Ernie Chua

Kobra #3, July 1976

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Behold, the Bronze Age!

bronze-age

“Vengeance in Ultra-Violet” written by Martin Pasko, art by Keith Giffen. Editor: Gerry Conway, Inkers: Terry Austin and Dick Giordano, Colorist: Liz Berube, Letterer: Ben Oda

Cover by: Ernie Chua (Chan)

Synopsis: Kobra and Jason Burr plummet to their deaths after the cliffhanger of the previous issue. Perez throws a line to save Jason. Burr grabs the line and watches as his twin plummets to earth. He braces for death, due to the empathic symbio-link between the twins: one feels what the other feels, even, presumably the sweet kiss of death.

But … Jason lives! And is convinced that Kobra is dead!

Until Kobra breaks into Jason’s apartment and enlists his aid in defeating Solaris. Jason agrees, and while he changes into his Gemini suit, Kobra and Melissa share an emotional and mysterious moment (that Jason also feels). Apparently, Melissa and Kobra had a relationship some two years before…

Dig this beautiful Giffen art …

Giffen art Kobra 3

While invading Solaris’ stronghold, Kobra tells Jason about Natalie, his former love: they met while both were convalescing in a hospital. Kobra quit his Cult to travel with Natalie, who is shot dead by Interpol agents in Picadilly. Seems she was a murderess and jewel thief. He later says he returned to the cult to conquer them and mold them into international terrorists bent on destroying the law enforcers who killed Natalie.

Meanwhile, Kobra stops Solaris’ mechanical guard as Jason negotiates a laser trap by communicating telepathically with his twin who controls Jason’s movements through the maze (we never see the twins use this trick again in the series).

Kobra and Jason attack Solaris and his men. Jason realizes Kobra not only wants to stop Solaris, but also to snag the Heliotron for his own! In the midst of the battle between the brothers Perez blasts his way in with his fellow CIA agents. CIA? Yes, Kobra reveals that Perez is really CIA and trying to get back canisters of cobra venom (stolen by Kobra) – venom that should have been destroyed six years ago!

Burr feels betrayed, punches Perez, rips off the Gemini costume and goes home.

A nice way to conclude the magazine – the letters page says this is likely the last issue, despite the blurb describing issue four on the last panel.

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This July 1976 DC comic was not part of the “DC Salutes the Bicentennial” collection of issues in which one collected the cigar band upper covers to get a coveted Superman belt buckle. But it was in good company – issues of Flash and Wonder Woman weren’t part of the promotion either.

Look at the people involved in this issue – they should all be part of a comic book hall of fame: Giordano? Terry Austin? Keith Giffen? Martin Pasko? Yeesh! For a C-list comic this has a lot of talent! Granted all but Giordano are early in their comic book careers, but STILL …

Pasko does a fine job showing us Solaris’ insanity. He is almost child-like and we almost pity his demise at Kobra’s hands.

 

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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!

Detective Comics #461: the Dark Knight Bicentennial Banner blog continues!

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DC SALUTES THE BICENTENNIAL

#29

Detective Comics #461

Detective_Comics_461

Published monthly, thirty cents, July

Cover artist: Ernie Chua

Editor: Julius Schwartz

            The first issue of Detective Comics was published in March 1937 as an anthology comic book specializing in hard-boiled detective stories akin to the pulp magazines that were its inspiration. Despite retooling and renumbering for publicity and sales’ sake, the comic has been in publication ever since!

            It is the comic book that DC Comics took its name from. So really the company is called Detective Comics Comics. I know, nowadays it’s called DC Entertainment. Fine. I still sometimes refer to it as National. I’m old.

            The most obvious claim to fame of Detective Comics was the debut of Batman in #27 (May 1939). But Detective also featured the debut of Robin, Commissioner James Gordon, the Martian Manhunter, Simon and Kirby’s Boy Commandos, Batgirl (the 1960s version), Walt Simonson’s Manhunter, Batwoman, Bat-Mite, the Crimson Avenger, ManBat, and Batvillains the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face,  Killer Kroc, the Calculator, and Blockbuster.

            Sadly, despite some incredible stories and art, Detective Comics at the time of the Bicentennial was at its nadir. Within two years there will be serious talk of cancelling their namesake comic. Fortunately it merged with Batman Family into a Dollar Comic and survived the DC Implosion. Batman’s immense popularity in the coming years made the idea of cancelling the magazine laughable. It’s still out there, renumbered as part of DC’s “New 52” publicity stunt, but still one of only six of the thirty-three comics published under the Bicentennial banner still published as an active title.

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“Bruce Wayne – Bait in a Trap”, Bob Rozakis and Michael Uslan ( w ), Ernie Chua/Chan (a), Frank McLaughlin (i)

            This story is continued from the previous issue and concludes in the next. I owned that third issue when it was published.

            Captain Stingaree believes Batman to actually be three different men; as part of a corps financed by Bruce Wayne. He kidnaps Bruce Wayne and alerts Commissioner Gordon and Alfred to that factby exploding a dummy in Wayne’s clothing on the front steps of police headquarters.

bruces clothes

            Batman appears (to the delight of a stunned Alfred) and vows to “rescue” Bruce Wayne. Batman later explains that he easily escaped a holding cell meant to keep in a frivolous playboy, not a dark avenger of the night! Mud from the kidnap scene leads Batman to Gotham’s sewers. Stingaree blocks the exits and unleashes swarms of rats to attack Batman. He escapes, but the next chamber is flooded and he and a scuba-equipped Stingaree fight it out, both falling unconscious and whisked to a drain leading to the Gotham river (eww…).  Stingaree awakes first and hauls Batman off to his lair.

underwater fight

             Bruce Wayne appears at police HQ and tells Gordon and Alfred that Batman rescued him. But … but…

            Stingaree, only now discovering Wayne’s escape, approaches the captive Batman and unmasks him – revealing him to be Batman #2: Robert Courtney! We readers who did not read part one gasp in astonishment and say, “Umm, who?”

            All will be revealed in the next issue. Granted it’s been nearly 40 years but I don’t want to spoil the ending. If you REALLY want to know, email me. Or look up the ending online…

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“The Moneybag Caper”, Denny O’Neil ( w ), Pablo Marcos (a), Al Milgrom (i)

Trench Tec 461

            St. Louis private investigator Tim Trench appeared in three issues of the “all new” Wonder Woman (#179-181 – not counting a later reprint issue) helping her and I-Ching during her non-powered Diana Rigg phase. He had two solo stories in Detective Comics (460 and 461) and did not appear again until 2006 when he was killed off in 52 #18. His Wikipedia entry also says he was a member of the Hero Hotline, but the Hero Hotline, nor the Grand Comics Database or DC Comics Database, mention this.

            He was a two-fisted old-school private dick. You could almost hear the saxophone music playing in the background of his two solo stories. He was such a caricature he could only be described in metaphor. If he was a brand of toilet paper he’d be taken off the market – he was rough and tough and wouldn’t take crap off of anyone…

            Tim enters his office to find one of Big Willy Cline’s hired goons. But wait, this isn’t a hit – the goon, Manooch, says Cline has a job for Trench! Since his “bank account is lower than a snake’s belly”, he says he might be interested.  Seems Big Willy tried to double cross the other gangs and got caught. He offers Trench 500 big ones to see him safely to the airport.

            A car tries to run over Trench, Cline, and Manooch. Trench knocks a blind man out of the way but too late to save Cline, who is shot by a man in the car. Trench shoots back – killing the driver and the shooter. He socks it to Manooch, who dove out of the way before the car hit. He was in on it!

            Meanwhile, the blind man walks away with the $500 cash. That’s okay: Trench didn’t earn it anyway…

 

 

Batman’s Hot Line: letter column giving universal praise for issue #457, “No Hope for Crime Alley,” a story that has become a Bronze Age classic. All five letters praised the story – the first three writers calling it a masterpiece. Adam Castro of New Rochelle, NY, David B. Kirby of Richmond, VA, Paul Emrath of Milwaukee, WI, Louis A, Latzer of St. Louis, MO and Elizabeth Smith of Tacoma WA contributed. The latter was the only letter writer to also praise #457’s back-up Elongated Man story.

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Join me next time for DC’s Bicentennial issue #30: Action Comics #461

 

Original Material copyright 2015 Michael Curry

Images used are copyright their respective holders and reproduced here under the “Fair Use” doctrine of 17 USC 106 & 106a for the purposes of criticism and comment.

Batman #277: my Bicentennial blog continues!

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DC SALUTES THE BICENTENNIAL

#11

Batman #277

277 cover

Published monthly, thirty cents, July

Cover artist: Ernie Chua (Chan)

Editor: Julius Schwartz

            Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27 cover dated May of 1939. The next spring in 1940 he was given his own comic. Batman #1 featured the debut of iconic villains the Joker and Catwoman. For the past 70+ years, renamings and renumberings notwithstanding, there has been a Batman comic book published ever since.

            By the time of the Bicentennial, though, Batman was suffering a lull in sales, if not popularity. The popularity of the television show in the 1960s turned the comic into a campy child-like (or even child-ish) version of the Caped Crusader.  The 1970s turned him back into the dark knight of vengence. The pendulum swung even farther in that direction in the 1980s and has yet to swing back to even a middle ground. That is in the future, however, on July 1976, Batman the character and the comic were somewhere in between…

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            “The Riddle of the Man Who Walked Backwards”, David V. Reed ( w ), Ernie Chua and Tex Blaisdell (a)

            A Black-Lagoon-ish sea creature terrorizes the sitizens of a Florida resort town. A vacationing Bruce Wayne and girlfriend investigate and fight off the beast near a cave on the beach.

 

277-1

 

            The next night Batman stakes out the cave and spots a man land his small boat on the beach and walk backwards into the cave – sweeping away his prints.

 

277 backwards

 

 

            Batman enters the cave and fights off the stranger only to be knocked out by a third man!

            Batman awakes … as Bruce Wayne! His assailant is dead and Wayne arrested. He escapes from the local jail and meets Alfred. Alfred had followed Batman to the cave and quickly removed his costume to protect his identity from the killer and the police!

            Escaping, Batman – back in costume – searches the cave for clues and finds oily goo, that leads him to an off-shore oil rig. He overhears crooks talking about a “drop”. They catch Batman and throw him in a huge tube under the sea.

 

277 tube

 

 

            Escaping again, Batman goes to the new drop point discussed by the crooks in the rig – their old drop point, the cave, is now compromised. He fights the sea creature again – it is one of the crooks in disguise, and stops their drug-smuggling ring.

            Bruce Wayne is released and returns to Gotham City, where an unbelievable naive Jim Gordon believes that he and Batman being at the same Florida resort is entirely a coincidence…

 

 

Letters to the Batman, answered by the Answer Man himself, Bob Rozakis for issue #273. Rod McLaughlin of Ramsey, Mont. (positive), Peter Sanderson of New York, NY (guesses that David V Reed is another name for Julius Schwartz;  Rozakis debunks it), Fred Schneider of New York, NY, Mike White, Mackinaw, IL, & Michael D. Darguy of Royal, MI all contribute with positive comments.

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            Join me for my next review of DC’s Bicentennial issue #12, a little magazine called PLOP!

 

Original Material copyright 2015 Michael Curry

Images used are copyright their respective holders and reproduced here under the “Fair Use” doctrine of 17 USC 106 & 106a for the purposes of criticism and comment.