Showing posts with label Sandman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandman. Show all posts

Sunday, December 15, 2024

The New Golden Age (a JSA/Stargirl yada yada)


This is number 10 in a continuing series of Great Yada Yadas, where the motto is “We read them so you don’t have to”. Listen to it at Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 844.

  • 1 & 2: Karate Kid (broken down into 4 sections: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) in 2017 (18 issues), episodes 463 & 464
  • 3 & 4: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Arrowverse) (part 1, part 2) in 2019 (5 TV episodes plus 2 comics), episodes 583 & 588
  • 5: Timber Wolf (1 part) in 2020 (5 issues), episode 624
  • 6 & 7: Eclipso (part 1, part 2) in 2021 (20 double-size issues), episodes 638 & 651
  • 8 & 9: Valor (part 1, part 2) in 2021 (11 issues) episodes 655 & 659
  • 10: The New Golden Age (JSA/Stargirl and related) (1 part) in 2024 (all or parts of 49 issues), episode 844
I wrote this up for the Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 844 on Dec 15, 2024, summarizing the Legion's involvement in Geoff Johns' final large project at DC, more or less known as The New Golden Age - which is actually the title of third entry in this large series of books. I figured that since I did the work I may as well post it here.

When the book "The New Golden Age" came out in 2022, it introduced a new set of characters who had been "erased" from the timeline, ostensibly from the 1940s-50s. Thirteen new characters were introduced as "lost children", including one called "The Golden Age Legionnaire". His Who's Who style entry was completely redacted, as was the figure itself, but in the background we could see a Time Bubble and a Legion flight ring. Something was coming, but we didn't know who it was or when he'd show up (or how). He eventually showed up in the second story arc in the 2022-24 "Justice Society of America vol 4" series. In trying to recap the series for the podcast, and in particular the Legion's involvement, I had to go back about 18 months to start at the beginning of the story of the Lost Children because they were heavily involved in the first story arc in the JSA series. And to fully understand what was going on there, I had to go all the way back to 1971 and 1982 for some context. So this Yada Yada covers all or parts of 49 issues over 53 years. The Legion's involvement is highlighted in green.

This entire multi-series story arc known as “The New Golden Age” contains the storyline of The Lost Children combined with the storyline of a future version of Huntress meeting the JSA, as Degaton and the kids dovetail into and out of the JSA story. Except for the three miniseries with Wes, Jay, and Alan, all the stories were written by Geoff Johns. The titles include:

  • Stargirl Spring Break Special #1 (2021)
  • Flashpoint Beyond #0-6 (2022)
  • New Golden Age #1 (2022)
  • JSA v4 #1-5 (2022-2023)
  • Stargirl: The Lost Children #1-6 (2022-23)
    • This came out concurrently with JSA #1-4 but it takes place between panels at the end of JSA #5, that's why I put it here
  • JSA v4 #6-12 (2023-24)
  • Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #1-6 (2023-24)
  • Jay Garrick: The Flash #1-6 (2023-24)
  • Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #1-6 (2023-24)
The main storyline was collected in three volumes, available on Amazon:

Bonus reading material


These issues are heavily referenced throughout the Stargirl miniseries, if you want to read up on some relevant Bronze Age stories (coincidentally both written by Len Wein):

Justice League of America #100-102 (1972)

  • In this version of the annual JLA/JSA teamup, the teams learn that the individual members of the once-famous Seven Soldiers of Victory have been scattered throughout time fighting the Nebula Man, and once they are recovered, the team reveals that Wing, the unofficial 8th member, died using a secret weapon to defeat the Nebula Man.

DC Comics Presents #38 (1981)

  • Whatever happened to the Crimson Avenger? After being diagnosed with an incurable deadly disease, he thought he’d die in obscurity, but seeing a small boat in trouble in the harbor, he reached it only to find it was full of experimental chemicals and was being hijacked. The battle started a fire on the boat and he piloted it away from shore, saving the city from the ensuing explosion and apparently dying.

The New Golden Age

Note 1: dates given below are on-sale dates, not cover dates.
Note 2: I found that reading the Stargirl/New Golden Age/JSA series consecutively, it holds up much better than it did waiting one or more months for a new issue. I recommend the trade paperbacks when they come out.

Stargirl Spring Break Special #1 (May 2021)

  • Stargirl gets tangled up with the modern version of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in a case that ties back to the original group, and an associate member named Wing (sidekick of the original Crimson Avenger) who died long ago.

Flashpoint Beyond #0-6 (April to October 2022)

  • Relevant to this storyline: Batman steals a snowglobe from the Time Masters’ HQ that houses the Flashpoint timeline in order to prevent his father from being erased from existence. The Time Masters had rescued 13 heroes when they were plucked out of the timeline. The Time Masters intended to return them to their homes, but they were attacked by the Childminder, who swooped in to steal them all.

New Golden Age #1 (Nov 2022)


Spinning out of the Conclusion of Flashpoint Beyond, The New Golden Age Starts The Strangest Mystery to Ever Plague the DC Universe. Justice Society of America Return in An On-Going Series by Geoff Johns and Mikel Janín. Six-Issue Stargirl: The Lost Children On Sale November 15 by Geoff Johns and Todd Nauck. From the 1940s to the 3040s, great heroes across the DC timeline take on the great evils of their era. But in the aftermath of Flashpoint Beyond, those heroes and villains will have their lives turned upside down, from the past to the far future. The New Golden Age one-shot from Geoff Johns lands at comic book shops on November 8th and will unlock DC’s epic and secret-ridden history of heroism, launching a new group of titles with Justice Society of America and Stargirl: The Lost Children.

“I’m happy to be writing these two titles, each one of them focused on celebrating and expanding the history (and far future) of heroism in the DC Universe, exploring unseen heroes, villains and adventures alongside the ones we all know and love,” said Geoff Johns. “Our goal is to delve into the neglected corners of DC with this new group of titles, from the JSA to the Legion, and all those who operate between. It’s the story of where superheroes came from, where they’re going and why they’re always needed.”

DC’s future...and its past...will never be the same again. But how are Mime and Marionette connected to this? Why are Rip Hunter and the Time Masters the most unlikable heroes in the DC Universe? And who or what is...Nostalgia? Don’t miss the start of the strangest mystery to have ever plagued the DC Universe.

It’s clear in retrospect that there were other things he meant to do but didn’t, such as the Justice Society Dark; the use of Mime, Marionette, and Nostalgia from the “Doomsday Clock” story; and likely something Legion-related. But then for other behind-the-scenes reasons, Johns left DC for “Ghost Machine” at Image Comics after finishing up this story and leaving whatever he was going to do unfinished.
  • Written by Geoff Johns with 10 credited artists, this story brings Helena Wayne, the daughter of Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne from an alternate future, into the present where she meets the JSA. Ten years in the future we meet a young girl named Helena in Gotham City, who has a red-haired stalker. We find out later that it's Per Degaton.
  • On 11/22/40, the JSA meets for the first time. Dr Fate peers into the future and sees lost children in costumes, many of whom resemble adult JSA members. He also has a vision of the far future…
  • On 11/22/3022, three people find the old JSA brownstone hidden deep underground in Old New York. “The Legion of Super-Heroes may think they’re the only champions the 31st century needs, but the Justice Society is about to rise again.” There’s a future version of Green Lantern (based on Alan Scott), Atom (or Atom Smasher), and a humanoid female Dr Fate (whose costume resembles that of the Rebirth Dr Fate’s but she’s a humanoid female with just two arms). Fate says she sees no tomorrow, just before a red-haired man snaps her neck and says “your granddaughter said the same thing 57 years from now… it always starts with the death of Dr Fate.” There’s no indication yet which version of the 31st century this is.
  • Today, Khalid (the latest Dr Fate) has a vision of his 31st century successor being killed, along with GL and Atom.
  • The rest of the story involves Helena and the JSA, with a cameo of Rip Hunter mentioning “The Thirteen” lost in time.
  • In the back are Who’s Who style pages for 13 characters: the Golden Age Aquaman, Betsy Ross & Molly Pitcher (sidekicks to Miss America), Cherry Bomb (sidekick to Human Bomb), Harlequin’s Son, John Henry Jr (great-uncle to John Henry Irons, aka Steel), The Boom (daughter of Jay Garrick), Ladybug (sidekick to The Red Bee), The Legionnaire (all info redacted other than it’s a silhouette of a male wearing a pre-5YL Legion flight ring, next to a Time Masters Time Sphere that is clearly not a Legion Time Bubble), the original Mr Miracle (mentor to Scott Free), Quiz Kid (sidekick to Mr Terrific), Salem the Witch Girl (sidekick to Dr Fate), and Red Lantern (foe of Alan Scott). All are said to have vanished in the 1940s-50s or been killed. All of these characters will appear in the JSA series to some extent except for Aquaman.

JSA v4 #1-5 (Nov 2022 to Aug 2023)

  • 26 years from now, Helena Wayne aka Huntress (daughter of Batman and Catwoman) and Solomon Grundy are looking for Dr Fate, but he is dead. Ruby (who we find out later is the daughter of Red Lantern) thinks Salem might have done it but Huntress doesn’t agree. (Batman has been dead for 8 years, and she has joined a JSA that includes old foes like Solomon Grundy and Gentleman Ghost, and legacies like Power Girl, Icicle, and Mist, and new characters Harlequin’s Son and Ruby.) They find Fate’s body, but Degaton appears and using time-based powers he kills everyone but Huntress – and before he can, Catwoman appears (Huntress’ mother) to distract Degaton and toss Huntress a snow globe, telling her daughter to save the previous versions of the JSA. She catches the globe, and with a FWASH she has visions of the past and future and then finds herself in 1940 with Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt, and tells the team she’s a member of the JSA from the future and was told that Dr Fate could help her save them. Thunderbolt says he’s never met anyone from the future, but Johnny Thunder reminds him “You’re not counting the Legionnaire”. In the future 26 years from now, Degaton tells Catwoman that the snow globe turned Helena into a blind spot, and then he kills her. The snow globe gives Huntress other flashes of history and then she appears in the present, with Deadman, Detective Chimp, and the current Dr Fate. In 1944, the Unknown Soldier and Sgt Rock find the castle where Degaton and the Nazis are attempting time travel. In the present, Helena tells Dr Fate about the snow globe, and Deadman replies that he and Fate should take it to Madame Xanadu while Huntress meets the current JSA. Dr Fate introduces Huntress to the JSA and tells them she’s from the future. Back at the JSA brownstone, they debate what to do next when Degaton appears, having found Helena because she no longer has the globe. At Madame Xanadu's parlor, she examines the snow globe, and mentions that Batman’s death in Huntress’s future must not be interfered with. Voices warn “Eclipso is within”, “only the Green Lantern can save the Red Lantern”, “the Sandman’s nightmare will wear his mask”, “Jay Garrick will find joy again”, and “do not trust the witch girl”, all of which will pay off by the end of the New Golden Age arc. Xanadu tells Deadman and Bobo that they must get the globe back to Helena to protect her. Back with the JSA, Degaton can see what everyone will do except for Helena, and Xanadu appears with the globe, telling the team that Degaton has made a deal with the last Lord of Chaos. In 1947, Degaton tells the younger version of himself to kill Helena first instead of Dr Fate even though the ritual designed by Salem dictated otherwise. It doesn't work, and he escapes. Meanwhile, don’t forget that Dr Mid-Nite and Wildcat were recently resurrected after having been killed by Eclipso. After talking to Power Girl, Huntress goes to Gotham to find Batman and warn him. Madame Xanadu and the JSA appear, holding the snow globe and telling everyone that he stole it from the Time Masters to save his father. Multiple Degatons appear, and Madame Xanadu has a flash of Degaton's past (a council of Degatons), his present (killing Batman and the Outsiders), and his future (killing the Retroboot Legion). Dr Fate grabs the snow globe and uses it to call up the JSA of the past, present, and future (Helena’s and the 31st century’s). Multiple Dr Fates imprison him in the snow globe, “in a shard of time”. Everyone returns to their own time except for Helena, who is now stuck because her future doesn’t exist anymore, and Batman tells Xanadu that Helena can’t stay here. A week later, the team meets at the JSA brownstone. They’re not sure what to do, but Stargirl brings in Judy “The Boom” Garrick and the android Hourman, and she says she bets Hourman can shed light on questions about time. NOTE: the Stargirl/Lost Children story takes place here, between issues 5 and 6 of the JSA series.

Stargirl: The Lost Children #1-6 (Nov 2022 to May 2023)

  • In this 6-issue miniseries, Stargirl and her pal Red Arrow find evidence of a bunch of kid sidekicks who had vanished, and a map to a mysterious island. They go there, and find the “Lost Children” are being held by someone called The Childminder, and the island itself seems stuck in time where nobody ages. Stargirl and Red Arrow meet new characters Betsy Ross & Molly Pitcher (Miss America), Cherry Bomb (Human Bomb), Boom (Flash), Ladybug (Red Bee), Quiz Kid (Mr Terrific), and Salem (Dr Fate) of the Thirteen, plus others we’ve seen before like John Henry Jr (great-uncle to Steel), Sand, Air Wave, Pinky, Secret, Sparky, Tick-Tock, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys plus Little Miss Red-Head, the Newsboy Legion, Corky Baxter (of the Time Masters), and Wing. Corky reveals that he and the Time Masters encountered Flash in the time stream when he created the Flashpoint timeline, but that caused their Time Sphere to malfunction and the kids were lost in time. He tells the Lost Children that Batman stole a weapon from their lab to recreate the Flashpoint timeline to save his father (the snow globe, as seen in Flashpoint Beyond and the Degaton arc of the JSA series), and that there are scavengers like Childminder who take advantage of the changes to history to steal people – when they were pulled out of time, they disappeared from history. Childminder is holding the kids for a buyer, represented by the android Hourman. Stargirl and Red Arrow free all the lost kids, and the bad guy turns out to be the adult version of Corky. Young Corky defeats his older self but then grabs Wing and tosses him into a time vortex as well so he can die stopping the Nebula Man like he’s supposed to so the world isn’t destroyed. Wing accepts his fate and goes to his destiny and all the Lost Children arrive in the present day.

JSA v4 #6-9 (Sept 2023 to March 2024): Young Justice Society

  • Stargirl has brought the kids to the JSA to see if any of them want help finding families, getting training, or joining the team. Judy Garrick reunites with her father, and the spell is broken, allowing the world to remember her again. The JSA looks over the Lost Children to see who has a place to go. A few of them stay with the JSA, in particular Salem (who is offended that nobody remembers her) and Quiz Kid, while the rest move on. (The Jay Garrick spinoff miniseries occurs in here.) Huntress tells Power Girl her idea of re-creating the JSA of the near future, starting with Solomon Grundy, and they try to recruit Harlequin’s Son and Icicle. In Ivy Town, Dr Mid-Nite talks to Jean Loring about being possessed by Eclipso. Then three members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes appear: Rainbow Girl and Stone Boy who we are familiar with, and there’s a new guy in a Superman-looking suit with a lion’s head who is identified as Animal Lad, and they want Fate to come to the 31st century. (This is the first appearance of Animal Lad since Adventure Comics #331 in 1965.) Back at the JSA brownstone, Huntress tells the team about Ruby Sokov, daughter of Red Lantern, a man from Alan’s past (see the Alan Scott miniseries for much more), and GL says that she’s too dangerous even if she was/will be part of the team in Huntress’ future. Alan finds Ruby anyway and convinces her to come to NY to talk to Huntress, but as they leave, a figure outside talks into his Legion flight ring, saying “Alan Scott found her before I could. … Yes, it’s disappointing. … Of course, I’m sorry. But this time travel stuff isn’t easy, you know. … Grife. … Legionnaire out.” The figure is wearing a metal helmet, black jump suit, and yellow belt, dressed identically to Mask Man (the 30th century evil descendant of Mxyzptlk, whose only appearance was Adventure Comics #310), but with a cape. Is this the Golden Age Legionnaire, though dressed differently from his New Golden Age appearance (a mask instead of a full head of hair)? Also, who is Legionnaire talking to? Note by the way that the original solicit for this issue mentioned a meeting with the Justice Society Dark, which never happened, and the JSD story was dropped after only a single mention back in issue 2. Quiz Kid tells Mr Terrific that he has upgraded a T-sphere into a Q-sphere to help look for those in trouble like the original Mr Terrific did. While trying to capture Harlequin’s Son to recruit him he’s blasted by the Legionnaire, who says he’s still getting used to all these different powers. Power Girl notices his Legion flight ring, and he says “I am The Legionnaire. And I want to join the JSA.” They bring him back to the JSA HQ where Alan is still talking to Ruby. Mr Terrific says that he’s the Golden Age Legionnaire, “an obscure hero who assisted several others in the early days of the JSA. There are records of his adventures with Al Pratt, Ma Hunkel, and the All-Star Squadron. A few solo adventures, but he’s vanished. Until now.” He meets the team and says “You’re the first super-hero team of all time. The standard that all others after try to live up to. And many don’t. Including the Legion of Super-Heroes. They would never give me a chance. In truth, the JSA wouldn’t in most eras… but this one is different. This is the era of second chances, thanks to Helena Wayne.” She questions him, and he replies that she is an anomaly, and that she and the JSA are the only chance at changing his future. Stargirl asks who he is, and he takes off his mask and replies “I am Mordru. And just as you are changing the futures of other villains-to-be, we must change mine – before I not only destroy the 31st century, but this time as well.”

JSA v4 #10 (July 2024)

  • The cover is an homage to Adventure Comics #300, with the Golden Age Legionnaire at the center. Starting at Subs HQ in the 31st Century, it’s the Retroboot versions of Fire Lad, Animal Lad, Rainbow Girl, Stone Boy, and Chlorophyll Kid. Animal Lad thinks the Legion will be mad at them for sending Brek and Lydda to get Dr Fate, she’s worried that the 21st century JSA will destroy the universe. Speaking of the JSA, it’s been over a month since the team agreed to recruit the members of Helena’s team: Solomon Grundy, Ruby, Icicle, and Harlequin’s Son are working with the team to find Gentleman Ghost, but the team is still suspicious of them all. Ghost has zombies on his side, but Icicle shatters his crystal ball, freeing Surtur. The team readies to fight him, but the Legionnaire swoops in. Helena monologues “His name is Mordru. Apparently, in a future far beyond even mine, he’s one of the most powerful and vile beings in the universe. A sorcerer obsessed with power. The JSA faced Mordru before, when he came to claim the helm of Dr Fate… who’s been missing for months now. But THIS Mordru is younger. He knows his future, so he came back in time to train alongside the OTHER villains… and find reformation before he needs it.” By way of helping, he blasts Hawkman in the back, killing him and taking his life force, giving it to Jim Craddock, who comes to life, causing Surtur and the zombies to disintegrate. Hawkman revives, but is not a fan of Mordru. Later, Mordru talks to Huntress and reminds her that he came here because she was giving those other villains a second chance, and she reminds him that the moment they stopped Degaton her future ceased to exist, so our futures can be changed by the choices we make today. He says he does not want to be a bad guy. Stargirl comes to get them after the vote, and it’s not unanimous – Hawkman voted no, as did Wildcat, who reminds Dr Mid-Nite that Mordru teamed up with Eclipso (in their old series) and that someone like Mordru will never change. Mr Terrific welcomes Mordru to the JSA, and then the entire Retroboot Legion appears (with Thom waving to his old teammates), telling the JSA that they did change the future by admitting Mordru, but not for the better. Rokk tells the JSA to hand over Mordru, and Garth adds that if they don’t, the Legion will have to take him. Next issue: the JSA vs the LSH!
    • Legion notes:
      • Black Witch is here; she absorbed the powers of her version of Mordru.
      • In the beginning of this issue, Animal Lad said that they had sent Brek and Lydda to get Dr Fate, yet in issue #7 it was Rainbow Girl, Animal Lad, and Stone Boy – unless they brought him to the future and handed him off to Brek and Lydda? None of them are here now.
      • Saturn Girl was last seen dying in Doomsday Clock.

JSA v4 #11 (Sept 2024) “Into the Future”

  • Mordru has been an evil sorcerer for eons, and would be unstoppable by the 31st century, if not for the Legion. In the 21st century, he fought the JSA while attempting to steal Fate’s helmet. In the present, a 16-year old version came to Helena asking for her help. But the LSH showed up: they want to imprison him while the JSA stands by him, so the teams fight, but there's some familiarity as if the teams have met before. But it wasn’t Mordru who triggered the fight, it was Wildcat. Dr Fate appears with the Legion Subs. Suddenly Eclipso appears, he had been hiding inside her while he healed. Eclipso wants to join forces with Mordru, and gets out his black diamond and eclipses the JSA and LSH. Mordru tells Huntress to shoot the diamond with her crossbow, and on its way there Mordru enchants the bolt such that it breaks the diamond and hits Eclipso. He vanishes, and Wildcat remains, healed. Khalid and Salem talk and she tells him he deserves Fate’s helmet, she’s going off to her hometown of Limbo Town (also home of Klarion the Witch Boy) for unfinished business. Mordru is able to pick up Eclipso’s diamond with his magic, and the Legion want to know what’s next for Mordru. Rainbow Girl wants to bring him and Huntress into the 31st century, not to join the Subs but a new team that they’ve crossed paths with: the 31st century JSA (comprised of Huntress, Solomon Grundy, XS, Dr Fate, Green Lantern, Wildcat, and Atom).
    • Never revealed who Legionnaire was talking to back in issue 8.

JSA v4 #12 (Oct 2024)

  • It’s Courtney’s high school graduation day, and she’s the speaker. We get flashbacks to her history as Stargirl, from her origin to finding the Lost Children and working with the Legion against Eclipso. She thanks her family, and now her class has graduated. It’s Johns’ swan song for DC and a 25th anniversary celebration of Stargirl, dedicated to and inspired by his younger sister.
Early in the JSA run, some voices in Madame Xanadu’s shop gave the verbal equivalent of Rip Hunter’s chalkboard, with some hints that Geoff Johns likes to give. These were paid off by the end of the JSA series and the three solo limited series afterwards.
  • “Eclipso is within”
  • “Only the Green Lantern can save the Red Lantern”
  • “The Sandman’s nightmare will wear his mask”
  • “Jay Garrick will find joy again”
  • “Do not trust the witch girl”
Questions never answered:
  • Who was Mordru/Legionnaire talking to in issue 8?
  • Why was Mordru dressed as Mask Man, besides as being a red herring to the readers?
  • When did Kid Mordru come from when he landed in the 1940s? 
  • What was the original plan for the Golden Age Legionnaire? His Who’s Who page in New Golden Age #1 was drawn by Todd Nauck, so maybe he was supposed to have been in the Stargirl series?
  • And finally, did Johns have something planned for the Legion following this JSA series? It’s unclear and only rumored.
Then there were three miniseries spinning out of the JSA series, two set in the past and one in the present.

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #1-6 (Oct 2023 to March 2024)

  • Trade collection solicit: The Golden Age Sandman takes center stage in a thrilling noir mystery that finds his greatest discoveries falling into the wrong hands! It took years of testing and experimentation for Wesley to perfect his sleep gas, creating the perfect weapon for fighting crime without permanently harming criminals. But when the secret journal detailing all his failed, all-too-deadly formulas is stolen, the Sandman must hunt down the thief and root out those pulling their strings before the contents of his journal are released!
  • Takes place at the beginning of Wes’ career as Sandman and prior to the JSA.

Jay Garrick: The Flash #1-6 (Oct 2023 to April 2024)

  • Trade collection solicit: The Golden Age Flash’s time-tossed teenage daughter, Judy Garrick—a.k.a. the Boom—has been restored to the present, but a deadly threat has returned along with her! The man who engineered the “accident” that gave Jay his powers has a plan more than 80 years in the making, and now the father-daughter speedsters must save a world that is wholly unprepared for the forgotten menace of…Doctor Elemental!
  • Takes place during the second half of the JSA series.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #1-6 (Oct 2023 to May 2024)

  • Trade collection solicit: The Green Lantern is the most powerful member of the JSA, beloved by all of America, but his personal life is a well-kept secret. Both his public and private life are threatened when he’s framed by a mysterious killer, and the victims are people from his past! This is a story about love, about fear, and most of all about courage to stand up to that fear. Alan Scott's past is the key to his future when the Red Lantern appears, ready to strike down the mighty Green Lantern! Can Alan Scott stop his enemy's monstrous plans?
  • Takes place early in Alan’s career as Green Lantern with cuts to the present.

Posted by Michael at 12/15/2024 07:59:00 PM 0 Omnicomments

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Tuesday, April 19, 2022

LSH v4 #58 annotations: Down to the Wire!

Annotations for LSH v4 #58:


Notes:

  • Page 6 panel 1: first appearance of the Infinite Library, found by Glorith, which she used to restore her powers.
    • The Infinite Library was "built outside of time by unknown hands. This fabled library's volumes store the history of everyone and everything in every timeline. Scholars have spent lifetimes searching for it, always in vain."
    • Could it have been part of Lucien's library (from "Sandman")? Here's the description of part of that library, as in this quote from "Season of Mists":
      • Lucien: "Oh, it's a very unusual library, Matthew. Somewhere in here is every story that has every been dreamed. "
         Matthew: "They're just books."
         Lucien: "Oh yes. But unusual books. You'll find none of them on Earth. In this section, for example, are novels their authors never wrote, or never finished, except in dreams.”
  • Page 9 panel 4: Cupid and the Lallorians all appeared last issue, and it’s “Garak” of the Glow, not “Garax”.
  • Page 24 panel 4: Mordru reverts to his younger self, as seen in the Amethyst miniseries

Cutting down the timeline to just the last couple months since it was getting so long. I'm color coding them based on whether the date appeared in the 2995 Sourcebook (yellow; text in yellow is as written in the Sourcebook), it's a confirmed date that was given in the comic (green), or an estimated date based on keeping track of events and days (cyan). Bold text is something new added this issue. Italics are unknown dates.
  • Wed 7/29/95: Jacques and Drura join the team; Mysa is possessed, and goes to Tharn to confront Mordru (LSH v4 #43), but she is defeated and is absorbed into Mordru. Using this power, he raises armies of the dead in a number of worlds in both UP and Khund space. The Legion agrees to help the Khunds, but they insist that the Legion take on four new Khundish members (LSH v4 #44).
  • Sun 8/2/95: The Legion fights Mordru’s zombies on Sklar, Talus, Trom, and in space (LSH v4 #45). On Talus, the Legionnaires fight their own dead, and new Khund Legionnaire Bloodclaw is killed before the team halts Mordru’s magics on the planet. Jan fights the dead Trommites on Pasnic (LSH v4 #46). The Legionnaires bring the fight to Mordru on Tharn, losing the Khund Firefist in the process (LSH v4 #47). The dead on Talus are defeated, but during the fight Timber Wolf returns to the 30th century with Jamm (LSH v4 Ann #4). With the help of Devlin O’Ryan and the spirit of Amethyst, Mordru and Mysa are separated and Mordru is defeated (LSH v4 #48). 
  • Mon 8/3/95: Jamm takes the Legionnaires on a prodigious trip before being returned to his own time (LSH v4 Ann #4).
  • Tues 8/4/95: The Legion leaves Tharn for Khundish space, where Flederweb and Veilmist are forced to rejoin the Khundish forces. Jan recovers on Pasnic, while Amethyst and Mysa ponder the future (LSH v4 #48).
  • Wed 8/5/95: Tenzil travels to Tartarus and with the help of Polar Boy and friends, they rescue Eve and defeat Evillo (LSH v4 #49). 
  • Thu 8/6/95: Tenzil and Eve depart Tartarus for Titan (LSH v4 #49); the Legion rebury their dead on Shanghalla, and Wildfire is resurrected there (LSH v4 #50).
  • Fri 8/7/95: the SW6 Legionnaires spend the weekend at the Atlantis Dome on New Earth (Legionnaires #7); Tenzil and Eve arrive on Titan; the rest of the group arrives on Talus from Shanghalla (LSH v4 #50).
  • Sat 8/8/95: the SW6 Legionnaires encounter the race of Devil-Fish in the Atlantis Dome (Legionnaires #7); Tenzil and Eve get married; Jan almost dies; Kono leaves; Sean arrives on Talus (LSH v4 #50).
  • Sun 8/9/95: the SW6 Legionnaires leave the Atlantis dome on New Earth (Legionnaires #7); Tenzil sends out holos of his wedding from the day before (LSH v4 #50).
  • Mon 8/10/95: Several Legionnaires leave New Earth for Colu (Legionnaires #8).
  • Tues 8/11/95: Brainiac 5 thinks of leaving the Legion and remaining on Colu (Legionnaires #8).
  • Wed 8/12/95: Brainiac 5 returns to New Earth with the rest of his team (Legionnaires #8).
  • Wed 9/13/95 (estimated): “Several weeks later” after Tenzil’s wedding, Dawnstar returns to Starhaven; three BIONs attack the Legion on Talus; Universo convinces Relnic and King Jonn that the Legion is helping the Khunds attack UP space (LSH v4 #50). 
  • Thu 9/14/95: Cocheta Drisden fails to escape from Takron Galtos, and is moved to Quarantine; Grimbor attacks the team and Ivy’s Li’l Legion on Quarantine trying to grab her (LSH v4 #51).
  • Sat 9/16/95: Kent and Celeste arrive on Talus from Quarantine, as Ayla and Brin reminisce and Vi monitors the Khund situation; Mysa tells the crew that since they just defeated Mordru, they have to take on Glorith to keep the balance (LSH v4 #52).
  • Sun 9/17/95: Relnic shows Jacques that the Legion is working with the Khunds; Rond rushes off in a Time Bubble; the Legion lands on Baaldur and confronts Glorith, with disastrous consequences to the team; in her mind, Glorith is confronted by the Time Trapper; the UP calls for the Legion’s disbandment (LSH v4 #53). Recovering from the fight with Glorith, several Legionnaires find themselves older or younger, and head for Quarantine to see if Brainiac 5 can reverse the effects (LSH v4 #54).
  • Mon 9/18/95: Brainy tests the Legion on Quarantine; Kent and Devlin, who have both been de-aged, stay behind while the others go to Talus (LSH v4 #54).
    • ME-Lad, Violet, Dragonmage, Catspaw shot down over Antares II by Khunds (Legionnaires #9). The Proteans want the Legionnaires to go inside a crashed ship, where after defeating more Khunds they find Kid Quantum (Legionnaires #10). Dragonmage helps restore the Soul of Antares, and Andromeda calls HQ to say she’s found them and bringing them all back (Legionnaires #11).
    • Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy find a freighter that’s been attacked by Sklarians (Legionnaires #9). Kono arrives to help out (Legionnaires #10).
    • Legion tryouts at Metropolis (Legionnaires #9). Inferno helps out in Essen (Legionnaires #10), then goes to Paris where he finds someone has chained a tunnel shut (Legionnaires #11).
    • Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Livewire go to Acapulco to quell food riots, and Cosmic Boy is injured by Livewire (Legionnaires #9). More Legionnaires arrive to help (Legionnaires #10). Cos is taken to the medi-center, while Spark, Brainy, Phantom Girl, and Ferro tend to a wounded child with odd powers (Legionnaires #11).
  • Tue 9/19/95: The Legion gets captured at Talus and taken to Weber’s World (LSH v4 #54). 
    • In Metropolis, Kid Quantum is sworn in, and Computo sends M-E Lad to help Kono with the Sklarians (Legionnaires #12). Kono uses the Grandin Gender-Reversal Disease to turn Tenzil into Tenzi, where they go undercover, but he quickly blows his cover (Legionnaires #13). They manage to signal the rest of the Legionnaires (Legionnaires #14).
    • In Acapulco, Invisible Kid arrives to help, but he’s zapped unconscious, while in the Acapulco medi-center , Cosmic Boy nearly dies but Saturn Girl’s telepathy stabilizes him while a jealous Livewire watches (Legionnaires #12). Invisible Kid manages to break free of the mental-energy vortex as Andromeda and Ultra Boy arrive, while Cosmic Boy recovers (Legionnaires #13). Rokk is released, and Saturn Girl links the minds of the team to try to rescue their downed teammates (Legionnaires #14). The team manages to calm the mind of a young boy who was creating the dangerous hallucinations and everyone survives. (Legionnaires #15).
    • In Paris, anti-alien hysteria picks up, so a team goes there, where they are blasted by a Dominator child who thinks they are attacking her (Legionnaires #12). She teleports them to a prison, but they escape. They find the girl in the sewers, and she sends them to the Archduke's palace to stop the xenophobia, only to find Grimbor instead (Legionnaires #13). They escape Grimbor’s traps and discover that the mayor of the Paris dome has been working with the Sklarians (Legionnaires #14).
  • Wed 9/20/95: The Legion is briefly detained on Weber’s World but escape, while the UP officially disbands the Legion; Universo tells Cham and Computo that the Legionnaires aren’t needed to help (LSH v4 #54).
  • Sun 9/23/95: The team arrives on Rimbor, and Jo brings a team to an old warehouse but he and Sussa are captured by a rival gang. (LSH v4 #55)
  • Wed 9/27/95: Legionnaires start the process of going undercover while hiding out on Rimbor, and Sussa escapes (LSH v4 #54). Universo is looking for the Legion on Rimbor; Jo recruits other gangs to go against the government, while Mysa and Vi sneak into government HQ to find out what’s going on; on Starhaven, Dawnstar undergoes a vision quest (LSH v4 #55); the Legion exposes Khundish interference on Rimbor and escape (LSHv4 #56).
  • Thu 9/28/95: The Legion tries and fails to protect Starfinger III from the Khunds, while fighting the Legion Academy, the Khundish ex-Legionnaires, and the mind-controlled Heroes of Lallor; Polestar leaves for New Earth while the rest of the team go to Weber’s World; Valor finds something strange with Dev-Em; Rond Vidar finds something strange in the time stream (LSHv4 #57); Ayla is growing younger since the battle with Glorith, and to comfort her, Vi reads her a bedtime story (LSHv4 Ann #5).
  • Fri 9/29/95: Arriving at Weber’s World, the team tries to stop the Khunds’ bombs from destroying the planet; Dawnstar arrives and meets Wildfire; Firefist kills Veilmist; and after studying at the Infinite Library, Glorith travels to Tharn where she restores Mordru’s powers to help her conquer the universe (LSHv4 #58).

Posted by Michael at 4/19/2022 11:10:00 PM 0 Omnicomments

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Monday, February 21, 2022

Whatever Happened to: Mischa McDowell (aka Michelle Bryant)?

While doing these annotations, I noticed a name I wasn't familiar with in the credits on Valor #14: Mischa McDowell, on inks over Colleen Doran. I looked her up in the Grand Comics Database, and I saw that her only credits (at least under that name) were Valor #14-19, and one Star Wars cover. Essentially her entire career was inking Valor! I liked the way her inks looked over Doran's pencils, so I attempted to track her down to see... whatever happened to her?

Here are some selected sample pages from her run on Valor:

issue 14 page 1 (first page from first issue) on left, page 5 on right

issue 16 pages 14-15

issue 17 pages 2-3

issue 19 page 4 on left, page 23 on right (final page from final issue)

I started with Colleen Doran herself, I asked if she remembered working with McDowell. 

In a non-stalker method, I tracked down McDowell (now Michelle Bryant), and when I told her about the podcast and my desire to find out more, she was delighted to provide me with the following (links and cover dates in brackets are from me):

I wanted to be a comic book artist since I was very young. I was a kid in the 1980s, and it was unusual then for a girl to be into comics. My mom would buy them for me at garage sales, and that’s probably where my interest started. I used to bike to the local convenience store for new issues and would occasionally beg a ride from my dad to the comic book store downtown. I spent hundreds of hours reading them.

My high school in Madison, Wisconsin had a senior-year program where you could apprentice with an outside artist. I knew that Steve Rude of Nexus fame lived in town, so the program coordinator contacted him on my behalf, asking if he would be my mentor. Steve is a really nice guy and an incredible artist. I learned a lot from him, and we’ve been friends now for 34 years.

I then started college in Bloomington, Illinois where I met Steve Bryant (author and artist of Athena Voltaire) when he was working at a comic book store. He introduced me to a local group of artists (including Tim Bradstreet, now widely known for his comic book covers) who did illustrations for local gaming magazines. We sold our art at numerous conventions including the early years of Gen Con.

A couple years later, I very nearly got my first break. Jill Thompson, a friend of Steve Rude’s, had given me photocopies of her pencils from Sandman. She liked the resulting inking samples I sent her, and she was about to start work on DC’s series Black Orchid [issue 1 cover dated 9/93]. The book’s editor liked my work, but he was hesitant to put an unpublished artist at the beginning of the run. We left it with the understanding that I would start a few issues in, but it never did happen.

Steve Rude also introduced me to Colleen Doran. I already loved Colleen’s series A Distant Soil and was familiar with her work. This connection led to my being brought in as inker for DC Comics on Valor issue #14-19 [cover dates 12/93 to 5/94]. I worked on the series through the summer [1993] and moved from Wisconsin to Arizona in between issues. Once I got to Arizona, the editor told me that FedEx had lost the pages for the next issue. This excuse kept up for the next couple weeks until I called Colleen who was very surprised and told me that the pages were with another inker; it turned out that I had fired. I was never told. I understood their decision as I had missed a couple of deadlines, but if I had known in advance, I wouldn’t have incurred the expense of moving.

Over the next few months, I sent many inking samples to various comic book publishers in search of work, but I didn’t find any. This was also right around the time the comic book market went into a steep decline. I eventually ran out of money and moved back to Wisconsin. After that, I did receive a call from an editor at Dark Horse Comics who had seen my samples in their archive. He liked my graphic style and offered me the covers on Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures #7 and #8. I did do #7 [cover date 2/95], but the penciller chose to ink his own work on #8. 

That was the last comic book art I did. After that, I worked as a picture framer and a book binder, as well as a stained glass artist and lampworker, making and selling over a million, little glass beads. A couple years ago, due to health reasons, I quit hot glass and moved into online reselling, especially vintage and antiques. Writing this reminds me: I still need to sell most of my original comic book art from Valor. 

I love what I do now as it’s endlessly interesting, and it involves a lot of photography which is what I went to college for in the first place. Would I go back into comic books if given the chance? I would need a lot of practice to get back to where I was, but yeah, probably. That dream never dies. :-)

You can find her online stores for "What's Gone Around" on eBay, Etsy, and Mercari.


Posted by Michael at 2/21/2022 12:00:00 PM 0 Omnicomments

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Monday, November 02, 2020

LSH v4 #38 Annotations: That's Great, It Starts with an Earthquake, Birds and Snakes and Aeroplanes

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #38


Notes:
  • Cover: My first thought was that this was the end of the series. I wonder if the color palate for this cover of volume 4 #38 is supposed to be reminiscent of the colors for volume 3 #38, the death of Superboy?
  • Page 3: The Tokyo sinkhole opens up 9 days after the destruction of the underground chambers. We’ll see on the next page that they want this to be May 24 – let’s ignore the 9 days part and just go with May 24, which is the day after last issue’s baseball game.
  • Page 4: Says that the chambers were detonated on May 15 (echoing what the Sourcebook says), but we know that can’t be correct because May 15 was given in issue 34 as the date that King Jonn declined the adult Legion’s offer to help from off-world. The two Brainiac 5s arrive in Tokyo on May 25. But recall that adult Brainy got to Earth the day before (last issue) while young Brainy was in Metropolis with some of the other SW6 Legionnaires sending Valor back in time.
  • Page 5: May 26, the Brainys report that the Earth is doomed. The Interlac talks about the proton jelly and an estimate of how much time is left.
  • Page 9: June 3, the domed cities take off; of the 480 with domes, 102 take off, and 100 make it to orbit (losing Barcelona, Spain; and Tashkent, Uzbekistan)
  • Page 13: 95 cities successfully link up (losing Chongqing, China; Dakar, Senegal; Dresden, Germany; Nairobi, Kenya; and Santiago, Chile)
  • Page 16: 94 cities make it to the Bgztl Buffer Zone (losing Seoul, South Korea). The Eyth Incident of ’73 was the planetary system that Lucifer Seven threatened to destroy if his demands were not met. His demands were not met, so he destroyed the system (as seen in Secrets of the Legion 1).
  • Page 18: that looks like Death – notice the ankh around her neck, the umbrella, and the scarab.
  • Page 21: The second appearance of Death of the Endless outside of Sandman. They basically had to get Neil Gaiman’s approval for this after her appearance in Captain Atom #42.
  • Page 23: June 4 is the Great Terran Disaster

Posted by Michael at 11/02/2020 11:29:00 PM 0 Omnicomments

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