Longbox Junk - One-Shots (Part 3)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where the comics are cheap and the reviews are free!

Let's cut the introduction short this time and take a look at another handful of one-shot comics from my collection.  If you're a regular reader of Longbox Junk, then you know that these are my all-time favorite kind of comic book.  One issue. . .one story.  Nowhere for a creative team to hide.

This time out I've got a half and half mix of superhero and science fiction comics. Let's do it!

ONE-SHOTS (Part 3)

STAR TREK:

OPERATION ASSIMILATION

Marvel (1997)

OPERATION ASSIMILATION

SCRIPT: Paul Jenkins

PENCILS: Steve Erwin

COVER: Hajime Sorayama

THE COVER:

For some reason, this cover seems to be trying a little TOO hard.  The main figure seems stiff and the "Collector's Item Issue" spatch on the left oversells the comic a bit and just dates this to the 90's more than anything.  That said, it's not a BAD cover.  It's nicely-drawn and I like the muted colors.  A Romulan Borg is also an intriguing promise, so let's get inside!

THE STORY:

Moliok, Proud Daughter of the Seat of Tarek, patrols a backwater sector of Romulan Space near the Neutral Zone. . .in command of an outdated ship and tasked with putting down petty rebellions against Romulan Rule, far from the action and excitement of those preparing for the inevitable confrontation with The Federation, thanks to her political misfortune.

Suddenly, Moliok's luck changes when an unidentified ship intruding in Romulan space offers her a break from the grinding routine of frontier patrol.  She moves in to confront the giant cube-shaped ship as it destroys a scientific outpost.  Moliok quickly discovers that her attacks are incapable of harming the unidentified intruder, which is capable of repairing itself.

Caught in a tractor beam, Moliok is commanded to surrender her ship.  She refuses and decides to ram the cube after setting the self-destruct, but before she can do so, strange cybernetic beings transport aboard her ship.  A brutal and desperate hand to hand battle breaks out, but Moliok is unable to defeat the invaders.

She is taken aboard the cube and subjected to agonizing surgery, forcing her to join the collective of the alien "Borg".  When we next see Moliok, she is serving as a Borg emissary as the cube continues to destroy Romulan outposts.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

This one-shot serves as a prequel to the late first season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone", which re-introduces the Romulans as a Federation foe to be reckoned with as outposts in the Neutral Zone are destroyed by an unknown enemy (revealed later to be the first off-screen appearance of The Borg).

The story itself is pretty straightforward and honestly a bit light.  It feels more like the first issue of an unfinished mini-series than a complete standalone story.  It's well-written and the character of Moliok is interesting, but it just feels like there should be more to it.

On the art side of things, it's not bad, but it's not particularly great either.  It's the kind of art that just tells the story and doesn't try to do anything other than that.  In other words, pretty average.

Overall, the most interesting thing about this story is seeing the Borg from another point of view that we didn't get from the T.V. show. . .which is one of the things I love about comic books!  And for that alone, I can recommend this story to any Star Trek fans (like me) out there who want just a LITTLE more background to the Borg arrival in Star Trek: The Next Generation.  If you're NOT a Star Trek fan, you'll probably just wonder where the rest of the story is.

So not a bad start.  Let's see what else we've got. 

NEXT!

FLASHPOINT:

GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES

DC (2011)

GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES

SCRIPT: Pornsak Pichetshote

PENCILS: Marco Castiello (Pgs. 1-5); Ig Guara (Pgs. 6-20)

COVER: Viktor Kalvachev

THE COVER:

The Flashpoint stories were all pretty much "Elseworlds" tales, and that's what this cover promises. . .a gun-toting Green Arrow with a fiendish grin who might or might not be a hero at all in the twisted world of Flashpoint.  It really makes me want to jump right in and see what's going on!  I also really like the green tone of the cover.  Very nicely-done.

THE STORY:

Billionaire Oliver Queen has made a fortune through Green Arrow Industries by using paramilitary teams to take down supervillains and transform their high-tech weaponry into military equipment for sale to the highest bidder.

When Queen's top secret testing facility comes under attack and his best friend, Roy Harper, is killed (along with a group of visiting U.S. Generals), Oliver equips himself with some of his retro-fitted villain weaponry and sets off in pursuit of the leader of the attack.

During a brutal battle in the jungle outside of the island facility with a strange woman armed with a bow, Oliver learns that the attack is to draw attention to the secret facility.  Green Arrow's weapons have caused death and destruction throughout the world and their inhumane corporate testing methods must be stopped.

Suddenly, Oliver realizes that HE'S become the villain!  He promises to end dealing in weapons and to use the technology for other purposes, but the mysterious woman just laughs at Queen's new pledge of "responsibility" before revealing that she's his daughter from the supervillain now known as Vixen and that he's been paying child support since she was born but has never seen her face before now.

Chastised, Oliver tries to allow his daughter to escape, but his security forces arrive on the scene and gun her down. . .devastating him as he resolves to change his life over her dead body.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Hmmmm. . .interesting.  Like I said above, all the Flashpoint stories are basically "Elseworlds" tales.  This one gives us Oliver Queen as. . .well. . .pretty much a Tony Stark clone.  I'd have to say that this was an interesting little slice of the overall Flashpoint "universe", but it's very derivative and feels incomplete, like it was meant to be the first issue of a 3 issue mini.  It's not BAD, but to be perfectly honest, the cover is the best part of this comic.

As far as the art goes, this is another comic with art that just tells the story and doesn't really try anything harder than that.  There's a few places that the art manages to elevate itself to just above "Pretty Good", but there's not many.

Overall, as a small slice of the short-lived Flashpoint "Universe", this is an interesting look at a decidedly unheroic Oliver Queen being forced to face his part in the suffering of the world.  As a one shot "Elseworlds" story, it feels incomplete and has an abrupt ending.  Like the Star Trek story above, it feels more like the first issue in an unfinished mini.  

I don't think I can recommend this to anybody except Green Arrow or Flashpoint completionists.  It just sort of feels like a fragment of an unfinished story.  It's interesting, but ultimately forgettable. 

NEXT!

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:

PEGASUS

Dynamite (2007)

PEGASUS

SCRIPT: Brandon Jerwa

PENCILS: Jonathan Lau

COVER: Photo

THE COVER:

A very nice photo cover of actress Michelle Forbes as Admiral Helena Cain, Commander of the only other remaining Battlestar, from Battlestar Galactica's second season.  If you're a big fan of the "re-imagined" BSG like I am, then this photo alone promises a chilling look at the dark places the fight for survival can take a story.  The "Pegasus" storyline was one of the best of the whole series and getting even a bit more of it is an exciting proposition that makes me want to jump right in!

THE STORY:

Set about a year before the events of the 2004 Battlestar Galactica SyFy mini-series, we begin our tale aboard the Battlestar Pegasus in spacedock undergoing maintenance and a refit of her Viper attack ships.  

Her commander, Admiral Cain, is given an emergency mission to travel to the Cylon/ Human armistice line to investigate the disappearance of the Battlestar Chronos. . .which vanished while responding to a distress signal believed to have been from a stealth ship lost on a previous secret mission across the border between Cylon and Human space.

Setting out with severely-depleted fighter forces, Admiral Cain is taken by surprise when Cylon ships attack as the Pegasus approaches the wreckage of the Chronos.  After being severely damaged, the Pegasus flees the battle and follows a distress signal coming from a Colonial supply depot.

After a brutal battle between Cylon forces waiting in ambush near the depot and Pegasus' outnumbered Viper pilots, Admiral Cain sends a ground team to investigate the distress signal.  The ground team discover a scene of carnage and are themselves attacked by Cylon troopers laying in wait.  After narrowly escaping the ambush, they discover the lone human survivor, Admiral Tong, commander of the destroyed Battlestar Chronos.

Back aboard the Pegasus, Admiral Cain attempts to gain information from Admiral Tong, but he suffers a mental breakdown and commits suicide in front of her.  Seeing the amount of death and suffering from this single encounter with the Cylons, Cain realizes that the threat waiting for mankind is far greater than anyone has imagined.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Okay. . .not bad.  This is a nice, solid little piece of hard military sci-fi action.  Like the Star Trek comic above, it ties into the T.V. show (The 3rd season episode "Hero", which expands on the failed stealth ship mission mentioned in this comic). Existing Battlestar Galactica fans will get more out of this because, also like the Star Trek comic above, if you aren't a BSG fan, you'll just end up wondering where the rest of this story is at.

That said, if you ARE part of the target audience, then this comic reads like a lost episode of the series!  We get to see Admiral Cain in action before she became the hard and empty shell of a person we are introduced to during the "Pegasus" storyline on the show.  Here, she's shown simply as a strong, confident commander and it really sort of drives home how far into the darkness she went after the Pegasus escaped the Cylon destruction of the Colonies.  But like I said above, if you aren't a BSG fan, all that won't mean much to you.

On the art side of things. . .I'm a fan of Jonathan Lau's dynamic art style from his work on Dynamite's Green Hornet and Bionic Man series.  Unfortunately, this is not his best work.  It's not BAD, and his signature style is definitely on display for the more action-packed scenes, but for some reason a lot of the non-action scenes look sketchy and rough.  That and he never manages to capture the likeness of Michelle Forbes (the actress who plays Cain on the show).

Compare the top and middle panels to the cover to see what I mean

Overall, this is a comic that was definitely written for a specific audience. For existing Battlestar Galactica fans, this is a great little prequel story that reads exactly like a missing episode of the series.  So being a big BSG fan myself, this comic is a winner!  Unfortunately, if you aren't a BSG fan, the connections will mean nothing and what you'll end up with is a fragment of a decent hard military sci-fi story that (in its favor) MIGHT be good enough to make you want to check out the source material. 

AND FINALLY. . .

GREEN LANTERN PLUS

DC (1996)

MAGNETIC PERSONALITIES

SCRIPT: Ron Marz

PENCILS: Scott Kolins

COVER: Scott Kolins

THE COVER:

Meh.  This one's just not doing much for me.  It seems a bit cluttered and messy.  I do like the brilliant colors of the main characters, but other than that, there's not much to write home about here, in my extremely humble opinion.  Let's hope what's inside is better.

THE STORY:

We begin our tale as an isolated magnetic research station at the North Pole is attacked by a mysterious figure.  We then switch scenes to New York City, where Kyle Rayner (AKA Green Lantern) finds himself needing to rush an art assignment to Japan after missing a deadline.  

In the meantime, at a Philadelphia park, we find Ray Terrill (AKA The Ray) in an argument with his girlfriend over his never being around when she needs him.  The argument is interrupted by a strange magnetic event and Ray once again leaves his girl to follow the magnetic trail to its source.

After destroying a small island with a tidal wave, the mysterious figure from the North Pole heads to Tokyo, where he proceeds to wreak havoc before confronting and easily defeating Japan's newest hero, Arashi.  Green Lantern saves Arashi and then joins in the battle after recognizing his foe, Doctor Polaris.

As the battle rages through Tokyo, The Ray arrives on the scene to help Green Lantern and there's the team-up!  Leaving The Ray to fight Polaris, Green Lantern saves Tokyo from another tidal wave.  After Green Lantern returns, the two heroes compare notes from their solo battles against Polaris and attack him together, forcing Polaris' multiple personalities to fight themselves.

After Polaris falls victim to his inner battle, Green Lantern leaves him in the hands of The Ray as he finishes his own errand and recognizes the woman he was delivering his assignment to as Arashi, the Japanese superhero he rescued earlier.  We end the story knowing that Arashi also recognizes Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Hmmmm. . .okay.  What we have here is a pretty straightforward and extremely well-worn story path of "Heroes team up to fight a common enemy".  I'm actually surprised to find the "Heroes fight until they realize they're on the same side" team-up trope missing. . .so extra points there, I guess?  

What I'm trying to say is that this is a decent enough story, but one that's been told over and over and over and over and over and over and. . .well, you get the idea.  Most of the book is taken up with fight scenes, and at the end of the day nothing has changed for either hero.  It's a story you've read many times.

The only REAL interesting part of this was the Japanese hero, Arashi.  She's got a cool look and it seems like there was some potential there for her to be an interesting high-tech hero. . .unfortunately, when I searched for more stories with her in them, I discovered that this was her first, last, and only appearance.  DC sort of hit a foul ball there. Check her out. . .

As far as the art goes, I'd say it's probably the best part of this one-shot.  There's a lot of detail and interesting, cinematic angles that give things a great sense of motion.  The only thing I didn't like much art-wise was that the artist gives the youthful Kyle Rayner a grizzled look that makes him appear about forty years old.  Other than that, this comic has some great art and very nice colors.

Overall, this is a pretty by the numbers superhero team-up.  It's the sort of thing you read and forget about not long afterward.  It does have some very nice art, it's a sort of unusual team-up, and it's pretty fun, but it's basically comic book junk food.  If you're a big Green Lantern or Ray fan, then definitely keep your eye out for this one.  For anyone else. . .don't pay more than a buck if you REALLY want to check it out.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it.  Another handful of Longbox Junk one-shots.  Overall, I'd have to say that this bunch didn't fare as well as the last couple of batches I went through (Read HERE and HERE ).  There aren't any BAD ones, it's just that the only one that doesn't feel like an unfinished mini-series is the Green Lantern/Ray team-up.  The rest read like unfinished story fragments.

Granted, if you're a big Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica fan like myself, you'll get significantly more mileage out of those two one-shots. . .but not everybody is going to know where and how those stories connect with their television counterparts, so it's not fair for me to judge them any differently as one-shots needing to tell a complete story in a single issue.

Up Next. . .

I think I'm done with one-shots for now.

It's been a while since I dug into a mini-series.  But which one?

So many to choose from! I'll figure it out, though.

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk Retro Review - Green Lantern #87 (1971)

Welcome back to Longbox Junk, home of comic reviews nobody ever asked for!

Once again, my apologies for summertime Longbox Junk delays. I do these in my spare time at work managing a hotel and summer is the busiest time of year.  The good news is that fall is in the air, schools are starting back up, and things should settle back down into a slow winter's groove soon.

ENOUGH OF THAT!

So what we have here is another Longbox Junk Retro Review. . .where I step away from my usual bargain bin fare to take a look at some of the older or more "valuable" comics in my collection.  This time out we're going to take a trip in the paper time machine back to 1971 and check out Green Lantern #87, featuring the first appearance of Green Lantern John Stewart.

I JUST bought this comic last week (the first week of August, 2019 for those readers in the future) at the flea market for what I THOUGHT was a pretty stiff price. . .$15.  I realize that those of you with more knowledge of older comics than I have are sputtering right now, because in great condition, this comic is "worth" over $300!

It's not quite in three hundred buck condition, but it's in pretty good shape. I'd grade it at a respectable 7.0.  AND I bought it just because I liked the cover. . .not even realizing it was a "key" first appearance issue.   In other words, I just sort of accidentally stumbled into a great deal!

BUT. . .

Just because this is a "Key" issue, that doesn't mean it's good.  I've been Longbox Junkin' for quite a while now and have discovered that sometimes the most "valuable" comics are the worst.  Then again. . .there's that "sometimes" to be considered.  Let's consider it, shall we?

We shall!

WAIT! DISCLAIMER!  IF YOU MIGHT GET OFFENDED BY HONEST AND POSSIBLY POLITICALLY-INCORRECT CRITICISM OF WHAT COULD BE SEEN AS AN IMPORTANT COMIC BOOK RACIAL "MILESTONE" THEN DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. 

Okay.  Everyone in that's staying in?  Let's do this!

GREEN LANTERN (VOL.2) #87

DC (1971)

COVER: Neal Adams

I bought this comic for the cover.  Let's talk about that cover for a moment before we jump inside.

I'm kind of a sucker for monochromatic backgrounds on comic covers in general, and this is a great example!  I really like how the characters stand out against the stark white background.  The colors pop in a big way that REALLY catches the eye and that's what drew me to this comic in the first place.  It's not my favorite cover in my collection, but the simplicity of composition and stark color contrast are outstanding! A great job by the legendary Neal Adams.

So that's the cover, let's get into the comic. . .

BEWARE MY POWER

SCRIPT: Denny O'Neil

PENCILS: Neal Adams

INKS: Dick Giordano

Just LOOK at the legendary lineup of talent on this first story! 

Is there any way this can't be good? Let's find out. . .

The story goes like this:

When Earth's "official backup" Green Lantern Guy Gardner (here in his second comic appearance) is severely injured trying to save a busload of school children following an earthquake, the Guardians of The Universe instruct Hal Jordan to train a second backup that they have already chosen. 

The Guardians lead Jordan to "A certain urban ghetto" where he witnesses John Stewart standing up to police officers.  Jordan tells the Guardian with him that he's skeptical, due to Stewart's lack of respect for authority.  The Guardian tells Jordan he doesn't really care what he thinks.  He's got his orders. . . .now follow them.

So Jordan introduces himself and offers Stewart the job of Green Lantern, which he accepts. . .joking that they'll have to call him "The Black Lantern".  And so begins a training montage.  Jordan teaches the new Green Lantern the oath, gives him a power ring, and creates a uniform for Stewart. . .who refuses to wear a mask because "This black man lets it ALL hang out!"

Later, during flight training at the airport, the Lanterns suddenly find themselves on their first actual mission together when they spot a protest against racist senator Jerimiah Clutcher, who is running for President.  The protest starts getting out of hand and the Lanterns have to protect both the protesters and Sen. Clutcher from a runaway fuel truck.  

Stewart saves the Senator, but punctures the oil truck and coats the Senator in oil. . .leading to Stewart mocking his impromptu blackface.  Jordan takes offense at Stewart's disrespect and assigns his new backup to protect the racist Senator in order to teach him a lesson. 

Later, as Senator Clutcher is giving a speech, a black gunman attempts to shoot him.  Stewart refuses to obey Jordan's order to chase the gunman, leaving the job to Jordan instead.  While Jordan is subduing the would-be assassin, Stewart heads out to the parking lot and captures another gunman.

When an angry Hal Jordan returns to demand and explanation from Stewart regarding his refusal to obey orders, Stewart informs him that he'd seen BOTH gunmen earlier and didn't chase the first one because he knew it was a distraction and that the REAL gunman was waiting in the parking lot for when they evacuated the Senator, who knew that the Lanterns would protect him. . .all part of a plot by Clutcher to make it look like blacks wanted to kill him.  Jordan checks the gun of the first shooter and finds it loaded with blanks.

Later, Jordan admits that even though he doesn't like Stewart and his "style" much, he got the job done and that's all that matters.  Stewart takes it in stride and tells Jordan that differences in style aren't any more important than differences in color.

The End.

Well then.  That was. . .70's-Tastic.  This story is definitely a relic of its time.  The dialogue is dated and even a bit cringe-worthy in places to a reader in 2019.   I can't say how it read in 1971. . .this might have been regarded as a powerful and controversial story then.  Now it seems rushed, forced and preachy. 

I'm not a big GL fan but as a former Marine myself John Stewart is actually one of my favorite characters in that particular mythos.  Unfortunately, in this pre-Crisis story, Stewart is an. . .architect? How this qualifies him to be a Green Lantern, I don't know, but I definitely prefer his later retconned Marine Corps origin (Another "What the?" moment is seeing that Guy Gardner is a. . .teacher of disabled children). 

Origin preference aside, Stewart just seems like an overly-sensitive and somewhat hostile racist himself in this story.  DC definitely needed to start adding some diversity to their hero roster in the Bronze Age, but it just seems like they turned it up just a notch or two too far with this portrayal of their first black superhero standing up to "The Man".  

Full disclosure that I'm a white guy and don't have much stake in the racial politics game, but I have the feeling that this would actually read a bit embarrassing even to those who do.  It's pretty awkward and heavy-handed.  It might be a somewhat historic piece of the Civil Rights struggle going on at the time, but it's a pretty poorly-done one.

The good news is that even though the story is borderline bad, at least it looks good, with Neal Adams delivering some excellent artwork, but it's Neal Adams so that's just sort of expected.  There's a reason the man is considered a legend.  This isn't his BEST work, but it's good enough that it keeps the story from being a straight dumpster fire.

Overall. . .this may be a "key" origin story, but it's severely weighed down by dated dialogue and really feels sort of forced.  I KNOW Denny O'Neil can do better work than this.  Not a great introduction for DC's first black superhero.  As a relic of its time, this is interesting. . .but it's not a very good story in general.

NEXT!

WHAT CAN ONE MAN DO?

SCRIPT: Elliot Maggin (First comic story)

PENCILS: Neal Adams

INKS: Dick Giordano

The second story in this issue (notable as the first writing credit for Elliot Maggin, who went on to a pretty prolific career with DC) explores a pretty interesting topic. . .what good can superheroes REALLY do in the long run?  

The story goes like this:

Oliver Queen has recently suffered a financial disaster and has been spending more and more time as Green Arrow trying to forget about his problems.  One day, he receives a phone call from Mayoral aide Kenin McManus, and is informed that Mayor Jack Major wants to retire and that they have picked Queen as the perfect candidate to run for Mayor of Star City.

Oliver decides to call some of his superhero friends to talk about the offer and receives mixed advice (the best probably coming from Superman about how Queen's secret identity is pretty obvious).  He decides a personal visit to Black Canary is in order for a decision as important as this.

On his way across town to her apartment, Green Arrow finds himself trying to stop a protest gone out of control and turned into a full-on race riot.  As he fights his way through the crowd trying to bring some order to the street, the police open fire and a young black boy is killed right in front of the hero.

Green Arrow rushes the boy to the hospital, but despite the doctor's best efforts, he dies.  Moved to tears by his inability to save the boy, stop the riot, or basically do anything despite being a "super hero", Green Arrow finds consolation with Black Canary and tells her that he's decided to run for Mayor and try to do at least SOME good.

The End.

Truthfully, I liked this story a lot better than the main feature.  Like the main story, it's a bit of a relic of its time when it comes to dialogue and is definitely heavy-handed when it comes to the racial aspects, but it's also actually a thoughtful story that explores the question of what good a super hero is against the problems of society. 

 The synopsis above is a fairly sparse sketch of events. . .what is good here is the constant flow of Green Arrow's inner dialogue as he wrestles with the idea of the usefulness of a super hero when there's not a super villain, alien invasion, or giant creature to battle with.  

It's not a perfect story, but it's surprisingly thoughtful and has a lot of good moments in a pretty short space (it basically takes place during Green Arrow going from one side of town to the other to visit Black Canary).

In addition to the story being better than the main feature, I also found Neal Adam's art to be superior.  Where it was good in the first story, it's outstanding here. . .looking much less rushed.  Every panel is excellent, but the real standout is this fantastic splash page. . .just look at it!

Now THAT'S the sort of thing that made Neal Adams a legend!  

I would love to have a poster of that single page.  

Overall, this second story is superior in almost every way to the main feature.  Sure, it's a little heavy-handed when it comes to the racial aspects and you can definitely tell it was written in the early 70's, but it explores an interesting question in a thoughtful manner and is backed up with some truly outstanding artwork.  Very well done.

NEXT!

EARTH'S FIRST GREEN LANTERN!

RE-PRINTED FROM GREEN LANTERN  #16 (1962)

SCRIPT: John Broome

PENCILS: Gil Kane

INKS: Murphy Anderson

The last story in this issue backtracks to before Hal Jordan became Green Lantern to answer a little question that probably didn't really need to be asked:  If the power ring lets Green Lantern fly through space, then why was Abin Sur in a crashed spaceship when Hal Jordan found him and was given his power ring?

Well. . .that's the question.  Let's get the answer!

The story goes like this:

Hal Jordan's confidante and chronicler of his adventures as Green Lantern, the unfortunately-named Eskimo "Pieface", wants to know how come Abin Sur was flying in a spaceship when he crashed on Earth if the power ring lets people fly through space.  Hal tells Pieface that he just HAPPENED to have asked the power ring itself that VERY same question before, and therein lies a tale!

 Abin Sur was inspecting the planet Athmoora which has been perpetually stuck in a neo-medieval stage instead of being in an atomic age like it should be. Probing one of the inhabitants' minds he learns that the energy beings known as the Larifars have stunted their progress by robbing them of their intelligence.

 Abin Sur then traveled to the Larifar home planet and imprisoned the entire race, except for Balzona, who was on another planet scouting it out and waiting to contact the Larifars and drain the intelligence of that world. When Balzona learns of his race's fate, he goes after Abin Sur and terrorizes his home planet.

 Abin Sur then agreed to free the other Larifars.  While doing so, he also convinces Balzona that his power ring wouldn't have the power to bring them to that location in time. Boarding a spacecraft (the very spacecraft that crashed on Earth), Abin Sur uses the long space flight to trick Balzona, distracting him by flying near Sirus's green radiation belt.  

 Abin Sur is able to recharge his power ring without Balzona noticing. Abin then uses his power ring to imprison Balzona and send him to join his fellow Larifars. During the flight home however, Abin was struck by a yellow radiation belt negating his power ring long enough to be unable to prevent his spacecraft from crashing on Earth. . .leading to his fateful meeting with Hal Jordan.

The End.  

Okay then.  That seems like a pretty long and convoluted way to close a small plot hole.  Basically, Abin Sur was pretending that his power ring was drained, so he was flying in a spaceship.  Not only did this question REALLY not need more than a couple of panels to answer, but did it really have to be reprinted almost 10 years later?

What I'm trying to say here is that this story sticks out like a sore thumb in so many ways.  It feels completely unnecessary and is basically a waste of space that would have been MUCH better suited to fleshing out the other two stories (especially the first one, which felt very rushed).

The writing is simplistic and just feels silly compared to the weighty subjects of the other stories in this issue.  And the art. . .look, I know that there are those who think the world of Gil Kane.  In MY humble opinion, his art is. . .okay.  I'm not going to try to throw a Silver Age legend off the pedestal many have placed him on, but all it takes is a look at the few pages I've scanned here to see that compared to Neal Adams, Kane's work looks. . .basic.  

Overall, the final story feels like filler that would have done much better giving over that page space to the first two stories.  It's an overly-complicated answer to a question that didn't really need more than a few panels of space to explain.  It's not BAD, it's just sort of "meh" and a waste of space.

And that's that!

CONCLUSION

Overall, I liked this comic quite a bit.  The first story felt a bit forced and rushed, and wasn't a great introduction for John Stewart to the Green Lantern mythos.  DC's first black superhero probably deserved a bit better.  That said, it's an interesting look at the past through a comic book lens and it had some great art, so it's still worth a read.

The second story explored an interesting question in a thoughtful manner and was backed up with some fantastic art.  It's definitely the best part of this comic, in my extremely humble opinion.

The final story is an oddly out of place relic of the Silver Age that just sort of sits there wasting space that could have been better used fleshing out the other two stories.  It's not bad, it's just sort of. . .there.

Even though I wasn't particularly pleased with the story that makes this a "Key" issue, I'm still happy to have this comic in my collection.  I'm not a big fan of Green Lantern in general, but I can see that this title was taking some interesting directions during this time.  Despite its problems, after reading this issue, I'm interested enough to keep my eye out for more of this era's version of Green Lantern/ Green Arrow.  

Up Next. . .

Apologies in advance for continued summertime delays (this entry took me FOUR DAYS for ONE issue!), but I'm going to get my first Longbox Junk Reader Request edition out sometime in the next couple of weeks.  The end of September can't come soon enough.

Be there or be square!

Throwback Thurdsay - Green Lantern #25

I'll come right out and confess. . .I'm not really a fan of Green Lantern. 

 I don't HATE Green Lantern in any of the character's many forms.  Really, it's okay.  But I never go out of my way to buy a Green Lantern comic.  It's just that, at the heart of things, Green Lantern (Except for the original Alan Scott version) is a Science Fiction character.  I prefer my Sci-Fi more in a "Space Ships and Laser Guns" sort of military fashion. . .Battlestar Galactica would be a good example.  And then also, I've never really been a big fan of "traditional" capes and tights sort of superheroes.  Batman and Captain America are probably my favorites of the "traditional" superhero bunch.  

So two strikes against Green Lantern.  But two strikes isn't an out, right?

And so here we are with a Silver Age Green Lantern comic in hand for another "Throwback Thursday" special edition of Longbox Junk, where I take a closer look at some of the older and more "valuable" comics lurking in my Longboxes.  

This comic is actually a pretty new addition to my collection.  As of this writing, I bought it 5 days ago at a flea market, where I found it unbagged and in surprisingly good shape mixed into a pile of old Archie and Dennis The Menace comics for the low price of 12 lousy bucks.  I don't know exactly where the guy got that weirdly-specific number from, but I know a good deal when I see it and so I came into possession of my one and only 1960's era Green Lantern comic.

Is it any good? Let's find out!

GREEN LANTERN (Vol. 2) #25

DC (1963)

SCRIPTS: Gardner Fox

PENCILS: Gil Kane

INKS: Joe Giella

COVER: Gil Kane & Joe Giella

Let's start at the start, with the cover.

Unfortunately, it's not a very good start.  I usually buy these older comics for their covers in order to add them to my rotating comic cover collection on my office wall at work.  To be honest, if this was just one of a stack of Green Lantern comics, I definitely wouldn't have chosen this particular one.  But as it is, this was the only one, so here we are. 

 I like the logo and the flying villain is interesting, but other than that there's WAY too much in the word balloon, Hal Jordan looks really stiff and is posed strangely, the "swoosh" marks trying to show action are a bit overdone, and really. . .I thought Green Lantern was a flying space cop.  He just looks strange running down the street on foot.

Not a good cover.  Moving along!

The story goes like this:

Hector Hammond (a Green Lantern villain with powerful psionic abilities who has lost the ability to move on his own after exposing himself to strange radiation in Green Lantern #22) rots in prison after being defeated by Green Lantern.  What Hal Jordan doesn't know is that Hammond has faked Green Lantern into believing that he had successfully deadened the parts of Hammond's brain that give him his extraordinary powers with his power ring.  In reality, Hammond is still fully-capable of using his powerful mental abilities. . .and he has come up with a plan to defeat Green Lantern, now that the superhero thinks his enemy is helpless.

Hammond uses his mental powers to help free the villain Sonar from prison across the Atlantic in the small country of Modora. . .AKA the most ridiculously-overdressed tiny nation in Europe. . .where he was imprisoned by Green Lantern after being defeated in issue #19.  As Sonar escapes, he thinks he's somehow gained some new mental powers. . .never realizing he's being used as a pawn by Hammond.  How Hammond even knows about Sonar or where he's imprisoned is never exactly made clear, because. . .Silver Age?

ANYWAY. . .

In an oddly-convoluted plan, Hammond decides the best way to go about defeating Green Lantern using his new pawn (Sonar),  is that he's going to use his super mental powers to have Sonar attack and switch weapons with Green Lantern. . .but only in Green Lantern's mind.  This way, he can see how Green Lantern would win in a battle.  With this information, he can come up with a better plan for his enemy that will actually work and only then REALLY send Sonar in.  

Wait. . .what?  Never mind. Great plan.  Moving along!

When Hammond puts his hilarious. . .er. . .nefarious. . .plan into motion, Green Lantern is the guest of honor at the Ferris Aircraft Company picnic, because when trying to maintain a secret identity, it's ALWAYS best to be right there among people you work with all the time, right?  

Green Lantern discovers that Lois Lane. . .er. . .sorry. . .Carol Ferris has secretly entered Hal Jordan as her partner in the three-legged race, causing a bit of secret identity consternation RIGHT at the moment when Hammond's mind probe hits.

Green Lantern is plunged into an imaginary battle with Sonar in the skies of Coast City.  After escaping being tangled in steel girders and crushed by a conveniently-gold statue, their weapons are switched, so Green Lantern has to dodge energy blasts while using Sonar's sonic gun against him.  The battle eventually ends with Green Lantern tricking Sonar into an enclosed space and immobilizing him long enough to take his ring back and take Sonar into custody.

The battle against Sonar lasted only a second in Green Lantern's subconscious mind, so he just gets dizzy for a moment without realizing anything happened.  And he STILL has to deal with Carol expecting Hal Jordan to show up for the three-legged race.  So to solve the secret identity dilemma, Green Lantern hunts down his best friend. . .Pieface.

Wait.  Stop a moment. Savor the 60's flavor of Green Lantern having an Eskimo sidekick named Pieface. Pie. Face.  Piiiiiiiiiefaaaaaaaace.  Yep.  They actually had an Eskimo guy called Pieface.  

Okay, enough. Moving along. . .

Green Lantern uses his power ring in the most responsible way that a Galactic Space Cop entrusted with one of the most powerful weapons on Earth can. . .he changes Pieface to appear as Hal Jordan so that Carol won't be disappointed by not being able to run the three-legged race.  Eat THAT Spider-Man! With great power comes whatever the hell you want to use it for over in the DC Universe! 

AND THEN. . .

JUST as Green Lantern changes his best friend into Hal Jordan and they're both standing in front of Carol Ferris. . .who somehow fails to notice that Hal and GL have the same hair color, hair style, face shape, chin, height, and body type. . .the REAL Sonar attacks and Green Lantern avoids awkward questions by flying off to battle.

Everything goes pretty much exactly as the first (mental) battle, up until Green Lantern tries to trick Sonar into a trap.  Hammond uses his mental powers to help Sonar avoid captivity, and Sonar gains the upper hand, trapping Green Lantern in a solid block of emerald.

As Sonar flies the trapped Green Lantern to Modora, where he plans to put the hero on display, Green Lantern uses Sonar's sonic gun to pull off a trick from The Flash's playbook.  He uses the gun to vibrate himself so fast that he is able to pass through the solid emerald block.  Green Lantern then uses the Sonic Gun to create a waterspout that knocks Sonar out long enough for him to recover his power ring and then take the defeated Sonar back to prison in Modora.

Meanwhile, the "Mastermind" behind the whole thing finds it hard to believe that his overly-complicated plan using an underpowered C-List villain somehow failed.  As far as Hammond is concerned, the only good thing to come of it was that Green Lantern is completely unaware that it was him who was manipulating things from behind the scenes, and he swears to keep trying until he gets it right.

AND FINALLY. . .

At the end of it all, Green Lantern returns to the Ferris Aircraft Company picnic. . .which is STILL going on even though Green Lantern has made a two way trans-Atlantic flight (I guess there ain't no party like an F.A.C. party).  He learns that "Hal Jordan" did indeed help Carol win the three-legged race and gets to stand by and be jealous as a guy called Pieface kisses the girl he's been chasing since issue #1.  

The End.

Okay,  let's break it on down now!

I'm gonna be honest here and say that, as far as I'm concerned, this comic is everything good AND bad about the Silver Age.  So let's go with the good first. . .

There's a simplicity here that comes with the knowledge that this comic was NOT written for a 50 year old comic collector like myself.  It was written for kids during the 1960's.  There's a definite feeling of an honest suspension of disbelief that's possible when you're a kid in this comic.  It's hard for me to suspend that disbelief at my age.  This sort of comic makes me remember when it was easier. 

To me, that's what's great about Silver Age comics. . .the ability for them to remind the reader of a time in their life when even the most ridiculous things could be taken as they were.  I'm more of a child of the 70's so I get that feeling stronger when I read those Bronze Age comics and especially when I see those old ads, but I definitely got that whiff of what it was like to be able to completely suspend my disbelief when reading this comic.

THAT SAID. . .

Looked at objectively by the 50 year old comic collector, this isn't a very good comic.

The concept is interesting.  It's basically a villain team-up without the superhero OR half of the villain team realizing that it IS a team-up.  Unfortunately, the decent idea at the center of things is surrounded by Silver Age crap.

The Villain's plan is hilariously complicated and even unnecessary.  Hammond shows that he can influence the mind of Green Lantern.  Why not just do THAT?

And then there's the whole "Picnic" sub-plot.  I don't understand the Silver Age obsession with secret identities. . .especially on the DC side of things.  I think over at Marvel during the same era, the only characters REALLY trying to hide their identity were Spider-Man and Iron Man.  With DC, EVERYBODY had a secret identity, whether they really needed one or not.  It gets pretty. . .well. . .stupid.  This comic's secret identity shenanigans are a perfect example of the general stupidity of trying to force every character in your stable to have a secret identity.  

And now I'm gonna tip the sacred cow.  Let's talk a bit about the art.

Gil Kane is regarded highly by a lot of comic fans.  Part of that high regard comes from his work on Green Lantern.  But I have to honestly say that I don't see it in this comic.  

I'm not going to completely bag Kane's work here.  It's not BAD, but it's barely on the good side of "okay".  It's probably also the fault of the inker and/or the colorist, but I find the art in this comic to be about as utterly average as it can get.  There are a few nice moments, such as this shot of Green Lantern flying into battle. . .

. . .but for the most part, the art is pretty uninspired.  

Like I said above. . .I realize that this comic wasn't written or drawn for me.  But that said, the minimum effort that the art team put into this issue is pretty plain to see.  There's a lot to like about Gil Kane's later work, but it's a bit hard to see here.

CONCLUSION

If I had to describe this comic with one word, that word would be: Juvenile.  It has an interesting idea at its core, but uninspired art and basically being written for kids does not make Green Lantern #25 a shining example of the Silver Age evolution of comics.  That said, I'm pretty sure that if I was a kid in 1963 buying this comic off the spinner rack, I'd be about as happy as could be.  So it's kind of hard for me to kick this comic around for not appealing to a 50 year old comic collector when I can plainly see that it was perfectly written and drawn for the audience DC had in mind.

Up Next. . .

Longbox Junk business as usual as I take a look at a comic prequel nobody asked for to a movie nobody cared about.  IDW's The A-Team: War Stories.

Be there or be square!