The Great Batman: Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Mystery in Space!

Season One, Episode 14: Mystery in Space!

Written by Jim Krieg

Directed by Brandon Vietti

Plot synopsis

Teaser: Equinox has kidnapped Gorilla Grodd and the Question and strapped them to an elaborate scale trap, telling Batman he can only save one of them, which the Dark Knight of course proves untrue.

Episode: Batman is standing on a shoreline awaiting a zeta beam to transport him to the planet Rann when he hears a strange sound he discovers to be Aquaman emitting the cry of a wounded beluga whale. But this isn’t the happy-go-punchy, bravado-filled Aquaman we’ve grown accustomed to. Big A is despondent, questioning the meaning of everything. At first, Bats stresses he can’t help because he has a solo mission to attend to (“It’s important I stress the word ‘solo,’” his inner monologue says), but the zeta beam ends up transporting both heroes into the middle of a firefight on an alien planet.

In the skies over Rann, they are met by Adam Strange and his wife, Alanna, who take them to their base in the capital where Alanna’s father, Saradath, welcomes them. The introductions are interrupted by a message from General Kreegaar, leader of the lizardlike Gordanians, who shows them a giant spiderlike mech approaching the city.

“All is lost. Woe is us. Perhaps it’s not too late to surrender,” Aquaman suggests, still mysteriously and uncharacteristically crestfallen.

Batman, Aquaman and Adam Strange lead an attack on the mech. Aquaman takes out Gordanian warriors with little effort, and little enthusiasm. Were this any other episode, he’d be laughing heartily and working on some kind of title for a future tale. Kreegaar turns the fight around, however, trapping the heroes in a thermal device meant to boil them alive from the inside. The heroes escape by using Strange’s jetpack to cut a hole in the floor.

Once back at the base, Strange deduces the Gordanians are after the Eye of Zarid, essentially a giant magnifying glass that can be used to fry an entire city. The Eye is located underwater. Batman, Aquaman and the Stranges get their scuba on and find the Gordanians attempting to free the Eye from beneath the waves. Batman suggests Aquaman do what he does best and summon the local sea creatures to their aid. But when they arrive and Strange talks about using them to draw fire, Aquaman shoos them away instead. That’s when he reveals what’s been bugging him all episode: Big A apparently failed to stop whalers from poaching beluga recently, and it’s left him feeling less than heroic.

As Batman tries to snap the King of Atlantis out of his funk, the Gordanians attack. In the midst of the fight, a zeta beam transports Adam to Earth, 25 trillion miles away. Alanna is captured, and the Gordanians free the Eye of Zarid, moving it toward the city. Adam teleports back to Rann just in time for Batman and Aquaman to relay the dire news. Adam sits down, feeling like a failure and declaring the war lost.

That’s when we get the king’s speech.

“What has gotten into you, man?” Aquaman asks Strange. “Alanna is alive! Rann is alive! You’re alive! And where there is life, there’s always hope!” (What could be move Silver Age than exclaiming every sentence?)

Strange: “But we’re outgunned.”

Aquaman: “So what? We don’t even use guns!” (Great line)

Strange: “But the Eye is invulnerable.”

Aquaman: “All the better to prove we are true heroes!”

Strange: “Alanna is their captive.”

Aquaman: “For now! This isn’t the end. It’s an opportunity! Most men wait their entire lives in vain for a moment like this! A chance to matter! A call to adventure! Adam, answer that call!”

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I want to go punch some lizard men in the face after watching that scene. But more importantly, Adam does, and that sets into motion a daring, utterly ridiculous plan.

The heroes steal Earth’s moon via zeta beam and drop it into orbit around Rann, creating an eclipse that depowers the Eye of Zarid and renders the Gordanians impotent. Strange rescues Alanna, Kreegaar screams as the Eye crashes to the ground and Aquaman rides triumphant aboard a pair of Rannian sea creatures, because that’s what you do when you’re a badass sea king.

“A fitting end to The Strange Encounter of the Reptile Men,” Aquaman declares, having truly become his old self again.

As for what happened while Earth temporarily had no moon, that’s never shown. Hopefully it wasn’t too catastrophic.

Number of times Aquaman says “Outrageous!”: Zero.

Who’s Who

Aquaman (voiced by John DiMaggio)

First comic book appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Adam Strange

First comic book appearance: Showcase #17 (November 1958)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 14- Mystery in Space!

An archaeologist from Earth who is transported by zeta beam to the planet Rann in the Alpha Centauri system, Strange becomes the protector of that planet and marries one of its women, Alanna, daughter of chief scientist Saradath.

The Question (voiced by Nicholas Guest)

First comic book appearance: Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 14- Mystery in Space!

Created by Steve Ditko and acquired by DC in its absorption of Charlton Comics in the 1980s, journalist turned detective Vic Sage’s face is covered by a substance called pseudoderm, making it look as though he has no facial features. The Question is obsessed with conspiracies, and at times his philosophy has run the gamut from Ayn Rand-style libertarianism to Eastern zen. In later years, Sage would be replaced as the Question by Gotham police Detective Renee Montoya. The Question also served an inspiration for Watchmen’s Rorschach.

Equinox (voiced by Oded Fehr)

First comic book appearance: Justice League of America #111 (June 1974)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 14- Mystery in Space!

Equinox is based on a DC Comics villain named Libra, who appeared in a 1970s Justice League story by Len Wein. Grant Morrison brought the character back as a big bad in 2008’s Final Crisis storyline, making him obsessed both with balance and godhood.

Gorilla Grodd (Voice by John DiMaggio)
First Comic Book Appearance: The Flash #106 (May, 1959)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Gordanians
First Comic Book Appeearance: New Teen Titans #1 (November, 1980)
First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 14- Mystery in Space!

The Gordanians are a lizard man species of intergalactic conquerors and slavers. They are often allies of the Citadel, another group of alien conquerors, and in the comics they have little connection to Rann, but are instead mostly seen as nemeses of the planet Tamaran, home of Starfire; they are the race that kidnapped and enslaved her before she escaped to earth to join the Titans.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The title of the episode refers to one of DC Comics' classic sci-fi comics of the 50s and 60s, the one in which Adam Strange had a recurring feature for many years. 

The actor who voiced Equinox, another recurring character loosely based on a comic book character but technically original to the show, is voiced by Oded Fehr, an actor best known for The Mummy films, but who does a fair amount of voice work. He voiced Doctor Fate in Justice League Unlimited prior to his work on this series, and would go on to voice Ra's al Ghul in Young Justice.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

The Great Batman: The Brave and the Bold Rewatch: Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Season One, Episode Nine: Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Written by Matt Wayne

Directed by Michael Chang

Plot Synopsis

Teaser: DC’s two stretchiest heroes, Plastic Man and the Elongated Man, foil a bank robbery by Babyface and his gang. EM expresses jealousy over PM’s popularity and the hang time he gets with Batman while proclaiming himself the nobler rubber-limbed do-gooder (Plastic Man is a reformed villain, after all). The two get themselves tangled in a trap, at which point Bats shows up and delivers the knockout blow to Babyface, closing with the line “Truth be told, between the two of you, I prefer to work alone.”

Episode: Professor Ryan Choi, the Atom, is in the middle of a delicate experiment when he receives a call from Aquaman, who appears to want to shoot the breeze, only to reveal as an afterthought that Batman has fallen ill after a battle with Chemo, a giant green toxic-waste monster currently attacking the country of Bialya.

To combat the microorganisms ravaging Batman’s system, the Atom volunteers to go inside the Caped Crusader. And Aquaman asks to come with, which Batman agrees to either because he genuinely thinks Atom could use the extra muscle or because he’d rather be rid of both of them for a while. It’s obvious from jump we’re set up for an Odd Couple-style buddy comedy between the two guest heroes. Atom is an easily frustrated man of science, while Aquaman charges ahead, laughs in the face of everything and is generally awesome.

Meanwhile, a sickened Batman, his body growing all manner of warts and losing motor control, continues taking the fight to Chemo alongside the Navy, to little avail.

Inside the Dark Knight, our other two heroes are experiencing difficulties both repelling the invading nasties and working with each other.

“The problem with you, Atom, is that you think when you should feel,” Aquaman says as he slices apart the invading microbes with his waterborne weaponry, only for them to multiply.

Atom then fries the enemy an electromagnetic shock, which does not result in their mitosis.

“See? Thinking’s not so tough. Maybe you should try it some time,” he says before they are surrounded and outnumbered.

Amid the ensuing battle, Aquaman befriends a white blood cell he names platelet (despite, as Atom rightly points out, the fact that it is not a platelet) and rides as if it were one of his seahorses.

Outside Batman, it is revealed that Chemo was after a nuclear missile and was being controlled by the Brain, a villain that is, in fact, a brain with a French accent attached to a computer on wheels. As the Brain makes plain his threat to Bialya, Chemo eats the nuke, and Batman ejects from his submarine and into the mouth of the beast.

And as Batman ventures inside Chemo, Aquaman and Atom journey further into Batman aboard Platelet to the Dark Knight’s brain, where the mutating nanonasties have established their base camp.

Inside Chemo, Batman fries the nuclear missile and throws some bombs to discorporate the monster. He then locates the Brain’s submarine. He attacks the villain, but in his weakened state falls over, knocking the Brain down with him.

Meanwhile, as they watch the bugs lay waste to Batman’s brain, Atom sees every possible course of action as having unacceptable consequences. Aquaman, on the other hand, sees this as the time to charge headlong toward Bats’ brain.

“At least I’ll have one heckuva story,” he reasons. And we all know how Aquaman loves his stories. As the king of Atlantis attacks, the microorganisms claim Platelet, sending Atom into a long-overdue rage full of punches and screaming.

“What about the plan?” Aquaman asks.

“Blah blah blah! Let’s punch ‘em!” he retorts.

Atom uses his weapon on the seed cell, healing Batman in time to defeat the Brain. Now, it’s just a matter of getting the Dark Knight to cry so they can escape out his tear duct.

“But surely Batman never cries!” Aquman muses. Fade to black.

Number of times someone yells “Outrageous!”: Aquaman 2, Atom 1.

Who's Who

Aquaman (voiced by John DiMaggio)

First comic book appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

The Atom (Ryan Choi) (voiced by James Sie)

First comic book appearance: DCU Brave New World (August 2006)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!


Plastic Man (Voiced by Tom Kenny)
First Comic Book Appearance: Police Comics #1 (August 1941)
First Brave and the Bold Appearance: Season One, Episode Two- Terror on Dinosaur Island!

Elongated Man (voiced by Sean Donnellan)

First comic book appearance: The Flash vol. 1 #112 (May 1960)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Co-created by John Broome and legendary Flash artist Carmine Infantino, Ralph Dibny is one of two rubber-limbed heroes in the DCU. But while Plastic Man is a reformed villain often mined for comedic relief, Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, is known for his skills as a detective, much like the Dark Knight himself. He acquired his stretchiness by drinking a chemical concoction brewed from a rare fruit found in Latin America. He and his wife, Sue (to whom something quite horrible happened that we need not revisit here), spent the 1960s and ’70s driving around in a convertible solving mysteries. This is not EM’s first animated rodeo; he also appeared in the Justice League Unlimited series alongside pretty much every other DC hero ever created.

Baby Face (voiced by Tom Kenny)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

A character created for the show and clearly meant to evoke the spirit of ’66. Baby Face – real name Alfonso Vincenzo Giuseppe Face – is an as-advertised Bat villain, a gangster with the face of a baby, complete with Edward G. Robinson voice. He will appear a few more times during the series.

Chemo (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)

First comics appearance: Showcase #39 (July-August 1962)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Chemo (pronounced Kem-O, not KEE-Mo) is a sentient batch of toxic chemicals from failed experiments that originally fought the Metal Men. During the “Infinite Crisis” crossover, the monster nearly destroys all of Bludhaven, the adopted city of Nightwing, the very first Robin.

The Brain (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)

First comic book appearance: Doom Patrol #86 (May 1964)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

A brilliant scientist who was killed in a lab accident, only to have his brain transferred into a computer, the Brain in the comics is generally paired with his talking gorilla assistant, Monsieur Mallah. Fun fact: In Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol, he had the Brain and Mallah express their love for each other and kiss before exploding, which may be one of the most Grant Morrison-y things he’s ever done.

Bialya

First comic book appearance: Justice League #2 (June 1987)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 9 – Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Bialya is a fictional country located north of Saudi Arabia and Iran. It was created by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen during their run on Justice Leauge. At one point, Shazam villain Black Adam kills millions of its inhabitants.

Continuity, Comics Connections, and Notes

The Atom-Aquaman pairing will be mined again later in the series, specifically Season 3’s “Sword of the Atom!” in which Batman, Aquaman and Choi look for the original Atom, Ray Palmer, whom you may know from Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. That episode also contains my favorite cold open of the series, which we’ll come to in due time.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

The Great Batman: The Brave and the Bold Rewatch: "Evil Under the Sea!"

Season 1, Episode 3: Evil Under the Sea!

Written by Joseph Kuhr

Directed by Michael Chang

(Let's welcome Dan Grote to the Great Batman: The Brave and the Bold Rewatch as our regular Aquaman correspondent, for the first appearance of the undersea adventurer)

Plot synopsis

Cold Open: Felix Faust has Batman chained to a pillar while he attempts to open Pandora’s Box. The Caped Crusader appears to use magic to escape his bonds, levitate, and defeat Faust, only for his mystical enhancements to be revealed as the handiwork of shrinking super-scientist the Atom. Specifically the modern Atom, Ryan Choi, making his first appearance on the show.

Episode: Batman tracks seismic activity near Atlantis, giving us our first taste of the show’s version of Aquaman. Something is turning the local sea life against our heroes. Batman ends up in the mouth of a whale that has an octopus inside it. Aquaman is set upon by narwhals. The rogue nautical creatures are being controlled by devices that render them immune to Aquaman’s ability to commune with sea life.

  

We also meet Aquaman’s two greatest nemeses: Black Manta and Ocean Master, aka Aquaman’s brother, Orm. Orm and Arthur have had their differences, but Aquaman believes his brother is reformed. Except he’s totally not. Orm is working with Manta to knock his brother off the throne and claim Atlantis for himself. That said, Manta, like the version of Joker from The Dark Knight, just wants to watch the underwater world burn.

As the plot thickens, Batman’s distrust of Orm causes a rift between the Caped Crusader and Aquaman, to the point where he has Bats ejected from Atlantis. Finally, however, Orm turns on his brother, declaring himself Ocean Master, revealing himself as the master of the rogue sea creatures and fighting the king. Meanwhile, the sharks guiding Batman back to his submarine start to circle around him, their eyes glowing red with evil intent from Ocean Master’s devices. Sorry, no Bat-shark repellant here.

Just as Ocean Master betrays Aquaman, Black Manta betrays Ocean Master, and the two brothers find themselves chained up together as Manta explains his plot to blow up the kingdom and take its riches. The allegedly obnoxious Fluke, meanwhile, saves Batman from the sharks and leads him back to the city.

As Atlantis crumbles around them, Aquaman gets a bunch of crawfish to lockpick their chains and summons all the creatures of the deep to their aid. The brothers, Batman and the sea life take out Manta’s goons. Aquaman saves his brother from a trident bolt fired by Manta. Asked why, Arthur says, “I’m the king, it’s what I do.” Orm then dismantles Manta’s seismic device.

Despite his moment of redemption at the end, Aquaman keeps Orm jailed and punishes him by recounting his stories. Batman smiles and walks off. Fade to black.

Number of times Aquaman says, “Outrageous!” – 3

Who’s Who?

Aquaman (voiced by John DiMaggio)

First comic book appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Aquaman is the king of Atlantis and one of the classic Big Seven of the Justice League. He can commune telepathically with underwater creatures and carries a trident. His classic uniform is an orange scale-mesh shirt and green pants, but for a period in the 1990s, under writer Peter David and artist Jim Calafiore, Aquaman went shirtless, had long, scraggly blond hair and a hook for a hand. This is considered by many Fans of a Certain Age to be the definitive Aquaman run. Aquaman will appear many more times on the cartoon, to the delight of fans, joining Batman’s new Justice League, antagonizing the Atom, singing in at least two episodes, having his voice replaced by that of classic sitcom actor Ted McGinley, and starring in his own episode alongside his family. Some may know John DiMaggio best as the voice of Bender from Futurama, others as Jake the Dog from Adventure Time. To me, he will always be, first and foremost, the Outrageous Aquaman.

Black Manta (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)

First comic book appearance: Aquaman #35 (September 1967)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Like many DC characters, Manta’s origins have been tweaked and retconned over the years, but the important thing to remember is he hates the sea and wants to control it. He may also be autistic. And he’s actually black, because he was created during that period when many major black characters – Black Panther, Black Vulcan, etc., were written with their race as part of their codename. Manta is recognizable by the saucer-shaped diving helmet he wears and the submersible that bears his likeness.

Ocean Master (voiced by Wallace Langham)

First comic book appearance: Aquaman #29 (September 1966)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3: Evil Under the Sea!

Orm Curry, or Orm Marius, is Aquaman’s younger brother who desires the throne of Atlantis. His lineage has changed a number of times as DC has rewritten its continuity, but his tumultuous relationship with his brother has not.

Mera

First comic book appearance: Aquaman #11 (September 1963)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

Mera is Aquaman’s wife and the queen of Atlantis. She has no dialogue in this episode but will appear later voiced by Sirena Irwin in an Aquaman-centric cold open and in one of my favorite episodes, “Aquaman’s Outrageous Family Adventure.”

The Atom (Ryan Choi) (voiced by James Sie)

First comic book appearance: DCU Brave New World (August 2006)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

While a paean to the Silver Age, Brave and the Bold substitutes the modern, diverse versions of some legacy heroes, to its credit. Choi, who inherits the mantle of the Atom from Ray Palmer, is a co-creation of writers Grant Morrison and Gail Simone. As he is only in the cold open in this episode for a few seconds, he doesn’t get a whole lot to do, but it’s fitting that his appearance opens an episode with Aquaman, as the two will be teamed up in subsequent adventures, and the tension between the two makes for some great moments as the series progresses.

Felix Faust (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)

First comics appearance: Justice League of America #10 (March 1962)

First Brave and the Bold appearance: Season 1, Episode 3- Evil Under the Sea!

A sorcerer who hungers for power and knowledge and has sold his soul to demons multiple times to acquire them, to the point where the demons stopped accepting it as payment.

Continuity, Comics connections, and notes

This episode introduces this series version of Aquaman, aka THE BEST VERSION OF AQUAMAN EVER (Sorry-not-sorries to Peter David). Brave and the Bold Aquaman, voiced by the great John DiMaggio, is foolhardy, perpetually excited, thirsty for adventure, says “Outrageous!” a lot and tortures people by recounting tales of his exploits, all of which have cool titles like “The time I wore an eyepatch to infiltrate a crew of pirates.” Also his dolphin, Fluke, is obnoxious, per Batman.

The version of Orm's origin is similar to the version from the Silver Age and the current post-Flashpoint universe. where Orm and Aquaman share a mother. In the post-Crisis version, they shared a father, who was a lecherous, immortal Atlantian sorcerer named Atlan, who needed to have two sons to keep up with an ancient prophecy saying that two brothers would always fight for the throne of Atlantis. Comics, everybody! Also, Orm does not have the power to communicate with sea life in the comics, another point of contention between the brothers.

Aquaman demonstrates the ability to conjure hard water weapons in this episode, a power Aquaman does not have in the comic. It is instead a variation on the power that Mera, as well as one of Aquaman's pre-Flashpoint sons, Koryak, who he had with an Inuit woman while he was travelling the world as a young man, has, which is to manipulate water into solid, non-ice forms.

Batman mentions Iron Heights as the prison where Black Manta will be imprisoned. Created by Geoff Johns, Iron Heights is the maximum security prison in Keystone City, where the Flash's nemeses are usually imprisoned.

This is the first episode where the teaser does not share any connection to the main story, something that will continue for nearly every episode of the series.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Rise, My Pets: Peter David

Some comics writers have characters they keep coming back to, over and over again, whether they had a hand in creating them or not. Sometimes they even pluck a character from obscurity and make them matter.

With that in mind, I give you, the pets of Peter David. I won’t promise they’re not all from X-Factor.

Aquaman: (Aquaman #1-46, Aquaman: Time and Tide #1-4, Atlantis Chronicles 1-7) Though David is a writer who jokes often, he made the king of Atlantis no joke. I mean, come on, he gave the dude a hook for a hand! David turned Aquaman into a Thor of the seas, helped give Atlantis itself a rich history and boosted the quality of his supporting cast. During David’s run, artist Jim Calafiore gave the character perhaps his second most-famous look: shirtless, long hair, beard, hook hand. Your move, Flash.

Doc Samson: While Hulk and X-Factor are largely two different books, they both featured memorable appearances from resident Marvel headshrinker Leonard “Doc” Samson, the man with the long, green hair and the Ph.D. Samson helped David’s Hulk work through his mental issues, and he also analyzed X-Factor in the “X-Aminations” stories, two of David’s best standalone works (the first one is perhaps most memorable both for Quicksilver’s speech about how slowly the world moves to him and a dated, but still funny to people in their 30s, Ren and Stimpy reference).

Hulk: (Incredible Hulk Vol. 1 #328-467, Vol. 2 #67-77, various mini-series & specials including Future Imperfect) David is to Hulk what Chris Claremont is to the X-Men, spending 12 years giving the character depth and breadth, control over his personality, intelligence, gray skin, green skin and a beard. David gave us such memorable Hulk concepts as Joe Fixit, the gray Hulk-as-Vegas bouncer, and the Maestro, the Hulk that ruled a dystopian future. He picked up and fleshed out Banner’s childhood of abuse at the hands of his father, a holdover from the Bill Mantlo years. And he synthesized the many shades of Hulk into one intelligent, green smashing machine. He also worked with a series of well-known artists, from Todd McFarlane to Dale Keown to Gary Frank. David wrote a great little essay on his time with the Jade Giant – including getting canned for refusing to re-savage the Hullk – for Entertainment Weekly, which you can read here.

Jamie Madrox: (X-Factor Vol. 1 #70-90, MadroX #1-5, X-Factor Vol. 3 #1-50, 200-262) Madrox the Multiple Man began his membership in X-Factor as one-half of the team’s comic relief, alongside Guido “Strong Guy” Carosella. A subsequent writer, J.M. DeMatteis, killed off Madrox via Legacy Virus, but like any character worth his dupes, he got better. David wrote a 2004 Madrox mini that saw Jamie send his dupes out into the world to accrue knowledge and then be reabsorbed, or join the priesthood or S.H.I.E.L.D. or become a future assassin or any number of things. This formed the basis for a new X-Factor series, in which Madrox, Guido, Wolfsbane and a whole bunch of other second-string free agents formed a mutant detective agency occasionally dedicated to solving the mystery of M-Day.

Polaris: (X-Factor Vol. 1 #70-90, X-Factor Vol. 3 #230-262, All-New X-Factor #1-present) The first time Peter David spent with Polaris was in an epilogue issue of X-Factor, before David’s all-new, all-different team. In it, Strong Guy talks her into striking sexy poses for his enjoyment. You’ve come a long way, baby, despite Chuck Austen’s best efforts to turn you into a jilted crazy witch woman. Polaris returned to David’s X-Factor fold late in his second round with the book and took on the painstaking task of decluttering her origin, which saw her go from Magneto’s third kid to not and back again. Polaris is now leading her own, corporate-sponsored X-Factor team in the book’s third iteration, a team that includes the next person on this list.

Quicksilver: (X-Factor Vol. 1 #70-90, X-Factor Vol. 3 various issues, All-New X-Factor #1-present) If “X-aminations” (X-Factor Vol. 1 #87) and “Re-X-aminations” (X-Factor Vol. 3 #13) are two of David’s best standalone issues, Quicksilver was one of the best parts of both those issues. In the first X-am, Quicksilver complains about how slowly the world moves relative to his superspeed. In the second X-am, Quicky is a Terrigen Mist drug pusher on the cusp of igniting a Silent War with the Inhumans, who wanted their supply back. Essentially, post House of M, Pietro had become Chang from Community, mentally unbalanced and ready to doublecross at a moment’s notice. In the current X-Factor series, Quicksilver spies on teammate Polaris on behalf of her ex, Havok, who leads the Avengers’ Unity Squad.

Rick Jones: David loved the Hulk’s human buddy Jones – arguably the Marvel Universe’s answer to Sherman of Mr. Peabody and Sherman – so much that he took him into space with him, making him part of the cast during his Captain Marvel runs in the late ’90s and early 2000s, during which Mar-Vell’s son Genis-Vell carried the mantle Marvel and DC shared/fought over for decades.

Spider-Man 1962: (Spectacular Spider-Man #103-136) David’s first work for Marvel, who had originally hired him to work in sales. David wrote what is often considered one of the best Spider-Man stories, "The Death of Jean DeWolff." Spider-Man is, in many ways, the perfect character for David, who can do funny without letting it overwhelm an entire book. Spider-Man quips, but he also experiences heart-wrenching tragedies. That’s prime David wheelhouse.

Spider-Man 2099: If you’re looking for a sign that the wave of 90s nostalgia is on and knows no bounds, look no further. Miguel O’Hara is likely the most memorable relic of the 2099 universe (quick: name one X-Man 2099!). Writer Dan Slott gave David the alley-oop by bringing future Spidey into the present and setting up David’s current series.

Strong Guy: Just kidding. Seriously though, X-Factor is awesome.

Dan Grote has been a Matt Signal contributor since 2014 and friends with Matt since there were four Supermen and two Psylockes. His two novels, My Evil Twin and I and Of Robots, God and Government, are available on Amazon.

Lost Legends: The Uncollected and Out of Print Works of Peter David

Yesterday, Marvel made a big announcement: A new series starring Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of the year 2099, was being launched, and it was being written by the character's creator, Peter David. I've written about Peter David before, in regards to his run on X-Factor and his adaptations of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. But that's barely scratching the surface of his work. Peter David is one of my favorite writers in comics (and other media), and so today I thought I'd touch on some of his work that you might not have read and isn't readily available. This work in either completely uncollected, or has lapsed out of print in trades. I'm not going to talk about the original Spider-Man 2099, though, since I intend to do a full piece on that when the series gets closer. And now, without further ado, the lost legends of Peter David.

Atlantis Chronicles

Peter David does great small, personal stories that are character-centric, but is equally at home writing on a grand canvas. The grandest canvas he might have ever written on was in DC Comics' Atlantis Chronicles, a seven issue mini-series that traced the history of the lost continent of Atlantis, from shortly before it's sinking to the birth of Aquaman. There are three distinct arcs within the series. The first is the story of King Orin, the king at the time of the sinking, and his brother, Shalako. From them, we get the history of the two great cities of Atlantis, Poseidonis and Tritonis, and a blood feud between the two brothers and their children and grandchildren. Feuds between, and blood spilled by, brothers becomes a central theme of Peter David's run on Aquaman and related titles, and the second arc furthers it by investigating Atlan, a great sorcerer of Atlantean history, and his brothers, Haumond and Kraken, and Atlantis's invasion of the world above the waves in ancient times. The final arc, the shortest, deals with Queen Atlanna and her marriage to King Trevis. Atlanna is the mother of Aquaman, and Peter David made a serious retcon, changing Aquaman's birth father from a human lighthouse keeper to Atlan, the immortal wizard he had introduced in the previous arc. The series gave plenty of background to Atlantis, creating a story in perfect scope with it's timeline, set over millennia. It also gave a reason why the Atlanteans had a problem with blonde hair, the reason historically given to why Aquaman was cast out of the city as an infant. Estaban Maroto's art is gorgeous, done in the European style, and while each era of Atlantis is distinct, each has a continuity of design that follows the evolution of the undersea civilization. The mini-series was written as a lead in to a new Aquaman ongoing that wound up doing to a different writer, but some years later, DC came back to David, who got to write the story that he had planned.

Aquaman

The run on Aquaman lasted over forty issues, and built a new vision of Atlantis for the modern DC Universe. The run is best known for it being the series where Aquaman lost his hand and got a harpoon and hook in its place. But there's a whole lot more to it than that. The series built on the history set forth in the Atlantis Chronicles, with characters like Atlan and Kordax the Cruel, and with lost cities, magicians, and alien invasions. David took a lot of the other underwater and Atlantean characters of the DC Universe and brought them into one world, including the World War II era heroes Tsunami and Neptune Perkins, the ancient sorcerer Arion and his granddaughter, Power Girl (at least at the time she was thought to be his granddaughter. Power Girl's background has changed even more times than Hawkman's), and the former Global Guardian, Dolphin. Dolphin became a major part of the cast, becoming the love interest for Aquaman, and then the object of a love triangle between Aquaman and his sidekick, Garth. It was during this run as well that Garth went from being Aqualad to Tempest. David developed Garth's character, giving him a new set of powers that made him more distinct from Aquaman, and helped bring him out of Aquaman's shadow. The series also continued to play on the theme of brother versus brother that Atlantis Chronicles began, with Aquaman at war with his brother, Orm, or Ocean Master, and the war between Aquaman's sons Koryak, the illegitimate son Aquaman discovered he had early in the series, and Arthur Jr., the possibly resurrected son of Aquaman and Mera, or possibly the son of Thanatos, a dark version of Aquaman. Unfortunately, these plot threads were left unresolved when David left the series unexpectedly, but the series did a great job of making Atlantis a viable part of the DC Universe and both Aquaman and Tempest more a part of that universe. Nearly all of the developments have been retconned out by the New 52, but that doesn't take away from the underwater adventures David crafted.

Supergirl

When Peter David started writing Supergirl, it was during the period when DC Comics wanted Superman to be the last son of Krypton, so there were supposed to be no other Kryptonians in the DC Universe. So the Supergirl he was given was a telekinetic shapeshifter plasma being called Matrix. At the beginning of the series, Matrix is bonded with a human girl, Linda Danvers, and the series explores their bonding. But more than that, it becomes one of the earlier times where Peter David explores the theme of faith and religion, one that will become central to a work I'll be discussing shortly. The series moves from what might be a traditional superhero book into a mix of the supernatural and horror, with Supergirl becoming and Earth Born Angel, one of three who work the will of the almighty on Earth. Not only is Linda tested, but we see her mother, Sylvia, who is an ordinary woman with strong faith, dealing with the calamities that come from a superhero in a small town. One of the regular supporting characters/antagonists of the book is Buzz, a demon who tells a story in an early issue that does something DC Comics of the era rarely did, which is tie Vertigo into DC by referencing the events of the Sandman story, "Season of Mists." As the series progressed, the mythology David built around heaven and angels in the DCU takes on an interesting life, and he builds a whole new supernatural corner of the Universe that has really not been explored, including Wally, a young boy who may or may not have been an aspect of God. Over the course of the eighty issues, readers are treated to watching the Supergirl aspect of the character grow more human, and Linda grow up. The final arc of the series, titled "Many Happy Returns," is particularly well regarded, as it saw the return of a pre-Crisis Supergirl. The end is a sad one, one I don't want to spoil any of, but it's a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Linda really didn't appear much after that, but the themes were furthered in another Peter David series.

Fallen Angel

Initially published by DC Comics, where it ran for twenty issues, Fallen Angel was a series that Peter David eventually took to IDW Publishing, where it ran for thirty-three issues and two mini-series. While initially seemingly a follow up to Supergirl, with the main character being that series title heroine after the ending of the series, it quickly became something very different. Lee, or Liandra, lives in the city of Bete Noire, which is the center of causality in the world; what happens in the city changes the world outside it. The Fallen Angel, as Lee is called, serves as a court of last appeal for those lost souls who have nowhere else to turn. The book exists in a world of perpetual moral grey; even Lee, our heroine, is not entirely a heroic character. The characters around her are even more grey, many of them downright evil, but are always painted with a human brush; they all have their good points as well as their bad, although some, like the Magistrate of Bete Noire Dr. Juris, have far fewer good ones than others. The first arc of the IDW run, "To Serve in Heaven," is one of my favorite Peter David stories, revealing Liandra's origin, which has a fascinating theological bent, one that would I'm sure offend anyone of a fundamentalist mentality, but taken as a literary device makes the senseless universe make a lot of sense, even if it's very dark sense. And for you Whedon fans out there, the -first mini-series published after the series proper ended, The Return, features an appearance by Illyria, elder god from Angel. The availability on these trades might be a bit better than the other books on this list, but is spotty enough I felt like I should include it, since I view it as one of the definitive works of Peter David.

The Incredible Hulk #397-467 & -1

When it comes to comics, Peter David is probably most famous for his extended run on The Incredible Hulk, a run that lasted for over one hundred issues, and is arguably the greatest run on that character. Certainly, none of the modern runs by the likes of Greg Pak and Jason Aaron would have been possible without the groundwork David laid. And while Marvel has collected the first half of the run in the Hulk Visionaries: Peter David trades, the second half remains uncollected, and this is some of the best work on the entire series. While those first trades include art by Image founder Todd MacFarlane and legendary Hulk artist Dale Keown, the rest of the run includes early work from Gary Frank, work from Liam Sharpe and Angel Medina, and the run was rounded out by Adam Kubert. While some of the issue sin the middle are clearly marred by the editorial interference that was rampant in Marvel comics at the time, there's still so much in those seventy plus issues, it's hard to plug it all in here. Peter David's writing is never decompressed, but with the narrative continuing for over ten years, he finds ways to cram more into each issue. Hulk and Betty's relationship develops, as does that of Hulk's best friend, Rick Jones, and his girlfriend/wife, Marlo. We see the conclusion of the saga of the Pantheon, the group of international trouble shooters with ties to Greek Myth that Hulk works with. We get an interesting inversion of the classic Hulk/Banner relationship. The Hulk spends time without Banner in him, and it's done in a way that's different than when it's been tried before. Hulk briefly becomes a Horseman of Apocalypse. Thunderbolt Ross returns. And that's just a handful of stories. Peter David does a ton with a character that any writers would write off as a character that just smashes things, and that vision is what has allowed other writers to do different and interesting things with Hulk since then. There are many issues of note within this part of the run, but I want to draw attention to a few. Issue 418 is the issue which cover I selected above, the wedding of Rick and Marlo, an issue that is both hilarious and heartfelt, and ends with a trademark Peter David pun. Issue 420, "Lest Darkness Come," deals with the very real issue of AIDS in a way that very few superhero comics could. "Grave Matters," part of a month where all Marvel comics were numbered -1, tells the story of the death of Bruce Banner's abusive father, Brian, and is narrated by a weird circus Stan Lee; it is probably the best of those -1 issues, and adds depth to the relationship that in many ways defined Bruce's life. And the final issue, 467, "The Lone and Level Sands," is narrated by a Rick Jones of the future who recalls what happened to Hulk for the decades after the events of the previous issue. It's a send off to a run that still stands as one of the greatest of the 90s, and shows David had plenty of further ideas for the Hulk without leaving the readers fuming about dangling plot threads. The final pages are some of the most emotionally draining and beautiful that I have ever seen in any comic.


There are a lot of other works by Peter David, including runs on Star Trek, the Young Justice comic that loosely inspired the animated series, his teen-spy series for Dark Horse Spyboy, and so many more. And that's not even touching his novels. I have a couple projects in the works involving Peter David, one that will dig more deeply into the Hulk, but that's for another day. For today, why don't you go out and pick up a book by everybody's favorite Writer of Stuff.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 5/22

Aquaman #20
Story: John Ostrander
Art: Manuel Garcia

John Ostrander's return to DC Comics is this fun issue of Aquaman, focusing on The Others, the team of new heroes series regular writer Geoff Johns introduced in his second arc. We spent some time with The Others in that arc, but since Aquaman was present for so much of that story, they were playing second banana to him, which makes sense, because it's his comic. But this issue he has just a cameo, so we get to see new sides of The Others. The Operative, super spy extraordinaire, has some serious issues with his family. We learn more about the secret loves of Ya'wara, the warrior woman. And while we don't learn more about the Prisoner-of-War, we get to see him in action again, with his ghost soldiers fighting an army of skinwalkers. The team also gains a new member, taking up one of the Atlantean artifacts left by the two members who dies in the previous arc, Sky Alchesay, a Native American with the ability to talk to the spirit world. The plot itself is a simple one, with The Others sent to retrieve an Atlantean weapon, and Sky lead to them by the spirit of her mother, but it does a good job of letting new readers understand who The Others are. It feels like Ostrander is setting up future plotlines for them, including who will replace the other lost member of the team and take up the Helmet, the last artifact. I hope that Ostrander is given the chance, maybe with a mini-series to spend more time with these interesting new characters.

Batman: Li'l Gotham #2
Story & Art: Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs

With so few all ages books left in the DC line since the cancellation of Superman Family Adventures and Young Justice, I'm glad to have this family friendly Batman comic. The second holiday themed issue features Christmas and New Year's stories. The Christmas story is a Batman and Nightwing adventure, as they rescue children kidnapped by Mr. Freeze. But like most good Mr. Freeze stories using the classic Paul Dini origin, there's more to the kidnapping, and the end of the story is heartwarming. The New Year's story is a tale of the Gotham City Sirens, as Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn spend the night after New Year's midnight on a New Year's Revolution. Catwoman tries to turn over a new leaf, but after saving animals from experimentation, stealing toys for orphans, and stealing snacks for the love of it, that resolution goes the same way my annual one to spend less on comics does, and goes right out the window. The stories are pure fun, with the usual gorgeous art from Nguyen and Fridolfs. Yes, it's nearly summer, but what better way to stay cool than to read about winter in Gotham?

Green Lantern #20
Story: Geoff Johns
Art: Doug Mahnke, et al.

That's how you end an era. After nearly ten years, Geoff Johns signs off on the book that made him a superstar. I've only been following the core Green Lantern title since the reboot, and have been pleased that I don't feel lost in any of the events that have happened. This issue takes events from as far back as the Green Lantern: Rebirth mini-series and ties it all together in one giant sized issue that establishes Hal Jordan as the core Green Lantern once again. The issue rewards having been with Johns for his run, with nods to all the Lantern Corps and the Blackest Night, and appearances by all the characters that Johns has introduced in his mammoth run. While the story is ambitious, it never loses the human angel that has been part and parcel with Johns's take on Hal Jordan. The story also spends a good amount of time with Sinestro, really getting into the heart of the relationship between Jordan and his arch enemy and sometimes friend. While not everyone gets a happy ending, everyone gets a satisfying one, and there are a few surprising happy endings that I didn't see coming. Johns is joined by nearly every artist he has worked with over the course of these past nine years, all doing a few pages in tribute to their contribution to making Green Lantern one of the cornerstones of the DC Universe again. Next month, Robert Venditti takes over chronicling Hal Jordan's adventures, and Geoff Johns is off on new adventures; I'll be following along wherever he goes.

Half Past Danger #1
Story & Art: Stephen Mooney

Dinosaurs, Nazis, and beautiful spies. Sounds like something out of the pulps, right? Well, Half Past Danger is one of those comics that reads like a classic pulp. As Sgt. Tommy Flynn leads his men on a recon mission against a Nazi outpost on a mysterious island, only to be the only survivor of an attack by dinosaurs. Two months later, Flynn is drunk in a New York bar when a beautiful British Intelligence agent, a strapping US Army captain, and a ninja show up to ask him questions about that mysterious mission. The comic is a fun, wild adventure, with the same feel as something like The Rocketeer, a period comic that is fun for fun's sake. Creator Stephen Mooney's art is stunning. The dinosaurs are astounding, and Agent Huntington-Moss is gorgeous World War II dame with a sense of style. If you've enjoyed The Rocketeer, Black Beetle, or any comic set in the 40s, this is a book well worth your time.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/19 & 12/26

Aquaman #15/Justice League #15
Story: Geoff Johns
Art (Aquaman): Paul Pelletier
Art (Justice League): Ivan Reis/ Gary Frank

Geoff Johns has been writing both Aquaman and Justice League since the dawn of the New 52, and it feels like we've finally hit the big story he's been building to. "Throne of Atlantis" is a five part crossover between the two titles that flows seamlessly between the two titles. A missile has struck Atlantis, launched by a US sub, and war has been declared. But the missile launch was caused by parties unknown who are attempting to foment a war between the countries, and as conflict escalates, Aquaman is caught in the middle. Atlantis, using a war plan designed by Aquaman during his time living in the undersea nation, has flooded much of the eastern seaboard and are planning to sink a city as a show of strength. And the Justice League is attempting to prevent this. And all of that in two issues. I know Geoff Johns has been accused of decompressed storytelling, but there's a lot packed into these issues.The interaction between Aquaman and Batman, two character featured heavily here, is excellent,. both of them treated as master strategists and leaders, butting heads about how to deal with the invasion. I also was happy to see Superman and Wonder Woman out on a date, and acting like a couple. I've felt human interaction has been lacking from Superman's characterization since the reboot, and it's nice to see him really acting human again. It was also great to see another chapter of the "Shazam" backup in Justice League. The back-ups have been my favorite part of the book, with this new version of Billy Batson proving an interesting character, not a bad kid but one who has been through a lot, and this issue begins addressing one of the classic questions about the Shazam mythos: If you could become a superhero, why would you turn back? Next issue looks to be the first big smackdown between Shazam and one of his archfoes, and I'm looking forward to seeing Gary Frank draw some major action scenes again.

Indestructible Hulk #2
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Lenil Yu

Mark Waid's Daredevil has been my favorite Marvel book since it started, and I was very curious to see him take over the Hulk, a character I really like but who I often find to be mishandled. Waid launched the book with a great high concept, one best summed up by my Dewey's coworker, John: Hulk smash to make better future for the children. Bruce Banner is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. to better serve humanity when he's Banner, and to have them point the Hulk at the right targets when he's angry. While only two issues in, I think this is a great direction. This issue sees a team up between Banner and Iron Man, and one where the usually reserved Banner is finally able to say exactly what he thinks of Stark. These are two of the Marvel Universe's great minds, and two of its greatest egos as well. The two don't get along from the beginning of the issue, masking it behind friendly barbs back and forth, but inn the end, Stark proves he thinks he's smarter than Banner, and that brings out the Hulk. It's a great issue that has no villain, but does an excellent job of building character and setting up the Hulk's new status quo.

Locke & Key: Omega #2
Story: Joe Hill
Art: Grabriel Rodriguez

The end gets closer, and the threads begin to pull tighter, showing just how brilliantly plotted Locke & Key has been from the beginning. This issue we see Rufus Whedon come back into the picture, the mentally handicapped boy who can see ghosts, and who learns some of the details of the demonic Dodge's plan. But trying to stop him just gets Rufus committed to an asylum, and makes it even harder for him to stop Dodge. Meanwhile, Kinsey and her friends prepare to go to the prom, a blissful calm before the storm that Dodge has planned. This is another  perfect example of how well balanced this series is. The action scenes, which are elaborate fantasies in Rufus's mind, featuring Nazi dinosaurs and robots, stand with his tragic memories of his brutal treatment at the hands of his grandmother and his mother's abuse at the hands of Dodge, and all of it stands with the brief scenes of fun at Keyhouse to make a comic that evokes many emotions. With only five issues left, the pace i only going to get faster, and this definitely feels like the calm before the storm.



I'd like to wish a speedy recovery to one of my favorite writers, Peter David, who recently suffered a stroke. I've been reading comics by Peter David for many years, from his seminal run of The Incredible Hulk, to his great Young Justice, to his continuing run on X-Factor. May you write many more brilliant and groanworthy puns soon, Mr. David.

So, that's it for today, folks. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve tonight. I plan on a post about what I'm looking forward to in the New Year later this week, and I'm hoping to, at some point in the not too distant future, start updating regularly three times a week. But until next time, faithful reader, Happy New Year to one and all.