Month: October 2018

The CW Reveals Elseworlds Crossover Poster 

Posted by

0

Arrow’s own Stephen Amell took to Twitter to reveal the official poster for The CW’s upcoming crossover event, Elseworlds. The poster flips the Arrowverse on its head with Amell and The Flash actor Grant Gustin switching mantles.

This year’s crossover kicks off with The Flash on Sunday, December 9, followed by Arrow on Monday, December 10, before it all comes to an end in Supergirl on Tuesday, December 11. Not only will destiny be rewritten during Elseworlds, but it will also mark the Arrowverse’s first foray into Gotham City.

The crossover event stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash, and Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Superman, among others.

Elseworlds will also mark the debut of Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, Jeremy Davies as Dr. John Deegan, and Cassandra Jean Amell as Nora Fries, the wife of Mr. Freeze.

image

Thanks to Scoop for letting me reprint their article!

http://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?ArticleID=219922

Metal Men #55; January, 1978

Posted by

0

bronze-age

Cover: Jim Aparo

“The Master Machinations of the Missile Men!”

Writer: Gerry Conway; Penciler/Inker: Joe Staton

Colorist: Liz Berube; Letterer: Ben Oda

Story editor: Paul Levitz; Managing editor: Joe Orlando

Green Lantern’s ring helps Gold restore the rest of the Metal Men (Tin is strangely MIA during the other’s restoration). The team heads for the moon to rescue Platinum.

Meanwhile, Doc Magnus reveals the Inheritor – a synthetic robot Doc was building in the past issue – with all the powers of the Metal Men and more! Doc sends the Inheritor to the moon to do battle with the Missile Men.

The Metal Men attack and defeat the Missile Men’s leader, based on an observation by Lead of their potential weakness. The leader is destroyed and the remaining Missile Men are rendered inert. Platinum is rescued and all is well.

Oh wait, the Inheritor is on his way … to be continued.

***

It is at this point that Joe Staton stopped trying to draw like Walt Simonson and used his own style on the Metal Men (although you could see glimpses of his style readers of Showcase, Superboy and All-Star Comics have seen for a while now!

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Welcome Back Kotter #5, May 1977

Posted by

0

“Friends! Romans! Sweathogs!”

Cover: Bob Oksner

Writer: Bob Toomey, Pencils: Ric Estrada

Inker: Bob Oksner, Colorist: Liz Berube, Editor: Joe Orlando

logo

Due to budget cuts – and the fact the Sweathogs knocked him over one time too many – Woodman gives Kotter and the Remedial Academic Program the ax! But after Kotter’s begging, Woodman gives him one more week to “prove themselves”.

Kotter enters the Sweathogs in the Brooklyn Shakespeare Boosters Amateur Production Contest to donate the winning prize of $1,000.00 to the school. If they win!

Unfortunately, Kotter’s cold gets worse and worse – he eventually loses his voice and his wife and Horshack take over direction of Julius Ceasar!

The play goes on … not badly … until someone throws a tomato at Freddie and the Sweathogs brawl with the audience. They blew it, but even Woodman admits it proved the Sweathogs want to stay in school and keeping kids in school is their business. Woodman gives them another chance.

Friends! Romans! Sweathogs! Dig it!

***

The letter column is still positive, with one writer saying if the art “loosens up” the comic can recapture its old glory … of two issues ago?

Forty years after publication, I still remember the pun: “Et tu, Brute?” “No, only et one, honest!”

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

 

 

Super Friends #5, June, 1977

Posted by

0

“Telethon Treachery”

Cover: Ramona Fradon and Bob Smith

Writer: E. Nelson Bridwell, Penciler: Ramona Fradon

Inker: Bob Smith, Colorist: Jerry Serpe

Editor: Dennis O’Neil, Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

logo

From the Superfriends Wiki (snarky comments are edited out):

Greenback chooses to begin his crime spree during the third annual, Justice League ‘Super-Thon’ in Midtown Metropolis that is hosted by the SuperFriends and their teenage sidekicks Wendy and Marvin.

His plan involves two components, both of which hinge on the superheroes hanging around the TV studio making oblique references to other superheroes (For example: Harvey’s old Black Cat, Siegel and Shuster’s Funnyman and even Iron Man, among others, get either a shout-out or a brief appearance). The first part of Greenback’s pan hinges on the hope that the superheroes will be too busy answering the phone to fight crime. The second part of his plan is to kidnap all the richest donors who call into the telethon.

Greenback waits for the names of the biggest donors to be mentioned on the air. The first are from New York, which he disregards as too far away and waits for donors from Metropolis or Gotham City.

When he finally abducts his first wealthy guy, it’s Bruce Wayne, so that’s bad luck for Greenback. One by one the Super Friends pursue the abducted Batman, eventually leaving only Wonder Woman and Superman on the phones.

In the Batmobile, Aquaman & Robin, Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog follow Bruce’s signal device but are downed by Greenback’s gun and captured. Wendy sends a message to Superman and Wonder Woman via Wonder Dog (who was hiding under the Batmobile when the others were caught! WW rescues the other Super Friends as Superman rescues Bruce Wayne.

Wayne switches to Batman and captures Greenback. Back at the telethon, our heroes celebrate a record-breaking total!

***

Much is made over the guest stars and donations made during the telethon – including $75,000.00 to the Heart Fund by Anthony Stark (Marvel’s Iron Man).

***

The letter column reviews continue to go from loving it to hating it. It is announced that Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog will leave as of issue #7, to be replaced … but they don’t mention by whom. I Wonder …

In the meantime, the letter column says the Atom will guest-star next issue!

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Hercules Unbound #8, January 1977

Posted by

0

“Game”

Cover: Walt Simonson & Wally Wood, Editor: Joe Orlando

Writer: David Michelinie; Pencilers: Walt Simonson, Inker: Wally Wood

Story Editor: Denny O’Neil

bronze-age

While rafting across the Irish Sea, our heroes are strafed by jet fighters, destroying their raft and killing Dave Rigg! Herc dispatches three of the jets, and he, Kevin, Jennifer and Basil follow the fourth to a strange citadel. They are again attacked, this time by gorgeous Wally- Woodish women in spandex and metal hats! Discovering they are androids, our heroes quickly destroy them.

hercules 8 panel

They are invited into the compound and meet Miss Agatha Simms: a paraplegic military and scientific genius who built the compound (and the androids) to further her “game”. Game? She and her unknown opponent, who also has a military compound, have been hammering at each other for weeks. She mistook our heroes for agents of her opponent, hence her jet fighter and android attack. She explains she plucks her weapons from earth’s past, going back only as far as World War II. As an example, she tries to bring forward PT-109, but instead a … slight miscalculation … brought in the Bismark

Dave Rigg comes ashore, alive and well, and finds his way to a small village. He finds a robotic army recruiter and is knocked unconscious!

Simms promises to restore Kevin’s sight if Hercules helps her with the Game. With the Bismark laying down diversionary fire, Hercules, Kevin, Jennifer and a troop of androids fight their way to the Enemy’s Control Center on the Isle of Man.

Finding a hidden door, they batter their way to the control room to find Dave Rigg in the Commander’s chair!

To be continued!

***

The letters page announces that Michelinie, Simonson and Wood will be the permanent creative team under the editorial guidance of Denny O’Neil!

***

Simonson’s art is once again nearly hidden by Wood’s dominating inks, but it this is still cracking good story and art!

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

 

Metal Men #54; November, 1977

Posted by

0

“After the Ending”

Cover: Jim Aparo

Writer: Gerry Conway; Penciler/Inker: Joe Staton

Colorist: Liz Berube

Story editor: Paul Levitz; Managing editor: Joe Orlando

bronze-age

The rest of the Metal Men join Platinum’s walk-out at the end of the prior issue. We later learn that it was with Doc Magnus’s blessing!

Meanwhile, the Guardians of Oa tell Green Lantern that the Missile Men are invading planets and stripping them of all metal! They are heading to earth! GL discovers them on the moon, where the leader tells the other Missiles they were created only for the pleasure of their queen – Platinum!  The leader of the Missile Men has had a thing for Platinum since issue #5.

Green Lantern wonders if the Metal Men are involved in goes back to earth to find them, not knowing he is a pawn in the Missile Men’s plan!

Green Lantern greets the Metal Men; but the Missile Men leader changes what the robots hear – GL threatening our heroes instead! A fight ensues with Lantern getting the best of Lead, Iron, Platinum and Mercury. Gold (being yellow based) smothers GL, leaving only himself and Tin alive in the final page cliff-hanger!

***

The letter column printed letters for and against the “tongue-in-cheek” approach to the comic. The editor mentions that with Gerry Conway back at the typewriter, a comic will see a more serious approach.

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases

Seven Soldiers of Victory, part 6: the conclusion of the Lost Story!

Posted by

0

Adventure Comics #443, February 1976

The back-up feature is an unpublished saga of the Seven Soldiers of Victory – written in the Golden Age but never rendered and completed until 1975.Adventure 443 splash

Part Seven: The Seven Soldiers of Victory

“Confrontation”

Writer: Joseph Samachson

Penciler/Inker: Dick Dillin, Inker: Tex Blaisdell

Editor: Joe Orlando

Returning from their separate adventures in the Land of Magic, the Seven Soldiers of Victory confront Willie Wisher and fight off all his attempts to stop them: a steel wall, vicious gorillas and a gang of human thugs!

Instead of fighting, the SSOV convince Wisher that, although his intentions are good, he can cause evil. Wisher feels so guilty he wishes he had never been born …

Poof!

Jon Shoman concludes his film (remember?) of the battle to boos and accusations of fraud. It seems only he remembers Wisher. Vigilante remembers Wisher’s words in the movie – “Willie said he’d make sure we’d never forget him…” Perhaps this film was his way of ensuring that, they reason.

Crimson Avenger asks what if Wisher only disappeared and this was all another trick – how will Law’s Legionnaires stop him next time?

***

Pure pure fun! I loved it! Were there other stories tucked away in DC’s files, unpublished? Were they as bad as this? 😉

Thanks for joining me! To read the other Chapters, you can search for “Seven Soldiers”  in the browser on my webpage. Join me again for more Back Pages.

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

 

 

Seven Soldiers of Victory, part 5: The Vigilante!

Posted by

0

Adventure Comics #442, December 1975

The back-up feature is an unpublished saga of the Seven Soldiers of Victory – written in the Golden Age but never rendered and completed until 1975.

Adventure 442 splashPart Six: Vigilante

“Gnome Man’s Land”

Writer: Joseph Samachson

Penciler: José Luis García-López, Inker: Mike Royer

Editor: Joe Orlando

Vigilante finds himself literally in the center of a battlefield of … very tiny people. They stop when they see Vigilante in their midst. They explain: one group believes a straight line is the shortest distance between two points; the other that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line! Vigilante says that sounds “plum loco” and the battle resumes!

Vigilante tries to rope and shoot the warriors, but they shrink and stretch out of the way! The attackers boo and hiss each other, then turn on Vigilante – who has the nerve to use actual weapons!

While imprisoned, Vigilante discovers HE can stretch, too!  He quickly escapes. Returning to the battlefield, Vigilante turns himself into a giant housefly and scares the combatants into surrendering.Adventure 442 weirdness

Through singing a rondo, Vigilante helps the combatants realize they actually agree and stops the war. He stretches through a crack in the ground to return to earth.Adventure 442 singing

***

Just when this series can’t get any weirder, Vigilante turns into Mitch Miller and choir-directs the gnome armies to a lasting peace. Plus, he can stretch like Plastic Man…

I love every panel…

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped.  Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!