continue archiving Archie’s 70 years in high-quality hardcovers. Goldwater drops tantalizing names like Cosmo the Merry Martian, Jinx, Katy Keene, Mega Man, Sam Hill and Superteens. A second magazine, Veronica & Betty, will follow the girls around the world as exchange students, as well as their replacements in Riverdale. And Goldwater promises big news throughout 2011 on film, television and animation projects.

“Our stated theme and goal here is playing in the exact same sandbox that Marvel and DC currently occupy,” Goldwater said. “They have all the revenue streams going, not just in publishing, but they have tons of licensing revenues, they have films, they have animation. They have all those things that we are now in the process of teeing up for Archie Comics.”

Which means serious competition for “the Big Two” – and a lot of fun for us.

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

In one of my first Deck Log Entries, ‘way back when, I took a look at The Avengers King-Size Special # 1 (Sep., 1967), featuring the story “The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin.”  The story was notable for its resemblance to the style in which Gardner Fox wrote the early Justice League of America tales.  The author of the Avengers story, Roy Thomas, spent his boyhood devouring issues of All-Star Comics, DC’s Golden-Age title starring the Justice Society of America.  And when DC introduced its Silver-Age version, the Justice League, in 1960, the eager Thomas bombarded writer Fox and editor Julius Schwartz with intelligent and constructive fan letters.

That was how he got his foot in the door, leading to his own career in the comics industry.  Roy Thomas was one of the earliest examples of a fan turned pro.  But the thing you need to most keep in mind, at least as far as this Deck Log Entry is concerned, is that Roy Thomas was a huge Justice League fan.

Over the past couple of weeks on this site, Philip Portelli has been treating us to reviews of Gardner Fox’s Justice League/Justice Society team-ups, the annual event brought about by Fox’s creation of the parallel-Earth concept.  In JLA # 21-2 (Aug. and Sep., 1963), the Justice League discovered that there was another Earth, almost identical to their own, except for some minor differences.  Such as, on that Earth, the Justice Society of America was still going strong.

It was one of the most thrilling revelations of the Silver Age.  The congratulatory fan letters stacked up on Julius Schwartz’s desk, and every summer thereafter, the Justice League and the Justice Society would cross Earths to tackle another world-shaking menace.

So it was probably inevitable that, over at Marvel, Roy Thomas would take his own shot at writing a “parallel-Earth” Crisis.

The Avengers was Marvel Comics’ answer to the Justice League of America, and by the beginning of 1967, Roy Thomas was writing the title.  The Assemblers might have been Marvel’s JLA in concept, but in tone and style, it was something different.  The Avengers emphasized characterisation over plot, and Thomas delivered it.  Cleaving to the Marvel style, he was responsible for some of the most dramatic and memorable developments in the series.

I’m guessing, though, that deep down inside, Roy Thomas was still that comics fan who used to get all “gosh-wow!” over each new issue of Justice League of America.  His script for that first Avengers King-Size Special was clearly an homage, sticking to the Fox Formula so closely that an Avengers fan had to check the cover, to make sure that he hadn’t picked up an issue of JLA by mistake.

Roy wasn’t so obvious about it the next time, but he gave Gardner Fox and the JLA another tip of his hat when he wrote The Avengers King-Size Special # 2 (Sep., 1968). At least,  “. . . and Time, the Rushing River” sure seems like Thomas’ salute to those summertime JLA/JSA team-ups.  Done Marvel style, of course.

Though it could stand alone as a done-in-one, the story “Death Be Not Proud”, from The Avengers # 56 (Sep., 1968), also served as a prequel to the events of  “. . . and Time, the Rushing River.”  Here, the then-current roster of active Avengers---Hawkeye, the Black Panther, Goliath, and the Wasp---are summoned to Doctor Doom’s abandoned castle in upstate New York by Captain America.

Of late, Cap tells them, he has been questioning the fate of his young wartime partner, Bucky Barnes.  Despite witnessing the fearsome explosion which killed the boy, Cap has been having second thoughts.  “If I somehow survived it . . . couldn’t he have, too?”

The Star-Spangled Avenger proposes using Dr. Doom’s time-platform, long stored away in the castle, to go back to that fateful day and learn what happened to Bucky.  He asks for the Avengers’ help to operate the time-machine; instead, they insist on accompanying Cap back to World War II.  Only the Wasp remains behind in the present to work the controls.

Taking a page from Mort Weisinger over at DC, when the quartet of Avengers arrive in 1945, they are invisible phantoms.  “Otherwise,” explains Cap, “we’d invite disaster by existing in two places at the same time!”

Despite the caution, the fellows wind up courting catastrophe, after all.  The phantom Avengers watch the WWII-era Captain America and Bucky fall while trying to prevent the Nazi Baron Zemo from stealing the Allies’ experimental drone plane.  Meanwhile, the Wasp, back in 1968, fights an inexplicable attack of drowsiness and unknowingly mishandles the controls.  This causes her four time-traveling teammates to materialise in the past.

The Avengers do their damndest to stop Baron Zemo, but when it gets to the clinch, the heroes abruptly revert to their phantom state.  History will not be thwarted, but it’s kind of pushed along a bit.  In the final seconds before he completely fades away, the 1968 Cap is able to free his 1945 self and Bucky from their bonds.

But from then on, the Avengers are helpless to do anything but witness the final fate of Bucky Barnes play out, as it was first presented ‘way back in The Avengers # 4.  Cap and the others return to 1968, sadly convinced of Bucky’s death.

It was a corker of a tale.  But, for Roy Thomas, it was just a warm-up for the main event.

The Avengers King-Size Annual # 2 hit the stands the same month, and it opens with the five Avengers returning to a New York that is not quite the city they left.  At least, not to them.

Little things don’t fit.  On the street, the usually jaded Manhattanites stare at them in curiosity.  The Avengers Mansion isn’t quite right, either.  They notice furniture that was discarded years ago and they are attacked by a defensive system that they don’t remember installing.  But those are just the preliminaries; the big shock awaits.

No doubt with the theme song to The Twilight Zone do-do-do-ing in their heads, the five heroes head for the meeting room, only to find seated around the council table . . . the original Avengers!  Iron Man.  The Mighty Thor.  Giant-Man.  The Wasp.   And the Hulk!

The two groups stare at each other and try to make sense of the other’s presence.  Except for Goliath.  Sure, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk might be the genuine articles, but Giant-Man must be an impostor.  Because Goliath used to be Giant-Man.  He reaches out and rips the mask off the other twelve-foot giant in the room, only to come face to face---with himself!

Cue the standard Marvel hero-versus-hero fight.  With the overwhelming might of Thor, the Hulk, and Iron Man on their side, the original Assemblers give the modern team a good thumping.  Cap and the others barely manage to escape under the cover of a couple of Hawkeye’s smog arrows.

Taking refuge in one of those abandoned subway tunnels that are so prevalent in comic-book cities, the modern-day Avengers try to figure out what just happened.  It’s Captain America who finally puts the pieces together.  The reason why everything is the same-but-not-quite is because they are no longer on their own Earth.  They are on an alternate Earth, almost identical to their own, but with some minor differences.  And one difference not so minor:  the original five members are still the Avengers on this Earth---and they don’t know Hawkeye or the Black Panther or Captain America.

And Cap hasn’t even gotten to the really bad part, yet.  He theorises that this alternate Earth was created during their trip to the past, when he and Goliath, Hawkeye, and the Panther materialised in 1945.  Their violation of physical law jolted all subsequent events off the track that their 1968 history had recorded.  The reason why the Avengers of this alternate Earth didn’t recognise Cap or Hawkeye or the Panther might very well be that those three heroes, in the altered history, don’t exist.

And as far as getting home, they might not have an Earth to go back to.

Hoo boy!  Roy Thomas took the idea of one team of super-heroes meeting its equivalent from another Earth and gave it a hard twist.  It sure wasn’t the Gardner Fox approach, with the counterparts shaking hands and grinning and comparing costumes, like two chapters of the Shriners meeting for the first time.

Instead, the Avengers were met with open hostility by that Earth’s mightiest heroes; forced to run and hide, unable to seek help from a world that didn’t recognise them.  Barry Allen thought it was the neatest thing ever to discover a parallel Earth where he didn’t exist, but the heroes he’d read about in comics as a boy did.  Roy Thomas showed us how it could go horribly wrong.

And there was a whole ‘nother fistful of trouble waiting to hit Our Heroes, but they didn’t know it, yet.

Captain America decides their next move should be to learn how the alternate Earth’s history deviated from their own world’s.  To do that, Goliath suggests they make use of the herodotron, a computer programmed with all historical data and capable of relaying it to a human subject by means of narrative feedback.  That is, if this Earth has one.

Fortunately, it does, and the Avengers secure it for their use.  When they do, they discover that, at a critical juncture before the Hulk could quit the team, this Earth’s Assemblers threw in with a cosmic entity called the Scarlet Centurion.  The Centurion proposed that those Avengers neutralise all other super-beings, hero and villain, on Earth.  In exchange, he would eliminate famine, pestilence, and all of the other ills that plagued mankind. 

Now, only Cap and the others stand between the original Avengers and a golden age for man.  This gives the other Avengers pause, out of concern that the Scarlet Centurion is on the level.  But Captain America gives one of his patented “Tyranny is bad!” speeches, and his buds are back on the bandwagon.

The displaced Avengers figure that their best chance of putting things right and getting home is the same thing which created this mess in the first place---Dr. Doom’s time-platform!  Thanks to the herodotron, Cap has a line on that, too.  The original Avengers disassembled Doom’s time-machine and secreted the parts in three locations.  The heroes split up into three sub-teams to retrieve them.

Since we are only halfway through the story, you can count on things not going all that smoothly for the 1968 Avengers.  The Scarlet Centurion tumbles to their plan and dispatches the five original Avengers to stop them.

That treats us to some sensational battles royale.  Hawkeye and the Black Panther confront Iron Man and the Hulk.  Captain America tackles Thor.  And Goliath and the Wasp square off against their earlier selves.  Thanks to skill, teamwork, and a heaping helping of luck, the modern-day Assemblers triumph over the more-powerful original team.

Which was just fine by the Scarlet Centurion.  As the 1968 Avengers assemble the time machine and activate it, the red-robed villain appears before them and reveals his secret agenda.  It was the Centurion who created the time-anomaly that resulted in this alternate Earth---first, by seeding Captain America’s thoughts with doubts about Bucky Barnes’s death and then by causing the accident which resulted in the Avengers materializing in 1945.

This disruption in the fabric of time enabled the Centurion to alter history, by preventing the break-up of the original Avengers.  Then the villain manipulated them into defeating every other super-being in existence, thus paving the way for his own conquest of Earth.  That the modern-day Avengers were able to defeat the alternate-Earth team worked in the Centurion’s favour.

The Centurion knew that, before conquering Earth, he would have to beat the last remaining super-heroes---the Avengers.  And he would much rather fight  Avengers composed of lightweights like Captain America and Hawkeye and the Panther than Avengers with heavy-hitters, like Thor and the Hulk.

And now, the villain announces, prepare to die!

I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the story, yet.  But it’s safe to say that the Scarlet Centurion discovers that the Avengers---no matter which ones---aren’t that easy to kill.  It’s a real squeaker, though.  The Centurion is ahead on points through most of it.  But Cap and crew finally manage to send the villain packing and restore history to its original course, putting them back on the Earth they left.

Even as late as 1968, the concept of parallel Earths inhabited by different super-hero teams was still so closely associated with DC that Roy Thomas was forced to find another way to get the Avengers on a world not quite like their own.  Instead of a parallel Earth, Roy thrust the Assemblers on an alternate one, created by taking another step away from DC convention.

In the DC universe, history was immutable; a time-traveler was helpless to change the past.  Thomas took another route:  under the right circumstances, history could be changed, but the time-traveler would return to find a world significantly changed from the one he had left.  Eventually, Marvel would embrace this notion as scientific law in its mythos.  Changing the past would cause the time stream to diverge, creating an alternate branch, with an alternate history, from the original time-line.

DC created a parallel Earth to revive the Justice Society of America, the Golden-Age prototype for the Justice League.  But Marvel had no Golden-Age super-team to resurrect.  (The idea of the Invaders didn’t come along until the ‘70’s.)  Yet, Thomas was still able to tap into the nostalgia factor by restoring the original Avengers.  Fans have always held a curious fascination for the original line-up.  It had the briefest of existences; the Hulk abandoned the group at the end of The Avengers # 2 (Nov., 1963), after only one adventure as an official team.

So it was an unexpected treat to see the charter Avengers in action.  And by pitting them against the significantly weaker modern-day Avengers, Roy was able to indulge the fanboy desire to see “who can beat who?”

And as for the Scarlet Centurion, a villain never seen before, Thomas tied him to a past Avengers foe in a last-page coda provided by the Watcher.

This would be the last giant-sized Avengers story seen for some time.  For the next several years, the Avengers King-Size Special title would carry reprinted material.  And by the time it got around to publishing new Avengers epics again, in 1976, Roy Thomas had moved on to other things.

But he certainly left a high benchmark for the writers of those later Avengers King-Size tales to reach.

5 RONIN #1 (OF 5)

ABATTOIR #3 (OF 6) (MR)    

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #651 2ND PTG

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #652 2ND PTG

AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON HC

ANGEL ILLYRIA #4 (OF 4) 

ANNIHILATORS #1 (OF 4)

ARCHIE #618  

ASTONISHING THOR #3 (OF 5)  

AVENGERS ACADEMY #10

AVENGERS THOR CAPTAIN AMERICA OFF INDEX MU #11 

AXE COP BAD GUY EARTH #1 (OF 3)  

AZRAEL #18     

BATMAN BEYOND #3  

BATMAN BEYOND HUSH BEYOND TP  

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #54  

BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM #20                 

BATMAN TIME AND THE BATMAN HC

BILLY BATSON SHAZAM MR MIND OVER MATTER TP  

BODYSNATCHERS #1 (OF 6)

BOYS #52 (MR)

BRIGHTEST DAY #21        

BRING THE THUNDER #3

CAPTAIN AMERICA AND FALCON #1   

CAPTAIN AMERICA HAIL HYDRA #3 (OF 5)   

CARBON GREY #1 (MR)  

CHARMED #7

CHEW #17 (MR)   

CHIP N DALE RESCUE RANGERS #4

DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #6     

DAOMU #2 (MR) 

DARK TOWER TREACHERY TP     

DARKNESS #90 (MR)   

DARKWING DUCK ANNUAL #1

DC COMICS PRESENTS SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY #1 

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #3  

DEADPOOL #33.1   

DEAN KOONTZ FRANKENSTEIN PRODIGAL SON VOL 2 #4 

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #20 (OF 24)

DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS SERIES 4 #2 SEVENTH DOCTOR 

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FORGOTTEN REALMS TP V1 

EARP SAINTS FOR SINNERS #2 (OF 5) (MR)

EMMA #1 (OF 5)  

ESSENTIAL X-MEN TP VOL 02 NEW ED 

ETHAN #2

FEAR ITSELF BY STUART IMMONEN POSTER 

FIRST WAVE #6 (OF 6) 

FORMIC WARS BURNING EARTH #2 (OF 7) 

FREEDOM FIGHTERS #7     

GEORGE RR MARTINS DOORWAYS #4 (OF 4)   

GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #2

GI JOE COBRA TP VOL 03 SERPENTS COIL

GI JOE INFESTATION #1 (OF 2)

GIANT SIZE ATOM #1    

GREEN LANTERN #63 (WAR OF GL)  

GRIMM FAIRY TALES #56

HERCULIAN #1    

HEROES FOR HIRE #4        

HEXED TP      

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #35 (MR)  

INCOGNITO BAD INFLUENCES #4 (MR)     

INTREPIDS #1    

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 2ND PTG

IRREDEEMABLE #23              

JOE THE BARBARIAN #8 (OF 8) (RES) (MR)  

JOHN BYRNE NEXT MEN #4   

JONAH HEX #65   

LENORE VOLUME II #1 REISSUE    

LENORE VOLUME II #2    

LIFE WITH ARCHIE MARRIED LIFE #8   

LOCKE & KEY KEYS TO THE KINGDOM #5 (OF 6)  

LOONEY TUNES #196  

LOVE AND CAPES EVER AFTER #2 

LUCID #4 (OF 4)      

MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME #1 (OF 5)  

MMW MIGHTY THOR TP VOL 02   

ONE #3 (OF 5)

OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE #1 

OZ PRIMER     

PACESETTER THE GEORGE PEREZ MAGAZINE #11

POPEYE HC V1 BEST COMIC STORIES BUD SAGENDORF

POPEYE HC VOL 05 WHAS A JEEP

POWERS #7 (MR)        

PREVIEWS #270 MAR 2011

RED SONJA #55    

RETURN O/T ORIGINALS HC BATTLE FOR LA

ROUTE DES MAISONS ROUGES #3 (OF 4) (MR)

ROY CRANE BUZ SAWYER HC WAR I/T PACIFIC VOL 01 

SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #7  

SECRET SIX #31 

SECRET WARRIORS #25    

SKELETON STORY #3 (OF 5)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #222 

SPIDER-MAN GRIM HUNT TP    

STAND NO MANS LAND #2 (OF 5) 

STYX & STONE #1 (MR)

SUPERPATRIOT AMERICAS FIGHTING FORCE TP    

SWEET TOOTH #19 (MR)  

THANOS IMPERATIVE HC    

THE SUICIDE FOREST #3 (OF 4)    

THOR FIRST THUNDER TP 

THOR POSTER BOOK       

THOR SPOTLIGHT 

THOR TALES OF ASGARD TP COIPEL CVR  

THUNDERBOLTS #154  

TICK NEW SERIES #8 

ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA #3 (OF 4) 

UNCLE SCROOGE #401

USAGI YOJIMBO #135   

VAMPIRELLA MASTERS SERIES TP V3 MARK MILLAR

VENOM BY DANIEL WAY ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP 

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #9 (MR)  

WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 YEAR TWO (MR)  

WITCHFINDER LOST & GONE FOREVER #2 (OF 5)

WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #4    

WOLVERINE HERC.  MYTHS MONSTERS & MUTANTS #1

WOLVERINE WOLVERINE GOES TO HELL PREM HC 

WORLD OF WARCRAFT CURSE O/T WORGEN #4 (OF 5) 

WULF #1  

X-FACTOR #216

copied from the list posted on Facebook by Comics & Collectibles, Memphis

Good news, everyone!

Rich Steeves, a Legionnaire of long standing, has gotten his very first novel published! Woo-hoo!

Here's what his publisher, Seven Realms Publishing, has to say:

MISTY JOHNSON, SUPERNATURAL DICK:  CAPITOL HELL

Book One of the Misty Johnson series

"When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve done just about  everything at least twice.”

Centuries ago, Misty Johnson, Supernatural, er, Dick, was cursed with near  immortality when a black magic spell she and a friend were casting backfired … and  the supernatural realm has regretted it ever since. A near millennium full of battling  paranormal nasties, saving helpless victims, and trying to stay up with the latest  cultural niceties, Misty has put her experiences to good use. With the help of her  trusty partner, Dru Chance, the two take on the magical underbelly of Washington  D.C. as they investigate crimes that no one else can handle.

From shady Senators to sneaky shape shifters, from a ninja made of clay to a  vampire afraid of his own shadow … Misty Johnson navigates the nation’s capital, all  the while seeking to uncover the truth for her clients -- and for herself. An unnatural  life span. A timeless mission. A woman like no other. Just don’t call her a detective.

ISBN # 978-0-9826099-4-1

Isn't that terrific? Let's help Rich get off to a good start: If I get at least three Legionnaires to agree to buy and review the book, we'll set up a separate Capitol Hell discussion area. (That way, his publisher has only place to go for those little quotes on the back of the book!) Who's game? Sound off, Legionnaires!

On this day 10 years ago, I was in an accident that totaled my car. I am grateful today for three things: 

That I was in the car by myself; I doubt a passenger would have survived.

That I walked away from it whole; save for some pain in my side that lasted about a week, I was and remain physically sound.

That God saw fit to spare me, that I may carry on in this world and be the husband, father and person He wants me to be.

I am also grateful to have had these years as a member of this forum. We've been together through various locations in cyberspace, but I've always found it a warm and welcoming home.

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Feb. 15, 2011 -- Many retailers wouldn’t sell sexy Vampirella magazine to minors when it debuted in 1969. They believed they were protecting kids, and they were – from terrible stories.

Vampirella Archives Vol. 1 ($49.99) has arrived from Dynamite Entertainment, collecting the first seven issues (1969-70) of Warren Publishing’s third black-and-white horror magazine, after Creepy and Eerie. Like the first issue of Vampirella itself, the cover of the first Archives volume is the famous Frank Frazetta painting which introduced the voluptuous, scantily clad vampire.

That’s pretty much where the quality ends. When Vampirella debuted, Warren Publishing was going through hard financial times. And the once high-quality publisher was using second-rate talents in the late 1960s, and even a core cadre of up-and-comers (Ernie Colon, Tom Sutton, etc.) wasn’t enough to save the book from clichéd stories, amateurish art, poor spelling, malapropisms and erroneous homophones.

I was also looking forward to learning more about the origins of the title character, now a headliner at two different publishers (long story). But it seems Vampi wasn’t originally the star of Vampirella – she was simply the host of a horror anthology, similar to Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie in their magazines. And she poses a lot, theoretically exciting to adolescent boys (although, with the crummy art, I doubt it).

There is a story in the first issue giving her origin, but it isn’t written by a professional author. It is instead by Forrest J. Ackerman, the world’s most famous horror-film fan, who was the nominal editor of Warren’s Famous Monsters of Filmland. And it is painful.

Vampirella (her real name, implausibly) lives on a planet of vampires called (sigh) “Draculon,” where water is made of hemoglobin. U.S. astronauts arrive, whom Vampi promptly sucks dry, then steals their ship and goes to Earth, where, inexplicably, she has an evil, blonde cousin named (sigh, again) “Evily.” They briefly fight, and Vampi is apparently the good guy, albeit a blood-sucker who kills innocent people.

There are a couple more stories like this, each more excruciating than the last. The regular horror stories aren’t much better. I really can’t recommend this book.

Fortunately, Warren’s quality improved in the 1970s, before they went out of business altogether. So later volumes of Vampirella should be better. Also the series, and the character, improved greatly at later publishers, stories which are being reprinted as Crimson Chronicles by Harris Publications, and Vampirella Masters by Dynamite. Those I can recommend.

Elsewhere:

* DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns can apparently do no wrong these days. He just finished re-imagining Green Lantern to critical and financial success, and now has turned his sights on the Fastest Man Alive, with promising results.

The Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues ($19.99) collects the first seven issues of the Scarlet Speedster’s rebooted title, plus two stories from the Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010 one-shot. Not only do these stories lay the groundwork for the new series starring the resurrected Flash of 1956-86 (as a superhero forensics expert), not only do they tell you everything you need to know about the major characters, villains, background and milieu of the series, but they tell a whopper of a tale as well. Johns combines the innocent charm of ‘60s Flash stories with the hard-nosed storytelling of today’s CSI franchises in a time-travel whirlwind using most of the Crimson Comet’s rogues gallery. That’s a lot to pack in, but Johns does it effortlessly for a story offering revelation, mystery, thrills and charm. No wonder he’s CCO!

* NBM has released Salvatore Vol. 1: Transports of Love ($14.99), the first in a series of anthropomorphic-animal graphic novels by Nicolas De Crécy (Glacial Period) and … I’m really not sure what to make of it.

Salvatore is a master mechanic dog who steals parts from his clientele to build a Rube Goldbergian vehicle to travel to South America to reach his true love (a well-bred terrier). Inexplicably, he only eats fondue. Meanwhile, Amandine – a pregnant and extremely near-sighted hog – has a Mr. Magoo-like adventure where her car lands on an airplane, where she gives birth, and loses one of her piglets in the sewers of Paris, where it is adopted by a Goth cat. Thus ends volume one.

I know Salvatore is supposed to be funny, but mostly I found myself baffled by this adventure/comedy/travelogue. I am intrigued enough to continue, so maybe the second volume will give me more context.

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

27 (TWENTY SEVEN) #2 (OF 4) 2ND PTG

ABYSS FAMILY ISSUES #1 (OF 4)

ACTION COMICS #898   

AGE OF X ALPHA #1 2ND PTG

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #655 BIG 

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #12 (MR)    

ANGELUS TP VOL 01  

ART OF BOOM STUDIOS SC (RES) 

ARTIFACTS #5 (OF 13) 2ND PTG

ASTONISHING X-MEN #36 

ASTONISHING X-MEN TP VOL 06 EXOGENETIC  

ATOMIC ROBO DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE #4 (OF 5) 

AVENGERS #10          

BART SIMPSON COMICS #58 

BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM SER 1 FIGURES

BETTY & VERONICA #252  

BLACK TERROR #14     

CAPTAIN AMERICA #615 

CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #57   

CAVEWOMAN HUNT #2

CHRONICLES OF KULL TP V4 BLOOD OF KINGS OTHER

CROSSED PSYCHOPATH #1 (OF 6) (MR) 

DC COMICS PRESENTS BATMAN CONSPIRACY #1

DEADPOOL #33    

DEADPOOL CORPS #11      

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #884  

DEAN KOONTZ FRANKENSTEIN PRODIGAL SON V 2 #3

DETECTIVE COMICS #874        

DOCTOR SOLAR MAN OF ATOM #5 

DRACULA COMPANY OF MONSTERS #7

ECHOES #3 (OF 5) (MR)  

EERIE ARCHIVES HC VOL 06

ETERNAL DESCENT #6  

EXTREME PERSPECTIVE FOR ARTISTS SC

FALLEN ANGEL RETURN OF THE SON #2 (OF 4) 

FANTASTIC FOUR #587 2ND PTG

FANTASTIC FOUR #588 THREE 

FLASH GORDON INVASION O/T RED SWORD #1  

FREAKANGELS HC VOL 05 (MR)

FREAKANGELS TP VOL 05 (MR)

GI JOE #27     

GODLAND #34    

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #20     

GREEN ARROW #9 (BRIGHTEST DAY) 

GREEN HORNET BLOOD TIES #4    

GRIMM FAIRY TALES TP DIFFERENT SEASONS

HALO FALL OF REACH BOOT CAMP #4 (OF 4) (MR)

HEAVY METAL SPRING 2011 (MR)

HELLBLAZER PANDEMONIUM TP (MR) 

HOW TO DRAW & PAINT PIN UPS GLAMOUR GIRLS SC   

INCORRUPTIBLE #15      

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #501    

IRON MAN 2.0 #1     

IRON MAN THOR #4 (OF 4)    

JLA THE 99 #5 (OF 6) 

JOHN CARTER OF MARS WARLOARD OF MARS TP

JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #20 (BD)

JUSTICE LEAGUE THE RISE AND FALL HC  

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #48 

KEVIN SMITH GREEN HORNET TP V2 WEARING GREEN

KEVIN SMITH KATO #8 

KILL SHAKESPEARE #9 (OF 12)

KING CONAN SCARLET CITADEL #1

KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #171  

KULL THE HATE WITCH #4 (OF 4)

LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #2  

LITTLE LULU GIANT SIZE TP VOL 03

LOCUS #601

METALOCALYPSE DETHKLOK #3 (OF 3)

MISSION #1  

MMW GOLDEN AGE MYSTIC COMICS HC V1 

MMW SUB-MARINER HC VOL 04    

MORNING GLORIES #7 (NOTE PRICE)     

NAMOR FIRST MUTANT #7   

NEW MUTANTS #22 AGEX

NEW YORK FIVE #2 (OF 4) (MR)

ORSON SCOTT CARDS SPEAKER FOR DEAD #2 (OF 5)

OUTLAW TERRITORY GN VOL 02 (MR) 

PATRICIA BRIGGS MERCY THOMPSON MOON CALLED

POWER GIRL #21     

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #2 (OF 5)

PUNISHER IN BLOOD #4 (OF 5)  

QUEEN SONJA #14       

SAVAGE DRAGON #169   

SCALPED TP VOL 07 REZ BLUES (MR)  

SECRET AVENGERS #10  

SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY HC VOL 02  

SHADOWLAND STREET HEROES PREM HC  

SHOWCASE PRESENTS JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA TP

SIXTH GUN #9   

SKULLKICKERS #6    

SPAWN #203 (RES)  

SPAWN ARCHITECTS OF FEAR (ONE SHOT) (RES) 

SPIDER-MAN #11

SPIKE #5 (OF 8)      

STAN LEE TRAVELER #4

STAR TREK INFESTATION #2 (OF 2)   

STAR WARS DARTH VADER & LOST COMMAND #2 (OF 5)

STAR WARS LEGACY WAR #3 (OF 6)

STYX & STONE #2 (MR)   

TEEN TITANS #92    

TELARA CHRONICLES TP  

TERM LIFE GN (MR)   

TERRY MOORES ECHO #28    

THOR #620

TRANSFORMERS 3 MOVIE PREQ FOUNDATION #1 (OF 4) 

TRANSFORMERS RISING STORM #1 (OF 4)  

TRUE BLOOD TAINTED LOVE #1 (MR) 

TURF #4 (MR)   

ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM #3 (OF 4)

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #154 DOSM 

UNCANNY X-MEN #533      

VAMPIRE TALES GN TP VOL 02     

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #8 (MR)   

WARRIORS THREE #4 (OF 4) 

WHITE VIPER GN (RES) 

WHO IS JAKE ELLIS? #2 (NOTE PRICE)  

X-23 #6     

X-MEN #8        

X-MEN CURSE OF MUTANTS HC MUTANTS VS. VAMPIRE

X-MEN FOREVER 2 TP V2 SCREAM A LITTLE SCREAM 

X-MEN LEGACY #245 AGEX  

X-MEN LEGACY PREM HC COLLISION

X-MEN TO SERVE AND PROTECT #4 (OF 4) 

copied from the list posted on Facebook by Comics & Collectibles, Memphis

Last week I went over the Silver-Age history of the Secret Six, DC’s version of Mission: Impossible, about a team of clandestine operatives that undertakes missions to overthrow foreign dictators and untouchable crime bosses.  In a novel twist, each member of the Secret Six is compelled to serve on the team under the threat of blackmail by the mysterious, hooded figure known as Mockingbird.  Over the course of the seven-issue run of The Secret Six, Mockingbird’s identity was never revealed.  Supposedly, he---or she---was actually one of the six members of the team, and the readers were told that each story carried clues pointing to the identity of the masked controller.

This is the story of how I solved that mystery.  Sort of.

In 1976, I was moving my comic-book collexion from one storage facility to another, and in the process, rediscovered my seven issues of The Secret Six.  I took the occasion to re-read them.  Back in 1968, when I read them the first time, I had not given much thought to solving the secret of Mockingbird’s identity; I was content to merely go with the flow of the stories and let that mystery work itself out.

But after going through them again, I noticed a couple of key scenes.  That triggered my interest in seeing if I could deduce the answer with only seven stories to work with.  I set down to scrutinising each page of every issue.  Very quickly, I figured out that the answer to which of the Secret Six was Mockingbird was not going to be uncovered by an overt act, from which I could say “Aha!  That proves that so-and-so is Mockingbird!”  Even if such a scene was there, I wasn’t smart enough to know it when I saw it.  If I was going to figure it out, it was going to have to be through the process of elimination.

I began with one assumption:  that Mockingbird was, indeed, one of the Secret Six.  The only in-story reason to believe he was came from the suggestion of Dr. August Durant, one of the six.  Doctor Durant asserted that Mockingbird was one of them when the group came together for their first mission, in issue # 1 (Apr.-May, 1968), and the rest of the team instantly accepted that as fact.

Obviously, there was no certainty in this; Mockingbird could well have been an unknown seventh party.  But there were no other regular characters outside of the Secret Six, and the idea that Mockingbird was one of them was the major sub-plot of the series.  It would have been a definite rug-pulling on the part of writers E. Nelson Bridwell and Joe Gill to, at some point, expose Mockingbird as some hitherto-unseen person.

That would have been tantamount to having Dallas’ “Who shot J.R.?” turn out to be an irate elevator operator who had never been seen on the show before.  The fans would be crying “Foul!” in bloodthirsty tones.

So, taking the notion that Mockingbird was one of the six as fact, I perused each of the seven stories, looking for anything which would clearly eliminate any of the six as suspects.  I struck my first vein of gold in the second offering, “Plunder the Pentagon”, from issue # 2 (Jun.-Jul., 1968).

And I owe that discovery to a long-standing comic-book convention:  thought balloons.  Thought balloons allow the reader to know what a character is thinking at a particular moment, and by their very nature, those thoughts are considered to be true.  (I suppose if a character were delusional, then he might have thoughts that were, while true to him, empirically untrue.  But there was no way DC was going to go that route in 1968.)

In “Plunder the Pentagon”, while in the midst of staging a theft at the Pentagon, a disguised Carlo di Rienzi decks Dr. Durant, thinking:  If Doc is Mockingbird, I had to make this look good!

Obviously, if Carlo thinks that Dr. Durant might be Mockingbird, then he, Carlo, cannot be.

Nor was I the only one to spot that.  ‘Way back when, frequent letter-writer Gordon Flagg, Jr., of Atlanta, Georgia, pointed it out, too.  In his response, editor Dick Giordano tried to excuse it away as a goof that escaped his proofreading.  

But that doesn’t hold water---because of the story that appeared in the issue coming right after the one which published Giordano’s reply.

I stated last week that, in the stories which showcased elements from an individual Secret Sixer’s past, the team member himself related to the others the story of his hidden sin.  Obviously, a told tale is unreliable, since the member who was secretly Mockingbird would be lying.  However, the adventure “Eye for an Eye”, from The Secret Six # 7 (Apr.-May, 1969), contains a three-page flashback to the circumstances which put Carlo in Mockingbird’s thrall.  This flashback comes from Carlo’s thoughts, and not from anything he is telling anyone else.  Again, thoughts must be true, and thus, Carlo’s back-story must be true.  Therefore, he cannot be Mockingbird.

Armed with that discovery, I went through the stories with particular attention to thought balloons.  On only one other occasion did I find one as telling---in issue # 3’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  While Mike Tempest is astutely providing the wind-up to the mission at hand, King Savage listens and thinks:  Until now, I just didn’t believe Mike could be Mockingbird . . . But he might fit in M’s cage.

If King suspects Mike of being Mockingbird, then he cannot be Mockingbird himself.  Now I knew that neither King, nor Carlo, was Mockingbird.

More important, that knowledge provided me with the ground work upon which to base further deductions.  That they weren’t Mockingbird meant that the back-stories of King and Carlo were true, and I could extrapolate further that any private statements they made among the others were also true.  And that’s where the pieces began to fall.

“The Victim is a Killer”, from The Secret Six # 6 (Feb.-Mar., 1969), is a showcase for team member Lili de Neuve.  As was told briefly in each previous story, Mockingbird’s control of Lili comes from the fact that, after she was framed for murder, convicted, and sentenced to death, he arranged for two peasants to provide a phoney alibi, clearing Lili and setting her free.  In this tale, Lili herself tells the other Secret Sixers of those events, supplying more details.

King Savage adds a significant coda to her account.  “It was I who bribed the witnesses, Lili . . . This was the first task I performed for our mysterious master, Mockingbird.  A letter containing instructions and the money arrived and I obeyed!”

And then I knew that Lili was not Mockingbird.  Like a logic puzzle, knowing one or two incontrovertible facts enables one to sort out the rest.  King wasn’t Mockingbird, so he had no reason to lie.  Therefore, he was telling the truth when he told Lili that he was the one who bribed the witnesses under orders from Mockingbird.  From death row, Lili could not have sent King the letter or the money, so somebody else sent it, and that somebody else was Mockingbird.

Three suspects eliminated; two to go.

Time itself removed one more Secret Sixer from consideration.  “Escape for an Enemy”, from The Secret Six # 4 (Oct.-Nov., 1968), was King’s personal story.  The war hero tells his teammates about being shot down during the Korean War, and of being captured by the North Koreans, and how, under torture, revealed valuable information about the American forces.  As King relates, it was Mockingbird who provided him the tools and weapons to enable him to escape the prison camp in time to warn the U.N. troops of the North Korean ambush prepared from what King had revealed.

I could assume King’s story to be true, because he wasn’t Mockingbird, but there was more.  The team’s mission here was to rescue a North Korean general from the Red Chinese, before he could be executed as a traitor, and turn him over to U.S. authorities for interrogation.  This particular North Korean general had been the commandant of the prison camp where King was held during the war.  He was the one who forced Savage to betray his country.  Conversations between King and the general corroborate Savage’s back-story.

Therefore, I could also take it as factual when King tells the others that he did some checking and found out that during the time of the Korean conflict---1950 to 1953---four other members of the Secret Six were also in Korea:  Carlo and Lili, entertaining troops with the U.S.O.; Dr. Durant, on a U.N. scientific team in theatre; and Mike, who was a foot soldier.

But Crimson Dawn was only a child at the time, back home in England.

So, I scratched Crimson off my list of suspects.

That left Mike Tempest and Dr. Durant. 

As you will recall, Mike had been heavyweight contender Tiger Force who, after refusing to take a Syndicate-ordered dive, testified against the mobsters, resulting in their conviction.  In revenge, the mob beat him savagely, leaving him for dead.  Mockingbird saved his life by getting him to a private hospital, then set up his identity as Mike Tempest.  As for Dr. Durant, according to his back-story, agents of an enemy government managed to infect him with a deadly virus, the only remedy for which is supplied by Mockingbird.

So whose story is true?

Mike’s situation arises in several Secret Six stories.  On that first mission, in a chance encounter, one of the thugs who almost killed Mike recognises him.  That mobster, “Blackjack” Hanrahan, reports to the Syndicate that Tempest is still alive, which forms the basis for the story in The Secret Six # 3.  (Mike manages to wreak a very satisfying revenge on Hanrahan.)  And the events of The Secret Six # 7 also are put into motion by another mob plan to kill Mike.

Clearly, there was enough independent information presented in the seven issues to establish that, whether or not Mike was Mockingbird, at least his situation of being on the run from the Syndicate was true.

But what about Durant?  During the course of the series, the other five members of the team found themselves encountering people responsible for the situations which gave Mockingbird his hold over them.  In fact, they had stories centered on them. 

But not Durant.  He tells his story to Lili de Neuve in “Plunder the Pentagon”, when Lili asks him why he is so motivated to thwart an enemy agent attempting to purloin valuable Pentagon documents.  “Perhaps I am more strongly motivated,” replies Durant.  “But not against him . . . but against his country!”  At no time, do the readers meet anyone who was directly involved with Durant’s back-story.  There is nothing to corroborate it---except for his own account and the pills we see him take.

Furthermore, an examination of Mike’s and Durant’s respective backgrounds---the public histories which would have to be legitimate---that Mike had been a heavyweight contender and was now on the run from the mob, and that Dr. Durant was a respected physicist with high-level government clearance, led to one conclusion.  While it wouldn’t be impossible for him to be Mockingbird, Mike was in much less of a position, in terms of finances, information, networking, or just plain time, to establish the Secret Six set-up.  Meanwhile, Dr. Durant had all of the above.

It was indicative, enough for a good guess.  But I wanted more, something which confirmed or eliminated one or the other.  So I went over all seven Secret Six issues again, panel by panel.  This time with especial attention to Mike and the doc.

I’ll admit, I missed it a couple of times.  Mainly because I assumed the clue-seeding didn’t start until a few pages into the first issue.  If I hadn’t been so close to solving it, I probably would have quit. 

And then I found it!  The last piece of information to snap the trap shut on the identity of Mockingbird!

It’s almost at the very beginning.  On page 3 of the first issue, there is a brief scene of Mike Tempest being tossed out of a waterfront dive.  Moments later, he is alone on the wharf, when he gets a signal from his wristwatch.  Mike flips back the cover to reveal a tiny monitor screen with the cowled image of Mockingbird looking at him.

“Mockingbird calling!” radios the hooded figure.  “We are ready for our first job.  I will meet you at rendezvous point SF-2!”

It hit me.  If Mike Tempest were Mockingbird, why would he send such a broadcast to himself?  There was no-one around to confirm or deny he had received it, and if asked, he simply could have said he gotten the same message as the others.

None of the other five Secret Sixers are introduced in this fashion.  They are shown breaking off from their respective engagements to answer the call.  We never see them flipping back the cover of their watch dials, but a caption---“ . . . as do the other five . . . “---assures us they do.  Of course, they would have done so away from on-lookers, as Tempest did.  Which makes the scene with Mike appear less definitive.

But the coy wording of the phrase “as do the other five” is the sneaky part.  Nothing else in the caption establishes that his other teammates opened their wristwatch monitor screens for the same reason as Tempest. Later, we learn that the distinctive wristwatches can both receive and transmit.   So what that caption phrase really meant is four of others also lifted their watch dials to receive Mockingbird’s message, and the fifth one---the one who was really Mockingbird---did so to broadcast it!

Mike Tempest is the only team member we actually see looking at his monitor screen, and he is receiving their hooded leader’s call.  That eliminates him as being Mockingbird.

And it meant Dr. Durant was!

Now, the problem with making such a deduction in 1976 is kind of like my MENSA membership---it might be impressive, but it’s tough to work into casual conversation.

By ’76, The Secret Six was a forgotten series, and fandom wasn’t as linked as it is to-day.  What few comic-book fans I associated with then barely remembered the Secret Six.  Imagine walking up to a Tibetan villager and saying, “I know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa!” and then imagine his reaction, and you have a pretty good idea of the looks I got back then whenever I mentioned that I had figured out who Mockingbird was.

That’s why there was probably no-one more excited than I was when, in DC introduced a new Secret Six series in Action Comics Weekly # 601 (24 May 1988).  This wasn’t the original Secret Six; in fact, they were killed off in the first story.  These were six new characters.  But it seemed to be the old Mockingbird up to his old tricks.  In this case, he wasn’t relying on blackmail; he was using coërcion to keep his new operatives in line---by providing them with cybernetic prostheses for their individual handicaps, then threatening to take them away.

Frankly, the new Secret Six series, as written by Martin Pasko, lacked the panache of the earlier one.  It was probably due to the new group’s heavier reliance on fanciful technology and the intimations of “evil government machinations”.  The original six had relied on their own talents and operated truly independently.  But I stuck with the series in hopes that the identity of Mockingbird would eventually be revealed.

Then it came.  In Action Comics Weekly # 629 (06 Dec. 1988), in the tale “Beginning of the End”, the face under the hood of Mockingbird---the original, 1968 Mockingbird---was revealed.

Dr. August Durant.

According to “Beginning of the End”, Durant genuinely had been poisoned by Communist agents.  There was some fol-de-rol about his cure coming from a secret, black-ops U.S. agency, and how that agency was blackmailing him into posing as Mockingbird and forming the Secret Six to perform its dirty work.  That was all too much “government is evil” nonsense for me and I pretty much ignored it.  The important thing was I had figured it right:  Durant was Mockingbird.

Or had I?

As much as I’d love to sit back and bask in the admiration of you, my fellow comics mavens, I have to point out some caveats, which make me look much less brilliant.

First, the revelation that Mockingbird was Durant did not come from the writers of the original Secret Six series---Nelson Bridwell and Joe Gill.  So there is no way to know if I accurately followed the clues I found in the original series.  Without validation from Bridwell or Gill, I just made a lucky guess, for all I know.

For that matter, it’s arguable that Bridwell intended for Mockingbird to be someone other than Durant.  Comic-book letterer Clem Robins has gone on record as insisting that Bridwell did not have Durant in mind as Mockingbird.  In a 14 July 2004 post on the Komics.dk 2006 message board, Robins stated:

You're going to have to take my word for this, but my source is impeccable: Durant was not Mockingbird.

When I first began freelancing for DC in 1977, I was introduced to E. Nelson Bridwell, who wrote every Secret Six story and originated the concept. I took him aside and asked him point-blank who Mockingbird actually was, since the book was cancelled before the issue could ever be resolved. Bridwell told me who Mockingbird was, and explained his logic in choosing that particular character.

Shortly after I originally posted this article, three years ago, I received an e-mail from Mr. Robins in which he elabourated on what Bridwell told him.  I won’t reveal who he said Bridwell named as Mockingbird, but it wasn’t Durant.  Robins also directed me to the panel which supposedly provided the tip-off to Mockingbird’s identity.

I’ve studied that panel.  It’s a classic mystery-writer’s trick, but in my opinion, Bridwell and Gill employed it too loosely.  Because of that, it doesn’t necessarily indict or eliminate any of the six as Mockingbird.

Durant or not?  I’ll leave that up to you, my fellow comics fans.

Have you ever wondered why people sign up to be part of a supervillain's army? They're sure to get their face beaten in. They might even serve time in jail. They work in horrible conditions: Guarding canisters of poisons, go on patrols through experimental particle facilities, and everyone around them is armed to the teeth.

It's just not exactly what you'd call an OSHA-approved workplace.

But they do it anyway. Why?

Find out a few of the reasons in the latest edition of Comics on the Brain!

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Feb. 8, 2011 -- You think you’re behind? *Sigh* Let me try to get the last 2010 books out of the Teetering Tower of Review Stuff …

* I initially passed on Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes (DC, $39.99) because I have all the comics whose covers are contained in this oversize hardback, and art books don’t have a narrative to sustain my interest.

Oh, what a goose I am. Yes, I have all these covers from Catwoman, Wonder Woman and elsewhere, but I don’t have them all in one place, all annotated by the artist and all this BIG. Hughes is a terrific artist, not just with the female form (for which he’s known), but in the use of color palettes, composition and light effects. It would be a joy just to flip through the oversize pictures by themselves, but the amusing, self-deprecating explanations by the artist about his processes and decision-making is fascinating, especially to frustrated artists like your humble narrator. Hughes signs his work “AH!”, and that’s pretty much the reaction I had to every page.

* I also passed last year on Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics 1946-1948 (IDW, $39.99), because I usually don’t enjoy humorous comic strips. That’s because they’re usually what’s called “gag-a-day,” and at my age I think I’ve read every conceivable three-panel gag. Or they do have a narrative, but each daily installment spends so much time recapping yesterday and anticipating tomorrow that they rarely say much and it takes forever to tell even a simple story.

Maybe that’s not a fair assessment in general, and it surely isn’t for Archie, which a Legionnaire on my website insisted I buy (thanks, Jeff Plackmeier!). This stuff – all written and drawn by Archie’s creator, Bob Montana – is genuinely funny, even though it’s 60 years old. Plus, I love spelunking through old pop culture like this, trying to figure out the entertainment sociology of times long gone. For example, is it meaningful that every walk-on character is named Iggy? And there are a couple of surprisingly naughty gags – so was dirty-mindedness more acceptable then, or did they get through because 1940s editors weren’t dirty-minded enough? Also, it goes without saying that everyone was skinnier then, especially the (very fetching) girls – except for people over 40, who were invariably pear-shaped. Was that true?

I had a ball with these reprints, which really whet my appetite for Dark Horse’s complete Archie archives, beginning later this year. Also, everyone go buy a copy, so that IDW will publish a volume two!

* Harpe: America’s First Serial Killers (Cave In Rock, $9.99) came out sometime in 2009, a self-published, B&W, historical graphic novel that found itself to me last year. And, as both a history buff and a comics fan, I’m glad it did.

Harpe is the story of two brothers with that surname, Wiley and Micajah, who went on a killing spree in eastern Tennessee and Kentucky between 1797 and 1804. That’s during the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson administrations, which means that this story is on the Western frontier of the time, where there was no mass communication and very few lawmen. It’s hard to think of Knoxville as the Wild West, but it surely was in this time period, which allowed the bloody-minded brothers (with three women in tow) to escape justice long enough to kill more than 30 people. No, that’s not a typo. And it’s all true (mostly)!

Writer Chad Kinkle does an excellent job of suggesting the time and place through dialogue, which is necessarily fabricated.  I have to say artist Adam Shaw’s work – mostly ink wash – is a little rough. But then, so is the subject matter. And the horror sticks with you long after you’ve put the book down.

* The Tango Collection (Trafalgar Square, $24.95), as its name implies, is a collection from the first eight issues of an Australian comic book called Tango, which is described as “a quirky romance comic anthology.” I’ve recently come to appreciate romance books more than I used to, but Tango, I’m afraid, is a bit too quirky for me.

Tango offers 60 tales in 240 pages, so most are bafflingly short. And the art varies from odd to odder. I allow that could be ethnocentrism talking, but the upshot is that Tango read like a high school art class project, and I can’t recommend it.

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

 District X by David Hine, David Yardin, Lan Medina and Mike Perkins

There’s a reason why I skipped District X when it first came out.  There was a trend in comics at the time- and particularly in X-Men comics- to wallow in the ugliness of life.  I know that our world includes prostitutes and drug addicts.  A comic book universe which never reflects that part of the world isn’t being true to life.  But conversely, a comic book which only depicts the ugliness of life, which- as I said- wallows in it, is being just as untrue.  This life also has goodness and beauty.  My concern was that books like District X and NYX and even Grant Morrison’s X-Men would become so infatuated with the ugliness of the world that they would be both unappealing and untrue. 

I have since changed my mind about Grant Morrison’s X-Men and also NYX.  Yes, there is ugliness, but there is also goodness.  NYX depicts ecstasy and runaways, but it also has brotherly affection and the bonds of friendship.  I held out a similar hope for District X.

Honestly, there are several favorable facets to District X.  Bishop is well cast as a cop assigned to a mutant ghetto.  He’s a strong combination of authority and sympathy.  It’s also understandable that a police officer would see a larger share of the ugliness of life.  The mystery of Mister M is compelling.  Who is he and what are his powers?  He’s somewhat fascinating as a shadow figure who makes the hard choices.  Writer David Hine raises some interesting questions, including the central concern of a cop who may have been pushed into murder by mind control.  And there is redemption in the midst of the ugliness as Officer Ortega discovers the truth about Mister M. 

However, despite those positive elements, District X unfortunately wallows in ugliness.  Officer Ortega’s first partner is blatantly bigoted.  A mother is addicted to her son’s sweat (his skin secretes a psychotropic compound, like certain frogs).  Mister M hides monstrous tendrils under his hat (the extras show that the artist originally envisioned an exposed brain which would have been preferable).  The ugliness isn’t the only problem.  Due to decompressed story-telling, Bishop doesn’t show up until the last panel of the first issue and Mister M doesn’t show up at all.  But the ugliness, and the lack of truth it represents, is clearly the main problem.

Hellboy: Strange Places and Hellboy: The Troll Witch

by Mike Mignola, with Richard Corben and P. Craig Rusell

Strange Places is Hellboy at its best.  This sixth collection contains two stories, The Third Wish and The Island.  The Third Wish moves from the African plain to the African shore to a grotto under the sea.  The Island, appropriately enough, takes place on an island.  

Both stories feature typical Hellboy fare.  Mike Mignola’s art is angular and sharp.  It’s great at conveying mood.  It’s simultaneously dark and sparse with lots of blacks and lots of open spaces.  The villains are visually interesting.  There’s a mermaid with a long, fishy tail.  There’s the demon boar with hands in iron gloves.  There are knights from the crusades and fire elementals.  There are witches and whales and creatures with horns.

The stories are interesting too.  Nothing is what it seems.  Wishes backfire on those who ask for them.  Requests for aid are likely traps.  Pretty faces hide evil hearts.  And Hellboy often has to out-think his opponents instead of simply hitting them with his big right hand.  Of course, he punches plenty of enemies too.

The Troll Witch is unfortunately disappointing.  This seventh volume is a collection of shorter stories.  Over the years, Hellboy has appeared in quite a few specials and anthologies and the like.  The short stories are often incredible, conveying an interesting tale in a succinct manner. 

However, too many of the short stories in Troll Witch seem like truncated tales instead of completed narratives.  The resolutions aren’t always clear.  Often it feels like we entered into the middle of a story and left before it was done. 

There are highlights here.  I wouldn’t claim that every entry in the Troll Witch is bad.  Richard Corben’s Makoma story is an interesting fairy tale.   And P. Craig Russell’s puppet battle in Prague is a lot of fun.  But the volume as a whole is unfortunately inconsistent.     

Lobster Johnson

by Mike Mignola and Jason Armstrong

I wanted to like this, I honestly did.  I love the world of Hellboy (despite the tepid review of The Troll Witch above).  I think that Mike Mignola has done a great job of introducing supporting characters who are interesting in their own right.  I love Abe Sapien as a solo star and I look forward to future volumes of his adventures.  I find Edward Grey, the Witchfinder, endlessly fascinating.  Alas, I cannot say the same for Lobster Johnson.

Lobster Johnson is Mike Mignola’s pulp hero.  He owes his existence to The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Doc Savage.  He fights mobsters and the yellow menace, Nazis and mystical monsters.  He comes from a time before comic books and superheroes, when even the good guys used guns.

He’s supposed to be an homage.  But for me, Lobster Johnson never rises above the level of pastiche.  He’s a mix and match of other heroes but he never develops into a character of his own.  There’s a place for him in the world of Hellboy.  It’s okay for him to be a stand-in for all pulp heroes when he shows up to help the BPRD but that’s not enough to carry a story on his own.

The same is true for the supporting cast.  Lobster Johnson has a team of assistants who fill certain roles- the tough guy, the tech guy, the token minority.  But they never become more than their roles.  I understand that was typical of the time.  Jack Kirby’s World War II gangs were similarly identified by one trait (the smart guy, the brawler, etc.).  Yet, in this case, Mignola sinks down to the level of his antecedents rather than rising above it.  It may have been typical of the time, but that doesn’t make it interesting or good. 

On the plus side, Mike Mignola and Jason Armstrong throw everything they can into this story.  We rush from one danger to another: a giant white ape, a guy stuck in an iron suit, a mystic artifact, giant jewel snakes and a brain in a jar.  And that’s only the first half.  The story moves along at a breath-taking speed and there’s always something new to distract your imagination. 

But that’s all it is- a momentary distraction.  Lobster Johnson has a lot of noise to it, but no real sparkle.  It’s like hearing fireworks in the distance but not being able to see them. 

Star Wars Omnibus: Rise of the Sith and Emissaries and Assassins

The Star Wars expanded universe is a wonderful place.  I know that some fans prefer to stick tightly to the original trilogy but they’re missing out on an incredibly rich palette of places and characters.  There’s a grand history and a universe full of stories. 

The Rise of the Sith is a good example.  It’s a strong collection that mixes stories from several sources.  As a result, the stories vary in length.  There are short stories- some the length of a single issue, others as small as six to eight pages.  There are longer epics, the equivalent of a full mini-series or a six issue arc.  The change of pace makes for a good reading mix.

The length of the story isn’t the only variable.  There are also shifts in protagonist or point of view.  Several of the stories focus on the stars of the first prequel movie.  We follow Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi in the months before they become embroiled in “The Phantom Menace.”   Other stories feature minor characters from the movies, giving them a chance to shine in a spotlight of their own.  Jedi Council members Mace Windu and Ki-Adi Mundi are two of the major beneficiaries of this extra attention.  And some of the stories follow the bad guys, with Aurra Sing showing up in a short story and Darth Maul squaring off against a crime syndicate. 

As with any collection this size, the quality of the stories also varies.  For example, I wasn’t overly fond of the first Qui-Gon story which leaned too heavily on humor.  However, the high marks easily outshine the low points.  The villain stories are especially interesting.  Aurra’s origin is well-told and Darth Maul’s mission features lush art by Jan Duursema. 

The next volume, Emissaries and Assassins is a step down.  It opens with a series of one-shots focusing on the main characters of “The Phantom Menace.”  I’ve defended the prequel movies before, including recently.  However, these one-shots highlight the flaws of that first film, giving a prominent role to Jar-Jar Binks and his annoying patois and exposing Qui-Gon’s ridiculous plan to get off of Tatooine.   

The following stories are stronger.  In one, Ki-Adi undertakes his first mission as a member of the Jedi Council.  He travels to Tatooine where he is betrayed by Jabba the Hutt (that shouldn’t be a spoiler to anyone familiar with the character) and attacked by Aurra Sing.  He also discovers an exiled Jedi and brings his son, A’Sharad Hett, back to the Jedi Temple.  In the next, a half dozen Jedi travel to Malastare in order to oversee peace talks.  Of course, not every side is actually interested in peace and some would prefer to pursue a vendetta against the Jedi. 

These aren’t perfect stories.  The art is inconsistent.  One artist in particular has trouble drawing aliens.  And the second story is a little over-crowded.  But they are interesting.   I’m particularly drawn into the start of A’Sharad’s journey as a Jedi and Ki-Adi’s attempt to keep his life in balance while fighting for peace. 

28 DAYS LATER #20

ALL STAR SUPERMAN COLLECTORS SET  

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654.1  

ANGEL #42    

ARCHIE & FRIENDS #152   

ARCHIE NEW LOOK SERIES TP V5 GOODBYE FOREVER

ASTONISHING X-MEN XENOGENESIS #5 (OF 5)  

AVENGERS ACADEMY #9 

BATMAN #707    

BAYOU TP VOL 02 (RES) 

BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #188 

BOOSTER GOLD #41  

BOYS #51 (MR) 

BRIGHTEST DAY #20   

CAPTAIN AMERICA BY JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS HC 

CAPTAIN AMERICA MAN OUT OF TIME #4 (OF 5)

CAPTAIN AMERICA SENTINEL OF LIBERTY HC

CAPTAIN WONDER 3D ONE-SHOT

CARNAGE #1 (OF 5) 2ND PTG

CARNAGE #2 (OF 5) 2ND PTG

CHARMED #6

DAREDEVIL REBORN #2 (OF 4)

DARKWING DUCK #9

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #2

DEADPOOL MERC WITH A MOUTH TP V1  HEAD TRIP

DEADPOOLMAX #5 (MR)  

DETECTIVE COMICS CLASSICS 

DEVILS TRAIL #1 (OF 4) (MR)  

DMZ #62 (MR)  

DMZ TP VOL 09 MIA (MR)  

DOOM PATROL #19       

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #4   

EDGE OF DOOM #4  

FABLES #102 (MR)

FATHOM BLUE DESCENT #2

FINDER GN VOL 01 VOICE

FORMIC WARS BURNING EARTH #1 (OF 7)

FRINGE TALES FROM THE FRINGE TP

GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #1 (MR)

GEARS OF WAR HC BOOK 02 (MR)

GENERATION HOPE #4  

GFT PRESENTS NEVERLAND #7 (OF 7)

GI JOE COBRA II #13

GI JOE SPECIAL MISSIONS TP VOL 03

GREEN HORNET YEAR ONE #8 

GREEN LANTERN #62 (BRIGHTEST DAY)  

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #57 (BRIGHTEST DAY) 

GRIMM FAIRY TALES #55

GRIMM FAIRY TALES BLOOD BATH COLL 

HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT #1 (OF 4) 

HELLBLAZER #276 (MR)  

HEROES FOR HIRE #2 2ND PTG

HULK #30    

HUMAN TARGET SECOND CHANCES TP (MR) 

INFINITE VACATION #1 (OF 5) 2ND PTG

IRON MAN RAPTURE #4 (OF 4)  

JERICHO SEASON 3 #4 (OF 6) 

JOE KUBERT READER TP 

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #54  

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #10  

LET ME IN CROSSROADS #3 (OF 4)

LOKI #3 (OF 4)   

LONE JUSTICE TP VOL 02 

MAGDALENA (ONGOING) #5 

MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #3 (OF 4)   

MARINEMAN #3  

MARVEL GIRL #1    

MARVEL MINIMATES UNCANNY X-FORCE BOX SET

MASS EFFECT EVOLUTION #2 (OF 4)

MEMOIR #2 (OF 6)

MIGHTY SAMSON #2

MORNING GLORIES VOL 01 FOR A BETTER FUTURE TP  

NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD #3 (OF 5) (MR)  

NOCHE ROJA HC (MR)  

OUTSIDERS #36   

PLANE STORY TP  

PROOF ENDANGERED #3     

RATCHET AND CLANK #6 (OF 6) 

ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD #8 

SCOURGE #3

SHADOWLAND DAREDEVIL PREM HC  

SHIELD #6 

SILENT HILL PAST LIFE #4 (OF 4)  

SILVER SURFER #1 (OF 5)

SIMPSONS COMICS #175     

SONIC UNIVERSE #25   

SPIDER-GIRL #4 BIG      

SPIDER-MAN GAUNTLET VOL 05 LIZARD TP 

SPIDER-WOMAN TP AGENT OF SWORD   

SPIRIT #11 

STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #5   

STAND HARDCASES PREM HC 

STAR WARS KNIGHT ERRANT #5 (OF 5) AFLAME

SUPERGIRL #61  

SUPERMAN BATMAN #81  

SUPERMAN BATMAN TORMENT TP    

TANK GIRL BAD WIND RISING #2 (OF 4) 

THE SUICIDE FOREST #3 (OF 4)  

THUNDERBOLTS #153     

TINY TITANS #37  

TRANSFORMERS INFESTATION #2 (OF 2) 

TRUE BLOOD HC VOL 01 ALL TOGETHER NOW (MR)

TWILIGHT GUARDIAN #2 (OF 4) 

UNCANNY X-FORCE #5  

VAMPIRELLA #3

VENOM DEADPOOL #1 

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #7 (MR)   

WOLVERINE #6    

WOLVERINE & JUBILEE #2 (OF 4)  

WOLVERINE BY MARKO DJURDJEVIC  BIG POSTER  

WONDER WOMAN #607    

X-MEN CURSE OF MUTANTS PREM HC  

YOUNG JUSTICE #1

copied from the list posted on Facebook by Comics & Collectibles, Memphis 

DC Comics’ answer to television’s Mission: Impossible had a most novel debut.  The cover of the first issue of The Secret Six (Apr.-May, 1968) served as the first three panels of the story inside.  As the cover blurb put it, “you’ve already started the first memorable mission of . . . the Secret Six!”

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, 1968 was a watershed year for DC.  In fact, it’s the year I use to demark the end of the Silver Age; for one reason, because it is clear that DC was flailing about desperately for the next big trend in comics.  The “Bat-craze” had come and gone, and sales on most of DC’s super-hero titles had begun to stagnate.  Other magazines, such as Blackhawk and Doom Patrol, had seen such a drop in sales figures that they had been cancelled.  And then, there was that upstart Marvel, which was rapidly gaining ground.

Thus begat a flurry of new series, a shotgun approach that tested a wide band of genres.  They tried Westerns (Bat Lash), cavemen (Anthro), jungle boys (Bomba), and super-heroes of a more outré stripe (Deadman, the Creeper).  Yet another example of this see-what-sticks effort was The Secret Six, the first series about a team of non-super-powered adventurers DC had attempted since 1960.

The parallels between The Secret Six and Mission: Impossible were evident:  a group of “ordinary” citizens, all notable in their respective fields, undertake clandestine missions to overthrow otherwise-untouchable foreign dictators and underworld crime figures.  Like the Impossible Missions Force, the Secret Six received their assignments from recorded briefings and the success of their efforts depended upon their respective specialties, split-second timing, and clever manipulation of their opponents.

But, for the Secret Six, there were two major differences from their IMF brethren.  Where Rollin, Cinnamon, Barney, and Willy acted out of patriotism and duty, the members of the Secret Six were coërced into going on their missions, blackmailed into coöperation by the threat of exposing skeletons that each had in his individual closet.  The kind of secrets that, if revealed, would ruin their lives, or end them.

And instead of being led by a Dan Briggs or Jim Phelps, the Secret Sixers were given their marching orders by a mysterious hooded figure known as “Mockingbird”.  Mockingbird was the one who had the goods on all of them.

Mike Tempest.  A penniless drifter, but once, under the name of Tiger Force, he was a contender for the heavyweight championship.  When the title bout came, the Syndicate ordered him to take a dive.  Instead, he blew the whistle on them to the authorities.  Thanks to his testimony, the racketeers were convicted, but the mob put a price on his head.  Now Mike was on the run, but at any time, Mockingbird could put the finger on him for the mob’s hitmen.

Dr. August Durant.  A brilliant nuclear physicist working for the U.S. government.  Agents of an Iron-Curtain nation infected him with a rare and deadly disease.  Only Mockingbird has the cure, and supplies it in daily dosages---so long as Dr. Durant follows orders.

Carlo di Rienzi.  World-famous magician and escape artist.  After Carlo courageously refused to pay protection money to the Mafia, his home was dynamited, killing his wife and crippling his young son.  Mockingbird arranged treatments that would eventually enable Carlo’s son to walk again, but would stop them if the magician refuses to serve as a member of the group.

Lili de Neuve.  Owner of an exclusive and opulent beauty spa, but back when she was one of France’s leading theatre stars, she was falsely convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  Only a last-minute, and equally false, alibi provided by Mockingbird saved her from the guillotine.  One word from Mockingbird could put her head back on the chopping block.

King Savage.  The Hollywood stunt man had been a fighter pilot during the Korean War.  After having been shot down and captured by the North Koreans, he escaped imprisonment and made it back to his own lines in time to warn U.N. forces of an imminent Chinese ambush.  What nobody---except Mockingbird---knows is Savage broke down during interrogation and provided all the information the Reds needed to set up that ambush.  If Mockingbird ever talked, it would turn Savage from national hero to reviled traitor.

Crimson Dawn.  The only child of a Royal Army officer and raised like the son he never had, the fat, socially awkward Kim Dawn learnt the manly arts of marksmanship, judo, and karate, but not how to spot a gigolo.  After the death of Kim’s father, an opportunistic cad married the gullible girl and then dumped her, after making off with the family fortune.  Unforgiving relatives mercilessly harassed her, until Mockingbird arranged for Lili de Neuve’s spa to slim her down, glamourise her, and turn her into top fashion model “Crimson” Dawn.  Mockingbird secures her services by threatening to tell her lawsuit-happy relatives who she really is.

And the kicker---Mockingbird is actually one of the six!

Another source of inspiration for the Secret Six, most likely, was the pulp adventures of a group of the same name.  Popular Publications’ The Secret Six ran for four issues in 1934-5, and concerned a group of six men, all wanted for crimes they did not commit, engaged in a clandestine war against the underworld.  The group consisted of King, their leader, and his servant, Luga, along with the Key, the Doctor, the Bishop, and Shakespeare, each of whom was the master of a special talent.

But clearly, Mission: Impossible was the spiritual father of the Secret Six, as is evident in the complicated scripts co-written by E. Nelson Bridwell and Joe Gill.  There is very little typical hero derring-do.  Instead, the adventures are tightly plotted dramas of manipulation and deception, as the villains are manœvered into bringing about their own undoings.  There isn’t the slightest hint of science fiction or super-hero-type elements in these stories.  As long as one can accept the convention of make-up jobs that make one person look exactly like another, one would be hard-pressed to find any element in The Secret Six that did not exist in real life.  Even the magic tricks performed by Carlo di Rienzi are explained and documented as having been performed by Houdini or some other real-life illusionist.

Besides the major change in the characters’ motivations, there were some other minor differences which separated The Secret Six from Mission: Impossible.  In a nod to comic-book convention, nearly every adventure carried at least one scene where the Secret Sixers engaged the bad guys in a knock-down, drag-out fight.  Obviously, King, Mike, and even Carlo could be expected to easily hold their own in combat, but in a very nice and ahead-of-its-time touch, Crimson did more than her share, slugging gangsters and tossing henchmen with the best of them. 

Decidedly unconventional for comics at the time was that The Secret Six was a deadly series.  Very deadly.  The Secret Sixers did not just settle for manipulating the chief villain into his own end; they often killed as a matter of course.  Most of the team killed at least once, but again flying in the face of the convention of the time, Crimson was the most lethal of the group.  In issue # 3, she shoots and kills a mob boss before he can machine-gun Mike, and then in the next issue, she takes out three Communist Chinese officials with a sniper rifle, so she and Durant and Lili can assume their places.  If the series were done to-day, such a character would probably be depicted as an icy, remorseless soul who can barely restrain a thirst to kill.  However, Crimson was anything but.  She was witty and fun-loving and winsome---but grimly serious when the situation required it.

One thing I wasn’t going to mention, but on second thought, felt I might be called for its omission, was the fact that Doctor Durant, easily the most intellectual of the group, was a black man.  At the time, Durant’s skin colour made no more impression on me than the fact that Mike Tempest had red hair.  But it occurs to me, viewing it in the larger perspective, that it has significance in that this was the first time that DC had ever made a black man a lead character in any of its titles.  None of the Secret Six stories ever made an especial point of this, though---Durant was simply one of the group---as it should be.

The fact that each member of the Secret Six resented being blackmailed into participating and that they suspected that Mockingbird was actually one of their number added an edge to the characterisation.  They worked together and trusted each other because they had to, not because they wanted to.  It was clear that certain members of the group would not have stayed in the same room with certain others, had they not been forced to work together.  And the slightest provocation would cause one to accuse another of being Mockingbird.

This added a frisson to the team.  Occasionally, tempers would boil over, and squabbles escalated into scuffles.  And if Dr. Durant took too much of a leadership rôle, then everyone suspected him of being Mockingbird.  If Mike displayed too much brainpower for a punch-drunk boxer, then he was Mockingbird.  Crimson figures out where the crown jewels are hidden; wait a minute, she’s Mockingbird!

All of which were put aside for the sake of the mission.  But the grudges and suspicions never faded completely.

The readers were told that hints to the identity of Mockingbird were there to be found in each story.  And Bridwell and Gill certainly whetted the clue-hunter’s appetite.  Each member of the team was showcased in a story that went back to the circumstances which set him up for Mockingbird’s blackmail.  This permitted the reader to examine closely the details of each Secret Sixer’s transgression.  But the reader had to be careful; in most cases, each member of the team told the others of the events behind his secret shame, and nothing a Secret Sixer said could be taken as gospel.

The Secret Six was cancelled after issue # 7 (Apr.-May, 1969) without the identity of Mockingbird being revealed.  It would take nineteen years for DC to finally tell us who Mockingbird was.  But was it possible for the reader to have pieced it all together ‘way back when? 

I’ll talk about that anon.  

In light of our recent discussion in Cap's Blog about Archie and the gang, I pulled out this AMSA column from CBG #1583 (March 19, 2004), arguing for a modest proposition that would make the Archie gang way more interesting and drop the point spread on the Betty Vs. Veronica cage match below six figures. 

After this article appeared, CBG told me that Archie Comics ordered extra copies of the issue. Sadly, I don't believe they took my arguments to heart, more's the pity.

The need for Tomboy Betty!

 Betty Cooper makes Archie’s gang more interesting when she’s got her own quirks

Dear Mr. Silver Age,

I’ve been following Archie Andrew’s dilemma in having to choose between Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper. After considerable evaluation and soul searching, I’ve decided that Archie should pick Betty. She’s the better choice of the two.

Harvey D.

Gotham City 

Mr. Silver Age says: I hope you didn’t spend too long making that choice, Harv. Frankly, you arrived at the same conclusion as virtually every male who ever brought his brain cells to bear on that vital question. It’s hard to pick against Betty, because she’s just so darn perfect—and Veronica has so little to offer that Betty can’t offer, too. But that wouldn’t have to be the case.

I was reminded of how lopsided the battle has become while reading the introduction by Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island) in the Betty & Veronica Summer Fun trade paperback. In it, Dawn noted the similarities between Mary Ann and Betty. “I knew that in order for the contrasting personalities of Mary Ann and Ginger [the sexpot] to work, I had to play Mary Ann completely ‘apple pie.’”

That meant, she wrote, emphasizing the traits that Betty so often brings to the fore. Mary Ann “was an enthusiastic leader, effective at getting everyone to do his or her part. In the same way, Betty Cooper is a stabilizing influence in Archie and the gang’s lives. It is a Midwestern, small-town ethic that Mary Ann, Betty and myself share—a patriotic, never-give-up approach to life.”

I realize that Betty and Veronica are part of an ensemble cast and play the specific roles required to make a particular script work. That’s true of the entire gang, with Veronica and Reggie tending to swing the wildest, one moment being a trusted (and rich) friend and the next being a back-stabbing schemer who uses the others for his or her manipulative needs. The other characters keep to narrower slots, adjusting slightly as needed for the tale.

We also have to assume that time resets after each story, with the gang forgetting the previous plot’s specifics. Otherwise, the sheer number of betrayals and humiliations piled on the gang by Reggie or Veronica when a story called for it would make the others ostracize them. Not to mention, they’d all sooner or later decide that they’d been to one too many junior proms.

But given those necessities, each friend has perennial quirks that are catalysts for stories: klutzy Lothario Archie; spoiled hot-head Veronica; woman-hating glutton Jughead; vain prankster Reggie; totally competent Betty.

That last one just doesn’t fit. It’s not fair for Betty to be the multi-talented straight woman to the others—and it’s not fair to Veronica, either. Ronnie will never win this two-woman competition with the way it’s stacked against her, loading her with all the unattractive qualities (with the occasional ultimate redemption). She could win a few votes if one aspect of Betty’s personality that isn’t emphasized enough came to the fore, changing her basic ensemble trait.

Betty should be a tomboy.

In other words, she should generally be a little rougher around the edges, a little less refined and knowledgeable about the finer things in life that Veronica should excel at effortlessly. In “Smallville” terms, she needs to be a Chloe to Veronica’s Lana.

On occasion, she plays that role. But usually, she becomes the handy mechanic or the ace shortstop only when a plot requires it. Those are still variations on the ultra-competent role that makes her so admirable to everyone from teachers to parents to boys with flat tires or empty stomachs. But those rough-hewn personality traits don’t carry over to stories where they aren’t pivotal to the plot, and they should.

 There should be some ramifications to being so good at everything the boys do, besides being taken for granted by Archie when the plot needs it. That isn’t the same as Archie favoring Veronica because Betty isn’t “girlie” enough for him on a routine basis, which would give Ronnie a little boost. And if Betty were more rough-hewn all the time, she might counter Ronnie’s advantages in snarkier ways that wouldn’t always bring her credit (but could be hilarious).

 The biggest difficulty with accepting that Betty is viewed generally as one of the boys is that she can go toe-to-toe with Veronica in any female department required—and effortlessly outdo her in some of them. And that starts with her appearance.

Dawn Wells made the case that Mary Ann and Betty are similar in that “they are forever engaged in friendships/rivalries with the glamour queens, Ginger Grant and Veronica Lodge, respectively. Ginger and Veronica represent the ‘fantasy’ sex symbols—the unattainable girls most guys know they don’t have a shot at marrying. They are constantly pushing the envelope, using their beauty to get their way.”

That was true for Ginger. She wore slinky gowns and talked in a breathless style that had the guys all atwitter. But it’s less true in distinguishing Veronica from Betty. In filling the role of “fantasy sex symbol,” Ronnie sets the bar so low that Betty usually has no trouble clearing it, too.

The cover to Betty & Veronica Double Digest #111 (Feb 03) is a good example of what should be the status quo – but seldom is. Veronica is dressed in chic clothes, while Betty is in rumpled, plainer clothes. They’re dressed like that to help sell the joke visually, but they should be dressed like that all the time. Veronica should look sleek and well composed, even when the gang is just hanging out. Betty should look a little dowdy even at her best. She shouldn’t be able to pull off a strong fashion sense so easily.

If their sexiness differentiated them as it did Josie and Melody in She’s Josie, Archie’s Silver Age sister comic, they’d have a definite point of distinction for our red-headed pal to ponder. Certainly, Ginger and Mary Anne offered that distinction (since they were real people not being drawn by artists who didn't spend much time giving the girls any distinguishing features beyond "attractive"). Features, body type and other attributes will appeal to some guys more than others. No two people are alike, so some guys being attracted to a Ginger "type" instead of the Mary Anne "type" makes perfect sense.

But as Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder so hilariously pointed out in their Starchie satire in Mad #12 (Jun 54), Betty and Veronica’s similarities in features, figures and fashions make that “fantasy sex symbol” differentiation disappear.

Then there’s the matter of their skill sets. Betty can match Veronica’s designer fashions by sewing up an exact duplicate after eyeballing Ronnie’s creation; she cooks like the illegitimate daughter of Julie Child and Emeril Lagasse; she can create romantic, candle-lit settings; and she innumerable times has kissed Archie until he was too dazed to stand (which, apparently, doesn’t really take all that much).

That’s quite a range of talents—too much range to give Veronica a fighting chance. In fact, I’d argue that some of Betty’s talents more rightfully belong to Veronica, while Betty’s basic trait set should be focused more on talents that characterize her as “eager tomboy” rather than “totally competent and knowledgeable friend.” She needs a bit more snarkiness-which she sometimeshad in the 1950s and even into the1960s, but, again, mostly when the story required it. It's not an especially attractive attribute--but it was darn funny. And, let's face it, every other cast member has at least one unattractive attribute. Why not Betty?

Veronica was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. In most stories, all that gets her is a  fancy sportscar, a rationale for taking the gang to an exotic locale or tickets to a black-tie country club soiree to which Archie must (reluctantly) escort her. That ain’t much, at least from Archie’s (and the reader’s) perspective. What her manor-born position should gain her is considerable aesthetic background that Betty wouldn’t have—but that Ronnie still would have to leverage just right to use to her advantage.

An example of how Betty plays too many roles, limiting Veronica to “rich witch,” can be seen in one of the semi-educational features Archie comics sometimes ran. Appearing in Archie Giant #187 (Betty and Veronica Summer Fun, Sep 71), it featured ballet stances and terms. Betty narrated and performed, because, after all, she’s the studious, book-learning, lesson-taking cast member, who “teaches” the others when the deed must be done.

 But that should’ve been Veronica’s role. She would’ve been the one growing up with ballet classes, piano classes, art classes, etc. She would’ve been jetting around the world and wandering through museums, no doubt bored out of her skull but still picking up culture at least by osmosis.

Veronica should be familiar with classical artists and composers, know ballet terms and be able to bake a souffle—but maybe not a birthday cake. The cast member chosen to narrate that feature was a nuance, but those selections set the tone for each girl’s underlying skill set in the ensemble.

With Betty serving as the source of all facts and talents, she gains a huge advantage in the tug of war. After all, considering they look alike, they have the same figure and they can dress alike, who are we going to pick: the one who knows everything and selflessly shares that knowledge, or the one whose chief role is to throw expensive hissy fits? Exactly.

Even worse, their roles make us think less of Archie. The way it’s set up, there’s really only one reason he could possibly choose Veronica over Betty—he’s after her money.

A classic example of how stacking the deck so heavily against Veronica should almost always end up was reprinted in Betty & Veronica Double Digest #42 (Jan 94). It’s a Mopee-worthy story, because it has to be forgotten for the triangle to continue to work.

“Valley Rally” began with Veronica inviting Archie to go with her and her parents to their ski lodge in Posh Valley. Oblivious Archie and smug Ronnie waved goodbye to broken-hearted Betty and drove off. As usual, Betty quickly swung into action. She collected 5,000 aluminum cans and used the recycling proceeds to finance her own trip to Posh Valley. (So we’re stipulating that there were rooms for rent in this lodge, and it was the cost and not the lack of an invite that kept her from coming along.)

Meanwhile, Ronnie discovered that two jet-setting pals, Gunther and Otto, had arrived unexpectedly. She began spending all her time with them, leaving Archie alone. Mrs. Lodge chided Veronica for ignoring her boyfriend, but Ronnie sloughed off the criticism. She explained she didn’t know her rich pals would be there—and she mostly invited Archie to keep him away from Betty.

It’s a classic story set-up, but then things took a wacky turn. With so much time on his hands, Archie pulled out his wallet and mooned over a photo of Betty. “I was a fool to leave behind the girl who really cares for me!” he said. Hokey smokes! Had he really taken a smart pill rather than spending the story trying goofily to get Ronnie to pay attention to him?

The next morning, fed up, Archie told Ronnie he was leaving due to her inattention. Apparently, deciding it was late enough in the weekend that Betty wouldn’t be able to take advantage of Archie’s freedom, Veronica blew him off. Soon, Betty arrived and greeted Veronica. Smugly, Ron informed Bets that “your loverboy Archie is gone!” Your loverboy?

Distraught, Betty left with Ronnie’s triumphant laughter in her ears. She hadn’t gone far when she heard the unmistakable sound of Archie’s car. It wouldn’t start, so Arch was stuck in the parking lot, where Betty found him. “Betty, I dig you,” Archie said, wrapping his arms around her. “And I dig you, Archie,” she cooed back. “And I also dig this broken-down jalopy that’s kept you here!” The end.

Yikes! Game, set, match to Betty! This tale apparently took place on Earth-Reality, a location little visited by Archie’s gang—and, frankly, a place we don’t really want them to hang out.

Good thing time resets. Otherwise, Veronica would have made so many crass blunders in this story that she would never have recovered with Arch, even as forgiving as he is. But we readers remember the story, and we know, deep down, that Ronnie doesn’t stand a chance—and we wouldn’t root for her if she were the only girl at Riverdale High.

Is that fair? I say thee nay! Sure, Veronica should show her selfish side sometimes. But in most cases, when the tales are a bit more subtle, she should have talents Betty can’t match, talents that are admirable to us readers—and might make Archie look better for wanting to date her.

Betty should have to try harder to get back into the game, even playing pranks (that sometimes backfire) to score some Archie time. And she should be less able to effortlessly match Ronnie (or obliterate her) in sexiness, skill and knowledge.

Concluding “Valley Rally” with Betty and Archie professing their mutual affection was the only sane reaction to a totally selfish Veronica and an industrious, loving Betty—who didn’t even dirty her hands this go-round fixing the broken car. Ronnie needs a leveler playing field on a routine basis.

-- MSA

A Conversation with a Non-Comic Book Reader about the Fantastic Three

“So what’s up with the Fantastic Three?”

“They killed the Human Torch.”

“Yeah, but what’s up with that?”

“Do you want the long answer?”

“That’s why I’m asking.”

“Okay.  You have to remember I’ve taken enough creative writing and drama courses that I come at this from the writer’s perspective.”

“I know.”

“Well, the Fantastic Four are a unit.  They’re not only a team, they’re a family.  As a team and a family, they have certain inter-personal dynamics.  For a writer, it’s interesting to ask, ‘How do those relationships change when you remove one member of team?’  It’s exciting to explore those changed dynamics.

“The first time they did this was in the ’60s.  The writer took Sue Storm off the team.  She was pregnant and she went on maternity leave, because that’s what you do when you’re pregnant.  She didn’t leave the family or the title, but she was replaced on the team by Crystal.  So you get to see how the team is different when the fourth member isn’t Reed’s wife or fiancée but a potential love interest for Johnny.  Eventually, Sue is done with her pregnancy leave and she comes back to the team and Crystal leaves again.

“The second time they did this was in the ‘80s.” 

“Who left this time?”

“The Thing.  He was tired of being over-shadowed by Reed. He’s not technically part of the family and he thought he could do better on his own.  He even had his own comic book at the time.  So they replaced him with She-Hulk.”

“Oh, I remember that.”

“Exactly.  So you get to see how the team is different without the Thing.  They’re maybe more of a superhero team but less of a family.

“The third time they did was in the ‘90s.  This time, they killed Reed Richards.”

“They killed Reed Richards?”

“Yes.  You know, the person used to just leave the team but that’s not good enough anymore.  Now they have to kill them.  So they killed Reed Richards and replaced him with Ant-Man.”

“Who’s Ant-Man?”

“That’s a whole ‘nother story.”

“Is he like Spider-Man but with the proportional strength of an ant?”

“Uh, no.  He’s more like an Aquaman for insects, except that he can also shrink down to their size.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he was one of the founding members of the Avengers--”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Marvel didn’t have that many heroes yet.  But the Ant-Man who joined the Fantastic Four was actually the second Ant-Man.  He was also bit of scientist.  Reed had been both the team scientist and the team leader.  Now, you can hire a new scientist but that doesn’t necessarily make him the team leader.  Guess who became the team leader.”

“Who?”

“Sue Storm.”

“That makes sense.”

“Right.  So you get to see how the team is different when Sue is the leader instead of Reed.  You learn new things about Sue and see skills you didn’t know she had.  But eventually the writers explored that angle and, because this is comic books, they brought Reed back.

“So now it’s the Human Torch’s turn.  I actually wrote something a couple of years ago that this is a story they should tell.  Every other member of the team has had a significant absence.  It would be cool to see what the team is like without Johnny.  What is Sue like when she doesn’t have to worry about her younger brother?  What is Ben like when he can’t define himself by his rivalry with Johnny?”

“What happens to the team when the Human Torch isn’t the one rushing off into trouble?”

“Exactly.”  

“But he’ll be back in five years?”

“Of course.”  

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Feb. 1, 2011 -- Ding dong, the witch is dead.

Or maybe I should say all other witches are symbolically back from the dead. Because the witch in question – the industry’s self-censoring Comics Code Seal of Approval – is the one that outlawed from comic books monsters, sex, crime and anything else the preachers, politicians and parents of 1954 thought could harm young minds ... which was virtually everything.

But when the Code’s primary enforcers – magazine distributors – became mostly irrelevant to the comics industry in the 1980s, so did the Code. And over the years it’s been modified as social norms changed, so the current version isn’t nearly as Medieval as the original. But it’s still a milestone of sorts that the last two publishers to still use the Code   – Archie Comics and DC Comics (for its kiddie line) – are dispensing with the Seal and instituting their own ratings systems this month.

By coincidence, a couple of recent books give examples of what had 1954’s Guardians of Decency in such a froth.

The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read! (Abrams ComicArts, $29.95) focuses on the gory horror comics that appeared mostly from 1950 to 1954. The author is Jim Trombetta, who has worked as a Shakespearean scholar, a reporter and a TV script writer, so there’s a lot of cross-disciplinary speculation going on here.

Actually, too much speculation for my taste – I’m of the “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” school. If you’re going to make broad sociological generalizations about what a given story, cover, art style or genre has to say about 1950s society, you’re going to have to work pretty hard to convince me.

Trombetta does work hard, shoehorning dozens of short, silly, gleefully gory stories into quasi-academic categories like “Death and the Maiden,” “The Gorgon” and “The Age of Nuclear Terror.” He backs his analysis up with plentiful examples, and he constructs a series of engaging arguments raising, say, a random eye injury to the level of eternal mythological symbolism. I wasn’t completely convinced, mind you, but I was vastly entertained.

Trombetta’s examples are covers or short snippets, because he can only operate under “fair use” laws for pre-Code horror stories that are still under copyright (which is most of them). That’s actually a plus, in that most books exploring this topic rely on the small percentage of pre-1954 horror stories in the public domain. That means we see those same stories repeatedly (two such well-traveled tales appear in The Horror), and major publishers like EC Comics, Timely (now Marvel) and National (DC) usually get short shrift.

But Trombetta samples from all publishers for a truly comprehensive presentation. There’s even a DVD of an alarmist (and almost entirely false) 1950s documentary about comics poisoning our children! “The Horror” belongs on every fan’s bookshelf, and more than a few academic ones. It’s the most thoughtful and thorough analysis on 1950s horror comics extant, and it will be quoted by scholars and reporters for decades to come.

Meanwhile, Feral House’s The Weird World of Eerie Publications ($32.95) tackles our topic obliquely; it’s a history of a 1960s-1980s magazine publisher whose titles were largely filled with reprinted (or re-drawn) pre-Code horror comics. These black-and-white magazines, like Weird, Witches’ Tales and Tales of Voodoo, lurked in the shadows of far superior mags like Warren’s Creepy and Marvel’s Dracula Lives during a short-lived boom.

Eerie Publications was the very definition of a sleazy, fly-by-night company. Publisher Myron Fass took old pre-Code horror stories by minor publisher Ajax/Farrel (and any others he could safely steal or cheaply buy) and either reprinted them outright (with extra blood added) or had them redrawn (with orders to “gore it up”) by underpaid and mistreated artists, many from South America. These magazines were just part of Fass’s empire, which included sweaty men’s mags, lurid confessionals and other sorts of garbage.

But there is a subculture that loves this sort of nonsensical, over-the-top, bloody carnage (think of the “Saw” movies), and author Mike Howlett is an unashamed member. While I don’t share this particular enthusiasm, I enjoyed seeing him take his hobby horse out for a ride.

Weird World won’t win any academic prizes, and there are a lot of unnecessary four-letter words. But Howlett has done history a service by putting more effort into a book about a forgotten corner of comics than Eerie Publications ever did on the comics themselves.

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

27 (TWENTY SEVEN) #3 (OF 4)  

28 DAYS LATER TP VOL 03 HOTZONE  

ACTS OF VENGEANCE OMNIBUS HC DAVIS CVR   

ADVENTURE COMICS #523  

AIR TP VOL 04 A HISTORY OF THE FUTURE (MR)    

ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #4 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654 BIG  

AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #8

ANITA BLAKE CIRCUS DAMNED INGENUE #2 (OF 5) (MR)

ASSASSINS CREED THE FALL #3 (OF 3) (MR)  

ATLANTIS ATTACKS OMNIBUS HC MAYHEW COVER

ATOMIC ROBO DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE #3 (OF 5) 

AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES #4 (OF 4)   

BATGIRL #18       

BATMAN AND ROBIN #20  

BETTY #190 

BIRDS OF PREY #9 

BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR #515

BLACKEST NIGHT PORTFOLIO SET #1  

BONE QUEST FOR SPARK SC NOVEL BOOK 01 

BPRD HELL ON EARTH GODS #2 (OF 3) 

BUCK ROGERS ANNUAL #1 (MR)   

CAPTAIN AMERICA KORVAC SAGA #3 (OF 4)

CAPTAIN AMERICA LIVES OMNIBUS HC

CARNAGE #3 (OF 5) 

CASANOVA GULA #2 (OF 4) (MR)  

CHARISMAGIC #0

CHIP SECOND CRACK #3 (OF 3) 

CINDERELLA FABLES ARE FOREVER #1 (OF 6) (MR)

CREEPY ARCHIVES HC VOL 09

DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE HC EMPIRE

DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER LITTLE SISTERS ELURIA #3

DC COMICS PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN FEAR ITSELF #1

DC COMICS PRESENTS WONDER WOMAN #1 

DC HEROES WAVE 16 BANE AF SET

DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #9 (OF 10) 

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #885

DEUS EX #1 (OF 6) (MR)    

DOC SAVAGE #11  

DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS SERIES 4 #1 SEVENTH DOCTOR 

DREAM LOGIC #3 (MR)      

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DARK SUN #2 (OF 5)   

ELF #1    

FARSCAPE #16    

FARSCAPE SCORPIUS TP VOL 02

FARSCAPE TP VOL 03 GONE & BACK 

FATHOM BLUE DESCENT #2

FEMINA AND FAUNA ART OF CAMILLA D ERRICO HC

FLASH #9 (FLASHPOINT) 

FLASH DASTARDLY DEATH OF THE ROGUES HC

FRENEMY OF THE STATE #4 (OF 5)    

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #163 

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO TP VOL 01  

GREEN HORNET #13    

GREEN HORNET GOLDEN AGE REMASTERED #8 (OF 8) 

GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #7 (WAR OF GL)

HACK SLASH ONGOING #1

HAUNT #13 (RES) 

HAUNT TP VOL 02 (RES) 

HEROES FOR HIRE #3 

HOTWIRE DEEP CUT #3 (OF 3) 

ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #32

INCOGNITO BAD INFLUENCES #3 (MR)  

INCREDIBLE HULKS #622    

INVADERS NOW #5 (OF 5) 

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN TP V5 STARK RESILIENT BOOK 1

JERICHO REDUX   

JOHN BYRNE NEXT MEN #3 

JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #19 (BD)

KNIGHT & SQUIRE #5 (OF 6)   

LAST ZOMBIE #4 (OF 5)   

LIL DEPRESSED BOY #1           

LOVE AND CAPES EVER AFTER #1 

MAGUS #2 (OF 5)   

MMW ATLAS ERA BATTLEFIELD HC VOL 01

MMW FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 05   

NAMOR FIRST MUTANT TP VOL 01 CURSE OF MUTANTS

NAMOR VISIONARIES TP JOHN BYRNE VOL 01   

NEMESIS PREM HC (MR) 

NEW AVENGERS #9  

NEW MUTANTS FOREVER TP  

NORTHLANDERS #37 (MR)

ON THE LINE HC   

ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #1 (OF 4) 

OSBORN #3 (OF 5) BIG  

OZ WONDERLAND KIDS #1 (OF 3) 

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 (OF 5) 

PRESIDENT EVIL I HAVE A SCREAM POCKET MANGA TP

PUNISHERMAX #10 (RES) (MR)

RAISE THE DEAD II #3   

REBELS #25   

RED ROBIN #20   

SECRET HISTORY OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 (MR)

SHADOWLAND HC   

SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #1 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SELECT TP VOL 03 

SPAWN #200 2ND PTG

SPAWN #202    

SPONGEBOB COMICS #1     

STAN LEE STARBORN #3 

STAR TREK INFESTATION #1 (OF 2)  

STAR WARS OLD REPUBLIC TP V1 BLOOD OF EMPIRE

SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 TRIAL BY FIRE  

SUPER HEROES #11 

SUPERMAN #708  

SUPERMAN MON EL TP VOL 01   

TEEN TITANS HUNT FOR RAVEN TP   

THOR DEATH OF ODIN TP NEW ED   

THUNDER AGENTS #4 

THUNDERSTRIKE #3 (OF 5)   

TITANS #32         

TRANSFORMERS ONGOING #16    

TYRANNOSAURUS REX ONE-SHOT

ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES #1 (OF 6)

ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA #2 (OF 4)

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #153 DOSM  

UNWRITTEN #22 (MR)   

VICTORIAN UNDEAD II HOLMES VS DRACULA #4 (OF 5)   

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #6 (MR)   

WALKING DEAD #81 (MR)    

WARLORD OF MARS #4   

WASTELAND #30 (MR)  

WIDOW MAKER #4 (OF 4)    

WOLVERINE #1000    

WOLVERINE #5.1       

X-FACTOR #215   

YOUNG ALLIES TP 

copied from the list published on Facebook by Comics & Collectibles, Memphis

In the 1980s, the Super Powers Collection, a toyline based on DC Comics characters, was licensed for use in a variety of countries. In Brazil, kids must not have been satisfied with playing with American heroes such as Batman and Superman.  Fixing that problem, toy company Gulliver Juguetes decided to add their own character to the mix: Captain Ray!

Who is he? What are his powers? Did he ever fight Superman in the skies over Buenos Aires?

Find out in the latest entry at Comics on the Brain!