Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Power Squad proposal art by Trevor Von Eeden

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"The Time Has Come For New Power!!" Sometime between 1979 and 1982, noted DC heroine writer Jack C. Harris put together a proposal with artist Trevor Von Eeden to promote Supergirl and Batgirl as a genderbent "World's Finest" and create a recurring Defenders-style "non-team" alongside the Enchantress and the Vixen. You'll note that the Lady Fox is still in her original costume from Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2, so this would have been her second aborted chance at getting published before finally appearing in a comic book story through Action Comics #521.
"Power Plus Two: Inborn ability together with a mystic amulet calling forth the powers of the beasts alter the identity of fashion designer Mari McCabe into the Lady Fix... The Vixen!"
DC Women Kicking Ass interviewed Harris about the sadly rejected proposal, which you can read here!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Justice League of America's Vibe #3 (June, 2013)



Vibe stood on the top of the Gimlin Building, twelve stories up, scanning the area for signs of trouble while talking to his brother on the phone. "You can't fly, genius! If you see any 'trouble' from up there, how are you supposed to get down in time to stop it?" Also, Dante was sick of lying to their father about Cisco's whereabouts while he was out on patrol. Not sick of lying about his own whereabouts, mind, just Cisco's.

At A.R.G.U.S., Director Amanda Waller asked, "Tell me, Agent Gunn--is this kid going to bend every order we give him? Or just the ones that are matters of interdimensional security?" Dale assured her that Cisco and Dante hadn't breached their confidentiality beyond confiding in one another. Waller still believed Vibe to be "one of the most powerful super-humans on the planet," so he needed to get up to speed with her needs fast, which included manipulating the Speed Force.



Vibe was on his way home when an A.R.G.U.S. airship showed up to carry him to New York in pursuit of the "thief and arsonist" known as Kid Flash ("though his relationship to the Flash is tenuous.") Dale Gunn had to reign in Cisco's enthusiasm at visiting the Big Apple as an A.R.G.U.S. squadron was guided by Vibe into the subway system. Cisco randomly decided to engage Gunn in small talk, learning he'd been recruited out of grad school by the C.I.A., served fifteen years, then transferred to A.R.G.U.S. as soon as it was up and running. Gunn also "had a daughter. Once."

In the tunnels, Kid Flash began disarming the A.R.G.U.S. troopers. Only Vibe was able to see him, and was able to defend himself against super-speed with his vibrational powers. Vibe managed to dampen Kid Flash's speed, and pursued him alone on foot, pretending that there was interference in his communication device to ignore orders to wait for back-up. Kid Flash reengaged Vibe, causing feedback that allowed Vibe to see parts of the Kid's history, and triggering explosive energy surges all the way back to A.R.G.U.S. equipment in Detroit. Both heroes were thrown for a loop, and Vibe was nearly struck by an oncoming train.



Kid Flash declared his innocence, his lack of the personal memories Vibe had uncovered, and his unwillingness to submit to further investigation by an A.R.G.U.S. stooge. Vibe had second thoughts about that back-up, but his communication equipment was really working poorly at that point. Kid Flash had been in the tunnels to visit his point of arrival after traveling from a future he couldn't remember, and though Vibe wanted to help him, Waller aborted the mission for fear that a negative feedback loop created by further interaction could unravel time itself. Kid Flash angrily refused Vibe anyway, then fled. Waller told Agent Gunn to chew Vibe out for his insubordination, but she was actually very happy with the mass of data collected during the encounter.

Unbeknownst to Waller, there was a major complication from the instances of feedback created by Vibe and Kid Flash. The power dampening generated in the Circus had faltered, allowing Subject 24 ("Gypsy") access to her abilities. Creating the illusion that she was a guard who had been trapped in her cell, Gypsy lured another guard into freeing her and escaping.



Back at the Ramon Family home, Cisco told Dante that for a supposed "violent criminal," Kid Flash passed up plentiful opportunities to kill him and his group. Cisco was finally asking questions about A.R.G.U.S., and Dante pointed out that this "super secret government agency" had already imperiled his brother repeatedly without his knowing much of anything about them. Francisco Ramon began working out a strategy to investigate A.R.G.U.S. when a figure in purple and gold armor teleported into his room to reinforce his suspicions. "...Time for you to start asking the right questions. And if you don't... you'll die just like all the others."

"Trial by (Flash) Fire" was by Sterling Gates, Pete Woods & Sean Parsons, and Fabiano Neves. Gates doesn't quite keep up the humor of the previous writers, but he does immediately move Vibe past being a well-intentioned patsy into a more thoughtful and challenging protagonist. I've never been fond of Woods' work, so I perked up on the pages Neves drew on his own, adding a dynamism and heroic sheen previously lacking.

New 52's Day

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

2013 “Injustice: Gods Among Us” Zatanna DLC Trailer



I'm on teh tweeters now, where @Jslab425 let me know that the Mistress of Magic was following Martian Manhunter as a downloadable character for play in the very popular NetherRealm Studios video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. While the game featured most of the iconic DC heroes and a fair amount of villains, the developers intentionally held back on playable characters with the intention of offering them later as downloads, thus extending the playing life and promotion of the game. Lobo, Batgirl (Barbara Gordon,) the Mortal Kombat character Scorpion, and General Zod were released as part of a pack earlier this year, with Martian Manhunter the first entirely new character to be offered since. Zee is the second, after having won a fan request poll. There's too much kicking and punching to suit her, and damn are her legs developed, but her tricks are pretty neat. My favorite is where she sends Solomon Grundy to take punishment in another part of the game itself.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Friday, August 2, 2013

Detroit Doody #1



By the time I dropped all the X-Men titles in the early '90s, I'd already moved on to collecting mostly DC Comics. 1993 was a year bursting with major events, and the glory of the Chromium Age at its height fired up my own paltry imagination. "Reign of the Supermen!" was either on the way or progressing, so I figured Batman would have at least one new costume coming out of "Knightfall." I decided to try out some ideas, none of the ones seen here remotely good, all of them embarrassing, and I should frankly be ashamed for wasting your time. However, this is the internet, so what else were you expecting?

Pooping on the DCU