DC Retroactive: Superman – The ’70s 1 (September 2011)

Martin Pasko knows how to write a good Superman story. Again, not up enough on seventies Superman to know how accurate a flashback issue he writes, but it’s a darn good comic anyway. Pasko brings humanity to the all-powerful character, both in the plot and how he ties it to Superman’s actions.

The stuff with Lois Lane–they’re dating somewhat steady here, but on unstable ground–is absolutely fantastic. Pasko’s dialogue and pacing are also particularly impressive. He fits a lot into the pages, sometimes so much penciller Eduardo Barreto has trouble fitting it all in.

Now, I’m generally familiar with Barreto but the effect Christian Duce’s inks have on the pencils are stunning. Barreto’s clear ability is still there, but the inks give this retro Superman a modern style. It’s beautiful superhero art.

Superman‘s easily DC’s best Retroactive so far. I wish this team did a regular series.

CREDITS

Death Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry; writer, Martin Pasko; penciller, Eduardo Barreto; inker, Christian Duce; colorist, Andrew Elder; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editor, Ben Abernathy; publisher, DC Comics.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing 13 (May 1983)

Pasko finishes up the arc he started the series on and, wow, does it disappoint. It’s not a terrible issue—seeing Yeates draw Satan is pretty cool—but it’s not a good one. This issue is the fourth in the conclusion and there’s no point for it. Pasko’s just dragging it out. He even gets rid of one of his long-time subplots here.

He does have a couple good moments. Like when he shows Christians embracing a new Messiah who turns out to be the Antichrist. The Christians are just too dumb to realize. I’m surprised to see it in a big two comic book, especially from the early eighties.

But that point doesn’t make up for Pasko turning Swamp Thing into Scott Summers for a bit. The only reason he saves the world is because he temporally gets eye beams.

It’s lazy writing.

Then Cuti’s Stranger’s weak again.

CREDITS

Lambs to the Slaughter; writer, Martin Pasko; artist, Thomas Yeates; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza. The Man Who Isn’t There; writer, Nicola Cuti; artist, Fred Carrillo; colorist, Anthony Tollin. Editor, Len Wein; publisher, DC Comics.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #12

The Saga of Swamp Thing 12 Okay, this story line has gone on way too long at this point. Pasko sets up a decent finale only to reveal it’s still not over… they still need to fight the Antichrist.

The story’s awkward, mostly because there’s a huge supporting cast and no reintroduction to them. I’m reading it at a fairly accelerated pace; monthly it would have been very difficult to follow.

At least Pasko is working on his subplots, both Swamp Thing’s illness and the romance between Liz and Dennis. I guess he’s finally memorable enough I’ll use his name. Unfortunately, their almost love scene is terrible. The comic’s rather mature overall but Pasko tones down the adult nature of their conversation and comes off silly. He shouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t allowed the required vocabulary.

There’s some nice Yeates art. The issue’s packed with visuals.

Cuti’s Stranger backup is overwritten but not terrible.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #11

The Saga of Swamp Thing 11 I think this issue must have been an informal “jumping on” point. Over the first four or five pages, Pasko recaps every major event in the series in a flashback. Then he spends another five or six pages on expository dialogue.

The Yeates art, along with some of the concepts, make those dull pages work. I’ve never come across anything else, I don’t think, linking the Holocaust and the Antichrist. Pasko’s idea is the Antichrist would obviously target the Jews, as they’re God’s chosen people (it’s not directly stated, but it’s definitely implied).

The action picks up towards the end with the villain—a mutant child who uses her powers to artificially age herself, which is also a good concept but poorly executed. There’s her, there’s Swamp Thing (who’s incidental to this issue’s events) and there’s a golem.

The less said about Levitz’s anti-euthanasia Phantom Stranger propaganda the better.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #10

The Saga of Swamp Thing 10 John Totleben joins Yeates on the art this issue, but it’s hard to see what effect his inks have on it. The issue is almost incomprehensibly dense, with Pasko starting in the States somewhere and ending up in Dachau. Not sure how well the big reveal works—the Nazis were fueled by a powerful psychic who’s been reincarnated and wants to start the Holocaust up again.

It seems a little insensitive.

What’s best about the issue, which barely features Swamp Thing—it’s more of a global-trotting thriller for his sidekicks, Liz and… the blond-haired dude—is how much Pasko and Yeates fit into it. It’s fully organic, lush comic book narrative. Yeates doesn’t employ any special panel arrangement, he just impossibly fits everything on each page.

The Stranger backup from Cavalieri and Carrillo is weak. The Stranger helps rid the world of an endangered species. Bully for him.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #9

The Saga of Swamp Thing 9 I never thought, reading the issues before this one, I would see cheesecake in Pasko and Yeates’s Swamp Thing run. But this issue isn’t Yeates, it’s Jan Duursema. Duursema handles the art in varying degrees of quality. With Tom Mandrake inking, there are some very iconic Swamp Thing action moments. Duursema and Mandrake make Swamp Thing look even more like Redondo’s rendition in the first series than Yeates ever does. But there’s also a strange approach to people—Duursema likes long shots, with the moving figures looking awkwardly static.

It’s not terrible art, it’s just not great.

It’s also strange because there’s no gimmick, no monster. It’s a very plot-filled issue, with Pasko working through a lot of the series’s threads, sort of unraveling a ball of yarn.

Joey Cavalieri takes over Phantom Stranger scripts this issue and he and Carrillo’s story is fine supernatural mystery. It’s perfectly serviceable.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #8

The Saga of Swamp Thing 8 This issue features Swamp Thing and company–I’m tempted to start singling Liz out because I think she remains a character, but I’m not sure yet–on an island with a bunch of scenes from classic movies. You get to see Tom Yeates, for a couple pages, do a King Kong adaptation. It’s awesome.

Unfortunately, Pasko established himself as pretty serious early on in the series and doing an issue with a giant gimmick is beneath him. Oh, there’s a whole plight of the Vietnam vet thing going on too, but Pasko’s handling of it is far from innovative. It’s a serious subject and Pasko’s ambitious to try to discuss it… It’s just a bad execution.

The awesome artwork easily makes up for the story’s bumps though.

The Stranger backup too discusses war, but in a far broader sense. Barr doesn’t do a terrible job, but these backups are all pretty useless.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #7

The Saga of Swamp Thing 7 Swamp Thing continues his cruise ship adventure, ending up fighting a giant undersea monster. It reminds a lot of the first series, only this time there are subplots. Casey, Swamp Thing’s former charge, has turned out to be an evil psychic. Or something along those lines. It means more action scenes for Yeates, who handles some of them beautifully—Swamp Thing getting knocked around by a tentacle, for example.

The issue sort of fails though. It’s great looking and Pasko’s writing is fine, but there’s nothing to it for Swamp Thing at all. The subplots don’t have to do with him; Pasko spends more time on regular scenes with the supporting cast. Not being having Swamp Thing talk is really starting to hurt.

The Stranger backup is notable as Barr goes all out for an anti-war statement. On art Fred Carrillo does well enough. It’s interesting, but not compelling.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #6

The Saga of Swamp Thing 6 Yeates’s art takes a strange turn this issue. He spends less time on Swamp Thing than he does on the supporting cast. There’s a lot of action this issue too—Pasko does a great job pacing, considering how many big events occur—and even those Yeates handles oddly. He hurries through them, not taking the time to elaborate. Like I said though, his work rendering the supporting cast in still moments shows a great deal of work.

Pasko’s writing, besides the great plotting, is still strong. He’s got a couple iffy scenes, but he’s really working hard towards making the world of Swamp Thing both fantastical (with awful monsters) and realistic (with awful people).

The issue has the familiar “monster of the month” feel to it, which is unfortunate as the monster just becomes an abnormal, totally unnecessary plot point in the story.

The Stanger backup’s decently produced but silly.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #5

The Saga of Swamp Thing 5 So Swamp Thing now has his supporting cast… at least for now. Casey the mute wasn’t cutting it.

It impressive what a good issue Pasko and Yeates produce with all the handicaps. It’s all about the evil organization running an evil clinic. Swamp Thing shows up and gets duped into believing it’s real–his doctor turns out to be a naive innocent too. Hence the growing supporting cast.

Pasko only has so many pages and he paces the issue quite well, even if some of the content is way too expository. Eventually, it gets to the good, disturbing stuff and he and Yeates do well. Yeates shines, in fact, on the creepy stuff. Though I guess Swamp Thing is still secondary to the horror revelation of the issue (again).

The Phantom Stranger backup is pointless. Howard Bender, with DeZuniga on inks, produces some great art, but Barr’s missing a compelling story.