Congrats to ADDTF for one solid year of reading comics naked.

Also, welcome back ADD and In Sequence.

Did I miss anyone?

 
Word!

I wasn't going to post this considering that I wasn't really into Morrison's New X-Men, but after Catchdubs posted a pic of Magneto graffiti, they followed-up with this response.

"I'm down with muties, although I haven't been up on shit since the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee era. And on the real: Tom Orzechowski was a bad-ass letterer, right?"

Links courtesy of Fluxblog.
posted by Steven at 3:22 AM

 
Free Comic Friday - Super-Sons

"As we said, it is not imaginary, not fantasy, but the way it happened. How so, you say? Despite all the issues published on the amazing careers of these two greatest of all super-heroes, not every facet of their lives could possibly be covered. Both have lived a hundred lives in one, are bigger than ordinary reality, inimitable, and immortal. Thus, this issue gives you just one other, previously undisclosed portion of their unique stories." - Bob Haney.

The greatest victim from the pulping of the 80-page Elseworlds Giant was the mishandling of Bob Haney's return to one of his most famed creations, the Super-Sons, in the story Superman Jr. Is No More.

From 1973 to 1976, Bob Haney took the prevailing trend of socially relevant comics, added his own unique peculiarities, and let fly. Supes Jr. and Bats Jr. were the semi-powered progeny of their namesakes and those heroes' wives, whose identities were never fully revealed. Widening the generation gap by bickering with their square fathers, the junior superheroes took off on their "hot hog" to find America and get it on with groovy chicks along the way, capes and cowl included. This wasn't your dad's Superman and Batman. These costumed crusaders had thick sideburns, crazy threads and attitude to burn. One of the oddest things about the series was that, at least according to Haney, the events took place within present-day DC continuity. Other than the Super-Sons themselves, there was nothing that would be entirely out-of-place within the generally accepted DC universe. The second-to-last Super-Sons tale was the only one written by someone other than Haney. In it, we discover that Supes Jr. and Bats Jr. were actually computer simulations created by their "fathers" to see what it would be like if they did have kids someday. This was, of course, the only true imaginary story involving the Super-Sons.

The Super-Sons starred in one of my formative comic reading experiences, The Angel With A Dirty Name, a story which featured a grotesquely enlarged Superman Jr. on the cover that both repulsed and entranced me. Between this and the Composite Superman, I was hooked on oddball DC comics. The site that hosts the two stories linked to above has also posted the first two Super-Sons stories, Saga of the Super-Sons and Little Town with a Big Secret. That's right, four full Bob Haney stories for your enjoyment. There's also a suprisingly extensive overview of the Super-Sons, a timeline or two, and even Mark Gruenwald's suggestion that the Sons of Steel exist on a parallel world called Earth-E , making it your one-stop shop for Super-Sons goodness.

Solid.
posted by Steven at 1:31 AM

 
Free Comic Thursday

Let's keep that Bob Haney ball rolling a little while longer.

Recent years have not been kind to Haney in regards to his work. As I've mentioned a few times before, DC Comics commissioned him to write a brand-new one-shot Teen Titans story set in the swinging sixties to be pencilled by Jay Stephens, inked by Mike Allred, with the cover by Haney's sixties collaborator Nick Cardy. The project was shelved due to fears that too many different versions of the Titans on the shelves would only confuse customers. Samples of Stephen's Titans artwork can be viewed at his site.

This wasn't the first time DC had pulled the rug out from under Haney. Some of you may be aware of the 80-page Elseworlds fiasco. The Elseworlds special was to be a completely ridiculous collection of Silver Age-style goofiness. Stories and splash pages included Batman and Eve, The Revenge of Young Darkseid and quite possibly Chuck Dixon's greatest work, The Vigilantes in Apartment 3-B. You can view even more samples by scrolling down to the bottom of this page. The piece that caused all the commotion was Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter. Nervous that a story involving a baby playing in a microwave may lead to complaints, DC Comics pulped their entire run just under the wire before it left the warehouse. This would have worked, if only the British Isles didn't get their comic orders sent ahead of schedule to compensate for the shipping time. Only 1500 copies of the comic survived. Voters for the 2000 Eisners decided to stick it to The Man by voting Baker's banned contribution Short Story of the Year, despite the fact that most of the people voting had probably never even seen it. Shamefaced, DC Comics decided to reprint Baker's award-winning story in the pages of the Bizarro Comics anthology. The irony of the situation is that the story responsible for having the comic destroyed was the only one made widely available in print. The rest of the stories in the 80-page Elseworlds have never been reprinted.

So, what does all this have to do with Bob Haney? Find out tomorrow in a very special Free Comic Friday!
posted by Steven at 4:05 PM

 
Reality is the Best High

There's a lot of interesting and exciting comic news floating around out there today. With that in mind, here's the rest on a comic that's over 30 years old and that no one but lunatics would find interesting. I kept SPOILERS to a minimum yesterday, but today you won't be so lucky. If you plan on reading "Commune of Defiance" in the future, please read no further!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to choose panels from this comic to scan? Every one is pure gold.

When we last left The Young Aquarians, they were being visited by The Narc Titans, who used reverse psychology to placate the kids' concerns. The two teams neck and rest in the Young Aquarians' co-ed squat HQ, and are awakened by the seemingly unexpected rumble of bulldozers, a menace against which Ben Ahmed's switchblade would prove useless. The Teen Titans spring into action, laying down before the oncoming construction crew, turning themselves into human speedbumps. The Young Aquarians dig, having never before thought of such tactics, and so the concept of civil disobedience is born. Even Angel, the old lady of Barclayville's criminal mastermind, gets into the act. She may be rancid butter, but she's on your side of the bread, man. And Old Man Lefferts, forced out of his apartment after forty years, witnesses the scene and has a change of heart about those shaggy kids.

See, this is what superhero comics need more of. Heroes laying in the path of a moving bulldozer, risking their lives for more than to just save people and property, but also to retain and improve on our standard of life and ideals. Before the bulldozers change Robin's name to Ribbon, The Sunlight Detective swoops out of the noonday glare and lands atop the lead bulldozer. He urges them onto their murderous path, promising a rap in the clink for homicide and added notoriety courtesy of the Gotham News copter hovering in the sky. After the dozers stop, the Mayor comes down hard on Bats, who counters by threatening to have him impeached. Outgunned, the mayor gives the kids thirty days to clean up Barclayville or the city will have no choice but to murder as many children and the elderly as necessary.

The joint Titan-Aquarian task force get busy, with Speedy presumably bagging heroin as well as sacks of rats. Meanwhile, Batman pays a visit to the subplot and tries to convince Angel that crime boss Sonny, who's getting out of jail in a few days, is setting her up for a fall. Sure enough, Sonny hits the clean streets of Barclayville a day early for good behaviour, and within three panels he's whaling on Angel for letting his turf get out from under his control.

Everyone's having fun the next day at the Barclayville block party until Sonny and his gang show up for a throwdown. No guns. No knives. No costumed freaks. Locals only. Batman, seemingly ruining the fun by stopping the fight, reveals that Sonny has been clutching a roll of pennies in his fist the entire time. So fucking what? Batman wouldn't last a day in the Rose City. Sonny whips out a pistol and waves it around like a chump until Angel, sickened by his lack of community spirit, blows him away.

The only loose end left to wrap up is the decision as to whether Barclayville will win the city's seal of approval. As if in answer to their worries, the Young Aquarians watch as another bulldozer comes crawling down the street, this time manned by Batman and the Teen Titans. Will the kids need to get their clothes dirty again? Psyche! Batman's just delivering a marker declaring Barclayville an historic site using his Batdozer. And so ends the first of only two tales starring the Young Aquarians. We finish the story with these words from Bob Haney, the greatest writer of superhero comics we will ever know.

The future belongs to those who fight for it--today! Future issues of Brave & Bold belong to those who keep the faith! 'Til then, faithful ones! The Start!

If you'd like to read more on this issue of Brave and the Bold, check out Unca Cheek's critique, with added Speedy/heroin jokes.
posted by Steven at 3:42 PM

 
"Cool it, Bat Guy!"

"I know you're not him, Rob, but your name is so close to that of the great Bob Haney I can't help but be charmed. Haney wrote my all-time favorite Batman line and it's from the first panel of an old BRAVE AND THE BOLD team-up with the Teen Titans ("Rebel in the Streets," I think). He's got Batman walking down a Gotham City street in broad daylight, spring sunshine. The Dark Knight's taking it easy, checking out the pretty girls in miniskirts and the caption ends with the monumentally unforgettable line "yes, Batman digs this day!"

That's my kind of hero."

-Grant Morrison, in a reply to a letter printed in The Invisibles Vol. 2 Issue 5.

When I read the above, I knew that I had to own this comic. In fact, it looks like I may not be the only one. Legomancer is searching for the same issue and is seeking out any information on it. Fear not, Legomancer! I have what you crave. What better opportunity for me to take a look at of one of my favourite superhero comics of all time, Brave and the Bold #102, "The Commune of Defiance"?

As our story opens, Batman does truly dig this day, but for how long? Witness to a mugging, The Caped Crusader gives chase, ending up in Barclayville, the city's oldest section, which Batman apparently hasn't visited in years. His apprehension of the mugger is put to a stop by The Young Aquarians, a gang of socially responsible street toughs trying to make a difference in a community left to wither away and die. Barclayville is theirs, and they claim the mugger as their prisoner.

Young Aquarians Roll Call! Lawyer! Mother Earth! Ben Ahmed! Uh... Jamie! Needles!

The Man, Batman, convinces the kids that the law won't let them down, but later slinks guiltily back into Barclayville to fess up to the inadequecies of the System as the mugger got off scott free. While there he witnesses the extent of the mess the Young Aquarians are trying clean up, as well as the brutal methods of the Gotham City Police in this district. These groovy vigilantes are getting it from both ends. As if Batman's timing wasn't even more fortuitous, word on the street is that in a couple of days the slums of Barclayville will be demolished to make way for fat cats and their fancy highrises. Fuck gentrification!

Right on, Ben Ahmed! Right on!

When appeals to insensitive government officials fail, Batman turns to his own team of "generation gappers" to give the Young Aquarians a helping hand. Enter, The Teen Titans!

The art chores were tag teamed by Jim Aparo, who became ill during production of the issue, and Neal Adams, who did his best Aparo impression for the remainder of the story. I've also seen another Batman/Teen Titans issue of The Brave and The Bold by Bob Haney floating around, one that has The Titans leading all the adults in town, including Bats, into a concentration camp. Considering that the image on the cover of "The Commune of Defiance" actually happens in the story, I'm hoping the same holds true for that later issue.

I can do Grant Morrison one better. He may think that Bob Haney merely wrote the best Batman line of all time, but I believe, with this and his other work, that Haney is the truly the world's greatest superhero writer.
posted by Steven at 12:13 PM

 
Who Wears The Watchmen?

It's hockey pool night here at work, so everyone is too drunk to notice me blogging. Just a quick note to point out that Progressive Ruin has posted a promotional poster for Watchmen merchandise as drawn by Kyle Baker. This has been your coolest comic-related thing of the week, brought to you by a blog that's eeriely similar to mine, only better.

Go Habs!
posted by Steven at 6:19 PM

 
On Line and Up Front

As I mentioned a little over a year ago, I once would have had no problem naming the two greatest living cartoonists. That all changed when both Al Hirschfeld and Bill Mauldin passed away. Both of these artists, in addition to Jules Feiffer and Chris Ware, will be represented in the latest Comics Journal Special Edition, the contents of which are detailed on their main web page. If you have no idea who Hirschfeld or Mauldin are or why they're worth looking into, you can read Gary Groth's editorial for the aforementioned issue to get an idea of their importance. I haven't had the money or inclination to pick up previous installments of TCJ special editions, but this is definitely one I'm going to be rolling pennies for, and may finally be the kick in the ass I need to finally write more about both Hirschfeld and Mauldin.
posted by Steven at 4:31 PM