Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics hitting the stands on November 22, 1983.

Action Comics #552: Wolfman and Kane get back around to what was going on with the Forgotten Heroes, last seen 7 months ago in issue #545. Dane Dorrance, Cave Carson, and Rick Flag have been brought together with Animal Man, Dolphin, and Congo Bill, by the mysterious Immortal Man. They find they all have one thing in common: they've seen a great, golden temple in their last exploits, knowledge of which was hushed up by the government in many cases. Now Immortal Man tells them that in order to defeat a menace to the entire world, they must destroy Superman! Meanwhile, Vandal Savage has manipulated Superman into a position where dormant plant organisms Savage caused to colonize the Man of Steel to enter an active phase, growing giant vines to menace Metropolis. 

Detective Comics #535: Moench and Colon/Smith reveal that Jason Todd wasn't killed in his very first outing as Robin, but he seems to have a concussion. When he wakes up, he's acting oddly. He sucker-punches Batman and heads out dressed as Robin. He goes to Crazy Quilt's hideout where the villain's goons are waiting in ambush. Batman recovers a few minutes later and follows a clue Jason left him. He arrives in time to take out some thugs, but Crazy Quilt seems to be getting the better of them until Jason realizes he needs his helmet to see. Having hypnotized Crazy Quilt with his own reflected light, he makes him remove his helmet attachments.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and Patton/McManus, Star City beginning to seem a really ridiculous place. Not only are the Werewolves over the top in their Mad Max stylings, but as Green Arrow and Ozone are trying to escape them, their resident inventor reveals he's turned a shack into a flying contraption. In the end, our heroes have the black box snatched from them by the Detonator.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #16: Arion and friends are walking home after leaving the city of Mu. Arion reveals to Chian that in bis battle with Garn, he didn't kill him, but rather absorbed him somehow. Since that time Arion has felt the evil inside of himself. The magic energy sword that Arion found in Garn's tower in Thamuz has amplified the effect urging the mage to bloodlust.

Arion and his companions are then captured by a group of animal men, victims of experiments by Atlantean scientists. (This seems a reference to the animal men of New Atlantis in Warlord, bring closer together DC's never completely in sync views of Atlantis.) Bylgor, the leader of the animal men hates all Atlanteans for the crimes committed against him, and moves to kill Arion, until the disgraced General Balar, who happens to be hiding out with the animal men, intervenes. Balar wants Arion for himself, but though forced to use the magic sword to win, Arion doesn't kill Balar. The animal men allow them to leave in peace.

Meanwhile, kingship isn't pleasing to Wyynde, but once he's introduced to his intended bride Fawndancer, he starts to warm to it a bit.

All-Star Squadron #30: Wonder Woman tells Liberty Belle about the Justice Society's recent, all-out fight against the Black Dragon Society. Most of the issue by Thomas, Howell, Machlan, and de la Rosa, is the usual split the team to squash the various plots of Black Dragon, but the real reason for the story's existence seems to be to address the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans during the War. The story is admittedly softer in its condemnation than a comic would be today. Still, for kid's media in the 80s it does a decent job. 

New Adventures of Superboy #50: Giffen provides the art for the cover and 30th Century framing sequence, and he is moving ever closer to his mid-80s style. Nylor Truggs, a 30th Century criminal, steals the H-Dial from a museum and goes back in time to ally himself with 20th Century criminal Lex Luthor. The 20th Century sequences are by the usual art team of Schaffenberger/Hunt. The Legion of Super-Heroes travels back to team-up with Superboy to help stop them. Krypto also returns from space to help out. Truggs breaks with Luthor but uses the dial to empower a team of villains. As all of the villains are defeated, they transform back into their regular forms--and they turn out to be Bash, Lana, Pete and Lisa. The dial gets destroyed, so it can't get returned to the museum in the 30th Century after all.

Jonah Hex #81: Fleisher and Ayers/DeZuniga have Jonah have a change of heart and rescue Turnbull from his rattlesnake bite. Maybe this is so Turnbull can clear his name, but the issue doesn't make any comment. Anyway, the story purpose is clearly so they can be uneasy allies against a common foe, namely El Papagayo and his band. Not that Turnbull doesn't try to double cross Hex on a couple of occasions, still, at the issue's end they are both in a buggy--when the dynamite Papagayo planted goes off. 

During all this time, Hart and Mei Ling are getting close, and Emmy Lou (dressed as sexy cowgirl this time instead of Indian) decides she needs to leave to get Hex out of her mind.

World's Finest Comics #300: This issue is an all-star jam with segments written by Kraft, Barr, and Wolfman, pencils by Andru, Texeira, and Amendola; and Janson, Smith, Maygar, McLaughlin, and Rodriquez. It primarily features the JLA and the Outsiders teaming up to thwart Zeta who after all is soul-searching has made himself the god of his alien creators and is continuing their mission. The Titans only feature briefly, just to show us they have their hands full in New York. 

A group of the JLA and the Outsiders try to stop the invasive tree on Earth while Superman leads another JLA contingent to rescue Batman. The first group is successful against the tree but is captured and crucified by the aliens to be taken to Zeta, Superman and his bunch also encounter Zeta who easily defeats them, turning all but Superman to stone.

Meanwhile, Batman is bouncing around through time. In a prefiguring of Crisis, the alien assault seems to occur in multiple eras. Batman encounters Sgt. Rock, but more helpfully, manages to free Halo. Making their way to Zeta, Batman and Superman confront him. They final shame him into changing his ways. He restores the JLA and sends them with the Pantheon to save the planet that sent out the Cosmic Tree. 

In the aftermath of all this, Wonder Woman encourages Batman and Superman to give up their disagreement and reconcile, which they do.

L. Sprague de Camp: Most Gygaxian Fantasy Writer?

I don't know Gary Gygax's preferences in regard to authors of fantasy fiction, but I feel pretty strongly that L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) is the closet in sensibility to Gygax himself, at least in the earlier days of D&D. 

De Camp makes several appearances in Appendix N. I haven't read all of these works, but the ones I have read demonstrate some characteristics I get from Gygax's worldbuilding and from his early fiction that I have seen. There is some content similarity (like universe-hopping, crossovers with the works of other authors, and hierarchical planes of existence), sure, but what I'm mainly thinking of is more of a structural or attitudinal alignment. 

For one thing, I think it's fair to say that Gygax's work shows a concern with realism and degree of pedantry around certainly topics: Extensive list of polearms, obscure terminology, etc. De Camp gives us an extensive exegesis of REH's naming in the Conan stories and also an analysis of the same stories' technology. He wrote a series of Sword & Planet stories (the Krishna series) that makes a point of addressing the unrealistic elements of Burroughs' and others' similar stories.

It seems to me there was a logic to Gygax's D&D work. I'm sure this is in part due to it being in a game where you have to be prepared for player action, but it resembles the application of rational consideration of elements in fiction as in the Harold Shea stories or The Carnelian Cube.

Both men also have a fondness for humor in their fantasy. While this isn't an uncommon trait and is found in the work of a number of Appendix N or adjacent authors, I feel like use of anachronism for humorous purpose is something found in Gygax's work that also occurs in the Harold Shea series. Less than totally heroic or unheroic protagonists (often the humorous effect) probably describes a lot of D&D, but also several of de Camp's Krishna novels and his Reluctant King trilogy.

As to Gygax's later work, I've only read a couple of the Gord novels and that was decades ago, but I don't recall them being particularly de Campian. Maybe his sensibilities shifted over time or perhaps they reflect a desire to better compete in the fantasy market that existed in the mid-80s. Still, I think on balance, the similarities are there.

The Hidden Religions of D&D: The Church of Law

Thinking about rationalization of the implied setting of D&D, not in the way of industrial magic or anything like that (though I've done that before) but in the direction of how the implied setting of D&D might point toward its religions or belief systems. Sure, there's the explicit fantasy polytheism, but as others have pointed out, it's undermined by the (at least up through AD&D) presentation of the cleric class as vaguely sort of Medieval Christian and by the fact that historical polytheism didn't work like D&D thinks it does. As Delta puts it:

...D&D claims to have a polytheistic religion, but you've got both the politics and the critical Cleric class set up as in the medieval Christian world, and nowhere else.

Is there a more interesting and perhaps more realistic way weave together the elements presented? I think so.

Note that Clerics of 7th level and greater are either "Law" or "Chaos", and there is a sharp distinction between them.
- Gygax & Arneson, Men & Magic

OD&D mentions Law and Chaos with regard to a cleric's orientation. To me, this suggests a system of belief with a dualist cosmology. (Perhaps this is the actual state of the cosmos, but it doesn't have to be!) This is a moral dualism, as the two opposing forces or principles are in conflict. This could be interpreted (and perhaps is by some sects or particular faiths) as ditheistic with two gods or groups of gods in opposition, but I also think the broader, philosophical tradition could embrace transtheism, where the existence of Law and Chaos is a greater and more important truth than the existence or nonexistence of god-like beings/powers. 

The church of law is syncretic, incorporating deities as it grows as agents, exemplars, or aspects of Law. No doubt there would be historic disagreement (possibly even conflict) over just how much deference and attention these powers are rightly due.

Clerics/priests, given the hierarchical structure presented in OD&D, are important in public rituals and ceremonies of the belief system but are also likely interpreters and scholarly experts on Law. Each of these Patriarchs (and Matriarchs, probably, though OD&D doesn't mention them!) is independent and self-governing but in fellowship with the others (generally). Initially a Patriarch would be a charismatic leader who attracts followers, but presumably the church they founded would have a mechanism of choosing a successor. 

Patriarchs are the final arbiters of the commandments of Law within their area, but the Patriarchs of the various churches might vote to decide points between them, or perhaps different interpretations would reign in different jurisdictions. Another aspect of the high clerical function extremely relevant to adventuring is calling for and supporting crusades/jihad against Chaos. 

Speaking of Chaos, it does seem a bit odd it is presented with a hierarchical clerical structure identical to Law's. One possibility is the "anti-clerics" are sort of Satanists and just performatively mock the church of Law, but another possibility is that "Chaos" only speaks to its ultimate goals or cosmological beliefs, not to its organizing principles. It's also possible (even likely) that the Church of Law applies the name Chaos to a diverse group of belief systems that don't agree with it and often don't agree with each other. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 3)

My mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics on newsstands around November 17, 1983.

Swamp Thing #21: I read this story first in Best of DC #61 (March 1985) along with the NTT story from last month and the LSH backup this month. It blew my mind at 12 years old, and it is still a great story today.  Swamp Thing has been transferred to Sunderland Corp for study and put in the hands of the Floronic Man, Jason Woodrue, who Moore and Bissette give a creepy update in a way that will set the standard for late 80s "more mature" updates. His dissections reveal that the Swamp Things vegetable replicas of human organs are nonfunctional. The bombshell reveal is that Swamp Thing is not, and never was, Alec Holland. He isn't a man transformed into a plant creature but rather unicellular life that mutated into a new organism thanks to the bio-restorative formula that just believed it was Holland after it consumed his remains. Woodrue leaves his notes where the Swamp Thing can find them. When it realizes the truth of its condition--that no cure is possible--it flies into a rage, breaks out of the lab, and kills Sutherland.

Power Lords #3: While there isn't a whole lot to the story here, Fleisher and Texiera/Marcos certainly bring the action. It's pretty much nonstop, and the art looks good. Fighting the forces of the badguys, the Power Lords realize they will soon be overrun and flee so that they can switch tactics. Arkus has called and assembly of worlds so they he can give his terms for their surrender, or they'll face the might of his battle station. Sydot and Shaya infiltrate the proceedings but get captured. Adam manages to defeat the enemy force in deep space and comes to the rescue. He assaults Volcan Rock itself, and defeats Raygoth, Gryptogg, and finally Arkus in one-on-one fights. The galaxy is saved, and the Power Lords disappear from comics for about 42 years.

Batman and the Outsiders #7: Barr and Aparo pick up right at last issue's cliffhanger. It looks like Batman and crew are popsicles, but Halo saw the cryonic attack coming and managed to turn her heat power on. Once she's out, she melts free her teammates. She also figures out Katana's sword is sentient and can lead them to where the Cryonic Man has taken her. They crash his lair and engage in battle before he can harvest Katana's organs. Speaking with the Cryonic Man's "family" telepathically, the team learns that they had put themselves in suspended animation in 1947 in order to survive the nuclear war they were sure was coming. Phillip (the Cryonic Man) was revived at a later date to insure that the threat had passed, but in the name of saving his wife from a progressive and ultimately fatal illness, he's being lying to them about the year and the conditions, playing for time. Learning the truth and that they were betrayed, the Cryonic Man's family strike him down with some sort of psychoelectric blast before allowing themselves to die.

Green Lantern #173: The cover announces the new creative team of Wein and Gibbons, though they started last issue. Hal is still getting reacquainted with life back on Earth and his old job, but all his old friends aren't glad to see him. Even after Hal saves Rich Davis' life, the man thinks to himself that Hal is going to spoil things. Clay Kendall is doing psionic experiments, which I'm sure will be fine. Meanwhile, the villain Javelin has been hired to hijack a truck heading to Ferris Aircraft and steal a new engine. Green Lantern intervenes, but the Javelin surprises him with an exploding javelin that coats Jordan in yellow plastic, cancelling his ring's ability to keep him flying!

Oh, and the Monitor and Lyla show up this issue, up to their (by all appearances) nefarious ends. The Monitor seems to be involved in weapons trafficking.

The Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup by Cavalieri and Gibbons is a silent/wordless story. It shows the events in the "life" of a ring, as a Lantern is killed in battle, but passes the ring on to a member of a primitive species on the planet where he crashed. The new Lantern uses the ring to advance his civilization and defend his people until he too falls in battle and the ring finds a successor.

Legion of Super-Heroes #308: Levitz, Giffen, and Mahlstedt continue the Prophet attack on Khundia. The biggest threat here, though, may be distrust and political division, as the six Legionnaires that followed him to fight him are viewed as someone complicit, and the rest of the Legion is forced to standdown or precipitate a wider diplomatic incident.

The real point of interest in this issue for me, though, is the Colossal Boy backup, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?" by Levitz/Giffen with art by Tuska/Mahlstedt. As mentioned above, it's another one of the stories featured in that seminal (at least for me as a young comics reader) anthology Best of DC #61. This story is a nice bit of character stuff (no action at all) clearly riffing on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). It is slighter on social commentary than the equivalent story would be today, no doubt, but the fact that they did it at all in 1983 shows how comics were evolving. Rereading it in 2024, I was pleased with its humorous touches and the warmth of it that still works after 41 years.

Sgt. Rock #384: The main story is another of Kanigher's "honorable opponent; brutality of war" riffs with a canny Wehrmacht sergeant who seems Rock's match in both warcraft and honor going up against Easy, but ultimately losing, in part because the SS shelled his men and well as Rock's.  After that, there's a one page humor strip by Bilby (2nd of the 3 credits in his DC career), and a reprint from 1971 of a story of Egyptians versus Persians with moody art by Toth.

Supergirl #16: Kupperberg and Infantino/Oksner have Giffen's Ambush Bug guest star, a character whose first appearance Kupperberg scripted. The cover is by Giffen and Oksner. Ambush Bug breaks out of jail and decides to become a superhero instead of a villain. Otherwise, he's up to the same old silliness. He gets in the same of Supergirl trying to track down a Stradivarius violin stolen by the notorious musical instrument thief, the Bandit. After her friend Phil Decker is kidnapped, Supergirl discovers that the Bandit wants him to conduct an orchestra consisting of crooks playing all the various stolen instruments in the hopes of creating the supreme orchestra performance. Supergirl manages to stop him and bring Ambush Bug back into custody, though Ambush Bug sees through her secret I.D.

Thriller #4: This issue has a lot of action, and the visual storytelling light gives it a great feeling a breakneck pace. Unfortunately, beyond that sense of motion it's hard to make sense of what's going on except in broad strokes. Salvo plummets to his confrontation with Scabbard on a speeding train, while the other members of the 7 Seconds race to get in position as well. Salvo rescues Dan from Molly Lusk and knocks her out. Salvo goes to the top of the train where Scabbard is waiting with a detonator in his palm to blow up Salvo's and Angie's mother, Marietta. Dan almost falls to his death, Data gets stuck in the mud and he and Crackerjack may not make it in time. We keep jumping between close shots of the participants, as Salvo shoots off Scabbard's hand apparently (which Crackerjack catches), Beaker Parrish saves Dan, and a helicopter blade cuts off Scabbards head. Molly, shocked, pulls the emergency cord, and the train screeches to a halt, injuring Marietta. Beaker and Angie save her (somehow) by Angie inhabiting Beaker which melts his artificial flesh. The mysterious Quo shows up and switches Molly's and Marietta's eyes (or at least their eye color?), restoring Marietta's sight and making Molly blind. Our heroes go home.

Warlord #78: I covered the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and crew set out across the desert on lizard-back to find the advanced enclave that took down their salvaged starship. Unfortunately, they first run into an ambush by a group of slavers with a tank.

New Talent Showcase #2: The Kellogg/Mandrake Sky Dogs open this issue. It's more fast-paced but not terribly compelling derring-do, with Kidd and his crew trying to acquire the Crown of Siva and the Seven Jewels of Power but having to contend with the sorcerer Melin.

In the Klein/Hampton Class of 2064, Perrin is trying to get close to Chryse, which is trouble because the Free Earth extremists are after Chryse for something she unknowningly carries.  Chryse manages to escape them, but she's left stranded on their hot air balloon with no way to control it. Pern and Tycho still a small ship and race to the rescue.

Gary Kwapisz delivers the done-in-one "Danger Dungeon," a numerous story where a high school kid winds up in the dungeon fantasy setting of his daydreams. The jokes are stale, but there's an indie vibe to this one that gives it some charm.

Last up, Margopoulos/Woch continue Forever Amber. Our heroine manages to book passage to San Francisco, enduring sexual assault to get closer to her vengeance. She does turn their cargo of opium to amber in revenge as she leaves the ship... and immediately gets picked up by the cops!

A More Realistic Middle Earth

Listening to the History of the Germans podcast in episodes about the struggle for power between the Papacy and the Hofenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors, when reading a bit of a MERP supplement started me thinking about righting a post about a grittier, more realistic Middle Earth. Then I discovered I already sort of had written a post like that, back in 2020...

If we take The Silmarillion as Elvish mythology (which it is) promoting a slanted point of view, then most of the doings in Middle Earth are a proxy conflict between two super-powers: Sauron and his minions and the Valar and the Elves. We needn't assume either side is particularly good, In fact, we know the Valar unleashed a devastating weapon of mass destruction against their former allies in Numenor just for getting too cozy with Sauron.

In the modern era, Sauron's forces have been engaged in a protracted occupation of  Eriador. Through the action of the Mordor proxy Angmar, the Western kingdoms of Man were shattered, much of the population fled south, but fanatical bands, the Rangers, structured around the heir to throne of Arnor and Gondor, and supported by the Elves, continued to fight an insurgency against Mordor's Orcish forces and her allies.

Sauron has been a distant and not terribly effective leader for some time. He has been unable to consolidate Angmar's victory over Arnor (a victory that saw Angmar destroyed in the process) and unable to wipe out the remaining Elvish enclaves and human insurgents.

You get the idea. Shorn of much of its epic fantasy trappings, Middle Earth becomes a grittier place, where Men, Orcs, and local Elves, are all dealing with the aftermath of a terrible war wrought by super-powers that they perhaps only have the smallest of stakes in but yet are forced to take most of the risk.

Seems like an interesting place to adventure. It's certainly place where you can get a more interesting mix of adventurers and adventures, perhaps.

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics released on the week of Novenber 10, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #39: Acting on information provided by Bethany Snow, the Teen Titans invade an Alaskan base of Brother Blood's cult and find proof he's got members of Congress and other political figures in his pocket. Terra secretly reports the Titans' activities (complete with video from a contact lens camera) to the Terminator and then engages in a very serious training exercise where he's really impressed with her power.  At the next Titans meeting, Kid Flash formally announces that he is leaving the team to focus on college. After goodbyes are said, Robin drops the bombshell (unless you've read Batman #368) that he's giving up his costumed identity too—not because he is retiring, but because he intends to take on a new one to step out of Batman's shadow. He just doesn't know what that will be yet, so he proposes Donna as field leader until he figures it out. With Terra there when all this is happening, the Terminator now knows Robin's and Kid Flash's identities.

Batman #368:  Moench and Newton/Alcala pick up where last month's issue of Detective left off with Bruce and Jason discussing codenames for him. Dick shows up and solves the problem, but announcing his retirement as Robin, bequeathing the identity to Jason. Weirdly, Jason abandons his updated version of the Robin outfit with long pants, for the shorts and elf-shoes look. Later, Batman and Robin go out on their first patrol and discover that Crazy Quilt is out and must be looking for revenge against Robin. Trying to protect his new sidekick, Batman leaves Robin behind to investigate some multi-colored lights. It's a ruse, though, and once Robin is alone, he's attacked by Crazy Quilt, who can't tell this is a new Robin. When Batman realizes he has been tricked, he returns to Robin, only to find him lying motionless, and he assumes the Boy Wonder has been killed.

Arak Son of Thunder #30: Randall's cover seems to be an homage to Conan the Barbarian #100. The Thomases and Randall/Forton pick up where last issue left off. Arak, having lost his will and become a priest of Artemis, is about to kill his friend Satyricus. Suddenly, a literal bolt of lightning out of the blue strikes the grove containing the Temple of Artemis and restores Arak's mind. Maximus, the wizard who intends to use the satyr blood to grant himself immortality sends his soldiers to attack. While Arak fights them, the sorcerer heads for the golden bough because once he touches it with the axe wet with satyr blood, he'll become immortal.

The Amazons try to stop him, but he overcomes them with magic, transforming them into their lioness forms and sending them to kill Arak. Arak is forced to kill all but Dyanna who was too strong to be controlled. She moves to thwart Maximus, jumping onto the golden bough and breaking it--and its magic. Arak then beheads the raging wizard. Dyanna disappears into the forest, the last survivor of her people.

In the Valda backup by the Thomases and Randall/Yeates, Valda is forced to make a deal with Baledor where she most wear the cursed suit of (ahistorical) armor which will control her mind. However, that gives Malagigi and opening, and he causes a rogue wave to destroy Baledor's castle. Still, he is imprisoned, and Valda remains in thrall leading us to the point where they entered Arak's saga.

Flash #330: Cavalieri joins Bates on scripting. After visiting Fiona in rather over-the-top psychiatric hospital (she's in 4-point restraints in a padded room) and teaching a lesson to a crooked employee planning to sell her story to the tabloids for money, the Flash agrees to look into the disappearance of the kid, Angelo Torres, for the police department. Grodd lures the Flash into another dimension, where the amplified mind-power of Angelo Torres and the the powers Grodd has given the Vultures gang members lead to the Flash's super-speed being slowly siphoned away so he's vulnerable. Infantino's stylization of the environment of the alternate dimension is the most interesting part of the issue.

G.I. Combat #262: The Mercenaries again get the cover. The story by Kanigher/Vicatan, continues and this trip to Cambodia is easily the most fantastic adventure we've seen yet. A room full of cobras is mundane compared to the river monster and yeti that turn out before this thing is done. As we most Mercenaries yarns, they wind up doing good (mostly) and also wind up not getting paid what they thought.

The first Haunted Tank story has the brass deciding to add a fifth crewman to the tank, and they choose Sgt. Craig's son. Craig tries to ride him hard to get him to request a transfer, but the kid sticks with it and wins his place after the two of them help a trapped Maquis leader escape the Nazis. In the second story, Rick is haunted by death of a young man he shot in a hunting accident before the war. The past becomes present, when he finds the older brother of that man also in the vicinity and stalking him for revenge. The two have to team up to escape a shack surrounded by Germans, but the other man still promises vengeance.

In the last story by Kasdan/Cruz an ammo truck driver with a lifelong fear of explosives wins a pyrrhic victory over fear when he gives his life ramming his truck into a German tank.

Nathaniel Dusk #1: MacGregor and Colan present a straightforward detective story. The art is interesting, because it looks as if it wasn't inked, but just colored from Colan's tight pencils. Anyway, it's January 31, 1934. P. I. Nathaniel Dusk has been working a divorce case, and as he heads to his office from a newsstand, two thugs (Gugenheim and Pichano) are watching him from a car. After delivering news of her husband's adultery to his client, Mrs. Grant Morrison (!), he goes out for drinks with his girlfriend Joyce and the thugs follow. Gugenheim goes into the bar, but Dusk had apparently already spotted the tail and confronts him. They fight, but Gugenheim's ferocity surprises Dusk, and the thug gets aways. After spending the rest of the evening with Joyce at her place, Dusk returns to his office to find the thugs waiting. Gugenheim calls "Blondie" telling him to "go to work." The thugs then take Dusk at gunpoint to the top of a building and after all scuffle, knock him over the edge.

Omega Men #11: Slifer and Smith/DeCarlo have Primus and the others bring Harpis to Raggashoon where she used to be employed as a sex worker so her form boss, Mama Madame, can use psychodrama to cure her nervous breakdown. Surprisingly, that seems to work. Before then though, we get to see the origins of Harpis and Demona, and to some degree the Omega Men as a team. Harpis' and Demona's backstory what with forced physical transformation via Blackfire's experimentation, and sexual assault by her troops is pretty dark, but she gets a happy ending (sort of) by being reunited with her lost love who didn't die but just became a cyborg.

Star Trek #1: Barr and Sutton/Villagran bring the maroon uniform era of the Star Trek films to comics. This is the third American comics series for Star Trek, following Gold Key's and Marvel's. It comes between Star Trek II (1982) and III (June 1984). Klingon cruisers surprise and destroy USS Gallant in the Neutral Zone, leading to the death of all the crew, including Captain Bearclaw and Science Officer Bryce.

Kirk (again in command of Enterprise) and his old crew (minus the deceased Spock) are sent to the Neutral Zone. The ship also carries new crew members including Ensigns Bearclaw and Bryce, each of whom blames the other's father for their father's death. At the Neutral Zone, after an engagement with the Klingons, they discover how the cruisers are able to appear and disappear--the Klingon's have found a way to stabilize a wormhole. And at the other end is a Klingon space station.

There's also a subplot with a Klingon Ensign, Konom, who seems uncomfortable with his people's actions and surreptitiously helps Enterprise. All in all, it's a very Trekian story, compared to what we've seen in comics before.

Superman #392: Bates/Maggin and Swan/Hunt bring this storyline to a weird conclusion. Not because Srakka's (the ameboid parasite controlling Vartox) plot to use Lana to draw Superman into a fight where he can become Srakka's new host fails, but because Vartox's spirit? essence? in the body of Lana's stalker is part of saving the day, and Lana declares both Vartox and stalker guy her heroes. She's going to get the stalker guy a job at the TV station! Now, I misinterpreted his actions last issue, so looking back he isn't as malevolent figure as I thought. But he's still a guy she pushed off a balcony (accidentally) and he kept coming! And he's a guy with a Lana manikin in a room in his apartment he talks to as if she's real! Doesn't seem wise to be encouraging him, I don't think.

Over the Garden Wall returns

 In case you missed it, last week was the 10th anniversary of Over the Garden Wall. They released this stop-motion short that was pretty cool:

Early Modern Magic

I read some interesting stuff this week on magical belief in the early modern era. Specifically, magic used for protection from weapons, surely a common interest of soldiers of the era and D&D adventures alike.

A Historical Fencer's Primer on Late Medieval and Early Modern Magic

From the German Wikipedia, the concept of "Gefrorner" which meant to be invulnerable to harm.

And finally, a scholarly article: "Invincible blades and invulnerable bodies: weapons magic in early-modern Germany" from the European Review of History.

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1983 (week 1)

My ongoing mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands on the week of November 3, 1983. 

Atari Force #2: After how good the first episode was, I suppose it's natural the second might be a bit of a letdown. We're still "getting the band together," so we check in on Pakrat and Babe who pretty much repeat their story beats from last issue. Tempest faces prejudice from his (former) girlfriend and her father due to his mutant powers. Morphea has a chat with Martin Champion, who we find out is viewed as a bit of a kook because he believes there's an evil force behind the strife and conflict in this part of the galaxy (spoiler: he's right). The real spotlight here is on Dart, though. She and Blackjack have taken up with the rebels after their former employer burned them, but she winds up having to go one-on-one against Warbeast, a creature sent by the Dark Destroyer. 

DC Comics Presents #66: Wein and Kubert bring in Etrigan the Demon for his last appearance before Moore gets ahold of him in Swamp Thing. And there's an interesting thing: Etrigan rhymes here. I had always thought that was a Moore invention, as it wasn't an original attribute of the character, but no, Wein does it first. Anyway, Prof. Lang unveils an ancient, wooden statue of a Druid at an event, but it turns out that it isn't a statue but the actual evil druid, Blackbriar Thorn, who was turned to wood for his crimes. He comes to life thanks to astrological conditions, and Superman and the Demon must do battle against his sorcery. He's defeated through cleverness as Superman lifts the group he is standing on, severing his connection with his elemental powerbase, and throws him into space.

Kubert is an unusual choice for the Demon or Superman, but he draws a great wooden druid. What this issue most makes me think about is the real lack of rigorous formula for inclusion in the Who's Who, at least around the edges, as Blackbriar Thorn (1 appearance) gets an entry while Black Eagle (strip headliner with 6 appearances!) did not. I suspect the fact that Wein was editor of Who's Who had something to do with it. 

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #10: Dark Opal is seeking fragments of various houses gems so he can usurp their magical power. He doesn't have them all yet but next on his list is amethyst. There is an amethyst gem fragment in his domain thanks to Granch, but Opal hasn't found it yet and Amethyst and friends want to retrieve it. Topaz goes to convince his sister to join the rebellion while Amethyst and Princess Emerald face Carnelian.

Blackhawk #267: The death of Blackhawk's doppelganger provides ad opportunity. He hatches a plan (with Churchill's blessing) to let the world believe he has died, then infiltrate Germany pretending to be the doppelganger, Agent Schoener, and kill Hitler. Beyond that, a lot of the issue is given over to exploring the Blackhawks' attitudes toward Germans. They tell us several times that the German people are fundamentally different from other nations, and that Hitler has them utterly in thrall. Blackhawk's assumptions are challenged when he meets and falls for a waitress in a German restaurant. She happens to be a "Helga," having the same first name as Domino. All of this is fine but poorly integrated thematically, I feel like, with the main story, involving Blackhawk's failed assassination attempt and swift escape. Still, I appreciate the depth Evanier and Spiegle are trying to give the title.

Fury of Firestorm #20: Conway and Kayanan/Rodriquez are mostly doing setup this issue. Firehawk (Lorraine Reilly) and Firestorm start their relationship, much to the discomfort of Martin. On the plus side for him, he gets his job back, though maybe it isn't so much of a plus since it's due to the machinations of whatever shady entity his ex-wife is working with. Then, Killer Frost escapes prison, kills a few people and comes for Stein. 

Justice League of America #223: Months back, I said Conway's work on the JLA was underappreciated, and I stand by that, but this arc has been a counter-argument. Conway and Patton/Tanghal bring the Beast Men storyline to an end, and I'm not sorry to see it go. Given the number of heavy-hitters on the JLA, it stretches credulity that Maximus Rex and his cronies get the better of them at every turn, yet they do. Somehow Dr. Lovecraft is aware of Superman's power loss under a red sun and exploits it. Somehow, he knows Firestorm will get a power drain if he tries to use his power against organic material, and he exploits that, too. While the League takes out some of the Beast Men, it is Reena that does battle with Rex, and in the end, it's their continuing mutation into pure animal forms that dooms them, not the League's actions.

Wonder Woman #312: Mishkin and Heck continue the gremlin storyline, and we learn some of the history of the alien species. It turns out the bigger aliens from last issue are really just replicas used by the gremlins to throw off suspicion. Anyway, they agree to return Wonder Woman's invisible jet, but Wonder Woman and Trevor manage to make off with the robot plane too before the gremlins' ship returns to the stars. Meanwhile, Circe gets ahold of Major Griggs.

In the Cavalieri and Speigle Huntress backup, Nedra Borrower and Terry Marsh have stirred up public animosity toward the Huntress. It's so bad that the cliffhanger ending sees the Huntress in the grip of an angry mob. We also learn that Marsh is in the employ of Earthworm, and his moves against the Huntress are to get her out of the way to help Earthworm's baby-selling ring.

Vigilante #3: Wolfman and Pollard/Marcos figure having a guest star from the popular New Teen Titans can't hurt. Vigilante is chasing Cyborg and an organized crime figure, Stryker, through a forest with the intent to kill Stryker who was only found guilty of a firearm possession charge due to a "technicality." Cyborg is trying to get the guy to prison alive. There is a lot of back and worth about Vigilante's philosophy and he (multiple times) justifies killing the guy, but when he gets the change, he can't do it. When Stryker kills somebody and takes a hostage, Vigilante kills him. Vigilante's ideas about exactly what the parameters of his mission are seem to be evolving; he certainly is willing to kill, if necessary, but he isn't an executioner. We also get an indication that some shadowy organization trained him, which was something I had wondered about. Chase also mentions that "somehow" he got years of training in months, which lampshades why he's suddenly so formidable, but I wonder if that's ever really addressed?

Kiss of Blood (part 1)

 We had our first session of They Came From Beyond the Grave! last night adapting the Call of Cthulhu adventure, Kiss of Blood.

The cast:

• Tony Kovac - San Francisco cop whose vacation in the Old Country is anything but relaxing. (Jason).
• Jess Barrow - Half of the occult folk-rock duo, Fata Morgana, gifted with second sight. (Andrea)
• Dean Starkey - The other half of Fata Morgana. A guy used to gettin by on his wits.

The three Americans arrived in Karloczig, Wystdovja Vale, (in Slovenia, on the Adriatic) for different reasons. Kovac was going to get a vacation and help local cops out on a case as a favor for a friend. Dean and Jess had been booked to play the local festival around Walpurgis Night. None of them imagined they'd wind up working together to find a missing girl. Well, the players did, the characters, not so much.

While Kovac discovered Inspektor Hochmair wasn't exactly overjoyed to have his help. Jess and Dean met Gustav Homan, the father of the missing girl, Matilda. They also heard that there were a lot of disappearances around the village of Karloczig, but the local Burgomeister doesn't take them seriously. There are legends about the castle Heidenstein up on the hill. It's cursed, it's said.

That night at the festival, Jess sees an eerie, mysterious woman, perhaps watching her, but the woman disappears before she can point her out to Dean.

After a night of attempting to out-drink Hochmair, Kovac is awakened early by a knock on his hotel room door. There's been a body found. Hochmair takes him to the office of the coroner (and doctor) von Kluge. The woman is young and brunette, but she isn't Matilda, but someone from out of town. She has been mutilated, as if by some animal, her throat ravaged and her body partially exsanguinated.

They Came From Beyond the Grave!

This weekend, in the spirit of Halloween, I plan to run a one shot (well, probably two shot before it's over with) of the Onyx Path game They Came From Beyond the Grave! It's part of their series of They Came From games, each made to sort of emulate some cinematic genre from 50s to monster movies, to Italian Sword and Sandals pictures, to (in this case) 60-70s horror films of the Hammer, Amicus, or AIP variety.

All these games use the Storypath system which is basically a descendant of the old White Wolf d10 dice pool system, but lighter and with some mildly narrative mechanics, like Rewrites which players can use to change the results of bad rolls or get a bit of narrative control. One of the things Rewrites can be spent on (though this is an optional rule) are Cinematic Powers which imbue the game world with the elements of the low budget films it's emulating. For instance, there's Dangerous Liaison wherein a player can pay for an awkwardly inserted scene (utterly free of danger!) to romance an NPC.

Players have other, less game-reality bending extras to employ like Tropes, Trademarks, and Quips that lend bonuses in specific situations. In fact, if I have any criticism, it's that the system is perhaps a little overstuffed with options for an otherwise "at the light end of rules medium" game.

Anyway, I plan to run to run Cthulhu Dreadfuls Presents #1 - Kiss of Blood, which is a very Hammer Horror flavored scenario. It seems easy enough to adapt.