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Superboy (1949) #214
Jim Shooter 1, Cary Bates 2 (script)
Mike Grell (artist 1, pencils 2)
Bill Draut (inks 2)
Ben Oda 1, Joe Letterese 2 (letters
Jack C. Harris (assistant editor)
Murray Boltinoff (editor)
Ah, yes, the valiant superheroes of the future… who are willing to sacrifice a little kid’s life because they don’t like him. Well, not all of them, but definitely Wildfire and maybe Karate Kid. Thank goodness Superboy (with his forty-five-year-old Grell features) is there to remind them they’re not supposed to let innocent people die just because they’re unpleasant.
The Legion’s on an automated factory planet. The planet’s been attacking ships trying to land, including one after the Legion arrives. Superboy saves the ship’s pilot before the planet’s lasers zap it. Turns out the pilot is an obnoxious little kid (who barely seems aware of the Legion, which ought to be interesting but isn’t), son of the planet’s owner.
Too bad the villain turns out to be a fired overseer who hates the planet’s owner and would kill the kid at the first opportunity. So Superboy does his best to try to keep the kid safe, even as the kid thinks the heroes are just trying to cramp his style. Wildfire takes a different approach—let the kid die so the Legion can escape.
Maybe if writer Jim Shooter had a better moral compass, the story would read better; as is, the reader’s supposed to identify with Wildfire but eventually agree with Superboy, who’s actually not showing all his cards. So… the needs of the few only outweigh the needs of the many when you’re playing with marked cards.
At the very least, there are a couple okay big action splashes from Mike Grell. They’re usually cushioned with some strangely distorted human faces or whatever’s going on with Wildfire’s helmet, but there are at least a couple okay visual moments.
The backup—Grell on pencils, Cary Bates writing, Bill Draut on inks—is about Brainiac-5 trying to help Shrinking Violet with a mental health issue. She’s just had a nasty near accident with another Legionnaire in the gym—she almost got stomped on—and now she can’t shrink any more. Brainy ignores Saturn Girl’s “professional” psychiatric advice on how to deal with it and pushes forward with an extreme treatment.
It’s a terribly plotted story—the first few pages are all talking heads about Violet’s problems (talking about her, she’s not conscious for it because she’s so near her mental breaking point), then there’s some setup of Brainy’s treatment idea. But then the actual action of the story is barely a page and a half, and it’s… about getting stuck in a big ball of wire.
Once again, Brainiac-5 doesn’t seem very smart at all.
Overall, however, the issue’s nowhere near as bad as its creators can get. Unless, of course, you want your superheroes helping people instead of pushing them under busses.
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The Spirit (July 21, 1940) “Eldas Thayer”
Will Eisner (editor, script, pencils, inks)
Joe Kubert (colors)
Sam Rosen (letters)
Eldas Thayer is the name of a miserly old rich guy who’s refusing to pay for his niece’s medical treatment. Thayer’s doctor has just given him the bad news—he’s got a day to live. The Spirit shows up just after, pleading for the niece’s life. Thayer doesn’t appreciate the Spirit’s tone, especially since Spirit heard the doctor’s report.
“No,” says Thayer. “I’d kill you,” says Spirit, “but morale code blah blah.”
Thayer then concocts a Rube Goldberg contraption to kill himself and blame Spirit because screw that guy. Thayer’s not just a bad guy, he’s visually unpleasant. Thayer will have some fantastic action sequences, strip-best dialogue, and—I believe—the first significant Spirit character development. But the art’s rough at open. Dots instead of lines. So Thayer’s, like, repugnant in his close-up.
He successfully frames Spirit for his murder, Spirit goes to visit Commissioner Dolan, unaware he’s wanted for murder, the mayor just happens to be there, tells Dolan to arrest Spirit, Dolan pleads with Spirit to proclaim innocence and Dolan’ll quit the force for him to fight for truth.
Upon hearing his only confidante’s pledge, Spirit decides he cannot deprive fair Gotham of her police commissioner and says, “No, I killed him.”
So then begins the chase portion of the story, which—remember—is called Eldas Thayer–cops are after Spirit, Spirit is trying to save the dying niece. Thank goodness someone remembered her.
Panel after panel, there’s great art and brisk storytelling. The art’s never quite sublime in terms of line work (except the splash page), but the composition and the writing establish a beautiful rhythm. Tiny panels composed like classic Hollywood montage shots; the panels get downright exquisite for the last few pages. At nine panels a page. It’s some genuinely exceptional art this week.
And then the writing.
Having to deceive Dolan (for his own good) immediately opens up a whole new layer to Spirit. He’s gone from white knight to dark knight. I did check: Gordon did appear in Detective before Spirit… but, based on a cursory look, that work marriage wasn’t anywhere near this far along yet.
Spirit makes the move fearlessly, the Spirit announcing (addressed to Dolan but for the reader) they’ve got to break up so Spirit won’t drag him down. But don’t worry, if the forces of evil should rise again, to cast a shadow on the heart of the city, the Spirit will be there. Just as an outlaw.
It’s a gorgeous finish, too. Extreme long shots, clean lines, sublime composition.
Easy strip best to this point.
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The Spirit (July 14, 1940) “Mr. Midnight”
Will Eisner (editor, script, pencils, inks)
Joe Kubert (colors)
Sam Rosen (letters)
There’s a lack of consistency to Mr. Midnight. After a gorgeous splash page, featuring the dramatically posed new villain, with the intro text recapping the Spirit’s origin segueing naturally into the exposition’s start, the art seems to go from Eisner’s drafting table to someone else’s in the studio.
Many other someones, in fact. Midnight barely maintains style between panels, much less pages. The lines go from busy and erratic to clean to busy. There are some ingenious panels throughout, like when Spirit is facing off against Midnight and they’re both just little stick figures in the distance.
Even at its worst, the art only ever seems way too rushed, never bad enough to slow the pace of the story.
The story involves Mr. Midnight taunting the Spirit with a perfect crime. Midnight’s going to murder someone in front of Spirit and Commissioner Dolan and they’re going to let him go. I could also mention here Mr. Midnight is Smurf blue, which is barely a plot point and seems like something just done for the visuals… or another of the seeming miscommunications between writers and artists—pin in that one.
Eisner ratchets the suspense during this sequence, having Dolan, Spirit, and Midnight having to wait around for Midnight’s victim to arrive. So there are two full story beats before Spirit even has anything to do on his own. And even when does something, it’s not a lot. He just follows Mr. Midnight home, and, thanks to his autoplane, gets there before Midnight.
Some villain monologuing and sinister chess playing ensue; it’ll eventually get around to fisticuffs and high action.
Eisner (and Spirit) save the mystery resolution for the last few panels after the action has been resolved. It’s an engaging ride, even if Midnight’s not a good villain (he’s just Smurf blue), and Spirit and Dolan kind of let him kill that guy in the first scene. They sure didn’t try to stop him.
And that sequence—with Midnight taunting everyone before (ostensibly) committing a murder—is where the strip gets confused on details. The script says there should’ve been a visual tell, but there’s no visual tell when you go back.
It’s an odd, uneven, entertaining outing. And that gorgeous splash page is gorgeous.
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Briefly, TV (28 June 2025)
The Gilded Age (2022) s03e01 “Who Is in Charge Here?” [2025] D: Michael Engler. S: Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Baranski. Reliably excellent season opener focuses on changes since last season for Nixon and Baranski, as Nixon’s now the one with the money. Meanwhile, Coon keeps trying to queen-make daughter Farmiga, with everyone hoping Spector gets home in time to stop her. Plus, developments in the standing subplots. Staggeringly good acting from Nixon and Coon in particular.
Poker Face (2023) s02e07 “One Last Job” [2025] D: Adam Arkin. S: Natasha Lyonne, Sam Richardson, Corey Hawkins, James Ransone. Kevin Smith-esque heist homage episode has HEAT DIE HARD (wokka wokka) Richardson finding himself in his own crime thriller, costarring Ransone as a new scuzbag pal. Meanwhile, Lyonne finds herself in a romcom, which the episode intentionally devalues as a genre to serve the masculine. But Ransone’s a singular actor, and Lyonne and Hawkins are very cute together.
Poker Face (2023) s02e08 “The Sleazy Georgian” [2025] D: Mimi Cave. S: Natasha Lyonne, Melanie Lynskey, GaTa, John Cho, Brendan Sexton III, Eric Satterberg, Joel Marsh Garland. Probably series-best episode has Lyonne falling in with con man Cho and his crew, which the audience has already seen maybe fleece nice lady Lynskey. At what point does the con become too dangerous? Great performances all around (Lynskey has a strong spotlight). Cave’s direction and the script (credited to Megan Amram) are stellar as well. It’s sublime.
Poker Face (2023) s02e09 “A New Lease on Death” [2025] D: Adamma Ebo. S: Natasha Lyonne, Awkwafina, Lauren Tom, Alia Shawkat. Well-acted but otherwise strangely light episode has Lyonne trying to suss out what’s going on with new pal Awkwafina’s grandma Tom’s new girlfriend, Shawkat. Shawkat’s great, but there’s nothing to the part. Tom and Awkwafina have an awesome family vibe, it’s just not part of the episode. Maybe it’s just the lackluster finish.
Resident Alien (2021) s04e01 “Prisoners” [2025] D: Alan Tudyk. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Elizabeth Bowen, Meredith Garretson. Pretty good (and, more importantly, successful) season premiere has Tudyk wearing three hats–acting twice, plus directing. The directing shows he knows the cast’s strengths, even as they’re however many years older since the show last filmed. Some very solid laughs and an awesome Tudyk episode. Reynolds is great, too. But there are just too many characters.
Resident Alien (2021) s04e02 “The Lonely Man” [2025] D: Alan Tudyk. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Elizabeth Bowen, Meredith Garretson. Solid enough episode gives Tudyk some great showcases while trying to sort through the dozen or so characters it’s juggling. Lots of back and forth to keep the subplots going while getting one of the guest stars out of the picture. Again, solid, with hints at the season to come. Great episode for Reynolds and Bowen, too.
Resident Alien (2021) s04e03 “Ties That Bind” [2025] D: Brennan Shroff. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Elizabeth Bowen, Meredith Garretson. Based on returning guest star Linda Hamilton’s subplot, it sure looks like ALIEN is going to safely wind everything down this season. Hamilton gets her series best episode as she discovers it’s not so easy to change the past (oddly no TERMINATOR jokes). Otherwise, lots going on, with Gracelyn Awad Rinke and Reynolds getting some great material.
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Superboy (1949) #213
Jim Shooter (script)
Mike Grell (artist 1, pencils 2)
Bill Draut (inks 2)
Jack C. Harris (assistant editor)
Murray Boltinoff (editor)
Despite a poor opening, the feature’s not terrible. I mean, Mike Grell’s mid-forties-looking Superboy is always a thing, but otherwise—besides the incessant bickering between the Legionnaires—it’s an okay story. Once you get past Superboy’s introduction to the story, which is thankfully the worst Jim Shooter exposition we get in the whole story.
The introduction promises Ultra Boy cracking under the pressures of being a superhero, but it’s actually something tied to a very specific trauma for Ultra Boy. The resolution to it entirely invalidates the introduction teaser, but whatever. It could be much worse.
The Legion’s hanging out at headquarters when someone breaks in, getting past all their advanced defenses. It’s the best thief in the galaxy; come to tell the Legion he’s going to steal their miracle machine. Brainiac-5 accuses the thief of being a liar because Brainy’s never heard of him.
The thief points out he’s never been arrested or caught because he’s the best, so how would Brainiac-5 have heard of him? Brainiac-5, being written by a Jim Shooter-level intelligence, has no rejoinder.
The thief transports out or whatever, promising to return, and the Legion has a fit about what to do next. They take a vote on destroying the machine, only to discover they can’t destroy it anyway; it’s too well-built. So they up the defenses and stand guard.
We still haven’t had Ultra Boy cracking under pressure, by the way. We’ve got to wait for them to try to track the thief down, running into a space dinosaur instead, and Ultra Boy hates space dinosaurs. Good thing the comic’s called Superboy and Superboy can see across the universe.
There’s nothing particularly good about the story, but there’s also nothing particularly bad—Shooter made it through a whole story without any sexism—and while Grell’s going to Grell, maybe it’s worn me down by now.
The backup’s similarly indistinctly “not terrible.” Also not at all good. Shooter scripts, Grell’s on art with Bill Draut. Is Grell better with someone else inking? Not really. Draut makes the lines bolder, which isn’t really Grell’s problem. None of the body work is improved.
On a solo mission, Timber Wolf answers a distress call, but something else may be going on. To survive, Timber Wolf will have to use his smarts and knowledge of the Legion policy and procedure handbook.
So many thought balloons from Timber Wolf. None of them thoughtful, but also none of them filled with the character’s usually sexism.
The comic’s not so much not bad as inoffensive. It’s still not anything good, but inoffensive is a good start.
