All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58: Superman Vs. Shazam! (Facsimile Edition)

I'm in no way criticizing the art skills of Dick Giordano or Rich Buckler. If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you know that I am a huge fan of Giordano; having gotten to meet him at his very last con. As for Buckler, I loved his work on the earliest stories of the Marvel cyborg, Deathlok. So I believe that I have established respect for both artists. That being said, who drew the artwork for both the back half of this wraparound cover as well as many of the full sized and splash pages? They look like they were masterfully drawn by Neal Adams!

This facsimile edition is absolutely beautiful. The foil enhanced wraparound. The remastered colors of Adrienne Roy. The throwaway panel of what a brunette Supergirl would look like. This was a visual masterpiece from 1978!

An ancient wizard from a Martian civilization millennia before those of J'onn J'onzz' people, is seeking to end his singular mistake. In an attempt to become immortal, the mage got his wish. But not before first turning the rest of his kind into silent, tormenting phantoms. His hope is to place devices on two different Earths where they will vibrate in sync with the other and cause a cataclysmic explosion to should restore his people to their corporeal forms.

The two Earth's chosen are Superman's Earth-1 and Captain Marvel's home, Earth-S. To prevent the two heroes from discovering the devices, the wizard forces Black Adam and the 'Quarmmer', a duplicate of Superman made of living sand, to cloud the minds of the heroes so that they see each other as mortal enemies. Thus, fans finally get their wish: an epic battle that will definitively prove who is mightier? The Man of Steel or the Big Red Cheese?

The fight was epic. The team-up of Supergirl and Mary Marvel was awesome. The villain Karmang was pretty cool looking. But like most DC Comics of the late 1970s, the plot fell flat.

For one thing, I didn't quite understand Karmang's costume didn't really make sense. He's got these wicked looking eyeballs which adore the epaulets on his cape and apparently makes some fashionable earrings.  But he never uses them. They'd be really cool if they helped Karmang see the action occurring on the two Earths. Instead, he's got TV set-up sweeter than any wall of boob tubes at Circuit City. 

Another issue with the plot is the pacing. There are 4 acts in this issue, along with interludes and a prologue and epilogue. If writer Gerry Conway would've cut the unnecessary comic relief provided by Lois Lane and sports reporter Steve Lombard playing the role of cameraman, I think we could have gotten a much smoother ending that really hyped up the tension. Instead, we get Superman racing around the world to counter the pull of the magnetic field while Captain Marvel literally decides which color wire to clip on one of Karmang's devices. 

And as much as I enjoyed Supergirl being in this story, the ending where she and Mary Marvel fawn over each other's super hunky relative was clunky at best. At worst, it's a groaner and brother did I groan over that dumb ending...

At least we got an answer as to whether Supes or Cap are stronger than the two. At least for this clash.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Blue Ribbon Comics #6 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 1983, Archie Comics revived it's superhero line of comics for the fourth time. Heroes such as the Shield, the Fly and the Black Hood were given darker origins as they were modernized for the 80s. To highlight some of the characters that were being revived without their own solo titles, Archie Comics, under the Red Circle imprint, released a second volume of Blue Ribbon Comics. 

The first volume of Blue Ribbon Comics was an anthology series that featured characters representing a number of genres. From 1940-42, readers of the 22 issues of Blue Ribbon Comics, Volume 1 were treated to tales about cowboys, spies, funny animals and of course, superheroes. 

The 1980s reboot of Blue Ribbon Comics was an solo feature anthology similar to DC's Showcase Presents. Each issue featured mostly all-new material that introduced the Archie heroes to new readers; although some reprinted materials were added as filler to the first few issues of the revitalized title. Not only were Archie heroes featured in this series. Characters from other publishers such as Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents starred in later issues.

Issue #6 featured the character of the Fox. Looking like a cross between the Black Panther and a capeless Batman, the Fox takes on street punks, organized crime and costumed bad guys. Originally, the Fox was newspaper photojournalist Paul Patton, who often benefits as being the first reporter on the scene to score a scoop for The Daily Globe after defeating the villains while in costume as the Fox. This issue marks the debut of the Fox II in the form of Patton's son, Paul Jr. Whereas the original Fox was a skilled athlete, the second generation hero was a master of martial arts. In his debut feature, the Fox is on the trail of the head of a guild of assassins when he comes face-to-face with a former fellow member of his dojo called Martial Law. Once believed dead, the foe formerly known as The Gasser, has vowed revenge on the Fox for his past defeat and a place in the assassin guild awaits him should he kill the Fox!

The debut of the second Fox is a bit muddled. On at least 2 occasions in this issue does writer and editor Rich Buckler make allusions to previous activity by Paul Jr. in other recent Red Circle titles. Originally the new Archie heroes books were to take place in the past, right around their 1940s debut. However, the timeline was soon bumped up in most of the titles to modern day 1980s America. With this retcon, actions by the Fox which were to have been conducted by the original Fox were now attributed to Paul Patton's son.

Not having a blueprint set out ahead of time had been mentioned by some as the reason that Red Circle, later the Archie Adventure Series, superhero revival quickly faded by 1985. Another argument for it's quick demise was that Archie couldn't navigate the burgeoning direct sales market with emerging comic book stores. I tend to follow this camp as I remember for a long time seeing the Red Circle characters adorning ads in the pages of various Archie Comics. Yet none of the comic book stores I frequented ever carried any of the titles. 

While the Fox II would disappear with the cancellation of the entire line in 1985-86, he and his allies would return to print on several occasions. In 1991, DC Comics licensed the Red Circle characters from Archie into the !mpact Comics imprint. During this incarnation, the characters operated in a universe separate from DC's main stays like Superman and Wonder Woman. However, when DC again licensed the characters from Archie in 2008, efforts were made to integrate them with the residents of the DC Universe. Sadly, neither imprint saw much success.

Archie once again has the rights to Fox and friends. The character has appeared in several miniseries as both as a solo act and member of the Mighty Crusaders in the past dozen years. Most recently, both versions of the Fox, along with Paul Jr's son, Shinji (aka the Ghost Fox) appeared in a 2022 one-shot titled The Fox: Family Values. Along with all-new material, the special features a reprint from Alex Toth.

Blue Ribbon Comics #6 was written by Rich Buckler and Stan Timmons. Art by Tony DeZuniga with inks and cover art by Rudy Nebres.

Completing this review completes Task #11 (Select a Long Box and read the 14th book in the box) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Deathlok The Demolisher!: The Complete Collection

Deathlok the Demolisher is one of those aesthetically pleasing characters to me. I've been in love with his design since I was first made aware of the character in 1990, thanks to that amazing trading card set known as Marvel Universe. 

But aside from those couple of cards, my love and knowledge for the character really stalled out. I stopped reading comics for a while and then when I resumes, I just forgot Deathlok existed. That was until I found a copy of this book for very cheap at Ollie's. 

The story of Deathlok ironically begins in 1990. America has split into warring territories due to a nuclear war. In what was Detroit Michigan, solider Luther Manning is killed in combat. Only, Manning doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. Instead, Manning is in purgatory; reanimated into a cyborg killing machine called Deathlok. Aided by an internal CPU, Manning breaks free of his programming and seeks revenge on the men who turned him into a mechanical member of the walking dead. 

Deathlok's story will take the character back and forth through time meeting such mainstays of the Marvel Universe such as The Thing, Nick Fury, Spider-Man and Captain America. This collection contains all of the main Deathlok stories told by co-creator's Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four), Doug Moench (Moon Knight) and Bill Mantlo (ROM: Spaceknight). Created in 1974, as Deathlok got closer to 1990, his origin evolved. I'm very glad that Marvel decided to keep all of this in one volume because I think if I had to wait several months to read this in between volumes, I would have gotten really lost. 

Not only does this collection help me fall further in love with Deathlok; it also helps with my wish list. Issues from the second Astonishing Tales series along with chapters from Marvel Team-UP, Marvel Two-In-One and many more are included. Even if I was to have paid the full cover price of $39.99, I would have saved so much cash thanks to the inclusion of those pricey extra issues. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.