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All-Star Comics (1976) #69
Paul Levitz (script)
Joe Staton (pencils)
Bob Layton (inks)
Elizabeth Safian (colors)
Ben Oda (letters)
Joe Orlando (editor)
This issue’s writer Paul Levitz’s magnum opus on the book so far. It’s an action-packed issue—most of the pages are just Justice Society members fighting, whether amongst themselves in the Batcave (holy set-piece, Batman!) or against the Gotham P.D. The cops zap Power Girl with some seventies Earth-Two ray guns and almost kill her; is the reaction for the cops to then try to kill all the superheroes? Earth-Two might not have Apartheid South Africa, but it’s still got killer cops.
Cops versus Justice Society comes after some catch-up. While the heroes found out last All-Star Psycho Pirate had been controlling them and making them dicks, they then had their annual team-up adventure with the Justice League. So they’re just now having a chance to debrief and process. Someone’s trying to console Green Lantern and points out he just saved the world; Lantern whinges about it not being Earth-Two he saved. Psycho Pirate clearly didn’t give him that voluminous gallantry.
After a little more poor communication, the team ends up in their headquarters, where Police Commissioner Bruce Wayne is waiting with his laser gun-armed cops. The Kryptonian casualty leads to fisticuffs and retreat—at this point in the comic, even though the cover promises the JSA in-fighting (and an all-new team member)—it’s a visual miss. Penciller Joe Staton will get to do better work, but he and inker Bob Layton fumble the first showdown.
Things start to improve after there’s a “Batman slapping Robin but for a gag” moment (also, Levitz writes Dick Grayson’s obsequiousness at eleven; he’s a twerp), and then the mystery guest star appears to surveil the retreated Society. They’ve gone to a secret Gothamland hospital for superheroes. The mood’s effective, even if the scene ends with the observer noting the “good guy” superheroes are acting maliciously.
One could put in a pin in that item, but—at least as far as this issue goes—one shouldn’t bother. Levitz throws in big red herrings multiple times just to get to the finish. The narrative contortions he successfully puts this issue through are wild. Especially considering Staton and Layton; their work is much better with the set-piece fight scene, but they’ve still got their limits. They have a good issue: the mystery observer’s second appearance is probably their best work (on the book together), and they can sell the melodramatic ending.
The story has Dr. Fate leading the stars of this comic book against Commissioner Wayne, Robin, Hourman, Starman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Wonder Woman. Whenever All-Star has needed a body, the writer has thrown in a character from the latter group. Robin even started this All-Star comeback; he was on the original Super-Squad. And Dr. Mid-Nite almost died once—or was it Hourman—it was at least one and probably both.
They’re all of a sudden not second-stringers—Batman’s Red Shirts more than hold their own against the “good guys,” with Robin refusing to listen (and fighting dirty as hell), and Wonder Woman trying to get Green Lantern to chill out and let her lasso him. Starman and Star-Spangled Kid have a bad interchange, considering Kid’s supposed to be Starman’s legacy hero or whatever. But at least Levitz tries. And it gives Staton variety in the intricate fight scenes. So much foreground and background going on.
The finale’s not a surprise, other than what threads Levitz does and doesn’t bring in.
For All-Star, maybe the most successful issue ever. Is there any reason to believe next issue isn’t someone else being revealed to be under Psycho-Pirate’s control? No, but this issue does earn it some hope.
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The Spirit (February 16, 1941) “Radio Station WLXK”
Will Eisner (editor, script, pencils, inks)
Joe Kubert (colors)
Sam Rosen (letters)
WLXK is a beautifully plotted strip, with lots happening in a very short amount of time. A rather unlikely amount of time, actually, but considering part of the plot has kids listening to the Spirit kick ass on the radio and cheering along… Eisner and studio have all the slack they want.
The strip opens with radio station owner Marion Dale refusing to let fifth columnists threaten her. They’ve promised to blow up the station if she doesn’t report an Eastern European country welcomed their invasion by a certain (still unnamed) bad guy. She reports the truth, and boom goes the station.
Luckily, the bomb goes off during Ebony’s radio serial, which piques the Spirit’s interest, and he goes down to the station. He finds Marion very enthusiastic about his plans to foil the spies, regardless of the scant details. She’s too busy throwing herself at him. Her amorous intentions end up being the proverbial rifle on the wall, to great effect.
After repairing the station by flying new wiring between the antennas in the autoplane, the Spirit reveals his great idea. They’re going to do a radio play about the attempts to silence the station. The idea is all the attention will piss off the wrong people, who will send thugs to the station. At that point, the Spirit will beat them up and get the necessary information to foil the ring.
Lots could go wrong with the plan, but Commissioner Dolan happens to be listening to the radio broadcast with an acquaintance, and—again—the strip moves so well, works so well, has such good fisticuffs—Eisner can get away with pretty much anything. Especially since everyone gets in on the radio play energy, including Dolan. It’s less proof of concept for a Spirit radio series and more Eisner exploring how Spirit’s particular celebrity fits right in with radio’s fictional adventurers.
The art is solid throughout, with some great long shots to move the story along quickly. They slow down for the fight scene, of course; Ebony’s nowhere to be found, but Marion tries her best to help. The strip’s neatest bit is how the Spirit’s fight on the radio plays out with Dolan, who’s as thrilled as the kids listening.
It’s a great one. The end joke is a particular standout, with Eisner hanging onto the moment to get a better bit. Excellent work, start to finish.
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Teen Titans (1966) #50
Bob Rozakis (script)
Don Heck (pencils)
Joe Giella (inks)
Jerry Serpe (colors)
Milt Snapinn (letters)
E. Nelson Bridwell (associate editor)
Julius Schwartz (editor)
Writer Bob Rozakis—and I mean this statement as a compliment—has a wonderfully juvenile vibe for Teen Titans. Their dialogue is very groovy, maybe a little too groovy for 1977 (though they are down with disco, thank goodness), and Rozakis seems to be targeting a younger audience than the cast. The Titans are all either post-high school at this point, going to college, or working jobs; Rozakis positions them aspirationally. For example, Kid Flash’s concerns about his parents being able to afford a better college for him aren’t character development fodder for Wally West, rather some didactic storytelling to let the pre-college readers know sometimes you don’t get to go to a fancy college with Robin and Harlequin.
The issue’s setting up for next time, with strong cliffhangers for each team of Titans, and it ought to finish a little less substantial, but Rozakis (and artists Don Heck and Joe Giella) deliver an impressively solid (for a setup narrative) outing. Again, against the grain, if Rozakis were writing for the characters, the issue’s a collection of purposeful vignettes more than a story with rising action. The cover promises the East Coast Titans (Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Speedy, Harlequin) against the West Coast team. The West Coast team is mostly retired—but still young—heroes: Hawk (without Dove), the original Bat-Girl, Golden Eagle, and Changeling. Though maybe he’s still Beast Boy.
The issue delivers separate stories for each team and no obvious link between their adventures yet—hence why you’ll be back next time.
The East Coast team opens the issue, with everyone in their civvies, riding the train back from Kid Flash and Wonder Girl visiting Robin and Harlequin’s aforementioned fancy university. There’s a strange disaster, followed by a strange villain fight. The disaster is odd, the villain is bizarre, the fight and heroics are just excellent superhero work from Heck and Giella. Their backgrounds are sometimes too sparse, and they lack detail, but the action moves beautifully.
The West Coast team’s adventure involves a levitating aircraft carrier. It’s a big enough carrier to host original Bat-Girl Betty Kane’s tennis match, but not big enough to warrant any crew scenes during the match or levitation sequence outside them, being background for the heroes. Hawk is currently serving in the Navy on the carrier. He and Bat-Girl team up to save the sailors while Changeling and Golden Eagle both get involved aerially.
Rozakis does varying levels of setup on these characters, with Golden Eagle and Changeling getting more than the others (Hawk gets the least, even giving up some of his time to establish he doesn’t know jack about Batgirl canon). The East Coast team will—thanks to their second scene—get the better character stuff, but the superhero team-up action of the West Coast team is superior. The East Coast team basically does solo heroics, West Coast works together.
After the West Coast team meet a couple surprise guest stars, they cliffhanger, and the action returns to the Titans in their headquarters. Rozakis trades Kid Flash and Wonder Girl for Speedy, Guardian, and Bumblebee. Guardian and Bumblebee have their own subplot (including some knowing, toxic masculinity-based decisions), but it’s even more for Speedy. Robin tells him to stop being creepy about women, and Harlequin takes him to task for being a pest. It’s fantastic stuff, and where Rozakis distinguishes himself.
Then they have to go to an action scene, which turns out to be connected to their first action sequence, and—according to the ending tag, anyway—will involve them meeting up with the other team… next issue!
For a Bronze Age teen superhero team comic, it’s hard to imagine it can get any better; the issue’s an exemplar of the category.
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The Spirit (February 9, 1941) “The Substitute Spirits”
A week has passed since last strip, and the Spirit still hasn’t let Commissioner Dolan know he’s alive. Ebony points out he’s being unkind to a friend, and Spirit’s surprised to realize he’s got affection for Dolan. Now, despite Dolan constantly trying to pull one over on Spirit, Dolan’s always concerned for him. They’ve been pals since the first strip; the strip’s used to open with a preamble mentioning Dolan being his only friend; not to mention they spent Christmas together. Spirit not thinking they’re friends is profoundly weird.
And Ebony can’t convince Spirit otherwise, either. Spirit is happy to let Dolan think he’s dead the rest of the strip.
In addition to mourning, Dolan’s got a concerned citizen with money very upset the cops aren’t doing anything about the fake yogi fleecing his wife. Spirit doesn’t get a pass for the racial and religious caricatures, because although the yogi is indeed a fake and completely ignorant, Spirit’s going to do accent work. So it’s cringe but less offensive than if anyone weren’t knowingly conning. Ish.
And the “Eastern” visuals are additionally complicated by the gorgeous damn art in the fight scene. Eisner and studio do a big Buddha statue fight panel. Breathtaking page.
Most of the strip’s great looking. Eisner intersperses the yogi mystery with Dolan and some other cops getting it in their heads—independently of one another—they should wear all blue, don some distinctive masks, plop on a fedora, and fight crime as the new Spirit. None of them are very good at it, though some of them are worse than others. The bumbling leads to a nice constraint—visually and narratively–then to the Spirit and the fake yogi’s showdown.
While the fight is the central visual spectacle, the last couple pages are quite good, too, particularly as an example of Eisner and studio’s accomplished flexing. Spirit’s got an idea for keeping himself dead; great panels, but also a very nice visual callback to early Spirit attempts at stagecraft.
With the humor threaded throughout, the strip moves at a fine pace. The cops get their setups—though one of them is Dolan’s assistant, Finnegan, who’s multiple times tried to arrest the Spirit, and his decision to carry on the good work is bewildering. It’s hilarious because Eisner’s only ever used Finnegan as comic relief; the implication he’s a secret Spirit fan is profound.
The other cop, O’Rourke, may also be a returning character. He gets some very funny material, but is only interested in the Spirit II gig because he can’t get any respect at work. So he’s doing it as an ego thing, Dolan’s doing it as sincere homage, and Finnegan’s doing it for his own reasons.
It’s an outstanding strip. The bumbling pseudo-Spirits contrast the relative calm and very moody temple, giving the strip a lot of energy.
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Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1977) #231
Paul Levitz (script)
James Sherman (1), Michael Netzer (2) (pencils)
Jack Abel (inks)
Elizabeth Safian (colors)
Ben Oda (letters)
Joe Orlando (editor)
The Legion of Super-Heroes had cover title billing with Superboy for over thirty issues before this issue. It’s one officially titled Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes in the indicia. Even more—literally—they’re going up to fifty-two pages an issue. To celebrate, writer Paul Levitz, pencillers James Sherman and Michael Netzer (each handling one of the two chapters), and inker Jack Abel deliver an almost perfect space superhero epic. It holds until the very last panel, when Superboy is concerningly malevolent.
Superboy’s mad because the issue’s supervillains—the Legion’s nemesis team, the Fatal Five—have escaped death. During their escape, the Fatal Five tried to blow up the Legion, but failed. So Superboy’s grandstanding about how he’s going to make them pay in their next appearance. It just does not play.
And Levitz’s intentional in this move; earlier in the issue he characterizes Superboy’s attack on the Five’s spaceship focusing on how Superboy’s righteous anger fuels his extreme power. It both does and doesn’t stand out in the moment; Levitz is just saving up headliner Superboy for big moments (this attack is his first foray into the conflict), so it comes with a punch. But it’s also a bit of a strange vibe.
In that earlier scene, Superboy is super mad because the Five are taking advantage of a planet about to explode. According to the narration, he’s thinking about Krypton and the tragedy. It’s emotionally too much for the Boy of Steel. The Legion is on the planet, evacuating all the people, but time is running out. The psychic on the psychic planet (Levitz skates over this absurdity real fast, but there are telepaths in Legion, so sure, why not) saw the star go supernova too late.
It’s a strange spotlight, like Levitz was assuring someone, even though Legion was officially in the title, Superboy would still get featured special.
But once he’s got that first solo attempt out of his system, Superboy mostly syncs with the rest of the team. Levitz delights in his purple exposition with lots of second-person call-outs and thoughtful echoes in the prose. It never gets tedious; he and editor Joe Orlando always seem to know when the narration’s gone far enough and it’s time to focus on the art.
Because even though this issue’s a giant-sized epic featuring five distinct narratives (the evacuation, examining the star, kidnapped Legionnaires, the rescue team, and the leader of the Fatal Five’s plotting), it’s a visual delight. Sherman pencils the first half, opening on two Legionnaires happening across the Five and getting captured, then cutting to the planet-wide evacuation. Great visuals, with varied panels showing off the scale of the evacuation and the rush of the Legion’s work. But where Sherman really gets to flex is Brainiac-5 and friends’ science mission to the planet’s doomed sun; the Emerald Empress with her Emerald Eye attacks them. Thanks to Sherman and Abel—and Levitz, who doesn’t go overboard with the green theme—it’s a dangerous, thrilling fight. Empress thinks she can handle the good guys since Superboy’s not with them (she’s hot for Superboy; sadly, they never get any interaction).
The good guys have to use their specific powers in tandem to counter her successfully. Levitz loves writing about how the powers work. So he lines up action scenes so he can explain the recipe for the superpower combinations.
All with that great art. Space superheroes comics doesn’t get better.
The issue cuts back to the planet for another big action sequence, involving three of the Fatal Five and a growing number of Legionnaires who just can’t quite get an upper hand. Superboy isn’t there to help because he’s about to launch that attack on the spaceship and fail, which concludes the first chapter.
A handful of Legionnaires get a little more than the others, mostly just in dialogue, though sometimes starting a lengthy scene by themselves. It’s a small planet when you can fly, so no one’s by themselves too long.
The second half, featuring Netzer art—while not as strong as Sherman’s, is still excellent (and Netzer gets to do a fantastic, “this should be a poster” full-pager)–has the Legion figuring out the Five’s plan and how to defeat them. The reader doesn’t get all of the information on the latter, because there needs to be some surprise.
Right up until Superboy starts humming a murder ballad, it’s smooth sailing. Levitz’s reveals all drop at the right time, Netzer’s good at conveying the variety of actions (including, of course, Legionnaires with different powers fighting bad guys who have their own different powers). Even something simple like a fight between two giant-sized individuals (good guy Colossal Boy and bad guy Validus) gets complicated with all the regular-sized flying superheroes and villains weaving in and out.
It’s a stellar comic, with Levitz’s enthusiasm in the exposition carrying over the sillier future elements, and then the art starting at a high level and only getting better throughout.
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