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Superboy (1949) #204
Cary Bates (script)
Mike Grell (artist)
Ben Oda (letters)
Murray Boltinoff (editor)
What a strange comic book. Cary Bates and Mike Grell contribute both parts, feature and backup, though “feature” is a bit of a stretch.
The lead story is a retcon. In the farther-flung future than the Legion of Superheroes, future Earthlings are obsessed with watching the past through time travel television or something. Except then the kid’s time TV is broken and is changing history instead of just observing it. The device has somehow changed Superboy’s trials for Legion membership, and now he’s not a member anymore, and the fate of reality is at stake.
Oddly, however, the story doesn’t show how Superboy failed the trials. Neither is the future kid’s resolution—Anti-Lad is his only moniker, the one he takes when he travels back in time to join the Legion to get history back on track. Bates also doesn’t do anything with the future repercussions of Superboy not joining the Legion. It’s easier to identify all the things Bates doesn’t do with the story than the things he does.
So the comic promises the secret story of Anti-Lad, the Legionnaire no one remembers (because he wiped their memories). It delivers some time travel banter, lots of talking about Superboy but no real Superboy in his own book, Anti-Lad besting the Legionnaires during his membership trial, and Brainiac-5 deducing something’s off about the new prospect.
Not much of a story. Grell’s art also leaves a lot to be desired.
The backup, however, is incredible. Incredibly creepy and bad but still incredible.
It’s all about Brainiac-5 being really tired, and, wouldn’t you know it, he’s really tired because he’s made himself a fully functioning Supergirl android. He misses his 20th-century gal, you see, so he makes a new version of her.
Except he doesn’t know he’s made the android version, so there’s a bunch of bait and switch to get to the big reveal. It’s utter nonsense in terms of plotting—it’s hard to tell if Bates is trying to be inventive and not clearing the bar or if the comic thinks so little of its readership—and then Grell’s art… doesn’t help. There are even panels where Grell’s art goes from hot to cold as they’re read, drawing attention to the deficiencies.
The first story’s pointless and bad, and the second story’s pointless, bad, and icky.
Though I did just realize Bates doesn’t address whether Brainiac-5 admits to his teammates he’s using Legion resources for his sex toys.
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The Spirit (June 2, 1940) “The Origin of the Spirit”
Will Eisner (editor, script, pencils, inks)
Joe Kubert (colors)
Zoltan Szenics (letters)
The Spirit ends his first adventure leaving three burning questions unanswered. First, why is he remaining officially dead—we’ll loop back—second, why doesn’t he think everyone will recognize his blue suit, and, third, how does he have those little tombstone calling cards carved already.
The strip—Spirit dropped as a weekly newspaper special—has thirties illustration sensibilities, almost PG-13 dialogue (as newspaper audiences include more teens and adults than a regular comic book), and sublime stage direction. Eisner doesn’t waste any panels, big or small (the Spirit’s resurrection is in extreme long shot in a small panel), but also saves some composition wows for the third act. Sure, Spirit is fighting escaped criminally insane Eastern European mad scientists with racist caricature henchmen, but the visuals of the showdown are pure noir (Technicolor noir?) fisticuffs. It’s hard boiled hero stuff, even as the Spirit—despite being in it, at this point, for the money and not having to pay taxes—is a bit of a lug, especially for a vigilante.
This first strip introduces the Spirit (Denny Colt before death, just “The Spirit” after), police commissioner Dolan (who knows the Spirit’s identity and approves of that plan to be a vigilante), and, in a one panel cameo, Spirit’s future sidekick, Ebony White. Ebony’s a cabbie; he doesn’t get a name here. Ebony’s a young Black man. The caricature is horrific. The villain—Dr. Cobra—has the Asian bruiser sidekick and it’s a bit. Ebony’s a lot.
And it’s just a panel (albeit observed with foreknowledge). But imagine how big a panel on the newsprint. Spirit’s greatest boon—being read with more potential detail—also can spotlight its unfortunates.
Bad, worse, good, mid, sublime, inspired, and genius—The Spirit has them all. Eisner (and his studio) deliver a visually compelling, narratively engaging comic spectacle. The exposition ranges from flat to purple, but the movement—and the movement’s framing—is truly exceptional work.
Even if the exposition doesn’t help, there are smarts to the plotting. For example, the two best visual sequences are Spirit’s showdowns with Cobra. He’s either had a jovial or moody setup for the showdown, then Eisner delivers the action goods. Vats of chemicals, henchmen, escape boats in the backgrounds and foregrounds, big and small parts of the action, and full of deeper implication. It’s mood implication, though, not exposited.
Anyway.
The Spirit’s off to a great start. Just hold onto your (blue) hat on the proverbial cab ride.
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Briefly, Movies (2 June 2025)
Gilda (1946) D: Charles Vidor. S: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr. Too long, impressively moody noir does well on an obviously limited budget. Ford’s a gambler down on his luck in Argentina, Macready’s a megalomaniac looking for a pal, Hayworth’s the dame who drives them both literally mad. As in criminally insane. Macready does that creep well; Ford does not. Hayworth’s dynamite, however, and Calleia’s fantastic as a laconic cop.
Napoleon (1927) D: Abel Gance. S: Albert Dieudonné, Vladimir Roudenko, Edmond van Daële, Gina Manès, Nicolas Koline, Annabella, Philippe Hériat. Singular achievement from Gance, recounting Napoleon (Roudenko then Dieudonné) from childhood to the start of the Italian campaign. Lots of time on the Revolution, the Terror, Toulon, and romancing Joséphine (Manès). Sometimes, Gance balances the messianic framing with the horrors of war or the dangers of megalomaniacs. But mostly, it’s just messianic. And transfixing. Peerless filmmaking, fabulous acting. A couple restorations exist: the COPPOLA (Francis Ford) and the BROWNLOW. See the latter if at all possible.
Night Key (1937) D: Lloyd Corrigan. S: Boris Karloff, Warren Hull, Jean Rogers, Alan Baxter, Hobart Cavanaugh, Samuel S. Hinds, David Oliver. Uneven crime thriller about unscrupulous alarm company owner Hinds taking advantage of wizened genius Karloff one too many times. Karloff breaks bad a little, using a gadget (the NIGHT KEY) to sabotage Hinds’s service, drawing the attention of gangster Baxter. Karloff’s great, Rogers is earnest as his daughter, and Baxter’s okay. Otherwise, recast it. Tepid direction doesn’t help.
One More Time (1970) D: Jerry Lewis. S: Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, John Wood, Dudley Sutton, Maggie Wright, Ester Anderson, Percy Herbert. Just okay sequel has London club owners Davis and Lawford heading to the country and getting involved in an intrigue concerning Lawford’s just revealed twin brother, South African thugs, and various mistaken identities. Davis and Lawford spend way too much time apart. The third act’s way too tinkered. Director Lewis’s comedy direction’s (at most) middling, but he’s got moments.
The Raven (1935) D: Lew Landers. S: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lester Matthews, Irene Ware, Samuel S. Hinds, Spencer Charters, Inez Courtney. Moody but unsuccessful “adaptation” about brilliant, misanthropic, Poe fanatic neurosurgeon Lugosi coming out of retirement to save Ware’s life. He then falls in love with her and starts creeping on her. She eggs him on (to the point her father, Hinds, gets involved). Little does anyone expect Lugosi’s plan to involve Karloff, blackmail, and torture. The short runtime helps.
Salt & Pepper (1968) D: Richard Donner. S: Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Michael Bates, Ilona Rodgers, John Le Mesurier, Graham Stark, Ernest Clark. Frequently problematic, cartoonish outing for Davis and Lawford. They’re club owners in swinging London and get involved with espionage. Occasionally delightful, usually diverting. Donner’s got a few strong moments but he doesn’t show any flare for the fight scenes, and–appropriately–even less for the madcap. The cast is game, and the leads do have great timing. And wardrobe.
Snitch (2013) D: Ric Roman Waugh. S: Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Nadine Velazquez, Jon Bernthal. Badly done crime thriller about regular guy Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson going undercover to get his son a deal with the DEA. Johnson and de facto second lead Bernthal spend most of the movie talking to each other about the plot. The script’s talky and tedious and utterly absent character development. Not incompetent just boring and bland.people
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Briefly, TV (1 June 2025)
Doctor Who (2024) s02e06 “The Interstellar Song Contest” [2025] D: Ben A. Williams. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Anita Dobson, Freddie Fox, Miriam-Teak Lee, Kadiff Kirwan, Charlie Condou. Excellent, Eurovision almost tie-in (Gatwa was going to host for BBC but didn’t) has an unrecognizable Fox taking over the intergalactic version of the concert. Good thing Gatwa and Sethu have just landed. Gatwa may (or may not) be taking some big swings. Lots of great guest star performances, particularly Lee. Disney money effects are on display, too.
Doctor Who (2024) s02e07 “Wish World (1)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Archie Panjabi, Anita Dobson. Part one of the finale tries to give Gibson her own subplot, introduce Panjabi (without giving away details), while setting up this bewildering WISH WORLD. Gatwa and Sethu are somehow brainwashed into thinking they’re suburban marrieds in a world where doubting is outlawed. There’s some great stuff but once the episode’s trying to set up part two, it slips.
Doctor Who (2024) s02e08 “The Reality War (2)” [2025] D: Alex Pillai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Yasmin Finney, Ruth Madeley. Mostly outstanding finish–as usual, companions Gibson and Sethu don’t quite get enough (particularly Gibson; for a while it seems like Sethu, but she at least gets an acting showcase). Gatwa’s transcendent, supreme. Big Disney money on display for the space-time fireworks, some great callbacks and cameos, and a successful enough bow. And a heck of a cliffhanger.
The Last of Us (2023) s02e06 “The Price” [2025] D: Neil Druckmann. S: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Rutina Wesley, Catherine O’Hara, Robert John Burke, Joe Pantoliano. It’s the cop out of cops out for Pascal’s return. The episode is every year between the season’s on Ramsey’s birthday. Except when it isn’t. It’s a self-indulgent mishmash of trite family moments, punctured by the reveal on a new set of stakes. It might be different if Ramsey or Pascal or the episode brought anything unique.
The Last of Us (2023) s02e07 “Convergence” [2025] D: Nina Lopez-Corrado. S: Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Jeffrey Wright. Until the third act misfire and the tropey cliffhanger (and the less tropey but still tropey set up for the next season), it’s the best episode in ages (if not ever). Real tense stuff as Ramsey, delivering a fantastic action antihero performance, hunts down Dever in storm-flooded post-apocalyptic Seattle. Superb direction from Lopez-Corrado. Dirt cheap writing.
Poker Face (2023) s02e04 “The Taste of Human Blood” [2025] D: Lucky McKee. S: Natasha Lyonne, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Steve Buscemi, Shiloh Fernandez, John Sayles. “It’s just copaganda, actually,” episode hopefully has a story behind it. Grown up kid actor guest star Hoffman gets a strangely bad showcase. She’s fine but the part’s trash. Lyonne’s great, somehow finding the necessary vibe to make it work. Good direction from McKee helps, as well as particular subplots. Lyonne enthusiastically encourages her costars, which doesn’t always work.
Poker Face (2023) s02e05 “Hometown Hero” [2025] D: John Dahl. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Simon Rex, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Brandon Perea, Gil Birmingham. Superbly done baseball episode probably isn’t the best deconstruction of the genre… but it ain’t bad at it. Director Dahl’s got the vibe–the transition between suspect Rex and detective Lyonne has never been smoother. Great cameo from Kane; Rex is phenomenal, Lyonne’s great, Perea’s great, and Buscemi’s going to be a serial killer, huh? Anyway. Stellar.
Poker Face (2023) s02e06 “Sloppy Joseph” [2025] D: Adam Arkin. S: Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Eve Jade Halford, Callum Vinson, David Krumholtz, Margo Martindale, Adrienne C. Moore. It’s a distressingly mid outing with Lyonne trying to outwit a psychopathic second-grader (Halford). Martindale’s somewhat amusing as the principal, but the material’s just not there. It doesn’t help the direction starts (and ends) on a Wes Anderson riff, but is otherwise as aimless as the script. Everyone gets through it relatively unscathed… except for losing time.
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Briefly, TV (13 May 2025)
Doctor Who (2024) s02e04 “Lucky Day” [2025] D: Peter Hoar. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson. On hiatus companion Gibson returns for a feature, all about her romance with alien enthusiast podcaster Jonah Hauer-King. Gatwa and Sethu get a little (Sethu less), and if it weren’t for the many big twists, it might feel like Gibson’s pilot with Jemma Redgrave’s hi-tech alien police. It’s a great showcase for Gibson, albeit shoehorned in.
Doctor Who (2024) s02e05 “The Story & the Engine” [2025] D: Makalla McPherson. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, Sule Rimi, Ariyon Bakare, Stefan Adegbola, Michelle Asante. Lush, romantic, nerdy, and as African as Disney and the BBC would let them get episode has Gatwa trapped in an interdimensional Nigerian barbershop on the back of a giant spider, weaving its way across the firmament. Excellent guest spots from Asante and Bakare; everyone’s good. Gatwa and Sethu’s colonialism-aware dynamic duo keeps getting better. Great cameo, too.
The Last of Us (2023) s02e04 “Day One” [2025] D: Kate Herron. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Jeffrey Wright. Jeffrey Wright joins the show as a level boss and brings some gravitas with him. Ramsey and Merced meanwhile take a break from the zombies to have some real talks, getting interrupted by zombies, of course. It’s solid, entirely because of Ramsey, then Merced, then Wright. Hopefully the show will get something going besides the acting. But probably not?
The Last of Us (2023) s02e05 “Feel Her Love” [2025] D: Stephen Williams. S: Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Tati Gabrielle, Alanna Ubach, Hettienne Park, Maurice Dean Wint. Until Gabrielle shows up, the episode’s barely okay. Somehow, despite Ramsey and Merced both giving fine performances, their working romance thing drags. But once the action starts–after Ramsey passes the first three checkpoints, anyway–the episode takes off. Gabrielle’s phenomenal, bringing out new stuff in Ramsey. And Alanna Ubach’s in it for a scene and a delight.
Poker Face (2023) s02e01 “The Game Is a Foot” [2025] D: Rian Johnson. S: Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo, Jin Ha, Jasmine Guy. Awesome guest performance from Erivo as an apple picker who used to be a child actor. Mom Guy took all the money and cut Erivo out of the will. Lyonne’s on the run from the mob and befriends Erivo. Truly spectacular acting from Erivo, tepid, derivative direction from Rian Johnson. Erivo makes the episode. Odd for a season premiere.
Poker Face (2023) s02e02 “Last Looks” [2025] D: Natasha Lyonne. S: Natasha Lyonne, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Corrigan. Lyonne cowrites and directs. Esposito’s a creepy mortician with an unhappy wife (Holmes, who’s more enthusiastic than successful). When she goes missing, Lyonne gets suspicious but “no lies detected.” Fantastic performance from Esposito, with Lyonne directing him (and the episode) Hitchcockian but not obnoxiously. Corrigan’s got a bit part and is (too briefly) delightful. Lyonne and Esposito deliver.
Poker Face (2023) s02e03 “Whack-A-Mole” [2025] D: Miguel Arteta. S: Natasha Lyonne, John Mulaney, Richard Kind, Chris Bauer, Simon Helberg, Rhea Perlman. Nothing really matters like Rhea Perlman guesting as the mob boss out to get Lyonne. But then everything else delivers, too, like erstwhile FBI agent love interest Helberg’s return, which brings with it Kind, Bauer, and Mulaney. Bauer’s the dark horse, while Mulaney’s… fine. And it sets up the season (finally). The pacing, Lyonne, and Perlman rule.