All Things Supreme: Straczynski's Squadron (pt2)

Welcome back to our look at the Supremeverse. Celebrating Chaykin and Turini's announcement for the Squadron, we're looking back at Straczynski's Squadron. If you missed the first part, don't be afraid to make with the clicky.

So do I have your attention now? Feel free to take a seat, stretch your legs and let's see if I can't sate your Supreme fix for the Squadron today.



Doctor Spectrum
Army hand with a heavy heart
DC Analogue: Green Lantern
Alias: Joe Ledger
Powers: Unknown control of a crystal that's bonded to his hand
Character traits: obedient, incredibly competent, empty

Doc Spectrum seems to be just a military puppet on the surface, but that's ignoring his heavy, albeit less-than-competently-written, past.

His dad walked out on his family; his mom was a prostitute; his stepdad was abusive, and he was bullied at school. This was what I meant by "less-than-competently-written," but I suppose you're allowed to have one domestically rank past in a superteam. Ultimately, without a family or friends, this resulted in a feeling of emptiness in his life, and he realized that his life didn't have much point to it.

So he joined the army.

I think that's the heart of why he so doggedly obeys the U.S. regime -- because he has nothing else to live for no one else to turn to.

Except for maybe a second personality. Apparently, the crystal embeds a latent second mind in Joe, which occasionally manifests itself, as when Joe said,

"The children. . . the children must not fight."

when Hyperion and Zarda were fighting.

We haven't exactly seen this second personality fleshed out yet, but Chaykin will no doubt work on this.

Oh! A really big part of Joe currently is that he's fallen in love, perhaps to fill that void in his heart. Sigh.




Kingsley
skewing the fish-human ratio for the Squadron since 2003
DC Analogue: Aquaman
Alias: Kingsley (a name given to her by Doc Spectrum)
Powers: telepathy, ability to breathe underwater
Character traits: innocent (to the ways of man), loving, soft-spoken

Kingsley's name is a story in itself. She never even had a name until Joe gave her one -- Kingsley. There is no doubt that the two have a special bond, and yes, this is the love that I was talking about when we were wrapping up Joe.

I don't have much to say about her, except she can't (chooses not to?) talk, and instead has a telepathic bond with Doctor Spectrum. Their love for each other is really sweet.

And in Joe's case, it's really desperate.

Nighthawk
And you thought Batman was a jerk
DC Analogue: Batman
Alias: Kyle Richmond
Powers: being a jerk, talent in several martial arts, being rich, having lots of toys
Character traits: hateful, vengeful, occasionally compassionate

So, Nighthawk's parents were killed when he was a kid - by a bunch of hick white supremacists. The last thing that his dad told him was,

"Hear that, Kyle? That's a nighthawk. See, most hawks hunt during the day, but their prey, well, that means their prey can see their shadow. But a hawk that hunts at night, well, you can't see its shadow. Can you?"

That's a very good line that adds depth to Nighthawk's origin. That's smart writing right there.

So Kyle became rich and hunted down criminals. The way that Gotham belongs to Batman, Chicago belongs to Nighthawk. The two differ though, in that Nighthawk has absolutely no compunction about killing. He will murder any criminal on the spot if he feels they deserve it. I'm pretty sure he's murdered every criminal he's met as well.

Currently, Nighthawk isn't at all a part of the Squadron. Since he doesn't have any superpowers, the government doesn't think of him as much but --

So that's it for today's batch of supremeverse characters. I gotta admit, today's wasn't as strong as last time's, but that's partly because I didn't get to show any of Nighthawk's brutality. And we didn't get to see Zarda today. That's really too bad.

Tune in next time for our wrap-up of the main players in the Supremeverse, and thereafter we'll have a small follow-up to look at the upcoming creative team.

Panel by Panel: Birds of Prey #116

I have to admit, the reliability of comics this week every month is really, really sexy. I distinctly remember getting this exact same bunch of comics in the same week of last month as well. Consistency is a really big turn-on for me.

Anyways, I think that's enough weirdness for today. Let's just talk about creeps in shark jumpsuits with drug fetishes. Let's review Birds of Prey #116.

Birds of Prey #116
by Sean McKeever and Nicola Scott

Check out that cover; do you notice whose name is on the writing credits? I'll wait. . .

. . . Misprint alert! I'm pretty sure Simone left the Birds after issue 109.

So in this issue, Lady Blackhawk has been drugged to become -- Queen Killer Shark! Pirate Pearl of the Pacific!

That name alone almost redeems getting drugged -- but not nearly enough. Remember how in this post I said Killer Shark was a douchebag? Well, the Killer Shark in this comic is his grandson, and on the flipside: he's not a douchebag. He's a stupid loser greedy fanboy with too much time on his hands.

Sigh.

So his backstory gets fleshed out here in McKeever's fourth and penultimate issue: this Killer Creep discovered that his grandfather was a legendary pirate. Although his grandpa told him plenty of stories, the man never told him where he hid Killer Shark's booty -- so the Killer Shark in this comic thought to wrest it not from Lady Blackhawk, but from -- Queen Killer Shark! Pirate Pearl of the Pacific!

Meanwhile, we go to Black Alice and Misfit, who're still being angsty and childish until --

<-- Black Canary in a box breaks up the brawl! That is great; that is just great. Oracle, though, is still being kind of miswritten. She's not Batman and she should never be written as cold as he puts himself off as, although it's believable given the circumstances.

Thereafter, Black Alice bounces out with an eerie message:

"I know where you live."

and then Oracle says to Misfit ---->


That close-up on Barbara brings up something about the art -- the faces tend to be clones of each other! What is going on, artist Nicola Scott? Okay, fine, there's a child-girl face and an adult-girl face, but I'm sure you can do better. I give you props, however, for your paneling. It's very clear and eye-catching.

Meanwhile, on Killer Shark Island, Queenie takes them to the treasure, and Killer Shark gets absolutely ecstatic - like a jerk. He reveals that he'd originally planned to kill her once he found the treasure, but now that he sees it, he's too happy to.

What a jerk.

And then he reveals further that the Shark serum could only've been made in massive batches, so maybe Queenie would have to share him with Huntress, who'll no doubt get serum-ized.

. . . kids, that is what you call "creepy." Do not take candy from this man; it's most definitely drugged. Do not get in a car, submarine or plane with him -- even if it's shark-shaped. If you see a shark-shaped sub, your first instinct should be, "Run." Are we clear?

Good. So, throughout the entire issue, I no doubt wanted this guy to get shown up. He does, with an arrow in the butt:
Sigh. So later, Queenie's memories return to her, and she tries to reason out how Huntress got free from captivation:This was both a very heartwarming moment and a very strange one.
Heartwarming: it's really sweet to see that Zinda's subconscious wanted to save Huntress even when her conscious didn't want to.
I also love the clark bars. You can't go wrong with those.

Strange: Why would Zinda say bling? I'm googling the word, and its first appearance was around the 90s. Zinda, a time-displaced WWII aviator, really should not be using that word.

Bad McKeever, go hide in the corner.

And that's the issue. There's some cliffhanger-y stuff that introduces the menace of the arc's very first issue, but that wasn't too compelling. Keep in mind, though, that Misfit's powers are magic-based. That should come in handy.

Overall, this was a really well-plotted issue. There are a ton of developments in the issue, yet nothing seems too crowded or cramped. There are lots of moments to be happy about, yet none of it's overwhelming.

Maybe I've just gotten used to decompression, but this issue really gives a lot of bang for your buck.

A three out of five Killer Shark teeth for this issue. Based on the writing, it should be more, but still, it could've used more Zinda Blake and less creepy Killer Shark.

I know, I know, this was from last issue, but I don't care. I love Zinda.

All Things Supreme: Straczynski's Squadron (pt1)

So, as I said in a previous post, it's time for the Squadron Supreme to steal the spotlight!

In celebration of the news that Chaykin and Turini will be taking over the Squadron, it's important to take a look back. It's important to take a look at Straczynski's foundations for the Squadron.

Today we look at Hyperion - the hero without a home; the Blur - our Everyman and Princess Zarda - our kill-happy psycho! Wheeeeeee!

Hyperion
The hero without a home
DC analogue: Superman
Alias: Mark Milton (I'm sure his middle name also begins with "M")
Powers: "Flash" vision; supersonic flight; super-strength
Character traits: somewhat naive, strong in his beliefs, losing his faith in America, isolated/lonely

Supreme Power is Hyperion's life story as a child. The alien who became Mark Milton crash-landed into a remote agricultural area in America, and, he was taken in not by any mild-mannered couple, but by the government under Jimmy Carter's presidency.

He was raised in a bubble, conditioned for American beliefs, and before you knew it, Mark Milton was running errands for the regime, all the way up to the Clinton era. And sometimes, these regimes called for the use of coercive means.



Slowly realizing that he was being exploited, Mark lashed out (to the point of a 10.5 on the Richter scale!), but eventually returned to working for the government -- with his own agenda, this time.

Which brings us to the present. We haven't seen too much of this agenda implemented yet, but I bet we will when Chaykin takes it up again.

Mark's generally had feelings of isolation. Living fenced off from society, his first interactions with people his own age was as a teenager, and even then, it was surrounded by guards. Later on, the death of his "parents" was faked, and the feelings became worse.

They became better, though, when Mark learned that there were other superpowers out there. The two big ones are his friendship with Stanley Stewart AKA The Blur, and the relationship (romance?) with Princess Zarda - her alias is currently Claire DeBussy. We'll be covering these two fellers today as well.

Currently, Mark is the leader of the Squadron Supreme, but he's still subordinate, of course, to the one-handed (uni-ppendaged??) and balding General Alexander.



The Blur
Our Everyman
DC Analogue: The Flash (duh.)
Alias: Stanley Stewart (Stan the Man!)
Powers: superspeed
Character traits: humble, average, thoughtful

Stanley here was living in a rural home with his mom (his dad died), when it just so happened that Mark's ship landed around that area! Spores from the ship infected Stanley, among others, and made him super super-sick, until he miraculously recovered - with superspeed!

Supreme Power saw the rise of Stanley from a small-time errand boy to a high-profile superstar. Sports companies flocked to his personality for endorsements, and he became a media sensation. Despite all the fame and fortune, though, his mom was always his top priority.

Currently, Stanley is a small part of the Squadron, if you can call its conscience small. On their mission to Africa's Salawe province, Stanley's the first one to bring up, "Has anyone bothered to ask the natives what they want?" He may be representing America in the Squadron, but he's one of the most personal members on the Squadron.

Princess Zarda

Our kill-happy she-psycho

DC Analogue: Wonder Woman
Alias: Currently Claire DeBussy. We never know her real name, beyond Zarda.
Powers: super-strength, flight, regeneration
Character traits: insane, sadistic, delusional (maybe?), confident

I love Zarda so much. She knows who she is, and she'll never lie about that to herself or anyone else. She knows what she likes; she knows where she wants to be in life, and she's working to get there. She knows how to enjoy life to the fullest too.

You gotta respect that.

She also is (thinks she is?) that Mark and she are the last of their kind, and that they were sent to Earth. . .

"To rule. To kill. To conquer."

It's very convoluted, and it's unclear whether they're the descendants of Greek Gods or just aliens or what have you. Also, one of Zarda's followers said that she came to liberate woman from Man's world (WW reference?).

Yes, it's established very clearly and very early that Zarda's mind is unstable. This is due to one of her powers - regeneration. She can absorb and pretty much disintegrate any human she touches to heal any of her physical ailments, from minor cuts to outright body decay. The thing is, she also kind of absorbs different personalities in the process!

Currently, Zarda is the Squadron's lovable insane sadist.

Never change, Zarda. Never change.

So, that does it for today's post. This is me signing off and saying Zarda is awesome.

If you have any questions, if anything's confusing you, feel free to speak up! The Supremeverse was one of my first comics, and it's just wonderful, you might say supremely so, that I get to share it with you.

Next time, we'll be looking at the Supremified Green Lantern, Aquaman and Batman, but not before I go through this week's review in comics!

All things Supreme: Straczynski's Squadron

Sometimes I just love you to bits, Newsarama.

Over here, they reveal that Squadron Supreme will be seeing the light of day again!

The Squadron Supreme was originally Marvel's take on, "What if the Justice League took over the world - to protect it?" maxi-series by Mark Gruenwald. There were analogues to Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, the whole shebang. It was awesome.

Later on, in 2003, Joe Straczynski and Gary Frank modernized the characters with an 18-issue maxi-series (Supreme Power), which then became an ongoing series - Squadron Supreme! It, too, was awesome, but was put on hiatus as of issue 7. It hasn't been touched since, much to my dismay!

As the link said, Howard Chaykin and Marco Turini will be rebooting the series, and although they won't be continuing off the cliffhanger that was put on hiatus, I am no doubt excited out of my mind.

In celebration of the news, I'll be doing a few posts (three to four) on Straczynski's Squadron!

What was so beautiful about the seriesesses was the organic, respectful and smart characterizations. However much the story was about these current events in the world, they always came back to who these people were, and these people were heroes in real life. At the very surface, they're merely DC's superheroes, but from the very start, these characters take a life of their own. Simply amazing.


The first part, starting after this week's reviews, kicks off with the Supremeversions of: Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash.

In the second part, the Supremeverse takes on: Green Lantern Aquaman, Batman.

The third part sees some original, non-Supremified characters, but that doesn't make them any less awesome.

So, to conclude this post, as Green Lantern Alan Scott might say:

And remember, if you're confused by anything Supreme over the posts, don't be shy! Ask!

Why I love blogging, plus: Birds of Dead of Night

Giganta loves you, Steve Gerber!

And we do too. waAaugh!

Sigh. Nothing makes me feel better than that. Especially after the negativity of last post.

EDIT: You can check out Marvel.com's own respects to him here. It's really cool, in that it has a cover gallery of only some of his work with the publisher.

Anyways, here are some links that might interest you:

Hawkaaaaa!

That's a link to a scans_daily post, a community where people post scans of comics daily.

That link covers Zinda's first transformation into Queen Killer Shark at the dastardly hands of Killer Shark. That guy is such a douchebag in the scans: he swipes a vial from a dying scientist, and then tests it on a stray kitten. He really better get his comeuppance in Birds #116, the penultimate issue of McKeever's run.

Anyways, if you missed my review of Birds of Prey #115, which sees the transformation from Lady Blackhawk to Queen Killer Shark (again), you can find it here. It wasn't a bad issue, but it definitely had its flaws.



Those who know fear. . . BURN at the Man-Thing's touch!

That links to a comicbookresources interview with writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

He'd wanted to leave Marvel with something he'd really enjoy, and Dead of Night is such a monster. It's meant as a throwback to four different horror genres, he says in the interview, and he hopes that they all work together in the end.

The first issue is meant as an EC horror comic.
The second similar to an old Warren magazine.
The third 70s' mutant cannabilistic horror.
The fourth James Cameron "Aliens"-style.

If you missed my review of Dead of Night #2, you can check it out here. In short, it was an issue that left me cold.


Newsarama's posted some preview pages for several DC books, one of which is Catwoman #77! I think you guys know how I feel about issue 76, so I'm hoping 77 offers some insight alongside the fantastic fun it has.

I'm really gonna try to get reviews up on Wednesday and then Thursday for the week, guys. There really is no better time to sit in front of your computer than the emergence of the Spring Time.