Talking About Comics

Green Lantern #185-188 Originally released in 1985 Written by Len Wein (#185-186), Paul Kupperberg (#187), Steve Englehart (#188) Art by Dave Gibbons (#185-186), Bill Willingham (#187), Joe Staton (#188) The first episode of Lanterns (DC's Green Lantern streaming series) came out yesterday, so I decided to read the other DC comic that appeared in season 3 of Stranger Things.  Hal Jordan had recently quit the Green Lantern Corps. to be with Carol Ferris, the woman that he loves (why he had to quit in order to do that is beyond me, especially when he has two back-up Green Lanterns at this point with Guy and John), so John Stewart has taken over as the main Green Lantern. While being interviewed over a dinner date, John thinks back on how he became Earth's full-time Green Lantern. (He was a back-up before, but I guess that doesn't count) He wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but Katma Tui (a fellow Green Lantern) said that humans must be cowardly, and when John denied i...

Justice League of America #75 Originally released in 1969 Written by Dennis O'Neil Art by Dick Dillin The Justice League of America has been losing members lately; Wonder Woman quit the team in issue 69 due to losing her superpowers (this was during her ill-advised "kung fu superspy" phase), while Martian Manhunter left in issue 73 to find a new homeworld for the survivors of his race. (The Flash and Green Lantern are absent from this issue, though they're still on the team)  With Black Canary coming to Earth-1 after the Justice League's latest adventure on Earth-2 led to the death of her husband, they agree that she'd be a fine addition, though she'll need more than judo skills to be on the team. Fortunately, the travel between universes or the magical opponent that they fought caused her to mutate and develop superpowers: her Canary Cry. (though she can't control it at first, as it sends sonic waves in all directions)  It feels a little shoe-horned i...

The Eternals #1-3 Originally released in 1985 Written by Peter B. Gillis Art by Sal Buscema In 1985, Crisis On Infinite Earths was changing DC's history in a major shake-up. Since the last issues that I read, unknown to me when I picked it, directly connected to that event, I was curious about what Marvel was doing in this time period.  I saw that a new Eternals series started at this time, so I went with that. (I was tempted to read Secret Wars II - I'm under the impression that it's a step down from the original, but I wanted to give it a fair chance) I read some of Jack Kirby's original run on the Eternals, but it didn't grab me like his work on the Fantastic Four or Mister Miracle did.  It felt like the Mongul to the New Gods' Darkseid - a lesser imitation. Even though it's a big ensemble piece with a lot of potential, none of the characters were really interesting for me. Here, there's an odd plot point that even though a handful of people know the ...

Wonder Woman #326-329 Originally released in 1985 Written by Mindy Newell Art by Don Heck I've been catching up on Stranger Things, so when two comics were shown midway through season 3, I figured I'd read at least one of them. (Probably an odd reason for making my choice, since I doubt the comics were chosen for any particular reason beyond comparing Eleven, a girl with powerful psychic abilities, to Wonder Woman, but it's as good of a motivation as any) This issue focuses on Wonder Woman dealing with a crisis in Central America as two intelligence agents are kidnapped. Part of the problem with jumping into the middle of a run is that some subplots are lost on me (Etta Candy is involved, but Steve Trevor is nowhere to be found for the first two issues, and there's all sorts of government intrigue afoot that involves various senators, junior senators, and generals), though the agents were in the nation of Tropidor (a stand-in for various Central American countries like ...