Posted by Darren in Comics
Roll Call: JLA: Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow
Roll Call: JSA: Hawkman, Wildcat, Mister Terrific, Hourman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Johnny Thunder & Thunderbolt
VS.
How Chu, Gem Girl, Money Master and Smashing Sportsman
The JSA and JLA have assembled after the Negative Universe’s race of Black Spheres invaded the Positive Universe and four of their number possessed normal human beings turning them evil and imbuing them with super powers. The heroes were defeated on Earth-Two and summoned the JLAers to assist only to discover that they had the same problem on Earth-One.
Together the heroes cobble a plan together to find the rest of the Black Spheres and to absorb the energy into the strongest of them to see if that helps them become less vulnerable to the powers of the villains. After absorbing the energy though the heroes become evil and Hourman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern turn on their comrades in the midst of their missions. During each of these encounters the heroes discover beings imbued with negative energy are vulnerable to water, Chinese wisteria, wood, and laughter of all things.
Once the villains are overcome by their individual vulnerabilities the heroes make very quick work of them and the Negative Energy beings are expelled from More >
Posted by Darren in Crisis
Before I get into this issue, lets talk a little bit about that Robin outfit. Wow, its just.. bad, isn’t it? Anyways, to the action at hand.
Roll Call: JLA: Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Superman JSA: Hawkman, Hourman, Johnny Thunder & Thunderbolt, Mister Terrific, Robin, Wildcat, and Wonder Woman.
It is a fairly normal day on Earth-Two when these black spheres begin to fall from the sky and four of them manage to touch human beings and be absorbed by the humans. These individuals then begin to act out of character and become evil. A Chinese man becomes a marauding bandit known as How Chu. A simple office worker becomes Gem Girl, obsessed with stealing precious jewels. A former baseball star sidelined by arthritis becomes insanely jealous of those able to play the sport and begins busting up a stadium in the midst of a game. A British businessman decides to take drastic shortcuts to profit by robbing banks directly of their cash.
The scene switches to the Justice Society of America’s headquarters where we see the JSA induct Robin into their ranks as a full fledged member. This introduces a very important concept in the DCU, that of Legacy.
Legacy. def 2 - More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
Time to just go over Batman’s Supporting Cast a wee bit.
Now we’ve already talked about a few of these folks prior to now so lets go down that list really quickly.
And you would think with that full a cast, we would not have that many more people to discuss, well you would be wrong.
Lets start with Batman’s parents, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne. Two of Gotham’s most loved philanthropists and through their foundations and Dr. Wayne’s lifesaving worth, there are very few Gothamites who have not been touched by their good deeds.
The parents of Bruce Wayne may not appear in every story, however there is no doubt that the two of them are the driving force in Batman’s world. Upon leaving a movie theater the family walks through an alley to get to their vehicle. On the way they meet a lone gunman in the shadows, Joe Chill. Joe’s robbery attempt goes wrong when Thomas fights back and Chill shoots and kills him. This causes Martha to cry out More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
Over in the Outsiders world, the Outsiders face the first established DC Comics threat, Kobra.
Kobra believes that he is the bringer of the Kali-Yuga, the end of the age of men and order and ushering in a new era of chaos over which he will rule.
To that end Kobra has thousands of thralls all willing to die in his cause. Hail Kobra! and Hail Naga-Naga! are phrases frequently uttered by these weak minds, for those lieutenants of Kobra, they are much deadlier as they have been allowed to keep their personalities intact. They are there for a high reason, nihlism.
Along the way to Kobra’s defeat the Outsiders meet a young woman named Emily Briggs. She is non-descript, even mousy and is married to a man named Greg. She works as a banker and is as dull as they come, however she does feel some feelings of inadequacy for not looking good enough for her husband.
It turns out Emily is a descendant of a group of subterranean dwellers known as the Abyssians. Emily is the descendant of a long line of royalty in Abyssia and once the Haley’s Comet passes the Earth, her latent powers will come out to fruition. Greg discovers More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
Raven is missing.
The incoming evil is palpable.
The Titans know Trigon is coming.
In the fight against Trigon, Raven’s mother, Arella, served on the front lines it is through her that we see where Raven is.. walking a column of rocks and bodies writhing in eternal torment. Arella catches up to her daughter to try to prevent what has already occurred, but it is too late. Raven is now Trigon’s daughter, body and soul.
Wonder Girl flies from New York to Titans Tower to join her teammates. In Raven’s room, Nightwing is gathering clues including Azar’s rings that have been left behind by Raven. She always wore these rings, and now without them, the last of the remnants of Azarath are now gone.
Cue Lilith Clay to enter the story. As the earlier Titans’ precognitive Lilith offers her assistance in order to help the Titans locate Raven. Azar’s rings go to Lilith and the world goes fairly mad for a bit. Raven’s quarters attack the assembled Titans and it is only through the evil energies dissipating that the Titans escape the room.
Lilith offers to do a seance to contact Raven using the rings as the contact point for her soul, however Lilith needs the connection point More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
The story continues in what presumes is the next morning.
Dick Grayson is sitting in his apartment at his desk when Deathstroke the Terminator crashes through the window.
As Terminator attempts to capture Dick it is Dick’s natural inclination to trick his opponent into thinking he is doing one thing when he is actually wanting the bad guy to do something else. Dick tricks the Terminator into knocking him near the open window which gives him the easiest out as he lands in the garbage dumpster below.
Hobbling Dick Grayson makes his way into the midst of a race going on, one could presume this is the New York City Marathon, and Deathstroke loses his quarry. It is at this point where we run across a woman with medium brown hair with a huge flower in her hair and her chauffeur, a young blond man with mutton chops who are observing the events.
After Dick loses the Terminator in the crowd, he signals for the other Titans, no one answers.
Dick Grayson is alone.
He enters detective mode determined to discover what happened to the other Titans.
Heading first to Donna Troy and Koriand’r's apartment he discovers the apartment a smoldering mess and a package that says More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
There comes a time when it is time to put away the items of childhood and become grown adults in our own rights. For Robin, the Boy Wonder, created in 1940, his puberty and subsequent adolescence had lasted until this comic book. His contemporary, Kid Flash, created in 1959 joins Robin as the two former kid sidekicks divest themselves of their previous identities and become men.
In this rather short tale it starts out with the Titans raiding a hideout of Brother Blood’s only again to wind up looking as if they are the bad guys when they know Brother Blood’s sect is planning some deviltry, to come to pass in the next story actually.
As the Titans return home they reconvene at Titans tower except Kid Flash becomes the first Titan to reveal his secret identity to Terra as he gains entry to Titans Tower in civilian clothing. Explaining that his powers seem to be hurting him when he uses them, his confusion over Raven’s manipulations of his emotions, and stating he wants to finish college, Wally leaves the Titans his Kid Flash ring and claims that Terra should take his place on the team.
It is at this point that Robin makes a surprise announcement as More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
In a continuity of almost fifty years at this time, some errors are going to occur and most readers understand this and let the minor things go.
Some flubs are too huge to let go however and they necessitate a fix if you will.
In early stories prior to the Teen Titans appearing, Wonder Girl, was actually Wonder Woman as a girl. So, Diana Prince had adventures as a teenager prior to leaving Paradise Island and becoming Wonder Woman. The stories of Superboy being so successful, this was a no brainer right?
Well, when the Teen Titans came along it was Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash at first and then Wonder Girl joined them. The problem with this? Wonder Woman was already active in the DCU and fighting alongside contemporaries like Superman and Batman, while this Wonder Girl was fairly new and is a member of the sidekick generation about the same age as Robin and the others.
The solution, a little sister named Donna Troy. Donna being close to Diana and Troy, one of the famed areas of Greek mythos and for a long time no one seemed to mind that Donna’s origin story was rather, well, unfleshed out.
Donna was discovered as a baby in a burning building along with More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
As the Outsiders marched on in their own title, Batman had grown fairly fond of his team, though he would never admit to it. Perhaps it was Batman’s first time of being completely in charge of his teammates as opposed to having to explain his plans in details to his compatriots in the JLA.
The Outsiders proved victorious in battles against an ex-military man who was a victim of Agent Orange and now wished to infect the rest of the world with the same affliction he suffered.
and one of their many nuclear themed foes, the One-Man Meltdown.
As the Outsiders grew closer and closer as a team, and as this put strain on the Batman/Robin dynamic, it was bound to happen that the Outsiders and the Titans would meet in a conflict of the Fearsome Five.
- Mammoth – An Australian juggernaut incredibly strong and with almost limitless stamina, he is brother to his fellow Fearsome Five member, Shimmer.
- Shimmer – Sister to Mammoth, can transmute elements if she can touch them.
- Gizmo – The Dwarven gadgets expert, he can build any sort of gizmo, and his size gives him an advantage in combat for those who underestimate him.
- Psimon – Perhaps the most dangerous of all, More >
Posted by Darren in Comics
When we last left our Titans, lets see…
- One of their allies, Adrian Chase and his family was a victim of a fire bombing, presumably set by the Mobster Scarapelli in retaliation for his arrest at the end of the Runaways saga.
- Raven’s self-doubts continue to plague her after her father gains a solid foothold into her soul.
- Newly inducted Titan, Terra, makes herself useful by fending off the attack of Deathstroke the Terminator. Unbeknownst to the Titans, this is merely a ruse as Terra works for the Terminator as they plot the Titans’ demise.
- Kid Flash begins to experience some issues with his powers causing him pain when he uses them.
- Wonder Girl got engaged to her beau Terry Long.
- The Titans vowed to help a pair of brothers, Thunder and Lightning find their missing father.
There, I think that sums it up. Onward!
Enraged at the brazen nature of this attack, Robin takes it upon himself to go after Scarapelli. Scarapelli is also under a great deal of pressure from the head of the organized crime family for bringing too much attention to them. Like a wounded animal, Scarapelli panics and calls for help, and in doing so, introduces us to a major figure in the DC Universe and More >
