Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman #1

TITLE: Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman #1

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: August 2001

COVER PRICE: $5.95

40 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

There's not a whole lot I remember about this issue. In fact, I don't even recall if this was good, bad, or just plain mediocre. I never finished collecting the whole series, so I'm guessing it left me a little cold.

It does have Jim Lee doing the artwork, so I'm going to guess that it at least looks good. It's a long issue, so let's just get right to it.

Just Imagine Stan Lee's Wonder Woman

• Writer: Stan Lee
• Pencil Art: Jim Lee
• Ink Art: Scott Williams
• Letterer: Bill Oakley
• Colorist & Separator: Alex Sinclair
• Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston
• "Just Imagine..." initiated by Michael Uslan

Right off the bat, and Stan Lee is throwing us for a curve. The story starts where...

Ages ago, there was a time of wonder, a time of mystery and miracles. Come back with us to such a time.

Sounds about right for the origin of Wonder Woman, eh? But then before we even leave the same panel, we find out we're not going to Themyscira, but to Lake Titicaca!

It would appear we've traded the Greek canon for one half a world away, as the son of the great Incan Sun God rises from the lake. He leaves to found the legendary city of Cuzco to honor his father. To complete his task, he has been given an enchanted staff of gold with which he will plunge into the earth at the fateful location.

He soon founds the legendary city and ushers in a glorious age of peace and prosperity, but that was then. Today, Cuzco has been ravaged by time and the once fabled city has fallen into ruin. It is here that we are introduced to Maria Mendoza as she bemoans the current state of the ancient city, being plundered by an unscrupulous archaeologist named Armando Guitez.

It is also here that she also meets Steve Trevor, and idealistic archaeologist working for Guitez, who is trying his hardest to make sure that the plundered treasures are actually being bought by museums. There conversation is cut short however, as they are forced to leave in a hurry as a rather ominous noise scares them off the dig.

Steve gives Maria a lift back to her nearby village, where her father is the local judge. She catches him between cases and confronts him once again about being on Guitez's payroll. Maria is nothing, if not a little headstrong, and she finally gets her father to tell her the whole truth about her birth and what happened to her mother.

On the night she was born, her parents were returning to their home when they were stopped by bandits. Disappointed that the couple had no money, a scuffle ensued and a shot rang out. Maria's mother was unfortunately shot dead. Moments later, the local policia arrive, but they too are looking for money in the form of a bribe before they catch the bandits. Disappointed that the farmer has no money, they take his truck, leaving the heartbroken man to bury his wife. He swears then and there that he will protect his daughter, even if it means making a pact with the devil.

That devil, of course, is Guitez who shows up right on cue. He's here to oversee a case that a local farmer is bringing against the policia. The farmer accuses the policia of being in Guitez's back pocket and doing nothing to help them. The villagers believe that a demon of some sort is attacking their farms, but the policia refuse to help.

Guitez gives the word, and the policia beat him to set an example for the villagers that Guitez has their best interests at heart, and it is best not to question his methods. It would also appear that Guitez is unhappy with Judge Mendosa's behavior of late, as he feels he has been too sympathetic to the locals. The policia leave, taking Judge Mendosa back to Guitez's compound.

Desperate to help her father, Maria tracks down Steve Trevor and enlists his help in getting into Guitez's compound. Once inside, Maria watches from the shadows as her father confronts Guitez about his lawlessness. He has finally seen enough and threatens to go to the local governor with everything that he knows. Guitez, not surprisingly, has other ideas.

Maria rushes to her father's side as he breathes his last breath. Guitez does a little gloating and boasts that Maria, as his new bride-to-be, is never going to leave his compound.

Remember when I said that Maria was a bit headstrong? Well a quick elbow to the face, followed by a knee to the groin, and she's soon running through Guitez's compound after leaving him doubled over in pain. As she rounds a corner, she's reunited with Trevor who convinces her that they must go to the dig as there's something there she has to see.

Trevor tells her of the legends of the city, and the fact that this is the site where the sun god imprisoned the evil spirits that threatened mankind. Guitez plans to harness those spirits to attain ultimate power. Trevor has been working behind the scenes to send key artifacts back to Los Angeles before Guitez can figure out what is going on.

Unfortunately for Trevor, Guitez now knows the truth and guns him down. As Trevor falls to the ground, he drops an artifact covered in runes that cracks when it hits the floor. Purple smoke starts seeping from the cracks, which soon coalesces into a huge purple demon. The thing of evil quickly dispatches the policia and turns toward Guitez when the two have a bit of a showdown

As the demon tries to absorb Guitez's soul, it finds that he will not be easy prey. In fact, it is Guitez who emerges the victor, now merged with the demon and possessing all of his power. More artifacts are crushed in the melee, and another newly released demon soon meets the same fate as the first, as Guitez absorbs it and becomes even more powerful.

Leaving Maria to her fate in the crumbling temple, Guitez heads out and makes for Los Angeles to retrieve the two missing artifacts and all of the extra power that they contain. As the building falls apart around her, she is surprised to hear voices that surround her talking about the chosen one and prophecies and such. A golden staff appears before her, and as she reaches out to touch it...a Wonder Woman is born.

This is the first time that we get a look at Jim Lee's redesign, so let's take a moment to break it down.

The first thing you notice is the color scheme. Gone are the red, white and blue, making way for a two-toned costume of white and gold. Seeing as how this Wonder Woman gets her powers from an Incan sun god, it's only natural that she have a bright and shiny costume. The gold is also a nice nod to the Incan heritage and legacy.

This Wonder Woman is very much a warrior, similar to how our Wonder Woman has been played within DC's trinity in the last ten years. Gone is the lasso, replaced with a shield and the enchanted glowing staff that was used by the Incan sun god himself.

Finally, Jim Lee adds a Captain Marvel-esque style cape which adds a touch of regalia to top the whole thing off. I really like this design, and it's a shame that this was pretty much the only appearance of this Wonder Woman, and her costume, that we ever got.

Back to the story, we find that Wonder Woman has used her powers to lift Steve Trevor from he crumbling ruins to the safety of a nearby hillside. It's too late for him, however, as with his dying breath he tells her that she has completed the prophecy. She is the chosen of the sun god, and the protectress of the Earth.

The Wonder Woman visage fades, leaving an exhausted Maria to contemplate another death at her feet. The only rational explanation is that she is insane, and she breaks down crying.

The voices soon return, reassuring her that she is not insane. And really, who better to tell you you're not crazy than the voices in your head! The voice soon tells her how to control her new powers, as she sets out to catch Guitez and stop his reign of evil.

Arriving in Los Angeles, Guitez is now more monster than man, consumed by the lust for the power contained in the remaining artifacts. As his private plane crashes, he is photographed by one of the local paparazzi. Now rampaging through the city, Wonder Woman finally arrives to subdue him.

The two tussle for a bit, when Wonder Woman instinctively uses her shield to block some flying rubble that Guitez has thrown at her. Shards of energy burst forth from the shield and disintegrate the boulder. She then twists the shards of energy into an interwoven, glowing cable. Wonder Woman finally has her magic lariat.

Wrapping Guitez tight with her lasso, Wonder Woman takes to the skies where she has the advantage. Guitez still struggles, now climbing the rope as she flies ever higher. Just as Guitez is about to reach Wonder Woman, she lets go of the rope and Guitez falls to his death as he is impaled on the lightning rod of a nearby building.

Victorious, but exhausted, Wonder Woman collapses on the hillside underneath the Hollywood sign. She awakes the next morning and decides to make this town her new home, as there is nothing left for her back in Peru.

In a bit of inspiration, and a nod to the Clark/Lois/Superman triangle, Maria heads to the office of the National Exposure magazine. There she applies for the job of assistant for the reporter who had witnessed the battle the night before. Her day job will now be to help the man who is trying to uncover her secret identity.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

When this book got picked, I was kinda disappointed as I didn't have too many fond memories of this series. In fact, I only ever picked up three of the dozen issues that they released. I realize that Stan Lee is one of the guiding figures and living legends of comic books, but he had pretty much finished writing for good when I started reading comics.

Thinking back, I probably morphed my memories of this series in with Ravage 2099, which was my first experience with reading a new Stan Lee series. Needless to say, Ravage 2099 didn't necessarily set the comic book world on fire, and my experience there probably negatively affected my enjoyment here.

Now, ten years later, I couldn't be happier that the Randomizer picked this issue to review as I had a heck of a lot of fun reading this. So much so, in fact, that I found myself googling the rest of the series to see what I had missed out on. Stan Lee, Dave Gibbons, and Green Lantern?! What the hell was I thinking not picking that up?

What we get in this issue, is 40 pages of pure fun. Stan Lee appears right at home working with a modern master like Jim Lee, and if anything, it seemed like he was almost restrained in his usual bombasticness (no Hyperbole Meter needed this time around, sorry). He takes the warrior aspect of Wonder Woman and supplants it in a completely different mythos, freeing her from the patriotic garb and theme that always seemed a little out of place once you take her out of the World War II era in which she was created.

It probably took a little too long to get Maria transformed into Wonder Woman, as it didn't leave too many pages left for the big fight scene at the end. But if you're going to have a bunch of new characters talking for twenty pages, you could do worse than have them illustrated by Jim Lee. This issue is classic Jim Lee, doing what he does best, putting an effort in that rivals his work on Batman: Hush. It was clean, smooth, and expertly paced. When the action did pick up, the visuals never let up for a second.

I realize that it may seem like I'm doing nothing but heaping platitudes on top of platitudes, but the only downside I see with this issue is that we never did get anymore of this version of Wonder Woman once this series wrapped up.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

The Ultimates #1

TITLE: The Ultimates #1

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: March 2002

COVER PRICE: $2.25

26 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

I remember being so excited for this title when it was solicited. Ultimate Spider-Man was one of the best books on the stand, and I had high hopes for this title carrying the imprint forward. The fact that it featured two creators who blew things up really good over on The Authority didn't hurt either.

And when the issue came out, it sure as hell delivered. If only they could have kept the production on this series on pace...but that's a blog post for another day.

I haven't read this book since it was out originally, so I'm curious to see how it holds up compared to all of the work that Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch have done in the interim. Let's find out...

The Ultimates

• Story: Mark Millar
• Pencils: Bryan Hitch
• Inks: Andrew Currie
• Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
• Colors: Paul Mounts w/Bongotone
• Editor: Ralph Macchio
• Associate Editor: Brian Smith
• Editor in chief: Joe Quesada
• President & Inspiration: Bill Jemas

Wow, Bill Jemas credited with "inspiration"...Marvel really was a different company back then.

Back to the actual book, and it's time to break the fourth wall a little bit. Usually when I do these reviews, I'll hold off reading the book until I sit down to review it and I write it as I read the book cold. This time was different. I was hooked from the first panel and didn't put the issue down until I had read it all the way through, leaving the keyboard untouched.

I honestly didn't remember that this issue was this good. Mark Millar wrote a story that was perfectly paced, action packed, heartfelt, and reverential to what has come before (both in respect to WWII and The Avengers). I know, I know...this is Mark "Kick-Ass" Millar we're talking about, but this is about as perfect a first issue that you could ask for with which to retell the Avengers story.

This issue is almost exclusively told in a World War II flashback, where Captain America is leading a crew of soldiers on a nighttime raid into Iceland. It's there that the Nazi's have succeeded in building a hydrogen bomb, currently aimed at Washington D.C.

Millar would later go on to expand the character of Captain America as some right-wing wet dream, although this was the pre-"tea bag" right-wing that was still somewhat sane. As the issue starts, however, Cap is mostly seen only in the background, leaving his fellow soldier and partner, Bucky, to bring us up to speed as he talks with the other soldiers. Bucky seems to revel in the fact that he's partnered with a living legend, ribbing and teasing his fellow soldiers, while building up the mystique of Captain America.

The good thing for Bucky, however, is that you can actually count on Captain America to not only live up to his reputation, but to exceed it as well. While the grunts are caught in a massive gun battle after parachuting onto the armored launch pad, Cap eschews a parachute in favor of driving the bomber plane right through the front door.

This brings me to one of my favorite Captain America images of all time.

Its halfway through the issue, and its the first time we see Captain America out of the background. It's a beautiful image, and Bryan Hitch has managed to re-design Cap's costume as some sort of fatigues fueled, spandex bastard child. It's so beautiful in it's simplicity, that I'm surprised no one had ever thought of it before. In all the annals of costume redesigns, this gets the gold medal from me.

While we're on the subject of Bryan Hitch, I have to say that this issue completely wowed me. I remember really liking his stuff in the past, but after his run on Fantastic Four and Captain America: Reborn, I was honestly asking myself what the big deal about Hitch was. The work that he's produced over the last couple of years is such a pale comparison of what we see here, that it's almost depressing. This is the man who helped launch "wide-screen" comics, and here he is at the top of his game.

So anyone familiar with the legend of Captain America probably knows where this issue is headed. The soldiers breach the launch pad, but it's too late as the ignition sequence has begun and the prototype hydrogen bomb begins it's journey to D.C. Now this is Captain America that we're dealing with, and he's not about to let that happen so he jumps through the exhaust plume and grabs a hold of the rocket as it takes to the sky.

Knowing he's on a one way ride, his only choice is to blow up the guidance system with a grenade, which takes care of the rocket, but unfortunately blasts Cap into the frigid seas below to be frozen alive for his eventual rendezvous in the current day. As he sinks into the ever darkening depths, Millar pulls out the "If you're reading this that means I'm dead" letter, written to Cap's fiance. It runs the danger of coming off as a hackneyed trope, but it works here as Millar keeps it short and sweet, and it's the perfect balance to the machine of a soldier we bore witness to in the previous pages.

With a hint of what's to come , the issues wraps up back in the present day with the briefest of looks at Ultimate Tony Stark, as he begins his role in the birth of the Ultimates.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

It should be obvious at this point in the review as to what we've learned. Mainly that Millar and Hitch were, at one time, deserving of all the hype and hyperbole thrown their way. All right, that maybe a little harsh, but I personally have not really enjoyed much by these two creators post-Ultimates.

I'd like to think the remaining twenty-five issues are waiting to be rediscovered as masterpieces of their genre as well, but I think I'm going to hold off finding out and just savor this moment for a while. After all, it's not often these days that I can get jazzed about the Avengers, and I don't need any more doses of cruel reality harshing my buzz.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics
...and of course, inspired by Bill Jemas!

The Avengers (Vol. 3) #35

TITLE: The Avengers #35

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: December 2000

COVER PRICE: $2.25

23 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

Well, that's the last time the use the word "lazy" in a blog post title. Unfortunately, I've been anything but. Life goes on, however, and the internet community of comic book fandom can now function at top speed once again, as we take a long delayed look at The Avengers #35!

In the interest of getting right into the action, let's take a quick recap of what we know going into this issue. It's smack dab in the middle of Busiek's superb run, featuring fill-in art by soon to be regular Avengers penciller, John Romita Jr.

That's the good. The bad?

It's part of a crossover I have limited memory of, featuring a cast of Avengers that's decidedly b and c-list. You know when you have Moondragon and Photon duking it out for the second most powerful member of the team, things are a little off.

Even so, Busiek was able to do wonders with a bunch of d-listers when he wrote The Thunderbolts, so it would be a mistake to right this issue off before we sit down to re-read it.

Interstellar Intrigues

• Writer: Kurt Busiek
• Penciler: John Romita Jr.
• Inker: Al Vey, Mark McKenna, Chris Ivy
• Colors: Tom Smith
• Letters: Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne
• Assistant Editor: Marc Sumerak
• Editor: Tom Brevoort
• Chief: Joe Quesada

This issue opens up with Thor and a group of fellow Avengers demanding to speak to Lilandra, Majestrix of the Shi'ar. After a few tense moments with Thor on the verge of losing his godly patience, the Avengers are escorted in to see Lilandra.

We don't get too much info as to what exactly is going on, but we are told that this issue will probably make more sense if we read Maximum Security #2 first. They also claim they'll fill us in on the way if we didn't, so I guess we'll put 'em to the test.

Once inside the inner chambers, its Moondragon's turn to lose her temper as she demands to know why Lilandra and the Intergalactic Council have quarantined the Sol System and have begun transporting undesirables to Earth's surface. Lilandra explains that yes, Earth has been made a prison planet for the universe's most undesirable inhabitants.

It's actually a pretty clever idea as the Earth's heroes will work to keep the prisoners contained, while the prisoners will force the heroes to focus on Earth and not have the time to get drawn into cosmic affairs every other issue.

Proving that bureaucracy knows no boundaries, Lilandra explains that since this was decided in council there is nothing more that can be done...but, Lilandra has been friends and allies with Earth's heroes before, so she agrees to give them a forum to bring up an appeal. In the meantime, they are dismissed.

Back in their quarters, the Avengers take a few moments to strategize their next move. Thor talks of raising the armies of Asgard to fight on the humanity's behalf, when Moondragon senses that they are being spied upon.

She reaches out with a psychic bolt and soon incapacitates the alien eavesdropper. Before they have a chance to interrogate the Ruul spy, they are beset by more attackers.

Realizing that these aliens will never let them plead their case before the council, they decide to make their way to the council chambers immediately. All the way there, they are attacked by more and more Ruul. One by one, the Avengers are taken down, with Thor the last one to fall.

As consciousness returns to our heroes, they find themselves restrained and taken prisoners by the Ruul. Now if you're like me, you're probably wondering who the hell are the Ruul?

Luckily for us, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree appears before the captive Avengers to fill us all in! Most of the next three pages are filled with flashbacks that recaps Avengers Forever and explains how the Supreme Intelligence was able to use the Forever Crystal from that series to evolve the Kree race by more than a millennia in but a moment. Now almost unrecognizable after their forced evolution, the Supreme Intelligence sends them back out into space to involve themselves in intergalactic affairs masquerading as a new race, instead of the war-like Kree that everyone knows and loves hates.

Using their newfound influence, the Kree have pushed the Intergalactic Council to make Earth a prison planet. All of that was just a cover for the Supreme Intelligence to impregnate the Earth with the Ego-Spore, that will slowly transform Earth into Ego, The Living Planet! With the power of their own planet to control, the Kree will once again be unstoppable in their conquest of the galaxy.

And with that, the Supreme Intelligence disappears once again, secure in the knowledge that the Avengers will soon be dead and his plans for conquest will soon come to fruition.

Realizing that the Earth's days are numbered, Quasar summons every ounce of will power that he has left to send the smallest microburst of energy back to Earth in an attempt to warn the other Avengers.

The other Avengers have problems of their own, however, as they've just been commandeered by the Federal Authority under the command of U.S.Agent!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I shouldn't have been so hard on Kurt Busiek. It's been too long, and I've forgotten how enjoyable his entire Avengers run was. Even a fill-in issue like this one, that ties into an event mini-series, is still pretty entertaining. Even an issue like this one, that features Jack-Of-Hearts, Tigra, and Starfox, is still pretty entertaining.

The Maximum Security storyline, while not making too big of an impression on me originally, sounds like an original idea for a mini-series event. Reading this issue has made me curious enough to pull out the series proper, and give it another read.

The art in this issue featured a guest appearance by John Romita Jr. Now I have a hot/cold relationship with his work, depending on what the project is. I don't normally go for his style on straight-forward superheroics, and this issue falls squarely in that vein. It was interesting to see his take on the Avengers, even though we didn't get to see too many of the big guns. It was kind of disappointing that Thor was the star of this issue, as JRJR spent a long time drawing his title around this time. I think I would have preferred to see him tackle a Captain America or Hawkeye story.

I suppose I won't have long to wait on that score. Less than 24 hours now, by my count!

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Sojourn #8

TITLE: Sojourn #8

PUBLISHER: CrossGen Comics

COVER DATE: March 2002

COVER PRICE: $2.95

22 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

When the initial offering of CrossGen titles came out, I took a pass. The overarching mythology of the sigil ended up turning me off, rather than drawing me in. I just didn't feel like either a) having the sigil shoe-horned in to a title that otherwise didn't need it, or b) reading a bunch of stories with too much editorial control to make sure they all line up to the company fiat.

That didn't stop me from hearing good things that first year, however. So when they announced a second round of titles that were less central to the sigil mythology, I jumped all over it. It didn't hurt that one of the new titles would feature work by Greg Land, who I had enjoyed on Birds of Prey previously. Combine that with a Tolkien-esque world and a quest for mystic artifacts and I was in.

Say what you will about CrossGen as a company (and you can say a lot), but this series was an obvious highlight. Yeah, it was probably a little too Lord of the Rings for it's own good, but it definitely mined a niche that was going unfilled at the time.

You can also say what you will about Greg Land (and you can also say a lot), but this series was before he went balls-out with the lightbox and lingerie catalogs. After CrossGen went bankrupt and this title got cancelled mid storyline, Land ended up at Marvel. It's there that the style of his work really took a turn for the worse, so Sojourn remains the last title were I actively sought out Land's work.

So back to the issue at hand with our heroine Arwyn, and we're still early on in her quest for the fragments of the legendary arrow with which she will bring peace to Middelyn. From the cover, it looks like we're in for a bit of a barfight, so let's get to it...

No title given

• Writer: Ron Marz
• Penciler: Greg Land
• Inkers: Drew Geraci, John Dell, Rick Magyar
• Colorist: Caesar Rodriguez
• Letterer: Troy Peteri

Well, the cover is no lie as the issue opens up in the middle of a barfight. Arwyn was apparently tossed through a window in the previous issue, so everything's up to her companion Gareth to sort things out. Needless to say, he's been in a brawl or two before.

They've come to this particular tavern to ask the locals about a rumored dragon who's supposed to be in possession of one of the arrow fragments. They're less than forthcoming, obviously, and just when things are looking their worse for Gareth, Arwyn makes a timely re-entrance.

Firing an arrow from her enchanted bow, she manages to distract the brawlers enough for her and Gareth to make good their escape. Leaving the bar with them is a female patron who was beginning to tell them what she knew of the dragon when the fight broke out last issue.

It's not until after they've put some distance between themselves and the bar that they stop for the night. While dining on whatever local critter Gareth caught, now turning on the barbecue spit, they trade stories about how each of them got to where we are now.

Here's the Reader's Digest version, for everyone keeping score at home.

Arwyn's on a mission to slay Mordath, the big bad in Middelyn, who is responsible for the death of her husband and child. He has now been resurrected and is the sigil-bearer of this title. While attempting to kill him in his castle, she met Gareth. Together, they manage to escape with their lives, but have now become marked for death by Mordath and are continually hunted by his trolls as they search for the legendary arrow that was used to slay him once already, and is rumored to be the only thing that will slay him again.

Their newfound friend, on the other hand, tells them of the legends of the local dragon and where the lair is rumored to be at. The fact that she doesn't really reveal anything personal, combined with obvious distrust that Arwyn's dog has for her, leads one to believe that she is not entirely human trustworthy.

Still, the quest will not be denied, so it's under her guidance in the morning to find the dragon's lair. She leads them to a place called Fayern Gorge and bids them good luck in rappelling down the cliff face, as she has no intention of heading into a dragon's lair.

Once they got to the bottom, it doesn't take long for Gareth to find a gem or two, which makes him think that there may actually be something to this dragon legend. Arwyn is suitably unimpressed, for she has found something a little bit bigger.

They begin to scour the treasure for the arrow fragment, as Gareth hypothesizes that there really is no dragon. It's all probably just a story cooked up by local highwaymen to scare people away from their treasure horde and stolen loot.

Unfortunately for him, that's just wishful thinking.

The dragon didn't get a treasure horde this sizable by being a dummy, and it strikes out at Arwyn to take her, and her enchanted bow, out of the action first.

So we close out this issue that same way it started, with Gareth in way over his head in a battle that he is unlikely to win by himself.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Two things struck me reading this issue that differed from my memories of it.

The first one is the obvious 500 lb. gorilla in the room, Greg Land. Maybe it's just because I'm so jaded to everything that's come to light about his working process, but this issue looked alot stiffer than I remember. I couldn't help but see underwear models throughout the whole issue everytime Arwyn had more than one dialogue balloon to deliver.

Still, there were flashes of greatness, and that's what frustrates me about his work. Take the last half of this book for example. Unless he traced the dragon, which I suppose is entirely possible, this is some of the best stuff I've seen from him. The weakest parts was the figurework, where to put it politely, there was obvious inspiration. Oh well, all art is subjective, so if it works for him and his fans, more power to him.

The other thing about this issue that differs from my memory is how light the drama and tension felt. This was still good, but seemed a little more bland than I remember. It definitely felt Tolkein-like, which I didn't remember feeling this strongly the first time around. Although after Peter Jackson's insanely detailed LOTR films, the bar is admittedly set pretty damn high.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) CrossGen Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Ron Marz's blog, or follow him on twitter
• A Comic Bloc forum thread about Sojourn. Yeah, it's a couple of years old, but features participation from Ron Marz himself.
• Kirk, over at The Weekly Crisis, has a nice post up about the history of the CrossGen line of titles

Superman #356

TITLE: Superman #356

PUBLISHER: DC

COVER DATE: February 1981

COVER PRICE: $0.50

25 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

So I'm on a plane back from Chicago after attending Wizard World there some twelve or thirteen years ago, and I'm looking through a stack of Superman back issues that I brought with me on the plane, when one particular cover caught my eye.

Seriously...how could you not see that cover and wonder just what the hell is up with this guy?

It was a fun enough story, and the fascination with Vartox continued apace once I discovered that he actually had other appearances after this one. There's only about a dozen or so, which in all honesty is about 10 more than is probably needed. I kept waiting for someone to realize just how ridiculous that costume was and give him some new duds, but it never happened. The thigh-high boots, yellow striped briefs, and bare-chested vest were here to stay.

Vartox is one of those characters that you like despite themselves. I'm thrilled that Palmiotti, Gray, and Conner where able to find the perfect way to bring this character into the post-crisis world. And before you tell me, I know that he has made an appearance or two since COIE, but he lost a little in translation in trying to make him a serious character. They updated his costume and motivation, but once you take the bare-chested, obnoxiuos blowhard attitude away, he's just another generic alien.

At this point, I've probably shared too much about my fascination with this character, so let's just read the story and move on...

Battle of the Super-Hyper Powers!

• Writer: Cary Bates
• Penciller: Curt Swan
• Inker: Frank Chiaramonte
• Letterer: Ben Oda
• Colorist: Adrienne Roy
• Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story opens up on idyllic Mammoth Mountain, a ski resort popular with the residents of Metropolis. Three such Metropolitans are Clark, Lana, and Steve Lombard as they are spending a relaxing weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Well, two people are relaxing. Clark is playing the bumbling introvert that was required to protect his identity back in the day.

It doesn't take long, however, for the Steve to be obnoxious and inadvertently send Clark careening down the mountainside. Still acting the bumbling oaf, Clark feigns helplessness as he continues to ski down the slope.

Naturally, of course, since this is a pre-crisis Superman book there are a couple of things that happen just in the time to save Superman's secret identity. Not only is there an air force jet careening out of control over the mountain, but also a mysterious figure that flies past in super-speed.

The pilot manages to regain control of his jet, but not before he creates a sonic boom that starts an avalanche on the very mountain that Clark is skiing down! He uses his super-breath to blow Steve out of harm's way before being enveloped by the snow. All is not lost, however, as he just used that opportunity to change into Superman without being seen.

Although if protecting your identity was a big concern you'd probably not want to come bursting through the snow wearing Clark's skis, right?

One dose of heat vision later, and Superman has turned the onslaught of snow into a cloud of steam. The day is saved, but not everything is okay, for in all of the commotion Lana has disappeared!

It doesn't take long for Lana to return however, as she was whisked away by our mysterious flying figure from earlier who just happens to be Vartox! The last time he had visited our planet, they had started a brief relationship only to have Vartox leave for space to find his destiny among the stars in search of a planet to protect as honorably as Superman defends Earth.

He has returned on this day to say a final, tearful goodbye to Lana as he has found an adoptive planet to protect and call his own, but as they need his talents full time, he won't be able to come back again.

If only this was real life, that would be the end of the story and Lana would be left to nurse an intergalactic broken heart. Thankfully for us, as I mentioned earlier, this is a pre-crisis Superman story so you know the story doesn't end there.

For while Vartox was saying his goodbyes to Lana, his eyes were secretly sending out Hyper-Beams to Clark in a pulsing, mathematical code that explained the true nature of his visit to Earth.

Lana must really be distraught to not notice that while Vartox is saying his final goodbyes to her, he can't keep his eyes off of Clark. That seems like a red flag raiser to me.

So what's the real story? It turns out that the planet that Vartox has adopted and sworn to protect, Tynola, has been using him as a pawn by manufacturing all of the disasters that Vartox has been so busy protecting them from. He created this ruse of saying goodbye to Earth one last time so that he will be able to secretly transmit a message of help to Superman without raising any undo suspicion in the Tynolians.

So off to Tynola Superman goes to play the part of a marauding super-powered being that Vartox will be able to subdue. That way, Superman will be able to help Vartox find out what's going on with the Tynolians from inside their own society.

As the cover promised, it's a battle of Super-Powers vs. Hyper-Powers. So what exactly are Hyper-Powers? Who knows, but they are vague enough to let the writers do whatever they feel like doing. In fact, it's this very situation that occurs that allows Vartox to take down Superman once and for all.

Using a never revealed aspect of his Hyper-Powers, Vartox is able to convert his body into pure Hyper-Energy to produce a power charge potent enough to take down Superman. Now unconscious, Superman is carried off to a prison cell and everything is working according to Vartox's plan. Just how overly-convoluted that plan actually was, you'll just have to wait until the next issue pops up to find out.

Before this issue ends, however, we get a glimpse as to what the Tynolians are up to in luring Vartox to their planet.

Hey look, kids! It's Galactus from the Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer movie!

It turns out that he was indeed a pawn, one that is going to be sacrificed to the magnificent and wondrous Moxumbra!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

What we have here is a pretty typical and textbook Superman story. They have a little fun with his secret identity, explore an overly dramatic love triangle, alien planets, misunderstandings, etc...

You know the drill by now, you either love this stuff or you just don't get it.

Me? I love this stuff and could read 'em all day long.

For those of you similarly afflicted like me, there's more good news. We're not quite done yet. There's a Fabulous World of Krypton back-up co-feature in this issue, so check back tomorrow for a tale of betrayal in ancient Krypton.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Superman: The Man of Steel #96

TITLE: Superman: The Man of Steel #96

PUBLISHER: DC

COVER DATE: January 2000

COVER PRICE: $1.99

22 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

Sometimes it really sucks being a Superman fan. When you look back on definitive runs through the ages, there hasn't been that many. There have been creators that have left their mark, that's for sure. But when you look at the total time that the character has been published and how many different titles he's had, I'd just expect a little bit more.

One of my personal favorite eras, and definitely one of the high points in the post-death of Superman time, was the Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly era. They had some great storylines such as Our Worlds At War, Emperor Joker, Return to Krypton, President Lex, Ending Battle and Y2K. They also reintroduced some classic characters like Krypto and Bizarro #1.

All in all, it was an action packed five years plus worth of stories. Loeb and Kelly get most of the credit, as they were the driving forces behind the two major titles Superman and Action Comics. One of the unsung heroes of that era, however was Mark Schultz and Doug Mahnke's run on Superman: The Man of Steel.

Their run had a serious sci-fi bent to it, and focused more on the fantastic, science-based aspect of Superman's life. It's filled with beasts, robots, and mad scientists of all stripes, and there's no one better to draw them than Doug Mahnke. His style is bold, expressive, and larger than life without turning into a caricature of itself. He's a great storyteller, who's got a real clear sense of pacing and plot. It's no wonder that he ended up as one of the key talents in the Green Lantern universe these days, as that book is tailor-made to his strengths.

As good as he is now, he was just as good then. Let's sit back, read a good comic, and enjoy the show...

Home

• Writer: Mark Schultz
• Penciller: Doug Mahnke
• Inker: Tom Nguyen
• Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
• Separations: Wildstorm FX
• Letterer: Ken Lopez
• Associate Editor: Maureen McTigue
• Editor: Eddie Berganza

It's an average day for Clark Kent, as he goes about his average domestic duties before returning home after work.

It's encouraging to know that even Superman, with all of the powers at his disposal, can't pick out a perfect cantaloupe either

It's only after he gets to his home, that we realize how decidedly non-average Clark Kent truly is.

I love that the lamp has the same headress as Byrne's Lara-El

So if this is a decidedly non-average turn of events for Clark Kent, Superman's day actually started out quite normal by his standards...punching out gigantic robots!

This is the issue that brings John Henry Irons back into the fold of the Superman titles on a regular basis as an inventor and weapons engineer for the S.C.U., and later for himself with Ironworks. The robots were his creation, and Superman was helping him test the operation limits of their effectiveness in fighting superpowered beings.

Back to the present, and we catch up with Clark in his Kryptonized apartment. The image of the ancient Kryptonian scientist Kem-L appears before him, and it doesn't take Clark long to figure out that all of this is the Eradicator's doing. The Eradicator program is getting all Darth Vader on Clark, demanding that he join them as they rebuild the world in the image of Krypton.

We all know how this is going down, as Superman may be Kryptonian by birth but Earth is his home now and he's having no part in the subjugation of it's people.

Since the Eradicator is all about the preservation of Kryptonian technology, it chooses the ancient warrior art of Torquasm-Vo to settle their differences. I mentioned earlier how there were so many great ideas born from this era of Superman titles...this one? Eh, not so much.

How an ancient Kryptonian warrior art that uses a theta state mind control needs to be personified by giant robots is beyond me

So while Superman fights that particular battle, the Justice League is busy fighting another battle on his behalf. A picture had surfaced of Superman wearing a wedding ring, so the JLA holds a press conference where they all show off gold bands and declare that they are all married...to the Justice League! It's a little cheesy, but it's fun comic book dramatics.

Hey, look kids! It's the first appearance of the JLA here at the Random Longbox, and it only took 54 reviews!

The battle between the Eradicator and Superman rages on, with Superman barely holding his own when Lois returns home. While battling with a new found strength, now that he has to protect Lois from the Eradicator as well, they piece together that one of the Kryptonian artifacts they recently brought back from the Fortress of Solitude must be the cause of the Eradicator's return.

When Lois eventually finds the small statue, she tosses it to Superman who disintegrates it with his heat vision. With the idol destroyed, the illusion of Krypton that the Eradicator had created disperses with him.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

With all of the focus on New Krypton in the Superman titles these days, this version of Krypton seems downright alien. I started reading and collecting Superman in the post Byrne era, so this will always be the version of Krypton that comes to mind first, and it was cool seeing it in it's glory once again. The Eradicator just happens to be a perfect villain for this incarnation of Krypton, taking on a Venom-type role as antagonist.

This is a nifty little done-in-one tale that sets up a couple of future sub-plots, and ties up a couple of old ones. Mark Schultz had a great knack for serving the larger storyline that was ever-present in the days of the shield numbering, but he always managed to tell a complete story in it's own right. This issue is no exception, and just serves to remind me that it's been a while since I've reread any of his run.

At this point, I've already heaped enough praise on Doug Mahnke, so I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. But seriously, if you're enjoying what he's doing on Green Lantern these days, you owe it to yourself to go longbox hunting and pick up his Man of Steel and JLA run. It's some really dynamic stuff, and you won't be disappointed.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics