Rulah Jungle Goddess in "Secret of the Leatherman" (Fox Comics)

"Secret of the Leatherman" (cont.)

From Fox Comics January 1949, Rulah Jungle Goddess #22, our gal falls for the sob story of a true misogynist and inadvertently allows him into her village, where he simply can't help but vent his rage on the other native chicks, before fate deals him a final hand in this tragic tale.

Um, .... enjoy!

Heroes: "Villains"

The synopsis for last nights episode (11/10/2008):

"To prepare for the confrontation ahead, Hiro follows respected businessman, husband and father Arthur Petrelli in the days before he "died" -- to discover what drove him to create rival company Pinehearst and strike at Angela. Later, a moment unfolds where Gabriel/Sylar, horrified and guilt-ridden, might have stopped his murderous pursuit of abilities -- that is, if H.R.G. and Elle had swayed from their monstrous assignment. Finally, under the wing of Company man Thompson, agent-in-training Meredith watches her new life go up in smoke, following the arrival of her hot-headed brother."

Prior to the airing of the latest episode of Heroes, two senior writers were fired by the network following growing critical displeasure with the direction of the series, and the widely reported drop-off in viewership. The "Villains" episode was touted to reveal several of the shows long-running secrets, so for the implied olive branch that we, the fans, were extended - What did we get?

Well, we saw the source of the disconnect between Arthur & Angela Petrelli, meaty flashback appearances by previously killed off Linderman & Thompson (guest stars Malcolm McDowell & Eric Roberts), many instances of overlap between several of the key Heroes cast members during pivotal moments from the earliest episodes and the revelation that Flint is Meredith's little brother (and by extension, Claire's uncle) and .... that's about it.

Not really a bad episode overall, but since we were supposed to be treated to some crucial information that "filled-in-the-blanks", I would have liked to see stuff that has only been hinted at, but sadly, still not really dealt with. Several previous guest actors of note, including Richard Roundtree, Joanna Cassidy and George Takei have been presented as being part of the earlier generation of "Heroes" that launched the conspiracy that provides much of the impetus for the current group of "Heroes" to save the world. We remain clueless about what if any powers Cassidy may have had before she was quickly introduced (and immediately killed off) or what significance they may have had to the overall company plan. Guess we'll just have to stay in the dark here.

Robert Forster's Arthur Petrelli is definitely the "biggest" bad guy that has been utilized thus far and no matter what they ultimately do with his character, his contribution has been well worth the ride.

Remember the "New" Teen Titans: Raven

Raven first appeared in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980), she was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Raven is an empath who can teleport and control her mystical "Soul Self", which can fight physically and serve as Raven's eyes and ears away from her body.

She is the half-breed daughter of a human woman named Arella and the inter-dimensional demon known as Trigon. Raven was raised in an alternate dimension called Azarath, occupied by pacifistic inhabitants whose spiritual leader was the mystic Azar. In Azarath, she was taught to "control her emotions" by Azar, in order to suppress her naturally inherited demonic powers, otherwise Trigon would recreate her in his own image.

During her youth, Raven rarely saw her mother and grew detached from her. Upon Azar's death, Arella began the task of raising and teaching Raven. Around this time, Raven's demonic heritage was revealed, as she met her father face to face for the first time. Soon after her 16th birthday, Raven learned that Trigon planned to come to her dimension, and she vowed to stop him.

Raven initially approached the Justice League, but after they refused her on the advice of Zatanna (who sensed her true demonic parentage), in desperation, she reformed the original Teen Titans as The New Teen Titans in order to fight against her father. The team that she recruited consisted of Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Starfire, Cyborg, and Changeling.

Trigon eventually kidnapped Raven to his home dimension. The Titans followed the demon, defeated Trigon and sealed him in an inter-dimensional prison with the help of Arella (who remained at the inter-dimensional doorway to act as Trigon's guardian). However, Raven continued to fight against her father's corrupting influence as he wasn't completely destroyed. For a period of time, Raven lost control in high-stress situations, but managed to regain control before Trigon could assert himself.

Remember the "New" Teen Titans: Robin = Nightwing

I heard some terrific news today [see bottom] and it reminded me that I never finished my fond look back at the membership of one of the most beloved 1980's super teams, so lets knock the last few of these out of the park starting today with Robin (Richard "Dick" Grayson), who was created by Bob Kane, writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (May 1940).

The youngest in a family of acrobats known as the "Flying Graysons", Dick had witnessed a mafia boss murder his parents while attempting to extort money from the circus that employed them. Bruce Wayne (secretly the superhero, The Batman) took him in as his legal ward after their deaths. Dick used his Olympic-level athletic skills to become Bruce’s sidekick and adopted the costumed role of Robin the Boy Wonder. Throughout Dick's adolescence, Batman and Robin were inseparable.

1964s The Brave and the Bold #54, first introduced the concept of a junior version of the Justice League of America (an all-star superhero team that included Batman). The team was led by Robin, along with two other teenage sidekicks, Aqualad and Kid Flash, to stop the menace of Mr. Twister. Later, these three joined forces with Speedy and Wonder Girl to free their mentors in the JLA from a mind-controlled thrall. They decided to christen themselves, The Teen Titans. By virtue of his tactical skills (gleaned from years with Batman), Robin was recognized as natural leader before these original Titans disbanded some years later.

Afterward, Robin continued his adventures with Batman, and also began studying law at Hudson University. However as Dick eventually lost interest in his studies, he started to take on individual missions, and found himself to be a capable solo crime-fighter. Shortly afterward, the mysterious Raven summoned Dick Grayson and several other young heroes to form a new group of Titans. Robin swiftly assumed leadership, and moved out of the shadow of his mentor. As Dick grew older and spent more time as the leader of the reformed New Teen Titans, he decided to take on the identity of Nightwing to assert his independence. His Nightwing persona was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appeared in Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 (July 1984). As Nightwing, Dick Grayson continued to lead the Titans.

The "parting" between Dick and Bruce was entirely amicable. Dick voluntarily passed the mantle of Robin over to Jason Todd, in a memorable scene where he stated that "Robin will always be the second part of Batman and..." The Batman gave every impression of being pleased with his former ward's coming of age, and maintained this attitude until a later post-Crisis on Infinite Earths series retcon that rewrote the origin of Jason Todd (another teenage hero who filled the role of Robin) and the circumstances of Dick's departure from the role.

[On a positive note]: Warner Bro. Pictures Group has wisely chosen to kill the proposed CW Network television series, "The Graysons" which would have followed the life of a younger Robin the Boy Wonder before he met The Batman. Despite having previously announced development on the series, the studios new statement says that the show never had 100% clearance. This is how truly bad ideas die! (Thank god!)

From the Dust Bin: The Mighty Thor by DeFalco/Frenz/Breeding

Twenty-one years have passed since Tom DeFalco was placed in the unenviable position of following Walt Simonson’s popular and critically acclaimed run on the Marvel Comics series, The Mighty Thor. In 1987, finding an audience could have potentially proven difficult for DeFalco in the wake of such quirky Simonson ideas as Thunder Frog and Beta Ray Bill, but the incoming writer had an unlikely ace-in-the-hole in the form of new series artist Ron Frenz, Together these two men forged an alliance that lasted for well over five years on the venerable title - - - one that ultimately took the readers on a wild ride that was highly reminiscent of the Marvel of Days Gone By.

Under DeFalco & Frenz, Thor was less edgy in appearance than it was under Simonson, but the book was certainly more traditional. The two men were initially joined by finishing artist/inker Brett Breeding and for more than a dozen issues starting with #383 (September 1987) they collectively crafted a thing of beauty. Their art truly glistened on the page and easily held up to anything that had come before. Steeped in an obvious appreciation of the works of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and John Buscema, these pros treated fans to a round of epic storytelling on a par with the Marvel Universe from two decades earlier. The Son of Asgard found himself grappling with the gods of Celtic and Egyptian pantheons, challenging the cosmic deities known as the Celestials for the fate of an alien world, and Thor repeatedly battled against a couple of all-new, pesky villains called the Mongoose & Quicksand. Established world beaters like Dr. Doom and the High Evolutionary appeared, we were shown how a young man from a dystopian future proved to be worthy of the mantle of Thor, and with the Thunder Gods original secret identity of Dr. Donald Blake long since retired, Thor even gave up his newer Sigurd Jarlson alias to become Eric Masterson (an identity which was soon spun off in its own title as another hammer-wielding-hero, Thunderstrike). Marvel Comics also chose to premiere their new teenage super-team, The New Warriors, during this memorable run. Now that’s a vote of confidence!

After the all-too brief stint of Brett Breeding ended, "Joltin" Joe Sinnott stepped in for quite a while, but eventually Al Milgrom provided the on-going inkwork over Frenz looser pencils. Other veterans who helped out included Don Heck, Herb Trimpe and Romeo Tanghal. Rather than stumble in the wake of an acclaimed effort, the team of Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz surged for 77 issues and reminded fans of what real comic book magic (ala the House of Ideas) was all about.

On this date in history .....

1605

The Gunpowder Plot failed when Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament. You may remember this true story formed the basis for the character V's motivation in the comic book mini-series & graphic novel, V for Vendetta, originally written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd and published in Warrior, the British series was later collected by DC Comics (or perhaps you caught the fine movie based upon same, starring Natalie Portman & Hugo Weaving).

Rulah Jungle Goddess in "The Stalking Death" (Fox Comics)

"The Stalking Death" (cont.)

I am readying a few more 1970's Flashbacks for ye olde blog, I've not read many new comics lately to review and I'm bored today, so here's another spiffy adventure from Rulah Jungle Goddess #19 (October 1948). Enjoy!

Loeb & Alexander get axed from Heroes!

In a major development that hopefully signals a positive sign that at least someone is paying attention to the rapidly declining fan interest in NBC superhero-comics-genre show, Heroes, two of the show's most instrumental writer/producers, are leaving the three-year-old series.

Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander, who appeared to be Tim Kring's chief lieutenants on the "Heroes" writer's staff, have been axed by the network. Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring.

Jeph Loeb has known Kring since the pair worked together on the screenplay for 1987's "Teen Wolf, Too." A comic book writer and four-time Eisner Award winner whose career includes work on many major characters since 1991 (Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who also provides the comic artwork seen on Heroes), Loeb wrote his first teleplay for "Smallville" in 2002 and spent half a season at "Lost" before Kring brought him aboard "Heroes." Loeb scripted the "Heroes" second-season finale, "Powerless."

Jesse Alexander wrote for all five seasons of "Alias" and also worked as executive consultant and co-executive producer on the first season of "Lost" before joining "Heroes." Alexander scripted last week's episode, "Eris Quod Sum."

There is no new episode this week. Heroes will return with new programming next Monday.

"The Adventures of Captain Codfish" (Hillman Comics)

"The Adventures of Captain Codfish" (cont.)

In 1944, Hillman Publishing released Vol. 1 #1 of Punch and Judy Comics. I've previously posted another story featuring today's selected character, but here once again from the inaugural issue of that fine kid-friendly series is everyones favorite North Atlantic adventurer.

Enjoy!