Danger Street, Vol. 1

Tom King, who's an amazing writer, is known for taking some beloved B-list characters from the DC Universe and destroying our childhood notions of them. Case in point: Mister Miracle. Second case in point: Adam Strange. In Danger Street, King dips deep into DC lore with a series that was so unthinkable when it debuted, it really confused a lot of readers and was cancelled pretty darn quick.

Carmine Infantino had the brilliant idea of releasing an anthology series of only first issues. In 1975, First Issue Special released a baker's dozen of issues that introduced readers to all-new concepts such as the Dingbats of Danger Street as well as tried and true DC characters such as Metamorpho and Doctor Fate. Tom King takes all 13 of those characters and teams and creates a unique story filled with intrigue, murder, conspiracy and humor. It unlike anything you've ever encountered in the DC Universe and probably never will.

Metamorpho, Starman and Warlord are all hoping for spots in the Justice League of America. Despite their own heroic exploits over the years, it seems to this trio that they've really got to capture the attention of the League in order to score an invitation. So using the helmet of Doctor Fate and a spell, the heroes decide to summon Darkseid to Earth and subdue him for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Instead, what comes through the portal is a force so destructive and so terrible that when it dies, it threatens the existence of all of the known universe.

Meanwhile, reporter Jack Ryder has been hired to anchor a new 24-hour news channel owned by the boy billionaires, the Green Team. They want Ryder to blame the rise in crime and violence on a mysterious group known as the Outsiders. However, when Ryder in his Creeper form, witnesses an attack on an immigrant by anti-Outsider supporters and it's blamed on the Green Team pariahs, the anchor man will begin to investigate a conspiracy that could destroy the very foundation of the DC Universe!

You might be wondering why I would be willing to read more from Tom King despite how he destroyed some really great characters. Well, he is a good writer. Plus, the inclusion of the New Gods was something that I just couldn't overlook. Besides, this is a Black Label title, so it's not canon. If I end up hating this book I can just say it didn't happen, which is one of the things that makes the DC Black Label line so appealing. They leave the validity of these stories up to the fans as whether they are canonical or not. 

The art was good. It wasn't by Mitch Gerads, Tom King's usual artist. But it was good. By Jorge Fornes, it had the quality of a Gerads work but with nostalgic nuances to it.

There's still a second volume to read. So the jury isn't out yet. I love how all these characters from an obscure 70s anthology of which I am a fan of,  have all been tossed together in this story. I like the surprises that have awaited inside. That one scene with Darkseid; I never saw it coming in a million years and yet it was so perfect. But I am not a fan of the narrator who weaves this story like a very complicated fairy tale written in iambic pentameter or so other archaic pride. Just give me the story in modern jargon please.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Super Powers #4 (3rd Series)

This is it. The last issue of Super Powers, series 3. The last issue of Super Powers based on the original Kenner toy line. The last hurrah. 

Depowered by the intergalactic bounty hunter Tyr, Darkseid fled to Earth, got his butt kicked by a pair of human punks and ended up in the gutter. About as low as he can go, Darkseid searched for the New God scientist who was responsible for Golden Pharaoh and Samurai coming into being. Before killing the researcher Darkseid forced him into restoring his Omega force. Instead, the device used in the experiment overloaded changing Darkseid into Janus!

That's right! The very same Janus who saved the Justice League in the last issue, is in reality deposed despot of Apokolips, Darkseid. And now with the League in tow, Janus has arrived on Apokolips in hopes of regaining the throne. To do that involves  Janus helping Orion and Mister Miracle to restore order to the war torn planet in the throes of a massive civil war.

This issue ends with the heroes emerging victorious. Order on Apokolips is restored. Janus is accepted by Orion as an ally as the pair walk off into the sunset. End of issue.

When Darkseid would reappear a couple years later, he's the leader of Apokolips again. It's like Hunger Dogs and Super Powers never happened. Jack Kirby intended for the Hunger Dogs graphic novel to be the ending to his Fourth World saga. Kirby didn't write this Super Powers miniseries. So it's very possible that Kirby had no intention for this twist ending with Janus becoming a wolf in sheep's clothing ally to his son, Orion. It's the kind of dangling plot lines that drives me crazy with comics. Yet, because of how money driven the entertainment industry is with the fickle nature of editors and producers cancelling projects before ever getting to the end, it's a pet peeve that never seems will ever stop.

A great ending. I just need the rest of the story! 38 years and waiting...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Super Powers #2 (3rd Series)

In the last issue, 3 all-new super heroes were introduced. The question was were they friend or foe? Well, don't worry. They're all friends and in my opinion, part of the reason why Kenner's Super Powers line faded into oblivion.

The first new hero is Samurai. Technically, Samurai is new only to comics. Issue #1 of Super Powers, Vol. 3 marked the Alex Toth created character to readers. However, if you were a regular viewer of Saturday morning cartoons, then you might have been introduced to the character as part of The All-New Super Friends Hour.

Hero #2 is Golden Pharaoh. A British archaeologist excavating an Egyptian pyramid, the New Gods created him along with Samurai when they shot that beam of energy that Tyr intercepted in the last issue. Even with his magical staff and the ability to fly, the Golden Pharaoh still doesn't quite understand the extent of his abilities to the level Samurai does.

Hero #3 is the android Cyclotron. Built by Superman, his super computer brain has knowledge of every superhero and villain known to exist. Cyclotron is a lot like Superman's super androids. Only instead of looking like the Man of Steel, he wears a green helmet and wears ruby shades. I would have liked it if Kenner had made him look like Superman but with his removable outer shell that reveals Cyclotron's robotic interior.

As for this issue, in terms of plot progression, we learn about the 3 mystery characters, Tyr kidnaps Mister Freeze via a Boom Tube in order to free Darkseid from his puzzle-like prison, and Mister Miracle and Orion start to see the power vacuum left by Darkseid's upheaval starting to fracture the delicate peace earned from the revolt.

If anybody had Tyr betraying Kalibak and Steppenwolf and stealing Darkseid's remaining Omega energies to make himself into a demigod on their bingo card, consider yourself lucky. I sure didn't see that coming. But to see Darkseid flee to Earth and get mugged by a pair of human punks was so satisfying!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Super Powers #1 (3rd Series)

Unlike the previous two miniseries, where all young readers needed was a rudimentary knowledge of the characters and vehicles being highlighted in the Kenner toy show, with the beginning of series 3, you'll be required to have done some homework. The story opens after the events of DC Graphic Novel #4: The Hunger Dogs. Despite being a huge fan of Kirby's Fourth World, I've not read that book. Being in my mid- forties, I'm able to figure out what's happened between the ending of Super Powers, Vol. 2 issue #6 and Hunger Dogs.

The citizens of Apokolips have deposed Darkseid. The former ruler has lost his Omega beam powers and impotently resides in a prison complex personally designed by Mister Miracle. Darkseid's son, Orion, has arrived to ensure that the villain cannot escape or be freed by his remaining allies.

Speaking of allies, Kalibak and Steppenwolf have hired a renown bounty hunter named Tyr to free Darkseid from his prison. To do that however involves the frosty super villain, Mister Freeze who happens to be plotting a break-in at a super secret research facility on earth, light-years away. Using technology from Apokolips, Tyr uses an energy beam to given Mr. Freeze dynamic strength on par with Superman. Good thing that the Man of Steel is assisted by Firestorm along with all-new Justice Leaguers Cyborg, Plastic Man and Shazam. However, it appears that Freeze is too much for the heroes and is about to claim total victory when not one but 3 new Super Powers arrives on the scene. But are these characters friend or foe?

When it came to the new characters for Kenner's third wave of Super Powers figures, there were highs and lows. I was super excited about the additions of Plastic Man, Cyborg, Shazam and Mister Freeze. Only I never could find Cyborg or Shazam. I'm a cold weather fan, so getting a Mister Freeze was like a dream come true. Though I thought the 90s reissue in which the figure turned blue when you put him in ice was way cooler. I didn't know who Tyr was. So I never got him. Same with Orion. Mister Miracle was a character that I knew a little bit about and I remember having a figure of him. As for those mystery characters, more on them in my review of issue #2.

The biggest crime of wave 3 was the lack of mini comics. That had been such a bonus when you bought the figures from the first two waves. Another penalty was the promise of a playset representing Darkseid's fortress. It was scrapped due to the warning popularity of the toy line. However, you can get an inside look of what might have been with the scenes inside and out of Darkseid's jail as it looks exactly like that abandoned playset.

A good read. Just not geared towards kids who were at the time the primary consumers of Super Powers. I think the more adult approach was just another reason why this would be the franchise's swan song until a recent revival by Todd McFarland.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Super Powers #5

The first Super Powers miniseries comes to a close with a double sized spectacular not just plotted by written and illustrated by the King, Jack Kirby!

First, the Justice League find themselves along with their biggest foes attached to a gigantic machine designed to sap their powers in order to fuel Darkseid's war machine. Then a forgotten New God frees both the heroes and villains, placing them in Brainiac's vessel in a final counterattack against Darkseid's forces. Add in a time warp or two. A look at the Metropolis of the year 10,000. Boom! You've got one heck of a great finale to a story that was really having a rough start.

My favorite part was having Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Joker and Penguin becoming good guys. I love how it's okay if they try to take over the world. But if someone else from another galaxy tries to do it then it's game on for becoming a hero. To see Batman and the Joker not just working together, but complementing each other- AS FRIENDS! It's just bizarre. Something that I've never seen before. 

I Love it!

Actually, I have kinda seen it before. In the final episode of Justice League Unlimited, the Justice League combines forces with the members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains to repel the onslaught of Darkseid and Apokolips. I thought that episode was great, especially with the ending where after defeating Darkseid, Batman rewards the baddies for their heroic efforts with a 5 minute head start before the Justice League apprehends them. That doesn't quite happen here. But thanks to Kirby's deft touch, the last couple of pages were things of beauty.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

New Gods #7 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The 1995-97 run of New Gods was the fourth volume to bear the name of Jack Kirby's cosmic creation. Tom Peyer (The Wrong Earth) and Rachel Pollack (Doom Patrol) were assigned duties to bring the residents of New Genesis and Apokolips into the 21st century. However, this gritty approach to the Fourth World wasn't met with very much fanfare. As a result, John Byrne (Fantastic Four) took over scripting duties with issue #12. At the 16th issue, the title was renamed Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Numbering was reset to #1. 

The artwork to this New Gods run was penciled by Luke Ross. Having worked on Image's Gen13, Ross must have been a student of the Rob Liefeld school of art as these New Gods have barrel chests, tiny legs and lots of extra frown lines. When John Bryne took over the series, the characters returned to more familiar Kirby-isque looking physiques.

In this issue, the New God Lightray has gone berserk and raged war against a tribe of New Genesis aboriginal peoples. This resulting plague of mania has led Highfather, the leader of New Genesis, to create a sort of sanitarium for the followers of Lightray. Only it is revealed that Highfather actually plans to maroon himself within the confines of this new structure in order to prevent an unknown prophecy from coming to fruition. 

On Apokolips, the evil Darkseid and his son Orion are locked in mortal combat. It appears that the ruler of Apokolips has finally killed the heir foretold to be his killer, thus ensuring his mortality. Yet in a bizarre change of heart, Darkseid uses his Omega powers to restore Orion to life!

This issue was definitely a product of the times. The 1990s were full of edgy storylines, overly muscled characters and something I don't ever remember seeing in any of Kirby's Fourth World books: gore and dismemberment. Darkseid at his conniving best. But the rest of the New Gods seem neutered in an age of superheroes oozing with too much testosterone.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #37 (A Book You Didn't Know Existed) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom

When I first heard about this 6-issue series, I was ecstatic. I really enjoyed the Tom King/Mitch Gerads 2018 Mister Miracle mini which left me with many questions. Namely, I wanted to know if Scott Free survived his reality-bending encounter with the Anti-Life Equation or did Mister Miracle really succeed in killing himself and everything that happened was just the last moments of thought for the New God? So when I found out that Shilo Norman was the star of this series, I didn't think I was going to get my answer!

While myself and countless comic book fans are getting tired of legacy heroes, Shilo Norman is one of those legacies that I can get behind. Shilo was the creation of Jack Kirby. First appearing in issue #15 of Mister Miracle, Shilo was the ward of the original Miracle stuntman, Thaddeus Brown. Before Scott Free came to Earth, Shilo Norman was being trained to become the next Mister Miracle. But not being older than a pre-teen, Shilo wasn't ready yet to take on the Mister Miracle mantle. 

Shilo Norman would eventually don the red and yellow costume when he became an adult. Sometimes he would share the Mister Miracle title with Scott Free. But after the continuity altering events of Final Crisis and Death of the New Gods, for the most part, Shilo Norman was the sole celebrity stuntman/superhero on the block.

In this story, set in the some years from now as part of DC's Future State story line, Shilo Norman has created a multi-media empire as an escape artist thanks in part to Thaddeus Brown's training and a mysterious computer device called mother box. Keeping his identity a secret, his agent is pressuring Shilo to unmask as public opinion about capes, his in particular, has started to wane. Someone has hacked all of Mister Miracle's social media accounts and begun a campaign of their own accusing Shilo of being a fraud. 

The accuser is N'Vir Free, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda. Only Shilo Norman has never heard of Scott and Barda! And why is a mystery man named Oberon offering to fill in the gaps about these seemingly unknown entities?

Written by Brendan M. Easton (Transformers: Deviations), this story captures the decades long African American struggle in Metropolis and places South. Easton's account of Thaddeus Brown, now cast as a black man seeking his fame and fortune during the Civil Rights era was powerful. So much to the point, I think he should have written The Other History of the DC Universe. (To be fair, I've not read that yet, so this opinion might be moot. We shall see.)

After completing this read in less than 24 hours, my verdict is just. This is a great read. I get some of my answers as to what happened with Scott Free. I was also okay with the new race casting of Thaddeus Brown. Why Easton does this was actually quite satisfying but I'm not a liberty to say more about that. Spoilers, sweetie.

The Source of Freedom is a book deep in Jack Kirby Fourth World lore and Multiversity history and quantum mechanics. A lot of the events that occur in this book are the results of Dark Nights: Metal and its subsequent sequels. Normally, I say it's okay not to read such and such before you read the book I'm currently reviewing. This time, I really don't think you should skip it. Metal really explains a lot of what's happening here.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Mister Miracle

Shortly before my state’s quarantine mandate went into effect, I headed over to my local library for some graphic novel and trade reads. One of the trades available had been on my wish list for some time: Tom King’s Mister Miracle. Running for 12 issues from October 2017- January 2019, this version of the world’s greatest escape artist was rather trippy. But King, along with artist Mitch Gerads, managed to stay pretty faithful to Jack Kirby’s original Fourth World vision in the process.

Mister Miracle
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerads
Covers by Gerads and Nick Derrington
Publisher: DC Comics

Originally published as Mister Miracle, issues #1-12.

Scott Free grew up in the orphanages of Apokolips run by the tyrannical Granny Goodness. Scott spent every waking moment he wasn’t being tortured trying to escape Granny’s fire pits. Finally achieving his goal, Scott traveled to earth and became friends with Mister Miracle, the world’s greatest escape artist.

Scott’s planned time in the shadows was short-lived. When mobsters killed the original Mister Miracle, Scott takes over the identity and eventually becomes an even bigger celebrity (and eventual hero) with the help of his manager Oberon and his former Furies leader wife, Big Barda.

Tragedy befalls the Mister Miracle household, sending Scott Free into a spiraling free-fall. Deeply depressed, Scott attempts one last escape. Slicing open his wrists, Scott takes his own life only to be snatched away from death thanks to paramedics! 

Or did he?

Controversial Batman writer Tom King tackled a bunch of metaphysical concepts in this maxi-series. What or who is God? What is reality? By the end of this title, you’ll be asking yourself if one man’s hell can be another paradise? While a lot of the concepts are explored but never truly explained, the reader will get an answer at the end of this story as to if Scott Free is dead or not. OR maybe not.

This Mister Miracle story is essentially a crisis story. Not just for Scott but for all of the New Gods on New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid has achieved the anti-life equation and the forces of Highfather and Orion will risk everything to stop evil from winning. 

But with all of DC’s crisis stories, the ending often gets mired with open ended finales. And for the most part, that’s exactly what happens here. Though, I do feel that this was one of the least open-ended stories produced on a level with CRISIS. Maybe I am not really clear here. I rather enjoyed this Tom King/Mitch Gerads production. 

Mitch Gerads (The Sheriff of Babylon) was a huge factor in my appeal of this Mister Miracle run. I forgot how alluring Jack Kirby had made the Amazon-like Big Barda. But Gerards quickly reminded me! And what he is able to do making some of the more surreal moments of this book look like an old school rabbit ears TV set struggling to get a clear reception was a thing of mastery!

Gerards won an Eisner award for his work on this book in 2018. Tom King did as well. But really, it’s the stunning visuals that make this book a New Gods series unlike any other. Expect lots and lots of red ink to flow through these pages. And with that, readers should expect lots and lots of death. Whether that body count includes Mister Miracle is up for interpretation.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.