Pluto - Act 4

Pluto: Urasawa x Texuka Vol. 1
By Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka

Act 4: North No. 2 (Part 1)

North No. 2, a robot that was built for war and has seen plenty of it, takes care of an aged, blind composer who is disdainful of technology. His disdain includes robots like North No. 2 and hi-tech tools used for composing and playing music. He is cruel to his robot servant. North No. 2 tries to please the Blind composer but all he gets in return is scorn because he isn’t human.

Captain America (1968) 276

Captain America (1968) 276
Dec 1982

Turning Point
by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, John Beatty

Bernie approaches Captain America. He acts like he doesn’t know her but she makes it clear just by the way she says his name and touches his face that she knows him. Steve doesn’t know what to do. He is nervous about talking to her. She breaks the ice and approaches him, later that day, after he has changed into civilian attire. It goes better than he feared it would. They are about to kiss when they are interrupted.

Pluto - Act 3

Pluto: Urasawa x Texuka Vol. 1
By Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka

Chapter 3: Brau 1589

Gesicht plans a vacation for himself and his wife, who is also a robot.

Gesicht travels to The Artificial Intelligence Correctional Facility in Brussels. He is there to visit with Brau 1589, a robot that is locked up for killing a human. It has been there for six years. It does not look anywhere near as human as Gesicht.

Blue Beetle (DC)

I have not read any Blue Beetle stories from the Charlton or early DC Comics eras. I recently watched Batman: Brave and the Bold 1.08 (Fall of the Blue Beetle) and it has me wanting to give the 1986 series a try. It only ran for 24 issues, most of which can be found for reasonable prices. The Blue Beetle was also featured in Secret Origins (1986) 2. All of those issues (including the Secret Origins) have only been reprinted in a Showcase collection, which is not in color. That volume is currently out of print and selling on Amazon (by third party sellers) for $100 or more. The entire 1986 series plus the issue of Secret Origins, are available on Comixology.

Jarvis Kord (who appeared in Batman: Brave and the Bold 1.08) first Appeared in Blue Beetle (1967) 2, published by Charlton. This comic is kind of pricey but it was reprinted in the Action Heroes Archives Vol. 2. Jarvis Kord's second appearance was in Americomics (1983) 3, published by Americomics, which can be found for fairly reasonable prices. Jarvis Kord's 3rd and 4th appearances both happened in 1986 in comic books published by DC Comics, Secret Origins (1986) 2 and Blue Beetle (1986) 1.

The art for Blue Beetle's entry in Who's Who was drawn by Steve Rude. Rude drew only three pages for Who's Who. The other two were Hawkgirl and Poison Ivy.

Captain America (1968) 275

Captain America (1968) 275
Nov 1982

Yesterday’s Shadows!
by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, John Beatty

Captain America visits SHIELD‘s Manhattan HQ to get an update since he last saw his childhood friend Arnold Roth in Captain America (1968) 270. He has a brief chat with SHIELD agent Gail Runciter, whom he last saw in Captain America (1968) 268. He apologizes for his rudeness during their first meeting. SHIELD has the purple goop remains of the creature that has some weird connection with Arnie’s friend Michael. Vermin, whom Cap battled in Captain America (1968) 272, is also in SHIELD custody. Everything seems to be under control when Cap leaves.

DC Comics Presents Annual 1

DC Comics Presents Annual 1
1982

Crisis on Three Earths
By Marv Wolfman, Tich Buckler, Dave Hunt, John Costanza

Superman of Earth-1, Superman of Earth-2, and Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 team up to battle Lex Luthor of Earth-1, Alexei Luthor of Earth-2, and Ultraman of Earth-3.

This story marks the first appearance of Alex Luthor and the second appearance of Lois Lane, both of Earth-3. Both are killed in their next appearance, Crisis on Infinite Earths 1. Lois Lane (E-3) first appeared in Secret Society of Super-Villains 14.

Pluto - Act 2

Pluto: Urasawa x Texuka Vol. 1
By Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka

Chapter 2: Gesicht

Inspector Gesicht talks to Professor Reinhardt, About the destruction of Mont Blanc. Reinhardt believes that Mont Blanc was murdered. There’s no way in his mind that Mont Blanc was destroyed by a malfunction.

Professor Hoffman performs some diagnostic checks on Gesicht to make sure that he is functioning normally. They talk a bit about the cases that Gesicht is working on.

Marvel Two-in-One 52

Marvel Two-in-One 52
Jun 1979

A Little Knight Music!
by Steven Grant, Jim Craig, Pablo Marcos

The Thing and Moon Knight team-up to defeat a former CIA operative who now goes by the name of Crossfire. The Thing isn’t really interested in teaming up with Moon Knight but he sticks around and proves to be quite valuable in the fight. He helps the Thing get to Crossfire’s base, in his disguise as cab driver Jake Locksley without letting on who he is.

Pluto - Act 1

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka Vol. 1
by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka

Chapter 1: Mont Blanc

Inspector Gesicht of Interpol begins to investigate the murder of an activist for robot rights in Düsseldorf, Germany. He irks the local police with his methods.

Gesicht is a robot but looks very much human. He consoles the robot widow of another robot police officer who is killed in the line of duty. He notes the similarities between the mutilation of the robot rights activist and that of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc was a beloved robot. It is unclear who would want to kill him.

Marvel Two-in-One 51

Marvel Two-in-One 51
May 1979

Full House -- Dragons High!
By Peter Gillis, Frank Miller, Bob McLeod

The Thing teams up with Nick Fury, the Beast, Ms. Marvel, and Wonder Man to play poker and fight the forces of General Pollock. The poker game, which takes place at Avengers Mansion, is interrupted by news of a break-in at SHIELD Arsenal 6. General Pollock’s men break into the SHIELD Arsenal and steal the Yellow Claw’s Sky Dragon.

New Teen Titans (1980) 39

New Teen Titans (1980) 39
Feb 1984

Crossroads
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal

The Titans deal with some of Brother Blood’s troops. They found them thanks to a tip from Bethany Snow. Deathstroke is able to watch the encounter thanks to the contact lenses that Terra is wearing.

Deathstroke meets up with Terra who is working for him, as revealed in New Teen Titans (1980) 34. He wants to spar with her. She is much more powerful than him. She surprises him with some of the moves that she pulls in their fight. She is no where near as weathered or experienced as he is but her raw power alone could overwhelm him.