Doom Patrol (1964) 120

Doom Patrol (1964) 120
Jul/Aug 1968

The Rage of the Wrecker
By Arnold Drake, Bruno Premiani

Robotman and Negative Man travel to outer space to do battle with a Luddite known as the Wrecker. The villain hopes to destroy all machines. When they first encounter him he has gathered all the satellites that orbit the Earth in a giant glut of machinery.

The two heroes get back to Earth without defeating the Wrecker. Robotman’s body falls to pieces due to exposure to cosmic rays. The Chief transplants his brain into a clunkier robotic body. The heroes take off again into outer-space in search of the Wrecker. They find him and fight him and his horde of followers. Robotman’s robotic body is destroyed but they brought other clunky robot bodies for him. They finally beat the baddie but only after Robotman has tried out and used up all the other robot bodies the Chief gave them.

Garfield Logan takes Jill Jackson out dancing, after impressing her father with his knowledge of sports. Steve and Rita go dancing at the same nightclub as the teens. A fight breaks out when another teenage boy tries to pull Jill away from Gar. Rita and Steve join the fight.

There seem to be some subtle changes in the art. It looks a little different, different for the better. The story itself, unfortunately is the same old, same old.

Wolverine (1982) 4

Wolverine (1982) 4
Dec 1982

Honor
By Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Joe Rubinstein

Wolverine wrecks havoc on Shingen Yashida’s operations. Yukio tries to get to Shingen on her own. She is captured but Shingen admires her spirit and lets her go. He proceeds to beat her up until Wolverine shows up. Noburu, Mariko’s husband, tries to use her as a hostage but Yukio deals with him. She kisses Wolverine and leaves him with Shingen and Mariko. The two men fight. This time Shingen uses a metal sword. Shingen loses the fight and his life. Wolverine thinks that he and Mariko must now be enemies. He thinks that she must avenge her father’s death but she doesn’t see things quite the same.

There’s a lot of text to read in this story. I think I might enjoy this story mostly for nostalgic reasons. It isn’t a bad story. It breaks some new ground. It is interesting to see what the Hand was like before they became ridiculously powerful and silent. The art is wonderful. I really like the various ways that Frank Miller shapes (vertical, horizontal, with borders, without borders) and organizes panels.

Jack Staff (UK) 12

Jack Staff (UK) 12
Dec 2003

Time’s Up
By Paul Grist

Jack Staff, Charlie Raven, D.I. Maveryk, and the mysterious woman (who killed Charlie’s friend in Jack Staff 10) are all stuck in a bank vault. They were forced in there by a couple masked bank robbers. The vault is on a time lock. It won’t open for another 13 hours but there’s only 6 hours of air left.

The mysterious woman is revealed to be (as I suspected) something other than human. She is a time leech that unintentionally assumed human form. After she locked Charlie up in box and buried him in her garden she got knocked down and forgot who she was. She started to age and grew old. She was the old woman at the nursing home that John and Becky came into contact with in the last issue. The reason why Jack felt so woozy after touching her is because she stole some of his energy to return her to her youthful form.

Becky Burdock is also at the bank when the robbers lock the others in the vault. The robbers think she will make a good hostage. They thought wrong.

Maveryk is as usual very skeptical of Jack Staff and super-heroes in general. Charlie Raven figures out how to get them out of the vault and Jack makes it happen.

There was a big gap between the publication dates of this and the previous issue, about 15 months, which explains why the opening page is a recap page. Based on my research it looks like this issue didn't get published until after the first 4 issues of the 2003 series (which was published by Image) were published.

I wasn’t so sure how I would feel about the ending to this series but I like it, a lot. It is a little open-ended. Nothing really gets tied up neatly with a bow. It is the sorts of characters, the way they interact, and the way that Grist chooses to tell his story that please me the most. I’m not as concerned with the plot.

I love this series. I can't recommend it highly enough although I can see how the manner in which the story is told, the way it jumps around, might turn some people off.

Tales of the New Teen Titans 3

Tales of the New Teen Titans 3
Aug 1982

Changeling
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Gene Day

The first six pages recount Gar Logan’s origin as recounted previously during the “Doom Patrol” arc (New Teen Titans (1980) Vol. 2) and originally told in the pages of Doom Patrol (1964). I believe there have been s few updates made to the story in this retelling.

The rest of the issue is given over to a confrontation between Changeling and Arsenal, a villain who last appeared in Doom Patrol (1964) 113. He is out to destroy Gar’s life and takes his girlfriend, Jillian Jackson, hostage. Jillian appeared in a few issues of Doom Patrol (1964) and according to my research becomes a recurring character in Tales of the Teen Titans (1984).

This Arsenal is not the same one that fought the Doom Patrol about a decade earlier. He has a connection to the original Arsenal and a personal connection to Gar. Jillian disappears in the last few pages of the story. Presumably she was rescued by Changeling but her fate isn’t revealed in this comic book.

This is probably my least favorite of the stories in the mini-series so far. It is filled with Gar’s sense of humor which usually makes me roll my eyes. The art is superb as usual, especially the layouts and panel arrangements. Arsenal’s design reminds me of the villain from DC Comics Presents 61, which was also drawn by George Perez.

Wolverine (1982) 3

Wolverine (1982) 3
Nov 1982

Loss
by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Joe Rubinstein

Wolverine and Yukio party in Tokyo. He tries to forget Mariko and his past. He challenges a sumo wrestler to a fight and wins. Asano Kimura tries talking some sense into him but Logan is too drunk to listen.

He falls asleep on the street. Yukio keeps an eye on him. Five assassins of the Hand approach the slumbering superhero. She deals with them while the man she professes to love sleeps. He dreams of Mariko and Shingen. In the dream Mariko hates him. When Yukio tries to wake him up he mumbles Mariko’s name which pisses her off.

Yukio leaves him sleeping outside and heads for his hotel room. She encounters and kills Kimura. Logan wakes up and returns to the hotel room. He finds Kimura’s body. He recognizes the blade in Kimura’s throat. It is one of Yukio’s. He also recognizes the poison on the blade. It is the same poison that was used on the shuriken which were used poison him before he confronted Shingen. He sees things clearly now. Yukio is working for Shingen.

He spots Yukio and chases her through Tokyo. They wind up in a rock garden. Logan is ready to kill her when the Hand attacks. There are seven of them. Wolverine takes down five of them, Yukio the other two but she vanishes while he is still dealing with some of the assassins.

Throughout this issue, since the end of the previous one, Logan has been trying to get a grip on what is his true nature. Is he a savage animal or reasoning human? He knows how he appeared to Mariko after the fight with Kabuki assassins in the last issue. Losing Mariko put him down in the dumps and led to his irresponsible behavior earlier in this issue. The fight has helped to clear his head and see things for what they are. He not a beast, he is a man.

This is where this series starts to come together and make sense. Yukio is complicated but she isn’t everything she presents herself to be. She isn’t Logan’s sidekick. She is the femme fatale. She wants Logan for her own but she works for Shingen who wants him dead. She will never have his heart, that belongs to Mariko. Her quest is fruitless but that doesn’t keep her from trying to achieve her goal. She is part of the rigid organization run by Shingen and she also chafes at the hold it has on her. Most good stories need a morally challenged character to make them interesting to me. Yukio is that character in this story.

Jack Staff (UK) 11

Jack Staff (UK) 11
Oct 2002

Origin of the Claw
By Paul Grist

Parts of this issue don’t make much sense. They seem to contradict things that have come before. There are lots of little vignettes, which is nothing new for a Jack Staff comic book.

Earlier in this series Ben Kulmer was presented as being part of the Q. One of the other members of the Q is Helen Morgan. He meets her in this issue but now they don’t seem to know one another. I don’t get it unless story is supposed to take place before the earlier one. There is no clear indication that it is the case.

The story of how the Claw came into Ben’s possession is told but it still isn’t clear who he is or what his goals are. Is he is now supposed to be a thief or was he a thief before he joined the Q?

There is more John Smith and Becky Burdock, more Charlie Raven, and a little more of Maveryk. I enjoy all the bits and pieces, and the way it is drawn and told visually but it doesn’t all make sense.

I'm not sure what to expect with just one issue to go. I doubt that all the loose ends will get resolved. I've enjoyed the story so far but as I have said on numerous occasions it is Grist's visual storytelling and the way the characters in this comic book interact that appeal to me the most. The plot is a little here and there.

Doom Patrol (1964) 119

Doom Patrol (1964) 119
May/Jun 1968

In the Shadow of the Great Guru
By Arnold Drake, Bruno Premiani

Robotman falls under the sway of Yaramishi Rama Yogi. He claims to have renounced hate and will no longer fight anyone. He gets hit by a truck and just keeps walking as best he can. Negative Man puts him to the test and beats up his buddy who puts up no resistance and doesn’t even try to defend himself.

Robotman takes his teammates to visit the guru. One by one they also fall under the Yogi’s influence. He uses Fear to control Negative Man and reduces Elati-Girl to thinking she is a 2-year-old. He then turns them on one another. They break the hold he has over them and defeat the Yogi and his followers. The Yogi escapes by turning himself into vapor. His last words are cryptic but they soon learn their meaning. The Yogi also made contact with Madame Rouge and turned her evil and against the Chief, who is heartbroken.

Not so great an issue although it does have a few moments that made me smile. Most of them were at or near the beginning of the story when the focus on peace loving Robotman. There is a bit of casual racism or cultural insensitivity in the way the Yogi and his practices are presented.

Wolverine (1982) 2

Wolverine (1982) 2
Oct 1982

Debts and Obligations
By Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Joe Rubinstein

Wolverine wakes up. He is at Yukio’s place. They are surrounded by the assassins of the Hand. They fight their way free and head for Wolverine’s hotel. She throws herself at him but his heart belongs to Mariko. Logan crashes. Yukio visits her employer, Shingen Yashida. He wants her to kill Katsuyori, one of his rivals.

Shingen has sent Noburu (Mariko's husband) to negotiate with Katsuyori. Norburu doesn’t realize that it is a trap. He doesn’t know about Shingen’s plans. He thinks that he and Mariko are just going to talk business with Katsuyori.

Yukio tells Wolverine that she owes a debt to Katsuyori. Wolverine agrees to help her out but his plan doesn't involve killing anyone. They arrive in time to prevent Noburu and Mariko from getting murdered. Wolverine deals with the would be assassins. Yukio deals with Katsuyori and his wife by planting a bomb in their car.

Mariko isn’t harmed but for the first time she sees how bloodthirsty Logan can be. She is shocked. He knows he has lost her. Yukio sees Mariko’s reaction and is quite pleased.

The plot continues to thicken. It is interesting to see how Wolverine is at least on the surface not as eager to kill as he would later be portrayed.

Jack Staff (UK) 10

Jack Staff (UK) 10
Aug 2002

Open the Box! Take the Money!
By Paul Grist

Becky Burdock’s boss at the World’s Press puts on a show with the box that John Smith and Becky found. It has yet to be opened. A number of experts have been invited to come and guess the contents of the box. There is a £10,000 prize for the first one to guess correctly. Becky Burdock does not approve of the show.

Doctor Spex (The Man with X-Ray Eyes) takes a shot at it but claims he can’t see into the box because it is lined with lead. Morlan Mystic isn’t successful either but he claims that’s because there’s a psychic veil which is too strong for his powers to penetrate. Becky gives Marlan some grief and calls him a charlatan. Marlan’s psychic abilities seem real even though he can’t tell them what’s in the box.

The Claw, a disembodied gloved hand, shows up and causes some mayhem. The lights go out. It breaks Doctor Spex’ spectacles. The Spider tries to run off with the £10,000 but the Claw gets the drop on him and takes the money for itself. Charlie Raven shows up out of nowhere, which presumably means that he was in the box. The chapter ends with the reveal that Ben Kulmer is the Claw.

Not a lot happens in this issue or at least it is much more focused than other installments in this series but I like the way that the story is told visually. I like the characters and the way they interact. I love the way Paul Grist uses black regions to highlight and shape. I don't know how else to describe it. This is a series that doesn't have much in the way of gray tones but that would not benefit from being coloring.

Doom Patrol (1964) 118

Doom Patrol (1964) 118
Mar 1968

Videx Monarch of Light
By Arnold Drake, Bruno Premiani

The Doom Patrol battles a scientist (Jalmar Lichtmeister) who has used one of his scientific discoveries to transform himself into a master of light. He has renamed himself Videx and his body is now translucent. He is able to use light in various ways to blind others and as a weapon.

The saga of Madame Rouge and the Chief continues. Robotman, Negative Man, and Beast Boy give her lots of grief. Their opinions don’t seem to be rooted in anything other than sexism and selfishness. She seems about ready to leave at the close of the issue when someone off panel urges her not to go.

Beast Boy spends some time at school and discovers that one of his classmates has a crush on him. He freaks out when she gives him a kiss.

On the whole nothing too spectacular or different from the previous issues in this archive edition. The ongoing story of Madame Rouge and the Chief develops a bit more and the team fights another scientific menace.

The art is a little better than the story itself. There’s a very nice splash page on p. 14 when the Doom Patrol crash into Videx’s headquarters and he strikes back at them. The cover is also a beauty although it doesn’t capture the spirit of the interiors. The opening splash page probably should have been the cover although it isn’t as nice as the one they chose to use.

Wolverine (1982) 1

Wolverine (1982) 1
Sep 1982

I’m Wolverine
By Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein

Logan tracks down and kills a bear that has killed a number of people in Canada. He discovers that the bear was poisoned by a hunter’s arrow, after he kills it. He tracks down the hunter and deals with him next.

Logan travels to Japan to find out why his letters to Mariko (his girlfriend) have been returned unopened. Asano Kimura, an old colleague from his secret agent days, fills him in on the situation. Shingen Yashida, Mariko’s father, long thought to be dead, surfaced recently and married her off to repay a debt.

Logan goes to see Mariko. She refuses to leave her husband, even though he has beaten her. Logan is attacked by some of Shingen’s men. They use poisoned shuriken (throwing stars) which aren’t deadly but only because of Wolverine’s mutant healing factor. They do slow him down enough that when he fights her father he loses badly. They don’t kill him but instead dump him in a dangerous part of town. A deadly young Japanese woman saves his life and claims him for her own.

I’ve read this story a few times before in the 35 plus years since it was first published. I love how this chapter (1 of 4) sets things up. I like the way that Japanese words are mixed in with English ones. The panel arrangements are innovative and varied to my eyes. There is one style used for most of the story and another for the confrontation with Shingen. Miller is probably modeling it off of something he saw in Lone Wolf and Cub or some other Japanese comic book.

This is part one of a larger, longer story. Do I love the story at this point? No, but I’m intrigued. I want to read more. I want to know more. Who is the mysterious woman who rescues Logan at the end of the chapter? Who or what will Logan face next? When will his next (inevitable) encounter with Shingen occur and how will it go?

Tales of the New Teen Titans 2

Tales of the New Teen Titans 2
Jul 1982

Raven
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Pablo Marcos

Raven tells the story of her past. This is a much more detailed version of the story than was revealed in the opening arc of the New Teen Titans (1980). It isn’t just Raven's origin story but also that of her parents’ (Arella and Trigon). More is revealed about Azar and Azarath, the former being the leader and the latter the inter-dimensional home where Raven was born and raised. In the final pages of the story Raven finally comes into her own and meets her father for the first time.

The panel layouts and art are as usual spectacular. I particularly like the huge closeup of Trigon on p. 20.

Jack Staff (UK) 9

Jack Staff (UK) 9
Jun 2002

Out of Time
by Paul Grist

Charlie Raven, escapologist of the Victorian Age, is approached by Henry, a friend who has aged unnaturally quickly. Soon thereafter he finds Henry dead in the street with an address card in his hand. He is warned against investigating the death of his friend by (Inspector?) Bullstrode. Raven ignores the warning and investigates the address on the card. He finds the person who killed his friend. She might not be human. She invites Charlie to be her consort. He refuses and finds himself paralyzed by something she put in his wine.

Ben Kulmer is falling, that’s what it says, it’s not entirely clear what that means. The issue opens with a ringing phone and closes with Ben picking up a ringing phone. I liked that.

I’ve got a feeling that Ben and Charlie are going to cross paths. They are living in different centuries but the proximity in this issue makes it seem likely that their lives (or deaths) will intersect in someway.

Becky Burdock (Vampire Reporter) and John Smith (Jack Staff) cross paths. She slugs him for hanging up on her, last issue. Their moment in this issue ends abruptly when one of John's coworkers finds a coffin. I’m guessing that either Charlie or his mysterious host will be in the coffin. Charlie might appear in the present as a ghost.

Lots of mystery, not a lot of answers but I’m intrigued. I continue to enjoy the way Paul Grist tells stories visually. He use of shadows and panel arrangements are a visual delight to my eyes.