New Teen Titans (1980) 40

New Teen Titans (1980) 40
Mar 1984

Lifeblood!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal

Brother Blood is back!

Scene 1: Sets the scene. Reminds everyone who Brother Blood is, without rehashing his history with the Teen Titans.

Scene 2: Garfield enrages his step-father, Steve Dayton aka Mento, by scaring away yet another of his tutors.

Black Hammer 2

Black Hammer 2
Aug 2016

The Curse of Zafram!
By Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart

Golden Gail’s origin is revealed. Gail Gibbons is actually 55 years old. When she was a child she met a wizard who gave her a magic word, Zafram, his name. When she says it she gains superpowers. When she says his name again she is transformed back to her normal self. Her super-powered self does not age but her human self does. Her magic word hasn’t worked for the past 10 years. She has superpowers but she hates being stuck in the body of a 10 year-old.

Batman and the Outsiders (1983) 7

Batman and the Outsiders (1983) 7
Feb 1984

Cold Hands Cold Heart
By Mike W. Barr, Jim Aparo, Len Wein

Batman and (most of) the Outsiders remain frozen in liquid nitrogen. The Cryonic Man takes Katana back to his hideout and prepares to operate on her. He needs some of her internal organs to save his wife’s life. Katana is restrained. She escapes but is recaptured by one of his robots and sedated once again.

Black Hammer 1

Black Hammer 1
Jul 2016

Welcome to Black Hammer
By Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart

Six superheroes (Abraham Slam, Barbalien, Golden Gail, Wally Talky, Colonel Weird, Madame Dragonfly) have been trapped for 10 years in a small town. Abraham Slam claims to like it there. The others seem to vascilate between active hate and trying to find a way home.

There was another hero, the Black Hammer, aka Joseph Weber. He was killed in their fight with the Anti-God. All that is left of him is his weapon, the Black Hammer.

Batman and the Outsiders (1983) 6

Batman and the Outsiders (1983) 6
Jan 1984

Death Warmed Over!
By Mike W. Barr, Jim Aparo, Len Wein

Batman and the Outsiders tangle with the Cryonic Man.

Gabrielle starts going to school. Jefferson resumes teaching. Rex and Brion visit Dr. Jace in the hospital. Bruce Wayne sets Tatsu up with s Japanese language book store. The Cryonic Man strikes the hospital but his attempt to steal an artificial kidney is thwarted by Metamorpho and Geo-Force. Batman calls the team together. He has a plan for dealing with the Cryonic Man.

Pluto - Act 7

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

Act 7: Brando

Gesicht visits Brando, a champion robot fighter. Gesicht meets him at the Esker tournament but then goes back to Istanbul with Brando and also meets his family. Brando and his wife have adopted 5 children.

Thoughts

I like the visual storytelling but the story isn’t doing a lot for me. I’m undecided at this point as to whether I will continue reading this series or not.

Captain America (1968) 279

Captain America (1968) 279
Mar 1983

Of Monsters and Men
by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, John Beatty

Captain America and Primus (disguised as Steve Rogers) fight. Bernie isn’t sure what she is seeing or who is the real thing until Primus reverts to his natural, golden form. Primus knocks Captain America out. Bernie faints. Primus grabs her and escapes.

Captain America turns to Iron Man for help in finding Primus. The Living Legend catches up to Arnim Zola’s creation at an abandoned campground near Lakewood, New Jersey. Primus is telling Bernie about how everything is going to change and how he is going to take care of her.

Pluto - Act 6

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

Act 6: North No. 2 (Part 3)

North No. 2 returns to Scotland to Paul Duncan’s home. He tells Duncan about his trip to Bavaria. He learned about Duncan’s past.

This 3-part story fell a little flat for me. Duncan and North No. 2 seemed a little too one note-for me. I can appreciate that Urasawa wants to flesh out the original story but I was unsatisfied with what I read.

Captain America (1968) 278

Captain America (1968) 278
Feb 1983

Oh, Thus Be It Ever...
by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, John Beatty

Captain America fights off Primus’ mutates while Vermin flees. They aren’t much of a challenge for Cap despite their large numbers. Cap changes tactics when Arnold tells him that the mutates aren’t creatures created by Primus. They were men who were transformed by Primus’ experiments. Cap talks to them and gets them on his side. Together the Living Legend, his childhood friend, and the mutates go looking for Zemo who snuck away in the midst of the fight.

Pluto - Act 5

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

Act 5: North No. 2 (Part 2)

Paul Duncan, the blind composer, tells North No. 2 about his early years. He never knew his father. His mother was taken in by a rich man who sent Paul to a boarding school. His mother died years later but he never saw her again after being sent away. The rich man never married her. He only kept her as his mistress.

Captain America (1968) 277

Captain America (1968) 277
Jan 1983

In Thy Image
by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, John Beatty

Captain America fights the creatures of Arnim Zola and Baron Zemo. He is stunned by the reveal that Baron Zemo is still alive but his incredulousness fades away once Zemo reveals the details of his story. This isn’t the original Baron Zemo whom Cap fought back in World War 2 and who was killed in Avengers (1963) 15 but his son. Cap encountered him once before in Captain America (1968) 168 when young Zemo was going by the name of Phoenix, as revealed here in a flashback. Zemo was gruesomely disfigured after falling into a bubbling vat of Adhesive X. He blames Captain America for his father’s death and for his own disfigurement.