DC Comics announces Spring 2013 collections: Night of Owls, Legion Worlds, Day of Judgment, Titans Omnibus Vol. 3, Impulse and more

Just when we thought solicitations for a handful of DC Comics trade solicitations was a big deal, the DC Source blog proceeded to drop a slew of Spring 2013 collection details on our doorsteps.

Now I know Night of the Owls this and "zero issues" that, but hold on, because there's a couple collections we've just got to get to first ...

Collected Favorites

Legion Worlds TP
Collects: LEGION WORLDS #1-6

That DC released a hardcover of Legion Lost, the excellent Legion miniseries by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, was pretty cool, but I'd read that mini. What is even cooler -- if it makes it to publication -- is this collection of specials that came out after Legion Lost, showing what was happening to the rest of the Legion during the Lost period.

All of this is a little academic since this refers to the "reboot" post-Zero Hour/pre-Infinite Crisis Legion, distinctly no longer in existence, but these are well-regarded stories and it's nice to have them collected.

Though -- I believe Legion Worlds ends on an uncertain note, like Legion Lost, and the real "Legion reunion" doesn't happen until the Abnett/Lanning The Legion series that followed. I wouldn't mind seeing DC stick a couple issues from that into this volume; or otherwise, maybe a Legion collection will follow.

Remember -- pre-ordering is your friend! If you want to actually hold this collection in your hands like I do, this book must be pre-ordered. The Legion Lost paperback was cancelled due to low pre-orders; I am sure this book is in danger of the same fate.

The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 HC
Collects: TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #45-61 and 66-67, THE NEW TEEN TITANS #38, THE NEW TEEN TITANS #1-6 and SECRET ORIGINS ANNUAL #3

Good news here, though I can tell you straight off that the contents of this book as listed are not correct. The good news is that this book picks up right from where the New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 left off, and continues through to the previously-released Terror of Trigon collection, so we gain a bit here and don't lose anything that hadn't been published before.

However, I'd betcha the contents are actually Tales of the New Teen Titans #45-58 and New Teen Titans (second series) #1-6 or #1-9, since Titans (first series) #59-68 is actually the same content at Titans second series #1-9. Unless there's some pin-ups or something to be included, chances are these contents will change.

Day of Judgment TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Matt Smith, Steve Mitchell, Chris Jones, John McCrea and others
Collects: DAY OF JUDGMENT #1-5 and a story from DAY OF JUDGMENT SECRET FILES #1
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Day of Judgment is by most accounts a rough crossover -- not unreadable, just slow and rather dense. It also, however, represents a significant moment when then-new DC Comics writer Geoff Johns first penned the (albeit deceased) Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Thus for a while we collectors have felt this would probably not be a great collection, but a series worthy of being collected -- and here it is. Between this and Legion Worlds, there's not much still left on my "wish DC would collect" list. (OK, there's still a lot on that list.)

Not insignificantly, Day of Judgment also features a heavy presence by Golden Age (and now Earth 2 resident) Green Lantern Alan Scott ...

Impulse Vol. 1: Runs in the Family TP
Collects: IMPULSE #1-6, 8-9 and 12-13

This'll brighten anyone's day. Maybe because of the character's renewed presence in Young Justice, it looks like DC intends to release a couple volumes of the wonderful Impulse series, which was as close as you could get at the time to a DC Comics sitcom. This book skips Impulse #7, which wasn't written by Mark Waid, and Impulse #11, part of the Flash "Dead Heat" crossover collected elsewhere; it does, however, include the Underworld Unleashed tie-in issue. One more volume that goes to about issue #26 would collect all the Mark Waid issues; the stories in the first volume are good, but the second volume will be even better. (Pre-orders. Your friend. Get it?)

The Shade TP
Collects: THE SHADE #1-12

Call me a cynic, but I don't necessarily believe this series had all the sales problems that were claimed, and I'm disappointed to see this in trade paperback, not in hardcover to sit next to my Starman omnibuses. I'll still get it, mind you, but disappointed.

Night of the Owls, Collected

Batman: The Night of the Owls HC
Collects: BATMAN ANNUAL #1, DETECTIVE COMICS #9, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #9, BATWING #9, BATMAN AND ROBIN #9, RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #9, BIRDS OF PREY #9, BATGIRL #9 and ALL-STAR WESTERN #9
$29.99 US, 360 pg

Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls HC
Collects: BATMAN #8-12
$24.99 US, 192 pg

All-Star Western Vol. 2: The War of Lords and Owls TP
Collects: All-Star Western #7-13

Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 2: Scare Tactics HC
Collects: Detective Comics #8-12

Batgirl Vol. 2: Knightfall Descends HC
Collects: Batgirl #7-12

Batwing Vol. 2: In the Shadow of the Ancients TP
Collects: BATWING #7-12

Birds of Prey Vol. 2: Your Kiss Might Kill TP
Collects: BIRDS OF PREY #8-13

Catwoman Vol. 2: Dollhouse TP
Collects: CATWOMAN #7-12

A number of eagle-eyed Collected Editions readers have pointed out that the writer and credits for these books don't necessarily match the contents, and that there's certain series -- Nightwing and Catwoman, for two -- strangely not represented. If you don't know by now, these solicitations are early, incomplete, and subject to change; I wouldn't stress too much about one or two items that don't add up here and there.

What this does show us, however, is that the "Night of the Owls" crossover is going to be collected as such -- one Batman-specific collection, and one collection of all (or most) of the tie-in issues.

It seems like most of the tie-in issues will also be collected in their own individual series collections, too. Which leaves a problem. If the Batman annual is also collected in the individual Batman volume, probably many of us can pass up the Night of the Owls hardcover altogether in favor of the individual books and City of Owls. If not, that means a trade-waiter could potentially pay for the Night of the Owls hardcover just for the annual, which would be a sorry state indeed.

(The Batgirl solicit suggests that the paperback of volume one will contain issues #1-13 and #0, and the second hardcover will have issue #7-12. There's a misprint somewhere there, I'm sure; probably the second volume has #7-12, the contents of the first paperback are the same as the first hardcover, and the zero issue will be in the third collection as with most of the other books.)

Other Crossovers in the New 52

The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers TP
Collects: LEGION LOST #8-9, SUPERBOY #8-9, TEEN TITANS #8-9 and TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1

Blue Beetle Vol. 2: Blue Diamond TP
Collects: BLUE BEETLE #7-12 and GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #9

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Vol. 2: Son of Satan's Ring TP
Collects: Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #8-11 and MEN OF WAR #8

I, Vampire Vol. 2: Rise of the Vampires TP
Collects: I, VAMPIRE #7-12 and JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #7-8

Justice League International Vol. 2: Breakdown TP
Collects: Justice League International #7-12, THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #9 and Justice League International [Annual] #1

Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Basilisk Rising TP
Collects: Suicide Squad #8-12 and RESURRECTION MAN #9

Red Lanterns Vol. 2: The Death of the Red Lanterns TP
Collects: RED LANTERNS #8-13 and STORMWATCH #9

Stormwatch Vol. 2: Enemies of Earth TP
Collects: STORMWATCH #7-12 and RED LANTERNS #10

Animal Man Vol. 2: Animal Vs. Man TP
Collects: ANIMAL MAN #7-11 and ANIMAL MAN ANNUAL #1

Swamp Thing Vol. 2: Family Tree TP
Collects: SWAMP THING #8-12 and ANIMAL MAN #12

Despite a handful of guest-appearances, the first round of DC New 52 collections were all self-contained; the first issues of the individual series and that was it. The DC New 52 volume twos take a different tack.

The Culling collection is probably the best way to go about collecting the "Young Justice" crossover; this follows from the end of all three of those series' first collections, and allows each one to pick up with issue #10 in volume two.

Blue Beetle's got New Guardians, Justice League International's got Firestorm, Frankenstein's got Men of War, I, Vampire has Justice League Dark, and Suicide Squad has Resurrection Man. Hopefully this doesn't discount a final Resurrection Man collection; Stormwatch and Red Lanterns reciprocate their crossover issues, so maybe that will be the DC New 52's new collections norm. On the other hand, the Animal Man collection stops before it's Swamp Thing crossover issue, and that issue is found in Swamp Thing, so it could also be either-or.

Elsewhere in the DC New 52

Batwoman Vol. 2: To Drown the World HC
Collects: BATWOMAN #6-11

Dial H Vol. 1: Into You TP
Collects: DIAL H #1-7

Earth 2 Vol. 1: The Gathering TP
Collects: EARTH 2 #1-6

G.I. Combat Vol. 1: The War That Time Forgot TP
Collects: G.I. COMBAT #1-6

Green Arrow Vol. 2: Triple Treat TP
Collects: GREEN ARROW #7-12

Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Black Hand HC
Collects: GREEN LANTERN #7-12 and GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1

Justice League Vol. 2: The Villain's Journey HC
Collects: Justice League #7-12
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Voodoo Vol. 2: The Killer In Me TP
Collects: VOODOO #7-12 and 0

Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Guts HC
Collects: Wonder Woman #7-12

Worlds’ Finest Vol. 1: The Lost Daughters of Earth 2 TP
Collects: WORLDS’ FINEST #0-5

Again, looks like most series will include their zero issues with their third collections, not their second. Some exceptions are Voodoo, which ends with this volume, and World's Finest, whose zero issue comes in the middle of its first story arc. I'm surprised the first Earth 2 volume doesn't also contain its zero issue, unless that story is stand-alone enough to move to the next collection.

Green Arrow: Triple Treat just sounds icky. That they're calling Wonder Woman "Guts," after first volume Blood, however, is hilarious.

The Man of Steel Connection

Superman vs. Zod TP
Collects: ADVENTURE COMICS #283, ACTION COMICS #473 and 548-549, DC COMICS PRESENTS #97 and ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #10

I actually liked Superman Returns, I'll admit it, and I'm excited for a new Superman movie of Dark Knight proportions. If it nets us a couple months of Superman collections like this one, all the better.

Superman: Last Son of Krypton TP
Collects: ACTION COMICS #844-846, 851 and 866-870, ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #11 and SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON SPECIAL #1

This is an interesting kind of Superman by Geoff Johns Omnibus, if you want to look at it that way. The book collects Superman: Last Son, Superman: Brainiac, and the beginning of Superman: New Krypton. It's a great couple of stories, especially Brainiac, though I'm struggling to figure DC's intentions with this one. Brainiac and the New Krypton special are related (originally collected together, even), but Last Son is not related -- at least, not until much later in the "New Krypton" storyline. Last Son has Zod in it, hence the tie to Man of Steel, but Brainiac/New Krypton doesn't (yet). Stick a "volume one" on this one and it makes much more sense; otherwise I'm puzzled.

Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 7 TP
Collects: SUPERMAN #13-15, ACTION COMICS #596-597 and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #436-438

Here's a good one -- the next Byrne-era collection of Superman titles. We saw the last of these back in 2008(!), and I'd all but figured DC had decided to stop with these (and I'm half-disappointed, because I'd love for them to switch these over to omnibus format). As it is, this will be a strange collection, almost two-thirds filled with Millennium crossover issues that are only going to appeal to the most ardent of fans. The first post-Crisis Brainiac appears here, but his visage is a far cry from what most fans know of the character.

(Enter my stock wonder here whether DC will ever reprint Superman #21-22 and etc., "The Supergirl Saga," not too far from the issues above, in which Superman kills an alternate-universe's General Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals. This book, along with a good essay by John Byrne or the series editor Mike Carlin, would be fascinating.)

Superman Vs. Shazam! TP
Collects: ALL-NEW COLLECTORS’ EDITION C-58, DC COMICS PRESENTS #33-34 and 49 and DC COMICS PRESENTS ANNUAL #3

This leads one to wonder if there's a new Shazam series on the way, though the age of the material collected here doesn't interest me in the book.

Superman: The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus HC
Collects: SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #17-26, SUPERMAN #73-82, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #496-505, ACTION COMICS #683-691, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #69, SUPERMAN: THE LEGACY OF SUPERMAN #1 and GREEN LANTERN #46

The existing Death of Superman omnibus has been a sore spot for fans for a while, since it includes an ugly "sticker" (advertising the Superman: Doomsday animated movie) that's actually printed on the book. This volume contains almost the exact same items as the previous edition, except it also has the Legacy of Superman special (which, I know off the top of my head, contains a variety of stories including one about Sinbad, the hero of Middle Eastern descent that was to appear in a Superman: Grounded issue by Chris Roberson until DC pulled it. Now you know).

Superman: For Tomorrow TP
Collects: SUPERMAN #204-215 and the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA SPECIAL #1

The Justice League Special collected here is a bit of a misdirect. The special itself is a collection given away with action figures or such, which included Brad Meltzer's initial Justice League issue plus a number of origin tales, including the Brian Azzarello/Jim Lee Superman origin that originally appeared in the Absolute Superman For Tomorrow. So really what this includes is the full contents of the Absolute.

Last But Not Least ...

DC Universe Secret Origins TP
Collects: SECRET ORIGINS #1, MORE SECRET ORIGINS #1, EVEN MORE SECRET ORIGINS #1 and WEIRD SECRET ORIGINS #1

This collection of a bunch of recent 80-Page Giant specials, which themselves collected various origin stories mostly from DC's Silver Age, will no doubt appeal to someone, though I'm about as stymied why DC would muddy the waters with this while most fans are trying to figure out the New 52, as I am about that Superman by Geoff Johns omnibus ....

Whew! That's a lot of trades!

A scheduling note: Next week, we'll have the Collected Editions review of Stormwatch: The Dark Side that was unfortunately delayed this week. Then, we'll have a guest reviewer triple-play -- three Marvel reviews, one each from three of our distinguished guest reviewers.

And then ... fireworks won't be the only thing exploding July 4th week, when we present the Collected Editions review of Catwoman: The Game and Batman: Earth One. That'll kick off our second month of DC New 52 reviews -- mark your calendars!

You've seen all that DC has to offer for their Spring 2013 collections -- what's on your buying list?

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Number 1179: Kinkdom Come

Like Wednesday's post about artist Adolphe Barreaux, Gene Bilbrew, who often signed his name "Eneg," published his art in a shadowy realm of disrespectability. His work appeared on covers and interiors of publications catering to a fetish audience. This story, called "The Passion Pit," has no nudity or hardcore sex, just some sexy costuming and a lot of innuendo. It appears Eneg swiped some of his war panels from war comics of the era (1950s), and lavished most of his effort on what the reader paid for, sexy women.

I showed this story in the early days of this blog, but linked the pages to the online storage site, Photobucket. Some of the links have broken, and rather than go back in and fix them I've enlarged the scans and am re-presenting them. As I said in that earlier blog, in the early '60s I was with a friend who bought "The Passion Pit" from a bookseller in a classic under-the-counter scenario."The Passion Pit" was hot in that era, the stuff of Times Square sleaze and the bondage-discipline crowd. Looking at it now makes me wonder how there could have been a time when anyone thought it was pornographic or dangerous. In today's porn-saturated world it seems almost innocent.

Bilbrew was African-American. He died young, about 50. I've seen a couple of sources use different years for his death, 1971 or 1974. What draws us to his artwork isn't technical excellence but an idea of a sexual underground where women dress up in latex and leather, spiky-heeled boots (with spurs, yet!) and dominate men. The "vitalizer" the sisters Fettisha and Sexsina give to the hero, Dick Strong (ho-ho), is a kind of liquid Viagra. The ability to perform sexually with chemical enhancement was a fantasy when this was written and drawn.

In the '70s I found a pirate edition of "The Passion Pit" re-titled "Chinese Torture," which removed Eneg's name. I sold my copy of "Chinese Torture" on eBay years ago, but before I did I photocopied it. The scans are from those copies.

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DC Comics solicits New 52 Justice League, Green Lantern, Batman Vol. 2 trades, The New 52 Zero

Just the other day with DC's September 2012 solicitations, we were speculating that it wouldn't be long until the DC New 52 Volume 2 collections would be popping up. Well, today is that day.

* Batman: Night of the Owls
* Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Black Hand
* Justice League Vol. 2: The Villain's Journey

* DC Comics: The New 52 Zero

Least controversial of these initial listings are the Justice League and Green Lantern books (both, at the moment, hardcover). While I'm excited about the storyline for each, this is about what we expected for each book's second volume. Justice League (for now) seems to be 160 pages, which would be about issues #7-14; Green Lantern is at 192 pages (for now), which might suggest the inclusion of the annual.

More controversial is the Batman: Night of the Owls hardcover (specifically, or maybe just an oversight, not called "volume 2" in the listing). At 360 pages, this hardcover would seem to collect more than just the next Batman issues, but also at least some of the "Night of the Owls" tie-in issues. Whether DC should collect the crossover in one volume or separate books has already been a point of some debate on this site -- undoubtedly this is just more fuel for the flame until the official solicitation copy arrives.

Finally, we also see here that talk of the zero issue omnibus was more than just idle speculation; even before these issues arrive, there's already a solicit for this 1,328 book (more than the original first issue omnibus), arriving just in time for your Christmas tree in December.

It's great to finally be back in solicitation season -- more news coming soon!

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Part 2: Aliens Omnibus Vol. 1 trade paperback review (Dark Horse)

[The second of Doug Glassman's two-part review of the Aliens Omnibus. Read part one here.]

From the end of "Outbreak" in the Aliens Omnibus, we follow Wilks (formerly Hicks from Aliens), Billie (the grown-up Newt), and Billie’s damaged android boyfriend Bueller as they discover a bioweapons outpost—the first human contact they’ve had in weeks. Unfortunately, said outpost is headed by General Spears, a madman in the vein of Dr. Strangelove’s General Ripper. If you’ve read some of my old reviews, such as Carnage: Family Feud and Sinister Spider-Man, you’ll know that I love gloriously insane villains, and General Spears is in the top tier. He keeps his outpost under his thumb with promises of glory and instant death sentences for anyone who opposes him.

What puts Spears at the top of the crazy general pile is either a fluke or a connection between two distant pieces of the franchise. I mentioned River’s rescue in Serenity in the previous review, and continuing the Joss Whedon connections, "Nightmare Asylum" features a general who wants to breed, train and control the Xenomorphs. It seems a lot like the blueprint for Aliens Resurrection, and Spears, in both looks and tone, is very reminiscent of Dan Hedeya as General Perez. Whether or not Whedon gleaned any elements for his film from the comic, I can’t say, especially since his script was infamously mangled for the film’s production. However, the connection kept coming up as I read on.

Spears’ delusions of Xenomorph control are partly encouraged by the hive mind from "Outbreak," but I think he was crazy enough to try it anyway. The Xenomorphs are seemingly trained to follow orders using Pavlovian methods. Orders are issued to the drones through their queen, and if either disobeys, they are immolated in special tanks. They are conditioned to fear fire . . . or at least, that’s the plan. In a great moment of comeuppance at the end, it turns out that the Xenomorphs weren’t trained at all. They were faking it, and when they are released to fight the hive infecting the Earth, Spears is dead almost immediately.

Perhaps the story’s most striking image is conveyed in the one cover used in the Omnibus as a story divider: Xenomorphs with army stars and insignias painted on their heads. In part it’s because the idea of controlling such violent creatures is an intriguing idea; Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War actually accomplished it. But the other reason is that it’s the first taste of Den Beauvais’s art. The entire four-issue miniseries was painted, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Not only is the action extremely clear for a painted work, but it was also printed on black paper. As a result, the shadows are heavy one moment, but then you turn the page and find a brightly-lit operating room, changing the visual tone completely. I wish Beauvais would do far more work in comics.

Another striking image leads into the final collected miniseries. After a narrow escape, Wilks and Billie are reintroduced to a long-awaited figure. Ellen Ripley returns as the star of "Female War" and completely steals the story away from Wilks and Billie, for both good and ill. Billie getting shoved into the background takes away from a narrative thread continued from "Nightmare Asylum": she has been monitoring the video feed of a young girl, Amy, whose messages are being broadcast by automatic satellites. She sees Amy as what she used to be -- a young girl living in fear -- and the connection is immediate, despite having never met in person.

However, Ripley is still a great character to follow. She’s even more angry and sarcastic in this miniseries, especially after the retcon which separates the comics from the movies without any possible reconciliation. Ripley was awoken after only three weeks of hypersleep and coerced into working for the government, which was on the Sulaco’s tail the entire time. I love this retcon; it allows Ripley to grow and maintain her tough status while not losing her adopted family.

The main mission of "Female War" is a bit complex: capture the Queen Mother and bring her to Earth so that she can summon all of her followers into one place, then nuke the entire site from orbit, since it’s the only way to be sure to kill all the Xenomorphs. It’s good to see that Ripley has her priorities straight. One cool artistic feature is that the ship they use to capture the Queen Mother has a large containment cell in the back lined with Xenomorph corpses in an attempt to keep it sedated. It doesn’t work, since as mentioned, the Xenomorphs are smarter than we think. This ship was later turned into the Alien Attacker toy for the Aliens toyline.

Speaking of the art, this time it’s by Sam Kieth, which took me by surprise. However, this was a few years before The Maxx came out, so his art was more reined in by the editors. It ends up being very effective in its use of shadows and in providing an even more nightmarish quality to the Xenomorphs. Like all of the stories in this franchise, it ends with a massive explosion and a seeming victory, but of course, there’s no way to really get rid of the Xenomorphs.

Two short stories finish off this collection. The first is “Theory of Alien Propagation,” presented as notes from the scientist in "Outbreak" and drawn by Mark A. Nelson once more. It’s a simple piece which canonizes the basic detail of the Xenomorph lifecycle while demonstrating the process on a nameless race. The other, simply entitled “The Alien,” is by John Arcudi (in the first of his many Aliens writing roles) and Tony Akins. It wraps up a subplot left over from "Female War," wherein the Space Jockeys are terraforming Earth to their own liking. A human delegation takes out one of the beings in a way similar to the death of such a being in a recently-released motion picture.

The rest of Aliens Omnibus Vol. 1 isn’t quite up to par with the first part, but it’s still a fantastic ending to the saga. This is a must-buy if you like the franchise, especially if you’re on an Aliens kick after Prometheus.

[Join Doug next week for our special Guest Reviewer Marvel Week!]

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Number 1178: A roscoe sneezed

Adolphe Barreaux is a pioneer in the history of comic books. He started out drawing comic book-like stories for Harry Donenfield (who later went on to take over DC Comics from its founder, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson). Barreaux drew the sexy Sally the Sleuth stories for Spicy Mystery Stories, an under-the-counter pulp Donenfield published before he took over DC Comics. Donenfield set Barreaux up with an art shop, with himself as co-owner, to provide artwork for his line of pulps. Here's an example of Sally the Sleuth, from its days as a two-page strip (and I mean that literally...Sally could not keep her clothes on), from Spicy Detective (March, 1935). The scans are from the 1988 Malibu Comics reprint.

Later Barreaux became editor of Trojan Magazines, Crime Smashers, and other titles, a small publisher also bankrolled from the DC empire. The story of DC's secondary business interests is a complicated one of silent partners, publishing names and different addresses, but it all goes back to Harry Donenfield. He was a sharp businessman who had his hand in the comics business, publishing and distributing, in a big way.

Barreaux is credited with drawing these Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective stories. The color story is from Crime Smashers #7 (1951), and the second is originally from the pulp Spicy Detective (January, 1943), by way of the Malibu Comics reprint, Spicy Tales #1 (1988). Robert Leslie Bellem is credited as the writer. He created Dan Turner for the pulps, and was known for his overcooked dialogue like "a roscoe sneezed," and "Jeepers! Baldy's been skewered through the ticker! He's defunct!" Bellem went into writing for television after the pulps were skewered through the ticker. He did scripts for The Lone Ranger, Adventures of Superman, 77 Sunset Strip, and many more. He died in 1968.

In looking at the artwork for these Dan Turner stories I'm venturing the opinion that despite Barreaux's credit they are shop jobs. Maybe he had something to do with them, and maybe not. In "Off-stage Kill" Dan Turner is shown mostly from the back in a very static layout. The only time the story comes alive is when the girls are fighting. "The Murdered Mummy" has some of the same faults, but is much livelier in its layouts.

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Review: Justice League International Vol. 1: The Signal Master trade paperback (DC Comics)

With the success of Grant Morrison's JLA in the late 1990s, Justice League comics got serious, a far cry from the Keith Giffen/J. M. DeMatteis Justice League International super-comedy of the 1980s. In between those two extremes, however, had been a short, cogent Justice League run by Dan Jurgens in early 1990s, which combined humor with action and notably connected with the famous "Death of Superman" storyline.

Jurgens therefore approaches the DC New 52 Justice League International: The Signal Masters with some level of experience and prior success, as does artist Aaron Lopresti, who just drew Justice League: Generation Lost, the virtual "old" DC Universe precursor to Justice League International. What humor is contained in International, some might mistake for a lack of sophistication, but indeed the book has a nostalgic charm in the vein of the older Justice League stories. More's the pity that Justice League International is cancelled after the next volume, but hopefully Jurgens will show up elsewhere on the DC Comics line with these characters in tow.

[Review contains spoilers]

As opposed to the DC New 52 Justice League: Origin, in which the Big Seven Justice League meet, coalesce into a team almost immediately, and then take out the New God Darkseid, the Justice League International bicker their way through their first two issues and then ultimately retreat from the earth-churning giant robots they encounter. This doesn't seem much the premise of a super-team to follow, but the appeal of this League's characters -- Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Fire, Ice, and Rocket Red in the "old" DC Universe's International, among others -- is their status as underdogs; Justice League is the team readers would want to be on, and JLI is the team readers would likely encompass.

The team comes together and defeats the villain Peraxxus in the end, of course; when the U.N. threatens to disband them, the heroes support one another and stay together. This pluck, again not quite the same as what one gets from the Justice League proper, is endearing to the audience.

Jurgens makes a significant decision to not only include Batman in this title, but to lend leader Booster Gold Batman's support. Long-time fans know this is a significant change over International depictions of old, where Batman would barge in, take over, and alienate all of his teammates. At the end of Generation Lost, Booster had earned Batman's trust both by defeating Max Lord and through Booster's secret work preserving the timestream; there's no such reason given here, but Batman's support of Booster again rallies the audience to do the same.

Jurgens's characterization of Batman is milder than most, even than that of Batman's depiction in Scott Snyder's excellent Court of Owls and other DC New 52 titles. When Batman asks Guy Garnder to stay with the team because "helping people is what we do," it seems almost quaint, though this Batman is easier to take than the one in Snyder's story who punches his partner Nightwing to make a point. That Gardner and Batman even coexist in relative peace here at all is an item of interest, given their storied rivalry in the classic International (including Batman's "one punch" knockout of Garder). Though those stories no longer "exist," Jurgens takes how the characters have matured since that time as a launching point for a more mature JLI -- still with some humorous in-fighting, but far less outlandish than the International of old.

Even as the main plot of Signal Masters has the League fighting an alien threat, the book also sees the League's headquarters bombed by an angry militia, though the source of their anger is tougher to define. The group seems to be upset that the U.N. gives the so-called "Hall of Justice" over to the U.N.-sponsored JLI; the group says the Hall is "theirs" and the JLI are "sell-outs." Without some background as to the role of the Hall, the group's claims don't make sense -- the Hall was a Justice League base in the "old" DC Universe, but if that's the same in the DC New 52, why is it abandoned and why do the protestors feel ownership of it? Jurgens would seem to try to parallel any number of real-world protests, from the Occupy Wall Street movement to arguments over what to build in former World Trade Center areas, but this manifests. It comes off as the weakest part of a story that has otherwise good characterization throughout.

For the first time in the DC New 52 collections, it may be come apparent to readers how much has been lost in the relaunching of DC Comics continuity, even if there's been some requisite gain. Fans will remember Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis's I Can’t Believe It's Not the Justice League, a sequel to their classic International stories, in which Booster, Guy, and Fire venture into Hell to save the deceased Ice, including a heart-rending moment when they might have to leave her behind.

The number of issues these characters have appeared in and the amount of continuity baggage they all carry may be daunting to new readers, but it also allows for emotional reading in the amount all the characters care for one another. Jurgens's Leaguers here are friends, and certainly Jurgens is aware of the characters' "old" relationships, but it's not the same as having that history down on the page. This doesn't lessen Signal Masters, but there's an aspect of "getting the band back together" that would have been present in the "old" DC Universe and is not present here.

Justice League International: The Signal Masters succeeds in what it does not try to accomplish. This is not a widescreen action book (though Lopresti is no slouch in the action department, as well as expressive faces in scenes of dialogue) nor is it a story of sure-fire, confident heroes. Rather, the JLI is a ragtag group, not sure what they're doing or if they should even be together, comprised of some familiar faces, and fans of these characters won't be disappointed. Possibly low sales ended Justice League International after the next volume, or possibly DC Comics has other plans for these characters -- hopefully it's the latter (and failing that, a DC New 52 Booster Gold series by Jurgens!).

[Includes original covers, sketchbook section by Lopresti]

From DC New 52 team to DC New 52 team -- coming up, the Collected Editions review of the DC New 52 Stormwatch.

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Number 1177: The atomic nightmare

Atomic War #1 (1952), a paranoid classic from Ace Comics, is the stuff of my childhood nightmares. I dreamed about being in an atomic blast. Maybe more of my generation, and our parents' and grandparents' generation, did also. We were very propagandized in the 1950s. I remember hearing the words from a teacher in my elementary school that shocked me: "It's not IF, kids, it's WHEN," in a classroom discussion on how to avoid death when the Big One was dropped on us.

Now we know it was all part of the big lie told to us naïve children, trusting that our adults would know how to protect us. By that time the destruction of cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki had shown if you were in a certain radius there was nothing left of you but vapor, and even outside that radius your days left on Earth were few. An article tells the grim story.

But even in those days of of feeling an attack was inevitable, we knew for it to happen the Russians had to fly in and drop those bombs on us without themselves being shot down by the U.S. Air Force. It was a sliver of hope! Our brave airmen would protect us! Yay!

Artwork is credited by the Grand Comics Database to Ken Rice. Without further ado, my childhood atomic nightmare:

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The king's kollection

Two pages excerpted from a longer article.

When King Farouk of Egypt was deposed in 1952 and went into exile much was made of his collections, unearthed during searches of his palaces. Life magazine ran an article, lavishly illustrated in color, in its November 24, 1952 issue, showing some of what was found. To the general public in 1952 comic books and pulps, found in a closet, would have been evidence (along with a massive porn collection) of a lowbrow addiction to sleaze.

What a difference sixty years makes. When I look at the picture of some of Farouk's collection, everything I see (except for the bronze likeness of Farouk himself) I'd want. Even the nudie-cutie paintings look campy and collectible. Does any of it still exist? I don't know.

My guess is for illustration purposes photographer David Douglas Duncan chose items from the closet that would have made the ex-king look foolish. As we see in the photo, besides pin-up magazines, Farouk read Timely publications' funny animal kiddie comics and Millie the Model. He most likely had other comic books, too. The article says he had "hundreds of comic books and pulp magazines."  Who knows? Maybe Action Comics #1. Maybe even copies of Life. As I said, what a difference...yesterday's trash, today's treasures.

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