Celebrating Artist Val Mayerik

Celebrating the birthday of artist Val Mayerik (March 29, 1950) with a couple of his covers featuring Frankenstein's Monster...Frankenstein Monster #18 (September, 1975) and Iron Man #101 (August, 1977).

Planet DC JSA And Batman

Here are the last two of the 8 Planet DC Annuals of 2000, focusing on heroes you know meeting heroes from foreign lands...

...this time around, the new heroes are Nemesis and the Boggart, who meet with the JSA and Batman.

JSA Annual #1 (October, 2000)

First up is Nemesis (Soseh Mykros) in a story by David Goyer, Uriel Caton and Wade von Grawbadger, as she fights the clones of Sportsmaster (an old JSA foe) as a way to battle the Council.  Soseh was the daughter of Dr. Anatol Mykros (who worked with the Council, which were thought to be defeated by Batman and the Mark Shaw Manhunter long ago.  Mykros experimented and had two daughters, Soseh and Ellina, both of whom had incredible regeneration abilities, as well as Eidetic Kinesthesia (the ability to duplicate any fighting style she encountered).  Meant to lead the Sportsmaster clones, Soseh felt what her father was doing was wrong, and opposed him, drawing her into battle with her sister.  While Soseh defeated Ellina and got away, she was injured and floated away in the Aegean Sea...

...where, in the second story in the annual (by Geoff Johns, Buzz and Jim Royal, as Buzz did the cover as well), Soseh ended up on Themyscira, home of the amazons, where, at the time, Hippolyta was acting as Wonder Woman, and training newer JSA members Black Canary, Star-Spangled Kid and Hawkgirl.  There, she related her tale and, having encountered the Sportsmaster clones before, the JSA decided to help, going to the back to the secret facility in Greece where the Council was cloning Sportsmaster, and destroyed it, with Soseh killing her sister along the way (a setback for the Council, who was allied with JSA foe, the Ultra-Humanite as well).  Nemesis continued fighting the Council with the help of the JSA, but ended up allying with Black Adam, where she was killed by Eclipso (all in the next few years of JSA books).

Batman Annual #24 (October, 2000)

The last of the new heroes from the Planet DC was the Boggart, as detailed in this story by John Ostrander, Jim Aparo and Sal Buscema (with a cover by Michael Kaluta).  On a rare vacation to England, Alfred Pennyworth ran into the beast...leaving him comatose, inviting a visit by Bruce Wayne (and Batman) to investigate.  Going to the place Alfred last was, Elsbeth Fields (call her Gran Puddin) was set to give Bruce her granddaughter, Rosemary....until Bruce was chased from the house by the Boggart.  Having Rosemary calm the Boggart, Gran Puddin explained that her son Harry, and new bride, Diana, had Rosemary with help from Lord Malvern, who, now claimed Rosemary.  

Bruce went to confront Geoffrey, Lord Malvern, who directly shooed Bruce from his mansion and made light of claims of the beast.  Going back as Batman, Bruce encountered security guard Grayle, as Rosemary and the Boggart went to the mansion as well.  When the girl and her imaginary friend got in, they found other children who also had imaginary friends, and found that Lord Malvern was experimenting to give children telekinetic powers....which manifested as imaginary friends.  Grayle, as a security guard representing other interests, tried the formula on himself, manifesting the beast.  Lord Malvern had a cure for the formula, but needed Batman to distract Grayle, and the Boggart to distract the beast, wherein Malvern gave Grayle the cure, and the beast disappeared.  Realizing Malvern was not malevolent, Gran Puddin gave her blessing for Rosemary to be trained at the mansion (with the Boggart reluctantly agreeing).

In the second story, also by Ostrander, Aparo and Buscema, Rosemary (and the Boggart, the manifestation of her powers) met Roland Royce, who was to study the Boggart (but the Boggart would have none of that).  The Boggart manifested badly, and, after being admonished by Rosemary, disappeared for a while.  Rosemary learned why Malvern was so intend on protecting children, having lost his son, William, who was the first recipient of the experiment, and killed himself because he couldn't handle the power.  With the help of the Boggart, Malvern and the spirit of his son reconciled.  Sadly, Rosemary and the Boggart never reappeared.

Celebrating Artist Glenn Fabry

Celebrating the birthday of artist Glen Fabry (March 24, 1961), who provided the painted covers to the Trenchcoat Brigade...

...a four issue mini-series featuring John Constantine, the Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult and Mister E...four magic users in the DC universe united by their love of finely tailored coats.

Trenchcoat Brigade #1 and #2 (March and April, 1999)

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Trenchcoat Brigade #3 and #4 (May and June, 1999)

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Planet DC Flash And Green Lantern

Even more coverage of the Planet DC Annuals of 2000, where DC's greatest American heroes worked with heroes from other lands.

Here, the Flash (Wally West) teams up with the members of Super Malon including sorceress Salamanca), while Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) meets Sala.

Flash Annual #13 (September, 2000)

Here it is a whole team of heroes in Argentina, in this story by Chuck Dixon and Enrique Alcatena, but first we start out with one of the earliest heroes, Jay Garrick, the Flash, trapped in some mystical land, while Wally West, the Flash, plays chess with Oracle in the JLA Watchtower on the moon.  There, Wally gets a mystical summons from Salamanca, and beams down to Argentina, where he faces the Peteys (little hairballs that are super fast servants of Gualicho).  Gualicho entraps Salamanca in a mystic bottle, with one of the Peteys taking it, leading Wally on a chase through Argentina, where it finally disappears.  

Wally uses his super speed to follow the Peteys' vibrations, ending up in the mystic land, where he meets Jay and the rest of the Super Malon (Cachiru, wolf Lobizon, blue costumed Pampero, brown hooded Vizacacha,  swashbuckling Cimarron, jaguar styled Yaguarette and horse headed Bagual), where they explain that Flash must race los Peteys and win or become trapped in phantom form as they are (and do it before the solstice or the wizard Gualicho can free himself from this land Salamanca trapped him in).  Wally starts to race the Peteys, but instead confronts Gaulicho, freeing Salamanca from the bottle, so she can free the rest from their phantom forms, and combined, beat Gaulicho.

In the second story, also by Dixon/Alcatena, readers learn of the romantic ties between Salamanca and Cachiru, as the duo have to deal with a ghostly Mazorquero (a secret police member of a governor of Argentina long ago) who haunts the Dona Rosario Echeverria, an old woman who was dying....and, the love of Jose, who was that secret guard, who was waiting for her to die to be with her, leaving Salamanca and Cachiru to decide if they would resurrect their old affair.  Salamanca and most of the Super Malon appear again in Wonder Woman #186 and #187, with Salamanca attending a meeting of mystics in Infinite Crisis.

Green Lantern Annual #9 (September, 2000)

Meanwhile, in Tunisa, Sala is introduced in a story by Timothy Truman, Koi Turnbull and John Lowe (with a cover by Truman), starting with demons of the air decimating a small tribe, raising one of them from the dead to become Pazuzu (who will open the gateway).  Soon after, on an archeological dig in the area, Sala Nisaba and friends (including Assan) find an old well that is a passageway to the gates of hell, with local soldiers killing all but Sala and Assan, as Green Lantern appears to save them.  Sala recognizes Kyle (as they attended college classes together), and, along with the old man the soldiers were torturing, go to explore the well. 

There, they find the wall keeping the Kurnugi (Babylonian Underworld) from invading Earth.  Sala finds the ruins to explain the wall, that it keeps Nergal (lord of terror), his wife (Ereskigal) and her evil mother (Tiamat), the demon lord (Pazuzu) and Humbaba (entrail faced demon) away from Earth.  Istar (the lady of heaven) and her ring bearer (Ninurta) fought to keep them back there in ancient times...and, Kyle finds the ring bearer was an agent of Oa (and the Guardians of the Universe).  Then, the demons appear and take Sala and the rest to Kurnugi, where the family plots to escape (and against each other...), but needed the ring of one of the Guardians' agents (Kyle) as well as Istar's ringstaff to get free, which they now have.  They also reveal that Sala was a descendant of Istar and Ninurta, and has the power of Istar...

In the second story, by Tim Truman and Paul Ryan, the plans continue, with the family sending their demons into Kyle to try to get him to relinquish the ring, which they eventually do, but even as Nergal opens the gateway, Kyle continues to fight, with Sala fully embracing her new identity as the lady of battle.  Kyle gets Assan as Sala continues to fight the family, with Sala getting Kyle his ring, as he and Assan escape through the gateway, but leaving Sala behind.  Kyle would return to help Sala in the JLA: Gatekeeper mini-series, with Sala later appearing in the Infinite Crisis Special: Day of Vengeance.

A Deadly St. Patrick's Day

Have a happy St. Patrick's Day, but be careful to celebrate safely...

...that means no Poison Ivy, even if she is green, here on the cover to Batman: The Long Halloween #6 (May, 1997) by Tim Sale.

Planet DC Superman And Titans

Continuing coverage of the Planet DC Annuals of 2000...this time around with groups meeting solo heroes over the world.

Superman gets a chance to work with Iman, El Muerto and Acrata, while the Titans team up with Bushido.

Superman Annual #12 (August, 2000)

There are three heroes here...Iman, El Muerto and Acrata, in a story by Brian K. Vaughn, Carlo Barberi, Marlo Alquiza and Juan Vlasco (with a cover by Humberto Ramos and Wayne Faucher), Clark Kent gets a temporary assignment in the Mexican version of the Daily Planet, where he meets the local Mexican heroes, a group of individuals who have been working together fighting one menace, terrorists attacking Mexico City.  Acrata (Andrea Rojas, using her mystic powers, disappears into the darkness) to find the source of the problems, while El Muerto (Pablo Valdez, a young boy who died trying to be a hero like Superman, who came back to life to still fight the good fight) and Iman (Diego Irigoyen, a boy genius who became an astronaut, only to return to Earth to find his parents murdered, built a suit of armor to fight crime) and Superman tracked the menace down their way.  

Together, they tracked down Duran, who was using mystic menaces and Brett Dechamps and his environmental group, Earth Rights, to destroy civilization to prevent pollution.  Using her mystic amulet, Acrata powered Superman with the ancient magic allowing him to defeat Duran. 

In the second story, by Oscar Pinto, Francisco Haghenbeck, Carlo Barberi and Juan Vlasco, reporter Gary Hoffman delved into the secrets of Iman, El Muerto and Acrata, as well as situations that Earth Rights had set up, and even a little of the mystic history leading up to that final battle with a researcher for prehispanic cultures, Professor Bernard Rojas (secretly, Acrata's father)....at least until he was killed by the mystic forces unleashed before the main story.

These heroes would have later appearances, with Iman appearing in Final Crisis and Justice League: Cry For Justice; El Muerto popping up in Day Of Vengeance and Infinite Crisis and Acrata appearing in Birds of Prey #100 and Justice League of America #54, #55, #58 and #59.

Titans Annual #1 (September, 2000)

Meanwhile, over in Japan, Bushido debuts in a story by Geoff Johns, Benjamin Raab, Josue Justiniano and Christopher Ivy (with cover by Justiniano).  Flamebird and Beast Boy find themselves in Japan, where they get involved in a battle between Bushido (Ryuko Orsono) and Tengu, a battle which had raged on from generations (Tengu having killed Bushido's mother during a battle they had, which resulted in his inheriting her legacy and weapons to fight the demons which plagued their homeland).  In this battle, Tengu possessed Beast Boy and fled, with Flamebird left behind to explain things to the Titans (Nightwing, Flash/Wally West, Troia, Tempest and Arsenal) and prevent Bushido from killing Beast Boy in his zest to end Tengu.  Bushido and the Titans fight each other and Tengu, with Bushido eventually ending Tengu and his possession of Beast Boy (with Gar surviving).

In the second story, by Johns, Raab and Rick Mays, the origins of Bushido and his line are explored, the weapons he used that are possessed by the spirits of his ancestors, and the bloody legacy he has to deal with as he fights the Yakusa at his mother's gravesite...all the while thinking that perhaps he needed others to work with to save his own soul.  Working with the Titans was a blessing and a curse for Bushido (in Titans Secret Files and Origins, Titans #25 and #32) as it lead him to be there for an attack by Superboy-Prime in Infinite Crisis, resulting in his death....but he did return as a Black Lantern in Adventure Comics #4 and #5.

Celebrating Martial Artist Chuck Norris

Celebrating the birthday of martial artist/actor Chuck Norris (March 10, 1940) with the covers to his Marvel Star Comics mini-series, Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos based on the Ruby Spears cartoon of the same name...a series that featured Chuck working with a group of martial arts enthusiasts (samurai warrior Kemo, apprentice Reed, Pepper the mechanic, sumo champion Tabe and Too Much, Chuck's young ward) fighting crime with martial arts, especially the criminal organization VULTURE, lead by Claw and his ninjas!  

Issues #5 and #6 are rumored to exist, but no proof has yet been found!

Chuck Norris #1 and #2 (January and March, 1987)

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covers by Mike Zeck and John Beatty; M. D. Bright and Joe Rubinstein

Chuck Norris #3 and #4 (May and July, 1987)

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covers by Tom Morgan and Mark McKenna; Alex Saviuk and Bob McLeod

Veronica In Timely Trouble

Think you are having trouble with Daylight Saving Time?  Well, try being Veronica Lodge, who is having big trouble with time in London, England, as she hangs around Big Ben...in this bit from Veronica #14 (April, 1991) with cover by Dan Parent and Hy Eisman.

Celebrating Artist Al Milgrom

Celebrating the birthday of artist Al Milgrom (March 6, 1950) with the Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man... 

...a four issue mini-series featuring the Sinister Syndicate (a group of Spider-Man foes that wouldn't be considered his most dangerous), but when banded together...the group of the Beetle, the Shocker, Boomerang, Rhino, Speed Demon and Hydro-Man...could fill a mini-series!

Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man #1 and #2 (May and June, 1991)

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Deadly Foes Of Spider-Man #3 and #4 (July and August, 1991)

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Planet DC JLA And Batgirl

In 2000, DC had a loose theme tying together their annuals, that of having their established heroes meet new international heroes.

8 annuals in total, here are the first two, JLA Annual #4 and Batgirl Annual #1, which introduced the Janissary in Turkey and Aruna in India.

JLA Annual #4 (August, 2000)

First up is the Janissary in a story by Brian K. Vaughan, Steve Scott and Hector Collazo (the later two who provided the cover)...young Doctor Selma Tolon, who would become the Janissary, using the power of Sultan Suleiman's scimitar to magically defend Turkey, the Janissary was put to the test when General Kazim summoned the evil Jinn, Iblis, to gain power.  Iblis had planned to take the Janissary's body, and to enable that unleashed flaming Jinns with zombie soldiers across Turkey, involving the JLA (Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) to battle them.  The Janissary eventually defeated Iblis, and was offered membership in the JLA by Aquaman, but she declined.

In the second story (by the same creative team), readers get the origin of Janissary: Selma Tolon found the scimitar in an ancient dungeon while working for the Red Crescent (a local version of the Red Cross), pulling it from the sand, and using the magic might of that scimitar (as well as unreliable access to the Eternity Book of Merlin, which would allow her to cast spells, with unreliable results), Selma came to fight crime and menaces, yet upheld her doctor's oath to not take lives.

The Janissary would later appear in Wonder Woman #174 and #175, as well as in the Day of Vengeance and Infinite Crisis, as well as in Birds of Prey #100.

Batgirl Annual #1 (August, 2000)

Next is Aruna, in a story by Scott Peterson, Mike Deodato and John Stanisci (with cover by Matt Haley and Kevin Nowlan), ...where Batman and Batgirl get distracted from their own case in India to find missing movie star Ashok Ramanan.  On the set, they get let to stuntman/actress Aruna Shende (who seems to produce incredible creatures that no one knows how she makes and performs them).  The duo track her down, finding out Aruna is a shape shifter, and changes into whatever she needs for the movie.  They also find she is one of India's untouchables class, which they also find Ashok was, and though a rich movie star, he was looked down upon by his neighbors, one of who killed him.

The second story of the Annual by Scott Peterson, Pablo Raimondi and Walden Wong, delves into the origin of Aruna, where she grew up in the wilds of India, poor, but loved by her parents who knew of her shapechanging abilities (though Aruna knew not what she even looked like).  Her parents were taken away by the government, and she used her powers to get food, eventually settling in stunt work and make up, but still trying to find herself and her parents.

Aruna only recently reappeared in the DC Book of Pride.

Celebrating Artist Simon Bisley

Raising a pint today to celebrate the birthday of British artist, Simon Bisley (March 4, 1962) , with a look as at his covers to the first Lobo mini-series from the 1990s, which he also drew the insides of.

A chance to see Lobo, who at this time, was a L.E.G.I.O.N. member totally out of control!

Lobo #1 and #2 (November and December, 1990)

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Lobo #3 and #4 (January and February, 1991)

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The Russian Starfire

A young teenage boy who accompanied his archeologist father to investigate what they discover to be crashed alien spaceship in the Siberian wastes near the Yenisei River in Russia back in June, 1908...the lad sneaks into the spaceship at night, where he triggers an energy blast that gives him great strength and speed, turning him into Russia's first hero....Starfire!

This Starfire debuted in Teen Titans #18 (November-December, 1968), and would later be tied to the Teen Titans.

Eye Of The Beholder!

In Teen Titans #18 (November-December, 1968) by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Bill Draut, under a Nick Cardy cover, we first meet Starfire in Stockholm, Sweden, where the Teen Titans and Starfire have to work together to stop the jewel thief, Andre Le Blanc from stealing the crown jewels.  Kid Flash, of all the Teen Titans, is especially displeased for their American team to have to work with the Russian hero, and the Russian lad is none to fond of his American counterparts.    The teens get a chance to try to capture Andre when he takes a practice run, but the team just works against each other, allowing Le Blanc to escape.  

The kids regroup, with tensions running high, when they split up to guard the thief's next target.  There, Andre traps Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Wonder Girl (all under the watchful eye of Starfire)...with Starfire eventually confronting Le Blanc, who bests him and puts his life in danger. Thankfully, Starfire had freed the Teen Titans from their traps (who held back to allow Starfire the honor of capturing Le Blanc), and together, they bring Andre to justice, learning the lesson that all men of all nations need to work together.

A Pretty Girl Is Like A -- Maladi!

With New Teen Titans #18 (April, 1982) by Marv Wolfman, George Perez and Romeo Tanghal, the original Starfire returns (and his given name of Leonid Kovar) is revealed.  Here, starting in a forgotten bureau in the Soviet Union, Marek Slavik finds out his son Tomas was killed by Americans.  Marek's brother Tomas and wife Sonya were also killed earlier in two incidents involving the American army, and thus Slavik plots revenge.  Using a long abandoned project, Slavik infects his secretary, young bride-to-be Maladi Malanova, with a radiation (unbeknownst to her), and sends her with papers to deliver to New York City (promising her that she will be back before her wedding...a lie).  Later, King Faraday, of the FBI, recruits Robin and Wonder Girl to inform the other Titans that their old "friend", Starfire, is back in the USA on a covert mission. 

The Titans gather in their tower, and look for Kovar, finding that one of the custom agents at the airport collapsed (where Maladi was 3 days before) and was taken to the hospital. Raven finds out that the man was infected with a radiation poisoning and the Kovar was interested in this as well.  Kovar closes in on Maladi, but the Titans interfere, thinking he might be responsible to the radiation poisoning.  The Titans capture Kovar, where he explains that Slavik poisoned his secretary to spread death in America, and that though she cannot be saved, anyone she touched could be.  Kovar escapes Titans Tower to continue to go after her, while Maladi goes to a doctor to see about her sickness.  

Kovar tracks her down, and lets her know of her dire situation, and that he plans to kill her.  The Titans show up and fight him, stopping his plan.  They take her to a hospital where she dies.  Kovar, after being confronted by Kid Flash by his cold plan to kill her asks why...and Leonid explains that instead of the slow death she got he was to offer her a quick death, as he could do no less for the woman he was engaged to.

Though not in the issue, Kovar got a new heroic name, that of Red Star in Action Comics #551, and fought alongside the heroes during the Crisis On Infinite Earths, was later involved with the first Justice League International/Suicide Squad team-up, came back to America to fight with Hammer and Sickle of the People's Heroes at S.T.A.R. Labs, got a new costume and joined the Titans during the Titans Hunt against the Wildebeest, during which time he developed energy manipulation powers, stayed with the team until Zero Hour, but returned again with yet another new costume, all the while, loyal to Russia, yet also an honorable hero.