DC Special #28

In the penultimate issue of this DC anthology series, there are a total of 3 stories, all about 'earth shattering disasters.' Well, technically 2 stories are actually earth shattering. The other is a disaster but of a different magnitude altogether. 

In the first story, Gotham City is racked by a series of earthquakes. Only these tremors aren't natural but man-made by a technological madman calling himself Quakemaster.

In the final story, the Legion of Super-Heroes discovers that the Metropolis of 2977AD is in peril. For the first time in centuries, the city is without power and engulfed in flames. Someone has sabotaged the power sphere that energizes Metropolis. Being nuclear in origin, the power station is about to reach critical mass, threatening to meltdown in a China Syndrome type catastrophe and destroy the planet once the generator reaches earth's core. 

The middle story stars Aquaman. While he is ridding the seven seas of a band of hi-tech pirates, the King of Atlantis stumbles upon an ecological disaster. A giant oil spill. Only this mass of petroleum is alive and growing, feasting on ships and sea life that crosses its path. Teaming with the Navy, Aquaman tries to stop this menace. But as the blob gets closer to a major coastal city, the Navy proposes using A-bombs to destroy it. Seeing another ecological disaster on his hands, it's up to Aquaman to find a solution before the bombs go flying!

I think it's interesting that Gotham City had trouble with earthquakes about 30 years prior to the disastrous events of 'No Man's Land'. This story forms a bit of a continuity error as one of the characters makes a comment that the bedrock underneath Gotham isn't ideal for quakes. Apparently in the 3 decades leading up to the massive tremors that will render Batman's hometown a disaster area, nearly a billion years of geology occurred below to make the topography below more suitable for aftershocks!

I found the Aquaman story hitting a little too close to home. Currently in the South Atlantic, a 5,000 mile long swath of seaweed is making its way towards Florida. The level of destruction isn't as catastrophic as what the growing massive of oil in the story was predicted to do. But the amount of damage to that area's sea life and the proposed level of breathing problems the decaying algae is predicted to do before this ecological disaster is through is rather terrifying. 

As for the Legion of Super-Heroes story, I was non-plussed. The story was written by Paul Levitz, who many consider to be the best Legion writer ever. Yet with all the flash forwards and a baddie who I really thought was a Legionnaire, I didn't feel like I was in the presence of a master. As publisher of DC, Levitz was great. But that was in the 90s and 00s. Maybe 1977 Paul Levitz still had a lot of practice ahead of him to get great. 

I don't know why I do this. I seem to spend money on really exciting looking DC anthologies from the 1970s and wind up being disappointed. The artwork of all 3 tales was amazing and it's definitely the appeal of the covers, along with childhood nostalgia that got me to purchase this. I'm probably going to fall into the trap again sometime in the future. But at least I didn't pay more than a dollar for this book.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 63

  Today in Madman history, a massive 7.2 earthquake hits Romania. The epicenter was located in the Vrancean Mountains. Though the quake only lasted about 90 seconds, the damage was massive. Over 1500 people died and about 35,000 people were left homeless. A number of Romanian celebrities based in Bucharest were victims of the disaster. 

    The main problem behind the quake's excessive damage was sadly due to Communism. The region had suffered a quake just as devastating (if not a little more) in 1940. The country rebuilt from that earth shaker. But under the Iron Curtain, Romanians didn't have the funds to properly reinforce their rebuilt structures like other seismic prone areas in the West like San Francisco and L.A.

    Thankfully, Communist officials weren't stubborn and they allowed outside help, including the Red Cross to come and assist with relief and recovery efforts that took decades. The slow recovery and economic devastation is also considered a leading factor in Romania being so willing to leave the Soviet Union right after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

    Politics aside, this was a tragedy that affected hundreds of thousands with damage spreading to nearby nations such as Bulgaria and Moldova in which over 20,000 buildings sustained some sort of damage from the quake.

    Before I sign off for today, a moment of silence for those lost by the Vrancean Quake.

     Until tomorrow...
   

San Andreas

 

So, yesterday, I didn't get much of a chance to type up a review and that's for good reason. I spent my Saturday with my beautiful wife at the movies. The film we choose to see was the disaster film, San Andreas. Starring the Rock, Carla Gugino, and Paul Giamatti, I almost expected this film to be a disaster unto itself, but I was pleasantly surprised.

    The premise of the film is simple: California which is long overdue for a giant earthquake, experiences the biggest earth shaker in recorded history. The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is a chopper pilot for the LA Fire Department and must rescue his estranged wife and daughter from a pair of quakes in the City of Angels and San Francisco. Meanwhile, a professor at Cal Tech played by the always great Paul Giamatti, has developed  a new system for predicting earthquakes and uses the new found knowledge to alert the general public thanks to an intrepid reporter played by Archie Panjabi of the Good Wife. 

   It's pretty standard disaster movie fare as everything that the expert warns about at the beginning of the film must occur (and does) before the end of the film. Throw it a handful of helpful survival tips, some incredible bad luck and even more unbelievable good luck and you have San Andreas. Oh, and don't forget the cliches such as the highrise door that plummets to nowhere, scientists yelling 'nobody is listening to me" and at least one super-heroic adrenaline filled toss of a child and/ or girl from impending doom!

   Now here's what surprised me: The Rock actually wasn't that bad of an actor in this movie. He was intelligent enough for me to believe that he could actually save the day. However, there was a couple of scenes, like one where a guy tries to carjack him that I was ready for the former wrestler to lift his trademark eyebrow and give the gunman a flying elbow. 

  Another thing that surprised me was that despite a recent commercial giving away the ending, mostly in particular who lives and who dies, I actually did not feel like that trailer ruined the entire movie. Plus the stunning visual effects were realistic enough for me to forget that blasted commercial and enjoy myself. Sadly, whoever was in charge of photoshop didn't do such a great job as old photos of the Rock's family looked like superimposed heads on a 1980s nuclear family.

    I had mentioned earlier that the Rock's acting wasn't so bad and it wasn't but who stole the film for me were the duo of Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson who play English brothers in San Francisco on holiday (that's British for vacation) and end up befriending the daughter of the Rock's character during the melee. I expect to see much more of them in the future, especially younger Parkinson whose already gained some fame as Rickon Stark from Game of Thrones.

   More of a feast for the eyes and that part of the brain that enjoys guilty pleasures. If Jurassic World is sold out, this isn't a bad alternative to turning around and going back home. 

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.