Going Down Danger Street!

At first, I intended to give a no-holds barred issue by issue review of Danger Street. The limited series takes the often-forgotten heroes featured in the thirteen issues of First Issue Special, a Showcase-style series DC made use of in the Bronze Age. Not all of the heroes in the series were throwaways such as Warlord which went on to become a big hit for DC. The New Gods also have been revived time and again over the decades. Mainstays like The Creeper, Dr. Fate and Metamorpho find life now again in the pages of DC Comics. And even Manhunter has been used and to my mind somewhat abused over time. But others such as Atlas, The Green Team, The Outsiders (not the Batman version), Lady Cop, Starman (not the Earth II versions), and Codename: Assassin have been little used to say the least. 

But after reading the series, I don't want to spoil in anyway what proved to be a pretty compelling yarn. This is a stew for sure, disparate characters thrown into a cooker pressure and then left to simmer. One is often left to wonder if the result will taste any good at all. I can say this brew has a heady taste indeed. The best I can say is that Tom King has created a story which is the Brothers Grimm meet Quentin Tarantino. We have a Princess (Lady Cop) and three Princes (Warlord, Starman, and Metamorpho), four Young Lads (Dingbats of Danger Street), an Ogre (The Creeper), a Giant (Atlas), two Knights (Manhunter and Codename: Assassin), some Monsters (The Green Team), some Rogues (The Outsiders), and sundry Dragons (The New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips). 

The story is narrated by the Helmet of Fate, which it turns out plays a key part in the saga as well. Characters arrive from all over and tumble into one another's lives. Some are connected in ways we never imagined. Some seem destined to clash. Most are just trying to survive another day. To describe the interactions and fates of the various heroes and assorted characters would be the spoil some terrific surprises. But it is sufficient to say that not everyone gets out alive. 

Here are the sundry covers for this series.  

Highly Recommended. 

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Danger Street Signs - Return Of The New Gods!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's finish with the Return of the New Gods. 

Jack Kirby was a big part of the early issues of 1st Issue Special as we've seen with three features in the first six issues of the run. Then his contract to DC fulfilled he left to return to Marvel, now minus Stan Lee who tended to his reputation and Marvel's doings in Hollywood and thereabouts. By this time Kirby was producing his wild Captain America stories for Marvel as the title rocketed to its two hundredth issue as well as some nifty covers for a bunch of different titles. DC decided that the New Gods characters who had seemingly demonstrated a lack of marketplace power only a few years before were ready to make another try, this time minus their absent creator. 

In this thirteenth and final 1st Issue Special we meet again the denizens of New Genesis such as Highfather, Scott Free (in costume on cover only), Big Barda and Lightray (cover only) and Metron. On the Darkseid of things there is of course the cruel dictator of Apokolips himself as well as Kalibak and Doctor Bedlam. In this issue Orion in new fighting togs (no helmet darn it which has always proven difficult for many artists to draw) taking the fight to Apokolips yet again but who finds that he cannot fulfill his long ballyhooed destiny to kill his father when Darkseid has taken steps to connect his beating heart to the Sun itself, making his sudden demise rough on humans all over. So it ends in a stalemate, but with the door open for more. 

And more is what we get as within months we have a new Mister Miracle comic and a new New Gods title both picking up the numbering of the abruptly halted original runs. The Fourth World will slowly but surely become an ever increasing part of the DCU with Darkseid in particular seen by the likes of Gerry Conway (who plotted this last 1st Issue Special as well as edited it in a deal with seemingly more latitude than even Kirby had). Denny O'Neil scripted it and an up and coming Mike Vosburg (hot off the previous issue's Starman) took the artistic helm.

And so it ends, a brief little series that packed some real punch with a gaggle of strong features some of which found a lasting time on the racks and others that withered away. One thing they almost all had in common was a grand sense of fun, something today's dour comics lack by the bushel loads. 

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Danger Street Signs - Starman!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

By the time 1st Issue Special #12 hit the comic book spinner racks the name "Starman" was pretty well established. I first encountered Ted Knight the Starman, a hero from the Golden Age in the pages of Justice League of America when he appeared alongside his Justice Society allies from Earth-2. He seemed a rock-steady hero armed with a snazzy if retro costume and a "magic wand" of sorts that drew energy from the very stars themselves. His "Cosmic Rod" had been turned over to a young hero named Star-Spangled Kid who used it as a member of the "Super Squad" a short-lived subset of the JSA created by Gerry Conway. 

It's Conway who is responsible for this new Starman, a blue-skinned alien who comes to Earth in an attempt to escape the clutches of his warlike race who are stationed on the Moon and are plotting the downfall of the planet Earth. His name is "Mikaal Tomas" and he and girlfriend Lyssa plotted to undermine their society's war plans  when Lyssa was killed and Mikaal was given a death sentence. He escaped and comes to Earth and for a time is kept safe by a well-meaning Earth family while the police and military search for him, having found his craft. He is being hunted by a special soldier named "Turran Kha" and as the two confront one another the story abruptly ends. 

Despite some tasty artwork by the young Mike Vosburg this Starman fails to hit and this is his only appearance in the pre-Crisis DCU. The name Starman will soon be given to yet another outer space hero, this one drawn by Steve Ditko. Later yet another alien adopts the name for a post-Crisis run in the 80's.  Later still Ted Knight and his son give the name new life in the 90's. 

Next time we wrap up these 1st Issue Special reviews with the last issue which features the return of some of Jack Kirby's most potent characters. 

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Danger Street Signs - Code Name: Assassin!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

When Jack "King" Kirby departed Marvel to land at DC it was blockbuster news. Some years later when young but up and coming writer Gerry Conway did likewise it was less so, but DC still treated Conway a great deal of respect and gave him not insubstantial control over his projects. At Marvel Conway had written most of the top titles at one time or another, and while he was scripting The Amazing Spider-Man he had the Wall-Crawler battle a grim and gritty type called The Punisher. The Punisher was a hit and returned in the pages of Spidey again and again and again, eventually getting some solo adventures here and there before becoming in the 80's one of Marvel's most profitable characters. Well Conway clearly wanted lightning to strike twice when he concocted Code Name: Assassin for DC. Alas the lighting missed quite badly. 

Conway taps Steve Skeates to script this effort with the Redondo Studio doing the penciling chores for 1st Issue Special #11. Al is tapped to ink this effort which put me in mind of Frank Robbins in many respects. Assassin is the orphan Jonathan Drew who had been subjected to experiments by a Doctor Stone, experiments which went wrong but ended up giving Johnny telekinetic powers. Later Johnny's sister Marie is killed by the gangster Victor Grummun, who she had been working for to pay for Johnny's education. So using his new powers Johnny adopts the guise of "Assassin" to seek revenge on Grummun. Grummun enlists the aid of two enforcers named "The Snake" and "Powerhouse". The former has amazing agility and flexibility and the latter is strong and immune to electrical shocks. The story ends as these two face off against Assassin. 

It's a ho-hum effort for the most part. For whatever reason I'm never convinced of Johnny's desire for revenge, it seems somehow just a plot device and lacks emotional resonance. That's what made Frank Castle so effective, the way his internal pain maddened him and his relentless and ruthless manner. Assassin seems just like anyone and not truly driven. 

Next time we take a look at these specials it means the arrival from the stars. 

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Danger Street Signs - Outsiders!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

Comic books have long been a haven for misfits and unusual people -- both in the content and the audience and the producers. Many a comic book reader of my generation latched onto the medium because it was colorful and exciting and filled up with characters who had trouble fitting into their landscapes as much as the readers might've done. Comics like The Uncanny X-Men and Doom Patrol made a theme out of the heroes being "freaks" compared to the regular society, despite their sometimes handsome appearances. Characters like The Thing were downright icons of the man dubbed "monster" by those who were more or less commonplace. 

In 1932 Tod Browning made a movie about such misfits called simply Freaks. This legendary movie was sensation because it used real people who were either afflicted or gifted (depending on your attitude) with physical anomalies that set them apart from the regular herd of mankind. This movie is actually discussed in the forward to 1st Issue Special #10 which sports an intriguing Ernie Chan cover which offers up figures which in no way match the characters within. Beneath that cover is a story by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti which offers up some "Freaks" of their own, in this case calling themselves "The Outsiders". (The original title was "Super Freaks", but I guess DC was a bit scared of that one just as Universal had been frightened of Tod Browning's movie.)

Be warned though that this is merely a glimpse. We meet the team made up of "Doc Scary", "Hairy Larry", "Lizard Johnny", the "Amazin' Ronnie", "Mighty Mary" and "Billy". They are a super team of sorts under the leadership of Doc Scary and they costumes and drive around with laboratory attached to their car. We see them battle a mob to free a terrified kid named Billy who learn later was kept in a basement of a Tailor shop by his father wo is killed by two thugs. It results in a mob wanting to kill Billy. We also learn that Doc Scary was once sent into space and when his spaceship crashed his body was reconstructed by aliens who used themselves as models. We get a glimpse of the birth of Lizard Johnny who as a tadpole is saved by Doc when another researcher wants to chop him up. The Outsiders live in an underground complex beneath the hospital where Doc is a renowned surgeon, albeit one who works in disguise. Sadly we never learn more about the team as the story abruptly stops. 

Next time Gerry Conway makes organized crime shudder when he introduces Code Name: Assassin. 

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Danger Street Signs - Dr. Fate!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

The ninth issue of 1st Issue Special just might be the best comic in the run. Written by Marty Pasko and drawn by the great Walt Simonson, this is a wild and wooly yarn of fell magic and ancient pseudo-history which shakes the typically stoic Dr. Fate to his core. The story is incredibly dynamic thanks to the artwork of Simonson who in this book breaks free of the more delicate stylings which had marked his work heretofore on such things as Manhunter and Sword and Sorcery. These are muscular pages rocking with supernatural action. The lusty Joe Kubert cover doesn't hurt matters either. 

Dr. Fate was always a character who seemed to get less attention at DC than he deserved. He had a run in More Fun Comics during the Golden Age, but after that little attention. His opposite number at Marvel Dr. Strange always seemed to have a series of some kind bubbling, but Dr. Fate never. Despite one of the best superhero outfits in the game he rarely if ever elevated above his roles as a sturdy member of the Justice Society of America in those delightful annual crossovers. I remember seeing him as drawn by Dick Dillin and Sid Greene and loving his look immediately, a look which didn't seem throwback in anyway as some of the JSA costumes did.

In this story Dr. Fate must battle a mummy named Khalis who seeks nothing less than the amulet that Fate wears and which gives him some of his powers. We get a glimpse of the weird life Kent Nelson lives with his personality sublimated under the magical presence of Nabu and we see his wife deal with the complexities of an existence in which she is isolated and her husband is only himself on rare occasions. The battle rages across the pages and it will come as little surprise that Dr. Fate wins the day. But his victory did not secure a series for him alas despite the potency and craft of his outing.  

The next time we glimpse a 1st Issue Special we greet the return of Joe Simon and Jerry Gandenetti and a gaggle of freaks. 

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Danger Street Signs - The Warlord!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

DC had taken notice of Marvel's success with Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and wanted a pice of that barbarous pie. To that end they cooked up a bevy of rough and tumble fantasy heroes and launched them all at once onto the comic stands. The one that succeeds will be a nifty twist on the Edgar Rice Burrough's creation Pellucidar. 

Among these new titles were a revival of Joe Kubert's Tor, a new hero called Stalker by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood, a new an different version of  Beowulf, a caveboy named Kong, a classic "Conanesque" barbarian named Claw and even Justice Inc., a comic version of the Street and Smith pulp hero The Avenger. Also tucked away in this mob was Warlord created by up and coming comic art star Mike Grell. Warlord was originally part of a project Grell called Savage Empire, but was retooled a bit for the seventh issue of 1st Issue Special. 

Warlord tells the tale of Travis Morgan, a brave and resourceful United States jet pilot who is shot down in 1969 on a spy mission over the former Soviet Union. He is able to get his injured craft over the Arctic and crash lands but finds that he's actually entered a weird interior territory named Skataris tucked away inside the Earth's crust. It's a land of perpetual day where time loses meaning. Morgan quickly finds himself allied with a lovely warrior named Tara. The two end having to escape from a heinous wizard called Deimos and that's where this saga stops. That is until it continues in the pages of the debut issue of Warlord's own comic which goes on to run for an impressive one hundred and thirty-three issues. 

Warlord is only one of two ideas from 1st Issue Special which actually succeeds in launching a series -- the other we will get to in due course. Next time we have another wonderfully crafted story of heroics and sorcery, but this one is in modern times. 

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