Category: Random Retrospective

Random Retrospective #11 – Teen Titans #7

Continuing Geoff Johns’ run on TEEN TITANS after their first adventure/origin story, finds the members all dealing with their downtime away from Titans Tower, working out what they’re doing and where they’re going. Cyborg and Beast Boy (or is it Changeling now? I can never remember) are still at the Tower looking into the disappearance of Raven and Jericho – from memory, I think Jericho had gone bad at this point and used his body-hopping powers to make Deathstroke kill his long-time aide-de-camp Wintergreen.

Kid Flash – who recently read the entire contents of a library so that people would stop thinking he’s stupid – is coming to realise that knowing everything isn’t the same as being intelligent. Still doesn’t stop him taking out the Trickster, though.

Wonder Girl has her own issues, though getting into school is helped by Arrowette (and Secret) striking a deal with the principal.

And Superboy gets a visit from Superman who gifts him Krypto to help him focus and get to grips with pretending to be a regular boy in Smallville during the weeks. Has to be said, Superboy’s not really that interested at first.

The other members of the team get a spotlight, too, but topping and tailing the issue is Deathstroke at the grave of Wintergreen, planning his vengeance against the Titans, and enlisting his daughter Rose who will become the new Ravager.

I have fond memories of the Johns run on TEEN TITANS as it pulled together some of the members of the revered Wolfman/Perez line-up along with newer characters and it seemed to work. Johns always seemed to be able to give the sometimes sprawling cast enough room to move and enough of a voice for each of them.

Random Retrospective #10 – The Spectre #20

When Hal Jordan was revealed as the new Spectre in DAY OF JUDGMENT, I was both intrigued and a little cautious. I’d been a fan of both characters for years and it seemed like this was an interesting take, using Jordan’s experience as Green Lantern to fuel the Spectre’s thirst for vengeance. The series that eventually spun out of that idea, though, took things in a different direction, and Hal ended up becoming the Spirit of Redemption, which sort of made sense for his character, but was wildly different for the Spectre.

Issue #20 of THE SPECTRE finds Hal visiting (I don’t want to say haunting) someone who believes he has the perfect life.

We get little snippets of that perfect life as Robert enjoys a great marriage, a lovely young son, a good job, all he could ever wish for. Bit by bit, though, the facade falls away as the Spectre intrudes on his world, forcing him to face up to the fact that things aren’t what they seem, though Robert fights against him.

Eventually, though, the Spectre has no choice but to step in and confront Robert with the truth that his life was not perfect, although he had made the best of himself. Born poor, his mother dying when he was young, leaving him with an abusive, alcoholic father, Robert had grown and done well, getting the wife and son, the loving family he dreamed of. Unfortunately, he fell.

And then he died. And kept living his perfect life over and over again in some form of limbo state which prevented him from “moving on” which is where the Spectre came in.

With the Spectre’s help, Robert’s able to move to the next phase of his existence – the next deep dream – in Heaven, while the Spectre returns to Earth to continue his mission.

It’s a nicely done in one story, with lovely art from Norm Breyfogle, Denis Janke, and Guy Major, but for me it suffers from the same things this series did: the recasting of the Spirit of Vengeance as one of Redemption; and the slightly trite “everything’s going to work out as we all go to heaven” message. It’s a nice comforting thought, but it’s not one I agree with, and that tempered my enjoyment of the series.

Random Retrospective #8 – Justice League of America #99

The three issues previous to this one dealt with the Justice League defeating Starbreaker, the cosmic vampire, before sending him off for trial by the Guardians of the Universe. JLA writer Mike Friedrich’s run had dealt with various real-world issues such as pollution earlier in his run and with new writer Len Wein due to take over with #100, Friedrich had a final issue to make some sort of stand or get a message across.

While helping clean up after Starbreaker’s final battle, Black Canary is trapped by giant, fast growing plants. Green Lantern suffers a similar fate:

It turns out there are two aliens, a father and son duo, spreading seeds in order to return Earth to balance – mankind has caused problems and these aliens are here to sort it out by planting invasive species of flora everywhere. The League attack but each time they use their powers, the aliens use their staffs to direct their effects elsewhere:

The Flash’s powers above, for example, are redirected to the Caribbean and accidentally prevent Aquaman preventing an oil slick from making landfall. Those heroes that are affected by seemingly random powers contact Hawkman who’s on monitor duty. He calls all the heroes back to the satellite where they compare notes and Batman works out what’s happening:

Bu all to no avail; every attack by the League on the aliens is countered and causes some destruction elsewhere in the world, despite Hawkman navigating the satellite and driving it around Earth’s orbit like someone who’s had far too many beers to be behind the wheel. Finally Batman tells the team he has another plan; instead of stopping the aliens, the League help them plant as many seeds as possible, until:

That’s right – the League just look on as the aliens struggle to breathe, with Atom callously pointing out their problems. It’s down to Green Lantern to lay some truth on the alien father and son:

And that’s it – the moral of the story is, I guess, that we humans needs to stop messing about with our planet and sort out the balance of nature. As clumsily written as it was in 1972, it’s a shame that fifty years later with climate change causing so many issues we’re still having the same conversation, but in a much more urgent sense.

Random Retrospective #7 – JLA #73

I know we had an issue of JLA a couple of weeks ago, but as these posts are looking just at my comic collection, there’s a fair bet it’s going to be DC heavy so expect some titles to crop up more than once.

Joe Kelly’s run on JLA was probably, for me at least, dominated by this storyline, The Obsidian Age, where the JLA go to Atlantis in the past and end up being killed, forcing Batman to enact a Plan B which saw Nightwing lead a bunch of mostly second string heroes as a reserve JLA to beat the bad guy and bring the main team back. That reserve JLA included a hero called Faith who, I think, got on to the League for the same reason that Naomi has these days – she was the creation of the writer.

The team travel to Atlantis in the present because some crazy old witch has moved most of the Earth’s water from one side of the planet to the other, destabilising the orbit. The find and confront the witch who really has bonded with her native land:

And despite holding the upper hand for about two seconds, the League are defeated by the witch just before the island is bombed by the air force on the command of Lex Luthor (as he’s President of the US at this point.)

That explosion is a new form of bomb which provides enough energy for the ring-generated energy form holding the spirit of Green Lantern (stay with me, people) to grab the team and protect them. He introduces them to Manitou Raven and says they’ve been waiting for 3,000 years in order to work out a plan to go back in time and save everyone.

I remember thinking at the time that The Obsidian Age probably went on a couple of issues too long – it was a prelude and seven issues – and re-reading this one still has me feeling that; it’s too drawn out when it should have been tighter. Can’t help thinking that it was waiting for a trade collection, to be honest.

That said, I enjoyed Kelly’s run on the whole and I think it gets forgotten a little as it follows Morrison and then Waid on the title, which is a shame.