Guest Post - Thor: The Truth of History Review

Doug: Edo Bosnar is back today with another Bronze-feeling gem from the 21st century. Join him as he walks us through an Alan Davis/Mark Farmer Thor romp. And yes -- for those scoring at home this is our third Thor post of the last four days!

Edo Bosnar: Once, when Karen and Doug reviewed Avengers 1.5, the post had the title “Finding Silver Well Past Bronze.” Well, I think this book kind of fits that category, although the story has more of a Bronze Age feel.

Thor: The Truth of History (2008)

Alan Davis-Davis/Mark Farmer

Although this book was published in 2008, it could have very easily been released as an annual in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s and nobody would have batted an eye. It is very much like one of those fun, done-in-one stories from that period. (Even the art, except maybe the coloring, wouldn’t have been too out of place: as far as I know, Davis was already working for Marvel UK in the early 1980s).

The story starts with a prologue in modern-day Egypt. Two archeologists (who bear a striking resemblance to Laurel and Hardy) are discussing the sphinx, and some controversies surrounding the hieroglyphs on it, which may or may not speak of a great rainstorm in ancient Egypt. One of the scholars is receptive to the idea, the other is dismissive.

And you may ask, what does all of this have to do with Thor?

Well, the scene then shifts to the distant past, and we see Thor, Sif, Balder, and the Warriors Three storming a fortress inside Asgard held by Storm Giants. There’s a mystical gateway in the fortress that the Storm Giant queen wants to use to access Midgard, which is apparently a no-no due to an agreement reached between all of the pantheons, as Thor explains to the queen. Volstagg, enjoying the heat emanating from the portal, gets closer to warm his posterior, and – of course – ends up falling through it.

This prompts Thor, together with Fandral and Hogun, to go through themselves to retrieve their voluminous comrade. They emerge in a desert, note the furnace-like heat, and then see a construction site nearby and set off for it. The workers are quite frightened at the site of the Asgardians, pointing out that they must be demons since they have the appearance of “blood-drained corpses.” A nice touch here as that neither understands the other (even though I recall reading a Thor comic once in which it was pointed out that Thor understood pretty much every human language). In the first sign that something is seriously amiss in Egypt, the overseer of the workers, a demonic-looking beast, interrupts the attempts at communication and attacks the Asgardians. Thor dispatches quite him easily.

In a an attempt to ease the fears of the workers, he uses his hammer to cut the remaining stone blocks for them, saving them a few days’ work at least. However, this makes them angry, as they shout that he deprived them of their right to “cut the sacred blocks.” Oh, well.

Thor then spies a city in the distance (Giza as it turns out), and they figure that may be where Volstagg ended up. They hope that he’s had a better welcome. And sure enough, Volstagg seems to be having the time of his life – and not really questioning why everyone is content to ply him with food and drink.

Thor and the Warriors Two make their way to the city, where they see, among other things, a pyramid being built. Thor is none too impressed.

They eventually run into a priest who seems to speak a little Asgardian. Specifically, he keeps repeating, rather awkwardly, “wine, mead, food, hungry.” Thor and his companions immediately conclude that Volstagg is somewhere nearby.

While being led through the settlement, the Asgardians also make some disparaging remarks about the Egyptian (they call them Heliopolitan) deities, which seems a bit like the pot calling the kettle black – because anyone who’s read any mythology knows that many of the gods of any of the various pantheons were often than not rather petty and disagreeable sorts.

Anyway, they also pass by the sphinx, which indeed has a different head than the one with which we’re all familiar – it’s also some kind of demonic-looking beastie. The Asgardians are led to a table set for a feast, but Thor is rather disgusted by the fact that this abundance is being offered to them while the common people seem to be on the verge of starvation. So he picks up the table and tips it over so everyone can get some.

At this point, the pharaoh shows up with a rather unusual entourage, and he’s not very happy with Thor’s act of generosity. The Asgardians don’t understand a word, but wonder how Volstagg is involved in all of this.

And the scene switches again to Volstagg, being carried on a litter (I had to sympathize with the guys carrying it). They take him to a dark chamber, where there’s several lamp-wielding priests, some kind of cairn and a pile of human bones. Volstagg finally puts 2 and 2 together and shouts for help, loud enough so that Thor and his companions hear him, and rush to his rescue. The three fight their way to the sacrificial chamber, where Volstagg is now tied to the obelisk, about to be eaten by a giant griffin-like creature that looks exactly the sphinx statue.

Thor takes the (fire-breathing, as it turns out) creature on, and the next few pages contain a nicely drawn battle sequence. The demon puts up a good fight, but Thor eventually smites him down, and in the process summons up a massive thunderstorm.

Oh, and during the fight, much of the head on the sphinx statue gets broken off. Thor muses that the griffin and the other demons must have been some kind of discarded pets of the Heliopolitan gods whom the pharaoh thought he could tame. He also says he will dispel the thunder, but not the rain…

As the Asgardians head back toward the portal, they wonder if their unexpected Egyptian adventure was somehow decreed by fate, seeing as how it caused the downfall of a tyrannical pharaoh, the vanquishment of a demon, and much-needed rainfall in the impoverished and drought-stricken land. Indeed, Volstagg says that the day it rained in Egypt will be recalled “as long as men walk this Earth.” And that brings us back to the present day and the two debating archeologists in the epilogue …

This is a fun little story, and the art is simply a joy to look at. I think it’s still really easy to find this cheaply, and it’s included in a TPB called Marvel Tales that also collects a few annuals done by Davis.

Discuss: X-Spinoffs

Doug:  Below is the updated bracket.  As we've moved to the "Elite 8", which artists left behind certainly would have been worthy of being in this round of honor?  From my perspective, Jim Aparo stands out, as does Rich Buckler.  I wouldn't place Buckler in the category of "technical master" as I would, say, the Buscemas, Adams, or Byrne, but for sheer output and his oft-mentioned morphing style (which I actually like -- on the one hand it sort of dates the art for the viewer, and I do think aping Kirby and then Adams, and then developing a style all his own, is no small feat), he truly is a Bronze Age treasure.  So we'll have two discussions today -- the one at hand, and a continuing conversation on artists.

He Blinded Me With Science: Detective Comics 570

Detective Comics #570 (January 1987)

"The Last Laugh!"

Mike W. Barr-Alan Davis/Paul Neary

Doug: I mentioned yesterday that I really love this art team of Alan Davis and Paul Neary.  They would certainly qualify as a "good import", giving us a favorable balance of trade.  I have to ask, though, in the days before thongs (yeah, I'm going there...) became fashionable, what would Ms. Kyle have been wearing on the cover of this issue??  Wow.  And I have to give both combatants a whole lotta credit in the balance department, because keeping one's footing given how fast the Joker is apparently driving would be no small feat (get it?)!

Doug:  Who makes a better entrance than the Batman?  Just about NO ONE!  We open at a seedy bar, because in comics and movies all bars are seedy.  A rap on the door brings the bouncer, and the speakeasy trap opens up to reveal a blue gloved hand; and then the bouncer's head disappears.  The assemblage then watches as the Dark Knight and his young ward enter.  The proprietor, McSurley (great name), invites Batman to sit down.  But this is of course business, and the Batman needs to see an informant named "Profile".  Batman greets a hooker, knocks out a would-be assailant, and KO's a tough on his way to Profile's office.  Robin is left to "mind the store".  Profile isn't about to give up the Joker, until Batman takes the sherry glass Profile had just set down -- you see, those fingerprints could come in handy should, you know, the police get ahold of them right after a big job.  Profile suddenly recalls that the Joker is holed up in the Jester Novelties factory.

Doug:  As the Caped Crusaders swing away, Robin tells about a madam who sat by him while Batman found Profile.  Robin:  "That Rhonda's pretty neat, Batman.  She sure knows how to make a guy feel good."  Batman:  "That's what she's best at, Chum."  Priceless.  We then scene shift to the Joker, and the horrific mental reconditioning Selina was in the midst of as our last issue ended.  Dr. Moon's procedure is nearly finished, "recalibrating" Selina's mind.  The Joker immediately tries to get Batman's secret identity out of her, but Moon cautions that she can be overloaded if asked to do too much too soon.  The Joker shoves his lackey aside and presses on.  Selina passes out.  Outside, Batman and Robin alight on the roof.  Batman gives Robin the opportunity to bow out; of course we know the answer.  So Robin descends through the chimney, his orders to occupy the Joker's henchmen.  I mentioned last issue that this 2-parter was a great homage to the Dick Sprang years.  This scene is right up there with all of those great oversized props we saw in 1950's Batman stories, notably Robin rolling on a giant 8-ball.  One of the goons sounds the alarm, and just as he does so the Batman bursts in on the Joker and Selina.

Doug:  Selina is really out of it.  "Straightline" attacks Batman, but a couple of live wires later he's really in no shape for fisticuffs of any kind.  In the diversion the Joker escorts Selina out of the room and downstairs.  As Batman begins pursuit, he hears the sound of a strong engine, like a plane.  But going to a window, and through it, he sees that it's a Joker Car, not a plane.  Leaping and landing, our hero attempts to make the Joker crash the rod.  No dice, as the Joker tells Selina a story and convinces her that Batman is her enemy.  She gets out of the front seat and attacks.  Batman's holding back of course tips the scales in her favor, and the Joker manage to escape with his new "partner".  Back in the factory, Robin's rounded up every thug except Straightline, including Dr. Moon.  Batman interrogates him, but he's not willing to cooperate.  In Moon's words, what he has done will give him notoriety on par with Josef Mengele.  Great...

Doug:  Batman is convinced that the Joker will now pull off a cat-themed crime to trigger Catwoman's past habits.  Batman scours the news and comes up with a possibility.  We cut to that locale, and sure enough it is what's going down.  Selina, in her awakening stupor, had uttered the name of a millionaire named Benson, whose daughter happens to be in a cataleptic trance.  Convinced that he knows the name of his great nemesis, the Joker has bound Benson, his young son, and threatens him with the life of his daughter.  But Straightline whispers to his boss, "Besides, you always said you never wanted t'kill Batman."  Joker:  "I don't.  I derive far more pleasure from our continual battles of wits than I would from his single death..."  This struck me as consistent with Alan Moore's and Brian Bolland's Batman: The Killing Joke, cover dated 1988.  In order to get Benson to admit to being the Batman, the Joker's had Straightline rig a trap that will, in effect, break the girl's neck.  But, gaining more of her own mind back, Selina tells her partner that whatever she is, she's not a killer.  She uses her nails to slash open Straightline's apparatus and free the girl.  Batman and Robin arrive as if on cue, thoroughly confounding the Joker.  Of course a melee breaks out, with Robin uttering the obligatory bad puns.  As the battle commences, the young girl is shocked -- this breaks her trance and restores her mind.  Catwoman and the Joker use the confusion to make an attempt at escape.  Batman leaps for the ladder, grabbing the Joker's coat.  Catwoman turns, slashes the ladder, leaving the Joker and Batman to crash to the floor below.  The Joker makes a crack about Batman losing "his little kitten", and loses a few teeth of his own for the effort.  Batman beats him to a pulp.  And Catwoman?  This is the last we'll see of the character in her classic depiction -- the next time she shows up she'll be Frank Miller's ninja hooker...

Doug:  This was a nice story and a great-looking read.  Back when I was writing this I remarked to Karen that I needed to stop several times and check on publication dates for Crisis on Infinite Earths, Batman: The Dark Knight, Batman #404 (first issue of the "Year One" storyline), and Batman: The Killing Joke.  As I've said, this story is such a throwback to Batman stories of previous decades that it just sticks out (not necessarily like a sore thumb) in the midst of all of the change, revamping, reimagining, etc. that was taking place at DC Comics in the mid-1980's.  At two issues it was deep enough but not too long.  It was a swell investment of 45 minutes or so!

What Is and What Should Never Be: Detective Comics 569

Detective Comics #569 (December 1986)
"Catch as Catscan!"
Mike W. Barr-Alan Davis/Paul Neary

Doug:  You like Alan Davis?  I like Alan Davis.  Although today's (and tomorrow's -- yep, 2-parter in 2-days) fare falls outside our normal Bronze Age parameters I'm doing it anyway.  Who needs parameters?  I am reading/scanning from the original issues, but it was my early-2013 acquisition of Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis that reminded me of this story.  Let's check out the pretty pictures then.

Doug:  We pick it up on a foggy night at the Gotham Medical Supply warehouse.  If there's one thing I love/hate about DC, it's the goons that we often find in the employ of do-badders.  Of course, this was never more accentuated than on the 1966-era Batman TV show.  So what we have here are nine guys dressed in yellow cat costumes (apparently there's no shame in a) being a crook or b) dressing like an idiot).  A voice from above tells these guys that the jig is up and the camera pans upward to show the Batman and a very young Robin.  This was in the days shortly after a young teen named Jason Todd had assumed the mantle of Robin, but before the post-"Batman: Year One" revamp when his character was totally changed to become an obnoxious, even underhanded personality.  This Jason Todd was a throwback to the Golden Age Dick Grayson, and it was sort of refreshing!  The Dynamic Duo engage and make very short work of the henchmen -- all except one fellow, who grabs a passing security guard and holds a revolver to his head.  Batman simply invites the guy to do what he feels he has to do -- to Robin's protest.  Batman lets the cat burglar back away with his hostage, right out the door -- Batman smiles and tells Robin about their "ace in the hole".  On the other side of the door, our thug is much dismayed to find his former boss:  Catwoman!  She makes quick work of him, and then turns in the whole gang to the police.  On a rooftop a short time later, she cuddles up to Batman and asks if he believes she's gone straight.  Batman tells her that he has no doubt; it's whether or not they can have a relationship "in their line of work" that is the issue.  Catwoman stalks off, and Batman and Robin take to the skies.

Doug:  We cut to the Jester Novelty Company, where the Joker and his gang are holed up.  It seems that the gang hasn't pulled a job in months, and the boys are concerned about a lack of leadership from the head guy.  Alan Davis' Joker is a weird-looking version, reminding me somewhat of Daredevil's foe the Owl.  Maybe it's just that '80's hair.  The Joker tears up plans for a bank heist and says he's lost his edge, his zeal.  Just then, a big man on a motorized trike races into the room and up to the Joker's desk.  Unfurling a newspaper, the Joker is shown a headline exclaiming the new "Dynamic Trio".  A cacophony of maniacal laughter, such as we would all expect, suddenly enveloped the room.  The Joker has his edge back.

Doug:  In the Batcave Bruce and Jason work on different maneuvers.  This initial panel is outstanding -- there's a real Dick Sprang vibe to this whole story, from plot to visuals.  I looked up the publication date of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight and found that the first issue was cover-dated March 1986.  I questioned myself how this story could be so light in the wake of Miller's revolutionary treatment of the characters.  In hindsight, Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, and Paul Neary may have told the last breezy Batman stories before the post-Crisis version of the Dark Knight became entrenched.  Anyway, as our two protagonists train, they are interrupted by Alfred -- dinner, after all, is served.  But, just as Jay begins to sink his utensils into the pot roast, the Bat Signal lights up the sky and away they go.  Arriving at Captain Gordon's office, Robin is taken aback to see Catwoman already there.  Gordon tells Batman that since it's apparent that they've been working together he let her stay.  The Joker has left a calling card and a clue, and all assembled attempt to decipher it.  Once a plausible conclusion is reached, Robin's practically out the door.  Until Batman brusquely grabs him and warns him to "never do that again!"

Doug:  Cut to the library, where the Joker and his gang are about to steal an antique joke book.  Of course the Batman and friends arrive to catch them in the act and the obligatory scuffle breaks out.  Robin continues to quip and pun -- it's a little annoying, but I kept putting in the context I raised earlier, that this is perhaps the last time we'd see a Robin with this spirit for quite some time.  Make of that what you will.  As Batman and Robin take out goon after goon, Catwoman finds herself face-to-face with the Clown Prince of Crime himself.  Alan Davis' Joker is not only a little off facially, but he is one lanky dude!  I like the outcome.  For whatever reason, Selina tries to reason with the Joker -- it's obvious she's lost her edge.  He fires a strong electric charge from his cane and drops her.  Back in the main part of the library, an ugly dressed like Rambo jumps out from the stacks with a large gun.  Robin, full of bravado, walks right toward the guy.  But when he fires it's not bullets that come flying but some white sticky substance.  It begins to constrict immediately as Robin struggles.  Batman, also enwrapped, deduces that it's Chinese Finger Puzzles and will continue to squeeze until the life is gone from our heroes.  At this point the Joker walks by, Selina in a cage.

Doug:  We scene shift again, to a kangaroo court/talk show being convened by the Joker.  He introduces a Dr. Moon, who claims that man is an animal, with a brain that can be molded like clay.  The Joker has secured a catscan machine, and the doctor intends to use it to reprogram the mind of the Catwoman.  The doctor informs the assembled that this will not occur without some large degree of pain, and he'd like the subject awake -- the Joker says "you're my kind of guy."  We cut back to the library, where Batman has determined that the only way to free himself from the Chinese Puzzle is to completely relax.  Through intense concentration he is able to do so and to free himself; a quick slice of the batarang and Robin is free as well.  But what of Catwoman?  She awakens and begins to curse the Joker... when the doctor engages the reprogramming machine.

Doug:  I chose the title for this post while mowing the lawn (for the first time this spring -- wrote this back on April 21!).  Led Zeppelin's "What Is and What Should Never Be" came over the iPod, and I began to ruminate on the relationship between Batman and Catwoman through the years.  Of course there has always been the sexual tension between the two, whether in the comics, on the television show, the movies -- wherever.  It's part of the chemistry between these two oft-adversaries.  And then I was thinking of my experience with these two, which as I determined was very much shaded by the All-Star Comics revival in the Bronze Age.  There, as written in and around the All-Star Squadron, the Earth-2 Bruce Wayne had married the Earth-2 Selina Kyle, and they'd had a daughter.  Of course, she became one of the break-out stars of the series and got her own back-up feature in several different magazines.  I'm speaking of the Huntress, Helena Wayne.  So as I graduated from college and was fully immersed in the "Crisis" and Batman: The Dark Knight, I felt that this story was an opportunity for "our" Batman, he of Earth-1, to have the same sort of settling down that his Golden Age counterpart had enjoyed.  However, once the Joker entered the fray, it became "...what should never be".  You won't have to wait long to find out how this one turns out.  As I stated near the top, I'm coming right back tomorrow for the conclusion.  You know the drill -- same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!